Geometry of contours and Peierls estimates in d=1 Ising models

Following Fr\"ohlich and Spencer, we study one dimensional Ising spin systems with ferromagnetic, long range interactions which decay as $|x-y|^{-2+\alpha}$, $0\leq \alpha\leq 1/2$. We introduce a geometric description of the spin configurations in terms of triangles which play the role of contours and for which we establish Peierls bounds. This in particular yields a direct proof of the well known result by Dyson about phase transitions at low temperatures.Comment: 28 pages, 3 figure

An integrated LANDSAT/ancillary data classification of desert rangeland

Range inventorying methods using LANDSAT MSS data, coupled with ancillary data were examined. The study area encompassed nearly 20,000 acres in Rush Valley, Utah. The vegetation is predominately desert shrub and annual grasses, with some annual forbs. Three LANDSAT scenes were evaluated using a Kauth-Thomas brightness/greenness data transformation (May, June, and August dates). The data was classified using a four-band maximum-likelihood classifier. A print map was taken into the field to determine the relationship between print symbols and vegetation. It was determined that classification confusion could be greatly reduced by incorporating geomorphic units and soil texture (coarse vs fine) into the classification. Spectral data, geomorphic units, and soil texture were combined in a GIS format to produce a final vegetation map identifying 12 vegetation types

Red blood cell as an adaptive optofluidic microlens

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EU Development of High Heat Flux Components

The development of plasma facing components for next step fusion devices in Europe is strongly focused to ITER. Here a wide spectrum of different design options for the divertor target and the first wall have been investigated with tungsten, CFC, and beryllium armor. Electron beam simulation experiments have been used to determine the performance of high heat flux components under ITER specific thermal loads. Beside thermal fatigue loads with power density levels up to 20MWm(-2), off normal events are a serious concern for the lifetime of plasma facing components. These phenomena are expected to occur on a time scale of a few milliseconds (plasma disruptions) or several hundred milliseconds (vertical displacement events) and have been identified as a major source for the production of neutron activated metallic or tritium enriched carbon dust which is of serious importance from a safety point of view. The irradiation induced material degradation is another critical concern for future D-T-burning fusion devices. In ITER the integrated neutron fluence to the first wall and the divertor armour will remain in the order of I dpa and 0.7 dpa, respectively. This value is low compared to future commercial fusion reactors; nevertheless, a non-negligible degradation of the materials has been detected, both for mechanical and thermal properties, in particular for the thermal conductivity of carbon based materials. Beside the degradation of individual material properties, the high heat flux performance of actively cooled plasma facing components has been investigated under ITER specific thermal and neutron loads

Short-term efficacy of ultramicronized palmitoylethanolamide in peripheral neuropathic pain.

Introduction. This study evaluates the efficacy of palmitoylethanolamide ultramicronized (PEA-um) as an add-on treatment in patients with diabetic or traumatic neuropathic pain (NP). Methods. 30 patients with chronic NP were assessed with Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), NP Symptom Inventory (NPSI), and Health Questionnaire Five Dimensions (EQ-5D), both at baseline and after 10 and 40 days of treatment with 1200 mg/die of PEA-um. All other therapies were maintained stable during the follow-up period. Results. VAS mean score significantly improved within the first 10 days, ranging from 8.20 ± 1.53 to 6.40 ± 1.83 (P<0.002), with a further decrease to 5.80 ± 2.04 (P<0.001) after 40 days of PEA-um administration. Moreover, NPSI total score improved from 5.2 ± 1.5 to 3.8 ± 2.1 (P: 0.025) and EQ-5D ranged from −0.30 ± 0.65 to 0.5 ± 0.34 (P<0.001) between T0 and T2. Conclusions. This study reports the prospective short-term efficacy data of oral PEA-um in patients with diabetic or traumatic NP. A significant improvement was observed both in VAS and NPSI scores and in quality of life scales after 40 days of treatment, although some limitations should be considered, including the short followup and the open-label study design

Making the Grade:Do International Branch Campuses and Their Home Campuses Differ in International Student Satisfaction With the Academic Experience?

This study investigates differences in academic satisfaction among undergraduate international students studying at international branch campuses (IBCs) and their home campuses, considering student stage of study, gender, and institution. It draws on data from 2,145 undergraduate international students enrolled at four home campuses and their six affiliated IBCs that responded to the 2018 International Student Barometer (ISB). Results indicate that international students studying at IBCs were significantly less satisfied with their academic experience-including constructs of academic and teaching quality, academic environment, and academic engagement-than international students studying at the associated home campuses. Results have important implications for how institutions carry out internationalization amid uncertain times; in particular, ensuring that the unique experiences of students are understood and considered in the planning and provision of transnational education

Quality control for more reliable integration of deep learning-based image segmentation into medical workflows

Machine learning algorithms underpin modern diagnostic-aiding software, whichhas proved valuable in clinical practice, particularly in radiology. However,inaccuracies, mainly due to the limited availability of clinical samples fortraining these algorithms, hamper their wider applicability, acceptance, andrecognition amongst clinicians. We present an analysis of state-of-the-artautomatic quality control (QC) approaches that can be implemented within thesealgorithms to estimate the certainty of their outputs. We validated the mostpromising approaches on a brain image segmentation task identifying whitematter hyperintensities (WMH) in magnetic resonance imaging data. WMH are acorrelate of small vessel disease common in mid-to-late adulthood and areparticularly challenging to segment due to their varied size, anddistributional patterns. Our results show that the aggregation of uncertaintyand Dice prediction were most effective in failure detection for this task.Both methods independently improved mean Dice from 0.82 to 0.84. Our workreveals how QC methods can help to detect failed segmentation cases andtherefore make automatic segmentation more reliable and suitable for clinicalpractice.<br

Preliminary results of phase II study of capecitabine and gemcitabine (CAP-GEM) in patients with metastatic pretreated thymic epithelial tumors (TETs)

Background: No previous prospective trials have been reported with capecitabine and gemcitabine (CAP-GEM) in patients with metastatic thymic epithelial tumors (TETs). We conducted a multicenter study to determine the activity and tolerability of this regimen in pretreated TETs. Patients and methods: A total of 15 patients were enrolled in the first stage of phase II study. All patients received CAP-GEM every 3 weeks. The primary end point was objective response rate (RR); secondary end points were toxicity, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival. Results: Complete responses (CR) and partial responses were observed in three (20%) and three (20%) patients for a 40% RR, respectively. Grade 1-2 neutropenia, anemia and thrombocytopenia were the most common side-effects, noted in seven (46.7%), five (33.3%) and five (33.3%) patients, respectively. The most common grade 3 toxicity was neutropenia in three patients (20%). Median PFS was 11 months (95% confidence interval 4-17). The 1- and 2-year survival rates were 80% and 67%, respectively. Conclusion: We have decided to publish the preliminary results because this regimen was more active than that expected. Although our results are preliminary, CAP-GEM shows activity and safety in pretreated TETs. Furthermore, multicenter trials, also in first-line setting, are necessary to confirm our results