Quantum Critical Behavior in Disordered Itinerant Ferromagnets: Instability of the Ferromagnetic Phase

An effective field theory is derived that describes the quantum critical behavior of itinerant ferromagnets as the transition is approached from the ferromagnetic phase. This complements a recent study of the critical behavior on the paramagnetic side of the phase transition, and investigates the role of the ferromagnetic Goldstone modes near criticality. We find that the Goldstone modes have no direct impact on the critical behavior, and that the critical exponents are the same as determined by combining results from the paramagnetic phase with scaling arguments.Comment: 11 pp., revtex4, no fig

Can residuals of the Solar system foreground explain low multipole anomalies of the CMB ?

The low multipole anomalies of the Cosmic Microwave Background has received much attention during the last few years. It is still not ascertained whether these anomalies are indeed primordial or the result of systematics or foregrounds. An example of a foreground, which could generate some non-Gaussian and statistically anisotropic features at low multipole range, is the very symmetric Kuiper Belt in the outer solar system. In this paper, expanding upon the methods presented by Maris et al. (2011), we investigate the contributions from the Kuiper Belt objects (KBO) to the WMAP ILC 7 map, whereby we can minimize the contrast in power between even and odd multipoles in the CMB, discussed discussed by Kim & Naselsky (2010). We submit our KBO de-correlated CMB signal to several tests, to analyze its validity, and find that incorporation of the KBO emission can decrease the quadrupole-octupole alignment and parity asymmetry problems, provided that the KBO signals has a non-cosmological dipole modulation, associated with the statistical anisotropy of the ILC 7 map. Additionally, we show that the amplitude of the dipole modulation, within a 2 sigma interval, is in agreement with the corresponding amplitudes, discussed by Lew (2008).Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, 5 tables. Matches version in JCA

Lipid Anti-Lipid Antibody Responses Correlate with Disease Activity in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

10.1371/journal.pone.0055639PLoS ONE82

Comparative cellular analysis of motor cortex in human, marmoset and mouse

The primary motor cortex (M1) is essential for voluntary fine-motor control and is functionally conserved across mammals(1). Here, using high-throughput transcriptomic and epigenomic profiling of more than 450,000 single nuclei in humans, marmoset monkeys and mice, we demonstrate a broadly conserved cellular makeup of this region, with similarities that mirror evolutionary distance and are consistent between the transcriptome and epigenome. The core conserved molecular identities of neuronal and non-neuronal cell types allow us to generate a cross-species consensus classification of cell types, and to infer conserved properties of cell types across species. Despite the overall conservation, however, many species-dependent specializations are apparent, including differences in cell-type proportions, gene expression, DNA methylation and chromatin state. Few cell-type marker genes are conserved across species, revealing a short list of candidate genes and regulatory mechanisms that are responsible for conserved features of homologous cell types, such as the GABAergic chandelier cells. This consensus transcriptomic classification allows us to use patch-seq (a combination of whole-cell patch-clamp recordings, RNA sequencing and morphological characterization) to identify corticospinal Betz cells from layer 5 in non-human primates and humans, and to characterize their highly specialized physiology and anatomy. These findings highlight the robust molecular underpinnings of cell-type diversity in M1 across mammals, and point to the genes and regulatory pathways responsible for the functional identity of cell types and their species-specific adaptations.Cardiovascular Aspects of Radiolog

Accuracy of students' self-assessment and their beliefs about its utility

The purpose of the two studies presented here was to evaluate the accuracy of students' self-assessment ability, to examine whether this ability improves over time and to investigate whether self-assessment is more accurate if students believe that it contributes to improving learning. To that end, the accuracy of the self-assessments of 3588 first-year students enrolled in a post-secondary institution was studied throughout a semester during which each student made approximately 80 self-assessments about his or her own learning process. These self-assessments were then compared with multiple judgements by peers and tutors. The overall correlations between the scores of self-, peer and tutor assessments suggest weak to moderate accuracy of student self-assessment ability. The findings also reveal an ability effect; students judged as more academically competent were able to self-assess with higher accuracy than their less competent peers. Comparing the accuracy of student self-assessment averaged over four consecutive periods indicates that the accuracy does not improve over time. In a second study, a questionnaire aimed at eliciting student's beliefs about the effects of self-assessment on their learning was administered to 936 first-year students. Based on their responses, sub-groups of students were identified: those who either believed in the usefulness of self-assessment or did not. Results suggest that there is no significant association between student beliefs about the utility of selfassessment and the accuracy of their self-assessments.</p

Accuracy of students' self-assessment and their beliefs about its utility

The purpose of the two studies presented here was to evaluate the accuracy of students' self-assessment ability, to examine whether this ability improves over time and to investigate whether self-assessment is more accurate if students believe that it contributes to improving learning. To that end, the accuracy of the self-assessments of 3588 first-year students enrolled in a post-secondary institution was studied throughout a semester during which each student made approximately 80 self-assessments about his or her own learning process. These self-assessments were then compared with multiple judgements by peers and tutors. The overall correlations between the scores of self-, peer and tutor assessments suggest weak to moderate accuracy of student self-assessment ability. The findings also reveal an ability effect; students judged as more academically competent were able to self-assess with higher accuracy than their less competent peers. Comparing the accuracy of student self-assessment averaged over four consecutive periods indicates that the accuracy does not improve over time. In a second study, a questionnaire aimed at eliciting student's beliefs about the effects of self-assessment on their learning was administered to 936 first-year students. Based on their responses, sub-groups of students were identified: those who either believed in the usefulness of self-assessment or did not. Results suggest that there is no significant association between student beliefs about the utility of selfassessment and the accuracy of their self-assessments