1,859 research outputs found
Potential Benefits of the Jesuit Examen for Psychological Health and Well Being: A Pilot Study
The Jesuit Examen is a form of prayerful reflection on daily experiences that was introduced five centuries ago by St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus (better known as the Jesuits). The Examen may be utilized by diverse populations when adapted and secularized, which can be completed by substituting the language of God in the original Examen for more inclusive terms such as “love.” Although five centuries old, the 10–15-min daily reflective practice has not been subject to empirical research. Furthermore, research has not explored the effects of the Examen on psychological health and well-being in a workplace setting. Other religious practices, including mindfulness and yoga, are important and religiously derived but now secularized interventions that can be utilized in multiple work and other settings. The present pilot study focused on the potential effectiveness of using a secularized version of the Examen in the workplace to determine whether this practice can produce psychological and well-being health benefits, such as stress reduction and improvement in one’s satisfaction with life
Probing two topological surface bands of Sb2Te3 by spin-polarized photoemission spectroscopy
Using high resolution spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we
map the electronic structure and spin texture of the surface states of the
topological insulator Sb2Te3. In combination with density functional
calculations (DFT), we directly show that Sb2Te3 exhibits a partially occupied,
single spin-Dirac cone around the Fermi energy, which is topologically
protected. DFT obtains a spin polarization of the occupied Dirac cone states of
80-90%, which is in reasonable agreement with the experimental data after
careful background subtraction. Furthermore, we observe a strongly spin-orbit
split surface band at lower energy. This state is found at 0.8eV below the
Fermi level at the gamma-point, disperses upwards, and disappears at about
0.4eV below the Fermi level into two different bulk bands. Along the gamma-K
direction, the band is located within a spin-orbit gap. According to an
argument given by Pendry and Gurman in 1975, such a gap must contain a surface
state, if it is located away from the high symmetry points of the Brillouin
zone. Thus, the novel spin-split state is protected by symmetry, too.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figure
QPCR: Application for real-time PCR data management and analysis
BACKGROUND: Since its introduction quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) has become the standard method for quantification of gene expression. Its high sensitivity, large dynamic range, and accuracy led to the development of numerous applications with an increasing number of samples to be analyzed. Data analysis consists of a number of steps, which have to be carried out in several different applications. Currently, no single tool is available which incorporates storage, management, and multiple methods covering the complete analysis pipeline. RESULTS: QPCR is a versatile web-based Java application that allows to store, manage, and analyze data from relative quantification qPCR experiments. It comprises a parser to import generated data from qPCR instruments and includes a variety of analysis methods to calculate cycle-threshold and amplification efficiency values. The analysis pipeline includes technical and biological replicate handling, incorporation of sample or gene specific efficiency, normalization using single or multiple reference genes, inter-run calibration, and fold change calculation. Moreover, the application supports assessment of error propagation throughout all analysis steps and allows conducting statistical tests on biological replicates. Results can be visualized in customizable charts and exported for further investigation. CONCLUSION: We have developed a web-based system designed to enhance and facilitate the analysis of qPCR experiments. It covers the complete analysis workflow combining parsing, analysis, and generation of charts into one single application. The system is freely available a
Photoemission of BiSe with Circularly Polarized Light: Probe of Spin Polarization or Means for Spin Manipulation?
Topological insulators are characterized by Dirac cone surface states with
electron spins aligned in the surface plane and perpendicular to their momenta.
Recent theoretical and experimental work implied that this specific spin
texture should enable control of photoelectron spins by circularly polarized
light. However, these reports questioned the so far accepted interpretation of
spin-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. We solve this puzzle and show that
vacuum ultraviolet photons (50-70 eV) with linear or circular polarization
probe indeed the initial state spin texture of BiSe while circularly
polarized 6 eV low energy photons flip the electron spins out of plane and
reverse their spin polarization. Our photoemission calculations, considering
the interplay between the varying probing depth, dipole selection rules and
spin-dependent scattering effects involving initial and final states explain
these findings, and reveal proper conditions for light-induced spin
manipulation. This paves the way for future applications of topological
insulators in opto-spintronic devices.Comment: Submitted for publication (2013
Properties of continuous Fourier extension of the discrete cosine transform and its multidimensional generalization
A versatile method is described for the practical computation of the discrete
Fourier transforms (DFT) of a continuous function given by its values
at the points of a uniform grid generated by conjugacy classes
of elements of finite adjoint order in the fundamental region of
compact semisimple Lie groups. The present implementation of the method is for
the groups SU(2), when is reduced to a one-dimensional segment, and for
in multidimensional cases. This simplest case
turns out to result in a transform known as discrete cosine transform (DCT),
which is often considered to be simply a specific type of the standard DFT.
