Summary
Sleep deprivation is common among intensive care patients and may be associated with delirium. We investigated whether the implementation of a bundle of non‐pharmacological interventions, ...consisting of environmental noise and light reduction designed to reduce disturbing patients during the night, was associated with improved sleep and a reduced incidence of delirium. The study was divided into two parts, before and after changing our practice. One hundred and sixty‐seven and 171 patients were screened for delirium pre‐ and post‐intervention, respectively. Compliance with the interventions was > 90%. The bundle of interventions led to an increased mean (SD) sleep efficiency index (60.8 (3.5) before vs 75.9 (2.2) after, p = 0.031); reduced mean sound (68.8 (4.2) dB before vs 61.8 (9.1) dB after, p = 0.002) and light levels (594 (88.2) lux before vs 301 (53.5) lux after, p = 0.003); and reduced number of awakenings caused by care activities overnight (11.0 (1.1) before vs 9.0 (1.2) after, p = 0.003). In addition, the introduction of the care bundle led to a reduced incidence of delirium (55/167 (33%) before vs 24/171 (14%) after, p < 0.001), and less time spent in delirium (3.4 (1.4) days before vs 1.2 (0.9) days after, p = 0.021). Increases in sleep efficiency index were associated with a lower odds ratio of developing delirium (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.84–0.97). The introduction of an environmental noise and light reduction programme as a bundle of non‐pharmacological interventions in the intensive care unit was effective in reducing sleep deprivation and delirium, and we propose a similar programme should be implemented more widely.
Past X-ray observations of the nearby luminous quasar PDS 456 (at z = 0.184) have revealed a wide-angle accretion disk wind with an outflow velocity of ∼−0.25c, as observed through observations of ...its blueshifted iron K-shell absorption line profile. Here we present three new XMM-Newton observations of PDS 456: one in 2018 September where the quasar was bright and featureless and two in 2019 September, 22 days apart, occurring when the quasar was five times fainter and where strong blueshifted lines from the wind were present. During the second 2019 September observation, three broad ( = 3000 km s−1) absorption lines were resolved in the high-resolution Reflection Grating Spectrometer spectrum that are identified with blueshifted O viii Ly , Ne ix He , and Ne x Ly . The outflow velocity of this soft X-ray absorber was found to be v/c = −0.258 0.003, fully consistent with an iron K absorber with v/c = −0.261 0.007. The ionization parameter and column density of the soft X-ray component (log = 3.4, NH = 2 × 1021 cm−2) outflow was lower by about 2 orders of magnitude when compared to the high-ionization wind at iron K (log = 5, NH = 7 × 1023 cm−2). Substantial variability was seen in the soft X-ray absorber between the 2019 observations, declining from NH = 1023 to 1021 cm−2 over 20 days, while the iron K component was remarkably stable. We conclude that the soft X-ray wind may originate from an inhomogeneous wind streamline passing across the line of sight that, due to its lower ionization, is located further from the black hole, on parsec scales, than the innermost disk wind.
Abstract
α
-RuCl
3
is a major candidate for the realization of the Kitaev quantum spin liquid, but its zigzag antiferromagnetic order at low temperatures indicates deviations from the Kitaev model. ...We have quantified the spin Hamiltonian of
α
-RuCl
3
by a resonant inelastic x-ray scattering study at the Ru
L
3
absorption edge. In the paramagnetic state, the quasi-elastic intensity of magnetic excitations has a broad maximum around the zone center without any local maxima at the zigzag magnetic Bragg wavevectors. This finding implies that the zigzag order is fragile and readily destabilized by competing ferromagnetic correlations. The classical ground state of the experimentally determined Hamiltonian is actually ferromagnetic. The zigzag state is stabilized by quantum fluctuations, leaving ferromagnetism – along with the Kitaev spin liquid – as energetically proximate metastable states. The three closely competing states and their collective excitations hold the key to the theoretical understanding of the unusual properties of
α
-RuCl
3
in magnetic fields.
