1,203 research outputs found
Particle dynamics of a cartoon dune
The spatio-temporal evolution of a downsized model for a desert dune is
observed experimentally in a narrow water flow channel. A particle tracking
method reveals that the migration speed of the model dune is one order of
magnitude smaller than that of individual grains. In particular, the erosion
rate consists of comparable contributions from creeping (low energy) and
saltating (high energy) particles. The saltation flow rate is slightly larger,
whereas the number of saltating particles is one order of magnitude lower than
that of the creeping ones. The velocity field of the saltating particles is
comparable to the velocity field of the driving fluid. It can be observed that
the spatial profile of the shear stress reaches its maximum value upstream of
the crest, while its minimum lies at the downstream foot of the dune. The
particle tracking method reveals that the deposition of entrained particles
occurs primarily in the region between these two extrema of the shear stress.
Moreover, it is demonstrated that the initial triangular heap evolves to a
steady state with constant mass, shape, velocity, and packing fraction after
one turnover time has elapsed. Within that time the mean distance between
particles initially in contact reaches a value of approximately one quarter of
the dune basis length
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Association between Psychotic Symptoms and Cortical Thickness Reduction across the Schizophrenia Spectrum
The current study provides a complete MRI analysis of thickness throughout the cerebral cortical mantle in patients with schizophrenia (SZ) and rigorously screened and matched unaffected relatives and controls and an assessment of its relation to psychopathology and subjective cognitive function. We analyzed 3D-anatomical magnetic resonance imaging data sets, obtained at 3 Tesla, from three different subject groups: 25 SZ patients, 29 first-degree relatives and 37 healthy control subjects. We computed whole-brain cortical thickness using the Freesurfer software and assessed group differences. We also acquired clinical and psychometric data. The results showed markedly reduced cortical thickness in SZ patients compared with controls, most notably in the frontal and temporal lobes, in the superior parietal lobe and several limbic areas, with intermediate levels of cortical thickness in relatives. In both patients and relatives, we found an association between subjective cognitive dysfunction and reduced thickness of frontal cortex, and predisposition towards hallucinations and reduced thickness of the superior temporal gyrus. Our findings suggest that changes in specific cortical areas may predispose to specific symptoms, as exemplified by the association between temporal cortex thinning and hallucinations
Phase diagram of neutron-rich nuclear matter and its impact on astrophysics
Dense matter as it can be found in core-collapse supernovae and neutron stars
is expected to exhibit different phase transitions which impact the matter
composition and equation of state, with important consequences on the dynamics
of core-collapse supernova explosion and on the structure of neutron stars. In
this paper we will address the specific phenomenology of two of such
transitions, namely the crust-core solid-liquid transition at sub-saturation
density, and the possible strange transition at super-saturation density in the
presence of hyperonic degrees of freedom. Concerning the neutron star
crust-core phase transition at zero and finite temperature, it will be shown
that, as a consequence of the presence of long-range Coulomb interactions, the
equivalence of statistical ensembles is violated and a clusterized phase is
expected which is not accessible in the grand-canonical ensemble. A specific
quasi-particle model will be introduced to illustrate this anomalous
thermodynamics and some quantitative results relevant for the supernova
dynamics will be shown. The opening of hyperonic degrees of freedom at higher
densities corresponding to the neutron stars core modifies the equation of
state. The general characteristics and order of phase transitions in this
regime will be analyzed in the framework of a self-consistent mean-field
approach.Comment: Invited Talk given at the 11th International Conference on
Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions (NN2012), San Antonio, Texas, USA, May 27-June 1,
2012. To appear in the NN2012 Proceedings in Journal of Physics: Conference
Series (JPCS
On unifying the description of meson and baryon properties
A Poincare' covariant Faddeev equation is presented, which enables the
simultaneous prediction of meson and baryon observables using the leading-order
in a truncation of the Dyson-Schwinger equations that can systematically be
improved. The solution describes a nucleon's dressed-quark core. The evolution
of the nucleon mass with current-quark mass is discussed. A nucleon-photon
current, which can produce nucleon form factors with realistic Q^2-evolution,
is described. Axial-vector diquark correlations lead to a neutron Dirac form
factor that is negative, with r_1^{nu}>r_1^{nd}. The proton electric-magnetic
form factor ratio falls with increasing Q^2.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl
Meson loop effects in the NJL model at zero and non-zero temperature
We compare two different possibilities to include meson-loop corrections in
the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model: a strict 1/N_c-expansion in next-to-leading order
and a non-perturbative scheme corresponding to a one-meson-loop approximation
to the effective action. Both schemes are consistent with chiral symmetry, in
particular with the Goldstone theorem and the Gell-Mann-Oakes-Renner relation.
