476 research outputs found
When planning fails: Individual differences and error-related brain activity in problem solving.
The neuronal processes underlying correct and erroneous problem solving were studied in strong and weak problem-solvers using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). During planning, the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was activated, and showed a linear relationship with the participants' performance level. A similar pattern emerged in right inferior parietal regions for all trials, and in anterior cingulate cortex for erroneously solved trials only. In the performance phase, when the pre-planned moves had to be executed by means of an fMRI-compatible computer mouse, the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was again activated jointly with right parahippocampal cortex, and displayed a similar positive relationship with the participants' performance level. Incorrectly solved problems elicited stronger bilateral prefrontal and left inferior parietal activations than correctly solved trials. For both individual ability and trial-specific performance, our results thus demonstrate the crucial involvement of right prefrontal cortex in efficient visuospatial planning
Searches for solar-influenced radioactive decay anomalies using Spacecraft RTGs
Experiments showing a seasonal variation of the nuclear decay rates of a
number of different nuclei, and decay anomalies apparently related to solar
flares and solar rotation, have suggested that the Sun may somehow be
influencing nuclear decay processes. Recently, Cooper searched for such an
effect in Pu nuclei contained in the radioisotope thermoelectric
generators (RTGs) on board the Cassini spacecraft. In this paper we modify and
extend Cooper's analysis to obtain constraints on anomalous decays of
Pu over a wider range of models, but these limits cannot be applied to
other nuclei if the anomaly is composition-dependent. We also show that it may
require very high sensitivity for terrestrial experiments to discriminate among
some models if such a decay anomaly exists, motivating the consideration of
future spacecraft experiments which would require less precision.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures (to appear in Astroparticle Physics
Bound-free pair production in ultra-relativistic ion collisions at the LHC collider: Analytic approach to the total and differential cross sections
A theoretical investigation of the bound-free electron-positron pair
production in relativistic heavy ion collisions is presented. Special attention
is paid to the positrons emitted under large angles with respect to the beam
direction. The measurement of these positrons in coincidence with the
down--charged ions is in principle feasible by LHC experiments. In order to
provide reliable estimates for such measurements, we employ the equivalent
photon approximation together with the Sauter approach and derive simple
analytic expressions for the differential pair--production cross section, which
compare favorably to the results of available numerical calculations. Based on
the analytic expressions, detailed calculations are performed for collisions of
bare Pb ions, taking typical experimental conditions of the LHC
experiments into account. We find that the expected count rate strongly depends
on the experimental parameters and may be significantly enhanced by increasing
the positron-detector acceptance cone.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
A self-tuning mechanism in (3+p)d gravity-scalar theory
We present a new type of self-tuning mechanism for ()d brane world
models in the framework of gravity-scalar theory. This new type of self-tuning
mechanism exhibits a remarkable feature. In the limit , being
the string coupling, the geometry of bulk spacetime remains virtually unchanged
by an introduction of the Standard Model(SM)-brane, and consequently it is
virtually unaffected by quantum fluctuations of SM fields with support on the
SM-brane. Such a feature can be obtained by introducing Neveu-Schwarz(NS)-brane
as a background brane on which our SM-brane is to be set. Indeed, field
equations naturally suggest the existence of the background NS-brane. Among the
given such models, of the most interest is the case with , where
represents the bulk cosmological constant. This model contains a pair
of coincident branes (of the SM- and the NS-branes), one of which is a
codimension-2 brane placed at the origin of 2d transverse space (), another a codimension-1 brane placed at the edge of .
These two branes are (anti) T-duals of each other, and one of them may be
identified as our SM-brane plus the background NS-brane. In the presence of the
background NS-brane (and in the absence of ), the 2d transverse space
becomes an orbifold with an appropriate deficit angle.
