3,610 research outputs found
SU(2)xSU(2) nonlocal quark model with confinement
The nonlocal version of the SU(2)xSU(2) symmetric four-quark interaction of
the NJL type is considered. Each of the quark lines contains the form factors.
These form factors remove the ultraviolet divergences in quark loops. The
additional condition on quark mass function m(p) ensures the absence of the
poles in the quark propagator(quark confinement). The constituent quark mass
m(0) is expressed thought the cut-off parameter Lambda, m(0)=Lambda=340 MeV in
the chiral limit. These parameters are fixed by the experimental value of the
weak pion decay and allow us to describe the mass of the light scalar meson,
strong decay rho -> pi pi and D/S ratio in the decay a_1 -> rho pi in
satisfactory agreement with experimental data.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure
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Stochastic parameterization: uncertainties from convection
In 2005, the ECMWF held a workshop on stochastic parameterisation, at which the convection was seen as being
a key issue. That much is clear from the working group reports and particularly the statement from working group
1 that āit is clear that a stochastic convection scheme is desirableā. The present note aims to consider our current
status in comparison with some of the issues raised and hopes expressed in that working group report
Alternative translation initiation in rat brain yields K2P2.1 potassium channels permeable to sodium.
K(2P) channels mediate potassium background currents essential to central nervous system function, controlling excitability by stabilizing membrane potential below firing threshold and expediting repolarization. Here, we show that alternative translation initiation (ATI) regulates function of K(2P)2.1 (TREK-1) via an unexpected strategy. Full-length K(2P)2.1 and an isoform lacking the first 56 residues of the intracellular N terminus (K(2P)2.1Delta1-56) are produced differentially in a regional and developmental manner in the rat central nervous system, the latter passing sodium under physiological conditions leading to membrane depolarization. Control of ion selectivity via ATI is proposed to be a natural, epigenetic mechanism for spatial and temporal regulation of neuronal excitability
The Use of Serum Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein Measurements in the Diagnosis of Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Optic Neuritis
Background: Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is a specific intermediate filament of the cytoskeleton of the astrocyte and may be used as a specific marker for astrocytic damage. It is detectable in the cerebrospinal fluid following a relapse caused by Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO) spectrum disease. Higher levels are found following an NMO-related relapse. It is not known if GFAP is also detectable in the serum following such relapses. In particular, it is not known if lesions limited to the optic nerve release GFAP in sufficient quantities to be detectable within the serum. The aim of this study was to ascertain the extent to which serum GFAP levels can distinguish between an episode of optic neuritis (ON) related to NMO spectrum disease and ON from other causes.Methodology/Principal Findings: Out of 150 patients consecutively presenting to our eye hospital over the period March 2009 until July 2010, we were able to collect a serum sample from 12 patients who had presented with MS-related ON and from 10 patients who had presented with NMO spectrum disease-related ON. We also identified 8 patients with recurrent isolated ON and 8 patients with a corticosteroid-dependent optic neuropathy in the absence of any identified aetiology. GFAP was detectable in the serum of all but three patients (two patients with MS-related ON and one with recurrent optic neuritis). The median serum GFAP level in the patient group with NMO spectrum disease was 4.63 pg/mL whereas in all other cases combined together, this was 2.14 pg/mL. The difference was statistically significant (P = 0.01). A similar statistically significant difference was found when cases with pathology limited to the optic nerve were compared (P = 0.03).Conclusions: Glial pathology in NMO related optic neuritis is reflected in elevated serum GFAP levels independently of whether or not there is extra-optic nerve disease
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Simulation of an evolving convective boundary layer using a scale-dependent dynamic Smagorinsky model at near-gray-zone resolutions
A scale-dependent Lagrangian-averaged Dynamic Smagorinsky sub-grid scheme with stratification effects is used to simulate the evolving convective boundary layer of the Wangara case study in the grey-zone regime (specifically,
for grid lengths from 25 to 400 m). The dynamic Smagorinsky and standard Smagorinsky approaches are assessed for first and second order quantities
in comparison with results derived from coarse-grained LES fields. In the LES regime the sub-grid schemes produce very similar results, albeit with some modest differences near the surface. At coarser resolutions, the use of the standard Smagorinsky significantly delays the onset of resolved turbulence, the delay increasing with coarsening resolution. In contrast, the dynamic
Smagorinsky scheme much improves the spin-up and so is also able to maintain consistency with the LES temperature profiles at the coarser resolutions.
