905 research outputs found
Large-scale structure of time evolving citation networks
In this paper we examine a number of methods for probing and understanding
the large-scale structure of networks that evolve over time. We focus in
particular on citation networks, networks of references between documents such
as papers, patents, or court cases. We describe three different methods of
analysis, one based on an expectation-maximization algorithm, one based on
modularity optimization, and one based on eigenvector centrality. Using the
network of citations between opinions of the United States Supreme Court as an
example, we demonstrate how each of these methods can reveal significant
structural divisions in the network, and how, ultimately, the combination of
all three can help us develop a coherent overall picture of the network's
shape.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures; journal names for 4 references fixe
Trades in complex Hadamard matrices
A trade in a complex Hadamard matrix is a set of entries which can be changed
to obtain a different complex Hadamard matrix. We show that in a real Hadamard
matrix of order all trades contain at least entries. We call a trade
rectangular if it consists of a submatrix that can be multiplied by some scalar
to obtain another complex Hadamard matrix. We give a
characterisation of rectangular trades in complex Hadamard matrices of order
and show that they all contain at least entries. We conjecture that all
trades in complex Hadamard matrices contain at least entries.Comment: 9 pages, no figure
New Black Hole Solutions in Brans-Dicke Theory of Gravity
Existence check of non-trivial, stationary axisymmetric black hole solutions
in Brans-Dicke theory of gravity in different direction from those of Penrose,
Thorne and Dykla, and Hawking is performed. Namely, working directly with the
known explicit spacetime solutions in Brans-Dicke theory, it is found that
non-trivial Kerr-Newman-type black hole solutions different from general
relativistic solutions could occur for the generic Brans-Dicke parameter values
-5/2\leq \omega <-3/2. Finally, issues like whether these new black holes carry
scalar hair and can really arise in nature and if they can, what the associated
physical implications would be are discussed carefully.Comment: 20 pages, no figure, Revtex, version to appear in Phys. Rev.
Uric acid: an old actor for a new role
The role of uric acid as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular events is still debated. In fact, other confounding factors such as glucose intolerance, obesity, dyslipidaemia, hypertension, use of diuretics and insulin resistance may play a role in determining the increased vascular risk associated to elevated uric acid concentrations. These factors (including high uric acid) have been mentioned in one or more definitions of the metabolic syndrome. Recently, much attention has been paid to the metabolic syndrome due to its possible role as a risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The worldwide increase in the prevalence of obesity and diabetes is a reason not only for the increasing prevalence of the metabolic syndrome but also of hyperuricaemia.
A better understanding of the role of uric acid in health and in disease states may help physicians to improve their performance in preventing and treating cardiovascular disease
Aberrant behaviours of reaction diffusion self-organisation models on growing domains in the presence of gene expression time delays
Turingâs pattern formation mechanism exhibits sensitivity to the details of the initial conditions suggesting that, in isolation, it cannot robustly generate pattern within noisy biological environments. Nonetheless, secondary aspects of developmental self-organisation, such as a growing domain, have been shown to ameliorate this aberrant model behaviour. Furthermore, while in-situ hybridisation reveals the presence of gene expression in developmental processes, the influence of such dynamics on Turingâs model has received limited attention. Here, we novelly focus on the GiererâMeinhardt reaction diffusion system considering delays due the time taken for gene expression, while incorporating a number of different domain growth profiles to further explore the influence and interplay of domain growth and gene expression on Turingâs mechanism. We find extensive pathological model behaviour, exhibiting one or more of the following: temporal oscillations with no spatial structure, a failure of the Turing instability and an extreme sensitivity to the initial conditions, the growth profile and the duration of gene expression. This deviant behaviour is even more severe than observed in previous studies of Schnakenberg kinetics on exponentially growing domains in the presence of gene expression (Gaffney and Monk in Bull. Math. Biol. 68:99â130, 2006). Our results emphasise that gene expression dynamics induce unrealistic behaviour in Turingâs model for multiple choices of kinetics and thus such aberrant modelling predictions are likely to be generic. They also highlight that domain growth can no longer ameliorate the excessive sensitivity of Turingâs mechanism in the presence of gene expression time delays. The above, extensive, pathologies suggest that, in the presence of gene expression, Turingâs mechanism would generally require a novel and extensive secondary mechanism to control reaction diffusion patterning
Toward a cohesive understanding of ecological complexity
Ecological systems are quintessentially complex systems. Understanding and being able to predict phenomena typical of complex systems is, therefore, critical to progress in ecology and conservation amidst escalating global environmental change. However, myriad definitions of complexity and excessive reliance on conventional scientific approaches hamper conceptual advances and synthesis. Ecological complexity may be better understood by following the solid theoretical basis of complex system science (CSS). We review features of ecological systems described within CSS and conduct bibliometric and text mining analyses to characterize articles that refer to ecological complexity. Our analyses demonstrate that the study of complexity in ecology is a highly heterogeneous, global endeavor that is only weakly related to CSS. Current research trends are typically organized around basic theory, scaling, and macroecology. We leverage our review and the generalities identified in our analyses to suggest a more coherent and cohesive way forward in the study of complexity in ecology
Demagnetization via Nucleation of the Nonequilibrium Metastable Phase in a Model of Disorder
We study both analytically and numerically metastability and nucleation in a
two-dimensional nonequilibrium Ising ferromagnet. Canonical equilibrium is
dynamically impeded by a weak random perturbation which models homogeneous
disorder of undetermined source. We present a simple theoretical description,
in perfect agreement with Monte Carlo simulations, assuming that the decay of
the nonequilibrium metastable state is due, as in equilibrium, to the
competition between the surface and the bulk. This suggests one to accept a
nonequilibrium "free-energy" at a mesoscopic/cluster level, and it ensues a
nonequilibrium "surface tension" with some peculiar low-T behavior. We
illustrate the occurrence of intriguing nonequilibrium phenomena, including:
(i) Noise-enhanced stabilization of nonequilibrium metastable states; (ii)
reentrance of the limit of metastability under strong nonequilibrium
conditions; and (iii) resonant propagation of domain walls. The cooperative
behavior of our system may also be understood in terms of a Langevin equation
with additive and multiplicative noises. We also studied metastability in the
case of open boundaries as it may correspond to a magnetic nanoparticle. We
then observe burst-like relaxation at low T, triggered by the additional
surface randomness, with scale-free avalanches which closely resemble the type
of relaxation reported for many complex systems. We show that this results from
the superposition of many demagnetization events, each with a well- defined
scale which is determined by the curvature of the domain wall at which it
originates. This is an example of (apparent) scale invariance in a
nonequilibrium setting which is not to be associated with any familiar kind of
criticality.Comment: 26 pages, 22 figure
Toward understanding covid-19 recovery: national institutes of health workshop on postacute covid-19
Over the past year, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has swept the globe, resulting in an enormous worldwide burden of infection and mortality. However, the additional toll resulting from long-term consequences of the pandemic has yet to be tallied. Heterogeneous disease manifestations and syndromes are now recognized among some persons after their initial recovery from SARS-CoV-2 infection, representing in the broadest sense a failure to return to a baseline state of health after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. On 3 to 4 December 2020, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in collaboration with other Institutes and Centers of the National Institutes of Health, convened a virtual workshop to summarize existing knowledge on postacute COVID-19 and to identify key knowledge gaps regarding this condition
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