1,620 research outputs found
The Pegg-Barnett Formalism and Covariant Phase Observables
We compare the Pegg-Barnett (PB) formalism with the covariant phase
observable approach to the problem of quantum phase and show that PB-formalism
gives essentially the same results as the canonical (covariant) phase
observable. We also show that PB-formalism can be extended to cover all
covariant phase observables including the covariant phase observable arising
from the angle margin of the Husimi Q-function.Comment: 10 page
Maternal prenatal anxiety and child COMT genotype predict working memory and symptoms of ADHD
Maternal prenatal anxiety is an important risk factor for altered child neurodevelopment but there is uncertainty concerning the biological mechanisms involved and sources of individual differences in children's responses. We sought to determine the role of functional genetic variation in COMT, which encodes catechol-O-methyltransferase, in the association between maternal prenatal anxiety and child symptoms of ADHD and working memory. We used the prospectively-designed ALSPAC cohort (n = 6,969) for our primary data analyses followed by replication analyses in the PREDO cohort (n = 425). Maternal prenatal anxiety was based on self-report measures; child symptoms of ADHD were collected from 4-15 years of age; working memory was assessed from in-person testing at age 8 years; and genetic variation in COMT at rs4680 was determined in both mothers and children. The association between maternal prenatal anxiety and child attention/hyperactivity symptoms and working memory was moderated by the child's rs4680 genotype, with stronger effects obtained for the val/val (G: G) genotype relative to val/met (A:G) (all p <0.01) and met/met (A: A) groups (all p <0.05). Similar findings were observed in the PREDO cohort where maternal prenatal anxiety interacted with child rs4680 to predict symptoms of ADHD at 3.5 years of age. The findings, from two cohorts, show a robust gene-environment interaction, which may contribute to inter-individual differences in the effects of maternal prenatal anxiety on developmental outcomes from childhood to mid-adolescence.Peer reviewe
Quantization and noiseless measurements
In accordance with the fact that quantum measurements are described in terms
of positive operator measures (POMs), we consider certain aspects of a
quantization scheme in which a classical variable is associated
with a unique positive operator measure (POM) , which is not necessarily
projection valued. The motivation for such a scheme comes from the well-known
fact that due to the noise in a quantum measurement, the resulting outcome
distribution is given by a POM and cannot, in general, be described in terms of
a traditional observable, a selfadjoint operator. Accordingly, we notice that
the noiseless measurements are the ones which are determined by a selfadjoint
operator. The POM in our quantization is defined through its moment
operators, which are required to be of the form , , with
a fixed map from classical variables to Hilbert space operators. In
particular, we consider the quantization of classical \emph{questions}, that
is, functions taking only values 0 and 1. We compare two concrete
realizations of the map in view of their ability to produce noiseless
measurements: one being the Weyl map, and the other defined by using phase
space probability distributions.Comment: 15 pages, submitted to Journal of Physics
A dilemma in representing observables in quantum mechanics
There are self-adjoint operators which determine both spectral and
semispectral measures. These measures have very different commutativity and
covariance properties. This fact poses a serious question on the physical
meaning of such a self-adjoint operator and its associated operator measures.Comment: 10 page
Vergence eye movements in patients with schizophrenia
AbstractPrevious studies have shown that smooth pursuit eye movements are impaired in patients with schizophrenia. However, under normal viewing conditions, targets move not only in the frontoparallel plane but also in depth, and tracking them requires both smooth pursuit and vergence eye movements. Although previous studies in humans and non-human primates suggest that these two eye movement subsystems are relatively independent of one another, to our knowledge, there have been no prior studies of vergence tracking behavior in patients with schizophrenia. Therefore, we have investigated these eye movements in patients with schizophrenia and in healthy controls. We found that patients with schizophrenia exhibited substantially lower gains compared to healthy controls during vergence tracking at all tested speeds (e.g. 0.25Hz vergence tracking mean gain of 0.59 vs. 0.86). Further, consistent with previous reports, patients with schizophrenia exhibited significantly lower gains than healthy controls during smooth pursuit at higher target speeds (e.g. 0.5Hz smooth pursuit mean gain of 0.64 vs. 0.73). In addition, there was a modest (r≈0.5), but significant, correlation between smooth pursuit and vergence tracking performance in patients with schizophrenia. Our observations clearly demonstrate substantial vergence tracking deficits in patients with schizophrenia. In these patients, deficits for smooth pursuit and vergence tracking are partially correlated suggesting overlap in the central control of smooth pursuit and vergence eye movements
Cross Helicity of the November 2018 Magnetic Cloud Observed by the Parker Solar Probe
Magnetic clouds are large-scale transient structures in the solar wind with
low plasma , low-amplitude magnetic field fluctuations, and twisted
field lines with both ends often connected to the Sun. Their inertial-range
turbulent properties have not been examined in detail. In this Letter, we
analyze the normalized cross helicity, , and residual energy,
, of plasma fluctuations in the November 2018 magnetic cloud observed
at 0.25 au by the Parker Solar Probe. A low value of was present
in the cloud core, indicating that wave power parallel and anti-parallel to the
mean field was approximately balanced, while the cloud's outer layers displayed
larger amplitude Alfv\'enic fluctuations with high values and
. These properties are discussed in terms of the cloud's solar
connectivity and local interaction with the solar wind. We suggest that low
is likely a common feature of magnetic clouds given their
typically closed field structure. Anti-sunward fluctuations propagating
immediately upstream of the cloud had strongly negative values.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures; accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journal Letters 2020 August 1
REVISITING ANNA MOSCOWITZ\u27S KROSS\u27S CRITIQUE OF NEW YORK CITY\u27S WOMEN\u27S COURT: THE CONTINUED PROBLEM OF SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF PROSTITUTION WITH SPECIALIZED CRIMINAL COURTS
This article explores New York City\u27s non-traditional, judicially based response to prostitution. This article first recounts the history of New York City’s Women’s Court. It then examines the work of the Midtown Community Court, the “problem-solving court” established in 1993 to address criminal issues, like prostitution, in Midtown Manhattan. It also discusses the renewed concerns about sex work in New York and describe the movement, propelled by modern reformers, to address prostitution through specialty courts. It then contrasts the shared features and attributes of the Women’s Court and Midtown Court models. Finally, the article urges modern reformers to step back from the problem-solving court movement and their call for the creation of more such specialized criminal courts
Pre- and post-selection, weak values, and contextuality
By analyzing the concept of contextuality (Bell-Kochen-Specker) in terms of
pre-and-post-selection (PPS), it is possible to assign definite values to
observables in a new and surprising way. Physical reasons are presented for
restrictions on these assignments. When measurements are performed which do not
disturb the pre- and post-selection (i.e. weak measurements), then novel
experimental aspects of contextuality can be demonstrated including a proof
that every PPS-paradox with definite predictions implies contextuality. Certain
results of these measurements (eccentric weak values with e.g. negative values
outside the spectrum), however, cannot be explained by a "classical-like"
hidden variable theory.Comment: Identical content; stream-lined verbal presentatio
Sharp and fuzzy observables on effect algebras
Observables on effect algebras and their fuzzy versions obtained by means of
confidence measures (Markov kernels) are studied. It is shown that, on effect
algebras with the (E)-property, given an observable and a confidence measure,
there exists a fuzzy version of the observable. Ordering of observables
according to their fuzzy properties is introduced, and some minimality
conditions with respect to this ordering are found. Applications of some
results of classical theory of experiments are considered.Comment: 23 page
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