Orbital ordering in the ferromagnetic insulator Cs2_2AgF4_4 from first principles

We found, using density-functional theory calculations within the generalized gradient approximation, that Cs$_2$AgF$_4$ is stabilized in the insulating orthorhombic phase rather than in the metallic tetragonal phase. The lattice distortion present in the orthorhombic phase corresponds to the $x^2-z^2$/$y^2-z^2$ hole-orbital ordering of the Ag$^{2+}$ $4d^9$ ions, and this orbital ordering leads to the observed ferromagnetism, as confirmed by the present total-energy calculations. This picture holds in the presence of moderate 4d-electron correlation. The results are compared with the picture of ferromagnetism based on the metallic tetragonal phase.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 table; a few energy/moment entries in Table I are corrected due to a proper treatment of the Ag 4s semicore stat

Von Neumann Entropy-Preserving Quantum Operations

For a given quantum state $\rho$ and two quantum operations $\Phi$ and $\Psi$, the information encoded in the quantum state $\rho$ is quantified by its von Neumann entropy $\S(\rho)$. By the famous Choi-Jamio{\l}kowski isomorphism, the quantum operation $\Phi$ can be transformed into a bipartite state, the von Neumann entropy $\S^{\mathrm{map}}(\Phi)$ of the bipartite state describes the decoherence induced by $\Phi$. In this Letter, we characterize not only the pairs $(\Phi, \rho)$ which satisfy $\S(\Phi(\rho))=\S(\rho)$, but also the pairs $(\Phi, \Psi)$ which satisfy $\S^{\mathrm{map}}(\Phi\circ\Psi) = \S^{\mathrm{map}}(\Psi)$.Comment: 7 pages, LaTeX, to appear Phys. Lett.

On Coding for Reliable Communication over Packet Networks

We present a capacity-achieving coding scheme for unicast or multicast over lossy packet networks. In the scheme, intermediate nodes perform additional coding yet do not decode nor even wait for a block of packets before sending out coded packets. Rather, whenever they have a transmission opportunity, they send out coded packets formed from random linear combinations of previously received packets. All coding and decoding operations have polynomial complexity. We show that the scheme is capacity-achieving as long as packets received on a link arrive according to a process that has an average rate. Thus, packet losses on a link may exhibit correlation in time or with losses on other links. In the special case of Poisson traffic with i.i.d. losses, we give error exponents that quantify the rate of decay of the probability of error with coding delay. Our analysis of the scheme shows that it is not only capacity-achieving, but that the propagation of packets carrying "innovative" information follows the propagation of jobs through a queueing network, and therefore fluid flow models yield good approximations. We consider networks with both lossy point-to-point and broadcast links, allowing us to model both wireline and wireless packet networks.Comment: 33 pages, 6 figures; revised appendi

Diffuse flow environments within basalt- and sediment-based hydrothermal vent ecosystems harbor specialized microbial communities

Hydrothermal vents differ both in surface input and subsurface geochemistry. The effects of these differences on their microbial communities are not clear. Here, we investigated both alpha and beta diversity of diffuse flow-associated microbial communities emanating from vents at a basalt-based hydrothermal system along the East Pacific Rise (EPR) and a sediment-based hydrothermal system, Guaymas Basin. Both Bacteria and Archaea were targeted using high throughput 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing analyses. A unique aspect of this study was the use of a universal set of 16S rRNA gene primers to characterize total and diffuse flow-specific microbial communities from varied deep-sea hydrothermal environments. Both surrounding seawater and diffuse flow water samples contained large numbers of Marine Group I (MGI) Thaumarchaea and Gammaproteobacteria taxa previously observed in deep-sea systems. However, these taxa were geographically distinct and segregated according to type of spreading center. Diffuse flow microbial community profiles were highly differentiated. In particular, EPR dominant diffuse flow taxa were most closely associated with chemolithoautotrophs, and off axis water was dominated by heterotrophic-related taxa, whereas the opposite was true for Guaymas Basin. The diversity and richness of diffuse flow-specific microbial communities were strongly correlated to the relative abundance of Epsilonproteobacteria, proximity to macrofauna, and hydrothermal system type. Archaeal diversity was higher than or equivalent to bacterial diversity in about one third of the samples. Most diffuse flow-specific communities were dominated by OTUs associated with Epsilonproteobacteria, but many of the Guaymas Basin diffuse flow samples were dominated by either OTUs within the Planctomycetes or hyperthermophilic Archaea. This study emphasizes the unique microbial communities associated with geochemically and geographically distinct hydrothermal diffuse flow environments

Groundtruthing next-gen sequencing for microbial ecology-biases and errors in community structure estimates from PCR amplicon pyrosequencing

