Asymptotic behaviour for a phase field model in higher order Sobolev spaces

In this paper we analyze the long time behavior of a phase field model by showing the existence of global compact attractors in the strong norm of high order Sobolev spaces

Asymptotic behaviour for a phase field model in higher order sobolev spaces

In this paper we analyze the long time behavior of a phase– field model by showing the existence of global compact attractors in the strong norm of high order Sobolev spaces.In this paper we analyze the long time behavior of a phase– field model by showing the existence of global compact attractors in the strong norm of high order Sobolev spaces

Of Genes and Patients: Stochastic Dynamic Causal Modelling of the Prefrontal-Hippocampal Network

The research field of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has made possible a remarkable progress in the understanding of the human brain enabling neuroscientists to study spatio-temporal alterations in the healthy and the diseased brain. While current theories of schizophrenia stress the critical role that plays aberrant connectivity among brain regions, other theories point towards the crucial role that plays functional excitation-inhibition (E-I) balance. Indeed, recent neuroscientific research has revealed increasing evidence that taking functional brain connectivity into account is essential to understand how the human brain works, and many studies have reviewed that serious behavioural impairments in mental disorders such as schizophrenia result from increases in the functional (E-I) balance within the neural microcircuitry. Particularly, the connection between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the hippocampal formation (HF) during working memory (WM) was found to be increased in carriers of schizophrenia risk genes and patients. However, less is known about causality, i.e. which region drives the altered connection. Stochastic Dynamic Causal Modelling (sDCM) is a novel mathematical algorithm for studying the causal connectivity among higher cognitive brain regions from fMRI data. The main purpose of this study is to identify alterations on genetic risk carriers and patients from the DLPFC-HF network estimated with sDCM and describe how these alterations have an impact on the behavior. Over the study, we strive to give to the sDCM parameter estimates a neurobiological explanation by linking the concepts of causal connectivity with functional (E-I) balance. In this work, we applied this methodology in two samples by constructing a systematic set of sDCMs describing interactions between right DLPFC and left HF. In a first sample, 180 healthy subjects were measured by fMRI during a standard working memory N-Back task at three different sites (Mannheim, Bonn, Berlin; each with 60 participants). Bayes Model Selection (BMS) revealed the same causal pattern or winning model across the three sites, with the 2-Back working memory condition as driving input to both DLPFC and HF and with a connection from DLPFC to HF. Furthermore, a genome-wide risk variant for schizophrenia: ZNF804A (rs1344706), showed a strong impact on the DLPFC-HF network. On the one hand, risk homozygotes showed higher effective connectivity or higher functional (E-I) balance between DLPFC and HF. On the other hand, risk allele carriers showed higher functional (E-I) balance on the self-connection in the DLPFC. In a second sample, 33 schizophrenia patients were measured by fMRI during the same working memory N-Back task. We pair-wise matched healthy volunteers of the first sample and patients and applied the same methodology. BMS revealed the same winning model in patients but sDCM parameter estimates differed significantly between groups. Patients showed higher functional (E-I) balance on both self-connections in comparison to healthy volunteers. In summary, we observed that risk allele carriers and patients have a higher functional (E-I) balance within the DLPFC-HF network. In view of these research findings, we hypothesized a possible biological functioning of ZNF804A (rs1344706) on the DLPFC-HF network and suggested a mechanistic model for explaining the underlying neurobiology of schizophrenia within this network. Then, we reported causal relations between sDCM parameter estimates and behavior in terms of functional (E-I) balance in both samples. On the one hand, we observed that risk allele carriers and patients require lower functional (E-I) balance on the DLPFC-HF network in order to achieve the best performance during the task. On the other hand, we found that healthy volunteers require higher functional (E-I) balance on the network in order to achieve the optimal behavior. This study investigated the applicability of computational models like sDCM to establish the functional significance of specific genetic polymorphisms for schizophrenia and identify causal mechanisms associated with the disease in relation to the underlying neurobiology and behavior. In forthcoming studies, we plan to investigate whether subject-specific directed connections strengths between DLPFC and HF, and genotype, contain sufficiently rich information to enable accurate predictions of behavior. In order to study how temporal patterns in the neuronal ensembles and genotype convey robust information about behavior, multivariate regressors or statistical decoding algorithms will be used in both samples

