1,666 research outputs found
Neutrino spin oscillations in gravitational fields
We study neutrino spin oscillations in black hole backgrounds. In the case of
a charged black hole, the maximum frequency of oscillations is a monotonically
increasing function of the charge. For a rotating black hole, the maximum
frequency decreases with increasing the angular momentum. In both cases, the
frequency of spin oscillations decreases as the distance from the black hole
grows. As a phenomenological application of our results, we study simple
bipolar neutrino system which is an interesting example of collective neutrino
oscillations. We show that the precession frequency of the flavor pendulum as a
function of the neutrino number density will be higher for a
charged/non-rotating black hole compared with a neutral/rotating black hole
respectively.Comment: Replaced with the version accepted for publication in Gravitation and
Cosmology, Springer. 10 pages. 4 figure
Sialic Acid Utilisation and Synthesis in the Neonatal Rat Revisited
Background: Milk is the sole source of nutrients for neonatal mammals and is generally considered to have co-evolved with the developmental needs of the suckling newborn. One evolutionary conserved constituent of milk and present on many glycoconjugates is sialic acid. The brain and colon are major sites of sialic acid display and together with the liver also of synthesis. Methodology/Principal Findings: In this study we examined in rats the relationship between the sialic acid content of milk and the uptake, utilization and synthesis of sialic acid in suckling pups. In rat milk sialic acid was found primarily as 39sialyllactose and at highest levels between 3 and 10 days postpartum and that decreased towards weaning. In the liver of suckling pups sialic acid synthesis paralleled the increase in milk sialic acid reaching and keeping maximum activity from postnatal day 5 onwards. In the colon, gene expression profiles suggested that a switch from sialic acid uptake and catabolism towards sialic acid synthesis and utilization occurred that mirrored the change of sialic acid in milk from high to low expression. In brain sialic acid related gene expression profiles did not change to any great extent during the suckling period. Conclusions/Significance: Our results support the views that (i) when milk sialic acid levels are high, in the colon this sialic acid is catabolized to GlcNAc that in turn may be used as such or used as substrate for sialic acid synthesis and (ii) when milk sialic acid levels are low the endogenous sialic acid synthetic machinery in colon is activated
Extracting Proofs from Tabled Proof Search
We consider the problem of model checking specifications involving co-inductive definitions such as are available for bisimulation. A proof search approach to model checking with such specifications often involves state exploration. We consider four different tabling strategies that can minimize such exploration significantly. In general, tabling involves storing previously proved subgoals and reusing (instead of reproving) them in proof search. In the case of co-inductive proof search, tables allow a limited form of loop checking, which is often necessary for, say, checking bisimulation of non-terminating processes. We enhance the notion of tabled proof search by allowing a limited deduction from tabled entries when performing table lookup. The main problem with this enhanced tabling method is that it is generally unsound when co-inductive definitions are involved and when tabled entries contain unproved entries. We design a proof system with tables and show that by managing tabled entries carefully, one would still be able to obtain a sound proof system. That is, we show how one can extract a post-fixed point from a tabled proof for a co-inductive goal. We then apply this idea to the technique of bisimulation ''up-to'' commonly used in process algebra
The Effects of Twitter Sentiment on Stock Price Returns
Social media are increasingly reflecting and influencing behavior of other
complex systems. In this paper we investigate the relations between a well-know
micro-blogging platform Twitter and financial markets. In particular, we
consider, in a period of 15 months, the Twitter volume and sentiment about the
30 stock companies that form the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) index. We
find a relatively low Pearson correlation and Granger causality between the
corresponding time series over the entire time period. However, we find a
significant dependence between the Twitter sentiment and abnormal returns
during the peaks of Twitter volume. This is valid not only for the expected
Twitter volume peaks (e.g., quarterly announcements), but also for peaks
corresponding to less obvious events. We formalize the procedure by adapting
the well-known "event study" from economics and finance to the analysis of
Twitter data. The procedure allows to automatically identify events as Twitter
volume peaks, to compute the prevailing sentiment (positive or negative)
expressed in tweets at these peaks, and finally to apply the "event study"
methodology to relate them to stock returns. We show that sentiment polarity of
Twitter peaks implies the direction of cumulative abnormal returns. The amount
of cumulative abnormal returns is relatively low (about 1-2%), but the
dependence is statistically significant for several days after the events
Multi-shot Echo Planar Imaging for accelerated Cartesian MR Fingerprinting: An alternative to conventional spiral MR Fingerprinting.
PURPOSE: To develop an accelerated Cartesian MRF implementation using a multi-shot EPI sequence for rapid simultaneous quantification of T1 and T2 parameters. METHODS: The proposed Cartesian MRF method involved the acquisition of highly subsampled MR images using a 16-shot EPI readout. A linearly varying flip angle train was used for rapid, simultaneous T1 and T2 quantification. The results were compared to a conventional spiral MRF implementation. The acquisition time per slice was 8s and this method was validated on two different phantoms and three healthy volunteer brains in vivo. RESULTS: Joint T1 and T2 estimations using the 16-shot EPI readout are in good agreement with the spiral implementation using the same acquisition parameters (<4% deviation for T1 and <6% deviation for T2). The T1 and T2 values also agree with the conventional values previously reported in the literature. The visual qualities of fine brain structures in the multi-parametric maps generated by multi-shot EPI-MRF and Spiral-MRF implementations were comparable. CONCLUSION: The multi-shot EPI-MRF method generated accurate quantitative multi-parametric maps similar to conventional Spiral-MRF. This multi-shot approach achieved considerable k-space subsampling and comparatively short TRs in a similar manner to spirals and therefore provides an alternative for performing MRF using an accelerated Cartesian readout; thereby increasing the potential usability of MRF.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Commission H2020 Framework Programme (H2020- MSCAITN- 2014), number 642685 MacSeNet, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) platform Compressed Quantitative MRI grant, number EP/M019802/1 and the Scottish Research Partnership in Engineering (SRPe) award, number SRPe PECRE1718/ 17
Neuroimaging in cluster headache and other trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias
The central nervous system mechanisms involved in trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias, a group of primary headaches characterized by strictly unilateral head pain that occurs in association with ipsilateral craniofacial autonomic features, are still not comprehensively understood. However, functional imaging methods have revolutionized our understanding of mechanisms involved in these primary headache syndromes. The present review provides a brief overview of the major modern functional neuroimaging techniques used to examine brain structure, biochemistry, metabolic state, and functional capacity. The available functional neuroimaging data in cluster headache and other TACs will thus be summarized. Although the precise brain structures responsible for these primary headache syndromes still remain to be determined, neuroimaging data suggest a major role for posterior hypothalamus activation in initiating and maintaining attacks. Furthermore, pathophysiological involvement of the pain neuromatrix and of the central descending opiatergic pain control system was observed. Given the rapid advances in functional and structural neuroimaging methodologies, it can be expected that these non-invasive techniques will continue to improve our understanding into the nature of the brain dysfunction in cluster headache and other trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias
Temperature measurement and stabilization in a birefringent whispering gallery resonator
Temperature measurement with nano-Kelvin resolution is demonstrated at room
temperature, based on the thermal dependence of an optical crystal anisotropy
in a high quality whispering gallery resonator. As the resonator's TE and TM
modes frequencies have different temperature coefficients, their differential
shift provides a sensitive measurement of the temperature variation, which is
used for active stabilization of the temperature
- …