167 research outputs found
On the electrodynamics of moving bodies at low velocities
We discuss the seminal article in which Le Bellac and Levy-Leblond have
identified two Galilean limits of electromagnetism, and its modern
implications. We use their results to point out some confusion in the
literature and in the teaching of special relativity and electromagnetism. For
instance, it is not widely recognized that there exist two well defined
non-relativistic limits, so that researchers and teachers are likely to utilize
an incoherent mixture of both. Recent works have shed a new light on the choice
of gauge conditions in classical electromagnetism. We retrieve Le
Bellac-Levy-Leblond's results by examining orders of magnitudes, and then with
a Lorentz-like manifestly covariant approach to Galilean covariance based on a
5-dimensional Minkowski manifold. We emphasize the Riemann-Lorenz approach
based on the vector and scalar potentials as opposed to the Heaviside-Hertz
formulation in terms of electromagnetic fields. We discuss various applications
and experiments, such as in magnetohydrodynamics and electrohydrodynamics,
quantum mechanics, superconductivity, continuous media, etc. Much of the
current technology where waves are not taken into account, is actually based on
Galilean electromagnetism
On the inertia of heat
Does heat have inertia? This question is at the core of a long-standing
controversy on Eckart's dissipative relativistic hydrodynamics. Here I show
that the troublesome inertial term in Eckart's heat flux arises only if one
insists on defining thermal diffusivity as a spacetime constant. I argue that
this is the most natural definition, and that all confusion disappears if one
considers instead the space-dependent comoving diffusivity, in line with the
fact that, in the presence of gravity, space is an inhomogeneous medium.Comment: 3 page
Investigation of W-SiC compositionally graded films as a divertor material
W-SiC composite material is a promising plasma-facing material candidate
alternative to pure W due to the low neutron activation, low impurity
radiation, and low tritium diffusivity of SiC while leveraging the high erosion
resistance of the W armor. Additionally, W and SiC have high thermomechanical
compatibility given their similar thermal expansion rates. The present study
addresses the synthesis and performance of compositionally graded W-SiC films
fabricated by pulsed-DC magnetron sputtering. Compositional gradients were
characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and
energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and crystallographic information
was obtained using electron diffraction and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Samples
were exposed to L-mode deuterium plasma discharges in the DIII-D tokamak using
the Divertor Material Evaluation System (DiMES). Post-mortem characterizations
were performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and XRD. Electron
diffraction and XRD showed that the compositionally graded W-SiC films were
composed of polycrystalline W and amorphous SiC with amorphous W+SiC
interlayers. No macroscopic delamination or microstructural changes were
observed under mild exposure conditions. This study serves as a preliminary
examination of W-SiC compositionally graded composites as a potential candidate
divertor material in future tokamak devices.Comment: Published in Journal of Nuclear Material
Central Limit Theorem and Large Deviation Principle for Continuous Time Open Quantum Walks
International audienceOpen Quantum Walks (OQWs), originally introduced in [2], are quantum generalizations of classical Markov chains. Recently, natural continuous time models of OQW have been developed in [24]. These models, called Continuous Time Open Quantum Walks (CTOQWs), appear as natural continuous time limits of discrete time OQWs. In particular they are quantum extensions of continuous time Markov chains. This article is devoted to the study of homogeneous CTOQW on Z^d. We focus namely on their associated quantum trajectories which allow us to prove a Central Limit Theorem for the "position" of the walker as well as a Large Deviation Principle
Genetic aberrations of c-myc and CCND1 in the development of invasive bladder cancer
Detrusor muscle invasive transitional cell carcinoma is associated with poor prognosis and is responsible for the majority of bladder cancer related deaths. Amplifications of c-myc and CCND1 are associated with detrusor-muscle-invasive transitional cell carcinoma, however, their precise role in driving disease progression is unclear. Fluorescence in situ hybridisation on archival tissue from 16 patients with primary diagnosis of ⩾pT2 transitional cell carcinoma and 15 cases with primary pTa/pT1 disease subsequently progressing to detrusor-muscle-invasion was performed, in the latter group both pre and post muscle invasive events were studied. No patients presenting with ⩾pT2 had amplification of c-myc, two out of 16 (12.5%) had CCND1 amplification. Of patients who developed ⩾pT2, two out of 15 (13.3%) had amplification of