1,130 research outputs found
Neurobehavioral Testing in Prion Disease Studies
The prion diseases are neurodegenerative diseases characterized by progressive neurocognitive decline and terminal dementia. In this review, we will discuss the role of neurobehavioral testing in mammalian prion disease model systems, including (1) a review of the clinical phenotype of the major prion diseases in natural disease, (2) an evidence-based summary of the benefits and shortcomings of commonly used behavioral assays, and (3) a review of the neurobehavioral testing in rodent prion models. Based upon this review, and in light of the established importance of model systems in studies of prion pathogenesis and the proven role of behavioral testing in nonprion disease neurodegenerative diseases, it is vital that prion researchers consider the clinical consequences of prion infection so as to maximize the impact of their work
Probe-configuration dependent dephasing in a mesoscopic interferometer
Dephasing in a ballistic four-terminal Aharonov-Bohm geometry due to charge
and voltage fluctuations is investigated. Treating two terminals as voltage
probes, we find a strong dependence of the dephasing rate on the probe
configuration in agreement with a recent experiment by Kobayashi et al. (J.
Phys. Soc. Jpn. 71, 2094 (2002)). Voltage fluctuations in the measurement
circuit are shown to be the source of the configuration dependence.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Experimental Biological Protocols with Formal Semantics
Both experimental and computational biology is becoming increasingly
automated. Laboratory experiments are now performed automatically on
high-throughput machinery, while computational models are synthesized or
inferred automatically from data. However, integration between automated tasks
in the process of biological discovery is still lacking, largely due to
incompatible or missing formal representations. While theories are expressed
formally as computational models, existing languages for encoding and
automating experimental protocols often lack formal semantics. This makes it
challenging to extract novel understanding by identifying when theory and
experimental evidence disagree due to errors in the models or the protocols
used to validate them. To address this, we formalize the syntax of a core
protocol language, which provides a unified description for the models of
biochemical systems being experimented on, together with the discrete events
representing the liquid-handling steps of biological protocols. We present both
a deterministic and a stochastic semantics to this language, both defined in
terms of hybrid processes. In particular, the stochastic semantics captures
uncertainties in equipment tolerances, making it a suitable tool for both
experimental and computational biologists. We illustrate how the proposed
protocol language can be used for automated verification and synthesis of
laboratory experiments on case studies from the fields of chemistry and
molecular programming
Temperature and magnetic-field dependence of the quantum corrections to the conductance of a network of quantum dots
We calculate the magnetic-field and temperature dependence of all quantum
corrections to the ensemble-averaged conductance of a network of quantum dots.
We consider the limit that the dimensionless conductance of the network is
large, so that the quantum corrections are small in comparison to the leading,
classical contribution to the conductance. For a quantum dot network the
conductance and its quantum corrections can be expressed solely in terms of the
conductances and form factors of the contacts and the capacitances of the
quantum dots. In particular, we calculate the temperature dependence of the
weak localization correction and show that it is described by an effective
dephasing rate proportional to temperature.Comment: 24 pages, 14 figure
Disease, activity and schoolchildren's health (DASH) in Port Elizabeth, South Africa: a study protocol
BACKGROUND: An in-depth epidemiological investigation on intestinal parasite infections in an impoverished area of Port Elizabeth, South Africa provides a unique opportunity for research on its impact on children's physical fitness, cognitive performance and psychosocial health. Additionally, we will screen risk factors for the development of diabetes and hypertension in adulthood.
METHODS/DESIGN: A 2-year longitudinal cohort study will be conducted, consisting of three cross-sectional surveys (baseline and two follow-ups), in eight historically black and coloured (mixed race) primary schools located in different townships in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Approximately 1000 Grade 4 primary schoolchildren, aged 8 to 12 years, will be enrolled and followed. At each survey, disease status, anthropometry and levels of physical fitness, cognitive performance and psychosocial health will be assessed. After each survey, individuals diagnosed with parasitic worm infections will be treated with anthelminthic drugs, while children with other infections will be referred to local clinics. Based on baseline results, interventions will be tailored to the local settings, embedded within the study and implemented in half of the schools, while the remaining schools will serve as controls. Implementation of the interventions will take place over two 8-week periods. The effect of interventions will be determined with predefined health parameters.
DISCUSSION: This study will shed new light on the health burden incurred by children in deprived urban settings of South Africa and provide guidance for specific health interventions. Challenges foreseen in the conduct of this study include: (i) difficulty in obtaining written informed consent from parents/guardians; (ii) administration of questionnaires in schools where three languages are spoken (Afrikaans, Xhosa and English); (iii) challenges in grasping concepts of psychosocial health among schoolchildren using a questionnaire; and (iv) loss to follow-up due to the study setting where illiteracy, mobility and violence are common. Finally, designing the health interventions together with local principals and teachers will allow all concerned with the research to bolster a sense of community ownership and sustained use of the interventions after the study has ceased
Binary pattern tile set synthesis is NP-hard
In the field of algorithmic self-assembly, a long-standing unproven
conjecture has been that of the NP-hardness of binary pattern tile set
synthesis (2-PATS). The -PATS problem is that of designing a tile assembly
system with the smallest number of tile types which will self-assemble an input
pattern of colors. Of both theoretical and practical significance, -PATS
has been studied in a series of papers which have shown -PATS to be NP-hard
for , , and then . In this paper, we close the
fundamental conjecture that 2-PATS is NP-hard, concluding this line of study.
