264 research outputs found
Traveling Wave Fronts and Localized Traveling Wave Convection in Binary Fluid Mixtures
Nonlinear fronts between spatially extended traveling wave convection (TW)
and quiescent fluid and spatially localized traveling waves (LTWs) are
investigated in quantitative detail in the bistable regime of binary fluid
mixtures heated from below. A finite-difference method is used to solve the
full hydrodynamic field equations in a vertical cross section of the layer
perpendicular to the convection roll axes. Results are presented for
ethanol-water parameters with several strongly negative separation ratios where
TW solutions bifurcate subcritically. Fronts and LTWs are compared with each
other and similarities and differences are elucidated. Phase propagation out of
the quiescent fluid into the convective structure entails a unique selection of
the latter while fronts and interfaces where the phase moves into the quiescent
state behave differently. Interpretations of various experimental observations
are suggested.Comment: 46 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
LUCI onboard Lagrange, the Next Generation of EUV Space Weather Monitoring
LUCI (Lagrange eUv Coronal Imager) is a solar imager in the Extreme
UltraViolet (EUV) that is being developed as part of the Lagrange mission, a
mission designed to be positioned at the L5 Lagrangian point to monitor space
weather from its source on the Sun, through the heliosphere, to the Earth. LUCI
will use an off-axis two mirror design equipped with an EUV enhanced active
pixel sensor. This type of detector has advantages that promise to be very
beneficial for monitoring the source of space weather in the EUV. LUCI will
also have a novel off-axis wide field-of-view, designed to observe the solar
disk, the lower corona, and the extended solar atmosphere close to the
Sun-Earth line. LUCI will provide solar coronal images at a 2-3 minute cadence
in a pass-band centred on 19.5 nm. Observations made through this pass-band
allow for the detection and monitoring of semi-static coronal structures such
as coronal holes, prominences, and active regions; as well as transient
phenomena such as solar flares, limb Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), EUV waves,
and coronal dimmings. The LUCI data will complement EUV solar observations
provided by instruments located along the Sun-Earth line such as PROBA2-SWAP,
SUVI-GOES and SDO-AIA, as well as provide unique observations to improve space
weather forecasts. Together with a suite of other remote-sensing and in-situ
instruments onboard Lagrange, LUCI will provide science quality operational
observations for space weather monitoring
Bistability of Slow and Fast Traveling Waves in Fluid Mixtures
The appearence of a new type of fast nonlinear traveling wave states in
binary fluid convection with increasing Soret effect is elucidated and the
parameter range of their bistability with the common slower ones is evaluated
numerically. The bifurcation behavior and the significantly different
spatiotemporal properties of the different wave states - e.g. frequency, flow
structure, and concentration distribution - are determined and related to each
other and to a convenient measure of their nonlinearity. This allows to derive
a limit for the applicability of small amplitude expansions. Additionally an
universal scaling behavior of frequencies and mixing properties is found.
PACS: 47.20.-k, 47.10.+g, 47.20.KyComment: 4 pages including 5 Postscript figure
Crystallization of the Photosystem II core complex and its chlorophyll binding subunit CP43 from transplastomic plants of Nicotianatabacum
Photosystem II from transplastomic plants of Nicotiana tabacum with a hexahistidine tag at the N-terminal end of the PsbE subunit (α-chain of the cytochrome b559) was purified according to the protocol of Fey et al. (BBA 12:1501–1509, 2008). The protein sample was then subjected to two additional gel filtration runs in order to increase its homogeneity and to standardize the amount of detergent. Large three dimensional crystals of the core complex were obtained. Crystals of one of its chlorophyll binding subunits (CP43) in isolation grew in very similar conditions that differed only in the concentration of the detergent. Diffraction of Photosystem II and CP43 crystals at various synchrotron beamlines was limited to a resolution of 7 and 14 Å, respectively. In both cases the diffraction quality was insufficient for an unambiguous assignment of the crystallographic lattice or space group
Influence of through-flow on linear pattern formation properties in binary mixture convection
We investigate how a horizontal plane Poiseuille shear flow changes linear
convection properties in binary fluid layers heated from below. The full linear
field equations are solved with a shooting method for realistic top and bottom
boundary conditions. Through-flow induced changes of the bifurcation thresholds
(stability boundaries) for different types of convective solutions are deter-
mined in the control parameter space spanned by Rayleigh number, Soret coupling
(positive as well as negative), and through-flow Reynolds number. We elucidate
the through-flow induced lifting of the Hopf symmetry degeneracy of left and
right traveling waves in mixtures with negative Soret coupling. Finally we
determine with a saddle point analysis of the complex dispersion relation of
the field equations over the complex wave number plane the borders between
absolute and convective instabilities for different types of perturbations in
comparison with the appropriate Ginzburg-Landau amplitude equation
approximation. PACS:47.20.-k,47.20.Bp, 47.15.-x,47.54.+rComment: 19 pages, 15 Postscript figure
Serum magnesium and sudden death in European hemodialysis patients