Digital Beamforming Implementation on an FPGA Platform

This work is part of UPC contribution to the CORPA (Cost-Optimised high Performance Active Receive Phase Array antenna for mobile terminals) project of ESA (European Space Agency)The objective of the work presented is to implement a Digital Beamforming (DBF) platform for an antenna array receiver designed for the S-DMB system. Our project deals with the design of antenna arrays from a hardware point of view, in contrast to other theo- retic studies regarding DBF algorithms. Hence, we will study practical aspects of DBF implementation such as signal quantization and required computational resources

Entanglement and entropy in multipartite systems: a useful approach

Quantum entanglement and quantum entropy are crucial concepts in the study of multipartite quantum systems. In this work we show how the notion of concurrence vector, re-expressed in a particularly useful form, provides new insights and computational tools for the analysis of both. In particular, using this approach for a general multipartite pure state, one can easily prove known relations in an easy way and to build up new relations between the concurrences associated with the different bipartitions. The approach is also useful to derive sufficient conditions for genuine entanglement in generic multipartite systems that are computable in polynomial time. From an entropy-of-entanglement perspective, the approach is powerful to prove properties of the Tsallis-$2$ entropy, such as the subadditivity, and to derive new ones, e.g. a modified version of the strong subadditivity which is always fulfilled; thanks to the purification theorem these results hold for any multipartite state, whether pure or mixed

Fine-Tuning in the 2HDM

The Two-Higgs Doublet Model (2HDM) is one of the most popular and natural extensions of the Higgs sector; but it has two potential fine-tuning problems, related to the electroweak (EW) breaking and the requirement of alignment with the SM Higgs boson. We have quantified the fine-tunings obtaining analytical expressions, both in terms of the initial 2HDM parameters and the physical ones (masses, mixing angles, etc.). We also provide simple approximate expressions. We have taken into account that the fine-tunings are not independent and removed the "double counting" by projecting the variations of the alignment onto the constant-${\rm v}^2$ hypersurface. The EW and the alignment fine-tunings become severe in different, even opposite, regions of the parameter space, namely in the regimes of large and small extra-Higgs masses, respectively; emerging an intermediate region, $500\ {\rm GeV} \leq \{m_H, m_A, m_{H^\pm}\} \leq 700\ {\rm GeV}$, where both are acceptably small. We also discuss a remarkable trend that is not obvious at first glance. Namely, for large $\tan\beta$ both the EW and the alignment fine-tunings become mitigated. In consequence, the 2HDM becomes quite natural for $\tan\beta\geq {\cal O} (10)$, even if $m_H, m_A, m_{H^\pm}$ are as large as 1500 GeV. We explain why this is not the case for the 2HDM stemming from supersymmetry. We have illustrated all these trends by numerically analyzing several representative scenarios

BMSSM Implications for Cosmology

The addition of non-renormalizable terms involving the Higgs fields to the MSSM (BMSSM) ameliorates the little hierarchy problem of the MSSM. We analyze in detail the two main cosmological issues affected by the BMSSM: dark matter and baryogenesis. The regions for which the relic abundance of the LSP is consistent with WMAP and collider constraints are identified, showing that the bulk region and other previously excluded regions are now permitted. Requiring vacuum stability limits the allowed regions. Based on a two-loop finite temperature effective potential analysis, we show that the electroweak phase transition can be sufficiently first order in regions that for the MSSM are incompatible with the LEP Higgs mass bound, including parameter values of \tan\beta \lsim 5, m_{\tilde{t}_{1}} > m_t, m_Q << TeV.Comment: 28 pages, 4 figures. References adde

