171 research outputs found
Natural images from the birthplace of the human eye
Here we introduce a database of calibrated natural images publicly available
through an easy-to-use web interface. Using a Nikon D70 digital SLR camera, we
acquired about 5000 six-megapixel images of Okavango Delta of Botswana, a
tropical savanna habitat similar to where the human eye is thought to have
evolved. Some sequences of images were captured unsystematically while
following a baboon troop, while others were designed to vary a single parameter
such as aperture, object distance, time of day or position on the horizon.
Images are available in the raw RGB format and in grayscale. Images are also
available in units relevant to the physiology of human cone photoreceptors,
where pixel values represent the expected number of photoisomerizations per
second for cones sensitive to long (L), medium (M) and short (S) wavelengths.
This database is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial
Unported license to facilitate research in computer vision, psychophysics of
perception, and visual neuroscience.Comment: Submitted to PLoS ON
Two-orbital SU(N) magnetism with ultracold alkaline-earth atoms
Fermionic alkaline-earth atoms have unique properties that make them
attractive candidates for the realization of novel atomic clocks and degenerate
quantum gases. At the same time, they are attracting considerable theoretical
attention in the context of quantum information processing. Here we demonstrate
that when such atoms are loaded in optical lattices, they can be used as
quantum simulators of unique many-body phenomena. In particular, we show that
the decoupling of the nuclear spin from the electronic angular momentum can be
used to implement many-body systems with an unprecedented degree of symmetry,
characterized by the SU(N) group with N as large as 10. Moreover, the interplay
of the nuclear spin with the electronic degree of freedom provided by a stable
optically excited state allows for the study of spin-orbital physics. Such
systems may provide valuable insights into strongly correlated physics of
transition metal oxides, heavy fermion materials, and spin liquid phases.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures. V2: extended experimental accessibility and
Kondo sections in the main text (including new Fig. 5b) and in the Methods;
reorganized other parts; added reference
Moving forward during major goal blockage: situational goal adjustment in women facing infertility
Individuals confronting chronic medical conditions often face profound challenges to cherished life goals. The primary aim of this study was to examine the associations of goal adjustment with psychological adjustment in the context of infertility. At study entry (T1; n = 97) and 6 months later (T2; n = 47), women in fertility treatment completed measures of goal blockage, goal adjustment ability, and psychological adjustment. At T1, greater perceived and actual goal blockage were related to negative psychological adjustment. Ability to disengage from the goal of biological parenthood was associated with less infertility-specific thought intrusion, whereas engagement with other goals was related to fewer depressive symptoms and greater positive states of mind. Greater general goal engagement was protective against the negative relationships between low goal disengagement and the dependent variables. Promoting letting go of the unattainable and investing in the possible may be a useful intervention to foster well-being among individuals experiencing profound goal blockage
Yukawa Unification and the Superpartner Mass Scale
Naturalness in supersymmetry (SUSY) is under siege by increasingly stringent
LHC constraints, but natural electroweak symmetry breaking still remains the
most powerful motivation for superpartner masses within experimental reach. If
naturalness is the wrong criterion then what determines the mass scale of the
superpartners? We motivate supersymmetry by (1) gauge coupling unification, (2)
dark matter, and (3) precision b-tau Yukawa unification. We show that for an
LSP that is a bino-Higgsino admixture, these three requirements lead to an
upper-bound on the stop and sbottom masses in the several TeV regime because
the threshold correction to the bottom mass at the superpartner scale is
required to have a particular size. For tan beta about 50, which is needed for
t-b-tau unification, the stops must be lighter than 2.8 TeV when A_t has the
opposite sign of the gluino mass, as is favored by renormalization group
scaling. For lower values of tan beta, the top and bottom squarks must be even
lighter. Yukawa unification plus dark matter implies that superpartners are
likely in reach of the LHC, after the upgrade to 14 (or 13) TeV, independent of
any considerations of naturalness. We present a model-independent, bottom-up
analysis of the SUSY parameter space that is simultaneously consistent with
Yukawa unification and the hint for m_h = 125 GeV. We study the flavor and dark
matter phenomenology that accompanies this Yukawa unification. A large portion
of the parameter space predicts that the branching fraction for B_s to mu^+
mu^- will be observed to be significantly lower than the SM value.Comment: 34 pages plus appendices, 20 figure
The Status of GMSB After 1/fb at the LHC
We thoroughly investigate the current status of supersymmetry in light of the
latest searches at the LHC, using General Gauge Mediation (GGM) as a
well-motivated signature generator that leads to many different simplified
models. We consider all possible promptly-decaying NLSPs in GGM, and by
carefully reinterpreting the existing LHC searches, we derive limits on both
colored and electroweak SUSY production. Overall, the coverage of GGM parameter
space is quite good, but much discovery potential still remains even at 7 TeV.
We identify several regions of parameter space where the current searches are
the weakest, typically in models with electroweak production, third generation
sfermions or squeezed spectra, and we suggest how ATLAS and CMS might modify
their search strategies given the understanding of GMSB at 1/fb. In particular,
we propose the use of leptonic to suppress backgrounds.
Because we express our results in terms of simplified models, they have broader
applicability beyond the GGM framework, and give a global view of the current
LHC reach. Our results on 3rd generation squark NLSPs in particular can be
viewed as setting direct limits on naturalness.Comment: 44 pages, refs added, typos fixed, improved MC statistics in fig 1
"Predictability of body mass index for diabetes: Affected by the presence of metabolic syndrome?"
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Metabolic syndrome (MetS) and body mass index (BMI, kg.m<sup>-2</sup>) are established independent risk factors in the development of diabetes; we prospectively examined their relative contributions and joint relationship with incident diabetes in a Middle Eastern cohort.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>participants of the ongoing Tehran lipid and glucose study are followed on a triennial basis. Among non-diabetic participants aged≥ 20 years at baseline (8,121) those with at least one follow-up examination (5,250) were included for the current study. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate sex-specific adjusted odd ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of baseline BMI-MetS categories (normal weight without MetS as reference group) for incident diabetes among 2186 men and 3064 women, aged ≥ 20 years, free of diabetes at baseline.</p> <p>Result</p> <p>During follow up (median 6.5 years); there were 369 incident diabetes (147 in men). In women without MetS, the multivariate adjusted ORs (95% CIs) for overweight (BMI 25-30 kg/m2) and obese (BMI≥30) participants were 2.3 (1.2-4.3) and 2.2 (1.0-4.7), respectively. The corresponding ORs for men without MetS were 1.6 (0.9-2.9) and 3.6 (1.5-8.4) respectively. As compared to the normal-weight/without MetS, normal-weight women and men with MetS, had a multivariate-adjusted ORs for incident diabetes of 8.8 (3.7-21.2) and 3.1 (1.3-7.0), respectively. The corresponding ORs for overweight and obese women with MetS reached to 7.7 (4.0-14.9) and 12.6 (6.9-23.2) and for men reached to 3.4(2.0-5.8) and 5.7(3.9-9.9), respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study highlights the importance of screening for MetS in normal weight individuals. Obesity increases diabetes risk in the absence of MetS, underscores the need for more stringent criteria to define healthy metabolic state among obese individuals. Weight reduction measures, thus, should be encouraged in conjunction with achieving metabolic targets not addressed by current definition of MetS, both in every day encounter and public health setting.</p
Assessment of Dietary Restraint: Psychometric Properties of the Revised Restraint Scale in Hong Kong Adolescents
The Evolution of Compact Binary Star Systems
We review the formation and evolution of compact binary stars consisting of
white dwarfs (WDs), neutron stars (NSs), and black holes (BHs). Binary NSs and
BHs are thought to be the primary astrophysical sources of gravitational waves
(GWs) within the frequency band of ground-based detectors, while compact
binaries of WDs are important sources of GWs at lower frequencies to be covered
by space interferometers (LISA). Major uncertainties in the current
understanding of properties of NSs and BHs most relevant to the GW studies are
discussed, including the treatment of the natal kicks which compact stellar
remnants acquire during the core collapse of massive stars and the common
envelope phase of binary evolution. We discuss the coalescence rates of binary
NSs and BHs and prospects for their detections, the formation and evolution of
binary WDs and their observational manifestations. Special attention is given
to AM CVn-stars -- compact binaries in which the Roche lobe is filled by
another WD or a low-mass partially degenerate helium-star, as these stars are
thought to be the best LISA verification binary GW sources.Comment: 105 pages, 18 figure
Accreting Millisecond X-Ray Pulsars
Accreting Millisecond X-Ray Pulsars (AMXPs) are astrophysical laboratories
without parallel in the study of extreme physics. In this chapter we review the
past fifteen years of discoveries in the field. We summarize the observations
of the fifteen known AMXPs, with a particular emphasis on the multi-wavelength
observations that have been carried out since the discovery of the first AMXP
in 1998. We review accretion torque theory, the pulse formation process, and
how AMXP observations have changed our view on the interaction of plasma and
magnetic fields in strong gravity. We also explain how the AMXPs have deepened
our understanding of the thermonuclear burst process, in particular the
phenomenon of burst oscillations. We conclude with a discussion of the open
problems that remain to be addressed in the future.Comment: Review to appear in "Timing neutron stars: pulsations, oscillations
and explosions", T. Belloni, M. Mendez, C.M. Zhang Eds., ASSL, Springer;
[revision with literature updated, several typos removed, 1 new AMXP added
Loss of anti-contractile effect of perivascular adipose tissue in offspring of obese rats
RATIONALE: Maternal obesity pre-programmes offspring to develop obesity and associated cardiovascular disease. Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) exerts an anti-contractile effect on the vasculature, which is reduced in hypertension and obesity. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine whether maternal obesity pre-programmes offspring to develop PVAT dysfunction in later life. METHODS: Female Sprague–Dawley rats were fed a diet containing 10% (control) or 45% fat (high fat diet, HFD) for 12 weeks prior to mating and during pregnancy and lactation. Male offspring were killed at 12 or 24 weeks of age and tension in PVAT-intact or -denuded mesenteric artery segments was measured isometrically. Concentration–response curves were constructed to U46619 and norepinephrine. RESULTS: Only 24-week-old HFD offspring were hypertensive (P<0.0001), although the anti-contractile effect of PVAT was lost in vessels from HFD offspring of each age. Inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) synthase with 100 μM l-NMMA attenuated the anti-contractile effect of PVAT and increased contractility of PVAT-denuded arteries (P<0.05, P<0.0001). The increase in contraction was smaller in PVAT-intact than PVAT-denuded vessels from 12-week-old HFD offspring, suggesting decreased PVAT-derived NO and release of a contractile factor (P<0.07). An additional, NO-independent effect of PVAT was evident only in norepinephrine-contracted vessels. Activation of AMP-activated kinase (with 10 μM A769662) was anti-contractile in PVAT-denuded (P<0.0001) and -intact (P<0.01) vessels and was due solely to NO in controls; the AMPK effect was similar in HFD offspring vessels (P<0.001 and P<0.01, respectively) but was partially NO-independent. CONCLUSIONS: The diminished anti-contractile effects of PVAT in offspring of HFD dams are primarily due to release of a PVAT-derived contractile factor and reduced NO bioavailability
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