Fluctuations in measured radioactive decay rates inside a modified Faraday cage: Correlations with space weather.

For several years, reports have been published about fluctuations in measured radioactive decay time-series and in some instances linked to astrophysical as well as classical environmental influences. Anomalous behaviors of radioactive decay measurement and measurement of capacitance inside and outside a modified Faraday cage were documented by our group in previous work. In the present report, we present an in-depth analysis of our measurement with regard to possible correlations with space weather, i.e. the geomagnetic activity (GMA) and cosmic-ray activity (CRA). Our analysis revealed that the decay and capacitance time-series are statistically significantly correlated with GMA and CRA when specific conditions are met. The conditions are explained in detail and an outlook is given on how to further investigate this important finding. Our discovery is relevant for all researchers investigating radioactive decay measurements since they point out that the space weather condition during the measurement is relevant for partially explaining the observed variability.

On the Contact Geometry and the Poisson Geometry of the Ideal Gas.

We elaborate on existing notions of contact geometry and Poisson geometry as applied to the classical ideal gas. Specifically, we observe that it is possible to describe its dynamics using a 3-dimensional contact submanifold of the standard 5-dimensional contact manifold used in the literature. This reflects the fact that the internal energy of the ideal gas depends exclusively on its temperature. We also present a Poisson algebra of thermodynamic operators for a quantum-like description of the classical ideal gas. The central element of this Poisson algebra is proportional to Boltzmann's constant. A Hilbert space of states is identified and a system of wave equations governing the wavefunction is found. Expectation values for the operators representing pressure, volume and temperature are found to satisfy the classical equations of state.

On the van der Waals Gas, Contact Geometry and the Toda Chain.

A Toda-chain symmetry is shown to underlie the van der Waals gas and its close cousin, the ideal gas. Links to contact geometry are explored.

Investigación estadística en quirófano. Estudio sobre factores de riesgo en la formación de cataratas / Statistical research and investigation in surgery rooms. A study about risk factors in the formation of cataracts

Experiencia de investigación cuyo trabajo de campo se ha desarrollado en los quirófanos del Hospital Malva-Rosa (HMR, en Valencia). Su objetivo concreto es realizar un análisis estadístico de los diferentes factores que influyen en la formación de cataratas por envejecimiento, pero sobre todo, mostrar que la buena coordinación de un equipo quirúrgico permite integrar la investigación de enfermería en las tareas habituales del hospital.Para lograr dicho objetivo, hemos considerado una muestra de 500 pacientes intervenidos de cataratas por nuestro equipo en el hospital, empleando en todos los casos la misma técnica quirúrgica (facoemulsificación) y anestesia tópica. Con cada enfermo hemos cumplimentado en el antequirófano de cirugía oftalmológica una encuesta donde se recogen todos los parámetros a estudiar. Toda esta información se ha procesado en una base de datos que nos ha permitido relacionar la influencia de los diferentes factores en la formación de cataratas (edad, sexo, tabaquismo, diabetes, colesterol, hipertensión, etc.).Haremos hincapié en tres aspectos fundamentales del trabajo: describiremos la experiencia de enfermería, presentaremos algunas características básicas del programa informático desarrollado y mostraremos los resultados alcanzados para algunos de los parámetros analizados (AU)

[Statistical research in the operating room. Study on risk factors in cataract development]. / Investigación estadística en quirófano. Estudio sobre factores de riesgo en la formación de cataratas.

This investigation carried out its field work in the surgery rooms at the Malva-Rosa Hospital in Valencia. Its specific objective is the perform a statistical analysis of the various factors which bear an influence on the formation of cataracts due to aging, but moreover, to demonstrate that good coordination on a surgical team makes it possible to integrate research and investigation in nursing into the daily tasks of a hospital. In order to accomplish that goal, we have studied a sample of 500 patients who underwent cataract surgery by our team in this hospital, using the same surgical technique, phacoemulsification and topic anesthesia, in every case. For each patient, during the ophthalmologic pre-surgery procedures, we fill in a questionnaire in which we record all the parameters under study. All this data has been processed in a data base which allows us to correlate the influence of varying factors, such as age, sex, smoking, diabetes, cholesterol, or hypertension, in the formation of cataracts. We highlight three basic aspects in our study: we describe the nursing experience undergone, we present a few basic traits of the computer program developed, and we show the results obtained for some of the parameters analyzed.

Ansatz-independent solution of a soliton in a strong dispersion-management system

We introduce a theoretical approach to the study of propagation in systems with periodic strong-management dispersion. Our approach does not assume any ansatz about the form of the solution nor does it make use of any average procedure. We find an explicit solution for the pulse evolution in the fast dynamics regime (distances smaller than the dispersion period). We also establish the equation of motion governing the slow dynamics of an arbitrary pulse and prove that the pulse evolution is nonlinear and Hamiltonian. We solve this equation and find that a nonlinear solitonlike solution occurs self-consistently in the form of an asymptotic stationary eigenfunction of the Hamiltonian.