2,222 research outputs found
A note on 5-cycle double covers
The strong cycle double cover conjecture states that for every circuit of
a bridgeless cubic graph , there is a cycle double cover of which
contains . We conjecture that there is even a 5-cycle double cover of
which contains , i.e. is a subgraph of one of the five 2-regular
subgraphs of . We prove a necessary and sufficient condition for a 2-regular
subgraph to be contained in a 5-cycle double cover of
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The influence of sense-contingent argument structure frequencies on ambiguity resolution in aphasia
Verbs with multiple senses can show varying argument structure frequencies, depending on the underlying sense. When acknowledge is used to mean ‘recognise’, it takes a direct object (DO), but when it is used to mean ‘admit’ it prefers a sentence complement (SC). The purpose of this study was to investigate whether people with aphasia (PWA) can exploit such meaning-structure probabilities during the reading of temporarily ambiguous sentences, as demonstrated for neurologically healthy individuals (NHI) in a self-paced reading study (Hare et al., 2003). Eleven people with mild or moderate aphasia and eleven neurologically healthy control participants read sentences while their eyes were tracked. Using adapted materials from the study by Hare et al., target sentences containing an SC structure (e.g. He acknowledged (that) his friends would probably help him a lot) were presented following a context prime that biased either a direct object (DO-bias) or sentence complement (SC-bias) reading of the verbs. Half of the stimuli sentences did not contain that so made the post verbal noun phrase (his friends) structurally ambiguous. Both groups of participants were influenced by structural ambiguity as well as by the context bias, indicating that PWA can, like NHI, use their knowledge of a verb’s sense-based argument structure frequency during online sentence reading. However, the individuals with aphasia showed delayed reading patterns and some individual differences in their sensitivity to context and ambiguity cues. These differences compared to the NHI may contribute to difficulties in sentence comprehension in aphasia
Dynamical Coulomb blockade and spin-entangled electrons
We consider the production of mobile and nonlocal pairwise spin-entangled
electrons from tunneling of a BCS-superconductor (SC) to two normal Fermi
liquid leads. The necessary mechanism to separate the two electrons coming from
the same Cooper pair (spin-singlet) is achieved by coupling the SC to leads
with a finite resistance. The resulting dynamical Coulomb blockade effect,
which we describe phenomenologically in terms of an electromagnetic
environment, is shown to be enhanced for tunneling of two spin-entangled
electrons into the same lead compared to the process where the pair splits and
each electron tunnels into a different lead. On the other hand in the
pair-split process, the spatial correlation of a Cooper pair leads to a current
suppression as a function of distance between the two tunnel junctions which is
weaker for effectively lower dimensional SCs.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
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Effects of word frequency and contextual predictability on sentence reading in aphasia: An eye movement analysis
Background: Mild reading difficulties are a pervasive symptom of aphasia. While much research in aphasia has been devoted to the study of single word reading, little is known about the process of (silent) sentence reading. Reading research in the non-brain-damaged population has benefited from the use of eye-tracking methodology, allowing inferences on cognitive processing without participants making an articulatory response. This body of research identified two factors, which strongly influence reading at the sentence level: word frequency and contextual predictability (influence of context).
Aims: The main aim of this study was to investigate whether word frequency and contextual predictability influence sentence reading by people with aphasia (PWA), in parallel to that of neurologically healthy individuals (NHI). A second aim was to examine whether readers with aphasia show individual differences in the effects, and whether these are related to their underlying language profile.
Methods & Procedures: Seventeen PWA and associated mild reading difficulties and 20 NHI took part in this study. Individuals with aphasia completed a range of language assessments. For the eye-tracking experiment, participants silently read sentences that included target words varying in word frequency and predictability while their eye movements were recorded. Comprehension accuracy, fixation durations, and the probability of first-pass fixations and first-pass regressions were measured.
Outcomes & Results: Eye movements by both groups were significantly influenced by word frequency and predictability, but the predictability effect was stronger for the PWA than the neurologically healthy participants. Additionally, effects of word frequency and predictability were independent for the NHI, but the individuals with aphasia showed a more interactive pattern. Correlational analyses revealed (i) a significant relationship between lexical-semantic impairments and the word frequency effect score and (ii) a marginally significant association between the sentence comprehension skills and the predictability effect score.
