Trientalis borealis Raf.

https://thekeep.eiu.edu/herbarium_specimens_byname/5152/thumbnail.jp

Time dependent neutrino billiards

Quantum dynamica of a massless Dirac particle in time-dependent 1D box and circular billiard with time-dependent radius is studied. An exact analytical wave functions and eigenvalues are obtained for the case of linear time-dependence of the boundary position

Semiclassical theory of potential scattering for massless Dirac fermions

In this paper we study scattering of two-dimensional massless Dirac fermions by a potential that depends on a single Cartesian variable. Depending on the energy of the incoming particle and its angle of incidence, there are three different regimes of scattering. To find the reflection and transmission coefficients in these regimes, we apply the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB), also called semiclassical, approximation. We use the method of comparison equations to extend our prediction to nearly normal incidence, where the conventional WKB method should be modified due to the degeneracy of turning points. We compare our results to numerical calculations and find good agreement.Comment: Minor revision; several references have been adde

Variability in oxidative degradation of charcoal: influence of production variables and environmental exposure

<p>Charcoal is a key component of the Black Carbon (BC) continuum, where BC is characterized as a recalcitrant, fire-derived, polyaromatic material. Charcoal is an important source of palaeoenvironmental data, and of great interest as a potential carbon sink, due to its high apparent environmental stability. However, at least some forms of charcoal are clearly susceptible to environmental alteration and degradation over relatively short timescales. Although these processes have importance for the role of charcoal in global biogeochemistry, they remain poorly understood.</p> <p>Here we present results of an investigation into the susceptibility of a range of charcoal samples to oxidative degradation in acidified potassium dichromate. The study examines both freshly-produced charcoal, and charcoal exposed to environmental conditions for up to 50,000 years. We compare the proportion of carbon present in different forms between the samples, specifically with respect to the relative chemical resistance of these forms. This was undertaken in order to improve understanding of the post-depositional diagenetic changes affecting charcoal within environmental deposits.</p> <p>A wide range in chemical compositions are apparent both within and between the sample groups. In freshly-produced charcoal, material produced at 300 °C contains carbon with more labile forms than charcoal produced at ≥400 °C, signifying a key chemical change over the 300–400 °C temperature range. Charcoal exposed to environmental depositional conditions is frequently composed of a highly carboxylated aromatic structure and contains a range of carbon fractions of varying oxidative resistance. These findings suggest that a significant number of the environmental charcoals have undergone post-depositional diagenetic alteration. Further, the data highlight the potential for the use of controlled progressive oxidative degradation as a method to characterize chemical differences between individual charcoal samples.</p&gt

Indirect search for dark matter: prospects for GLAST

Possible indirect detection of neutralino, through its gamma-ray annihilation product, by the forthcoming GLAST satellite from our galactic halo, M31, M87 and the dwarf galaxies Draco and Sagittarius is studied. Gamma-ray fluxes are evaluated for the two representative energy thresholds, 0.1 GeV and 1.0 GeV, at which the spatial resolution of GLAST varies considerably. Apart from dwarfs which are described either by a modified Plummer profile or by a tidally-truncated King profiles, fluxes are compared for halos with central cusps and cores. It is demonstrated that substructures, irrespective of their profiles, enhance the gamma-ray emission only marginally. The expected gamma-ray intensity above 1 GeV at high galactic latitudes is consistent with the residual emission derived from EGRET data if the density profile has a central core and the neutralino mass is less than 50 GeV, whereas for a central cusp only a substantial enhancement would explain the observations. From M31, the flux can be detected above 0.1 GeV and 1.0 GeV by GLAST only if the neutralino mass is below 300 GeV and if the density profile has a central cusp, case in which a significant boost in the gamma-ray emission is produced by the central black hole. For Sagittarius, the flux above 0.1 GeV is detectable by GLAST provided the neutralino mass is below 50 GeV. From M87 and Draco the fluxes are always below the sensitivity limit of GLAST.Comment: 14 Pages, 7 Figures, 3 Tables, version to appear on Physical Review

Neoadjuvant pazopanib and molecular analysis of tissue response in renal cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND. Surgery remains the frontline therapy for patients with localized clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC); however, 20%–40% recur. Angiogenesis inhibitors have improved survival in metastatic patients and may result in responses in the neoadjuvant setting. The impact of these agents on the tumor genetic heterogeneity or the immune milieu is largely unknown. This phase II study was designed to evaluate safety, response, and effect on tumor tissue of neoadjuvant pazopanib. METHODS. ccRCC patients with localized disease received pazopanib (800 mg daily; median 8 weeks), followed by nephrectomy. Five tumors were examined for mutations by whole exome sequencing from samples collected before therapy and at nephrectomy. These samples underwent RNA sequencing; 17 samples were available for posttreatment assessment. RESULTS. Twenty-one patients were enrolled. The overall response rate was 8 of 21 (38%). No patients with progressive disease. At 1-year, response-free survival and overall survival was 83% and 89%, respectively. The most frequent grade 3 toxicity was hypertension (33%, 7 of 21). Sequencing revealed strong concordance between pre- and posttreatment samples within individual tumors, suggesting tumors harbor stable core profiles. However, a reduction in private mutations followed treatment, suggesting a selective process favoring enrichment of driver mutations. CONCLUSION. Neoadjuvant pazopanib is safe and active in ccRCC. Future genomic analyses may enable the segregation of driver and passenger mutations. Furthermore, tumor infiltrating immune cells persist during therapy, suggesting that pazopanib can be combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors without dampening the immune response. FUNDING. Support was provided by Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline as part of an investigator-initiated study

