Wormholes and Ringholes in a Dark-Energy Universe

The effects that the present accelerating expansion of the universe has on the size and shape of Lorentzian wormholes and ringholes are considered. It is shown that, quite similarly to how it occurs for inflating wormholes, relative to the initial embedding-space coordinate system, whereas the shape of the considered holes is always preserved with time, their size is driven by the expansion to increase by a factor which is proportional to the scale factor of the universe. In the case that dark energy is phantom energy, which is not excluded by present constraints on the dark-energy equation of state, that size increase with time becomes quite more remarkable, and a rather speculative scenario is here presented where the big rip can be circumvented by future advanced civilizations by utilizing sufficiently grown up wormholes and ringholes as time machines that shortcut the big-rip singularity.Comment: 11 pages, RevTex, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Experiments with the back propagation algorithm A systematic look at a small problem

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:5644.91(RSRE-M--4049) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Analysis of parasitic protozoa at the single-cell level using microfluidic impedance cytometry

At present, there are few technologies which enable the detection, identification and viability analysis of protozoan pathogens including Cryptosporidium and/or Giardia at the single (oo)cyst level. We report the use of Microfluidic Impedance Cytometry (MIC) to characterise the AC electrical (impedance) properties of single parasites and demonstrate rapid discrimination based on viability and species. Specifically, MIC was used to identify live and inactive C. parvum oocysts with over 90% certainty, whilst also detecting damaged and/or excysted oocysts. Furthermore, discrimination of Cryptosporidium parvum, Cryptosporidium muris and Giardia lamblia, with over 92% certainty was achieved. Enumeration and identification of (oo)cysts can be achieved in a few minutes, which offers a reduction in identification time and labour demands when compared to existing detection methods

Effects Of Kinesio Taping On Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

Bu çalışmanın amacı gecikmiş kas ağrısında kinezyo bantlamanın etkilerini araştırmaktır. Elli dört birey kinezyo bantlama ve plasebo kinezyo bantlama grubuna ayrıldı. Bireylerin egzersiz öncesi, egzersizden hemen sonra, 48 ve 72 saat sonra ağrı şiddeti, basınç ağrı eşiği, ödem, eklem hareket açıklığı, kas kuvveti ve performansları değerlendirildi. Kan analizlerinde serum kreatin kinaz, laktat dehidrogenaz, miyoglobin, C reaktif protein düzeyleri ve nötrofil sayısına bakıldı. İstirahat ağrı şiddetindeki artış (egzersizden hemen sonra-48 saat sonra) plasebo kinezyo bantlama grubunda daha yüksekti (p<0,05). Aktivite ağrı şiddeti, plasebo kinezyo bantlama grubunda (egzersiz öncesi-72 saat sonra) daha fazla artarken, kinezyo bantlama grubunda (egzersizden hemen sonra-72 saat sonra) daha fazla azaldı (p<0,05). Kinezyo bantlama grubunda tek ayak sıçrama mesafesi (egzersiz öncesi- 72 saat sonra) daha fazla arttı (p<0,05). Kuadriseps femoris kas gövdesi basınç ağrı eşiği kinezyo bantlama grubunda (egzersiz öncesi-egzersizden hemen sonra) daha fazla azaldı (p<0,05). Serum keratin kinaz düzeyi egzersizden 48 ve 72 saat sonra kinezyo bantlama grubunda daha fazla yükseldi (p<0,05). Gecikmiş kas ağrısında kinezyo bantlama istirahat ve aktivite ağrı şiddetini azaltmada, tek ayak öne sıçrama mesafesini artırmada daha etkilidir. Plasebo kinezyo bantlamaysa kuadriseps femoris kas gövdesi basınç ağrı eşiğini artırmada, serum KK düzeyini azaltmada daha etkilidir. Ödem, eklem hareket açıklığı, kas kuvveti, dikey sıçrama yüksekliği, laktat dehidrogenaz, miyoglobin, C reaktif protein düzeyi ve nötrofil sayısına iki bantlamanın etkisi benzerdir.The aim of this study was to determine the effects of kinesio taping on delayed onset muscle soreness. Fifty-four subjects were assigned kinesio taping and placebo kinesio taping group. Pain severity, pressure pain threshold, edema, range of motion, muscle strength and performance were evaluated before, immediately after, 48 and 72 hours after exercise. Blood samples were obtained for analysis of serum creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, myoglobin, C reactive protein levels and number of neutrophils. The increase in resting pain severity (immediately after-48 h after exercise) was higher in the placebo kinesio taping group (p<0.05). Pain severity during activity was increased more in the placebo kinesio taping group (before-72 hours after exercise), was decreased more in the kinesio taping group (immediately after-72 hours after exercise) (p<0.05). One leg hop distance was increased more in the kinesio taping group (before-72 hours after exercise) (p<0.05). Pressure pain threshold mid-belly of quadriceps femoris muscle was decreased more kinesio taping group (before-immediately after) (p<0.05). Serum creatine kinase level 48 and 72 hours after exercise increased more in kinesio taping group (p<0,05). Kinesio taping was more effective in reducing rest and activity pain severity and increasing one leg hop distance in delayed onset muscle soreness. Placebo kinesio taping is more effective in increasing pressure pain threshold mid belly of quadriceps muscle and decreasing serum creatine kinase. Edema, range of motion, muscle strength, vertical jump height, lactate dehydrogenase, myoglobin, C reactive protein levels and the number of neutrophils is similar in two banding groups

SoftPOSIT: Simultaneous Pose and Correspondence Determination

The problem of pose estimation arises in many areas of computer vision, including object recognition, object tracking, site inspection and updating, and autonomous navigation when scene models are available. We present a new algorithm, called SoftPOSIT, for determining the pose of a 3D object from a single 2D image when correspondences between model points and image points are not known. The algorithm combines Gold&apos;s iterative softassign algorithm [Gold 1996, Gold 1998] for computing correspondences and DeMenthon&apos;s iterative POSIT algorithm [DeMenthon 1995] for computing object pose under a full-perspective camera model. Our algorithm, unlike most previous algorithms for pose determination, does not have to hypothesize small sets of matches and then verify the remaining image points. Instead, all possible matches are treated identically throughout the search for an optimal pose. The performance of the algorithm is extensively evaluated in Monte Carlo simulations on synthetic data The support of NSF grants EAR-99-05844 and IIS-00-86116 is gratefully acknowledged. under a variety of levels of clutter, occlusion, and image noise. These tests show that the algorithm performs well in a variety of difficult scenarios, and empirical evidence suggests that the algorithm has an asymptotic run-time complexity that is better than previous methods by a factor of the number of image points. The algorithm is being applied to a number of practical autonomous vehicle navigation problems including the registration of 3D architectural models of a city to images, and the docking of small robots onto larger robots.