640 research outputs found
Comment on Y. Couder and E. Fort: "Single-Particle Diffraction and Interference at a Macroscopic Scale", Phys. Rev. Lett. (2006)
In a paper from 2006, Couder and Fort [1] describe a version of the famous
double slit experiment performed with drops bouncing on a vibrated fluid
surface, where interference in the particle statistics is found even though it
is possible to determine unambiguously which slit the "walking" drop passes. It
is one of the first papers in an impressive series, showing that such walking
drops closely resemble de Broglie waves and can reproduce typical quantum
phenomena like tunneling and quantized states [2-13]. The double slit
experiment is, however, a more stringent test of quantum mechanics, because it
relies upon superposition and phase coherence. In the present comment we first
point out that the experimental data presented in [1] are not convincing, and
secondly we argue that it is not possible in general to capture quantum
mechanical results in a system, where the trajectory of the particle is
well-defined.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Association of hydrophobically-modified poly(ethylene glycol) with fusogenic liposomes
AbstractWe present results on using cooperative interactions to shield liposomes by incorporating multiple hydrophobic anchoring sites on polyethylene glycol (PEG) polymers. The hydrophobically-modified PEGs (HMPEGs) are comb-graft polymers with strictly alternating monodisperse PEG blocks (Mw=6, 12, or 35 kDa) bonded to C18 stearylamide hydrophobes. Cooperativity is varied by changing the degree of oligomerization at a constant ratio of PEG to stearylamide. Fusogenic liposomes prepared from N-C12-DOPE:DOPC 7:3 (mol:mol) were equilibrated with HMPEGs. Affinity for polymer association to liposomes increases with the degree of oligomerization; equilibrium constants (given as surface coverage per equilibrium concentration of free polymer) for 6 kDa PEG increased from 6.1±0.8 (mg/m2)/(mg/ml) for 2.5 loops to 78.1±12.2 (mg/m2)/(mg/ml) for 13 loops. In contrast, the equilibrium constant for distearoylphosphatidylethanolamine-poly(ethylene glycol) (DSPE-PEG5k) was 0.4±0.1 (mg/m2)/(mg/ml).The multi-loop HMPEGs demonstrate higher levels of protection from complement binding than DSPE-PEG5k. Greater protection does not correlate with binding strength alone. The best shielding was by HMPEG6k-DP3 (with three 6 kDa PEG loops), suggesting that PEG chains with adequate surface mobility provide optimal protection from complement opsonization. Complement binding at 30 min and 12 h demonstrates that protection by multi-looped PEGs is constant whereas DSPE-PEG5k initially protects but presumably partitions off of the surface at longer times
RESPONSE OF GROWTH, ESSENTIAL OIL CONTENT AND ITS CONSTITUENT'S OF PLECTRANTHUS AMBOINICUS TO IRON AND/OR UREA FOLIAR APPLICATION UNDER SALINE IRRIGATION
Objective: To study the response of Plectranthus amboinicus plants to iron and/or urea foliar application using tap water and Nacl saline water for irrigation, a pot experiment was conducted during two successive seasons (2014 and 2015) under the natural conditions of the greenhouse of the National Research Center, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.Methods: Plectranthus amboinicus cuttings were transplanted in the pots in February of each season. After one month, seedlings were irrigated with (2 levels: Tap water (0.40 dsm-1), and Nacl solution (4 dsm-1)) and FeUrea (4 levels: None, EDTA (200 ppm), urea (1000 ppm), and mixture of urea (1000 ppm) and Fe EDTA (200 ppm)) were applied one month from transplanting. The foliar application treatments were sprayed at 60, 90, 120 and 150 d from transplanting. Plant fresh mass (g/plant) and proline content were determined in the first and second cuts after 120 and 180 d from transplanting, respectively. The essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation and essential oil % was expressed as ml 100 g/fresh herb. The chemical composition of the essential oil was studied using GC-MS and compounds were identified based on their mass spectra and literature.Results: Repeated measures analysis of the data showed significant effects of irrigation and iron/urea on fresh weight of herb, essential oil (%), oil yield, and proline in both first and second cuts. Plectranthus amboinicus plants sprayed with urea/or iron under tap and Nacl saline conditions were better than the control (unsprayed) plants. While saline irrigation decreased fresh weight, essential oil and oil yield, it increased proline; and 200Fe+1000Urea