But this is only possible if the ()d Planck scale and the string
scale () are of the same order, which
accords with the hierarchy assumption \cite{1,2,3} that the electroweak scale
is the only short distance scale existing in nature
The Entropy of the Rotating Charged Black Threebrane from a Brane-Antibrane System
We show that a model based on a D3-brane--anti-D3-brane system at finite
temperature, proposed previously as a microscopic description of the
non-rotating black threebrane of type IIB supergravity arbitrarily far from
extremality, can also successfully reproduce the entropy of the rotating
threebrane with arbitrary charge (including the neutral case, which corresponds
to the Kerr black hole in seven dimensions). Our results appear to confirm in
particular the need for a peculiar condition on the energy of the two gases
involved in the model, whose physical interpretation remains to be elucidated.Comment: 12 pages, references added in section 1 and
Essential and distinct roles for cdc42 and rac1 in the regulation of Schwann cell biology during peripheral nervous system development
During peripheral nervous system (PNS) myelination, Schwann cells must interpret extracellular cues to sense their environment and regulate their intrinsic developmental program accordingly. The pathways and mechanisms involved in this process are only partially understood. We use tissue-specific conditional gene targeting to show that members of the Rho GTPases, cdc42 and rac1, have different and essential roles in axon sorting by Schwann cells. Our results indicate that although cdc42 is required for normal Schwann cell proliferation, rac1 regulates Schwann cell process extension and stabilization, allowing efficient radial sorting of axon bundles
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The Salamanca Formation of the San Jorge Basin (Patagonia, Argentina) preserves critical records of Southern Hemisphere Paleocene biotas, but its age remains poorly resolved, with estimates ranging from Late Cretaceous to middle Paleocene. We report a multi-disciplinary geochronologic study of the Salamanca Formation and overlying Río Chico Group in the western part of the basin. New constraints include (1) an 40Ar/39Ar age determination of 67.31 ± 0.55 Ma from a basalt flow underlying the Salamanca Formation, (2) micropaleontological results indicating an early Danian age for the base of the Salamanca Formation, (3) laser ablation HR-MC-ICP-MS (high resolution-multi collector-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry) U-Pb ages and a high-resolution TIMS (thermal ionization mass spectrometry) age of 61.984 ± 0.041(0.074)[0.100] Ma for zircons from volcanic ash beds in the Peñas Coloradas Formation (Río Chico Group), and (4) paleomagnetic results indicating that the Salamanca Formation in this area is entirely of normal polarity, with reversals occurring in the Río Chico Group. Placing these new age constraints in the context of a sequence stratigraphic model for the basin, we correlate the Salamanca Formation in the study area to Chrons C29n and C28n, with the Banco Negro Inferior (BNI), a mature widespread fossiliferous paleosol unit at the top of the Salamanca Formation, corresponding to the top of Chron C28n. The diverse paleobotanical assemblages from this area are here assigned to C28n (64.67–63.49 Ma), ∼2–3 million years older than previously thought, adding to growing evidence for rapid Southern Hemisphere floral recovery after the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction. Important Peligran and “Carodnia” zone vertebrate fossil assemblages from coastal BNI and Peñas Coloradas exposures are likely older than previously thought and correlate to the early Torrejonian and early Tiffanian North American Land Mammal Ages, respectively
Transport properties of copper phthalocyanine based organic electronic devices
Ambipolar charge carrier transport in Copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) is studied
experimentally in field-effect transistors and metal-insulator-semiconductor
diodes at various temperatures. The electronic structure and the transport
properties of CuPc attached to leads are calculated using density functional
theory and scattering theory at the non-equilibrium Green's function level. We
discuss, in particular, the electronic structure of CuPc molecules attached to
gold chains in different geometries to mimic the different experimental setups.
The combined experimental and theoretical analysis explains the dependence of
the mobilityand the transmission coefficient on the charge carrier type
(electrons or holes) and on the contact geometry. We demonstrate the
correspondence between our experimental results on thick films and our
theoretical studies of single molecule contacts. Preliminary results for
fluorinated CuPc are discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 16 figures; to be published in Eur. Phys. J. Special Topic
Inflation on an Open Racetrack
We present a variant of warped D-brane inflation by incorporating multiple
sets of holomorphically-embedded D7-branes involved in moduli stabilization
with extent into a warped throat. The resultant D3-brane motion depends on the
D7-brane configuration and the relative position of the D3-brane in these
backgrounds. The non-perturbative moduli stabilization superpotential takes the
racetrack form, but the additional D3-brane open string moduli dependence
provides more flexibilities in model building. For concreteness, we consider
D3-brane motion in the warped deformed conifold with the presence of multiple
D7-branes, and derive the scalar potential valid for the entire throat. By
explicit tuning of the microphysical parameters, we obtain inflationary
trajectories near an inflection point for various D7-brane configurations.
Moreover, the open racetrack potential admits approximate Minkowski vacua
before uplifting. We demonstrate with a concrete D-brane inflation model where
the Hubble scale during inflation can exceed the gravitino mass. Finally, the
multiple sets of D7-branes present in this open racetrack setup also provides a
mechanism to stabilize the D3-brane to metastable vacua in the intermediate
region of the warped throat.Comment: 29 pages, 15 figures, pre-print number and references adde
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