Tamiah N. McCoy - African American Women’s Birth Stories as Told To African American Women Interviewers

Background: A woman’s birth story allows each woman to tell her own perspectives about her experience of bringing a child into the world. As healthcare providers, it is always important to value listening to and learning from our clients. Researchers systematically analyzing birth stories can yield insights on ways to improve birthing experiences for women. This is especially important for African American women, who differentially encounter the most numerous health disparities of any racial group, with twice as much infant mortality than other groups. Purpose: This study examined birth stories of African American women in order to gain insights from them to better meet their needs. In this way, healthcare providers may learn strategies to address health disparities. Methods: A secondary analysis of five African American birth stories was conducted. Findings: Three themes were identified from the women’s stories: (a) desire for continuous labor support, (b) preference for certain characteristics of healthcare providers (such as gender and race), and (c) reliance on spirituality for coping. Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of listening to and learning from women. Clinical Relevance: Healthcare providers can likely improve the care of their patients by incorporating these themes into their methods of care. Understanding and taking action towards the unsaid needs of African American women experiencing childbirth can ultimately help health disparities get addressed.https://epublications.marquette.edu/mcnair_2013/1014/thumbnail.jp

Negative virial coefficients and the dominance of loose packed diagrams for D-dimensional hard spheres

We study the virial coefficients B_k of hard spheres in D dimensions by means of Monte-Carlo integration. We find that B_5 is positive in all dimensions but that B_6 is negative for all D >= 6. For 7<=k<=17 we compute sets of Ree-Hoover diagrams and find that either for large D or large k the dominant diagrams are "loose packed". We use these results to study the radius of convergence and the validity of the many approximations used for the equations of state for hard spheres.Comment: 26 pages, 69 figures. Some typos corrected. Final version, to appear in the Journal of Statistical Physic

Dynamical correlation functions of the XXZ spin-1/2 chain

We derive a master equation for the dynamical spin-spin correlation functions of the XXZ spin-1/2 Heisenberg finite chain in an external magnetic field. In the thermodynamic limit, we obtain their multiple integral representation.Comment: 25 page

Correlation functions of the XXZ spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain at the free fermion point from their multiple integral representations

Using multiple integral representations, we derive exact expressions for the correlation functions of the spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain at the free fermion point.Comment: 24 pages, LaTe

Painleve versus Fuchs

The sigma form of the Painlev{\'e} VI equation contains four arbitrary parameters and generically the solutions can be said to be genuinely ``nonlinear'' because they do not satisfy linear differential equations of finite order. However, when there are certain restrictions on the four parameters there exist one parameter families of solutions which do satisfy (Fuchsian) differential equations of finite order. We here study this phenomena of Fuchsian solutions to the Painlev{\'e} equation with a focus on the particular PVI equation which is satisfied by the diagonal correlation function C(N,N) of the Ising model. We obtain Fuchsian equations of order $N+1$ for C(N,N) and show that the equation for C(N,N) is equivalent to the $N^{th}$ symmetric power of the equation for the elliptic integral $E$. We show that these Fuchsian equations correspond to rational algebraic curves with an additional Riccati structure and we show that the Malmquist Hamiltonian $p,q$ variables are rational functions in complete elliptic integrals. Fuchsian equations for off diagonal correlations $C(N,M)$ are given which extend our considerations to discrete generalizations of Painlev{\'e}.Comment: 18 pages, Dedicated to the centenary of the publication of the Painleve VI equation in the Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences de Paris by Richard Fuchs in 190

Tetramethylenedisulfotetramine alters Ca²⁺ dynamics in cultured hippocampal neurons: mitigation by NMDA receptor blockade and GABA(A) receptor-positive modulation.

Tetramethylenedisulfotetramine (TETS) is a potent convulsant that is considered a chemical threat agent. We characterized TETS as an activator of spontaneous Ca²⁺ oscillations and electrical burst discharges in mouse hippocampal neuronal cultures at 13-17 days in vitro using FLIPR Fluo-4 fluorescence measurements and extracellular microelectrode array recording. Acute exposure to TETS (≥ 2 µM) reversibly altered the pattern of spontaneous neuronal discharges, producing clustered burst firing and an overall increase in discharge frequency. TETS also dramatically affected Ca²⁺ dynamics causing an immediate but transient elevation of neuronal intracellular Ca²⁺ followed by decreased frequency of Ca²⁺ oscillations but greater peak amplitude. The effect on Ca²⁺ dynamics was similar to that elicited by picrotoxin and bicuculline, supporting the view that TETS acts by inhibiting type A gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA(A)) receptor function. The effect of TETS on Ca²⁺ dynamics requires activation of N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptors, because the changes induced by TETS were prevented by MK-801 block of NMDA receptors, but not nifedipine block of L-type Ca²⁺ channels. Pretreatment with the GABA(A) receptor-positive modulators diazepam and allopregnanolone partially mitigated TETS-induced changes in Ca²⁺ dynamics. Moreover, low, minimally effective concentrations of diazepam (0.1 µM) and allopregnanolone (0.1 µM), when administered together, were highly effective in suppressing TETS-induced alterations in Ca²⁺ dynamics, suggesting that the combination of positive modulators of synaptic and extrasynaptic GABA(A) receptors may have therapeutic potential. These rapid throughput in vitro assays may assist in the identification of single agents or combinations that have utility in the treatment of TETS intoxication

Dynamical correlation functions for an impenetrable Bose gas with Neumann or Dirichlet boundary conditions

We study the time and temperature dependent correlation functions for an impenetrable Bose gas with Neumann or Dirichlet boundary conditions $\langle \psi(x_1,0)\psi^\dagger(x_2,t)\rangle _{\pm,T}$. We derive the Fredholm determinant formulae for the correlation functions, by means of the Bethe Ansatz. For the special case $x_1=0$, we express correlation functions with Neumann boundary conditions $\langle\psi(0,0)\psi^\dagger(x_2,t)\rangle _{+,T}$, in terms of solutions of nonlinear partial differential equations which were introduced in \cite{kojima:Sl} as a generalization of the nonlinear Schr\"odinger equations. We generalize the Fredholm minor determinant formulae of ground state correlation functions $\langle\psi(x_1)\psi^\dagger(x_2)\rangle _{\pm,0}$ in \cite{kojima:K}, to the Fredholm determinant formulae for the time and temperature dependent correlation functions $\langle\psi(x_1,0)\psi^\dagger(x_2,t)\rangle _{\pm,T}$, $t \in {\bf R}$, $T \geq 0$