11,147 research outputs found
Reply to the comment by C. Capan and K. Behnia on "Nernst effect in poor conductors and in the cuprate superconductors" (cond-mat/0501288)
The comment criticisms (cond-mat/0501288) are completely out of line with the
context of the commented theory (Phys. Rev. Lett. v.93, 217002 (2004)). The
comment neglected essential parts of the theory, which actually addressed all
relevant experimental observations. I argue that the coexistence of the large
Nernst signal and the insulating-like in-plane resistivity in underdoped
cuprates rules out the vortex scenario, but agrees remarkably well with our
theory.Comment: 1 page, 1 figur
Activity Dependent Branching Ratios in Stocks, Solar X-ray Flux, and the Bak-Tang-Wiesenfeld Sandpile Model
We define an activity dependent branching ratio that allows comparison of
different time series . The branching ratio is defined as . The random variable is the value of the next signal given
that the previous one is equal to , so . If
, the process is on average supercritical when the signal is equal to
, while if , it is subcritical. For stock prices we find
within statistical uncertainty, for all , consistent with an ``efficient
market hypothesis''. For stock volumes, solar X-ray flux intensities, and the
Bak-Tang-Wiesenfeld (BTW) sandpile model, is supercritical for small
values of activity and subcritical for the largest ones, indicating a tendency
to return to a typical value. For stock volumes this tendency has an
approximate power law behavior. For solar X-ray flux and the BTW model, there
is a broad regime of activity where , which we interpret as an
indicator of critical behavior. This is true despite different underlying
probability distributions for , and for . For the BTW model the
distribution of is Gaussian, for sufficiently larger than one, and
its variance grows linearly with . Hence, the activity in the BTW model
obeys a central limit theorem when sampling over past histories. The broad
region of activity where is close to one disappears once bulk dissipation
is introduced in the BTW model -- supporting our hypothesis that it is an
indicator of criticality.Comment: 7 pages, 11 figure
Color in context: psychological context moderates the influence of red on approach- and avoidance-motivated behavior.
A basic premise of the recently proffered color-in-context model is that the influence of color on psychological functioning varies as a function of the psychological context in which color is perceived. Some research has examined the appetitive and aversive implications of viewing the color red in romance- and achievement-relevant contexts, respectively, but in all existing empirical work approach and avoidance behavior has been studied in separate tasks and separate experiments. Research is needed to directly test whether red influences the same behavior differently depending entirely on psychological context. The present experiment was designed to put this premise to direct test in romance- and achievement-relevant contexts within the same experimental paradigm involving walking behavior. Our results revealed that exposure to red (but not blue) indeed has differential implications for walking behavior as a function of the context in which the color is perceived. Red increased the speed with which participants walked to an ostensible interview about dating (a romance-relevant context), but decreased the speed with which they walked to an ostensible interview about intelligence (an achievement-relevant context). These results are the first direct evidence that the influence of red on psychological functioning in humans varies by psychological context. Our findings contribute to both the literature on color psychology and the broader, emerging literature on the influence of context on basic psychological processes
Submillimeter diffusion tensor imaging and late gadolinium enhancement cardiovascular magnetic resonance of chronic myocardial infarction.
