Quantum waveguides with a lateral semitransparent barrier: spectral and scattering properties

We consider a quantum particle in a waveguide which consists of an infinite straight Dirichlet strip divided by a thin semitransparent barrier on a line parallel to the walls which is modeled by a $\delta$ potential. We show that if the coupling strength of the latter is modified locally, i.e. it reaches the same asymptotic value in both directions along the line, there is always a bound state below the bottom of the essential spectrum provided the effective coupling function is attractive in the mean. The eigenvalues and eigenfunctions, as well as the scattering matrix for energies above the threshold, are found numerically by the mode-matching technique. In particular, we discuss the rate at which the ground-state energy emerges from the continuum and properties of the nodal lines. Finally, we investigate a system with a modified geometry: an infinite cylindrical surface threaded by a homogeneous magnetic field parallel to the cylinder axis. The motion on the cylinder is again constrained by a semitransparent barrier imposed on a ``seam'' parallel to the axis.Comment: a LaTeX source file with 12 figures (11 of them eps); to appear in J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. Figures 3, 5, 8, 9, 11 are given at 300 dpi; higher resolution originals are available from the author

Generalized Phase Space Representation of Operators

Introducing asymmetry into the Weyl representation of operators leads to a variety of phase space representations and new symbols. Specific generalizations of the Husimi and the Glauber-Sudarshan symbols are explicitly derivedComment: latex, 8 pages, expanded version accepted by J. Phys.

Overcoming failure in infrastructure risk governance implementation: large dams journey

