Semi-Analytical Solution for Solitary Waves in a Dissipative Suspension of Metallic Nanoparticles

Plasmonics - The semi-analytical solution for the soliton propagation in a suspension consisting of spherical metallic nanoparticles is studied. Considering the impact of imaginary part of...     

Imaginary Play in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Imaginary Play was studied in a group of five signing chimpanzees and it was found that chimpanzees engage in imaginary play similar to that found in human children. Fifteen hours of remote videotapes were analyzed for instances of imaginary play. Behaviors were defined as imaginary play by meeting a predetermined criteria which allowed them to be classified into one of six different categories of imaginary play. Six instances of imaginary play were found and these were classified into the two categories of Animation and Substitution. Observations of imaginary play in other research with chimpanzees were discussed.     

Light-induced dielectrophoretic manipulation of DNA

Light-induced dielectrophoretic movement of polystyrene beads and lambda-DNA is studied using thin films of amorphous hydrogenated silicon as local photoaddressable electrodes with a diameter of 4 microm. Positive (high-field seeking) dielectrophoretic movement is observed for both types of objects. The absence of strong negative (low-field seeking) dielectrophoresis of DNA at high frequencies is in agreement with the similarity of the dielectric constants of DNA and water, the real part of the dielectric function. The corresponding imaginary part of the dielectric function governed by the conductivity of DNA can be determined from a comparison of the frequency dependence of the dielectrophoretic drift velocity with the Clausius-Mossotti relation.     

Stability and Synchronization for Discrete-Time Complex-Valued Neural Networks with Time-Varying Delays

In this paper, the synchronization problem for a class of discrete-time complex-valued neural networks with time-varying delays is investigated. Compared with the previous work, the time delay and parameters are assumed to be time-varying. By separating the real part and imaginary part, the discrete-time model of complex-valued neural networks is derived. Moreover, by using the complex-valued Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional method and linear matrix inequality as tools, sufficient conditions of the synchronization stability are obtained. In numerical simulation, examples are presented to show the effectiveness of our method.     

Revenants That Cannot Be Shaken: Collective Fantasies in a Maroon Society

All societies possess and cherish group fantasies, programs of travels through imaginary space. Although such culturally shaped flights of the imagination influence collective behavior, they are neither an acknowledged part of public discourse nor coterminous with "implicit" or "covert" culture. Two strikingly different fantasies of Suriname's Maroons reveal the main dimensions of collective fantasies.     

Electron Landau damping in toroidal plasma with Solov’ev equilibrium

The contribution of untrapped and two groups of trapped particles to the longitudinal (with respect to the magnetic field) elements of the dielectric susceptibility is determined by solving the drift-kinetic equations for such particles in axisymmetric tokamaks with Solov’ev equilibrium. The obtained dielectric characteristics are applicable for studying linear wave processes in the frequency range of Alfvén and fast magnetosonic waves in small- and large-aspect-ratio tokamaks with circular, elliptical, and D-shaped cross sections of magnetic surfaces. The high-frequency power absorbed in plasma via electron Landau damping is estimated by summing up terms containing the imaginary parts of both diagonal and non-diagonal elements of the longitudinal susceptibility. The imaginary part of the longitudinal susceptibility is calculated numerically for spherical tokamaks in a wide range of wave frequencies and magnetic surface radii.     

Dielectric Properties Based Detection of Heavy Metal Contaminated Soil in the Frequency Range from 10 MHz to 1 GHz

Physical parameters based electromagnetic methods are promising technologies to detect contaminated sites. In these methods, the dielectric property is a key parameter. In this paper, we studied the dielectric characteristics of heavy metal contaminated soil. The chromium contaminated soil was made into samples, and the open-ended coaxial line was adopted as the measurement method. Experiments were conducted in the frequency band between 10 MHz and 1 GHz. The results showed that the complex permittivity, including the real part and the imaginary part, changes as the ionic content changes. Especially, at low frequencies (<50 MHz), the complex permittivity increases significantly with the increase of ionic content. In addition, it also could be seen that the water content of the soil also affects the complex permittivity. We proposed to adopt the drying method or the Time Domain Reflection method to determine the water content. The dielectric parameters are most affected by the ionic content after knowing the water content. Therefore, it is feasible to detect heavy metal contaminated sites based on dielectric properties.     

