Nonlinear Supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics: concepts and realizations

Nonlinear SUSY approach to preparation of quantum systems with pre-planned spectral properties is reviewed. Possible multidimensional extensions of Nonlinear SUSY are described. The full classification of ladder-reducible and irreducible chains of SUSY algebras in one-dimensional QM is given. Emergence of hidden symmetries and spectrum generating algebras is elucidated in the context of Nonlinear SUSY in one- and two-dimensional QM.Comment: 75 pages, Minor corrections, Version published in Journal of Physics

Differential diagnosis between Alzheimer’s disease-related depression and pseudo-dementia in depression: A new indication for amyloid-β imaging?

Background: Alzheimer's disease and depression can start with combined cognitive and depressive symptoms [1, 2]. Accurate differential diagnosis is desired to initiate specific treatment. Objective: We investigated whether amyloid-β PET imaging can discriminate both entities. Methods: This retrospective observational study included 39 patients (20 female, age = 70±11years) with both cognitive and depressive symptoms who underwent amyloid-β PET imaging and in whom clinical follow-up data was available. Amyloid-β PET was carried out applying [18F]Florbetaben or [11C]PiB. The PET images were analyzed by standardized visual and relative-quantitative evaluation. Based on clinical follow-up (median of 2.4 years [range 0.3 to 7.0 years, IQR = 3.7 years] after amyloid PET imaging which was not considered in obtaining a definite diagnosis), discrimination ability between AD-related depression and pseudo-dementia in depression/depression with other comorbidities was determined. Results: Visually, all 10 patients with pseudo-dementia in depression and all 15 patients with other depression were rated as amyloid-β-negative; 2 of 14 patients with AD-related depression were rated amyloid-β-negative. ROC curve analysis of the unified composite standardized uptake value ratios (cSUVRs) was able to discriminate pseudo-dementia in depression from AD-related depression with high accuracy (AUC = 0.92). Optimal [18F]Florbetaben discrimination cSUVR threshold was 1.34. In congruence with the visual PET analysis, the resulting sensitivity of the relative-quantitative analysis was 86% with a specificity of 100% . Conclusion: Amyloid-β PET can differentiate AD-related depression and pseudo-dementia in depression. Prospective clinical studies are warranted to confirm this result and to potentially broaden the spectrum of clinical applications for amyloid-β PET imaging

A probabilistic filter protocol for continuous queries

LNCS v. 5786 is Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop, QuaCon 2009Research PapersPervasive applications, such as location-based services and natural habitat monitoring, have attracted plenty of research interest. These applications make use of a large number of remote positioning devices like Global Positioning System (GPS) for collecting users' physical locations. Generally, these devices have battery power limitation. They also cannot report very accurate position values. In this paper, we consider the evaluation of a long-standing (or continuous) query over inaccurate location data collected from positioning devices. Our goal is to develop an energy-efficient protocol, which provides some degree of confidence on the query answers evaluated on imperfect data. In particular, we propose the probabilistic filter, which governs GPS devices to decide upon whether location values collected should be reported to the server. We further discuss how these filters can be developed. This scheme reduces the cost of transmitting location updates, and hence the energy spent by the GPS devices. It also allows some portion of query processing to be deployed to the devices, thereby alleviating the processing burden of the server. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.link_to_subscribed_fulltextThe 1st International Workshop on Quality of Context (QuaCon 2009), Stuttgart, Germany, 25-26 June 2009. In Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2009, v. 5786, p. 88-9