29,234 research outputs found
A hierarchy of models for simulating experimental results from a 3D heterogeneous porous medium
In this work we examine the dispersion of conservative tracers (bromide and
fluorescein) in an experimentally-constructed three-dimensional dual-porosity
porous medium. The medium is highly heterogeneous (), and
consists of spherical, low-hydraulic-conductivity inclusions embedded in a
high-hydraulic-conductivity matrix. The bi-modal medium was saturated with
tracers, and then flushed with tracer-free fluid while the effluent
breakthrough curves were measured. The focus for this work is to examine a
hierarchy of four models (in the absence of adjustable parameters) with
decreasing complexity to assess their ability to accurately represent the
measured breakthrough curves. The most information-rich model was (1) a direct
numerical simulation of the system in which the geometry, boundary and initial
conditions, and medium properties were fully independently characterized
experimentally with high fidelity. The reduced models included; (2) a
simplified numerical model identical to the fully-resolved direct numerical
simulation (DNS) model, but using a domain that was one-tenth the size; (3) an
upscaled mobile-immobile model that allowed for a time-dependent mass-transfer
coefficient; and, (4) an upscaled mobile-immobile model that assumed a
space-time constant mass-transfer coefficient. The results illustrated that all
four models provided accurate representations of the experimental breakthrough
curves as measured by global RMS error. The primary component of error induced
in the upscaled models appeared to arise from the neglect of convection within
the inclusions. Interestingly, these results suggested that the conventional
convection-dispersion equation, when applied in a way that resolves the
heterogeneities, yields models with high fidelity without requiring the
imposition of a more complex non-Fickian model.Comment: 27 pages, 9 Figure
The sodium-potassium pump controls the intrinsic firing of the cerebellar Purkinje neuron
In vitro, cerebellar Purkinje cells can intrinsically fire action potentials in a repeating trimodal or bimodal pattern. The trimodal pattern consists of tonic spiking, bursting, and quiescence. The bimodal pattern consists of tonic spiking and quiescence. It is unclear how these firing patterns are generated and what determines which firing pattern is selected. We have constructed a realistic biophysical Purkinje cell model that can replicate these patterns. In this model, Na+/K+ pump activity sets the Purkinje cell's operating mode. From rat cerebellar slices we present Purkinje whole cell recordings in the presence of ouabain, which irreversibly blocks the Na+/K+ pump. The model can replicate these recordings. We propose that Na+/K+ pump activity controls the intrinsic firing mode of cerbellar Purkinje cells
Solvent fluctuations induce non-Markovian kinetics in hydrophobic pocket-ligand binding
We investigate the impact of water fluctuations on the key-lock association
kinetics of a hydrophobic ligand (key) binding to a hydrophobic pocket (lock)
by means of a minimalistic stochastic model system. It describes the collective
hydration behavior of the pocket by bimodal fluctuations of a water-pocket
interface that dynamically couples to the diffusive motion of the approaching
ligand via the hydrophobic interaction. This leads to a set of overdamped
Langevin equations in 2D-coordinate-space, that is Markovian in each dimension.
Numerical simulations demonstrate locally increased friction of the ligand,
decelerated binding kinetics, and local non-Markovian (memory) effects in the
ligand's reaction coordinate as found previously in explicit-water molecular
dynamics studies of model hydrophobic pocket-ligand binding [1,2]. Our
minimalistic model elucidates the origin of effectively enhanced friction in
the process that can be traced back to long-time decays in the
force-autocorrelation function induced by the effective, spatially fluctuating
pocket-ligand interaction. Furthermore, we construct a generalized 1D-Langevin
description including a spatially local memory function that enables further
interpretation and a semi-analytical quantification of the results of the
coupled 2D-system
Velocity map imaging of the dynamics of the CH3 + HCl -> CH4 + Cl reaction using a dual molecular beam method
International audienceThe reactions CH3 + HCl → CH4 + Cl(<sup>2</sup>P<sub>3/2</sub>) and CD<sub>3</sub> + HCl → CD<sub>3</sub>H + Cl(<sup>2</sup>P<sub>3/2</sub>) have been studied by photo-initiation (by CH<sub>3</sub>I or CD<sub>3</sub>I photolysis at 266 nm) in a dual molecular beam apparatus. Product Cl(<sup>2</sup>P</sub>3/2</sub>) atoms were detected using resonance enhanced multi-photon ionisation and velocity map imaging, revealing product translational energy and angular scattering distributions in the centre-of-mass frame. Image analysis is complicated by the bimodal speed distribution of CH<sub>3</sub> (and CD<sub>3</sub>) radicals formed in coincidence with I(<sup>2</sup>P<sub>3/2</sub>) and I(<sup>2</sup>P<sub>1/2</sub>) atoms from CH<sub>3</sub>I (CD<sub>3</sub>I) photodissociation, giving overlapping Newton diagrams with displaced centre of mass velocities. The relative reactivities to form Cl atoms are greater for the slower CH<sub>3</sub> speed group than the faster group by factors of ~1.5 for the reaction of CH<sub>3</sub> and ~2.5 for the reaction of CD<sub>3</sub>, consistent with the greater propensity of the faster methyl radicals to undergo electronically adiabatic reactions to form Cl(<sup>2</sup>P<sub>1/2</sub>). The average fraction of the available energy becoming product translational energy is = 0.48 ± 0.05 and 0.50 ± 0.03 for reaction of the faster and slower sets of CH<sub>3</sub> radicals, respectively. The Cl atoms are deduced to be preferentially forward scattered with respect to the HCl reagents, but the angular distributions from the dual beam imaging experiments require correction for under-detection of forward scattered Cl products
