39 research outputs found
Survival in equilibrium step fluctuations
We report the results of analytic and numerical investigations of the time
scale of survival or non-zero-crossing probability in equilibrium step
fluctuations described by Langevin equations appropriate for
attachment/detachment and edge-diffusion limited kinetics. An exact relation
between long-time behaviors of the survival probability and the autocorrelation
function is established and numerically verified. is shown to exhibit
simple scaling behavior as a function of system size and sampling time. Our
theoretical results are in agreement with those obtained from an analysis of
experimental dynamical STM data on step fluctuations on Al/Si(111) and Ag(111)
surfaces.Comment: RevTeX, 4 pages, 3 figure
Cassini observations of ionospheric plasma in Saturn's magnetotail lobes
Studies of Saturn's magnetosphere with the Cassini mission have established the importance of Enceladus as the dominant mass source for Saturn's magnetosphere. It is well known that the ionosphere is an important mass source at Earth during periods of intense geomagnetic activity, but lesser attention has been dedicated to study the ionospheric mass source at Saturn. In this paper we describe a case study of data from Saturn's magnetotail, when Cassini was located at ? 2200 h Saturn local time at 36 RS from Saturn. During several entries into the magnetotail lobe, tailward flowing cold electrons and a cold ion beam were observed directly adjacent to the plasma sheet and extending deeper into the lobe. The electrons and ions appear to be dispersed, dropping to lower energies with time. The composition of both the plasma sheet and lobe ions show very low fluxes (sometimes zero within measurement error) of water group ions. The magnetic field has a swept-forward configuration which is atypical for this region, and the total magnetic field strength is larger than expected at this distance from the planet. Ultraviolet auroral observations show a dawn brightening, and upstream heliospheric models suggest that the magnetosphere is being compressed by a region of high solar wind ram pressure. We interpret this event as the observation of ionospheric outflow in Saturn's magnetotail. We estimate a number flux between (2.95 ± 0.43) × 109 and (1.43 ± 0.21) × 1010 cm?2 s?1, 1 or about 2 orders of magnitude larger than suggested by steady state MHD models, with a mass source between 1.4 ×102 and 1.1 ×103 kg/s. After considering several configurations for the active atmospheric regions, we consider as most probable the main auroral oval, with associated mass source between 49.7 ±13.4 and 239.8 ±64.8 kg/s for an average auroral oval, and 10 ±4 and 49 ±23 kg/s for the specific auroral oval morphology found during this event. It is not clear how much of this mass is trapped within the magnetosphere and how much is lost to the solar wind
Persistence of a particle in the Matheron-de Marsily velocity field
We show that the longitudinal position of a particle in a
-dimensional layered random velocity field (the Matheron-de Marsily
model) can be identified as a fractional Brownian motion (fBm) characterized by
a variable Hurst exponent for . The
fBm becomes marginal at . Moreover, using the known first-passage
properties of fBm we prove analytically that the disorder averaged persistence
(the probability of no zero crossing of the process upto time ) has a
power law decay for large with an exponent for and
for (with logarithmic correction at ), results that
were earlier derived by Redner based on heuristic arguments and supported by
numerical simulations (S. Redner, Phys. Rev. E {\bf 56}, 4967 (1997)).Comment: 4 pages Revtex, 1 .eps figure included, to appear in PRE Rapid
Communicatio
Tight-binding parameters for charge transfer along DNA
We systematically examine all the tight-binding parameters pertinent to
charge transfer along DNA. The molecular structure of the four DNA bases
(adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine) is investigated by using the linear
combination of atomic orbitals method with a recently introduced
parametrization. The HOMO and LUMO wavefunctions and energies of DNA bases are
discussed and then used for calculating the corresponding wavefunctions of the
two B-DNA base-pairs (adenine-thymine and guanine-cytosine). The obtained HOMO
and LUMO energies of the bases are in good agreement with available
experimental values. Our results are then used for estimating the complete set
of charge transfer parameters between neighboring bases and also between
successive base-pairs, considering all possible combinations between them, for
both electrons and holes. The calculated microscopic quantities can be used in
mesoscopic theoretical models of electron or hole transfer along the DNA double
helix, as they provide the necessary parameters for a tight-binding
phenomenological description based on the molecular overlap. We find that
usually the hopping parameters for holes are higher in magnitude compared to
the ones for electrons, which probably indicates that hole transport along DNA
is more favorable than electron transport. Our findings are also compared with
existing calculations from first principles.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, 7 table
Real Roots of Random Polynomials and Zero Crossing Properties of Diffusion Equation
We study various statistical properties of real roots of three different
classes of random polynomials which recently attracted a vivid interest in the
context of probability theory and quantum chaos. We first focus on gap
probabilities on the real axis, i.e. the probability that these polynomials
have no real root in a given interval. For generalized Kac polynomials, indexed
