Functional specialization within rostral prefrontal cortex (Area 10): a meta-analysis

One of the least well understood regions of the human brain is rostral prefrontal cortex, approximating Brodmann's area 10. Here, we investigate the possibility that there are functional subdivisions within this region by conducting a meta-analysis of 104 functional neuroimaging studies (using positron emission tomography/functional magnetic resonance imaging). Studies involving working memory and episodic memory retrieval were disproportionately associated with lateral activations, whereas studies involving mentalizing (i.e., attending to one's own emotions and mental states or those of other agents) were disproportionately associated with medial activations. Functional variation was also observed along a rostral-caudal axis, with studies involving mentalizing yielding relatively caudal activations and studies involving multiple-task coordination yielding relatively rostral activations. A classification algorithm was trained to predict the task, given the coordinates of each activation peak. Performance was well above chance levels (74% for the three most common tasks; 45% across all eight tasks investigated) and generalized to data not included in the training set. These results point to considerable functional segregation within rostral prefrontal cortex

The geology of zinc in coals of the Illinois Basin

Final report to the U.S. Geological Survey, Branch of Eastern Mineral Resources, U.S. Department of Interior. June 1975 to September 1977.U.S. Department of Interior Grant 14-08-0001-G-249Ope

Resummation of the hadronic tau decay width with the modified Borel transform method

A modified Borel transform of the Adler function is used to resum the hadronic tau decay width ratio. In contrast to the ordinary Borel transform, the integrand of the Borel integral is renormalization--scale invariant. We use an ansatz which explicitly accounts for the structure of the leading infrared renormalon. Further, we use judiciously chosen conformal transformations for the Borel variable, in order to map sufficiently away from the origin the other ultraviolet and infrared renormalon singularities. In addition, we apply Pade approximants for the corresponding truncated perturbation series of the modified Borel transform, in order to further accelerate the convergence. Comparing the results with the presently available experimental data on the tau hadronic decay width ratio, we obtain $\alpha_s(M^z) = 0.1192 +- 0.0007_{exp.} +- 0.0010_{EW+CKM} +- 0.0009_{th.} +- 0.0003_{evol.}$. These predictions virtually agree with those of our previous resummations where we used ordinary Borel transforms instead.Comment: 32 pages, 2 eps-figures, revtex; minor changes in the formulations; a typo in Eq.(47) corrected; version as appearing in Phys. Rev.

Child Well-Being in Rich Countries: UNICEF’s Ranking Revisited, and New Symmetric Aggregating Operators Exemplified

In a report published in 2007 UNICEF measured six dimensions of child well-being for the majority of the economically advanced nations. No overall scores are given, but countries are listed in the order of their average rank on the dimensions, which are therefore implicitly assigned ‘equal importance’. In this study we take ‘equal importance’ to mean that the final aggregation is symmetrical in the scores and the ranks, i.e. permuting them leaves the aggregate unchanged. We rank the countries by aggregating the numerical information using a variety of techniques, geared to the measurement scales we distinguish (‘ordinal’, ‘interval’, ‘ratio’). The aggregators are symmetrical and mildly demanding, emphasizing good performance across the board. The rankings obtained deviate from the UNICEF ranking, but not over-dramatically. Our purpose is not only to study alternative approaches for the particular data at hand, but also to introduce and exemplify new and useful aggregation techniques: we propose ways to select weights for OWA-operators and weighted geometric means, and we suggest how to circumvent the choice of a power for the power means. In addition we extend the Borda method so that it values dominance as well

The SF3B1 inhibitor spliceostatin A (SSA) elicits apoptosis in chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells through downregulation of Mcl-1

The pro-survival Bcl-2 family member Mcl-1 is expressed in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), with high expression correlated with progressive disease. The spliceosome inhibitor spliceostatin A (SSA), is known to regulate Mcl-1 and so here we assessed the ability of SSA to elicit apoptosis in CLL. SSA induced apoptosis of CLL cells at low nanomolar concentrations in a dose- and time-dependent manner, but independently of SF3B1 mutational status, IGHV status and CD38 or ZAP70 expression. However, normal B and T cells were less sensitive than CLL cells (P=0.006 and P<0.001, respectively). SSA altered the splicing of anti-apoptotic MCL-1L to MCL-1s in CLL cells coincident with induction of apoptosis. Overexpression studies in Ramos cells suggested Mcl-1 was important for SSA-induced killing since its expression inversely correlated with apoptosis (P=0.001). IL4 and CD40L, present in patient lymph nodes, are known to protect tumor cells from apoptosis and significantly inhibited SSA, ABT-263 and ABT-199 induced killing following administration to CLL cells (P=0.008). However, by combining SSA with the Bcl-2/Bcl-xL antagonists ABT-263 or ABT-199, we were able to overcome this pro-survival effect. We conclude that SSA combined with Bcl-2/Bcl-xL antagonists may have therapeutic utility for CL

