Psilocybin-assisted therapy and HIV-related shame

As a proposed mediator between stigma-related stressors and negative mental health outcomes, HIV-related shame has been predictive of increased rates of substance use and difficulties adhering to antiretroviral treatment among people with HIV. These downstream manifestations have ultimately impeded progress toward national goals to End the HIV Epidemic, in part due to limited success of conventional psychotherapies in addressing HIV-related shame. In a pilot clinical trial (N = 12), receipt of psilocybin-assisted group therapy was associated with a large pre-post decrease in HIV-related shame as measured by the HIV and Abuse Related Shame Inventory, with a median (IQR) change of - 5.5 (- 6.5, - 3.5) points from baseline to 3-months follow-up (Z = - 2.6, p = 0.009, r = - 0.75). A paradoxical exacerbation of sexual abuse-related shame experienced by two participants following receipt of psilocybin raises critical questions regarding the use of psilocybin therapy among patients with trauma. These preliminary findings carry potential significance for the future of HIV care

As-Built and Post-treated Microstructures of an Electron Beam Melting (EBM) Produced Nickel-Based Superalloy

The microstructures of an electron beam melted (EBM) nickel-based superalloy (Alloy 718) were comprehensively investigated in as-built and post-treated conditions, with particular focus individually on the contour (outer periphery) and hatch (core) regions of the build. The hatch region exhibited columnar grains with strong 〈001〉 texture in the build direction, while the contour region had a mix of columnar and equiaxed grains, with no preferred crystallographic texture. Both regions exhibited nearly identical hardness and carbide content. However, the contour region showed a higher number density of fine carbides compared to the hatch. The as-built material was subjected to two distinct post-treatments: (1) hot isostatic pressing (HIP) and (2) HIP plus heat treatment (HIP + HT), with the latter carried out as a single cycle inside the HIP vessel. Both post-treatments resulted in nearly an order of magnitude decrease in defect content in hatch and contour regions. HIP + HT led to grain coarsening in the contour, but did not alter the microstructure in the hatch region. Different factors that may be responsible for grain growth, such as grain size, grain orientation, grain boundary curvature and secondary phase particles, are discussed. The differences in carbide sizes in the hatch and contour regions appeared to decrease after post-treatment. After HIP + HT, similar higher hardness was observed in both the hatch and contour regions compared to the as-built material

Neutral pion production in p.bar.p annihilations at 2.0 GeV/c

The authors present here preliminary results on pi /sup 0/ production in pp interactions at 2 GeV/c. The results are based on a total of 58.32K events and 24.36K gammas recorded in 60.3K pictures (good frames), which forms a part of 200K pictures taken in the 1.5 m chamber with a built-in track-sensitive hydrogen target (TST) at Rutherford High Energy Laboratory. (9 refs)

Oxidation kinetics in pearlite: The defining role of interface crystallography

Five different pearlitic steel wires were produced through controlled thermomechanical processing. These wires had significant (similar to 2 times) differences in the pearlite alignment and also exhibited nearly one order of magnitude difference in the oxidation kinetics. Though the nature of the oxide films was not remarkably different, the stresses in the majority hematite phase scaled with the experimentally measured oxidation rates. Careful correlation between substrate microstructure and oxide stresses established that the stresses were highest at the ferrite-cementite interface. And the interface crystallography, in case of the coarse pearlite, determined such stresses and the oxidation kinetics. (C) 2018 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Adiabatic Nano-Focusing of Plasmons by Sharp Metallic Wedges

This paper demonstrates the possibility of efficient adiabatic nano-focusing of plasmons by a sharp triangular metal wedge. Geometrical optics approach and the approximation of continuous electrodynamics are used for the analysis. In particular, it is demonstrated that both the phase and group velocities of an incident anti-symmetric (with respect to the magnetic field) plasmon tend to zero at the tip of the wedge, and the plasmon adiabatically slows down, eventually dissipating in the metal. Typically, the amplitude of the plasmon significantly increases near the wedge tip, but this increase is finite even in the absence of dissipation in the metal. The dependence of the local field enhancement near the tip on structural parameters, dissipation in the metal, angle of incidence, etc. is analyzed in this paper. It is also shown that an anti-symmetric film plasmon can effectively be guided by a triangular metal wedge, forming a wedge plasmon mode that is localized near the tip of the wedge and propagates along this tip. A new existence condition for these localized wedge plasmons is derived and discussed

Study of the reaction p.bar.p -> n.bar.n with antiproton momentum in the range 700-750 MeV/c

Preliminary results on the charge exchange reaction pp to nn are presented. The differential angular distribution seems to exhibit a sharp peak in the forward direction and a secondary maximum. A diffractive model of Frahn and Venter (1964) seems to be a good fit to the data. (5 refs)