384 research outputs found
Self-consistent description of nuclear compressional modes
Isoscalar monopole and dipole compressional modes are computed for a variety
of closed-shell nuclei in a relativistic random-phase approximation to three
different parametrizations of the Walecka model with scalar self-interactions.
Particular emphasis is placed on the role of self-consistency which by itself,
and with little else, guarantees the decoupling of the spurious
isoscalar-dipole strength from the physical response and the conservation of
the vector current. A powerful new relation is introduced to quantify the
violation of the vector current in terms of various ground-state form-factors.
For the isoscalar-dipole mode two distinct regions are clearly identified: (i)
a high-energy component that is sensitive to the size of the nucleus and scales
with the compressibility of the model and (ii) a low-energy component that is
insensitivity to the nuclear compressibility. A fairly good description of both
compressional modes is obtained by using a ``soft'' parametrization having a
compression modulus of K=224 MeV.Comment: 28 pages and 10 figures; submitted to PR
Coherent control for the spherical symmetric box potential in short and intensive XUV laser fields
Coherent control calculations are presented for a spherically symmetric box
potential for non-resonant two photon transition probabilities. With the help
of a genetic algorithm (GA) the population of the excited states are maximized
and minimized. The external driving field is a superposition of three intensive
extreme ultraviolet (XUV) linearly polarized laser pulses with different
frequencies in the femtosecond duration range. We solved the quantum mechanical
problem within the dipole approximation. Our investigation clearly shows that
the dynamics of the electron current has a strong correlation with the
optimized and neutralizing pulse shape.Comment: 11 Pages 3 Figure
Massive skyrmions in quantum Hall ferromagnets
We apply the theory of elasticity to study the effects of skyrmion mass on
lattice dynamics in quantum Hall systems. We find that massive Skyrme lattices
behave like a Wigner crystal in the presence of a uniform perpendicular
magnetic field. We make a comparison with the microscopic Hartree-Fock results
to characterize the mass of quantum Hall skyrmions at and investigate
how the low temperature phase of Skyrme lattices may be affected by the
skyrmion mass.Comment: 6 pages and 2 figure
Pregnancy outcomes in infertility patients diagnosed with sleep disordered breathing with wireless wearable sensors
Objective
To study the feasibility of home-based assessment of sleep disordered breathing (SDB) on early pregnancy success after in vitro fertilization with novel wearable sensors.
Design
Prospective observational study.
Setting
Patients 18 to 45 years old undergoing autologous IVF at an academic infertility center.
Patients
30 women (24–44 years old)
Intervention
Participants provided medical history, completed sleep surveys, and a single night of home sleep monitoring prior to IVF with a novel, FDA-cleared wireless sensor system (ANNE® Sleep, Sibel Health), to collect continuous measurements of heart rate, respiratory rate, pulse oxygenation, respiratory effort/snoring, peripheral arterial tonometry, pulse arrival time, and pulse transit time, an accepted surrogate of continuous blood pressure generated by pulse arrival time and pulse transit time. Sleep nights were reviewed to derive the apnea hypopnea index (AHI), defined as the average number of apnea or hypopnea events per hour. An AHI of greater than or equal to 5 events/hour was considered abnormal.
Main outcome measure
Rate of clinical pregnancy (defined as intrauterine gestational sac with a yolk sac) after IVF. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the unadjusted and adjusted odds ratio.
Results
The overall rate of sleep disordered breathing of any severity was 57%. Participants with SDB had a mean AHI of 13.4 compared to 2.7 events/hr (p<0.01), were younger, and more likely to have polycystic ovary syndrome. Of the 29 patients undergoing an embryo transfer, clinical pregnancy and livebirth occurred in 35% of women with SDB compared to 58% without SDB (p = 0.22). After adjusting for age, SDB reduced pregnancy rates but was not statistically significant (aOR 0.23, 95% CI: 0.04–1.5, p = 0.12). Though polycystic ovary syndrome was associated with higher rates of SDB it was not independently associated with lower pregnancy rates.
