Literacy: A cultural influence on functional left-right differences in the inferior parietal cortex

The current understanding of hemispheric interaction is limited. Functional hemispheric specialization is likely to depend on both genetic and environmental factors. In the present study we investigated the importance of one factor, literacy, for the functional lateralization in the inferior parietal cortex in two independent samples of literate and illiterate subjects. The results show that the illiterate group are consistently more right-lateralized than their literate controls. In contrast, the two groups showed a similar degree of left-right differences in early speech-related regions of the superior temporal cortex. These results provide evidence suggesting that a cultural factor, literacy, influences the functional hemispheric balance in reading and verbal working memory-related regions. In a third sample, we investigated grey and white matter with voxel-based morphometry. The results showed differences between literacy groups in white matter intensities related to the mid-body region of the corpus callosum and the inferior parietal and parietotemporal regions (literate > illiterate). There were no corresponding differences in the grey matter. This suggests that the influence of literacy on brain structure related to reading and verbal working memory is affecting large-scale brain connectivity more than grey matter per se

Scaling in the crossover from random to correlated growth

In systems where deposition rates are high compared to diffusion, desorption and other mechanisms that generate correlations, a crossover from random to correlated growth of surface roughness is expected at a characteristic time t_0. This crossover is analyzed in lattice models via scaling arguments, with support from simulation results presented here and in other authors works. We argue that the amplitudes of the saturation roughness and of the saturation time scale as {t_0}^{1/2} and t_0, respectively. For models with lateral aggregation, which typically are in the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) class, we show that t_0 ~ 1/p, where p is the probability of the correlated aggregation mechanism to take place. However, t_0 ~ 1/p^2 is obtained in solid-on-solid models with single particle deposition attempts. This group includes models in various universality classes, with numerical examples being provided in the Edwards-Wilkinson (EW), KPZ and Villain-Lai-Das Sarma (nonlinear molecular-beam epitaxy) classes. Most applications are for two-component models in which random deposition, with probability 1-p, competes with a correlated aggregation process with probability p. However, our approach can be extended to other systems with the same crossover, such as the generalized restricted solid-on-solid model with maximum height difference S, for large S. Moreover, the scaling approach applies to all dimensions. In the particular case of one-dimensional KPZ processes with this crossover, we show that t_0 ~ nu^{-1} and nu ~ lambda^{2/3}, where nu and lambda are the coefficients of the linear and nonlinear terms of the associated KPZ equations. The applicability of previous results on models in the EW and KPZ classes is discussed.Comment: 14 pages + 5 figures, minor changes, version accepted in Phys. Rev.

Rizoctoniose da batateira.

bitstream/item/57211/1/Cot-81.pd

Universal velocity distributions in an experimental granular fluid

We present experimental results on the velocity statistics of a uniformly heated granular fluid, in a quasi-2D configuration. We find the base state, as measured by the single particle velocity distribution $f(c)$, to be universal over a wide range of filling fractions and only weakly dependent on all other system parameters. There is a consistent overpopulation in the distribution's tails, which scale as $f\propto\exp(\mathrm{const.}\times c^{-3/2})$. More importantly, the high probability central region of $f(c)$, at low velocities, deviates from a Maxwell-Boltzmann by a second order Sonine polynomial with a single adjustable parameter, in agreement with recent theoretical analysis of inelastic hard spheres driven by a stochastic thermostat. To our knowledge, this is the first time that Sonine deviations have been measured in an experimental system.Comment: 13 pages, 15 figures, with minor corrections, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Dynamics of African swine fever virus shedding and excretion in domestic pigs infected by intramuscular inoculation and contact transmission

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a highly virulent swine pathogen that has spread across Eastern Europe since 2007 and for which there is no effective vaccine or treatment available. The dynamics of shedding and excretion is not well known for this currently circulating ASFV strain. Therefore, susceptible pigs were exposed to pigs intramuscularly infected with the Georgia 2007/1 ASFV strain to measure those dynamics through within- and between-pen transmission scenarios. Blood, oral, nasal and rectal fluid samples were tested for the presence of ASFV by virus titration (VT) and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Serum was tested for the presence of ASFV-specific antibodies. Both intramuscular inoculation and contact transmission resulted in development of acute disease in all pigs although the experiments indicated that the pathogenesis of the disease might be different, depending on the route of infection. Infectious ASFV was first isolated in blood among the inoculated pigs by day 3, and then chronologically among the direct and indirect contact pigs, by day 10 and 13, respectively. Close to the onset of clinical signs, higher ASFV titres were found in blood compared with nasal and rectal fluid samples among all pigs. No infectious ASFV was isolated in oral fluid samples although ASFV genome copies were detected. Only one animal developed antibodies starting after 12 days post-inoculation. The results provide quantitative data on shedding and excretion of the Georgia 2007/1 ASFV strain among domestic pigs and suggest a limited potential of this isolate to cause persistent infection

Quantum Evolution of Inhomogeneities in Curved Space

We obtain the renormalized equations of motion for matter and semi-classical gravity in an inhomogeneous space-time. We use the functional Schrodinger picture and a simple Gaussian approximation to analyze the time evolution of the $\lambda\phi^4$ model, and we establish the renormalizability of this non-perturbative approximation. We also show that the energy-momentum tensor in this approximation is finite once we consider the usual mass and coupling constant renormalizations, without the need of further geometrical counter-terms.Comment: 22 page

A Complex Case of Cholestasis in a Patient with ABCB4 and ABCB11 Mutations

The low-phospholipid-associated cholelithiasis (LPAC) syndrome is a form of symptomatic cholelithiasis occurring in young adults, characterized by recurrence of symptoms after cholecystectomy and presence of hepatolithiasis. The case refers to a healthy 39-year-old Caucasian male who presented with abdominal pain and jaundice. His blood tests showed conjugated hyperbilirubinemia and elevated liver enzymes (total bilirubin 6.65 mg/dL, γ-glutamyltransferase 699 IU/L) and abdominal computed tomography revealed dilation of common bile duct and left intrahepatic ducts. Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography identified choledocholithiasis, retrieved by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, after which there was a worsening of jaundice (total bilirubin 23 mg/dL), which persisted for several weeks, possibly due to ciprofloxacin toxicity. After an extensive workup including liver biopsy, the identification of two foci of hepatolithiasis on reevaluation abdominal ultrasound raised the hypothesis of LPAC syndrome and the patient was started on ursodeoxycholic acid, with remarkable improvement. Genetic testing identified the mutation c.1954A>G (p.Arg652Gly) in ABCB4 gene (homozygous) and c.1331T>C (p.Val444Ala) in ABCB11 gene (heterozygous). In conclusion, we describe the unique case of an adult male with choledocholithiasis, hepatolithiasis, and persistent conjugated hyperbilirubinemia after retrieval of stones, fulfilling the criteria for LPAC syndrome and with possible superimposed drug-induced liver injury, in whom ABCB4 and ABCB11 mutations were found, both of which had not been previously described in association with LPAC.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Variational Approach to Gaussian Approximate Coherent States: Quantum Mechanics and Minisuperspace Field Theory

This paper has a dual purpose. One aim is to study the evolution of coherent states in ordinary quantum mechanics. This is done by means of a Hamiltonian approach to the evolution of the parameters that define the state. The stability of the solutions is studied. The second aim is to apply these techniques to the study of the stability of minisuperspace solutions in field theory. For a $\lambda \varphi^4$ theory we show, both by means of perturbation theory and rigorously by means of theorems of the K.A.M. type, that the homogeneous minisuperspace sector is indeed stable for positive values of the parameters that define the field theory.Comment: 26 pages, Plain TeX, no figure