gave significantly higher proline for both tap and Nacl irrigations. Within each irrigation, the highest fresh mass and oil yield were obtained from 200Fe+1000Urea. Fresh mass for tap irrigation was significantly higher during the second cut than during the first cut, but it was the opposite for oil yield. This research demonstrated that application of iron and/or urea decreases salinity stress, and increases proline content. The GC/MS analysis revealed the major components of Plectranthus amboinicus to be p-cymene, carvacrol, (+)-epibicyclosesquiphellandrene, β-cadinene and α-cadinol.Conclusion: It may be concluded that Plectranthus amboinicus is tolerant to Nacl irrigations, thus we may recommend its cultivation in slain soil of Egypt. Foliar spraying with iron and/or urea under these conditions could be much more efficient than the not application of nutrients. So, we recommended that foliar application of iron and/or urea to raise the salt stress tolerance of Plectranthus amboinicus
Mutation Symmetries in BPS Quiver Theories: Building the BPS Spectra
We study the basic features of BPS quiver mutations in 4D
supersymmetric quantum field theory with gauge symmetries.\ We show,
for these gauge symmetries, that there is an isotropy group
associated to a set of quiver mutations capturing
information about the BPS spectra. In the strong coupling limit, it is shown
that BPS chambers correspond to finite and closed groupoid orbits with an
isotropy symmetry group isomorphic to the discrete
dihedral groups contained in Coxeter with the
Coxeter number of G. These isotropy symmetries allow to determine the BPS
spectrum of the strong coupling chamber; and give another way to count the
total number of BPS and anti-BPS states of gauge theories. We
also build the matrix realization of these mutation groups from which we read directly the electric-magnetic
charges of the BPS and anti-BPS states of QFT as well as
their matrix intersections. We study as well the quiver mutation symmetries in
the weak coupling limit and give their links with infinite Coxeter groups. We
show amongst others that is contained in
; and isomorphic to the infinite Coxeter
. Other issues such as building
and are also
studied.Comment: LaTeX, 98 pages, 18 figures, Appendix I on groupoids adde
Inflammatory reaction in the retina after focal non-convulsive status epilepticus in mice investigated with high resolution magnetic resonance and diffusion tensor imaging
Pathophysiological consequences of focal non-convulsive status epilepticus (fNCSE) have been difficult to demonstrate in humans. In rats fNCSE pathology has been identified in the eyes. Here we evaluated the use of high-resolution 7 T structural T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and 9.4 T diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) for detecting hippocampal fNCSE-induced retinal pathology ex vivo in mice. Seven weeks post-fNCSE, increased number of Iba1+ microglia were evident in the retina ipsilateral to the hemisphere with fNCSE, and morphologically more activated microglia were found in both ipsi- and contralateral retina compared to non-stimulated control mice. T1-weighted intensity measurements of the contralateral retina showed a minor increase within the outer nuclear and plexiform layers of the lateral retina. T1-weighted measurements were not performed in the ipsilateral retina due to technical difficulties. DTI fractional anisotropy(FA) values were discretely altered in the lateral part of the ipsilateral retina and unaltered in the contralateral retina. No changes were observed in the distal part of the optic nerve. The sensitivity of both imaging techniques for identifying larger retinal alteration was confirmed ex vivo in retinitis pigmentosa mice where a substantial neurodegeneration of the outer retinal layers is evident. With MR imaging a 50 % decrease in DTI FA values and significantly thinner retina in T1-weighted images were detected. We conclude that retinal pathology after fNCSE in mice is subtle and present bilaterally. High-resolution T1-weighted MRI and DTI independently did not detect the entire pathological retinal changes after fNCSE, but the combination of the two techniques indicated minor patchy structural changes
Spin excitations and quantum criticality in the quasi-one-dimensional Ising-like ferromagnet CoCl2·2D2O in a transverse field
Irreducible holonomy algebras of Riemannian supermanifolds
Possible irreducible holonomy algebras \g\subset\osp(p,q|2m) of Riemannian
supermanifolds under the assumption that \g is a direct sum of simple Lie
