Measuring visual cortical oxygenation in diabetes using functional near-infrared spectroscopy

Aims: Diabetes mellitus affects about 6% of the world’s population, and the chronic complications of the disease may result in macro- and micro-vascular changes. The purpose of the current study was to shed light on visual cortical oxygenation in diabetic individuals. We then aimed to compare the haemodynamic response (HDR) to visual stimulation with glycaemic control, given the likelihood of diabetic individuals suffering from such macro- and micro-vascular insult. Methodology: Thirty participants took part in this explorative study, fifteen of whom had diabetes and fifteen of whom were non-diabetic controls. The HDR, measured as concentrations of oxyhaemoglobin [HbO] and deoxyhaemoglobin [HbR], to visual stimulation was recorded over the primary visual cortex (V1) using a dual-channel oximeter. The stimulus comprised a pattern-reversal checkerboard presented in a block design. Participants’ mean glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) level (±SD) was 7.2±0.6% in the diabetic group and 5.5±0.4% in the non-diabetic group. Raw haemodynamic data were normalised to baseline, and the last 15 s of data from each ‘stimulus on’ and ‘stimulus off’ condition were averaged over seven duty cycles for each participant. Results: There were statistically significant differences in ∆[HbO] and ∆[HbR] to visual stimulation between diabetic and non-diabetic groups (p<0.05). In the diabetic group, individuals with type 1 diabetes displayed an increased [HbO] (p<0.01) and decreased [HbR] (p<0.05) compared to their type 2 counterparts. There was also a linear relationship between both ∆[HbO] and ∆[HbR] as a function of HbA1c level (p<0.0005). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that fNIRS can be used as a quantitative measure of cortical oxygenation in diabetes. Diabetic individuals have a larger HDR to visual stimulation compared to non-diabetic individuals. This increase in ∆[HbO] and decrease in ∆[HbR] appears to be correlated with HbA1c level

Dynamical Mass Generation in a Finite-Temperature Abelian Gauge Theory

We write down the gap equation for the fermion self-energy in a finite-temperature abelian gauge theory in three dimensions. The instantaneous approximation is relaxed, momentum-dependent fermion and photon self-energies are considered, and the corresponding Schwinger-Dyson equation is solved numerically. The relation between the zero-momentum and zero-temperature fermion self-energy and the critical temperature T_c, above which there is no dynamical mass generation, is then studied. We also investigate the effect which the number of fermion flavours N_f has on the results, and we give the phase diagram of the theory with respect to T and N_f.Comment: 20 LaTeX pages, 4 postscript figures in a single file, version to appear in Physical Review

Derivative Expansion and the Effective Action for the Abelian Chern-Simons Theory at Higher Orders

We study systematically the higher order corrections to the parity violating part of the effective action for the Abelian Chern-Simons theory in 2+1 dimensions, using the method of derivative expansion. We explicitly calculate the parity violating parts of the quadratic, cubic and the quartic terms (in fields) of the effective action. We show that each of these actions can be summed, in principle, to all orders in the derivatives. However, such a structure is complicated and not very useful. On the other hand, at every order in the powers of the derivatives, we show that the effective action can also be summed to all orders in the fields. The resulting actions can be expressed in terms of the leading order effective action in the static limit. We prove gauge invariance, both large and small of the resulting effective actions. Various other features of the theory are also brought out.Comment: 36 page

Effect of Wavefunction Renormalisation in N-Flavour Qed3 at Finite Temperature

A recent study of dynamical chiral symmetry breaking in N-flavour QED$_3$ at finite temperature is extended to include the effect of fermion wavefunction renormalisation in the Schwinger-Dyson equations. The simple ``zero-frequency'' truncation previously used is found to lead to unphysical results, especially as $T \to 0$. A modified set of equations is proposed, whose solutions behave in a way which is qualitatively similar to the $T=0$ solutions of Pennington et al. [5-8] who have made extensive studies of the effect of wavefunction renormalisation in this context, and who concluded that there was no critical $N_c$ (at T=0) above which chiral symmetry was restored. In contrast, we find that our modified equations predict a critical $N_c$ at $T \not= 0$, and an $N-T$ phase diagram very similar to the earlier study neglecting wavefunction renormalisation. The reason for the difference is traced to the different infrared behaviour of the vacuum polarisation at $T=0$ and at $T \not= 0$.Comment: 17 pages + 13 figures (available upon request), Oxford preprint OUTP-93-30P, IFUNAM preprint FT94-39, LaTe