Rolling Element Bearings are one of the most ubiquitous machine elements used in various machineries in the manufacturing industry. Prognosis and estimation of residual life of rolling element ...bearing are very important for efficient implementation of health monitoring and condition-based maintenance. In this paper, a rolling element bearing fault or degradation trend prediction is modeled using Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) method. Various vibration features based on signal complexity, namely Shannon entropy, permutation entropy, and approximate entropy are estimated to obtain the bearing degradation trend. When fault or degradation occurs in rolling element bearing, there is a subtle change in the dynamics of the system and subsequently, there are changes in the features extracted from the vibration signal. In this paper, a comparative analysis of various kernel functions of the GPR model is carried out using accuracy-based metrics. In addition, the combination of goodness of metric (monotonicity (Mon), robustness (Rob), and prognosability (Pro)), namely hybrid metric, is proposed to select the efficient bearing degradation trend of features. Further, the GPR at ARD exponential kernel has been employed to make the prognosis of degradation trend in bearings with a 95% confidence interval (CI). The proposed methodology is validated through a mathematical model of the simulated vibration signal. Finally, from the simulated and experimental data, it is demonstrated that the entropy features have better performance than the statistical features.
•Entropy features (Shannon entropy, PE and ApEn) is proposed to obtain the degradation trend or fault in bearing.•A health indicator based on the hybrid metric is proposed for bearing degradation feature selection.•GPR technique has been used to prediction of bearing degradation trend with 95% CI.•The proposed method validated with simulations of the vibration signal.•Performance of GPR prediction efficiently estimated by accuracy based metrics.
Bacterial blight (BB) and fungal blast diseases are the major biotic constraints that limit rice productivity. To sustain yield improvement in rice, it is necessary to developed yield potential of ...the rice varieties by incorporation of biotic stress resistance genes. Tellahamsa is a well-adapted popular high yielding rice variety in Telangana state, India. However, the variety is highly susceptible to BB and blast. In this study, simultaneous stepwise transfer of genes through marker-assisted backcross breeding (MABB) strategy was used to introgress two major BB (Xa21 and xa13) and two major blast resistance genes (Pi54 and Pi1) into Tellahamsa. In each generation (from F.sub.1 to ICF.sub.3) foreground selection was done using gene-specific markers viz., pTA248 (Xa21), xa13prom (xa13), Pi54MAS (Pi54) and RM224 (Pi1). Two independent BC.sub.2 F.sub.1 lines of Tellahamsa/ISM (Cross-I) and Tellahamsa/NLR145 (Cross-II) possessing 92% and 94% recurrent parent genome (RPG) respectively were intercrossed to develop ICF1-ICF.sub.3 generations. These gene pyramided lines were evaluated for key agro-morphological traits, quality, and resistance against blast at three different hotspot locations as well as BB at two locations. Two ICF.sub.3 gene pyramided lines viz., TH-625-159 and TH-625-491 possessing four genes exhibited a high level of resistance to BB and blast. In the future, these improved Tellahamsa lines could be developed as mega varieties for different agro-climatic zones and also as potential donors for different pre-breeding rice research.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
We present results from a homogeneous analysis of the broad-band 0.3–10 keV CCD resolution as well as of the soft X-ray high-resolution grating spectra of a hard X-ray flux-limited sample of 26 ...Seyfert galaxies observed with XMM–Newton. Our goal is to characterize warm absorbers (WAs) along the line of sight to the active nucleus. We significantly detect WAs in 65 per cent of the sample sources. Our results are consistent with WAs being present in at least half of the Seyfert galaxies in the nearby Universe, in agreement with previous estimates. We find a gap in the distribution of the ionization parameter in the range 0.5 < log ξ < 1.5 which we interpret as a thermally unstable region for WA clouds. This may indicate that the WA flow is probably constituted by a clumpy distribution of discrete clouds rather than a continuous medium. The distribution of the WA column densities for the sources with broad Fe Kα lines are similar to those sources which do not have broadened emission lines. Therefore, the detected broad Fe Kα emission lines are bona fide and not artefacts of ionized absorption in the soft X-rays. The WA parameters show no correlation among themselves, with the exception of the ionization parameter versus column density. The shallow slope of the log ξ versus log v
out linear regression (0.12 ± 0.03) is inconsistent with the scaling laws predicted by radiation or magnetohydrodynamic-driven winds. Our results also suggest that WA and ultra fast outflows do not represent extreme manifestation of the same astrophysical system.