Magnetic ground state of the two isostructual polymeric quantum magnets [Cu(HF2)(pyrazine)2]SbF6 and [Co(HF2)(pyrazine)2]SbF6 investigated with neutron powder diffraction

The magnetic ground state of two isostructural coordination polymers, (i) the quasi-two-dimensional S=1/2 square-lattice antiferromagnet [Cu(HF2)(pyrazine)2]SbF6 and (ii) a related compound [Co(HF2)(pyrazine)2]SbF6, was examined with neutron powder diffraction measurements. We find that the ordered moments of the Heisenberg S=1/2 Cu(II) ions in [Cu(HF2)(pyrazine)2]SbF6 are 0.6(1)μb, while the ordered moments for the Co(II) ions in [Co(HF2)(pyrazine)2]SbF6 are 3.02(6)μb. For Cu(II), this reduced moment indicates the presence of quantum fluctuations below the ordering temperature. We show from heat capacity and electron spin resonance measurements that due to the crystal electric field splitting of the S=3/2 Co(II) ions in [Co(HF2)(pyrazine)2]SbF6, this isostructual polymer also behaves as an effective spin-half magnet at low temperatures. The Co moments in [Co(HF2)(pyrazine)2]SbF6 show strong easy-axis anisotropy, neutron diffraction data, which do not support the presence of quantum fluctuations in the ground state, and heat capacity data, which are consistent with 2D or close to 3D spatial exchange anisotropy

Strong coupling constant from τ\tau decay within renormalization scheme invariant treatment

We extract a numerical value for the strong coupling constant \alpha_s from the \tau-lepton decay rate into nonstrange particles. A new feature of our procedure is the explicit use of renormalization scheme invariance in analytical form in order to perform the actual analysis in a particular renormalization scheme. For the reference coupling constant in the \MSsch-scheme we obtain \alpha_s(M_\tau)= 0.3184 \pm 0.0060_{exp} which corresponds to \al_s(M_Z)= 0.1184 \pm 0.0007_{exp} \pm 0.0006_{hq mass}. This new numerical value is smaller than the standard value from $\tau$-data quoted in the literature and is closer to \al_s(M_Z)-values obtained from high energy experiments.Comment: 8 page

Possible experiment for determination of the role of microscopic vortex rings in the \lambda-transition in He-II

It is suggested that microscopic vortex rings (MVR) play an important role in the \lambda-transition in helium-II and substantially determine the value of T_{\lambda}. For very thin films of He-II, with thickness d less than the size of the smallest MVR, the rings do not fit in and, therefore, do not exist in such films. Consequently, for superfluid films of He-II, a peculiarity in the form of a smoothed-out jump should be observed in the curve T_{m}(d) at the values of thickness approximately equal to the size of the smallest MVR, d= 3 - 9 A (T_{m} is the temperature of the maximum of the broad peak on the curve of the dependence of the specific heat on temperature). The absence of a similar peculiarity will be an evidence that MVR do not influence the values of T_{\lambda} and T_{m}, and do not play any key role in the \lambda-transition. The currently available experimental data are insufficient for revealing the predicted peculiarity.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

The First VERITAS Telescope

The first atmospheric Cherenkov telescope of VERITAS (the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System) has been in operation since February 2005. We present here a technical description of the instrument and a summary of its performance. The calibration methods are described, along with the results of Monte Carlo simulations of the telescope and comparisons between real and simulated data. The analysis of TeV $\gamma$-ray observations of the Crab Nebula, including the reconstructed energy spectrum, is shown to give results consistent with earlier measurements. The telescope is operating as expected and has met or exceeded all design specifications.Comment: Accepted by Astroparticle Physic

Active Brownian Particles. From Individual to Collective Stochastic Dynamics

We review theoretical models of individual motility as well as collective dynamics and pattern formation of active particles. We focus on simple models of active dynamics with a particular emphasis on nonlinear and stochastic dynamics of such self-propelled entities in the framework of statistical mechanics. Examples of such active units in complex physico-chemical and biological systems are chemically powered nano-rods, localized patterns in reaction-diffusion system, motile cells or macroscopic animals. Based on the description of individual motion of point-like active particles by stochastic differential equations, we discuss different velocity-dependent friction functions, the impact of various types of fluctuations and calculate characteristic observables such as stationary velocity distributions or diffusion coefficients. Finally, we consider not only the free and confined individual active dynamics but also different types of interaction between active particles. The resulting collective dynamical behavior of large assemblies and aggregates of active units is discussed and an overview over some recent results on spatiotemporal pattern formation in such systems is given.Comment: 161 pages, Review, Eur Phys J Special-Topics, accepte