6,130 research outputs found
Recommended from our members
A Systemwide Electronic Health Record Checklist to Improve Comorbidity Screening of Children With Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
WKB-type Approximation to Noncommutative Quantum Cosmology
In this work, we develop and apply the WKB approximation to several examples
of noncommutative quantum cosmology, obtaining the time evolution of the
noncommutative universe, this is done starting from a noncommutative quantum
formulation of cosmology where the noncommutativity is introduced by a
deformation on the minisuperspace variables. This procedure gives a
straightforward algorithm to incorporate noncommutativity to cosmology and
inflation.Comment: Revtex4, 6 pages, no figure
Marketing Percolation
A percolation model is presented, with computer simulations for
illustrations, to show how the sales of a new product may penetrate the
consumer market. We review the traditional approach in the marketing
literature, which is based on differential or difference equations similar to
the logistic equation (Bass 1969). This mean field approach is contrasted with
the discrete percolation on a lattice, with simulations of "social percolation"
(Solomon et al 2000) in two to five dimensions giving power laws instead of
exponential growth, and strong fluctuations right at the percolation threshold.Comment: to appear in Physica
High quality epitaxial thin films and exchange bias of antiferromagnetic Dirac semimetal FeSn
FeSn is a topological semimetal (TSM) and kagome antiferromagnet (AFM)
composed of alternating Fe3Sn kagome planes and honeycomb Sn planes. This
unique structure gives rise to exotic features in the band structures such as
the coexistence of Dirac cones and flatbands near the Fermi level, fully
spin-polarized 2D surface Dirac fermions, and the ability to open a large gap
in the Dirac cone by reorienting the N\'eel vector. In this work, we report the
synthesis of high quality epitaxial (0001) FeSn films by magnetron sputtering.
Using FeSn/Py heterostructures, we show a large exchange bias effect that
reaches an exchange field of 220 Oe at 5 K, providing unambiguous evidence of
antiferromagnetism and strong interlayer exchange coupling in our films. Field
cycling studies show steep initial training effects, highlighting the complex
magnetic interactions and anisotropy. Importantly, our work provides a simple,
alternative means to fabricate FeSn films and heterostructures, making it
easier to explore the topological physics of AFM TSMs and develop FeSn-based
spintronics.Comment: accepted by AP
Comparing interventions and exploring neural mechanisms of exercise in Parkinson disease: a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
BACKGROUND: Effective treatment of locomotor dysfunction in Parkinson disease (PD) is essential, as gait difficulty is an early and major contributor to disability. Exercise is recommended as an adjunct to traditional treatments for improving gait, balance, and quality of life. Among the exercise approaches known to improve walking, tango and treadmill training have recently emerged as two promising therapies for improving gait, disease severity and quality of life, yet these two interventions have not been directly compared to each other. Prior studies have been helpful in identifying interventions effective in improving gait function, but have done little to elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying functional improvements. The primary objective of the proposed work is to compare the effects of three community-based exercise programs, tango, treadmill training and stretching, on locomotor function in individuals with PD. In addition, we aim to determine whether and how these interventions alter functional connectivity of locomotor control networks in the brain. METHODS/DESIGN: One hundred and twenty right-handed individuals with idiopathic PD who are at least 30Â years of age will be assigned in successive waves to one of three community-based exercise groups: tango dancing, treadmill training or stretching (control). Each group will receive three months of exercise training with twice weekly one-hour group classes. Each participant will be evaluated at three time points: pre-intervention (baseline), post-intervention (3Â months), and follow-up (6Â months). All evaluations will include assessment of gait, balance, disease severity, and quality of life. Baseline and post-intervention evaluations will also include task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and resting state functional connectivity MRI. All MRI and behavioral measures will be conducted with participants OFF anti-Parkinson medication, with behavioral measures also assessed ON medication. DISCUSSION: This study will provide important insights regarding the effects of different modes of exercise on locomotor function in PD. The protocol is innovative because it: 1) uses group exercise approaches for all conditions including treadmill training, 2) directly compares tango to treadmill training and stretching, 3) tests participants OFF medication, and 4) utilizes two distinct neuroimaging approaches to explore mechanisms of the effects of exercise on the brain. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01768832
