Exchange Interaction And Relaxation In Lual2:ce And Yal2:ce Intermetallic Compounds

The spin-flip scattering of conduction electrons due to Ce ions was measured by breaking the ESR bottleneck present in LuAl2:Gd and YAl2:Gd with the addition of Ce. The exchange interaction between the Ce ions and the conduction electrons was extracted using the model of Cornut and Coqblin. © 1975 The American Physical Society.1241298130

“Segues” in Botanica: una documentazione fotografica

researchNel contesto di una esercitazione in classe, è stato chiesto agli studenti iscritti al corso “Introductory Ethnobotany” dell’University of Hawai`i at Manoa di dare un nome a 40 esemplari di piante fresche evitando di utilizzare nomi co¬muni. Uno degli scopi di questo esercizio è stato quello di raccogliere informazioni riguardanti la reazione visiva degli studenti. Gli studenti hanno inventato nomi correlati a forma, colore ed altre caratteristiche morfologiche delle piante campione. Un modo significativo ed esplicativo per comprendere i risultati raccolti con questo esperimento è quello di raffigurare quello che effettivamente gli studenti hanno fatto in classe. Poiché le immagini sono uno stru¬mento potente per esprimere informazioni, il metodo uti¬lizzato in questo esperimento è presentato qui come doc¬umento fotografico con la speranza che ricercatori e in¬segnanti di altre parti del mondo possano condurre simili esercitazioni in classe con i propri studenti

PosterVote:expanding the action repertoire for local political activism

Online and digital technologies support and extend the action repertoires of localized social movements. In this paper we examine the ways by which digital technologies can support ‘on-the-ground ’ activist communities in the development of social movements. After identifying some of the challenges of deploying conventional voting and consultation technologies for activism, we examine situated political action in local communities through the design and deployment of a low-cost community voting prototype, PosterVote. We deploy PosterVote in two case studies with two local community organizations identifying the features that supported or hindered grassroots democratic practices. Through interviews with these communities, we explore the design of situated voting systems to support grassroots democratic practices and participation within an ecology of social action. Author Keywords Democracy; activism; participation; e-votin

The Goldbeter-Koshland switch in the first-order region and its response to dynamic disorder

In their classical work (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 1981, 78:6840-6844), Goldbeter and Koshland mathematically analyzed a reversible covalent modification system which is highly sensitive to the concentration of effectors. Its signal-response curve appears sigmoidal, constituting a biochemical switch. However, the switch behavior only emerges in the "zero-order region", i.e. when the signal molecule concentration is much lower than that of the substrate it modifies. In this work we showed that the switching behavior can also occur under comparable concentrations of signals and substrates, provided that the signal molecules catalyze the modification reaction in cooperation. We also studied the effect of dynamic disorders on the proposed biochemical switch, in which the enzymatic reaction rates, instead of constant, appear as stochastic functions of time. We showed that the system is robust to dynamic disorder at bulk concentration. But if the dynamic disorder is quasi-static, large fluctuations of the switch response behavior may be observed at low concentrations. Such fluctuation is relevant to many biological functions. It can be reduced by either increasing the conformation interconversion rate of the protein, or correlating the enzymatic reaction rates in the network.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures, accepted by PLOS ON

Influence of through-flow on linear pattern formation properties in binary mixture convection

We investigate how a horizontal plane Poiseuille shear flow changes linear convection properties in binary fluid layers heated from below. The full linear field equations are solved with a shooting method for realistic top and bottom boundary conditions. Through-flow induced changes of the bifurcation thresholds (stability boundaries) for different types of convective solutions are deter- mined in the control parameter space spanned by Rayleigh number, Soret coupling (positive as well as negative), and through-flow Reynolds number. We elucidate the through-flow induced lifting of the Hopf symmetry degeneracy of left and right traveling waves in mixtures with negative Soret coupling. Finally we determine with a saddle point analysis of the complex dispersion relation of the field equations over the complex wave number plane the borders between absolute and convective instabilities for different types of perturbations in comparison with the appropriate Ginzburg-Landau amplitude equation approximation. PACS:47.20.-k,47.20.Bp, 47.15.-x,47.54.+rComment: 19 pages, 15 Postscript figure

