Ordered Loop Current States in Bilayer Graphene

While single-layer graphene shows extraordinary phenomena which are stable against electronic interactions, the non-interacting state of bilayer graphene is unstable to infinitesimal interactions leading to one of many possible exotic states. Indeed a gapped state is found in experiments but none of the states proposed so far can provide full accounts of its properties. Here we show that a magnetoelectric (ME) state is consistent with the experimental observations. This state breaks time-reversal symmetry through a pair of spontaneously generated current loops in each layer, and has odd-parity with respect to the two layers. We also suggest further experiments to check whether the ME state is indeed the gapped state found in experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figure

Optimizing Multimodal Transportation Access to Support Commuting Among Low-Income Transit Riders with Social Distancing

During the COVID-19 pandemic, LA Metro has encouraged social distancing among passengers—especially at stations of high-demand routes—and has increased fixed-route transit (FRT) services. However, potential impacts of social distancing on the performance of FRT services remain mostly unknown. This research evaluates the accessibility of FRT buses with social distancing using the ridership data collected on four FRT routes: 105, 108, 111, and 115 of the LA Metro\u27s A Line stations located in low-income neighborhoods. This research shows that social distancing of six feet can impact FRT\u27s accessibility to destination stations, and maximum accessibility is achieved only for a certain number of stops served—which is less than the current number of stops served. The FRT routes 105, 108, 111 and 115 have maximum accessibility with social distancing for the number of stops served equal to 65, 52, 52 and 50, respectively. The methodology used in this research can help decision-makers understand how FRT bus frequencies are impacted by social distancing measures, and the results can guide the transit authorities developing FRT service among low-income commuters during and after the pandemic

Evaluating Innovative Financing Mechanisms for the California High-Speed Rail Project

Millions of dollars are involved in high-speed rail (HSR) infrastructure construction and maintenance. Large-scale projects like HSR require funding from a variety of avenues beyond those available through public monies. Although HSR serves the general public’s mobility needs, any funds (whether State or Federal) flowing from the public exchequer usually undergo strict review and scrutiny. Funds from public agencies are always limited, making such traditional financing mechanisms unsustainable for fulfilling HSR’s long-term operational and maintenance cost needs—on top of initial costs involved in construction. Therefore, any sustainable means of financing HSR projects would always be welcome. This research presents an alternate revenue generation mechanism that could be sustainable for financing HSR’s construction, operation, and maintenance. The methodology involves determining key HSR stations, which, after development and improvement, could significantly add value to businesses and real estate growth. Any form of real estate taxes levied on properties surrounding such stations could substantially support the HSR project’s funding needs. In this research, a bi-objective optimization problem is posed in conjunction with a Pareto-optimal front framework to identify those key stations. With 28 California HSR stations used as an example, it was observed that the four proposed HSR stations in Fullerton, Millbrae-SFO, San Francisco Transbay Terminal, and San Diego would be excellent candidates for development. Their development could increase the economic vitality of surrounding businesses. The findings could serve as valuable information for California HSR authorities to focus on developing key stations that would generate an alternate funding source for an HSR project facing funding challenges

Molecular biology and pathogenesis of hepatitis E virus

The hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a small RNA virus and the etiological agent for hepatitis E, a form of acute viral hepatitis. The virus has a feco-oral transmission cycle and is transmitted through environmental contamination, mainly through drinking water. Recent studies on the isolation of HEV-like viruses from animal species also suggest zoonotic transfer of the virus. The absence of small animal models of infection and efficient cell culture systems has precluded virological studies on the replication cycle and pathogenesis of HEV. A vaccine against HEV has undergone successful clinical testing and diagnostic tests are available. This review describes HEV epidemiology, clinical presentation, pathogenesis, molecular virology and the host response to HEV infection. The focus is on published literature in the past decade

Recent Advances in Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma

More recently, DLBCL has witnessed advances in the molecular profiling and treatment of patients with refractory and relapsed disease. DLBCL is biologically and clinically a heterogeneous disease. Despite its aggressive behavior, DLBCL is a potentially curable disease with overall survival of 94 and 55% in patients with low and high rIPI scores, respectively. The combination of anti-CD 20 monoclonal antibody rituximab and cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, oncovin (vincristine) and prednisone (R-CHOP) chemotherapy every 3 weeks is the first line treatment. Radiotherapy is reserved for the patients with bulky disease who fail to achieve complete remission after first line treatment. CNS prophylaxis is reserved for the patients with high lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels and involvement of more than one extranodal sites and for the patients with involvement of selective extranodal sites like testes and orbits (the sanctuary sites). Patients who suffer relapse after first line treatment receive high-dose chemotherapy supported by autologous stem cell transplantation (HDC/ASCT). Variants of DLBCL like double-hit (presence of MYC and BCL2/BCL6) and triple-hit (presence of MYC, BCL2 and BCL6) lymphomas are treated differently and these patients have worse outcome. Several novel immunotherapeutic agents like checkpoint inhibitors and chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CART) are being investigated in randomized trials on patients with DLBCL

An Experimental Approach for Encryption and Decryption of Image using Canonical Transforms & Scrambling Technique

Data security is a prime objective of various researchers & organizations. Because we have to send the data from one end to another end so it is very much important for the sender that the information will reach to the authorized receiver & with minimum loss in the original data. Data security is required in various fields like banking, defense, medical etc. So our objective here is that how to secure the data. This study is performed on MATLAB R2016b with standard databasegrey scale images like Barbara, Cameraman and Lenna or by using the personalize images in standard format. First of all, the images are scrambled and then the generation of a new complex image took place. Initially phase mask is applied on the complex image by using RPM 1, and then the complex image is encrypted by using LCT of first order. Again the phase mask RPM 2 is applied on the encrypted image followed by the LCT of second order to get the encrypted image finally. Reverse process is applied to get the original image. Various parameters are calculated which shows various aspects. Like Change in the value of MSE with change in order of transform tells the quality of encrypted image. Correlation coefficient of encrypted and decrypted image also shows the difference between the encrypted and decrypted image. The original image is then reconstructed and histogram of all these images analyzed. Robustness and imperceptibility of images increases by the proposed method