Noncompact dynamical symmetry of a spin-orbit coupled oscillator

We explain the finite as well as infinite degeneracy in the spectrum of a particular system of spin-1/2 fermions with spin-orbit coupling in three spatial dimensions. Starting from a generalized Runge-Lenz vector, we explicitly construct a complete set of symmetry operators, which span a noncompact SO(3,2) algebra. The degeneracy of the physical spectrum only involves a particular, infinite, so called singleton representation. In the branch where orbital and spin angular momentum are aligned the full representation appears, constituting a 3D analogue of Landau levels. Anti-aligning the spin leads to a finite degeneracy due to a truncation of the singleton representation. We conclude the paper by constructing the spectrum generating algebra of the problem

Conceiving subjectivity: embodiment and constructions of self in pregnancy

This doctoral research project investigated pregnant people’s experiences of pregnancy. First, it examines the feminist literature on the medicalisation of the pregnant body and overviews the development of models of subjectivity used to understand the maternal subject. Taking a qualitative, interpretivist stance, grounded in feminist epistemologies, this research addressed questions related to how pregnant people navigate their bodily boundaries and how this, in turn, informs their sense of self. Using Wengraf’s (2004) Biographical Narrative Interview Method, this research collected twenty unstructured narrative interviews, three diaries, and ethnographic materials. Drawing on relational models of pregnant subjectivity, this thesis explores discourse, the body, and agency within its analysis. First, it argues that medicalised and natural bodies form key discourses for pregnant bodies, both of which relegate the pregnant subject as a passive, non-agentic actor. Next, it examines the bodily experience of pregnant subjects, noting how a corporeal “knowing” of their pregnant subjectivity helps to construct and de-construct a foetal other, further recognising the ways in which pregnant people feel both distinct and connected to their foetus. Finally, it also examines how participants used their pregnant bodies as site of agency and power to challenge dominant discourses of gender. Throughout these explorations, the role of others continually arises as a key influence in shaping pregnant subjectivity, whether that is in providing support to challenge dominant discourse, recognise and feel a distinct corporeal other, or assert agency. From these insights, pregnant forms of embodiment help to reveal the intersubjective nature of the body, self, and others

Editorial for Special Edition, Digital Representations: Re-Using and Publishing Digital Qualitative Data

This collection of papers comprises five contributions with a social science or social historical perspective that present the current state of the art in the field of re-using and publishing digital qualitative data. The articles address the use of digital sources in qualitative research in both research and teaching, charting types of use over the past 10 years, and looking forward to emerging practices and methods, such as the promise and potential that technological innovations can bring to enable new ways of presenting and publishing qualitative research. Some of the papers make use of direct linking allowing the reader to explore ?live? data sources, offering an opportunity to see how research transparency might be operationalized in the presentation of qualitative findings and reporting. The papers reference major contributions to the literature and present stimulating debates on the topic and build on previously well-cited publications in which the editors have presented state-of- the-art articles on secondary analysis of qualitative data

A theory of topological edges and domain walls

We investigate domain walls between topologically ordered phases in two spatial dimensions and present a simple but general framework from which their degrees of freedom can be understood. The approach we present exploits the results on topological symmetry breaking that we have introduced and presented elsewhere. After summarizing the method, we work out predictions for the spectrum of edge excitations and for the transport through edges in some representative examples. These include domain walls between the Abelian and non-Abelian topological phases of Kitaev's honeycomb lattice model in a magnetic field, as well as recently proposed domain walls between spin polarized and unpolarized non-Abelian fractional quantum Hall states at different filling fractions.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, late

Dopamine receptor 4 promoter polymorphism modulates memory and neuronal responses to salience

Animal models and human functional imaging data implicate the dopamine system in mediating enhanced encoding of novel stimuli into human memory. A separate line of investigation suggests an association between a functional polymorphism in the promoter region for the human dopamine 4 receptor gene (DRD4) and sensitivity to novelty. We demonstrate, in two independent samples, that the -521Cmayor queT DRD4 promoter polymorphism determines the magnitude of human memory enhancement for contextually novel, perceptual oddball stimuli in an allele dose-dependent manner. The genotype-dependent memory enhancement conferred by the C allele is associated with increased neuronal responses during successful encoding of perceptual oddballs in the ventral striatum, an effect which is again allele dose-dependent. Furthermore, with repeated presentations of oddball stimuli, this memory advantage decreases, an effect mirrored by adaptation of activation in the hippocampus and substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area in C carriers only. Thus, a dynamic modulation of human memory enhancement for perceptually salient stimuli is associated with activation of a dopaminergic-hippocampal system, which is critically dependent on a functional polymorphism in the DRD4 promoter region

