2,505 research outputs found
Interview with George and Margaret Isaacson by Andrea L’Hommedieu
Biographical NoteGeorge Steven Isaacson was born in New York on October 20, 1948, and grew up in Auburn, Maine. His father worked in a lumber business in Livermore Falls with his uncles. George was graduated from Bowdoin College and attended law school at the University of Pennsylvania, where he met his future wife, Margaret. After graduating, he clerked for Judge Thomas E. Delahanty and then went to work for a law firm in Portland, Maine. George Mitchell interviewed him for an attorney’s position with Jensen Baird law firm. At the time of this interview, he was a senior partner at Brann and Isaacson in Lewiston, Maine, an adjunct professor at Bowdoin College, and a lecturer at the University of Maine School of Law.
Margaret (McGaughey) Isaacson was born in Detroit, Michigan, on May 29, 1948. She lived in New York, attended college in California and law school at the University of Pennsylvania. Margaret practiced law in Boston for four years and then accepted a clerkship with Frank Coffin in Maine. When George Mitchell was appointed U.S. attorney and permitted a third assistant U.S. attorney position, Margaret was hired. At the time of this interview, Margaret had served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for thirty-two years.
SummaryInterview includes discussion of: George’s childhood in Auburn; growing up Jewish in Auburn; Margaret’s childhood; their meeting in law school; George’s clerkship in Maine; George’s recollections of Mitchell at Jensen Baird; Margaret’s moving to Maine for a clerkship with Frank Coffin and then as assistant U.S. attorney under Mitchell; the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Jim Brannigan; Mitchell’s management style; anecdote about Margaret’s working on drug cases with Mitchell; Mitchell’s appointment to federal judgeship; Mitchell’s 1974 gubernatorial campaign; Mitchell and rumors about the Supreme Court; Mitchell’s talent for litigation and his process in preparing a case; and Bowdoin College
What Drives Car Attitudes: An Analysis of How Demographics and Environmental Views Relate to Car Attitudes
Successfully marketing new, clean, car technologies to consumers requires an advertising strategy that fits consumers’ priorities and attitudes towards cars. We created a survey to study how attitudes towards cars are associated with demographics and environmental views. Our study examined car preferences and environmental concerns of a sample of Gettysburg College students in comparison to a national sample obtained from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Overall, we concluded that environmental beliefs are a significantly better prediction of car behaviors than demographics. We found that on average people would pay more for a car with a higher fuel economy, but not enough to cover the higher price of newer, cleaner technologies, such as hybrid cars. Gettysburg College students’ environmental concern scores were significantly higher on average than that of the general American population. Survey respondents from both samples supported devoting more research and resources to hybrid, electric, and biofuel technologies. However, in regards to their personal purchases they ranked safety and other qualities of the car as higher priorities than greenhouse gas emissions or fuel economy. According to our results, marketing electric cars as safe and reliable is a better strategy than marketing their high fuel economy
HIV-associated multi-centric Castleman’s disease with multiple organ failure: cuccessful treatment with rituximab
Introduction:
Multicentric Castleman's Disease (MCD), a lymphoproliferative disorder associated with Human Herpes Virus-8 (HHV-8) infection, is increasing in incidence amongst HIV patients. This condition is associated with lymphadenopathy, polyclonal gammopathy, hepato-splenomegaly and systemic symptoms. A number of small studies have demonstrated the efficacy of the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, rituximab, in treating this condition.
Case presentation:
We report the case of a 46 year old Zambian woman who presented with pyrexia, diarrhoea and vomiting, confusion, lymphadenopathy, and renal failure. She rapidly developed multiple organ failure following the initiation of treatment of MCD with rituximab. Following admission to intensive care (ICU), she received prompt multi-organ support. After 21 days on the ICU she returned to the haematology medical ward, and was discharged in remission from her disease after 149 days in hospital.
