1,627 research outputs found
Towards the validation of SeaWiFS in Southern African Waters: The effects of Gelbstoff
The effective application of future ocean colour data for southern African waters requires an in-depth assessment of bio-optical algorithm performance, given the productive and highly variable nature of the oceanographic region. Phytoplankton degradation products, commonly known as gelbstoff, represent a large potential error source to future remotely sensed chlorophyll data, particularly in highly productive regions, where there can be a dramatic lack of covariance between phytoplankton and gelbstoff concentrations. Data relevant to gelbstoff character in the Agulhas Bank and southern Benguela systems are examined to assess the variability of gelbstoff chromophoric structure in these regions. These take the form of gelbstoff absorption spectra, and fluorescence excitation-emission matrices, performed on filtered seawater samples. Modelled bio-optical data, using conditions typical of high biomass marine environments, are then used to assess the performance of a proposed SeaWiFS combined algorithm with respect to variations in the magnitude and nature of gelbstoff absorption. It is shown that expected algorithm performance can be poor in bloom type scenarios, and that an appreciation of algorithm application is needed for effective interpretation of ocean colour imagery
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Change detection in children with autism: an auditory event-related fMRI study
Autism involves impairments in communication and social interaction, as well as high levels of repetitive, stereotypic and ritualistic behaviours, and extreme resistance to change. This latter dimension, whilst required for a diagnosis, has received less research attention. We hypothesise that this extreme resistance to change in autism is rooted in atypical processing of unexpected stimuli. We tested this using auditory event-related fMRI to determine regional brain activity associated with passive detection of infrequently occurring frequency-deviant and complex novel sounds in a no-task condition. Participants were twelve 10 to 15-year-old children with autism, and a group of 12 age- and sex-matched healthy controls
Yangian in the Twistor String
We study symmetries of the quantized open twistor string. In addition to
global PSL(4|4) symmetry, we find non-local conserved currents. The associated
non-local charges lead to Ward identities which show that these charges
annihilate the string gluon tree amplitudes, and have the same form as
symmetries of amplitudes in N=4 super conformal Yang Mills theory. We describe
how states of the open twistor string form a realization of the PSL(4|4)
Yangian superalgebra.Comment: 37 pages, 4 figure
Determining matrix elements and resonance widths from finite volume: the dangerous mu-terms
The standard numerical approach to determining matrix elements of local
operators and width of resonances uses the finite volume dependence of energy
levels and matrix elements. Finite size corrections that decay exponentially in
the volume are usually neglected or taken into account using perturbation
expansion in effective field theory. Using two-dimensional sine-Gordon field
theory as "toy model" it is shown that some exponential finite size effects
could be much larger than previously thought, potentially spoiling the
determination of matrix elements in frameworks such as lattice QCD. The
particular class of finite size corrections considered here are mu-terms
arising from bound state poles in the scattering amplitudes. In sine-Gordon
model, these can be explicitly evaluated and shown to explain the observed
discrepancies to high precision. It is argued that the effects observed are not
special to the two-dimensional setting, but rather depend on general field
theoretic features that are common with models relevant for particle physics.
It is important to understand these finite size corrections as they present a
potentially dangerous source of systematic errors for the determination of
matrix elements and resonance widths.Comment: 26 pages, 13 eps figures, LaTeX2e fil
Successful ecosystem-based management of Antarctic krill should address uncertainties in krill recruitment, behaviour and ecological adaptation
Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, supports a valuable commercial fishery in the Southwest Atlantic, which holds the highest krill densities and is warming rapidly. The krill catch is increasing, is concentrated in a small area, and has shifted seasonally from summer to autumn/winter. The fishery is managed by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, with the main goal of safeguarding the large populations of krilldependent predators. Here we show that, because of the restricted distribution of successfully spawning krill and high inter-annual variability in their biomass, the risk of direct fishery impacts on the krill stock itself might be higher than previously thought. We show how management benefits could be achieved by incorporating uncertainty surrounding key aspects of krill ecology into management decisions, and how knowledge can be improved in these key areas. This improved information may be supplied, in part, by the fishery itself
Chlamydia trachomatis prevalence in undocumented migrants undergoing voluntary termination of pregnancy: a prospective cohort study
