The effect of positioning and diaphragmatic breathing exercises on respiratory muscle activity in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Body positioning and diaphragmatic breathing may alter respiratory pattern and reduce dyspnoea in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Objectives: To determine the effect of positioning and diaphragmatic breathing on respiratory muscle activity in a convenience sample of people with COPD, using surface electromyography (sEMG).

Methods: This prospective descriptive study recorded sEMG measurements at baseline, after upright positioning, during diaphragmatic breathing and 5 minutes thereafter.

Spin-orbit-driven magnetic structure and excitation in the 5d pyrochlore Cd2Os2O7.

Much consideration has been given to the role of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in 5d oxides, particularly on the formation of novel electronic states and manifested metal-insulator transitions (MITs). SOC plays a dominant role in 5d(5) iridates (Ir(4+)), undergoing MITs both concurrent (pyrochlores) and separated (perovskites) from the onset of magnetic order. However, the role of SOC for other 5d configurations is less clear.

Theoretical approach to resonant inelastic x-ray scattering in iron-based superconductors at the energy scale of the superconducting gap.

We develop a phenomenological theory to predict the characteristic features of the momentum-dependent scattering amplitude in resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) at the energy scale of the superconducting gap in iron-based super-conductors. Taking into account all relevant orbital states as well as their specific content along the Fermi surface we evaluate the charge and spin dynamical structure factors for the compounds LaOFeAs and LiFeAs, based on tight-binding models which are fully consistent with recent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) data. We find a characteristic intensity redistribution between charge and spin dynamical structure factors which discriminates between sign-reversing and sign-preserving quasiparticle excitations.

Critical access hospital ED to quaternary medical center: successful implementation of an integrated Picture Archiving and Communications System for patient transfers by air and sea.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of imaging in transfers between an island Critical Access Hospital (CAH) emergency department (ED) and a quaternary care hospital.

Methods: Electronic medical records were reviewed to identify all patients who were transferred from an island CAH to our quaternary care hospital in 2012 and 2013. Medical history, transfer diagnosis, and the type of imaging performed at the CAH prior to transfer were reviewed.

Jahn-Teller Effect in Systems with Strong On-Site Spin-Orbit Coupling.

When strong spin-orbit coupling removes orbital degeneracy, it would at the same time appear to render the Jahn-Teller mechanism ineffective. We discuss such a situation, the t_{2g} manifold of iridates, and show that, while the Jahn-Teller effect does indeed not affect the j_{eff}=1/2 antiferromagnetically ordered ground state, it leads to distinctive signatures in the j_{eff}=3/2 spin-orbit exciton. It allows for a hopping of the spin-orbit exciton between the nearest-neighbor sites without producing defects in the j_{eff}=1/2 antiferromagnet.

Electronic Structure of the Dark Surface of the Weak Topological Insulator Bi14Rh3I9.

Compound Bi14Rh3I9 consists of ionic stacks of intermetallic [(Bi4Rh)3I](2+) and insulating [Bi2I8](2-) layers and has been identified to be a weak topological insulator. Scanning tunneling microscopy revealed the robust edge states at all step edges of the cationic layer as a topological fingerprint. However, these edge states are found 0.

Unconventional superconductivity and interaction induced Fermi surface reconstruction in the two-dimensional Edwards model.

We study the competition between unconventional superconducting pairing and charge density wave (CDW) formation for the two-dimensional Edwards Hamiltonian at half filling, a very general two-dimensional transport model in which fermionic charge carriers couple to a correlated background medium. Using the projective renormalization method we find that a strong renormalization of the original fermionic band causes a new hole-like Fermi surface to emerge near the center of the Brillouin zone, before it eventually gives rise to the formation of a charge density wave. On the new, disconnected parts of the Fermi surface superconductivity is induced with a sign-changing order parameter.

Strongly Enhanced Superconductivity in Coupled t-J Segments.

The t-J Hamiltonian is one of the cornerstones in the theoretical study of strongly correlated copper-oxide based materials. Using the density-matrix renormalization group method we obtain the phase diagram of the one-dimensional t-J chain in the presence of a periodic hopping modulation, as a prototype of coupled-segment models. While in the uniform 1D t-J model the near half-filling superconducting state dominates only at unphysically large values of the exchange coupling constant J/t>3; we show that a small hopping and exchange modulation very strongly reduces the critical coupling to be as low as J/t∼1/3--well within the physical regime.

Magnon spectrum of the helimagnetic insulator Cu2OSeO3.

Complex low-temperature-ordered states in chiral magnets are typically governed by a competition between multiple magnetic interactions. The chiral-lattice multiferroic Cu2OSeO3 became the first insulating helimagnetic material in which a long-range order of topologically stable spin vortices known as skyrmions was established. Here we employ state-of-the-art inelastic neutron scattering to comprehend the full three-dimensional spin-excitation spectrum of Cu2OSeO3 over a broad range of energies.

Imaging Decision Support Does Not Drive Out-of-Network Leakage of Referred Imaging.

