7,536 research outputs found
Remarks on quiver gauge theories from open topological string theory
We study effective quiver gauge theories arising from a stack of D3-branes on certain Calabi-Yau singularities. Our point of view is a first principle approach via open topological string theory. This means that we construct the natural A-infinity-structure of open string amplitudes in the associated D-brane category. Then we show that it precisely reproduces the results of the method of brane tilings, without having to resort to any effective field theory computations. In particular, we prove a general and simple formula for effective superpotentials
Comparison of severity of illness scoring systems for patients with nosocomial bloodstream infection due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa
BACKGROUND: Several acute illness severity scores have been proposed for evaluating patients on admission to intensive care units but these have not been compared for patients with nosocomial bloodstream infection (nBSI). We compared three severity of illness scoring systems for predicting mortality in patients with nBSI due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa. METHODS: We performed a historical cohort study on 63 adults in intensive care units with P. aeruginosa monomicrobial nBSI. RESULTS: The Acute Physiology, Age, Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II), Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA), and Simplified Acute Physiologic Score (SAPS II), were calculated daily from 2 days prior through 2 days after the first positive blood culture. Calculation of the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve confirmed that APACHE II and SAPS II at day -1 and SOFA at day +1 were better predictors of outcome than days -2, 0 and day 2 of BSI. By stepwise logistic regression analysis of these three scoring systems, SAPS II (OR: 13.03, CI95% 2.51–70.49) and APACHE II (OR: 12.51, CI95% 3.12–50.09) on day -1 were the best predictors for mortality. CONCLUSION: SAPS II and APACHE II are more accurate than the SOFA score for predicting mortality in this group of patients at day -1 of BSI
Upper bounds for number of removed edges in the Erased Configuration Model
Models for generating simple graphs are important in the study of real-world
complex networks. A well established example of such a model is the erased
configuration model, where each node receives a number of half-edges that are
connected to half-edges of other nodes at random, and then self-loops are
removed and multiple edges are concatenated to make the graph simple. Although
asymptotic results for many properties of this model, such as the limiting
degree distribution, are known, the exact speed of convergence in terms of the
graph sizes remains an open question. We provide a first answer by analyzing
the size dependence of the average number of removed edges in the erased
configuration model. By combining known upper bounds with a Tauberian Theorem
we obtain upper bounds for the number of removed edges, in terms of the size of
the graph. Remarkably, when the degree distribution follows a power-law, we
observe three scaling regimes, depending on the power law exponent. Our results
provide a strong theoretical basis for evaluating finite-size effects in
networks
Sequence learning modulates neural responses and oscillatory coupling in human and monkey auditory cortex
Learning complex ordering relationships between sensory events in a sequence is fundamental for animal perception and human communication. While it is known that rhythmic sensory events can entrain brain oscillations at different frequencies, how learning and prior experience with sequencing relationships affect neocortical oscillations and neuronal responses is poorly understood. We used an implicit sequence learning paradigm (an “artificial grammar”) in which humans and monkeys were exposed to sequences of nonsense words with regularities in the ordering relationships between the words. We then recorded neural responses directly from the auditory cortex in both species in response to novel legal sequences or ones violating specific ordering relationships. Neural oscillations in both monkeys and humans in response to the nonsense word sequences show strikingly similar hierarchically nested low-frequency phase and high-gamma amplitude coupling, establishing this form of oscillatory coupling—previously associated with speech processing in the human auditory cortex—as an evolutionarily conserved biological process. Moreover, learned ordering relationships modulate the observed form of neural oscillatory coupling in both species, with temporally distinct neural oscillatory effects that appear to coordinate neuronal responses in the monkeys. This study identifies the conserved auditory cortical neural signatures involved in monitoring learned sequencing operations, evident as modulations of transient coupling and neuronal responses to temporally structured sensory input
Effective and Efficient Similarity Index for Link Prediction of Complex Networks
Predictions of missing links of incomplete networks like protein-protein
interaction networks or very likely but not yet existent links in evolutionary
networks like friendship networks in web society can be considered as a
guideline for further experiments or valuable information for web users. In
this paper, we introduce a local path index to estimate the likelihood of the
existence of a link between two nodes. We propose a network model with
controllable density and noise strength in generating links, as well as collect
data of six real networks. Extensive numerical simulations on both modeled
networks and real networks demonstrated the high effectiveness and efficiency
of the local path index compared with two well-known and widely used indices,
the common neighbors and the Katz index. Indeed, the local path index provides
competitively accurate predictions as the Katz index while requires much less