While most of our proof relies on standard mathematical proof techniques, one
crucial lemma makes use of a computer-assisted proof, which is a relatively
novel but increasingly utilized paradigm for deriving proofs for complex
mathematical problems. This tool is especially powerful for attacking
combinatorial problems, as exemplified by the proof of the four color theorem
by Appel and Haken (simplified later by Robertson, Sanders, Seymour, and
Thomas) or the recent important advance on the Erd\H{o}s discrepancy problem by
Konev and Lisitsa using computer programs. We utilize a massively parallel
algorithm and thus turn an otherwise intractable portion of our proof into a
program which requires approximately a year of computation time, bringing the
use of computer-assisted proofs to a new scale. We fully detail the algorithm
employed by our code, and make the code freely available online
Energy-time entanglement of quasi-particles in solid-state devices
We present a proposal for the experimental observation of energy-time
entanglement of quasi-particles in mesoscopic physics. This type of
entanglement arises whenever correlated particles are produced at the same time
and this time is uncertain in the sense of quantum uncertainty, as has been
largely used in photonics. We discuss its feasibility for electron-hole pairs.
In particular, we argue that the recently fabricated 2DEG-2DHG junctions,
irradiated with a continuous laser, behave as "entanglers" for energy-time
entanglement.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Capacitance of a quantum dot from the channel-anisotropic two-channel Kondo model
We investigate the charge fluctuations of a large quantum dot coupled to a
two-dimensional electron gas via a quantum point contact following the work of
Matveev. We limit our discussion to the case where exactly two channels enter
the dot and we discuss the role of an anisotropy between the transmission
coefficients (for these two channels) at the constriction. Experimentally, a
channel-anisotropy can be introduced applying a relatively weak in-plane
magnetic field to the system when only one ``orbital'' channel is open. The
magnetic field leads to different transmission amplitudes for spin-up and
spin-down electrons.
In a strong magnetic field the anisotropic two-channel limit corresponds to
two (spin-polarized) orbital channels entering the dot.
The physics of the charge fluctuations can be captured using a mapping on the
channel-anisotropic two-channel Kondo model. For the case of weak reflection at
the point contact this has already briefly been stressed by one of us in PRB
{\bf 64}, 161302R (2001). This mapping is also appropriate to discuss the
conductance behavior of a two-contact set-up in strong magnetic field.
Here, we elaborate on this approach and also discuss an alternative solution
using a mapping on a channel-isotropic Kondo model. In addition we consider the
limit of weak transmission.
We show that the Coulomb-staircase behavior of the charge in the dot as a
function of the gate voltage, is already smeared out by a small
channel-anisotropy both in the weak- and strong transmission limits.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, 1 Table; Expands cond-mat/0101126; Sec. VI on
2-contact setup added (Final version for PRB
Intestinal parasites, growth and physical fitness of schoolchildren in poor neighbourhoods of Port Elizabeth, South Africa: a cross-sectional survey
BACKGROUND: As traditional lifestyle and diets change with social and economic development, disadvantaged communities in low- and middle-income countries increasingly face a double burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases. We studied the relationship between physical fitness and infections with soil-transmitted helminths (STHs), intestinal protozoa and Helicobacter pylori among schoolchildren in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 1009 children, aged 9 to 12 years, from eight primary schools in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhoods of Port Elizabeth. Physical fitness was determined using field-deployable tests of the Eurofit fitness test battery. Stool samples were analysed with the Kato-Katz thick smear technique to diagnose STHs and with rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) to detect intestinal protozoa and H. pylori infections. Haemoglobin (Hb) levels were assessed and anthropometric indicators determined.
RESULTS: Complete data were available for 934 children (92 %). In two schools, high STH prevalences were found (Ascaris lumbricoides 60 and 72 %; Trichuris trichiura 65 % each). For boys and girls co-infected with A. lumbricoides and T. trichiura (n = 155) the maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max) was estimated to be 50.1 and 47.2 ml kg(-1) min(-1), compared to 51.5 and 47.4 ml kg(-1) min(-1) for their non-infected peers (n = 278), respectively. On average, children without helminth infections had greater body mass (P = 0.011), height (P = 0.009) and a higher body mass index (P = 0.024) and were less often stunted (P = 0.006), but not significantly less wasted compared to their peers with a single or dual species infection. Among 9-year-old boys, a negative correlation between helminth infections and VO2 max, grip strength and standing broad jump distance was observed (P = 0.038). The overall mean Hb level was 122.2 g l(-1). In the two schools with the highest prevalence of STHs the Hb means were 119.7 and 120.5 g l(-1), respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: Intestinal parasite infections appear to have a small but significant negative effect on the physical fitness of infected children, as expressed by their maximal oxygen uptake. We observed a clear impact on anthropometric indicators
QED theory of the nuclear recoil effect on the atomic g factor
The quantum electrodynamic theory of the nuclear recoil effect on the atomic
g factor to all orders in \alpha Z and to first order in m/M is formulated. The
complete \alpha Z-dependence formula for the recoil correction to the
bound-electron g factor in a hydrogenlike atom is derived. This formula is used
to calculate the recoil correction to the bound-electron g factor in the order
(\alpha Z)^2 m/M for an arbitrary state of a hydrogenlike atom.Comment: 17 page
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