BackgroundKnowledge of the three-dimensional (3D) infarct structure and fiber orientation remodeling is essential for complete understanding of infarct pathophysiology and post-infarction electromechanical functioning of the heart. Accurate imaging of infarct microstructure necessitates imaging techniques that produce high image spatial resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The aim of this study is to provide detailed reconstruction of 3D chronic infarcts in order to characterize the infarct microstructural remodeling in porcine and human hearts.MethodsWe employed a customized diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) technique in conjunction with late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) on a 3T clinical scanner to image, at submillimeter resolution, myofiber orientation and scar structure in eight chronically infarcted porcine hearts ex vivo. Systematic quantification of local microstructure was performed and the chronic infarct remodeling was characterized at different levels of wall thickness and scar transmurality. Further, a human heart with myocardial infarction was imaged using the same DTI sequence.ResultsThe SNR of non-diffusion-weighted images was >100 in the infarcted and control hearts. Mean diffusivity and fractional anisotropy (FA) demonstrated a 43% increase, and a 35% decrease respectively, inside the scar tissue. Despite this, the majority of the scar showed anisotropic structure with FA higher than an isotropic liquid. The analysis revealed that the primary eigenvector orientation at the infarcted wall on average followed the pattern of original fiber orientation (imbrication angle mean: 1.96 ± 11.03° vs. 0.84 ± 1.47°, p = 0.61, and inclination angle range: 111.0 ± 10.7° vs. 112.5 ± 6.8°, p = 0.61, infarcted/control wall), but at a higher transmural gradient of inclination angle that increased with scar transmurality (r = 0.36) and the inverse of wall thickness (r = 0.59). Further, the infarcted wall exhibited a significant increase in both the proportion of left-handed epicardial eigenvectors, and in the angle incoherency. The infarcted human heart demonstrated preservation of primary eigenvector orientation at the thinned region of infarct, consistent with the findings in the porcine hearts.ConclusionsThe application of high-resolution DTI and LGE-CMR revealed the detailed organization of anisotropic infarct structure at a chronic state. This information enhances our understanding of chronic post-infarction remodeling in large animal and human hearts
Quantum Phase Transitions in the Ising model in spatially modulated field
The phase transitions in the transverse field Ising model in a competing
spatially modulated (periodic and oscillatory) longitudinal field are studied
numerically. There is a multiphase point in absence of the transverse field
where the degeneracy for a longitudinal field of wavelength is
for a system with spins, an exact
result obtained from the known result for . The phase transitions
in the (transverse field) versus (amplitude of the longitudinal
field) phase diagram are obtained from the vanishing of the mass gap .
We find that for all the phase transition points obtained in this way, shows finite size scaling behaviour signifying a continuous phase transition
everywhere. The values of the critical exponents show that the model belongs to
the universality class of the two dimensional Ising model. The longitudinal
field is found to have the same scaling behaviour as that of the transverse
field, which seems to be a unique feature for the competing field. The phase
boundaries for two different wavelengths of the modulated field are obtained.
Close to the multiphase point at , the phase boundary behaves as , where is also dependent.Comment: To appear in Physical Review
An X-Ray Study of the Supernova Remnant G290.1-0.8
G290.1-0.8 (MSH 11-61A) is a supernova remnant (SNR) whose X-ray morphology
is centrally bright. However, unlike the class of X-ray composite SNRs whose
centers are dominated by nonthermal emission, presumably driven by a central
pulsar, we show that the X-ray emission from G290.1-0.8 is thermal in nature,
placing the remnant in an emerging class which includes such remnants as W44,
W28, 3C391, and others. The evolutionary sequence which leads to such X-ray
properties is not well understood. Here we investigate two scenarios for such
emission: evolution in a cloudy interstellar medium, and early-stage evolution
of a remnant into the radiative phase, including the effects of thermal
conduction. We construct models for these scenarios in an attempt to reproduce
the observed center-filled X-ray properties of G290.1-0.8, and we derive the
associated age, energy, and ambient density conditions implied by the models.
We find that for reasonable values of the explosion energy, the remnant age is
of order (1 - 2) x 10^{4} yr. This places a fairly strong constraint on any
association between G290.1-0.8 and PSR J1105-610, which would require an
anomalously large velocity for the pulsar.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, ApJ, accepte
De-biased Populations of Kuiper Belt Objects from the Deep Ecliptic Survey
The Deep Ecliptic Survey (DES) discovered hundreds of Kuiper Belt objects
from 1998-2005. Follow-up observations yielded 304 objects with good dynamical
classifications (Classical, Scattered, Centaur, or 16 mean-motion resonances
with Neptune). The DES search fields are well documented, enabling us to
calculate the probability of detecting objects with particular orbital
parameters and absolute magnitudes at a randomized point in each orbit.
