Simulations of the Dipole-Dipole Interaction Between Two Spatially Separated Groups of Rydberg Atoms

The dipole-dipole interaction among ultracold Rydberg atoms is simulated. We examine a general interaction scheme in which two atoms excited to the x and x states are converted to y and y states via a Förster resonance. The atoms are arranged in two spatially separated groups, each consisting of only one species of atom. We monitor the state mixing by recording the fraction of atoms excited to the y state as the distance between the two groups is varied. With zero detuning a many-body effect that relies on always resonant interactions causes the state mixing to have a finite range. When the detuning is greater than zero, another many-body effect causes a peak in the state mixing when the two groups of atoms are some distance away from each other. To obtain these results it is necessary to include multiple atoms and solve the full many-body wave function. These simulation results are supported by recent experimental evidence. These many-body effects, combined with appropriate spatial arrangement of the atoms, could be useful in controlling the energy exchange among the atoms

Systematic review of interventions to improve patient uptake and completion of pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD

ABSTRACT Pulmonary rehabilitation is considered a key management strategy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but its effectiveness is undermined by poor patient uptake and completion. The aim of this review was to identify, select and synthesise the available evidence on interventions for improving uptake and completion of pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD. Electronic databases and trial registers were searched for randomised trials evaluating the effect of an intervention compared with a concurrent control group on patient uptake and completion. The primary outcomes were the number of participants who attended a baseline assessment and at least one session of pulmonary rehabilitation (uptake), and the number of participants who received a discharge assessment (completion). Only one quasi-randomised study (n=115) (of 2468 records identified) met the review inclusion criteria and was assessed as having a high risk of bias. The point estimate of effect did, however, indicate greater programme completion and attendance rates in participants allocated to pulmonary rehabilitation plus a tablet computer (enabled with support for exercise training) compared with controls ( pulmonary rehabilitation only). There is insufficient evidence to guide clinical practice on interventions for improving patient uptake and completion of pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD. Despite increasing awareness of patient barriers to pulmonary rehabilitation, our review highlights the existing under-appreciation of interventional trials in this area. This knowledge gap should be viewed as an area of research priority due to its likely impact in undermining wider implementation of pulmonary rehabilitation and restricting patient access to a treatment considered the cornerstone of COPD

One-arcsecond line-of-sight pointing control on exoplanetsat, a three-unit CubeSat

ExoplanetSat is a proposed 10×10×34-cm space telescope designed to detect down to Earth-sized exoplanets in an orbit out to the habitable zone of bright, Sun-like stars via the transit method. Achieving this science objective requires one-arcsecond line-of-sight pointing control for the science CCD detector, an unprecedented requirement for CubeSats. A two-stage control architecture that coordinates coarse rigid-body attitude control with fine line-of-sight pointing control will be employed to meet this challenging pointing requirement. Detailed testing of the reaction wheels and CMOS detectors has been performed to extract key performance parameters used in simulations. The results of these simulations indicate that a 1.4 arcsecond pointing precision (3σ) is achievable. To meet the 1.0-arcsecond pointing requirement, several options are analyzed. In particular, a new technique to estimate reaction wheel vibrations for feed forward cancellation of reaction wheel vibrations is presented. This estimator adaptively estimates disturbances from noisy sensor measurements and effectively stores disturbance amplitude and phase in memory as a function of wheel speed. In addition to these simulation results, testing results from a hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) testbed demonstrate the capability of the fine pointing control loop. Future plans for complete HWIL testing of the coarse and fine control loops are presented

Genetic polymorphisms in the catechol estrogen metabolism pathway and breast cancer risk

