225 research outputs found
A VERSATILE DETECTION SYSTEM FOR A BROAD RANGE MAGNETIC SPECTROGRAPH
The focal plane detector for the QMG/2 magnetic spectrograph of the Kernfysisch Versneller Instituut is described. It consists of two-dimensional position sensitive proportional detectors and scintillation detectors. The properties of the components of the set-up and of the system as a whole in conjunction with the associated electronics and software are presented. The system aUows easy optimization of spectrograph focusing and correction of kinematic effects. The position resolution is about 1 mm for relatively highly ionizing particles (50 MeV c~-particles), and slightly worse for low4onizing particles (50 MeV protons)
Holonomy of the Ising model form factors
We study the Ising model two-point diagonal correlation function by
presenting an exponential and form factor expansion in an integral
representation which differs from the known expansion of Wu, McCoy, Tracy and
Barouch. We extend this expansion, weighting, by powers of a variable
, the -particle contributions, . The corresponding
extension of the two-point diagonal correlation function, , is shown, for arbitrary , to be a solution of the sigma
form of the Painlev{\'e} VI equation introduced by Jimbo and Miwa. Linear
differential equations for the form factors are obtained and
shown to have both a ``Russian doll'' nesting, and a decomposition of the
differential operators as a direct sum of operators equivalent to symmetric
powers of the differential operator of the elliptic integral . Each is expressed polynomially in terms of the elliptic integrals and . The scaling limit of these differential operators breaks the
direct sum structure but not the ``Russian doll'' structure. The previous -extensions, are, for singled-out values ( integers), also solutions of linear differential
equations. These solutions of Painlev\'e VI are actually algebraic functions,
being associated with modular curves.Comment: 39 page
Analytic curves in algebraic varieties over number fields
We establish algebraicity criteria for formal germs of curves in algebraic
varieties over number fields and apply them to derive a rationality criterion
for formal germs of functions, which extends the classical rationality theorems
of Borel-Dwork and P\'olya-Bertrandias valid over the projective line to
arbitrary algebraic curves over a number field.
The formulation and the proof of these criteria involve some basic notions in
Arakelov geometry, combined with complex and rigid analytic geometry (notably,
potential theory over complex and -adic curves). We also discuss geometric
analogues, pertaining to the algebraic geometry of projective surfaces, of
these arithmetic criteria.Comment: 55 pages. To appear in "Algebra, Arithmetic, and Geometry: In Honor
of Y.i. Manin", Y. Tschinkel & Yu. Manin editors, Birkh\"auser, 200
Fuchs versus Painlev\'e
We briefly recall the Fuchs-Painlev\'e elliptic representation of Painlev\'e
VI. We then show that the polynomiality of the expressions of the correlation
functions (and form factors) in terms of the complete elliptic integral of the
first and second kind,
and , is a straight consequence of the fact that the differential
operators corresponding to the entries of Toeplitz-like determinants, are
equivalent to the second order operator which has as solution (or,
for off-diagonal correlations to the direct sum of and ). We show
that this can be generalized, mutatis mutandis, to the anisotropic Ising model.
The singled-out second order linear differential operator being replaced
by an isomonodromic system of two third-order linear partial differential
operators associated with , the Jacobi's form of the complete elliptic
integral of the third kind (or equivalently two second order linear partial
differential operators associated with Appell functions, where one of these
operators can be seen as a deformation of ). We finally explore the
generalizations, to the anisotropic Ising models, of the links we made, in two
previous papers, between Painlev\'e non-linear ODE's, Fuchsian linear ODE's and
elliptic curves. In particular the elliptic representation of Painlev\'e VI has
to be generalized to an ``Appellian'' representation of Garnier systems.Comment: Dedicated to the : Special issue on Symmetries and Integrability of
Difference Equations, SIDE VII meeting held in Melbourne during July 200
Ergodicity criteria for non-expanding transformations of 2-adic spheres
In the paper, we obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for ergodicity
(with respect to the normalized Haar measure) of discrete dynamical systems
on 2-adic spheres of radius
, , centered at some point from the ultrametric space of
2-adic integers . The map is
assumed to be non-expanding and measure-preserving; that is, satisfies a
Lipschitz condition with a constant 1 with respect to the 2-adic metric, and
preserves a natural probability measure on , the Haar measure
on which is normalized so that
Basic Module Theory over Non-Commutative Rings with Computational Aspects of Operator Algebras
The present text surveys some relevant situations and results where basic
Module Theory interacts with computational aspects of operator algebras. We
tried to keep a balance between constructive and algebraic aspects.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the AADIOS 2012 conference, to be
published in Lecture Notes in Computer Scienc
Modified Chrispin-Norman chest radiography score for cystic fibrosis: observer agreement and correlation with lung function
