Adiabatic reduction of a model of stochastic gene expression with jump Markov process

This paper considers adiabatic reduction in a model of stochastic gene expression with bursting transcription considered as a jump Markov process. In this model, the process of gene expression with auto-regulation is described by fast/slow dynamics. The production of mRNA is assumed to follow a compound Poisson process occurring at a rate depending on protein levels (the phenomena called bursting in molecular biology) and the production of protein is a linear function of mRNA numbers. When the dynamics of mRNA is assumed to be a fast process (due to faster mRNA degradation than that of protein) we prove that, with appropriate scalings in the burst rate, jump size or translational rate, the bursting phenomena can be transmitted to the slow variable. We show that, depending on the scaling, the reduced equation is either a stochastic differential equation with a jump Poisson process or a deterministic ordinary differential equation. These results are significant because adiabatic reduction techniques seem to have not been rigorously justified for a stochastic differential system containing a jump Markov process. We expect that the results can be generalized to adiabatic methods in more general stochastic hybrid systems.Comment: 17 page

A Real-Time local path planning method based on SVM for UGV

Path planning is one of essentials of unmanned ground vehicle (UGV). For the case of poor lighting and weather, traditional vision based methods can not extract effective route boundaries to generate reasonable path stably in unstructured road. By ta king advantage of distance-sensing technology (e.g. 64-beam LiDAR), th is paper proposes an efficient real-time path planning approach. In this approach, given grid map fro m 64-bea m LiDAR, obstacles on both sides of the road are regarded as two classes fed to Support Vector Machine (SVM) to generate an initial safe path. During driving, a time weight based least square fitting is adopted to refine path fro m mu ltiple safe paths which will be described by quartic polynomial, providing stable driving route. Co mbined with UGV's state, controls points from the refined path are adopted to generate the final path through Bezier curve fitting. Experiments on real UGV under different road scenario are conducted, showing that the proposed method can obtain stable and reasonable path with promising performance

Prospects for gravitational-wave observations of neutron-star tidal disruption in neutron-star/black-hole binaries

For an inspiraling neutron-star/black-hole binary (NS/BH), we estimate the gravity-wave frequency f_td at the onset of NS tidal disruption. We model the NS as a tidally distorted, homogeneous, Newtonian ellipsoid on a circular, equatorial geodesic around a Kerr BH. We find that f_td depends strongly on the NS radius R, and estimate that LIGO-II (ca. 2006-2008) might measure R to 15% precision at 140 Mpc (about 1 event/yr under current estimates). This suggests that LIGO-II might extract valuable information about the NS equation of state from tidal-disruption waves.Comment: RevTeX, 4 pages, 2 EPS figures. Revised slightly, corrected typo

Gravitational Radiation from Triple Star Systems

We have studied the main features of the gravitational radiation generated by an astrophysical system constituted of three compact objects attracting one another (only via gravitational interaction) in such a manner that stable orbits do exist. We have limited our analysis to systems that can be treated with perturbative methods. We show the profile of the gravitational waves emitted by such systems. These results can be useful within the framework of the new gravitational astronomy which will be made feasible by means of the new generation of gravitational detectors such as LISA in a no longer far future.Comment: 10 pages plus 9 postscript figures; revtex; accepted for publication in Int. J. Mod. Phys.

Gravitational radiation from corotating binary neutron stars of incompressible fluid in the first post-Newtonian approximation of general relativity

We analytically study gravitational radiation from corotating binary neutron stars composed of incompressible, homogeneous fluid in circular orbits. The energy and the angular momentum loss rates are derived up to the first post-Newtonian (1PN) order beyond the quadrupole approximation including effects of the finite size of each star of binary. It is found that the leading term of finite size effects in the 1PN order is only $O(GM_{\ast}/c^2 a_{\ast})$ smaller than that in the Newtonian order, where $GM_{\ast}/c^2 a_{\ast}$ means the ratio of the gravitational radius to the mean radius of each star of binary, and the 1PN term acts to decrease the Newtonian finite size effect in gravitational radiation.Comment: 26 pages, revtex, 9 figures(eps), accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Sustainability issues and socio-economic change in the Jingpo communities of China : governance, culture and land rights.

