454 research outputs found
Gedanken experiments on nearly extremal black holes and the Third Law
A gedanken experiment in which a black hole is pushed to spin at its maximal
rate by tossing into it a test body is considered. After demonstrating that
this is kinematically possible for a test body made of reasonable matter, we
focus on its implications for black hole thermodynamics and the apparent
violation of the third law (unattainability of the extremal black hole). We
argue that this is not an actual violation, due to subtleties in the absorption
process of the test body by the black hole, which are not captured by the
purely kinematic considerations.Comment: v2: minor edits, references added; v3: minor edits to match published
versio
Reversible and Irreversible Spacetime Thermodynamics for General Brans-Dicke Theories
We derive the equations of motion for Palatini F(R) gravity by applying an
entropy balance law T dS= \delta Q+\delta N to the local Rindler wedge that can
be constructed at each point of spacetime. Unlike previous results for metric
F(R), there is no bulk viscosity term in the irreversible flux \delta N. Both
theories are equivalent to particular cases of Brans-Dicke scalar-tensor
gravity. We show that the thermodynamical approach can be used ab initio also
for this class of gravitational theories and it is able to provide both the
metric and scalar equations of motion. In this case, the presence of an
additional scalar degree of freedom and the requirement for it to be dynamical
naturally imply a separate contribution from the scalar field to the heat flux
\delta Q. Therefore, the gravitational flux previously associated to a bulk
viscosity term in metric F(R) turns out to be actually part of the reversible
thermodynamics. Hence we conjecture that only the shear viscosity associated
with Hartle-Hawking dissipation should be associated with irreversible
thermodynamics.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure; v2: minor editing to clarify Section III, fixed
typos; v3: fixed typo
Schr\"{o}dinger symmetry in cosmology and black hole mechanics
We show that the (symmetry-reduced) gravitational sectors describing i) the
flat FRLW cosmology filled with a massless scalar field and ii) the
Schwarzschild black hole mechanics both admit the two dimensional centrally
extended Schr\"{o}dinger group as a dynamical symmetry, a symmetry shared by
the compressible Navier-Stokes equation. To this end, we use the
Eisenhart-Duval (ED) lift method to identify the Schr\"{o}dinger observables.
The Casimirs of the observables algebra coincide respectively with the
conserved kinetic energy of the scalar field, for cosmology, and with the mass
of the black hole, for the Schwarzschild mechanics. Moreover, in both models,
the central extension is found to encode the ratio between the IR and UV scales
of the gravitational systems. We pursue this analysis by comparing the ED
method to the superspace approach and demonstrate their complementarity. We use
the superspace approach to show that these two models possess also an infinite
dimensional symmetry whose conserved charges organize in two copies of a Witt
algebra. Finally, we consider the anisotropic Bianchi I dynamics and show that
it admits a dynamical symmetry under the SO conformal group, within
which one can identify another Schr\"{o}dinger algebra of observables. These
new symmetries provide a new way to algebraically characterize these
homogeneous gravitational sectors, to guide their quantization or emergence
from quantum gravity models, and they suggest new dictionaries with non-linear
Schr\"{o}dinger systems and fluid mechanics.Comment: 41+8 page
Human gait identification using persistent homology
This paper shows an image/video application using topological invariants for human gait recognition. Using a background subtraction approach, a stack of silhouettes is extracted from a subsequence and glued through their gravity centers, forming a 3D digital image I. From this 3D representation, the border simplicial complex ∂ K(I) is obtained. We order the triangles of ∂ K(I) obtaining a sequence of subcomplexes of ∂ K(I). The corresponding filtration F captures relations among the parts of the human body when walking. Finally, a topological gait signature is extracted from the persistence barcode according to F. In this work we obtain 98.5% correct classification rates on CASIA-B database
Growth and Demography of the Solitary Scleractinian Coral Leptopsammia pruvoti along a Sea Surface Temperature Gradient in the Mediterranean Sea
The demographic traits of the solitary azooxanthellate scleractinian Leptopsammia pruvoti were determined in six populations on a sea surface temperature (SST) gradient along the western Italian coasts. This is the first investigation of the growth and demography characteristics of an azooxanthellate scleractinian along a natural SST gradient. Growth rate was homogeneous across all populations, which spanned 7 degrees of latitude. Population age structures differed between populations, but none of the considered demographic parameters correlated with SST, indicating possible effects of local environmental conditions. Compared to another Mediterranean solitary scleractinian, Balanophyllia europaea, zooxanthellate and whose growth, demography and calcification have been studied in the same sites, L. pruvoti seems more tolerant to temperature increase. The higher tolerance of L. pruvoti, relative to B. europaea, may rely on the absence of symbionts, and thus the lack of an inhibition of host physiological processes by the heat-stressed zooxanthellae. However, the comparison between the two species must be taken cautiously, due to the likely temperature differences between the two sampling depths. Increasing research effort on determining the effects of temperature on the poorly studied azooxanthellate scleractinians may shed light on the possible species assemblage shifts that are likely to occur during the current century as a consequence of global climatic change
Neurophysiological and Clinical Effects of Upper Limb Robot-Assisted Rehabilitation on Motor Recovery in Patients with Subacute Stroke: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial Study Protocol
