972 research outputs found
Thirty years on … the social representation of AIDS among French teenagers
Teenagers, who are particularly concerned by the HIV virus, are targeted by plans of HIV prevention, as they are just beginning their sex lives. Since certain recent studies reveal that teenagers are not using HIV prevention methods, we analyse social representations of HIV/AIDS among a group of 100 French high school pupils, thirty years after it appeared and after the first studies of the social representation of AIDS. The results of a free associations test show that both girls and boys have the same social representation of AIDS. The results of a complementary questionnaire tend to show that this disease has become less frightening and less stigmatizing and that girls have a more preventive state of mind
On the propagation of an optical wave in a photorefractive medium
The aim of this paper is first to review the derivation of a model describing
the propagation of an optical wave in a photorefractive medium and to present
various mathematical results on this model: Cauchy problem, solitary waves
On approximate solutions of semilinear evolution equations
A general framework is presented to discuss the approximate solutions of an
evolution equation in a Banach space, with a linear part generating a semigroup
and a sufficiently smooth nonlinear part. A theorem is presented, allowing to
infer from an approximate solution the existence of an exact solution.
According to this theorem, the interval of existence of the exact solution and
the distance of the latter from the approximate solution can be evaluated
solving a one-dimensional "control" integral equation, where the unknown gives
a bound on the previous distance as a function of time. For example, the
control equation can be applied to the approximation methods based on the
reduction of the evolution equation to finite-dimensional manifolds: among
them, the Galerkin method is discussed in detail. To illustrate this framework,
the nonlinear heat equation is considered. In this case the control equation is
used to evaluate the error of the Galerkin approximation; depending on the
initial datum, this approach either grants global existence of the solution or
gives fairly accurate bounds on the blow up time.Comment: 33 pages, 10 figures. To appear in Rev. Math. Phys. (Shortened
version; the proof of Prop. 3.4. has been simplified
On approximate solutions of semilinear evolution equations II. Generalizations, and applications to Navier-Stokes equations
In our previous paper [12] (Rev. Math. Phys. 16, 383-420 (2004)), a general
framework was outlined to treat the approximate solutions of semilinear
evolution equations; more precisely, a scheme was presented to infer from an
approximate solution the existence (local or global in time) of an exact
solution, and to estimate their distance. In the first half of the present work
the abstract framework of \cite{uno} is extended, so as to be applicable to
evolutionary PDEs whose nonlinearities contain derivatives in the space
variables. In the second half of the paper this extended framework is applied
to theincompressible Navier-Stokes equations, on a torus T^d of any dimension.
In this way a number of results are obtained in the setting of the Sobolev
spaces H^n(T^d), choosing the approximate solutions in a number of different
ways. With the simplest choices we recover local existence of the exact
solution for arbitrary data and external forces, as well as global existence
for small data and forces. With the supplementary assumption of exponential
decay in time for the forces, the same decay law is derived for the exact
solution with small (zero mean) data and forces. The interval of existence for
arbitrary data, the upper bounds on data and forces for global existence, and
all estimates on the exponential decay of the exact solution are derived in a
fully quantitative way (i.e., giving the values of all the necessary constants;
this makes a difference with most of the previous literature). Nextly, the
Galerkin approximate solutions are considered and precise, still quantitative
estimates are derived for their H^n distance from the exact solution; these are
global in time for small data and forces (with exponential time decay of the
above distance, if the forces decay similarly).Comment: LaTeX, 84 pages. The final version published in Reviews in
Mathematical Physic
On fractional Choquard equations
We investigate a class of nonlinear Schrodinger equations with a generalized
Choquard nonlinearity and fractional diffusion. We obtain regularity,
existence, nonexistence, symmetry as well as decays properties.Comment: revised version, 22 page
On the density-potential mapping in time-dependent density functional theory
The key questions of uniqueness and existence in time-dependent density
functional theory are usually formulated only for potentials and densities that
are analytic in time. Simple examples, standard in quantum mechanics, lead
however to non-analyticities. We reformulate these questions in terms of a
non-linear Schr\"odinger equation with a potential that depends non-locally on
the wavefunction.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure
Solitary wave dynamics in time-dependent potentials
We rigorously study the long time dynamics of solitary wave solutions of the
nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation in {\it time-dependent} external potentials.
To set the stage, we first establish the well-posedness of the Cauchy problem
for a generalized nonautonomous nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation. We then show
that in the {\it space-adiabatic} regime where the external potential varies
slowly in space compared to the size of the soliton, the dynamics of the center
of the soliton is described by Hamilton's equations, plus terms due to
radiation damping. We finally remark on two physical applications of our
analysis. The first is adiabatic transportation of solitons, and the second is
Mathieu instability of trapped solitons due to time-periodic perturbations.Comment: 38 pages, some typos corrected, one reference added, one remark adde
Gene induction during differentiation of human monocytes into dendritic cells: an integrated study at the RNA and protein levels
Changes in gene expression occurring during differentiation of human
monocytes into dendritic cells were studied at the RNA and protein levels.
These studies showed the induction of several gene classes corresponding to
various biological functions. These functions encompass antigen processing and
presentation, cytoskeleton, cell signalling and signal transduction, but also
an increase in mitochondrial function and in the protein synthesis machinery,
including some, but not all, chaperones. These changes put in perspective the
events occurring during this differentiation process. On a more technical
point, it appears that the studies carried out at the RNA and protein levels
are highly complementary.Comment: website publisher:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/ha0d2c351qhjhjdm
Clusters of cytokines determine malaria severity in Plasmodium falciparum - Infected patients from endemic areas of central India
We investigated the role of interferon (IFN)- gamma , interleukin (IL)-1 beta , IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)- alpha , and transforming growth factor (TGF)- beta in clinically well-defined groups of Plasmodium falciparum-infected patients manifesting mild malaria (MM), severe noncerebral malaria (SM), or cerebral malaria (CM) and in control subjects from Gondia, a malaria-endemic site in India, as well as in healthy subjects from non-malaria-endemic areas. Two-way coupled cluster analysis revealed 2 clusters of cytokines relevant to clinical subgroups of disease. The first cluster was composed of IFN- gamma , IL-2, IL-5, IL-6, and IL-12, the levels of which were significantly increased during infection but were predominant in patients with MM and allowed us to distinguish them from patients with SM or CM. The second cluster was composed of TGF- beta , TNF- alpha , IL-10, and IL-1 beta , the levels of which were highly correlated with each other in the different clinical groups of patients and significantly increased with disease severity, particularly in CM. Discriminant analyses allowed us to propose a minimal model. Levels of cytokines such as IL-5, IL-1 beta , IL-10, and IL-2 increase with infection. Levels of IL-12, IL-5, and IL-6 discriminate severe forms of malaria from MM. Finally, levels of IL-1 beta , IL-12, and IFN- gamma are relevant for the discrimination of CM from SM: high IL-1 beta levels are associated with CM, and high IL-12 and IFN- gamma levels are associated with S
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