2,208 research outputs found
Enhanced time response of 1-in. LaBr3(Ce) crystals by leading edge and constant fraction techniques
We have characterized in depth the time response of three detectors equipped
with cylindrical LaBr (Ce) crystals with dimensions of 1-in. in height
and 1-in. in diameter, and having nominal Ce doping concentration of 5%, 8% and
10%. Measurements were performed at Co and Na {\gamma}-ray
energies against a fast BaF reference detector. The time resolution was
optimized by the choice of the photomultiplier bias voltage and the fine tuning
of the parameters of the constant fraction discriminator, namely the
zero-crossing and the external delay. We report here on the optimal time
resolution of the three crystals. It is observed that timing properties are
influenced by the amount of Ce doping and the crystal homogeneity. For the
crystal with 8% of Ce doping the use of the ORTEC 935 CFD at very shorts delays
in addition to the Hamamatsu R9779 PMT has made it possible to improve the
LaBr(Ce) time resolution from the best literature value at 60Co photon
energies to below 100 ps.Comment: Article submitted to Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics
Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated
Equipmen
On the Reproducibility of TCGA Ovarian Cancer MicroRNA Profiles
Dysregulated microRNA (miRNA) expression is a well-established feature of
human cancer. However, the role of specific miRNAs in determining cancer
outcomes remains unclear. Using Level 3 expression data from the Cancer Genome
Atlas (TCGA), we identified 61 miRNAs that are associated with overall survival
in 469 ovarian cancers profiled by microarray (p<0.01). We also identified 12
miRNAs that are associated with survival when miRNAs were profiled in the same
specimens using Next Generation Sequencing (miRNA-Seq) (p<0.01). Surprisingly,
only 1 miRNA transcript is associated with ovarian cancer survival in both
datasets. Our analyses indicate that this discrepancy is due to the fact that
miRNA levels reported by the two platforms correlate poorly, even after
correcting for potential issues inherent to signal detection algorithms.
Further investigation is warranted
The Problem of Inertia in Friedmann Universes
In this paper we study the origin of inertia in a curved spacetime,
particularly the spatially flat, open and closed Friedmann universes. This is
done using Sciama's law of inertial induction, which is based on Mach's
principle, and expresses the analogy between the retarded far fields of
electrodynamics and those of gravitation. After obtaining covariant expressions
for electromagnetic fields due to an accelerating point charge in Friedmann
models, we adopt Sciama's law to obtain the inertial force on an accelerating
mass by integrating over the contributions from all the matter in the
universe. The resulting inertial force has the form , where
depends on the choice of the cosmological parameters such as ,
, and and is also red-shift dependent.Comment: 10 page
Phase detection at the quantum limit with multi-photon Mach-Zehnder interferometry
We study a Mach-Zehnder interferometer fed by a coherent state in one input
port and vacuum in the other. We explore a Bayesian phase estimation strategy
to demonstrate that it is possible to achieve the standard quantum limit
independently from the true value of the phase shift and specific assumptions
on the noise of the interferometer. We have been able to implement the protocol
using parallel operation of two photon-number-resolving detectors and
multiphoton coincidence logic electronics at the output ports of a
weakly-illuminated Mach-Zehnder interferometer. This protocol is unbiased and
saturates the Cramer-Rao phase uncertainty bound and, therefore, is an optimal
phase estimation strategy.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures replaced fig. 1 to correct graphics bu
Translocator protein in late stage Alzheimer\u27s disease and Dementia with Lewy bodies brains
OBJECTIVE: Increased translocator protein (TSPO), previously known as the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR), in glial cells of the brain has been used as a neuroinflammation marker in the early and middle stages of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) and Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB). In this study, we investigated the changes in TSPO density with respect to late stage AD and DLB.
METHODS: TSPO density was measured in multiple regions of postmortem human brains in 20 different cases: seven late stage AD cases (Braak amyloid average: C; Braak tangle average: VI; Aged 74-88, mean: 83 ± 5 years), five DLB cases (Braak amyloid average: C; Braak tangle average: V; Aged 79-91, mean: 84 ± 4 years), and eight age-matched normal control cases (3 males, 5 females: aged 77-92 years; mean: 87 ± 6 years). Measurements were taken by quantitative autoradiography using [
RESULTS: No significant changes were found in TSPO density of the frontal cortex, striatum, thalamus, or red nucleus of the AD and DLB brains. A significant reduction in TSPO density was found in the substantia nigra (SN) of the AD and DLB brains compared to that of age-matched healthy controls.
