2,975 research outputs found
kGamma distributions in granular packs
It has been recently pointed out that local volume fluctuations in granular
packings follow remarkably well a shifted and rescaled Gamma distribution named
the kGamma distribution [T. Aste, T. Di Matteo, Phys. Rev. E 77 (2008) 021309].
In this paper we confirm, extend and discuss this finding by supporting it with
additional experimental and simulation data.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
Coherent States Formulation of Polymer Field Theory
We introduce a stable and efficient complex Langevin (CL) scheme to enable
the first numerical simulations of the coherent-states (CS) formulation of
polymer field theory. In contrast with Edwards' well known auxiliary-field (AF)
framework, the CS formulation does not contain an embedded non-linear,
non-local functional of the auxiliary fields, and the action of the field
theory has a fully explicit, finite-order and semi-local polynomial character.
In the context of a polymer solution model, we demonstrate that the new CS-CL
dynamical scheme for sampling fluctuations in the space of coherent states
yields results in good agreement with now-standard AF simulations. The
formalism is potentially applicable to a broad range of polymer architectures
and may facilitate systematic generation of trial actions for use in
coarse-graining and numerical renormalization-group studies.Comment: 14pages 8 figure
Image states in metal clusters
The existence of image states in small clusters is shown, using a quantum-mechanical many-body approach. We present image state energies and wave functions for spherical jellium clusters up to 186 atoms, calculated in the GW approximation, where G is the Green's function and W is the dynamically screened Coulomb interaction, which by construction contains the dynamic long-range correlation effects that give rise to image effects. In addition, we find that image states are also subject to quantum confinement. To extrapolate our investigations to clusters in the mesoscopic size range, we propose a semiclassical model potential, which we test against our full GW results
Scanning Electron Microscope Observations of Growth and Ochratoxin - A Production of Aspergillus alutaceus Variety alutaceus (Formerly A. ochraceus) on Gamma-Irradiated Barley
Scanning electron microscope examination, colony counting and biochemical studies were conducted to describe the effect of gammairradiation on growth and ochratoxin A production by Aspergillus alutaceus. Irradiation at a dose of 1.0 or 2.0 kGy reduced the level of mold growth greatly relative to unirradiated controls. Growth in the irradiated samples after 7 to 12 day incubation was mainly in cracks in the hull, and less mycelium was seen on the grain surface. In unirradiated controls, mycelial growth was heavy and, although conidial heads were most abundant in cracks in the hull, they were seen over the whole surface. Vhen the barley was inoculated before irradiation, the number of colony forming units (cfu) at 5 days after 1.0 or 2.0 kGy irradiation was lower than in the unirradiated controls; however, the number increased over the control by 30 days. A dose of 4.0 kGy eliminated viable fungi. Ochratoxin A production decreased from the control level of 17.6 ÎĽg/g with increased dose and was below the detection limit above 4.0 kGy. Vhen barley was inoculated after irradiation the spore count and the ochratoxin A level were higher than the unirradiated control after 27 days. We conclude that the difference in growth and ochratoxin A production on irradiated and unirradiated barley is due to the effect of irradiation on the natural competitive microflora on the grain surface and the reduction of inoculum size of the A. alutaceus by radiation
Minkowski Tensors of Anisotropic Spatial Structure
This article describes the theoretical foundation of and explicit algorithms
for a novel approach to morphology and anisotropy analysis of complex spatial
structure using tensor-valued Minkowski functionals, the so-called Minkowski
tensors. Minkowski tensors are generalisations of the well-known scalar
Minkowski functionals and are explicitly sensitive to anisotropic aspects of
morphology, relevant for example for elastic moduli or permeability of
microstructured materials. Here we derive explicit linear-time algorithms to
compute these tensorial measures for three-dimensional shapes. These apply to
representations of any object that can be represented by a triangulation of its
bounding surface; their application is illustrated for the polyhedral Voronoi
cellular complexes of jammed sphere configurations, and for triangulations of a
biopolymer fibre network obtained by confocal microscopy. The article further
bridges the substantial notational and conceptual gap between the different but
equivalent approaches to scalar or tensorial Minkowski functionals in
mathematics and in physics, hence making the mathematical measure theoretic
