An error analysis of probabilistic fibre tracking methods: average curves optimization

Fibre tractography using diffusion tensor imaging is a promising method for estimating the pathways of white matter tracts in the human brain. The success of fibre tracking methods ultimately depends upon the accuracy of the fibre tracking algorithms and the quality of the data. Uncertainty and its representation have an important role to play in fibre tractography methods to infer useful information from real world noisy diffusion weighted data. Probabilistic fibre tracking approaches have received considerable interest recently for resolving orientational uncertainties. In this study, an average curves approach was used to investigate the impact of SNR and tensor field geometry on the accuracy of three different types of probabilistic tracking algorithms. The accuracy was assessed using simulated data and a range of tract geometries. The average curves representations were employed to represent the optimal fibre path of probabilistic tracking curves. The results are compared with streamline tracking on both simulated and in vivo data

The oxygen isotope effect on critical temperature in superconducting copper oxides

The isotope effect provided a crucial key to the development of the BCS (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer) microscopic theory of superconductivity for conventional superconductors. In superconducting cooper oxides (cuprates) showing an unconventional type of superconductivity, the oxygen isotope effect is very peculiar: the exponential coefficient strongly depends on doping level. No consensus has been reached so far on the origin of the isotope effect in the cuprates. Here we show that the oxygen isotope effect in cuprates is in agreement with the bisoliton theory of superconductivity.Comment: 3 pages including 4 figures; version 2 is with minor correction

Correlation of optical conductivity and ARPES spectra of strong-coupling large polarons and its display in cuprates

Common approach is used to calculate band due to strong-coupling large polaron (SCLP) photodissociation in ARPES and in optical conductivity (OC) spectra. It is based on using the coherent-states representation for the phonon field in SCLP. The calculated positions of both band maximums are universal functions of one parameter - the SCLP binding energy Ep: ARPES band maximum lies at binding energy about 3.2Ep; the OC band maximum is at the photon energy about 4.2Ep. The half-widths of the bands are mainly determined by Ep and slightly depend on Frohlich electron-phonon coupling constant: for its value 6-8 the ARPES band half-width is 1.7-1.3Ep and the OC band half-width is 2.8-2.2Ep. Using these results one can predict approximate position of ARPES band maximum and half-width from the maximum of mid-IR OC band and vice versa. Comparison of the results with experiments leads to a conclusion that underdoped cuprates contain SCLPs with Ep=0.1-0.2 eV that is in good conformity with the medium parameters in cuprates. The values of the polaron binding energy determined from experimental ARPES and OC spectra of the same material are in good conformity too: the difference between them is within 10 percent.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figure

The nomenclatural history of Umbilicaria spodochroa and nomenclatural corrections in Umbilicariaceae

The name Umbilicaria spodochroa is currently applied to a species with an oceanic distribution in Europe and East Asia. The upper surface of its thallus is grey to dark brown, apothecia are omphalodiscs with prominent central umbilicus-like buttons. Its designated type and other original material are referred to U. hirsuta. Conservation is required to retain this name in current use. The nomenclatural history of U. spodochroa is presented to serve as the background for its conservation. The subgeneric nomenclature of Umbilicaria is revised and one new name (U. subg. Papillophora) is proposed to replace the illegitimate U. subg. Gyrophora. The status of many new names published by G.F. Hoffmann in his "Deutschlands Flora" (1796) is discussed and their nomenclatural validity is supported.Peer reviewe

Quantum coherence and carriers mobility in organic semiconductors

We present a model of charge transport in organic molecular semiconductors based on the effects of lattice fluctuations on the quantum coherence of the electronic state of the charge carrier. Thermal intermolecular phonons and librations tend to localize pure coherent states and to assist the motion of less coherent ones. Decoherence is thus the primary mechanism by which conduction occurs. It is driven by the coupling of the carrier to the molecular lattice through polarization and transfer integral fluctuations as described by the hamiltonian of Gosar and Choi. Localization effects in the quantum coherent regime are modeled via the Anderson hamiltonian with correlated diagonal and non-diagonal disorder leading to the determination of the carrier localization length. This length defines the coherent extension of the ground state and determines, in turn, the diffusion range in the incoherent regime and thus the mobility. The transfer integral disorder of Troisi and Orlandi can also be incorporated. This model, based on the idea of decoherence, allowed us to predict the value and temperature dependence of the carrier mobility in prototypical organic semiconductors that are in qualitative accord with experiments

Proton Wires in an Electric Field: the Impact of Grotthuss Mechanism on Charge Translocation

We present the results of the modeling of proton translocation in finite H-bonded chains in the framework of two-stage proton transport model. We explore the influence of reorientation motion of protons, as well as the effect of electric field and proton correlations on system dynamics. An increase of the reorientation energy results in the transition of proton charge from the surrounding to the inner water molecules in the chain. Proton migration along the chain in an external electric field has a step-like character, proceeding with the occurrence of electric field threshold-type effects and drastic redistribution of proton charge. Electric field applied to correlated chains induces first a formation of ordered dipole structures for lower field strength, and than, with a further field strength increase, a stabilization of states with Bjerrum D-defects. We analyze the main factors responsible for the formation/annihilation of Bjerrum defects showing the strong influence of the complex interplay between reorientation energy, electric field and temperature in the dynamics of proton wire.Comment: 28 pages, 9 figure