3,224 research outputs found
Detecting level crossings without looking at the spectrum
In many physical systems it is important to be aware of the crossings and
avoided crossings which occur when eigenvalues of a physical observable are
varied using an external parameter. We have discovered a powerful algebraic
method of finding such crossings via a mapping to the problem of locating the
roots of a polynomial in that parameter. We demonstrate our method on atoms and
molecules in a magnetic field, where it has implications in the search for
Feshbach resonances. In the atomic case our method allows us to point out a new
class of invariants of the Breit-Rabi Hamiltonian of magnetic resonance. In the
case of molecules, it enables us to find curve crossings with practically no
knowledge of the corresponding Born-Oppenheimer potentials.Comment: 4 pages, new title, no figures, accepted by Phys. Rev. Let
Extraction of DNA from Plant and Fungus Tissues in situ
Background: When samples are collected in the field and transported to the lab, degradation of the nucleic acids contained in the samples is frequently observed. Immediate extraction and precipitation of the nucleic acids reduces degradation to a minimum, thus preserving accurate sequence information. An extraction method to obtain high quality DNA in field studies is described. Findings. DNA extracted immediately after sampling was compared to DNA extracted after allowing the sampled tissues to air dry at 21°C for 48 or 72 hours. While DNA extracted from fresh tissues exhibited little degradation, DNA extracted from all tissues exposed to 21°C air for 48 or 72 hours exhibited varying degrees of degradation. Yield was higher for extractions from fresh tissues in most cases. Four microcentrifuges were compared for DNA yield: one standard electric laboratory microcentrifuge (max rcf=16,000×g), two battery-operated microcentrifuges (max rcf=5,000 and 3,000 ×g), and one manually-operated microcentrifuge (max rcf=120×g). Yields for all centrifuges were similar. DNA extracted under simulated field conditions was similar in yield and quality to DNA extracted in the laboratory using the same equipment. Conclusions: This CTAB (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) DNA extraction method employs battery-operated and manually-operated equipment to isolate high quality DNA in the field. The method was tested on plant and fungus tissues, and may be adapted for other types of organisms. The method produced high quality DNA in laboratory tests and under simulated field conditions. The field extraction method should prove useful for working in remote sites, where ice, dry ice, and liquid nitrogen are unavailable; where degradation is likely to occur due to the long distances between the sample site and the laboratory; and in instances where other DNA preservation and transportation methods have been unsuccessful. It may be possible to adapt this method for genomic, metagenomic, transcriptomic and metabolomic projects using samples collected in situ. © 2012 Abu Almakarem et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd
Gender, age and the MBA: An analysis of extrinsic and intrinsic career benefits
Against the background of an earlier UK study, this paper presents the findings of a Canadian based survey of career benefits from the MBA. Results indicate firstly that gender and age interact to influence perceptions of career outcomes (young men gain most in terms of extrinsic benefits of career change and pay), and secondly that both men and women gain intrinsic benefits from the MBA. However, intrinsic benefits vary by gender: men in the study were more likely to say they gained confidence from having a fuller skill set while women were more likely to say they gained confidence from feelings of self worth; men emphasised how they had learned to give up control while women argued that they had gained a ‘voice’ in the organization. The role of the MBA in career self- management and the acquisition of key skills are examined as well as the implications for the design of programmes in meeting the varied need of men and women in different age groups
Effects of DSP4 and methylphenidate on spatial memory performance in rats
In this experiment, we have investigated the spatial memory performance of rats following a central noradrenaline depletion induced by three different doses of the neurotoxin N-(2-chloroethyl)-N-ethyl-2-bromobenzylamine (DSP4) and following administration of three different doses of methylphenidate (MPH). The rats were required to find food pellets hidden on a holeboard. The sole administration of DSP4 induced only minor cognitive deficits. However, the treatment with MPH increased the reference memory error, the impulsivity and the motor activity of the DSP4-treated rats. Since the noradrenergic terminals in a DSP4-treated rat are significantly reduced, the administration of MPH has little effect on the noradrenergic system and increases dopaminergic rather than noradrenergic activity, resulting in an imbalance with relatively high dopaminergic and low noradrenergic activities. It is suggested that a reduction of noradrenaline and an increase of dopamine induce ADHD-related deficits and that the depletion of noradrenaline is not sufficient for an appropriate rat model of ADHD
Perisylvian white matter connectivity in the human right hemisphere
Background By using diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DTI) and subsequent tractography, a perisylvian language network in the human left hemisphere recently has been identified connecting Brocas's and Wernicke's areas directly (arcuate fasciculus) and indirectly by a pathway through the inferior parietal cortex. Results Applying DTI tractography in the present study, we found a similar three-way pathway in the right hemisphere of 12 healthy individuals: a direct connection between the superior temporal and lateral frontal cortex running in parallel with an indirect connection. The latter composed of a posterior segment connecting the superior temporal with the inferior parietal cortex and an anterior segment running from the inferior parietal to the lateral frontal cortex. Conclusion The present DTI findings suggest that the perisylvian inferior parietal, superior temporal, and lateral frontal corticies are tightly connected not only in the human left but also in the human right hemisphere
Exponential decay of Laplacian eigenfunctions in domains with branches
The behavior of Laplacian eigenfunctions in domains with branches is
investigated. If an eigenvalue is below a threshold which is determined by the
shape of the branch, the associated eigenfunction is proved to exponentially
decay inside the branch. The decay rate is twice the square root of the
difference between the threshold and the eigenvalue. The derived exponential
estimate is applicable for arbitrary domains in any spatial dimension.
Numerical simulations illustrate and further extend the theoretical estimate
Sequential cavity method for computing free energy and surface pressure
We propose a new method for the problems of computing free energy and surface
pressure for various statistical mechanics models on a lattice . Our
method is based on representing the free energy and surface pressure in terms
of certain marginal probabilities in a suitably modified sublattice of .
Then recent deterministic algorithms for computing marginal probabilities are
used to obtain numerical estimates of the quantities of interest. The method
works under the assumption of Strong Spatial Mixing (SSP), which is a form of a
correlation decay.
We illustrate our method for the hard-core and monomer-dimer models, and
improve several earlier estimates. For example we show that the exponent of the
monomer-dimer coverings of belongs to the interval ,
improving best previously known estimate of (approximately)
obtained in \cite{FriedlandPeled},\cite{FriedlandKropLundowMarkstrom}.
Moreover, we show that given a target additive error , the
computational effort of our method for these two models is
\emph{both} for free energy and surface pressure. In
contrast, prior methods, such as transfer matrix method, require
computation effort.Comment: 33 pages, 4 figure
Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at TeV with the ATLAS detector
This paper presents measurements of the and cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a
function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were
collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with
the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity
of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements
varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the
1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured
with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with
predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various
parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between
them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables,
submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at
https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13
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