Background: This study investigated whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes within the catechol estrogen metabolism pathway altered the risk of breast cancer alone or in combination, as well as whether menopausal hormone therapy (HT) modified the effect of these SNPs on breast cancer risk. Methods: In a population-based case-control study of breast cancer, 891 cases and 878 controls were genotyped for six functional SNPs in the COMT, CYP1B1, GSTM1, GSTP1, and GSTT1 genes. Results: Women homozygous with the T allele in CYP1B1*2 (Ser119; rs1056827) were at 1.69 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.17-2.46) times the risk of women homozygous with the G allele; women homozygous with the G allele in GSTP1 (Val105; rs1695) were at 0.73 (95% CI: 0.54-0.99) times the risk of breast cancer compared to women homozygous with the A allele. No other SNPs tested were associated with breast cancer to any appreciable degree. Potential gene-gene and gene-HT interactions were investigated. Conclusion: With the exception of GSTP1 and possibly CYP1B1*2, our findings do not provide support for the role of genetic variation in the catechol estrogen metabolism pathway and breast cancer risk in post-menopausal women

An infrared survey of brightest cluster galaxies: Paper I

We report on an imaging survey with the Spitzer Space Telescope of 62 brightest cluster galaxies with optical line emission. These galaxies are located in the cores of X-ray luminous clusters selected from the ROSAT All-Sky Survey. We find that about half of these sources have a sign of excess infrared emission; 22 objects out of 62 are detected at 70 microns, 18 have 8 to 5.8 micron flux ratios above 1.0 and 28 have 24 to 8 micron flux ratios above 1.0. Altogether 35 of 62 objects in our survey exhibit at least one of these signs of infrared excess. Four galaxies with infrared excesses have a 4.5/3.6 micron flux ratio indicating the presence of hot dust, and/or an unresolved nucleus at 8 microns. Three of these have high measured [OIII](5007A)/Hbeta flux ratios suggesting that these four, Abell 1068, Abell 2146, and Zwicky 2089, and R0821+07, host dusty active galactic nuclei (AGNs). 9 objects (including the four hosting dusty AGNs) have infrared luminosities greater than 10^11 L_sol and so can be classified as luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs). Excluding the four systems hosting dusty AGNs, the excess mid-infrared emission in the remaining brightest cluster galaxies is likely related to star formation.Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ

Accounting for uncertainty in ecological analysis: the strengths and limitations of hierarchical statistical modeling

Analyses of ecological data should account for the uncertainty in the process(es) that generated the data. However, accounting for these uncertainties is a difficult task, since ecology is known for its complexity. Measurement and/or process errors are often the only sources of uncertainty modeled when addressing complex ecological problems, yet analyses should also account for uncertainty in sampling design, in model specification, in parameters governing the specified model, and in initial and boundary conditions. Only then can we be confident in the scientific inferences and forecasts made from an analysis. Probability and statistics provide a framework that accounts for multiple sources of uncertainty. Given the complexities of ecological studies, the hierarchical statistical model is an invaluable tool. This approach is not new in ecology, and there are many examples (both Bayesian and non-Bayesian) in the literature illustrating the benefits of this approach. In this article, we provide a baseline for concepts, notation, and methods, from which discussion on hierarchical statistical modeling in ecology can proceed. We have also planted some seeds for discussion and tried to show where the practical difficulties lie. Our thesis is that hierarchical statistical modeling is a powerful way of approaching ecological analysis in the presence of inevitable but quantifiable uncertainties, even if practical issues sometimes require pragmatic compromises

Addition of abiraterone to first-line long-term hormone therapy in prostate cancer (STAMPEDE): Model to estimate long-term survival, quality-adjusted survival, and cost-effectiveness