Revisiting Qualitative Data Reuse

Secondary analysis of qualitative data entails reusing data created from previous research projects for new purposes. Reuse provides an opportunity to study the raw materials of past research projects to gain methodological and substantive insights. In the past decade, use of the approach has grown rapidly in the United Kingdom to become sufficiently accepted that it must now be regarded as mainstream. Several factors explain this growth: the open data movement, research funders’ and publishers’ policies supporting data sharing, and researchers seeing benefits from sharing resources, including data. Another factor enabling qualitative data reuse has been improved services and infrastructure that facilitate access to thousands of data collections. The UK Data Service is an example of a well-established facility; more recent has been the proliferation of repositories being established within universities. This article will provide evidence of the growth of data reuse in the United Kingdom and in Finland by presenting both data and case studies of reuse that illustrate the breadth and diversity of this maturing research method. We use two distinct data sources that quantify the scale, types, and trends of reuse of qualitative data: (a) downloads of archived data collections held at data repositories and (b) publication citations. Although the focus of this article is on the United Kingdom, some discussion of the international environment is provided, together with data and examples of reuse at the Finnish Social Science Data Archive. The conclusion summarizes the major findings, including some conjectures regarding what makes qualitative data attractive for reuse and sharing. </jats:p

Particles in non-Abelian gauge potentials - Landau problem and insertion of non-Abelian flux

We study charged spin-1/2 particles in two dimensions, subject to a perpendicular non-Abelian magnetic field. Specializing to a choice of vector potential that is spatially constant but non-Abelian, we investigate the Landau level spectrum in planar and spherical geometry, paying particular attention to the role of the total angular momentum J = L +S. After this we show that the adiabatic insertion of non-Abelian flux in a spin-polarized quantum Hall state leads to the formation of charged spin-textures, which in the simplest cases can be identified with quantum Hall Skyrmions.Comment: 24 pages, 10 figures (with corrected legends

Retinyl Ester Analysis by Orbitrap Mass Spectrometry

Retinoids are light-sensitive molecules that are normally detected by UV absorption techniques. Here we describe the identification and quantification of retinyl ester species by high-resolution mass spectrometry. Retinyl esters are extracted by the method of Bligh and Dyer and subsequently separated by HPLC in runs of 40 min. The retinyl esters are identified and quantified by mass spectrometry analysis. This procedure enables the highly sensitive detection and characterization of retinyl esters in biological samples such as hepatic stellate cells

Lipidomic profiling of rat hepatic stellate cells during activation reveals a two-stage process accompanied by increased levels of lysosomal lipids

Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are liver-resident cells best known for their role in vitamin A storage under physiological conditions. Upon liver injury, HSCs activate into myofibroblast-like cells, a key process in the onset of liver fibrosis. Lipids play an important role during HSC activation. Here, we provide a comprehensive characterization of the lipidomes of primary rat HSCs during 17 days of activation in vitro. For lipidomic data interpretation, we expanded our previously described Lipid Ontology (LION) and associated web application (LION/Web) with the LION-PCA heatmap module, which generates heatmaps of the most typical LION-signatures in lipidomic datasets. Furthermore, we used LION to perform pathway analysis to determine the significant metabolic conversions in lipid pathways. Together, we identify two distinct stages of HSC activation. In the first stage, we observe a decrease of saturated phosphatidylcholine, sphingomyelin, and phosphatidic acid and an increase in phosphatidylserine and polyunsaturated bis(monoacylglycero)phosphate (BMP), a lipid class typically localized at endosomes and lysosomes. In the second activation stage, BMPs, hexosylceramides, and ether-linked phosphatidylcholines are elevated, resembling a lysosomal lipid storage disease profile. The presence of isomeric structures of BMP in HSCs was confirmed ex vivo in MS-imaging datasets of steatosed liver sections. Finally, treatment with pharmaceuticals targeting the lysosomal integrity led to cell death in primary HSCs but not in HeLa cells. In summary, our combined data suggest that lysosomes play a critical role during a two-stage activation process of HSCs