8,844 research outputs found
Towards the Laboratory Search for Space-Time Dissipation
It has been speculated that gravity could be an emergent phenomenon, with
classical general relativity as an effective, macroscopic theory, valid only
for classical systems at large temporal and spatial scales. As in classical
continuum dynamics, the existence of underlying microscopic degrees of freedom
may lead to macroscopic dissipative behaviors. With the hope that such
dissipative behaviors of gravity could be revealed by carefully designed
experiments in the laboratory, we consider a phenomenological model that adds
dissipations to the gravitational field, much similar to frictions in solids
and fluids. Constraints to such dissipative behavior can already be imposed by
astrophysical observations and existing experiments, but mostly in lower
frequencies. We propose a series of experiments working in higher frequency
regimes, which may potentially put more stringent bounds on these models.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figure
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The cumulative effects of known susceptibility variants to predict primary biliary cirrhosis risk.
Multiple genetic variants influence the risk for development of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). To explore the cumulative effects of known susceptibility loci on risk, we utilized a weighted genetic risk score (wGRS) to evaluate whether genetic information can predict susceptibility. The wGRS was created using 26 known susceptibility loci and investigated in 1840 UK PBC and 5164 controls. Our data indicate that the wGRS was significantly different between PBC and controls (P=1.61E-142). Moreover, we assessed predictive performance of wGRS on disease status by calculating the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve. The area under curve for the purely genetic model was 0.72 and for gender plus genetic model was 0.82, with confidence limits substantially above random predictions. The risk of PBC using logistic regression was estimated after dividing individuals into quartiles. Individuals in the highest disclosed risk group demonstrated a substantially increased risk for PBC compared with the lowest risk group (odds ratio: 9.3, P=1.91E-084). Finally, we validated our findings in an analysis of an Italian PBC cohort. Our data suggested that the wGRS, utilizing genetic variants, was significantly associated with increased risk for PBC with consistent discriminant ability. Our study is a first step toward risk prediction for PBC
Imaging atom-clusters by hard x-ray free electron lasers
The ingenious idea of single molecule imaging by hard x-ray Free Electron
Laser (X-FEL) pulses was recently proposed by Neutze et al.
[Nature,406,752(2000)]. However, in their numerical modelling of the Coulomb
explosion several interactions were neglected and no reconstruction of the
atomic structure was given. In this work we carried out improved molecular
dynamics calculations including all quantum processes which affect the
explosion. Based on this time evolution we generated composite elastic
scattering patterns, and by using Fienup's algorithm successfully reconstructed
the original atomic structure. The critical evaluation of these results gives
guidelines and sets important conditions for future experiments aiming single
molecule structure solution.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Europhysics Letter
Helimagnet-based non-volatile multi-bit memory units
In this Letter, we present a design of a helimagnet-based emerging memory device that is capable of storing multiple bits of information per device. The device consists of a helimagnet layer placed between two ferromagnetic layers, which allows us to lock-in specific spin configurations. The bottom pinned layer has high anisotropy energy or stays exchange biased, which keeps its spin configuration fixed on a specific direction, while the top layer is free to rotate under the influence of in-plane magnetic fields. We begin by finding the relaxed spin structure, which is the result of the competition between the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI) and exchange energy and is referred to as the equilibrium state (“0”). The writing of a memory state is simulated by applying an in-plane field that rotates and transforms the spin configurations of the memory device. Our results indicate that stable configurations can be achieved at rotations of an integer multiple of 180° (corresponding to states “−2,” “−1,” “1,” “2,” etc.), where the anisotropy stabilizes the free layer and, thus, the exchange coupled helimagnet. These states are separated by magnetic energy barriers and intermediate, unstable spin configurations tend to revert to their adjacent states. By simply changing the direction of the field, we can achieve multi-bit data storage per unit memory cell. The maximum number of bits is reached when the anisotropy energy barriers cannot withstand the strong DMI energy. Reading can be done by evaluating the different resistance states due to the twisted spin texture
On geometric problems related to Brown-York and Liu-Yau quasilocal mass
We discuss some geometric problems related to the definitions of quasilocal
mass proposed by Brown-York \cite{BYmass1} \cite{BYmass2} and Liu-Yau
\cite{LY1} \cite{LY2}. Our discussion consists of three parts. In the first
part, we propose a new variational problem on compact manifolds with boundary,
which is motivated by the study of Brown-York mass. We prove that critical
points of this variation problem are exactly static metrics. In the second
part, we derive a derivative formula for the Brown-York mass of a smooth family
of closed 2 dimensional surfaces evolving in an ambient three dimensional
manifold. As an interesting by-product, we are able to write the ADM mass
\cite{ADM61} of an asymptotically flat 3-manifold as the sum of the Brown-York
mass of a coordinate sphere and an integral of the scalar curvature plus
a geometrically constructed function in the asymptotic region outside
. In the third part, we prove that for any closed, spacelike, 2-surface
in the Minkowski space for which the Liu-Yau mass is
defined, if bounds a compact spacelike hypersurface in ,
then the Liu-Yau mass of is strictly positive unless lies on
a hyperplane. We also show that the examples given by \'{O} Murchadha, Szabados
and Tod \cite{MST} are special cases of this result.Comment: 28 page
On the global well-posedness of a class of Boussinesq- Navier-Stokes systems
In this paper we consider the following 2D Boussinesq-Navier-Stokes systems
\partial_{t}u+u\cdot\nabla u+\nabla p+ |D|^{\alpha}u &= \theta e_{2}
\partial_{t}\theta+u\cdot\nabla \theta+ |D|^{\beta}\theta &=0 \quad with
and . When , , where is an explicit function
as a technical bound, we prove global well-posedness results for rough initial
data.Comment: 23page
Short-Term Relapse Quantitation as a Fully Surrogate Endpoint for Long-Term Sustained Progression of Disability in RRMS Patients Treated with Natalizumab
Time to sustained worsening in the expanded disability status scale as the standard for evaluating the accumulation of disability has been used as a measure of clinical efficacy in many relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) clinical trials. However, this measurement usually requires a large sample and long-term study to demonstrate the treatment effect. Annualized relapse rate or time to first relapse is also widely used as alternative measurements of clinical efficacy. A formal statistical validation of short-term relapse activity as a surrogate endpoint for long-term sustained progression of disability could potentially permit smaller, shorter, and less expensive clinical trials in RRMS. Four statistical validation/evaluation approaches consistently showed that relapse activity through one year of treatment serves as statistically valid surrogate endpoint for time to sustained progression of disability. The analysis demonstrates that long-term sustained progression of disability can be predicted by short-term relapse measures with 4 consistent validations of statistical approaches, including a formal statistical hypothesis test. This was demonstrated in a large phase III trial of natalizumab and showed that the beneficial clinical effect of natalizumab on sustained progression of disability at 2 years in patients with RRMS can be predicted by the total number of relapses at 1 year
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