Conclusion:
Rituximab, the efficacy of which has thus far been examined predominantly in patients outside the ICU, in conjunction with extensive organ support was effective treatment for MCD with associated multiple organ failure. There is, to our knowledge, only one other published report of its successful use in an ICU setting, where it was combined with cyclophosphamide, adriamycin and prednisolone. Reports such as ours support the notion that critically unwell patients with HIV and haematological disease can benefit from intensive care
Causality re-established
Causality never gained the status of a "law" or "principle" in physics. Some
recent literature even popularized the false idea that causality is a notion
that should be banned from theory. Such misconception relies on an alleged
universality of reversibility of laws of physics, based either on determinism
of classical theory, or on the multiverse interpretation of quantum theory, in
both cases motivated by mere interpretational requirements for realism of the
theory. Here, I will show that a properly defined unambiguous notion of
causality is a theorem of quantum theory, which is also a falsifiable
proposition of the theory. Such causality notion appeared in the literature
within the framework of operational probabilistic theories. It is a genuinely
theoretical notion, corresponding to establish a definite partial order among
events, in the same way as we do by using the future causal cone on Minkowski
space. The causality notion is logically completely independent of the
misidentified concept of "determinism", and, being a consequence of quantum
theory, is ubiquitous in physics. In addition, as classical theory can be
regarded as a restriction of quantum theory, causality holds also in the
classical case, although the determinism of the theory trivializes it. I then
conclude arguing that causality naturally establishes an arrow of time. This
implies that the scenario of the "Block Universe" and the connected "Past
Hypothesis" are incompatible with causality, and thus with quantum theory: they
both are doomed to remain mere interpretations and, as such, not falsifiable,
similar to the hypothesis of "super-determinism". This article is part of a
discussion meeting issue "Foundations of quantum mechanics and their impact on
contemporary society".Comment: Presented at the Royal Society of London, on 11/12/ 2017, at the
conference "Foundations of quantum mechanics and their impact on contemporary
society". To appear on Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society
Electron-Energy-Loss Study of Stage-1 Potassium-Intercalated Graphite
Electron-energy-loss spectra of stage-1 K-intercalated graphite single crystals were obtained with a scanning transmission electron microscope. The complex dielectric function with electric polarization perpendicular to the c axis was derived by Kramers-Kronig analysis. The energy-loss peak at 2.5 eV is consistent with previous optical measurements, while the splitting of the one at 27 eV can be interpreted by folding the Brillouin zone of pristine graphite. Splittings and shifts of the interband transitions were observed and compared with calculations
On the High-dimensional Bak-Sneppen model
We report on extensive numerical simulations on the Bak-Sneppen model in high
dimensions. We uncover a very rich behavior as a function of dimensionality.
For d>2 the avalanche cluster becomes fractal and for d \ge 4 the process
becomes transient. Finally the exponents reach their mean field values for
d=d_c=8, which is then the upper critical dimension of the Bak Sneppen model.Comment: 4 pages, 3 eps figure
A Practical Algorithm for Managing Alzheimer\u27s Disease: What, When, and Why?
Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia and its prevalence is increasing. Recent developments in AD management provide improved ways of supporting patients and their caregivers throughout the disease continuum. Managing cardiovascular risk factors, maintaining an active lifestyle (with regular physical, mental and social activity) and following a Mediterranean diet appear to reduce AD risk and may slow cognitive decline. Pharmacologic therapy for AD should be initiated upon diagnosis. All of the currently available cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs; donepezil, galantamine, and rivastigmine) are indicated for mild-to-moderate AD. Donepezil (10 and 23 mg/day) and rivastigmine transdermal patch (13.3 mg/24 h) are indicated for moderate-to-severe AD. Memantine, an N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonist, is approved for moderate-to-severe AD. ChEIs have been shown to improve cognitive function, global clinical status and patients\u27 ability to perform activities of daily living. There is also evidence for reduction in emergence of behavioral symptoms with ChEI therapy. Treatment choice (e.g., oral vs. transdermal) should be based on patient or caregiver preference, ease of use, tolerability, and cost. Treatment should be individualized; patients can be switched from one ChEI to another if the initial agent is poorly tolerated or ineffective. Memantine may be introduced in moderate-to-severe disease stages. Clinicians will regularly monitor symptoms and behaviors, manage comorbidities, assess function, educate and help caregivers access information and support, evaluate patients\u27 fitness to drive or own firearms, and provide advice about the need for legal and financial planning. Review of caregiver well-being and prompt referral for support is vital
A Transiting Jupiter Analog
Decadal-long radial velocity surveys have recently started to discover
analogs to the most influential planet of our solar system, Jupiter. Detecting
and characterizing these worlds is expected to shape our understanding of our
uniqueness in the cosmos. Despite the great successes of recent transit
surveys, Jupiter analogs represent a terra incognita, owing to the strong
intrinsic bias of this method against long orbital periods. We here report on
the first validated transiting Jupiter analog, Kepler-167e (KOI-490.02),
discovered using Kepler archival photometry orbiting the K4-dwarf KIC-3239945.
