Existence and Newtonian limit of nonlinear bound states in the Einstein-Dirac system

An analysis is given of particlelike nonlinear bound states in the Newtonian limit of the coupled Einstein-Dirac system introduced by Finster, Smoller and Yau. A proof is given of existence of these bound states in the almost Newtonianian regime, and it is proved that they may be approximated by the energy minimizing solution of the Newton-Schr\"odinger system obtained by Lieb

Sentencing Reform in the Other Washington

Washington State\u27s sentencing reform in the early 1980s encompassed all felonies, including those resulting in sentences to prison and jail; the state also enacted the first and only sentencing guidelines for juvenile offenders. Several lessons are suggested from Washington\u27s experience: sentencing guidelines can change sentencing patterns and can reduce disparities among offenders who are sentenced for similar crimes and have similar criminal histories; a sentencing commission does not operate as an independent political force, except when such delegation serves the legislature\u27s purpose; guidelines are policy-neutral technologies that can be harnessed to achieve the legislature\u27s will; in states where citizen initiatives are authorized, sentencing issues will appear on the ballot, attract political support, and make significant changes to sentencing policy; guidelines allow a state to set sentences with advance knowledge of the consequences to prison and jail populations; guidelines are likely to become more complex over time as legislators strive to respond to new perceptions of crime seriousness, while simultaneously paying attention to prison and jail costs

Sentencing Reform in the Other Washington

Washington State\u27s sentencing reform in the early 1980s encompassed all felonies, including those resulting in sentences to prison and jail; the state also enacted the first and only sentencing guidelines for juvenile offenders. Several lessons are suggested from Washington\u27s experience: sentencing guidelines can change sentencing patterns and can reduce disparities among offenders who are sentenced for similar crimes and have similar criminal histories; a sentencing commission does not operate as an independent political force, except when such delegation serves the legislature\u27s purpose; guidelines are policy-neutral technologies that can be harnessed to achieve the legislature\u27s will; in states where citizen initiatives are authorized, sentencing issues will appear on the ballot, attract political support, and make significant changes to sentencing policy; guidelines allow a state to set sentences with advance knowledge of the consequences to prison and jail populations; guidelines are likely to become more complex over time as legislators strive to respond to new perceptions of crime seriousness, while simultaneously paying attention to prison and jail costs

Empowering educators: Differentiated instruction at the organization level

Differentiated Instruction (DI) is the process where educators modify instruction to play to the students' strengths and learning preferences while meeting their individual needs rather than teaching all students in the same manner. DI allows the educator to change how they deliver content, what content is provided, the learning environment, and how students demonstrate their knowledge (Tomlinson, 2001). Unlike other publications, this dissertation's intent wasn't to create a guide on how to implement DI, as that has been well documented in the literature. Instead, the aim is to empower DI educators by creating an organization that supports and enables both the educators and the organization to succeed. In short, the goal of this dissertation is to answer the following question: How can education administrators support Differentiated Instruction educators through faculty development, incentives, and the use of new technology to improve students' success? To investigate this question, the author used two different literature search techniques. First, a substantial literature search on Differentiated Instruction teaching and organizational dynamics was conducted. This provided the evidence needed to validate the research question. The second literature review, an integrative review, was performed to determine specific areas where educators and administrators expressed frustration or a need for assistance (Frederiksen & Phelps, 2018; Whittemore & Knafl, 2005). Next, the author investigated Educative Curriculum Materials (ECM), designed to promote both teacher and student learning rather than traditional curriculum materials focused on student learning (Davis & Krajcik, 2005; Beyer & Davis, 2009). Davis and Krajcik's Design Heuristics for Educative Science Curriculum Materials are a common framework for designing ECMs (Davis & Krajcik, 2005). The author transformed these heuristics into the Guiding Principles for Empowering Educators. The output of this dissertation is a guide titled " Cutting Edge Differentiated Instruction Strategies for Administrators: Supporting Innovation at an Organizational Level," which not only provides a background of differentiated instruction, technology-enabled education, and organization dynamics it also offers high-level initiatives for administrators to empower their educators. This dissertation concludes by brainstorming future applications of this guide, including improvements, distribution, and creating measures of success for organizations to track their progress

Cardiac Autonomic Imbalance in Newly Diagnosed and Established Diabetes Is Associated with Markers of Adipose Tissue Inflammation

