On the existence of effective potentials in time-dependent density functional theory

We investigate the existence and properties of effective potentials in time-dependent density functional theory. We outline conditions for a general solution of the corresponding Sturm-Liouville boundary value problems. We define the set of potentials and v-representable densities, give a proof of existence of the effective potentials under certain restrictions, and show the set of v-representable densities to be independent of the interaction.Comment: 13 page

Production Systems Involving Stocker Cattle and Soft Red Winter Wheat

A three year study at the Livestock and Forestry Research Station near Batesville, Arkansas evaluated production systems involving stocker cattle and soft red winter wheat. Grazing of soft red winter wheat forage from October through February followed by harvesting wheat grain or grazing through April with stocker cattle offers an alternative to conventional farming. Soft red winter wheat, when planted by September 15, produces an ample supply of high-quality forage that supports rapid growth of stocker cattle during October through April. Net income from stocker cattle averaged over $100 per acre. A normal wheat grain crop can also be harvested. These alternative production systems could increase the agricultural income by over$75,000,000 per year if 750,000 acres of wheat are grazed

Disorder-induced microscopic magnetic memory

Using coherent x-ray speckle metrology, we have measured the influence of disorder on major loop return point memory (RPM) and complementary point memory (CPM) for a series of perpendicular anisotropy Co/Pt multilayer films. In the low disorder limit, the domain structures show no memory with field cycling--no RPM and no CPM. With increasing disorder, we observe the onset and the saturation of both the RPM and the CPM. These results provide the first direct ensemble-sensitive experimental study of the effects of varying disorder on microscopic magnetic memory and are compared against the predictions of existing theories.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters in Nov. 200

Effects of Menopause in Women With Multiple Sclerosis: An Evidence-Based Review

Over two thirds of all individuals who develop multiple sclerosis (MS) will be women prior to the age of menopause. Further, an estimated 30% of the current MS population consists of peri- or postmenopausal women. The presence of MS does not appear to influence age of menopausal onset. In clinical practice, symptoms of MS and menopause can frequently overlap, including disturbances in cognition, mood, sleep, and bladder function, which can create challenges in ascertaining the likely cause of symptoms to be treated. A holistic and comprehensive approach to address these common physical and psychological changes is often suggested to patients during menopause. Although some studies have suggested that women with MS experience reduced relapse rates and increased disability progression post menopause, the data are not consistent enough for firm conclusions to be drawn. Mechanisms through which postmenopausal women with MS may experience disability progression include neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration from age-associated phenomena such as immunosenescence and inflammaging. Additional effects are likely to result from reduced levels of estrogen, which affects MS disease course. Following early retrospective studies of women with MS receiving steroid hormones, more recent interventional trials of exogenous hormone use, albeit as oral contraceptive, have provided some indications of potential benefit on MS outcomes. This review summarizes current research on the effects of menopause in women with MS, including the psychological impact and symptoms of menopause on disease worsening, and the treatment options. Finally, we highlight the need for more inclusion of MS patients from underrepresented racial and geographic groups in clinical trials, including among menopausal women

Evaluation of Small Grain Forage Crops and Cultivars of Soft Red Winter Wheat for Stocker Cattle

Use of small grain forage crops for stocker cattle production was extensively evaluated in two separate three-year research projects at the Livestock and Forestry Branch Research Station near Batesville, Ark. The first section of this Research Report presents results of a study in which 216 commercial crossbred steers (Avg. body weights 463 lb) grazed forage of wheat, oats, rye, ryegrass, wheat + rye, wheat + ryegrass, rye + ryegrass, and wheat + rye + ryegrass during the winter and spring months from 1999 through 2002. Grazing of these forages during the winter and spring provides excellent gains in stocker cattle and could increase the agricultural income for the state by over 100 million dollars per year

The Measurement Process in Local Quantum Theory and the EPR Paradox

We describe in a qualitative way a possible picture of the Measurement Process in Quantum Mechanics, which takes into account: 1. the finite and non zero time duration T of the interaction between the observed system and the microscopic part of the measurement apparatus; 2. the finite space size R of that apparatus; 3. the fact that the macroscopic part of the measurement apparatus, having the role of amplifying the effect of that interaction to a macroscopic scale, is composed by a very large but finite number N of particles. The conventional picture of the measurement, as an instantaneous action turning a pure state into a mixture, arises only in the limit in which N and R tend to infinity, and T tends to 0. We sketch here a proposed scheme, which still ought to be made mathematically precise in order to analyse its implications and to test it in specific models, where we argue that in Quantum Field Theory this picture should apply to the unique time evolution expressing the dynamics of a given theory, and should comply with the Principle of Locality. We comment on the Einstein Podolski Rosen thought experiment (partly modifying the discussion on this point in an earlier version of this note), reformulated here only in terms of local observables (rather than global ones, as one particle or polarisation observables). The local picture of the measurement process helps to make it clear that there is no conflict with the Principle of Locality.Comment: 18 page

Quantum optical versus quantum Brownian motion master-equation in terms of covariance and equilibrium properties

Structures of quantum Fokker-Planck equations are characterized with respect to the properties of complete positivity, covariance under symmetry transformations and satisfaction of equipartition, referring to recent mathematical work on structures of unbounded generators of covariant quantum dynamical semigroups. In particular the quantum optical master-equation and the quantum Brownian motion master-equation are shown to be associated to $\mathrm{U(1)}$ and $\mathrm{R}$ symmetry respectively. Considering the motion of a Brownian particle, where the expression of the quantum Fokker-Planck equation is not completely fixed by the aforementioned requirements, a recently introduced microphysical kinetic model is briefly recalled, where a quantum generalization of the linear Boltzmann equation in the small energy and momentum transfer limit straightforwardly leads to quantum Brownian motion.Comment: 11 pages, latex, no figures, slight changes and a few references added, to appear in J. Math. Phy

Generation and Suppression of Decoherence in Artificial Environment for Qubit System

It is known that a quantum system with finite degrees of freedom can simulate a composite of a system and an environment if the state of the hypothetical environment is randomized by external manipulation. We show theoretically that any phase decoherence phenomena of a single qubit can be simulated with a two-qubit system and demonstrate experimentally two examples: one is phase decoherence of a single qubit in a transmission line, and the other is that in a quantum memory. We perform NMR experiments employing a two-spin molecule and clearly measure decoherence for both cases. We also prove experimentally that the bang-bang control efficiently suppresses decoherence.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures; added reference

The Threat of Capital Drain: A Rationale for Public Banks?

This paper yields a rationale for why subsidized public banks may be desirable from a regional perspective in a financially integrated economy. We present a model with credit rationing and heterogeneous regions in which public banks prevent a capital drain from poorer to richer regions by subsidizing local depositors, for example, through a public guarantee. Under some conditions, cooperative banks can perform the same function without any subsidization; however, they may be crowded out by public banks. We also discuss the impact of the political structure on the emergence of public banks in a political-economy setting and the role of interregional mobility