Heritability and expression of selected mixograph parameters in progeny of parents varying for mixing time

The mixograph performs certain rheological measurements during dough mixing and is a good predictor of wheat end-use quality. The aim of this study was to determine the expression and the heritability of mixing characteristics measured with Mixsmart® software and some quality characteristics in hard red spring wheat parents and their F1 progeny. Six parents varying in midline peak time and envelope peak time were crossed in a half diallel design. Parents and progeny were planted in three different environments. General combining ability (GCA) was a significant source of variation for the measured characteristics, and parents differed widely in terms of GCA effects. Midline-development time, -peak integral and -peak time showed high narrow sense heritability. Envelope peak-integral and -tail width displayed high narrow sense heritability for some, but not all locations. High GCA:SCA (specific combining ability) ratios indicated the prevalence of additive gene effects for midline-development time, -peak integral and -peak time, indicating that these characteristics are largely genetically determined, and that selection for them should lead to genetic gain

Instanton approach to the Langevin motion of a particle in a random potential

We develop an instanton approach to the non-equilibrium dynamics in one-dimensional random environments. The long time behavior is controlled by rare fluctuations of the disorder potential and, accordingly, by the tail of the distribution function for the time a particle needs to propagate along the system (the delay time). The proposed method allows us to find the tail of the delay time distribution function and delay time moments, providing thus an exact description of the long-time dynamics. We analyze arbitrary environments covering different types of glassy dynamics: dynamics in a short-range random field, creep, and Sinai's motion.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Complex Action Support from Coincidences of Couplings

Our model \cite{ownmMPP}\cite{SIMPP} with complex action in a functional integral formulation with path integrals extending over all times, past and future, is reviewed. Several numerical relations between coupling constants are presented as supporting evidence. The new evidence is that some more unexplained coincidences are explained in our model: 1) The "scale problem" is solved because the Higgs field expectation value is predicted to be very small compared to say some fundamental scale, that might be the Planck scale. 2) The Higgs VEV need not, however, to be just zero, but rather is predicted to be so that the running top-Yukawa coupling just is about to be unity at this scale; in this way the (weak) scale easily becomes "exponentially small". Instead of the top-Yukawa we should rather say the highest flavour Yukawa coupling here. These predictions are only achieved by allowing the principle of minimization of the imaginary part of the action SI(history) to to a certain extent adjust some coupling constants in addition to the initial conditions. If Susy-partners are not found in LHC, it would strengthen the need for "solution" of the hierarchy or rather scale problem along the lines of the present article.Comment: only text. Some printing mistakes corrected and a couple of new subsections inserted and abstract stylistically changed a bi

Lower treatment intensity and poorer survival in metastatic colorectal cancer patients who live alone

BACKGROUND: Socioeconomic status (SES) and social support influences cancer survival. If SES and social support affects cancer treatment has not been thoroughly explored. METHODS: A cohort consisting of all patients who were initially diagnosed with or who developed metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC, n=781) in three Scandinavian university hospitals from October 2003 to August 2006 was set up. Clinical and socioeconomic data were registered prospectively. RESULTS: Patients living alone more often had synchronous metastases at presentation and were less often treated with combination chemotherapy than those cohabitating (HR 0.19, 95% CI 0.04–0.85, P=0.03). Surgical removal of metastases was less common in patients living alone (HR 0.29, 95% CI 0.10–0.86, P=0.02) but more common among university-educated patients (HR 2.22, 95% CI 1.10–4.49, P=0.02). Smoking, being married and having children did not influence treatment or survival. Median survival was 7.7 months in patients living alone and 11.7 months in patients living with someone (P<0.001). Living alone remained a prognostic factor for survival after correction for age and comorbidity. CONCLUSION: Patients living alone received less combination chemotherapy and less secondary surgery. Living alone is a strong independent risk factor for poor survival in mCRC

