5,018 research outputs found
Unsupervised machine learning for detection of phase transitions in off-lattice systems II. Applications
We outline how principal component analysis (PCA) can be applied to particle
configuration data to detect a variety of phase transitions in off-lattice
systems, both in and out of equilibrium. Specifically, we discuss its
application to study 1) the nonequilibrium random organization (RandOrg) model
that exhibits a phase transition from quiescent to steady-state behavior as a
function of density, 2) orientationally and positionally driven equilibrium
phase transitions for hard ellipses, and 3) compositionally driven demixing
transitions in the non-additive binary Widom-Rowlinson mixture
PRESENCE AND PREVALENCE OF BD (BATRACHOCHYTRIUM DENDROBATIDIS) IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIAN WOODLAND VERNAL POOLS
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a virulent chytrid fungus responsible for dramatic amphibian declines, has been detected in the northwestern and southeastern regions of Pennsylvania. However, little environmental Bd testing has been performed in central Pennsylvania, particularly in the unique and speciose habitats of woodland vernal pools. Our study included sampling in four vernal pools over a period of three months during amphibian breeding periods. Skin swabs were taken from three caudate and two anuran species, during the course of late winter and spring migrations (n = 143). Low Bd zoospore equivalent loads were detected in only a few individuals, in three of the five species but in all four vernal pools sampled. No significant trends were seen between zoospore loads and ambient temperature or migration timing across the species sampled
Lattice Universes in 2+1-dimensional gravity
Lattice universes are spatially closed space-times of spherical topology in
the large, containing masses or black holes arranged in the symmetry of a
regular polygon or polytope. Exact solutions for such spacetimes are found in
2+1 dimensions for Einstein gravity with a non-positive cosmological constant.
By means of a mapping that preserves the essential nature of geodesics we
establish analogies between the flat and the negative curvature cases. This map
also allows treatment of point particles and black holes on a similar footing.Comment: 14 pages 7 figures, to appear in Festschrift for Vince Moncrief (CQG
Mineral Admixtures, Curing, and Concrete Shrinkage – An Update
Work currently underway at the University of Kansas to evaluate free shrinkage of concrete as a function of the length of curing prior to drying, mineral admixtures as a replacement for portland cement, and aggregate type is presented. Silica fume, ground-granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS), and fly ash at two levels of replacement are evaluated with a high-absorption coarse aggregate (2.5 to 3.0%) and a low-absorption coarse aggregate (less than 0.7%). The results show that when cast with a high-absorption coarse aggregate, the addition of either silica fume or GGBFS results in a reduction in shrinkage at all ages, while the addition of fly ash increases early-age shrinkage and does not have a significant effect on long-term shrinkage. For mixtures containing a low-absorption coarse aggregate, the addition of silica fume or GGBFS results in increased early-age shrinkage if the specimens are only cured for seven days. These same mixtures exhibit reduced shrinkage at all ages when the curing period is doubled from seven to fourteen days. In either case the addition of fly ash increases shrinkage at all ages. Based on these results, it appears that the high-absorption limestone provides internal curing water, which results in a reduction in the shrinkage of mixtures containing GGBFS or silica fume
The neural correlates of emotion regulation by implementation intentions
Several studies have investigated the neural basis of effortful emotion regulation (ER) but the neural basis of automatic ER has been less comprehensively explored. The present study investigated the neural basis of automatic ER supported by ‘implementation intentions’. 40 healthy participants underwent fMRI while viewing emotion-eliciting images and used either a previously-taught effortful ER strategy, in the form of a goal intention (e.g., try to take a detached perspective), or a more automatic ER strategy, in the form of an implementation intention (e.g., “If I see something disgusting, then I will think these are just pixels on the screen!”), to regulate their emotional response. Whereas goal intention ER strategies were associated with activation of brain areas previously reported to be involved in effortful ER (including dorsolateral prefrontal cortex), ER strategies based on an implementation intention strategy were associated with activation of right inferior frontal gyrus and ventro-parietal cortex, which may reflect the attentional control processes automatically captured by the cue for action contained within the implementation intention. Goal intentions were also associated with less effective modulation of left amygdala, supporting the increased efficacy of ER under implementation intention instructions, which showed coupling of orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala. The findings support previous behavioural studies in suggesting that forming an implementation intention enables people to enact goal-directed responses with less effort and more efficiency
Embedding initial data for black hole collisions
We discuss isometric embedding diagrams for the visualization of initial data
for the problem of the head-on collision of two black holes. The problem of
constructing the embedding diagrams is explicitly presented for the best
studied initial data, the Misner geometry. We present a partial solution of the
embedding diagrams and discuss issues related to completing the solution.Comment: (27pp text, 11 figures
Head--on Collision of Two Unequal Mass Black Holes
We present results from the first fully nonlinear numerical calculations of
the head--on collision of two unequal mass black holes. Selected waveforms of
the most dominant l=2, 3 and 4 quasinormal modes are shown, as are the total
radiated energies and recoil velocities for a range of mass ratios and initial
separations. Our results validate the close and distant separation limit
perturbation studies, and suggest that the head--on collision scenario is not
likely to produce an astrophysically significant recoil effect.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Inference with interference between units in an fMRI experiment of motor inhibition
An experimental unit is an opportunity to randomly apply or withhold a
treatment. There is interference between units if the application of the
treatment to one unit may also affect other units. In cognitive neuroscience, a
common form of experiment presents a sequence of stimuli or requests for
cognitive activity at random to each experimental subject and measures
biological aspects of brain activity that follow these requests. Each subject
is then many experimental units, and interference between units within an
experimental subject is likely, in part because the stimuli follow one another
quickly and in part because human subjects learn or become experienced or
primed or bored as the experiment proceeds. We use a recent fMRI experiment
concerned with the inhibition of motor activity to illustrate and further
develop recently proposed methodology for inference in the presence of
interference. A simulation evaluates the power of competing procedures.Comment: Published by Journal of the American Statistical Association at
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01621459.2012.655954 . R package
cin (Causal Inference for Neuroscience) implementing the proposed method is
freely available on CRAN at https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=ci
Black hole collisions from Brill-Lindquist initial data: predictions of perturbation theory
The Misner initial value solution for two momentarily stationary black holes
has been the focus of much numerical study. We report here analytic results for
an astrophysically similar initial solution, that of Brill and Lindquist (BL).
Results are given from perturbation theory for initially close holes and are
compared with available numerical results. A comparison is made of the
radiation generated from the BL and the Misner initial values, and the physical
meaning is discussed.Comment: 11 pages, revtex3.0, 5 figure
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