Moreover, the resolved part of the turbulence reproduces well the turbulence profiles obtained from the coarse-grained fields, especially in the near grey-zone. The dynamic scheme does become somewhat over-energetic
with further coarsening of the resolution, especially near the surface. The dynamic scheme reaches its limit in our current configuration when the test filter
starts to sample at the unresolved scales returning very small Smagorinsky coefficients. Sensitivity tests reveal that the dynamic model can adapt to changes in the imposed numerical or sub-grid diffusion by adjusting the Smagorinsky constant to the changing flow field and minimising the dissipation effects on the resolved turbulence structures
Broken-symmetry-adapted Green function theory of condensed matter systems:towards a vector spin-density-functional theory
The group theory framework developed by Fukutome for a systematic analysis of
the various broken symmetry types of Hartree-Fock solutions exhibiting spin
structures is here extended to the general many body context using spinor-Green
function formalism for describing magnetic systems. Consequences of this theory
are discussed for examining the magnetism of itinerant electrons in nanometric
systems of current interest as well as bulk systems where a vector spin-density
form is required, by specializing our work to spin-density-functional
formalism. We also formulate the linear response theory for such a system and
compare and contrast them with the recent results obtained for localized
electron systems. The various phenomenological treatments of itinerant magnetic
systems are here unified in this group-theoretical description.Comment: 17 page
Millisecond accuracy video display using OpenGL under Linux
To measure peopleās reaction times to the nearest millisecond, it is necessary to know exactly when
a stimulus is displayed. This article describes how to display stimuli with millisecond accuracy on a
normal CRT monitor, using a PC running Linux. A simple C program is presented to illustrate how this
may be done within X Windows using the OpenGL rendering system. A test of this system is reported
that demonstrates that stimuli may be consistently displayed with millisecond accuracy. An algorithm
is presented that allows the exact time of stimulus presentation to be deduced, even if there are relatively
large errors in measuring the display time
Symptomatic Recovery in Miller Fisher Syndrome Parallels VestibularāPerceptual and not VestibularāOcular Reflex Function
Unpleasant visual symptoms including oscillopsia and dizziness may occur when there is unexpected motion of the visual world across the subject's retina (āretinal slipā) as in an acute spontaneous nystagmus or on head movement with an acute ophthalmoplegia. In contrast, subjects with chronic ocular dysmotility, e.g., congenital nystagmus or chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia, are typically symptom free. The adaptive processes that render chronic patients asymptomatic are obscure but may include a suppression of oscillopsia perception as well as an increased tolerance to perceived oscillopsia. Such chronic asymptomatic patients display an attenuation of vestibular-mediated angular velocity perception, implying a possible contributory role in the adaptive process. In order to assess causality between symptoms, signs (i.e., eye movements), and vestibularāperceptual function, we prospectively assessed symptom ratings and ocular-motor and perceptual vestibular function, in a patient with acute but transient ophthalmoplegia due to Miller Fisher Syndrome (as a model of visuo-vestibular adaptation). The data show that perceptual measures of vestibular function display a significant attenuation as compared to ocular-motor measures during the acute, symptomatic period. Perhaps significantly, both symptomatic recovery and normalization of vestibularāperceptual function were delayed and then occurred in a parallel fashion. This is the first report showing that symptomatic recovery of visuo-vestibular symptoms is better paralleled by vestibularāperceptual testing than vestibularāocular reflex (VOR) measures. The findings may have implications for the understanding of patients with chronic vestibular symptoms where VOR testing is often unhelpful
Trouble in Paradise - A disabled person's right to the satisfaction of a self-defined need:Some conceptual and practical problems
This paper questions the usefulness of the rights-based approach to ameliorating the social situation of disabled people in Britain and advances two criticisms. First, that rights and self-de? ned needs have been under-theorised by disability theorists to the extent that they have insuf? ciently appreciated the problems that these approaches pose. The paper suggests that rights to appropriate resources to satisfy self-de? ned needs will generate vast numbers of competing rights claims and that the resulting tendency of rights to con? ict has been under-appreciated. Secondly, that there has been little consideration of how these con? icts might be reconciled. The ? rst two sections of the paper look at the concepts of ascribed and self-de? ned needs, respectively, whilst the ? nal one looks at some of the problems of the rights approach and some of the dif? culties of making self-de? ned need the basis of rights claims
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