Tensor Product Approximation (DMRG) and Coupled Cluster method in Quantum Chemistry

We present the Copupled Cluster (CC) method and the Density matrix Renormalization Grooup (DMRG) method in a unified way, from the perspective of recent developments in tensor product approximation. We present an introduction into recently developed hierarchical tensor representations, in particular tensor trains which are matrix product states in physics language. The discrete equations of full CI approximation applied to the electronic Schr\"odinger equation is casted into a tensorial framework in form of the second quantization. A further approximation is performed afterwards by tensor approximation within a hierarchical format or equivalently a tree tensor network. We establish the (differential) geometry of low rank hierarchical tensors and apply the Driac Frenkel principle to reduce the original high-dimensional problem to low dimensions. The DMRG algorithm is established as an optimization method in this format with alternating directional search. We briefly introduce the CC method and refer to our theoretical results. We compare this approach in the present discrete formulation with the CC method and its underlying exponential parametrization.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figure

Learning features for tissue classification with the classification restricted Boltzmann machine

__Abstract__ Performance of automated tissue classification in medical imaging depends on the choice of descriptive features. In this paper, we show how restricted Boltzmann machines (RBMs) can be used to learn features that are especially suited for texture-based tissue classification. We introduce the convolutional classification RBM, a combination of the existing convolutional RBM and classification RBM, and use it for discriminative feature learning. We evaluate the classification accuracy of convolutional and non-convolutional classification RBMs on two lung CT problems. We find that RBM-learned features outperform conventional RBM-based feature learning, which is unsupervised and uses only a generative learning objective, as well as often-used filter banks. We show that a mixture of generative and discriminative learning can produce filters that give a higher classification accuracy

Abnormal increase in urinary aquaporin-2 excretion in response to hypertonic saline in essential hypertension

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dysregulation of the expression/shuttling of the aquaporin-2 water channel (AQP2) and the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) in renal collecting duct principal cells has been found in animal models of hypertension. We tested whether a similar dysregulation exists in essential hypertension.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We measured urinary excretion of AQP2 and ENaC β-subunit corrected for creatinine (u-AQP2_CR, u-ENaC_β-CR), prostaglandin E2 (u-PGE₂) and cyclic AMP (u-cAMP), fractional sodium excretion (FE_Na), free water clearance (C_H2O), as well as plasma concentrations of vasopressin (AVP), renin (PRC), angiotensin II (Ang II), aldosterone (Aldo), and atrial and brain natriuretic peptide (ANP, BNP) in 21 patients with essential hypertension and 20 normotensive controls during 24-h urine collection (baseline), and after hypertonic saline infusion on a 4-day high sodium (HS) diet (300 mmol sodium/day) and a 4-day low sodium (LS) diet (30 mmol sodium/day).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>At baseline, no differences in u-AQP2_CRor u-ENaC_β-CRwere measured between patients and controls. U-AQP2_CRincreased significantly more after saline in patients than controls, whereas u-ENaC_β-CRincreased similarly. The saline caused exaggerated natriuretic increases in patients during HS intake. Neither baseline levels of u-PGE₂, u-cAMP, AVP, PRC, Ang II, Aldo, ANP, and BNP nor changes after saline could explain the abnormal u-AQP2_CRresponse.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>No differences were found in u-AQP2_CRand u-ENaC_β-CRbetween patients and controls at baseline. However, in response to saline, u-AQP2_CRwas abnormally increased in patients, whereas the u-ENaC_β-CRresponse was normal. The mechanism behind the abnormal AQP2 regulation is not clarified, but it does not seem to be AVP-dependent.</p> <p>Clinicaltrial.gov identifier</p> <p><a href="http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=00345124">NCT00345124</a>.</p

Prognosis of ovarian cancer subsequent to venous thromboembolism: a nationwide Danish cohort study

BACKGROUND: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is associated with ovarian cancer and may impact the prognosis of ovarian cancer. Our aims were to examine the extent of disease at the time of the diagnosis of ovarian cancer and to estimate the impact of VTE on survival of ovarian cancer. METHODS: We identified 12,835 ovarian cancer patients diagnosed from 1980 to 2003 in the Danish Cancer Registry and obtained information on previous primary VTE diagnosis from the Danish National Hospital Discharge Registry. Ovarian cancer patients with previous VTE related to other cancers, surgery, or pregnancy were excluded. The vital status was determined by linking data to the Civil Registration System. RESULTS: We identified 50 ovarian cancer patients diagnosed less than 4 months after the VTE and 78 ovarian cancer patients diagnosed more than 4 months after the VTE diagnosis. Advanced stages tended to be more common among patients with VTE. One-year survivals were 44% and 54% among the two VTE groups, compared with 63% among patients without VTE. Adjusted (for age, calendar time, comorbidity, and FIGO-stage) mortality ratios were 1.7 (95% CI = 1.2–2.5) and 1.2 (95% CI = 0.8–1.7), respectively. CONCLUSION: Ovarian cancer diagnosed less than four months before VTE is associated with an advanced stage and a poorer prognosis

