Comment on ``A new efficient method for calculating perturbative energies using functions which are not square integrable'': regularization and justification

The method recently proposed by Skala and Cizek for calculating perturbation energies in a strict sense is ambiguous because it is expressed as a ratio of two quantities which are separately divergent. Even though this ratio comes out finite and gives the correct perturbation energies, the calculational process must be regularized to be justified. We examine one possible method of regularization and show that the proposed method gives traditional quantum mechanics results.Comment: 6 pages in REVTeX, no figure

Nonequilibrium Forces Between Neutral Atoms Mediated by a Quantum Field

We study all known and as yet unknown forces between two neutral atoms, modeled as three dimensional harmonic oscillators, arising from mutual influences mediated by an electromagnetic field but not from their direct interactions. We allow as dynamical variables the center of mass motion of the atom, its internal degrees of freedom and the quantum field treated relativistically. We adopt the method of nonequilibrium quantum field theory which can provide a first principle, systematic and unified description including the intrinsic field fluctuations and induced dipole fluctuations. The inclusion of self-consistent back-actions makes possible a fully dynamical description of these forces valid for general atom motion. In thermal equilibrium we recover the known forces -- London, van der Waals and Casimir-Polder forces -- between neutral atoms in the long-time limit but also discover the existence of two new types of interatomic forces. The first, a `nonequilibrium force', arises when the field and atoms are not in thermal equilibrium, and the second, which we call an `entanglement force', originates from the correlations of the internal degrees of freedom of entangled atoms.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figure

Logarithmic perturbation theory for quasinormal modes

Logarithmic perturbation theory (LPT) is developed and applied to quasinormal modes (QNMs) in open systems. QNMs often do not form a complete set, so LPT is especially convenient because summation over a complete set of unperturbed states is not required. Attention is paid to potentials with exponential tails, and the example of a Poschl-Teller potential is briefly discussed. A numerical method is developed that handles the exponentially large wavefunctions which appear in dealing with QNMs.Comment: 24 pages, 4 Postscript figures, uses ioplppt.sty and epsfig.st

Stability and Reversibility of Lithium Borohydrides Doped by Metal Halides and Hydrides

In an effort to develop reversible metal borohydrides with high hydrogen storage capacities and low dehydriding temperature, doping LiBH4 with various metal halides and hydrides has been conducted. Several metal halides such as TiCl3, TiF3, and ZnF2 effectively reduced the dehydriding temperature through a cation exchange interaction. Some of the halide doped LiBH4 are partially reversible. The LiBH4 + 0.1TiF3 desorbed 3.5 wt % and 8.5 wt % hydrogen at 150 and 450 °C, respectively, with subsequent reabsorption of 6 wt % hydrogen at 500 °C and 70 bar observed. XRD and NMR analysis of the rehydrided samples confirmed the reformation of LiBH4. The existence of the (B12H12)−2 species in dehydrided and rehydrided samples gives insight into the resultant partial reversibility. A number of other halides, MgF2, MgCl2, CaCl2, SrCl2, and FeCl3, did not reduce the dehydriding temperature of LiBH4 significantly. XRD and TGA-RGA analyses indicated that an increasing proportion of halides such as TiCl3, TiF3, and ZnCl2 from 0.1 to 0.5 mol makes lithium borohydrides less stable and volatile. Although the less stable borohydrides such as LiBH4 + 0.5TiCl3, LiBH4 + 0.5TiF3, and LiBH4 + 0.5ZnCl2 release hydrogen at room temperature, they are not reversible due to unrecoverable boron loss caused by diborane emission. In most cases, doping that produced less stable borohydrides also reduced the reversible hydrogen uptake. It was also observed that halide doping changed the melting points and reduced air sensitivity of lithium borohydrides

Assay validation and interspecific comparison of salivary glucocorticoids in three amphibian species

Amphibians are one of the most threatened groups of species, facing stressors ranging from habitat degradation and pollution to disease and overexploitation. Stress hormones (glucocorticoids, GCs) provide one quantitative metric of stress,and developing non-invasive methods for measuring GCs in amphibians would clarify how diverse environmental stressors impact individual health in this taxonomic group. Saliva is an advantageous matrix for quantifying GCs, as it is sampled less invasively than plasma while still detecting both baseline and acute elevation of GCs within a short timeframe. Little work has employed this method in amphibian species, and it has never been pharmacologically and biologically validated. Here, we conduct analytical, pharmacological and biological validation experiments for measuring salivary corticosterone in three amphibian species: the American bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana), the green frog (Rana clamitans) and the northern leopard frog (Rana pipiens). These species are faced with a broad range of environmental challenges, and in part of its range R. pipiens populations are currently in decline. In addition to demonstrating that this method can be reliably used in multiple amphibian species, we present an examination of intrinsic biological factors (sex, body condition) that may contribute to GC secretion, and a demonstration that saliva can be collected from free-living animals in the field to quantify corticosterone. Our findings suggest that saliva may be useful for less invasively quantifying GCs in many amphibian species