Conclusions: Consistent with compensatory processing theories, these findings indicate that decreased reading efficiency may trigger a more interactive reading strategy that aims to compensate for poorer reading by putting more emphasis on a sentence context, particularly for low-frequency words. For those individuals who have difficulties applying the strategy automatically, using a sentence context could be a beneficial strategy to focus on in reading intervention
Nitrogen-Vacancy Ensemble Magnetometry Based on Pump Absorption
We demonstrate magnetic field sensing using an ensemble of nitrogen-vacancy
centers by recording the variation in the pump-light absorption due to the
spin-polarization dependence of the total ground state population. Using a 532
nm pump laser, we measure the absorption of native nitrogen-vacancy centers in
a chemical vapor deposited diamond placed in a resonant optical cavity. For a
laser pump power of 0.4 W and a cavity finesse of 45, we obtain a noise floor
of 100 nT/ spanning a bandwidth up to 125 Hz. We
project a photon shot-noise-limited sensitivity of 1
pT/ by optimizing the nitrogen-vacancy concentration and
the detection method.Comment: 7 pages and 5 figure
Landau Ginzburg theory of the d-wave Josephson junction
This letter discusses the Landau Ginzburg theory of a Josephson junction
composed of on one side a pure d-wave superconductor oriented with the
axis normal to the junction and on the other side either s-wave or d-wave
oriented with normal to the junction. We use simple symmetry arguments
to show that the Josephson current as a function of the phase must have the
form . In principle vanishes
for a perfect junction of this type, but anisotropy effects, either due to a-b
axis asymmetry or junction imperfections can easily cause to be
quite large even in a high quality junction. If is sufficiently
small and is negative local time reversal symmetry breaking will appear.
Arbitrary values of the flux would then be pinned to corners between such
junctions and occasionally on junction faces, which is consistent with
experiments by Kirtley et al
Microdroplet fabrication of silver–agarose nanocomposite beads for SERS optical accumulation
Microdroplets have been used as reactors for the fabrication of agarose beads with high uniformity in shape and size, and densely loaded with silver ions, which were subsequently reduced into nanoparticles using hydrazine. The resulting nanocomposite beads not only display a high plasmonic activity, but can also trap/concentrate analytes, which can be identified by means of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. The size of the beads is such that it allows the detection of a single bead under a conventional optical microscope, which is very useful to reduce the amount of material required for SERS detectio
EnRoot: a narrow, inexpensive and partially 3D-printable minirhizotron for imaging fine root production
Background
Fine root production is one of the least well understood components of the carbon cycle in terrestrial ecosystems. Minirhizotrons allow accurate and non-destructive sampling of fine root production. Small and large scale studies across a range of ecosystems are needed to have baseline data on fine root production and further assess the impact of global change upon it; however, the expense and the low adaptability of minirhizotrons prevent such data collection, in worldwide distributed sampling schemes, in low-income countries and in some ecosystems (e.g. tropical forested wetlands).
Results
We present EnRoot, a narrow minirhizotron of 25 mm diameter, that is partially 3D printable. EnRoot is inexpensive (€150), easy to construct (no prior knowledge required) and adapted to a range of ecosystems including tropical forested wetlands (e.g. mangroves, peatlands). We tested EnRoot’s accuracy and precision for measuring fine root length and diameter, and it yielded Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient values of 0.95 for root diameter and 0.92 for length. As a proof of concept, we tested EnRoot in a mesocosm study, and in the field in a tropical mangrove. EnRoot proved its capacity to capture the development of roots of a legume (Medicago sativa) and a mangrove species (seedlings of Rhizophora mangle) in laboratory mesocosms. EnRoot’s field installation was possible in the root-dense tropical mangrove because its narrow diameter allowed it to be installed between larger roots and because it is fully waterproof. EnRoot compares favourably with commercial minirhizotrons, and can image roots as small as 56 µm.
Conclusion
EnRoot removes barriers to the extensive use of minirhizotrons by being low-cost, easy to construct and adapted to a wide range of ecosystem. It opens the doors to worldwide distributed minirhizotron studies across an extended range of ecosystems with the potential to fill knowledge gaps surrounding fine root production
Correlation Measurement of Squeezed Light
We study the implementation of a correlation measurement technique for the
characterization of squeezed light which is nearly free of electronic noise.
With two different sources of squeezed light, we show that the sign of the
covariance coefficient, revealed from the time resolved correlation data, is
witnessing the presence of squeezing in the system. Furthermore, we estimate
the degree of squeezing using the correlation method and compare it to the
standard homodyne measurement scheme. We show that the role of electronic
detector noise is minimized using the correlation approach as opposed to
homodyning where it often becomes a crucial issue
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