Effects of instanton interactions on the phases of quark matter

Mulders, P.J.G. [Promotor]Boer, D. [Copromotor

Cappuccino and specific heat versus heat of vaporization

A cappuccino is prepared by adding about 50 mL frothing, foaming milk to a cup of espresso. Whole milk is best for foaming and the ideal milk temperature when adding it to the espresso is 65 °C. The espresso itself may be warmer than that. During the heating the milk should not burn, as that would spoil the taste. The best way is to heat the milk slowly while stirring to froth the milk and create foam. But modern cappuccino machines in restaurants do not have time for slow heating. Could we heat the milk by just adding hot water? That’s the question we pose to our high school students first. How many mL of 90 °C hot water would be needed to heat 50 mL of milk from a refrigerator temperature (say 4 °C) to 65 °C? Assume that the specific heat of milk is the same as that of water. Students answer the question on a worksheet and practice their computation skills. The answer: 122 g. This would mean an unacceptable dilution of the milk, 2.5 mL of water for every mL of milk. What would the answer be if we use boiling hot water of 100 °C? Students calculate again, then the answer is 87 g, still an unacceptable dilution. What then? What if we use steam

Cappuccino and specific heat versus heat of vaporization

A cappuccino is prepared by adding about 50 mL frothing, foaming milk to a cup of espresso. Whole milk is best for foaming and the ideal milk temperature when adding it to the espresso is 65 °C. The espresso itself may be warmer than that. During the heating the milk should not burn, as that would spoil the taste. The best way is to heat the milk slowly while stirring to froth the milk and create foam. But modern cappuccino machines in restaurants do not have time for slow heating. Could we heat the milk by just adding hot water?

Economics and Business Handbook 2009

In recent years a rising amount of randomized controlled trials, reviews, and meta-analyses relating to the efficacy of electroencephalographic-neurofeedback (EEG-NF) in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been published. Although clinical reports and open treatment studies suggest EEG-NF to be effective, double blind placebo-controlled studies as well as a rigorous meta-analysis failed to find support for the efficacy of EEG-NF. Since absence of evidence does not equate with evidence of absence, we will outline how future research might overcome the present methodological limitations. To provide conclusive evidence for the presence or absence of the efficacy of EEG-NF in the treatment of ADHD, there is a need to set up a well-designed study that ensures optimal implementation and embedding of the training, and possibly incorporates different forms of neurofeedback

Sustained attention and executive functioning performance in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Contains fulltext : 48157.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)The aim of this study was to further refine the cognitive phenotype of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), with respect to the ability to sustain attention and executive functioning. Participants were 34 boys with ADHD (combined type) and 28 normal controls. The groups were closely matched for age and IQ. All participants were 12 years of age. Both groups performed a computerized sustained attention task and a response interference task. Measures related to speed, accuracy, and time on task were collected. We found that children with ADHD performed slower, less accurately, more impulsively, and with less stability than controls. Both groups produced more errors with increasing time on task, reflecting reduced vigilance. Importantly, no interaction with time on task was found. The overall pattern of results suggests that measures related to accuracy are more informative than measures related to speed of responding in refining the cognitive phenotype of ADHD

A comparison of twin birthweight data from Australia, the Netherlands, the United States, Japan and South Korea: are genetic and environmental variations in birthweight similar in Caucasians and East Asians?

Birthweight has implications for physical and mental health in later life. Using data from Caucasian twins collected in Australia, the Netherlands and the United States, and from East Asian twins collected in Japan and South Korea, we compared the total phenotypic, genetic and environmental variances of birthweight between Caucasians and East Asians. Model-fitting analyses yielded four major findings. First, for both males and females, the total phenotypic variances of birthweight were about 45% larger in Caucasians than in East Asians. The larger phenotypic variances were mainly attributable to a greater shared environmental variance of birthweight in Caucasians (ranging from 62% to 67% of variance) than Asians (48% to 53%). Second, the genetic variance of birthweight was equal in Caucasians and East Asians for both males and females, explaining a maximum of 17% of variance. Third, small variations in total phenotypic variances of birthweight within Caucasians and within East Asians were mainly due to differences in nonshared environmental variances. We speculate that maternal effects (both genetic and environmental) explain the large shared environmental variance in birthweight and may account for the differences in phenotypic variance in birthweight between Caucasians and East Asians. Recent molecular findings and specific environmental factors that are subsumed by maternal effects are discussed

