95 research outputs found
Kullback-Leibler and Renormalized Entropy: Applications to EEGs of Epilepsy Patients
Recently, renormalized entropy was proposed as a novel measure of relative
entropy (P. Saparin et al., Chaos, Solitons & Fractals 4, 1907 (1994)) and
applied to several physiological time sequences, including EEGs of patients
with epilepsy. We show here that this measure is just a modified
Kullback-Leibler (K-L) relative entropy, and it gives similar numerical results
to the standard K-L entropy. The latter better distinguishes frequency contents
of e.g. seizure and background EEGs than renormalized entropy. We thus propose
that renormalized entropy might not be as useful as claimed by its proponents.
In passing we also make some critical remarks about the implementation of these
methods.Comment: 15 pages, 4 Postscript figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. E, 199
Noise and Periodic Modulations in Neural Excitable Media
We have analyzed the interplay between noise and periodic modulations in a
mean field model of a neural excitable medium. To this purpose, we have
considered two types of modulations; namely, variations of the resistance and
oscillations of the threshold. In both cases, stochastic resonance is present,
irrespective of if the system is monostable or bistable.Comment: 13 pages, RevTex, 5 PostScript figure
Approximate k-state solutions to the Dirac-Yukawa problem based on the spin and pseudospin symmetry
Using an approximation scheme to deal with the centrifugal
(pseudo-centrifugal) term, we solve the Dirac equation with the screened
Coulomb (Yukawa) potential for any arbitrary spin-orbit quantum number
{\kappa}. Based on the spin and pseudospin symmetry, analytic bound state
energy spectrum formulas and their corresponding upper- and lower-spinor
components of two Dirac particles are obtained using a shortcut of the
Nikiforov-Uvarov method. We find a wide range of permissible values for the
spin symmetry constant C_{s} from the valence energy spectrum of particle and
also for pseudospin symmetry constant C_{ps} from the hole energy spectrum of
antiparticle. Further, we show that the present potential interaction becomes
less (more) attractive for a long (short) range screening parameter {\alpha}.
To remove the degeneracies in energy levels we consider the spin and pseudospin
solution of Dirac equation for Yukawa potential plus a centrifugal-like term. A
few special cases such as the exact spin (pseudospin) symmetry Dirac-Yukawa,
the Yukawa plus centrifugal-like potentials, the limit when {\alpha} becomes
zero (Coulomb potential field) and the non-relativistic limit of our solution
are studied. The nonrelativistic solutions are compared with those obtained by
other methods.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figure
A model independent spin analysis of fundamental particles using azimuthal asymmetries
Exploiting the azimuthal angle dependence of the density matrices we
construct observables that directly measure the spin of a heavy unstable
particle. A novelty of the approach is that the analysis of the azimuthal angle
dependence in a frame other than the usual helicity frame offers an independent
cross-check on the extraction of the spin. Moreover, in some instances when the
transverse polarisation tensor of highest rank is vanishing, for an accidental
or dynamical reason, the standard azimuthal asymmetries vanish and would lead
to a measurement with a wrong spin assignment. In a frame such as the one we
construct, the correct spin assignment would however still be possible. The
method gives direct information about the spin of the particle under
consideration and the same event sample can be used to identify the spins of
each particle in a decay chain. A drawback of the method is that it is
instrumental only when the momenta of the test particle can be reconstructed.
