3,889 research outputs found
A cortical potential reflecting cardiac function
Emotional trauma and psychological stress can precipitate cardiac arrhythmia and sudden death through arrhythmogenic effects of efferent sympathetic drive. Patients with preexisting heart disease are particularly at risk. Moreover, generation of proarrhythmic activity patterns within cerebral autonomic centers may be amplified by afferent feedback from a dysfunctional myocardium. An electrocortical potential reflecting afferent cardiac information has been described, reflecting individual differences in interoceptive sensitivity (awareness of one's own heartbeats). To inform our understanding of mechanisms underlying arrhythmogenesis, we extended this approach, identifying electrocortical potentials corresponding to the cortical expression of afferent information about the integrity of myocardial function during stress. We measured changes in cardiac response simultaneously with electroencephalography in patients with established ventricular dysfunction. Experimentally induced mental stress enhanced cardiovascular indices of sympathetic activity (systolic blood pressure, heart rate, ventricular ejection fraction, and skin conductance) across all patients. However, the functional response of the myocardium varied; some patients increased, whereas others decreased, cardiac output during stress. Across patients, heartbeat-evoked potential amplitude at left temporal and lateral frontal electrode locations correlated with stress-induced changes in cardiac output, consistent with an afferent cortical representation of myocardial function during stress. Moreover, the amplitude of the heartbeat-evoked potential in the left temporal region reflected the proarrhythmic status of the heart (inhomogeneity of left ventricular repolarization). These observations delineate a cortical representation of cardiac function predictive of proarrhythmic abnormalities in cardiac repolarization. Our findings highlight the dynamic interaction of heart and brain in stress-induced cardiovascular morbidity
Direct Detection of Galactic Halo Dark Matter
The Milky Way Galaxy contains a large, spherical component which is believed
to harbor a substantial amount of unseen matter. Recent observations indirectly
suggest that as much as half of this ``dark matter'' may be in the form of old,
very cool white dwarfs, the remnants of an ancient population of stars as old
as the Galaxy itself. We conducted a survey to find faint, cool white dwarfs
with large space velocities, indicative of their membership in the Galaxy's
spherical halo component. The survey reveals a substantial, directly observed
population of old white dwarfs, too faint to be seen in previous surveys. This
newly discovered population accounts for at least 2% of the halo dark matter.
It provides a natural explanation for the indirect observations, and represents
a direct detection of Galactic halo dark matter.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Note added after Science Express online
publication: This text reflects the correction of a few typographical errors
in the online version of the table. It also includes the new constraint on
the calculation of d_max which accounts for the fact that the survey could
not have detected stars with proper motions below 0.33 arcseconds per year.
Published online at ScienceExpress www.sciencemag.org 22 March 2001;
10.1126/science.1059954; To appear in Science 27 April 200
Electrofluidynamic Patterning of Tailorable Nanostructured Substrates for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering
Storage and evolution of mafic and intermediate alkaline magmas beneath ross Island, Antarctica
We present the results of phase equilibrium experiments carried out on basanite and phonotephrite lavas from Ross Island, Antarctica. Experiments were designed to reproduce the P-T-X-fOâ conditions of deep and intermediate magma storage and to place constraints on the differentiation of each of the two predominant lava suites on the island, which are thought to be derived from a common parent melt. The Erebus Lineage (EL) consists of lava erupted from the Erebus summit and the Dry Valley Drilling Project (DVDP) lineage is represented by lavas sampled by drill core on Hut Point Peninsula. Experiments were performed in internally heated pressure vessels over a range of temperatures (1000-1150°C) and pressures (200-400 MPa), under oxidized conditions (NNO to NNO+3, where NNO is the nickel-nickel oxide buffer), with X_Î2O of the HâO-COâ mixture added to the experimental capsule varying between zero and unity. The overall mineralogy and mineral compositions of the natural lavas were reproduced, suggesting oxidizing conditions for the deep magma plumbing system, in marked contrast to the reducing conditions (QFM to QFM -1, where QFM is the quartz-fayalite-magnetite buffer) in the Erebus lava lake. In basanite, crystallization of spinel is followed by olivine and clinopyroxene olivine is replaced by kaersutitic amphibole below 1050°C at intermediate water contents. In phonotephrite, the liquidus phase is kaersutite except in runs with low water content (XHâO^fluid <0·2) where it is replaced by clinopyroxene. Experimental kaersutite compositions suggest that the amphibole-bearing DVDP lavas differentiated below 1050°C at 200-400MPa and NNO+1·5 to NNO+2. Olivine- and clinopyroxene-bearing EL lavas are consistent with experiments performed above 1050°C and pressures around 200 MPa. The plagioclase liquidus at <1-2 wt % HâO suggests extremely dry conditions for both lineages (XHâO^fluid approaching zero for EL,âŒ0·25 for DVDP), probably facilitated by dehydration induced by a COâ-rich fluid phase. Our results agree with previous studies that suggest a single plumbing system beneath Ross Island in which DVDP lavas (and probably other peripheral volcanic products) were erupted through radial fractures associated with the ascent of parental magma into the lower crust. The longer travel time of the DVDP lavas through the crust owing to lateral movement along fractures and the lack of a direct, sustained connection to the continuous COâ-rich gas flux that characterizes the main central Erebus conduit is probably responsible for the lower temperatures and slightly wetter conditions and hence the change in mineralogy observed.Fieldwork in Antarctica was supported by the Office of Polar Programs (National Science Foundation) (ANT1142083). Experimental research was supported by Labex Voltaire (ANR-10-LABX-100-10); and by the University of Cambridge Department of Geography Phillip Lake and William Vaughn Lewis grants
Transient degassing events at the lava lake of Erebus volcano, Antarctica: Chemistry and mechanisms
We report here on the chemical signature of degassing at Erebus lava lake associated with
intermittent explosions and the return to passive conditions. Explosions caused by bubble
bursts were frequent during the 2013 field season, providing the first opportunity to observe
such activity since 2005-2006. Several of the explosions were captured by multiple
instruments including an open-path Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. Explosive
bubble bursts and other transient degassing events are associated with gas compositions that
are distinct from the usual range of passive degassing compositions. We set out to compare
the chemical signature of explosive degassing during the 2005-06 and 2013 episodes, and to
characterise the chemistry of gases emitted during the period of lake refilling after explosions.
