Non-equilibrium coherence dynamics of a soft boson lattice

We study the non-equilibrium evolution of the phase coherence of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in a one dimensional optical lattice, as the lattice is suddenly quenched from an insulating to a superfluid state. We observe slowly damped phase coherence oscillations in the regime of large filling factor (~100 bosons per site) at a frequency proportional to the generalized Josephson frequency. The truncated Wigner approximation (TWA) predicts the frequency of the observed oscillations.Comment: 10 pages. 4 figure

Biomass harvest of invasive Typha promotes plant diversity in a Great Lakes coastal wetland

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111287/1/rec12167.pd

Lenalidomide before and after Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Multiple Myeloma

Although multiple myeloma remains incurable outside of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, novel agents made available only in the last few decades have nonetheless tremendously improved the landscape of myeloma treatment. Lenalidomide, of the immunomodulatory class of drugs, is one of those novel agents. In the non-transplant and relapsed/refractory settings, lenalidomide clearly benefits patients in terms of virtually all meaningful outcomes including overall survival. Data supporting the usage of lenalidomide as part of treatment approaches incorporating high-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell support (ASCT) are less mature as pertains to such long-term outcomes and toxicity, and lenalidomide is not currently approved by regulatory agencies for use in the context of ASCT in either the United States or Europe. That said, relatively preliminary efficacy data describing lenalidomide as a component of ASCT-based treatment approaches to MM are indeed promising, and consequently lenalidomide's role in ASCT-based treatment strategies is growing. In this review we summarize existing data that pertains to lenalidomide in the specific context of ASCT, and we share our thoughts on how our own group applies these data to approach this complex issue clinically

Using AI/expert system technology to automate planning and replanning for the HST servicing missions

This paper describes a knowledge-based system that has been developed to automate planning and scheduling for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Servicing Missions. This new system is the Servicing Mission Planning and Replanning Tool (SM/PART). SM/PART has been delivered to the HST Flight Operations Team (FOT) at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) where it is being used to build integrated time lines and command plans to control the activities of the HST, Shuttle, Crew and ground systems for the next HST Servicing Mission. SM/PART reuses and extends AI/expert system technology from Interactive Experimenter Planning System (IEPS) systems to build or rebuild time lines and command plans more rapidly than was possible for previous missions where they were built manually. This capability provides an important safety factor for the HST, Shuttle and Crew in case unexpected events occur during the mission

Recurrent encephalopathy: NAGS (N-Acetylglutamate Synthase) deficiency in adults

N-acetyl-glutamate synthase (NAGS) deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive urea cycle disorder (UCD) that uncommonly presents in adulthood. Adult presentations of UCDs include; confusional episodes, neuropsychiatric symptoms and encephalopathy. To date, there have been no detailed neurological descriptions of an adult onset presentation of NAGS deficiency. In this review we examine the clinical presentation and management of UCDs with an emphasis on NAGS deficiency. An illustrative case is provided. Plasma ammonia levels should be measured in all adult patients with unexplained encephalopathy, as treatment can be potentially life-saving. Availability of N-carbamylglutamate (NCG; carglumic acid) has made protein restriction largely unnecessary in treatment regimens currently employed. Genetic counselling remains an essential component of management of NAGS

Harvesting Invasive Plants to Reduce Nutrient Loads and Produce Bioenergy: An Assessment of Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands

In Laurentian Great Lakes coastal wetlands (GLCWs), dominant emergent invasive plants are expanding their ranges and compromising the unique habitat and ecosystem service values that these ecosystems provide. Herbiciding and burning to control invasive plants have not been effective in part because neither strategy addresses the most common root cause of invasion, nutrient enrichment. Mechanical harvesting is an alternative approach that removes tissue‐bound phosphorus and nitrogen and can increase wetland plant diversity and aquatic connectivity between wetland and lacustrine systems. In this study, we used data from three years of Great Lakes‐wide wetland plant surveys, published literature, and bioenergy analyses to quantify the overall areal extent of GLCWs, the extent and biomass of the three most dominant invasive plants, the pools of nitrogen and phosphorus contained within their biomass, and the potential for harvesting this biomass to remediate nutrient runoff and produce renewable energy. Of the approximately 212,000 ha of GLCWs, three invasive plants (invasive cattail, common reed, and reed canary grass) dominated 76,825 ha (36%). The coastal wetlands of Lake Ontario exhibited the highest proportion of invasive dominance (57%) of any of the Great Lakes, primarily from cattail. A single growing season\u27s biomass of these invasive plants across all GLCWs was estimated at 659,545 metric tons: 163,228 metric tons of reed canary grass, 270,474 metric tons of common reed, and 225,843 metric tons of invasive cattail, and estimated to contain 10,805 and 1144 metric tons of nitrogen and phosphorus, respectively. A one‐time harvest and utilization for energy of this biomass would provide the gross equivalent of 1.8 million barrels of oil if combusted, or 0.9 million barrels of oil if converted to biogas in an anaerobic digester. We discuss the potential for mitigating non‐point source nutrient pollution with invasive wetland plant removal, and other potential uses for the harvested biomass, including compost and direct application to agricultural soils. Finally, we describe the research and adaptive management program we have built around this concept, and point to current limitations to the implementation of large‐scale invasive plant harvesting

