Magnetostratigraphy and Clockwise Rotation of the Plio-Pleistocene Mojave River Formation, Central Mojave Desert, California

Oriented samples collected for paleomagnetic analysis from sediments of the newly-named Mojave River Formation (Nagy & Murray, 1991, this volume) possess stable characteristic components of Natural Remanent Magnetization (NRM). Progressive demagnetization reveals characteristic components of both normal and reversed polarity which are stratigraphically distinct. The oldest sediments exposed within the field area are reversely magnetized and were probably deposited during the early portion of the Matuyama reversed Chron. Stratigraphically higher units contain what appears to be the Olduvai normal Subchron, as well as a shorter normal zone which probably is either the Cobb Mountain or Jaramillo Event. The location of the Brunhes/Matuyama boundary at one site is within an alluvial fanglomerate which grades upward conformably into the lowest unit of the overlying Manix Formation, possibly accounting for the absence of the Bishop ash in the section. Demagnetization data from 143 samples yielding acceptable least-squares lines suggest a net clockwise rotation of 8 ± 2.7° over the past two million years, perhaps with some of the rotation during deposition. This rate of rotation could account easily for larger rotations reported elsewhere in the Mojave Desert on units of Miocene age

The Thermopower of Quantum Chaos

The thermovoltage of a chaotic quantum dot is measured using a current heating technique. The fluctuations in the thermopower as a function of magnetic field and dot shape display a non-Gaussian distribution, in agreement with simulations using Random Matrix Theory. We observe no contributions from weak localization or short trajectories in the thermopower.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, corrected: accidently omitted author in the Authors list, here (not in the article

Ballistic Transport Through Chaotic Cavities: Can Parametric Correlations and the Weak Localization Peak be Described by a Brownian Motion Model?

A Brownian motion model is devised on the manifold of S-matrices, and applied to the calculation of conductance-conductance correlations and of the weak localization peak. The model predicts that (i) the correlation function in $B$ has the same shape and width as the weak localization peak; (ii) the functions behave as $\propto 1-{\cal O}(B^2)$, thus excluding a linear line shape; and (iii) their width increases as the square root of the number of channels in the leads. Some of these predictions agree with experiment and with other calculations only in the limit of small $B$ and a large number of channels.Comment: 5 pages revtex (twocolumn

Genetically engineered minipigs model the major clinical features of human neurofibromatosis type 1.

Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) is a genetic disease caused by mutations in Neurofibromin 1 (NF1). NF1 patients present with a variety of clinical manifestations and are predisposed to cancer development. Many NF1 animal models have been developed, yet none display the spectrum of disease seen in patients and the translational impact of these models has been limited. We describe a minipig model that exhibits clinical hallmarks of NF1, including café au lait macules, neurofibromas, and optic pathway glioma. Spontaneous loss of heterozygosity is observed in this model, a phenomenon also described in NF1 patients. Oral administration of a mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase inhibitor suppresses Ras signaling. To our knowledge, this model provides an unprecedented opportunity to study the complex biology and natural history of NF1 and could prove indispensable for development of imaging methods, biomarkers, and evaluation of safety and efficacy of NF1-targeted therapies

How Phase-Breaking Affects Quantum Transport Through Chaotic Cavities

We investigate the effects of phase-breaking events on electronic transport through ballistic chaotic cavities. We simulate phase-breaking by a fictitious lead connecting the cavity to a phase-randomizing reservoir and introduce a statistical description for the total scattering matrix, including the additional lead. For strong phase-breaking, the average and variance of the conductance are calculated analytically. Combining these results with those in the absence of phase-breaking, we propose an interpolation formula, show that it is an excellent description of random-matrix numerical calculations, and obtain good agreement with several recent experiments.Comment: 4 pages, revtex, 3 figures: uuencoded tar-compressed postscrip

Parametric Conductance Correlation for Irregularly Shaped Quantum Dots

We propose the autocorrelator of conductance peak heights as a signature of the underlying chaotic dynamics in quantum dots in the Coulomb blockade regime. This correlation function is directly accessible to experiments and its decay width contains interesting information about the underlying electron dynamics. Analytical results are derived in the framework of random matrix theory in the regime of broken time-reversal symmetry. The final expression, upon rescaling, becomes independent of the details of the system. For the situation when the external parameter is a variable magnetic field, the system-dependent, nonuniversal field scaling factor is obtained by a semiclassical approach. The validity of our findings is confirmed by a comparison with results of an exact numerical diagonalization of the conformal billiard threaded by a magnetic flux line.Comment: Minor corrections added to the text and references (36 pages RevTeX 3, epsf, 10 figure

Signatures of Chaos in the Statistical Distribution of Conductance Peaks in Quantum Dots

Analytical expressions for the width and conductance peak distributions of irregularly shaped quantum dots in the Coulomb blockade regime are presented in the limits of conserved and broken time-reversal symmetry. The results are obtained using random matrix theory and are valid in general for any number of non-equivalent and correlated channels, assuming that the underlying classical dynamic of the electrons in the dot is chaotic or that the dot is weakly disordered. The results are expressed in terms of the channel correlation matrix which for chaotic systems is given in closed form for both point-like contacts and extended leads. We study the dependence of the distributions on the number of channels and their correlations. The theoretical distributions are in good agreement with those computed in a dynamical model of a chaotic billiard.Comment: 19 pages, RevTex, 11 Postscript figure

Creation of an NCI comparative brain tumor consortium: informing the translation of new knowledge from canine to human brain tumor patients

On September 14–15, 2015, a meeting of clinicians and investigators in the fields of veterinary and human neuro-oncology, clinical trials, neuropathology, and drug development was convened at the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Maryland. This meeting served as the inaugural event launching a new consortium focused on improving the knowledge, development of, and access to naturally occurring canine brain cancer, specifically glioma, as a model for human disease. Within the meeting, a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) assessment was undertaken to critically evaluate the role that naturally occurring canine brain tumors could have in advancing this aspect of comparative oncology aimed at improving outcomes for dogs and human beings. A summary of this meeting and subsequent discussion are provided to inform the scientific and clinical community of the potential for this initiative. Canine and human comparisons represent an unprecedented opportunity to complement conventional brain tumor research paradigms, addressing a devastating disease for which innovative diagnostic and treatment strategies are clearly needed

Random matrix ensembles with random interactions: Results for EGUE(2)-SU(4)

We introduce in this paper embedded Gaussian unitary ensemble of random matrices, for $m$ fermions in $\Omega$ number of single particle orbits, generated by random two-body interactions that are SU(4) scalar, called EGUE(2)-SU(4). Here the SU(4) algebra corresponds to Wigner's supermultiplet SU(4) symmetry in nuclei. Formulation based on Wigner-Racah algebra of the embedding algebra $U(4\Omega) \supset U(\Omega) \otimes SU(4)$ allows for analytical treatment of this ensemble and using this analytical formulas are derived for the covariances in energy centroids and spectral variances. It is found that these covariances increase in magnitude as we go from EGUE(2) to EGUE(2)-\cs to EGUE(2)-SU(4) implying that symmetries may be responsible for chaos in finite interacting quantum systems.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, some formulas in Table 1 corrected, Table 1 changed to Table 1 and 2, Fig. 2 modifie