62,772 research outputs found
Serological survey of anti-group A rotavirus IgM in UK adults
Rotaviral associated disease of infants in the UK is seasonal and infection in adults not uncommon but the relationship between these has been little explored. Adult sera collected monthly for one year from routine hospital samples were screened for the presence of anti-group A rotavirus immunoglobulin M class antibodies as a marker of recent infection. Anti-rotavirus IgM was seen in all age groups throughout the year with little obvious seasonal variation in the distribution of antibody levels. IgM concentrations and the proportion seropositive above a threshold both increased with age with high concentrations consistently observed in the elderly. Results suggest either high infection rates of rotavirus in adults, irrespective of seasonal disease incidence in infants, IgM persistence or IgM cross-reactivity. These results support recent evidence of differences between infant and adult rotavirus epidemiology and highlight the need for more extensive surveys to investigate age and time related infection and transmission of rotavirus
Brownian ratchets driven by asymmetric nucleation of hydrolysis waves
We propose a stochastic process wherein molecular transport is mediated by
asymmetric nucleation of domains on a one-dimensional substrate. Track-driven
mechanisms of molecular transport arise in biophysical applications such as
Holliday junction positioning and collagenase processivity. In contrast to
molecular motors that hydrolyze nucleotide triphosphates and undergo a local
molecular conformational change, we show that asymmetric nucleation of
hydrolysis waves on a track can also result in directed motion of an attached
particle. Asymmetrically cooperative kinetics between ``hydrolyzed'' and
``unhydrolyzed'' states on each lattice site generate moving domain walls that
push a particle sitting on the track. We use a novel fluctuating-frame,
finite-segment mean field theory to accurately compute steady-state velocities
of the driven particle and to discover parameter regimes which yield maximal
domain wall flux, leading to optimal particle drift.Comment: 5 pp, 6 fig
The southern dust pillars of the Carina Nebula
We present preliminary results from a detailed study towards four previously
detected bright mid-infrared sources in the southern part of the Carina Nebula:
G287.73--0.92, G287.84--0.82, G287.93--0.99 and G288.07--0.80. All of these
sources are located at the heads of giant dust pillars that point towards the
nearby massive star cluster, Trumpler 16. It is unclear if these pillars are
the prime sites for a new generation of triggered star formation or if instead
they are the only remaining parts of the nebula where ongoing star fromation
can take place.Comment: 2 pages, to appear in the proceedings of "Hot Star Workshop III: The
Earliest Phases of Massive Star Birth" (ed. P.A. Crowther
Anomalous aging phenomena caused by drift velocities
We demonstrate via several examples that a uniform drift velocity gives rise
to anomalous aging, characterized by a specific form for the two-time
correlation functions, in a variety of statistical-mechanical systems far from
equilibrium. Our first example concerns the oscillatory phase observed recently
in a model of competitive learning. Further examples, where the proposed theory
is exact, include the voter model and the Ohta-Jasnow-Kawasaki theory for
domain growth in any dimension, and a theory for the smoothing of sandpile
surfaces.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. To appear in Europhysics Letter
Models of competitive learning: complex dynamics, intermittent conversions and oscillatory coarsening
We present two models of competitive learning, which are respectively
interfacial and cooperative learning. This learning is outcome-related, so that
spatially and temporally local environments influence the conversion of a given
site between one of two different types. We focus here on the behavior of the
models at coexistence, which yields new critical behavior and the existence of
a phase involving a novel type of coarsening which is oscillatory in nature.Comment: 23 pages, 11 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.
A survey for PAH emission in H II regions, planetary and proto-planetary nebulae
The results of a systematic investigation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission in H II regions, planetary nebulae (PN), and proto-planetary nebulae (PNN), are reported. Data is obtained from the low resolution spectra (LRS) of IRAS. The results show that: PAHs are formed in carbon rich objects; and PAH emission is ubiquitous in general interstellar medium and requires the presence of ultraviolet photons, in planetary and proto-planetary nebulae, PAH emission is seen only where an ionizing flux is present and in carbon rich objects
Finite element optimizations for efficient non-linear electrical tomography reconstruction
Electrical Tomography can produce accurate results only if the underlying 2D or 3D volume discretization is chosen suitably for the applied numerical algorithm. We give general indications where and how to optimize a finite element discretization of a volume under investigation to enable efficient computation of potential distributions and the reconstruction of materials. For this, we present an error estimator and material-gradient indicator as a driver for adaptive mesh refinement and show how finite element mesh properties affect the efficiency and accuracy of the solutions
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