Reconstructing Coherent Networks from Electroencephalography and Magnetoencephalography with Reduced Contamination from Volume Conduction or Magnetic Field Spread

Volume conduction (VC) and magnetic field spread (MFS) induce spurious correlations between EEG/MEG sensors, such that the estimation of functional networks from scalp recordings is inaccurate. Imaginary coherency [1] reduces VC/MFS artefacts between sensors by assuming that instantaneous interactions are caused predominantly by VC/MFS and do not contribute to the imaginary part of the cross-spectral densities (CSDs). We propose an adaptation of the dynamic imaging of coherent sources (DICS) [2] - a method for reconstructing the CSDs between sources, and subsequently inferring functional connectivity based on coherences between those sources. Firstly, we reformulate the principle of imaginary coherency by performing an eigenvector decomposition of the imaginary part of the CSD to estimate the power that only contributes to the non-zero phase-lagged (NZPL) interactions. Secondly, we construct an NZPL-optimised spatial filter with two a priori assumptions: (1) that only NZPL interactions exist at the source level and (2) the NZPL CSD at the sensor level is a good approximation of the projected source NZPL CSDs. We compare the performance of the NZPL method to the standard method by reconstructing a coherent network from simulated EEG/MEG recordings. We demonstrate that, as long as there are phase differences between the sources, the NZPL method reliably detects the underlying networks from EEG and MEG. We show that the method is also robust to very small phase lags, noise from phase jitter, and is less sensitive to regularisation parameters. The method is applied to a human dataset to infer parts of a coherent network underpinning face recognition.     

EEG Classification of Different Imaginary Movements within the Same Limb

The task of discriminating the motor imagery of different movements within the same limb using electroencephalography (EEG) signals is challenging because these imaginary movements have close spatial representations on the motor cortex area. There is, however, a pressing need to succeed in this task. The reason is that the ability to classify different same-limb imaginary movements could increase the number of control dimensions of a brain-computer interface (BCI). In this paper, we propose a 3-class BCI system that discriminates EEG signals corresponding to rest, imaginary grasp movements, and imaginary elbow movements. Besides, the differences between simple motor imagery and goal-oriented motor imagery in terms of their topographical distributions and classification accuracies are also being investigated. To the best of our knowledge, both problems have not been explored in the literature. Based on the EEG data recorded from 12 able-bodied individuals, we have demonstrated that same-limb motor imagery classification is possible. For the binary classification of imaginary grasp and elbow (goal-oriented) movements, the average accuracy achieved is 66.9%. For the 3-class problem of discriminating rest against imaginary grasp and elbow movements, the average classification accuracy achieved is 60.7%, which is greater than the random classification accuracy of 33.3%. Our results also show that goal-oriented imaginary elbow movements lead to a better classification performance compared to simple imaginary elbow movements. This proposed BCI system could potentially be used in controlling a robotic rehabilitation system, which can assist stroke patients in performing task-specific exercises.     

Impedance of goat lens as a function of frequency at DC voltages 0, 50, 100, 200 mV

Impedance characteristics of lens tissue has been studied using the AC impedance system (EG&G PARC, model 318) at different low voltage excitations using a Cole-Cole Plot. The extracellular resistance (Re), intracellular resistance (Ri), depressed angle (theta), total impedance (/Z/), and phase angle (phi) of the tissue were measured. The impedance locus between the real part (Z') and imaginary part (Z') of the complex impedance of lens was examined at discrete frequencies ranging from 10 mHz to 10 Hz. A decrease in extra-cellular resistance (Re) and increase in distribution of the factor (alpha) of 56.8 KOmega, 48.1 KOmega, 32.8 KOmega, 13.4 KOmega, and 0.40, 0.43, 0.46, 0.53 were found at 0 mV, 50 mV, 100 mV, and 200 mV, respectively. The total impedance (/Z/) and phase angle (phi) were also evaluated and the observed frequency dependent for the frequency range was tested as a function of excitation voltage. An attempt has been made to explain the effect of voltage stress on lens impedance.     

Mechanical impedances of lungs and chest wall in the cat.

In nine anesthetized and paralyzed cats, the mechanical impedances of the total respiratory system (Zrs) and the lungs (ZL) were measured with small-volume pseudorandom forced oscillations between 0.2 and 20 Hz. ZL was measured after thoracotomy, and chest wall impedance (Zw) was calculated as Zw = Zrs-ZL. All impedances were determined by using input airflow [input impedance (Zi)] and output flow measured with a body box [transfer impedance (Zt)]. The differences between Zi and Zt were small for Zrs and negligible for ZL. At 0.2 Hz, the real and imaginary parts of ZL amounted to 33 +/- 4 and 35 +/- 3% (SD), respectively, of Zrs. Up to 8 Hz, all impedances were consistent with a model containing a frequency-independent resistance and inertance and a constant-phase tissue part (G-jH)/omega alpha, where G and H are coefficients for damping and elastance, respectively, omega is angular frequency, and alpha determines the frequency dependence of the real and imaginary parts. G/H was higher for Zw than for ZL (0.29 +/- 0.05 vs. 0.22 +/- 0.04, P less than 0.01). In four cats, the amplitude dependence of impedances was studied: between oscillation volumes of 0.8 and 3 ml, GL, HL, Gw, and Hw decreased on average by 3, 9, 26, and 29%, respectively, whereas the change in G/H was small for both ZL (7%) and Zw (-4%). The values of H were two to three times higher than the quasistatic elastances estimated with greater volume changes (greater than 20 ml).     