Pivotal response treatment for school-aged children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: a randomized controlled trial

Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) is promising for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but more methodologically robust designed studies are needed. In this randomized controlled trial, forty-four children with ASD, aged 9-15 years, were randomly allocated to PRT (n = 22) or treatment-as-usual (TAU; n = 22). Measurements were obtained after 12- and 20-weeks treatment, and 2-month follow-up. PRT resulted in significant greater improvements on parent-rated social-communicative skills after 12 weeks treatment (p = .004, partial eta(2) = 0.22), compared to TAU. Furthermore, larger gains in PRT compared to TAU were observed on blindly rated global functioning, and parent-rated adaptive socialization skills and attention problems. Implications for clinical practice and suggestions for future research are discussed.Education and Child Studie

Inverse magnetic catalysis in field theory and gauge-gravity duality

We investigate the surface of the chiral phase transition in the three-dimensional parameter space of temperature, baryon chemical potential and magnetic field in two different approaches, the field-theoretical Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model and the holographic Sakai-Sugimoto model. The latter is a top-down approach to a gravity dual of QCD with an asymptotically large number of colors and becomes, in a certain limit, dual to an NJL-like model. Our main observation is that, at nonzero chemical potential, a magnetic field can restore chiral symmetry, in apparent contrast to the phenomenon of magnetic catalysis. This "inverse magnetic catalysis" occurs in the Sakai-Sugimoto model and, for sufficiently large coupling, in the NJL model and is related to the physics of the lowest Landau level. While in most parts our discussion is a pedagogical review of previously published results, we include new analytical results for the NJL approach and a thorough comparison of inverse magnetic catalysis in the two approaches.Comment: 37 pages, 11 figures, to appear in Lect. Notes Phys. "Strongly interacting matter in magnetic fields" (Springer), edited by D. Kharzeev, K. Landsteiner, A. Schmitt, H.-U. Ye

Lattice QCD Simulations in External Background Fields

We discuss recent results and future prospects regarding the investigation, by lattice simulations, of the non-perturbative properties of QCD and of its phase diagram in presence of magnetic or chromomagnetic background fields. After a brief introduction to the formulation of lattice QCD in presence of external fields, we focus on studies regarding the effects of external fields on chiral symmetry breaking, on its restoration at finite temperature and on deconfinement. We conclude with a few comments regarding the effects of electromagnetic background fields on gluodynamics.Comment: 31 pages, 10 figures, minor changes and references added. To appear in Lect. Notes Phys. "Strongly interacting matter in magnetic fields" (Springer), edited by D. Kharzeev, K. Landsteiner, A. Schmitt, H.-U. Ye

Novel genetic loci associated with hippocampal volume

The hippocampal formation is a brain structure integrally involved in episodic memory, spatial navigation, cognition and stress responsiveness. Structural abnormalities in hippocampal volume and shape are found in several common neuropsychiatric disorders. To identify the genetic underpinnings of hippocampal structure here we perform a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 33,536 individuals and discover six independent loci significantly associated with hippocampal volume, four of them novel. Of the novel loci, three lie within genes (ASTN2, DPP4 and MAST4) and one is found 200 kb upstream of SHH. A hippocampal subfield analysis shows that a locus within the MSRB3 gene shows evidence of a localized effect along the dentate gyrus, subiculum, CA1 and fissure. Further, we show that genetic variants associated with decreased hippocampal volume are also associated with increased risk for Alzheimer's disease (rg =-0.155). Our findings suggest novel biological pathways through which human genetic variation influences hippocampal volume and risk for neuropsychiatric illness