Magnetothermal Transport in Spin-Ladder Systems

We study a theoretical model for the magnetothermal conductivity of a spin-1/2 ladder with low exchange coupling ($J\ll\Theta_D$) subject to a strong magnetic field $B$. Our theory for the thermal transport accounts for the contribution of spinons coupled to lattice phonon modes in the one-dimensional lattice. We employ a mapping of the ladder Hamiltonian onto an XXZ spin-chain in a weaker effective field B_{eff}=B-B_{0}$, where$B_{0}=(B_{c1}+B_{c2})/2$corresponds to half-filling of the spinon band. This provides a low-energy theory for the spinon excitations and their coupling to the phonons. The coupling of acoustic longitudinal phonons to spinons gives rise to hybridization of spinons and phonons, and provides an enhanced$B$-dependant scattering of phonons on spinons. Using a memory matrix approach, we show that the interplay between several scattering mechanisms, namely: umklapp, disorder and phonon-spinon collisions, dominates the relaxation of heat current. This yields magnetothermal effects that are qualitatively consistent with the thermal conductivity measurements in the spin-1/2 ladder compound${\rm Br_4(C_5H_{12}N)_2}$ (BPCB).Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

The Diagnostic Drawing Series: A Comparison of Psychiatric Inpatient Adolescents in Crisis with Non-Hospitalized Youth

The purpose of this study is to examine the possible existence of structural and content elements in the Diagnostic Drawing Series, significant to a hospitalized, diagnosed, adolescent population, and to discover if there are recognizable or identifiable differences between this clinical population and a control group. The population chosen for this research project consisted of two groups of 30 subjects each. The psychiatric group consisted of 17 males and 13 females, between the age of 13 and 17 years, who were currently residing in a locked facility of a mental state hospital in Northern California. Categorized as severely emotionally disturbed (SED), these subjects had disorders (defined by the DSM-IV criteria) such as Major Depression Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Psychotic Disorder, etc. The control group consisted of 11 males and 19 females between the age of 14 and 18 years, high school teens without a diagnosis. The study took place on two locations: the hospital and the high school. The formal aspects of the art were rated using the Drawing Analysis Form (Cohen, 1985), the Tree Scale (Creekmore, 1989), and the Content Checklist (Cohen&Cohen, 1990). Results were analyzed and compared. Results of an inter­rater reliability were examined. 19 variables were found to have a high rate of occurrence (\u3e90%), common to the research group, and 17 variables common to the control group. In addition, 5 variables were found to have high rate of occurrence and be unique to the research group, while 11 variables were unique to the control group. The research also found general \u27trends\u27 in variables likely to occur in the drawings of hospitalized adolescents and non-hospitalized youth. This study is a unique contribution to research studies using the Diagnostic Drawing Series, as it concentrates on the adolescence age group

Corals of the South-west Indian Ocean: VI. The Alcyonacea (Octocorallia) of Mozambique, with a discussion on soft coral

A list of 46 species of Alcyonacea is presented for the coral reefs of the Segundas Archipelago and northwards in Mozambique, as well as a zoogeographical record for the Bazaruto Archipelago in southern Mozambique. Among the 12 genera listed, Rhytisma, Lemnalia and Briareum were recorded on Mozambican reefs for the first time and the study yielded 27 new zoogeographical records. The survey brings the number of soft coral species listed for Mozambique to a total of 53. A latitudinal pattern in soft coral diversity along the south equatorial East African coast is presented, with 46 species recorded in Tanzania, 46 along the northern coast of Mozambique, dropping to 29 in the Bazaruto Archipelago in southern Mozambique and rising again to 38 along the KwaZulu-Natal coast in South Africa. Only Indo-Pacific genera occur in Mozambique with no intrusion of any endemic South African soft coral fauna. Species of the family Alcyoniidae have a wider latitudinal distribution on south equatorial reefs than zooxanthellate members of the families Nephtheidae and Xeniidae, both of which are confined to lower latitudes

Corals of the South-west Indian Ocean: VI. The Alcyonacea (Octocorallia) of Mozambique, with a discussion on soft coral

