4,676 research outputs found
Lasing characteristics of gas mixtures involving UFG: Application to nuclear pumping of lasers
Intense blue-green fluorescence from a structured band centered at lambda approximately 484 nm was observed from Ar, CF3I and NF3 gas mixtures excited by an electron beam. This emission was tentatively assigned to the E yields A transition of the iodine monofluoride (IF) molecule. The fluorescence efficiency of the IF(E yields A) band and the IF (E) state radiative lifetime were estimated to be approximately 6% and 15 ns, respectively. The emission band structure, the short IF(E) radiative lifetime and the Franck-Condon shift between the E and A states suggest that IF is an attractive candidate for a blue-green laser
A common goodness-of-fit framework for neural population models using marked point process time-rescaling
A critical component of any statistical modeling procedure is the ability to assess the goodness-of-fit between a model and observed data. For spike train models of individual neurons, many goodness-of-fit measures rely on the time-rescaling theorem and assess model quality using rescaled spike times. Recently, there has been increasing interest in statistical models that describe the simultaneous spiking activity of neuron populations, either in a single brain region or across brain regions. Classically, such models have used spike sorted data to describe relationships between the identified neurons, but more recently clusterless modeling methods have been used to describe population activity using a single model. Here we develop a generalization of the time-rescaling theorem that enables comprehensive goodness-of-fit analysis for either of these classes of population models. We use the theory of marked point processes to model population spiking activity, and show that under the correct model, each spike can be rescaled individually to generate a uniformly distributed set of events in time and the space of spike marks. After rescaling, multiple well-established goodness-of-fit procedures and statistical tests are available. We demonstrate the application of these methods both to simulated data and real population spiking in rat hippocampus. We have made the MATLAB and Python code used for the analyses in this paper publicly available through our Github repository at https://github.com/Eden-Kramer-Lab/popTRT.This work was supported by grants from the NIH (MH105174, NS094288) and the Simons Foundation (542971). (MH105174 - NIH; NS094288 - NIH; 542971 - Simons Foundation)Published versio
Examining Tensions in the Past and Present Uses of Concepts (preprint)
Examining tensions between the past and present uses of scientific concepts can help clarify their contributions as tools in experimental practices. This point can be illustrated by considering the concepts of mental imagery and hallucinations: despite debates over their respective referential reliabilities remaining unresolved within their interdependent histories, both are used as independently stable concepts in neuroimaging experiments. Building on an account of how these concepts function as tools structured for pursuit of diverging goals in experiments, this paper explores this tension by re-examining the continued reliance of each concept on inverse characterisations inherited from the nominally-discarded ‘mediator-view’ of sensory-like mental phenomena (SLMP). In doing so, I seek to demonstrate how examining unresolved tensions can help highlight that entrenched associations can remain both integral to, and obscured by, the uses of concepts as goal-directed tools within experimental practices
The structured uses of concepts as tools: Comparing fMRI experiments that investigate either mental imagery or hallucinations
Sensations can occur in the absence of perception and yet be experienced ‘as if’ seen, heard, tasted, or otherwise perceived. Two concepts used to investigate types of these sensory-like mental phenomena (SLMP) are mental imagery and hallucinations. Mental imagery is used as a concept for investigating those SLMP that merely resemble perception in some way. Meanwhile, the concept of hallucinations is used to investigate those SLMP that are, in some sense, compellingly like perception.
This may be a difference of degree. Attempts to reliably differentiate between instances of each type of SLMP remain unresolved. Despite this, the concepts of mental imagery and hallucinations are each routinely used independently of the other. These uses are especially interesting in those published accounts of experiments where equivalent findings about the neuroanatomical correlates of SLMP are reported in support of diverging knowledge-claims about the role of SLMP in neurocognitive processes. This practice presents a puzzle. To examine one aspect of this puzzle, I compare the uses of these two scientific concepts in three ways: examining their roles in differentiating between types of SLMP; exploring how their respective historical developments intersect; and analysing their contributions in neuroimaging experiments.
