14,807 research outputs found
Neural network modeling of memory deterioration in Alzheimer's disease
The clinical course of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is generally characterized by progressive gradual deterioration, although large clinical variability exists. Motivated by the recent quantitative reports of synaptic changes in AD, we use a neural network model to investigate how the interplay between synaptic deletion and compensation determines the pattern of memory deterioration, a clinical hallmark of AD. Within the model we show that the deterioration of memory retrieval due to synaptic deletion can be much delayed by multiplying all the remaining synaptic weights by a common factor, which keeps the average input to each neuron at the same level. This parallels the experimental observation that the total synaptic area per unit volume (TSA) is initially preserved when synaptic deletion occurs. By using different dependencies of the compensatory factor on the amount of synaptic deletion one can define various compensation strategies, which can account for the observed variation in the severity and progression rate of AD
Framework for the Integration of Service and Technology Strategies
Organised by: Cranfield UniversityAfter sales service is a highly profitable business for manufacturers of technology-driven products. Due to
this fact competitors want to share in high profit margins. At the same time after sales business has to deal
with an increasing range of variants of products and technologies, shorter life cycles and changing
customer demands. In spite of these manifold challenges, often neither after sales departments are
involved in the early product development stage nor are customer demands and technical parameters
considered in the service development processes entirely. Therefore an integration of service and
technology strategies is necessary. This paper presents a framework for this integration that visualises the
complex interdependencies and interfaces between service as well as product and motor vehicle workshop
technologies.Mori Seiki – The Machine Tool Compan
New Young Stars and Brown Dwarfs in the Upper Scorpius Association
To improve the census of the Upper Sco association (~11 Myr, ~145 pc), we
have identified candidate members using parallaxes, proper motions, and
color-magnitude diagrams from several wide-field imaging surveys and have
obtained optical and infrared spectra of several hundred candidates to measure
their spectral types and assess their membership. We also have performed
spectroscopy on a smaller sample of previously known or suspected members to
refine their spectral types and evidence of membership. We have classified 530
targets as members of Upper Sco, 377 of which lack previous spectroscopy. Our
new compilation of all known members of the association contains 1631 objects.
Although the census of Upper Sco has expanded significantly over the last
decade, there remain hundreds of candidates that lack spectroscopy. The precise
parallaxes and proper motions from the second data release of Gaia should
extend down to substellar masses in Upper Sco, which will greatly facilitate
the identification of the undiscovered members.Comment: Astronomical Journal, in press; machine readable tables and fits
spectra available at http://personal.psu.edu/kll207/usco.ta
Riemann solvers and undercompressive shocks of convex FPU chains
We consider FPU-type atomic chains with general convex potentials. The naive
continuum limit in the hyperbolic space-time scaling is the p-system of mass
and momentum conservation. We systematically compare Riemann solutions to the
p-system with numerical solutions to discrete Riemann problems in FPU chains,
and argue that the latter can be described by modified p-system Riemann
solvers. We allow the flux to have a turning point, and observe a third type of
elementary wave (conservative shocks) in the atomistic simulations. These waves
are heteroclinic travelling waves and correspond to non-classical,
undercompressive shocks of the p-system. We analyse such shocks for fluxes with
one or more turning points.
Depending on the convexity properties of the flux we propose FPU-Riemann
solvers. Our numerical simulations confirm that Lax-shocks are replaced by so
called dispersive shocks. For convex-concave flux we provide numerical evidence
that convex FPU chains follow the p-system in generating conservative shocks
that are supersonic. For concave-convex flux, however, the conservative shocks
of the p-system are subsonic and do not appear in FPU-Riemann solutions
Alumni News: Winter 2003
Newsletter for Boston University School of Medicine alumni
Stochastic resonance for nonequilibrium systems
Stochastic resonance (SR) is a prominent phenomenon in many natural and engineered noisy systems, whereby the response to a periodic forcing is greatly amplified when the intensity of the noise is tuned to within a specific range of values. We propose here a general mathematical framework based on large deviation theory and, specifically, on the theory of quasipotentials, for describing SR in noisy
N
-dimensional nonequilibrium systems possessing two metastable states and undergoing a periodically modulated forcing. The drift and the volatility fields of the equations of motion can be fairly general, and the competing attractors of the deterministic dynamics and the edge state living on the basin boundary can, in principle, feature chaotic dynamics. Similarly, the perturbation field of the forcing can be fairly general. Our approach is able to recover as special cases the classical results previously presented in the literature for systems obeying detailed balance and allows for expressing the parameters describing SR and the statistics of residence times in the two-state approximation in terms of the unperturbed drift field, the volatility field, and the perturbation field. We clarify which specific properties of the forcing are relevant for amplifying or suppressing SR in a system and classify forcings according to classes of equivalence. Our results indicate a route for a detailed understanding of SR in rather general systems
On the magnetic stability at the surface in strongly correlated electron systems
The stability of ferromagnetism at the surface at finite temperatures is
investigated within the strongly correlated Hubbard model on a semi-infinite
lattice. Due to the reduced surface coordination number the effective Coulomb
correlation is enhanced at the surface compared to the bulk. Therefore, within
the well-known Stoner-picture of band ferromagnetism one would expect the
magnetic stability at the surface to be enhanced as well. However, by taking
electron correlations into account well beyond the Hartree-Fock (Stoner) level
we find the opposite behavior: As a function of temperature the magnetization
of the surface layer decreases faster than in the bulk. By varying the hopping
integral within the surface layer this behavior becomes even more pronounced. A
reduced hopping integral at the surface tends to destabilize surface
ferromagnetism whereas the magnetic stability gets enhanced by an increased
hopping integral. This behavior represents a pure correlation effect and can be
understood in terms of general arguments which are based on exact results in
the limit of strong Coulomb interaction.Comment: 6 pages, RevTeX, 4 eps figures, accepted (Phys. Rev. B), for related
work and info see http://orion.physik.hu-berlin.d
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