A list of 46 species of Alcyonacea is presented for the coral reefs of the Segundas Archipelago and northwards in Mozambique, as well as a zoogeographical record for the Bazaruto Archipelago in southern Mozambique. Among the 12 genera listed, Rhytisma, Lemnalia and Briareum were recorded on Mozambican reefs for the first time and the study yielded 27 new zoogeographical records. The survey brings the number of soft coral species listed for Mozambique to a total of 53. A latitudinal pattern in soft coral diversity along the south equatorial East African coast is presented, with 46 species recorded in Tanzania, 46 along the northern coast of Mozambique, dropping to 29 in the Bazaruto Archipelago in southern Mozambique and rising again to 38 along the KwaZulu-Natal coast in South Africa. Only Indo-Pacific genera occur in Mozambique with no intrusion of any endemic South African soft coral fauna. Species of the family Alcyoniidae have a wider latitudinal distribution on south equatorial reefs than zooxanthellate members of the families Nephtheidae and Xeniidae, both of which are confined to lower latitudes

Personal response to immune checkpoint inhibitors of patients with advanced melanoma explained by a computational model of cellular immunity, tumor growth, and drug.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as pembrolizumab, are transforming clinical oncology. Yet, insufficient overall response rate, and accelerated tumor growth rate in some patients, highlight the need for identifying potential responders. To construct a computational model, identifying response predictors, and enabling immunotherapy personalization. The combined dynamics of cellular immunity, pembrolizumab, and the melanoma cancer were modeled by a set of ordinary differential equations. The model relies on a scheme of T memory stem cells, progressively differentiating into effector CD8+ T cells, and additionally includes T cell exhaustion, reinvigoration and senescence. Clinical data of a pembrolizumab-treated patient with advanced melanoma (Patient O') were used for model calibration and simulations. Virtual patient populations, varying in one parameter or more, were generated for retrieving clinical studies. Simulations captured the major features of Patient O's disease, displaying a good fit to her clinical data. A temporary increase in tumor burden, as implied by the clinical data, was obtained only when assuming aberrant self-renewal rates. Variation in effector T cell cytotoxicity was sufficient for simulating dynamics that vary from rapid progression to complete cure, while variation in tumor immunogenicity has a delayed and limited effect on response. Simulations of a-specific clinical trial were in good agreement with the clinical results, demonstrating positive correlations between response to pembrolizumab and the ratio of reinvigoration to baseline tumor load. These results were obtained by assuming inter-patient variation in the toxicity of effector CD8+ T cells, and in their intrinsic division rate, as well as by assuming that the intrinsic division rate of cancer cells is correlated with the baseline tumor burden. In conclusion, hyperprogression can result from lower patient-specific effector cytotoxicity, a temporary increase in tumor load is unlikely to result from real tumor growth, and the ratio of reinvigoration to tumor load can predict personal response to pembrolizumab. Upon further validation, the model can serve for immunotherapy personalization

Diversity, Distribution, and Molecular Systematics of Octocorals (Coelenterata: Anthozoa) of the Penghu Archipelago, Taiwan

The 1st ever surveys of octocorals in the Penghu Archipelago, Taiwan were conducted in 2006 and 2009. Scuba collections were carried out at 17 sites in northern, eastern, south-central, and southern parts of the archipelago. The collection, comprising about 250 specimens, yielded 34 species of the family Alcyoniidae belonging to Aldersladum, Cladiella, Klyxum, Lobophytum, Sarcophyton, and Sinularia. These include 6 new species that were recently described and another 15 records new to Taiwanese reefs. The northern collection sites featured a lower number of species compared to most of the central/southern or southern ones. To facilitate identification of octocoral species in future surveys, DNA sequences were obtained for the mitochondrial barcoding markers, COI and mtMutS, and for Cladiella and Klyxum only, nuclear 28S rDNA. These molecular markers reliably identified specimens to genus and clade, but could not discriminate among species within some clades. Phylogenetic reconstructions based on the barcode markers revealed paraphyly among Cladiella, Klyxum, and Aldersladum, thus emphasizing the need for taxonomic revisions of these genera. These results highlight the importance of octocoral surveys to elucidate patterns of biodiversity and zoogeography in the East and South China Seas, including their marginal reef systems