Network-Level Structural Abnormalities of Cerebral Cortex in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) usually begins in childhood and adolescence and causes lifelong damage to several major organs including the brain. Despite increasing evidence of T1DM-induced structural deficits in cortical regions implicated in higher cognitive and emotional functions, little is known whether and how the structural connectivity between these regions is altered in the T1DM brain. Using inter-regional covariance of cortical thickness measurements from high-resolution T1-weighted magnetic resonance data, we examined the topological organizations of cortical structural networks in 81 T1DM patients and 38 healthy subjects. We found a relative absence of hierarchically high-level hubs in the prefrontal lobe of T1DM patients, which suggests ineffective top-down control of the prefrontal cortex in T1DM. Furthermore, inter-network connections between the strategic/executive control system and systems subserving other cortical functions including language and mnemonic/emotional processing were also less integrated in T1DM patients than in healthy individuals. The current results provide structural evidence for T1DM-related dysfunctional cortical organization, which specifically underlie the top-down cognitive control of language, memory, and emotion. © 2013 Lyoo et al

Towards a classification of vacuum near-horizons geometries

We prove uniqueness of the near-horizon geometries arising from degenerate Kerr black holes within the collection of nearby vacuum near-horizon geometries.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures; minor changes to match published versio

Deus Economicus

In recent years there has been an upsurge of interest in religion among economists, but the content of religion has so far been neglected . This paper builds a rational choice model of divine action, in particular of the structure of the divine offer of salvation and rational human response. It considers why God might not save everyone, the pattern of salvation across individuals with different preferences and endowments, and the way religious conversion and revivals are often large and sudden changes. Rational choice analysis to divine human interactions is a contribution to the renewal interdisciplinary conversation between economists and religion scholars.Rational Choice; Economics of Religion; Divine Action

Consensus Strategies for Signed Profiles on Graphs

The median problem is a classical problem in Location Theory: one searches for a location that minimizes the average distance to the sites of the clients. This is for desired facilities as a distribution center for a set of warehouses. More recently, for obnoxious facilities, the antimedian was studied. Here one maximizes the average distance to the clients. In this paper the mixed case is studied. Clients are represented by a profile, which is a sequence of vertices with repetitions allowed. In a signed profile each element is provided with a sign from {+,-}. Thus one can take into account whether the client prefers the facility (with a + sign) or rejects it (with a - sign). The graphs for which all median sets, or all antimedian sets, are connected are characterized. Various consensus strategies for signed profiles are studied, amongst which Majority, Plurality and Scarcity. Hypercubes are the only graphs on which Majority produces the median set for all signed profiles. Finally, the antimedian sets are found by the Scarcity Strategy on e.g. Hamming graphs, Johnson graphs and halfcubes.median;consensus function;median graph;majority rule;plurality strategy;Graph theory;Hamming graph;Johnson graph;halfcube;scarcity strategy;Discrete location and assignment;Distance in graphs

Simulation of Near-Tip Crack Behaviour and Its Correlation to Fatigue Crack Growth with a Modified Strip-Yield Model

A modified strip-yield model has been developed to simulate the plasticity-induced crack closure under the constant amplitude (CA) and a single overload loading conditions. The paper focuses on the simulation of the near tip crack profiles and stress distributions during the fatigue process. Detailed information on near-tip stress and displacement fields at the maximum load (Pmax), the minimum load (Pmin), and the crack opening load (Pop) of a fatigue load cycle have been presented. The correlation of the crack closure to the near-tip material fatigue damage has been investigated and used to rationalize the crack growth behaviour under the CA and a single overload loading conditions.Peer reviewedSubmitted Versio

The Internalization of Externalities in The Production of Electricity: Willingness to Pay for the Attributes of a Policy for Renewable Energy

This paper investigates the willingness to pay of a sample of residents of Bath, England, for a hypothetical program that promotes the production of renewable energy. Using choice experiments, we assess the preferences of respondents for a policy for the promotion of renewable energy that (i) contributes to the internalization of the external costs caused by fossil fuel technologies; (ii) affects the security of energy supply; (iii) has an impact on the employment in the energy sector; (iv) and leads to an increase in the electricity bill. Responses to the choice questions show that our respondents are in favour of a policy for renewable energy and that they attach a high value to a policy that brings private and public benefits in terms of climate change and energy security benefits. Our results therefore suggest that consumers are willing to pay a higher price for electricity in order to internalize the external costs in terms of energy security, climate change and air pollution caused by the production of electricity.Non Market Valuation, Choice Experiments, Willingness to Pay, Renewable Energy, Energy Security, Greenhouse Gases Emissions