The sticking probability of D2O-water on ice: Isotope effects and the influence of vibrational excitation

International audienceThe present study measures the sticking probability of heavy water (D2O) on H2O- and on D2O-ice and probes the influence of selective OD-stretch excitation on D2O sticking on these ices. Molecular beam techniques are combined with infrared laser excitation to allow for precise control of incident angle, translational energy, and vibrational state of the incident molecules. For a translational energy of 69 kJ/mol and large incident angles (θ ≥ 45°), the sticking probability of D2O on H2O-ice was found to be 1% lower than on D2O-ice. OD-stretch excitation by IR laser pumping of the incident D2O molecules produces no detectable change of the D2O sticking probability (<10−3). The results are compared with other gas/surface systems for which the effect of vibrational excitation on trapping has been probed experimentally

Assessment of an Innovative Medication Adherence Training Exercise in an Interprofessional Training Program

OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of an innovative training exercise on post-graduate healthcare trainees’ knowledge and perspectives of medication adherence and skills gained within an interprofessional training program. METHODS Postgraduate trainees (medicine, pharmacy, advanced practice nursing, and mental health) at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center’s Center of Excellence in Primary Care Education interprofessional training program participated in a medication adherence exercise and training session. The session included a formal PowerPoint presentation, an innovative medication adherence simulation exercise, clinical scenarios, and a journal club. Verbal feedback during the debriefing session occurred after the medication adherence simulation exercise and throughout the session. RESULTS Six trainees participated in the exercise and training session (2 medical residents, 2 nurse practitioner residents, 1 pharmacy resident, and 1 clinical psychology fellow). Trainees reported developing a greater understanding for barriers patients face with medication adherence, empathy, and strategies to manage patients’ medication adherence. CONCLUSIONS The medication adherence exercise and training session provided an opportunity for healthcare professionals from different professions to discuss medication adherence and share their educational training and previous clinical experiences within an interprofessional training program

The transmembrane protein LRIG2 increases tumor progression in skin carcinogenesis

Over the last few decades, the number of cases of non‐melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) has risen to over 3 million cases every year worldwide. Members of the ERBB receptor family are important regulators of skin development and homeostasis and, when dysregulated, contribute to skin pathogenesis. In this study, we investigated leucine‐rich repeats and immunoglobulin‐like domains 2 (LRIG2), a transmembrane protein involved in feedback loop regulation of the ERBB receptor family during NMSC. LRIG2 was identified to be up‐regulated in various types of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), but little is known about LRIG2 in cutaneous SCC (cSCC). To investigate the function of LRIG2 in cSCC in vivo, we generated a skin‐specific LRIG2 overexpressing transgenic mouse line (LRIG2‐TG) using the Tet‐Off system. We employed the 7,12‐dimethylbenz(a)anthracene/12‐O‐tetra‐decanoylphorbol‐13‐acetate (DMBA/TPA) two‐stage chemical carcinogenesis model and analyzed the skin during homeostasis and tumorigenesis. LRIG2‐TG mice did not exhibit alterations in skin development or homeostasis but showed an interaction between LRIG2 and thrombospondin‐1, which is often involved in angiogenesis and tumorigenesis. However, during carcinogenesis, transgenic animals showed significantly increased tumor progression and a more rapid development of cSCC. This was accompanied by changes in the ERBB system. After a single TPA application, inflammation of the epidermis was enhanced during LRIG2 overexpression. In human skin samples, LRIG2 expression was identified in the basal layer of the epidermis and in hair follicles of normal skin, but also in cSCC samples. In conclusion, epidermal LRIG2 excess is associated with activated EGFR/ERBB4‐MAPK signaling and accelerated tumor progression in experimentally induced NMSC, suggesting LRIG2 as a potential oncoprotein in skin

Comparison-Based MPC in Star Topology (Full Version)

With the large amount of data generated nowadays, analysis of this data has become eminent. Since a vast amount of this data is private, it is also important that the analysis is done in a secure manner. Comparison-based functions are commonly used in data analysis. These functions use the comparison operation as the basis. Secure computation of such functions have been discussed for median by Aggarwal et al. (EUROCRYPT\u2704) and for convex hull by Shelat and Venkitasubramaniam (ASIACRYPT\u2715). In this paper, we present a generic protocol for the secure computation of comparison-based functions. In order to scale to a large number of participants, we propose this protocol in a star topology with an aim to reduce the communication complexity. We also present a protocol for one specific comparison-based function, the $k^{th}$ ranked element. The construction of one of our protocols leaks some intermediate values but does not reveal information about an individual party\u27s inputs. We demonstrate that our protocol offers better performance than the protocol for $k^{th}$ ranked element by Tueno et. al. (FC\u2720) by providing an implementation