CPU time and memory space, which is therefore a strong candidate for potential
practical applications in data mining of huge-size networks.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 3 table
Strong Interactions of Single Atoms and Photons near a Dielectric Boundary
Modern research in optical physics has achieved quantum control of strong
interactions between a single atom and one photon within the setting of cavity
quantum electrodynamics (cQED). However, to move beyond current
proof-of-principle experiments involving one or two conventional optical
cavities to more complex scalable systems that employ N >> 1 microscopic
resonators requires the localization of individual atoms on distance scales <
100 nm from a resonator's surface. In this regime an atom can be strongly
coupled to a single intracavity photon while at the same time experiencing
significant radiative interactions with the dielectric boundaries of the
resonator. Here, we report an initial step into this new regime of cQED by way
of real-time detection and high-bandwidth feedback to select and monitor single
Cesium atoms localized ~100 nm from the surface of a micro-toroidal optical
resonator. We employ strong radiative interactions of atom and cavity field to
probe atomic motion through the evanescent field of the resonator. Direct
temporal and spectral measurements reveal both the significant role of
Casimir-Polder attraction and the manifestly quantum nature of the atom-cavity
dynamics. Our work sets the stage for trapping atoms near micro- and
nano-scopic optical resonators for applications in quantum information science,
including the creation of scalable quantum networks composed of many
atom-cavity systems that coherently interact via coherent exchanges of single
photons.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, Supplemental Information included as ancillary
fil
Analysis of stellar spectra with 3D and NLTE models
Models of radiation transport in stellar atmospheres are the hinge of modern
astrophysics. Our knowledge of stars, stellar populations, and galaxies is only
as good as the theoretical models, which are used for the interpretation of
their observed spectra, photometric magnitudes, and spectral energy
distributions. I describe recent advances in the field of stellar atmosphere
modelling for late-type stars. Various aspects of radiation transport with 1D
hydrostatic, LTE, NLTE, and 3D radiative-hydrodynamical models are briefly
reviewed.Comment: 21 pages, accepted for publication as a chapter in "Determination of
Atmospheric Parameters of B, A, F and G Type Stars", Springer (2014), eds. E.
Niemczura, B. Smalley, W. Pyc
Cancer cells exploit an orphan RNA to drive metastatic progression.
Here we performed a systematic search to identify breast-cancer-specific small noncoding RNAs, which we have collectively termed orphan noncoding RNAs (oncRNAs). We subsequently discovered that one of these oncRNAs, which originates from the 3' end of TERC, acts as a regulator of gene expression and is a robust promoter of breast cancer metastasis. This oncRNA, which we have named T3p, exerts its prometastatic effects by acting as an inhibitor of RISC complex activity and increasing the expression of the prometastatic genes NUPR1 and PANX2. Furthermore, we have shown that oncRNAs are present in cancer-cell-derived extracellular vesicles, raising the possibility that these circulating oncRNAs may also have a role in non-cell autonomous disease pathogenesis. Additionally, these circulating oncRNAs present a novel avenue for cancer fingerprinting using liquid biopsies
A Carbon Nanofilament-Bead Necklace
Carbon nanofilaments with carbon beads grown on their surfaces were successfully synthesized reproducibly by a floating catalyst CVD method. The nanofilaments hosting the pearl-like structures typically show an average diameter of about 60 nm, which mostly consists of low-ordered graphite layers. The beads with diameter range 150−450 nm are composed of hundreds of crumpled and random graphite layers. The mechanism for the formation of these beaded nanofilaments is ascribed to two nucleation processes of the pyrolytic carbon deposition, arising from a temperature gradient between different parts of the reaction chamber. Furthermore, the Raman scattering properties of the beaded nanofilaments have been measured, as well as their confocal Raman G-line images. The Raman spectra reveal that that the trunks of the nanofilaments have better graphitic properties than the beads, which is consistent with the HRTEM analysis. The beaded nanofilaments are expected to have high potential applications in composites, which should exhibit both particle- and fiber-reinforcing functions for the host matrixes
Semiconducting Monolayer Materials as a Tunable Platform for Excitonic Solar Cells
The recent advent of two-dimensional monolayer materials with tunable
optoelectronic properties and high carrier mobility offers renewed
opportunities for efficient, ultra-thin excitonic solar cells alternative to
those based on conjugated polymer and small molecule donors. Using
first-principles density functional theory and many-body calculations, we
demonstrate that monolayers of hexagonal BN and graphene (CBN) combined with
commonly used acceptors such as PCBM fullerene or semiconducting carbon
nanotubes can provide excitonic solar cells with tunable absorber gap,
donor-acceptor interface band alignment, and power conversion efficiency, as
well as novel device architectures. For the case of CBN-PCBM devices, we
predict the limit of power conversion efficiencies to be in the 10 - 20% range
depending on the CBN monolayer structure. Our results demonstrate the
possibility of using monolayer materials in tunable, efficient, polymer-free
thin-film solar cells in which unexplored exciton and carrier transport regimes
are at play.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
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