BACKGROUND: Chlamydia trachomatis infection (CTI) is the most frequent sexual transmitted disease (STI) in Switzerland but its prevalence in undocumented migrants is unknown. We aimed to compare CTI prevalence among undocumented migrants undergoing termination of pregnancy (ToP) to the prevalence among women with residency permit. METHODS: This prospective cohort study included all pregnant, undocumented women presenting from March 2005 to October 2006 to the University hospital for ToP. The control group consisted of a systematic sample of pregnant women with legal residency permit coming to the same hospital during the same time period for ToP. RESULTS: One hundred seventy five undocumented women and 208 women with residency permit (controls) were included in the study. Mean ages were 28.0 y (SD 5.5) and 28.2 y (SD 7.5), respectively (p = 0.77). Undocumented women came primarily from Latin-America (78%). Frequently, they lacked contraception (23%, controls 15%, OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.04;2.9). Thirteen percent of undocumented migrants were found to have CTI (compared to 4.4% of controls; OR 3.2, 95% CI 1.4;7.3). CONCLUSION: This population of undocumented, pregnant migrants consisted primarily of young, Latino-American women. Compared to control women, undocumented migrants showed higher prevalence rates of genital CTI, which indicates that health professionals should consider systematic screening for STI in this population. There is a need to design programs providing better access to treatment and education and to increase migrants' awareness of the importance of contraception and transmission of STI
Cerebral activations related to ballistic, stepwise interrupted and gradually modulated movements in parkinson patients
Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) experience impaired initiation and inhibition of movements such as difficulty to start/stop walking. At single-joint level this is accompanied by reduced inhibition of antagonist muscle activity. While normal basal ganglia (BG) contributions to motor control include selecting appropriate muscles by inhibiting others, it is unclear how PD-related changes in BG function cause impaired movement initiation and inhibition at single-joint level. To further elucidate these changes we studied 4 right-hand movement tasks with fMRI, by dissociating activations related to abrupt movement initiation, inhibition and gradual movement modulation. Initiation and inhibition were inferred from ballistic and stepwise interrupted movement, respectively, while smooth wrist circumduction enabled the assessment of gradually modulated movement. Task-related activations were compared between PD patients (N = 12) and healthy subjects (N = 18). In healthy subjects, movement initiation was characterized by antero-ventral striatum, substantia nigra (SN) and premotor activations while inhibition was dominated by subthalamic nucleus (STN) and pallidal activations, in line with the known role of these areas in simple movement. Gradual movement mainly involved antero-dorsal putamen and pallidum. Compared to healthy subjects, patients showed reduced striatal/SN and increased pallidal activation for initiation, whereas for inhibition STN activation was reduced and striatal-thalamo-cortical activation increased. For gradual movement patients showed reduced pallidal and increased thalamo-cortical activation. We conclude that PD-related changes during movement initiation fit the (rather static) model of alterations in direct and indirect BG pathways. Reduced STN activation and regional cortical increased activation in PD during inhibition and gradual movement modulation are better explained by a dynamic model that also takes into account enhanced responsiveness to external stimuli in this disease and the effects of hyper-fluctuating cortical inputs to the striatum and STN in particular
Short-term synaptic plasticity in the nociceptive thalamic-anterior cingulate pathway
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although the mechanisms of short- and long-term potentiation of nociceptive-evoked responses are well known in the spinal cord, including central sensitization, there has been a growing body of information on such events in the cerebral cortex. In view of the importance of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in chronic pain conditions, this review considers neuronal plasticities in the thalamocingulate pathway that may be the earliest changes associated with such syndromes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A single nociceptive electrical stimulus to the sciatic nerve induced a prominent sink current in the layer II/III of the ACC <it>in vivo</it>, while high frequency stimulation potentiated the response of this current. Paired-pulse facilitation by electrical stimulation of midline, mediodorsal and intralaminar thalamic nuclei (MITN) suggesting that the MITN projection to ACC mediates the nociceptive short-term plasticity. The short-term synaptic plasticities were evaluated for different inputs <it>in vitro </it>where the medial thalamic and contralateral corpus callosum afferents were compared. Stimulation of the mediodorsal afferent evoked a stronger short-term synaptic plasticity and effectively transferred the bursting thalamic activity to cingulate cortex that was not true for contralateral stimulation. This short-term enhancement of synaptic transmission was mediated by polysynaptic pathways and NMDA receptors. Layer II/III neurons of the ACC express a short-term plasticity that involves glutamate and presynaptic calcium influx and is an important mechanism of the short-term plasticity.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The potentiation of ACC neuronal activity induced by thalamic bursting suggest that short-term synaptic plasticities enable the processing of nociceptive information from the medial thalamus and this temporal response variability is particularly important in pain because temporal maintenance of the response supports cortical integration and memory formation related to noxious events. Moreover, these modifications of cingulate synapses appear to regulate afferent signals that may be important to the transition from acute to chronic pain conditions associated with persistent peripheral noxious stimulation. Enhanced and maintained nociceptive activities in cingulate cortex, therefore, can become adverse and it will be important to learn how to regulate such changes in thalamic firing patterns that transmit nociceptive information to ACC in early stages of chronic pain.</p
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