508 research outputs found
Intracellular biochemical manipulation of phototransduction in detached rod outer segments.
Lightweight XML-based query, integration and visualization of distributed, multimodality brain imaging data
A need of many neuroimaging researchers is to integrate multimodality brain data that may be stored in separate databases. To address this need we have developed a framework that provides a uniform XML-based query interface across multiple online data sources. The development of this framework is driven by the need to integrate neurosurgical and neuroimaging data related to language. The data sources for the language studies are 1) a web-accessible relational database of neurosurgical cortical stimulation mapping data (CSM) that includes patient-specific 3-D coordinates of each stimulation site mapped to an MRI reconstruction of the patient brain surface; and 2) an XML database of fMRI and structural MRI data and analysis results, created automatically by a batch program we have embedded in SPM. To make these sources available for querying each is wrapped as an XML view embedded in a web service. A top level web application accepts distributed XQueries over the sources, which are dispatched to the underlying web services. Returned results can be displayed as XML, HTML, CSV (Excel format), a 2-D schematic of a parcellated brain, or a 3-D brain visualization. In the latter case the CSM patient-specific coordinates returned by the query are sent to a transformation web-service for conversion to normalized space, after which they are sent to our 3-D visualization program MindSeer, which is accessed via Java WebStart through a generated link. The anatomical distribution of pooled CSM sites can then be visualized using various surfaces derived from brain atlases. As this framework is further developed and generalized we believe it will have appeal for researchers who wish to query, integrate and visualize results across their own databases as well as those of collaborators
Distributed XQuery-based integration and visualization of multimodality data: Application to brain mapping.
This paper addresses the need for relatively small groups of collaborating investigators to integrate distributed and heterogeneous data about the brain. Although various national efforts facilitate large-scale data sharing, these approaches are generally too âheavyweightâ for individual or small groups of investigators, with the result that most data sharing among collaborators continues to be ad hoc. Our approach to this problem is to create a âlightweightâ distributed query architecture, in which data sources are accessible via web services that accept arbitrary query languages but return XML results. A Distributed XQuery Processor (DXQP) accepts distributed XQueries in which subqueries are shipped to the remote data sources to be executed, with the resulting XML integrated by DXQP. A web-based application called DXBrain accesses DXQP, allowing a user to create, save and execute distributed XQueries, and to view the results in various formats including a 3-D brain visualization. Example results are presented using distributed brain mapping data sources obtained in studies of language organization in the brain, but any other XML source could be included. The advantage of this approach is that it is very easy to add and query a new source, the tradeoff being that the user needs to understand XQuery and the schemata of the underlying sources. For small numbers of known sources this burden is not onerous for a knowledgeable user, leading to the conclusion that the system helps to fill the gap between ad hoc local methods and large scale but complex national data sharing efforts
Schottky mass measurements of heavy neutron-rich nuclides in the element range 70\leZ \le79 at the ESR
Storage-ring mass spectrometry was applied to neutron-rich Au
projectile fragments. Masses of Lu, Hf, Ta,
W, and Re nuclei were measured for the first time. The
uncertainty of previously known masses of W and Os nuclei
was improved. Observed irregularities on the smooth two-neutron separation
energies for Hf and W isotopes are linked to the collectivity phenomena in the
corresponding nuclei.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, 2 table
Measurement of the double-\beta decay half-life of ^{136}Xe with the KamLAND-Zen experiment
We present results from the KamLAND-Zen double-beta decay experiment based on
an exposure of 77.6 days with 129 kg of Xe. The measured two-neutrino
double-beta decay half-life of Xe is yr, consistent with a recent
measurement by EXO-200. We also obtain a lower limit for the neutrinoless
double-beta decay half-life, yr at 90%
confidence level (C.L.), which corresponds to almost a five-fold improvement
over previous limits.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Version as published in PR
PT-symetrically regularized Eckart,Poeschl-Teller and Hulthen potentials
Version 1: The well known Eckart's singular s-wave potential is
PT-symmetrically regularized and continued to the whole real line. The new
model remains exactly solvable and its bound states remain proportional to
Jacobi polynomials. Its real and discrete spectrum exhibits several unusual
features.
Version 2: Parity times time-reversal symmetry of complex Hamiltonians with
real spectra is usually interpreted as a weaker mathematical substitute for
Hermiticity. Perhaps an equally important role is played by the related
strengthened analyticity assumptions. In a constructive illustration we
complexify a few potentials solvable only in s-wave. Then we continue their
domain from semi-axis to the whole axis and get the new exactly solvable
models. Their energies come out real as expected. The new one-dimensional
spectra themselves differ quite significantly from their s-wave predecessors.Comment: Original 10-page letter ``PT-symmetrized exact solution of the
singular Eckart oscillator" is extended to a full pape
The fidelity of dynamic signaling by noisy biomolecular networks
This is the final version of the article. Available from Public Library of Science via the DOI in this record.Cells live in changing, dynamic environments. To understand cellular decision-making, we must therefore understand how fluctuating inputs are processed by noisy biomolecular networks. Here we present a general methodology for analyzing the fidelity with which different statistics of a fluctuating input are represented, or encoded, in the output of a signaling system over time. We identify two orthogonal sources of error that corrupt perfect representation of the signal: dynamical error, which occurs when the network responds on average to other features of the input trajectory as well as to the signal of interest, and mechanistic error, which occurs because biochemical reactions comprising the signaling mechanism are stochastic. Trade-offs between these two errors can determine the system's fidelity. By developing mathematical approaches to derive dynamics conditional on input trajectories we can show, for example, that increased biochemical noise (mechanistic error) can improve fidelity and that both negative and positive feedback degrade fidelity, for standard models of genetic autoregulation. For a group of cells, the fidelity of the collective output exceeds that of an individual cell and negative feedback then typically becomes beneficial. We can also predict the dynamic signal for which a given system has highest fidelity and, conversely, how to modify the network design to maximize fidelity for a given dynamic signal. Our approach is general, has applications to both systems and synthetic biology, and will help underpin studies of cellular behavior in natural, dynamic environments.We acknowledge support from a Medical Research Council and Engineering and Physical Sciences Council funded Fellowship in Biomedical Informatics (CGB) and a Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance chair in Systems Biology (PSS). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
A Monte Carlo simulation of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory proportional counters
The third phase of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) experiment added an
array of 3He proportional counters to the detector. The purpose of this Neutral
Current Detection (NCD) array was to observe neutrons resulting from
neutral-current solar neutrino-deuteron interactions. We have developed a
detailed simulation of the current pulses from the NCD array proportional
counters, from the primary neutron capture on 3He through the NCD array
signal-processing electronics. This NCD array Monte Carlo simulation was used
to model the alpha-decay background in SNO's third-phase 8B solar-neutrino
measurement.Comment: 38 pages; submitted to the New Journal of Physic
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