Computerized Creation and Diffusion of Folkloric Materials

Paper

Phonon-Induced Rabi-Frequency Renormalization of Optically Driven Single InGaAs/GaAs Quantum Dots

The authors thank the EPSRC (U.K.) EP/G001642, and the QIPIRC U.K. for financial support. A. N. is supported by the EPSRC and B.W. L. by the Royal Society.We study optically driven Rabi rotations of a quantum dot exciton transition between 5 and 50 K, and for pulse areas of up to 14 pi. In a high driving field regime, the decay of the Rabi rotations is nonmonotonic, and the period decreases with pulse area and increases with temperature. By comparing the experiments to a weak-coupling model of the exciton-phonon interaction, we demonstrate that the observed renormalization of the Rabi frequency is induced by fluctuations in the bath of longitudinal acoustic phonons, an effect that is a phonon analogy of the Lamb shift.Peer reviewe

Plasma Leptin Levels and Incidence of Heart Failure, Cardiovascular Disease, and Total Mortality in Elderly Individuals

OBJECTIVE: Obesity predisposes individuals to congestive heart failure (CHF) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Leptin regulates energy homeostasis, is elevated in obesity, and influences ventricular and vascular remodeling. We tested the hypothesis that leptin levels are associated with greater risk of CHF, CVD, and mortality in elderly individuals. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We evaluated 818 elderly (mean age 79 years, 62% women) Framingham Study participants attending a routine examination at which plasma leptin was assayed. RESULTS: Leptin levels were higher in women and strongly correlated with BMI (P < 0.0001). On follow-up (mean 8.0 years), 129 (of 775 free of CHF) participants developed CHF, 187 (of 532 free of CVD) experienced a first CVD event, and 391 individuals died. In multivariable Cox regression models adjusting for established risk factors, log-leptin was positively associated with incidence of CHF and CVD (hazard ratio [HR] per SD increment 1.26 [95% CI 1.03–1.55] and 1.28 [1.09–1.50], respectively). Additional adjustment for BMI nullified the association with CHF (0.97 [0.75–1.24]) but only modestly attenuated the relation to CVD incidence (1.23 [1.00–1.51], P = 0.052). We observed a nonlinear, U-shaped relation between log-leptin and mortality (P = 0.005 for quadratic term) with greater risk of death evident at both low and high leptin levels. CONCLUSIONS: In our moderate-sized community-based elderly sample, higher circulating leptin levels were associated with a greater risk of CHF and CVD, but leptin did not provide incremental prognostic information beyond BMI. Additional investigations are warranted to elucidate the U-shaped relation of leptin to mortality.National Institutes of Health's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (N01-HC25195, N01-HV28178, K24-HL04334, R01-DK080739

An Analysis Of Student XBRL Project Teams: Value-Adding Educational Experiences Using Emerging Technology

Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is a new approach that offers great promise for a fundamental improvement to the way in which financial information is maintained and reported.  With every innovation, comes the need to educate.  Because of the overarching aspects of XBRL and its implications, a team learning approach is appropriate.  This paper presents a case study of three student projects that resulted in the development of XBRL applications.  An analysis is provided of the teams, the projects, and important lessons learned

Editorial: Nucleic Acids Research and Nucleic Acid Therapeutics

Nucleic Acids Research has recently commissioned the publication of a series of Survey and Summary articles that encapsulate the current ‘state of the art’ surrounding the creation, function, behavior and optimization of nucleic acid molecules that may be adopted for clinical applications

Special Issue in honor of Dr. William Z. Lidicker, Jr.

[Extract] It is our pleasure to introduce this Special Section of Therya in honor of the many professional and mammalogical accomplishments of Dr. William Z. (Bill) Lidicker, Jr. (Figure 1). Bill rocketed through his graduate career. After obtaining a BS from Cornell University in 1953, he began graduate studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign under the direction of Donald F. Hoffmeister. He completed his MS in 1954 and his PhD in 1957, both under the mentorship of Dr. Hoffmeister