Cardiac function in adolescents and young adults with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome without congenital heart disease

Background Diagnosis and treatment of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) have led to improved life expectancy and achievement of adulthood. Limited data on long-term outcomes reported an increased risk of premature death for cardiovascular causes, even without congenital heart disease (CHD).

Retrieval of surface emissivity from FORUM-EE9 simulated measurements: optimization of constraints

FORUM (Far-infrared Outgoing Radiation Understanding and Monitoring) is a Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) that will fly as the 9th ESA's Earth Explorer mission. FORUM will sound the atmosphere in the 100-1600 cm-1 region, covering the Far Infrared (FIR) and part of the Middle Infrared (MIR), accounting for more than 95% of the outgoing longwave flux lost by our planet. We review the constrains for the emissivity retrieval.

Bistable defect structures in blue phase devices

Blue phases are liquid crystals made up by networks of defects, or disclination lines. While existing phase diagrams show a striking variety of competing metastable topologies for these networks, very little is known as to how to kinetically reach a target structure, or how to switch from one to the other, which is of paramount importance for devices. We theoretically identify two confined blue phase I systems in which by applying an appropriate series of electric field it is possible to select one of two bistable defect patterns.

Existence and uniqueness for a p-laplacian nonlinear eigenvalue problem

We consider the Dirichlet eigenvalue problem, (the eigenfunction) and ? > 0 (the eigen value), ? is an arbitrary domain in RN with finite measure, 1 < p < ?, 1 < q < p*, p* = Np/(N - p) if 1 < p < N and p* = ? if p >= N. We study several existence and uniqueness results as well as some properties of the solutions. Moreover, we indicate how to extend to the general case some proofs known in the classical case p = q. © 2010 Texas State University - San Marcos.

Switching and defect dynamics in multistable liquid crystal devices

We investigate the switching dynamics of multistable nematic liquid crystal devices. In particular, we identify a remarkably simple two-dimensional device which exploits hybrid alignment at the surfaces to yield a bistable response. We also consider a three-dimensional tristable nematic device with patterned anchoring, recently implemented in practice, and discuss how the director and disclination patterns change during switching.

Normalized compression distance to measure cortico-muscular synchronization

The neuronal functional connectivity is a complex and non-stationary phenomenon creating dynamic networks synchronization determining the brain states and needed to produce tasks. Here, as a measure that quantifies the synchronization between the neuronal electrical activity of two brain regions, we used the normalized compression distance (NCD), which is the length of the compressed file constituted by the concatenated two signals, normalized by the length of the two compressed files including each single signal.

Static and dynamic Melvin universes

We briefly review the known properties of Melvin's magnetic universe and study the propagation of test charged matter waves in this static spacetime. Moreover, the possible correspondence between the wave perturbations on the background Melvin universe and the motion of charged test particles is discussed. Next, we explore a simple scenario for turning Melvin's static universe into one that undergoes gravitational collapse. In the resulting dynamic gravitational field, the formation of cosmic double-jet configurations is emphasized.