The current standard of diabetes management depends upon the invasive blood pricking techniques. In recent times, the availability of minimally invasive continuous glucose monitoring devices have ...made some improvements in the life of diabetic patients however it has its own limitations which include painful insertion, excessive cost, discomfort and an active risk due to the presence of a foreign body under the skin. Due to all these factors, the non-invasive glucose monitoring has remain a subject of research for the last two decades and multiple techniques of non-invasive glucose monitoring have been proposed. These proposed techniques have the potential to be evolved into a wearable device for non-invasive diabetes management. This paper reviews research advances and major challenges of such techniques or methods in recent years and broadly classifies them into four types based on their detection principles. These four methods are: optical spectroscopy, photoacoustic spectroscopy, electromagnetic sensing and nanomaterial based sensing. The paper primarily focuses on the evolution of non-invasive technology from bench-top equipment to smart wearable devices for personalized non-invasive continuous glucose monitoring in these four methods. With the rapid evolve of wearable technology, all these four methods of non-invasive blood glucose monitoring independently or in combination of two or more have the potential to become a reality in the near future for efficient, affordable, accurate and pain-free diabetes management.
Highly ordered mesoporous cerium oxides, composed of nanocrystalline pore walls and exhibiting high thermal stability even at 973 K, were synthesized using mesoporous silica templates with hexagonal ...p6mm and cubic Ia3d symmetries.
The scattering theory's main objective is to comprehend an object by hurling something at it. One can learn details about an object by observing how it bounces off other objects. The potential that ...exists between the two particles is the thing that one seeks to comprehend. In time-independent approach to scattering, one assumes that the incident beam has been activated for a very long time and that the entire system is in a stationary state. For short-range local potentials, the variable phase methodology is highly useful in solving quantum mechanical scattering problems. Variable phase methodology/phase-function technique has been explicitly utilized for non-relativistic nucleon-nucleon scattering phenomenon with the fundamental central local potential term and without spin-orbit force. Working under this methodology, scattering phase shifts, total scattering cross section and Differential cross section have been investigated for a new nuclear potential model “Shifted Deng-Fan potential”. Real nucleon-nucleon scattering systems (n-p) and (p-p) have been treated for this purpose with partial waves up to l = 2 in the low and moderate energy region. For l > 0 waves, interacting repulsive barrier potential has been incorporated with the existing central part. Our results for the considered potential model show a close contest with that of the experimental data.
Rhizoctonia solani is a polyphagous fungal pathogen that causes diseases in crops. The fungal strains are classified into anastomosis groups (AGs); however, genomic complexity, diversification into ...the AGs and the evolution of pathogenicity-associated genes remain poorly understood.
We report a recent whole-genome duplication and sequential segmental duplications in AG1-IA strains of R. solani. Transposable element (TE) clusters have caused loss of synteny in the duplicated blocks and introduced differential structural alterations in the functional domains of several pathogenicity-associated paralogous gene pairs. We demonstrate that the TE-mediated structural variations in a glycosyl hydrolase domain and a GMC oxidoreductase domain in two paralogous pairs affect the pathogenicity of R. solani. Furthermore, to investigate the association of TEs with the natural selection and evolution of pathogenicity, we sequenced the genomes of forty-two rice field isolates of R. solani AG1-IA. The genomic regions with high population mutation rates and with the lowest nucleotide diversity are enriched with TEs. Genetic diversity analysis predicted the genes that are most likely under diversifying and purifying selections. We present evidence that a smaller variant of a glucosamine phosphate N-acetyltransferase (GNAT) protein, predicted to be under purifying selection, and an LPMP_AA9 domain-containing protein, predicted to be under diversifying selection, are important for the successful pathogenesis of R. solani in rice as well as tomato.
Our study has unravelled whole-genome duplication, TE-mediated neofunctionalization of genes and evolution of pathogenicity traits in R. solani AG1-IA. The pathogenicity-associated genes identified during the study can serve as novel targets for disease control.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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