20,543 research outputs found
Ordinary-derivative formulation of conformal totally symmetric arbitrary spin bosonic fields
Conformal totally symmetric arbitrary spin bosonic fields in flat space-time
of even dimension greater than or equal to four are studied. Second-derivative
(ordinary-derivative) formulation for such fields is developed. We obtain gauge
invariant Lagrangian and the corresponding gauge transformations. Gauge
symmetries are realized by involving the Stueckelberg and auxiliary fields.
Realization of global conformal boost symmetries on conformal gauge fields is
obtained. Modified de Donder gauge condition and de Donder-Stueckelberg gauge
condition are introduced. Using the de Donder-Stueckelberg gauge frame,
equivalence of the ordinary-derivative and higher-derivative approaches is
demonstrated. On-shell degrees of freedom of the arbitrary spin conformal field
are analyzed. Ordinary-derivative light-cone gauge Lagrangian of conformal
fields is also presented. Interrelations between the ordinary-derivative gauge
invariant formulation of conformal fields and the gauge invariant formulation
of massive fields are discussed.Comment: 51 pages, v2: Results and conclusions of v1 unchanged. In Sec.3,
brief review of higher-derivative approaches added. In Sec.4, new
representations for Lagrangian, modified de Donder gauge, and de
Donder-Stueckelberg gauge added. In Sec.5, discussion of interrelations
between the ordinary-derivative and higher-derivative approaches added.
Appendices A,B,C,D and references adde
Gauge fields in (A)dS within the unfolded approach: algebraic aspects
It has recently been shown that generalized connections of the (A)dS space
symmetry algebra provide an effective geometric and algebraic framework for all
types of gauge fields in (A)dS, both for massless and partially-massless. The
equations of motion are equipped with a nilpotent operator called
whose cohomology groups correspond to the dynamically relevant quantities like
differential gauge parameters, dynamical fields, gauge invariant field
equations, Bianchi identities etc. In the paper the -cohomology is
computed for all gauge theories of this type and the field-theoretical
interpretation is discussed. In the simplest cases the -cohomology is
equivalent to the ordinary Lie algebra cohomology.Comment: 59 pages, replaced with revised verio
ResQbot: a mobile rescue robot with immersive teleperception for casualty extraction
In this work, we propose a novel mobile rescue robot equipped with an immersive stereoscopic teleperception and a teleoperation control. This robot is designed with the capability to perform safely a casualty-extraction procedure. We have built a proof-of-concept mobile rescue robot called ResQbot for the experimental platform. An approach called “loco-manipulation” is used to perform the casualty-extraction procedure using the platform. The performance of this robot is evaluated in terms of task accomplishment and safety by conducting a mock rescue experiment. We use a custom-made human-sized dummy that has been sensorised to be used as the casualty. In terms of safety, we observe several parameters during the experiment including impact force, acceleration, speed and displacement of the dummy’s head. We also compare the performance of the proposed immersive stereoscopic teleperception to conventional monocular teleperception. The results of the experiments show that the observed safety parameters are below key safety thresholds which could possibly lead to head or neck injuries. Moreover, the teleperception comparison results demonstrate an improvement in task-accomplishment performance when the operator is using the immersive teleperception
Recent Consanguinity and Outbred Autozygosity Are Associated With Increased Risk of Late-Onset Alzheimer's Disease
Prior work in late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) has resulted in discrepant findings as to whether recent consanguinity and outbred autozygosity are associated with LOAD risk. In the current study, we tested the association between consanguinity and outbred autozygosity with LOAD in the largest such analysis to date, in which 20 LOAD GWAS datasets were retrieved through public databases. Our analyses were restricted to eight distinct ethnic groups: African-Caribbean, Ashkenazi-Jewish European, European-Caribbean, French-Canadian, Finnish European, North-Western European, South-Eastern European, and Yoruba African for a total of 21,492 unrelated subjects (11,196 LOAD and 10,296 controls). Recent consanguinity determination was performed using FSuite v1.0.3, according to subjects' ancestral background. The level of autozygosity in the outbred population was assessed by calculating inbreeding estimates based on the proportion (FROH) and the number (NROH) of runs of homozygosity (ROHs). We analyzed all eight ethnic groups using a fixed-effect meta-analysis, which showed a significant association of recent consanguinity with LOAD (N = 21,481; OR = 1.262, P = 3.6 × 10-4), independently of APOE∗4 (N = 21,468, OR = 1.237, P = 0.002), and years of education (N = 9,257; OR = 1.274, P = 0.020). Autozygosity in the outbred population was also associated with an increased risk of LOAD, both for FROH (N = 20,237; OR = 1.204, P = 