The isovector dipole strength in nuclei with extreme neutron excess

The E1 strength is systematically analyzed in very neutron-rich Sn nuclei, beyond $^{132}$Sn until $^{166}$Sn, within the Relativistic Quasiparticle Random Phase Approximation. The great neutron excess favors the appearance of a deformed ground state for $^{142-162}$Sn. The evolution of the low-lying strength in deformed nuclei is determined by the interplay of two factors, isospin asymmetry and deformation: while greater neutron excess increases the total low-lying strength, deformation hinders and spreads it. Very neutron rich deformed nuclei may not be as good candidates as stable spherical nuclei like $^{132}$Sn for the experimental study of low-lying E1 strength

Determination of the components of the gyration tensor of quartz by oblique incidence transmission two-modulator generalized ellipsometry

The two independent components of the gyration tensor of quartz, g11 and g33, have been spectroscopically measured using a transmission two-modulator generalized ellipsometer. The method is used to determine the optical activity in crystals in directions other than the optic axis, where the linear birefringence is much larger than the optical activity

Shared Memory Pipelined Parareal

For the parallel-in-time integration method Parareal, pipelining can be used to hide some of the cost of the serial correction step and improve its efficiency. The paper introduces an OpenMP implementation of pipelined Parareal and compares it to a standard MPI-based variant. Both versions yield almost identical runtimes, but, depending on the compiler, the OpenMP variant consumes about 7% less energy and has a significantly smaller memory footprint. However, its higher implementation complexity might make it difficult to use in legacy codes and in combination with spatial parallelisation

Report on Tests and Measurements of Hadronic Interaction Properties with Air Showers

We present a summary of recent tests and measurements of hadronic interaction properties with air showers. This report has a special focus on muon density measurements. Several experiments reported deviations between simulated and recorded muon densities in extensive air showers, while others reported no discrepancies. We combine data from eight leading air shower experiments to cover shower energies from PeV to tens of EeV. Data are combined using the z-scale, a unified reference scale based on simulated air showers. Energy-scales of experiments are cross-calibrated. Above 10 PeV, we find a muon deficit in simulated air showers for each of the six considered hadronic interaction models. The deficit is increasing with shower energy. For the models EPOS-LHC and QGSJet-II.04, the slope is found significant at 8 sigma.Comment: Submitted to the Proceedings of UHECR201

NCI-MATCH Arms N & P: Phase II study of PI3K beta inhibitor GSK2636771 in patients (pts) with cancers (ca) with PTEN mutation/deletion (mut/del) or PTEN protein loss

Background: The NCI-MATCH trial is the largest national study (1173 sites) for ptswith relapsed/ refractory solid tumors, lymphomas and myeloma, which assigns tar-geted therapies based on individual tumor molecular alterations detected using theadapted Oncomine AmpliSeq panel (143 genes) and immunohistochemistry (IHC).We hypothesized that patients with PTEN-deficient cancers enrolled to Arms N and Pmay benefit from treatment with the PI3K beta-selective inhibitor GSK2636771. Methods: Eligibility: relapsed/refractory ca, good end-organ function, and ECOG PS ≤ 1. Pts were screened for molecular alterations by centralized testing on fresh tumor biopsy and had deleterious PTEN mut/del without loss of expression (Arm N) or complete loss of cytoplasmic and nuclear PTEN staining on IHC (Arm P), and no other aberrations activating the PI3K/MTOR and MAPK pathways (mut in PIK3CA, PIK3R1, BRAF, KRAS, AKT1, TSC1/2, mTOR, RHEB, NF2, NRAS, HRAS). Pts received GSK2636771 400mg/day (28-days cycles). RECIST 1.1 overall response rate (ORR) was the primary endpoint. Results: Of 59 enrolled pts, 56 were eligible and received treatment. Of 22 pts with PTEN mut/del (Arm N: 6 uterine, 2 breast, 2 prostate, 2 head/neck ca, 10 other), all are off treatment as of analysis (14 disease progression, 4 for adverse events [AEs], 4 other). One pt (4.5%) with prostate ca (PTEN deletion, MPRSS2-ERG fusion) attained a partial response (-42%). Of 7 (32%) pts with stable disease (SD), 2 had SD \u3e 6 months (uterine leiomyosarcoma; endometrial carcinoma). Of 34 pts with loss of PTEN protein by IHC (Arm P: 7 prostate, 6 breast, 3 squamous anal ca, 2 cholangiocarcinoma, 16 other), all are off treatment as of analysis (26 disease progression, 4 for AE, 4 other). Of 9 (37.5%) pts with SD, 3 had SD \u3e 6 months (prostate cancer; squamous bladder cancer, squamous anal cancer). Median progression-free survival was 1.8 months for both arms. Gr ≥ 3 treatment-related (tr) reversible toxicities were experienced by 30% (7) and 20% (7) of pts in arms N and P, respectively. No tr Gr 5 toxicities were observed in either arm. Conclusions: Single agent GSK2636771 has very modest activity in ca with PTEN gene mutation/deletion and/or PTEN protein loss