Conclusion
Screening for sleep disordered breathing using home-based wireless, wearable sensors was well accepted and easily performed by infertile patients in this cohort. Sleep disordered breathing of any severity was associated with an 77% (95% CI: 0.08–1.8) lower likelihood of clinical pregnancy and live birth independent of underlying diagnosis. Future larger studies will be needed to understand the role of sleep disordered breathing and IVF outcomes
The neutron radii of Lead and neutron stars
A new relation between the neutron skin of a heavy nucleus and the radius of
a neutron star is proposed: the larger the neutron skin of the nucleus the
larger the radius of the star. Relativistic models that reproduce a variety of
ground-state observables can not determine uniquely the neutron skin of a heavy
nucleus. Thus, a large range of neutron skins is generated by supplementing the
models with nonlinear couplings between isoscalar and isovector mesons. We
illustrate how the correlation between the neutron skin and the radius of the
star can be used to place important constraints on the equation of state and
how it may help elucidate the existence of a phase transition in the interior
of the neutron star.Comment: 4 pages including 4 encapsulated postscript figure
Spin correlations in the algebraic spin liquid - implications for high Tc superconductors
We propose that underdoped high superconductors are described by an
algebraic spin liquid (ASL) at high energies, which undergoes a spin-charge
recombination transition at low energies. The spin correlation in the ASL is
calculated via its effective theory - a system of massless Dirac fermions
coupled to a U(1) gauge field. We find that without fine tuning any parameters
the gauge interaction strongly enhances the staggered spin correlation even in
the presence of a large single particle pseudo-gap. This allows us to show that
the ASL plus spin-charge recombination picture can explain many highly unusual
properties of underdoped high superconductors.Comment: 22 pages, 18 figures, submitted to PR
Soil fertility regulates invasive herbivore performance and top-down control in tropical agroecosystems of Southeast Asia
In terrestrial ecosystems, changes in soil nutrient availability, plant growth or natural enemies can generate important shifts in abundance of organisms at various trophic levels. In agroecosystems the performance of (invasive) herbivores and their impacts on crops is of particular concern. Scientists are presently challenged with making reliable inferences on invader success, natural enemy performance and efficacy of biological control, particularly in tropical agroecosystems. In this study, we assess how trophic regulatory forces (bottom-up vs. top down) influence the success of three globally important pests of cassava. We examine the mealybug species (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) of differing host breadth and invasion history: Phenacoccus manihoti, Paracoccus marginatus, and Pseudococcus jackbeardsleyi. Potted plant fertilizer trials were combined with a regional survey in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia of 65 cassava fields of similar size and age, but with varying soil fertility. Relative abundance of each mealybug invader was mapped along a soil fertility gradient, and contrasted with site-specific measures of parasitism. Potted plant trials revealed strong bottom-up effects for P. manihoti, such that impacts of nitrogen and potassium additions were propagated through to higher trophic levels and substantially boost development and fitness of its specialist parasitoid, Anagyrus lopezi (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae). Field surveys indicate that mealybug performance is highly species-specific and context-dependent. For example, field-level abundance of P. jackbeardsleyi and P. marginatus, was related to measures of soil fertility parameters, soil texture and plant disease incidence. Furthermore, for P. manihoti, in-field abundance is equally associated with soil texture (i.e., silt content). Principal component analysis (PCA) and regression suggested that P. manihoti and P. marginatus are disproportionately favored in low-fertility conditions, while P. jackbeardsleyi prospers in settings with high organic carbon and phosphorus. Parasitism of P. manihoti by A. lopezi varied greatly with field and soil fertility conditions, and was highest in soils with intermediate fertility levels and where management practices include the addition of fertilizer supplements. Our characterization of the relative performance of invasive mealybugs and strength of parasitism across variable soil fertility conditions will help guide parasitoid release programs and soil management practices that enhance mealybug biological control
Layered control architectures in robots and vertebrates
We revieiv recent research in robotics, neuroscience, evolutionary neurobiology, and ethology with the aim of highlighting some points of agreement and convergence. Specifically, we com pare Brooks' (1986) subsumption architecture for robot control with research in neuroscience demonstrating layered control systems in vertebrate brains, and with research in ethology that emphasizes the decomposition of control into multiple, intertwined behavior systems. From this perspective we then describe interesting parallels between the subsumption architecture and the natural layered behavior system that determines defense reactions in the rat. We then consider the action selection problem for robots and vertebrates and argue that, in addition to subsumption- like conflict resolution mechanisms, the vertebrate nervous system employs specialized selection mechanisms located in a group of central brain structures termed the basal ganglia. We suggest that similar specialized switching mechanisms might be employed in layered robot control archi tectures to provide effective and flexible action selection
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