395 research outputs found
Important Factors on Sidewalks with Vendor Activities Based on Pedestrian Perception by Gender and Age
This paper presents an investigation of important factors relating sidewalk performance based on pedestrian perceptions by gender and age. Exploratory factor analysis technique and reliability test of the variables are performed on 45 items of sidewalk current condition in order to extract dimensions of pedestrian perceptions in Jakarta and Bangkok. Based on age, male respondents reveals that eight factors are identified as important on sidewalk performance, and labeled on the basis of the attributed covered as sidewalk interaction, comfort, space availability, safety, vendor problems, walking path, vendor regulation, and vendor's attraction. On the other hand, the first seven factors are similarly stated by female respondents. Grouped by age, young respondents reveal nine factors are considered important and arbitrarily named as comfort, sidewalk interaction, safety, vendor's attraction, vendor problems, vendor regulation, walking path, space availability, and sidewalk condition. The presence of vendors are often deemed as obstruction for walking flow, but their activities should be accommodated by establishing policies and management to accept high performance of the sidewalks and to support the city's economy
Quark condensates in the chiral bag with the NJL interaction
We discuss the quark condensate of the vacuum inside the baryon. We analyze
the 1+1 dimensional chiral bag in analogy with the realistic 3+1 dimensional
one. The Nambu--Jona-Lasinio (NJL) type interaction is used to investigate the
quark condensate in the chiral bag. Considering the strong meson-quark
coupling, we solve the mean field solution to the scalar and pseudoscalar
channels by including the chiral Casimir effects. The self-consistent equation
allows a finite value of the quark condensate and hence a finite dynamical
quark mass inside the bag. It is shown that an approximate Cheshire Cat picture
holds for massive quarks
Color neutrality effects in the phase diagram of the PNJL model
The phase diagram of a two-flavor Polyakov loop Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model is
analyzed imposing the constraint of color charge neutrality. Main effects of
this constraint are a shrinking of the chiral symmetry breaking (chiSB) domain
in the T-mu plane, a shift of the critical point to lower temperatures and a
coexistence of chiSB and two-flavor superconducting phases. The effects can be
understood in view of the presence of a nonvanishing color chemical potential
mu_8, which is necessary to compensate the color charge density rho_8 induced
by the nonvanishing Polyakov-loop mean field phi_3.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, figures added, minor text modification
Dynamical Reduction of Discrete Systems Based on the Renormalization Group Method
The renormalization group (RG) method is extended for global asymptotic
analysis of discrete systems. We show that the RG equation in the discretized
form leads to difference equations corresponding to the Stuart-Landau or
Ginzburg-Landau equations. We propose a discretization scheme which leads to a
faithful discretization of the reduced dynamics of the original differential
equations.Comment: LaTEX. 12pages. 1 figure include
CHIRAL SYMMETRY AND ANOMALY IN AN EFFECTIVE THEORY OF QCD
We show on the basis of an effective theory of QCD that a wide variety of
observables in the hadron world is governed by the chiral symmetry together
with an interplay between the axial anomaly and the explicit symmetry breaking
due to the current quark mass. We also discuss the nature of the chiral
transition at finite temperature and related dynamical phenomena using the
effective Lagrangian. Some phenomenological implications of the small vector
coupling (``vector limit'') at high temperatures are suggested.Comment: 8 pages, LATEX(macros are included). Invited talk presented at Int.