INTERPRETATION: This distinct pattern of TSPO density change in late stage AD and DLB cases may imply the occurrence of microglia dystrophy in late stage neurodegeneration. Furthermore, TSPO may not only be a microglia activation marker in early stage AD and DLB, but TSPO may also be used to monitor microglia dysfunction in the late stage of these diseases
Jacobi's Principle and the Disappearance of Time
Jacobi's action principle is known to lead to a problem of time. For example,
the timelessness of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation can be seen as resulting from
using Jacobi's principle to define the dynamics of 3-geometries through
superspace. In addition, using Jacobi's principle for non-relativistic
particles is equivalent classically to Newton's theory but leads to a
time-independent Schrodinger equation upon Dirac quantization. In this paper,
we study the mechanism for the disappearance of time as a result of using
Jacobi's principle in these simple particle models. We find that the path
integral quantization very clearly elucidates the physical mechanism for the
timeless of the quantum theory as well as the emergence of duration at the
classical level. Physically, this is the result of a superposition of clocks
which occurs in the quantum theory due to a sum over all histories.
Mathematically, the timelessness is related to how the gauge fixing functions
impose the boundary conditions in the path integral.Comment: Published version. Significant amendments to presentation. 27 page
Is it possible to formulate least action principle for dissipative systems?
A longstanding open question in classical mechanics is to formulate the least
action principle for dissipative systems. In this work, we give a general
formulation of this principle by considering a whole conservative system
including the damped moving body and its environment receiving the dissipated
energy. This composite system has the conservative Hamiltonian
where is the kinetic energy of the moving body, its potential
energy and the energy of the environment. The Lagrangian can be derived
by using the usual Legendre transformation where is the
total kinetic energy of the environment. An equivalent expression of this
Lagrangian is where is the energy dissipated by the
friction from the moving body into the environment from the beginning of the
motion. The usual variation calculus of least action leads to the correct
equation of the damped motion. We also show that this general formulation is a
natural consequence of the virtual work principle.Comment: 11 pages, no figur
Flexoelectricity and piezoelectricity - reason for rich variety of phases in antiferroelectric liquid crystals
The free energy of antiferroelectric liquid crystal which takes into account
polar order explicitly is presented. Steric, van der Waals, piezoelectric and
flexoelectric interactions to the nearest layers and dipolar electrostatic
interactions to the nearest and to the next nearest layers induce indirect tilt
interactions with chiral and achiral properties, which extend to the third and
to the fourth nearest layers. Chiral indirect interactions between tilts can be
large and induce helicoidal modulations even in systems with negligible chiral
van der Waals interactions. If indirect chiral interactions compete with chiral
van der Waals interactions, the helix unwinding is possible. Although strength
of microscopic interactions change monotonically with decreasing temperature,
effective interlayer interactions change nonmonotonically and give rise to
nonmonotouous change of modulation period through various phases. Increased
enatiomeric excess i.e. increased chirality changes the phase sequence.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Realistic shell-model calculations for proton particle-neutron hole nuclei around 132Sn
We have performed shell-model calculations for nuclei with proton particles
and neutron holes around 132Sn using a realistic effective interaction derived
from the CD-Bonn nucleon-nucleon potential. For the proton-neutron channel this
is explicitly done in the particle-hole formalism. The calculated results are
compared with the available experimental data, particular attention being
focused on the proton particle-neutron hole multiplets. A very good agreement
is obtained for all the four nuclei considered, 132Sb, 130Sb, 133Te and 131Sb.
We predict many low-energy states which have no experimental counterpart. This
may stimulate, and be helpful to, future experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, to be published on Physical Review
Working sick and out of sorts: a cross-cultural approach on presenteeism climate, organizational justice and work–family conflict
A climate of presenteeism has important effects on employee well-being and the organization itself. Our study, based on surveys of health sector employees in six different countries (Brazil, Ecuador, Lebanon, Portugal, Russia and Spain) examines whether organizational justice plays a mediating role in the relationship between a presenteeism climate in the organization and work–family conflict (WFC). Our results indicate that the perception of organizational justice and the presenteeism climate do influence WFC. Moreover, higher levels of WFC were found in non-Latin countries. This study contributes to the work attendance and life balance field by providing cross-cultural empirical evidence corroborating the effect of justice and presenteeism climate on the WFC.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio
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