Re-defining the Empirical ZZ Ceti Instability Strip
We use the new ZZ Ceti stars (hydrogen atmosphere white dwarf variables;
DAVs) discovered within the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (Mukadam et al. 2004) to
re-define the empirical ZZ Ceti instability strip. This is the first time since
the discovery of white dwarf variables in 1968 that we have a homogeneous set
of spectra acquired using the same instrument on the same telescope, and with
consistent data reductions, for a statistically significant sample of ZZ Ceti
stars. The homogeneity of the spectra reduces the scatter in the spectroscopic
temperatures and we find a narrow instability strip of width ~950K, from
10850--11800K. We question the purity of the DAV instability strip as we find
several non-variables within. We present our best fit for the red edge and our
constraint for the blue edge of the instability strip, determined using a
statistical approach.Comment: 14 pages, 5 pages, ApJ paper, accepte
Generating functionals for computational intelligence: the Fisher information as an objective function for self-limiting Hebbian learning rules
Generating functionals may guide the evolution of a dynamical system and
constitute a possible route for handling the complexity of neural networks as
relevant for computational intelligence. We propose and explore a new objective
function, which allows to obtain plasticity rules for the afferent synaptic
weights. The adaption rules are Hebbian, self-limiting, and result from the
minimization of the Fisher information with respect to the synaptic flux. We
perform a series of simulations examining the behavior of the new learning
rules in various circumstances. The vector of synaptic weights aligns with the
principal direction of input activities, whenever one is present. A linear
discrimination is performed when there are two or more principal directions;
directions having bimodal firing-rate distributions, being characterized by a
negative excess kurtosis, are preferred. We find robust performance and full
homeostatic adaption of the synaptic weights results as a by-product of the
synaptic flux minimization. This self-limiting behavior allows for stable
online learning for arbitrary durations. The neuron acquires new information
when the statistics of input activities is changed at a certain point of the
simulation, showing however, a distinct resilience to unlearn previously
acquired knowledge. Learning is fast when starting with randomly drawn synaptic
weights and substantially slower when the synaptic weights are already fully
adapted
Non-vanishing boundary effects and quasi-first order phase transitions in high dimensional Ising models
In order to gain a better understanding of the Ising model in higher
dimensions we have made a comparative study of how the boundary, open versus
cyclic, of a d-dimensional simple lattice, for d=1,...,5, affects the behaviour
of the specific heat C and its microcanonical relative, the entropy derivative
-dS/dU. In dimensions 4 and 5 the boundary has a strong effect on the critical
region of the model and for cyclic boundaries in dimension 5 we find that the
model displays a quasi first order phase transition with a bimodal energy
distribution. The latent heat decreases with increasing systems size but for
all system sizes used in earlier papers the effect is clearly visible once a
wide enough range of values for K is considered. Relations to recent rigorous
results for high dimensional percolation and previous debates on simulation of
Ising models and gauge fields are discussed.Comment: 12 pages, 27 figure
Folding thermodynamics of model four-strand antiparallel beta-sheet proteins
The thermodynamic properties for three different types of off-lattice
four-strand beta-sheet protein models interacting via a hybrid Go-type
potential have been investigated. Discontinuous molecular dynamic simulations
have been performed for different sizes of the bias gap g, an artificial
measure of a model protein's preference for its native state. The thermodynamic
transition temperatures are obtained by calculating the squared radius of
gyration, the root-mean-squared pair separation fluctuation, the specific heat,
the internal energy of the system, and the Lindemann disorder parameter. In
spite of the simplicity, the protein-like heteropolymers have shown a complex
set of protein transitions as observed in experimental studies. Starting from
high temperature, these transitions include a collapse transition, a
disordered-to-ordered globule transition, a folding transition, and a
liquid-to-solid transition. These transitions strongly depend on the
native-state geometry of the model proteins and the size of the bias gap. A
strong transition from the disordered globule state to the ordered globule
state with large energy change and a weak transition from the ordered globule
state to the native state with small energy change were observed for the large
gap models. For the small gap models no native structures were observed at any
temperature, all three beta-sheet proteins fold into a partially-ordered
globule state which is geometrically different from the native state. For small
bias gaps at even lower temperatures, all protein motions are frozen indicating
an inactive solid-like phase.Comment: PDF file, 32 pages including 13 figure page
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