989 research outputs found
Evaporation of large black holes in AdS: greybody factor and decay rate
We consider a massless, minimally coupled scalar field propagating through
the geometry of a black 3-brane in an asymptotically space.
The wave equation for modes traveling purely in the holographic direction
reduces to a Heun equation and the corresponding greybody factor is obtained
numerically. Approximations valid in the low- and high-frequency regimes are
also obtained analytically. The greybody factor is then used to determine the
rate of evaporation of these large black holes in the context of the evaporon
model proposed in \cite{Rocha:2008fe}. This setting represents the evolution of
a black hole under Hawking evaporation with a known CFT dual description and is
therefore unitary. Information must then be preserved under this evaporation
process.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figures; v2: added references, published versio
Test of Emotion Comprehension: Exploring the underlying structure through Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Similarity Structure Analysis
Some decades of research on emotional development have underlined the
contribution of several domains to emotional understanding in childhood. Based on
this research, Pons and colleagues (Pons & Harris, 2002; Pons, Harris & Rosnay,
2004) have proposed the Test of Emotion Comprehension (TEC) which assesses nine
domains of emotional understanding, namely the recognition of emotions, based on
facial expressions; the comprehension of external emotional causes; impact of desire
on emotions; emotions based on beliefs; memory influence on emotions; possibility of
emotional regulation; possibility of hiding an emotional state; having mixed emotions;
contribution of morality to emotional experiences. This instrument was administered
individually to 182 Portuguese children aged between 8 and 11 years, of 3rd and 4th
grades, in public schools. Additionally, we used the Socially in Action-Peers (SAp)
(Rocha, Candeias & Lopes da Silva, 2012) to assess TEC’s criterion-related validity.
Mean differences results in TEC by gender and by socio-economic status (SES) were
analyzed. The results of the TEC’s psychometric analysis were performed in terms of
items’ sensitivity and reliability (stability, test-retest). Finally, in order to explore the
theoretical structure underlying TEC a Confirmatory Factor Analysis and a Similarity
Structure Analysis were computed. Implications of these findings for emotional
understanding assessment and intervention in childhood are discussed
On the Fermionic Quasi-particle Interpretation in Minimal Models of Conformal Field Theory
The conjecture that the states of the fermionic quasi-particles in minimal
conformal field theories are eigenstates of the integrals of motion to certain
eigenvalues is checked and shown to be correct only for the Ising model.Comment: 5 pages of Late
Estimating Self-Sustainability in Peer-to-Peer Swarming Systems
Peer-to-peer swarming is one of the \emph{de facto} solutions for distributed
content dissemination in today's Internet. By leveraging resources provided by
clients, swarming systems reduce the load on and costs to publishers. However,
there is a limit to how much cost savings can be gained from swarming; for
example, for unpopular content peers will always depend on the publisher in
order to complete their downloads. In this paper, we investigate this
dependence. For this purpose, we propose a new metric, namely \emph{swarm
self-sustainability}. A swarm is referred to as self-sustaining if all its
blocks are collectively held by peers; the self-sustainability of a swarm is
the fraction of time in which the swarm is self-sustaining. We pose the
following question: how does the self-sustainability of a swarm vary as a
function of content popularity, the service capacity of the users, and the size
of the file? We present a model to answer the posed question. We then propose
efficient solution methods to compute self-sustainability. The accuracy of our
estimates is validated against simulation. Finally, we also provide closed-form
expressions for the fraction of time that a given number of blocks is
collectively held by peers.Comment: 27 pages, 5 figure
Genetic characterization of Toxoplasma gondii isolates from pigs intended for human consumption in Brazil
AbstractThis study genetically Toxoplasma gondii isolates obtained from pigs intended for human consumption in northeastern Brazil; multilocus PCR-RFLP and sequencing techniques were utilized. Bioassays were conducted using the brain and tongue of 20 pig heads purchased at butcher shops in the city of Ilheus, Bahia, Brazil. Overall, 11 T. gondii isolates designated TgPgBr06-16 were identified. Application of multilocus PCR-RFLP with seven molecular markers (SAG1, SAG2, SAG3, BTUB, C22-8, PK1 and Apico) identified six different genotypes. Isolates TgPgBr 06, 08, 11, 12, 14 and 15 were indistinguishable by this technique, forming a single genotype; the remaining isolates were characterized as distinct genotypes. However, when five genetic markers (SAG1, SAG2, SAG3, BTUB and c22-8) were employed in multilocus PCR-sequencing, all eleven strains of T. gondii were shown to be different. All isolates differed from Type I, II and III clonal genotypes using both genotyping techniques. These results demonstrate that the multilocus PCR-RFLP assay underestimated the true diversity of the T. gondii population in this study. Thus, DNA sequencing is the preferred technique to infer the genetic diversity and population structure of T. gondii strains from Brazil. Moreover, it is necessary to develop new molecular markers to group and characterize atypical T. gondii isolates from South America