Noise storm continua: power estimates for electron acceleration

We use a generic stochastic acceleration formalism to examine the power $L_{\rm in}$ (${\rm erg s^{-1}}$) input to nonthermal electrons that cause noise storm continuum emission. The analytical approach includes the derivation of the Green's function for a general second-order Fermi process, and its application to obtain the particular solution for the nonthermal electron distribution resulting from the acceleration of a Maxwellian source in the corona. We compare $L_{\rm in}$ with the power $L_{\rm out}$ observed in noise storm radiation. Using typical values for the various parameters, we find that $L_{\rm in} \sim 10^{23-26}$ ${\rm erg s^{-1}}$, yielding an efficiency estimate $\eta \equiv L_{\rm out}/L_{\rm in}$ in the range 10^{-10} \lsim \eta \lsim 10^{-6} for this nonthermal acceleration/radiation process. These results reflect the efficiency of the overall process, starting from electron acceleration and culminating in the observed noise storm emission.Comment: Accepted for publication in Solar Physic

Cohort-based T-SSIM Visual Computing for Radiation Therapy Prediction and Exploration

We describe a visual computing approach to radiation therapy (RT) planning, based on spatial similarity within a patient cohort. In radiotherapy for head and neck cancer treatment, dosage to organs at risk surrounding a tumor is a large cause of treatment toxicity. Along with the availability of patient repositories, this situation has lead to clinician interest in understanding and predicting RT outcomes based on previously treated similar patients. To enable this type of analysis, we introduce a novel topology-based spatial similarity measure, T-SSIM, and a predictive algorithm based on this similarity measure. We couple the algorithm with a visual steering interface that intertwines visual encodings for the spatial data and statistical results, including a novel parallel-marker encoding that is spatially aware. We report quantitative results on a cohort of 165 patients, as well as a qualitative evaluation with domain experts in radiation oncology, data management, biostatistics, and medical imaging, who are collaborating remotely.Comment: IEEE VIS (SciVis) 201

Symmetry properties of the metric energy-momentum tensor in classical field theories and gravity

We derive a generic identity which holds for the metric (i.e. variational) energy-momentum tensor under any field transformation in any generally covariant classical Lagrangian field theory. The identity determines the conditions under which a symmetry of the Lagrangian is also a symmetry of the energy-momentum tensor. It turns out that the stress tensor acquires the symmetry if the Lagrangian has the symmetry in a generic curved spacetime. In this sense a field theory in flat spacetime is not self-contained. When the identity is applied to the gauge invariant spin-two field in Minkowski space, we obtain an alternative and direct derivation of a known no-go theorem: a linear gauge invariant spin-2 field, which is dynamically equivalent to linearized General Relativity, cannot have a gauge invariant metric energy-momentum tensor. This implies that attempts to define the notion of gravitational energy density in terms of the metric energy--momentum tensor in a field-theoretical formulation of gravity must fail.Comment: Revised version to match the published version in Class. Quantum Gra

First- and Second-Order Transitions between Quantum and Classical Regimes for the Escape Rate of a Spin System

We have found a novel feature of the bistable large-spin model described by the Hamiltonian H = -DS_z^2 - H_xS_x.The crossover from thermal to quantum regime for the escape rate can be either first (H_x<SD/2) or second (SD/2<H_x<2SD) order, that is, sharp or smooth, depending on the strength of the transverse field. This prediction can be tested experimentally in molecular magnets like Mn_12Ac.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Cosmological Production of Vector Bosons and Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation

The intensive cosmological creation of vector W, Z- bosons in the cosmological model with the relative units is considered. Field theoretical models are studied, which predict that the CMB radiation and the baryon matter in the universe can be products of decay and annihilation processes of these primordial bosons.Comment: 31 pages, 1 figur

Stochastic Cellular Automata Model for Stock Market Dynamics

In the present work we introduce a stochastic cellular automata model in order to simulate the dynamics of the stock market. A direct percolation method is used to create a hierarchy of clusters of active traders on a two dimensional grid. Active traders are characterised by the decision to buy, (+1), or sell, (-1), a stock at a certain discrete time step. The remaining cells are inactive,(0). The trading dynamics is then determined by the stochastic interaction between traders belonging to the same cluster. Most of the stylized aspects of the financial market time series are reproduced by the model.Comment: 17 pages and 7 figure