Association between SGLT2 Inhibitors vs DPP-4 Inhibitors and Risk of Pneumonia Among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Context: Patients with diabetes are at a higher risk of pneumonia and pneumonia mortality. Sodium glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2is), the latest class of glucose-lowering agents, were shown to reduce the risk of pneumonia in clinical trials. However, the real-world effectiveness of SGLT2is on the risk of pneumonia is largely unknown. Objective: To investigate the associations between SGLT2is use and the risk of pneumonia and pneumonia mortality compared with dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP4is) using an electronic medical database in Hong Kong. Design A retrospective cohort study. The “prevalent new-user” design was adopted to account for the previous exposure to the study drugs being compared. Propensity score (PS) matching (1:4) was used to balance the baseline characteristics of the 2 groups. Setting and participants Electronic health data of type 2 diabetes patients using SGLT2is and DPP4is between 2015 and 2018 was collected from the Clinical Data Analysis and Reporting System. Main Outcome Measures: Pneumonia incidence and mortality. Results: The PS-matched cohort consisted of 6664 users of SGLT2is and 26 656 users of DPP4is, with a mean follow-up of 3.8 years. Poisson regression showed that SGLT2is use was associated with lower risk of pneumonia compared with DPP4is with an absolute rate difference of 4.05 per 1000 person-years (95% CI, 2.61-5.51). The corresponding incidence rate ratio was 0.71 (95% CI, 0.62-0.81). Similar reduction in risk of pneumonia death was observed (hazard ratio 0.57; 95% CI, 0.42-0.77). Conclusion: Compared with DPP4is, SGLT2is use was associated with a reduced risk of pneumonia and pneumonia mortality in a real-world setting

Digital Twinning in Smart Grid Networks: Interplay, Resource Allocation and Use Cases

Motivated by climate change, increasing industrialization and energy reliability concerns, the smart grid is set to revolutionize traditional power systems. Moreover, the exponential annual rise in number of grid-connected users and emerging key players e.g. electric vehicles strain the limited radio resources, which stresses the need for novel and scalable resource management techniques. Digital twin is a cutting-edge virtualization technology that has shown great potential by offering solutions for inherent bottlenecks in traditional wireless networks. In this article, we set the stage for various roles digital twinning can fulfill by optimizing congested radio resources in a proactive and resilient smart grid. Digital twins can help smart grid networks through real-time monitoring, advanced precise modeling and efficient radio resource allocation for normal operations and service restoration following unexpected events. However, reliable real-time communications, intricate abstraction abilities, interoperability with other smart grid technologies, robust computing capabilities and resilient security schemes are some open challenges for future work on digital twins.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Constitutive turnover of histone H2A.Z at yeast promoters requires the preinitiation complex

The assembly of the preinitiation complex (PIC) occurs upstream of the +1 nucleosome which, in yeast, obstructs the transcription start site and is frequently assembled with the histone variant H2A.Z. To understand the contribution of the transcription machinery in the disassembly of the +1 H2A.Z nucleosome, conditional mutants were used to block PIC assembly. A quantitative ChIP-seq approach, which allows detection of global occupancy change, was employed to measure H2A.Z occupancy. Blocking PIC assembly resulted in promoter-specific H2A.Z accumulation, indicating that the PIC is required to evict H2A.Z. By contrast, H2A.Z eviction was unaffected upon depletion of INO80, a remodeler previously reported to displace nucleosomal H2A.Z. Robust PIC-dependent H2A.Z eviction was observed at active and infrequently transcribed genes, indicating that constitutive H2A.Z turnover is a general phenomenon. Finally, sites with strong H2A.Z turnover precisely mark transcript starts, providing a new metric for identifying cryptic and alternative sites of initiation

Radiosurgery for brainstem metastases with and without whole brain radiotherapy: clinical series and literature review

Objective The objective of this study was to investigate outcomes for patients with brainstem metastases treated with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). Methods Patients with brainstem metastases treated with SRS between April 2006 and June 2012 were identified from a prospective database. Patient and treatment-related factors were recorded. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to calculate survival and freedom from local and distant brain progression. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression was used to identify factors important for overall survival. Results In total, 44 patients received SRS for 48 brainstem metastases of whom 33 (75 %) also received whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT): 23 patients (52 %) WBRT prior to SRS, 6 (13.6 %) WBRT concurrently with SRS and 4 (9.0 %) WBRT after SRS. Eight patients received a second course ofWBRTat further progression. Median target volume was 1.33 cc (range 0.04–12.17) and median prescribed marginal dose was 15 Gy (range 10–22). There were four cases of local failure, and 6-month and 1-year freedom from local failure was 84.6 and 76.9 %, respectively. Median overall survival (OS) was 5.4 months. There were four cases of radionecrosis, 2 (4.8 %) of which were symptomatic. The absence of external beam brain radiotherapy (predominantly WBRT) showed a trend towards improved OS on univariate analysis. Neither local nor distant brain failure significantly impacted OS. Conclusion This retrospective series of patients treated with SRS for brainstem metastases, largely in combination with at least one course of WBRT, demonstrates that this approach is safe and results in good local control. In this cohort, no variables significantly impacted OS, including intracranial control

Duality and Symmetry in Chiral Potts Model

We discover an Ising-type duality in the general $N$-state chiral Potts model, which is the Kramers-Wannier duality of planar Ising model when N=2. This duality relates the spectrum and eigenvectors of one chiral Potts model at a low temperature (of small $k'$) to those of another chiral Potts model at a high temperature (of $k'^{-1}$). The $\tau^{(2)}$-model and chiral Potts model on the dual lattice are established alongside the dual chiral Potts models. With the aid of this duality relation, we exact a precise relationship between the Onsager-algebra symmetry of a homogeneous superintegrable chiral Potts model and the $sl_2$-loop-algebra symmetry of its associated spin-$\frac{N-1}{2}$ XXZ chain through the identification of their eigenstates.Comment: Latex 34 pages, 2 figures; Typos and misprints in Journal version are corrected with minor changes in expression of some formula