2,247 research outputs found
Submesoscale generation by boundaries
An important dynamical question involves how oceanic balanced flows lose energy. Recent numerical and analytical studies suggest topography catalyzes energy exchanges between balanced flows and a variety of unbalanced phenomena, which presumably leads to dissipation. We here develop a general theory of inviscid balanced flow interactions with walls that predicts submesoscale and unbalanced flow generation. Comparison with primitive equation-based numerical experiments supports the basic tenets of the theory
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The ventilated pool: a model of subtropical mode water
An analytical model of subtropical mode water is presented, based on ventilated thermocline theory and on numerical solutions of a planetary geostrophic basin model. In ventilated thermocline theory, the western pool is a region bounded on the east by subsurface streamlines that outcrop at the western edge of the interior, and in which additional dynamical assumptions are necessary to complete the solution. Solutions for the western pool were originally obtained under the assumption that the potential vorticity of the subsurface layer was homogenized. In the present theory, it is instead assumed that all of the water in the pool region is ventilated, and therefore that all the Sverdrup transport is carried in the uppermost, outcropping layer. The result is the formation of a deep, vertically homogeneous, fluid layer in the northwest corner of the subtropical gyre that extends from the surface to the base of the ventilated thermocline. This ventilated pool is an analog of the observed subtropical mode waters. The pool also has the interesting properties that it determines its own boundaries and affects the global potential vorticity-pressure relationship. When there are multiple outcropping layers, ventilated pool fluid is subducted to form a set of nested annuli in ventilated, subsurface layers, which are the deepest subducted layers in the ventilated thermocline.KEYWORDS: Ventilated thermocline, Mode water, Ocean circulation, Planetary geostroph
Lattice-gas model for alkali-metal fullerides: face-centered-cubic structure
A lattice-gas model is suggested for describing the ordering phenomena in
alkali-metal fullerides of face-centered-cubic structure assuming the electric
charge of alkali ions residing in either octahedral or tetrahedral interstitial
sites is completely screened by the first-neighbor C_60 molecules. This
approximation allows us to derive an effective ion-ion interaction. The van der
Waals interaction between the ion and C_60 molecule is characterized by
introducing an additional energy at the tetrahedral sites. This model is
investigated by using a three-sublattice mean-field approximation and a simple
cluster-variation method. The analysis shows a large variety of phase diagrams
when changing the site energy parameter.Comment: 10 twocolumn pages (REVTEX) including 12 PS figure
How do field of view and resolution affect the information content of panoramic scenes for visual navigation? A computational investigation
The visual systems of animals have to provide information to guide behaviour and the informational requirements of an animalâs behavioural repertoire are often reflected in its sensory system. For insects, this is often evident in the optical array of the compound eye. One behaviour that insects share with many animals is the use of learnt visual information for navigation. As ants are expert visual navigators it may be that their vision is optimised for navigation. Here we take a computational approach in asking how the details of the optical array influence the informational content of scenes used in simple view matching strategies for orientation. We find that robust orientation is best achieved with low-resolution visual information and a large field of view, similar to the optical properties seen for many ant species. A lower resolution allows for a trade-off between specificity and generalisation for stored views. Additionally, our simulations show that orientation performance increases if different portions of the visual field are considered as discrete visual sensors, each giving an independent directional estimate. This suggests that ants might benefit by processing information from their two eyes independently
The radical cation of bacteriochlorophyll b. A liquid-phase endor and triple resonance study
The previous termradical cationnext term of bacterioehlorophyll b (BChl b) is investigated by ENDOR and TRIPLE resonance in liquid solution. The experimental hyperfine coupling constants, ten proton and three nitrogen couplings, are compared with the predictions from advanced molecular-orbital calculations (RHF INDO/SP). The detailed picture obtained of the spin density distribution is a prerequisite for the investigation of the primary electron donor previous termradical cationnext term in BChl b containing photosynthetic bacteria
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killerFLIP: a novel lytic peptide specifically inducing cancer cell death
