Density Wave -Supersolid and Mott Insulator-Superfluid transition in presence of an artificial gauge field : a strong coupling perturbation approach

We study the effect of an artificial gauge field on the zero temperature phase diagram of extended Bose Hubbard model, that describes ultra cold atoms in optical lattices with long range interaction using strong coupling perturbation theory . We determine analytically the effect of the artificial gauge field on the density wave - supersolid (DW-SS) and the the Mott insulator-superfluid (MI -SF) transition boundary . The momentum distribution at these two transition boundaries is also calculated in this approach. It is shown that such momentum distribution which can be observed in time of flight measurement, reveals the symmetry of the gauge potential through the formation of magnetic Brillouin zone and clearly distinguishes between the DW-SS and MI-SF boundary. We also point out that in symmetric gauge the momentum distribution structure at these transition boundaries bears distinctive signatures of vortices in supersolid and superfluid phases.Comment: 18 latexed two column pages including appendix, 9 .eps figures Figure positioning readjusted and one reference adde

Zinc-Catalyzed Guanylation Reaction of Amines to Carbodiimides/Isocyanate Leading to of Guanidines/Urea Derivatives Formation

[Not available

Evaluating variation in use of definitive therapy and risk-adjusted prostate cancer mortality in England and the USA.

OBJECTIVES: Prostate cancer mortality (PCM) in the USA is among the lowest in the world, whereas PCM in England is among the highest in Europe. This paper aims to assess the association of variation in use of definitive therapy on risk-adjusted PCM in England as compared with the USA. DESIGN: Observational study. SETTING: Cancer registry data from England and the USA. PARTICIPANTS: Men diagnosed with non-metastatic prostate cancer (PCa) in England and the USA between 2004 and 2008. OUTCOME MEASURES: Competing-risks survival analyses to estimate subhazard ratios (SHR) of PCM adjusted for age, ethnicity, year of diagnosis, Gleason score (GS) and clinical tumour (cT) stage. RESULTS: 222,163 men were eligible for inclusion. Compared with American patients, English patients were more likely to present at an older age (70-79 years: England 44.2%, USA 29.3%, p<0.001), with higher tumour stage (cT3-T4: England 25.1%, USA 8.6%, p<0.001) and higher GS (GS 8-10: England 20.7%, USA 11.2%, p<0.001). They were also less likely to receive definitive therapy (England 38%, USA 77%, p<0.001). English patients were more likely to die of PCa (SHR=1.9, 95% CI 1.7 to 2.0, p<0.001). However, this difference was no longer statistically significant when also adjusted for use of definitive therapy (SHR=1.0, 95% CI 1.0 to 1.1, p=0.3). CONCLUSIONS: Risk-adjusted PCM is significantly higher in England compared with the USA. This difference may be explained by less frequent use of definitive therapy in England

Establishing a Safety Performance System for Pipeline Integrity

PresentationPipeline incidents recorded by Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), from 1994 through 2013, the U.S. had 745 serious incidents with gas distribution, causing 278 fatalities and 1059 injuries, with $110,658,083 in property damage with additional 41 fatalities from gas transmission incidents and 363 fatalities from incidents with gas all system type. Similar pipeline incidents have occurred around the world. This has brought the importance of establishing a good monitoring and evaluation program for maintaining the integrity of the gas and liquid pipelines. Establishment of a safety performance evaluation system is important for understanding the current state of the process safety management system, identifying gaps and striving for continuous improvement based on the plan, do, check and act approach. In this paper, the authors discuss various meaningful performance metrics vital to integrity management based on relevant API, ANSI, ASME, Canadian, and U.K. HSE standards. It discusses how to select of key indicators including both leading and lagging indicators and the characteristics of mature indicator program. The leading or lagging indicator (whether process safety or personal safety) should relate directly to a particular engineering control that is in place to prevent a hazardous event from occurring or to mitigate the consequences of a hazardous event. Some indicators may be a requirement by regulator, however, for continuous and holistic improvement, indicators related to pertinent challenges to integrity of pipelines such as corrosion, third party damage, under/over pressure, integrity inspections, transportation and construction damage and human error should be structured into the performance evaluation program

