Magnetic Reversal on Vicinal Surfaces

We present a theoretical study of in-plane magnetization reversal for vicinal ultrathin films using a one-dimensional micromagnetic model with nearest-neighbor exchange, four-fold anisotropy at all sites, and two-fold anisotropy at step edges. A detailed "phase diagram" is presented that catalogs the possible shapes of hysteresis loops and reversal mechanisms as a function of step anisotropy strength and vicinal terrace length. The steps generically nucleate magnetization reversal and pin the motion of domain walls. No sharp transition separates the cases of reversal by coherent rotation and reversal by depinning of a ninety degree domain wall from the steps. Comparison to experiment is made when appropriate.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure

Bezlotoxumab: A Novel Agent for the Prevention of Recurrent Clostridium difficile Infection

During the past decade, the incidence and severity of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) have significantly increased, leading to a rise in CDI-associated hospitalizations, health care costs, and mortality. Although treatment options exist for CDI, recurrence is frequent following treatment. Furthermore, patients with at least one CDI recurrence are at an increased risk of developing additional recurrences. A novel approach to the prevention of recurrent CDI is the use of monoclonal antibodies directed against the toxins responsible for CDI as an adjunct to antibiotic treatment. Bezlotoxumab, a human monoclonal antibody that binds and neutralizes C. difficile toxin B, is the first therapeutic agent to receive United States Food and Drug Administration approval for the prevention of CDI recurrence. Clinical studies have demonstrated superior efficacy of bezlotoxumab in adults receiving antibiotic therapy for CDI compared with antibiotic therapy alone for the prevention of CDI recurrence. Bezlotoxumab was well tolerated in clinical trials, with the most common adverse effects being nausea, vomiting, fatigue, pyrexia, headache, and diarrhea. The demonstrated efficacy, safety, and characteristics of bezlotoxumab present an advance in prevention of CDI recurrence

O magmatismo alcalino Neoproterozóico na Ilha do Cardoso, Sudeste do Estado de São Paulo

This work focuses on the geology and geochronology of rocks cropping out on Cardoso Island, on the southeastern coast of São Paulo State, close to the boundary with Paraná State. The island, with an area of about 151 km² is a protected area administered by the Forest Institute of the Secretariat for the Environment of the State of São Paulo. It is mountainous, with a peak at 814 m, and is covered by dense"Atlantic Forest" vegetation. The island is made up mainly of an igneous complex with light grey leucocratic, inequigranular, medium to coarse-grained syenites. The Três Irmãos Syenite (STI), composed of pyroxene, hornblende, and perthitic to mesoperthitic microcline, predominates has magmatic flow structures, and is cut by the pinkish grey, leucocratic medium-grained Cambriú alkali-feldspar granites (GC). Geochemical analysis of STI and GC demonstrate their metaluminous alkaline nature and late orogenic to anorogenic character. The bodies formed between 620 and 570 Ma according to U-Pb dating of zircons and cooled between 597 and 531 Ma (K-Ar in amphiboles). Whole rock Sm-Nd analyses yield Meso - and Paleoproterozoic TDM ages (1,500 - 2,200 Ma). A belt of low-grade metasedimentary rocks occurs in the northern part of the island. Quartz schist, quartz-mica schist and mica-quartz schist, often-containing andalusite and cordierite, predominate.Geochemical and geochronological data suggest that the sources of the metasediments were continental arc andesites of whose protoliths separated from the mantle between 1,800 and 2,200 Ma during the Paleoproterozoic. These metasediments probably continue on the continent in the Taquari region and extend southwards in narrow strips between the granitoids of the Paranaguá Domain.O objetivo deste trabalho é o estudo geológico e geocronológico da Ilha do Cardoso, localizada no litoral sudeste do Estado de São Paulo, divisa com Estado do Paraná. Trata-se de uma área com aproximadamente 151 km2, de proteção ambiental (APA), administrada pelo Instituto Florestal da Secretaria do Meio Ambiente do Estado de São Paulo. Seu relevo é montanhoso atingindo a cota máxima de 814 metros, sendo recoberta por uma densa vegetação de mata atlântica. Os terrenos pertencentes a Ilha do Cardoso, são constituídos em grande parte por um complexo ígneo, representado principalmente por rochas sieníticas de cor cinza clara, leucocráticas, inequigranulares e de granulação média a grossa. Composicionalmente predominam sienitos constituídos por piroxênios, hornblendas, e microclíneo pertítico a mesopertítico, exibindo estruturas típicas do fluxo magmático e denominado de Sienito Três Irmãos (STI). Este é cortado por um álcali-feldspato granito com hornblenda e biotita, de cor cinza-rosada, leucocrático de granulação média, denominado de Granito Cambriú (GC). As análises geoquímicas efetuadas nos STI e GC, permitiram atribuir-lhes uma filiação alcalina e meta-aluminosa sugestivas de granitos anorogênicos a tardi orogênicos. Os dados geocronológicos indicam para a formação desses corpos um intervalo de idades entre 620-570 Ma (método U-Pb em zircões), e com o resfriamento entre 597-531 Ma (dados K-Ar em anfibólios). Análises Sm-Nd em rocha total, realizadas nestas rochas, indicaram idades (TDM) situadas entre o Mesoproterozóico - GC - e o Paleoproterozóico - STI - (1.500 - 2.200 Ma). Na porção setentrional da Ilha ocorre uma faixa de rochas metassedimentares de baixo grau metamórfico, estruturadas segundo a direção geral E-W. Predominam quartzo xistos, mica-quartzo xisto e quartzo-mica xistos muitas vezes com andaluzita e cordierita. Os dados geocronológicos, Sm-Nd (TDM), sugerem rochas fontes derivadas do manto durante o Paleoproterozóico (1.800-2.200 Ma). Rochas similares ocorrem a oeste, no continente, na região de Taquari, estendendo-se para sul como faixas relativamente estreitas, em meio aos granitóides do Domínio Paranaguá

Gravitational and electroweak unification by replacing diffeomorphisms with larger group

The covariance group for general relativity, the diffeomorphisms, is replaced by a group of coordinate transformations which contains the diffeomorphisms as a proper subgroup. The larger group is defined by the assumption that all observers will agree whether any given quantity is conserved. Alternatively, and equivalently, it is defined by the assumption that all observers will agree that the general relativistic wave equation describes the propagation of light. Thus, the group replacement is analogous to the replacement of the Lorentz group by the diffeomorphisms that led Einstein from special relativity to general relativity, and is also consistent with the assumption of constant light velocity that led him to special relativity. The enlarged covariance group leads to a non-commutative geometry based not on a manifold, but on a nonlocal space in which paths, rather than points, are the most primitive invariant entities. This yields a theory which unifies the gravitational and electroweak interactions. The theory contains no adjustable parameters, such as those that are chosen arbitrarily in the standard model.Comment: 28 pages