Correlations around an interface

We compute one-loop correlation functions for the fluctuations of an interface using a field theory model. We obtain them from Feynman diagrams drawn with a propagator which is the inverse of the Hamiltonian of a Poschl-Teller problem. We derive an expression for the propagator in terms of elementary functions, show that it corresponds to the usual spectral sum, and use it to calculate quantities such as the surface tension and interface profile in two and three spatial dimensions. The three-dimensional quantities are rederived in a simple, unified manner, whereas those in two dimensions extend the existing literature, and are applicable to thin films. In addition, we compute the one-loop self-energy, which may be extracted from experiment, or from Monte Carlo simulations. Our results may be applied in various scenarios, which include fluctuations around topological defects in cosmology, supersymmetric domain walls, Z(N) bubbles in QCD, domain walls in magnetic systems, interfaces separating Bose-Einstein condensates, and interfaces in binary liquid mixtures.Comment: RevTeX, 13 pages, 6 figure

Using Topological Statistics to Detect Determinism in Time Series

Statistical differentiability of the measure along the reconstructed trajectory is a good candidate to quantify determinism in time series. The procedure is based upon a formula that explicitly shows the sensitivity of the measure to stochasticity. Numerical results for partially surrogated time series and series derived from several stochastic models, illustrate the usefulness of the method proposed here. The method is shown to work also for high--dimensional systems and experimental time seriesComment: 23 RevTeX pages, 14 eps figures. To appear in Physical Review

Theory of the first-order isostructural valence phase transitions in mixed valence compounds YbIn_{x}Ag_{1-x}Cu_{4}

For describing the first-order isostructural valence phase transition in mixed valence compounds we develop a new approach based on the lattice Anderson model. We take into account the Coulomb interaction between localized f and conduction band electrons and two mechanisms of electron-lattice coupling. One is related to the volume dependence of the hybridization. The other is related to local deformations produced by f- shell size fluctuations accompanying valence fluctuations. The large f -state degeneracy allows us to use the 1/N expansion method. Within the model we develop a mean-field theory for the first-order valence phase transition in YbInCu_{4}. It is shown that the Coulomb interaction enhances the exchange interaction between f and conduction band electron spins and is the driving force of the phase transition. A comparison between the theoretical calculations and experimental measurements of the valence change, susceptibility, specific heat, entropy, elastic constants and volume change in YbInCu_{4} and YbAgCu_{4} are presented, and a good quantitative agreement is found. On the basis of the model we describe the evolution from the first-order valence phase transition to the continuous transition into the heavy-fermion ground state in the series of compounds YbIn_{1-x}Ag_{x}Cu_{4}. The effect of pressure on physical properties of YbInCu_{4} is studied and the H-T phase diagram is found.Comment: 17 pages RevTeX, 9 Postscript figures, to be submitted to Phys.Rev.

An Examination of Chimpanzee Use in Human Cancer Research

Advocates of chimpanzee research claim the genetic similarity of humans and chimpanzees make them an indispensable research tool to combat human diseases. Given that cancer is a leading cause of human death worldwide, one might expect that if chimpanzees were needed for, or were productive in, cancer research, then they would have been widely used. This comprehensive literature analysis reveals that chimpanzees have scarcely been used in any form of cancer research, and that chimpanzee tumours are extremely rare and biologically different from human cancers. Often, chimpanzee citations described peripheral use of chimpanzee cells and genetic material in predominantly human genomic studies. Papers describing potential new cancer therapies noted significant concerns regarding the chimpanzee model. Other studies described interventions that have not been pursued clinically. Finally, available evidence indicates that chimpanzees are not essential in the development of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. It would therefore be unscientific to claim that chimpanzees are vital to cancer research. On the contrary, it is reasonable to conclude that cancer research would not suffer, if the use of chimpanzees for this purpose were prohibited in the US. Genetic differences between humans and chimpanzees, make them an unsuitable model for cancer, as well as other human diseases

Fibulin-3 is necessary to prevent cardiac rupture following myocardial infarction

Published online: 11 September 2023Despite the high prevalence of heart failure in the western world, there are few effective treatments. Fibulin-3 is a protein involved in extracellular matrix (ECM) structural integrity, however its role in the heart is unknown. We have demonstrated, using single cell RNA-seq, that fibulin-3 was highly expressed in quiescent murine cardiac fibroblasts, with expression highest prior to injury and late post-infarct (from ~ day-28 to week-8). In humans, fibulin-3 was upregulated in left ventricular tissue and plasma of heart failure patients. Fibulin-3 knockout (Efemp1-/-) and wildtype mice were subjected to experimental myocardial infarction. Fibulin-3 deletion resulted in significantly higher rate of cardiac rupture days 3-6 post-infarct, indicating a weak and poorly formed scar, with severe ventricular remodelling in surviving mice at day-28 post-infarct. Fibulin-3 knockout mice demonstrated less collagen deposition at day-3 post-infarct, with abnormal collagen fibre-alignment. RNA-seq on day-3 infarct tissue revealed upregulation of ECM degradation and inflammatory genes, but downregulation of ECM assembly/structure/organisation genes in fibulin-3 knockout mice. GSEA pathway analysis showed enrichment of inflammatory pathways and a depletion of ECM organisation pathways. Fibulin-3 originates from cardiac fibroblasts, is upregulated in human heart failure, and is necessary for correct ECM organisation/structural integrity of fibrotic tissue to prevent cardiac rupture post-infarct.Lucy A. Murtha, Sean A. Hardy, Nishani S. Mabotuwana, Mark J. Bigland, Taleah Bailey, Kalyan Raguram, Saifei Liu, Doan T. Ngo, Aaron L. Sverdlov, Tamara Tomin, Ruth Birner, Gruenberger, Robert D. Hume, Siiri E. Iismaa, David T. Humphreys, Ralph Patrick, James J. H. Chong, Randall J. Lee, Richard P. Harvey, Robert M. Graham, Peter P. Rainer and Andrew J. Boyl