Investigation of Heschl's gyrus and planum temporale in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: A proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study

Background: Superior temporal cortices include brain regions dedicated to auditory processing and several lines of evidence suggest structural and functional abnormalities in both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder within this brain region. However, possible glutamatergic dysfunction within this region has not been investigated in adult patients. Methods: Thirty patients with schizophrenia (38.67 ± 12.46. years of age), 28 euthymic patients with bipolar I disorder (35.32 ± 9.12. years of age), and 30 age-, gender- and education-matched healthy controls were enrolled. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy data were acquired using a 3.0. T Siemens MAGNETOM TIM Trio MR system and single voxel Point REsolved Spectroscopy Sequence (PRESS) in order to quantify brain metabolites within the left and right Heschl's gyrus and planum temporale of superior temporal cortices. Results: There were significant abnormalities in glutamate (Glu) (F(2,78) = 8.52, p < 0.0001), N-acetyl aspartate (tNAA) (F(2,81) = 5.73, p = 0.005), creatine (tCr) (F(2,83) = 5.91, p = 0.004) and inositol (Ins) (F(2,82) = 8.49, p < 0.0001) concentrations in the left superior temporal cortex. In general, metabolite levels were lower for bipolar disorder patients when compared to healthy participants. Moreover, patients with bipolar disorder exhibited significantly lower tCr and Ins concentrations when compared to schizophrenia patients. In addition, we have found significant correlations between the superior temporal cortex metabolites and clinical measures. Conclusion: As the left auditory cortices are associated with language and speech, left hemisphere specific abnormalities may have clinical significance. Our findings are suggestive of shared glutamatergic abnormalities in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. © 2013 Elsevier B.V

The who, what, and why of research participants' intentions to request a broad range of secondary findings in a diagnostic genomic sequencing study

Purpose: In a diagnostic exome sequencing study (the North Carolina Clinical Genomic Evaluation by Next-Generation Exome Sequencing project, NCGENES), we investigated adult patients' intentions to request six categories of secondary findings (SFs) with low or no medical actionability and correlates of their intentions. Methods: At enrollment, eligible participants (n = 152) completed measures assessing their sociodemographic, clinical, and literacy-related characteristics. Prior to and during an in-person diagnostic result disclosure visit, they received education about categories of SFs they could request. Immediately after receiving education at the visit, participants completed measures of intention to learn SFs, interest in each category, and anticipated regret for learning and not learning each category. Results: Seventy-eight percent of participants intended to learn at least some SFs. Logistic regressions examined their intention to learn any or all of these findings (versus none) and interest in each of the six individual categories (yes/no). Results revealed little association between intentions and sociodemographic, clinical, or literacy-related factors. Across outcomes, participants who anticipated regret for learning SFs reported weaker intention to learn them (odds ratios (ORs) from 0.47 to 0.71), and participants who anticipated regret for not learning these findings reported stronger intention to learn them (OR 1.61-2.22). Conclusion: Intentions to request SFs with low or no medical actionability may be strongly influenced by participants' desire to avoid regret

20 years of the Atlantic Meridional Transect - AMT

The AMT (www.amt-uk.org) is a multidisciplinary programme which undertakes biological, chemical, and physical oceanographic research during an annual voyage between the UK and a destination in the South Atlantic such as the Falkland Islands, South Africa, or Chile. This transect of >12,000 km crosses a range of ecosystems from subpolar to tropical, from euphotic shelf seas and upwelling systems, to oligotrophic mid-ocean gyres. The year 2015 has seen two milestones in the history of the AMT: the achievement of 20 years of this unique ocean going programme and the departure of the 25th cruise on the 15th of September. Both of these events were celebrated in June this year with an open science conference hosted by the Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) and will be further documented in a special issue of Progress in Oceanography which is planned for publication in 2016. Since 1995, the 25 research cruises have involved 242 sea-going scientists from 66 institutes representing 22 countries. AMT was designed from the outset to be a collaborative programme. It was originally conceived by Jim Aiken, Patrick Holligan, Roger Harris, and Dave Robins with Chuck McClain and Chuck Trees at NASA to test and ground truth satellite algorithms of ocean color. The opportunities offered by this initiative meant that this series of repeated biannual cruises rapidly developed into a coordinated study of ocean biodiversity, biogeochemistry, and ocean/atmosphere interactions

Measurement of the B0-anti-B0-Oscillation Frequency with Inclusive Dilepton Events

The $B^0$-$\bar B^0$ oscillation frequency has been measured with a sample of 23 million \B\bar B pairs collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric B Factory at SLAC. In this sample, we select events in which both B mesons decay semileptonically and use the charge of the leptons to identify the flavor of each B meson. A simultaneous fit to the decay time difference distributions for opposite- and same-sign dilepton events gives $\Delta m_d = 0.493 \pm 0.012{(stat)}\pm 0.009{(syst)}$ ps$^{-1}$.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Physical Review Letter