GUI Matlab para o cálculo de funções de Bessel usando frações continuadas

[EN] Higher order Bessel functions are prevalent in physics and engineering and there exist different methods to evaluate them quickly and efficiently. Two of these methods are Miller's algorithm and the continued fractions algorithm. Miller's algorithm uses arbitrary starting values and normalization constants to evaluate Bessel functions. The continued fractions algorithm directly computes each value, keeping the error as small as possible. Both methods respect the stability of the Bessel function recurrence relations. Here we outline both methods and explain why the continued fractions algorithm is more efficient. The goal of this paper is both (1) to introduce the continued fractions algorithm to physics and engineering students and (2) to present a MATLAB GUI (Graphic User Interface) where this method has been used for computing the Semi-integer Bessel Functions and their zeros.[PT] Funções de Bessel de ordem mais alta são recorrentes em física e nas engenharias, sendo que há diferentes métodos para calculá-las de maneira rápida e eficiente. Dois destes métodos são o algoritmo de Miller e o algoritmo de frações continuadas. O primeiro faz uso de valores iniciais e constantes de normalização arbitrários, enquanto o segundo o faz calculando cada valor diretamente, minimizando tanto quanto possível o erro. Ambos respeitam a estabilidade das relações de recorrência das funções de Bessel. Neste trabalho descrevemos ambos os métodos e explicamos a razão pela qual o algoritmo das frações continuadas é mais eficiente. O objetivo do artigo é (1) introduzir o algoritmo de frações continuadas para estudantes de física e das engenharias e (2) apresentar um GUI (Graphic User Interface) em Matlab no qual este método foi utilizado para calcular funções de Bessel semi-inteiras e seus zeros.The authors wish to thank the financial support received from the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia under grant PAID-06-09-2734, from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación through grant ENE2008-00599 and specially from the Generalitat Valenciana under grant reference 3012/2009.Hernandez Vargas, E.; Commeford, K.; Pérez Quiles, MJ. (2011). MATLAB GUI for computing Bessel functions using continued fractions algorithm. Revista Brasileira de Ensino de Física. 33(1):1303-1311. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1806-11172011000100003S13031311331Giladi, E. (2007). Asymptotically derived boundary elements for the Helmholtz equation in high frequencies. Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics, 198(1), 52-74. doi:10.1016/j.cam.2005.11.024Havemann, S., & Baran, A. J. (2004). Calculation of the phase matrix elements of elongated hexagonal ice columns using the T-matrix method. Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, 89(1-4), 87-96. doi:10.1016/j.jqsrt.2004.05.014Segura, J., Fernández de Córdoba, P., & Ratis, Y. L. (1997). A code to evaluate modified bessel functions based on thecontinued fraction method. Computer Physics Communications, 105(2-3), 263-272. doi:10.1016/s0010-4655(97)00069-6Bastardo, J. L., Abraham Ibrahim, S., Fernández de Córdoba, P., Urchueguía Schölzel, J. F., & Ratis, Y. L. (2005). Evaluation of Fresnel integrals based on the continued fractions method. Applied Mathematics Letters, 18(1), 23-28. doi:10.1016/j.aml.2003.12.009Barnett, A. R., Feng, D. H., Steed, J. W., & Goldfarb, L. J. B. (1974). Coulomb wave functions for all real η and ϱ. Computer Physics Communications, 8(5), 377-395. doi:10.1016/0010-4655(74)90013-

Multilayered feed forward Artificial Neural Network model to predict the average summer-monsoon rainfall in India

In the present research, possibility of predicting average summer-monsoon rainfall over India has been analyzed through Artificial Neural Network models. In formulating the Artificial Neural Network based predictive model, three layered networks have been constructed with sigmoid non-linearity. The models under study are different in the number of hidden neurons. After a thorough training and test procedure, neural net with three nodes in the hidden layer is found to be the best predictive model.Comment: 19 pages, 1 table, 3 figure

The surface detector array of the Telescope Array experiment

The Telescope Array (TA) experiment, located in the western desert of Utah,USA, is designed for observation of extensive air showers from extremely high energy cosmic rays. The experiment has a surface detector array surrounded by three fluorescence detectors to enable simultaneous detection of shower particles at ground level and fluorescence photons along the shower track. The TA surface detectors and fluorescence detectors started full hybrid observation in March, 2008. In this article we describe the design and technical features of the TA surface detector.Comment: 32 pages, 17 figure

