778 research outputs found
A lattice model for the kinetics of rupture of fluid bilayer membranes
We have constructed a model for the kinetics of rupture of membranes under
tension, applying physical principles relevant to lipid bilayers held together
by hydrophobic interactions. The membrane is characterized by the bulk
compressibility (for expansion), the thickness of the hydrophobic part of the
bilayer, the hydrophobicity and a parameter characterizing the tail rigidity of
the lipids. The model is a lattice model which incorporates strain relaxation,
and considers the nucleation of pores at constant area, constant temperature,
and constant particle number. The particle number is conserved by allowing
multiple occupancy of the sites. An equilibrium ``phase diagram'' is
constructed as a function of temperature and strain with the total pore surface
and distribution as the order parameters. A first order rupture line is found
with increasing tension, and a continuous increase in proto-pore concentration
with rising temperature till instability. The model explains current results on
saturated and unsaturated PC lipid bilayers and thicker artificial bilayers
made of diblock copolymers. Pore size distributions are presented for various
values of area expansion and temperature, and the fractal dimension of the pore
edge is evaluated.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure
Effective Lagrangians for Orientifold Theories
We construct effective Lagrangians of the Veneziano-Yankielowicz (VY) type
for two non-supersymmetric theories which are orientifold daughters of
supersymmetric gluodynamics (containing one Dirac fermion in the two-index
antisymmetric or symmetric representation of the gauge group). Since the parent
and daughter theories are planar equivalent, at N\to\infty the effective
Lagrangians in the orientifold theories basically coincide with the bosonic
part of the VY Lagrangian.
We depart from the supersymmetric limit in two ways. First, we consider
finite (albeit large) values of N. Then 1/N effects break supersymmetry. We
suggest seemingly the simplest modification of the VY Lagrangian which
incorporates these 1/N effects, leading to a non-vanishing vacuum energy
density. We analyze the spectrum of the finite-N non-supersymmetric daughters.
For N=3 the two-index antisymmetric representation (one flavor) is equivalent
to one-flavor QCD. We show that in this case the scalar quark-antiquark state
is heavier than the corresponding pseudoscalar state, `` eta' ''. Second, we
add a small fermion mass term. The fermion mass term breaks supersymmetry
explicitly. The vacuum degeneracy is lifted. The parity doublets split. We
evaluate the splitting. Finally, we include the theta-angle and study its
implications.Comment: LaTeX, 21 page
Finite covers of random 3-manifolds
A 3-manifold is Haken if it contains a topologically essential surface. The
Virtual Haken Conjecture posits that every irreducible 3-manifold with infinite
fundamental group has a finite cover which is Haken. In this paper, we study
random 3-manifolds and their finite covers in an attempt to shed light on this
difficult question. In particular, we consider random Heegaard splittings by
gluing two handlebodies by the result of a random walk in the mapping class
group of a surface. For this model of random 3-manifold, we are able to compute
the probabilities that the resulting manifolds have finite covers of particular
kinds. Our results contrast with the analogous probabilities for groups coming
from random balanced presentations, giving quantitative theorems to the effect
that 3-manifold groups have many more finite quotients than random groups. The
next natural question is whether these covers have positive betti number. For
abelian covers of a fixed type over 3-manifolds of Heegaard genus 2, we show
that the probability of positive betti number is 0.
In fact, many of these questions boil down to questions about the mapping
class group. We are lead to consider the action of mapping class group of a
surface S on the set of quotients pi_1(S) -> Q. If Q is a simple group, we show
that if the genus of S is large, then this action is very mixing. In
particular, the action factors through the alternating group of each orbit.
This is analogous to Goldman's theorem that the action of the mapping class
group on the SU(2) character variety is ergodic.Comment: 60 pages; v2: minor changes. v3: minor changes; final versio
CMOS Active Pixel Sensors as energy-range detectors for proton Computed Tomography
Since the first proof of concept in the early 70s, a number of technologies has been proposed to perform proton CT (pCT), as a means of mapping tissue stopping power for accurate treatment planning in proton therapy. Previous prototypes of energy-range detectors for pCT have been mainly based on the use of scintillator-based calorimeters, to measure proton residual energy after passing through the patient. However, such an approach is limited by the need for only a single proton passing through the energy-range detector in a read-out cycle. A novel approach to this problem could be the use of pixelated detectors, where the independent read-out of each pixel allows to measure simultaneously the residual energy of a number of protons in the same read-out cycle, facilitating a faster and more efficient pCT scan.