Dynamical Symmetry Breaking With a Fourth Generation

Adding a fourth generation to the Standard Model and assuming it to be valid up to some cutoff \Lambda, we show that electroweak symmetry is broken by radiative corrections due to the fourth generation. The effects of the fourth generation are isolated using a Lagrangian with a genuine scalar without self-interactions at the classical level. For masses of the fourth generation consistent with electroweak precision data (including the B \rightarrow K \pi\ CP asymmetries) we obtain a Higgs mass of the order of a few hundreds GeV and a cutoff \Lambda\ around 1-2 TeV. We study the reliability of the perturbative treatment used to obtain these results taking into account the running of the Yukawa couplings of the fourth quark generation with the aid of the Renormalization Group (RG) equations, finding similar allowed values for the Higgs mass but a slightly lower cut-off due to the breaking of the perturbative regime. Such low cut-off means that the effects of new physics needed to describe electroweak interactions at energy above \Lambda\ should be measurable at the LHC. We use the minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model with four generations as an explicit example of models realizing the dynamical electroweak symmetry breaking by radiative corrections and containing new physics. Here, the cutoff is replaced by the masses of the squarks and electroweak symmetry breaking by radiative corrections requires the squark masses to be of the order of 1 TeV.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures. New section adde

On the Derivative Expansion at Finite Temperature

In this short note, we indicate the origin of nonanalyticity in the method of derivative expansion at finite temperature and discuss some of its consequences.Comment: 7 pages, UR-1363, ER40685-81

Three-body dispersion-relation N/D equations for the coupled decay channels ppbar (J^{PC}=0^{-+}) --> pi^0 pi^0 pi^0, eta pi^0 pi^0, eta eta pi^0, K Kbar pi^0

During several years the data on different channels ppbar (J^{PC}=0^{-+}) --> 3 mesons presented by Crystal Barrel Collaboration were successfully analyzed by extracting the leading amplitude singularities - pole singularities - with the aim to obtain information about two-meson resonances. But these analyses do not take into account three-body final state interactions (FSI) in an explicitly correct way. This paper is devoted to the consideration of this problem.Comment: 16 pages, no figure

Long Range Electromagnetic Effects involving Neutral Systems and Effective Field Theory

We analyze the electromagnetic scattering of massive particles with and without spin wherein one particle (or both) is electrically neutral. Using the techniques of effective field theory, we isolate the leading long distance effects, both classical and quantum mechanical. For spinless systems results are identical to those obtained earlier via more elaborate dispersive methods. However, we also find new results if either or both particles carry apin.Comment: 23 pages, 3 .eps figure

Rotating light, OAM paradox and relativistic complex scalar field

Recent studies show that the angular momentum, both spin and orbital, of rotating light beams possesses counter-intuitive characteristics. We present a new approach to the question of orbital angular momentum of light based on the complex massless scalar field representation of light. The covariant equation for the scalar field is treated in rotating system using the general relativistic framework. First we show the equivalence of the U(1) gauge current for the scalar field with the Poynting vector continuity equation for paraxial light, and then apply the formalism to the calculation of the orbital angular momentum of rotating light beams. If the difference between the co-, contra-, and physical quantities is properly accounted for there does not result any paradox in the orbital angular momentum of rotating light. An artificial analogue of the paradoxical situation could be constructed but it is wrong within the present formalism. It is shown that the orbital angular momentum of rotating beam comprising of modes with opposite azimuthal indices corresponds to that of rigid rotation. A short review on the electromagnetism in noninertial systems is presented to motivate a fully covariant Maxwell field approach in rotating system to address the rotating light phenomenon.Comment: No figure