556 research outputs found
A narrow-band unfitted finite element method for elliptic PDEs posed on surfaces
The paper studies a method for solving elliptic partial differential
equations posed on hypersurfaces in , . The method allows
a surface to be given implicitly as a zero level of a level set function. A
surface equation is extended to a narrow-band neighborhood of the surface. The
resulting extended equation is a non-degenerate PDE and it is solved on a bulk
mesh that is unaligned to the surface. An unfitted finite element method is
used to discretize extended equations. Error estimates are proved for finite
element solutions in the bulk domain and restricted to the surface. The
analysis admits finite elements of a higher order and gives sufficient
conditions for archiving the optimal convergence order in the energy norm.
Several numerical examples illustrate the properties of the method.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1301.470
Synthetic strategy toward furyl- and benzofuryl-containing building blocks for organic materials
A synthetic approach to furyl- and benzofuryl-containing building blocks utilizing easily accessible substrates is reported. Cascade acid-catalyzed reactions of 2-methylfuran with α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds or salicyl alcohols followed by oxidation afford functionalized furans and benzofurans, respectively. Synthetic potential of the obtained products was demonstrated by synthesizing hetaryl-substituted heterocycles, which may find an application in materials chemistry
Cubic symmetry and magnetic frustration on the spin lattice in KIrCl
Cubic crystal structure and regular octahedral environment of Ir
render antifluorite-type KIrCl a model fcc antiferromagnet with a
combination of Heisenberg and Kitaev exchange interactions. High-resolution
synchrotron powder diffraction confirms cubic symmetry down to at least 20 K,
with a low-energy rotary mode gradually suppressed upon cooling. Using
thermodynamic and transport measurements, we estimate the activation energy of
eV for charge transport, the antiferromagnetic Curie-Weiss
temperature of K, and the extrapolated saturation
field of T. All these parameters are well reproduced \textit{ab
initio} using eV as the effective Coulomb repulsion
parameter. The antiferromagnetic Kitaev exchange term of K is about
one half of the Heisenberg term K. While this combination removes
a large part of the classical ground-state degeneracy, the selection of the
unique magnetic ground state additionally requires a weak second-neighbor
exchange coupling K. Our results suggest that KIrCl may
offer the best possible cubic conditions for Ir and demonstrates the
interplay of geometrical and exchange frustration in a high-symmetry setting.Comment: 9 page
Chemical modification of extracellular matrix by cold atmospheric plasma-generated reactive species affects chondrogenesis and bone formation.
The goal of this study was to investigate whether cold plasma generated by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) modifies extracellular matrices (ECM) to influence chondrogenesis and endochondral ossification. Replacement of cartilage by bone during endochondral ossification is essential in fetal skeletal development, bone growth and fracture healing. Regulation of this process by the ECM occurs through matrix remodelling, involving a variety of cell attachment molecules and growth factors, which influence cell morphology and protein expression. The commercially available ECM, Matrigel, was treated with microsecond or nanosecond pulsed (μsp or nsp, respectively) DBD frequencies conditions at the equivalent frequencies (1 kHz) or power (~1 W). Recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 was added and the mixture subcutaneously injected into mice to simulate ectopic endochondral ossification. Two weeks later, the masses were extracted and analysed by microcomputed tomography. A significant increase in bone formation was observed in Matrigel treated with μsp DBD compared with control, while a significant decrease in bone formation was observed for both nsp treatments. Histological and immunohistochemical analysis showed Matrigel treated with μsp plasma increased the number of invading cells, the amount of vascular endothelial growth factor and chondrogenesis while the opposite was true for Matrigel treated with nsp plasma. In support of the in vivo Matrigel study, 10 T1/2 cells cultured in vitro on μsp DBD-treated type I collagen showed increased expression of adhesion proteins and activation of survival pathways, which decreased with nsp plasma treatments. These results indicate DBD modification of ECM can influence cellular behaviours to accelerate or inhibit chondrogenesis and endochondral ossification. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Nontargeted biomonitoring of halogenated organic compounds in two ecotypes of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from the Southern California Bight.
Targeted environmental monitoring reveals contamination by known chemicals, but may exclude potentially pervasive but unknown compounds. Marine mammals are sentinels of persistent and bioaccumulative contaminants due to their longevity and high trophic position. Using nontargeted analysis, we constructed a mass spectral library of 327 persistent and bioaccumulative compounds identified in blubber from two ecotypes of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) sampled in the Southern California Bight. This library of halogenated organic compounds (HOCs) consisted of 180 anthropogenic contaminants, 41 natural products, 4 with mixed sources, 8 with unknown sources, and 94 with partial structural characterization and unknown sources. The abundance of compounds whose structures could not be fully elucidated highlights the prevalence of undiscovered HOCs accumulating in marine food webs. Eighty-six percent of the identified compounds are not currently monitored, including 133 known anthropogenic chemicals. Compounds related to dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) were the most abundant. Natural products were, in some cases, detected at abundances similar to anthropogenic compounds. The profile of naturally occurring HOCs differed between ecotypes, suggesting more abundant offshore sources of these compounds. This nontargeted analytical framework provided a comprehensive list of HOCs that may be characteristic of the region, and its application within monitoring surveys may suggest new chemicals for evaluation
Longest Cycle Above Erd?s-Gallai Bound
In 1959, Erd?s and Gallai proved that every graph G with average vertex degree ad(G) ? 2 contains a cycle of length at least ad(G). We provide an algorithm that for k ? 0 in time 2^?(k)?n^?(1) decides whether a 2-connected n-vertex graph G contains a cycle of length at least ad(G)+k. This resolves an open problem explicitly mentioned in several papers. The main ingredients of our algorithm are new graph-theoretical results interesting on their own
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