125 research outputs found
Theoretical proposal for the experimental realisation of a monochromatic electromagnetic knot
Quantum Matter and Optic
Vibrational properties of amorphous silicon from tight-binding O(N) calculation
We present an O(N) algorithm to study the vibrational properties of amorphous
silicon within the framework of tight-binding approach. The dynamical matrix
elements have been evaluated numerically in the harmonic approximation
exploiting the short-range nature of the density matrix to calculate the
vibrational density of states which is then compared with the same obtained
from a standard O() algorithm. For the purpose of illustration, an
1000-atom model is studied to calculate the localization properties of the
vibrational eigenstates using the participation numbers calculation.Comment: 5 pages including 5 ps figures; added a figure and a few references;
accepted in Phys. Rev.
Sex-Specific Associations of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and Cardiorespiratory Fitness in the General Population
The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) was initially considered to be neuron-specific. Meanwhile, this neurotrophin is peripherally also secreted by skeletal muscle cells and increases due to exercise. Whether BDNF is related to cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is currently unclear. We analyzed the association of serum BDNF levels with CRF in the general population (Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP-TREND) from Northeast Germany; n = 1607, 51% female; median age 48 years). Sex-stratified linear regression models adjusted for age, height, smoking, body fat, lean mass, physical activity, and depression analyzed the association between BDNF and maximal oxygen consumption (VO2peak), maximal oxygen consumption normalized for body weight (VO2peak/kg), and oxygen consumption at the anaerobic threshold (VO2@AT). In women, 1mL/min higher VO2peak, VO2peak/kg, and VO2@AT were associated with a 2.43 pg/mL (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.16 to 3.69 pg/mL; p = 0.0002), 150.66 pg/mL (95% CI: 63.42 to 237.90 pg/mL; p = 0.0007), and 2.68 pg/mL (95% CI: 0.5 to 4.8 pg/mL; p = 0.01) higher BDNF serum concentration, respectively. No significant associations were found in men. Further research is needed to understand the sex-specific association between CRF and BDNF. © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland
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Sex-Specific associations of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and cardiorespiratory fitness in the general population
The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) was initially considered to be neuron-specific. Meanwhile, this neurotrophin is peripherally also secreted by skeletal muscle cells and increases due to exercise. Whether BDNF is related to cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is currently unclear. We analyzed the association of serum BDNF levels with CRF in the general population (Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP-TREND) from Northeast Germany; n = 1607, 51% female; median age 48 years). Sex-stratified linear regression models adjusted for age, height, smoking, body fat, lean mass, physical activity, and depression analyzed the association between BDNF and maximal oxygen consumption (VO2peak), maximal oxygen consumption normalized for body weight (VO2peak/kg), and oxygen consumption at the anaerobic threshold (VO2@AT). In women, 1mL/min higher VO2peak, VO2peak/kg, and VO2@AT were associated with a 2.43 pg/mL (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.16 to 3.69 pg/mL; p = 0.0002), 150.66 pg/mL (95% CI: 63.42 to 237.90 pg/mL; p = 0.0007), and 2.68 pg/mL (95% CI: 0.5 to 4.8 pg/mL; p = 0.01) higher BDNF serum concentration, respectively. No significant associations were found in men. Further research is needed to understand the sex-specific association between CRF and BDNF. © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland
Quantum Monte Carlo and variational approaches to the Holstein model
Based on the canonical Lang-Firsov transformation of the Hamiltonian we
develop a very efficient quantum Monte Carlo algorithm for the Holstein model
with one electron. Separation of the fermionic degrees of freedom by a
reweighting of the probability distribution leads to a dramatic reduction in
computational effort. A principal component representation of the phonon
degrees of freedom allows to sample completely uncorrelated phonon
configurations. The combination of these elements enables us to perform
efficient simulations for a wide range of temperature, phonon frequency and
electron-phonon coupling on clusters large enough to avoid finite-size effects.
