The Rhombi-Chain Bose-Hubbard Model: geometric frustration and interactions

We explore the effects of geometric frustration within a one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model using a chain of rhombi subject to a magnetic flux. The competition of tunnelling, self-interaction and magnetic flux gives rise to the emergence of a pair-superfluid (pair-Luttinger liquid) phase besides the more conventional Mott-insulator and superfluid (Luttinger liquid) phases. We compute the complete phase diagram of the model by identifying characteristic properties of the pair-Luttinger liquid phase such as pair correlation functions and structure factors and find that the pair-Luttinger liquid phase is very sensitive to changes away from perfect frustration (half-flux). We provide some proposals to make the model more resilient to variants away from perfect frustration. We also study the bipartite entanglement properties of the chain. We discover that, while the scaling of the block entropy pair-superfluid and of the single-particle superfluid leads to the same central charge, the properties of the low-lying entanglement spectrum levels reveal their fundamental difference.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figure

Practical Strategies and Advice for Managing Ethical Concerns in End-of-Life Research

poster abstractProblem/Issue Statement A growing national interest in improving end-of-life care has increased the amount of research involving dying patients and their families. However, questions about how to best balance the pressing need for research with protecting participants trouble both investigators and institutional review boards (IRBs). Furthermore, ethical concerns were identified as a potential barrier to advancing end-of-life science at the 2004 NIH State of the Science Consensus Conference. This NIH-funded study describes ethical concerns and practical strategies for managing ethical challenges in the conduct of end-of-life research. Description of Research Methods: A qualitative, exploratory case study design followed the development of end-of-life research from proposal generation through the review process. Inclusion criteria mirrored those used in the NIH State of the Science Report. Cases were identified through a search of active studies in the NIH RePORT database and an internet search of active research funded by private foundations and institutions. Data were collected from a purposive sample of 34 principal investigators who participated by phone in semistructured interviews and provided document data regarding their experiences with the grant and IRB review processes. Interviews were recorded and transcribed with identifying information removed to protect confidentiality. Relevant document data were extracted and de-identified. Data were analyzed using exploratory qualitative case study methods. Results: The most common ethical concerns about research with end-of-life populations were recruitment strategies, the burden of study procedures, and population vulnerability. Strategies to address these concerns included gathering data about the benefits of research participation, consulting with the IRB and with more experienced researchers, using non-threatening language in the consent and other materials, being flexible in data collection protocols to accommodate participant limitations, creating back-up plans in the event of crisis, partnering with clinicians to ensure prompt attention to symptom reports, and addressing the training and emotional needs of research staff . PIs advise IRBs to seek out expert consultants for end-of-life studies, work collaboratively with investigators, simplify the consent process, and be open to the benefits of research participation for dying patients and their families rather than assuming harm will occur. Conclusion: Investigators use a variety of strategies to manage ethical issues in the conduct of end-oflife research. They advise IRBs to seek out expertise, enhance knowledge of the population, and work collaboratively with investigators. Future research will focus on gathering systematic data regarding the experiences of dying patients and their families with end-of-life research

A Guide to Integrating Behavioral/Process Addictions into Counselor Education Programs

Changes in CACREP standards and DSM-5diagnoses reflect the need to train counselors in the screening and treatment of behavioral/process additions (BPAs). This guide presents foundational issues counselor educators and supervisors may consider when developing an addictions course inclusive of BPAs. It also highlights components of a sample syllabus for a BPA course, including student learning outcomes (SLOs), course topics, materials, and activities/assignments. Developing curricula inclusive of BPAs is a way for counselor educators to begin to advocate for comprehensive addictions curricula within existing counselor education programs, in order to improve the competency of the counselors they train

A Guide to Integrating Behavioral/Process Addictions into Counselor Education Programs

Changes in CACREP standards and DSM-5 diagnoses reflect the need to train counselors in the screening and treatment of behavioral/process additions (BPAs). This guide presents foundational issues counselor educators and supervisors may consider when developing an addictions course inclusive of BPAs. It also highlights components of a sample syllabus for a BPA course, including student learning outcomes (SLOs), course topics, materials, and activities/assignments. Developing curricula inclusive of BPAs is a way for counselor educators to begin to advocate for comprehensive addictions curricula within existing counselor education programs, in order to improve the competency of the counselors they train

Compassion and Vigilance: Investigators' Strategies To Manage Ethical Concerns in Palliative and End-of-Life Research

Ethical concerns were identified as a potential barrier to advancing palliative and end-of-life science at the 2004 National Institutes of Health State of the Science Meeting. However, data are lacking about the nature of ethical concerns and strategies for balancing the need to advance science with human subjects protections

Physiological concentrations of bile acids down-regulate agonist induced secretion in colonic epithelial cells

