1,013 research outputs found
Joint perceptual decision-making: a case study in explanatory pluralism.
Traditionally different approaches to the study of cognition have been viewed as competing explanatory frameworks. An alternative view, explanatory pluralism, regards different approaches to the study of cognition as complementary ways of studying the same phenomenon, at specific temporal and spatial scales, using appropriate methodological tools. Explanatory pluralism has been often described abstractly, but has rarely been applied to concrete cases. We present a case study of explanatory pluralism. We discuss three separate ways of studying the same phenomenon: a perceptual decision-making task (Bahrami et al., 2010), where pairs of subjects share information to jointly individuate an oddball stimulus among a set of distractors. Each approach analyzed the same corpus but targeted different units of analysis at different levels of description: decision-making at the behavioral level, confidence sharing at the linguistic level, and acoustic energy at the physical level. We discuss the utility of explanatory pluralism for describing this complex, multiscale phenomenon, show ways in which this case study sheds new light on the concept of pluralism, and highlight good practices to critically assess and complement approaches
Phonon model description of spherical nuclei
A completely numerical quadrupole phonon model calculation enables one to obtain a satisfactory description of anharmonic energy levels, reasonable B(E2) ratios and quadrupole moment ratio for even-even spherical nuclei. The failure of the random phase approximation is clarified.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/32917/1/0000297.pd
Staging the tumor and staging the host: A two centre, two country comparison of systemic inflammatory responses of patients undergoing resection of primary operable colorectal cancer
Background:
How systemic inflammation-based prognostic scores such as the modified Glasgow Prognostic Score (mGPS) and neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio (NLR) differ across populations of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unknown. The present study examined the mGPS and NLR in patients from United Kingdom (UK) and Japan.
Methods:
Patients undergoing resection of TNM I-III CRC in two centres in the UK and Japan were included. Differences in clinicopathological characteristics and mGPS (0-CRP≤10 mg/L, 1-CRP>10 mg/L, 2-CRP>10 mg/L, albumin<35 g/L) and NLR (≤5/>5) were examined.
Results:
Patients from UK (n = 581) were more likely to be female, high ASA and BMI, present as an emergency (all P < 0.01) and have higher T stage compared to those from Japan (n = 559). After controlling for differences in tumor and host characteristics, patients from Japan were less likely to be systemically inflamed (OR: mGPS: 0.37, 95%CI 0.27–0.50, P < 0.001; NLR: 0.53, 95%CI 0.35–0.79, P = 0.002).
Conclusion:
Systemic inflammatory responses differ between populations with colorectal cancer. Given their prognostic value, reporting of systemic inflammation-based scores should be incorporated into future studies reporting patient outcomes.
Summary:
Although the systemic inflammatory response is recognised as a prognostic factor in patients with colorectal cancer, it is not clear how these may differ between distinct geographical populations. The present study examines differences in the prevalence of elevated systemic inflammatory responses (modified Glasgow Prognostic Score and neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio) between two populations undergoing resection of colorectal cancer in the United Kingdom and Japan
Ground-state electric quadrupole moment of 31Al
Ground-state electric quadrupole moment of 31Al (I =5/2+, T_1/2 = 644(25) ms)
has been measured by means of the beta-NMR spectroscopy using a spin-polarized
31Al beam produced in the projectile fragmentation reaction. The obtained Q
moment, |Q_exp(31Al)| = 112(32)emb, are in agreement with conventional shell
model calculations within the sd valence space. Previous result on the magnetic
moment also supports the validity of the sd model in this isotope, and thus it
is concluded that 31Al is located outside of the island of inversion.Comment: 5 page
Surface gravity in dynamical spherically symmetric spacetimes
A definition of surface gravity at the apparent horizon of dynamical
spherically symmetric spacetimes is proposed. It is based on a unique foliation
by ingoing null hypersurfaces. The function parametrizing the hypersurfaces can
be interpreted as the phase of a light wave uniformly emitted by some far-away
static observer. The definition gives back the accepted value of surface
gravity in the static case by virtue of its nonlocal character. Although the
definition is motivated by the behavior of outgoing null rays, it turns out
that there is a simple connection between the generalized surface gravity, the
acceleration of any radially moving observer, and the observed frequency change
of the infalling light signal. In particular, this gives a practical and simple
method of how any geodesic observer can determine surface gravity by measuring
only the redshift of the infalling light wave. The surface gravity can be
expressed as an integral of matter field quantities along an ingoing null line,
which shows that it is a continuous function along the apparent horizon. A
formula for the area change of the apparent horizon is presented, and the
possibility of thermodynamical interpretation is discussed. Finally, concrete
expressions of surface gravity are given for a number of four-dimensional and
two-dimensional dynamical black hole solutions.Comment: 35 pages, revtex, 3 figures included using eps
Statistical mechanics and stability of a model eco-system
We study a model ecosystem by means of dynamical techniques from disordered
systems theory. The model describes a set of species subject to competitive
interactions through a background of resources, which they feed upon.
Additionally direct competitive or co-operative interaction between species may
occur through a random coupling matrix. We compute the order parameters of the
system in a fixed point regime, and identify the onset of instability and
compute the phase diagram. We focus on the effects of variability of resources,
direct interaction between species, co-operation pressure and dilution on the
stability and the diversity of the ecosystem. It is shown that resources can be
exploited optimally only in absence of co-operation pressure or direct
interaction between species.Comment: 23 pages, 13 figures; text of paper modified, discussion extended,
references adde
Quantum Formation of Black Hole and Wormhole in Gravitational Collapse of a Dust Shell
Quantum-mechanical model of self-gravitating dust shell is considered. To
clarify the relation between classical and quantum spacetime which the shell
collapse form, we consider various time slicing on which quantum mechanics is
developed. By considering the static time slicing which corresponds to an
observer at a constant circumference radius, we obtain the wave functions of
the shell motion and the discrete mass spectra which specify the global
structures of spherically symmetric spacetime formed by the shell collapse. It
is found that wormhole states are forbidden when the rest mass is comparable
with Plank mass scale due to the zero-point quantum fluctuations.Comment: 10 pages in twocolumn, 8 figures, RevTeX 3.
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