633 research outputs found
Computing probabilities of very rare events for Langevin processes: a new method based on importance sampling
Langevin equations are used to model many processes of physical interest,
including low-energy nuclear collisions. In this paper we develop a general
method for computing probabilities of very rare events (e.g. small fusion
cross-sections) for processes described by Langevin dynamics. As we demonstrate
with numerical examples as well as an exactly solvable model, our method can
converge to the desired answer at a rate which is orders of magnitude faster
than that achieved with direct simulations of the process in question.Comment: 18 pages + 7 figures, to appear in Nucl.Phys.
Continuous-flow IRMS technique for determining the 17O excess of CO2 using complete oxygen isotope exchange with cerium oxide
This paper presents an analytical system for analysis of all single
substituted isotopologues (<sup>12</sup>C<sup>16</sup>O<sup>17</sup>O,
<sup>12</sup>C<sup>16</sup>O<sup>18</sup>O, <sup>13</sup>C<sup>16</sup>O<sup>16</sup>O) in nanomolar quantities
of CO<sub>2</sub> extracted from stratospheric air samples. CO<sub>2</sub> is
separated from bulk air by gas chromatography and CO<sub>2</sub> isotope ratio
measurements (ion masses 45 / 44 and 46 / 44) are performed using isotope ratio
mass spectrometry (IRMS). The <sup>17</sup>O excess (Δ<sup>17</sup>O) is
derived from isotope measurements on two different CO<sub>2</sub> aliquots:
unmodified CO<sub>2</sub> and CO<sub>2</sub> after complete oxygen isotope exchange with
cerium oxide (CeO<sub>2</sub>) at 700 °C. Thus, a single measurement of
Δ<sup>17</sup>O requires two injections of 1 mL of air with a CO<sub>2</sub>
mole fraction of 390 μmol mol<sup>−1</sup> at 293 K and 1 bar pressure
(corresponding to 16 nmol CO<sub>2</sub> each). The required sample size
(including flushing) is 2.7 mL of air. A single analysis (one pair of
injections) takes 15 minutes. The analytical system is fully automated for
unattended measurements over several days. The standard deviation of the
<sup>17</sup>O excess analysis is 1.7‰. Multiple
measurements on an air sample reduce the measurement uncertainty, as
expected for the statistical standard error. Thus, the uncertainty for a
group of 10 measurements is 0.58‰ for Δ
<sup>17</sup>O in 2.5 h of analysis. 100 repeat analyses of one air sample
decrease the standard error to 0.20‰. The instrument
performance was demonstrated by measuring CO<sub>2</sub> on stratospheric air
samples obtained during the EU project RECONCILE with the high-altitude
aircraft Geophysica. The precision for RECONCILE data is 0.03‰ (1σ) for δ<sup>13</sup>C, 0.07‰ (1σ) for δ<sup>18</sup>O and 0.55‰ (1σ) for δ<sup>17</sup>O for a sample of 10
measurements. This is sufficient to examine stratospheric enrichments, which
at altitude 33 km go up to 12‰ for δ<sup>17</sup>O
and up to 8‰ for δ<sup>18</sup>O with respect to
tropospheric CO<sub>2</sub> : δ<sup>17</sup>O ~
21‰ Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water (VSMOW), δ<sup>18</sup>O ~
41‰ VSMOW (Lämmerzahl et al., 2002). The samples
measured with our analytical technique agree with available data for
stratospheric CO<sub>2</sub>
Assessing TMS-induced D and I waves with spinal H-reflexes
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of motor cortex produces a series of descending volleys known as D (direct) and I (indirect) waves. In the present study, we questioned whether spinal H-reflexes can be used to dissect D waves and early and late I waves from TMS. We therefore probed H-reflex facilitation at arrival times of D and I waves at the spinal level and thereby changed TMS parameters that have previously been shown to have selective effects on evoked D and different I waves. We changed TMS intensity and current direction and applied a double-pulse paradigm known as short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI). Experiments were conducted in flexor carpi radialis (FCR) in the arm and soleus (SOL) in the leg. There were two major findings: 1) in FCR, H-reflex facilitation showed characteristic modulations with altered TMS parameters that correspond to the changes of evoked D and I waves; and 2) H-reflexes in SOL did not, possibly because of increased interference from other spinal circuits. Therefore, the most significant outcome of this study is that in FCR, H-reflexes combined with TMS seem to be a useful technique to dissect TMS-induced D and I waves. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Questions that relate to corticospinal function in pathophysiology and movement control demand sophisticated techniques to provide information about corticospinal mechanisms. We introduce a noninvasive electrophysiological technique that may be useful in describing such mechanisms in more detail by dissecting D and I waves from transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Based on the combination of spinal H-reflexes and TMS in the flexor carpi radialis muscle, the technique was shown to measure selective effects on D and I waves from changing TMS parameters
Single polymer adsorption in shear: flattening versus hydrodynamic lift and corrugation effects
The adsorption of a single polymer to a flat surface in shear is investigated
using Brownian hydrodynamics simulations and scaling arguments. Competing
effects are disentangled: in the absence of hydrodynamic interactions, shear
drag flattens the chain and thus enhances adsorption. Hydrodynamic lift on the
other hand gives rise to long-ranged repulsion from the surface which preempts
the surface-adsorbed state via a discontinuous desorption transition, in
agreement with theoretical arguments. Chain flattening is dominated by
hydrodynamic lift, so overall, shear flow weakens the adsorption of flexible
polymers. Surface friction due to small-wavelength surface potential
corrugations is argued to weaken the surface attraction as well.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Brownian Motion and Polymer Statistics on Certain Curved Manifolds
We have calculated the probability distribution function G(R,L|R',0) of the
end-to-end vector R-R' and the mean-square end-to-end distance (R-R')^2 of a
Gaussian polymer chain embedded on a sphere S^(D-1) in D dimensions and on a
cylinder, a cone and a curved torus in 3-D.
