Generalized Arago-Fresnel laws: The EME-flow-line description

We study experimentally and theoretically the influence of light polarization on the interference patterns behind a diffracting grating. Different states of polarization and configurations are been considered. The experiments are analyzed in terms of electromagnetic energy (EME) flow lines, which can be eventually identified with the paths followed by photons. This gives rise to a novel trajectory interpretation of the Arago-Fresnel laws for polarized light, which we compare with interpretations based on the concept of "which-way" (or "which-slit") information.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure

Tests of Gaussianity

We review two powerful methods to test the Gaussianity of the cosmic microwave background (CMB): one based on the distribution of spherical wavelet coefficients and the other on smooth tests of goodness-of-fit. The spherical wavelet families proposed to analyse the CMB are the Haar and the Mexican Hat ones. The latter is preferred for detecting non-Gaussian homogeneous and isotropic primordial models containing some amount of skewness or kurtosis. Smooth tests of goodness-of-fit have recently been introduced in the field showing some interesting properties. We will discuss the smooth tests of goodness-of-fit developed by Rayner and Best for the univariate as well as for the multivariate analysis.Comment: Proceedings of "The Cosmic Microwave Background and its Polarization", New Astronomy Reviews, (eds. S. Hanany and K.A. Olive), in pres

Spherical Needlets for CMB Data Analysis

We discuss Spherical Needlets and their properties. Needlets are a form of spherical wavelets which do not rely on any kind of tangent plane approximation and enjoy good localization properties in both pixel and harmonic space; moreover needlets coefficients are asymptotically uncorrelated at any fixed angular distance, which makes their use in statistical procedures very promising. In view of these properties, we believe needlets may turn out to be especially useful in the analysis of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) data on the incomplete sky, as well as of other cosmological observations. As a final advantage, we stress that the implementation of needlets is computationally very convenient and may rely completely on standard data analysis packages such as HEALPix.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure

Coherent States and Modified de Broglie-Bohm Complex Quantum Trajectories

This paper examines the nature of classical correspondence in the case of coherent states at the level of quantum trajectories. We first show that for a harmonic oscillator, the coherent state complex quantum trajectories and the complex classical trajectories are identical to each other. This congruence in the complex plane, not restricted to high quantum numbers alone, illustrates that the harmonic oscillator in a coherent state executes classical motion. The quantum trajectories are those conceived in a modified de Broglie-Bohm scheme and we note that identical classical and quantum trajectories for coherent states are obtained only in the present approach. The study is extended to Gazeau-Klauder and SUSY quantum mechanics-based coherent states of a particle in an infinite potential well and that in a symmetric Poschl-Teller (PT) potential by solving for the trajectories numerically. For the coherent state of the infinite potential well, almost identical classical and quantum trajectories are obtained whereas for the PT potential, though classical trajectories are not regained, a periodic motion results as t --> \infty.Comment: More example

The performance of spherical wavelets to detect non-Gaussianity in the CMB sky

We investigate the performance of spherical wavelets in discriminating between standard inflationary models (Gaussian) and non-Gaussian models. For the later we consider small perturbations of the Gaussian model in which an artificially specified skewness or kurtosis is introduced through the Edgeworth expansion. By combining all the information present in all the wavelet scales with the Fisher discriminant, we find that the spherical Mexican Hat wavelets are clearly superior to the spherical Haar wavelets. The former can detect levels of the skewness and kurtosis of ~1% for 33' resolution, an order of magnitude smaller than the later. Also, as expected, both wavelets are better for discriminating between the models than the direct consideration of moments of the temperature maps. The introduction of instrumental white noise in the maps, S/N=1, does not change the main results of this paper.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, accepted by MNRAS with minor change

New 3-Dimensional Volumetric Ultrasound Method for Accurate Quantification of Atherosclerotic Plaque Volume.