by an integer d, of large degree n, one finds that the probability of no real
root in the interval [0,1] decays as a power law n^{-\theta(d)} where \theta(d)
> 0 is the persistence exponent of the diffusion equation with random initial
conditions in spatial dimension d. For n \gg 1 even, the probability that they
have no real root on the full real axis decays like
n^{-2(\theta(2)+\theta(d))}. For Weyl polynomials and Binomial polynomials,
this probability decays respectively like \exp{(-2\theta_{\infty}} \sqrt{n})
and \exp{(-\pi \theta_{\infty} \sqrt{n})} where \theta_{\infty} is such that
\theta(d) = 2^{-3/2} \theta_{\infty} \sqrt{d} in large dimension d. We also
show that the probability that such polynomials have exactly k roots on a given
interval [a,b] has a scaling form given by \exp{(-N_{ab} \tilde
\phi(k/N_{ab}))} where N_{ab} is the mean number of real roots in [a,b] and
\tilde \phi(x) a universal scaling function. We develop a simple Mean Field
(MF) theory reproducing qualitatively these scaling behaviors, and improve
systematically this MF approach using the method of persistence with partial
survival, which in some cases yields exact results. Finally, we show that the
probability density function of the largest absolute value of the real roots
has a universal algebraic tail with exponent {-2}. These analytical results are
confirmed by detailed numerical computations.Comment: 32 pages, 16 figure
Large-scale phenotyping of patients with long COVID post-hospitalization reveals mechanistic subtypes of disease
One in ten severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections result in prolonged symptoms termed long coronavirus disease (COVID), yet disease phenotypes and mechanisms are poorly understood1. Here we profiled 368 plasma proteins in 657 participants ≥3 months following hospitalization. Of these, 426 had at least one long COVID symptom and 233 had fully recovered. Elevated markers of myeloid inflammation and complement activation were associated with long COVID. IL-1R2, MATN2 and COLEC12 were associated with cardiorespiratory symptoms, fatigue and anxiety/depression; MATN2, CSF3 and C1QA were elevated in gastrointestinal symptoms and C1QA was elevated in cognitive impairment. Additional markers of alterations in nerve tissue repair (SPON-1 and NFASC) were elevated in those with cognitive impairment and SCG3, suggestive of brain–gut axis disturbance, was elevated in gastrointestinal symptoms. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) was persistently elevated in some individuals with long COVID, but virus was not detected in sputum. Analysis of inflammatory markers in nasal fluids showed no association with symptoms. Our study aimed to understand inflammatory processes that underlie long COVID and was not designed for biomarker discovery. Our findings suggest that specific inflammatory pathways related to tissue damage are implicated in subtypes of long COVID, which might be targeted in future therapeutic trials
SARS-CoV-2-specific nasal IgA wanes 9 months after hospitalisation with COVID-19 and is not induced by subsequent vaccination
BACKGROUND: Most studies of immunity to SARS-CoV-2 focus on circulating antibody, giving limited insights into mucosal defences that prevent viral replication and onward transmission. We studied nasal and plasma antibody responses one year after hospitalisation for COVID-19, including a period when SARS-CoV-2 vaccination was introduced. METHODS: In this follow up study, plasma and nasosorption samples were prospectively collected from 446 adults hospitalised for COVID-19 between February 2020 and March 2021 via the ISARIC4C and PHOSP-COVID consortia. IgA and IgG responses to NP and S of ancestral SARS-CoV-2, Delta and Omicron (BA.1) variants were measured by electrochemiluminescence and compared with plasma neutralisation data. FINDINGS: Strong and consistent nasal anti-NP and anti-S IgA responses were demonstrated, which remained elevated for nine months (p < 0.0001). Nasal and plasma anti-S IgG remained elevated for at least 12 months (p < 0.0001) with plasma neutralising titres that were raised against all variants compared to controls (p < 0.0001). Of 323 with complete data, 307 were vaccinated between 6 and 12 months; coinciding with rises in nasal and plasma IgA and IgG anti-S titres for all SARS-CoV-2 variants, although the change in nasal IgA was minimal (1.46-fold change after 10 months, p = 0.011) and the median remained below the positive threshold determined by pre-pandemic controls. Samples 12 months after admission showed no association between nasal IgA and plasma IgG anti-S responses (R = 0.05, p = 0.18), indicating that nasal IgA responses are distinct from those in plasma and minimally boosted by vaccination. INTERPRETATION: The decline in nasal IgA responses 9 months after infection and minimal impact of subsequent vaccination may explain the lack of long-lasting nasal defence against reinfection and the limited effects of vaccination on transmission. These findings highlight the need to develop vaccines that enhance nasal immunity. FUNDING: This study has been supported by ISARIC4C and PHOSP-COVID consortia. ISARIC4C is supported by grants from the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the Medical Research Council. Liverpool Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre provided infrastructure support for this research. The PHOSP-COVD study is jointly funded by UK Research and Innovation and National Institute of Health and Care Research. The funders were not involved in the study design, interpretation of data or the writing of this manuscript
Persistence in random walk in composite media
05.40.Fb Random walks and Levy flights, 87.10.Mn Stochastic modeling,