With a radius of , a low orbital eccentricity
() and an equilibrium temperature of K,
Kepler-167e bears many of the basic hallmarks of Jupiter. Kepler-167e is
accompanied by three Super-Earths on compact orbits, which we also validate,
leaving a large cavity of transiting worlds around the habitable-zone. With two
transits and continuous photometric coverage, we are able to uniquely and
precisely measure the orbital period of this post snow-line planet
( d), paving the way for follow-up of this mag
target.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures. Accepted to ApJ. Posteriors available at
https://github.com/CoolWorlds/Kepler-167-Posterior
Energy density and pressure of long wavelength gravitational waves
Inflation leads us to expect a spectrum of gravitational waves (tensor
perturbations) extending to wavelengths much bigger than the present observable
horizon. Although these gravity waves are not directly observable, the energy
density that they contribute grows in importance during the radiation- and
dust-dominated ages of the universe. We show that the back reaction of tensor
perturbations during matter domination is limited from above, since
gravitational waves of wavelength have a share of the total energy
density during matter domination that is at most
equal to the share of the total energy density that they had when the mode
exited the Hubble radius during inflation. This work is to
be contrasted to that of Sahni, who analyzed the energy density of gravity
waves only insofar as their wavelengths are smaller than . Such a
cut-off in the spectral energy of gravity waves leads to the breakdown of
energy conservation, and we show that this anomaly is eliminated simply by
taking into account the energy density and pressure of long wavelength
gravitational waves as well as short wavelength ones.Comment: Updated one reference; 17 pages, no figure
Time-Course Effects of Acute Aflatoxin B1 Exposure on Hepatic Mitochondrial Lipids and Oxidative Stress in Rats
Aflatoxins are secondary metabolites of certain Aspergillus species, that
contaminate staple foods, particularly in developing countries. Aflatoxin B1
(AFB1) is the most toxic and common of the major types of aflatoxins. AFB1 is
hepatotoxic and has been implicated in increasing the risk of hepatocellular
carcinoma (HCC). We have previously shown that subacute exposure to AFB1
for 7 days disrupts hepatic lipids; therefore, this study determined the timecourse
effects of acute aflatoxin exposure on hepatic mitochondrial lipids and
oxidative stress. To achieve this, thirty male albino rats were randomly
assigned to six groups. The groups received an oral dose of 1 mg/kg body weight AFB1 or vehicle only (controls) for one, four, or seven days, respectively. Twenty-four hours after the last dose, the animals were sacrificed
and liver excised. Mitochondria and cytosolic fractions were obtained from the
liver after which lipids (cholesterol, triacylglycerols) were determined in the
mitochondria while biomarkers of oxidative stress (glutathione, glutathione
transferase (GST), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase, nitric
oxide (NO), malonaldehyde (MDA), thioredoxin reductase (TR), and
superoxide dismutase (SOD) were determined spectrophotometrically in the
mitochondria and cytosolic fractions. The expression of genes
(Nrf2, Acc, Nqo1, and HmgCoa) were determined using quantitative RT-PCR Results showed that AFB1 significantly increased mitochondrial cholesterol at
day seven (treatment vs. control, p = 0.016). It also increased the
concentrations of NO and MDA at day one and day seven while the activity of
GPx and concentration of GSH were increased at day seven (p = 0.030) and
day one (p = 0.025) alone, respectively, compared to control. The activities of
cytosolic GR (p = 0.014), TR (p = 0.046) and GST (p = 0.044) were increased
at day seven. AFB1 significantly increased the expression of Nrf2 (p = 0.029)
and decreased the expression of Acc (p = 0.005) at day one. This study revealed that AFB1 disrupts hepatic mitochondrial lipids and antioxidant
capacity. These changes were dependent on the timing of exposure and did not
follow a linear time-course trend. These alterations could be part of the
hepatic mitochondria response mechanism to acute AFB1 toxicity
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