Introduction. Diabetics die from cardiovascular disease at a much greater rate than nondiabetics. Cardiac autonomic imbalance predicts increased cardiovascular risk and mortality. We studied the relationship between cardiac autonomic imbalance and adipose tissue-derived inflammation in newly diagnosed and established type 2 diabetes. Materials and Methods. Non-diabetics, newly diagnosed diabetics, and established diabetics were included. Anthropomorphic and biochemical measurements were obtained, and insulin resistance was approximated. Cardiac autonomic function was assessed using conventional measures and with power spectral analysis of heart rate. Results and Discussion. Heart rate variability was reduced in all diabetics. Interleukin-6 was higher in diabetics, as was the high molecular weight adiponectin-to-leptin ratio. Interleukin-6 correlated negatively with measures of autonomic balance. Ratios of adiponectin to leptin correlated positively with measures of autonomic balance. Cardiac autonomic imbalance and inflammation occur early in diabetes and are interrelated. Conclusions. Cardiac autonomic imbalance correlates with the adipose tissue-derived inflammation seen early in type 2 diabetes

The F model on dynamical quadrangulations

The dynamically triangulated random surface (DTRS) approach to Euclidean quantum gravity in two dimensions is considered for the case of the elemental building blocks being quadrangles instead of the usually used triangles. The well-known algorithmic tools for treating dynamical triangulations in a Monte Carlo simulation are adapted to the problem of these dynamical quadrangulations. The thus defined ensemble of 4-valent graphs is appropriate for coupling to it the 6- and 8-vertex models of statistical mechanics. Using a series of extensive Monte Carlo simulations and accompanying finite-size scaling analyses, we investigate the critical behaviour of the 6-vertex F model coupled to the ensemble of dynamical quadrangulations and determine the matter related as well as the graph related critical exponents of the model.Comment: LaTeX, 43 pages, 10 figures, 7 tables; substantially shortened and revised version as published, for more details refer to V1, to be found at http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-lat/0409028v

Cluster Perturbation Theory for Hubbard models

Cluster perturbation theory is a technique for calculating the spectral weight of Hubbard models of strongly correlated electrons, which combines exact diagonalizations on small clusters with strong-coupling perturbation theory at leading order. It is exact in both the strong- and weak-coupling limits and provides a good approximation to the spectral function at any wavevector. Following the paper by S\'en\'echal et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 84}, 522 (2000)), we provide a more complete description and derivation of the method. We illustrate some of its capabilities, in particular regarding the effect of doping, the calculation of ground state energy and double occupancy, the disappearance of the Fermi surface in the $t-t'$ Hubbard model, and so on. The method is applicable to any model with on-site repulsion only.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures (RevTeX 4

Understanding and predicting antidepressant response : using animal models to move toward precision psychiatry

There are two important gaps of knowledge in depression treatment, namely the lack of biomarkers predicting response to antidepressants and the limited knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying clinical improvement. However, individually tailored treatment strategies and individualized prescription are greatly needed given the huge socio-economic burden of depression, the latency until clinical improvement can be observed and the response variability to a particular compound. Still, individual patient-level antidepressant treatment outcomes are highly unpredictable. In contrast to other therapeutic areas and despite tremendous efforts during the past years, the genomics era so far has failed to provide biological or genetic predictors of clinical utility for routine use in depression treatment. Specifically, we suggest to 1) shift the focus from the group patterns to individual outcomes, 2) use dimensional classifications such as Research Domain Criteria, 3) envision better planning and improved connections between pre-clinical and clinical studies within translational research units. In contrast to studies in patients, animal models enable both searches for peripheral biosignatures predicting treatment response and in depth analyses of the neurobiological pathways shaping individual antidepressant response in the brain. While there is a considerable number of animal models available aiming at mimicking disease-like conditions such as those seen in depressive disorder, only a limited number of preclinical or truly translational investigations is dedicated to the issue of heterogeneity seen in response to antidepressant treatment. In this mini-review, we provide an overview on the current state of knowledge and propose a framework for successful translational studies into antidepressant treatment response

Conflicts of interest in medicine and their management: current challenges and initiatives in Germany

Conflicts of interest (COI) in healthcare have increasingly gained attention in the lay press as well as among healthcare professionals. COIs increase the risk of undue influence on professional decision making and may have far-reaching consequences in healthcare. Therefore, it is essential to develop strategies to deal with such risk situations in order to prevent negative outcomes for patients and the health care system. This article describes recent research on COIs in Germany as well as initiatives aiming at more transparency and better management of COIs in Germany

Phase transitions with four-spin interactions

Using an extended Lee-Yang theorem and GKS correlation inequalities, we prove, for a class of ferromagnetic multi-spin interactions, that they will have a phase transition(and spontaneous magnetization) if, and only if, the external field $h=0$ (and the temperature is low enough). We also show the absence of phase transitions for some nonferromagnetic interactions. The FKG inequalities are shown to hold for a larger class of multi-spin interactions