151 research outputs found
Transport in finite size systems: an exit time approach
In the framework of chaotic scattering we analyze passive tracer transport in
finite systems. In particular, we study models with open streamlines and a
finite number of recirculation zones. In the non trivial case with a small
number of recirculation zones a description by mean of asymptotic quantities
(such as the eddy diffusivity) is not appropriate. The non asymptotic
properties of dispersion are characterized by means of the exit time
statistics, which shows strong sensitivity on initial conditions. This yields a
probability distribution function with long tails, making impossible a
characterization in terms of a unique typical exit time.Comment: 16 RevTeX pages + 6 eps-figures include
Shear effects on passive scalar spectra
The effects of a large-scale shear on the energy spectrum of a passively
advected scalar field are investigated. The shear is superimposed on a
turbulent isotropic flow, yielding an Obukhov-Corrsin scalar
spectrum at small scales. Shear effects appear at large scales, where a
different, anisotropic behavior is observed. The scalar spectrum is shown to
behave as for a shear fixed in intensity and direction. For other
types of shear characteristics, the slope is generally intermediate between the
-5/3 Obukhov-Corrsin's and the -1 Batchelor's values. The physical mechanisms
at the origin of this behaviour are illustrated in terms of the motion of
Lagrangian particles. They provide an explanation to the scalar spectra shallow
and dependent on the experimental conditions observed in shear flows at
moderate Reynolds numbers.Comment: 10 LaTeX pages,3 eps Figure
Lagrangian Structure Functions in Turbulence: A Quantitative Comparison between Experiment and Direct Numerical Simulation
A detailed comparison between data from experimental measurements and
numerical simulations of Lagrangian velocity structure functions in turbulence
is presented. By integrating information from experiments and numerics, a
quantitative understanding of the velocity scaling properties over a wide range
of time scales and Reynolds numbers is achieved. The local scaling properties
of the Lagrangian velocity increments for the experimental and numerical data
are in good quantitative agreement for all time lags. The degree of
intermittency changes when measured close to the Kolmogorov time scales or at
larger time lags. This study resolves apparent disagreements between experiment
and numerics.Comment: 13 RevTeX pages (2 columns) + 8 figures include
Elastic waves and transition to elastic turbulence in a two-dimensional viscoelastic Kolmogorov flow
We investigate the dynamics of the two-dimensional periodic Kolmogorov flow
of a viscoelastic fluid, described by the Oldroyd-B model, by means of direct
numerical simulations. Above a critical Weissenberg number the flow displays a
transition from stationary to randomly fluctuating states, via periodic ones.
The increasing complexity of the flow in both time and space at progressively
higher values of elasticity accompanies the establishment of mixing features.
The peculiar dynamical behavior observed in the simulations is found to be
related to the appearance of filamental propagating patterns, which develop
even in the limit of very small inertial non-linearities, thanks to the
feedback of elastic forces on the flow.Comment: 10 pages, 14 figure
Efficient time series detection of the strong stochasticity threshold in Fermi-Pasta-Ulam oscillator lattices
In this work we study the possibility of detecting the so-called strong
stochasticity threshold, i.e. the transition between weak and strong chaos as
the energy density of the system is increased, in anharmonic oscillator chains
by means of the 0-1 test for chaos. We compare the result of the aforementioned
methodology with the scaling behavior of the largest Lyapunov exponent computed
by means of tangent space dynamics, that has so far been the most reliable
method available to detect the strong stochasticity threshold. We find that
indeed the 0-1 test can perform the detection in the range of energy density
values studied. Furthermore, we determined that conventional nonlinear time
series analysis methods fail to properly compute the largest Lyapounov exponent
even for very large data sets, whereas the computational effort of the 0-1 test
remains the same in the whole range of values of the energy density considered
with moderate size time series. Therefore, our results show that, for a
qualitative probing of phase space, the 0-1 test can be an effective tool if
its limitations are properly taken into account.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures; accepted for publication in Physical Review
Macroscopic equations for the adiabatic piston
A simplified version of a classical problem in thermodynamics -- the
adiabatic piston -- is discussed in the framework of kinetic theory. We
consider the limit of gases whose relaxation time is extremely fast so that the
gases contained on the left and right chambers of the piston are always in
equilibrium (that is the molecules are uniformly distributed and their
velocities obey the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution) after any collision with
the piston. Then by using kinetic theory we derive the collision statistics
from which we obtain a set of ordinary differential equations for the evolution
of the macroscopic observables (namely the piston average velocity and
position, the velocity variance and the temperatures of the two compartments).
