5,962 research outputs found
Two-photon absorption and broadband optical limiting with bis-donor stilbenes
Large two-photon absorptivities are reported for symmetrical bis-donor stilbene derivatives with dialkylamino or diphenylamino groups. These molecules exhibit strong optical limiting of nanosecond pulses over a broad spectral range in the visible. Relative to bis(di-n-butylamino)stilbene, bis(diphenylamino)stilbene exhibits a 90-nm red shift of its optical limiting band but only a minimal shift of ~13 nm of its lowest one-photon electronic absorption band. Mixtures of these compounds offer an unprecedented combination of broad optical limiting bandwidth and high linear transparency
Numerical test of the damping time of layer-by-layer growth on stochastic models
We perform Monte Carlo simulations on stochastic models such as the
Wolf-Villain (WV) model and the Family model in a modified version to measure
mean separation between islands in submonolayer regime and damping time
of layer-by-layer growth oscillations on one dimension. The
stochastic models are modified, allowing diffusion within interval upon
deposited. It is found numerically that the mean separation and the damping
time depend on the diffusion interval , leading to that the damping time is
related to the mean separation as for the WV model
and for the Family model. The numerical results are in
excellent agreement with recent theoretical predictions.Comment: 4 pages, source LaTeX file and 5 PS figure
Brain Neprilysin Activity and Susceptibility to Transgene-Induced Alzheimer Amyloids
Neprilysin (NEP) is a zinc metalloproteinase that degrades enkephalins, endothelins, and the Alzheimer’s disease amyloid ß (Aß) peptides. NEP-deficient mice possess increased levels of brain Aß1-40 and Aß1-42. The objective of this study was to determine whether tissue NEP specific activity differs according to age and/or across mouse strains, especially those strains predisposed toward formation of Aß-amyloid plaques following overexpression of the human Alzheimer amyloid precursor protein (APP). The C57Bl/6J mouse strain appears to be relatively susceptible to cerebral amyloidosis, whereas the Swiss Webster (SW) strain appears more resistant. We investigated whether NEP specific activity in brain and kidney homogenates from SW and C57 mice of 6, 40, and 80 weeks old varied according to mouse strain, age, and gender. Among the variables tested, NEP specific activity varied most dramatically across mouse strain, with the kidney and brain of SW mice displaying the highest activities. Aging was associated with a reduction in brain NEP specific activity in both trains. Gender-specific differences were identified in kidney but not in brain. We conclude that aging- and strain-dependent ifferences in NEP specific activity may play a role in the differential susceptibility of some mouse strains for developing cerebral amyloidosis following human APP overexpression
Growth of Patterned Surfaces
During epitaxial crystal growth a pattern that has initially been imprinted
on a surface approximately reproduces itself after the deposition of an integer
number of monolayers. Computer simulations of the one-dimensional case show
that the quality of reproduction decays exponentially with a characteristic
time which is linear in the activation energy of surface diffusion. We argue
that this life time of a pattern is optimized, if the characteristic feature
size of the pattern is larger than , where is the surface
diffusion constant, the deposition rate and the surface dimension.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, uses psfig; to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Random Walks for Spike-Timing Dependent Plasticity
Random walk methods are used to calculate the moments of negative image
equilibrium distributions in synaptic weight dynamics governed by spike-timing
dependent plasticity (STDP). The neural architecture of the model is based on
the electrosensory lateral line lobe (ELL) of mormyrid electric fish, which
forms a negative image of the reafferent signal from the fish's own electric
discharge to optimize detection of sensory electric fields. Of particular
behavioral importance to the fish is the variance of the equilibrium
postsynaptic potential in the presence of noise, which is determined by the
variance of the equilibrium weight distribution. Recurrence relations are
derived for the moments of the equilibrium weight distribution, for arbitrary
postsynaptic potential functions and arbitrary learning rules. For the case of
homogeneous network parameters, explicit closed form solutions are developed
for the covariances of the synaptic weight and postsynaptic potential
distributions.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, 15 subfigures; uses revtex4, subfigure, amsmat
Leibniz's Infinitesimals: Their Fictionality, Their Modern Implementations, And Their Foes From Berkeley To Russell And Beyond
Many historians of the calculus deny significant continuity between
infinitesimal calculus of the 17th century and 20th century developments such
as Robinson's theory. Robinson's hyperreals, while providing a consistent
theory of infinitesimals, require the resources of modern logic; thus many
commentators are comfortable denying a historical continuity. A notable
exception is Robinson himself, whose identification with the Leibnizian
tradition inspired Lakatos, Laugwitz, and others to consider the history of the
infinitesimal in a more favorable light. Inspite of his Leibnizian sympathies,
Robinson regards Berkeley's criticisms of the infinitesimal calculus as aptly
demonstrating the inconsistency of reasoning with historical infinitesimal
magnitudes. We argue that Robinson, among others, overestimates the force of
Berkeley's criticisms, by underestimating the mathematical and philosophical
resources available to Leibniz. Leibniz's infinitesimals are fictions, not
logical fictions, as Ishiguro proposed, but rather pure fictions, like
imaginaries, which are not eliminable by some syncategorematic paraphrase. We
argue that Leibniz's defense of infinitesimals is more firmly grounded than
Berkeley's criticism thereof. We show, moreover, that Leibniz's system for
differential calculus was free of logical fallacies. Our argument strengthens
the conception of modern infinitesimals as a development of Leibniz's strategy
of relating inassignable to assignable quantities by means of his
transcendental law of homogeneity.Comment: 69 pages, 3 figure
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