The Josephson Effect in Single Spin Superconductors

The Josephson Effect provides a primary signature of single spin superconductivity (SSS), the as yet unobserved superconducting state which was proposed recently as a low temperature phase of half-metallic antiferromagnets. These materials are insulating in the spin-down channel but are metallic in the spin-up channel. The SSS state is characterized by a unique form of p-wave pairing within a single spin channel. We develop the theory of a rich variety of Josephson effects that arise due to the form of the SSS order parameter. Tunneling is allowed at a SSS-SSS' junction but of course depends on the relative orientation of their order parameters. No current flows between an SSS and an s-wave BCS system due to their orthogonal symmetries, which potentially can be used to distinguish SSS from other superconducting states. Single spin superconductors also offer a means to probe other materials, where tunneling is a litmus test for any form of ``triplet'' order parameter.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX, 2 PostScript figures included, to appear in J. Phys. and Chem. of Solid

Deficits in visual attention after mild and severe traumatic brain injuries

A whole report paradigm was used to quantify three different components of attention related to visual processing capacity: perceptual threshold, processing speed, and working memory (WM) storage capacity in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). The subjects sample was composed of 25 patients with mild TBI (mTBI), 23 patients with severe TBI (sTBI), and 24 matched healthy control subjects. Patient groups were assigned according to the Glasgow Coma Scale. Patients of the mTBI group presented intracranial lesions (termed complicated mTBI). Bundesen’s theory of visual attention (TVA; Bundesen, 1990, 1998) served as a theoretical framework for the analysis of the results. Results indicated augmented perceptual thresholds, as well as impairment in processing speed and WM storage capacity in sTBI, while mTBI showed solely deficits in processing speed. WM storage capacity was associated with trauma severity. The probable importance of white matter connectivity on these impaired parameters is discussed. Through the use of a partial report task, visual selective attention was assessed in 23 patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), and 23 patients with severe TBI (sTBI). Patient groups were assigned according to the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS). Based on Bundesen’s theory of visual attention (TVA; 1990, 1998), two parameters were estimated out of the accuracy data of the task performance: top-down control of attentional selection (parameter α), representing task-related attentional weighting for prioritizing relevant visual stimuli, and spatial distribution of attentional weights across both hemifields (parameter wlat). Compared to the task performance of 23 healthy matched control subjects, sTBI patients displayed significantly reduced efficiency of top-down control selection and a pathological imbalance of spatial attentional weighting across hemifields. The performance of mTBI patients was intact in these measures. Parameter α was correlated with the GCS score. On the basis of the literature on clinical TVA-based assessment, the impact of very large lesion types (e.g., contusions) on impaired top-down control as well as the role of an interhemispheric imbalance on the unbalanced attentional weighting in the sTBI group are discussed. In combination with Bundesen’s theory of visual attention (1990, 1998), the whole and the partial report of briefly displayed letter arrays provide the estimation of psy-chophysical parameters related to the visual capacity and the attentional weighting of a given participant: visual perceptual threshold, visual processing speed, visual working memory storage capacity, spatial distribution of attention, and top-down control. Two previous studies of this dissertation (study 1 and 2, see chapter 4 and 5) have already demonstrated that patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) show a decline in all of these parameters. The aim of the present study was to examine whether these parameters are related to other clinical measures in a TBI population, as demonstrated in a study by Finke et al. (2005) in healthy subjects. In a sample of 51 TBI patients (27 patients with mild and 24 patients with severe TBI, as assessed with the Glasgow Coma Scale), the correlation matrix showed correlations that were comparable to those obtained by Finke et al. (2005) for some measures. However, also unexpected associations between TVA parameters and conventional neuropsychological tests were found, indicating that the correlation pattern change in clinical groups when actual deficits are present. These results are discussed in respect to the potential mechanisms leading to these changes in a group of TBI patients

Himpathy? The Impact of Defendant Social Status on Perceptions of a Rape Legal Case

There is limited work regarding multiple indicators of social status in the legal system (e.g., power and SES). The present study investigated the influence of defendant social status on case judgments in a first-degree rape case. The experiment used a 2 (defendant power: high vs. low) x 2 (defendant SES: high vs. low) x 2 (participant gender) between-subjects design. A sample of 282 community members were recruited via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Participants were presented with a case summary, asked to make guilt and credibility judgments, complete the system justification gender scale (gender SJ: Jost & Kay, 2005), and answer standard demographic questions. Main effects were found such that female participants and defendants rated higher in power (i.e., legal authority), led to increases in pro-victim judgments (i.e., guilty verdicts). No main effect of defendant SES was found. Further, the effects of power and wealth were mediated by victim credibility, such that increases in defendant power led to increased victim credibility, raising the number of guilty verdicts. However, this mediation varied based on participants’ gender SJ scores. Overall findings indicate that when a defendant was rated as high in legal authority, participants viewed rape as an abuse of power, and/or the victim as braver (i.e., credible) for coming forward

Divergent understandings regarding the “strategic autonomy of the European Union”: a result of the plurality of strategic cultures among the member states

In the recent years, the strategic autonomy of the European Union (EU) has become one of the buzzwords when it comes to the defence cooperation of the EU. However, even though that all EU Member States have agreed with the goal in a way that it can be found in the strategic documents, such as the Global Strategy of the EU, in practice the Member States seem to have somewhat different positions and understandings regarding it when it comes to implementation, yet it has received little scholarly attention. This study aims to tackle this issue and sets out to first, provide empirical insights to map the different understandings in an empirically grounded way and second, explain the occurrence of such differences through the various elements of national strategic cultures. In order to explore this link between the understandings of strategic autonomy and the specifics of national strategic cultures, this study relies on data collected through a series of semi-structured interviews with the security specialists and government officials from five EU Member States that reflect the whole spectrum of Europeanist/Atlanticist divide among the Member States when it comes to strategic orientation. The findings of this thesis show that first, the understandings of strategic autonomy are indeed different among the Member States to a certain extent and second, the differences in understandings and concerns can indeed be explained through the plurality of strategic cultures among the EU Member States. However, adding more nuance to the existing literature highlighting the differences in understandings, this study finds that while there are certain differences in understandings, there are more differences when it comes to fears and concerns regarding the possible outcomes of the goal. While all elements of strategic culture reflect in the understandings of EU (or European) strategic autonomy in a certain way, then the major driver for the division among the Member States is the strategic orientation (Europeanist/Atlanticist divide).https://www.ester.ee/record=b5242305*es

Molecular Genetics, Genetic Testing, Novel Genome Sequencing Technologies

AbstractWith the advance of genomic technologies, we are now able to detect genetic variations in patients with high accuracy, whole genome scale and relatively cost-effective. This offers an opportunity for altering medical practice fundamentally as well as insurance policy. Although clinicians, scientists, and health policy makers still have to deal how to interpret and handle the results that sometimes come with ambiguity and uncertainty, recent advances especially in the western world have integrated genetic tests and molecular genetic analysis for clinical management of patients. In this session, we will discuss and review the range of methods currently used in clinical setting as well as potential emerging methods in clinical molecular genetic diagnostics. Advantages and disadvantages of each methods will be carefully discussed especially application in regions of the world that have more limited access for molecular genetic tests including next generation sequencing. Outline of implementation challenges for molecular genetic tests both in term of health economics and clinical management will also be discussed