Hot Rocks! Near-Infrared Reflectances (and Emissivities) or Rocks at Venus Surface Temperatures

Venus surface can be viewed in emission through a few near-infrared (NIR) spectral windows (1 m) in its relatively opaque atmosphere [1]. Venus surface shows NIR emissivities that correlate with surface geology [2-4], and these emissivity variations are interpreted as differences in surface rock type (mafic vs. silicic) and/or extent of weathering (Fe2+ silicates vs. Fe3+-oxide-coated). To understand and quantify the observed variations in NIR emissivity, high-temperature (T) emissivity can be measured directly [5,6]. For example, emissivities of basalts in the wavelength range 0.85 1.2 m are ~0.95 [5-8]. This can be tested by measureing reflectance, because Kirchoffs Law holds that emissivity (e) = 1 reflectance (r). The r of basalt in the NIR is ~0.05 [o] consistent with a NIR e of ~0.95 [5-8]. High-T NIR es of silicic igneous rocks (granitic, rhyolite) have been reported to be 0.8-0.9 [5,6], which is inconsistent with r values of 0.3-0.8 of such rocks at 25C [9,10]. However, these measurements have been updated [7,8] and are consistent with the results here (see below and Fig. 3)

Luttinger theorem for a spin-density-wave state

We obtained the analog of the Luttinger relation for a commensurate spin-density-wave state. We show that while the relation between the area of the occupied states and the density of particles gets modified in a simple and predictable way when the system becomes ordered, a perturbative consideration of the Luttinger theorem does not work due to the presence of an anomaly similar to the chiral anomaly in quantum electrodynamics.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX, 1 figure embedded in the text, ps-file is also available at http://lifshitz.physics.wisc.edu/www/morr/morr_homepage.htm

Chiral Symmetry in Light-front QCD

The definition of chiral transformations in light-front field theory is very different from the conventional form in equal-time formalism. We study the consistency of chiral transformations and chiral symmetry in light-front QCD and derive a complete new light-front axial-vector current for QCD. The breaking of chiral symmetry in light-front QCD is only associated with helicity flip interaction between quarks and gluons. Remarkably, the new axial-vector current does not contain the pion pole part so that the associate chiral charge smoothly describes pion transitions for various hadronic processes.Comment: 15 pages, no figure, JHEP style, added reference and corrected typos and some changed conten

Psychometric Evaluation and Design of Patient-Centered Communication Measures for Cancer Care Settings

Objective To evaluate the psychometric properties of questions that assess patient perceptions of patient-provider communication and design measures of patient-centered communication (PCC). Methods Participants (adults with colon or rectal cancer living in North Carolina) completed a survey at 2 to 3 months post-diagnosis. The survey included 87 questions in six PCC Functions: Exchanging Information, Fostering Health Relationships, Making Decisions, Responding to Emotions, Enabling Patient Self-Management, and Managing Uncertainty. For each Function we conducted factor analyses, item response theory modeling, and tests for differential item functioning, and assessed reliability and construct validity. Results Participants included 501 respondents; 46% had a high school education or less. Reliability within each Function ranged from 0.90 to 0.96. The PCC-Ca-36 (36-question survey; reliability=0.94) and PCC-Ca-6 (6-question survey; reliability=0.92) measures differentiated between individuals with poor and good health (i.e., known-groups validity) and were highly correlated with the HINTS communication scale (i.e., convergent validity). Conclusion This study provides theory-grounded PCC measures found to be reliable and valid in colorectal cancer patients in North Carolina. Future work should evaluate measure validity over time and in other cancer populations. Practice implications The PCC-Ca-36 and PCC-Ca-6 measures may be used for surveillance, intervention research, and quality improvement initiatives

3',5'-Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate- and Ca2+-Calmodulin-Dependent Endogenous Protein Phosphorylation Activity in Membranes of the Bovine Chromaffin Secretory Vesicles: Identification of Two Phosphorylated Components as Tyrosine Hydroxylase and Protein Kinase Regulatory Subunit Type II

Abstract: Membranes of the secretory vesicles from bovine adrenal medulla were investigated for the presence of the endogenous protein phosphorylation activity. Seven phosphoprotein bands in the molecular weight range of 250,000 to 30,000 were observed by means of the sodium dodecyl sulphate electrophoresis and autoradiography. On the basis of the criteria of molecular weight, selective stimulation of the phosphorylation by cyclic AMP (as compared with cyclic GMP) and immunoprecipitation by specific antibodies, band 5 (molecular weight 60,300) was found to represent the phosphorylated form of the secretory vesicle-bound tyrosine hydroxylase. The electrophoretic mobility, the stimulatory and inhibitory effects of cyclic AMP in presence of Mg2+ and Zn,2+ respectively, and immunoreactivity toward antibodies showed band 6 to contain two forms of the regulatory subunits of the type II cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase, distinguishable by their molecular weights (56,000 and 52,000, respectively). Phosphorylation of band 7 (molecular weight 29,800) was stimulated about 2 to 3 times by Ca2+ and calmodulin in the concentration range of both agents believed to occur in the secretory tissues under physiological conditions