Integración Ambiental Sobre las Quebradas Quiba y Lima, Corredor Ecológico y Red de Equipamientos Caso de Estudio Ciudad Bolívar

Este documento de tesis, el cual se realizó un estudio documental en la localidad de Ciudad Bolívar (Bogotá D.C) en la UPZ Lucero 67, cuyo tema es la segregación periurbana y daños ambientales, el propósito es determinar soluciones efectivas para recuperar áreas ambientales y sociales, rehabilitándolas, siendo un potencial de desarrollo ambiental y social importante para la región. Se identifico problemas de accesibilidad, déficit ambiental y en equipamientos, lo que deteriora la calidad de vida de las personas vulnerables y marginadas en el territorio periurbano y detrimento de las sendas hídricas (Quebradas Quiba y Lima). La solución planteada que mitigaría esta problemática, es establecer un límite claro entre la ruralidad, naturaleza y lo urbano, permitiendo una armonía espacial, permeando a lo largo de barrios y senderos públicos, un corredor ecológico, como por otro lado cubriendo la necesidad de edificios de control y servicios, con una red de equipamientos, puestos de forma estratégica como puertas urbanas, siendo más legible el territorio.This thesis document, a documentary study was carried out in the town of Ciudad Bolívar (Bogotá D.C) in the UPZ Lucero 67, whose theme is peri-urban segregation and environmental damage, the purpose is to determine effective solutions to recover environmental and social areas, rehabilitating them , being an important environmental and social development potential for the region. Problems of accessibility, environmental deficit and equipment were identified, which deteriorates the quality of life of vulnerable and marginalized people in the peri-urban territory and detriment of water paths (Q. Quiba and Lima). The proposed solution that would mitigate this problem is to establish a clear limit between rurality, nature and the urban, allowing spatial harmony, permeating along neighborhoods and public paths, an ecological corridor, as well as covering the need for buildings. of control and services, with a network of facilities, placed strategically as urban gates, making the territory more legible

Construcción de las bases para la implementación de un programa de orientación profesional en relaciones laborales y en ciencias del trabajo

Con el propósito de construir las bases para una posterior implementación de orientación profesional, tanto en la Diplomatura de Relaciones Laborales como en la Licenciatura de Ciencias del Trabajo, se llevó a cabo un estudio con una amplia muestra de sujetos cuya población estaba constituida por todo el alumnado que había terminado una de las dos titulaciones, o las dos, que imparte nuestro centro (Facultad de Ciencias del Trabajo de la Universidad de Valladolid, Campus de Palencia) durante los tres últimos años. Este trabajo incluye la administración de un cuestionario en el que, además de una serie de items de tipo sociodemográfico, había otros que preguntaban la opinión de nuestros ex-alumnos/as sobre el plan de estudios que habían cursado y sobre las posibles carencias de éste. Se les preguntó igualmente qué añadirían o quitarían del plan de estudio de cara a conseguir una formación más completa, formación que, por otra parte, les facilitará una más exitosa búsqueda de empleo en el mercado de trabajo. Finalmente, se comentan los resultados obtenidos y se extraen las conclusiones pertinentes.______________________________In order to build the foundations for further implementation of a program of vocational guidance, both in the Bachelor of Industrial Relations in the Bachelor of Science Labour, we made a study with a large sample consisting of the entire student body he had completed one of these two studies, or both, in our center (Faculty of Labour Science of the University of Valladolid, Palencia Campus) over the past three years. This work includes the administration of a questionnaire which, in addition to a number of items of type sociodemographic, there were others who wondered what our ex students on curriculum and sent on possible shortcomings there of. They were also asked what they would add or remove of the curriculum towards achieving a more complete training, training, on the other hand, they provide a more successful job search in the labour market. Finally, we discussed the results and drew out the appropriate conclusions