The K\"ahler Potential of Abelian Higgs Vortices

We calculate the K\"ahler potential for the Samols metric on the moduli space of Abelian Higgs vortices on \mathbbm{R}^{2}, in two different ways. The first uses a scaling argument. The second is related to the Polyakov conjecture in Liouville field theory. The K\"ahler potential on the moduli space of vortices on \mathbbm{H}^{2} is also derived, and we are led to a geometrical reinterpretation of these vortices. Finally, we attempt to find the K\"ahler potential for vortices on \mathbbm{R}^{2} in a third way by relating the vortices to SU(2) Yang-Mills instantons on \mathbbm{R}^{2}\times S^{2}. This approach does not give the correct result, and we offer a possible explanation for this.Comment: 25 page

Early environmental field research career exploration: An analysis of impacts on precollege apprentices

Research apprenticeships offer opportunities for deep understanding of scientific practice, transparency about research careers, and possible transformational effects on precollege youth. We examined two consecutive field-based environmental biology apprenticeship programs designed to deliver realistic career exploration and connections to research scientists. The Shaw Institute for Field Training (SIFT) program combines introductory field-skills training with research assistance opportunities, and the subsequent Tyson Environmental Research Fellowships (TERF) program provides immersive internships on university field station–based research teams. In a longitudinal mixed-methods study grounded in social cognitive career theory, changes in youth perspectives were measured during program progression from 10th grade through college, evaluating the efficacy of encouraging career path entry. Results indicate SIFT provided self-knowledge and career perspectives more aligned with reality. During SIFT, differences were found between SIFT-only participants compared with those who progressed to TERF. Transition from educational activities to fieldwork with scientists was a pivotal moment at which data showed decreased or increased interest and confidence. Continuation to TERF provided deeper relationships with role models who gave essential early-career support. Our study indicates the two-stage apprenticeship structure influenced persistence in pursuit of an environmental research career pathway. Recommendations for other precollege environmental career–exploration programs are presented

Participation in college laboratory research apprenticeships among students considering careers in medicine

Objective: We sought to determine the prevalence of college laboratory research apprenticeship (CLRA) participation among students considering medical careers and to examine the relationship between CLRA participation and medical-school acceptance among students who applied to medical school. Methods: We used multivariate logistic regression to identify predictors of: 1) CLRA participation in a national cohort of 2001–2006 Pre-Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) Questionnaire (PMQ) respondents and 2) among those PMQ respondents who subsequently applied to medical school, medical-school acceptance by June 2013, reporting adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Results: Of 213,497 PMQ respondents in the study sample (81.2% of all 262,813 PMQ respondents in 2001–2006), 72,797 (34.1%) reported CLRA participation. Each of under-represented minorities in medicine (URM) race/ethnicity (vs. white, aOR: 1.04; 95% CI: 1.01–1.06), Asian/Pacific Islander race/ethnicity (vs. white, aOR: 1.20; 95% CI: 1.17–1.22), and high school summer laboratory research apprenticeship (HSLRA) participation (aOR: 3.95; 95% CI: 3.84–4.07) predicted a greater likelihood of CLRA participation. Of the 213,497 PMQ respondents in the study sample, 144,473 (67.7%) had applied to medical school and 87,368 (60.5% of 144,473 medical-school applicants) had been accepted to medical school. Each of female gender (vs. male, aOR: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.16–1.22), URM race/ethnicity (vs. white, aOR: 3.91; 95% CI: 3.75–4.08), HSLRA participation (aOR: 1.11; 95% CI: 1.03–1.19), CLRA participation (aOR: 1.12; 95% CI: 1.09–1.15), college summer academic enrichment program participation (aOR: 1.26; 95% CI: 1.21–1.31), and higher MCAT score (per point increase, aOR: 1.31; 95% CI: 1.30–1.31) predicted a greater likelihood of medical-school acceptance. Conclusions: About one-third of all PMQ respondents had participated in CLRAs prior to taking the MCAT, and such participation was one of the several variables identified that were independently associated with medical-school acceptance

An assessment of residents’ and fellows’ personal finance literacy: An unmet medical education need

Objectives: This study aimed to assess residents' and fellows' knowledge of finance principles that may affect their personal financial health. Methods: A cross-sectional, anonymous, web-based survey was administered to a convenience sample of residents and fellows at two academic medical centers. Respondents answered 20 questions on personal finance and 28 questions about their own financial planning, attitudes, and debt. Questions regarding satisfaction with one's financial condition and investment-risk tolerance used a 10-point Likert scale (1=lowest, 10=highest). Of 2,010 trainees, 422 (21%) responded (median age 30 years; interquartile range, 28-33). Results: The mean quiz score was 52.0% (SD = 19.1). Of 299 (71%) respondents with student loan debt, 144 (48%) owed over $200,000. Many respondents had other debt, including 86 (21$25,000. Respondents' mean satisfaction with their current personal financial condition was 4.8 (SD = 2.5) and investment-risk tolerance was 5.3 (SD = 2.3). Indebted trainees reported lower satisfaction than trainees without debt (4.4 vs. 6.2, F (1,419) = 41.57, p < .001). Knowledge was moderately correlated with investment-risk tolerance (r=0.41, p < .001), and weakly correlated with satisfaction with financial status (r=0.23, p < .001). Conclusions: Residents and fellows had low financial literacy and investment-risk tolerance, high debt, and deficits in their financial preparedness. Adding personal financial education to the medical education curriculum would benefit trainees. Providing education in areas such as budgeting, estate planning, investment strategies, and retirement planning early in training can offer significant long-term benefits.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Examining summer laboratory research apprenticeships for high school students as a factor in entry to MD/PhD programs at matriculation

