450 research outputs found
Analytical approach to viscous fingering in a cylindrical Hele-Shaw cell
We report analytical results for the development of the viscous fingering
instability in a cylindrical Hele-Shaw cell of radius a and thickness b. We
derive a generalized version of Darcy's law in such cylindrical background, and
find it recovers the usual Darcy's law for flow in flat, rectangular cells,
with corrections of higher order in b/a. We focus our interest on the influence
of cell's radius of curvature on the instability characteristics. Linear and
slightly nonlinear flow regimes are studied through a mode-coupling analysis.
Our analytical results reveal that linear growth rates and finger competition
are inhibited for increasingly larger radius of curvature. The absence of
tip-splitting events in cylindrical cells is also discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 3 ps figures, Revte
The Number of Incipient Spanning Clusters in Two-Dimensional Percolation
Using methods of conformal field theory, we conjecture an exact form for the
probability that n distinct clusters span a large rectangle or open cylinder of
aspect ratio k, in the limit when k is large.Comment: 9 pages, LaTeX, 1 eps figure. Additional references and comparison
with existing numerical results include
Boundary states for a free boson defined on finite geometries
Langlands recently constructed a map that factorizes the partition function
of a free boson on a cylinder with boundary condition given by two arbitrary
functions in the form of a scalar product of boundary states. We rewrite these
boundary states in a compact form, getting rid of technical assumptions
necessary in his construction. This simpler form allows us to show explicitly
that the map between boundary conditions and states commutes with conformal
transformations preserving the boundary and the reality condition on the scalar
field.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX (uses AMS components). Revised version; an analogy
with string theory computations is discussed and references adde
Toda Fields on Riemann Surfaces: remarks on the Miura transformation
We point out that the Miura transformation is related to a holomorphic
foliation in a relative flag manifold over a Riemann Surface. Certain
differential operators corresponding to a free field description of
--algebras are thus interpreted as partial connections associated to the
foliation.Comment: AmsLatex 1.1, 10 page
Age-Related Changes in Cardiac Autonomic Modulation and Heart Rate Variability in Mice
Objective: The aim of this study was to assess age-related changes in cardiac autonomic modulation and heart rate variability (HRV) and their association with spontaneous and pharmacologically induced vulnerability to cardiac arrhythmias, to verify the translational relevance of mouse models for further in-depth evaluation of the link between autonomic changes and increased arrhythmic risk with advancing age. Methods: Heart rate (HR) and time- and frequency-domain indexes of HRV were calculated from Electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings in two groups of conscious mice of different ages (4 and 19 months old) (i) during daily undisturbed conditions, (ii) following peripheral β-adrenergic (atenolol), muscarinic (methylscopolamine), and β-adrenergic + muscarinic blockades, and (iii) following β-adrenergic (isoprenaline) stimulation. Vulnerability to arrhythmias was evaluated during daily undisturbed conditions and following β-adrenergic stimulation. Results: HRV analysis and HR responses to autonomic blockades revealed that 19-month-old mice had a lower vagal modulation of cardiac function compared with 4-month-old mice. This age-related autonomic effect was not reflected in changes in HR, since intrinsic HR was lower in 19-month-old compared with 4-month-old mice. Both time- and frequency-domain HRV indexes were reduced following muscarinic, but not β-adrenergic blockade in younger mice, and to a lesser extent in older mice, suggesting that HRV is largely modulated by vagal tone in mice. Finally, 19-month-old mice showed a larger vulnerability to both spontaneous and isoprenaline-induced arrhythmias. Conclusion: The present study combines HRV analysis and selective pharmacological autonomic blockades to document an age-related impairment in cardiac vagal modulation in mice which is consistent with the human condition. Given their short life span, mice could be further exploited as an aged model for studying the trajectory of vagal decline with advancing age using HRV measures, and the mechanisms underlying its association with proarrhythmic remodeling of the senescent heart
The Spitzer Survey of Interstellar Clouds in the Gould Belt. VI. The Auriga-California Molecular Cloud observed with IRAC and MIPS
We present observations of the Auriga-California Molecular Cloud (AMC) at
3.6, 4.5, 5.8, 8.0, 24, 70 and 160 micron observed with the IRAC and MIPS
detectors as part of the Spitzer Gould Belt Legacy Survey. The total mapped
areas are 2.5 sq-deg with IRAC and 10.47 sq-deg with MIPS. This giant molecular
