Modulated Floquet Topological Insulators

Floquet topological insulators are topological phases of matter generated by the application of time-periodic perturbations on otherwise conventional insulators. We demonstrate that spatial variations in the time-periodic potential lead to localized quasi-stationary states in two-dimensional systems. These states include one-dimensional interface modes at the nodes of the external potential, and fractionalized excitations at vortices of the external potential. We also propose a setup by which light can induce currents in these systems. We explain these results by showing a close analogy to px+ipy superconductors

Temperature effects on high strain rate properties of graphite/epoxy composites

A unidirectional graphite epoxy material (AS4/3501-6) was characterized at strain rates ranging from 5 x 10(exp 6) s(exp -1) to 5(exp -1), at room temperature and at 128 C. Results are presented in the form of stress-strain curves to failure. The longitudinal properties remain nearly unchanged with strain rate and temperature. The transverse modulus increases with strain rate but decreases with temperature. The transverse strength and transverse ultimate tensile strain have a positive rate sensitivity at low rates, which changes to negative at intermediate rates and returns to positive rate sensitivity at the highest rates tested. A temperature-time equivalence principle was applied and master curves were obtained for the transverse mechanical properties. The in-plane shear modulus and in-plane shear strength have a positive rate sensitivity. The ultimate intralaminar shear strain has a positive rate sensitivity at low rates, which changes to negative at high rates. At the elevated temperature of 128 C, the ultimate shear strain is 25 to 30 percent higher than the room temperature value, but its strain rate dependence is moderate

Validity and reliability of computerized measurement of lumbar intervertebral disc height and volume from magnetic resonance images

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Magnetic resonance (MR) examinations of morphologic characteristics of intervertebral discs (IVDs) have been used extensively for biomechanical studies and clinical investigations of the lumbar spine. Traditionally, the morphologic measurements have been performed using time- and expertise-intensive manual segmentation techniques not well suited for analyses of large-scale studies.

Emotion Goals: What do Sexual Offenders Want to Feel?

Sexual offenders typically experience more negative emotions and greater difficulties in regulating emotions than non-offenders. However, limited data exist on what sexual offenders want to feel (i.e., their emotion goals). Notably, emotion goals play a key role in emotion regulation and contribute to emotional experience. The present study tested whether sexual offenders (N = 31) reported higher scores for negative emotion goals and lower scores for positive emotion goals, compared with general offenders (N = 26) and non-offenders (N = 26). In addition, we tested whether sexual offenders differed from the other two groups in their perceived pleasantness and perceived utility of emotions. Sexual offenders reported greater scores for the emotion goal of sadness, and lower scores for the emotion goal of excitement, compared with both general offenders and non-offenders. State and trait levels of these emotions could not fully account for these differences. Furthermore, sexual offenders reported lower perceived pleasantness for sadness than general offenders and lower perceived pleasantness for excitement compared with both other groups. Finally, sexual offenders reported greater perceived utility of sadness than non-offenders. These novel findings and their implications for research and interventions are discussed in the context of sexual offenders' emotional dysfunction

Supporting Privacy Management via Community Experience and Expertise

We propose a novel approach for supporting privacy management that leverages community experience and expertise via the process of social navigation. Social navigation simplifies the often complex task of managing privacy settings, and systems that employ social navigation can advantageously complement user privacy management processes. We implemented our approach to privacy management in the Acumen system; Acumen uses social navigation to enable individuals to manage their Internet cookies both manually and automatically based on the behavior of others in the community. We present the Acumen system in detail and discuss data obtained from a six-week, preliminary deployment of Acumen. Lastly, we discuss challenges that systems implementing our approach must address if they are to be successful

Cинтез та антимікробна активність продуктів аніонарилювання з сульфаніламідним фрагментом