Quantum state specific reactant preparation in a molecular beam by rapid adiabatic passage

Highly efficient preparation of molecules in a specific rovibrationally excited state for gas/surface reactivity measurements is achieved in a molecular beam using tunable infrared (IR) radiation from a single mode continuous wave optical parametric oscillator (cw-OPO). We demonstrate that with appropriate focusing of the IR radiation, molecules in the molecular beam crossing the fixed frequency IR field experience a Doppler tuning that can be adjusted to achieve complete population inversion of a two-level system by rapid adiabatic passage (RAP). A room temperature pyroelectric detector is used to monitor the excited fraction in the molecular beam and the population inversion is detected and quantified using IR bleaching by a second IR-OPO. The second OPO is also used for complete population transfer to an overtone or combination vibration via double resonance excitation using two spatially separated RAP processes

Exciton spin relaxation in single semiconductor quantum dots

We study the relaxation of the exciton spin (longitudinal relaxation time $T_{1}$) in single asymmetrical quantum dots due to an interplay of the short--range exchange interaction and acoustic phonon deformation. The calculated relaxation rates are found to depend strongly on the dot size, magnetic field and temperature. For typical quantum dots and temperatures below 100 K, the zero--magnetic field relaxation times are long compared to the exciton lifetime, yet they are strongly reduced in high magnetic fields. We discuss explicitly quantum dots based on (In,Ga)As and (Cd,Zn)Se semiconductor compounds.Comment: accepted for Phys. Rev.

Alignment dependent chemisorption of vibrationally excited CH4(ν3) on Ni(100), Ni(110), and Ni(111)

International audienceWe present a stereodynamics study of the dissociative chemisorption of vibrationally excited methane on the (100), (110), and (111) planes of a nickel single crystal surface. Using linearly polarized infrared excitation of the antisymmetric C-H stretch normal mode vibration (ν3), we aligned the angular momentum and C-H stretch amplitude of CH4(ν3) in the laboratory frame and measured the alignment dependence of state-resolved reactivity of CH4 for the ν3 = 1, J = 0-3 quantum states over a range of incident translational energies. For all three surfaces studied, in-plane alignment of the C-H stretch results in the highest dissociation probability and alignment along the surface normal in the lowest reactivity. The largest alignment contrast between the maximum and minimum reactivity is observed for Ni(110), which has its surface atoms arranged in close-packed rows separated by one layer deep troughs. For Ni(110), we also probed for alignment effects relative to the direction of the Ni rows. In-plane C-H stretch alignment perpendicular to the surface rows results in higher reactivity than parallel to the surface rows. The alignment effects on Ni(110) and Ni(100) are independent of incident translational energy between 10 and 50 kJ/mol. Quantum state-resolved reaction probabilities are reported for CH4(ν3) on Ni(110) for translational energies between 10 and 50 kJ/mol

The interaction of reinforcement sensitivity and life events in the prediction of anhedonic depression and mixed anxiety-depression symptoms

This study examined the relationship between reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST), life stress, and internalizing symptoms. Generally, low sensitivity of the behavioral approach system (BAS) predicts depression whereas high sensitivity of the behavioral inhibition system (BIS) predicts anxiety and depression. However, few studies have examined how RST variables interact with life stress to predict these symptoms. It was hypothesized that higher BIS sensitivity would predict greater anxious arousal; lower BAS sensitivity and higher BIS sensitivity would predict greater anhedonic depression as predicted by the joint subsystems hypothesis (JSH); and low BAS, high BIS, and high life stress would interact to predict anhedonic depression symptoms whereas high BIS with high life stress would predict anxious symptoms. A sample of 285 undergraduates completed measures of RST, life stress, and internalizing symptoms. Greater BIS sensitivity predicted mixed anxiety–depression and anhedonic depressed symptoms, lower BAS predicted anhedonic depression symptoms, and life events predicted mixed anxiety–depression. Three-way interactions indicated that for high life stress, BIS predicted both types of symptoms. For low life stress, low BAS and high BIS predicted anhedonic depression whereas high BIS and high BAS predicted mixed anxiety–depression. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the JSH