Twisted K-theory and finite-dimensional approximation

We provide a finite-dimensional model of the twisted K-group twisted by any degree three integral cohomology class of a CW complex. One key to the model is Furuta's generalized vector bundle, and the other is a finite-dimensional approximation of Fredholm operators.Comment: 26 pages, LaTeX 2e, Xypic; main theorem improve

Continuous phase transition and negative specific heat in finite nuclei

The liquid-gas phase transition in finite nuclei is studied in a heated liquid-drop model where the nuclear drop is assumed to be in thermodynamic equilibrium with its own evaporated nucleonic vapor conserving the total baryon number and isospin of the system. It is found that in the liquid-vapor coexistence region the pressure is not a constant on an isotherm indicating that the transition is continuous. At constant pressure, the caloric curve shows some anomalies, namely, the systems studied exhibit negative heat capacity in a small temperature domain. The dependence of this specific feature on the mass and isospin of the nucleus, Coulomb interaction and the chosen pressure is studied. The effects of the presence of clusters in the vapor phase on specific heat have also been explored.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures; Phys. Rev. C (in press

Incoherent Noise and Quantum Information Processing

Incoherence in the controlled Hamiltonian is an important limitation on the precision of coherent control in quantum information processing. Incoherence can typically be modelled as a distribution of unitary processes arising from slowly varying experimental parameters. We show how it introduces artifacts in quantum process tomography and we explain how the resulting estimate of the superoperator may not be completely positive. We then go on to attack the inverse problem of extracting an effective distribution of unitaries that characterizes the incoherence via a perturbation theory analysis of the superoperator eigenvalue spectra.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, replaced with future JCP published versio

New BPS Solitons in 2+1 Dimensional Noncommutative CP^1 Model

Investigating the solitons in the non-commutative $CP^{1}$ model, we have found a new set of BPS solitons which does not have counterparts in the commutative model.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX2e, references added, improvements to discussions, Version to be published in JHE

A quantitative study of neurochemically-defined populations of inhibitory interneurons in the superficial dorsal horn of the mouse spinal cord

Around a quarter of neurons in laminae I-II of the dorsal horn are inhibitory interneurons. These play an important role in modulating somatosensory information, including that perceived as pain or itch. Previous studies in rat identified four largely non-overlapping neurochemical populations among these cells, defined by expression of galanin, neuropeptide Y (NPY), neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) or parvalbumin. The galanin cells were subsequently shown to coexpress dynorphin. Several recent studies have used genetically-modified mice to investigate the function of different interneuron populations, and it is therefore important to determine whether the same pattern applies in mouse, and to estimate the relative sizes of these populations. We show that the neurochemical organisation of inhibitory interneurons in mouse superficial dorsal horn is similar to that in the rat, although a larger proportion of these neurons (33%) express NPY. Between them, these four populations account for ∼75% of inhibitory cells in laminae I-II. Since ∼25% of inhibitory interneurons in this region belong to a novel calretinin-expressing type, our results suggest that virtually all inhibitory interneurons in superficial dorsal horn can be assigned to one of these five neurochemical populations. Although our main focus was inhibitory neurons, we also identified a population of excitatory dynorphin-expressing cells in laminae I-II that are largely restricted to the medial part of the mid-lumbar dorsal horn, corresponding to glabrous skin territory. These findings are important for interpretation of studies using molecular-genetic techniques to manipulate the functions of interneuron populations to investigate their roles in somatosensory processing

Preprotachykinin A (PPTA) is expressed by a distinct population of excitatory neurons in the mouse superficial spinal dorsal horn including cells that respond to noxious and pruritic stimuli

The superficial dorsal horn, which is the main target for nociceptive and pruritoceptive primary afferents, contains a high density of excitatory interneurons. Our understanding of their roles in somatosensory processing has been restricted by the difficulty of distinguishing functional populations among these cells. We recently defined three non-overlapping populations among the excitatory neurons, based on the expression of neurotensin, neurokinin B (NKB) and gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP). Here we identify and characterise another population: neurons that express the tachykinin peptide substance P. We show with immunocytochemistry that its precursor protein (preprotachykinin A, PPTA) can be detected in ~14% of lamina I-II neurons, and these are concentrated in the outer part of lamina II. Over 80% of the PPTA-positive cells lack the transcription factor Pax2 (which determines an inhibitory phenotype), and these account for ~15% of the excitatory neurons in this region. They are different from the neurotensin, NKB or GRP neurons, although many of them contain somatostatin, which is widely expressed among superficial dorsal horn excitatory interneurons. We show that many of these cells respond to noxious thermal and mechanical stimuli, and to intradermal injection of pruritogens. Finally, we demonstrate that these cells can also be identified in a knock-in Cre mouse line (Tac1Cre), although our findings suggest that there is an additional population of neurons that transiently express PPTA. This population of substance P-expressing excitatory neurons is likely to play an important role in transmission of signals that are perceived as pain and itch

On a Unified Definition of the Service System: What is its Identity?

In this paper, a unified definition of the service system is proposed. The motivation of this research effort is based on our observation that there are diverse definitions or descriptions of the service system in the literature and they have not provided an identity of the service system. Our goal to define the service system is thus to establish its identity. The most salient feature in our definition is the introduction of three subsystems in a service system: infrastructure, substance, and management. The substance flows over the infrastructure under the constraints of management. A service is established at the moment when the substance interacts with the human to cause a change in the human's status or state under a protocol, which further meets the human's request and need. With this new definition, a service system can be distinguished from other systems, such as manufacturing system, agricultural system, and product system. The new definition will be useful to classification of various service systems and various theories for service systems, which is the key to knowledge management for service systems and to optimization of design and management of service systems. © 2014 IEEE.published_or_final_versio