640 research outputs found
Unplanned Conversions from Robotic and Laparoscopic Colectomy in Patients With Colon Cancer Are Associated With Worse Outcomes: Identifying Key Factors from NSQIP
Pathophysiology of aniridia-associated keratopathy: Developmental aspects and unanswered questions
Aniridia, a rare congenital disease, is often characterized by a progressive, pronounced limbal insufficiency and ocular surface pathology termed aniridia-associated keratopathy (AAK). Due to the characteristics of AAK and its bilateral nature, clinical management is challenging and complicated by the multiple coexisting ocular and systemic morbidities in aniridia. Although it is primarily assumed that AAK originates from a congenital limbal stem cell deficiency, in recent years AAK and its pathogenesis has been questioned in the light of new evidence and a refined understanding of ocular development and the biology of limbal stem cells (LSCs) and their niche. Here, by consolidating and comparing the latest clinical and preclinical evidence, we discuss key unanswered questions regarding ocular developmental aspects crucial to AAK. We also highlight hypotheses on the potential role of LSCs and the ocular surface microenvironment in AAK. The insights thus gained lead to a greater appreciation for the role of developmental and cellular processes in the emergence of AAK. They also highlight areas for future research to enable a deeper understanding of aniridia, and thereby the potential to develop new treatments for this rare but blinding ocular surface disease
Fluid observers and tilting cosmology
We study perfect fluid cosmological models with a constant equation of state
parameter in which there are two naturally defined time-like
congruences, a geometrically defined geodesic congruence and a non-geodesic
fluid congruence. We establish an appropriate set of boost formulae relating
the physical variables, and consequently the observed quantities, in the two
frames. We study expanding spatially homogeneous tilted perfect fluid models,
with an emphasis on future evolution with extreme tilt. We show that for
ultra-radiative equations of state (i.e., ), generically the tilt
becomes extreme at late times and the fluid observers will reach infinite
expansion within a finite proper time and experience a singularity similar to
that of the big rip. In addition, we show that for sub-radiative equations of
state (i.e., ), the tilt can become extreme at late times and
give rise to an effective quintessential equation of state. To establish the
connection with phantom cosmology and quintessence, we calculate the effective
equation of state in the models under consideration and we determine the future
asymptotic behaviour of the tilting models in the fluid frame variables using
the boost formulae. We also discuss spatially inhomogeneous models and tilting
spatially homogeneous models with a cosmological constant
Stable U(IV) Complexes Form at High-Affinity Mineral Surface Sites
Uranium (U) poses a significant contamination hazard to soils, sediments, and groundwater due to its extensive use for energy production. Despite advances in modeling the risks of this toxic and radioactive element, lack of information about the mechanisms controlling U transport hinders further improvements, particularly in reducing environments where UIV predominates. Here we establish that mineral surfaces can stabilize the majority of U as adsorbed UIV species following reduction of UVI. Using X-ray absorption spectroscopy and electron imaging analysis, we find that at low surface loading, UIV forms inner-sphere complexes with two metal oxides, TiO2 (rutile) and Fe3O4 (magnetite) (at <1.3 U nm–2 and <0.037 U nm–2, respectively). The uraninite (UO2) form of UIV predominates only at higher surface loading. UIV–TiO2 complexes remain stable for at least 12 months, and UIV–Fe3O4 complexes remain stable for at least 4 months, under anoxic conditions. Adsorbed UIV results from UVI reduction by FeII or by the reduced electron shuttle AH2QDS, suggesting that both abiotic and biotic reduction pathways can produce stable UIV–mineral complexes in the subsurface. The observed control of high-affinity mineral surface sites on UIV speciation helps explain the presence of nonuraninite UIV in sediments and has important implications for U transport modeling
Harnessing nuclear spin polarization fluctuations in a semiconductor nanowire
Soon after the first measurements of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in a
condensed matter system, Bloch predicted the presence of statistical
fluctuations proportional to in the polarization of an ensemble of
spins. First observed by Sleator et al., so-called "spin noise" has
recently emerged as a critical ingredient in nanometer-scale magnetic resonance
imaging (nanoMRI). This prominence is a direct result of MRI resolution
improving to better than 100 nm^3, a size-scale in which statistical spin
fluctuations begin to dominate the polarization dynamics. We demonstrate a
technique that creates spin order in nanometer-scale ensembles of nuclear spins
by harnessing these fluctuations to produce polarizations both larger and
narrower than the natural thermal distribution. We focus on ensembles
containing ~10^6 phosphorus and hydrogen spins associated with single InP and
GaP nanowires (NWs) and their hydrogen-containing adsorbate layers. We monitor,
control, and capture fluctuations in the ensemble's spin polarization in
real-time and store them for extended periods. This selective capture of large
polarization fluctuations may provide a route for enhancing the weak magnetic
signals produced by nanometer-scale volumes of nuclear spins. The scheme may
also prove useful for initializing the nuclear hyperfine field of electron spin
qubits in the solid-state.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure
Quantum flutter of supersonic particles in one-dimensional quantum liquids
The non-equilibrium dynamics of strongly correlated many-body systems
exhibits some of the most puzzling phenomena and challenging problems in
condensed matter physics. Here we report on essentially exact results on the
time evolution of an impurity injected at a finite velocity into a
one-dimensional quantum liquid. We provide the first quantitative study of the
formation of the correlation hole around a particle in a strongly coupled
many-body quantum system, and find that the resulting correlated state does not
come to a complete stop but reaches a steady state which propagates at a finite
velocity. We also uncover a novel physical phenomenon when the impurity is
injected at supersonic velocities: the correlation hole undergoes long-lived
coherent oscillations around the impurity, an effect we call quantum flutter.
We provide a detailed understanding and an intuitive physical picture of these
intriguing discoveries, and propose an experimental setup where this physics
can be realized and probed directly.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figure
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Timber harvest projections for private land in western Oregon
In this analysis, volume-flow and market-based models of the western Oregon timber sector are developed. The volume-flow model finds the maximum, long-term, even-flow level of cut for each ownership (industry and non-industrial private forest). The market model simulates the interaction of log demand and timber owner supply to find the market balancing harvest quantity and log price. In both models, owner decisions on the intensity of timber management (silviculture) are made within the models consistent with owner objectives (volume or wealth maximization). Model projections suggest that western Oregon forest industry owners could sustain cut at recent (1995–1999) levels, stemming the 40-yr declining trend in their harvest. Nonindustrial private forest owners could raise harvests to near historical peak levels. These harvests could be maintained over the next five decades with no reduction in the growing stock inventory. Management would continue to shift toward the more intensive forms on both ownerships. The average age of the inventory would decline over the projection. Simulated riparian protection policies lower harvest roughly in proportion to the land base reduction and raise log prices. A policy to increase the minimum age of clearcut harvests would lead to large near-term reductions in industrial harvest but less marked reductions on NIPF lands. Prices would rise sharply in the near term. Over the longer term, the policy would act to expand inventory, raising harvest, and to depress prices
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