Analytic crossing probabilities for certain barriers by Brownian motion

We calculate crossing probabilities and one-sided last exit time densities for a class of moving barriers on an interval $[0,T]$ via Schwartz distributions. We derive crossing probabilities and first hitting time densities for another class of barriers on $[0,T]$ by proving a Schwartz distribution version of the method of images. Analytic expressions for crossing probabilities and related densities are given for new explicit and semi-explicit barriers.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/07-AAP488 the Annals of Applied Probability (http://www.imstat.org/aap/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Susygen3, an Event Generator for Linear Colliders

The Monte Carlo program \texttt{SUSYGEN}, initially designed for computing distributions and generating events for supersymmetric particle production in $e^+e^-$ collisions, has now been upgraded to study supersymmetric processes at linear colliders by the inclusion of beamstrahlung, beam polarization, spin correlations and complex couplings including CP violating phases. It continues to offer, in the new context, the possibility to study the production and decay of supersymmetric particles within the most general minimal standard supersymmetric model (MSSM), the minimal supergravity model (MSUGRA) or the gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking model (GMSB), with or without assuming R-parity conservation.Comment: 5 pages, 3figures. Contribution to the Proceedings of the International Workshop on Linear Colliders, Sitges (Spain

The Effects of Patient Education and Knowledge of CHF Patients As Evaluated by the PakSAC Survey

After diagnosis, management of congestive heart failure (CHF) can pose quite a struggle to many patients, since it requires that lifestyle changes be implemented into their daily life. Patients require the sufficient knowledge and education in order to best manage symptoms and improve their quality of life after being diagnosed. Use of Patient Knowledge of Self-care activities in Congestive Heart Failure© (PaKSAC) survey in transitional care programs could identify patient gaps in knowledge, as well as decreasing acute care service use. The purpose of this research study was to investigate the knowledge level of CHF patients at the time of discharge from their initial hospitalization using the PaKSAC questionnaire. The following research question was addressed: Describe the patients’ responses to the PaKSAC questionnaire and identify gaps of knowledge. This study was initiated following approval of the University of Arkansas and the study hospital Institutional Review Boards. This simple descriptive study will use secondary data analysis performed on 21 subjects, which completed a transitional care project. The study population consisted of New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class II and III patients, 18 years of age and older, with the primary diagnosis of CHF, discharged from the hospital to home. This descriptive study examined the various domains of knowledge related to lifestyle habits that can exacerbate symptoms, dietary considerations, activity level, and identification of warning signs and symptoms in the CHF patient. The PaKSAC survey was administered following discharge from the hospital. All patient information was de-identified following the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) guidelines and reported in the aggregate. Univariate statistics was used to characterize the data obtained using the PaKSAC survey. The PaKSAC survey results were analyzed according to the domains related to knowledge about CHF, signs and symptoms, self-care, and self-care confidence (Appendix A). This study provides findings on the knowledge deficit that is a pressing issue found in CHF patients. Study results lead to the conclusion that discharge planning and continued post-discharge education is extremely important for this population

Expression of secondary metabolites by the Mediterranean sponges Aplysina aerophoba and Aplysina cavernicola

Aplysina aerophoba and Aplysina cavernicola are two sibling sponge species common in Mediterranean sea. External and internal morphology is almost identical in the two species. So, according to a lack of traditional taxonomic character (spicule comparison), taxonomists have longly debated if the two taxa, showing different ecological requirements but identical morphology, should be regarded as ecotypes or distinct species. Now, molecular phylogeny has brought response to this question: A. aerophoba and A. cavernicola are lately distinct species. The two species, also called bacteriosponges because of their dense community of symbiotic bacteria that can amount up to 40 % of their dry weight, can contain high amounts of secondary metabolites: brominated alkaloids derived from tyrosine (up to 13% of dry weight). As part of a program in chemical ecology where the main goal is to better understand the processes controlling the chemical diversity and its variation in marine invertebrates, (1) we finalized the methodology to quantify the major secondary metabolites produced by the two Mediterranean Aplysina species, (2) we identified chemotaxonomic markers in order to clearly discriminate the two sibling species, (3) we explored whether variation, in quality and quantity, of secondary metabolites expression occurs at different biogeographic scales, and (4) we investigated the role of microbial symbionts in bromotyrosine alkaloids biosynthesis

Construction of Local Conservation Laws by Generalized Isometric Embeddings of Vector Bundles

This article uses Cartan-K\"ahler theory to construct local conservation laws from covariantly closed vector valued differential forms, objects that can be given, for example, by harmonic maps between two Riemannian manifolds. We apply the article's main result to construct conservation laws for covariant divergence free energy-momentum tensors. We also generalize the local isometric embedding of surfaces in the analytic case by applying the main result to vector bundles of rank two over any surface.Comment: 17 Page