307 research outputs found
Concurrent statistical learning of ignored and attended sound sequences: An MEG study
In an auditory environment, humans are frequently exposed to overlapping sound sequences such as those made by human voices and musical instruments, and we can acquire information embedded in these sequences via attentional and nonattentional accesses. Whether the knowledge acquired by attentional accesses interacts with that acquired by nonattentional accesses is unknown, however. The present study examined how the statistical learning of two overlapping sound sequences is reflected in neurophysiological and behavioural responses, and how the learning effects are modulated by attention to each sequence. Statistical learning in this experimental paradigm was reflected in a neuromagnetic response predominantly in the right hemisphere, and the learning effects were not retained when attention to the tone streams was switched during the learning session. These results suggest that attentional and nonattentional learning scarcely interact with each other, and that there may be a specific system for nonattentional learning, which is independent of attentional learning
DEM Simulation of Soil Loosening Process Caused by a Vibrating Subsoiler
Rosana G. Moreira, Editor-in-Chief; Texas A&M UniversityThis is a paper from International Commission of Agricultural Engineering (CIGR, Commission Internationale du Genie Rural) E-Journal Volume 9 (2007): DEM Simulation of Soil Loosening Process Caused by a Vibrating Subsoiler. Manuscript PM 05 010. Vol. IX. November, 2007
TGF-β-driven reduction of cytoglobin leads to oxidative DNA damage in stellate cells during non-alcoholic steatohepatitis
BACKGROUND: Cytoglobin (CYGB) is a respiratory protein that acts as a scavenger of reactive oxygen species. Although CYGB is expressed uniquely in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) in the liver, the molecular role of CYGB in human HSC activation and human liver disease remains uncharacterised. The aim of this study was to reveal the mechanism by which TGF-β1/SMAD2 pathway regulates human CYGB promoter and the pathophysiological function of CYGB in human non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). METHODS: Immunohistochemical staining was performed using human NASH biopsy specimens. Molecular and biochemical analysis were performed by western blotting, quantitative PCR, and luciferase and immunoprecipitation assays. Hydroxyl radicals (•OH) and oxidative DNA damage were measured using an •OH-detectable probe and 8-hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) ELISA. RESULTS: In culture, TGF-β1-pretreated human hepatic stellate cells (HHSteCs) exhibited lowered CYGB levels together with increased NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX4) expression and were primed for H_{2}O_{2}-triggered OH production and 8-OHdG generation. Overexpression of human CYGB in HHSteCs cancelled out those effects of TGF-β1. Electron spin resonance demonstrated direct •OH-scavenging activity of recombinant human CYGB. Mechanistically, pSMAD2 reduced CYGB transcription by recruiting the M1 repressor isoform of SP3 to the human CYGB promoter at nucleotide positions +2–{+}^13 from the transcription start site. The same repression did not occur on the mouse Cygb promoter. TGF-β1/SMAD3 mediated αSMA and collagen expression. Consistent with those observations in cultured HHSteCs, CYGB expression was negligible, but 8-OHdG was abundant, in activated αSMA^{+}pSMAD2^{+}- and αSMA^{+}NOX4^{+}-positive hepatic stellate cells from human NASH patients with advanced fibrosis. CONCLUSIONS: Downregulation of CYGB by the TGF-β1/pSMAD2/SP3-M1 pathway brings about •OH-dependent oxidative DNA damage in activated hepatic stellate cells from human patients with NASH
Deterministic Raman crosstalk effects in amplified wavelength division multiplexing transmission
We study the deterministic effects of Raman-induced crosstalk in amplified
wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical fiber transmission lines. We
show that the dynamics of pulse amplitudes in an N-channel transmission system
is described by an N-dimensional predator-prey model. We find the equilibrium
states with non-zero amplitudes and prove their stability by obtaining the
Lyapunov function. The stability is independent of the exact details of the
approximation for the Raman gain curve. Furthermore, we investigate the impact
of cross phase modulation and Raman self and cross frequency shifts on the
dynamics and establish the stability of the equilibrium state with respect to
these perturbations. Our results provide a quantitative explanation for the
robustness of differential-phase-shift-keyed WDM transmission against Raman
crosstalk effects.Comment: 34 pages and 12 figures. Revised paper. Submitted to Optics
Communication
Discrete symmetries and models of flavor mixing
Evidences of a discrete symmetry behind the pattern of lepton mixing are
analyzed. The program of "symmetry building" is outlined. Generic features and
problems of realization of this program in consistent gauge models are
formulated. The key issues include the flavor symmetry breaking, connection of
mixing and masses, {\it ad hoc} prescription of flavor charges, "missing"
representations, existence of new particles, possible accidental character of
the TBM mixing. Various ways are considered to extend the leptonic symmetries
to the quark sector and to reconcile them with Grand Unification. In this
connection the quark-lepton complementarity could be a viable alternative to