Products containing the sulfonamide fragment have been synthesized by anionarylation reaction. 3-(4-Sulfonamidophenyl)2-thiocyanato(bromo)propanamides, 4-(2-thiocyanato(bromo, chloro)-2-phenylethyl)benzenesulfonamides, 2-(4-sulfonamidophenyl)fumaric and 2-bromo-3-(4-sulfonamidophenyl)butanedioic acids have been obtained by the copper-catalyst reaction of 4-sulfonamidophenyldiazonium tetrafluoroborate with acrylamide, styrene and fumaric acid with the yields of 36-82%. The anionarylation competing process is formation of 4-(iso)thiocyanato(chloro, bromo)benzenesulfonamides as Sandmeyer reaction products. In case of thiocyanatoarylation of fumaric acid 2-(4-sulfonamidophenyl)fumaric acid is selectively formed as an arylation product. The structure of the compounds synthesized has been confirmed by IR- and 1H NMR-spectra. The antimicrobial activity of these compounds in relation to the museum strains of staphylococcus, E.coli, aerobic bacillus and yeasts fungi has been studied. It has been found that sulfonamide derivatives are characterized by a high antibacterial and antifungal activity, which is the most pronounced for arylalkyl thiocyanates based on acrylamide. The research conducted has confirmed the positive impact of the sulfonamide fragment introduction in the structure of anionarylation products of unsaturated compounds to expand the range of the antimicrobial activity and decrease of the minimum inhibitory concentration.Реакцией анионарилирования синтезированы продукты, содержащие сульфаниламидный фрагмент. Взаимодействием тетрафторобората 4-сульфамидофенилдиазония с акриламидом, стиролом и фумаровой кислотой в каталитических условиях получены 3-(4-сульфамидофенил)-2-тиоцианато(бром) пропанамиды, 4-(2-тиоцианато(бром, хлор)-2-фенилэтил)бензолсульфонамиды, 2-(4-сульфамидофенил) фумаровая и 2-бром-3-(4-сульфамидофенил)бутандиовая кислоты с выходами 36-82%. Конкурирующим процессом реакции анионарилирования является образование продуктов реакции Зандмейера – 4 (изо) тиоцианато(хлор, бром)бензолсульфамидов. В случае тиоцианатоарилирования фумаровой кислоты селективно образуется продукт арилирования – 2-(4-сульфамидофенил)фумаровая кислота. Структура синтезированных соединений подтверждена данными ИК- и ЯМР 1Н-спектров. Исследовано противомикробное действие этих соединений относительно музейных штаммов стафилококков, кишечных палочек, аэробных бацилл и дрожжевых грибов. Установлено, что сульфамидные производные характеризуются противомикробной активностью, которая наиболее выражена для арилалкильних тиоцианатов на основе акриламида. Проведенные исследования подтвердили положительное влияние введения сульфаниламидного фрагмента в структуру продуктов анионарилирования непредельных соединений на расширение спектра их противомикробной активности и уменьшение значений минимальных ингибирующих концентраций.Реакцією аніонарилювання синтезовані продукти, що містять сульфаніламідний фрагмент. Взаємодією тетрафлуороборату 4-сульфамідофенілдіазонію із акриламідом, стиреном і фумаровою кислотою в умовах купрокаталізу одержані 3-(4-сульфамідофеніл)-2-тіоціанато(бромо)пропанаміди, 4-(2-тіоціанато(бромо,хлоро)2-фенілетил)бензенсульфонаміди, 2-(4-сульфамідофеніл)фумарова і 2-бромо-3-(4-сульфамідофеніл)бутандіова кислоти з виходами 36-82%. Конкуруючим процесом реакції аніонарилювання є утворення продуктів реакції Зандмейєра – 4-(ізо)тіоціанато(хлоро, бромо)бензенсульфонамідів. У випадку тіоціанатоарилювання фумарової кислоти селективно утворюється продукт арилювання – 2-(4-сульфамідофеніл)фумарова кислота. Структура синтезованих сполук підтверджена даними ІЧ- та ЯМР 1Н-спектрів. Досліджено антимікробну дію цих сполук відносно музейних штамів стафілококів, кишкових паличок, аеробних бацил, псевдомонад та дріжджових грибів. Встановлено, що сульфаніламідні похідні характеризуються антибактеріальною та протигрибковою активністю, яка найбільш виражена для арилалкільних тіоціанатів на основі акриламіду. Проведені дослідження підтвердили позитивний вплив введення сульфаніламідного фрагменту в структуру продуктів аніонарилювання ненасичених сполук на розширення спектра антимікробної активності і зменшення значень мінімальних інгібуючих концентрацій

Belief Revision and Delusions: How Do Patients with Schizophrenia Take Advice?

The dominant cognitive model that accounts for the persistence of delusional beliefs in schizophrenia postulates that patients suffer from a general deficit in belief revision. It is generally assumed that this deficit is a consequence of impaired reasoning skills. However, the possibility that such inflexibility affects the entire system of a patient's beliefs has rarely been empirically tested. Using delusion-neutral material in a well-documented advice-taking task, the present study reports that patients with schizophrenia: 1) revise their beliefs, 2) take into account socially provided information to do so, 3) are not overconfident about their judgments, and 4) show less egocentric advice-discounting than controls. This study thus shows that delusional patients' difficulty in revising beliefs is more selective than had been previously assumed. The specificities of the task and the implications for a theory of delusion formation are discussed

Artificial Sequences and Complexity Measures

In this paper we exploit concepts of information theory to address the fundamental problem of identifying and defining the most suitable tools to extract, in a automatic and agnostic way, information from a generic string of characters. We introduce in particular a class of methods which use in a crucial way data compression techniques in order to define a measure of remoteness and distance between pairs of sequences of characters (e.g. texts) based on their relative information content. We also discuss in detail how specific features of data compression techniques could be used to introduce the notion of dictionary of a given sequence and of Artificial Text and we show how these new tools can be used for information extraction purposes. We point out the versatility and generality of our method that applies to any kind of corpora of character strings independently of the type of coding behind them. We consider as a case study linguistic motivated problems and we present results for automatic language recognition, authorship attribution and self consistent-classification.Comment: Revised version, with major changes, of previous "Data Compression approach to Information Extraction and Classification" by A. Baronchelli and V. Loreto. 15 pages; 5 figure