11,938 research outputs found
The differential diagnosis of Huntington's disease-like syndromes: 'red flags' for the clinician
A growing number of progressive heredodegenerative conditions mimic the presentation of Huntington's disease (HD). Differentiating among these HD-like syndromes is necessary when a patient with a combination of movement disorders, cognitive decline, behavioural abnormalities and progressive disease course proves negative to the genetic testing for HD causative mutations, that is, IT15 gene trinucleotide-repeat expansion. The differential diagnosis of HD-like syndromes is complex and may lead to unnecessary and costly investigations. We propose here a guide to this differential diagnosis focusing on a limited number of clinical features (‘red flags’) that can be identified through accurate clinical examination, collection of historical data and a few routine ancillary investigations. These features include the ethnic background of the patient, the involvement of the facio-bucco-lingual and cervical district by the movement disorder, the co-occurrence of cerebellar features and seizures, the presence of peculiar gait patterns and eye movement abnormalities, and an atypical progression of illness. Additional help may derive from the cognitive–behavioural presentation of the patient, as well as by a restricted number of ancillary investigations, mainly MRI and routine blood tests. These red flags should be constantly updated as the phenotypic characterisation and identification of more reliable diagnostic markers for HD-like syndromes progress over the following years
Variation of discrete spectra for non-selfadjoint perturbations of selfadjoint operators
Let B=A+K where A is a bounded selfadjoint operator and K is an element of
the von Neumann-Schatten ideal S_p with p>1. Let {\lambda_n} denote an
enumeration of the discrete spectrum of B. We show that \sum_n
\dist(\lambda_n, \sigma(A))^p is bounded from above by a constant multiple of
|K|_p^p. We also derive a unitary analog of this estimate and apply it to
obtain new estimates on zero-sets of Cauchy transforms.Comment: Differences to previous version: Extended Introduction, new Section
5, additional references. To appear in Int. Eq. Op. Theor
Upper bounds on entangling rates of bipartite Hamiltonians
We discuss upper bounds on the rate at which unitary evolution governed by a
non-local Hamiltonian can generate entanglement in a bipartite system. Given a
bipartite Hamiltonian H coupling two finite dimensional particles A and B, the
entangling rate is shown to be upper bounded by c*log(d)*norm(H), where d is
the smallest dimension of the interacting particles, norm(H) is the operator
norm of H, and c is a constant close to 1. Under certain restrictions on the
initial state we prove analogous upper bound for the ancilla-assisted
entangling rate with a constant c that does not depend upon dimensions of local
ancillas. The restriction is that the initial state has at most two distinct
Schmidt coefficients (each coefficient may have arbitrarily large
multiplicity). Our proof is based on analysis of a mixing rate -- a functional
measuring how fast entropy can be produced if one mixes a time-independent
state with a state evolving unitarily.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure
Increases in the Irreversibility Field and the Upper Critical Field of Bulk MgB2 by ZrB2 Addition
In a study of the influence of ZrB2 additions on the irreversibility field,
Birr and the upper critical field Bc2, bulk samples with 7.5 at. % ZrB2
additions were made by a powder milling and compaction technique. These samples
were then heated to 700-900C for 0.5 hours. Resistive transitions were measured
at 4.2 K and Birr and Bc2 values were determined. An increase in Bc2 from 20.5
T to 28.6 T and enhancement of Birr from 16 T to 24 T were observed in the ZrB2
doped sample as compared to the binary sample at 4.2 K. Critical field
increases similar to those found with SiC doping were seen at 4.2 K. At higher
temperatures, increases in Birr were also determined by M-H loop extrapolation
and closure. Values of Birr which were enhanced with ZrB2 doping (as compared
to the binary) were seen at temperatures up to 34 K, with Birr values larger
than those for SiC doped samples at higher temperatures. The transition
temperature, Tc, was then measured using DC susceptibility and a 2.5 K drop of
the midpoint of Tc was observed. The critical current density was determined
using magnetic measurements and was found to increase at all temperatures
between 4.2 K and 35 K with ZrB2 doping.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figs, 1 tabl
Constructing optimal entanglement witnesses. II
We provide a class of optimal nondecomposable entanglement witnesses for 4N x
4N composite quantum systems or, equivalently, a new construction of
nondecomposable positive maps in the algebra of 4N x 4N complex matrices. This
construction provides natural generalization of the Robertson map. It is shown
that their structural physical approximations give rise to entanglement
breaking channels.Comment: 6 page
Transport and magnetic Jc of MgB2 strands and small helical coils
The critical current densities of MgB2 monofilamentary strands with and
without SiC additions were measured at 4.2 K. Additionally, magnetic Jc at B =
1 T was measured from 4.2 K to 40 K. Various heat treatment times and
temperatures were investigated for both short samples and small helical coils.
SiC additions were seen to improve high field transport Jc at 4.2 K, but
improvements were not evident at 1 T at any temperature. Transport results were
relatively insensitive to heat treatment times and temperatures for both short
samples and coils in the 700C to 900C range.Comment: 8 text pages, 1 table, 4 fig
- …