7,221 research outputs found
A model for the continuous q-ultraspherical polynomials
We provide an algebraic interpretation for two classes of continuous
-polynomials. Rogers' continuous -Hermite polynomials and continuous
-ultraspherical polynomials are shown to realize, respectively, bases for
representation spaces of the -Heisenberg algebra and a -deformation of
the Euclidean algebra in these dimensions. A generating function for the
continuous -Hermite polynomials and a -analog of the Fourier-Gegenbauer
expansion are naturally obtained from these models
Dipolar Dark Matter and Dark Energy
In previous work [L. Blanchet and A. Le Tiec, Phys. Rev. D 78, 024031
(2008)], a model of dark matter and dark energy based on the concept of
gravitational polarization was investigated. This model was shown to recover
the concordance cosmological scenario (Lambda-CDM) at cosmological scales, and
the phenomenology of the modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) at galactic scales.
In this article we prove that the model can be formulated with a simple and
physically meaningful matter action in general relativity. We also provide
alternative derivations of the main results of the model, and some details on
the variation of the action.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures; minor stylistic corrections, added references,
added appendix; to appear in Phys. Rev.
Building Data-Driven Pathways From Routinely Collected Hospital Data:A Case Study on Prostate Cancer
Background: Routinely collected data in hospitals is complex, typically heterogeneous, and scattered across multiple Hospital Information Systems (HIS). This big data, created as a byproduct of health care activities, has the potential to provide a better understanding of diseases, unearth hidden patterns, and improve services and cost. The extent and uses of such data rely on its quality, which is not consistently checked, nor fully understood. Nevertheless, using routine data for the construction of data-driven clinical pathways, describing processes and trends, is a key topic receiving increasing attention in the literature. Traditional algorithms do not cope well with unstructured processes or data, and do not produce clinically meaningful visualizations. Supporting systems that provide additional information, context, and quality assurance inspection are needed. Objective: The objective of the study is to explore how routine hospital data can be used to develop data-driven pathways that describe the journeys that patients take through care, and their potential uses in biomedical research; it proposes a framework for the construction, quality assessment, and visualization of patient pathways for clinical studies and decision support using a case study on prostate cancer. Methods: Data pertaining to prostate cancer patients were extracted from a large UK hospital from eight different HIS, validated, and complemented with information from the local cancer registry. Data-driven pathways were built for each of the 1904 patients and an expert knowledge base, containing rules on the prostate cancer biomarker, was used to assess the completeness and utility of the pathways for a specific clinical study. Software components were built to provide meaningful visualizations for the constructed pathways. Results: The proposed framework and pathway formalism enable the summarization, visualization, and querying of complex patient-centric clinical information, as well as the computation of quality indicators and dimensions. A novel graphical representation of the pathways allows the synthesis of such information. Conclusions: Clinical pathways built from routinely collected hospital data can unearth information about patients and diseases that may otherwise be unavailable or overlooked in hospitals. Data-driven clinical pathways allow for heterogeneous data (ie, semistructured and unstructured data) to be collated over a unified data model and for data quality dimensions to be assessed. This work has enabled further research on prostate cancer and its biomarkers, and on the development and application of methods to mine, compare, analyze, and visualize pathways constructed from routine data. This is an important development for the reuse of big data in hospitals
Gravitational polarization and the phenomenology of MOND
The modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) has been proposed as an alternative to
the dark matter paradigm; the philosophy behind is that there is no dark matter
and we witness a violation of the Newtonian law of dynamics. In this article,
we interpret differently the phenomenology sustaining MOND, as resulting from
an effect of "gravitational polarization", of some cosmic fluid made of dipole
moments, aligned in the gravitational field, and representing a new form of
dark matter. We invoke an internal force, of non-gravitational origin, in order
to hold together the microscopic constituents of the dipole. The dipolar
particles are weakly influenced by the distribution of ordinary matter; they
are accelerated not by the gravitational field, but by its gradient, or tidal
gravitational field.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure, to appear in Classical and Quantum Gravit
Topological Entropy of Braids on the Torus
A fast method is presented for computing the topological entropy of braids on
the torus. This work is motivated by the need to analyze large braids when
studying two-dimensional flows via the braiding of a large number of particle
trajectories. Our approach is a generalization of Moussafir's technique for
braids on the sphere. Previous methods for computing topological entropies
include the Bestvina--Handel train-track algorithm and matrix representations
of the braid group. However, the Bestvina--Handel algorithm quickly becomes
computationally intractable for large braid words, and matrix methods give only
lower bounds, which are often poor for large braids. Our method is
computationally fast and appears to give exponential convergence towards the
exact entropy. As an illustration we apply our approach to the braiding of both
periodic and aperiodic trajectories in the sine flow. The efficiency of the
method allows us to explore how much extra information about flow entropy is
encoded in the braid as the number of trajectories becomes large.Comment: 19 pages, 44 figures. SIAM journal styl
Uniqueness results for an ODE related to a generalized Ginzburg-Landau model for liquid crystals
We study a singular nonlinear ordinary differential equation on intervals {[}0, R) with R <= +infinity, motivated by the Ginzburg-Landau models in superconductivity and Landau-de Gennes models in liquid crystals. We prove existence and uniqueness of positive solutions under general assumptions on the nonlinearity. Further uniqueness results for sign-changing solutions are obtained for a physically relevant class of nonlinearities. Moreover, we prove a number of fine qualitative properties of the solution that are important for the study of energetic stability
A unified electrostatic and cavitation model for first-principles molecular dynamics in solution
The electrostatic continuum solvent model developed by Fattebert and Gygi is
combined with a first-principles formulation of the cavitation energy based on
a natural quantum-mechanical definition for the surface of a solute. Despite
its simplicity, the cavitation contribution calculated by this approach is
found to be in remarkable agreement with that obtained by more complex
algorithms relying on a large set of parameters. Our model allows for very
efficient Car-Parrinello simulations of finite or extended systems in solution,
and demonstrates a level of accuracy as good as that of established
quantum-chemistry continuum solvent methods. We apply this approach to the
study of tetracyanoethylene dimers in dichloromethane, providing valuable
structural and dynamical insights on the dimerization phenomenon
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