Background: The efficacy of upper limb (UL) robot-assisted therapy (RAT) on functional improvement after stroke remains unclear. However, recently published randomized controlled trials have supported its potential benefits in enhancing the activities of daily living, arm and hand function, and muscle strength. Task-specific and high-intensity exercises are key points in facilitating motor re-learning in neurorehabilitation since RAT can provide an assisted-as-needed approach. This study aims to investigate the clinical effects of an exoskeleton robotic system for UL rehabilitation compared with conventional therapy (CT) in people with subacute stroke. As a secondary aim, we seek to identify patients’ characteristics, which can predict better recovery after UL-RAT and detects whether it could elicit greater brain stimulation. Methods: A total of 84 subacute stroke patients will be recruited from 7 Italian rehabilitation centers over 3 years. The patients will be randomly allocated to either CT (control group, CG) or CT plus UL-RT through an Armeo®Power (Hocoma AG, CH, Volketswil, Switzerland) exoskeleton (experimental group, EG). A sample stratification based on distance since onset, DSO (DSO ≤ 30; DSO > 30), and Fugl–Meyer Assessment (FM)-UL (FM-UL ≤ 22; 22 < FM-UL ≤ 44) will be considered for the randomization. The outcomes will be recorded at baseline (T0), after 25 + 3 sessions of intervention (T1), and at 6 months post-stroke (T2). The motor functioning assessed by the FM-UL (0–66) will be considered the primary outcome. The clinical assessments will be set based on the International Classification of Function, Disability and Health (ICF). A patient satisfaction questionnaire will be evaluated in the EG at T1. A subgroup of patients will be evaluated at T0 and T1 via electroencephalography. Their brain electrical activity will be recorded during rest conditions with their eyes closed and open (5 min each). Conclusion: The results of this trial will provide an in-depth understanding of the efficacy of early UL-RAT through a whole arm exoskeleton and how it may relate to the neural plasticity process. The trial was registered at ClinicalTrial.gov with the registration identifier NCT04697368
The universal viscosity to entropy density ratio from entanglement
We present evidence that the universal Kovtun-Son-Starinets shear viscosity
to entropy density ratio of 1/4\pi can be associated with a Rindler causal
horizon in flat spacetime. Since there is no known holographic (gauge/gravity)
duality for this spacetime, a natural microscopic explanation for this
viscosity is in the peculiar properties of quantum entanglement. In particular,
it is well-known that the Minkowski vacuum state is a thermal state and carries
an area entanglement entropy density in the Rindler spacetime. Based on the
fluctuation-dissipation theorem, we expect a similar notion of viscosity
arising from vacuum fluctuations. Therefore, we propose a holographic Kubo
formula in terms of a two-point function of the stress tensor of matter fields
in the bulk. We calculate this viscosity assuming a minimally coupled scalar
field theory and find that the ratio with respect to the entanglement entropy
density is exactly 1/4\pi in four dimensions. The issues that arise in
extending this result to non-minimally coupled scalar fields, higher spins, and
higher dimensions provide interesting hints about the relationship between
entanglement entropy and black hole entropy.Comment: 30 pages; v2: footnote added, minor editin
Influence of Heart Rate on Left and Right Ventricular Longitudinal Strain in Patients with Chronic Heart Failure
Over the past years, a number of studies have demonstrated the relevance of strain assessed by two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) in evaluating ventricular function. The aim of this study was to analyze changes in left (LV) and right ventricular (RV) longitudinal strain associated with variations of heart rate (HR) in participants with and without chronic heart failure (CHF). We enrolled 45 patients, 38 of these diagnosed with CHF and carrying an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, and seven patients with pacemakers and without CHF. The frequency of atrial stimulation was increased to 90 beats/min and an echocardiogram was performed at each increase of 10 beats/min. Global LV and RV longitudinal strain (LVGLS and RVGLS, respectively) and RV free wall longitudinal strain (RVfwLS) were calculated at each HR. When analyzed as continuous variables, significant reductions in LVGLS were detected at higher HRs, whereas improvements in both RVGLS and RVfwLS were observed. Patients with a worsening of LVGLS (76% overall) were more likely to present lower baseline LV function. Only a few patients (18% for RVGLS and 16% for RVfwLS) exhibited HR-related deteriorations of RV strain measures, which was associated with lower levels of baseline RV function and higher pulmonary systolic pressures. Finally, 21 (47%) and 25 (56%) participants responded with improvements in RVGLS and RVfwLS, respectively. Our findings revealed heterogeneous RV and LV responses to increases in HR. These findings might ultimately be used to optimize cardiac functionality in patients diagnosed with CHF
Higher Curvature Gravity and the Holographic fluid dual to flat spacetime
Recent works have demonstrated that one can construct a (d+2) dimensional
solution of the vacuum Einstein equations that is dual to a (d+1) dimensional
fluid satisfying the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. In one important
example, the fluid lives on a fixed timelike surface in the flat Rindler
spacetime associated with an accelerated observer. In this paper, we show that
the shear viscosity to entropy density ratio of the fluid takes the universal
value 1/4\pi in a wide class of higher curvature generalizations to Einstein
gravity. Unlike the fluid dual to asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetimes,
here the choice of gravitational dynamics only affects the second order
transport coefficients. We explicitly calculate these in five-dimensional
Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity and discuss the implications of our results.Comment: 13 pages; v2: modified abstract, added references; v3: added
clarifying comments, modified discussio
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