c-myc, both in ⩾pT2, five out of 15 (33.3%) had CCND1 amplification, two in pTa/pT1 tumours, three in ⩾pT2 transitional cell carcinomas. In total, two out of 31 (6.5%) of patients' ⩾pT2 TCCs were amplified for c-myc and six out of 31 (19%) were amplified for CCND1. Eighty-seven per cent (40 out of 46) of tumours were polysomic for chromosome 8 and 80% (37 out of 46) were polysomic for chromosome 11 and this reflected the high copy numbers of c-myc and CCND1 observed. In almost all cases an increase in c-myc/CCND1 copy number occurred prior to invasion and persisted in advanced disease. Amplification of CCND1 or alterations in c-myc/CCND1 early in bladder cancer may have clinical relevance in promoting and predicting progression to detrusor-muscle-invasive transitional cell carcinoma
Cortical Dynamics Subserving Visual Apparent Motion
Motion can be perceived when static images are successively presented with a spatial shift. This type of motion is an illusion and is termed apparent motion (AM). Here we show, with a voltage sensitive dye applied to the visual cortex of the ferret, that presentation of a sequence of stationary, short duration, stimuli which are perceived to produce AM are, initially, mapped in areas 17 and 18 as separate stationary representations. But time locked to the offset of the 1st stimulus, a sequence of signals are elicited. First, an activation traverses cortical areas 19 and 21 in the direction of AM. Simultaneously, a motion dependent feedback signal from these areas activates neurons between areas 19/21 and areas 17/18. Finally, an activation is recorded, traveling always from the representation of the 1st to the representation of the next or succeeding stimuli. This activation elicits spikes from neurons situated between these stimulus representations in areas 17/18. This sequence forms a physiological mechanism of motion computation which could bind populations of neurons in the visual areas to interpret motion out of stationary stimuli
Effect of Composition on Electrical and Optical Properties of Thin Films of Amorphous GaxSe100−x Nanorods
We report the electrical and optical studies of thin films of a-GaxSe100−x nanorods (x = 3, 6, 9 and 12). Thin films of a-GaxSe100−x nanorods have been synthesized thermal evaporation technique. DC electrical conductivity of deposited thin films of a-GaxSe100−x nanorods is measured as a function of temperature range from 298 to 383 K. An exponential increase in the dc conductivity is observed with the increase in temperature, suggesting thereby a semiconducting behavior. The estimated value of activation energy decreases on incorporation of dopant (Ga) content in the Se system. The calculated value of pre-exponential factor (σ0) is of the order of 101 Ω−1 cm−1, which suggests that the conduction takes place in the band tails of localized states. It is suggested that the conduction is due to thermally assisted tunneling of the carriers in the localized states near the band edges. On the basis of the optical absorption measurements, an indirect optical band gap is observed in this system, and the value of optical band gap decreases on increasing Ga concentration
Reduction in membranous expression of β-catenin and increased cytoplasmic E-cadherin expression predict poor survival in gastric cancer
β-catenin, a component of the E-cadherin–catenin cell adhesion complex, also plays a separate intracellular signalling role, interacting with APC protein. Intracellular accumulation of β-catenin is common in colorectal neoplasia. β-catenin abnormalities are associated with poor survival in gastric cancer, but previous studies do not differentiate between membrane-associated and intracellular β-catenin. In this study we aimed to determine which type of expression abnormalities for E-cadherin, β-catenin and α-catenin correlate with clinico-pathological features and survival in gastric cancer. Immunoperoxidase staining of paraffin-embedded sections from 40 gastric cancers was performed for E-cadherin, α- and β-catenins using microwave unmasking and an avidin–biotin technique. Clinical data were obtained from case records and cancer registry records. Reduced membranous expression of β-catenin occurred in 10/12 (83%) diffuse and 8/28 (29%) intestinal tumours (P = 0.0014), and was associated with poor differentiation (P = 0.0015) and short survival (P = 0.032), but not with age, sex, tumour size or nodal status. Nuclear expression of β-catenin was uncommon; cytoplasmic expression was observed in 13/40 cases (33%) but did not correlate with histology, tumour grade or survival. Reduced E-cadherin membrane expression was associated with lymph node metastasis (P = 0.02). Neither E-cadherin or α-catenin expression correlated with survival. Reduced membranous expression of β-catenin predicts poor prognosis in gastric cancer, whilst ectopic intracellular expression is relatively rare. The apparent differences in β-catenin expression from those found in colon cancer merit further study. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig
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