81 research outputs found
An anisotropic gravity theory
We study an action integral for Finsler gravity obtained by pulling back an
Einstein-Cartan-like Lagrangian from the tangent bundle to the base manifold.
The vacuum equations are obtained imposing stationarity with respect to any
section (observer) and are well posed as they are independent of the section.
They imply that in vacuum the metric is actually independent of the velocity
variable so the dynamics becomes coincident with that of general relativity.Comment: Latex, 15 pages. v2: we fixed some typos and added two more
appendices with proofs of formulas used in the work. To appear in the topical
volume `Singularity theorems, causality, and all that (SCRI21)'
https://link.springer.com/collections/hjjgajaag
Flat deformation of a spacetime admitting two Killing fields
It is shown that given an analytic Lorentzian metric on a 4-manifold, ,
which admits two Killing vector fields, then it exists a local deformation law
, where is a 2-dimensional projector, such that is
flat and admits the same Killing vectors. We also characterize the particular
case when the projector coincides with the quotient metric. We apply some
of our results to general stationary axisymmetric spacetime
Agreement between two photoplethysmography-based wearable devices for monitoring heart rate during different physical activity situations : a new analysis methodology
Wearables are being increasingly used to monitor heart rate (HR). However, their usefulness for analyzing continuous HR in research or at clinical level is questionable. The aim of this study is to analyze the level of agreement between different wearables in the measurement of HR based on photoplethysmography, according to different body positions and physical activity levels, and compared to a gold-standard ECG. The proposed method measures agreement among several time scales since different wearables obtain HR at different sampling rates. Eighteen university students (10 men, 8 women; 22 ± 2.45 years old) participated in a laboratory study. Participants simultaneously wore an Apple Watch and a Polar Vantage watch. ECG was measured using a BIOPAC system. HR was recorded continuously and simultaneously by the three devices, for consecutive 5-min periods in 4 different situations: lying supine, sitting, standing and walking at 4 km/h on a treadmill. HR estimations were obtained with the maximum precision offered by the software of each device and compared by averaging in several time scales, since the wearables obtained HR at different sampling rates, although results are more detailed for 5 s and 30 s epochs. Bland-Altman (B-A) plots show that there is no noticeable difference between data from the ECG and any of the smartwatches while participants were lying down. In this position, the bias is low when averaging in both 5 s and 30 s. Differently, B-A plots show that there are differences when the situation involves some level of physical activity, especially for shorter epochs. That is, the discrepancy between devices and the ECG was greater when walking on the treadmill and during short time scales. The device showing the biggest discrepancy was the Polar Watch, and the one with the best results was the Apple Watch. We conclude that photoplethysmography-based wearable devices are suitable for monitoring HR averages at regular intervals, especially at rest, but their feasibility is debatable for a continuous analysis of HR for research or clinical purposes, especially when involving some level of physical activity. An important contribution of this work is a new methodology to synchronize and measure the agreement against a gold standard of two or more devices measuring HR at different and not necessarily even paces
Are Causality Violations Undesirable?
Causality violations are typically seen as unrealistic and undesirable
features of a physical model. The following points out three reasons why
causality violations, which Bonnor and Steadman identified even in solutions to
the Einstein equation referring to ordinary laboratory situations, are not
necessarily undesirable. First, a space-time in which every causal curve can be
extended into a closed causal curve is singularity free--a necessary property
of a globally applicable physical theory. Second, a causality-violating
space-time exhibits a nontrivial topology--no closed timelike curve (CTC) can
be homotopic among CTCs to a point, or that point would not be causally well
behaved--and nontrivial topology has been explored as a model of particles.
Finally, if every causal curve in a given space-time passes through an event
horizon, a property which can be called "causal censorship", then that
space-time with event horizons excised would still be causally well behaved.Comment: Accepted in October 2008 by Foundations of Physics. Latex2e, 6 pages,
no figures. Presented at a seminar at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de
Mexico. Version 2 was co-winner of the QMUL CTC Essay Priz
About curvature, conformal metrics and warped products
We consider the curvature of a family of warped products of two
pseduo-Riemannian manifolds and furnished with metrics of
the form and, in particular, of the type , where are smooth
functions and is a real parameter. We obtain suitable expressions for the
Ricci tensor and scalar curvature of such products that allow us to establish
results about the existence of Einstein or constant scalar curvature structures
in these categories. If is Riemannian, the latter question involves
nonlinear elliptic partial differential equations with concave-convex
nonlinearities and singular partial differential equations of the
Lichnerowicz-York type among others.Comment: 32 pages, 3 figure
Soluble AXL is a novel blood marker for early detection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and differential diagnosis from chronic pancreatitis
Background: Early diagnosis is crucial for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The AXL receptor tyrosine kinase is proteolytically processed releasing a soluble form (sAXL) into the blood stream. Here we explore the use of sAXL as a biomarker for PDAC. Methods: AXL was analysed by immunohistochemistry in human pancreatic tissue samples. RNA expression analysis was performed using TCGA/GTEx databases. The plasma concentrations of sAXL, its ligand GAS6, and CA19-9 were studied in two independent cohorts, the HMar cohort (n = 59) and the HClinic cohort (n = 142), including healthy controls, chronic pancreatitis (CP) or PDAC patients, and in a familial PDAC cohort (n = 68). AXL expression and sAXL release were studied in PDAC cell lines and murine models. Findings: AXL is increased in PDAC and precursor lesions as compared to CP or controls. sAXL determined in plasma from two independent cohorts was significantly increased in the PDAC group as compared to healthy controls or CP patients. Patients with high levels of AXL have a lower overall survival. ROC analysis of the plasma levels of sAXL, GAS6, or CA19-9 in our cohorts revealed that sAXL outperformed CA19-9 for discriminating between CP and PDAC. Using both sAXL and CA19-9 increased the diagnostic value. These results were validated in murine models, showing increased sAXL specifically in animals developing PDAC but not those with precursor lesions or acinar tumours. Interpretation: sAXL appears as a biomarker for early detection of PDAC and PDAC–CP discrimination that could accelerate treatment and improve its dismal prognosis. Funding: This work was supported by grants PI20/00625 (PN), RTI2018-095672-B-I00 (AM and PGF), PI20/01696 (MG) and PI18/01034 (AC) from MICINN-FEDER and grant 2017/SGR/225 (PN) from Generalitat de Catalunya. © 2021 The Author(s
Unwrapping Closed Timelike Curves
Closed timelike curves (CTCs) appear in many solutions of the Einstein
equation, even with reasonable matter sources. These solutions appear to
violate causality and so are considered problematic. Since CTCs reflect the
global properties of a spacetime, one can attempt to change its topology,
without changing its geometry, in such a way that the former CTCs are no longer
closed in the new spacetime. This procedure is informally known as unwrapping.
