4,525 research outputs found
Range expansion and the possibility of an emerging contact zone between two subspecies of Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita ssp.
The Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita is represented in Sweden by two different subspecies; the northern well-established abietinus and the southern recently established collybita which has expanded its range northward during the past two decades. At present, an area approximately 500 km wide separates the two subspecies. In order to document differences between the northern and southern populations we compared morphology, vocalisation, habitat choice, and neutral genetic variation in mitochondrial (mt) DNA and at four microsatellite loci of 30 male Chiffchaffs from each subspecies. Our results show significant differences in several morphological traits and in song. Playback experiments revealed a significant difference in aggressive behaviour depending on which population-specific song that was played to the birds. Mitochondrial DNA was geographically structured with similar to 90% of the birds carrying a mt haplotype matching their sample population. No allelic differences at the microsatellite loci were found between populations. Our data demonstrate a substantial differentiation between the northern and southern populations despite gene flow, clearly separating them into the subspecies abietinus and collybita
Moduli-Space Dynamics of Noncommutative Abelian Sigma-Model Solitons
In the noncommutative (Moyal) plane, we relate exact U(1) sigma-model
solitons to generic scalar-field solitons for an infinitely stiff potential.
The static k-lump moduli space C^k/S_k features a natural K"ahler metric
induced from an embedding Grassmannian. The moduli-space dynamics is blind
against adding a WZW-like term to the sigma-model action and thus also applies
to the integrable U(1) Ward model. For the latter's two-soliton motion we
compare the exact field configurations with their supposed moduli-space
approximations. Surprisingly, the two do not match, which questions the
adiabatic method for noncommutative solitons.Comment: 1+15 pages, 2 figures; v2: reference added, to appear in JHE
Near-Optimal Scheduling for LTL with Future Discounting
We study the search problem for optimal schedulers for the linear temporal
logic (LTL) with future discounting. The logic, introduced by Almagor, Boker
and Kupferman, is a quantitative variant of LTL in which an event in the far
future has only discounted contribution to a truth value (that is a real number
in the unit interval [0, 1]). The precise problem we study---it naturally
arises e.g. in search for a scheduler that recovers from an internal error
state as soon as possible---is the following: given a Kripke frame, a formula
and a number in [0, 1] called a margin, find a path of the Kripke frame that is
optimal with respect to the formula up to the prescribed margin (a truly
optimal path may not exist). We present an algorithm for the problem; it works
even in the extended setting with propositional quality operators, a setting
where (threshold) model-checking is known to be undecidable
Head-to-head comparison of tau positron emission tomography tracers [F-18]flortaucipir and [F-18]RO948
Purpose:
[18F]flortaucipir binds to paired helical filament tau and accurately identifies tau in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, “off-target” binding interferes with the quantification of [18F]flortaucipir in several brain regions. Recently, other tau PET tracers have been developed. Here, we compare [18F]flortaucipir with the novel tau tracer [18F]RO948 head-to-head in vivo.
Methods:
We included 18 participants with AD, three with amyloid-β-positive amnestic mild cognitive impairment, and four healthy controls. All underwent [18F]flortaucipir (80–100 min) and [18F]RO948 (70–90) PET scans within approximately 1 month. Four study participants underwent 0–100-min dynamic scanning. Standardized uptake value ratios (SUVRs) were created using an inferior cerebellar reference region.
Results:
Neocortical tracer retention was highly comparable using both SUVR and distribution volume ratio-1 values obtained from dynamic scans. However, [18F]RO948 retention was significantly higher in the entorhinal cortex and lower in the basal ganglia, thalamus, and choroid plexus compared with [18F]flortaucipir. Increased off-target binding was observed with age for both tracers. Several cases exhibited strong [18F]RO948 retention in the skull/meninges. This extra-cerebral signal, however, did not affect diagnostic accuracy and remained relatively unchanged when re-examining a subsample after 1 year. Kinetic modeling showed an increase in [18F]flortaucipir SUVR over the scanning interval, compared with a plateau for [18F]RO948.
