Renormalized interactions with a realistic single particle basis

Neutron-rich isotopes in the sdpf space with Z < 15 require modifications to derived effective interactions to agree with experimental data away from stability. A quantitative justification is given for these modifications due to the weakly bound nature of model space orbits via a procedure using realistic radial wavefunctions and realistic NN interactions. The long tail of the radial wavefunction for loosely bound single particle orbits causes a reduction in the size of matrix elements involving those orbits, most notably for pairing matrix elements, resulting in a more condensed level spacing in shell model calculations. Example calculations are shown for 36Si and 38Si.Comment: 6 page

Central and Peripheral GABAA Receptor Regulation of the Heart Rate Depends on the Conscious State of the Animal

Intuitively one might expect that activation of GABAergic inhibitory neurons results in bradycardia. In conscious animals the opposite effect is however observed. GABAergic neurons in nucleus ambiguus hold the ability to control the activity of the parasympathetic vagus nerve that innervates the heart. Upon GABA activation the vagus nerve will be inhibited leaving less parasympathetic impact on the heart. The picture is however blurred in the presence of anaesthesia where both the concentration and type of anaesthetics can result in different effects on the cardiovascular system. This paper reviews cardiovascular outcomes of GABA activation and includes own experiments on anaesthetized animals and isolated hearts. In conclusion, the impact of changes in GABAergic input is very difficult to predict in these settings, emphasizing the need for experiments performed in conscious animals when aiming at determining the cardiovascular effects of compounds acting on GABAergic neurons

Predicting time to graduation at a large enrollment American university

The time it takes a student to graduate with a university degree is mitigated by a variety of factors such as their background, the academic performance at university, and their integration into the social communities of the university they attend. Different universities have different populations, student services, instruction styles, and degree programs, however, they all collect institutional data. This study presents data for 160,933 students attending a large American research university. The data includes performance, enrollment, demographics, and preparation features. Discrete time hazard models for the time-to-graduation are presented in the context of Tinto's Theory of Drop Out. Additionally, a novel machine learning method: gradient boosted trees, is applied and compared to the typical maximum likelihood method. We demonstrate that enrollment factors (such as changing a major) lead to greater increases in model predictive performance of when a student graduates than performance factors (such as grades) or preparation (such as high school GPA).Comment: 28 pages, 11 figure

Constraints on the relative sizes of intervening Mg II-absorbing clouds and quasar emitting regions

Context: A significantly higher incidence of strong (rest equivalent width W_r > 1 {\AA}) intervening Mg II absorption is observed along gamma-ray burst (GRB) sight-lines relative to those of quasar sight-lines. A geometrical explanation for this discrepancy has been suggested: the ratio of the beam size of the source to the characteristic size of a Mg II absorption system can influence the observed Mg II equivalent width, if these two sizes are comparable. Aims: We investigate whether the differing beam sizes of the continuum source and broad-line region of Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) quasars produce a discrepancy between the incidence of strong Mg II absorbers illuminated by the quasar continuum region and those of absorbers illuminated by both continuum and broad-line region light. Methods: We perform a semi-automated search for strong Mg II absorbers in the SDSS Data Release 7 quasar sample. The resulting strong Mg II absorber catalog is available online. We measure the sight-line number density of strong Mg II absorbers superimposed on and off the quasar C IV 1550 {\AA} and C III] 1909 {\AA} emission lines. Results: We see no difference in the sight-line number density of strong Mg II absorbers superimposed on quasar broad emission lines compared to those superimposed on continuum-dominated spectral regions. This suggests that the Mg II-absorbing clouds typically observed as intervening absorbers in quasar spectra are larger than the beam sizes of both the continuum-emitting regions and broad line-emitting regions in the centers of quasars, corresponding to a lower limit of the order of 10^17} cm for the characteristic size of a Mg II absorbing cloud.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures. Edit: fixed a missing cross-referenc

Large-scale shell-model study of the Sn isotopes

We summarize the results of an extensive study of the structure of the Sn isotopes using a large shell-model space and effective interactions evaluated from realistic two-nucleon potentials. For a fuller account, see ref. [1]

Den vanskelige samtalen; Hvordan leger og sykepleiere opprettholder eget selv og respektabilitet i en følelsesladd ansikt-til-ansikt interaksjon med pasienten

Dette prosjektet er en kvalitativ sosiologisk studie av hvordan leger og sykepleiere opprettholder eget selv og respektabilitet i den vanskelige samtalen med pasienten. Empiri og teori er innhentet ved bruk av kvalitative semistrukturerte intervjuer og litteraturstudie. Deltakerne i intervjuene er en lege og tre sykepleiere ved en spesialhelseavdeling for kreftsykdom. Det ble brukt strategisk utvalg i rekrutteringen av deltakerne. Erving Goffman`s mikrointeraksjonisme og Arlie Hochschild`s begrep «emotional labour», danner det teoretiske bakteppet for prosjektet. Den vanskelige samtalen hvor pasienten får budskapet om alvorlig, potensielt dødelig sykdom er preget av vanskelige følelser. Som budbringere opplever legen og sykepleierne at trygghet er en viktig faktor for opprettholdelse av eget selv og respektabilitet. Det ukrenkelige og hellige selvet er under konstant trussel, og strategier som «face-work» og spesielt erfaring viser seg å være avgjørende i denne prosessen. Ansikt–til–ansikt interaksjoner krever at aktørene har en felles oppfatning av situasjonen. Gjennom gjensidig verdighet og respekt viser aktørene god og taktfull oppførsel, som danner grunnlaget for at samhandlingen opprettholdes. Legen og sykepleierne spiller ut yrkesrollen frontstage blant pasienter og pårørende. Backstage på medisinrommet er det rom for de ekte og nære følelsene. Vi lever i en tid som er preget av resultatstyring og effektivitet. Legen og sykepleierne opplever et sterkt tidspress, noe som er til hinder for deres følelsesarbeid. Markedsstyring og new public management har bidratt til effektivisering av spesialhelsetjenesten, men flere aktører mener vi nå bør dra i nødbremsen. Markedsstyring og resultatfokus må erstattes med kvalitet, god faglighet, nok tid til pasienten og ivaretakelse av helsepersonell

Novel features of nuclear forces and shell evolution in exotic nuclei

Novel simple properties of the monopole component of the effective nucleon-nucleon interaction are presented, leading to the so-called monopole-based universal interaction. Shell structures are shown to change as functions of $N$ and $Z$ consistently with experiments. Some key cases of this shell evolution are discussed, clarifying the effects of central and tensor forces. The validity of the present tensor force is examined in terms of the low-momentum interaction V$_{low k}$ and the Q$_{box}$ formalism.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure