675 research outputs found
Majorana Zero-modes and Topological Phases of Multi-flavored Jackiw-Rebbi model
Motivated by the recent Kitaev's K-theory analysis of topological insulators
and superconductors, we adopt the same framework to study the topological phase
structure of Jackiw-Rebbi model in 3+1 dimensions. According to the K-theory
analysis based on the properties of the charge conjugation and time reversal
symmetries, we classify the topological phases of the model. In particular, we
find that there exist Majorana zero-modes hosted by the
hedgehogs/t'Hooft-Polyakov monopoles, if the model has a time reversal
symmetry. Guided by the K-theory results, we then explicitly show that a single
Majorana zero mode solution exists for the SU(2) doublet fermions in some
co-dimensional one planes of the mass parameter space. It turns out we can see
the existence of none or a single zero mode when the fermion doublet is only
two. We then take a step further to consider four-fermion case and find there
can be zero, one or two normalizable zero mode in some particular choices of
mass matrices. Our results also indicate that a single normalizable Majorana
zero mode can be compatible with the cancellation of SU(2) Witten anomaly.Comment: 29 pages, 3 figures; v2, typos correcte
More three-point correlators of giant magnons with finite size
In the framework of the semiclassical approach, we compute the normalized
structure constants in three-point correlation functions, when two of the
vertex operators correspond to heavy string states, while the third vertex
corresponds to a light state. This is done for the case when the heavy string
states are finite-size giant magnons with one or two angular momenta, and for
two different choices of the light state, corresponding to dilaton operator and
primary scalar operator. The relevant operators in the dual gauge theory are
Tr(F_{\mu\nu}^2 Z^j+...) and Tr(Z^j). We first consider the case of AdS_5 x S^5
and N = 4 super Yang-Mills. Then we extend the obtained results to the
gamma-deformed AdS_5 x S^5_\gamma, dual to N = 1 super Yang-Mills theory,
arising as an exactly marginal deformation of N = 4 super Yang-Mills.Comment: 14 pages, no figure
An empirical study using permutation-based resampling in meta-regression
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In meta-regression, as the number of trials in the analyses decreases, the risk of false positives or false negatives increases. This is partly due to the assumption of normality that may not hold in small samples. Creation of a distribution from the observed trials using permutation methods to calculate <it>P </it>values may allow for less spurious findings. Permutation has not been empirically tested in meta-regression. The objective of this study was to perform an empirical investigation to explore the differences in results for meta-analyses on a small number of trials using standard large sample approaches verses permutation-based methods for meta-regression.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We isolated a sample of randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) for interventions that have a small number of trials (herbal medicine trials). Trials were then grouped by herbal species and condition and assessed for methodological quality using the Jadad scale, and data were extracted for each outcome. Finally, we performed meta-analyses on the primary outcome of each group of trials and meta-regression for methodological quality subgroups within each meta-analysis. We used large sample methods and permutation methods in our meta-regression modeling. We then compared final models and final <it>P </it>values between methods.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We collected 110 trials across 5 intervention/outcome pairings and 5 to 10 trials per covariate. When applying large sample methods and permutation-based methods in our backwards stepwise regression the covariates in the final models were identical in all cases. The <it>P </it>values for the covariates in the final model were larger in 78% (7/9) of the cases for permutation and identical for 22% (2/9) of the cases.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We present empirical evidence that permutation-based resampling may not change final models when using backwards stepwise regression, but may increase <it>P </it>values in meta-regression of multiple covariates for relatively small amount of trials.</p
Taming the zoo of supersymmetric quantum mechanical models
We show that in many cases nontrivial and complicated supersymmetric quantum
mechanical (SQM) models can be obtained from the simple model describing free
dynamics in flat complex space by two operations: (i) Hamiltonian reduction and
(ii) similarity transformation of the complex supercharges. We conjecture that
it is true for any SQM model.Comment: final version published in JHE
Radiative Transfer for Exoplanet Atmospheres
Remote sensing of the atmospheres of distant worlds motivates a firm
understanding of radiative transfer. In this review, we provide a pedagogical
cookbook that describes the principal ingredients needed to perform a radiative
transfer calculation and predict the spectrum of an exoplanet atmosphere,
including solving the radiative transfer equation, calculating opacities (and
chemistry), iterating for radiative equilibrium (or not), and adapting the
output of the calculations to the astronomical observations. A review of the
state of the art is performed, focusing on selected milestone papers.
Outstanding issues, including the need to understand aerosols or clouds and
elucidating the assumptions and caveats behind inversion methods, are
discussed. A checklist is provided to assist referees/reviewers in their
scrutiny of works involving radiative transfer. A table summarizing the
methodology employed by past studies is provided.Comment: 7 pages, no figures, 1 table. Filled in missing information in
references, main text unchange
Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor alpha (PPAR alpha) down-regulation in cystic fibrosis lymphocytes
Background: PPARs exhibit anti-inflammatory capacities and are potential modulators of the inflammatory response. We hypothesized that their expression and/or function may be altered in cystic fibrosis (CF), a disorder characterized by an excessive host inflammatory response.
Methods: PPARĪ±, Ī² and Ī³ mRNA levels were measured in peripheral blood cells of CF patients and healthy subjects via RT-PCR. PPARĪ± protein expression and subcellular localization was determined via western blot and immunofluorescence, respectively. The activity of PPARĪ± was analyzed by gel shift assay.
Results: In lymphocytes, the expression of PPARĪ± mRNA, but not of PPARĪ², was reduced (-37%; p < 0.002) in CF patients compared with healthy persons and was therefore further analyzed. A similar reduction of PPARĪ± was observed at protein level (-26%; p < 0.05). The transcription factor was mainly expressed in the cytosol of lymphocytes, with low expression in the nucleus. Moreover, DNA binding activity of the transcription factor was 36% less in lymphocytes of patients (p < 0.01). For PPARĪ± and PPARĪ² mRNA expression in monocytes and neutrophils, no significant differences were observed between CF patients and healthy persons. In all cells, PPARĪ³ mRNA levels were below the detection limit.
Conclusion: Lymphocytes are important regulators of the inflammatory response by releasing cytokines and antibodies. The diminished lymphocytic expression and activity of PPARĪ± may therefore contribute to the inflammatory processes that are observed in CF
A frequentist framework of inductive reasoning
Reacting against the limitation of statistics to decision procedures, R. A.
Fisher proposed for inductive reasoning the use of the fiducial distribution, a
parameter-space distribution of epistemological probability transferred
directly from limiting relative frequencies rather than computed according to
the Bayes update rule. The proposal is developed as follows using the
confidence measure of a scalar parameter of interest. (With the restriction to
one-dimensional parameter space, a confidence measure is essentially a fiducial
probability distribution free of complications involving ancillary statistics.)
A betting game establishes a sense in which confidence measures are the only
reliable inferential probability distributions. The equality between the
probabilities encoded in a confidence measure and the coverage rates of the
corresponding confidence intervals ensures that the measure's rule for
assigning confidence levels to hypotheses is uniquely minimax in the game.
Although a confidence measure can be computed without any prior distribution,
previous knowledge can be incorporated into confidence-based reasoning. To
adjust a p-value or confidence interval for prior information, the confidence
measure from the observed data can be combined with one or more independent
confidence measures representing previous agent opinion. (The former confidence
measure may correspond to a posterior distribution with frequentist matching of
coverage probabilities.) The representation of subjective knowledge in terms of
confidence measures rather than prior probability distributions preserves
approximate frequentist validity.Comment: major revisio
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