2,747 research outputs found
Evaluation of Bacillus anthracis extractable antigen for testing anthrax immunity
ABSTRACTThree extractable Bacillus anthracis cell-wall-associated antigens were evaluated for potential use as skin testing agents, and as possible candidates for in-vitro diagnosis of anthrax immunity. Anthraxin and a partially purified extractable antigen (EAP) were produced from avirulent B. anthracis strain 34F2 (Sterne). The thermoextractable antigen used for the Ascoli reaction was obtained commercially. Guineapigs were immunised and boosted several times subcutaneously with the Sterne live veterinary anthrax vaccine. Four weeks after the last booster dose, animals were skin-tested with the three antigens. Serum antibody levels were also determined by ELISA, and the in-vitro T-cell response was evaluated by [3H]-thymidine incorporation. EAP was the most active antigen in both the serological and cellular reactions. EAP also elicited a distinct positive skin reaction in animals immunised with B. anthracis. The data obtained in this preliminary study indicated that extractable cell-wall antigens obtained from the vegetative form of B. anthracis may be used for skin tests and in-vitro testing of specific humoral and cell-mediated anthrax immunity
Dynamic crossover scaling in polymer solutions
The crossover region in the phase diagram of polymer solutions, in the regime
above the overlap concentration, is explored by Brownian Dynamics simulations,
to map out the universal crossover scaling functions for the gyration radius
and the single-chain diffusion constant. Scaling considerations, our simulation
results, and recently reported data on the polymer contribution to the
viscosity obtained from rheological measurements on DNA systems, support the
assumption that there are simple relations between these functions, such that
they can be inferred from one another.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, 1 Table. Revised version to appear in Physical
Review Letters. Includes supplemental material
Periodic One-Dimensional Hopping Model with one Mobile Directional Impurity
Analytic solution is given in the steady state limit for the system of Master
equations describing a random walk on one-dimensional periodic lattices with
arbitrary hopping rates containing one mobile, directional impurity (defect
bond). Due to the defect, translational invariance is broken, even if all other
rates are identical. The structure of Master equations lead naturally to the
introduction of a new entity, associated with the walker-impurity pair which we
call the quasi-walker. The velocities and diffusion constants for both the
random walker and impurity are given, being simply related to that of the
quasi-particle through physically meaningful equations. Applications in driven
diffusive systems are shown, and connections with the Duke-Rubinstein reptation
models for gel electrophoresis are discussed.Comment: 31 LaTex pages, 5 Postscript figures included, to appear in Journal
of Statistical Physic
On occurrence of spectral edges for periodic operators inside the Brillouin zone
The article discusses the following frequently arising question on the
spectral structure of periodic operators of mathematical physics (e.g.,
Schroedinger, Maxwell, waveguide operators, etc.). Is it true that one can
obtain the correct spectrum by using the values of the quasimomentum running
over the boundary of the (reduced) Brillouin zone only, rather than the whole
zone? Or, do the edges of the spectrum occur necessarily at the set of
``corner'' high symmetry points? This is known to be true in 1D, while no
apparent reasons exist for this to be happening in higher dimensions. In many
practical cases, though, this appears to be correct, which sometimes leads to
the claims that this is always true. There seems to be no definite answer in
the literature, and one encounters different opinions about this problem in the
community.
In this paper, starting with simple discrete graph operators, we construct a
variety of convincing multiply-periodic examples showing that the spectral
edges might occur deeply inside the Brillouin zone. On the other hand, it is
also shown that in a ``generic'' case, the situation of spectral edges
appearing at high symmetry points is stable under small perturbations. This
explains to some degree why in many (maybe even most) practical cases the
statement still holds.Comment: 25 pages, 10 EPS figures. Typos corrected and a reference added in
the new versio
The cross-entropy method for continuous multi-extremal optimization
In recent years, the cross-entropy method has been successfully applied to a wide range of discrete optimization tasks. In this paper we consider the cross-entropy method in the context of continuous optimization. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the cross-entropy method for solving difficult continuous multi-extremal optimization problems, including those with non-linear constraints
Broadband mode in proton-precession magnetometers with signal processing regression methods
The choice of the signal processing method may improve characteristics of the measuring device. We consider the measurement error of signal processing regression methods for a quasi-harmonic signal generated in a frequency selective device. The results are applied to analyze the difference between the simple period meter processing and regression algorithms using measurement cycle signal data in proton-precession magnetometers. Dependences of the measurement error on the sensor quality factor and frequency of nuclear precession are obtained. It is shown that regression methods considerably widen the registration bandwidth and relax the requirements on the magnetometer hardware, and thus affect the optimization criteria of the registration system. © 2014 IOP Publishing Ltd
Vortex states of rapidly rotating dilute Bose-Einstein condensates
We show that, in the Thomas-Fermi regime, the cores of vortices in rotating
dilute Bose-Einstein condensates adjust in radius as the rotation velocity,
, grows, thus precluding a phase transition associated with core
overlap at high vortex density. In both a harmonic trap and a rotating
hard-walled bucket, the core size approaches a limiting fraction of the
intervortex spacing. At large rotation speeds, a system confined in a bucket
develops, within Thomas-Fermi, a hole along the rotation axis, and eventually
makes a transition to a giant vortex state with all the vorticity contained in
the hole.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, RevTex4. Version as published; discussion
extended, some references added and update
Adiabaticity Conditions for Volatility Smile in Black-Scholes Pricing Model
Our derivation of the distribution function for future returns is based on
the risk neutral approach which gives a functional dependence for the European
call (put) option price, C(K), given the strike price, K, and the distribution
function of the returns. We derive this distribution function using for C(K) a
Black-Scholes (BS) expression with volatility in the form of a volatility
smile. We show that this approach based on a volatility smile leads to relative
minima for the distribution function ("bad" probabilities) never observed in
real data and, in the worst cases, negative probabilities. We show that these
undesirable effects can be eliminated by requiring "adiabatic" conditions on
the volatility smile
Effects of differential mobility on biased diffusion of two species
Using simulations and a simple mean-field theory, we investigate jamming
transitions in a two-species lattice gas under non-equilibrium steady-state
conditions. The two types of particles diffuse with different mobilities on a
square lattice, subject to an excluded volume constraint and biased in opposite
directions. Varying filling fraction, differential mobility, and drive, we map
out the phase diagram, identifying first order and continuous transitions
between a free-flowing disordered and a spatially inhomogeneous jammed phase.
Ordered structures are observed to drift, with a characteristic velocity, in
the direction of the more mobile species.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure
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