0.030) and NROH metrics (N = 20,237; OR = 1.019, P = 0.006), independently of APOE∗4 [(FROH, N = 20,225; OR = 1.222, P = 0.029) (NROH, N = 20,225; OR = 1.019, P = 0.007)]. By leveraging the Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP) whole-exome sequencing (WES) data, we determined that LOAD subjects do not show an enrichment of rare, risk-enhancing minor homozygote variants compared to the control population. A two-stage recessive GWAS using ADSP data from 201 consanguineous subjects in the discovery phase followed by validation in 10,469 subjects led to the identification of RPH3AL p.A303V (rs117190076) as a rare minor homozygote variant increasing the risk of LOAD [discovery: Genotype Relative Risk (GRR) = 46, P = 2.16 × 10-6; validation: GRR = 1.9, P = 8.0 × 10-4]. These results confirm that recent consanguinity and autozygosity in the outbred population increase risk for LOAD. Subsequent work, with increased samples sizes of consanguineous subjects, should accelerate the discovery of non-additive genetic effects in LOAD
Interplay of quantum and classical fluctuations near quantum critical points
For a system near a quantum critical point (QCP), above its lower critical
dimension , there is in general a critical line of second order phase
transitions that separates the broken symmetry phase at finite temperatures
from the disordered phase. The phase transitions along this line are governed
by thermal critical exponents that are different from those associated with the
quantum critical point. We point out that, if the effective dimension of the
QCP, ( is the Euclidean dimension of the system and the
dynamic quantum critical exponent) is above its upper critical dimension ,
there is an intermingle of classical (thermal) and quantum critical
fluctuations near the QCP. This is due to the breakdown of the generalized
scaling relation between the shift exponent of the critical
line and the crossover exponent , for by a \textit{dangerous
irrelevant interaction}. This phenomenon has clear experimental consequences,
like the suppression of the amplitude of classical critical fluctuations near
the line of finite temperature phase transitions as the critical temperature is
reduced approaching the QCP.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, to be published in Brazilian Journal of Physic
Spin 3 cubic vertices in a frame-like formalism
Till now most of the results on interaction vertices for massless higher spin
fields were obtained in a metric-like formalism using completely symmetric
(spin-)tensors. In this, the Lagrangians turn out to be very complicated and
the main reason is that the higher the spin one want to consider the more
derivatives one has to introduce. In this paper we show that such
investigations can be greatly simplified if one works in a frame-like
formalism. As an illustration we consider massless spin 3 particle and
reconstruct a number of vertices describing its interactions with lower spin 2,
1 and 0 ones. In all cases considered we give explicit expressions for the
Lagrangians and gauge transformations and check that the algebra of gauge
transformations is indeed closed.Comment: 17 pades, no figure
Observational study of the association of first insulin type in uncontrolled type 2 diabetes with macrovascular and microvascular disease
<p>Aims: To compare the risk of vascular disease, HbA1c and weight change, between first prescribed insulins in people with type 2 diabetes.</p>
<p>Methods: People included in THIN United Kingdom primary care record database who began insulin (2000–2007) after poor control on oral glucose-lowering agents (OGLD) were grouped by the number of OGLDs in their treatment regimen immediately before starting insulin (n = 3,485). Within OGLD group, Cox regression compared macrovascular (all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, acute coronary syndrome and stroke) and microvascular disease (peripheral neuropathy, nephropathy, and retinopathy) between insulin type (basal, pre-mix or Neutral Protamine Hagedorn, NPH) while ANCOVAs compared haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and weight change.</p>
<p>Results: Mean follow-up was 3.6 years. Rates of incident macrovascular events were similar when basal insulin was compared to pre-mix or NPH, adjusted hazard ratio versus basal: pre-mix 1.08 (95% CI 0.73, 1.59); NPH 1.00 (0.63, 1.58) after two OGLDs, and pre-mix 0.97 (0.46, 2.02); NPH 0.77 (0.32, 1.86) after three OGLDs. An increased risk of microvascular disease in NPH versus basal after 3 OGLDs, adjusted hazard ratio1.87 (1.04, 3.36), was not seen after two agents or in comparisons of basal and pre-mix. At one year, after two OGLDs, weight increase was less with basal compared with pre-mix. After three OGLDs, mean HbA1c had reduced less in basal versus pre-mix or NPH at 6–8 and at 9–11 months, and versus pre-mix at 12–14 months.</p>
<p>Conclusion: We found no difference in the risk of macrovascular events between first insulins in the medium term when started during poor glycaemia control. The increased risk of microvascular events with NPH warrants further study. In certain groups, first use of basal insulin was associated with less gain in weight and decrease in HbA1c compared to other insulins.</p>
- …