Intention offloading: Domain-general versus task-specific confidence signals

Intention offloading refers to the use of external reminders to help remember delayed intentions (e.g., setting an alert to help you remember when you need to take your medication). Research has found that metacognitive processes influence offloading such that individual differences in confidence predict individual differences in offloading regardless of objective cognitive ability. The current study investigated the cross-domain organization of this relationship. Participants performed two perceptual discrimination tasks where objective accuracy was equalized using a staircase procedure. In a memory task, two measures of intention offloading were collected, (1) the overall likelihood of setting reminders, and (2) the bias in reminder-setting compared to the optimal strategy. It was found that perceptual confidence was associated with the first measure but not the second. It is shown that this is because individual differences in perceptual confidence capture meaningful differences in objective ability despite the staircase procedure. These findings indicate that intention offloading is influenced by both domain-general and task-specific metacognitive signals. They also show that even when task performance is equalized via staircasing, individual differences in confidence cannot be considered a pure measure of metacognitive bias

Marine bacterial, archaeal and protistan association networks reveal ecological linkages

Microbes have central roles in ocean food webs and global biogeochemical processes, yet specific ecological relationships among these taxa are largely unknown. This is in part due to the dilute, microscopic nature of the planktonic microbial community, which prevents direct observation of their interactions. Here, we use a holistic (that is, microbial system-wide) approach to investigate time-dependent variations among taxa from all three domains of life in a marine microbial community. We investigated the community composition of bacteria, archaea and protists through cultivation-independent methods, along with total bacterial and viral abundance, and physico-chemical observations. Samples and observations were collected monthly over 3 years at a well-described ocean time-series site of southern California. To find associations among these organisms, we calculated time-dependent rank correlations (that is, local similarity correlations) among relative abundances of bacteria, archaea, protists, total abundance of bacteria and viruses and physico-chemical parameters. We used a network generated from these statistical correlations to visualize and identify time-dependent associations among ecologically important taxa, for example, the SAR11 cluster, stramenopiles, alveolates, cyanobacteria and ammonia-oxidizing archaea. Negative correlations, perhaps suggesting competition or predation, were also common. The analysis revealed a progression of microbial communities through time, and also a group of unknown eukaryotes that were highly correlated with dinoflagellates, indicating possible symbioses or parasitism. Possible ‘keystone’ species were evident. The network has statistical features similar to previously described ecological networks, and in network parlance has non-random, small world properties (that is, highly interconnected nodes). This approach provides new insights into the natural history of microbes

Adapting the queen square guided self help (QGSH) for functional neurological disorders as a stand-alone intervention: an exonian pilot study

Aim: Functional neurological disorders (FND) are one of the most common presentation in neurology clinics, causing a significant disability and economic burden. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has one of the best available evidence in managing FND, although access remains limited. Queen Square, London neuropsychiatry experts have established an excellent model for a CBT based, Guided Self Help (GSH) programme, which is preparatory to a multidisciplinary inpatient treatment. It has been shown to have good outcomes. This study was designed to ascertain the feasibility and acceptance of this QGSH model, in an Exonian cohort of FND patients, whilst piloting its stand-alone version, without the inpatient component. Additionally, the study explores the need and types of modifications required for the stand-alone adaptation of QGSH. Method: Consecutive patients referred to Exeter FND Service, between February to June 2020, who had internet access, were offered the QGSH pilot. Patients with a primary mental disorder concurrent drug/alcohol misuse or risk of self-harm or suicide were excluded. Ethics approval was not required. The QGSH intervention constitutes of 11 modules focussing on specific elements crucial to FND management along with homework tasks, delivered by the author, under supervision by QGSH experts. Patients completed Pre and Post-intervention questionnaires as well as structured feedback. Results: Three successive patients with varied FND symptoms were recruited to the pilot between February and June 2020. The baseline health status of these patients was worse as compared to EQ-5D-5L population norms with significant baseline psychiatric comorbidity. Outcome measures used before and after QGSH intervention included PHQ 9, GAD 7, EQ-5D-5L and a locally devised symptom severity questionnaire. Necessary modifications were made to the program based on the patients informal feedback and structured formal feedback was sought in the end. Conclusion: All patients derived some benefit from QGSH and certain modifications were suggested in patient feedback to improve engagement. Despite study limitations, especially small size and the impact of Covid 19 pandemic during the intervention; QGSH model appears acceptable and feasible in an Exonian cohort, however, some modifications are recommended for the stand-alone version to succeed. The recommendations will be presented