Do summer laboratory research apprenticeships during high school have an impact on entry into MD/PhD programs? Apart from the nearly decade-long span of time between high school and matriculation into an MD/PhD program, young people have many life-shaping experiences that presumably impact their education and career trajectories. This quantitative study (n = 236,432) examines the connection between early laboratory research apprenticeship experiences at the high school level and matriculation into one of the more rigorous educational programs for scientific research training. The span of time covered by this analysis reaches across more than a decade, examining the potential importance of research experiences during the precollege years in the educational trajectory of young people. Intertwined with this question on research experiences is a second major concern regarding diversity in the life sciences research corps. Diversity in this wide-ranging discipline refers specifically to the underrepresentation of Blacks/African Americans, Hispanics/Latino/as, and American Indians/Alaska Natives among the ranks of research scientists. Thus, this study includes analyses that specifically focus on research apprenticeships of Blacks/African Americans and Hispanics/Latino/as and their entrance into MD/PhD programs. </jats:p

Pathological complete response in breast cancer patients following neoadjuvant chemotherapy at a Comprehensive Cancer Center: The natural history of an elusive prognosticator

Given the prognostic significance of pathological complete response (pCR) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, we sought to chronicle the clinical course of breast cancer patients whose tumors exhibited pCR at our institution. We retrospectively reviewed 5,533 cancer center patients treated for a first primary breast cancer between March, 1999 and September, 2010 to identify those who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy that resulted in pCR (i.e., no residual invasive malignancy in the breast or axilla). The descriptive statistics of treatments received, recurrence, morbidity and mortality as of October, 2013 were reported. Of the 5,533 patients reviewed, 86 met the inclusion criteria. The mean age at diagnosis was 48 years [standard deviation (SD), 9.4 years] and the mean length of follow-up was 68 months (SD, 27 months). The majority of the patients underwent axillary lymph node dissection (ALND; n=60, 69.8%), received adjuvant radiation therapy (XRT; n=72, 83.7%), had poorly differentiated (grade 3) tumors (n=74, 86.1%) and had pure ductal histology (n=74, 86.1%). A total of 5 patients (5.8%) developed disease recurrence. All the patients who recurred had grade 3 tumors with ductal histology and underwent ALND for known pre-neoadjuvant-treatment lymph node metastases; none received adjuvant chemotherapy. A total of 4 patients (4.7%) succumbed to the disease, 3 due to breast cancer recurrence <18 months following the initial diagnosis. Recurrence following pCR was rare, but when it did occur, time- to-recurrence was short at <18 months. All the patients who recurred and eventually succumbed to breast cancer had axillary metastases at diagnosis, indicating that axillary disease is a major negative prognostic factor in patients who achieve pCR following neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Baryons, their interactions and the chiral symmetry of QCD

An implication of the spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking in QCD is that at low energy and resolution there appear quasiparticles - constituent quarks and Goldstone bosons. Thus, light and strange baryons should be considered as systems of three constituent quarks with confining interaction and a chiral interaction that is mediated by Goldstone bosons between the constituent quarks. We show how the flavor-spin structure and sign of the short-range part of the Goldstone boson exchange interaction reduces the $SU(6)_{FS}$ symmetry down to $SU(3)_F \times SU(2)_S$, induces hyperfine splittings and provides correct ordering of the lowest states with positive and negative parity. We present a unified description of light and strange baryon spectra calculated in a semirelativistic framework. It is demonstrated that the same short-range part of Goldstone boson exchange also induces strong short-range repulsion in $NN$ system when the latter is treated as $6Q$ system. Thus, all main ingredients of $NN$ interaction are implied by the chiral constituent quark model since the long- and intermediate-range attraction appears in the present framework due to pion and correlated two-pion exchanges between quarks belonging to different nucleons. We also find a very strong short-range repulsion in $\Lambda\Lambda$ system with $J^P=0^+$. It then suggests that the compact H-particle should not exist.Comment: 10 pages, Invited talk given at International Conference on Quark Lepton Nuclear Physics (QULEN97, May 20-23, 1997, Osaka, Japan

Predictors of pathological complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in stage II and III breast cancer: The impact of chemotherapeutic regimen

In this study, we sought to determine the predictors of pathological complete response (pCR) and compare the chemotherapeutic regimens administered to breast cancer patients with and those without pCR. We retrospectively reviewed the data of 879 patients treated at the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center between 2006 and 2010, to identify patients who were diagnosed with primary stage II or III breast cancer and received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Patients who received only neoadjuvant endocrine therapy were considered to be ineligible. Patient, tumor, and treatment characteristics, including type of chemotherapy, were compared between patients who did and those who did not achieve pCR using Chi-square or Fishers exact tests and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Two-sided P-values of <0.05 were considered significant. Of the 333 patients who met the inclusion criteria, 61 (18.3%) had documented pCR. Compared with patients not achieving pCR, a greater proportion of patients with pCR had stage II disease (80.3 vs. 68%, P=0.057), had poorly differentiated (grade 3) tumors (82 vs. 59.2%, P<0.001), had negative lymph node involvement (41 vs. 34%, P=0.0004) and had tumors that were HER2-amplified (41 vs. 23.5%, P=0.0054). A greater proportion of patients with pCR received taxane-based chemotherapy (23 vs. 12.5%, P=0.016) or trastuzumab in conjunction with chemotherapy (41.0 vs. 16.9%, P<0.001). No patients receiving solely anthracycline-based therapy achieved pCR in our study. Our study demonstrated that, for stage II and III breast cancer, lower stage, negative lymph node involvement and HER2 receptor amplification were each associated with pCR. Taxane therapy and the concurrent use of trastuzumab were also associated with a higher likelihood of pCR