method more readily accessible for future application in the physical sciences
An Upper Limit to Microwave Pulse Emission at the Onset of a Supernova
This paper reports an upper limit at 10 GHz of 4 x 10^(43) erg in a 40 MHz bandwidth for the microwave pulse emission at the onset of an optically observed supernova
A Search for Isolated Microwave Pulses from the Perseus Cluster of Galaxies
The paper describes a search for prompt
microwave emissions from supernovae in the central
region of the Perseus cluster of galaxies, using a
coincidence technique involving five tracking radiometers
located at widely spaced sites. No coincidences
were found between January and December, 1973, and no supernovae were reported during this period
from the optical surveys, in that region of sky
Conductance of carbon nanotubes with disorder: A numerical study
We study the conductance of carbon nanotube wires in the presence of
disorder, in the limit of phase coherent transport. For this purpose, we have
developed a simple numerical procedure to compute transmission through carbon
nanotubes and related structures. Two models of disorder are considered, weak
uniform disorder and isolated strong scatterers. In the case of weak uniform
disorder, our simulations show that the conductance is not significantly
affected by disorder when the Fermi energy is close to the band center.
Further, the transmission around the band center depends on the diameter of
these zero bandgap wires. We also find that the calculated small bias
conductance as a function of the Fermi energy exhibits a dip when the Fermi
energy is close to the second subband minima. In the presence of strong
isolated disorder, our calculations show a transmission gap at the band center,
and the corresponding conductance is very small
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Autophagy gene haploinsufficiency drives chromosome instability, increases migration, and promotes early ovarian tumors.
Autophagy, particularly with BECN1, has paradoxically been highlighted as tumor promoting in Ras-driven cancers, but potentially tumor suppressing in breast and ovarian cancers. However, studying the specific role of BECN1 at the genetic level is complicated due to its genomic proximity to BRCA1 on both human (chromosome 17) and murine (chromosome 11) genomes. In human breast and ovarian cancers, the monoallelic deletion of these genes is often co-occurring. To investigate the potential tumor suppressor roles of two of the most commonly deleted autophagy genes in ovarian cancer, BECN1 and MAP1LC3B were knocked-down in atypical (BECN1+/+ and MAP1LC3B+/+) ovarian cancer cells. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography mass-spectrometry metabolomics revealed reduced levels of acetyl-CoA which corresponded with elevated levels of glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids. Migration rates of ovarian cancer cells were increased upon autophagy gene knockdown. Genomic instability was increased, resulting in copy-number alteration patterns which mimicked high grade serous ovarian cancer. We further investigated the causal role of Becn1 haploinsufficiency for oncogenesis in a MISIIR SV40 large T antigen driven spontaneous ovarian cancer mouse model. Tumors were evident earlier among the Becn1+/- mice, and this correlated with an increase in copy-number alterations per chromosome in the Becn1+/- tumors. The results support monoallelic loss of BECN1 as permissive for tumor initiation and potentiating for genomic instability in ovarian cancer
Minkowski tensors and local structure metrics: Amorphous and crystalline sphere packings
Robust and sensitive tools to characterise local structure are essential for investigations of granular or particulate matter. Often local structure metrics derived from the bond network are used for this purpose, in particular Steinhardt's bond-orientational order parameters ql . Here we discuss an alternative method, based on the robust characterisation of the shape of the particles' Voronoi cells, by Minkowski tensors and derived anisotropy measures. We have successfully applied these metrics to quantify structural changes and the onset of crystallisation in random sphere packs. Here we specifically discuss the expectation values of these metrics for simple crystalline unimodal packings of spheres, consisting of single spheres on the points of a Bravais lattice. These data provide an important reference for the discussion of anisotropy values of disordered structures that are typically of relevance in granular systems. This analysis demonstrates that, at least for sufficiently high packing fractions above φ > 0.61, crystalline sphere packs exist whose Voronoi cells are more anisotropic with respect to a volumetric moment tensor than the average value of Voronoi cell anisotropy in random sphere packs
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