‘I’d be proud to spend the sacred foreign aid budget on our poor pensioners’: Representations of macro aid resourcing in the Irish, UK and US print-media during the economic crisis, 2008–2011

The news-media has been identified as an influence on donor nations’ overseas aid allocations, acting as a site where decisions are justified to ‘domestic constituencies’ and through which resistance is mobilised. Mediated pressures on aid allocations amplified between 2008 and 2011 in three donor countries experiencing domestic economic difficulties: Ireland, the UK and the US. This study suggests that each country’s print-media positioned the macro resourcing of aid primarily as an inward concern, neglected recipient country needs, and made weak connections to international policy frameworks to benchmark, contextualise and rationalise aid allocations. The research suggests that the explanatory limitations of the countries’ news-models in communicating the processes and rationales underpinning macro aid resourcing may be a factor in sustaining a knowledge and legitimacy deficit among domestic publics for international aid agreements

Electronic properties of GaAs surfaces etched in an electron cyclotron resonance source and chemically passivated using P2S5P2S5

Photoreflectance has been used to study the electronic properties of (100) GaAs surfaces exposed to a Cl2/ArCl2/Ar plasma generated by an electron cyclotron resonance source and subsequently passivated by P2S5.P2S5. The plasma etch shifts the Fermi level of p-GaAsp-GaAs from near the valence band to midgap, but has no effect on n-GaAs.n-GaAs. For ion energies below 250 eV, post-etch P2S5P2S5 chemical passivation removes the surface etch damage and restores the electronic properties to pre-etch conditions. Above 250 eV, the etch produces subsurface defects which cannot be chemically passivated. Auger electron spectroscopy shows that etching increases As at the GaAs/oxide interface, while passivation reduces it. © 1998 American Institute of Physics.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69373/2/APPLAB-73-1-114-1.pd

The architectures of media power: editing, the newsroom, and urban public space

This paper considers the relation of the newsroom and the city as a lens into the more general relation of production spaces and mediated publics. Leading theoretically from Lee and LiPuma’s (2002) notion of ‘cultures of circulation’, and drawing on an ethnography of the Toronto Star, the paper focuses on how media forms circulate and are enacted through particular practices and material settings. With its attention to the urban milieus and orientations of media organizations, this paper exhibits both affinities with but also differences to current interests in the urban architectures of media, which describe and theorize how media get ‘built into’ the urban experience more generally. In looking at editing practices situated in the newsroom, an emphasis is placed on the phenomenological appearance of media forms both as objects for material assembly as well as more abstracted subjects of reflexivity, anticipation and purposiveness. Although this is explored with detailed attention to the settings of the newsroom and the city, the paper seeks to also provide insight into the more general question of how publicness is material shaped and sited

Material Science in Cervical Total Disc Replacement

Current cervical total disc replacement (TDR) designs incorporate a variety of different biomaterials including polyethylene, stainless steel, titanium (Ti), and cobalt-chrome (CoCr). These materials are most important in their utilization as bearing surfaces which allow for articular motion at the disc space. Long-term biological effects of implanted materials include wear debris, host inflammatory immune reactions, and osteolysis resulting in implant failure. We review here the most common materials used in cervical TDR prosthetic devices, examine their bearing surfaces, describe the construction of the seven current cervical TDR devices that are approved for use in the United States, and discuss known adverse biological effects associated with long-term implantation of these materials. It is important to appreciate and understand the variety of biomaterials available in the design and construction of these prosthetics and the considerations which guide their implementation