Oblique DLCQ M-theory and Multiple M2-branes

We propose an oblique DLCQ as a limit to realize a theory of multiple M2-branes in M(atrix)-theory context. The limit is a combination of an infinite boosting of a space-like circle and a tuned tilting of the circle direction. We obtain a series of supergravity solutions describing various dual configurations including multiple M2-branes. For an infinite boosting along a circle wrapped obliquely around a rectangular torus, Seiberg's DLCQ limit distorts the torus modulus. In the context of supergravity, we show explicitly how this torus modulus of $\widetilde{\text M}$-theory is realized as the vacuum modulus of dual IIB-theory.Comment: v3: 25pages, extended version, References adde

Galerkin FEM for fractional order parabolic equations with initial data in H−s, 0<s≤1H^{-s},~0 < s \le 1

We investigate semi-discrete numerical schemes based on the standard Galerkin and lumped mass Galerkin finite element methods for an initial-boundary value problem for homogeneous fractional diffusion problems with non-smooth initial data. We assume that $\Omega\subset \mathbb{R}^d$, $d=1,2,3$ is a convex polygonal (polyhedral) domain. We theoretically justify optimal order error estimates in $L_2$- and $H^1$-norms for initial data in $H^{-s}(\Omega),~0\le s \le 1$. We confirm our theoretical findings with a number of numerical tests that include initial data $v$ being a Dirac $\delta$-function supported on a $(d-1)$-dimensional manifold.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure

Electrochemical De-intercalation, Oxygen Non-stoichiometry, and Crystal Growth of NaxCoO2-d

We report a detailed study of de-intercalation of Na from the compound NaxCoO2-d using an electrochemical technique. We find evidence for stable phases with Na contents near the fractions ~1/3, 1/2, 5/8, 2/3, and 3/4. Details regarding the floating-zone crystal growth of Na0.75CoO2 single crystals are discussed as well as results from magnetic susceptibility measurements. We observe the presence of significant oxygen deficiencies in powder samples of Na0.75CoO2-d prepared in air, but not in single crystal samples prepared in an oxygen atmosphere. The oxygen deficiencies in a Na0.75CoO2-d sample with d ~ 0.08 remain even after electrochemically de-intercalating to Na0.3CoO2-d.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of services for Schizophrenia in the UK across the entire care pathway in a single whole-disease model

Importance The existing economic models for schizophrenia often have 3 limitations; namely, they do not cover nonpharmacologic interventions, they report inconsistent conclusions for antipsychotics, and they have poor methodologic quality. Objectives To develop a whole-disease model for schizophrenia and use it to inform resource allocation decisions across the entire care pathway for schizophrenia in the UK. Design, Setting, and Participants This decision analytical model used a whole-disease model to simulate the entire disease and treatment pathway among a simulated cohort of 200 000 individuals at clinical high risk of psychoses or with a diagnosis of psychosis or schizophrenia being treated in primary, secondary, and tertiary care in the UK. Data were collected March 2016 to December 2018 and analyzed December 2018 to April 2019. Exposures The whole-disease model used discrete event simulation; its structure and input data were informed by published literature and expert opinion. Analyses were conducted from the perspective of the National Health Service and Personal Social Services over a lifetime horizon. Key interventions assessed included cognitive behavioral therapy, antipsychotic medication, family intervention, inpatient care, and crisis resolution and home treatment team. Main Outcomes and Measures Life-time costs and quality-adjusted life-years. Results In the simulated cohort of 200 000 individuals (mean [SD] age, 23.5 [5.1] years; 120 800 [60.4%] men), 66 400 (33.2%) were not at risk of psychosis, 69 800 (34.9%) were at clinical high risk of psychosis, and 63 800 (31.9%) had psychosis. The results of the whole-disease model suggest the following interventions are likely to be cost-effective at a willingness-to-pay threshold of £20 000 ($25 552) per quality-adjusted life-year: practice as usual plus cognitive behavioral therapy for individuals at clinical high risk of psychosis (probability vs practice as usual alone, 0.96); a mix of hospital admission and crisis resolution and home treatment team for individuals with acute psychosis (probability vs hospital admission alone, 0.99); amisulpride (probability vs all other antipsychotics, 0.39), risperidone (probability vs all other antipsychotics, 0.30), or olanzapine (probability vs all other antipsychotics, 0.17) combined with family intervention for individuals with first-episode psychosis (probability vs family intervention or medication alone, 0.58); and clozapine for individuals with treatment-resistant schizophrenia (probability vs other medications, 0.81). Conclusions and Relevance The results of this study suggest that the current schizophrenia service configuration is not optimal. Cost savings and/or additional quality-adjusted life-years may be gained by replacing current interventions with more cost-effective interventions

An explorative study of interface support for image searching

In this paper we study interfaces for image retrieval systems. Current image retrieval interfaces are limited to providing query facilities and result presentation. The user can inspect the results and possibly provide feedback on their relevance for the current query. Our approach, in contrast, encourages the user to group and organise their search results and thus provide more fine-grained feedback for the system. It combines the search and management process, which - according to our hypothesis - helps the user to onceptualise their search tasks and to overcome the query formulation problem. An evaluation, involving young design-professionals and di®erent types of information seeking scenarios, shows that the proposed approach succeeds in encouraging the user to conceptualise their tasks and that it leads to increased user satisfaction. However, it could not be shown to increase performance. We identify the problems in the current setup, which when eliminated should lead to more effective searching overall

Observations of foetal heart veins draining directly into the left and right atria