New air fluorescence detectors employed in the Telescope Array experiment

Since 2007, the Telescope Array (TA) experiment, based in Utah, USA, has been observing ultra high energy cosmic rays to understand their origins. The experiment involves a surface detector (SD) array and three fluorescence detector (FD) stations. FD stations, installed surrounding the SD array, measure the air fluorescence light emitted from extensive air showers (EASs) for precise determination of their energies and species. The detectors employed at one of the three FD stations were relocated from the High Resolution Fly's Eye experiment. At the other two stations, newly designed detectors were constructed for the TA experiment. An FD consists of a primary mirror and a camera equipped with photomultiplier tubes. To obtain the EAS parameters with high accuracies, understanding the FD optical characteristics is important. In this paper, we report the characteristics and installation of new FDs and the performances of the FD components. The results of the monitored mirror reflectance during the observation time are also described in this report.Comment: 44 pages, 23 figures, submitted to NIM-

Autoantibodies against type I IFNs in patients with life-threatening COVID-19

Interindividual clinical variability in the course of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is vast. We report that at least 101 of 987 patients with life-threatening coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia had neutralizing immunoglobulin G (IgG) autoantibodies (auto-Abs) against interferon-w (IFN-w) (13 patients), against the 13 types of IFN-a (36), or against both (52) at the onset of critical disease; a few also had auto-Abs against the other three type I IFNs. The auto-Abs neutralize the ability of the corresponding type I IFNs to block SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. These auto-Abs were not found in 663 individuals with asymptomatic or mild SARS-CoV-2 infection and were present in only 4 of 1227 healthy individuals. Patients with auto-Abs were aged 25 to 87 years and 95 of the 101 were men. A B cell autoimmune phenocopy of inborn errors of type I IFN immunity accounts for life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia in at least 2.6% of women and 12.5% of men

Observational and genetic associations between cardiorespiratory fitness and cancer: a UK Biobank and international consortia study

Background The association of fitness with cancer risk is not clear. Methods We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for risk of lung, colorectal, endometrial, breast, and prostate cancer in a subset of UK Biobank participants who completed a submaximal fitness test in 2009-12 (N = 72,572). We also investigated relationships using two-sample Mendelian randomisation (MR), odds ratios (ORs) were estimated using the inverse-variance weighted method. Results After a median of 11 years of follow-up, 4290 cancers of interest were diagnosed. A 3.5 ml O2⋅min−1⋅kg−1 total-body mass increase in fitness (equivalent to 1 metabolic equivalent of task (MET), approximately 0.5 standard deviation (SD)) was associated with lower risks of endometrial (HR = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.73–0.89), colorectal (0.94, 0.90–0.99), and breast cancer (0.96, 0.92–0.99). In MR analyses, a 0.5 SD increase in genetically predicted O2⋅min−1⋅kg−1 fat-free mass was associated with a lower risk of breast cancer (OR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.86–0.98). After adjusting for adiposity, both the observational and genetic associations were attenuated. Discussion Higher fitness levels may reduce risks of endometrial, colorectal, and breast cancer, though relationships with adiposity are complex and may mediate these relationships. Increasing fitness, including via changes in body composition, may be an effective strategy for cancer prevention

Post-acute COVID-19 neuropsychiatric symptoms are not associated with ongoing nervous system injury

A proportion of patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 experience a range of neuropsychiatric symptoms months after infection, including cognitive deficits, depression and anxiety. The mechanisms underpinning such symptoms remain elusive. Recent research has demonstrated that nervous system injury can occur during COVID-19. Whether ongoing neural injury in the months after COVID-19 accounts for the ongoing or emergent neuropsychiatric symptoms is unclear. Within a large prospective cohort study of adult survivors who were hospitalized for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection, we analysed plasma markers of nervous system injury and astrocytic activation, measured 6 months post-infection: neurofilament light, glial fibrillary acidic protein and total tau protein. We assessed whether these markers were associated with the severity of the acute COVID-19 illness and with post-acute neuropsychiatric symptoms (as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire for depression, the General Anxiety Disorder assessment for anxiety, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment for objective cognitive deficit and the cognitive items of the Patient Symptom Questionnaire for subjective cognitive deficit) at 6 months and 1 year post-hospital discharge from COVID-19. No robust associations were found between markers of nervous system injury and severity of acute COVID-19 (except for an association of small effect size between duration of admission and neurofilament light) nor with post-acute neuropsychiatric symptoms. These results suggest that ongoing neuropsychiatric symptoms are not due to ongoing neural injury