This paper investigates the suitability of CMOS Active Pixel Sensors (APSs) to track indi- vidual protons as they go through a number of CMOS layers, forming an energy-range telescope. Measurements performed at the iThemba Laboratories will be presented and analysed in terms of correlation, to confirm capability of proton tracking for CMOS APSs
Kinetics and Jamming Coverage in a Random Sequential Adsorption of Polymer Chains
Using a highly efficient Monte Carlo algorithm, we are able to study the
growth of coverage in a random sequential adsorption (RSA) of self-avoiding
walk (SAW) chains for up to 10^{12} time steps on a square lattice. For the
first time, the true jamming coverage (theta_J) is found to decay with the
chain length (N) with a power-law theta_J propto N^{-0.1}. The growth of the
coverage to its jamming limit can be described by a power-law, theta(t) approx
theta_J -c/t^y with an effective exponent y which depends on the chain length,
i.e., y = 0.50 for N=4 to y = 0.07 for N=30 with y -> 0 in the asymptotic limit
N -> infinity.Comment: RevTeX, 5 pages inclduing figure
Number--conserving model for boson pairing
An independent pair ansatz is developed for the many body wavefunction of
dilute Bose systems. The pair correlation is optimized by minimizing the
expectation value of the full hamiltonian (rather than the truncated Bogoliubov
one) providing a rigorous energy upper bound. In contrast with the Jastrow
model, hypernetted chain theory provides closed-form exactly solvable equations
for the optimized pair correlation. The model involves both condensate and
coherent pairing with number conservation and kinetic energy sum rules
satisfied exactly and the compressibility sum rule obeyed at low density. We
compute, for bulk boson matter at a given density and zero temperature, (i) the
two--body distribution function, (ii) the energy per particle, (iii) the sound
velocity, (iv) the chemical potential, (v) the momentum distribution and its
condensate fraction and (vi) the pairing function, which quantifies the ODLRO
resulting from the structural properties of the two--particle density matrix.
The connections with the low--density expansion and Bogoliubov theory are
analyzed at different density values, including the density and scattering
length regime of interest of trapped-atoms Bose--Einstein condensates.
Comparison with the available Diffusion Monte Carlo results is also made.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figure
Multi-layered Ruthenium-modified Bond Coats for Thermal Barrier Coatings
Diffusional approaches for fabrication of multi-layered Ru-modified bond coats for thermal
barrier coatings have been developed via low activity chemical vapor deposition and high activity
pack aluminization. Both processes yield bond coats comprising two distinct B2 layers, based on
NiAl and RuAl, however, the position of these layers relative to the bond coat surface is reversed
when switching processes. The structural evolution of each coating at various stages of the
fabrication process has been and subsequent cyclic oxidation is presented, and the relevant
interdiffusion and phase equilibria issues in are discussed. Evaluation of the oxidation behavior of
these Ru-modified bond coat structures reveals that each B2 interlayer arrangement leads to the
formation of α-Al 2 O 3 TGO at 1100°C, but the durability of the TGO is somewhat different and in
need of further improvement in both cases
LD Hub:a centralized database and web interface to perform LD score regression that maximizes the potential of summary level GWAS data for SNP heritability and genetic correlation analysis
Motivation: LD score regression is a reliable and efficient method of using genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary-level results data to estimate the SNP heritability of complex traits and diseases, partition this heritability into functional categories, and estimate the genetic correlation between different phenotypes. Because the method relies on summary level results data, LD score regression is computationally tractable even for very large sample sizes. However, publicly available GWAS summary-level data are typically stored in different databases and have different formats, making it difficult to apply LD score regression to estimate genetic correlations across many different traits simultaneously. Results: In this manuscript, we describe LD Hub - a centralized database of summary-level GWAS results for 173 diseases/traits from different publicly available resources/consortia and a web interface that automates the LD score regression analysis pipeline. To demonstrate functionality and validate our software, we replicated previously reported LD score regression analyses of 49 traits/diseases using LD Hub; and estimated SNP heritability and the genetic correlation across the different phenotypes. We also present new results obtained by uploading a recent atopic dermatitis GWAS meta-analysis to examine the genetic correlation between the condition and other potentially related traits. In response to the growing availability of publicly accessible GWAS summary-level results data, our database and the accompanying web interface will ensure maximal uptake of the LD score regression methodology, provide a useful database for the public dissemination of GWAS results, and provide a method for easily screening hundreds of traits for overlapping genetic aetiologies
Expected proton signal sizes in the PRaVDA Range Telescope for proton Computed Tomography
Proton radiotherapy has demonstrated benefits in the treatment of certain cancers. Accurate measurements of the proton stopping powers in body tissues are required in order to fully optimise the delivery of such treaments. The PRaVDA Consortium is developing a novel, fully solid state device to measure these stopping powers. The PRaVDA Range Telescope (RT), uses a stack of 24 CMOS Active Pixel Sensors (APS) to measure the residual proton energy after the patient. We present here the ability of the CMOS sensors to detect changes in the signal sizes as the proton traverses the RT, compare the results with theory, and discuss the implications of these results on the reconstruction of proton tracks
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