Purpose: Leakage (out-of-network referral) is undesirable because it limits ability to control costs of services. Clinical decision support (CDS) systems seek to ensure appropriate imaging of patients but theoretically could drive leakage if ordering providers attempt to circumvent CDS recommendations and obtain studies from other imaging providers. This study assessed the incidence of leakage of imaging studies that had low appropriateness scores.

Sexual crossing of thermophilic fungus Myceliophthora heterothallica improved enzymatic degradation of sugar beet pulp.

Background: Enzymatic degradation of plant biomass requires a complex mixture of many different enzymes. Like most fungi, thermophilic Myceliophthora species therefore have a large set of enzymes targeting different linkages in plant polysaccharides. The majority of these enzymes have not been functionally characterized, and their role in plant biomass degradation is unknown.

Electron-lattice interactions strongly renormalize the charge-transfer energy in the spin-chain cuprate Li2CuO2.

Strongly correlated insulators are broadly divided into two classes: Mott-Hubbard insulators, where the insulating gap is driven by the Coulomb repulsion U on the transition-metal cation, and charge-transfer insulators, where the gap is driven by the charge-transfer energy Δ between the cation and the ligand anions. The relative magnitudes of U and Δ determine which class a material belongs to, and subsequently the nature of its low-energy excitations. These energy scales are typically understood through the local chemistry of the active ions.

Correlation between topological band character and chemical bonding in a Bi14Rh3I9-based family of insulators.

Recently the presence of topologically protected edge-states in Bi14Rh3I9 was confirmed by scanning tunnelling microscopy consolidating this compound as a weak 3D topological insulator (TI). Here, we present a density-functional-theory-based study on a family of TIs derived from the Bi14Rh3I9 parent structure via substitution of Ru, Pd, Os, Ir and Pt for Rh. Comparative analysis of the band-structures throughout the entire series is done by means of a unified minimalistic tight-binding model that evinces strong similarity between the quantum-spin-Hall (QSH) layer in Bi14Rh3I9 and graphene in terms of Pz-molecular orbitals.

Strongly frustrated triangular spin lattice emerging from triplet dimer formation in honeycomb Li2IrO3.

Iridium oxides with a honeycomb lattice have been identified as platforms for the much anticipated Kitaev topological spin liquid: the spin-orbit entangled states of Ir(4+) in principle generate precisely the required type of anisotropic exchange. However, other magnetic couplings can drive the system away from the spin-liquid phase. With this in mind, here we disentangle the different magnetic interactions in Li2IrO3, a honeycomb iridate with two crystallographically inequivalent sets of adjacent Ir sites.

Polygenic analysis and targeted improvement of the complex trait of high acetic acid tolerance in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Background: Acetic acid is one of the major inhibitors in lignocellulose hydrolysates used for the production of second-generation bioethanol. Although several genes have been identified in laboratory yeast strains that are required for tolerance to acetic acid, the genetic basis of the high acetic acid tolerance naturally present in some Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains is unknown. Identification of its polygenic basis may allow improvement of acetic acid tolerance in yeast strains used for second-generation bioethanol production by precise genome editing, minimizing the risk of negatively affecting other industrially important properties of the yeast.

NCRP Program Area Committee 4: Radiation Protection in Medicine.

Program Area Committee (PAC) 4 deals with issues in radiation protection in healthcare settings. NCRP Statement No. 11 was published at the end of 2014, and three active scientific committees (SC) are at work--SC 4-5, SC 4-7, and SC 4-8.

Research Priorities in Mental Health, Justice, and Safety: A Multidisciplinary Stakeholder Report.

This paper is based on the report following the National Research Agenda Meeting on Mental Health, Justice, and Safety held in Montreal on November 19, 2014, which convened academics; health, social, and legal professionals; and people with lived experience of mental illness from across Canada. The goal was to identify research priorities addressing relevant knowledge gaps and research strategies that can translate into public policy action and improvements in evidence-based services. Participants identified key challenges: (1) inadequate identification and response to needs by civil mental health services and frontline law enforcement, (2) limited specialized resources in forensic and correctional settings, (3) fragmented care and gaps between systems, (4) limited resources for adequate community reintegration, and (5) poor knowledge transfer strategies as obstacles to evidence-based policies.

Topological Edge States with Zero Hall Conductivity in a Dimerized Hofstadter Model.

The Hofstadter model is a simple yet powerful Hamiltonian to study quantum Hall physics in a lattice system, manifesting its essential topological states. Lattice dimerization in the Hofstadter model opens an energy gap at half filling. Here we show that even if the ensuing insulator has a Chern number equal to zero, concomitantly a doublet of edge states appear that are pinned at specific momenta.

Thermophilic growth and enzymatic thermostability are polyphyletic traits within Chaetomiaceae.

Thermophilic fungi have the potential to produce industrial-relevant thermostable enzymes, in particular for the degradation of plant biomass. Sordariales is one of the few fungal orders containing several thermophilic taxa, of which many have been associated with the production of thermostable enzymes. The evolutionary affiliation of Sordariales fungi, especially between thermophiles and non-thermophilic relatives, is however poorly understood.