6,806 research outputs found
Critical properties of loop percolation models with optimization constraints
We study loop percolation models in two and in three space dimensions, in
which configurations of occupied bonds are forced to form closed loop. We show
that the uncorrelated occupation of elementary plaquettes of the square and the
simple cubic lattice by elementary loops leads to a percolation transition that
is in the same universality class as the conventional bond percolation. In
contrast to this an optimization constraint for the loop configurations, which
then have to minimize a particular generic energy function, leads to a
percolation transition that constitutes a new universality class, for which we
report the critical exponents. Implication for the physics of solid-on-solid
and vortex glass models are discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure
Shearing Interferometer for Quantifying the Coherence of Hard X-Ray Beams
We report a quantitative measurement of the full transverse coherence function of the 14.4 keV x-ray radiation produced by an undulator at the Swiss Light Source. An x-ray grating interferometer consisting of a beam splitter phase grating and an analyzer amplitude grating has been used to measure the degree of coherence as a function of the beam separation out to 30 m. Importantly, the technique provides a model-free and spatially resolved measurement of the complex coherence function and is not restricted to high resolution detectors and small fields of view. The spatial characterization of the wave front has important applications in discovering localized defects in beam line optics
Non-uniqueness in conformal formulations of the Einstein constraints
Standard methods in non-linear analysis are used to show that there exists a
parabolic branching of solutions of the Lichnerowicz-York equation with an
unscaled source. We also apply these methods to the extended conformal thin
sandwich formulation and show that if the linearised system develops a kernel
solution for sufficiently large initial data then we obtain parabolic solution
curves for the conformal factor, lapse and shift identical to those found
numerically by Pfeiffer and York. The implications of these results for
constrained evolutions are discussed.Comment: Arguments clarified and typos corrected. Matches published versio
The health benefits of dietary fibre
Background: Dietary fibre consists of non-digestible forms of carbohydrate, usually as polysaccharides that originate from plant-based foods. Over recent decades, our diet within Westernised societies has changed radically from that of our hominid ancestors, with implications for our co-evolved gut microbiota. This includes increased ingestion of ultra-processed foods that are typically impoverished of dietary fibre, and associated reduction in the intake of fibre-replete plant-based foods. Over recent decades, there has been a transformation in our understanding of the health benefits of dietary fibre. Objective: To explore the current medical literature on the health benefits of dietary fibre, with a focus on overall metabolic health. Data Sources: We performed a narrative review, based on relevant articles written in English from a PubMed search, using the terms ‘dietary fibre and metabolic health’. Results: In the Western world, our diets are impoverished of fibre. Dietary fibre intake associates with overall metabolic health (through key pathways that include insulin sensitivity) and a variety of other pathologies that include cardiovascular disease, colonic health, gut motility and risk for colorectal carcinoma. Dietary fibre intake also correlates with mortality. The gut microflora functions as an important mediator of the beneficial effects of dietary fibre, including the regulation of appetite, metabolic processes and chronic inflammatory pathways. Conclusions: Multiple factors contribute to our fibre-impoverished modern diet. Given the plethora of scientific evidence that corroborate the multiple and varied health benefits of dietary fibre, and the risks associated with a diet that lacks fibre, the optimization of fibre within our diets represents an important public health strategy to improve both metabolic and overall health. If implemented successfully, this strategy would likely result in substantial future health benefits for the population. View Full-Tex
Circulating vaspin is unrelated to insulin sensitivity in a cohort of nondiabetic humans
Objective: To study the association of vaspin with glucose metabolism.
Design: Cross-sectional and intervention study.
Subjects and methods: The association of serum vaspin with metabolic and anthropometric characteristics was investigated in 108 volunteers. Euglycemic–hyperinsulinemic clamps (EHC) were performed in 83 of the participants. Changes of circulating vaspin levels were additionally studied in a crossover study using 300 min EHC with lipid versus saline infusion (n=10).
Results: Neither glucose tolerance status nor insulin sensitivity, both as measured using EHCs and using homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), was significantly associated with serum vaspin in the cross-sectional study. Furthermore, there was no effect of short-term lipid-induced insulin resistance due to a 300 min intravenous lipid challenge on circulating vaspin. However, circulating vaspin levels were significantly elevated in women using oral contraceptives (OC), both compared to women without OC intake (1.17±0.26 vs 0.52±0.09 ng/ml, P=0.02) and males (1.17±0.26 vs 0.29±0.04 ng/ml, P=0.01). After exclusion of OC using females and stratification according to body mass index (BMI), a significant sexual dimorphism in subjects with a BMI <25 kg/m2 was observed (males 0.21±0.04 ng/ml versus females 0.70±0.16 ng/ml, P=0.009).
Conclusion: Our results support the existence of a sexual dimorphism regarding circulating vaspin. The lack of an association of serum vaspin with HOMA-IR and M value indicates, however, no major role for vaspin concerning insulin sensitivity in nondiabetic humans
Inhomogeneous broadening of tunneling conductance in double quantum wells
The lineshape of the tunneling conductance in double quantum wells with a
large-scale roughness of heterointerfaces is investigated. Large-scale
variations of coupled energy levels and scattering due to the short-range
potential are taken into account. The interplay between the inhomogeneous
broadening, induced by the non-screened part of large-scale potential, and the
homogeneous broadening due to the scattering by short-range potentials is
considered. It is shown that the large inhomogeneous broadening can be strongly
modified by nonlocal effects involved in the proposed mechanism of
inhomogeneity. Related change of lineshape of the resonant tunneling
conductance between Gaussian and Lorentzian peaks is described. The theoretical
results agree quite well with experimental data.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure
Implementation of higher-order absorbing boundary conditions for the Einstein equations
We present an implementation of absorbing boundary conditions for the
Einstein equations based on the recent work of Buchman and Sarbach. In this
paper, we assume that spacetime may be linearized about Minkowski space close
to the outer boundary, which is taken to be a coordinate sphere. We reformulate
the boundary conditions as conditions on the gauge-invariant
Regge-Wheeler-Zerilli scalars. Higher-order radial derivatives are eliminated
by rewriting the boundary conditions as a system of ODEs for a set of auxiliary
variables intrinsic to the boundary. From these we construct boundary data for
a set of well-posed constraint-preserving boundary conditions for the Einstein
equations in a first-order generalized harmonic formulation. This construction
has direct applications to outer boundary conditions in simulations of isolated
systems (e.g., binary black holes) as well as to the problem of
Cauchy-perturbative matching. As a test problem for our numerical
implementation, we consider linearized multipolar gravitational waves in TT
gauge, with angular momentum numbers l=2 (Teukolsky waves), 3 and 4. We
demonstrate that the perfectly absorbing boundary condition B_L of order L=l
yields no spurious reflections to linear order in perturbation theory. This is
in contrast to the lower-order absorbing boundary conditions B_L with L<l,
which include the widely used freezing-Psi_0 boundary condition that imposes
the vanishing of the Newman-Penrose scalar Psi_0.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures. Minor clarifications. Final version to appear in
Class. Quantum Grav
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