[EN] There is ample recognition of the risk inherent in our very existence and modes of social organization, with a reasonable expectation that implementing risk governance will result in enhanced resilience as a society. Despite this, risk governance is not a mainstream approach in the infrastructure sector, regardless of the increasing number of peer-reviewed published conceptualizations, mature procedures to support its application, or public calls to cope with systemic risks in our modern societies. This paper aims to offer a different view on the issue of risk governance, with focus in the analysis of the root causes of its relatively low degree of implementation in the infrastructure sector. We later analyze the impact of such essential causes, which we have grouped and labeled as the ontology, the concerns, the anathemas, and the forgotten, in the specific field of large dams. Finally, we describe the journey toward risk governance in the specific field of large dams, thus supporting the ultimate objective of this paper to facilitate an evidence-based approach to successful risk governance implementation within and outside the dam sector.This work was supported by Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España) [grant number BIA2013-48157-C2-1-R].Escuder Bueno, I.; Halpin, E. (2016). Overcoming failure in infrastructure risk governance implementation: large dams journey. Journal of Risk Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/13669877.2016.1215345SAbrahamsen, E. B., & Aven, T. (2012). Why risk acceptance criteria need to be defined by the authorities and not the industry? Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 105, 47-50. doi:10.1016/j.ress.2011.11.004Ardiles, L. D. Sanz, P. Moreno, E. Jenaro, J. Fleitz, and I. Escuder. 2011. “Risk Assessment and Management of 26 Dams Operated by the Duero River Authority in Spain”.Dam Engineering. 21 (4): 313–328. Willmington Publishing. ISSN 0958-9341.Van Asselt, M. B. A., & Renn, O. (2011). Risk governance. Journal of Risk Research, 14(4), 431-449. doi:10.1080/13669877.2011.553730Van Asselt, M., & Vos, E. (2008). Wrestling with uncertain risks: EU regulation of GMOs and the uncertainty paradox. Journal of Risk Research, 11(1), 281-300. doi:10.1080/13669870801990806Aven, T. (2010). Misconceptions of Risk. doi:10.1002/9780470686539Aven, T. (2012). Foundational Issues in Risk Assessment and Risk Management. Risk Analysis, 32(10), 1647-1656. doi:10.1111/j.1539-6924.2012.01798.xAven, T. (2012). The risk concept—historical and recent development trends. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 99, 33-44. doi:10.1016/j.ress.2011.11.006Aven, T., & Renn, O. (2010). Response to Professor Eugene Rosa’s viewpoint to our paper. Journal of Risk Research, 13(3), 255-259. doi:10.1080/13669870903484369Aven, T., & Renn, O. (2010). Risk Management and Governance. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-13926-0Baecher, G. B., Paté, M. E., & De Neufville, R. (1980). Risk of dam failure in benefit-cost analysis. Water Resources Research, 16(3), 449-456. doi:10.1029/wr016i003p00449Black, J., & Baldwin, R. (2012). When risk-based regulation aims low: Approaches and challenges. Regulation & Governance, 6(1), 2-22. doi:10.1111/j.1748-5991.2011.01124.xBoholm, Å., Corvellec, H., & Karlsson, M. (2012). The practice of risk governance: lessons from the field. Journal of Risk Research, 15(1), 1-20. doi:10.1080/13669877.2011.587886Cox, L. A. (2009). Risk Analysis of Complex and Uncertain Systems. International Series in Operations Research & Management Science. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-89014-2Davis, D., Faber, B. A., & Stedinger, J. R. (2008). USACE Experience in Implementing Risk Analysis for Flood Damage Reduction Projects. Journal of Contemporary Water Research & Education, 140(1), 3-14. doi:10.1111/j.1936-704x.2008.00023.xDe Vries, G., Verhoeven, I., & Boeckhout, M. (2011). Taming uncertainty: the WRR approach to risk governance. Journal of Risk Research, 14(4), 485-499. doi:10.1080/13669877.2011.553728Escuder-Bueno, I., Matheu, E., T. Castillo-Rodríguez, J., & T. Castillo-Rodríguez, J. (Eds.). (2011). Risk Analysis, Dam Safety, Dam Security and Critical Infrastructure Management. doi:10.1201/b11588Ezell, B. C., Bennett, S. P., von Winterfeldt, D., Sokolowski, J., & Collins, A. J. (2010). Probabilistic Risk Analysis and Terrorism Risk. Risk Analysis, 30(4), 575-589. doi:10.1111/j.1539-6924.2010.01401.xForrester, I., & Hanekamp1, J. C. (2006). Precaution, Science and Jurisprudence: a Test Case. Journal of Risk Research, 9(4), 297-311. doi:10.1080/13669870500042974Funabashi, Y., & Kitazawa, K. (2012). Fukushima in review: A complex disaster, a disastrous response. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 68(2), 9-21. doi:10.1177/0096340212440359Hartford, D. N. D., & Baecher, G. B. (2004). Risk and uncertainty in dam safety. doi:10.1680/rauids.32705IRGC (International Risk Governance Council) 2005.Risk Governance: Towards an Integrative Approach, White Paper No. 1, O. Renn with an Annex by P. Graham. Geneva: International Risk Governance Council.Krause, P., Fox, J., Judson, P., & Patel, M. (1998). Qualitative risk assessment fulfils a need. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 138-156. doi:10.1007/3-540-49426-x_7Kröger, W. (2008). Critical infrastructures at risk: A need for a new conceptual approach and extended analytical tools. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 93(12), 1781-1787. doi:10.1016/j.ress.2008.03.005Lofstedt, R. E. (2010). Risk communication guidelines for Europe: a modest proposition. Journal of Risk Research, 13(1), 87-109. doi:10.1080/13669870903126176(2008). Journal of Contemporary Water Research & Education, 140(1). doi:10.1111/jcwr.2008.140.issue-1Park, J., Seager, T. P., Rao, P. S. C., Convertino, M., & Linkov, I. (2012). Integrating Risk and Resilience Approaches to Catastrophe Management in Engineering Systems. Risk Analysis, 33(3), 356-367. doi:10.1111/j.1539-6924.2012.01885.xRenn, O., & Walker, K. D. (Eds.). (2008). Global Risk Governance. International Risk Governance Council Bookseries. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-6799-0Renn, O., Klinke, A., & van Asselt, M. (2011). Coping with Complexity, Uncertainty and Ambiguity in Risk Governance: A Synthesis. AMBIO, 40(2), 231-246. doi:10.1007/s13280-010-0134-0Rosa, E. A. (2010). The logical status of risk – to burnish or to dull. Journal of Risk Research, 13(3), 239-253. doi:10.1080/13669870903484351Slovic, P. (1987). Perception of risk. Science, 236(4799), 280-285. doi:10.1126/science.3563507Vlek, C. (2010). Judicious management of uncertain risks: I. Developments and criticisms of risk analysis and precautionary reasoning. Journal of Risk Research, 13(4), 517-543. doi:10.1080/13669871003629887Zhao, X., Hwang, B.-G., & Low, S. P. (2015). Enterprise Risk Management in International Construction Operations. doi:10.1007/978-981-287-549-

Indian Affairs in Dakota. Memorial and Resolution of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Dakota Relative to Indian Affairs in Said Territory

