Convergent Perturbation Theory for a q-deformed Anharmonic Oscillator

A $q$--deformed anharmonic oscillator is defined within the framework of $q$--deformed quantum mechanics. It is shown that the Rayleigh--Schr\"odinger perturbation series for the bounded spectrum converges to exact eigenstates and eigenvalues, for $q$ close to 1. The radius of convergence becomes zero in the undeformed limit.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure using eps

Guidance on Noncorticosteroid Systemic Immunomodulatory Therapy in Noninfectious Uveitis : Fundamentals Of Care for UveitiS (FOCUS) Initiative

Supplemental material available at www.aaojournal.org. Supported by AbbVie, Inc., and the Fundamentals of Care for Uveitis Initiative National Faculty. This manuscript was developed subsequent to an AbbVie-sponsored literature review of noninfectious, nonanterior uveitis. The meeting was conducted to understand the available literature regarding the management of patients with noninfectious, nonanterior uveitis. The program involved a total of 139 experts from 28 countries, who were selected for participation by AbbVie. However, AbbVie was not involved in the development of the manuscript. The authors maintained complete control over the content and this manuscript reflects the opinions of the authors. AbbVie selected the discussion participants and reviewed the final manuscript draft for scientific accuracy, but the authors determined the final content. All authors made substantial contributions to the article or critically revised it for important intellectual content and approved the final manuscript. AbbVie provided funding to invited participants, including honoraria for their attendance at the meetings. Travel to and from the meetings was reimbursed. No payments were made to the authors for the development of this manuscript. Dhinakaran Sambandan, PhD, and Shula Sarner, PhD, of Lucid Partners, Burleighfield House, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom, provided medical writing and editorial support to the authors in the development of this manuscript; financial support for these services was provided by AbbVie. AbbVie reviewed the manuscript, but was not involved in the methodology, data collection and analysis, or completion of this manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Multidrug resistant pulmonary tuberculosis treatment regimens and patient outcomes: an individual patient data meta-analysis of 9,153 patients.

Treatment of multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is lengthy, toxic, expensive, and has generally poor outcomes. We undertook an individual patient data meta-analysis to assess the impact on outcomes of the type, number, and duration of drugs used to treat MDR-TB

Debt Tokens

The worlds of crypto and bankruptcy have collided. Once-prominent, fastgrowing, and even politically influential platforms for trading cryptocurrencies have imploded spectacularly. Gone are the glossy advertisements, celebrity endorsements, and proclamations that blockchain operates as a law unto itself. Instead, insolvent crypto businesses—including the crypto exchange giant FTX—find themselves in bankruptcy court, no different from any other failed enterprise. These bankruptcies reveal a startling reality: individual investors who placed their trust in these platforms have been stripped of their digital assets. In their stead, they hold hard-tocollect claims against these defunct platforms. Amid the chill of the crypto winter, bankruptcy has unexpectedly emerged as a crucible for innovation, giving rise to a new digital asset: debt tokens. Entrepreneurs have responded to the tidal wave of trade debts arising from the insolvencies of crypto platforms by embarking on a mission to create blockchain-based digital assets that represent bankruptcy claims. They present debt tokens as cutting-edge devices for swiftly and advantageously liquidating these distressed assets. Yet, the pressing question is this: are these debt tokens actually useful innovations or yet another hollow promise? This Article offers the first comprehensive analysis of debt tokens, making three seminal contributions. First, we scrutinize existing debt token offerings, laying bare their inherent flaws and casting doubt on their legitimacy. Second, we explore the potential for genuine debt tokens within the framework of the recently adopted 2022 amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code. Lastly, we delve into the broader socio-economic implications of widespread debt token adoption. Specifically, we anticipate debt tokens fostering more effective collective action and improved exit opportunities, particularly for those creditors who traditionally fare the worst in bankruptcy due to having fewer resources and pressing financial needs. However, we also caution against the looming risks of irrational speculation and the exploitation of inexperienced retail investors blinded by the bright lights of innovation

Observing the Evolution of the Universe

How did the universe evolve? The fine angular scale (l>1000) temperature and polarization anisotropies in the CMB are a Rosetta stone for understanding the evolution of the universe. Through detailed measurements one may address everything from the physics of the birth of the universe to the history of star formation and the process by which galaxies formed. One may in addition track the evolution of the dark energy and discover the net neutrino mass. We are at the dawn of a new era in which hundreds of square degrees of sky can be mapped with arcminute resolution and sensitivities measured in microKelvin. Acquiring these data requires the use of special purpose telescopes such as the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), located in Chile, and the South Pole Telescope (SPT). These new telescopes are outfitted with a new generation of custom mm-wave kilo-pixel arrays. Additional instruments are in the planning stages.Comment: Science White Paper submitted to the US Astro2010 Decadal Survey. Full list of 177 author available at http://cmbpol.uchicago.ed

An Investigation into the Consequences of Performing Emotional Labour in Mental Health Care