The algorithm is tested in one dimension and the data are compared with
exact-diagonalization results and with existing work. Moreover, the ideas
presented here can also be applied to the many-electron case. In the
one-electron case considered here, the physics of the Holstein model can be
described by a simple variational approach.Comment: 18 pages, 11 Figures, v2: one typo correcte
Berry phases and pairing symmetry in Holstein-Hubbard polaron systems
We study the tunneling dynamics of dopant-induced hole polarons which are
self-localized by electron-phonon coupling in a two-dimensional antiferro-
magnet. Our treatment is based on a path integral formulation of the adia-
batic approximation, combined with many-body tight-binding, instanton, con-
strained lattice dynamics, and many-body exact diagonalization techniques. Our
results are mainly based on the Holstein- and, for comparison, on the
Holstein-Hubbard model. We also study effects of 2nd neighbor hopping and
long-range electron-electron Coulomb repulsion. The polaron tunneling dynamics
is mapped onto an effective low-energy Hamiltonian which takes the form of a
fermion tight-binding model with occupancy dependent, predominant- ly 2nd and
3rd neighbor tunneling matrix elements, excluded double occupan- cy, and an
effective intersite charge interactions. Antiferromagnetic spin correlations in
the original many-electron Hamiltonian are reflected by an attractive
contribution to the 1st neighbor charge interaction and by Berry phase factors
which determine the signs of effective polaron tunneling ma- trix elements. In
the two-polaron case, these phase factors lead to polaron pair wave functions
of either -wave symmetry or p-wave symme- try with zero and
nonzero total pair momentum, respectively. Implications for the doping
dependent isotope effect, pseudo-gap and Tc of a superconduc- ting polaron pair
condensate are discussed/compared to observed in cuprates.Comment: 23 pages, revtex, 13 ps figure
An introduction to the SCOUT-AMMA stratospheric aircraft, balloons and sondes campaign in West Africa, August 2006: rationale and roadmap
Effect of metabolic genetic variants on long-term disease comorbidity in patients with type 2 diabetes
Underlying genetic determinants contribute to developing type 2 diabetes (T2D) future diseases. The present study aimed to identify which genetic variants are associated with the incident of the major T2D co-morbid disease. First, we conducted a discovery study by investigating the genetic associations of comorbid diseases within the framework of the Utrecht Cardiovascular Pharmacogenetic studies by turning information of > 25 years follow-up data of 1237 subjects whom were genotyped and included in the discovery study. We performed Cox proportional-hazards regression to examine associations between genetic variants and comorbid diseases including cardiovascular diseases (CVD), chronic eye disease, cancer, neurologic diseases and chronic kidney disease. Secondly, we replicated our findings in two independent cohorts consisting of 1041 subjects. Finally, we performed a meta-analysis by combining the discovery and two replication cohorts. We ascertained 390 (39.7%) incident cases of CVD, 182 (16.2%) of chronic eye disease, 155 (13.8%) of cancer, 31 (2.7%) of neurologic disease and 13 (1.1%) of chronic kidney disease during a median follow-up of 10.2 years. In the discovery study, we identified a total of 39 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with comorbid diseases. The replication study, confirmed that rs1870849 and rs8051326 may play a role in the incidence of chronic eye disease in T2D patients. Half of patients developed at least one comorbid disease, with CVD occurring most often and earliest followed by chronic eye disease. Further research is needed to confirm the associations of two associated SNPs with chronic eye disease in T2D
Search for oscillations using inclusive lepton events
A search for Bs oscillations is performed using a sample of semileptonic b-hadron decays collected by the ALEPH experiment during 1991-1995. Compared to previous inclusive lepton analyses, the prop er time resolution and b-flavour mistag rate are significantly improved. Additional sensitivity to Bs mixing is obtained by identifying subsamples of events having a Bs purity which is higher than the average for the whole data sample. Unbinned maximum likelihood amplitude fits are performed to derive a lower limit of Dms>9.5 ps-1 at 95% CL. Combining with the ALEPH Ds based analyses yields Dms>9.6 ps-1 at 95% CL.A search for B0s oscillations is performed using a sample of semileptonic b-hadron decays collected by the ALEPH experiment during 1991-1995. Compared to previous inclusive lepton analyses, the proper time resolution and b-flavour mistag rate are significantly improved. Additional sensitivity to B0s mixing is obtained by identifying subsamples of events having a B0s purity which is higher than the average for the whole data sample. Unbinned maximum likelihood amplitude fits are performed to derive a lower limit of Deltam_s>9.5ps^-1 at 95% CL. Combining with the ALEPH D-s based analyses yields Deltam_s>9.6ps^-1 at 95% CL
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