Contains fulltext :
96114.pdf ( ) (Closed access)OBJECTIVE: To test observer agreement and two strategies for possible improvement (consensus meeting and reference images) for the modified Chrispin-Norman score for children with cystic fibrosis (CF). METHODS: Before and after a consensus meeting and after developing reference images three observers scored sets of 25 chest radiographs from children with CF. Observer agreement was tested for line, ring, mottled and large soft shadows, for overinflation and for the composite modified Chrispin-Norman score. Correlation with lung function was assessed. RESULTS: Before the consensus meeting agreement between observers 1 and 2 was moderate-good, but with observer 3 agreement was poor-fair. Scores correlated significantly with spirometry for observers 1 and 2 (-0.72<R<-0.42, P < 0.05), but not for observer 3. Agreement with observer 3 improved after the consensus meeting. Reference images improved agreement for overinflation and mottled and large shadows and correlation with lung function, but agreement for the modified Chrispin-Norman score did not improve further. CONCLUSION: Consensus meetings and reference images improve among-observer agreement for the modified Chrispin-Norman score, but good agreement was not achieved among all observers for the modified Chrispin-Norman score and for bronchial line and ring shadows
Strong Association of 677 C>T Substitution in the MTHFR Gene with Male Infertility - A Study on an Indian Population and a Meta-Analysis
Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is an important enzyme of folate and methionine metabolism, making it crucial for DNA synthesis and methylation. The objective of this study was to analyze MTHFR gene 677C>T polymorphism in infertile male individuals from North India, followed by a meta-analysis on our data and published studies.We undertook genotyping on a total of 837 individuals including well characterized infertile (N = 522) and confirmed fertile (N = 315) individuals. The SNP was typed by direct DNA sequencing. Chi square test was done for statistical analysis. Published studies were searched using appropriate keywords. Source of data collection for meta-analysis included 'Pubmed', 'Ovid' and 'Google Scholar'. Those studies analyzing 677C>T polymorphism in male infertility and presenting all relevant data were included in meta-analysis. The genotype data for infertile subjects and fertile controls was extracted from each study. Chi square test was done to obtain odds ratio (OR) and p-value. Meta-analysis was performed using Comprehensive Meta-analysis software (Version 2). The frequency of mutant (T) allele (p = 0.0025) and genotypes (CT+TT) (p = 0.0187) was significantly higher in infertile individuals in comparison to fertile controls in our case-control study. The overall summary estimate (OR) for allele and genotype meta-analysis were 1.304 (p = 0.000), 1.310 (p = 0.000), respectively, establishing significant association of 677C>T polymorphism with male infertility.677C>T substitution associated strongly with male infertility in Indian population. Allele and genotype meta-analysis also supported its strong correlation with male infertility, thus establishing it as a risk factor
Detection of unsafety in families with parental and/or child developmental problems at the start of family support
Background Risk assessment is crucial in preventing child maltreatment as it can identify high-risk cases in need of child protection intervention. Despite this importance, there have been no validated risk assessment instruments available in the Netherlands for assessing the risk of child maltreatment. Therefore, the predictive validity of the California Family Risk Assessment (CFRA) was examined in Dutch families who received family support. In addition, the added value of a number of experimental items was examined. Finally, it was examined whether the predictive value of the instrument could be improved by modifying the scoring procedure. Methods Dutch families who experienced parenting and/or child developmental problems and were referred by the Centres for Youth and Family for family support between July 2009 and March 2011 were included. This led to a sample of 491 families. The predictive validity of the CFRA and the added value of the experimental items were examined by calculating AUC values. A CHAID analysis was performed to examine whether the scoring procedure could be improved. Results About half of the individual CFRA items were not related to future reports of child maltreatment. The predictive validity of the CFRA in predicting future reports of child maltreatment was found to be modest (AUC = .693). The addition of some of the experimental items and the modification of the scoring procedure by including only items that were significantly associated with future maltreatment reports resulted in a ‘high’ predictive validity (AUC = .795). Conclusions This new set of items might be a valuable instrument that also saves time because only variables that uniquely contribute to the prediction of future reports of child maltreatment are included. Furthermore, items that are perceived as difficult to assess by professionals, such as parental mental health problems or parents’ history of abuse/neglect, could be omitted without compromising predictive validity. However, it is important to examine the psychometric properties of this new set of items in a new dataset
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