Performing emotional labour in health care has been widely studied. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding mental health care. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify (1) the method of emotional labour (i.e. hiding, faking, deep acting) adopted by mental health workers when interacting with patients; (2) the consequences associated with performing emotional labour- burnout, job satisfaction, and stress; and (3) which of these variables mentioned above predict the health and well-being of mental health workers. Findings revealed greater use of hiding emotions, than deep acting or faking emotions with patients. Several consequences, both positive and negative were identified. Among the negative consequences found, performing emotional labour through hiding and faking emotions was associated with burnout, job dissatisfaction, and stress. Conversely, through deep acting, increased personal accomplishment and job satisfaction was confirmed. No association between emotional labour and psychological distress, and physical symptoms were found

Advancing global & regional reanalyses

This report outlines the structure of and summarizes the recommendations made at the 5th International Conference on Reanalysis (ICR5), attended by 259 participants from 37 countries, in Rome (Italy), on 13-17 November 2017. It first summarizes the conference structure. Then, the key recommendations of ICR5 are given for the five main conference topics: production; observations (data rescue and preparation); data assimilation methods; quality assurance of reanalysis; and applications in science, services, and policymaking. Lastly, five high-level recommendations are proposed to managing agencies on how best to advance the field of reanalyses, which serves tens of thousands of users, via enhanced research, development, and operations

Debt Tokens

The worlds of crypto and bankruptcy have collided. Once-prominent, fast growing, and even politically influential platforms for trading cryptocurrencies have imploded spectacularly. Gone are the glossy advertisements, celebrity endorsements, and proclamations that blockchain operates as a law unto itself. Instead, insolvent crypto businesses—including the crypto exchange giant FTX—find themselves in bankruptcy court, no different from any other failed enterprise. These bankruptcies reveal a startling reality: individual investors who placed their trust in these platforms have been stripped of their digital assets. In their stead, they hold hard-to-collect claims against these defunct platforms. Amid the chill of the crypto winter, bankruptcy has unexpectedly emerged as a crucible for innovation, giving rise to a new digital asset: debt tokens. Entrepreneurs have responded to the tidal wave of trade debts arising from the insolvencies of crypto platforms by embarking on a mission to create blockchain-based digital assets that represent bankruptcy claims. They present debt tokens as cutting-edge devices for swiftly and advantageously liquidating these distressed assets. Yet, the pressing question is this: are these debt tokens actually useful innovations or yet another hollow promise? This Article offers the first comprehensive analysis of debt tokens, making three seminal contributions. First, we scrutinize existing debt token offerings, laying bare their inherent flaws and casting doubt on their legitimacy. Second, we explore the potential for genuine debt tokens within the framework of the recently adopted 2022 amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code. Lastly, we delve into the broader socio-economic implications of widespread debt token adoption. Specifically, we anticipate debt tokens fostering more effective collective action and improved exit opportunities, particularly for those creditors who traditionally fare the worst in bankruptcy due to having fewer resources and pressing financial needs. However, we also caution against the looming risks of irrational speculation and the exploitation of inexperienced retail investors blinded by the bright lights of innovation

Novel mutations in human and mouse SCN4A implicate AMPK in myotonia and periodic paralysis

Mutations in the skeletal muscle channel (SCN4A), encoding the Nav1.4 voltage-gated sodium channel, are causative of a variety of muscle channelopathies, including non-dystrophic myotonias and periodic paralysis. The effects of many of these mutations on channel function have been characterized both in vitro and in vivo. However, little is known about the consequences of SCN4A mutations downstream from their impact on the electrophysiology of the Nav1.4 channel. Here we report the discovery of a novel SCN4A mutation (c.1762A>G; p.I588V) in a patient with myotonia and periodic paralysis, located within the S1 segment of the second domain of the Nav1.4 channel. Using N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea mutagenesis, we generated and characterized a mouse model (named draggen), carrying the equivalent point mutation (c.1744A>G; p.I582V) to that found in the patient with periodic paralysis and myotonia. Draggen mice have myotonia and suffer from intermittent hind-limb immobility attacks. In-depth characterization of draggen mice uncovered novel systemic metabolic abnormalities in Scn4a mouse models and provided novel insights into disease mechanisms. We discovered metabolic alterations leading to lean mice, as well as abnormal AMP-activated protein kinase activation, which were associated with the immobility attacks and may provide a novel potential therapeutic target

Sparse grid approximation of stochastic parabolic PDEs: The Landau--Lifshitz--Gilbert equation

We show convergence rates for a sparse grid approximation of the distribution of solutions of the stochastic Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation. Beyond being a frequently studied equation in engineering and physics, the stochastic Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation poses many interesting challenges that do not appear simultaneously in previous works on uncertainty quantification: The equation is strongly non-linear, time-dependent, and has a non-convex side constraint. Moreover, the parametrization of the stochastic noise features countably many unbounded parameters and low regularity compared to other elliptic and parabolic problems studied in uncertainty quantification. We use a novel technique to establish uniform holomorphic regularity of the parameter-to-solution map based on a Gronwall-type estimate and the implicit function theorem. This method is very general and based on a set of abstract assumptions. Thus, it can be applied beyond the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation as well. We demonstrate numerically the feasibility of approximating with sparse grid and show a clear advantage of a multi-level sparse grid scheme.Comment: 36 pages, 4 figure