Electronic Structures of Porous Nanocarbons

We use large scale ab-initio calculations to describe electronic structures of graphene, graphene nanoribbons, and carbon nanotubes periodically perforated with nanopores. We disclose common features of these systems and develop a unified picture that permits us to analytically predict and systematically characterize metal-semiconductor transitions in nanocarbons with superlattices of nanopores of different sizes and types. These novel materials with highly tunable band structures have numerous potential applications in electronics, light detection, and molecular sensing.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure

Influence of mercury exposure on blood pressure, resting heart rate and heart rate variability in French Polynesians: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Populations which diet is rich in seafood are highly exposed to contaminants such as mercury, which could affect cardiovascular risk factors</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>To assess the associations between mercury and blood pressure (BP), resting heart rate (HR) and HR variability (HRV) among French Polynesians</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data were collected among 180 adults (≥ 18 years) and 101 teenagers (12-17 years). HRV was measured using a two-hour ambulatory electrocardiogram (Holter) and BP was measured using a standardized protocol. The association between mercury and HRV and BP parameters was studied using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA)</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among teenagers, the high frequency (HF) decreased between the 2^ndand 3^rdtertile (380 vs. 204 ms², p = 0.03) and a similar pattern was observed for the square root of the mean squared differences of successive R-R intervals (rMSSD) (43 vs. 30 ms, p = 0.005) after adjusting for confounders. In addition, the ratio low/high frequency (LF/HF) increased between the 2^ndand 3^rdtertile (2.3 vs. 3.0, p = 0.04). Among adults, the standard deviation of R-R intervals (SDNN) tended to decrease between the 1^stand 2^ndtertile (84 vs. 75 ms, p = 0.069) after adjusting for confounders. Furthermore, diastolic BP tended to increase between the 2^ndand 3^rdtertile (86 vs. 91 mm Hg, p = 0.09). No significant difference was observed in resting HR or pulse pressure (PP)</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Mercury was associated with decreased HRV among French Polynesian teenagers while no significant association was observed with resting HR, BP, or PP among teenagers or adults</p

Light-induced spiral mass transport in azo-polymer films under vortex-beam illumination

When an azobenzene-containing polymer film is exposed to a non-uniform illumination, a light-induced mass migration process may be induced, leading to the formation of relief patterns on the polymer free surface. Despite a research effort of many years and several proposed models many aspects of this phenomenon remain not well understood. Here we report the appearance of spiral-shaped relief patterns on the polymer under the illumination of focused Laguerre-Gauss beams, having helical wavefront and an optical vortex at their axis. The induced spiral reliefs are sensitive to the vortex topological charge and to the wavefront handedness. These findings are unexpected, because the "doughnut"-shaped intensity profile of Laguerre- Gauss beams contains no information about the wavefront handedness. We propose a model that explains the main features of this phenomenon from the surface-mediated interference of the longitudinal and the transverse components of the optical field. These results may find applications in optical micro- and nanolithography and optical-field.Comment: Open Access at Journal Reference homepag

Salivary cortisol differs with age and sex and shows inverse associations with WHR in Swedish women: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Most studies on cortisol have focused on smaller, selected samples. We therefore aimed to sex-specifically study the diurnal cortisol pattern and explore its association with abdominal obesity in a large unselected population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In 2001–2004, 1811 men and women (30–75 years) were randomly selected from the Vara population, south-western Sweden (81% participation rate). Of these, 1671 subjects with full information on basal morning and evening salivary cortisol and anthropometric measurements were included in this cross-sectional study. Differences between groups were examined by general linear model and by logistic and linear regression analyses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Morning and Δ-cortisol (morning – evening cortisol) were significantly higher in women than men. In both genders older age was significantly associated with higher levels of all cortisol measures, however, most consistently with evening cortisol. In women only, age-adjusted means of WHR were significantly lower in the highest compared to the lowest quartile of morning cortisol (p = 0.036) and Δ-cortisol (p < 0.001), respectively. Furthermore, when comparing WHR above and below the mean, the age-adjusted OR in women for the lowest quartile of cortisol compared to the highest was 1.5 (1.0–2.2, p = 0.058) for morning cortisol and 1.9 (1.3–2.8) for Δ-cortisol. All findings for Δ-cortisol remained after adjustments for multiple covariates and were also seen in a linear regression analysis (p = 0.003).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In summary, our findings of generally higher cortisol levels in women than men of all ages are novel and the stronger results seen for Δ-cortisol as opposed to morning cortisol in the association with WHR emphasise the need of studying cortisol variation intra-individually. To our knowledge, the associations in this study have never before been investigated in such a large population sample of both men and women. Our results therefore offer important knowledge on the descriptive characteristics of cortisol in relation to age and gender, and on the impact that associations previously seen between cortisol and abdominal obesity in smaller, selected samples have on a population level.</p