Small sets of complementary observables

Two observables are called complementary if preparing a physical object in an eigenstate of one of them yields a completely random result in a measurement of the other. We investigate small sets of complementary observables that cannot be extended by yet another complementary observable. We construct explicit examples of the unextendible sets up to dimension $16$ and conjecture certain small sets to be unextendible in higher dimensions. Our constructions provide three complementary measurements, only one observable away from the ultimate minimum of two observables in the set. Almost all of our examples in finite dimension allow to discriminate pure states from some mixed states, and shed light on the complex topology of the Bloch space of higher-dimensional quantum systems

Corporate Free Exercise of Religion and the Interpretation of Congressional Intent: Where Will It End?

Once known merely as an arts-and-crafts chain, Hobby Lobby now holds a special place in American legal lexicon as the personification of for-profit corporate religious exercise. This is the result of a decision by the United States Supreme Court last term in which the Court held that business practices compelled or limited by the religious beliefs of corporate owners deserve some measure of protection against interference by the federal government. The religious belief at issue in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 134 S. Ct. 2751 (2014) is that life begins at conception; the business practice is group health insurance coverage for corporate employees and their families; the government interference is the Affordable Care Act which mandates that group health plans offer no-cost contraceptive coverage; and the source of protection against that mandate is the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. The Court’s holding is far-reaching, controversial, and, in the authors’ opinion, wrong. The ink was barely dry from the publication of the Hobby Lobby decision when the Court, three days later, handed a temporary victory to organizations exempt from the contraception mandate. Pending appellate review of the underlying case, the Court enjoined the federal government from enforcing a regulation requiring such organizations to certify its religious objections to the mandate on a government-issued form and to send a copy of the form to the third-party administrator of its health insurance plan. Wheaton College v. Burwell, 134 S. Ct. 2806 (2014). A second generation of litigation is now winding its way through the courts on whether exempt organizations—claiming religious scruples do not permit the “triggering” of contraceptive access—are required to notify the federal government of the contact information of their insurer or administrator. But how else, if not through federal government facilitation, one may ask, are women to obtain the full contraceptive coverage promised by Congress? This demand for an extension of a religious accommodation by anti-contraceptive believers should be rejected

Tax Shelter Disclosure and Penalties: New Requirements, New Exposures

One of the primary weapons in the battle against tax shelters has been mandatory disclosure to the IRS. The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 built on this approach by clarifying and making consistent the various disclosure requirements and strengthening penalties for non-disclosure. To uncover abusive transactions, Congress drew the boundaries of disclosure so broadly that even legitimate tax planning transactions are covered. To understand the dangers in the new rules, one must look at the broad range of transactions covered, the participants covered, and the harsh penalties for nondisclosure. - Transactions Covered. The disclosure requirements apply to six categories of reportable transactions. Although the Service has established angel lists excluding some transactions from the broad definitions, many clearly legitimate transactions still will have to be disclosed. - Participants Covered. The disclosure requirements apply to participants in the transaction and material advisors, which are also broadly defined terms. For example, an exempt organization that is an accommodation party in a reportable transaction is a participant, even though the exempt organization does not receive any tax benefits from the transaction. - Penalties. The Act added a new penalty for a taxpayer\u27s failure to disclose a reportable transaction. This penalty applies even if a court rejects the Service\u27s view of the tax treatment of the transaction. The Act also strengthened the accuracy-related penalty for underpayments. However, this penalty is imposed only if the Service successfully challenges the tax treatment of the transaction. The new tax shelter disclosure and list maintenance requirements are complex, with significant penalties for non-compliance. The IRS is likely to apply these penalties strictly and aggressively. Anyone involved in virtually any capacity in any substantial transaction will need to evaluate their exposure carefull

An Anatomy Pre-Course Predicts Student Performance in a Professional Veterinary Anatomy Curriculum

Little to no correlation has been identified between previous related undergraduate coursework or outcomes on standardized tests and performance in a veterinary curriculum, including anatomy coursework. Therefore, a relatively simplistic method to predict student performance before entrance would be advantageous to many. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether there is a correlation between performance in a veterinary anatomy pre-course and subsequent performance within a professional anatomy curriculum. Incoming first-year veterinary students at the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine were asked to participate in a free weeklong pre-course, before the start of the semester. The pre-course covered the musculoskeletal anatomy of the canine thoracic limb using dissection-based methods. Student performance, as evaluated by test grades in the pre-course, did indeed correlate with test grades in professional veterinary anatomy courses. A significant and positive correlation was identified between pre-course final exam performance and performance on examinations in each of 3 professional anatomy courses. Qualitative analyses of student comments pertaining to their experience within the pre-course indicated differences in the perceived benefits of the pre-course between high-, middle-, and low-performing students. These varied perceptions may provide predictive feedback as well as guidance for supporting lower performing students. Together, these results indicate that performance in a weeklong pre-course covering only a small portion of canine anatomy is a strong predictor of performance within a professional anatomy curriculum. In addition, the pre-course differentially affected student perceptions of their learning experience

e-Bug Games for Children: Teaching Hygiene and Prudent Antibiotics Use using Web Games

Technology enhanced education has been recently established as a new approach for all stages of education. However, among these new IT media it is computer games playing the central role in delivering education in particular to children and teenagers, however, real world sound evaluation is often given little attention. The EU funded e-Bug project developed web games aimed at children to teach basic principles of pru- dent antibiotics use, hand and respiratory hygiene and aims to reinforces an awareness of microbes, hand and respiratory hygiene among junior and senior school children in 10 countries in Europe. An educational pack implemented in schools across Europe is complemented by Internet web games for two age groups teaching a set of learning objectives (LOs) using a fast and interactive platform game design for junior children and investigate detective games based on PBL principles for senior children. In this paper, we present the design of e-Bug junior and senior games and evaluation results

Optimizing the structure and yield of vanadium oxide nanotubes by periodic 2D layer scrolling.

Metal oxide nanotubes with wide interlayer van der Waals spaces are important materials for a range of applications from energy storage to catalysis, and from energy efficient catalysts and metal–insulator systems to smart window technologies. Controlling the crystalline quality is critical for the material's physical properties on the nanoscale. We report a systematic investigation into the optimization of structural quality and yield of vanadium oxide nanotubes (VONTs) synthesized by hydrothermal treatment. Usually, interdigitation of alkyl-amine chains occurs between V2O5 lamina, a stitching process that allows scrolling of 2D crystalline sheets into nanotubes with consistently high quality. Through detailed microscopy and spectroscopy examination, we demonstrate that two amine molecules per V2O5 unit optimizes the structure, quality and yield of the VONTs, and that uniform coverage of the juxtaposed V2O5 surfaces in the interlayer spacing minimizes non-uniformities and defects. This observation is consistent for a range of primary amine lengths (hexylamine to hexadecylamine). Through statistical investigation of hundreds of VONTs under each condition, we uncover the effect of amine chain length of V2O5 2D sheet thickness, and mechanism for optimum VONT quality. Finally, we summarize non-uniformities during VONT synthesis including, bending, spiraling and twisting of the scrolled crystalline layers

Vanadium oxide polycrystalline nanorods and ion-exchanged nanotubes for enhanced lithium intercalation.

In this work we investigate two alternative methods to remove amine molecules from as-synthesized vanadium oxide nanotubes (VONTs). Thermal treatment results in the formation of polycrystalline nanorods (poly-NRs) and ion exchange reactions with NaCl result in the formation of Na-VONTs. The removal of amine molecules is confirmed by monitoring the inorganic and organic phase changes and decomposition, respectively, using electron microscopy, IR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses. We compare the electrochemical performance of as-synthesized VONTs, poly-NRs and Na-VONTs. This work demonstrates that the presence of amine molecules within the layers of vanadium oxide impedes the intercalation of lithium ions, and that their removal results in a significant improvement in electrochemical characteristics. Out of the three vanadium oxide nanostructures investigated, poly- NRs exhibit the most promising results for practical use as a cathode material