Conclusion:
[18F]RO948 and [18F]flortaucipir bound comparably in neocortical regions, but [18F]RO948 showed higher retention in the medial temporal lobe and lower intracerebral “off-target” binding. Time-dependent bias of SUVR estimates may prove less of a factor with [18F]RO948, compared with previous tau ligands
Plasma phosphorylated tau181 and neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease
We examined if plasma phosphorylated tau is associated with neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease. We investigated 372 cognitively unimpaired participants, 554 mild cognitive impairment patients, and 141 Alzheimer’s disease dementia patients. Tau phosphorylated at threonine 181, regional cortical thickness (using magnetic resonance imaging) and hypometabolism (using fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography) were measured longitudinally. High plasma tau was associated with hypometabolism and cortical atrophy at baseline and over time, and longitudinally increased tau was associated with accelerated atrophy, but these associations were only observed in Aβ‐positive participants. Plasma phosphorylated tau may identify and track processes linked to neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease
An Agent Based Model of the Diel Vertical Migration Patterns of Mysis diluviana
Recent work indicates that the macro-invertebrate Mysis diluviana exhibits partial diel vertical migration (DVM), whereby one part of the population remains on the lake bottom at night while the other migrates up the water column. The drivers underlying the decision to migrate remain unknown. We developed an agent-based model that can simulate thousands of individual mysids decision-making processes at an hourly time step throughout a year. The model takes into account a daily and seasonally changing environment, including light, temperature, food availability across habitats and body con- dition. We found that the simulated Mysis population is highly sensitive to changes in the energy cost of performing migration. We have also devel- oped a graphical user interface to help disseminate the results and testing of hypotheses without the need for the researcher to edit code. In addition to testing hypotheses about migration drivers, the model, once parameters have been calibrated with real data, will help facilitate more efficient field sampling and prediction of resource availability for mysivorous fishes by evaluating the potential for seasonality in Mysis migration patterns
Discrete-time rewards model-checked
This paper presents a model-checking approach for analyzing discrete-time Markov reward models. For this purpose, the temporal logic probabilistic CTL is extended with reward constraints. This allows to formulate complex measures – involving expected as well as accumulated rewards – in a precise and succinct way. Algorithms to efficiently analyze such formulae are introduced. The approach is illustrated by model-checking a probabilistic cost model of the IPv4 zeroconf protocol for distributed address assignment in ad-hoc networks
Jain States in a Matrix Theory of the Quantum Hall Effect
The U(N) Maxwell-Chern-Simons matrix gauge theory is proposed as an extension
of Susskind's noncommutative approach. The theory describes D0-branes,
nonrelativistic particles with matrix coordinates and gauge symmetry, that
realize a matrix generalization of the quantum Hall effect. Matrix ground
states obtained by suitable projections of higher Landau levels are found to be
in one-to-one correspondence with the expected Laughlin and Jain hierarchical
states. The Jain composite-fermion construction follows by gauge invariance via
the Gauss law constraint. In the limit of commuting, ``normal'' matrices the
theory reduces to eigenvalue coordinates that describe realistic electrons with
Calogero interaction. The Maxwell-Chern-Simons matrix theory improves earlier
noncommutative approaches and could provide another effective theory of the
fractional Hall effect.Comment: 35 pages, 3 figure
A model checking approach to the parameter estimation of biochemical pathways
Model checking has historically been an important tool to
verify models of a wide variety of systems. Typically a model has to exhibit
certain properties to be classed ‘acceptable’. In this work we use
model checking in a new setting; parameter estimation. We characterise
the desired behaviour of a model in a temporal logic property and alter
the model to make it conform to the property (determined through
model checking). We have implemented a computational system called
MC2(GA) which pairs a model checker with a genetic algorithm. To
drive parameter estimation, the fitness of set of parameters in a model is
the inverse of the distance between its actual behaviour and the desired
behaviour. The model checker used is the simulation-based Monte Carlo
Model Checker for Probabilistic Linear-time Temporal Logic with numerical
constraints, MC2(PLTLc). Numerical constraints as well as the
overall probability of the behaviour expressed in temporal logic are used
to minimise the behavioural distance. We define the theory underlying
our parameter estimation approach in both the stochastic and continuous
worlds. We apply our approach to biochemical systems and present
an illustrative example where we estimate the kinetic rate constants in
a continuous model of a signalling pathway
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