However, changes in global identifications tend to lead to local effects, and
unwrapping is no exception, as it introduces a special kind of singularity,
called quasi-regular. This "unwrapping" singularity is similar to the string
singularities. We give two examples of unwrapping of essentially 2+1
dimensional spacetimes with CTCs, the Gott spacetime and the Godel universe. We
show that the unwrapped Gott spacetime, while singular, is at least devoid of
CTCs. In contrast, the unwrapped Godel spacetime still contains CTCs through
every point. A "multiple unwrapping" procedure is devised to remove the
remaining circular CTCs. We conclude that, based on the two spacetimes we
investigated, CTCs appearing in the solutions of the Einstein equation are not
simply a mathematical artifact of coordinate identifications, but are indeed a
necessary consequence of General Relativity, provided only that we demand these
solutions do not possess naked quasi-regular singularities.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figure
Lodged in the throat: Internal infinities and AdS/CFT
In the context of AdS3/CFT2, we address spacetimes with a certain sort of
internal infinity as typified by the extreme BTZ black hole. The internal
infinity is a null circle lying at the end of the black hole's infinite throat.
We argue that such spacetimes may be described by a product CFT of the form
CFT-L * CFT-R, where CFT-R is associated with the asymptotically AdS boundary
while CFT-L is associated with the null circle. Our particular calculations
analyze the CFT dual of the extreme BTZ black hole in a linear toy model of
AdS3/CFT2. Since the BTZ black hole is a quotient of AdS3, the dual CFT state
is a corresponding quotient of the CFT vacuum state. This state turns out to
live in the aforementioned product CFT. We discuss this result in the context
of general issues of AdS/CFT duality and entanglement entropy.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures; v2 - some typos corrected, minor revision
The Dynamical Behaviour of Test Particles in a Quasi-Spherical Spacetime and the Physical Meaning of Superenergy
We calculate the instantaneous proper radial acceleration of test particles
(as measured by a locally defined Lorentzian observer) in a Weyl spacetime,
close to the horizon. As expected from the Israel theorem, there appear some
bifurcations with respect to the spherically symmetric case (Schwarzschild),
which are explained in terms of the behaviour of the superenergy, bringing out
the physical relevance of this quantity in the study of general relativistic
systems.Comment: 14 pages, Latex. 4 figures. New references added. Typos corrected. To
appear in Int. J. Theor. Phy
Reduction in the levels of CoQ biosynthetic proteins is related to an increase in lifespan without evidence of hepatic mitohormesis
Mitohormesis is an adaptive response induced by a mild mitochondrial stress that promotes longevity
and metabolic health in different organisms. This mechanism has been proposed as the cause of the
increase in the survival in Coq7+/− (Mclk1+/−) mice, which show hepatic reduction of COQ7, early
mitochondrial dysfunction and increased oxidative stress. Our study shows that the lack of COQ9 in
Coq9Q95X mice triggers the reduction of COQ7, COQ6 and COQ5, which results in an increase in life
expectancy. However, our results reveal that the hepatic CoQ levels are not decreased and, therefore,
neither mitochondrial dysfunction or increased oxidative stress are observed in liver of Coq9Q95X mice.
These data point out the tissue specific differences in CoQ biosynthesis. Moreover, our results suggest
that the effect of reduced levels of COQ7 on the increased survival in Coq9Q95X mice may be due to
mitochondrial mechanisms in non-liver tissues or to other unknown mechanisms.This work was supported by grants from Ministerio de
Economía Competitividad, Spain, and the ERDF (Grant Number SAF2015-65786-R), from the Consejería de
Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo, Junta de Andalucía (grant number P10-CTS-6133) and from the
University of Granada (grant reference “UNETE”, UCE-PP2017-06). AHG is a “FPU fellow” from the Ministerio
de Educación Cultura y Deporte, Spain. MLS was a predoctoral fellow from the Consejería de Economía,
Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo, Junta de Andalucía. LCL was supported by the “Ramón y Cajal” National
Programme, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spain (RYC-2011-07643)
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