Finite-size scaling of eigenstate thermalization

According to the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH), even isolated quantum systems can thermalize because the eigenstate-to-eigenstate fluctuations of typical observables vanish in the limit of large systems. Of course, isolated systems are by nature finite, and the main way of computing such quantities is through numerical evaluation for finite-size systems. Therefore, the finite-size scaling of the fluctuations of eigenstate expectation values is a central aspect of the ETH. In this work, we present numerical evidence that for generic non-integrable systems these fluctuations scale with a universal power law $D^{-1/2}$ with the dimension $D$ of the Hilbert space. We provide heuristic arguments, in the same spirit as the ETH, to explain this universal result. Our results are based on the analysis of three families of models, and several observables for each model. Each family includes integrable members, and we show how the system size where the universal power law becomes visible is affected by the proximity to integrability.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

High Quality Analytics with Poor Quality Data

Poor data quality has often been cited as the single most common problem hindering the deployment of Business Intelligence (BI) solutions. This problem is compounded when analytics is performed in non-conventional BI areas such as forestry and silviculture. In this paper, we describe a methodology to perform BI analytics on data that was never collected to be used for this purpose. We show that data of such low and poor quality can be transformed and loaded into the data warehouse which is then used for high quality reporting

Toxicity-related antiretroviral drug treatment modifications in individuals starting therapy: a cohort analysis of time patterns, sex, and other risk factors.

BackgroundModifications to combination antiretroviral drug therapy (CART) regimens can occur for a number of reasons, including adverse drug effects. We investigated the frequency of and reasons for antiretroviral drug modifications (ADM) during the first 3 years after initiation of CART, in a closed cohort of CART-naïve adult patients who started treatment in the period 1998-2007 in Croatia.Material and methodsWe calculated differential toxicity rates by the Poisson method. In multivariable analysis, we used a discrete-time regression model for repeated events for the outcome of modification due to drug toxicity.ResultsOf 321 patients who started CART, median age was 40 years, 19% were women, baseline CD4 was <200 cells/mm3 in 71%, and viral load was ≥100 000 copies/mL in 69%. Overall, 220 (68.5%) patients had an ADM; 124 (56%) of these had ≥1 ADM for toxicity reasons. Only 12.7% of individuals starting CART in the period 1998-2002 and 39.4% in the period 2003-2007 remained on the same regimen after 3 years. The following toxicities caused ADM most often: lipoatrophy (22%), gastrointestinal symptoms (20%), and neuropathy (18%). Only 5% of drug changes were due to virologic failure. Female sex (hazard ratio [HR], 2.42 95%; confidence intervals, 1.39-4.24) and older age (HR, 1.42 per every 10 years) were associated with toxicity-related ADM in the first 3 months of a particular CART regimen, but after 3 months of CART they were not.ConclusionsLess toxic and better-tolerated HIV treatment options should be available and used more frequently in Croatia

The prevalence of occult hepatitis B virus (hbv) infection in a large multi-ethnic haemodialysis cohort.

Haemodialysis patients are at increased risk of exposure to blood borne viruses. To reduce transmission in the UK, all haemodialysis patients are regularly screened, and if susceptible to Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, vaccinated

Paper Session II-C - An Inventory of Florida\u27s Space-Related Academic Support Capabilities

The University of Central Florida, in cooperation with the developing an inventory of Florida’s university and Spaceport Florida Authority, is college-level space research, education/training capabilities and programs. Upon completion in early 1996, the inventory will be useful in the following ways: 1) space-related companies and agencies will use the inventory to select academic capabilities to support their programs; 2) the inventory will be distributed among the state’s academic institutions to enable teaming for research projects and grants; 3) the inventory will allow the academic community and Florida’s university system administrators to better understand their strengths and weaknesses in the space field; 4) and the inventory will be useful to local and state economic development organizations in attracting new space-related business to Florida

Uric Acid as a Potential Peripheral Biomarker for Disease Features in Huntington's Patients.

Oxidative stress has long been implicated in the pathophysiology and progression of Huntington's disease (HD). Uric acid (UA) is a naturally occurring antioxidant that is present in the brain and periphery. Growing evidence has implicated UA as a molecular biomarker for several neurodegenerative diseases, most notably Parkinson's disease (PD). In this study, we investigated UA levels in clinical samples from HD patients and normal controls (NCs) and assessed potential relationships between UA levels and disease and clinical data. UA levels were measured in plasma (n = 107) and saliva (n = 178) samples from premanifest (pre-HD) and manifest HD patients and control subjects. Gender effects of UA levels were observed in both biofluids, with male patients showing higher UA levels compared to female patients. Comparisons of UA levels across diagnostic groups, separated by gender, revealed that both plasma and salivary UA levels were significantly lower in female pre-HD and manifest HD patients compared to NCs. Salivary levels of UA were also significantly lower in male manifest HD patients versus controls, but not in plasma. Correlations of peripheral UA levels to clinical data also showed differences according to gender. In male HD patients, both plasma and salivary UA levels were significantly negatively correlated with total functional capacity (TFC), while positive correlations were observed with total motor score (TMS). Female HD patients showed a significant positive correlation between plasma UA levels and TMS, while salivary UA levels from female patients were significantly correlated to disease burden. Finally, in a separate cohort, we show that UA levels are decreased in postmortem prefrontal cortical samples (n = 20) from HD subjects compared to matched controls. These findings suggest that decreased levels of UA in the brains of HD patients can be reflected in peripheral fluids, with salivary measures of UA particularly offering significant promise as a potentially relevant, non-invasive biomarker of disease symptoms and burden. Our findings further highlight the impact of sexual dimorphism in HD pathophysiology