Yeast glycolytic oscillations that are not controlled by a single oscillophore: a new definition of oscillophore strength

Biochemical oscillations, such as glycolytic oscillations, are often believed to be caused by a single so-called ‘oscillophore’. The main characteristics of yeast glycolytic oscillations, such as frequency and amplitude, are however controlled by several enzymes. In this paper, we develop a method to quantify to which extent any enzyme determines the occurrence of oscillations. Principles extrapolated from metabolic control analysis are applied to calculate the control exerted by individual enzymes on the real and imaginary parts of the eigenvalues of the Jacobian matrix. We propose that the control exerted by an enzyme on the real part of the smallest eigenvalue, in terms of absolute value, quantifies to which extent that enzyme contributes to the emergence of instability. Likewise the control exerted by an enzyme on the imaginary part of complex eigenvalues may serve to quantify the extent to which that enzyme contributes to the tendency of the system to oscillate. The method was applied both to a core model and to a realistic model of yeast glycolytic oscillations. Both the control over stability and the control over oscillatory tendency were distributed among several enzymes, of which glucose transport, pyruvate decarboxylase and ATP utilization were the most important. The distributions of control were different for stability and oscillatory tendency, showing that control of instability does not imply control of oscillatory tendency nor vice versa. The control coefficients summed up to 1, suggesting the existence of a new summation theorem. These results constitute proof that glycolytic oscillations in yeast are not caused by a single oscillophore and provide a new, subtle, definition for the oscillophore strength of an enzyme.     

Influence of vegetation on acoustic properties of soils

Possible influences of vegetation on acoustically relevant soil parameters, such as porosity and soil structure, were considered. In situ measurements of sound interference patterns were performed in seven plant communities by means of an inclined track method. Normal acoustical specific impedances were calculated with a plane wave outdoor sound propagation model. The impedances found generally showed a real part constant with frequency, and an imaginary part decreasing with frequency. It is concluded that forest floors have an acoustically detectable layer structure and that, for purposes of modelling of outdoor sound fields, much lower impedances have to be used than for institutional grass.     

Study of cortico-cortical functional connectivity with vector autoregressive model of multichannel EEG

This review focuses on some practical issues of using vector autoregressive model (VAR) for multichannel EEG analysis. Those issues include: EEG preprocessing, checking if the necessary conditions of VAR model applicability are met, optimal order selection, and assessment of the validity of fitted VAR model. Both non-directed (ordinary coherence and imaginary part of the complex-valued coherency) and directed (directed coherence, directed transfer function and partial directed coherence) measures of the strength of inter-channel coupling are discussed. These measures are analyzed with respect to their properties (scale invariance) and known problems in using them (spurious interactions, volume conduction).     

Complex permittivity of representative biological solutions in the 2–67 GHz range

The main purpose of this study is to provide experimental data on the complex permittivity of some biological solutions in the 2–67 GHz range at room and human body temperatures. The permittivity measurements are performed using an open‐ended coaxial probe. Permittivity spectra of several representative monomolecular solutions of proteins, amino acids, nucleic acids, and carbohydrates are analyzed and compared. Furthermore, measurements have also been performed for complex biomolecular solutions, including bovine serum albumin (BSA)–DNA–glucose mixture, culture medium, and yeast extract solution. The results demonstrate that for concentrations below 1%, the permittivity spectra of the solutions do not substantially differ from that of distilled water. Measurements carried out for 4% and 20% BSA solutions show that the presence of proteins results in a decrease in permittivity. For highly concentrated RNA solutions (3%), a slight increase in the imaginary part of the permittivity is observed below 10 GHz. Experimental data show that free water permittivity can be used for modeling of the culture medium above 10 GHz. However, at lower frequencies a substantial increase in the imaginary part of the permittivity due to ionic conductivity should be carefully taken into account. A similar increase has also been observed for the yeast extract solution in the lower frequency region of the considered spectrum. Above 10 GHz, the high concentration of proteins and other low‐permittivity components of the yeast extract solution results in a decrease in the complex permittivity compared to that of water. Obtained data are of utmost importance for millimeter‐wave dosimetry studies. Bioelectromagnetics 33:346–355, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Immunodetection of bacteriophages by a piezoelectric resonator with lateral electric field

