Asymmetric interference between sex and emotion in face perception

Previous research with speeded-response interference tasks modeled on the Garner paradigm has demonstrated that task-irrelevant variations in either emotional expression or facial speech do not interfere with identity judgments, but irrelevant variations in identity do interfere with expression and facial speech judgments. Sex, like identity, is a relatively invariant aspect of faces. Drawing on a recent model of face processing according to which invariant and changeable aspects of faces are represented in separate neurological systems, we predicted asymmetric interference between sex and emotion classification. The results of Experiment 1, in which the Garner paradigm was employed, confirmed this prediction: Emotion classifications were influenced by the sex of the faces, but sex classifications remained relatively unaffected by facial expression. A second experiment, in which the difficulty of the tasks was equated, corroborated these findings, indicating that differences in processing speed cannot account for the asymmetric relationship between facial emotion and sex processing. A third experiment revealed the same pattern of asymmetric interference through the use of a variant of the Simon paradigm. To the extent that Garner interference and Simon interference indicate interactions at perceptual and response-selection stages of processing, respectively, a challenge for face processing models is to show how the same asymmetric pattern of interference could occur at these different stages. The implications of these findings for the functional independence of the different components of face processing are discussed

Dependence of the Chiral Symmetry Restoration Transition on the Quark Self-Energy Kernel

The dependence of the dressed quark propagator on the quark chemical potential is investigated in various models based on the Dyson-Schwinger equations. We find that the critical chemical potential of the chiral symmetry restoration transition is strongly dependent on the nature of the interaction kernel in the infrared region.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, minor change to introduction, accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.

Gauge Dependence of Mass and Condensate in Chirally Asymmetric Phase of Quenched QED3

We study three dimensional quenched Quantum Electrodynamics in the bare vertex approximation. We investigate the gauge dependence of the dynamically generated Euclidean mass of the fermion and the chiral condensate for a wide range of values of the covariant gauge parameter $\xi$. We find that (i) away from $\xi=0$, gauge dependence of the said quantities is considerably reduced without resorting to sophisticated vertex {\em ansatze}, (ii) wavefunction renormalization plays an important role in restoring gauge invariance and (iii) the Ward-Green-Takahashi identity seems to increase the gauge dependence when used in conjunction with some simplifying assumptions. In the Landau gauge, we also verify that our results are in agreement with those based upon dimensional regularization scheme within the numerical accuracy available.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, uses revte

FIRI - a Far-Infrared Interferometer

Half of the energy ever emitted by stars and accreting objects comes to us in the FIR waveband and has yet to be properly explored. We propose a powerful Far-InfraRed Interferometer mission, FIRI, to carry out high-resolution imaging spectroscopy in the FIR. This key observational capability is essential to reveal how gas and dust evolve into stars and planets, how the first luminous objects in the Universe ignited, how galaxies formed, and when super-massive black holes grew. FIRI will disentangle the cosmic histories of star formation and accretion onto black holes and will trace the assembly and evolution of quiescent galaxies like our Milky Way. Perhaps most importantly, FIRI will observe all stages of planetary system formation and recognise Earth-like planets that may harbour life, via its ability to image the dust structures in planetary systems. It will thus address directly questions fundamental to our understanding of how the Universe has developed and evolved - the very questions posed by ESA's Cosmic Vision.Comment: Proposal developed by a large team of astronomers from Europe, USA and Canada and submitted to the European Space Agency as part of "Cosmic Vision 2015-2025

Regularization-independent study of renormalized non-perturbative quenched QED

A recently proposed regularization-independent method is used for the first time to solve the renormalized fermion Schwinger-Dyson equation numerically in quenched QED$_4$. The Curtis-Pennington vertex is used to illustrate the technique and to facilitate comparison with previous calculations which used the alternative regularization schemes of modified ultraviolet cut-off and dimensional regularization. Our new results are in excellent numerical agreement with these, and so we can now conclude with confidence that there is no residual regularization dependence in these results. Moreover, from a computational point of view the regularization independent method has enormous advantages, since all integrals are absolutely convergent by construction, and so do not mix small and arbitrarily large momentum scales. We analytically predict power law behaviour in the asymptotic region, which is confirmed numerically with high precision. The successful demonstration of this efficient new technique opens the way for studies of unquenched QED to be undertaken in the near future.Comment: 20 pages,5 figure

Relation Between Chiral Susceptibility and Solutions of Gap Equation in Nambu--Jona-Lasinio Model

We study the solutions of the gap equation, the thermodynamic potential and the chiral susceptibility in and beyond the chiral limit at finite chemical potential in the Nambu--Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model. We give an explicit relation between the chiral susceptibility and the thermodynamic potential in the NJL model. We find that the chiral susceptibility is a quantity being able to represent the furcation of the solutions of the gap equation and the concavo-convexity of the thermodynamic potential in NJL model. It indicates that the chiral susceptibility can identify the stable state and the possibility of the chiral phase transition in NJL model.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, misprints are correcte

Semiautomatic Assessment of the Terminal Ileum and Colon in Patients with Crohn Disease Using MRI (the VIGOR++ Project)

Rationale and Objectives: The objective of this study was to develop and validate a predictive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) activity score for ileocolonic Crohn disease activity based on both subjective and semiautomatic MRI features. Materials and Methods: An MRI activity score (the “virtual gastrointestinal tract [VIGOR]” score) was developed from 27 validated magnetic resonance enterography datasets, including subjective radiologist observation of mural T2 signal and semiautomatic measurements of bowel wall thickness, excess volume, and dynamic contrast enhancement (initial slope of increase). A second subjective score was developed based on only radiologist observations. For validation, two observers applied both scores and three existing scores to a prospective dataset of 106 patients (59 women, median age 33) with known Crohn disease, using the endoscopic Crohn's Disease Endoscopic Index of Severity (CDEIS) as a reference standard. Results: The VIGOR score (17.1 × initial slope of increase + 0.2 × excess volume + 2.3 × mural T2) and other activity scores all had comparable correlation to the CDEIS scores (observer 1: r = 0.58 and 0.59, and observer 2: r = 0.34–0.40 and 0.43–0.51, respectively). The VIGOR score, however, improved interobserver agreement compared to the other activity scores (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.81 vs 0.44–0.59). A diagnostic accuracy of 80%–81% was seen for the VIGOR score, similar to the other scores. Conclusions: The VIGOR score achieves comparable accuracy to conventional MRI activity scores, but with significantly improved reproducibility, favoring its use for disease monitoring and therapy evaluation