The dynamics of these equations is compared with simulations of an ideal gas
and a microscopic model of gas settled to verify the assumptions used in the
derivation. We show that the equations predict an evolution for the macroscopic
variables which catches the basic features of the problem. The results here
presented recover those derived, using a different approach, by Gruber, Pache
and Lesne in J. Stat. Phys. 108, 669 (2002) and 112, 1177 (2003).Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures (revTeX4) The paper has been completely rewritten
with new derivation and results, supplementary information can be found at
http://denali.phys.uniroma1.it/~cencini/Papers/cppv07_supplements.pd
Tumor-Associated Macrophages in Multiple Myeloma: Key Role in Disease Biology and Potential Therapeutic Implications
Multiple myeloma (MM) is characterized by multiple relapse and, despite the introduction of novel therapies, the disease becomes ultimately drug-resistant. The tumor microenvironment (TME) within the bone marrow niche includes dendritic cells, T-cytotoxic, T-helper, reactive B-lymphoid cells and macrophages, with a complex cross-talk between these cells and the MM tumor cells. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) have an important role in the MM pathogenesis, since they could promote plasma cells proliferation and angiogenesis, further supporting MM immune evasion and progression. TAM are polarized towards M1 (classically activated, antitumor activity) and M2 (alternatively activated, pro-tumor activity) subtypes. Many studies demonstrated a correlation between TAM, disease progression, drug-resistance and reduced survival in lymphoproliferative neoplasms, including MM. MM plasma cells in vitro could favor an M2 TAM polarization. Moreover, a possible correlation between the pro-tumor effect of M2 TAM and a reduced sensitivity to proteasome inhibitors and immunomodulatory drugs was hypothesized. Several clinical studies confirmed CD68/CD163 double-positive M2 TAM were associated with increased microvessel density, chemoresistance and reduced survival, independently of the MM stage. This review provided an overview of the biology and clinical relevance of TAM in MM, as well as a comprehensive evaluation of a potential TAM-targeted immunotherapy
Experimental evidence of chaotic advection in a convective flow
Lagrangian chaos is experimentally investigated in a convective flow by means
of Particle Tracking Velocimetry. The Fnite Size Lyapunov Exponent analysis is
applied to quantify dispersion properties at different scales. In the range of
parameters of the experiment, Lagrangian motion is found to be chaotic.
Moreover, the Lyapunov depends on the Rayleigh number as . A
simple dimensional argument for explaining the observed power law scaling is
proposed.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figur
The prediction of future from the past: an old problem from a modern perspective
The idea of predicting the future from the knowledge of the past is quite
natural when dealing with systems whose equations of motion are not known. Such
a long-standing issue is revisited in the light of modern ergodic theory of
dynamical systems and becomes particularly interesting from a pedagogical
perspective due to its close link with Poincar\'e's recurrence. Using such a
connection, a very general result of ergodic theory - Kac's lemma - can be used
to establish the intrinsic limitations to the possibility of predicting the
future from the past. In spite of a naive expectation, predictability results
to be hindered rather by the effective number of degrees of freedom of a system
than by the presence of chaos. If the effective number of degrees of freedom
becomes large enough, regardless the regular or chaotic nature of the system,
predictions turn out to be practically impossible. The discussion of these
issues is illustrated with the help of the numerical study of simple models.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
Kinematic studies of transport across an island wake, with application to the Canary islands
Transport from nutrient-rich coastal upwellings is a key factor influencing
biological activity in surrounding waters and even in the open ocean. The rich
upwelling in the North-Western African coast is known to interact strongly with
the wake of the Canary islands, giving rise to filaments and other mesoscale
structures of increased productivity. Motivated by this scenario, we introduce
a simplified two-dimensional kinematic flow describing the wake of an island in
a stream, and study the conditions under which there is a net transport of
substances across the wake. For small vorticity values in the wake, it acts as
a barrier, but there is a transition when increasing vorticity so that for
values appropriate to the Canary area, it entrains fluid and enhances
cross-wake transport.Comment: 28 pages, 13 figure
- …