The numerical part at zero temperature focuses on the pion and the rho-meson
sector. For the latter the meson-loop-corrections are crucial in order to
include the dominant rho -> pipi-decay channel, while the standard Hartree +
RPA approximation only contains unphysical qqbar-decay channels. We find that
m_\pi, f_\pi, and quantities related to the rho-meson self-energy can
be described reasonably with one parameter set in the 1/N_c-expansion scheme,
whereas we did not succeed to obtain such a fit in the non-perturbative scheme.
We also investigate the temperature dependence of the quark condensate. Here we
find consistency with chiral perturbation theory to lowest order. Similarities
and differences of both schemes are discussed.Comment: 51 pages, 18 figures, to be published in Physics of Atomic Nuclei,
the volume dedicated to the 90th birthday of A.B. Migdal, error in Eq. 4.22
correcte
Surface effects in color superconducting strange-quark matter
Surface effects in strange-quark matter play an important role for certain
observables which have been proposed in order to identify strange stars, and
color superconductivity can strongly modify these effects. We study the surface
of color superconducting strange-quark matter by solving the
Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov equations for finite systems ("strangelets") within the
MIT bag model, supplemented with a pairing interaction. Due to the bag-model
boundary condition, the strange-quark density is suppressed at the surface.
This leads to a positive surface charge, concentrated in a layer of ~1 fm below
the surface, even in the color-flavor locked (CFL) phase. However, since in the
CFL phase all quarks are paired, this positive charge is compensated by a
negative charge, which turns out to be situated in a layer of a few tens of fm
below the surface, and the total charge of CFL strangelets is zero. We also
study the surface and curvature contributions to the total energy. Due to the
strong pairing, the energy as a function of the mass number is very well
reproduced by a liquid-drop type formula with curvature term.Comment: 13 pages, v2: more detailed explanations, discussion adde
Malignancy risk analysis in patients with inadequate fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of the thyroid
Background
Thyroid fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is the standard diagnostic modality for thyroid nodules. However, it has limitations among which is the incidence of non-diagnostic results (Thy1). Management of cases with repeatedly non-diagnostic FNAC ranges from simple observation to surgical intervention. We aim to evaluate the incidence of malignancy in non-diagnostic FNAC, and the success rate of repeated FNAC. We also aim to evaluate risk factors for malignancy in patients with non-diagnostic FNAC.
Materials and Methods
Retrospective analyses of consecutive cases with thyroid non diagnostic FNAC results were included.
Results
Out of total 1657 thyroid FNAC done during the study period, there were 264 (15.9%) non-diagnostic FNAC on the first attempt. On repeating those, the rate of a non-diagnostic result on second FNAC was 61.8% and on third FNAC was 47.2%. The overall malignancy rate in Thy1 FNAC was 4.5% (42% papillary, 42% follicular and 8% anaplastic), and the yield of malignancy decreased considerably with successive non-diagnostic FNAC. Ultrasound guidance by an experienced head neck radiologist produced the lowest non-diagnostic rate (38%) on repetition compared to US guidance by a generalist radiologist (65%) and by non US guidance (90%).
Conclusions
There is a low risk of malignancy in patients with a non-diagnostic FNAC result, commensurate to the risk of any nodule. The yield of malignancy decreased considerably with successive non-diagnostic FNAC
The Computational Complexity of Knot and Link Problems
We consider the problem of deciding whether a polygonal knot in 3-dimensional
Euclidean space is unknotted, capable of being continuously deformed without
self-intersection so that it lies in a plane. We show that this problem, {\sc
unknotting problem} is in {\bf NP}. We also consider the problem, {\sc
unknotting problem} of determining whether two or more such polygons can be
split, or continuously deformed without self-intersection so that they occupy
both sides of a plane without intersecting it. We show that it also is in NP.
Finally, we show that the problem of determining the genus of a polygonal knot
(a generalization of the problem of determining whether it is unknotted) is in
{\bf PSPACE}. We also give exponential worst-case running time bounds for
deterministic algorithms to solve each of these problems. These algorithms are
based on the use of normal surfaces and decision procedures due to W. Haken,
with recent extensions by W. Jaco and J. L. Tollefson.Comment: 32 pages, 1 figur
Spatially distributed dendritic resonance selectively filters synaptic input
© 2014 Laudanski et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.An important task performed by a neuron is the selection of relevant inputs from among thousands of synapses impinging on the dendritic tree. Synaptic plasticity enables this by strenghtening a subset of synapses that are, presumably, functionally relevant to the neuron. A different selection mechanism exploits the resonance of the dendritic membranes to preferentially filter synaptic inputs based on their temporal rates. A widely held view is that a neuron has one resonant frequency and thus can pass through one rate. Here we demonstrate through mathematical analyses and numerical simulations that dendritic resonance is inevitably a spatially distributed property; and therefore the resonance frequency varies along the dendrites, and thus endows neurons with a powerful spatiotemporal selection mechanism that is sensitive both to the dendritic location and the temporal structure of the incoming synaptic inputs.Peer reviewe
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