Single molecule experiments in biophysics: exploring the thermal behavior of nonequilibrium small systems

Biomolecules carry out very specialized tasks inside the cell where energies involved are few tens of k_BT, small enough for thermal fluctuations to be relevant in many biomolecular processes. In this paper I discuss a few concepts and present some experimental results that show how the study of fluctuation theorems applied to biomolecules contributes to our understanding of the nonequilibrium thermal behavior of small systems.Comment: Proceedings of the 22nd Statphys Conference 2004 (Bangalore,India). Invited contributio

Optimal financial structure, bankruptcy risk and the right to a new beginning

Starting from the need to optimize the financial structure of the enterprise, the article aims to review a few concepts related to financial structure and bankruptcy risk, the presentation of the bankruptcy risk analysis based on assets balance sheet, liquidity ratios and last, but not least, scoring method. It also presents some points of view regarding the current economic crisis and the evolution of national and international level approaches about bankruptcy and the risk of bankruptcy.financial structure, bankruptcy risk, liquidity ratios

Does Lawfare Need an Apologia?

Few concepts in international law are more controversial than lawfare. This essay contends that lawfare is best appreciated in the context of its original meaning as ideologically neutral description of how law might be used in armed conflict. It emphasizes that although law may be manipulated by some belligerents for nefarious purposes, it can still serve to limit human suffering in war. In discussing the current state of the concept of lawfare, the essay reviews several contentious areas, and recognizes the concerns of critics. The paper concludes that lawfare is still a useful term, and is optimized when it is employed consistent with its original purpose of communicating to non-specialists how law might be used as a positive good in modern war as a substitute for traditional arms

Invitation to the "Spooky" Quantum Phase-Locking Effect and its Link to 1/F Fluctuations

An overview of the concept of phase-locking at the non linear, geometric and quantum level is attempted, in relation to finite resolution measurements in a communication receiver and its 1/f noise. Sine functions, automorphic functions and cyclotomic arithmetic are respectively used as the relevant trigonometric tools. The common point of the three topics is found to be the Mangoldt function of prime number theory as the generator of low frequency noise in the coupling coefficient, the scattering coefficient and in quantum critical statistical states. Huyghens coupled pendulums, the Adler equation, the Arnold map, continued fraction expansions, discrete Mobius transformations, Ford circles, coherent and squeezed phase states, Ramanujan sums, the Riemann zeta function and Bost and Connes KMS states are some but a few concepts which are used synchronously in the paper.Comment: submitted to the journal: Fluctuation and Noise Letters, March 13, 200