Holographic Hydrodynamics with a Chemical Potential

We consider five-dimensional gravity coupled to a negative cosmological constant and a single U(1) gauge field, including a general set of four-derivative interactions. In this framework, we construct charged planar AdS black hole solutions perturbatively and consider the thermal and hydrodynamic properties of the plasma in the dual CFT. In particular, we calculate the ratio of shear viscosity to entropy density and argue that the violation of the KSS bound is enhanced in the presence of a chemical potential. We also compute the electrical conductivity and comment on various conjectured bounds related to this coefficient.Comment: v2: comparison to supergravity lagrangian added, references added, typos fixe

Hybrid Genetic Bees Algorithm applied to Single Machine Scheduling with Earliness and Tardiness Penalties

This paper presents a hybrid Genetic-Bees Algorithm based optimised solution for the single machine scheduling problem. The enhancement of the Bees Algorithm (BA) is conducted using the Genetic Algorithm's (GA's) operators during the global search stage. The proposed enhancement aims to increase the global search capability of the BA gradually with new additions. Although the BA has very successful implementations on various type of optimisation problems, it has found that the algorithm suffers from weak global search ability which increases the computational complexities on NP-hard type optimisation problems e.g. combinatorial/permutational type optimisation problems. This weakness occurs due to using a simple global random search operation during the search process. To reinforce the global search process in the BA, the proposed enhancement is utilised to increase exploration capability by expanding the number of fittest solutions through the genetical variations of promising solutions. The hybridisation process is realised by including two strategies into the basic BA, named as â\u80\u9creinforced global searchâ\u80\u9d and â\u80\u9cjumping functionâ\u80\u9d strategies. The reinforced global search strategy is the first stage of the hybridisation process and contains the mutation operator of the GA. The second strategy, jumping function strategy, consists of four GA operators as single point crossover, multipoint crossover, mutation and randomisation. To demonstrate the strength of the proposed solution, several experiments were carried out on 280 well-known single machine benchmark instances, and the results are presented by comparing to other well-known heuristic algorithms. According to the experiments, the proposed enhancements provides better capability to basic BA to jump from local minima, and GBA performed better compared to BA in terms of convergence and the quality of results. The convergence time reduced about 60% with about 30% better results for highly constrained jobs

Of Research reviews and practice guides: Translating rapidly growing research on adolescent literacy into updated practice recommendations.

The demand for evidence-based instructional practices has driven a large supply of research on adolescent literacy. Documenting this supply, Baye, Inns, Lake, and Slavin’s 2019 article in Reading Research Quarterly synthesized far more studies, with far more rigorous methodology, than had ever been collected before. What does this mean for practice? Inspired by this article, I investigated how this synthesis compared with the 2008 U.S. Institute of Education Sciences practice guide for adolescent literacy. I also include two contemporary documents for context: Herrera, Truckenmiller, and Foorman’s (2016) review and the U.K. Education Endowment Foundation’s 2019 practice guide for secondary schools. I first examine how these documents define adolescent, reading, and evidence, and propose more inclusive definitions. I then compare their respective evidence bases, finding that the quality and quantity of evidence have dramatically changed. Only one of the 34 studies in the 2008 U.S. practice guide met Baye et al.’s inclusion criteria in 2019, and the average sample size in Baye et al.’s studies was 22 times as large as those in the 2008 U.S. practice guide. I also examine the potential implications for a new practice guide’s instructional recommendations and comment on the expansion of research in technology, disciplinary literacy, and writing—topics scarcely covered in the 2008 U.S. practice guide but which have been extensively researched since then. Finally, I call for revision of the U.S. practice guide and the establishment of standing committees on adolescent literacy to help educators translate the latest research findings into updated practices

Customer emotions in service failure and recovery encounters

Emotions play a significant role in the workplace, and considerable attention has been given to the study of employee emotions. Customers also play a central function in organizations, but much less is known about customer emotions. This chapter reviews the growing literature on customer emotions in employee–customer interfaces with a focus on service failure and recovery encounters, where emotions are heightened. It highlights emerging themes and key findings, addresses the measurement, modeling, and management of customer emotions, and identifies future research streams. Attention is given to emotional contagion, relationships between affective and cognitive processes, customer anger, customer rage, and individual differences