It has been demonstrated that electroacoustic analysis with polyclonal antibodies can be used for bacteriophage detection. The frequency dependences of the real and imaginary parts of electrical impedance of a resonator with a viral suspension with antibodies were shown to be essentially different from the dependences of a resonator with control viral suspension without antibodies. It was shown that ΦAl-Sp59b bacteriophages were detected with the use of antibodies in the presence of foreign virus particles. The ΦAl-Sp59b bacteriophage content in the analyzed suspension was ~10¹⁰–10⁶ phages/mL; the time of analysis was no more than 5 min. The optimally informative parameter for obtaining reliable information was the change in the real or imaginary part of electrical impedance at a fixed frequency near the resonance upon the addition of specific antibodies to the analyzed suspension. It was demonstrated that the interaction between bacteriophages and antibodies can be recorded, offering good prospects for the development of a biological sensor for liquid-phase identification and virus detection.     

Hydromagnetic modes in an inhomogeneous collisionless plasma of finite pressure

The spatial structure and growth rate of hydromagnetic waves with frequencies are considered in a one-dimensional model. It is shown that the wave under consideration is an Alfvén mode modified by the inhomogeneity and anisotropy of the plasma and its finite pressure. Because of these factors, the magnetic field lines oscillate differently in the radial and azimuthal directions and the wave frequency depends on the radial wavenumber. There may be two types of mode structure in the direction across the magnetic shells. When the magnetospheric parameters vary monotonically along the radial coordinate, the mode propagates across the magnetic field lines; because of its resonance with high-energy particles, the radial wavenumber acquires a nonzero imaginary part, which vanishes at the Alfvén resonance surface. In the magnetospheric regions where the main plasma parameters (density or pressure) reach their extreme values, the mode is a standing wave in a direction transverse to the magnetic field lines. In this case, because of the instability, the eigen-frequency of the cavity has a nonzero imaginary part. Under certain, very specific conditions, there can exist drift-mirror waves in the magnetosphere. Such conditions, however, are unlikely to occur in reality. In terms of the modes to be described, it is possible to explain some types of oscillations of the geomagnetic field.     

Effect of low voltage on electrical properties of eye lens

In the present study, the Cole-cole plot of lens tissue has been drawn using AC impedance system (EG and G PARC Model 318) in the frequency range 10 mHz to 10 Hz at low voltage stress. The impedus locus between real part (Z') and imaginary part (Z") of complex impedance of lens was examined. Results showed that the extracellular resistance (Re), distribution factor (alpha) and depressed angle (theta) were significantly varied at experimental low voltages. An attempt has been made to explain the electrical data of voltage-tissue interaction on the basis of solid state biophysics.     

Flexible nonlinear blind signal separation in the complex domain

This paper introduces an Independent Component Analysis (ICA) approach to the separation of nonlinear mixtures in the complex domain. Source separation is performed by a complex INFOMAX approach. The neural network which realizes the separation employs the so called "Mirror Model" and is based on adaptive activation functions, whose shape is properly modified during learning. Nonlinear functions involved in the processing of complex signals are realized by pairs of spline neurons called "splitting functions", working on the real and the imaginary part of the signal respectively. Theoretical proof of existence and uniqueness of the solution under proper assumptions is also provided. In particular a simple adaptation algorithm is derived and some experimental results that demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed solution are shown.     

Revisiting Special Relativity: A Natural Algebraic Alternative to Minkowski Spacetime

Minkowski famously introduced the concept of a space-time continuum in 1908, merging the three dimensions of space with an imaginary time dimension , with the unit imaginary producing the correct spacetime distance , and the results of Einstein’s then recently developed theory of special relativity, thus providing an explanation for Einstein’s theory in terms of the structure of space and time. As an alternative to a planar Minkowski space-time of two space dimensions and one time dimension, we replace the unit imaginary , with the Clifford bivector for the plane that also squares to minus one, but which can be included without the addition of an extra dimension, as it is an integral part of the real Cartesian plane with the orthonormal basis and . We find that with this model of planar spacetime, using a two-dimensional Clifford multivector, the spacetime metric and the Lorentz transformations follow immediately as properties of the algebra. This also leads to momentum and energy being represented as components of a multivector and we give a new efficient derivation of Compton’s scattering formula, and a simple formulation of Dirac’s and Maxwell’s equations. Based on the mathematical structure of the multivector, we produce a semi-classical model of massive particles, which can then be viewed as the origin of the Minkowski spacetime structure and thus a deeper explanation for relativistic effects. We also find a new perspective on the nature of time, which is now given a precise mathematical definition as the bivector of the plane.