78,902 research outputs found
A numerical study of the development of bulk scale-free structures upon growth of self-affine aggregates
During the last decade, self-affine geometrical properties of many growing
aggregates, originated in a wide variety of processes, have been well
characterized. However, little progress has been achieved in the search of a
unified description of the underlying dynamics. Extensive numerical evidence
has been given showing that the bulk of aggregates formed upon ballistic
aggregation and random deposition with surface relaxation processes can be
broken down into a set of infinite scale invariant structures called "trees".
These two types of aggregates have been selected because it has been
established that they belong to different universality classes: those of
Kardar-Parisi-Zhang and Edward-Wilkinson, respectively. Exponents describing
the spatial and temporal scale invariance of the trees can be related to the
classical exponents describing the self-affine nature of the growing interface.
Furthermore, those exponents allows us to distinguish either the compact or
non-compact nature of the growing trees. Therefore, the measurement of the
statistic of the process of growing trees may become a useful experimental
technique for the evaluation of the self-affine properties of some aggregates.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.
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Gas Biosensor Arrays Based on Single-Stranded DNA-Functionalized Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes for the Detection of Volatile Organic Compound Biomarkers Released by Huanglongbing Disease-Infected Citrus Trees.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released by plants are closely associated with plant metabolism and can serve as biomarkers for disease diagnosis. Huanglongbing (HLB), also known as citrus greening or yellow shoot disease, is a lethal threat to the multi-billion-dollar citrus industry. Early detection of HLB is vital for removal of susceptible citrus trees and containment of the disease. Gas sensors are applied to monitor the air quality or toxic gases owing to their low-cost fabrication, smooth operation, and possible miniaturization. Here, we report on the development, characterization, and application of electrical biosensor arrays based on single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) decorated with single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) for the detection of four VOCs-ethylhexanol, linalool, tetradecene, and phenylacetaldehyde-that serve as secondary biomarkers for detection of infected citrus trees during the asymptomatic stage. SWNTs were noncovalently functionalized with ssDNA using π-π interaction between the nucleotide and sidewall of SWNTs. The resulting ssDNA-SWNT hybrid structure and device properties were investigated using Raman spectroscopy, ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy, and electrical measurements. To monitor changes in the four VOCs, gas biosensor arrays consisting of bare SWNTs before and after being decorated with different ssDNA were employed to determine the different concentrations of the four VOCs. The data was processed using principal component analysis (PCA) and neural net fitting (NNF)
Rank Statistics in Biological Evolution
We present a statistical analysis of biological evolution processes.
Specifically, we study the stochastic replication-mutation-death model where
the population of a species may grow or shrink by birth or death, respectively,
and additionally, mutations lead to the creation of new species. We rank the
various species by the chronological order by which they originate. The average
population N_k of the kth species decays algebraically with rank, N_k ~ M^{mu}
k^{-mu}, where M is the average total population. The characteristic exponent
mu=(alpha-gamma)/(alpha+beta-gamma)$ depends on alpha, beta, and gamma, the
replication, mutation, and death rates. Furthermore, the average population P_k
of all descendants of the kth species has a universal algebraic behavior, P_k ~
M/k.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
A characterization of trees with equal 2-domination and 2-independence numbers
A set of vertices in a graph is a -dominating set if every vertex
of not in is adjacent to at least two vertices in , and is a
-independent set if every vertex in is adjacent to at most one vertex of
. The -domination number is the minimum cardinality of a
-dominating set in , and the -independence number is the
maximum cardinality of a -independent set in . Chellali and Meddah [{\it
Trees with equal -domination and -independence numbers,} Discussiones
Mathematicae Graph Theory 32 (2012), 263--270] provided a constructive
characterization of trees with equal -domination and -independence
numbers. Their characterization is in terms of global properties of a tree, and
involves properties of minimum -dominating and maximum -independent sets
in the tree at each stage of the construction. We provide a constructive
characterization that relies only on local properties of the tree at each stage
of the construction.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figure
Molecular Genetic Diversity Study of Forest Coffee Tree (Coffea arabica L.) Populations in Ethiopia: Implications for Conservation and Breeding
Coffee provides one of the most widely drunk beverages in the world, and is a very important source of foreign exchange income for many countries. Coffea arabica, which contributes over 70 percent of the world's coffee productions, is characterized by a low genetic diversity, attributed to its allopolyploidy origin, reproductive biology and evolution. C. arabica has originated in the southwest rain forests of Ethiopia, where it is grown under four different systems, namely forest coffee, small holders coffee, semi plantation coffee and plantation coffee. Genetic diversity of the forest coffee (C. arabica) gene pool in Ethiopia is being lost at an alarming rate because of habitat destruction (deforestation), competition from other cash crops and replacement by invariable disease resistant coffee cultivars. This study focused on molecular genetic diversity study of forest coffee populations in Ethiopia using PCR based DNA markers such as random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), inverse sequence-tagged repeat (ISTR), inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) or microsatellites. The objectives of the study are to estimate the extent and distribution of molecular genetic diversity of forest coffee and to design conservation strategies for it’s sustainable use in future coffee breeding. In this study, considerable samples of forest coffee collected from four coffee growing regions (provinces) of Ethiopia were analysed. The results indicate that moderate genetic diversity exists within and among few forest coffee populations, which need due attention from a conservation and breeding point of view. The cluster analysis revealed that most of the samples from the same region (province) were grouped together which could be attributed to presence of substantial gene flow between adjacent populations in each region in the form of young coffee plants through transplantation by man. In addition wild animals such as monkeys also play a significant role in coffee trees gene flow between adjacent populations. The overall variation of the forest coffee is found to reside in few populations from each region. Therefore, considering few populations from each region for either in situ or ex situ conservation may preserve most of the variation within the species. For instance, Welega-2, Ilubabor-2, Jima-2 and Bench Maji-2 populations should be given higher priority. In addition, some populations or genotypes have displayed unique amplification profiles particularly for RAPD and ISTR markers. Whether these unique bands are linked to any of the important agronomic traits and serve in marker assisted selections in future coffee breeding requires further investigations
On two unimodal descent polynomials
The descent polynomials of separable permutations and derangements are both
demonstrated to be unimodal. Moreover, we prove that the -coefficients
of the first are positive with an interpretation parallel to the classical
Eulerian polynomial, while the second is spiral, a property stronger than
unimodality. Furthermore, we conjecture that they are both real-rooted.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure
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