Reduction of blood nitric oxide levels is associated with clinical improvement of the chronic pelvic pain related to endometriosis
The objective of this prospective study was to determine the plasma levels of nitric oxide (NO) in women with chronic pelvic pain secondary to endometriosis (n=24) and abdominal myofascial pain syndrome (n=16). NO levels were measured in plasma collected before and 1 month after treatment. Pretreatment NO levels (μM) were lower in healthy volunteers (47.0±12.7) than in women with myofascial pain (64.2±5.0, P=0.01) or endometriosis (99.5±12.9, P<0.0001). After treatment, plasma NO levels were reduced only in the endometriosis group (99.5±12.9 vs 61.6±5.9, P=0.002). A correlation between reduction of pain intensity and reduction of NO level was observed in the endometriosis group [correlation = 0.67 (95%CI = 0.35 to 0.85), P<0.0001]. Reduction of NO levels was associated with an increase of pain threshold in this group [correlation = -0.53 (-0.78 to -0.14), P<0.0001]. NO levels appeared elevated in women with chronic pelvic pain diagnosed as secondary to endometriosis, and were directly associated with reduction in pain intensity and increase in pain threshold after treatment. Further studies are needed to investigate the role of NO in the pathophysiology of pain in women with endometriosis and its eventual association with central sensitization.484363369CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQSem informaçã
High-voltage pulse generator based on sequentially charged MMC-SMs operating in a voltage-boost mode
Pulse forming networks and Marx generators are the classical rectangular waveform pulse generators (PGs). They are inflexible and their capacitors must be fully charged to the required voltage from 0V before delivering each high-voltage (HV) pulse. They are only able to generate unipolar pulses; if bipolar pulses are sought another generator fed from a negative supply voltage is added. Recently, several power electronics based PGs have been proposed. This paper presents an HV power electronics based PG, which is based on Half-Bridge Modular Multilevel Converter (HB-MMC) sub-modules (SMs) charged sequentially in a voltage boost mode. Each SM capacitor and main switch form a boost converter with the charging input supply and inductor. As a result, all SM capacitors are charged to a voltage greater than the input. During the discharging process the SM capacitors are connected in series, producing a rectangular HV pulse across the load. The proposed charging method allows a reduction in the converter footprint in comparison with recently proposed MMC sequentially charged PG topologies. Although only rectangular pulse waveforms are sought in this paper, a SM capacitor voltage balance method allows multilevel pulse generation. The viability of the proposed converter is confirmed by MATLAB/Simulink simulation and scaled-down experimentation
Modular Invariance and Uniqueness of Conformal Characters
We show that the conformal characters of various rational models of
W-algebras can be already uniquely determined if one merely knows the central
charge and the conformal dimensions. As a side result we develop several tools
for studying representations of SL(2,Z) on spaces of modular functions. These
methods, applied here only to certain rational conformal field theories, may be
useful for the analysis of many others.Comment: 21 pages (AMS TeX), BONN-TH-94-16, MPI-94-6
Inflationary models inducing non-Gaussian metric fluctuations
We construct explicit models of multi-field inflation in which the primordial
metric fluctuations do not necessarily obey Gaussian statistics. These models
are realizations of mechanisms in which non-Gaussianity is first generated by a
light scalar field and then transferred into curvature fluctuations. The
probability distribution functions of the metric perturbation at the end of
inflation are computed. This provides a guideline for designing strategies to
search for non-Gaussian signals in future CMB and large scale structure
surveys.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figure
Comparative Study Of The Hyperbaric Hyperoxygenation In Ischemic Colonic Loops In Rats
Purpose: To analyze and to evaluate the effect of the hyperbaric hyperoxygenation in the mechanical resistance of ischemic colon of rats. Methods: Eighty rats, distributed in four groups of 20 animals in each one, were used. In group 1 (G1), the control group, ischemia was not caused. Group 2 was submitted to the lesser degree of ischemia. Group 3 was submitted to the intermediate degree of ischemia. In group 4, a bigger degree of intestinal ischemia was provoked. Each group was divided in two sub-groups of ten animals each: with hyperbaric chamber (CC) and without hyperbaric chamber (SC). The animals of the four CC subgroups were placed in an experimental hyperbaric chamber in order to inhale oxygen at 100%, at two Absolute Atmospheres, for 120 minutes, for a four-day consecutive period. The animals of the four SC subgroups were kept in environment air during the five days of the experiment. All animals have been submitted to the mechanical study of the intestinal loop by the pressure test of the rupture by liquid distension. The euthanasia occurred in the fifth post-operative day. Results: Considering the ischemia factor, the four groups were different among them (p=0.0001). There was no statistical difference between subgroups CC and SC (p=0.3461). 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