In patients with bile acid malabsorption, high concentrations of bile acids enter the colon and stimulate Cl− and fluid secretion, thereby causing diarrhoea. However, deoxycholic acid (DCA), the predominant colonic bile acid, is normally present at lower concentrations where its role in regulating transport is unclear. Thus, the current study set out to investigate the effects of physiologically relevant DCA concentrations on colonic epithelial secretory function. Cl− secretion was measured as changes in short-circuit current across voltage-clamped T84 cell monolayers. At high concentrations (0.5–1 mM), DCA acutely stimulated Cl− secretion but this effect was associated with cell injury, as evidenced by decreased transepithelial resistance (TER) and increased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release. In contrast, chronic (24 hrs) exposure to lower DCA concentrations (10–200 μM) inhibited responses to Ca2+ and cAMP-dependent secretagogues without altering TER, LDH release, or secretagogue-induced increases in intracellular second messengers. Other bile acids – taurodeoxycholic acid, chenodeoxycholic acid and cholic acid – had similar antisecretory effects. DCA (50 μM) rapidly stimulated phosphorylation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFr) and both ERK and p38 MAPKs (mitogen-activated protein kinases). The EGFr inhibitor, AG1478, and the protein synthesis inhibitor, cycloheximide, reversed the antisecretory effects of DCA, while the MAPK inhibitors, PD98059 and SB203580, did not. In summary, our studies suggest that, in contrast to its acute prosecretory effects at pathophysiological concentrations, lower, physiologically relevant, levels of DCA chronically down-regulate colonic epithelial secretory function. On the basis of these data, we propose a novel role for bile acids as physiological regulators of colonic secretory capacity

"Now he walks and walks, as if he didn't have a home where he could eat": food, healing, and hunger in Quechua narratives of madness

In the Quechua-speaking peasant communities of southern Peru, mental disorder is understood less as individualized pathology and more as a disturbance in family and social relationships. For many Andeans, food and feeding are ontologically fundamental to such relationships. This paper uses data from interviews and participant observation in a rural province of Cuzco to explore the significance of food and hunger in local discussions of madness. Carers’ narratives, explanatory models, and theories of healing all draw heavily from idioms of food sharing and consumption in making sense of affliction, and these concepts structure understandings of madness that differ significantly from those assumed by formal mental health services. Greater awareness of the salience of these themes could strengthen the input of psychiatric and psychological care with this population and enhance knowledge of the alternative treatments that they use. Moreover, this case provides lessons for the global mental health movement on the importance of openness to the ways in which indigenous cultures may construct health, madness, and sociality. Such local meanings should be considered by mental health workers delivering services in order to provide care that can adjust to the alternative ontologies of sufferers and carers

Bereavement following a fatal overdose: The experiences of adults in England and Scotland

Aims: Overdoses contribute disproportionately to drug-related deaths (DRDs) in the UK, yet little is known about the experiences and needs of those who are bereaved by such deaths, and how their experiences and needs might differ from other bereavements associated with substance use. Methods: An interview study with 32 adults in England and Scotland (part of a larger study). Findings: Five themes describe the core experiences of this group of bereaved people: drug use, the death, official processes, stigma, and overdose awareness and prevention. Together, these findings offer new insights in to the key features of this type of bereavement; for example, living with substance use including previous overdoses, difficult circumstances surrounding the death, having to negotiate the complex procedures involved in processing the death, the stigma such deaths attract, and feelings of guilt, self-blame and an unworthiness to grieve. Conclusions: There are ways in which bereavement following an overdose differs from bereavement following other deaths associated with alcohol or drugs. Understanding the experiences and needs of this marginalised group can help improve support for them. Furthermore, this group’s experience of witnessing and/or responding to previous overdoses indicates the value in prevention programmes targeting relatives/friends. © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis

Characterization of In Vivo Keratin 19 Phosphorylation on Tyrosine-391

Keratin polypeptide 19 (K19) is a type I intermediate filament protein that is expressed in stratified and simple-type epithelia. Although K19 is known to be phosphorylated on tyrosine residue(s), conclusive site-specific characterization of these residue(s) and identification potential kinases that may be involved has not been reported.In this study, biochemical, molecular and immunological approaches were undertaken in order to identify and characterize K19 tyrosine phosphorylation. Upon treatment with pervanadate, a tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor, human K19 (hK19) was phosphorylated on tyrosine 391, located in the 'tail' domain of the protein. K19 Y391 phosphorylation was confirmed using site-directed mutagenesis and cell transfection coupled with the generation of a K19 phospho (p)-Y391-specific rabbit antibody. The antibody also recognized mouse phospho-K19 (K19 pY394). This tyrosine residue is not phosphorylated under basal conditions, but becomes phosphorylated in the presence of Src kinase in vitro and in cells expressing constitutively-active Src. Pervanadate treatment in vivo resulted in phosphorylation of K19 Y394 and Y391 in colonic epithelial cells of non-transgenic mice and hK19-overexpressing mice, respectively.Human K19 tyrosine 391 is phosphorylated, potentially by Src kinase, and is the first well-defined tyrosine phosphorylation site of any keratin protein. The lack of detection of K19 pY391 in the absence of tyrosine phosphatase inhibition suggests that its phosphorylation is highly dynamic