1,611 research outputs found
A direct primitive variable recovery scheme for hyperbolic conservative equations: the case of relativistic hydrodynamics
In this article we develop a Primitive Variable Recovery Scheme (PVRS) to
solve any system of coupled differential conservative equations. This method
obtains directly the primitive variables applying the chain rule to the time
term of the conservative equations. With this, a traditional finite volume
method for the flux is applied in order avoid violation of both, the entropy
and "Rankine-Hugoniot" jump conditions. The time evolution is then computed
using a forward finite difference scheme. This numerical technique evades the
recovery of the primitive vector by solving an algebraic system of equations as
it is often used and so, it generalises standard techniques to solve these kind
of coupled systems. The article is presented bearing in mind special
relativistic hydrodynamic numerical schemes with an added pedagogical view in
the appendix section in order to easily comprehend the PVRS. We present the
convergence of the method for standard shock-tube problems of special
relativistic hydrodynamics and a graphical visualisation of the errors using
the fluctuations of the numerical values with respect to exact analytic
solutions. The PVRS circumvents the sometimes arduous computation that arises
from standard numerical methods techniques, which obtain the desired primitive
vector solution through an algebraic polynomial of the charges.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in PLOS ON
Influence of biomaterial nanotopography on the adhesive and elastic properties of Staphylococcus aureus cells
Despite the well-known beneficial effects of biomaterial nanopatterning on host tissue integration, the influence of controlled nanoscale topography on bacterial colonisation and infection remains unknown. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the nanoscale effect of surface nanopatterning on biomaterial colonisation by S. aureus, utilising AFM nanomechanics and single-cell force spectroscopy (SCFS). Nanoindentation of S. aureus bound to planar (PL) and nanopatterned (SQ) polycarbonate (PC) surfaces suggested two distinct areas of mechanical properties, consistent with a central bacterial cell surrounded by a capsullar component. Nevertheless, no differences in elastic moduli were found between bacteria bound to PL and SQ, suggesting a minor role of nanopatterning in bacterial cell elasticity. Furthermore, SCFS demonstrated increased adhesion forces and work between S. aureus and SQ surfaces at 0 s and 1 s contact times. Although WLC modelling showed similarities in contour lengths for attachment to both surfaces, Poisson analysis suggests increased short-range forces for the S. aureus–SQ interactions. In the case of S. aureus–PL, long-range forces were found to not only be dominant but also repulsive in nature, which may help explain the reduced adhesion forces observed during AFM probing. In conclusion, although surface nanopatterning does not significantly influence the elasticity of attached bacterial cells, it was found to promote the early-adhesion of S. aureus cells to the biomaterial surface
Revisiting the optical -symmetric dimer
Optics has proved a fertile ground for the experimental simulation of quantum
mechanics. Most recently, optical realizations of -symmetric
quantum mechanics have been shown, both theoretically and experimentally,
opening the door to international efforts aiming at the design of practical
optical devices exploiting this symmetry. Here, we focus on the optical
-symmetric dimer, a two-waveguide coupler were the materials show
symmetric effective gain and loss, and provide a review of the linear and
nonlinear optical realizations from a symmetry based point of view. We go
beyond a simple review of the literature and show that the dimer is just the
smallest of a class of planar -waveguide couplers that are the optical
realization of Lorentz group in 2+1 dimensions. Furthermore, we provide a
formulation to describe light propagation through waveguide couplers described
by non-Hermitian mode coupling matrices based on a non-Hermitian generalization
of Ehrenfest theorem.Comment: 25 pages, 12 figure
Probing the nanoadhesion of Streptococcus sanguinis to titanium implant surfaces by atomic force microscopy
The authors would kindly like to thank the BecasChile PhD Scholarship Programme for funding this research
Multi-epoch <i>L</i>-band Spectroscopy of the Be Star μ Centauri Prior to Outburst