Evaluation of semiserial sections of 14 normal hearts from human foetuses of gestational age 25–33 weeks showed that all of these hearts contained thin veins draining directly into the atria (maximum, 10 veins per heart). Of the 75 veins in these 14 hearts, 55 emptied into the right atrium and 20 into the left atrium. These veins were not accompanied by nerves, in contrast to tributaries of the great cardiac vein, and were negative for both smooth muscle actin (SMA) and CD34. However, the epithelium and venous wall of the anterior cardiac vein, the thickest of the direct draining veins, were strongly positive for SMA and CD34, respectively. In general, developing fibres in the vascular wall were positive for CD34, while the endothelium of the arteries and veins was strongly positive for the present DAKO antibody of SMA. The small cardiac vein, a thin but permanent tributary of the terminal portion of the great cardiac vein, was also positive for SMA and CD34. A few S100 protein-positive nerves were observed along both the anterior and small cardiac veins, but no nerves accompanied the direct dra- inage veins. These findings suggested that the latter did not develop from the early epicardiac vascular plexus but from a gulfing of the intratrabecular space or sinus of the atria. However, the immunoreactivity of the anterior cardiac vein suggests that it originated from the vascular plexus, similar to tributaries of the great cardiac vein.

Differences in foetal topographical anatomy between insertion sites of the iliopsoas and gluteus medius muscles into the proximal femur: a consideration of femoral torsion

Background: Prenatal twisting of the femoral neck seems to result in an angle of anteversion or torsion, but the underlying process has not been elucidated.  Materials and methods: This study analysed sagittal, frontal and horizontal sections of 34 embryo and foetal specimens of gestational age (GA) 6–16 weeks (crown-rump length 21–130 mm). At GA 6–7 weeks, the iliopsoas (IP) and gluteus medius (GME) muscles were inserted into the anterior and posterior aspects of the femur, respectively, allowing both insertions to be viewed in a single sagittal section.  Results: At GA 8 weeks, the greater trochanter and the femoral neck angle became evident, and the GME tendon was inserted into the upper tip of the trochanter. At GA 9 weeks, the location of IP insertion was to the medial side of the GME insertion. After 9 weeks, the IP insertion consisted of a wavy, tendino- us part of the psoas muscle and another part of the iliacus muscle, with many fibres of the latter muscle attached to the joint capsule. After GA 12 weeks, the IP was inserted into the anteromedial side of the greater trochanter, while the aponeurotic insertion of the GME wrapped around the trochanter. At GA 15–16 weeks, a deep flexion at the hip joint caused an alteration in the relative heights of the lesser and greater trochanter, with the former migrating from the inferior to the slightly superior side.  Conclusions: These findings indicate that twisting of the femoral neck started at GA 8–9 weeks.

Changes in topographical relation between the ductus arteriosus and left subclavian artery in human embryos: a study using serial sagittal sections

Background: At birth, the ductus arteriosus (DA) merges with the aortic arch in the slightly caudal side of the origin of the left subclavian artery (SCA). Since the SCAs (7th segmental arteries) were fixed on the level of the 7th cervical-first thoracic vertebral bodies, the confluence of DA should migrate caudally. We aimed to describe timing and sequence of the topographical change using serial sagittal sections of 36 human embryos and foetuses (CRL 8–64 mm; 5–10 weeks), Those made easy evaluation of the vertebral levels possible in a few section. Materials and methods: The DA or 6th pharyngeal arch artery seemed to slide down in front of the sympathetic nerve trunk along 1.0–1.2 mm from the second cervical vertebral level at 5–6 weeks and, at 6 weeks (CRL 14–17 mm), the DA confluence with aorta reached the 7th cervical level. Because of the highly elongated common carotid artery, the sliding of DA confluence seemed to be much shorter than the cervical vertebrae growing from 1 mm to 2.4 mm. Results: At the final topographical change at 6–7 weeks, the DA confluence further descended to a site 1-vertebral length below the left SCA origin. From 6 to 9 weeks, a distance from the top of the aortic arch to the left SCA origin was almost stable: 0.3–0.5 mm at 6 weeks and 0.4–0.6 mm at 9 weeks. Conclusions: The heart descent and the caudal extension of the trachea and bronchi, those occurred before the DA sliding, were likely to be a major driving force for the sliding

Optical Investigations of Charge Gap in Orbital Ordered La1/2Sr3/2MnO4

Temperature and polarization dependent electronic structure of La1/2Sr3/2MnO4 were investigated by optical conductivity analyses. With decreasing temperature, for E//ab, a broad mid-infrared (MIR) peak of La1/2Sr3/2MnO4 becomes narrower and moves to the higher frequency, while that of Nd1/2Sr3/2MnO4 nearly temperature independent. We showed that the MIR peak in La1/2Sr3/2MnO4 originates from orbital ordering associated with CE-type magnetic ordering and that the Jahn-Teller distortion has a significant influence on the width and the position of the MIR peak.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Experimental properties of Bose-Einstein condensates in 1D optical lattices: Bloch oscillations, Landau-Zener tunneling and mean-field effects

We report experimental results on the properties of Bose-Einstein condensates in 1D optical lattices. By accelerating the lattice, we observed Bloch oscillations of the condensate in the lowest band, as well as Landau-Zener (L-Z) tunneling into higher bands when the lattice depth was reduced and/or the acceleration of the lattice was increased. The dependence of the L-Z tunneling rate on the condensate density was then related to mean-field effects modifying the effective potential acting on the condensate, yielding good agreement with recent theoretical work. We also present several methods for measuring the lattice depth and discuss the effects of the micromotion in the TOP-trap on our experimental results.Comment: 11 pages, 14 figure