The Jingpo ethnic minority is located almost entirely in Dehong Prefecture in the west of Yunnan. This Prefecture borders Myanmar, shares a number of natural characteristics with it, and is dissected by rivers which form the upper reaches of the Irrawaddy River. Its climate is influenced by monsoons originating in the Indian Ocean. The total population of this minority is about 118,000 and they are mainly located in hilly areas. This paper examines the rural economy of the Jingpo people, traditional factors influencing their management of local forest resources such as their religious beliefs, and local means of governance. The Jingpo people possess valuable indigenous knowledge about their local forest resources which should be taken into account in the quest for the sustainable economic development of this community. Today, slash-andburn agriculture is causing economic sustainability problems for the Jingpo. In addition, land ownership problems and conflicts about property rights threaten their conservation of forests and entail economic sustainability problems as explained in this paper. Whether or not improved access to markets and the use of more productive techniques will relieve the situation and reduce poverty among the Jingpo remains to be seen. Currently the incidence of poverty among the Jingpo is high, they obtain little education and pursue mainly a subsistence lifestyle. This situation is not dissimilar to that for many hill tribes in parts of India and in Southeast Asia

In-situ STEM imaging of growth and phase change of individual CuAlX precipitates in Al alloy

Age-hardening in Al alloys has been used for over a century to improve its mechanical properties. However, the lack of direct observation limits our understanding of the dynamic nature of the evolution of nanoprecipitates during age-hardening. Using in-situ (scanning) transmission electron microscopy (S/TEM) while heating an Al-Cu alloy, we were able to follow the growth of individual nanoprecipitates at atomic scale. The heat treatments carried out at 140, 160, 180 and 200 degrees C reveal a temperature dependence on the kinetics of precipitation and three kinds of interactions of nano-precipitates. These are precipitate-matrix, precipitate-dislocation, and precipitate-precipitate interactions. The diffusion of Cu and Al during these interactions, results in diffusion-controlled individual precipitate growth, an accelerated growth when interactions with dislocations occur and a size dependent precipitateprecipitate interaction: growth and shrinkage. Precipitates can grow and shrink at opposite ends at the same time resulting in an effective displacement. Furthermore, the evolution of the crystal structure within an individual nanoprecipiate, specifically the mechanism of formation of the strengthening phase,theta', during heat-treatment is elucidated by following the same precipitate through its intermediate stages for the first time using in-situ S/TEM studies

Comparison of Non-human Primate versus Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes for Treatment of Myocardial Infarction.

Non-human primates (NHPs) can serve as a human-like model to study cell therapy using induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs). However, whether the efficacy of NHP and human iPSC-CMs is mechanistically similar remains unknown. To examine this, RNU rats received intramyocardial injection of 1 × 107 NHP or human iPSC-CMs or the same number of respective fibroblasts or PBS control (n = 9-14/group) at 4 days after 60-min coronary artery occlusion-reperfusion. Cardiac function and left ventricular remodeling were similarly improved in both iPSC-CM-treated groups. To mimic the ischemic environment in the infarcted heart, both cultured NHP and human iPSC-CMs underwent 24-hr hypoxia in vitro. Both cells and media were collected, and similarities in transcriptomic as well as metabolomic profiles were noted between both groups. In conclusion, both NHP and human iPSC-CMs confer similar cardioprotection in a rodent myocardial infarction model through relatively similar mechanisms via promotion of cell survival, angiogenesis, and inhibition of hypertrophy and fibrosis

An improved q-rrt*algorithm based on virtual light

The Rapidly-exploring Random Tree (RRT) algorithm is an efficient path-planning algorithm based on random sampling. The RRT Algorithm is a variant of the RRT algorithm that can achieve convergence to the optimal solution. However, it has been proven to take an infinite time to do so. An improved Quick-RRT*(Q-RRT*) algorithm based on a virtual light source is proposed in this paper to overcome this problem. The virtual light-based Q-RRT*(LQRRT*) takes advantage of the heuristic information generated by the virtual light on the map. In this way, the tree can find the initial solution quickly. Next, the LQRRT*algorithm combines the heuristic information with the optimization capability of the Q-RRT*algorithm to find the approximate optimal solution. LQRRT*further optimizes the sampling space compared with the Q-RRT*algorithm and improves the sampling efficiency. The efficiency of the algorithm is verified by comparison experiments in different simulation environments. The results show that the proposed algorithm can converge to the approximate optimal solution in less time and with lower memory consumption

What Makes Theatrical Performances Successful in China's Tourism Industry?

This study aims to explore the factors affecting the success of a popular tourist product, namely, theatrical performance, within the context of China's tourism industry and develop a model based on previously successful productions. Using qualitative software, 22 Chinese-language articles on theatrical performances are analyzed to generate a list of success factors, classified as internal and external. The internal factors are storyline and performing, market positioning and marketing strategy, investment and financial support, operation and management, performing team, outdoor venue, indoor/outdoor stage supporting facilities, continuous improvement, and production team. The external factors are collaboration between cultural industries and local tourism, government support, privatization, and social and cultural effect. This study also provides suggestions for the future development of theatrical performances in China