Modelling large motion events in fMRI studies of patients with epilepsy

EEG-correlated fMRI can provide localisation information on the generators of epileptiform discharges in patients with focal epilepsy. To increase the technique's clinical potential, it is important to consider ways of optimising the yield of each experiment while minimizing the risk of false-positive activation. Head motion can lead to severe image degradation and result in false-positive activation and is usually worse in patients than in healthy subjects. We performed general linear model fMRI data analysis on simultaneous EEG–fMRI data acquired in 34 cases with focal epilepsy. Signal changes associated with large inter-scan motion events (head jerks) were modelled using modified design matrices that include ‘scan nulling’ regressors. We evaluated the efficacy of this approach by mapping the proportion of the brain for which F-tests across the additional regressors were significant. In 95% of cases, there was a significant effect of motion in 50% of the brain or greater; for the scan nulling effect, the proportion was 36%; this effect was predominantly in the neocortex. We conclude that careful consideration of the motion-related effects in fMRI studies of patients with epilepsy is essential and that the proposed approach can be effective

Fault-tolerant linear optical quantum computing with small-amplitude coherent states

Quantum computing using two optical coherent states as qubit basis states has been suggested as an interesting alternative to single photon optical quantum computing with lower physical resource overheads. These proposals have been questioned as a practical way of performing quantum computing in the short term due to the requirement of generating fragile diagonal states with large coherent amplitudes. Here we show that by using a fault-tolerant error correction scheme, one need only use relatively small coherent state amplitudes ($\alpha > 1.2$) to achieve universal quantum computing. We study the effects of small coherent state amplitude and photon loss on fault tolerance within the error correction scheme using a Monte Carlo simulation and show the quantity of resources used for the first level of encoding is orders of magnitude lower than the best known single photon scheme. %We study this reigem using a Monte Carlo simulation and incorporate %the effects of photon loss in this simulation

Effective slip boundary conditions for flows over nanoscale chemical heterogeneities

We study slip boundary conditions for simple fluids at surfaces with nanoscale chemical heterogeneities. Using a perturbative approach, we examine the flow of a Newtonian fluid far from a surface described by a heterogeneous Navier slip boundary condition. In the far-field, we obtain expressions for an effective slip boundary condition in certain limiting cases. These expressions are compared to numerical solutions which show they work well when applied in the appropriate limits. The implications for experimental measurements and for the design of surfaces that exhibit large slip lengths are discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure

Measuring measurement--disturbance relationships with weak values

Using formal definitions for measurement precision {\epsilon} and disturbance (measurement backaction) {\eta}, Ozawa [Phys. Rev. A 67, 042105 (2003)] has shown that Heisenberg's claimed relation between these quantities is false in general. Here we show that the quantities introduced by Ozawa can be determined experimentally, using no prior knowledge of the measurement under investigation --- both quantities correspond to the root-mean-squared difference given by a weak-valued probability distribution. We propose a simple three-qubit experiment which would illustrate the failure of Heisenberg's measurement--disturbance relation, and the validity of an alternative relation proposed by Ozawa

Scattering of first and second sound waves by quantum vorticity in superfluid Helium

We study the scattering of first and second sound waves by quantum vorticity in superfluid Helium using two-fluid hydrodynamics. The vorticity of the superfluid component and the sound interact because of the nonlinear character of these equations. Explicit expressions for the scattered pressure and temperature are worked out in a first Born approximation, and care is exercised in delimiting the range of validity of the assumptions needed for this approximation to hold. An incident second sound wave will partly convert into first sound, and an incident first sound wave will partly convert into second sound. General considerations show that most incident first sound converts into second sound, but not the other way around. These considerations are validated using a vortex dipole as an explicitely worked out example.Comment: 24 pages, Latex, to appear in Journal of Low Temperature Physic

Studies of the Reorientational Relaxation of Pyridine in Water by Depolarized Rayleigh Light Scattering

The depolarized Rayleigh spectra of aqueous solutions of pyridine have been studied using a high‐finesse Fabry–Perot interferometer as a function of temperature and concentration. The Rayleigh relaxation times are found to have a complex concentration and viscosity dependence. The classical Stokes–Einstein–Debye equation for molecular reorientation breaks down in this system. The Rayleigh relaxation time of pyridine molecules is not determined by the macroscopic shear viscosity of the solution. The specific interaction due to the formation of hydrogen bonds between pyridine and water molecules plays a very important role in affecting the relaxation time. At a fixed temperature the plot of πray/η versus pyridine concentration shows two maxima at low and high pyridine concentrations. The low concentration maximum is due to the incorporation of pyridine molecules in the water network structure and the high concentration maximum is associated with the formation of individual pyridine–water complexes. The activation energy for the reorientation of pyridine molecules depends on the pyridine concentration. At low pyridine concentration the activation energy corresponds well to the N⋅⋅⋅H–O hydrogen bondingenergy. Above 70% volume the activation energy decreases with increasing pyridine concentration, and above this concentration range the reorientational relaxation time becomes less structure controlled

The problem of history and drama in German theory and practice in the nineteenth century

The main purpose of this thesis is to examine the effect which the choice of historical material has on the writing of drama in Germany in the nineteenth century, to trace the changes in the nineteenth century attitude to history and their effect on historical drama, and to attempt to estimate the contribution which the nineteenth century has made to the development of this genre. The introduction surveys briefly some of the main points in the development of historical drama in the eighteenth century, and shows the state of historical drama at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Chapter I gives a short survey of the German historical dramas of the nineteenth century and of the main critical theories concerning this branch of drama. Chapter II deals in detail with the attitude taken by the critics towards historical drama, and with the main points that arise from their discussions of it. Chapter III deals with those historical dramas inspired by an idealistic view 6f history, and especially with those of the Romantic writers and of Wildenbruch. Chapter IV deals with the historical dramas which are primarily concerned with the psychological study of historical characters, and especially with those of Kleist, Grillparzer and Hebbel. Chapter V deals with those historical dramas which show a realistic attitude to history, especially those of Jung-Deutschland and of Naturalism. In the Conclusion, an attempt is made to show the progress made in the course of the nineteenth century, and to sum up the contribution of this period to the development of German historical drama as a whole.<p