We found little change in the explosive gas chemistry between 2005-06 and 2013, suggesting
reactivation of a common mechanism of gas segregation. Bubbles can be distinguished by
their size and composition, the ranges of which are likely modified during ascent by gas-melt
interaction and adiabatic expansion. The proportions of water, SO2, and HCl in the emitted
gas plume increase during the refill of the lake after explosions, as the lake is recharged by a
combination of magma that has already partially degassed, and that vesiculates rapidly in
response to the drop in magmastatic pressure at the lake.TI acknowledges doctoral grants from the AXA Research Fund and the William Georgetti
trust. Fieldwork was carried out with the support of the G-081 Erebus team and the US
Antarctic Program, funded by NSF grant ANT1142083. The original FTIR retrieval code was
written by Mike Burton with modifications made by Georgina Sawyer. Thermal IR images
and lake velocity data were supplied by Nial Peters. Support was also received from grant
202844 from the European Research Council under the European FP7 and the NERC Centre
for the Observation and Modelling of Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tectonics (COMET), part
of the NERC-funded National Centre for Earth Observation (http://comet.nerc.ac.uk/).This is the final version. It first appeared at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214242815000327
The Flux Auto- and Cross-Correlation of the Lyman-alpha Forest. II. Modelling Anisotropies with Cosmological Hydrodynamic Simulations
The isotropy of the Lyman-alpha forest in real-space uniquely provides a
measurement of cosmic geometry at z > 2. The angular diameter distance for
which the correlation function along the line of sight and in the transverse
direction agree corresponds to the correct cosmological model. However, the
Lyman-alpha forest is observed in redshift-space where distortions due to
Hubble expansion, bulk flows, and thermal broadening introduce anisotropy.
Similarly, a spectrograph's line spread function affects the autocorrelation
and cross-correlation differently. In this the second paper of a series on
using the Lyman-alpha forest observed in pairs of QSOs for a new application of
the Alcock-Paczynski (AP) test, these anisotropies and related sources of
potential systematic error are investigated with cosmological hydrodynamic
simulations. Three prescriptions for galactic outflow were compared and found
to have only a marginal effect on the Lyman-alpha flux correlation (which
changed by at most 7% with use of the currently favored variable-momentum wind
model vs. no winds at all). An approximate solution for obtaining the zero-lag
cross-correlation corresponding to arbitrary spectral resolution directly from
the zero-lag cross-correlation computed at full-resolution (good to within 2%
at the scales of interest) is presented. Uncertainty in the observationally
determined mean flux decrement of the Lyman-alpha forest was found to be the
dominant source of systematic error; however, this is reduced significantly
when considering correlation ratios. We describe a simple scheme for
implementing our results, while mitigating systematic errors, in the context of
a future application of the AP test.Comment: 20 page
On the Role of Initial Data in the Gravitational Collapse of Inhomogeneous Dust
We consider here the gravitational collapse of a spherically symmetric
inhomogeneous dust cloud described by the Tolman-Bondi models. By studying a
general class of these models, we find that the end state of the collapse is
either a black hole or a naked singularity, depending on the parameters of the
initial density distribution, which are , the initial central density
of the massive body, and , the initial boundary. The collapse ends in a
black hole if the dimensionless quantity constructed out of this
initial data is greater than 0.0113, and it ends in a naked singularity if
is less than this number. A simple interpretation of this result can be
given in terms of the strength of the gravitational potential at the starting
epoch of the collapse.Comment: Original title changed, numerical range of naked singularity
corrected. Plain Tex File. 14 pages. To appear in Physical Review
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