999 research outputs found
Optical Levitation of a Droplet under Linear Increase of Gravitational Acceleration
Optical levitation of a liquid droplet in gas phase was investigated under
timedependent change of the gravitational acceleration with specific flight
pattern of an airplane. Through multiple trials under linear increase of
effective gravitational acceleration, we performed the experiment of ptical
trapping of a droplet from 0.3g_0 to 0.9g_0, where g_0 = 9.8 m/s^2. During such
change of the effective gravitational acceleration, the trapping position on a
droplet with the radius of 14 μm was found to be lowered by ca. 100
μm. The essential feature of the change of the trapping position is
reproduced by a theoretical calculation under the framework of ray optics. As
far as we know, the present study is the first report on optical levitation
under time-dependent gravitational change
Toward the Stable Optical Trapping of a Droplet with Counter Laser Beams under Microgravity
To identify the optimum conditions for the optical trapping of a droplet
under microgravity, we theoretically analyzed the efficiency of trapping with
counter laser beams. We found that the distance between the two foci is an
important parameter for obtaining stable trapping conditions. We also performed
an optical trapping experiment with counter laser beams under microgravity. The
experimental results correspond well to the theoretical prediction
Soft-mode turbulence in electrohydrodynamic convection of a homeotropically aligned nematic layer
The experimental study of electroconvection in a homeotropically aligned nematic ~MBBA! is reported. Thesystem undergoes a supercritical bifurcation ‘‘rest state-spatiotemporal chaos.’’ The chaos is caused by longwavelengthmodulation of the orientation of convective rolls. For the first time the observations both below andbeyond the Lifshitz point are accompanied by quantitative analysis of temporal autocorrelation functions ofturbulent modes. The dependence of the correlation time on the control parameter is obtained. A secondarybifurcation from normal to abnormal rolls is discussed
Surface-Based Analysis on Shape and Fractional Anisotropy of White Matter Tracts in Alzheimer's Disease
10.1371/journal.pone.0009811PLoS ONE53
Wobbling Motion in Atomic Nuclei with Positive-Gamma Shapes
The three moments of inertia associated with the wobbling mode built on the
superdeformed states in 163Lu are investigated by means of the cranked shell
model plus random phase approximation to the configuration with an aligned
quasiparticle. The result indicates that it is crucial to take into account the
direct contribution to the moments of inertia from the aligned quasiparticle so
as to realize J_x > J_y in positive-gamma shapes. Quenching of the pairing gap
cooperates with the alignment effect. The peculiarity of the recently observed
163Lu data is discussed by calculating not only the electromagnetic properties
but also the excitation spectra.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure
High-K Precession modes: Axially symmetric limit of wobbling motion
The rotational band built on the high-K multi-quasiparticle state can be
interpreted as a multi-phonon band of the precession mode, which represents the
precessional rotation about the axis perpendicular to the direction of the
intrinsic angular momentum. By using the axially symmetric limit of the
random-phase-approximation (RPA) formalism developed for the nuclear wobbling
motion, we study the properties of the precession modes in W; the
excitation energies, B(E2) and B(M1) values. We show that the excitations of
such a specific type of rotation can be well described by the RPA formalism,
which gives a new insight to understand the wobbling motion in the triaxial
superdeformed nuclei from a microscopic view point.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures (Spelling of the authors name was wrong at the
first upload, so it is corrected
Content-based image retrieval for brain MRI: An image-searching engine and population-based analysis to utilize past clinical data for future diagnosis
AbstractRadiological diagnosis is based on subjective judgment by radiologists. The reasoning behind this process is difficult to document and share, which is a major obstacle in adopting evidence-based medicine in radiology. We report our attempt to use a comprehensive brain parcellation tool to systematically capture image features and use them to record, search, and evaluate anatomical phenotypes. Anatomical images (T1-weighted MRI) were converted to a standardized index by using a high-dimensional image transformation method followed by atlas-based parcellation of the entire brain. We investigated how the indexed anatomical data captured the anatomical features of healthy controls and a population with Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA). PPA was chosen because patients have apparent atrophy at different degrees and locations, thus the automated quantitative results can be compared with trained clinicians' qualitative evaluations. We explored and tested the power of individual classifications and of performing a search for images with similar anatomical features in a database using partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and principal component analysis (PCA). The agreement between the automated z-score and the averaged visual scores for atrophy (r = 0.8) was virtually the same as the inter-evaluator agreement. The PCA plot distribution correlated with the anatomical phenotypes and the PLS-DA resulted in a model with an accuracy of 88% for distinguishing PPA variants. The quantitative indices captured the main anatomical features. The indexing of image data has a potential to be an effective, comprehensive, and easily translatable tool for clinical practice, providing new opportunities to mine clinical databases for medical decision support
Sneutrino Mass Measurements at e+e- Linear Colliders
It is generally accepted that experiments at an e+e- linear colliders will be
able to extract the masses of the selectron as well as the associated
sneutrinos with a precision of ~ 1% by determining the kinematic end points of
the energy spectrum of daughter electrons produced in their two body decays to