With the aim of contributing to the understanding of the disk formation process in Be stars, we pursued a one-year spectroscopic observing campaign of the Be star μ Centauri in the L-band, using VLT/ISAAC. We present the nine near-IR spectra we obtained in an epoch of relative photometric quiescence prior to an outburst of ΔV = 0.4 magnitude. Visual estimates during the epoch of our L-band spectroscopy are also presented for the first time, together with the unpublished complete visual light curve between the years 1998 and 2014. We observe significant and monotonic changes in emission line strength of Bracket-α and Pfund-γ lines relative to Humphreys lines, and also in the continuum slope. We interpret these observed changes in terms of important changes to the column density of the line emitting regions, moving from an optically thin to an optically thick stage just prior to a major outburst. For each observing date, we provide estimates for the column density and relative extension of the line emitting region. If the changes observed toward the end of our observing campaign were related to mass-loss changes from the central star, they would correspond to an increase in a factor of two in the mass of the disk in the innermost region. If related to the visual outburst observed one month later, the variability observed in our spectra would be the first detection of the early disk formation process in the L-band.Instituto de Astrofísica de La PlataFacultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísica
Influence of biomaterial nanotopography on the adhesive and elastic properties of Staphylococcus aureus cells
Despite the well-known beneficial effects of biomaterial nanopatterning on host tissue integration, the influence of controlled nanoscale topography on bacterial colonisation and infection remains unknown. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the nanoscale effect of surface nanopatterning on biomaterial colonisation by S. aureus, utilising AFM nanomechanics and single-cell force spectroscopy (SCFS). Nanoindentation of S. aureus bound to planar (PL) and nanopatterned (SQ) polycarbonate (PC) surfaces suggested two distinct areas of mechanical properties, consistent with a central bacterial cell surrounded by a capsullar component. Nevertheless, no differences in elastic moduli were found between bacteria bound to PL and SQ, suggesting a minor role of nanopatterning in bacterial cell elasticity. Furthermore, SCFS demonstrated increased adhesion forces and work between S. aureus and SQ surfaces at 0 s and 1 s contact times. Although WLC modelling showed similarities in contour lengths for attachment to both surfaces, Poisson analysis suggests increased short-range forces for the S. aureus–SQ interactions. In the case of S. aureus–PL, long-range forces were found to not only be dominant but also repulsive in nature, which may help explain the reduced adhesion forces observed during AFM probing. In conclusion, although surface nanopatterning does not significantly influence the elasticity of attached bacterial cells, it was found to promote the early-adhesion of S. aureus cells to the biomaterial surface
Stable rotating dipole solitons in nonlocal optical media
We reveal that nonlocality can provide a simple physical mechanism for
stabilization of multi-hump optical solitons, and present the first example of
stable rotating dipole solitons and soliton spiraling, known to be unstable in
all types of realistic nonlinear media with local response.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure
In situ enzymatic generation of Au/Pt nanoparticles as an analytical photometric system: proof of concept determination of tyramine
In situ enzymatic generation of bimetallic nanoparticles, mainly Au/Pt, overcomes the drawbacks (continuous absorbance drift, modest LOQ, and long-time reaction) observed when AuNP alone are produced. In this study, Au/Pt nanoparticles have been characterized by EDS, XPS, and HRTEM images using the enzymatic determination of tyramine with tyramine oxidase (TAO) as a model. Under experimental conditions, the Au/Pt NPs show an absorption maximum at 580 nm which can be related to the concentration of tyramine in the range 1.0 × 10-6M to 2.5 × 10-4M with a RSD of 3.4% (n = 5, using 5 × 10-6M tyramine). The Au/Pt system enables low LOQ (1.0 × 10−6 M), high reduction of the absorbance drift, and a significant shortening of the reaction time (i.e., from 30 to 2 min for a [tyramine] = 1 × 10−4M); additionally, a better selectivity is also obtained. The method has been applied to tyramine determination in cured cheese and no significant differences were obtained compared to a reference method (HRP:TMB). The effect of Pt(II) seems to involve the previous reduction of Au(III) to Au(I) and NP generation from this oxidation state. Finally, a three-step (nucleation-growth-aggregation) kinetic model for the generation of NPs is proposed; this has enabled us to obtain a mathematical equation which explains the experimentally observed variation of the absorbance with time
Rotating soliton solutions in nonlocal nonlinear media
We discuss generic properties of rotating nonlinear wave solutions, the so
called azimuthons, in nonlocal media. Variational methods allow us to derive
approximative values for the rotating frequency, which is shown to depend
crucially on the nonlocal response function. Further on, we link families of
azimuthons to internal modes of classical non-rotating stationary solutions,
namely vortex and multipole solitons. This offers an exhaustive method to
identify azimuthons in a given nonlocal medium.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, 3 movies (external links
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