Analysis of microbial communities by high-throughput pyrosequencing of SSU rRNA gene PCR amplicons has transformed microbial ecology research and led to the observation that many communities contain a diverse assortment of rare taxa-a phenomenon termed the Rare Biosphere. Multiple studies have investigated the effect of pyrosequencing read quality on operational taxonomic unit (OTU) richness for contrived communities, yet there is limited information on the fidelity of community structure estimates obtained through this approach. Given that PCR biases are widely recognized, and further unknown biases may arise from the sequencing process itself, a priori assumptions about the neutrality of the data generation process are at best unvalidated. Furthermore, post-sequencing quality control algorithms have not been explicitly evaluated for the accuracy of recovered representative sequences and its impact on downstream analyses, reducing useful discussion on pyrosequencing reads to their diversity and abundances. Here we report on community structures and sequences recovered for in vitro-simulated communities consisting of twenty 16S rRNA gene clones tiered at known proportions. PCR amplicon libraries of the V3-V4 and V6 hypervariable regions from the in vitro-simulated communities were sequenced using the Roche 454 GS FLX Titanium platform. Commonly used quality control protocols resulted in the formation of OTUs with >1% abundance composed entirely of erroneous sequences, while over-aggressive clustering approaches obfuscated real, expected OTUs. The pyrosequencing process itself did not appear to impose significant biases on overall community structure estimates, although the detection limit for rare taxa may be affected by PCR amplicon size and quality control approach employed. Meanwhile, PCR biases associated with the initial amplicon generation may impose greater distortions in the observed community structure

Medicare Advantage and Long-Term Care: Impact of Medicare Coverage Type on Utilization and Quality of Postacute and Nursing Home Services

Medicare, the federal health insurance program, plays an important role in providing health and financial security to older Americans. The role of private plans has become increasingly important now that nearly one third of beneficiaries in Medicare is enrolled in these private, risk-bearing, capitated health plans, currently known as Medicare Part C or Medicare Advantage (MA). In this set of thesis papers, we use several approaches to examine the care received by Medicare beneficiaries, with a particular focus on Medicare Advantage enrollees, in postacute and nursing home settings. The first study explores the relationship between geriatric risk factors, defined as factors pertinent to frail older adults, and postacute utilization and quality among hospitalized Medicare beneficiaries in Florida from 2010-2014. The paper also describes the differences in postacute utilization and quality between traditional fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare and Medicare Advantage patients. The paper concludes that geriatric risk factors, independent of traditional measures of comorbidity and patient demographics, are highly predictive of postacute utilization and quality. Current administrative claims data can be used to identify additional high-risk patients and predict their healthcare utilization. The paper also finds that there are differences in postacute utilization and quality between FFS and MA hospitalized patients, after accounting for patient characteristics and geriatric risk. As payment reform continue to change toward risk-bearing models, monitoring access, cost, and quality of care among this group of high geriatric risk will become increasingly important. The second study examines the effect of Medicare Advantage enrollment on postacute utilization in a geographic market. Using Florida 2010-2014, the paper describes county-level effects of MA enrollment on the postacute experiences of fee-for-service Medicare hospitalized patients. Analogous research done in the inpatient and outpatient setting describe significant positive spillover effects of MA into FFS, finding that increased MA enrollment decreased rates of inpatient and outpatient spending and utilization. This paper concludes that MA enrollment has little effect on postacute utilization and quality both within the overall Medicare market and separately within FFS and MA. Further payment policy changes to the MA program should not only monitor inpatient and outpatient utilization and outcomes but also other types of healthcare utilization and quality. The third study shifts the focus to analyze the care received by Medicare Advantage enrollees in nursing homes. The paper explores the association between quality and staffing levels and the percentage of MA patients in a nursing home facility. Using national data on nursing homes, the paper finds that high percentage of MA facilities are more likely to have greater registered nurse hours on staff but worse clinical quality. Even when national policies required the public reporting of quality measures in nursing homes to help patients select providers, there were minimal associations with changes in percentage of MA patients and quality metrics. The paper concludes that MA patients in nursing homes may be receiving differential care compared to other Medicare beneficiaries and that public reporting of quality may not have great influence on where MA patients receive their care. As MA plans continue to attract a larger share of the Medicare population, understanding how MA enrollees and plans decide providers and the implications of those choices will improve the MA program and other risk-bearing programs

The intestinal metal transporter ZIP14 maintains systemic manganese homeostasis

ZIP14 (encoded by the solute carrier 39 family member 14 (SLC39A14) gene) is a manganese transporter that is abundantly expressed in the liver and small intestine. Loss-of-function mutations in SLC39A14 cause severe hypermanganesemia. Because the liver is regarded as the main regulatory organ involved in manganese homeostasis, impaired hepatic manganese uptake for subsequent biliary excretion has been proposed as the underlying disease mechanism. However, liver-specific Zip14 KO mice exhibit decreased manganese only in the liver and do not develop manganese accumulation in other tissues under normal conditions. This suggests that impaired hepatobiliary excretion is not the primary cause for manganese overload observed in individuals lacking functional ZIP14. We therefore hypothesized that increased intestinal manganese absorption could induce manganese hyperaccumulation when ZIP14 is inactivated. To elucidate the role of ZIP14 in manganese absorption, here we used CaCo-2 Transwell cultures as a model system for intestinal epithelia. The generation of a ZIP14-deficient CaCo-2 cell line enabled the identification of ZIP14 as the major transporter mediating basolateral manganese uptake in enterocytes. Lack of ZIP14 severely impaired basolateral-to-apical (secretory) manganese transport and strongly enhanced manganese transport in the apical-to-basolateral (absorptive) direction. Mechanistic studies provided evidence that ZIP14 restricts manganese transport in the absorptive direction via direct basolateral reuptake of freshly absorbed manganese. In support of such function of intestinal ZIP14 in vivo, manganese levels in the livers and brains of intestine-specific Zip14 KO mice were significantly elevated. Our findings highlight the importance of intestinal ZIP14 in regulating systemic manganese homeostasis.National Institutes of Health [R00DK104066]This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]