Measuring the Stellar Masses of z~7 Galaxies with Spitzer Ultrafaint Survey Program (SURFS UP)
We present Spitzer/IRAC observations of nine -band dropouts highly
magnified (2<mu<12) by the Bullet Cluster. We combine archival imaging with our
Exploratory program (SURFS UP), which results in a total integration time of
~30 hr per IRAC band. We detect (>3sigma) in both IRAC bands the brightest of
these high-redshift galaxies, with [3.6]=23.80+-0.28 mag, [4.5]=23.78+-0.25
mag, and (H-[3.6])=1.17+-0.32 mag. The remaining eight galaxies are undetected
to [3.6]~26.4 mag and [4.5]~26.0 mag with stellar masses of ~5x10^7 M_sol. The
detected galaxy has an estimated magnification of mu=12+-4, which implies this
galaxy has an ultraviolet luminosity of L_1500~0.3 L*_{z=7} --- the lowest
luminosity individual source detected in IRAC at z>7. By modeling the broadband
photometry, we estimate the galaxy has an intrinsic star-formation rate of
SFR~1.3 M_sol/yr and stellar mass of M~2x10^9 M_sol, which gives a specific
star-formation rate of sSFR~0.7 Gyr^-1. If this galaxy had sustained this
star-formation rate since z~20, it could have formed the observed stellar mass
(to within a factor of ~2), we also discuss alternate star-formation histories
and argue the exponentially-increasing model is unlikely. Finally, based on the
intrinsic star-formation rate, we estimate this galaxy has a likely [C II] flux
of = 10^{-17} erg/s/cm2.Comment: Accepted to ApJL. 6 pages, 3 figures, 2 table
Noncommutative Geometry and Cosmology
We study some consequences of noncommutativity to homogeneous cosmologies by
introducing a deformation of the commutation relation between the
minisuperspace variables. The investigation is carried out for the
Kantowski-Sachs model by means of a comparative study of the universe evolution
in four different scenarios: the classical commutative, classical
noncommutative, quantum commutative, and quantum noncommutative. The comparison
is rendered transparent by the use of the Bohmian formalism of quantum
trajectories. As a result of our analysis, we found that noncommutativity can
modify significantly the universe evolution, but cannot alter its singular
behavior in the classical context. Quantum effects, on the other hand, can
originate non-singular periodic universes in both commutative and
noncommutative cases. The quantum noncommutative model is shown to present
interesting properties, as the capability to give rise to non-trivial dynamics
in situations where its commutative counterpart is necessarily static.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, substantial changes in the presentation, results
are the same, to appear in Physical Review
Assessing the utilization of high-resolution 2-field HLA typing in solid organ transplantation.
HLA typing in solid organ transplantation (SOT) is necessary for determining HLA-matching status between donor-recipient pairs and assessing patients\u27 anti-HLA antibody profiles. Histocompatibility has traditionally been evaluated based on serologically defined HLA antigens. The evolution of HLA typing and antibody identification technologies, however, has revealed many limitations with using serologic equivalents for assessing compatibility in SOT. The significant improvements to HLA typing introduced by next-generation sequencing (NGS) require an assessment of the impact of this technology on SOT. We have assessed the role of high-resolution 2-field HLA typing (HR-2F) in SOT by retrospectively evaluating NGS-typed pre- and post-SOT cases. HR-2F typing was highly instructive or necessary in 41% (156/385) of the cases. Several pre- and posttransplant scenarios were identified as being better served by HR-2F typing. Five different categories are presented with specific case examples. The experience of another center (Temple University Hospital) is also included, whereby 21% of the cases required HR-2F typing by Sanger sequencing, as supported by other legacy methods, to properly address posttransplant anti-HLA antibody issues
- …