Inventory Control System

This report explains the paper inventory control system designed and developed for Venetian Marble and Granite. The system implements new methods in generating work orders, new labels for the marble pieces, new clipboard stations for tracking, new storage rack numbering, and Microsoft Access as the foundation to the entire system. The group highly recommends that Venetian integrates the paper inventory control system into their company as soon as possible in order to reap its benefits

An Introduction to Nuclear Supersymmetry: a Unification Scheme for Nuclei

The main ideas behind nuclear supersymmetry are presented, starting from the basic concepts of symmetry and the methods of group theory in physics. We propose new, more stringent experimental tests that probe the supersymmetry classification in nuclei and point out that specific correlations should exist for particle transfer intensities among supersymmetric partners. We also discuss possible ways to generalize these ideas to cases where no dynamical symmetries are present. The combination of these theoretical and experimental studies may play a unifying role in nuclear phenomena.Comment: 40 pages, 11 figures, lecture notes `VIII Hispalensis International Summer School: Exotic Nuclear Physics', Oromana, Sevilla, Spain, June 9-21, 200

Hippocampal volume in early onset depression

BACKGROUND: Abnormalities in limbic structures have been implicated in major depressive disorder (MDD). Although MDD is as common in adolescence as in adulthood, few studies have examined youth near illness onset in order to determine the possible influence of atypical development on the pathophysiology of this disorder. METHODS: Hippocampal volumes were measured in 17 MDD subjects (age = 16.67 ± 1.83 years [mean ± SD]; range = 13 – 18 years) and 17 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (16.23 ± 1.61 years [mean ± SD]; 13 – 18 years) using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). RESULTS: An analysis of covariance revealed a significant difference between MDD and control subjects (F = 8.66, df = 1, 29, P = 0.006). This was more strongly localized to the left hippocampus (P = 0.001) than the right hippocampus (P = 0.047). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide new evidence of abnormalities in the hippocampus in early onset depression. However, our results should be considered preliminary given the small sample size studied

Time-dependent properties of proton decay from crossing single-particle metastable states in deformed nuclei

A dynamical study of the decay of a metastable state by quantum tunneling through an anisotropic, non separable, two-dimensional potential barrier is performed by the numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrodinger equation. Initial quasi- stationary proton states are chosen in the framework of a deformed Woods-Saxon single-particle model. The decay of two sets of states corresponding to true and quasi levels-crossing is studied and the evolution of their decay properties as a function of nuclear deformation is calculated around the crossing point. The results show that the investigation of the proton decay from metastable states in deformed nuclei can unambiguously distinguish between the two types of crossing and determine the structure of the nuclear states involved.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

The gray matter volume of the amygdala is correlated with the perception of melodic intervals: a voxel-based morphometry study

Music is not simply a series of organized pitches, rhythms, and timbres, it is capable of evoking emotions. In the present study, voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was employed to explore the neural basis that may link music to emotion. To do this, we identified the neuroanatomical correlates of the ability to extract pitch interval size in a music segment (i.e., interval perception) in a large population of healthy young adults (N = 264). Behaviorally, we found that interval perception was correlated with daily emotional experiences, indicating the intrinsic link between music and emotion. Neurally, and as expected, we found that interval perception was positively correlated with the gray matter volume (GMV) of the bilateral temporal cortex. More important, a larger GMV of the bilateral amygdala was associated with better interval perception, suggesting that the amygdala, which is the neural substrate of emotional processing, is also involved in music processing. In sum, our study provides one of first neuroanatomical evidence on the association between the amygdala and music, which contributes to our understanding of exactly how music evokes emotional responses

Altered emotional interference processing in the amygdala and insula in women with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

AbstractBackgroundPost-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is characterized by distinct behavioral and physiological changes. Given the significant impairments related to PTSD, examination of the biological underpinnings is crucial to the development of theoretical models and improved treatments of PTSD.MethodsWe used an attentional interference task using emotional distracters to test for top-down versus bottom-up dysfunction in the interaction of cognitive-control circuitry and emotion-processing circuitry. A total of 32 women with PTSD (based on an interpersonal trauma) and 21 matched controls were tested. Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging was carried out as participants directly attended to, or attempted to ignore, fear-related stimuli.ResultsCompared to controls, patients with PTSD showed hyperactivity in several brain regions, including the amygdala, insula, as well as dorsal lateral and ventral PFC regions.ConclusionsThese results are consistent with previous studies that have higher amygdala and insular activation in PTSD subjects. However, inhibition of suppression of PFC regions is inconsistent with the fear circuitry model hypothesized by prior research. We suggest that the specific emotional conflict task used appears to target implicit or automatic emotional regulation instead of explicit or effortful emotional regulation. This is particularly relevant as it posited that emotional regulatory difficulties in anxiety disorders such as PTSD appear to occur in implicit forms of emotion regulation

Dendritic Morphology of Hippocampal and Amygdalar Neurons in Adolescent Mice Is Resilient to Genetic Differences in Stress Reactivity

Many studies have shown that chronic stress or corticosterone over-exposure in rodents leads to extensive dendritic remodeling, particularly of principal neurons in the CA3 hippocampal area and the basolateral amygdala. We here investigated to what extent genetic predisposition of mice to high versus low stress reactivity, achieved through selective breeding of CD-1 mice, is also associated with structural plasticity in Golgi-stained neurons. Earlier, it was shown that the highly stress reactive (HR) compared to the intermediate (IR) and low (LR) stress reactive mice line presents a phenotype, with respect to neuroendocrine parameters, sleep architecture, emotional behavior and cognition, that recapitulates some of the features observed in patients suffering from major depression. In late adolescent males of the HR, IR, and LR mouse lines, we observed no significant differences in total dendritic length, number of branch points and branch tips, summated tip order, number of primary dendrites or dendritic complexity of either CA3 pyramidal neurons (apical as well as basal dendrites) or principal neurons in the basolateral amygdala. Apical dendrites of CA1 pyramidal neurons were also unaffected by the differences in stress reactivity of the animals; marginally higher length and complexity of the basal dendrites were found in LR compared to IR but not HR mice. In the same CA1 pyramidal neurons, spine density of distal apical tertiary dendrites was significantly higher in LR compared to IR or HR animals. We tentatively conclude that the dendritic complexity of principal hippocampal and amygdala neurons is remarkably stable in the light of a genetic predisposition to high versus low stress reactivity, while spine density seems more plastic. The latter possibly contributes to the behavioral phenotype of LR versus HR animals