Scaling limits of lattice quantum fields by wavelets

We present a rigorous renormalization group scheme for lattice quantum field theories in terms of operator algebras. The renormalization group is considered as an inductive system of scaling maps between lattice field algebras. We construct scaling maps for scalar lattice fields using Daubechies' wavelets, and show that the inductive limit of free lattice ground states exists and the limit state extends to the familiar massive continuum free field, with the continuum action of spacetime translations. In particular, lattice fields are identified with the continuum field smeared with Daubechies' scaling functions. We compare our scaling maps with other renormalization schemes and their features, such as the momentum shell method or block-spin transformations

"Integrating China in the International Consortium for Personalized Medicine": The Coordination and Support Action to Foster Collaboration in Personalized Medicine Development between Europe and China

"Integrating China in the International Consortium for Personalized Medicine"(IC2PerMed) is a coordination and support action funded within the Horizon 2020 work program. Following the guidance of the International Consortium for Personalized Medicine (ICPerMed), the project's overarching aim is to align the European Union and China's research agendas in the field of personalized medicine (PM) to enable a swift development of PM approaches in the EU with strong leverage upon EU-Chinese collaboration. Living in the CO-VID-19 era, we are witnessing how the challenges imposed by the pandemic all around the globe have been acting as a catalyst for collaborations and knowledge sharing among national health systems worldwide. Given the strong interest on behalf of both Europe and China in the advancement of PM approaches, now more than ever, a cross-border collaboration between the 2 powers can accelerate the effective translation of such innovation to healthcare systems, advance research, and ensure that such change follows the directions toward the path of sustainability. IC2PerMed developments will be led by European and Chinese experts equally assembled into 3 Working Groups: (1) people and organization, (2) innovation and market, and (3) research and clinical studies in PM. This complex and dynamic network of actions thrives on dialog, cooperation, and alignment of research at national and global levels; work in the direction taken by IC2PerMed shall pave the way toward the realization of PM's full potential, prevent it from becoming a burden for healthcare systems, and, rather, prove that it provides an essential and irreplaceable contribution to their effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability

Success factors and barriers in combining personalized medicine and patient centered care in breast cancer. Results from a systematic review and proposal of conceptual framework

Breast Cancer (BC) is the leading cause of death due to cancer in women. Ensuring equitable, quality-assured and effective care has increased the complexity of BC management. This systematic review reports on the state-of-the art of available literature investigating the enactment of personalized treatment and patient-centered care models in BC clinical practice, building a framework for the delivery of personalized BC care within a Patient-Centered model. Databases were searched for articles (from the inception to December 2020) reporting on Patient-Centered or Personalized Medicine BC management models, assessing success factors or limits. Out of 1885 records, 25 studies were included in our analysis. The main success factors include clearly defined roles and responsibilities within a multi-professional collaboration, appropriate training programs and adequate communication strategies and adopting a universal genomic language to improve patients’ involvement in the decision-making process. Among detected barriers, delays in the use of genetic testing were linked to the lack of public reimbursement schemes and of clear indications in timing and appropriateness. Overall, both care approaches are complementary and necessary to effectively improve BC patient management. Our framework attempts to bridge the gap in assigning a central role played by shared decision-making, still scarcely investigated in literature

Homing in on consciousness in the nervous system: An action-based synthesis

Abstract: The primary function of consciousness in the nervous system remains mysterious. Passive frame theory, a synthesis of empirically supported hypotheses from diverse fields of investigation, reveals that consciousness serves as a frame that constrains and directs skeletal muscle output, thereby yielding adaptive behavior. How consciousness achieves this is more counterintuitive, “low level, ” and passive than the kinds of functions that theorists have attributed to consciousness. From this unique, action-based perspective, consciousness is in the service of the somatic nervous system. The framework begins to isolate the neuroanatomical, cognitive-mechanistic, and representational processes associated with consciousness.

A novel real-time PCR assay for quantitative detection of Campylobacter fetus based on ribosomal sequences

Background: Campylobacter fetus is a pathogen of major concern for animal and human health. The species shows a great intraspecific variation, with three subspecies: C. fetus subsp. fetus, C. fetus subsp. venerealis, and C. fetus subsp. testudinum. Campylobacter fetus fetus affects a broad range of hosts and induces abortion in sheep and cows. Campylobacter fetus venerealis is restricted to cattle and causes the endemic disease bovine genital campylobacteriosis, which triggers reproductive problems and is responsible for major economic losses. Campylobacter fetus testudinum has been proposed recently based on genetically divergent strains isolated from reptiles and humans. Both C. fetus fetus and C. fetus testudinum are opportunistic pathogens for immune-compromised humans. Biochemical tests remain as the gold standard for identifying C. fetus but the fastidious growing requirements and the lack of reliability and reproducibility of some biochemical tests motivated the development of molecular diagnostic tools. These methods have been successfully tested on bovine isolates but fail to detect some genetically divergent strains isolated from other hosts. The aim of the present study was to develop a highly specific molecular assay to identify and quantify C. fetus strains. Results: We developed a highly sensitive real-time PCR assay that targets a unique region of the 16S rRNA gene. This assay successfully detected all C. fetus strains, including those that were negative for the cstA gene-based assay used as a standard for molecular C. fetus identification. The assay showed high specificity and absence of cross-reactivity with other bacterial species. The analytical testing of the assay was determined using a standard curve. The assay demonstrated a wide dynamic range between 102 and 107 genome copies per reaction, and a good reproducibility with small intra- and inter-assay variability. Conclusions: The possibility to characterize samples in a rapid, sensitive and reproducible way makes this assay a good option to establish a new standard in molecular identification and quantification of C. fetus species

