Ellipsometric measurements of the refractive indices of linear alkylbenzene and EJ-301 scintillators from 210 to 1000 nm

We report on ellipsometric measurements of the refractive indices of LAB-PPO, Nd-doped LAB-PPO and EJ-301 scintillators to the nearest +/-0.005, in the wavelength range 210-1000 nm.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Influence of random roughness on the Casimir force at small separations

The influence of random surface roughness of Au films on the Casimir force is explored with atomic force microscopy in the plate-sphere geometry. The experimental results are compared to theoretical predictions for separations ranging between 20 and 200 nm. The optical response and roughness of the Au films were measured and used as input in theoretical predictions. It is found that at separations below 100 nm, the roughness effect is manifested through a strong deviation from the normal scaling of the force with separation distance. Moreover, deviations from theoretical predictions based on perturbation theory can be larger than 100%.Comment: 18, 5 figure

Child Psychosocial Adjustment and Parenting in Families Affected by Maternal HIV/AIDS

Child adjustment and parenting were examined in 23 9-through 16-year-old youth from families affected by maternal HIV infection and 20 same-age peers whose mothers were not infected. Children whose mothers were seropositive reported significantly more externalizing problems. Infected mothers reported less age-appropriate supervision/monitoring relative to non-infected mothers. Better mother-child relationship quality and less impairment in parental supervision/monitoring of age-appropriate youth behaviors were associated with fewer externalizing difficulties among the HIV-positive group only. Similarly, only among HIV-infected mothers was refraining from engaging in inconsistent disciplinary tactics associated with lower reports of internalizing and externalizing problems. These data highlight the promise of programs targeting parenting skills to prevent or ameliorate child difficulties

Adiabaticity Conditions for Volatility Smile in Black-Scholes Pricing Model

Our derivation of the distribution function for future returns is based on the risk neutral approach which gives a functional dependence for the European call (put) option price, C(K), given the strike price, K, and the distribution function of the returns. We derive this distribution function using for C(K) a Black-Scholes (BS) expression with volatility in the form of a volatility smile. We show that this approach based on a volatility smile leads to relative minima for the distribution function ("bad" probabilities) never observed in real data and, in the worst cases, negative probabilities. We show that these undesirable effects can be eliminated by requiring "adiabatic" conditions on the volatility smile

Developing Effective Alzheimer's Disease Therapies: Clinical Experience and Future Directions

Alzheimer's disease (AD) clinical trials, focused on disease modifying drugs and conducted in patients with mild to moderate AD, as well as prodromal (early) AD, have failed to reach efficacy endpoints in improving cognitive function in most cases to date or have been terminated due to adverse events. Drugs that have reached clinical stage were reviewed using web resources (such as clinicaltrials.gov, alzforum.org, company press releases, and peer reviewed literature) to identify late stage (Phase II and Phase III) efficacy clinical trials and summarize reasons for their failure. For each drug, only the latest clinical trials and ongoing trials that aimed at improving cognitive function were included in the analysis. Here we highlight the potential reasons that have hindered clinical success, including clinical trial design and choice of outcome measures, heterogeneity of patient populations, difficulties in diagnosing and staging the disease, drug design, mechanism of action, and toxicity related to the long-term use. We review and suggest approaches for AD clinical trial design aimed at improving our ability to identify novel therapies for this devastating disease

EGRET Spectral Index and the Low-Energy Peak Position in the Spectral Energy Distribution of EGRET-Detected Blazars

In current theoretical models of the blazar subclass of active galaxies, the broadband emission consists of two components: a low-frequency synchrotron component with a peak in the IR to X-ray band, and a high-frequency inverse Compton component with a peak in the gamma-ray band. In such models, the gamma-ray spectral index should be correlated with the location of the low-energy peak, with flatter gamma-ray spectra expected for blazars with synchrotron peaks at higher photon energies and vice versa. Using the EGRET-detected blazars as a sample, we examine this correlation and possible uncertainties in its construction.Comment: 17 pages including 1 figure, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

EGRET Gamma-Ray Observations of the Crab P2/P1 Ratio

Recent observations of the Crab pulsar by the Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory show that the high-energy gamma-ray light curve has changed little over the lifetime of the instrument. Previous data collected by SAS-2 and COS-B in the years 1972-82, along with earlier EGRET data, suggested a 14 year sinusoidal variation in the flux ratio between the first and second peaks. The new data from EGRET indicate that the flux ratio is constant.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. To be published in Ap

Gamma-ray and neutrino emission from misaligned microquasars

Microquasars are accreting X-ray binary systems with non-thermal radio jets. In some of these systems the jet is expected to be strongly misaligned with the perpendicular to the orbital plane. If the donor star is an early-type star, the jet could collide with the stellar wind producing a standing shock between the compact object and the stellar surface. Relativistic particles injected by the jet can be re-accelerated and isotropized at the colliding region. If the jet has hadronic content, TeV protons will diffuse into the inner, dense wind leading to gamma-ray and neutrino production from interactions with the matter of the wind. In the case of very powerful jets, the wind pressure can be overbalanced and the jet might impact directly onto the stellar surface. We present estimates of the gamma-ray and neutrino luminosities for different sets of parameters in these scenarios and we briefly discuss the effects of this radiation on the donor star and its detectability with current instruments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Disclosure of Maternal HIV Status to Children: To Tell or Not To Tell . . . That Is the Question

HIV-infected mothers face the challenging decision of whether to disclose their serostatus to their children. From the perspective of both mother and child, we explored the process of disclosure, providing descriptive information and examining the relationships among disclosure, demographic variables, and child adjustment. Participants were 23 mothers and one of their noninfected children (9 to 16 years of age). Sixty-one percent of mothers disclosed. Consistent with previous research, disclosure was not related to child functioning. However, children sworn to secrecy demonstrated lower social competence and more externalizing problems. Differential disclosure, which occurred in one-third of the families, was associated with higher levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms. Finally, knowing more than mothers had themselves disclosed was related to child maladjustment across multiple domains. Clinical implications and the need for future research are considered

Global anisotropy of arrival directions of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays: capabilities of space-based detectors

Planned space-based ultra-high-energy cosmic-ray detectors (TUS, JEM-EUSO and S-EUSO) are best suited for searches of global anisotropies in the distribution of arrival directions of cosmic-ray particles because they will be able to observe the full sky with a single instrument. We calculate quantitatively the strength of anisotropies associated with two models of the origin of the highest-energy particles: the extragalactic model (sources follow the distribution of galaxies in the Universe) and the superheavy dark-matter model (sources follow the distribution of dark matter in the Galactic halo). Based on the expected exposure of the experiments, we estimate the optimal strategy for efficient search of these effects.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, iopart style. v.2: discussion of the effect of the cosmic magnetic fields added; other minor changes. Simulated UHECR skymaps available at http://livni.inr.ac.ru/UHECRskymaps