However we hope that it might still be of use in situations with only partial
reconstruction. We also derive the conditions on the production and decay
mechanisms for the spins, and hence the polarisations, to be measured at a
collider experiment. As an example for the use of the method we consider the
simultaneous reconstruction, at the partonic level, of the spin of both the top
and the in top pair production in in the semi-leptonic channel.Comment: 42 pages, 7 figures, 4 table
Assessing the utility of low resolution brain imaging: treatment of infant hydrocephalus
As low-field MRI technology is being disseminated into clinical settings around the world, it is important to assess the image quality required to properly diagnose and treat a given disease and evaluate the role of machine learning algorithms, such as deep learning, in the enhancement of lower quality images. In this post hoc analysis of an ongoing randomized clinical trial, we assessed the diagnostic utility of reduced-quality and deep learning enhanced images for hydrocephalus treatment planning. CT images of post-infectious infant hydrocephalus were degraded in terms of spatial resolution, noise, and contrast between brain and CSF and enhanced using deep learning algorithms. Both degraded and enhanced images were presented to three experienced pediatric neurosurgeons accustomed to working in low-to middle-income countries (LMIC) for assessment of clinical utility in treatment planning for hydrocephalus. In addition, enhanced images were presented alongside their ground truth CT counterparts in order to assess whether reconstruction errors caused by the deep learning enhancement routine were acceptable to the evaluators. Results indicate that image resolution and contrast-to-noise ratio between brain and CSF predict the likelihood of an image being characterized as useful for hydrocephalus treatment planning. Deep learning enhancement substantially increases contrast-to-noise ratio improving the apparent likelihood of the image being useful; however, deep learning enhancement introduces structural errors which create a substantial risk of misleading clinical interpretation. We find that images with lower quality than is customarily acceptable can be useful for hydrocephalus treatment planning. Moreover, low quality images may be preferable to images enhanced with deep learning, since they do not introduce the risk of misleading information which could misguide treatment decisions. These findings advocate for new standards in assessing acceptable image quality for clinical use.Neuro Imaging Researc
Microstate Dependence of Scattering from the D1-D5 System
We investigate the question of distinguishing between different microstates
of the D1-D5 system (with charges Q_1 and Q_5), by scattering with an
incoherent beam, composed of a supergravity probe, with central energy E_0 and
width (\Delta E). The scattering is studied in the dual CFT description in the
orbifold limit for finite R, where R is the radius of the circle on which the
D1 branes are wrapped. When R(\Delta E) >> 1, the absorption cross-section is
found to be independent of the microstate and identical to the leading
semiclassical answer computed from the naive geometry. For smaller (\Delta E),
the answer depends on the particular microstate, which we examine for both
typical and atypical microstates. We derive an upper bound for the leading
correction to the cross-section when 1/R >> \Delta E >> (the average energy gap
1/{R [sqrt(Q_1Q_5)]}. For a typical state the bound is proportional to the area
of the stretched horizon, [\sqrt(Q_1 Q_5)], up to [log (Q_1Q_5)] terms.
Furthermore, when E_0 << (\Delta E), the proportionality constant is a pure
number independent of all energy scales. Numerical calculations using
Lorentzian profiles show that the actual value of the correction is in fact
proportional to [sqrt(Q_1Q_5)] without the logarithmic factor. We offer some
speculations about how this result can be consistent with a resolution of the
naive geometry by higher derivative corrections to supergravity.Comment: 42 pages, 5 figure
Phenomenology of the Lense-Thirring effect in the Solar System
Recent years have seen increasing efforts to directly measure some aspects of
the general relativistic gravitomagnetic interaction in several astronomical
scenarios in the solar system. After briefly overviewing the concept of
gravitomagnetism from a theoretical point of view, we review the performed or
proposed attempts to detect the Lense-Thirring effect affecting the orbital
motions of natural and artificial bodies in the gravitational fields of the
Sun, Earth, Mars and Jupiter. In particular, we will focus on the evaluation of
the impact of several sources of systematic uncertainties of dynamical origin
to realistically elucidate the present and future perspectives in directly
measuring such an elusive relativistic effect.Comment: LaTex, 51 pages, 14 figures, 22 tables. Invited review, to appear in
Astrophysics and Space Science (ApSS). Some uncited references in the text
now correctly quoted. One reference added. A footnote adde
Spanning forests and the q-state Potts model in the limit q \to 0
We study the q-state Potts model with nearest-neighbor coupling v=e^{\beta
J}-1 in the limit q,v \to 0 with the ratio w = v/q held fixed. Combinatorially,
this limit gives rise to the generating polynomial of spanning forests;
physically, it provides information about the Potts-model phase diagram in the
neighborhood of (q,v) = (0,0). We have studied this model on the square and
triangular lattices, using a transfer-matrix approach at both real and complex
values of w. For both lattices, we have computed the symbolic transfer matrices
for cylindrical strips of widths 2 \le L \le 10, as well as the limiting curves
of partition-function zeros in the complex w-plane. For real w, we find two
distinct phases separated by a transition point w=w_0, where w_0 = -1/4 (resp.
w_0 = -0.1753 \pm 0.0002) for the square (resp. triangular) lattice. For w >
w_0 we find a non-critical disordered phase, while for w < w_0 our results are
compatible with a massless Berker-Kadanoff phase with conformal charge c = -2
and leading thermal scaling dimension x_{T,1} = 2 (marginal operator). At w =
w_0 we find a "first-order critical point": the first derivative of the free
energy is discontinuous at w_0, while the correlation length diverges as w
\downarrow w_0 (and is infinite at w = w_0). The critical behavior at w = w_0
seems to be the same for both lattices and it differs from that of the
Berker-Kadanoff phase: our results suggest that the conformal charge is c = -1,
the leading thermal scaling dimension is x_{T,1} = 0, and the critical
exponents are \nu = 1/d = 1/2 and \alpha = 1.Comment: 131 pages (LaTeX2e). Includes tex file, three sty files, and 65
Postscript figures. Also included are Mathematica files forests_sq_2-9P.m and
forests_tri_2-9P.m. Final journal versio
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