5,421 research outputs found
Structural Properties of the Disordered Spherical and other Mean Field Spin Models
We extend the approach of Aizenman, Sims and Starr for the SK-type models to
their spherical versions. Such an extension has already been performed for
diluted spin glasses. The factorization property of the optimal structures
found by Guerra for the SK model, which holds for diluted models as well, is
verified also in the case of spherical systems, with the due modifications.
Hence we show that there are some common structural features in various mean
field spin models. These similarities seem to be quite paradigmatic, and we
summarize the various techniques typically used to prove the structural
analogies and to tackle the computation of the free energy per spin in the
thermodynamic limit.Comment: 24 page
Condensation vs. phase-ordering in the dynamics of first order transitions
The origin of the non commutativity of the limits and in the dynamics of first order transitions is investigated. In the
large-N model, i.e. taken first, the low temperature phase is
characterized by condensation of the large wave length fluctuations rather than
by genuine phase-ordering as when is taken first. A detailed
study of the scaling properties of the structure factor in the large-N model is
carried out for quenches above, at and below T_c. Preasymptotic scaling is
found and crossover phenomena are related to the existence of components in the
order parameter with different scaling properties. Implications for
phase-ordering in realistic systems are discussed.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures. To be published in Phys. Rev.
High pressure pre-treatments promote higher rate and degree of enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose
The effect of high pressure (HP) pre-treatments on the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose from bleached kraft Eucalyptus globulus pulp by cellulase from Tricoderma viride was evaluated. Pressure pre-treatments of 300 and 400 MPa during 5â45 min, lead to both an increased rate and degree of hydrolysis, reaching values ranging from 1.5- to 1.9-fold, quantified by the formation of reducing sugars. Both the pressure and time under pressure influenced the enzymatic hydrosability of the cellulosic pulps, with the former being more important. The results indicate that the pressure pre-treatments promoted an increased accessibility of cellulose towards cellulase in the cell wall. The results obtained open promising possibilities, to contribute to overcome conventional limitations of enzymatic cellulose hydrolysis for the production of fermentable glucose, for the production of second generation bioethanol and chemicals by enhancement of both rate and yield of hydrolysis. The results are also of interest for the preparation of âpressure engineeredâ celullose with incremented tailored hydrolysis patterns
Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors and Mithramycin A Impact a Similar Neuroprotective Pathway at a Crossroad between Cancer and Neurodegeneration
Mithramycin A (MTM) and histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) are effective therapeutic agents for cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. MTM is a FDA approved aureolic acid-type antibiotic that binds to GC-rich DNA sequences and interferes with Sp1 transcription factor binding to its target sites (GC box). HDACi, on the other hand, modulate the activity of class I and II histone deacetylases. They mediate their protective function, in part, by regulating the acetylation status of histones or transcription factors, including Sp1, and in turn chromatin accessibility to the transcriptional machinery. Because these two classes of structurally and functionally diverse compounds mediate similar therapeutic functions, we investigated whether they act on redundant or synergistic pathways to protect neurons from oxidative death. Non-protective doses of each of the drugs do not synergize to create resistance to oxidative death suggesting that these distinct agents act via a similar pathway. Accordingly, we found that protection by MTM and HDACi is associated with diminished expression of the oncogene, Myc and enhanced expression of a tumor suppressor, p21waf1/cip1. We also find that neuroprotection by MTM or Myc knockdown is associated with downregulation of class I HDAC levels. Our results support a model in which the established antitumor drug MTM or canonical HDACi act via distinct mechanisms to converge on the downregulation of HDAC levels or activity respectively. These findings support the conclusion that an imbalance in histone acetylase and HDAC activity in favor of HDACs is key not only for oncogenic transformation, but also neurodegeneration
Polarised target for Drell-Yan experiment in COMPASS at CERN, part I
In the polarised Drell-Yan experiment at the COMPASS facility in CERN pion
beam with momentum of 190 GeV/c and intensity about pions/s interacted
with transversely polarised NH target. Muon pairs produced in Drel-Yan
process were detected. The measurement was done in 2015 as the 1st ever
polarised Drell-Yan fixed target experiment. The hydrogen nuclei in the
solid-state NH were polarised by dynamic nuclear polarisation in 2.5 T
field of large-acceptance superconducting magnet. Large helium dilution
cryostat was used to cool the target down below 100 mK. Polarisation of
hydrogen nuclei reached during the data taking was about 80 %. Two oppositely
polarised target cells, each 55 cm long and 4 cm in diameter were used.
Overview of COMPASS facility and the polarised target with emphasis on the
dilution cryostat and magnet is given. Results of the polarisation measurement
in the Drell-Yan run and overviews of the target material, cell and dynamic
nuclear polarisation system are given in the part II.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Proceedings of the 22nd International Spin
Symposium, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA, 25-30 September 201
Object knowledge modulates colour appearance
We investigated the memory colour effect for colour diagnostic artificial objects. Since knowledge about these objects and their colours has been learned in everyday life, these stimuli allow the investigation of the influence of acquired object knowledge on colour appearance. These investigations are relevant for questions about how object and colour information in high-level vision interact as well as for research about the influence of learning and experience on perception in general. In order to identify suitable artificial objects, we developed a reaction time paradigm that measures (subjective) colour diagnosticity. In the main experiment, participants adjusted sixteen such objects to their typical colour as well as to grey. If the achromatic object appears in its typical colour, then participants should adjust it to the opponent colour in order to subjectively perceive it as grey. We found that knowledge about the typical colour influences the colour appearance of artificial objects. This effect was particularly strong along the daylight axis
Relaxation and overlap probability function in the spherical and mean spherical model
The problem of the equivalence of the spherical and mean spherical models,
which has been thoroughly studied and understood in equilibrium, is considered
anew from the dynamical point of view during the time evolution following a
quench from above to below the critical temperature. It is found that there
exists a crossover time such that for the two
models are equivalent, while for macroscopic discrepancies arise. The
relation between the off equilibrium response function and the structure of the
equilibrium state, which usually holds for phase ordering systems, is found to
hold for the spherical model but not for the mean spherical one. The latter
model offers an explicit example of a system which is not stochastically
stable.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure, references corrected, to appear in Phys.Rev.
Asymptotics of the Farey Fraction Spin Chain Free Energy at the Critical Point
We consider the Farey fraction spin chain in an external field . Using
ideas from dynamical systems and functional analysis, we show that the free
energy in the vicinity of the second-order phase transition is given,
exactly, by
Here is a reduced
temperature, so that the deviation from the critical point is scaled by the
Lyapunov exponent of the Gauss map, . It follows that
determines the amplitude of both the specific heat and susceptibility
singularities. To our knowledge, there is only one other microscopically
defined interacting model for which the free energy near a phase transition is
known as a function of two variables.
Our results confirm what was found previously with a cluster approximation,
and show that a clustering mechanism is in fact responsible for the transition.
However, the results disagree in part with a renormalisation group treatment
Bericht der Herbsttagung der Studiengruppe fĂŒr Elektronische Instrumentierung 23. bis 25. September 2002, Johann Wolfgang Goethe UniversitĂ€t, Institut fĂŒr Kernphysik Frankfurt
- âŠ