superalgebras of classical type and possibly of a one-dimensional center are
classified. This generalizes the classical result of Marcel Berger about the
classification of irreducible holonomy algebras of pseudo-Riemannian manifolds.Comment: 27 pages, the final versio
Identifying patterns in treatment response profiles in acute bipolar mania: a cluster analysis approach
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Patients with acute mania respond differentially to treatment and, in many cases, fail to obtain or sustain symptom remission. The objective of this exploratory analysis was to characterize response in bipolar disorder by identifying groups of patients with similar manic symptom response profiles.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Patients (n = 222) were selected from a randomized, double-blind study of treatment with olanzapine or divalproex in bipolar I disorder, manic or mixed episode, with or without psychotic features. Hierarchical clustering based on Ward's distance was used to identify groups of patients based on Young-Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) total scores at each of 5 assessments over 7 weeks. Logistic regression was used to identify baseline predictors for clusters of interest.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Four distinct clusters of patients were identified: Cluster 1 (n = 64): patients did not maintain a response (YMRS total scores ≤ 12); Cluster 2 (n = 92): patients responded rapidly (within less than a week) and response was maintained; Cluster 3 (n = 36): patients responded rapidly but relapsed soon afterwards (YMRS ≥ 15); Cluster 4 (n = 30): patients responded slowly (≥ 2 weeks) and response was maintained. Predictive models using baseline variables found YMRS Item 10 (Appearance), and psychosis to be significant predictors for Clusters 1 and 4 vs. Clusters 2 and 3, but none of the baseline characteristics allowed discriminating between Clusters 1 vs. 4. Experiencing a mixed episode at baseline predicted membership in Clusters 2 and 3 vs. Clusters 1 and 4. Treatment with divalproex, larger number of previous manic episodes, lack of disruptive-aggressive behavior, and more prominent depressive symptoms at baseline were predictors for Cluster 3 vs. 2.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Distinct treatment response profiles can be predicted by clinical features at baseline. The presence of these features as potential risk factors for relapse in patients who have responded to treatment should be considered prior to discharge.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>The clinical trial cited in this report has not been registered because it was conducted and completed prior to the inception of clinical trial registries.</p
On Local Calabi-Yau Supermanifolds and Their Mirrors
We use local mirror symmetry to study a class of local Calabi-Yau
super-manifolds with bosonic sub-variety V_b having a vanishing first Chern
class. Solving the usual super- CY condition, requiring the equality of the
total U(1) gauge charges of bosons \Phi_{b} and the ghost like fields \Psi_{f}
one \sum_{b}q_{b}=\sum_{f}Q_{f}, as \sum_{b}q_{b}=0 and \sum_{f}Q_{f}=0,
several examples are studied and explicit results are given for local A_{r}
super-geometries. A comment on purely fermionic super-CY manifolds
corresponding to the special case where q_{b}=0, \forall b and \sum_{f}Q_{f}=0
is also made.\bigskipComment: 17 page
Constructing female entrepreneurship policy in the UK : is the US a relevant benchmark?
Successive UK governments have introduced a range of policy initiatives designed to encourage more women to start new firms. Underpinning these policies has been an explicit ambition for the UK to achieve similar participation rates as those in the US where it is widely reported that women own nearly half the stock of businesses. The data underlying these objectives are critically evaluated and it is argued that the definitions and measures of female enterprise used in the UK and the US restrict meaningful comparisons between the two. It is suggested that the expansion of female entrepreneurship in the US is historically and culturally specific to that country. UK policy goals should reflect the national socioeconomic context, while drawing upon good practice examples from a range of other countries. The paper concludes by discussing the economic and social viability of encouraging more women in the UK to enter self-employment without fully recognising the intensely competitive sectors in which they are often located
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