Background: Results from randomised trials show adding abiraterone acetate plus prednisolone (AAP) to standard of care (SOC) improves disease-free and overall survival in men with prostate cancer (PC) starting long-term hormone therapy for first time. Formal assessment is required of whether funding AAP here shows appropriate use of resources. This cost-effectiveness decision model tests if giving AAP to these patients is cost-effective using costs from English National Health Service, the largest nation where STAMPEDE recruited. / Methods: Health outcomes and costs were modelled using patient data from AAP comparison of STAMPEDE (recruitment 2011-14). This included 1917 men with high-risk, locally advanced metastatic or recurrent PC starting 1st-line hormone therapy. SOC was hormone therapy for ≥2 years with radiotherapy in pre-selected patients. If allocated to research group, AAP (AA 1000mg/day, P 5mg/day) was added to SOC. The model makes lifetime predictions of survival, costs and quality-adjusted lifeyears (QALYs), with costs and QALYs discounted at 3.5% annually. Sensitivity analyses were performed. / Results: The model predicted AAP would extend survival (discounted quality-adjusted survival) by 2.68y (1.46 QALYs) for metastatic patients and 0.30y (0.29 QALYs) for non-metastatic. The cost of AAP means it is not currently cost-effective in this setting, including with Patient Access Scheme costs for AAP and enzalutamide and similar reductions for cabazitaxel and Ra. If AAP’s price reduces after patent expiry as expected (90% reduction on BNF cost), it would be cost-effective in both patient groups, with incremental cost-effectiveness ratios below £10,000 (US$12,665) per QALY. AAP could also dominate in non-metastatic patients (i.e. lower costs and higher QALYs than SOC alone). / Conclusions: AAP could be cost-effective for patients with non-metastatic and metastatic disease with expected future pricing and may be cost-saving in the former. Policymakers should encourage license submissions and generic price reductions to facilitate use of AAP given cost-saving potential in addition to improving survival. / Clinical trial information: NCT00268476

The Treasured Hunt: Collecting Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, Past, Present, and Future

Welcome and Opening Remarks: E. Ann Matter, University of Pennsylvania, and Lynn Ransom, Free Library of Philadelphia Session 1. Beginnings: Collecting in the Middle Ages and Renaissance Session Chair: Emily Steiner, Department of English, University of Pennsylvania Claire Richter Sherman, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art, The Manuscript Collection of King Charles V of France: The Personal and the Political David Rundle, History Faculty and Corpus Christi College, Oxford University, The Butcher of England and the Renaissance Arts of Book-Collecting Session 2: Civic Service: The Legacies of Philadelphia-Area Collectors Chair: Peter Stallybrass, Department of English, University of Pennsylvania James Tanis, Director of Libraries and Professor of History Emeritus, Bryn Mawr College, Migrating Manuscripts Derick Dreher, Director, The Rosenbach Museum & Library, Of Private Collectors and Public Libraries: Dr. A. S. W. Rosenbach and John Frederick Lewis Session 3: Keynote address Welcome: H. Carton Rogers, Vice Provost & Director of Libraries, University of Pennsylvania Chair: Robert Maxwell, Department of the History of Art, University of Pennsylvania Christopher de Hamel, Gaylord Donnelley Fellow Librarian, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University, The Manuscript Collection of C. L. Ricketts (1859-1941) Session 4: The Hunters and the Hunted: A Roundtable Discussion with Private and Institutional Collectors Chair: David Wallace, Department of English, University of Pennsylvania Moderator: Richard Linenthal, Bernard Quaritch Ltd. Panelists: Lawrence J. Schoenberg, Private Collector Gifford Combs, Private Collector Toshiyuki Takamiya, Private Collector, Keio University Consuelo Dutschke, Curator of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, Columbia University William Noel, Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books, The Walters Art Museu

An Outbreak of Rift Valley Fever in Northeastern Kenya, 1997-98

In December 1997, 170 hemorrhagic fever-associated deaths were reported in Carissa District, Kenya. Laboratory testing identified evidence of acute Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV). Of the 171 persons enrolled in a cross-sectional study, 31(18%) were anti-RVFV immunoglobulin (Ig) M positive. An age-adjusted IgM antibody prevalence of 14% was estimated for the district. We estimate approximately 27,500 infections occurred in Garissa District, making this the largest recorded outbreak of RVFV in East Africa. In multivariate analysis, contact with sheep body fluids and sheltering livestock in one’s home were significantly associated with infection. Direct contact with animals, particularly contact with sheep body fluids, was the most important modifiable risk factor for RVFV infection. Public education during epizootics may reduce human illness and deaths associated with future outbreaks