2,624 research outputs found
Giant adsorption of microswimmers: duality of shape asymmetry and wall curvature
The effect of shape asymmetry of microswimmers on their adsorption capacity
at confining channel walls is studied by a simple dumbbell model. For a shape
polarity of a forward-swimming cone, like the stroke-averaged shape of a sperm,
extremely long wall retention times are found, caused by a non-vanishing
component of the propulsion force pointing steadily into the wall, which grows
exponentially with the self-propulsion velocity and the shape asymmetry. A
direct duality relation between shape asymmetry and wall curvature is proposed
and verified. Our results are relevant for the design microswimmer with
controlled wall-adhesion properties. In addition, we confirm that pressure in
active systems is strongly sensitive to the details of the particle-wall
interactions.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure
Cooperative Motion of Active Brownian Spheres in Three-Dimensional Dense Suspensions
The structural and dynamical properties of suspensions of self-propelled
Brownian particles of spherical shape are investigated in three spatial
dimensions. Our simulations reveal a phase separation into a dilute and a dense
phase, above a certain density and strength of self-propulsion. The packing
fraction of the dense phase approaches random close packing at high activity,
yet the system remains fluid. Although no alignment mechanism exists in this
model, we find long-lived cooperative motion of the particles in the dense
regime. This behavior is probably due to an interface-induced sorting process.
Spatial displacement correlation functions are nearly scale-free for systems
with densities close to or above the glass transition density of passive
systems.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure
THE FINANCIAL POSITION OF SOUTH AFRICAN AGRICULTURE
The agricultural sector in South Africa is subjected to major changes due to a simultaneous influence of external and internal forces after the political changes in South Africa and its opening to the rest of the world. The external forces are mostly linked to increasing globalisation including a changing internal trade regime. Internal forces have to do with the liberalisation of agriculture and for example the changing role of government with respect to the provision of financial services. This paper indicates the effect of these influences on the financial position of the farming sector and provides a point of departure for the monitoring of future trends. It further indicates the strategies followed by farmers to counter the negative trends experienced. It is a component of a much broader study on the agricultural finance situation in South Africa.Agricultural Finance,
Should I Care about Your Opinion? : Detection of Opinion Interestingness and Dynamics in Social Media
In this paper, we describe a set of reusable text processing components for extracting opinionated information from social media, rating it for interestingness, and for detecting opinion events. We have developed applications in GATE to extract named entities, terms and events and to detect opinions about them, which are then used as the starting point for opinion event detection. The opinions are then aggregated over larger sections of text, to give some overall sentiment about topics and documents, and also some degree of information about interestingness based on opinion diversity. We go beyond traditional opinion mining techniques in a number of ways: by focusing on specific opinion-target extraction related to key terms and events, by examining and dealing with a number of specific linguistic phenomena, by analysing and visualising opinion dynamics over time, and by aggregating the opinions in different ways for a more flexible view of the information contained in the documents.EU/27023
Towards Picogram Detection of Superparamagnetic Iron-Oxide Particles Using a Gradiometric Receive Coil
Superparamagnetic iron-oxide nanoparticles can be used in a variety of
medical applications like vascular or targeted imaging. Magnetic particle
imaging (MPI) is a promising tomographic imaging technique that allows
visualizing the 3D nanoparticle distribution concentration in a non-invasive
manner. The two main strengths of MPI are high temporal resolution and high
sensitivity. While the first has been proven in the assessment of dynamic
processes like cardiac imaging, it is unknown how far the detection limit of
MPI can be lowered. Within this work, we will present a highly sensitive
gradiometric receive-coil unit combined with a noise-matching network tailored
for the measurement of mice. The setup is capable of detecting 5 ng of iron in
vitro at 2.14 sec acquisition time. In terms of iron concentration we are able
to detect 156 {\mu}g/L marking the lowest value that has been reported for an
MPI scanner so far. In vivo MPI mouse images of a 512 ng bolus at 21.5 ms
acquisition time allow for capturing the flow of an intravenously injected
tracer through the heart of a mouse. Since it has been rather difficult to
compare detection limits across MPI publications we propose guidelines
improving the comparability of future MPI studies.Comment: 15 Pages, 7 Figures, V2: Changed the initials of Author Kannan M
Krishnan, added two citations, corrected typo
Quantitative and qualitative estimation of atherosclerotic plaque burden in vivo at 7T MRI using Gadospin F in comparison to en face preparation evaluated in ApoE KO
Background The aim of the study was to quantify atherosclerotic plaque burden
by volumetric assessment and T1 relaxivity measurement at 7T MRI using
Gadospin F (GDF) in comparison to en face based measurements. Methods and
results 9-weeks old ApoE-/- (n = 5 for each group) and wildtype mice (n = 5)
were set on high fat diet (HFD). Progression group received MRI at 9, 13, 17
and 21 weeks after HFD initiation. Regression group was reswitched to chow
diet (CD) after 13 weeks HFD and monitored with MRI for 12 weeks. MRI was
performed before and two hours after iv injection of GDF (100 μmol/kg) at 7T
(Clinscan, Bruker) acquiring a 3D inversion recovery gradient echo sequence
and T1 Mapping using Saturation Recovery sequences. Subsequently, aortas were
prepared for en face analysis using confocal microscopy. Total plaque volume
(TPV) and T1 relaxivity were estimated using ImageJ (V. 1.44p, NIH, USA). 2D
and 3D en face analysis showed a strong and exponential increase of plaque
burden over time, while plaque burden in regression group was less pronounced.
Correspondent in vivo MRI measurements revealed a more linear increase of TPV
and T1 relaxivity for regression group. A significant correlation was observed
between 2D and 3D en face analysis (r = 0.79; p<0.001) as well as between 2D /
3D en face analysis and MRI (r = 0.79; p<0.001; r = 0.85; p<0.001) and delta
R1 (r = 0.79; p<0.001; r = 0.69; p<0.01). Conclusion GDF-enhanced in vivo MRI
is a powerful non-invasive imaging technique in mice allowing for reliable
estimation of atherosclerotic plaque burden, monitoring of disease progression
and regression in preclinical studies
- …