In presenting this series of comparative analyses, I will draw on three themes from historical, philosophical, and social studies of scientific practices: interest in material contributions to knowledge; accounts of how concepts are used in experiments; and explorations of the historical conditions within which current practices emerge. Building on this literature, my comparative analyses supports five related claims.
My first claim is that the concepts of mental imagery and hallucinations are each used as independent tools in neuroimaging experiments. My second claim is that, as experimental tools, the concepts of mental imagery and hallucinations are each used for investigating discrete epistemic goals. My third claim is that there are implicit interdependent associations that structure the uses of these two concepts as tools for independently investigating these discrete epistemic goals in neuroimaging experiments. This third claim rests on my analyses of both past and present uses of each concept. Firstly, as seen in their intersecting histories, there are disciplined performances of using the concepts of mental imagery and hallucinations that carry-along shared associations about the mediating role of SLMP in thought. Secondly, these interdependent ‘mediator-view’ associations continue to structure the independent uses of each concept as a tool for investigating SLMP in pursuit of specific goals. Taking this further, my fourth claim is that recognising the structured uses of the concepts of mental imagery and hallucinations can help to account for how equivalent SLMP-neuro-correlates are generated in support of diverging knowledge-claims. Finally, my fifth claim is that the structured uses of these concepts as tools can contribute to experiments in ways analogous to, yet not equivalent with, the active contributions of material instruments.
Bringing these claims together, I argue that the concepts of mental imagery and hallucinations operate as structured tools that can actively contribute to the knowledge generated by neuroimaging experiments. In presenting this argument I seek to demonstrate that examining the structured uses of concepts as tools can complement existing approaches to studying how the heterogeneous dynamics of experimental practices can come to contribute to scientific knowledge in unintended ways
Partial non-renormalisation of the stress-tensor four-point function in N=4 SYM and AdS/CFT
We show that, although the correlator of four stress-tensor multiplets in N=4
SYM is known to have radiative corrections, certain linear combinations of its
components are protected from perturbative renormalisation and remain at their
free-field values. This result is valid for weak as well as for strong coupling
and for any gauge group. Our argument uses Intriligator's insertion formula,
and includes a proof that the possible contact term contributions cannot change
the form of the amplitudes. Combining this new non-renormalisation theorem with
Maldacena's conjecture allows us to make a prediction for the structure of the
corresponding correlator in AdS supergravity. This is verified by first
considerably simplifying the strong coupling expression obtained by recent
supergravity calculations, and then showing that it does indeed exhibit the
expected structure.Comment: 21 pages, no figure
Microscopic model of diffusion limited aggregation and electrodeposition in the presence of levelling molecules
A microscopic model of the effect of unbinding in diffusion limited
aggregation based on a cellular automata approach is presented. The geometry
resembles electrochemical deposition - ``ions'' diffuse at random from the top
of a container until encountering a cluster in contact with the bottom, to
which they stick. The model exhibits dendritic (fractal) growth in the
diffusion limited case. The addition of a field eliminates the fractal nature
but the density remains low. The addition of molecules which unbind atoms from
the aggregate transforms the deposit to a 100% dense one (in 3D). The molecules
are remarkably adept at avoiding being trapped. This mimics the effect of
so-called ``leveller'' molecules which are used in electrochemical deposition
On Approximating the Number of -cliques in Sublinear Time
We study the problem of approximating the number of -cliques in a graph
when given query access to the graph.
We consider the standard query model for general graphs via (1) degree
queries, (2) neighbor queries and (3) pair queries. Let denote the number
of vertices in the graph, the number of edges, and the number of
-cliques. We design an algorithm that outputs a
-approximation (with high probability) for , whose
expected query complexity and running time are
O\left(\frac{n}{C_k^{1/k}}+\frac{m^{k/2}}{C_k}\right)\poly(\log
n,1/\varepsilon,k).
Hence, the complexity of the algorithm is sublinear in the size of the graph
for . Furthermore, we prove a lower bound showing that
the query complexity of our algorithm is essentially optimal (up to the
dependence on , and ).
The previous results in this vein are by Feige (SICOMP 06) and by Goldreich
and Ron (RSA 08) for edge counting () and by Eden et al. (FOCS 2015) for
triangle counting (). Our result matches the complexities of these
results.