Grouping objects together by dynamical class leads, we estimate the orbital
element distributions (a, e, i) for the largest three classes (Classical, 3:2,
and Scattered) using maximum likelihood. Using H-magnitude as a proxy for the
object size, we fit a power law to the number of objects for 8 classes with at
least 5 detected members (246 objects). The best Classical slope is
alpha=1.02+/-0.01 (observed from 5<=H<=7.2). Six dynamical classes (Scattered
plus 5 resonances) are consistent in slope with the Classicals, though the
absolute number of objects is scaled. The exception to the power law relation
are the Centaurs (non-resonant with perihelia closer than Neptune, and thus
detectable at smaller sizes), with alpha=0.42+/-0.02 (7.5<H<11). This is
consistent with a knee in the H-distribution around H=7.2 as reported elsewhere
(Bernstein et al. 2004, Fraser et al. 2014). Based on the Classical-derived
magnitude distribution, the total number of objects (H<=7) in each class are:
Classical (2100+/-300 objects), Scattered (2800+/-400), 3:2 (570+/-80), 2:1
(400+/-50), 5:2 (270+/-40), 7:4 (69+/-9), 5:3 (60+/-8). The independent
estimate for the number of Centaurs in the same H range is 13+/-5. If instead
all objects are divided by inclination into "Hot" and "Cold" populations,
following Fraser et al. (2014), we find that alphaHot=0.90+/-0.02, while
alphaCold=1.32+/-0.02, in good agreement with that work.Comment: 26 pages emulateapj, 6 figures, 5 tables, accepted by A
Coulomb and quantum oscillator problems in conical spaces with arbitrary dimensions
The Schr\"odinger equations for the Coulomb and the Harmonic oscillator
potentials are solved in the cosmic-string conical space-time. The spherical
harmonics with angular deficit are introduced.
The algebraic construction of the harmonic oscillator eigenfunctions is
performed through the introduction of non-local ladder operators. By exploiting
the hidden symmetry of the two-dimensional harmonic oscillator the eigenvalues
for the angular momentum operators in three dimensions are reproduced.
A generalization for N-dimensions is performed for both Coulomb and harmonic
oscillator problems in angular deficit space-times.
It is thus established the connection among the states and energies of both
problems in these topologically non-trivial space-times.Comment: 15 page
College student's academic goals and learning strategies
Tomando en cuenta que no existe concordancia en la literatura entre los resultados de diferentes estudios respecto de la relevancia de la adopción de un tipo u otro de meta para el aprendizaje académico, en el presente artÃculo se estudia la relación entre los diferentes tipos de orientaciones motivacionales
(metas de aprendizaje, metas de rendimiento y metas de evitación del trabajo) y el uso de estrategias cognitivas y de autorregulación. En el trabajo
participan 632 estudiantes universitarios de diversas titulaciones de la universidad española. Aunque el estudio es de tipo correlacional, los análisis de los
datos obtenidos, corroborando estudios anteriores, aportan información de interés para la discusión del problema que se investigó, por ejemplo que sólo
los niveles más altos de metas de aprendizaje se encuentran asociados con una mayor utilización de estrategias de aprendizaje. Son discutidas
implicaciones educativas de estos datos.Tomando em consideração que não existe concordância na literatura entre os resultados dos diferentes estudos a respeito da relevância da adopção de
um ou de outro tipo de meta na aprendizagem académica; no presente artÃculo é estudada a relação entre os diferentes tipos de orientações
motivacionais (metas de aprendizagem, metas de rendimento e metas de evitação do trabalho) e a utilização de estratégias cognitivas e de autoregulação.
Neste trabalho participam 632 estudantes universitários de diversas licenciaturas da Universidade espanhola. Apesar de este estudo ser de
tipo correlacional, a análise dos dados obtidos, corroborando estudos anteriores, aporta informação de interesse para a discussão do problema
investigado; por exemplo que só os nÃveles mais altos de metas de aprendizagem se encontram associados con uma maior utilização de estratégias de aprendizagem. São discutidas implicações educativas destes dados.Assuming that there isn’t much agreement among the results from different studies relating to the relevance of adopting one or another kind of academic
learning goal, this paper intends to study the relationship between the several types of motivational orientations (learning goals, achievement goals and
avoidance goals) and the use of cognitive and self-regulatory strategies. 632 Spanish college students from various university courses participated in this
research. Although this is a correlacional study data analysis, in line with previous studies, brings to light interesting information and highlights the
investigated issue for example only higher levels of learning goals are positively related with the use of learning strategies. Future educational implications
are also discussed
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