3,723 research outputs found
Could antiretrovirals be treating EBV in MS? A case report
We present the case of an HIV-negative patient clinically diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS who achieved significant disease improvement on Combivir (zidovudine/lamivudine). Within months of treatment, the patient reported complete resolution of previously unremitting fatigue and paresthesiae, with simultaneous improvements in lesion burden detected by MRI. All improvements have been sustained for more than three years. This response may be related to the action of zidovudine as a known inhibitor of EBV lytic DNA replication, suggesting future directions for clinical investigation. Keywords: Multiple sclerosis, Epstein-Barr viru
Environmental and workplace contamination in the semiconductor industry: implications for future health of the workforce and community.
The semiconductor industry has been an enormous worldwide growth industry. At the heart of computer and other electronic technological advances, the environment in and around these manufacturing facilities has not been scrutinized to fully detail the health effects to the workers and the community from such exposures. Hazard identification in this industry leads to the conclusion that there are many sources of potential exposure to chemicals including arsenic, solvents, photoactive polymers and other materials. As the size of the semiconductor work force expands, the potential for adverse health effects, ranging from transient irritant symptoms to reproductive effects and cancer, must be determined and control measures instituted. Risk assessments need to be effected for areas where these facilities conduct manufacturing. The predominance of women in the manufacturing areas requires evaluating the exposures to reproductive hazards and outcomes. Arsenic exposures must also be evaluated and minimized, especially for maintenance workers; evaluation for lung and skin cancers is also appropriate
Probability of local bifurcation type from a fixed point: A random matrix perspective
Results regarding probable bifurcations from fixed points are presented in
the context of general dynamical systems (real, random matrices), time-delay
dynamical systems (companion matrices), and a set of mappings known for their
properties as universal approximators (neural networks). The eigenvalue spectra
is considered both numerically and analytically using previous work of Edelman
et. al. Based upon the numerical evidence, various conjectures are presented.
The conclusion is that in many circumstances, most bifurcations from fixed
points of large dynamical systems will be due to complex eigenvalues.
Nevertheless, surprising situations are presented for which the aforementioned
conclusion is not general, e.g. real random matrices with Gaussian elements
with a large positive mean and finite variance.Comment: 21 pages, 19 figure
Lateralization of face processing in the human brain
Are visual face processing mechanisms the same in the left and right cerebral hemispheres? The possibility of such ‘duplicated processing’ seems puzzling in terms of neural resource usage, and we currently lack a precise characterization of the lateral differences in face processing. To address this need, we have undertaken a three-pronged approach. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we assessed cortical sensitivity to facial semblance, the modulatory effects of context and temporal response dynamics. Results on all three fronts revealed systematic hemispheric differences. We found that: (i) activation patterns in the left fusiform gyrus correlate with image-level face-semblance, while those in the right correlate with categorical face/non-face judgements. (ii) Context exerts significant excitatory/inhibitory influence in the left, but has limited effect on the right. (iii) Face-selectivity persists in the right even after activity on the left has returned to baseline. These results provide important clues regarding the functional architecture of face processing, suggesting that the left hemisphere is involved in processing ‘low-level’ face semblance, and perhaps is a precursor to categorical ‘deep’ analyses on the right.John Merck FundSimons FoundationJames S. McDonnell FoundationNational Eye Institute (NIH, grant number R21-EY015521
Causal connectivity of evolved neural networks during behavior
To show how causal interactions in neural dynamics are modulated by behavior, it is valuable to analyze these interactions without perturbing or lesioning the neural mechanism. This paper proposes a method, based on a graph-theoretic extension of vector autoregressive modeling and 'Granger causality,' for characterizing causal interactions generated within intact neural mechanisms. This method, called 'causal connectivity analysis' is illustrated via model neural networks optimized for controlling target fixation in a simulated head-eye system, in which the structure of the environment can be experimentally varied. Causal connectivity analysis of this model yields novel insights into neural mechanisms underlying sensorimotor coordination. In contrast to networks supporting comparatively simple behavior, networks supporting rich adaptive behavior show a higher density of causal interactions, as well as a stronger causal flow from sensory inputs to motor outputs. They also show different arrangements of 'causal sources' and 'causal sinks': nodes that differentially affect, or are affected by, the remainder of the network. Finally, analysis of causal connectivity can predict the functional consequences of network lesions. These results suggest that causal connectivity analysis may have useful applications in the analysis of neural dynamics
Quantum Chaotic Dynamics and Random Polynomials
We investigate the distribution of roots of polynomials of high degree with
random coefficients which, among others, appear naturally in the context of
"quantum chaotic dynamics". It is shown that under quite general conditions
their roots tend to concentrate near the unit circle in the complex plane. In
order to further increase this tendency, we study in detail the particular case
of self-inversive random polynomials and show that for them a finite portion of
all roots lies exactly on the unit circle. Correlation functions of these roots
are also computed analytically, and compared to the correlations of eigenvalues
of random matrices. The problem of ergodicity of chaotic wave-functions is also
considered. For that purpose we introduce a family of random polynomials whose
roots spread uniformly over phase space. While these results are consistent
with random matrix theory predictions, they provide a new and different insight
into the problem of quantum ergodicity. Special attention is devoted all over
the paper to the role of symmetries in the distribution of roots of random
polynomials.Comment: 33 pages, Latex, 6 Figures not included (a copy of them can be
requested at [email protected]); to appear in Journal of Statistical
Physic
CD-independent subsets in meet-distributive lattices
A subset of a finite lattice is CD-independent if the meet of any two
incomparable elements of equals 0. In 2009, Cz\'edli, Hartmann and Schmidt
proved that any two maximal CD-independent subsets of a finite distributive
lattice have the same number of elements. In this paper, we prove that if
is a finite meet-distributive lattice, then the size of every CD-independent
subset of is at most the number of atoms of plus the length of . If,
in addition, there is no three-element antichain of meet-irreducible elements,
then we give a recursive description of maximal CD-independent subsets.
Finally, to give an application of CD-independent subsets, we give a new
approach to count islands on a rectangular board.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure
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