a lighter neutralino or chargino. Recently, it has been suggested that by
studying the energy dependence of the cross section near the production
threshold, this precision can be improved by an order of magnitude, assuming an
integrated luminosity of 100 fb^-1. It is further suggested that these
threshold scans also allow the masses of even the heavier second and third
generation sleptons and sneutrinos to be determined to better than 0.5%. We
re-examine the prospects for determining sneutrino masses. We find that the
cross sections for the second and third generation sneutrinos are too small for
a threshold scan to be useful. An additional complication arises because the
cross section for sneutrino pair to decay into any visible final state(s)
necessarily depends on an unknown branching fraction, so that the overall
normalization in unknown. This reduces the precision with which the sneutrino
mass can be extracted. We propose a different strategy to optimize the
extraction of m(\tilde{\nu}_\mu) and m(\tilde{\nu}_\tau) via the energy
dependence of the cross section. We find that even with an integrated
luminosity of 500 fb^-1, these can be determined with a precision no better
than several percent at the 90% CL. We also examine the measurement of
m(\tilde{\nu}_e) and show that it can be extracted with a precision of about
0.5% (0.2%) with an integrated luminosity of 120 fb^-1 (500 fb^-1).Comment: RevTex, 46 pages, 15 eps figure
Thermal equation of state and thermodynamic properties of iron carbide Fe 3 C to 31 GPa and 1473 K
Resent experimental and theoretical studies suggested preferential stability of Fe 3 C over Fe 7 C 3 at the condition of the Earth's inner core. Previous studies showed that Fe 3 C remains in an orthorhombic structure with the space group Pnma to 250 GPa, but it undergoes ferromagnetic (FM) to paramagnetic (PM) and PM to nonmagnetic (NM) phase transitions at 6–8 and 55–60 GPa, respectively. These transitions cause uncertainties in the calculation of the thermoelastic and thermodynamic parameters of Fe 3 C at core conditions. In this work we determined P‐V‐T equation of state of Fe 3 C using the multianvil technique and synchrotron radiation at pressures up to 31 GPa and temperatures up to 1473 K. A fit of our P‐V‐T data to a Mie‐Gruneisen‐Debye equation of state produce the following thermoelastic parameters for the PM‐phase of Fe 3 C: V 0 = 154.6 (1) Å 3 , K T 0 = 192 (3) GPa, K T ′ = 4.5 (1), γ 0 = 2.09 (4), θ 0 = 490 (120) К, and q = −0.1 (3). Optimization of the P‐V‐T data for the PM phase along with existing reference data for thermal expansion and heat capacity using a Kunc‐Einstein equation of state yielded the following parameters: V 0 = 2.327 cm 3 /mol (154.56 Å 3 ), K T 0 = 190.8 GPa, K T ′ = 4.68, Θ E10 = 305 K (which corresponds to θ 0 = 407 K), γ 0 = 2.10, e 0 = 9.2 × 10 −5 K −1 , m = 4.3, and g = 0.66 with fixed parameters m E 1 = 3 n = 12, γ ∞ = 0, β = 0.3, and a 0 = 0. This formulation allows for calculations of any thermodynamic functions of Fe 3 C versus T and V or versus T and P . Assuming carbon as the sole light element in the inner core, extrapolation of our equation of state of the NM phase of Fe 3 C suggests that 3.3 ± 0.9 wt % С at 5000 К and 2.3 ± 0.8 wt % С at 7000 К matches the density at the inner core boundary. Key Points We present a P‐V‐T EOS for PM‐Fe 3 C with support from thermodynamic analyses We discuss uncertainties in magnetic transitions We applied EOS data for modeling carbon content in the corePeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/101805/1/jgrb50396.pd
A Pooled Analysis of Multicenter Cohort Studies of 123I-mIBG Imaging of Sympathetic Innervation for Assessment of Long-Term Prognosis in Heart Failure
ObjectivesThe study objectives were to create a cardiac metaiodobenzylguanidine (mIBG) database using multiple prospective cohort studies and to determine the quantitative iodine-123–labeled mIBG indices for identifying patients with chronic heart failure (HF) at greatest and lowest risk of lethal events.BackgroundAlthough the prognostic value of cardiac mIBG imaging in patients with HF has been shown, clinical use of this procedure has been limited. It is required to define universally accepted quantitative thresholds for high and low risk that could be used as an aid to therapeutic decision-making using a large cohort database.MethodsSix prospective HF cohort studies were updated, and the individual datasets were combined for the present patient-level analysis. The database consisted of 1,322 patients with HF followed up for a mean interval of 78 months. Heart-to-mediastinum ratio (HMR) and washout rate of cardiac mIBG activity were the primary cardiac innervation markers. The primary outcome analyzed was all-cause death.ResultsLethal events were observed in 326 patients, and the population mortality rate was 5.6%, 11.3%, and 19.7% at 1, 2, and 5 years, respectively. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard model analysis for all-cause mortality identified age (p < 0.0001), New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class (p < 0.0001), late HMR of cardiac mIBG activity (p < 0.0001), and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (p = 0.0029) as significant independent predictors. Analysis of the 512-patient subpopulation with B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) results showed BNP (p < 0.0001), greater NYHA functional class (p = 0.0002), and late HMR (p = 0.0011) as significant predictors, but LVEF was not. The receiver-operating characteristic–determined threshold of HMR (1.68) identified patients at significantly increased risk in any LVEF category. Survival rates decreased progressively with decreasing HMR, with 5-year all-cause mortality rates >7% annually for HMR <1.25, and <2% annually for HMR ≥1.95. Addition of HMR to clinical information resulted in a significant net reclassification improvement of 0.175 (p < 0.0001).ConclusionsPooled analyses of independent cohort studies confirmed the long-term prognostic value of cardiac mIBG uptake in patients with HF independently of other markers, such as NYHA functional class, BNP, and LVEF, and demonstrated that categoric assessments could be used to define meaningful thresholds for lethal event risk
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