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In this review, we examine the current theoretical and experimental status of the chiral magnetic effect. We discuss possible future strategies for resolving uncertainties in interpretation including recommendations for theoretical work, recommendations for measurements based on data collected in the past five years, and recommendations for beam use in the coming years of RHIC. We specifically investigate the case for colliding nuclear isobars (nuclei with the same mass but different charge) and find the case compelling. We recommend that a program of nuclear isobar collisions to isolate the chiral magnetic effect from background sources be placed as a high priority item in the strategy for completing the RHIC mission.

In this work, we compare and contrast the phenomenological changes in passive tracer dispersion at asymptotically small to O(1) Rossby numbers using idealized two-dimensional flows generated by a two-vertical-mode model. With increasing flow Rossby numbers, we find that the forward flux of tracer variance increases monotonically and the tracer variance spectra show severe depletion of the tracer field, indicating enhanced stirring of the tracer by higher Rossby number flows. On examining the physical structure of the tracer flux and its connection to strain- and vorticity-dominant regions in the flow, we find that a major share of the tracer flux is located in high-shear, strain-dominant regions between coherent vortices at low Rossby numbers, while at higher Rossby numbers, the tracer flux is primarily located in vorticity-dominant regions that are composed of fragmented bits of vorticity. The tracer field is anticorrelated with the tracer flux, i.e., tracer variance is higher in physical regions where tracer flux is lower and vice versa. Our results highlight multiple anisotropic features of submesoscales that enhance tracer dispersion at O(1) Rossby numbers and emphasize the need to take these into account while developing parameterizations for large-scale models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cohort scheduling intentionally places students in the same sections of several classes (e.g., biology, algebra, and writing) with a consistent peer group and is typically done for small groups (<30 students) to enable better interaction among students. The goal of this study was to compare cohort scheduling to traditional scheduling methods among freshmen in a physiology-related program. Outcomes included retention to the university and major, semester grades, and institutional integration and perceived group cohesion. Incoming freshmen (n = 209) were randomized into control (n = 43; scheduled with traditional methods) and intervention (n = 166; coenrolled in first-year seminar course, biology, and medical terminology) groups. Outcomes were collected via surveys or requested from the university registrar. There was no significant difference in the likelihood of retention to the university or major and no differences between groups in pass/fail rates for the first-year seminar or biology courses. At the end of the semester, there were no differences between groups in Perceived Cohesion for Small Groups (P = 0.102) or the Institutional Integration Scale (P = 0.357). However, the intervention group scored higher on the Institutional Integration Scale's subscales related to social integration and faculty. Cohort scheduling did not impact retention to the university or major but improved secondary outcomes related to retention, specifically social integration and student perceptions of faculty. NEW & NOTEWORTHY: Compared with traditional scheduling methods, cohort scheduling freshman in physiology programs does not improve retention but improves students' social integration and perceptions of faculty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition metal complexes containing the qtpy ligand (2':4,4":4',4"'-quaterpyridyl) are known to be DNA intercalators or minor groove binders. In this study, new tricationic iridium(III) complexes of qtpy are reported. Both [Ir(bpy)2(qtpy)]3+ 1 and [Ir(phen)2(qtpy)]3+ 2 display good water solubility as chloride salts. The complexes possess high-energy excited states, which are quenched in the presence of duplex DNA and even by the mononucleotides guanosine monophosphate and adenosine monophosphate. Further studies reveal that although the complexes bind to quadruplex DNA, they display a preference for duplex structures, which are bound with an order of magnitude higher affinities than their isostructural dicationic RuII-analogues. Detailed molecular dynamics simulations confirm that the complexes are groove binders through the insertion of, predominantly, the qtpy ligand into the minor groove. Photoirradiation of 1 in the presence of plasmid DNA confirms that this class of complexes can function as synthetic photonucleases by cleaving DNA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]