Regularity of structured ring spectra and localization in K-theory

We identify a regularity property for structured ring spectra, and with it we prove a natural analogue of Quillen's localization theorem for algebraic K-theory in this setting.Comment: 9 pages. Corrected references and aspects of the expositio

Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing for offence-related trauma in a mentally disordered sexual offender

Research demonstrates a high incidence of offence-related trauma in mentally disordered offenders convicted of violent and sexual offences. The adaptive information processing (AIP) model offers a theoretical framework for understanding the hypothesised relationship between offence-related trauma and reoffending. Evidence suggests that for a sub-population of offenders presenting with offence-related trauma: (1) therapy may retraumatise them, and (2) unresolved trauma severely blocks the positive benefits of talking therapies. Thus, it is postulated that traumatised violent and sexual offenders may be released into the community when they are still at risk of reoffending. A single case study is presented, which describes the application of eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) for a sexual offender presenting with offence-related trauma, whose offences occurred in the context of serious mental disorder. The identification of offence-related trauma and subsequent resolution of trauma symptomatology are discussed in regard to effective offender rehabilitation. Furthermore, the idiosyncratic nature of offence-related trauma and the application of the standard EMDR protocol for a single traumatic event are considered

The Uncoiling of Supercoiled Plasmid DNA Over Time Observed by Atomic Force Microscopy

Long term stability of DNA structures in a cell is critical to sustaining life. The DNA structures could be degraded biologically (e.g. enzymes), chemically (e.g. drugs), and physically (e.g. thermal agitation process) with time. The DNA structures are maintained by being regenerated and/or being recovered by proteins within a cell. However, even though it is important, it is difficult to observe the time-evolution of DNA structures for extended periods at a molecular resolution. Here, we observed the time evolution of DNA structures for two months, in order to understand the long term stability of DNA structures. For this study, we used purified plasmid DNA molecules extracted from Escherichia coli (E-coli) as a sample. We also employed atomic force microscopy (AFM) to observe the plasmid DNA structures at a molecular resolution. The purified plasmid DNA molecules were diluted with pure water, deposited on a mica surface, and observed by an AFM on a regular basis in an ambient environment for two months. The sequential AFM images show the plasmid DNA formed globular structures at the beginning and transformed into uncoiled plasmid DNA network structures after two months. The globular structures appeared to be the supercoiled state of plasmid DNA, a well-known strategy to store genetic information in a confined space for bacterial systems. The observed DNA network structures are believed to be results of long periods of unwinding and rejoining processes of the supercoiled plasmid DNA. The unwinding and rejoining processes would have been caused by small residual proteins (or enzymes) possibly present in the plasmid DNA solution. This study reveals DNA stability is dramatically influenced by prolonged (~ a few months) exposure to small amounts of residual proteins (or enzymes). The result also suggests the AFM is a powerful tool in observing the biological process at the molecular level over extended periods of time

Continued Radicals and Cantor Sets

We examine the formation of sets homeomorphic to the ternary Cantor set by continued radicals. We determine properties of bridges and gaps and calculate the thickness of the Cantor set. From this we apply information from continued fractions to continued radicals to obtain new results. We also consider the measure of several Cantor sets

Long-term Structural Change in Plasmid DNA

Long-term stability of plasmid DNA (pDNA) conformations is critical in many research areas, especially those concerning future gene therapy. Despite its importance, the timeevolution of pDNA structures has rarely been studied at a molecular resolution. Here, the time-evolution of pDNA solutions spanning four years was observed with atomic force microscopy (AFM). The AFM data show that the pDNA molecules evolved from isolated supercoiled structures; to aggregated supercoiled structures; to thin, branched network structures; and finally to wider, branched network structures. Additional topographical analysis of the AFM data suggests the actions of residual proteins could be the main mechanism for the structural changes in our laboratory prepared pDNA

Clustering South African households based on their asset status using latent variable models

The Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System has since 2001 conducted a biannual household asset survey in order to quantify household socio-economic status (SES) in a rural population living in northeast South Africa. The survey contains binary, ordinal and nominal items. In the absence of income or expenditure data, the SES landscape in the study population is explored and described by clustering the households into homogeneous groups based on their asset status. A model-based approach to clustering the Agincourt households, based on latent variable models, is proposed. In the case of modeling binary or ordinal items, item response theory models are employed. For nominal survey items, a factor analysis model, similar in nature to a multinomial probit model, is used. Both model types have an underlying latent variable structure - this similarity is exploited and the models are combined to produce a hybrid model capable of handling mixed data types. Further, a mixture of the hybrid models is considered to provide clustering capabilities within the context of mixed binary, ordinal and nominal response data. The proposed model is termed a mixture of factor analyzers for mixed data (MFA-MD). The MFA-MD model is applied to the survey data to cluster the Agincourt households into homogeneous groups. The model is estimated within the Bayesian paradigm, using a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm. Intuitive groupings result, providing insight to the different socio-economic strata within the Agincourt region.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/14-AOAS726 the Annals of Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Re-measurement of the 33{}^{33}S(α\alpha,p)36{}^{36}Cl cross section for Early solar system enrichment

Short-lived radionuclides (SLRs) with half-lives less than 100 Myr are known to have existed around the time of the formation of the solar system around 4.5 billion years ago. Understanding the production sources for SLRs is important for improving our understanding of processes taking place just after solar system formation as well as their timescales. Early solar system models rely heavily on calculations from nuclear theory due to a lack of experimental data for the nuclear reactions taking place. In 2013, Bowers et al. measured ${}^{36}$Cl production cross sections via the ${}^{33}$S($\alpha$,p) reaction and reported cross sections that were systematically higher than predicted by Hauser-Feshbach codes. Soon after, a paper by Peter Mohr highlighted the challenges the new data would pose to current nuclear theory if verified. The ${}^{33}$S($\alpha$,p)${}^{36}$Cl reaction was re-measured at 5 energies between 0.78 MeV/A and 1.52 MeV/A, in the same range as measured by Bowers et al., and found systematically lower cross sections than originally reported, with the new results in good agreement with the Hauser-Feshbach code TALYS. Loss of Cl carrier in chemical extraction and errors in determination of reaction energy ranges are both possible explanations for artificially inflated cross sections measured in the previous work