N-terminal prohormone brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) as a noninvasive marker for restrictive syndromes

Constrictive pericarditis (CP) and restrictive cardiomyopathy share many similarities in both their clinical and hemodynamic characteristics and N-terminal prohormone brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is a sensitive marker of cardiac diastolic dysfunction. The objectives of the present study were to determine whether serum NT-proBNP was high in patients with endomyocardial fibrosis (EMF) and CP, and to investigate how this relates to diastolic dysfunction. Thirty-three patients were divided into two groups: CP (16 patients) and EMF (17 patients). The control group consisted of 30 healthy individuals. Patients were evaluated by bidimensional echocardiography, with restriction syndrome evaluated by pulsed Doppler of the mitral flow and serum NT-proBNP measured by immunoassay and detected by electrochemiluminescence. Spearman correlation coefficient was used to analyze the association between log NT-proBNP and echocardiographic parameters. Log NT-proBNP was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in CP patients (log mean: 2.67 pg/mL; 95%CI: 2.43-2.92 log pg/mL) and in EMF patients (log mean: 2.91 pg/mL; 95%CI: 2.70-3.12 log pg/mL) compared with the control group (log mean: 1.45; 95%CI: 1.32-1.60 log pg/mL). There were no statistical differences between EMF and CP patients (P = 0.689) in terms of NT-proBNP. The NT-proBNP log tended to correlate with peak velocity of the E wave (r = 0.439; P = 0.060, but not with A wave (r = -0.399; P = 0.112). Serum NT-proBNP concentration can be used as a marker to detect the presence of diastolic dysfunction in patients with restrictive syndrome; however, serum NT-proBNP levels cannot be used to differentiate restrictive cardiomyopathy from CP

2008-2009 President\u27s Report

The Linfield College President\u27s Annual Report is a collection of information about the year in review, including academics, student life and athletics, enrollment, finances, philanthropy, and leadership

The 2HWC HAWC Observatory Gamma Ray Catalog

We present the first catalog of TeV gamma-ray sources realized with the recently completed High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory (HAWC). It is the most sensitive wide field-of-view TeV telescope currently in operation, with a 1-year survey sensitivity of ~5-10% of the flux of the Crab Nebula. With an instantaneous field of view >1.5 sr and >90% duty cycle, it continuously surveys and monitors the sky for gamma ray energies between hundreds GeV and tens of TeV. HAWC is located in Mexico at a latitude of 19 degree North and was completed in March 2015. Here, we present the 2HWC catalog, which is the result of the first source search realized with the complete HAWC detector. Realized with 507 days of data and represents the most sensitive TeV survey to date for such a large fraction of the sky. A total of 39 sources were detected, with an expected contamination of 0.5 due to background fluctuation. Out of these sources, 16 are more than one degree away from any previously reported TeV source. The source list, including the position measurement, spectrum measurement, and uncertainties, is reported. Seven of the detected sources may be associated with pulsar wind nebulae, two with supernova remnants, two with blazars, and the remaining 23 have no firm identification yet.Comment: Submitted 2017/02/09 to the Astrophysical Journa