473 research outputs found
Fundamental Aspects of the ISM Fractality
The ubiquitous clumpy state of the ISM raises a fundamental and open problem
of physics, which is the correct statistical treatment of systems dominated by
long range interactions. A simple solvable hierarchical model is presented
which explains why systems dominated by gravity prefer to adopt a fractal
dimension around 2 or less, like the cold ISM and large scale structures. This
has direct relation with the general transparency, or blackness, of the
Universe.Comment: 6 pages, LaTeX2e, crckapb macro, no figure, uuencoded compressed tar
file. To be published in the proceeedings of the "Dust-Morphology"
conference, Johannesburg, 22-26 January, 1996, D. Block (ed.), (Kluwer
Dordrecht
Explaining the rise of moralizing religions: A test of competing hypotheses using the Seshat Databank [preprint V.8]
The causes, consequences, and timing of the rise of moralizing religions in world history
have been the focus of intense debate. Progress has been limited by the availability of
quantitative data to test competing theories, by divergent ideas regarding both predictor
and outcomes variables, and by differences of opinion over methodology. To address all
these problems, we utilize Seshat: Global History Databank, a large storehouse of
information designed to test theories concerning the evolutionary drivers of social
complexity. In addition to the Big Gods hypothesis, which proposes that moralizing religion
contributed to the success of increasingly large-scale complex societies, we consider the
role of warfare, animal husbandry, and agricultural productivity in the rise of moralizing
religions. Using a broad range of new measures of belief in moralizing supernatural
punishment, we find strong support for previous research showing that such beliefs did not
drive the rise of social complexity. By contrast, our analyses indicate that intergroup
warfare, supported by resource availability, played a major role in the evolution of both
social complexity and moralizing religions. Thus, the correlation between social complexity
and moralizing religion would seem to result from shared evolutionary drivers, rather than
from direct causal relationships between these two variables
Scheme for generating entangled states of two field modes in a cavity
This paper considers a two-level atom interacting with two cavity modes with
equal frequencies. Applying a unitary transformation, the system reduces to the
analytically solvable Jaynes-Cummings model. For some particular field states,
coherent and squeezed states, the transformation between the two bare basis's,
related by the unitary transformation, becomes particularly simple. It is shown
how to generate, the highly non-classical, entangled coherent states of the two
modes, both in the zero and large detuning cases. An advantage with the zero
detuning case is that the preparation is deterministic and no atomic
measurement is needed. For the large detuning situation a measurement is
required, leaving the field in either of two orthogonal entangled coherent
states.Comment: Accepted in J. Mod. Opt.; 12 pages; Replaced with revised version.
Extended discussion of experimental realizations, earlier studies in the
field and on the frequency dependence in the adiabatic eliminatio
The future of wildlife conservation funding: What options do U.S. college students support?
Insufficient funding is a major impediment to conservation efforts around the world. In the United States, a decline in hunting participation threatens sustainability of the “user-pay, public benefit” model that has supported wildlife conservation for nearly 100 years, forcing wildlife management agencies to contemplate alternative funding strategies. We investigated support for potential funding options among diverse college students, a rapidly expanding and politically active voting bloc with a potentially powerful influence on the future of conservation. From 2018 to 2020, we surveyed 17,203 undergraduate students at public universities across 22 states. Students preferred innovative approaches to conservation funding, with 72% supporting funding derived from industry sources (e.g., natural resource extraction companies), 63% supporting state sources (e.g., general sales tax), and 43% supporting conventional user-based sources such as license fees and excise taxes associated with outdoor recreation activities (e.g., hunting). Findings emphasize the need to broaden the base of support for conservation funding and highlight the importance of considering the preferences and perspectives of young adults and other diverse beneficiaries of wildlife conservation
A randomized phase 2 study of neoadjuvant carboplatin and paclitaxel with or without atezolizumab in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) - NCI 10013
Atezolizumab with chemotherapy has shown improved progression-free and overall survival in patients with metastatic PD-L1 positive triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). Atezolizumab with anthracycline- and taxane-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy has also shown increased pathological complete response (pCR) rates in early TNBC. This trial evaluated neoadjuvant carboplatin and paclitaxel with or without atezolizumab in patients with clinical stages II-III TNBC. The co-primary objectives were to evaluate if chemotherapy and atezolizumab increase pCR rate and tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) percentage compared to chemotherapy alone in the mITT population. Sixty-seven patients (ages 25-78 years; median, 52 years) were randomly assigned - 22 patients to Arm A, and 45 to Arm B. Median follow up was 6.6 months. In the modified intent to treat population (all patients evaluable for the primary endpoints who received at least one dose of combination therapy), the pCR rate was 18.8% (95% CI 4.0-45.6%) in Arm A, and 55.6% (95% CI 40.0-70.4%) in Arm B (estimated treatment difference: 36.8%, 95% CI 8.5-56.6%; p = 0.018). Grade 3 or higher treatment-related adverse events occurred in 62.5% of patients in Arm A, and 57.8% of patients in Arm B. One patient in Arm B died from recurrent disease during the follow-up period. TIL percentage increased slightly from baseline to cycle 1 in both Arm A (mean ± SD: 0.6% ± 21.0%) and Arm B (5.7% ± 15.8%) (p = 0.36). Patients with pCR had higher median TIL percentages (24.8%) than those with non-pCR (14.2%) (p = 0.02). Although subgroup analyses were limited by the small sample size, PD-L1-positive patients treated with chemotherapy and atezolizumab had a pCR rate of 75% (12/16). The addition of atezolizumab to neoadjuvant carboplatin and paclitaxel resulted in a statistically significant and clinically relevant increased pCR rate in patients with clinical stages II and III TNBC. (Funded by National Cancer Institute)
- …