A New Look at the Axial Anomaly in Lattice QED with Wilson Fermions

By carrying out a systematic expansion of Feynman integrals in the lattice spacing, we show that the axial anomaly in the U(1) lattice gauge theory with Wilson fermions, as determined in one-loop order from an irrelevant lattice operator in the Ward identity, must necessarily be identical to that computed from the dimensionally regulated continuum Feynman integrals for the triangle diagrams.Comment: 1 figure, LaTeX, 18 page

New nonrenormalization theorems for anomalous three point functions

Nonrenormalization theorems involving the transverse, i.e. non anomalous, part of the correlator in perturbative QCD are proven. Some of their consequences and questions they raise are discussed.Comment: 14 pages. People added in the acknowledgements. Minor changes to match version to appear in journa

Higher Dimensional Schwinger-like Anomalous Effective Action

We construct explicit form of the anomalous effective action, in arbitrary even dimension, for Abelian vector and axial gauge fields coupled to Dirac fermions. It turns out to be a surprisingly simple extension of 2D Schwinger model effective action.Comment: 7 pages, no figures, ReVTeX, to appear in Phys.Rev.

Induced fermionic current in toroidally compactified spacetimes with applications to cylindrical and toroidal nanotubes

The vacuum expectation value of the fermionic current is evaluated for a massive spinor field in spacetimes with an arbitrary number of toroidally compactified spatial dimensions in presence of a constant gauge field. By using the Abel-Plana type summation formula and the zeta function technique we present the fermionic current in two different forms. Non-trivial topology of the background spacetime leads to the Aharonov-Bohm effect on the fermionic current induced by the gauge field. The current is a periodic function of the magnetic flux with the period equal to the flux quantum. In the absence of the gauge field it vanishes for special cases of untwisted and twisted fields. Applications of the general formulae to Kaluz-Klein type models and to cylindrical and toroidal carbon nanotubes are given. In the absence of magnetic flux the total fermionic current in carbon nanotubes vanishes, due to the cancellation of contributions from two different sublattices of the graphene hexagonal lattice.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, explicit regularization procedure adde

Folic Acid Supplementation for the Prevention of Neural Tube Defects: An Updated Evidence Report and Systematic Review for the US Preventive Services Task Force

AB Importance: Neural tube defects are among the most common congenital anomalies in the United States. Periconceptional folic acid supplementation is a primary care-relevant preventive intervention. Objective: To review the evidence on folic acid supplementation for preventing neural tube defects to inform the US Preventive Services Task Force for an updated Recommendation Statement. Data Sources: MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and trial registries through January 28, 2016, with ongoing surveillance through November 11, 2016; references; experts. Study Selection: English-language studies of folic acid supplementation in women. Excluded were poor-quality studies; studies of prepubertal girls, men, women without the potential for childbearing, and neural tube defect recurrence; and studies conducted in developing countries. Data Extraction and Synthesis: Two investigators independently reviewed abstracts, full-text articles, and risk of bias of included studies. One investigator extracted data and a second checked accuracy. Because of heterogeneity, data were not pooled. Main Outcomes and Measures: Neural tube defects, harms of treatment (twinning, respiratory outcomes). Results: A total of 24 studies (N > 58 860) were included. In 1 randomized clinical trial from Hungary initiated in 1984, incidence of neural tube defects for folic acid supplementation compared with trace element supplementation was 0% vs 0.25% (Peto odds ratio [OR], 0.13 [95% CI, 0.03-0.65]; n = 4862). Odds ratios from cohort studies recruiting participants between 1984 and 1996 demonstrated beneficial associations and ranged from 0.11 to 0.27 (n = 19 982). Three of 4 case-control studies with data from 1976 through 1998 reported ORs ranging from 0.6 to 0.7 (n > 7121). Evidence of benefit led to food fortification in the United States beginning in 1998, after which no new prospective studies have been conducted. More recent case-control studies drawing from data collected after 1998 have not demonstrated a protective association consistently with folic acid supplementation, with ORs ranging from 0.93 to 1.4 and confidence intervals spanning the null (n > 13 990). Regarding harms, 1 trial (OR, 1.40 [95% CI, 0.89-2.21]; n = 4767) and 1 cohort study (OR, 1.04 [95% CI, 0.91-1.18]; n = 2620) found no statistically significant increased risk of twinning. Three systematic reviews found no consistent evidence of increased risk of asthma (OR, 1.06 [95% CI, 0.99-1.14]; n = 14 438), wheezing, or allergy. Conclusions and Relevance: In studies conducted before the initiation of food fortification in the United States in 1998, folic acid supplementation provided protection against neural tube defects. Newer postfortification studies have not demonstrated a protective association but have the potential for misclassification and recall bias, which can attenuate the measured association of folic acid supplementation with neural tube defects. Copyright 2017 by the American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved. Applicable FARS/DFARS Restrictions Apply to Government Use. American Medical Association, 515 N. State St, Chicago, IL 60610