Despite suggestions that higher serum magnesium (Mg) levels are associated with improved outcome, the association with mortality in European hemodialysis (HD) patients has only scarcely been investigated. Furthermore, data on the association between serum Mg and sudden death in this patient group is limited. Therefore, we evaluated Mg in a posthoc analysis using pooled data from the CONvective TRAnsport STudy (CONTRAST, NCT00205556), a randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluating the survival risk in dialysis patients on hemodiafiltration (HDF) compared to HD with a mean follow-up of 3.1 years. Serum Mg was measured at baseline and 6, 12, 24 and 36 months thereafter. Cox proportional hazards models, adjusted for confounders using inverse probability weighting, were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) of baseline serum Mg on all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, non-cardiovascular mortality and sudden death. A generalized linear mixed model was used to investigate Mg levels over time. Out of 714 randomized patients, a representative subset of 365 (51%) were analyzed in the present study. For every increase in baseline serum Mg of 0.1 mmol/L, the HR for all-cause mortality was 0.85 (95% CI 0.77-94), the HR for cardiovascular mortality 0.73 (95% CI 0.62-0.85) and for sudden death 0.76 (95% CI 0.62-0.93). These findings did not alter after extensive correction for potential confounders, including treatment modality. Importantly, no interaction was found between serum phosphate and serum Mg. Baseline serum Mg was not related to non-cardiovascular mortality. Mg decreased slightly but statistically significant over time (Ä -0.011 mmol/L/year, 95% CI -0.017 to -0.009, p = 0.03). In short, serum Mg has a strong, independent association with all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality and sudden death in European HD patients. Serum Mg levels decrease slightly over time
Linear dichroism and circular dichroism in photosynthesis research
The efficiency of photosynthetic light energy conversion depends largely on the molecular architecture of the photosynthetic membranes. Linear- and circular-dichroism (LD and CD) studies have contributed significantly to our knowledge of the molecular organization of pigment systems at different levels of complexity, in pigment–protein complexes, supercomplexes, and their macroassemblies, as well as in entire membranes and membrane systems. Many examples show that LD and CD data are in good agreement with structural data; hence, these spectroscopic tools serve as the basis for linking the structure of photosynthetic pigment–protein complexes to steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopy. They are also indispensable for identifying conformations and interactions in native environments, and for monitoring reorganizations during photosynthetic functions, and are important in characterizing reconstituted and artificially constructed systems. This educational review explains, in simple terms, the basic physical principles, and theory and practice of LD and CD spectroscopies and of some related quantities in the areas of differential polarization spectroscopy and microscopy
Pattern selection in the absolutely unstable regime as a nonlinear eigenvalue problem: Taylor vortices in axial flow
A unique pattern selection in the absolutely unstable regime of a driven,
nonlinear, open-flow system is analyzed: The spatiotemporal structures of
rotationally symmetric vortices that propagate downstream in the annulus of the
rotating Taylor-Couette system due to an externally imposed axial through-flow
are investigated for two different axial boundary conditions at the in- and
outlet. Unlike the stationary patterns in systems without through-flow the
spatiotemporal structures of propagating vortices are independent of parameter
history, initial conditions, and system's length. They do, however, depend on
the axial boundary conditions, the driving rate of the inner cylinder and the
through-flow rate. Our analysis of the amplitude equation shows that the
pattern selection can be described by a nonlinear eigenvalue problem with the
frequency being the eigenvalue. Approaching the border between absolute and
convective instability the eigenvalue problem becomes effectively linear and
the selection mechanism approaches that one of linear front propagation.
PACS:47.54.+r,47.20.Ky,47.32.-y,47.20.FtComment: 15 pages (LateX-file), 8 figures (Postscript
Computational Inference of Neural Information Flow Networks
Determining how information flows along anatomical brain pathways is a fundamental requirement for understanding how animals perceive their environments, learn, and behave. Attempts to reveal such neural information flow have been made using linear computational methods, but neural interactions are known to be nonlinear. Here, we demonstrate that a dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) inference algorithm we originally developed to infer nonlinear transcriptional regulatory networks from gene expression data collected with microarrays is also successful at inferring nonlinear neural information flow networks from electrophysiology data collected with microelectrode arrays. The inferred networks we recover from the songbird auditory pathway are correctly restricted to a subset of known anatomical paths, are consistent with timing of the system, and reveal both the importance of reciprocal feedback in auditory processing and greater information flow to higher-order auditory areas when birds hear natural as opposed to synthetic sounds. A linear method applied to the same data incorrectly produces networks with information flow to non-neural tissue and over paths known not to exist. To our knowledge, this study represents the first biologically validated demonstration of an algorithm to successfully infer neural information flow networks
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