The Transition State in a Noisy Environment

Transition State Theory overestimates reaction rates in solution because conventional dividing surfaces between reagents and products are crossed many times by the same reactive trajectory. We describe a recipe for constructing a time-dependent dividing surface free of such recrossings in the presence of noise. The no-recrossing limit of Transition State Theory thus becomes generally available for the description of reactions in a fluctuating environment

A data recipient centered de-identification method to retain statistical attributes

AbstractPrivacy has always been a great concern of patients and medical service providers. As a result of the recent advances in information technology and the government’s push for the use of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems, a large amount of medical data is collected and stored electronically. This data needs to be made available for analysis but at the same time patient privacy has to be protected through de-identification. Although biomedical researchers often describe their research plans when they request anonymized data, most existing anonymization methods do not use this information when de-identifying the data. As a result, the anonymized data may not be useful for the planned research project. This paper proposes a data recipient centered approach to tailor the de-identification method based on input from the recipient of the data. We demonstrate our approach through an anonymization project for biomedical researchers with specific goals to improve the utility of the anonymized data for statistical models used for their research project. The selected algorithm improves a privacy protection method called Condensation by Aggarwal et al. Our methods were tested and validated on real cancer surveillance data provided by the Kentucky Cancer Registry

Origin of anomalous breakdown of Bloch's rule in the Mott-Hubbard insulator MnTe2_2

We reinvestigate the pressure dependence of the crystal structure and antiferromagnetic phase transition in MnTe$_2$ by the rigorous and reliable tool of high pressure neutron powder diffraction. First-principles density functional theory calculations are carried out in order to gain microscopic insight. The measured N\'eel temperature of MnTe$_2$ is found to show unusually large pressure dependence of $12$ K GPa$^{-1}$. This gives rise to large violation of Bloch's rule given by $\alpha=\frac{d\log T_N}{d\log V}=-\frac{10}{3} \approx -3.3$, to a $\alpha$ value of -6.0 $\pm$ 0.1 for MnTe$_2$. The ab-initio calculation of the electronic structure and the magnetic exchange interactions in MnTe$_2$, for the measured crystal structures at different pressures, gives the pressure dependence of the Ne\'el temperature, $\alpha$ to be -5.61, in close agreement with experimental finding. The microscopic origin of this behavior turns to be dictated by the distance dependence of the cation-anion hopping interaction strength

The kinetics of surfactant desorption at the air–solution interface

The kinetics of desorption of the anionic surfactant sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate at the air–solution interface have been studied using neutron reflectivity (NR). The experimental arrangement incorporates a novel flow cell in which the subphase can be exchanged (diluted) using a laminar flow whilst the surface region remains unaltered. The kinetics of the desorption is relatively slow and occurs over many tens of minutes compared with the dilution timescale of approximately 10–30 minutes. A detailed mathematical model, in which the rate of the desorption is determined by transport through a near-surface diffusion layer into a diluted bulk solution below, is developed and provides a good description of the timedependent adsorption data.\ud \ud A key parameter of the model is the ratio of the depth of the diffusion layer, Hc , to the depth of the fluid, Hf, and we find that this is related to the reduced Péclet number, Pe*, for the system, via Hc/Hf, = C/Pe* 1/ 2 . Although from a highly idealised experimental arrangement, the results provide an important insight into the ‘rinse mechanism’, which is applicable to a wide variety of domestic and industrial circumstances

The Attorney-Client Privilege

History suggests that the attorney-client privilege is the oldest of the evidentiary privileges. It probably arose at common law during the 1500\u27s, concurrent with the right to trial by jury. Judges initially viewed the privilege as a vindication of the oath and the honor of the attorney. However, during the late 1700\u27s, courts began to assert that the privilege\u27s purpose was to encourage clients to make full disclosure to their counsel, by providing subjectively for the client\u27s freedom of apprehension. In 1871, the Virginia Supreme Court5 stated that [i]f the privilege did not exist at all, every one would be thrown upon his own legal resources; deprived of all professional assistance, a man would not venture to consult any skillful person, or would only dare to tell his counsel half his case. Today, courts continue to state that the benefits of full disclosure justify the privilege, and frequently assert that without such full disclosure an attorney may not be able to adequately advise his client

No Association of Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Related Genetic Variants With Colon Cancer

Background: Obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) are known risk factors for colon cancer. Recent reports from a number of genome wide association studies (GWAS) have identified several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with obesity and T2D. Here we tested the hypothesis that these SNPs may also be associated with risk of colon cancer. Methods: We genotyped nine SNPs reported in GWAS of obesity and/or T2D, including SNPs in HHEX, KCNJ11, SLC30A8, FTO, CDKN2, CDKAL1, TCF2, and the rs9300039 SNP in an intergenic region, in 561 colon cancer cases and 721 population controls. Results: None of these SNPs were statistically significantly associated with colon cancer in our sample. Conclusions: Overall, these results suggest that these obesity and T2D genetic susceptibility loci are unlikely to influence the risk of colon cancer

Spatiotemporal and joint kinematic differences between footstrike patterns in male and female 10,000m athletes

The aim of this study was to examine biomechanical differences between footstrike patterns in elite 10,000m racing. Video data of 53 men and 33 women were recorded in competition and used to compare spatiotemporal and joint kinematic variables between rearfoot, midfoot and forefoot strikers, and to find associations. There were no differences between footstrike patterns for speed, step length or cadence, but rearfoot strikers had longer contact times than forefoot and midfoot strikers by 0.017 and 0.014 s, respectively, and shorter flight times by 0.023 and 0.021 s, respectively. The main causes of different footstrike patterns were the ankle and foot angles at initial contact; thigh, knee and shank angles differed little. In women, longer hip-ankle “overstriding” distances were associated with faster running speeds (r = 0.58), and so were a positive contributor to performance

Ovarian Cancer Incidence Corrected for Oophorectomy

Current reported incidence rates for ovarian cancer may significantly underestimate the true rate because of the inclusion of women in the calculations who are not at risk for ovarian cancer due to prior benign salpingo-oophorectomy (SO). We have considered prior SO to more realistically estimate risk for ovarian cancer. Kentucky Health Claims Data, International Classification of Disease 9 (ICD-9) codes, Current Procedure Terminology (CPT) codes, and Kentucky Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Data were used to identify women who have undergone SO in Kentucky, and these women were removed from the at-risk pool in order to re-assess incidence rates to more accurately represent ovarian cancer risk. The protective effect of SO on the population was determined on an annual basis for ages 5–80+ using data from the years 2009–2013. The corrected age-adjusted rates of ovarian cancer that considered SO ranged from 33% to 67% higher than age-adjusted rates from the standard population. Correction of incidence rates for ovarian cancer by accounting for women with prior SO gives a better understanding of risk for this disease faced by women. The rates of ovarian cancer were substantially higher when SO was taken into consideration than estimates from the standard population