One of the objectives in the development of effective cancer therapy is induction of tumor-selective cell death. Toward this end, we have identified a small peptide that, when introduced into cells via a TAT cell-delivery system, shows a remarkably potent cytoxicity in a variety of cancer cell lines and inhibits tumor growth in vivo, whereas sparing normal cells and tissues. This fusion peptide was named killerFLIP as its sequence was derived from the C-terminal domain of c-FLIP, an anti-apoptotic protein. Using structure activity analysis, we determined the minimal bioactive core of killerFLIP, namely killerFLIP-E. Structural analysis of cells using electron microscopy demonstrated that killerFLIP-E triggers cell death accompanied by rapid (within minutes) plasma membrane permeabilization. Studies of the structure of the active core of killerFLIP (-E) indicated that it possesses amphiphilic properties and self-assembles into micellar structures in aqueous solution. The biochemical properties of killerFLIP are comparable to those of cationic lytic peptides, which participate in defense against pathogens and have also demonstrated anticancer properties. We show that the pro-cell death effects of killerFLIP are independent of its sequence similarity with c-FLIPL as killerFLIP-induced cell death was largely apoptosis and necroptosis independent. A killerFLIP-E variant containing a scrambled c-FLIPL motif indeed induced similar cell death, suggesting the importance of the c-FLIPL residues but not of their sequence. Thus, we report the discovery of a promising synthetic peptide with novel anticancer activity in vitro and in vivo
Detailed balance has a counterpart in non-equilibrium steady states
When modelling driven steady states of matter, it is common practice either
to choose transition rates arbitrarily, or to assume that the principle of
detailed balance remains valid away from equilibrium. Neither of those
practices is theoretically well founded. Hypothesising ergodicity constrains
the transition rates in driven steady states to respect relations analogous to,
but different from the equilibrium principle of detailed balance. The
constraints arise from demanding that the design of any model system contains
no information extraneous to the microscopic laws of motion and the macroscopic
observables. This prevents over-description of the non-equilibrium reservoir,
and implies that not all stochastic equations of motion are equally valid. The
resulting recipe for transition rates has many features in common with
equilibrium statistical mechanics.Comment: Replaced with minor revisions to introduction and conclusions.
Accepted for publication in Journal of Physics
ESR, ENDOR and TRIPLE resonance studies of the primary donor radical cation P960+ in the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas viridis
The light-induced radical cation of the primary electron donor P960+âą in photosynthetic reaction centers from Rhodopseudomonas viridis has been investigated by ESR, ENDOR and TRIPLE techniques. Both the comparison with the cation radical of monomeric bacteriochlorophyll b (BChl b) and with molecular-orbital calculations performed on P960+âą using the results of an X-ray structure analysis, consistently show an asymmetric distribution of the unpaired electron over the two BChl b molecules which constitute P960+âą. The possible relevance of this result for the primary electron transfer step in the reaction center is briefly discussed
Charge density wave and quantum fluctuations in a molecular crystal
We consider an electron-phonon system in two and three dimensions on square,
hexagonal and cubic lattices. The model is a modification of the standard
Holstein model where the optical branch is appropriately curved in order to
have a reflection positive Hamiltonian. Using infrared bounds together with a
recent result on the coexistence of long-range order for electron and phonon
fields, we prove that, at sufficiently low temperatures and sufficiently strong
electron-phonon coupling, there is a Peierls instability towards a period two
charge-density wave at half-filling. Our results take into account the quantum
fluctuations of the elastic field in a rigorous way and are therefore
independent of any adiabatic approximation. The strong coupling and low
temperature regime found here is independent of the strength of the quantum
fluctuations of the elastic field.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figur
Nonlinear saturation of electrostatic waves: mobile ions modify trapping scaling
The amplitude equation for an unstable electrostatic wave in a multi-species
Vlasov plasma has been derived. The dynamics of the mode amplitude is
studied using an expansion in ; in particular, in the limit
, the singularities in the expansion coefficients are
analyzed to predict the asymptotic dependence of the electric field on the
linear growth rate . Generically , as
, but in the limit of infinite ion mass or for
instabilities in reflection-symmetric systems due to real eigenvalues the more
familiar trapping scaling is predicted.Comment: 13 pages (Latex/RevTex), 4 postscript encapsulated figures which are
included using the utility "uufiles". They should be automatically included
with the text when it is downloaded. Figures also available in hard copy from
the authors ([email protected]
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