This Memorial and Resolution of the legislature of the Territory of Dakota, referred to the United States (US) House of Representatives Committee on Indian Affairs and ordered to be printed January 28, 1868, states the position of the Legislative Assembly of Dakota Territory regarding several matters involving relations and bureaucratic arrangement between the US government and local tribes and Dakota Territory and those tribes, and argues for Dakota Territory playing a greater role in the management of the tribal affairs and the administration of US obligations, including procurement and transportation of Indian goods. Among changes argued for in the document are that the parts of the territory west of Nebraska and south of Montana be organized into a new territory, being almost wholly unconnected and having no interests in common with the other settled portion of the Territory, and that, If the system of small reservations is to be abandoned, and the Indians consolidated and given a territory in Dakota for their exclusive use and benefit, that territory should be located north of the forty-fifth parallel of north latitude. This section of country is capable of containing and supporting all the Indians in Dakota. The document also cites the abundance of timber, gold and other valuable resources south of the 45th parallel as grounds for protesting a proposed plan to include the Black Hills in the Indian territory to be created for the exclusive benefit and habitation of the Indians that portion of Dakota known as the Black Hills.https://commons.und.edu/indigenous-gov-docs/1014/thumbnail.jp

Literature-based discovery of diabetes- and ROS-related targets

Abstract Background Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are known mediators of cellular damage in multiple diseases including diabetic complications. Despite its importance, no comprehensive database is currently available for the genes associated with ROS. Methods We present ROS- and diabetes-related targets (genes/proteins) collected from the biomedical literature through a text mining technology. A web-based literature mining tool, SciMiner, was applied to 1,154 biomedical papers indexed with diabetes and ROS by PubMed to identify relevant targets. Over-represented targets in the ROS-diabetes literature were obtained through comparisons against randomly selected literature. The expression levels of nine genes, selected from the top ranked ROS-diabetes set, were measured in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of diabetic and non-diabetic DBA/2J mice in order to evaluate the biological relevance of literature-derived targets in the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy. Results SciMiner identified 1,026 ROS- and diabetes-related targets from the 1,154 biomedical papers (http://jdrf.neurology.med.umich.edu/ROSDiabetes/). Fifty-three targets were significantly over-represented in the ROS-diabetes literature compared to randomly selected literature. These over-represented targets included well-known members of the oxidative stress response including catalase, the NADPH oxidase family, and the superoxide dismutase family of proteins. Eight of the nine selected genes exhibited significant differential expression between diabetic and non-diabetic mice. For six genes, the direction of expression change in diabetes paralleled enhanced oxidative stress in the DRG. Conclusions Literature mining compiled ROS-diabetes related targets from the biomedical literature and led us to evaluate the biological relevance of selected targets in the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/1/1755-8794-3-49.xmlhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/2/1755-8794-3-49-S7.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/3/1755-8794-3-49-S10.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/4/1755-8794-3-49-S8.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/5/1755-8794-3-49-S3.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/6/1755-8794-3-49-S1.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/7/1755-8794-3-49-S4.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/8/1755-8794-3-49-S2.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/9/1755-8794-3-49-S12.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/10/1755-8794-3-49-S11.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/11/1755-8794-3-49-S9.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/12/1755-8794-3-49-S5.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/13/1755-8794-3-49-S6.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/14/1755-8794-3-49.pdfPeer Reviewe

Malaria in a cohort of Javanese migrants to Indonesian Papua

The epidemiology of infection by Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax was investigated among Javanese migrants to an endemic region of Papua, Indonesia. A cohort of 243 migrants from Java was followed for malaria in a new settlement village in the endemic Armopa area of north–eastern Papua, beginning on the day each migrant arrived in the village. The subjects were monitored during home visits (three/week) and by the twice-monthly production of bloodsmears that were checked for malarial parasites. At the end of 33 months, 159 (65%) of the subjects remained under follow-up. The prevalence of parasitaemia in the village declined from 16% among those already living there when the study began in August 1996, to 5% when the study finished in June 1999. Over this period, 596 infections by P. falciparum and 723 by P. vivax occurred in the cohort, 22 and 27 of the subjects each experiencing at least six infections by P. falciparum and P. vivax, respectively. The incidence of malarial infection was higher during the first and second years post-migration (3.2 and 2.7 infections/person-year) than during the third (1.2 infections/person-year). Although the geometric mean parasite counts for P. falciparum increased over time (1209, 1478, and 1830 parasites/ml in the first, second and third years, respectively), the corresponding values for P. vivax (497, 535 and 490 parasites/ml ) showed no such trend. Only one of the nine subjects who developed severe malaria (requiring intravenous quinine therapy) was a child, giving an odds ratio for a case of severe malaria being in an adult of 6.1 (P=0.08)

Ally Financial Sale of Trust Preferred Securities Letter Agreements

Contains:- Letter Agreement between Ally Financial and the U.S. Department of Treasury - Form of Company Counsel Opinion - Form of Tax Counsel Opinion - Form of Delaware Counsel Trust Opinion - Form of Delaware Trustee Counsel Opinion - Form of the Institutional Trustee, The Guarantee Trustee and the Indenture Trustee Counsel Opinion - Letter from Ally Financial to the U.S. Department of Treasur