cloud is one of two in the nearby Gould Belt of star-forming regions, the other
being the Orion A Molecular Cloud (OMC). We compare source counts, colors and
magnitudes in our observed region to a subset of the SWIRE data that was
processed through our pipeline. Using color-magnitude and color-color diagrams,
we find evidence for a substantial population of 166 young stellar objects
(YSOs) in the cloud, many of which were previously unknown. Most of this
population is concentrated around the LkHalpha 101 cluster and the filament
extending from it. We present a quantitative description of the degree of
clustering and discuss the fraction of YSOs in the region with disks relative
to an estimate of the diskless YSO population. Although the AMC is similar in
mass, size and distance to the OMC, it is forming about 15 - 20 times fewer
stars.Comment: (30 pages, 17 figures (2 multipage figures), accepted for publication
in ApJ
Interfacing Graphene-Based Materials With Neural Cells
The scientific community has witnessed an exponential increase in the applications of graphene and graphene-based materials in a wide range of fields, from engineering to electronics to biotechnologies and biomedical applications. For what concerns neuroscience, the interest raised by these materials is two-fold. On one side, nanosheets made of graphene or graphene derivatives (graphene oxide, or its reduced form) can be used as carriers for drug delivery. Here, an important aspect is to evaluate their toxicity, which strongly depends on flake composition, chemical functionalization and dimensions. On the other side, graphene can be exploited as a substrate for tissue engineering. In this case, conductivity is probably the most relevant amongst the various properties of the different graphene materials, as it may allow to instruct and interrogate neural networks, as well as to drive neural growth and differentiation, which holds a great potential in regenerative medicine. In this review, we try to give a comprehensive view of the accomplishments and new challenges of the field, as well as which in our view are the most exciting directions to take in the immediate future. These include the need to engineer multifunctional nanoparticles (NPs) able to cross the blood-brain-barrier to reach neural cells, and to achieve on-demand delivery of specific drugs. We describe the state-of-the-art in the use of graphene materials to engineer three-dimensional scaffolds to drive neuronal growth and regeneration in vivo, and the possibility of using graphene as a component of hybrid composites/multi-layer organic electronics devices. Last but not least, we address the need of an accurate theoretical modeling of the interface between graphene and biological material, by modeling the interaction of graphene with proteins and cell membranes at the nanoscale, and describing the physical mechanism(s) of charge transfer by which the various graphene materials can influence the excitability and physiology of neural cells
Cyclic dinucleotides bind the C-linker of HCN4 to control channel cAMP responsiveness
cAMP mediates autonomic regulation of heart rate by means of hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels, which underlie the pacemaker current If. cAMP binding to the C-terminal cyclic nucleotide binding domain enhances HCN open probability through a conformational change that reaches the pore via the C-linker. Using structural and functional analysis, we identified a binding pocket in the C-linker of HCN4. Cyclic dinucleotides, an emerging class of second messengers in mammals, bind the C-linker pocket (CLP) and antagonize cAMP regulation of the channel. Accordingly, cyclic dinucleotides prevent cAMP regulation of If in sinoatrial node myocytes, reducing heart rate by 30%. Occupancy of the CLP hence constitutes an efficient mechanism to hinder β-adrenergic stimulation on If. Our results highlight the regulative role of the C-linker and identify a potential drug target in HCN4. Furthermore, these data extend the signaling scope of cyclic dinucleotides in mammals beyond their first reported role in innate immune system
Measurement of the local Jahn-Teller distortion in LaMnO_3.006
The atomic pair distribution function (PDF) of stoichiometric LaMnO_3 has
been measured. This has been fit with a structural model to extract the local
Jahn-Teller distortion for an ideal Mn(3+)O_6 octahedron. These results are
compared to Rietveld refinements of the same data which give the average
structure. Since the local structure is being measured in the PDF there is no
assumption of long-range orbital order and the real, local, Jahn-Teller
distortion is measured directly. We find good agreement both with published
crystallographic results and our own Rietveld refinements suggesting that in an
accurately stoichiometric material there is long range orbital order as
expected. The local Jahn-Teller distortion has 2 short, 2 medium and 2 long
bonds.Comment: 5 pages, 3 postscript figures, minor change
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