Experience with telemedicine among rheumatology clinicians during the COVID-19 pandemic: an international survey

Objective: The aim was to assess rheumatology clinicians' perceptions of telemedicine and their experiences before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey and collected responses from rheumatology clinicians worldwide, between November 2020 and February 2021, regarding use and perceptions of telemedicine in rheumatology. We summarized data with descriptive statistics and qualitative analysis for free-text responses. Results: The survey was completed by 349 rheumatology clinicians from 49 countries; 59% were female and about two-thirds were in the 30-50 years age group. Academic affiliations were held by 55% of participants, and 44% were from North America. Before the pandemic, 24% of participants had experience with telemedicine, whereas about three-quarters used telemedicine for the first time during the pandemic. Overall, 56% thought they provided less adequate care with telemedicine. More than half of clinicians felt that telemedicine was adequate for evaluating crystalline arthritis, inflammatory arthritis and lupus flares. Telemedicine was felt to be inadequate for flares of myositis, vasculitis and scleroderma. Technical problems were reported in 29% of telemedicine encounters and were most commonly related to patient-encountered difficulties. Conclusion: Most rheumatology clinicians used telemedicine for the first time during the pandemic. The quality of care provided was thought to be inferior to that provided in person for specific clinical situations. Additional efforts are needed to address barriers to effective telemedicine, such as patient-related technology issues, challenges with building rapport and performing a physical examination, and to define the appropriate scope of clinical scenarios conducive to telemedicine

The inflammatory response in transgastric surgery: gastric content leak leads to localized inflammatory response and higher adhesive disease

Risk of gastric spillage during transgastric surgery is a potential complication of NOTES procedures. The aim of this study was to determine risk outcomes from gastric spillage in a rat survival model by measuring local and systemic inflammatory markers, adhesive disease, and morbidity. We performed a minilaparotomy with needle aspiration of 2 ml of gastric contents mixed with 2 ml of sterile saline (study group, SG) or 4 ml of sterile saline (control group, CG) injected into the peritoneal cavity of 60 male rats. Inflammatory markers (TNFα, IL-6, and IL-10) were analyzed at 1, 3, 6, and 24 h postoperatively by obtaining plasma levels and peritoneal washings. At necropsy, the peritoneal cavity was examined grossly for adhesions. Adhesions were seen more frequently in the SG versus the CG (100% vs. 33.3%, p < 0.014). There was a significant difference in the peritoneal TNFα levels in the SG compared with the CG, which peaked 1 h after surgery (p < 0.02). Both peritoneal IL-6 and IL-10 levels were higher in the SG versus the CG, which peaked 3 h after surgery (p < 0.005 and p < 0.001, respectively). All peritoneal inflammatory markers returned to undetectable levels at 24 h for both groups. Plasma cytokines were undetectable at all time intervals. The inflammatory response was found to be a localized and not systemic event, with plasma cytokine levels remaining normal while peritoneal washings revealed a brisk, short-lived localized inflammatory response. There was a significantly higher rate of adhesive disease in the SG compared with the CG; this, however did not translate into a difference in apparent clinical outcome. We conclude that gastric leakage in this NOTES rodent model induces a localized inflammatory response, followed by mild to moderate adhesive disease. This may be important in human NOTES

First Test Results of the Trans-Impedance Amplifier Stage of the Ultra-fast HPSoC ASIC

We present the first results from the HPSoC ASIC designed for readout of Ultra-fast Silicon Detectors. The 4-channel ASIC manufactured in 65 nm CMOS by TSMC has been optimized for 50 um thick AC-LGAD. The evaluation of the analog front end with \b{eta}-particles impinging on 3x3 AC-LGAD arrays (500 um pitch, 200x200 um2 metal) confirms a fast output rise time of 600 ps and good timing performance with a jitter of 45 ps. Further calibration experiments and TCT laser studies indicate some gain limitations that are being investigated and are driving the design of the second-generation pre-amplification stages to reach a jitter of 15 ps.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure