Neutron-proton interaction in rare-earth nuclei: Role of tensor force

We investigate the role of the tensor force in the description of doubly odd deformed nuclei within the framework of the particle-rotor model. We study the rare-earth nuclei 174Lu, 180Ta, 182Ta, and 188Re using a finite-range interaction, with and without tensor terms. Attention is focused on the lowest K=0 and K=1 bands, where the effects of the residual neutron-proton interaction are particularly evident. Comparison of the calculated results with experimental data evidences the importance of the tensor-force effects.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, to be published on Physical Review

Effects of ecstasy/polydrug use on memory for associative information

Rationale Associative learning underpins behaviours that are fundamental to the everyday functioning of the individual. Evidence pointing to learning deficits in recreational drug users merits further examination. Objectives A word pair learning task was administered to examine associative learning processes in ecstasy/polydrug users. Methods After assignment to either single or divided attention conditions, 44 ecstasy/polydrug users and 48 non-users were presented with 80 word pairs at encoding. Following this, four types of stimuli were presented at the recognition phase: the words as originally paired (old pairs), previously presented words in different pairings (conjunction pairs), old words paired with new words, and pairs of new words (not presented previously). The task was to identify which of the stimuli were intact old pairs. Results Ecstasy/ploydrug users produced significantly more false-positive responses overall compared to non-users. Increased long-term frequency of ecstasy use was positively associated with the propensity to produce false-positive responses. It was also associated with a more liberal signal detection theory decision criterion value. Measures of long term and recent cannabis use were also associated with these same word pair learning outcome measures. Conjunction word pairs, irrespective of drug use, generated the highest level of false-positive responses and significantly more false-positive responses were made in the divided attention condition compared to the single attention condition. Conclusions Overall, the results suggest that long-term ecstasy exposure may induce a deficit in associative learning and this may be in part a consequence of users adopting a more liberal decision criterion value

Mechanical properties of β-HMX

Background: For a full understanding of the mechanical properties of a material, it is essential to understand the defect structures and associated properties and microhardness indentation is a technique that can aid this understanding. Results: The Vickers hardness on (010), {011} and {110} faces lay in the range of 304-363 MPa. The Knoop Hardnesses on the same faces lay in the range 314-482 MPa. From etching of three indented surfaces, the preferred slip planes have been identified as (001) and (101). For a dislocation glide, the most likely configuration for dislocation movement on the (001) planes is (001) [100] (|b| = 0.65 nm) and for the (101) plane as (101) 101~(|b| = 1.084 nm) although (101) [010] (|b| = 1.105 nm) is possible. Tensile testing showed that at a stress value of 2.3 MPa primary twinning occurred and grew with increasing stress. When the stress was relaxed, the twins decreased in size, but did not disappear. The twinning shear strain was calculated to be 0.353 for the (101) twin plane. Conclusions: HMX is considered to be brittle, compared to other secondary explosives. Comparing HMX with a range of organic solids, the values for hardness numbers are similar to those of other brittle systems. Under the conditions developed beneath a pyramidal indenter, dislocation slip plays a major part in accommodating the local deformation stresses. © 2015 Gallagher et al.; licensee Springer

Which medical error to disclose to patients and by whom? Public preference and perceptions of norm and current practice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Disclosure of near miss medical error (ME) and who should disclose ME to patients continue to be controversial. Further, available recommendations on disclosure of ME have emerged largely in Western culture; their suitability to Islamic/Arabic culture is not known.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We surveyed 902 individuals attending the outpatient's clinics of a tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia. Personal preference and perceptions of norm and current practice regarding which ME to be disclosed (5 options: don't disclose; disclose if associated with major, moderate, or minor harm; disclose near miss) and by whom (6 options: any employee, any physician, at-fault-physician, manager of at-fault-physician, medical director, or chief executive director) were explored.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mean (SD) age of respondents was 33.9 (10) year, 47% were males, 90% Saudis, 37% patients, 49% employed, and 61% with college or higher education. The percentage (95% confidence interval) of respondents who preferred to be informed of harmful ME, of near miss ME, or by at-fault physician were 60.0% (56.8 to 63.2), 35.5% (32.4 to 38.6), and 59.7% (56.5 to 63.0), respectively. Respectively, 68.2% (65.2 to 71.2) and 17.3% (14.7 to 19.8) believed that as currently practiced, harmful ME and near miss ME are disclosed, and 34.0% (30.7 to 37.4) that ME are disclosed by at-fault-physician. Distributions of perception of norm and preference were similar but significantly different from the distribution of perception of current practice (P < 0.001). In a forward stepwise regression analysis, older age, female gender, and being healthy predicted preference of disclosure of near miss ME, while younger age and male gender predicted preference of no-disclosure of ME. Female gender also predicted preferring disclosure by the at-fault-physician.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We conclude that: 1) there is a considerable diversity in preferences and perceptions of norm and current practice among respondents regarding which ME to be disclosed and by whom, 2) Distributions of preference and perception of norm were similar but significantly different from the distribution of perception of current practice, 3) most respondents preferred to be informed of ME and by at-fault physician, and 4) one third of respondents preferred to be informed of near-miss ME, with a higher percentage among females, older, and healthy individuals.</p

Recurrence quantification analysis as a tool for the characterization of molecular dynamics simulations

A molecular dynamics simulation of a Lennard-Jones fluid, and a trajectory of the B1 immunoglobulin G-binding domain of streptococcal protein G (B1-IgG) simulated in water are analyzed by recurrence quantification, which is noteworthy for its independence from stationarity constraints, as well as its ability to detect transients, and both linear and nonlinear state changes. The results demonstrate the sensitivity of the technique for the discrimination of phase sensitive dynamics. Physical interpretation of the recurrence measures is also discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, revtex; revised for review for Phys. Rev. E (clarifications and expansion of discussion)-- addition of the 8 postscript figures previously omitted, but unchanged from version

Coronal Shock Waves, EUV waves, and Their Relation to CMEs. I. Reconciliation of "EIT waves", Type II Radio Bursts, and Leading Edges of CMEs

We show examples of excitation of coronal waves by flare-related abrupt eruptions of magnetic rope structures. The waves presumably rapidly steepened into shocks and freely propagated afterwards like decelerating blast waves that showed up as Moreton waves and EUV waves. We propose a simple quantitative description for such shock waves to reconcile their observed propagation with drift rates of metric type II bursts and kinematics of leading edges of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Taking account of different plasma density falloffs for propagation of a wave up and along the solar surface, we demonstrate a close correspondence between drift rates of type II bursts and speeds of EUV waves, Moreton waves, and CMEs observed in a few known events.Comment: 30 pages, 15 figures. Solar Physics, published online. The final publication is available at http://www.springerlink.co

Irinotecan, cisplatin and mitomycin in inoperable gastro-oesophageal and pancreatic cancers – a new active regimen

Irinotecan, mitomycin and cisplatin all demonstrate activity in gastro-oesophageal cancers. This novel combination was administered to outpatients with previously untreated inoperable gastro-oesophageal or pancreatic cancer, in a 28-day cycle. A total of 26 out of 31 patients with gastro-oesophageal cancer and 12 out of 14 patients with pancreatic cancer have been treated with this combination, and were evaluable for response. The overall response rates for patients with gastro-oesophageal cancer was 42%, with a median survival of 9.5 months. In patients with pancreatic cancer, the overall response rate was 42% with a median survival of 8 months. There was a statistically significant increase in survival between those patients who achieved a stable disease response and those who achieved either a partial response or complete response. The toxicity profiles for both cancers were virtually identical. There were five treatment-related deaths, and a high admission rate (42%). Thus irinotecan, mitomycin and cisplatin is a new combination with activity in inoperable upper gastro-oesophageal cancers, but with a high toxicity profile. Future developments include reducing the dose of irinotecan and number of cycles of therapy to four

Calculations of collisions between cold alkaline earth atoms in a weak laser field

We calculate the light-induced collisional loss of laser-cooled and trapped magnesium atoms for detunings up to 50 atomic linewidths to the red of the ^1S_0-^1P_1 cooling transition. We evaluate loss rate coefficients due to both radiative and nonradiative state-changing mechanisms for temperatures at and below the Doppler cooling temperature. We solve the Schrodinger equation with a complex potential to represent spontaneous decay, but also give analytic models for various limits. Vibrational structure due to molecular photoassociation is present in the trap loss spectrum. Relatively broad structure due to absorption to the Mg_2 ^1Sigma_u state occurs for detunings larger than about 10 atomic linewidths. Much sharper structure, especially evident at low temperature, occurs even at smaller detunings due to of Mg_2 ^1Pi_g absorption, which is weakly allowed due to relativistic retardation corrections to the forbidden dipole transition strength. We also perform model studies for the other alkaline earth species Ca, Sr, and Ba and for Yb, and find similar qualitative behavior as for Mg.Comment: 20 pages, RevTex, 13 eps figures embedde

Search for sterile neutrino mixing in the MINOS long-baseline experiment

A search for depletion of the combined flux of active neutrino species over a 735 km baseline is reported using neutral-current interaction data recorded by the MINOS detectors in the NuMI neutrino beam. Such a depletion is not expected according to conventional interpretations of neutrino oscillation data involving the three known neutrino flavors. A depletion would be a signature of oscillations or decay to postulated noninteracting sterile neutrinos, scenarios not ruled out by existing data. From an exposure of 3.18×1020 protons on target in which neutrinos of energies between ~500¿¿MeV and 120 GeV are produced predominantly as ¿µ, the visible energy spectrum of candidate neutral-current reactions in the MINOS far detector is reconstructed. Comparison of this spectrum to that inferred from a similarly selected near-detector sample shows that of the portion of the ¿µ flux observed to disappear in charged-current interaction data, the fraction that could be converting to a sterile state is less than 52% at 90% confidence level (C.L.). The hypothesis that active neutrinos mix with a single sterile neutrino via oscillations is tested by fitting the data to various models. In the particular four-neutrino models considered, the mixing angles ¿24 and ¿34 are constrained to be less than 11° and 56° at 90% C.L., respectively. The possibility that active neutrinos may decay to sterile neutrinos is also investigated. Pure neutrino decay without oscillations is ruled out at 5.4 standard deviations. For the scenario in which active neutrinos decay into sterile states concurrently with neutrino oscillations, a lower limit is established for the neutrino decay lifetime t3/m3&gt;2.1×10-12¿¿s/eV at 90% C.L