Sources of avoidance motivation: Valence effects from physical effort and mental rotation

When reaching goals, organisms must simultaneously meet the overarching goal of conserving energy. According to the law of least effort, organisms will select the means associated with the least effort. The mechanisms underlying this bias remain unknown. One hypothesis is that organisms come to avoid situations associated with unnecessary effort by generating a negative valence toward the stimuli associated with such situations. Accordingly, merely using a dysfunctional, ‘slow’ computer mouse causes participants to dislike ambient neutral images (Study 1). In Study 2, nonsense shapes were liked less when associated with effortful processing (135° of mental rotation) versus easier processing (45° of rotation). Complementing ‘fluency’ effects found in perceptuo-semantic research, valence emerged from action-related processing in a principled fashion. The findings imply that negative valence associations may underlie avoidance motivations, and have practical implications for educational/workplace contexts in which effort and positive affect are conducive to success

Distinct Campylobacter fetus lineages adapted as livestock pathogens and human pathobionts in the intestinal microbiota

Campylobacter fetus is a venereal pathogen of cattle and sheep, and an opportunistic human pathogen. It is often assumed that C. fetus infection occurs in humans as a zoonosis through food chain transmission. Here we show that mammalian C. fetus consists of distinct evolutionary lineages, primarily associated with either human or bovine hosts. We use whole-genome phylogenetics on 182 strains from 17 countries to provide evidence that C. fetus may have originated in humans around 10,500 years ago and may have "jumped" into cattle during the livestock domestication period. We detect C. fetus genomes in 8% of healthy human fecal metagenomes, where the human-associated lineages are the dominant type (78%). Thus, our work suggests that C. fetus is an unappreciated human intestinal pathobiont likely spread by human to human transmission. This genome-based evolutionary framework will facilitate C. fetus epidemiology research and the development of improved molecular diagnostics and prevention schemes for this neglected pathoge

Talk to the Virtual Hands: Self-Animated Avatars Improve Communication in Head-Mounted Display Virtual Environments

Background When we talk to one another face-to-face, body gestures accompany our speech. Motion tracking technology enables us to include body gestures in avatar-mediated communication, by mapping one's movements onto one's own 3D avatar in real time, so the avatar is self-animated. We conducted two experiments to investigate (a) whether head-mounted display virtual reality is useful for researching the influence of body gestures in communication; and (b) whether body gestures are used to help in communicating the meaning of a word. Participants worked in pairs and played a communication game, where one person had to describe the meanings of words to the other. Principal Findings In experiment 1, participants used significantly more hand gestures and successfully described significantly more words when nonverbal communication was available to both participants (i.e. both describing and guessing avatars were self-animated, compared with both avatars in a static neutral pose). Participants ‘passed’ (gave up describing) significantly more words when they were talking to a static avatar (no nonverbal feedback available). In experiment 2, participants' performance was significantly worse when they were talking to an avatar with a prerecorded listening animation, compared with an avatar animated by their partners' real movements. In both experiments participants used significantly more hand gestures when they played the game in the real world. Conclusions Taken together, the studies show how (a) virtual reality can be used to systematically study the influence of body gestures; (b) it is important that nonverbal communication is bidirectional (real nonverbal feedback in addition to nonverbal communication from the describing participant); and (c) there are differences in the amount of body gestures that participants use with and without the head-mounted display, and we discuss possible explanations for this and ideas for future investigation

The split property for quantum field theories in flat and curved spacetimes

The split property expresses a strong form of independence of spacelike separated regions in algebraic quantum field theory. In Minkowski spacetime, it can be proved under hypotheses of nuclearity. An expository account is given of nuclearity and the split property, and connections are drawn to the theory of quantum energy inequalities. In addition, a recent proof of the split property for quantum field theory in curved spacetimes is outlined, emphasising the essential ideas

Towards neuro-inspired symbolic models of cognition: linking neural dynamics to behaviors through asynchronous communications

A computational architecture modeling the relation between perception and action is proposed. Basic brain processes representing synaptic plasticity are first abstracted through asynchronous communication protocols and implemented as virtual microcircuits. These are used in turn to build mesoscale circuits embodying parallel cognitive processes. Encoding these circuits into symbolic expressions gives finally rise to neuro-inspired programs that are compiled into pseudo-code to be interpreted by a virtual machine. Quantitative evaluation measures are given by the modification of synapse weights over time. This approach is illustrated by models of simple forms of behaviors exhibiting cognition up to the third level of animal awareness. As a potential benefit, symbolic models of emergent psychological mechanisms could lead to the discovery of the learning processes involved in the development of cognition. The executable specifications of an experimental platform allowing for the reproduction of simulated experiments are given in “Appendix”