TBM. Observational consequences of the symmetries and future experimental tests
of their existence are discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures. Talk given at the Symposium "DISCRETE 2010", 6 -
11 December 2010, La Sapienza, Rome, Ital
Mass bound of the lightest neutral Higgs scalar in the extra U(1) models
The upper mass bound of the lightest neutral Higgs scalar is studied in the
problem solvable extra U(1) models by using the analysis of the
renormalization group equations. In order to restrict the parameter space we
take account of a condition of the radiative symmetry breaking and some
phenomenological constraints. We compare the bound obtained based on this
restricted parameter space with the one of the next to the minimal
supersymmetric standard model (NMSSM). Features of the scalar potential and
renormalization group equations of the Yukawa couplings among Higgs chiral
supermultiplets are rather different between them. They can reflect in this
bound.Comment: 22 pages, latex, 11 eps-figure
The Global Jukebox: a public database of performing arts and culture
Standardized cross-cultural databases of the arts are critical to a balanced scientific understanding of the performing arts, and their role in other domains of human society. This paper introduces the Global Jukebox as a resource for comparative and cross-cultural study of the performing arts and culture. The Global Jukebox adds an extensive and detailed global database of the performing arts that enlarges our understanding of human cultural diversity. Initially prototyped by Alan Lomax in the 1980s, its core is the Cantometrics dataset, encompassing standardized codings on 37 aspects of musical style for 5,776 traditional songs from 1,026 societies. The Cantometrics dataset has been cleaned and checked for reliability and accuracy, and includes a full coding guide with audio training examples (https://theglobaljukebox.org/?songsofearth). Also being released are seven additional datasets coding and describing instrumentation, conversation, popular music, vowel and consonant placement, breath management, social factors, and societies. For the first time, all digitized Global Jukebox data are being made available in open-access, downloadable format (https://github.com/theglobaljukebox), linked with streaming audio recordings (theglobaljukebox.org) to the maximum extent allowed while respecting copyright and the wishes of culture-bearers. The data are cross-indexed with the Database of Peoples, Languages, and Cultures (D-PLACE) to allow researchers to test hypotheses about worldwide coevolution of aesthetic patterns and traditions. As an example, we analyze the global relationship between song style and societal complexity, showing that they are robustly related, in contrast to previous critiques claiming that these proposed relationships were an artifact of autocorrelation (though causal mechanisms remain unresolved).Introduction Background The Global Jukebox and its data 1. The data 1.1. Datasets of the Global Jukebox 1.2. Comparison with other cross cultural datasets 1.3. Coded performance variables: Selection and reliability 1.4. Performance data sources 1.5. Selection of audio examples 1.6. Availability of audio recordings 1.7. Performance metadata 2. Sampling societies and links to other datasets 2.1. Sampling societies 2.2. Links to other cross-cultural datasets 3. Data curation, cleaning, and validation 4. Coding reliability 5. Is song style correlated with social complexity? An example of hypothesis testing using the Global Jukebox 5.1. Hypothesis testing with the Global Jukebox datasets 5.2. Methods 5.3 Results of reanalysis 5.4 Discussion 6. Ethics, rights and consent 7. Conclusio
COMPARISON OF SOLUTION ALGORITHM FOR FLOW AROUND A SQUARE CYLINDER
ABSTRACT Numerical accuracy, numerical stability and calculation time are all important factors in the computational fluid dynamics. In this study, we compare two solution algorithms, the Simplified Marker and Cell (SMAC) method in the MAC-type methods and the Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure-Linked Equation (SIMPLE) algorithm in the SIMPLE-type algorithms, with respect to flow around a square cylinder in constant density and unsteady-state calculations using a staggered grid to investigate the numerical accuracy, the numerical stability and the computational time. For the flow around a square cylinder, the SMAC and SIMPLE solutions are in excellent agreement at the Strouhal number, drag and lift coefficients. However, SMAC is more unstable than SIMLE with a large Courant number. The computational time of the SMAC is shorter than that of the SIMPLE with a small Courant number
Bilinear R-parity violation with flavor symmetry
Bilinear R-parity violation (BRPV) provides the simplest intrinsically
supersymmetric neutrino mass generation scheme. While neutrino mixing
parameters can be probed in high energy accelerators, they are unfortunately
not predicted by the theory. Here we propose a model based on the discrete
flavor symmetry with a single R-parity violating parameter, leading to
(i) correct Cabbibo mixing given by the Gatto-Sartori-Tonin formula, and a
successful unification-like b-tau mass relation, and (ii) a correlation between
the lepton mixing angles and in agreement with
recent neutrino oscillation data, as well as a (nearly) massless neutrino,
leading to absence of neutrinoless double beta decay.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures. Extended version, as published in JHE
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