493 research outputs found
Erratum to ?Cell directional persistence and chemotaxis in vascular morphogenesis? [Bull. Math. Biol. 66 (2004) 1851?1873]
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Gravitational Geons in 1+1 Dimensions
It is well known that general relativity does not admit gravitational geons
that are stationary, asymptotically flat, singularity free and topologically
trivial. However, it is likely that general relativity will receive corrections
at large curvatures and the modified field equations may admit solutions
corresponding to this type of geon. If geons are produced in the early universe
and survive until today they could account for some of the dark matter that has
been "observed" in galaxies and galactic clusters.
In this paper I consider gravitational geons in 1+1 dimensional theories of
gravity. I show that the Jackiw-Teitelboim theory with corrections proportional
to and admits gravitational geons. I also show that
gravitational geons exist in a class of theories that includes Lagrangians
proportional to .Comment: 8 pages, a comment added, two references corrected, to appear in
Classical and Quantum Gravit
Complex interplay of evolutionary forces shaping population genomic structure of invasive Aedes albopictus in Southern Europe
Abstract
Background
In the last four decades, the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, vector of several human arboviruses, has spread from its native range in South-East Asia to all over the world, largely through the transportation of its eggs via the international trade in used tires. Albania was the first country invaded in Europe in 1979, followed by Italy in 1990 and other Mediterranean countries after 2000.
Methods/Principal findings
We here inferred the invasion history and migration patterns of Ae. albopictus in Italy (today the most heavily-infested country in Europe), Greece and Albania, by analyzing a panel of >100,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) obtained by sequencing of double-digest Restriction site-Associated DNA (ddRADseq). The obtained dataset was combined with samples previously analyzed from both the native and invasive range worldwide to interpret the results using a broader spatial and historical context. The emerging evolutionary scenario complements the results of other studies in showing that the extraordinary worldwide expansion of Ae. albopictus has occurred thanks to multiple independent invasions by large numbers of colonists from multiple geographic locations in both native and previously invaded areas, consistently with the role of used tires shipments to move large numbers of eggs worldwide. By analyzing mosquitoes from nine sites across ~1,000-km transect in Italy, we were able to detect a complex interplay of drift, isolation by distance mediated divergence, and gene flow in shaping the species very recent invasion and range expansion, suggesting overall high connectivity, likely due to passive transportation of adults via ground transportation, as well as specific adaptations to local conditions.
Conclusions/Significance
Results contribute to characterize one of the most successful histories of animal invasion, and could be used as a baseline for future studies to track epidemiologically relevant characters (e.g. insecticide resistance)
Rhomboid-like-2 intramembrane protease mediates metalloprotease-independent regulation of cadherins
Gravitational Geons on the Brane
In this paper, we examine the possibility of static, spherically symmetric
gravitational geons on a 3 dimensional brane embedded in a 4+1 dimensional
space-time. We choose a specific g_tt for the brane-world space-time metric. We
then calculate g_rr analytically in the weak field limit and numerically for
stronger fields. We show that the induced field equations on the brane do admit
gravitational geon solutions.Comment: 14 pages with 9 figures. To appear in General Relativity and
Gravitatio
Optimality in Self-Organized Molecular Sorting
We introduce a simple physical picture to explain the process of molecular sorting, whereby specific proteins are concentrated and distilled into submicrometric lipid vesicles in eukaryotic cells. To this purpose, we formulate a model based on the coupling of spontaneous molecular aggregation with vesicle nucleation. Its implications are studied by means of a phenomenological theory describing the diffusion of molecules toward multiple sorting centers that grow due to molecule absorption and are extracted when they reach a sufficiently large size. The predictions of the theory are compared with numerical simulations of a lattice-gas realization of the model and with experimental observations. The efficiency of the distillation process is found to be optimal for intermediate aggregation rates, where the density of sorted molecules is minimal and the process obeys simple scaling laws. Quantitative measures of endocytic sorting performed in primary endothelial cells are compatible with the hypothesis that these optimal conditions are realized in living cells
Percolation, Morphogenesis, and Burgers Dynamics in Blood Vessels Formation
Experiments of in vitro formation of blood vessels show that cells randomly
spread on a gel matrix autonomously organize to form a connected vascular
network. We propose a simple model which reproduces many features of the
biological system. We show that both the model and the real system exhibit a
fractal behavior at small scales, due to the process of migration and dynamical
aggregation, followed at large scale by a random percolation behavior due to
the coalescence of aggregates. The results are in good agreement with the
analysis performed on the experimental data.Comment: 4 pages, 11 eps figure
FLUKA cross sections for cosmic-ray interactions with the DRAGON2 code
Secondary particles produced in spallation reactions of cosmic rays with the interstellar gas provide valuable information that allow us to investigate the injection and transport of charged particles in the Galaxy. A good understanding of the cross sections of production of these particles is crucial to correctly interpret our models, although the existing experimental data is very scarce and uncertain. We have developed a new set of cross sections, both inelastic and inclusive, computed with the FLUKA Monte Carlo nuclear code and tested its compatibility with CR data. Inelastic and inclusive cross sections have been compared to the most up-to-date data and parameterisations finding a general good agreement. Then, these cross sections have been implemented in the DRAGON2 code to characterize the spectra of CR nuclei up to Z = 26 and the secondary-to-primary ratios of B, Be and Li. Interestingly, we find that the FLUKA cross sections allow us to predict an energy-dependence of the B, Be and Li flux ratios which is compatible with AMS-02 data and to reproduce simultaneously these flux ratios with a scaling lower than 20%. Finally, we implement the cross sections of production of gamma rays, calculated with FLUKA, in the Gammasky code and compute diffuse gamma-ray sky maps and the local HI emissivity spectrum, finding a very good agreement with Fermi Large Area Telescope data
FLUKA cross sections for cosmic-ray interactions with the DRAGON2 code
Secondary particles produced in spallation reactions of cosmic rays with the interstellar gas provide valuable information that allow us to investigate the injection and transport of charged particles in the Galaxy. A good understanding of the cross sections of production of these particles is crucial to correctly interpret our models, although the existing experimental data is very scarce and uncertain. We have developed a new set of cross sections, both inelastic and inclusive, computed with the FLUKA Monte Carlo nuclear code and tested its compatibility with CR data. Inelastic and inclusive cross sections have been compared to the most up-to-date data and parameterisations finding a general good agreement. Then, these cross sections have been implemented in the DRAGON2 code to characterize the spectra of CR nuclei up to Z = 26 and the secondary-to-primary ratios of B, Be and Li. Interestingly, we find that the FLUKA cross sections allow us to predict an energy-dependence of the B, Be and Li flux ratios which is compatible with AMS-02 data and to reproduce simultaneously these flux ratios with a scaling lower than 20%. Finally, we implement the cross sections of production of gamma rays, calculated with FLUKA, in the Gammasky code and compute diffuse gamma-ray sky maps and the local HI emissivity spectrum, finding a very good agreement with Fermi Large Area Telescope data
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