We showed that: surface curvature induces a geometrical localization area; at
short length the polymer is locally "flat" and (R-R')^2 = L l in all cases; at
large scales, (R-R')^2 is constant for the sphere, it is linear in L for the
cylinder and reaches different constant values for the torus. The cone vertex
induces (function of opening angle and R') contraction of the chain for all
lengths. Explicit crossover formulas are derived.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, RevTex, uses amssymb.sty and multicol.sty, to
appear in Phys. Rev
Path-integral analysis of fluctuation theorems for general Langevin processes
We examine classical, transient fluctuation theorems within the unifying
framework of Langevin dynamics. We explicitly distinguish between the effects
of non-conservative forces that violate detailed balance, and non-autonomous
dynamics arising from the variation of an external parameter. When both these
sources of nonequilibrium behavior are present, there naturally arise two
distinct fluctuation theorems.Comment: 24 pages, one figur
Path Integral Approach to the Non-Relativistic Electron Charge Transfer
A path integral approach has been generalized for the non-relativistic
electron charge transfer processes. The charge transfer - the capture of an
electron by an ion passing another atom or more generally the problem of
rearrangement collisions is formulated in terms of influence functionals. It
has been shown that the electron charge transfer process can be treated either
as electron transition problem or as elastic scattering of ion and atom in the
some effective potential field. The first-order Born approximation for the
electron charge transfer cross section has been reproduced to prove the
adequacy of the path integral approach for this problem.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figure, to appear in Journal of Physics B: Atomic,
Molecular & Optical, vol.34, 200
Entropy, time irreversibility and Schroedinger equation in a primarily discrete space-time
In this paper we show that the existence of a primarily discrete space-time
may be a fruitful assumption from which we may develop a new approach of
statistical thermodynamics in pre-relativistic conditions. The discreetness of
space-time structure is determined by a condition that mimics the Heisenberg
uncertainty relations and the motion in this space-time model is chosen as
simple as possible. From these two assumptions we define a path-entropy that
measures the number of closed paths associated with a given energy of the
system preparation. This entropy has a dynamical character and depends on the
time interval on which we count the paths. We show that it exists an
like-equilibrium condition for which the path-entropy corresponds exactly to
the usual thermodynamic entropy and, more generally, the usual statistical
thermodynamics is reobtained. This result derived without using the Gibbs
ensemble method shows that the standard thermodynamics is consistent with a
motion that is time-irreversible at a microscopic level. From this change of
paradigm it becomes easy to derive a . A comparison with the
traditional Boltzmann approach is presented. We also show how our approach can
be implemented in order to describe reversible processes. By considering a
process defined simultaneously by initial and final conditions a well defined
stochastic process is introduced and we are able to derive a Schroedinger
equation, an example of time reversible equation.Comment: latex versio
Threefold onset of vortex loops in superconductors with a magnetic core
A magnetic inclusion inside a superconductor gives rise to a fascinating
complex of {\it vortex loops}. Our calculations, done in the framework of the
Ginzburg-Landau theory, reveal that {\it loops always nucleate in triplets}
around the magnetic core. In a mesoscopic superconducting sphere, the final
superconducting state is characterized by those confined vortex loops and the
ones that eventually spring to the surface of the sphere, evolving into {\it
vortex pairs} piercing through the sample surface.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures (low resolution), latex2
Mol Cell Proteomics
Protein biochips have a great potential in future parallel processing of complex samples as a research tool and in diagnostics. For the generation of protein biochips, highly automated technologies have been developed for cDNA expression library production, high throughput protein expression, large scale analysis of proteins, and protein microarray generation. Using this technology, we present here a strategy to identify potential autoantigens involved in the pathogenesis of alopecia areata, an often chronic disease leading to the rapid loss of scalp hair. Only little is known about the putative autoantigen(s) involved in this process. By combining protein microarray technology with the use of large cDNA expression libraries, we profiled the autoantibody repertoire of sera from alopecia areata patients against a human protein array consisting of 37,200 redundant, recombinant human proteins. The data sets obtained from incubations with patient sera were compared with control sera from clinically healthy persons and to background incubations with anti-human IgG antibodies. From these results, a smaller protein subset was generated and subjected to qualitative and quantitative validation on highly sensitive protein microarrays to identify novel alopecia areata-associated autoantigens. Eight autoantigens were identified by protein chip technology and were successfully confirmed by Western blot analysis. These autoantigens were arrayed on protein microarrays to generate a disease-associated protein chip. To confirm the specificity of the results obtained, sera from patients with psoriasis or hand and foot eczema as well as skin allergy were additionally examined on the disease-associated protein chip. By using alopecia areata as a model for an autoimmune disease, our investigations show that the protein microarray technology has potential for the identification and evaluation of autoantigens as well as in diagnosis such as to differentiate alopecia areata from other skin diseases
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