Rotational Quenching of H\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO by He: Mixed Quantum/Classical Theory and Comparison with Quantum Results

The mixed quantum/classical theory (MQCT) formulated in the space-fixed reference frame is used to compute quenching cross sections of several rotationally excited states of water molecule by impact of He atom in a broad range of collision energies, and is tested against the full-quantum calculations on the same potential energy surface. In current implementation of MQCT method, there are two major sources of errors: one affects results at energies below 10 cm−1, while the other shows up at energies above 500 cm−1. Namely, when the collision energy E is below the state-to-state transition energy ΔE the MQCT method becomes less accurate due to its intrinsic classical approximation, although employment of the average-velocity principle (scaling of collision energy in order to satisfy microscopic reversibility) helps dramatically. At higher energies, MQCT is expected to be accurate but in current implementation, in order to make calculations computationally affordable, we had to cut off the basis set size. This can be avoided by using a more efficient body-fixed formulation of MQCT. Overall, the errors of MQCT method are within 20% of the full-quantum results almost everywhere through four-orders-of-magnitude range of collision energies, except near resonances, where the errors are somewhat larger

Can Social Externalities Solve the Small Coalitions Puzzle in International Environmental Agreements?

A puzzle in the literature on the formation of coalitions supporting International Environmental Agreements (IEAs) is that if an IEA leads to substantial gains, then it will not be supported by many countries. The non-cooperative game theoretic literature highlights the “small coalitions†puzzle by which only a small number of countries are willing to sign an environmental convention. In these models, a global coalition comprising all countries and generating significant benefits is not sustainable. Moreover they indicate that greater the number of countries in the coalition, higher the incentive of signatories to not respect their engagement. The present paper resolves this puzzle by introducing social externalities, in order to explain why some treaties can be sustained by nearly all countries, while others can be supported only by a handful.

Rates of convergence of a transient diffusion in a spectrally negative L\'{e}vy potential

We consider a diffusion process $X$ in a random L\'{e}vy potential $\mathbb{V}$ which is a solution of the informal stochastic differential equation \begin{eqnarray*}\cases{dX_t=d\beta_t-{1/2}\mathbb{V}'(X_t) dt,\cr X_0=0,}\end{eqnarray*} ($\beta$ B. M. independent of $\mathbb{V}$). We study the rate of convergence when the diffusion is transient under the assumption that the L\'{e}vy process $\mathbb{V}$ does not possess positive jumps. We generalize the previous results of Hu--Shi--Yor for drifted Brownian potentials. In particular, we prove a conjecture of Carmona: provided that there exists $0<\kappa<1$ such that $\mathbf{E}[e^{\kappa\mathbb{V}_1}]=1$, then $X_t/t^{\kappa}$ converges to some nondegenerate distribution. These results are in a way analogous to those obtained by Kesten--Kozlov--Spitzer for the transient random walk in a random environment.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/009117907000000123 the Annals of Probability (http://www.imstat.org/aop/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

A linear Stark shift in dressed atoms as a signal to measure a nuclear anapole moment with a cold atom fountain or interferometer

We demonstrate theoretically the existence of a linear dc Stark shift of the individual substates of an alkali atom in its ground state, dressed by a circularly polarized laser field. It arises from the electroweak nuclear anapole moment violating P but not T. It is characterized by the pseudoscalar equal to the mixed product formed with the photon angular momentum and static electric and magnetic fields. We derive the relevant left-right asymmetry with its complete signature in a field configuration selected for a precision measurement with cold atom beams. The 3,3 to 4,3 Cs hyperfine-transition frequency shift amounts to 7 $\mu$Hz for a laser power of about 1 kW at 877 nm, E=100 kV/cm and B larger than 0.5 G.Comment: Article, 4 pages, 2 figure

The relationship between teachers' educational philosophies and the ability-achievement growth of their elementary school classes.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Early mortality (pre and post antiretroviral treatment) amongst children with HIV/AIDS enrolled in two programs in Cambodia

Mexico AIDS Conference 200

Teaching Political Savvy as a Workforce Skill

The theoretical framework for this article is based on Charismatic Leadership Theory. This article reflects recent research (including the popular business press) in the area of political skills. Political skill is defined as political astuteness and social intelligence in the workplace; political savvy assumes the existence and inevitability of “office politics”. Based on this research the case is made for educating our future workforce in political savvy. A basic model for curriculum development is included specifically for teaching political savvy in a classroom

TARGET VALIDATION OF UK-101 AND FUNCTIONAL STUDIES OF β1i

β1i is a major catalytic subunit of the immunoproteasome, an alternative form of the constitutive proteasome, and its upregulation has been demonstrated in a variety of disease states including cancer. Our lab has developed a small molecule inhibitor of β1i, dubbed UK-101. While UK-101 causes apoptosis in cancer cell lines, it was not clear whether this apoptotic effect was directly mediated by its irreversible inhibition of β1i. Since off-target effects are major roadblocks for the development of new and effective pharmaceuticals, target validation studies in this system would assist in the further progression of β1i inhibitors towards preclinical trials. Our hypothesis was that the expression and catalytic activity of β1i is important for the growth and proliferation of the PC-3 prostate cancer cell line, therefore the apoptotic effect seen upon treatment of PC-3 cells with UK-101 was due solely to its covalent inhibition of β1i. To test this hypothesis, a number of complementary approaches were used. The expression of β1i in PC-3 cells was increased by the treatment of these cells with interferon-gamma or tumor necrosis factor-alpha, natural inducers of the immunoproteasome. The expression of β1i in PC-3 cells was decreased using small interfering RNA or short hairpin RNA, in a transient or stable manner, respectively. All of these cells were then treated with UK-101. The efficacy of UK-101 decreased in the interferon-gamma treated cells but did not change in any other the other cell lines, suggesting that UK-101 was not specific for β1i. This was confirmed using a molecular probe of the proteasome and demonstrated that UK-101 bound to other proteasome catalytic subunits. Additional experiments were performed to determine the effect of β1i on the proliferation of PC-3 cells. Simply removing the β1i using small interfering RNA reduces the viability of these cells. Other studies demonstrated that a mutation of β1i which inhibited its catalytic activity reduced the viability of cells when compared to those containing the wild type protein. Overall, our data indicate that β1i is a potential therapeutic target in prostate cancer. Further medicinal chemistry efforts will be required develop UK-101 into a truly selective proteasome inhibitor