Carotid and femoral plaque burden is a recognized biomarker of cardiovascular disease risk. A new electronic-sweep 3-dimensional (3D)-matrix transducer method can improve the functionality and image quality of vascular ultrasound atherosclerosis imaging. This study aimed to validate this method for plaque volume measurement in early and intermediate-advanced plaques in the carotid and femoral territories. Plaque volumes were measured ex vivo in pig carotid and femoral artery specimens by 3-dimensional vascular ultrasound (3DVUS) using a 3D-matrix (electronic-sweep) transducer and its associated 3D plaque quantification software, and were compared with gold-standard histology. To test the clinical feasibility and accuracy of the 3D-matrix transducer, an experiment was conducted in intermediate-high risk individuals with carotid and femoral atherosclerosis. The results were compared with those obtained using the previously validated mechanical-sweep 3D transducer and established 2-dimensional (2D)-based plaque quantification software. In the ex vivo study, the authors assessed 19 atherosclerotic plaques (plaque volume, 0.76 µL-56.30 μL), finding strong agreement between measurements with the 3D-matrix transducer and the histological gold-standard (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC]: 0.992; [95% CI: 0.978-0.997]). In the clinical analysis of 20 patients (mean age 74.6 ± 4.45 years; 40% men), the authors found 64 (36 carotid and 28 femoral) of 80 scanned territories with atherosclerosis (measured atherosclerotic volume, 10 μL-859 μL). There was strong agreement between measurements made from electronic-sweep and mechanical-sweep 3DVUS transducers (ICC: 0.997 [95% CI: 0.995-0.998]). Agreement was also high between plaque volumes estimated by the 2D and 3D plaque quantification software applications (ICC: 0.999 [95% CI: 0.998-0.999]). Analysis time was significantly shorter with the 3D plaque quantification software than with the 2D multislice approach with a mean time reduction of 46%. 3DVUS using new matrix transducer technology, together with improved 3D plaque quantification software, simplifies the accurate volume measurement of early (small) and intermediate-advanced plaques located in carotid and femoral arteries.This study was partially funded by grants from the Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competividad (MEIC) with cofunding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) (SAF2016-75580-R to Dr Bentzon) and (BES-2016-076633 to Dr Nogales). Research funding was also received from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III Spain (PIE16/ 00021 to Drs Bueno and Fuster). The CNIC is supported by the Min- isterio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades (MICINN) and the Pro CNIC Foundation and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (CEX2020-001041-S). This study forms part of a Master Research Agreement between the CNIC and Philips Healthcare. Drs Sánchez- González, Entrekin, and Collet-Billon are employees of Philips Healthcare. All other authors have reported that they have no re- lationships to disclose related to the contents of this paper.S

Nanoinformatics: developing new computing applications for nanomedicine

Nanoinformatics has recently emerged to address the need of computing applications at the nano level. In this regard, the authors have participated in various initiatives to identify its concepts, foundations and challenges. While nanomaterials open up the possibility for developing new devices in many industrial and scientific areas, they also offer breakthrough perspectives for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases. In this paper, we analyze the different aspects of nanoinformatics and suggest five research topics to help catalyze new research and development in the area, particularly focused on nanomedicine. We also encompass the use of informatics to further the biological and clinical applications of basic research in nanoscience and nanotechnology, and the related concept of an extended ?nanotype? to coalesce information related to nanoparticles. We suggest how nanoinformatics could accelerate developments in nanomedicine, similarly to what happened with the Human Genome and other -omics projects, on issues like exchanging modeling and simulation methods and tools, linking toxicity information to clinical and personal databases or developing new approaches for scientific ontologies, among many others

Les individus du dépôt multiple néolithique du site de Pontcharaud, Clermont-Ferrand (fouilles 1986) : guerriers ou morts d’accompagnement ?

Le site de Pontcharaud 2 (4300-3900 cal. BCE), fouillé en 1986, a livré 68 individus issus de 56 structures parmi lesquelles un dépôt multiple exceptionnel de par le nombre de sujets qui le compose (5 adultes et 2 immatures) et la présence d’une pointe de flèche dans la vertèbre de l’un d’entre eux. Cette découverte a été abordée dans plusieurs publications sans qu’il y ait consensus quant à l’interprétation qui peut en être donnée. Or, la série ostéologique de Pontcharaud 2 bénéficie depuis..