Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking of Population between Two Dynamic Attractors in a Driven Atomic Trap: Ising-class Phase Transition

We have observed spontaneous symmetry breaking of atomic populations in the dynamic phase-space double-potential system, which is produced in the parametrically driven magneto-optical trap of atoms. We find that the system exhibits similar characteristics of the Ising-class phase transition and the critical value of the control parameter, which is the total atomic number, can be calculated. In particular, the collective effect of the laser shadow becomes dominant at large atomic number, which is responsible for the population asymmetry of the dynamic two-state system. This study may be useful for investigation of dynamic phase transition and temporal behaviour of critical phenomena.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

The Pandemic Leadership Model: A Study of Medical Student Values During COVID-19

Background: Leadership training in medical school continues to grow. Little information exists to guide leadership program development. Concurrently, the COVID-19 pandemic provides a real-world crucible of leadership, allowing insight into qualities and characteristics medical students value. We aim to determine what students value in leadership during a pandemic and the implicit framework students use. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional, qualitative study using a five-item novel survey instrument developed by a consensus group of experts from family medicine, leadership development, medical education, and survey research to elicit student perceptions of effective and ineffective leadership qualities and examples during the COVID-19 pandemic at the University of Michigan Medical School. We used thematic analysis to identify overarching themes to build a model of leadership integrated with existing theory. Results: 162 students participated across all years of medical school. We identified themes of Communication, Other-Orientation, Personal Characteristics, Decisive Action, and Use of Information. These five themes were then built into the model of Pandemic Leadership within the context of complexity leadership theory and collective leadership theory. This model represents qualities and characteristics students value in good leaders during a crisis. Conclusion: This study is unique in its focus on student perceptions of leadership qualities during a real-world laboratory for leadership. We hope that this information, along with the pandemic leadership model, can serve as the first step toward relevant leadership training programs in medical education. Leadership training programs in medical education would likely benefit from grounding in the student values identified by this study

Modular automated solid phase synthesis of dermatan sulfate oligosaccharides

Dermatan sulfates are glycosaminoglycan polysaccharides that serve a multitude of biological roles as part of the extracellular matrix. Orthogonally protected D-galactosamine and L-iduronic acid building blocks and a photo- cleavable linker are instrumental for the automated synthesis of dermatan sulfate oligosaccharides. Conjugation-ready oligosaccharides were obtained in good yield

The relationship between vacation factors and socio-demographic and travelling characteristics: the case of Japanese leisure travelers

Abstract Understanding consumers' travel decision-making and choice of destination helps in developing appropriate marketing strategies. To have a better understanding about Japanese leisure travellers, this study was designed to identify the relative importance of vacation motives as perceived by Japanese travellers; to identify the underlying dimensions of the vacation motives, and to examine the signi"cant di!erences between the derived vacation factors and sociodemographic variables and travelling characteristics. A survey was conducted with 406 Japanese leisure travellers to Hong Kong. The results show that &enjoying holidays' is the most important vacation motive. Five vacation factors were derived: &bene"ts sought', &attractions and climate', &cosmopolitan city', &exploration' and &dream ful"llment'. A relationship between vacation factors among the sociodemographic and travelling characteristics were also identi"ed in the study

Dependence of spontaneous polarization on stacking sequence in SiC revealed by local Schottky barrier height variations over a partially formed 8H-SiC layer on a 4H-SiC substrate

Ballistic electron emission microscopy was used to measure the increase of local Schottky barrier (compared to the surrounding 4H-SiC area) over a partial 8H-SiC layer that is the surface-exposed tail of an 8H stacking fault inclusion extending from 4H substrate. This local increase is believed to be due to polarization charge induced at the interface of partial 8H layer and underlying 4H host, resulting from the spontaneous polarization (SP) difference between SiC regions with different bilayer stacking. This is a direct experimental probe of the dependence of SP in SiC on local stacking sequence by measuring carrier transport.open1

A genome-wide structure-based survey of nucleotide binding proteins in M. tuberculosis

Nucleoside tri-phosphates (NTP) form an important class of small molecule ligands that participate in, and are essential to a large number of biological processes. Here, we seek to identify the NTP binding proteome (NTPome) in M. tuberculosis (M.tb), a deadly pathogen. Identifying the NTPome is useful not only for gaining functional insights of the individual proteins but also for identifying useful drug targets. From an earlier study, we had structural models of M.tb at a proteome scale from which a set of 13,858 small molecule binding pockets were identified. We use a set of NTP binding sub-structural motifs derived from a previous study and scan the M.tb pocketome, and find that 1,768 proteins or 43% of the proteome can theoretically bind NTP ligands. Using an experimental proteomics approach involving dye-ligand affinity chromatography, we confirm NTP binding to 47 different proteins, of which 4 are hypothetical proteins. Our analysis also provides the precise list of binding site residues in each case, and the probable ligand binding pose. As the list includes a number of known and potential drug targets, the identification of NTP binding can directly facilitate structure-based drug design of these targets

Erratum to: Preclinical activity of gefitinib in non-keratinizing nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines and biomarkers of response

published_or_final_versionSpringer Open Choice, 01 Dec 201