The previous result by Eden et al. hinges on a certain amortization technique
that works only for triangle counting, and does not generalize for larger
cliques. We obtain a general algorithm that works for any by
designing a procedure that samples each -clique incident to a given set
of vertices with approximately equal probability. The primary difficulty is in
finding cliques incident to purely high-degree vertices, since random sampling
within neighbors has a low success probability. This is achieved by an
algorithm that samples uniform random high degree vertices and a careful
tradeoff between estimating cliques incident purely to high-degree vertices and
those that include a low-degree vertex
Nonlinear field theories during homogeneous spatial dilation
The effect of a uniform dilation of space on stochastically driven nonlinear
field theories is examined. This theoretical question serves as a model problem
for examining the properties of nonlinear field theories embedded in expanding
Euclidean Friedmann-Lema\^{\i}tre-Robertson-Walker metrics in the context of
cosmology, as well as different systems in the disciplines of statistical
mechanics and condensed matter physics. Field theories are characterized by the
speed at which they propagate correlations within themselves. We show that for
linear field theories correlations stop propagating if and only if the speed at
which the space dilates is higher than the speed at which correlations
propagate. The situation is in general different for nonlinear field theories.
In this case correlations might stop propagating even if the velocity at which
space dilates is lower than the velocity at which correlations propagate. In
particular, these results imply that it is not possible to characterize the
dynamics of a nonlinear field theory during homogeneous spatial dilation {\it a
priori}. We illustrate our findings with the nonlinear Kardar-Parisi-Zhang
equation
The power of monitoring stellar orbits
The center of the Milky Way hosts a massive black hole. The observational
evidence for its existence is overwhelming. The compact radio source Sgr A* has
been associated with a black hole since its discovery. In the last decade,
high-resolution, near-infrared measurements of individual stellar orbits in the
innermost region of the Galactic Center have shown that at the position of Sgr
A* a highly concentrated mass of 4 x 10^6 M_sun is located. Assuming that
general relativity is correct, the conclusion that Sgr A* is a massive black
hole is inevitable. Without doubt this is the most important application of
stellar orbits in the Galactic Center. Here, we discuss the possibilities going
beyond the mass measurement offered by monitoring these orbits. They are an
extremely useful tool for many scientific questions, such as a geometric
distance estimate to the Galactic Center or the puzzle, how these stars reached
their current orbits. Future improvements in the instrumentation will open up
the route to testing relativistic effects in the gravitational potential of the
black hole, allowing to take full advantage of this unique laboratory for
celestial mechanics.Comment: Proceedings of the Galactic Center Workshop 2009, Shangha
Timing matters: impact of anticonvulsant drug treatment and spikes on seizure risk in benign epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes
OBJECTIVE: Benign epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS) is a common, self-limited epilepsy syndrome affecting school-age children. Classic interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) confirm diagnosis, and BECTS is presumed to be pharmacoresponsive. As seizure risk decreases in time with this disease, we hypothesize that the impact of IEDs and anticonvulsive drug (ACD) treatment on the risk of subsequent seizure will differ based on disease duration. METHODS: We calculate subsequent seizure risk following diagnosis in a large retrospective cohort of children with BECTS (n = 130), evaluating the impact of IEDs and ACD treatment in the first, second, third, and fourth years of disease. We use a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and logistic regression models. Patients were censored if they were lost to follow-up or if they changed group status. RESULTS: Two-thirds of children had a subsequent seizure within 2 years of diagnosis. The majority of children had a subsequent seizure within 3 years despite treatment. The presence of IEDs on electroencephalography (EEG) did not impact subsequent seizure risk early in the disease. By the fourth year of disease, all children without IEDs remained seizure free, whereas one-third of children with IEDs at this stage had a subsequent seizure. Conversely, ACD treatment corresponded with lower risk of seizure early in the disease but did not impact seizure risk in later years. SIGNIFICANCE: In this cohort, the majority of children with BECTS had a subsequent seizure despite treatment. In addition, ACD treatment and IEDs predicted seizure risk at specific points of disease duration. Future prospective studies are needed to validate these exploratory findings.Published versio
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