Here we show that the DCT is very different from the standard DFT when the
properties of the continuous extensions of these two discrete transforms from
the discrete grid points to all points are
considered. (A) Unlike the continuous extension of the DFT, the continuous
extension of (the inverse) DCT, called CEDCT, closely approximates
between the grid points . (B) For increasing , the derivative of CEDCT
converges to the derivative of . And (C), for CEDCT the principle of
locality is valid. Finally, we use the continuous extension of 2-dimensional
DCT to illustrate its potential for interpolation, as well as for the data
compression of 2D images.Comment: submitted to JMP on April 3, 2003; still waiting for the referee's
Repor
Generalized iterated wreath products of cyclic groups and rooted trees correspondence
Consider the generalized iterated wreath product where . We
prove that the irreducible representations for this class of groups are indexed
by a certain type of rooted trees. This provides a Bratteli diagram for the
generalized iterated wreath product, a simple recursion formula for the number
of irreducible representations, and a strategy to calculate the dimension of
each irreducible representation. We calculate explicitly fast Fourier
transforms (FFT) for this class of groups, giving literature's fastest FFT
upper bound estimate.Comment: 15 pages, to appear in Advances in the Mathematical Science
Topological surface state under graphene for two-dimensional spintronics in air
Spin currents which allow for a dissipationless transport of information can
be generated by electric fields in semiconductor heterostructures in the
presence of a Rashba-type spin-orbit coupling. The largest Rashba effects occur
for electronic surface states of metals but these cannot exist but under
ultrahigh vacuum conditions. Here, we reveal a giant Rashba effect ({\alpha}_R
~ 1.5E-10 eVm) on a surface state of Ir(111). We demonstrate that its spin
splitting and spin polarization remain unaffected when Ir is covered with
graphene. The graphene protection is, in turn, sufficient for the spin-split
surface state to survive in ambient atmosphere. We discuss this result along
with evidences for a topological protection of the surface state.Comment: includes supplementary informatio
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Nocturia as an Unrecognized Symptom of Uncontrolled Hypertension in Black Men Aged 35 to 49 Years.
Background Hypertension is assumed to be asymptomatic. Yet, clinically significant nocturia (≥2 nightly voids) constitutes a putative symptom of uncontrolled hypertension. Black men with hypertension may be prone to nocturia because of blunted nocturnal blood pressure ( BP ) dipping, diuretic drug use for hypertension, and comorbidity that predisposes to nocturia. Here, we test the hypothesis that nocturia is a common and potentially reversible symptom of uncontrolled hypertension in black men. Methods and Results We determined the strength of association between nocturia (≥2 nightly voids) and high BP (≥135/85 mm Hg) by conducting in-person health interviews and measuring BP with an automated monitor in a large community-based sample of black men in their barbershops. Because nocturia is prevalent and steeply age-dependent after age 50 years, we studied men aged 35 to 49 years. Among 1673 black men (mean age, 43±4 years [ SD ]), those with hypertension were 56% more likely than men with normotension to have nocturia after adjustment for diabetes mellitus and sleep apnea (adjusted odds ratio, 1.56; 95% CI , 1.25-1.94 [ P<0.0001]). Nocturia prevalence varied by hypertension status, ranging from 24% in men with normotension to 49% in men whose hypertension was medically treated but uncontrolled. Men with untreated hypertension were 39% more likely than men with normotension to report nocturia ( P=0.02), whereas men whose hypertension was treated and controlled were no more likely than men with normotension to report nocturia ( P=0.69). Conclusions Uncontrolled hypertension was an independent determinant of clinically important nocturia in a large cross-sectional community-based study of non-Hispanic black men aged 35 to 49 years. Clinical Trial Registration URL : http://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unqiue identifier: NCT 02321618
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