RCNP Workshop on Color Confinement and Hadrons, March 22 - 24, RCNP, Osaka,
Japa
Phase diagram at finite temperature and quark density in the strong coupling limit of lattice QCD for color SU(3)
We study the phase diagram of quark matter at finite temperature (T) and
finite chemical potential (mu) in the strong coupling limit of lattice QCD for
color SU(3). We derive an analytical expression of the effective free energy as
a function of T and mu, including baryon effects. The finite temperature
effects are evaluated by integrating over the temporal link variable exactly in
the Polyakov gauge with anti-periodic boundary condition for fermions. The
obtained phase diagram shows the first order phase transition at low
temperatures and the second order phase transition at high temperatures
separated by the tri-critical point in the chiral limit. Baryon has effects to
reduce the effective free energy and to extend the hadron phase to a larger mu
direction at low temperatures.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figure
Probing the Functional Mechanism of Escherichia coli GroEL Using Circular Permutation
Background: The Escherichia coli chaperonin GroEL subunit consists of three domains linked via two hinge regions, and each domain is responsible for a specific role in the functional mechanism. Here, we have used circular permutation to study the structural and functional characteristics of the GroEL subunit. Methodology/Principal Findings: Three soluble, partially active mutants with polypeptide ends relocated into various positions of the apical domain of GroEL were isolated and studied. The basic functional hallmarks of GroEL (ATPase and chaperoning activities) were retained in all three mutants. Certain functional characteristics, such as basal ATPase activity and ATPase inhibition by the cochaperonin GroES, differed in the mutants while at the same time, the ability to facilitate the refolding of rhodanese was roughly equal. Stopped-flow fluorescence experiments using a fluorescent variant of the circularly permuted GroEL CP376 revealed that a specific kinetic transition that reflects movements of the apical domain was missing in this mutant. This mutant also displayed several characteristics that suggested that the apical domains were behaving in an uncoordinated fashion. Conclusions/Significance: The loss of apical domain coordination and a concomitant decrease in functional ability highlights the importance of certain conformational signals that are relayed through domain interlinks in GroEL. W
Dark matter clustering: a simple renormalization group approach
I compute a renormalization group (RG) improvement to the standard
beyond-linear-order Eulerian perturbation theory (PT) calculation of the power
spectrum of large-scale density fluctuations in the Universe. At z=0, for a
power spectrum matching current observations, lowest order RGPT appears to be
as accurate as one can test using existing numerical simulation-calibrated
fitting formulas out to at least k~=0.3 h/Mpc; although inaccuracy is
guaranteed at some level by approximations in the calculation (which can be
improved in the future). In contrast, standard PT breaks down virtually as soon
as beyond-linear corrections become non-negligible, on scales even larger than
k=0.1 h/Mpc. This extension in range of validity could substantially enhance
the usefulness of PT for interpreting baryonic acoustic oscillation surveys
aimed at probing dark energy, for example. I show that the predicted power
spectrum converges at high k to a power law with index given by the fixed-point
solution of the RG equation. I discuss many possible future directions for this
line of work. The basic calculation of this paper should be easily
understandable without any prior knowledge of RG methods, while a rich
background of mathematical physics literature exists for the interested reader.Comment: much expanded explanation of basic calculatio
Case report: a case of intractable Meniere's disease treated with autogenic training
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Psychological stress plays an important role in the onset and course of Meniere's disease. Surgical therapy and intratympanic gentamicin treatment are options for cases that are intractable to conventional medical therapy. Psychotherapy, however, including autogenic training (AT), which can be used for general relaxation, is not widely accepted. This paper describes the successful administration of AT in a subject suffering from intractable Meniere's disease.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 51-year-old male patient has suffered from fluctuating right sensorineural hearing loss with vertigo since 1994. In May 2002, he was first admitted to our hospital due to a severe vertigo attack accompanied by right sensorineural hearing loss. Spontaneous nystagmus toward the right side was observed. Since April 2004, he has experienced vertigo spells with right-sided tinnitus a few times per month that are intractable to conventional medical therapy. After four months, tympanic tube insertion was preformed in the right tympanic membrane. Intratympanic injection of dexamethasone was ineffective. He refused Meniett therapy and intratympanic gentamicin injection. In addition to his vertigo spells, he suffered from insomnia, tinnitus, and anxiety. Tranquilizers such as benzodiazepines and antidepressants such as serotonin selective re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) failed to stop the vertigo and only slightly improved his insomnia. In December 2006, the patient began psychological counseling with a psychotherapist. After brief psychological counseling along with cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), he began AT. He diligently and regularly continued his AT training in his home according to a written timetable. His insomnia, tinnitus, and vertigo spells disappeared within a few weeks after only four psychotherapy sessions. In order to master the six standard formulas of AT, he underwent two more sessions. Thereafter, he underwent follow-up for 9 months with no additional treatment. He is now free from drugs, including tranquilizers, and has continued AT. No additional treatment was performed. When we examined him <b>six </b>and nine months later for follow-up, he was free of vertigo and insomnia.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>AT together with CBT can be a viable and palatable treatment option for Meniere's disease patients who are not responsive to other therapies.</p
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