CaMKII-dependent regulation of cardiac Na(+) homeostasis.

Na(+) homeostasis is a key regulator of cardiac excitation and contraction. The cardiac voltage-gated Na(+) channel, NaV1.5, critically controls cell excitability, and altered channel gating has been implicated in both inherited and acquired arrhythmias. Ca(2) (+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII), a serine/threonine kinase important in cardiac physiology and disease, phosphorylates NaV1.5 at multiple sites within the first intracellular linker loop to regulate channel gating. Although CaMKII sites on the channel have been identified (S516, T594, S571), the relative role of each of these phospho-sites in channel gating properties remains unclear, whereby both loss-of-function (reduced availability) and gain-of-function (late Na(+) current, INa L) effects have been reported. Our review highlights investigating the complex multi-site phospho-regulation of NaV1.5 gating is crucial to understanding the genesis of acquired arrhythmias in heart failure (HF) and CaMKII activated conditions. In addition, the increased Na(+) influx accompanying INa L may also indirectly contribute to arrhythmia by promoting Ca(2) (+) overload. While the precise mechanisms of Na(+) loading during HF remain unclear, and quantitative analyses of the contribution of INa L are lacking, disrupted Na(+) homeostasis is a consistent feature of HF. Computational and experimental observations suggest that both increased diastolic Na(+) influx and action potential prolongation due to systolic INa L contribute to disruption of Ca(2) (+) handling in failing hearts. Furthermore, simulations reveal a synergistic interaction between perturbed Na(+) fluxes and CaMKII, and confirm recent experimental findings of an arrhythmogenic feedback loop, whereby CaMKII activation is at once a cause and a consequence of Na(+) loading

Phenomenological Renormalization Group Methods

Some renormalization group approaches have been proposed during the last few years which are close in spirit to the Nightingale phenomenological procedure. In essence, by exploiting the finite size scaling hypothesis, the approximate critical behavior of the model on infinite lattice is obtained through the exact computation of some thermal quantities of the model on finite clusters. In this work some of these methods are reviewed, namely the mean field renormalization group, the effective field renormalization group and the finite size scaling renormalization group procedures. Although special emphasis is given to the mean field renormalization group (since it has been, up to now, much more applied an extended to study a wide variety of different systems) a discussion of their potentialities and interrelations to other methods is also addressed.Comment: Review Articl

The structure of Abell 1351: a bimodal galaxy cluster with peculiar diffuse radio emission

We aim to review the internal structure and dynamics of the Abell 1351 cluster, shown to host a radio halo with a quite irregular shape. Our analysis is based on radial velocity data for 135 galaxies obtained at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo. We combine galaxy velocities and positions to select 95 cluster galaxy members and analyse the internal dynamics of the whole cluster. We also examine X-ray data retrieved from Chandra and XMM archives. We measure the cluster redshift, =0.325, the line-of-sight (LOS) velocity dispersion, \sigma_v~1500 km/s, and the X-ray temperature, kT~9 keV. From both X-ray and optical data independently, we estimate a large cluster mass, in the 1--4 $10^{15}$ M$_\odot$ range. We attribute the extremely high value of \sigma_v to the bimodality in the velocity distribution. We find evidence of a significant velocity gradient and optical 3D substructure. The X-ray analysis also shows many features in favour of a complex cluster structure, probably supporting an ongoing merger of substructures in Abell 1351. The observational scenario agrees with the presence of two main subclusters in the northern region, each with its brightest galaxy (BCG1 and BCG2), detected as the two most important X-ray substructures with a rest-frame LOS velocity difference of \Delta v~2500 km/s (in the rest frame) and probably being in large part aligned with the LOS. We conclude that Abell 1351 is a massive merging cluster. The details of the cluster structure allow us to interpret the quite asymmetric radio halo as a `normal' halo plus a southern relic, strongly supporting a previous suggestion based only on inspection of radio and preliminary X-ray data.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, 1 tabl

Radiative cooling, heating and thermal conduction in M87

The crisis of the standard cooling flow model brought about by Chandra and XMM-Newton observations of galaxy clusters, has led to the development of several models which explore different heating processes in order to assess if they can quench the cooling flow. Among the most appealing mechanisms are thermal conduction and heating through buoyant gas deposited in the ICM by AGNs. We combine Virgo/M87 observations of three satellites (Chandra, XMM-Newton and Beppo-SAX) to inspect the dynamics of the ICM in the center of the cluster. Using the spectral deprojection technique, we derive the physical quantities describing the ICM and determine the extra-heating needed to balance the cooling flow assuming that thermal conduction operates at a fixed fraction of the Spitzer value. We assume that the extra-heating is due to buoyant gas and we fit the data using the model developed by Ruszkowski and Begelman (2002). We derive a scale radius for the model of $\sim 5$ kpc, which is comparable with the M87 AGN jet extension, and a required luminosity of the AGN of a $few \times 10^{42}$ erg s$^{-1}$, which is comparable to the observed AGN luminosity. We discuss a scenario where the buoyant bubbles are filled of relativistic particles and magnetic field responsible for the radio emission in M87. The AGN is supposed to be intermittent and to inject populations of buoyant bubbles through a succession of outbursts. We also study the X-ray cool component detected in the radio lobes and suggest that it is structured in blobs which are tied to the radio buoyant bubbles.Comment: 25 pages, 10 figures and 2 tables. Accepted for publication in Ap

Semiclassical Spectrum of Small Bose-Hubbard Chains: A Normal Form Approach

We analyze the spectrum of the 3-site Bose-Hubbard model with periodic boundary conditions using a semiclassical method. The Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization is applied to an effective classical Hamiltonian which we derive using resonance normal form theory. The derivation takes into account the 1:1 resonance between frequencies of a linearized classical system, and brings nonlinear terms into a corresponding normal form. The obtained expressions reproduce the exact low-energy spectrum of the system remarkably well even for a small number of particles N corresponding to fillings of just two particles per site. Such small fillings are often used in current experiments, and it is inspiring to get insight into this quantum regime using essentially classical calculations.Comment: Minor corrections to the coefficients of the effective Hamiltonian in Eqs 14,15,18,19. Figs 1,2 are slightly modified, correspondingl

Chopped random-basis quantum optimization

In this work we describe in detail the "Chopped RAndom Basis" (CRAB) optimal control technique recently introduced to optimize t-DMRG simulations [arXiv:1003.3750]. Here we study the efficiency of this control technique in optimizing different quantum processes and we show that in the considered cases we obtain results equivalent to those obtained via different optimal control methods while using less resources. We propose the CRAB optimization as a general and versatile optimal control technique.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure

Universal nonequilibrium quantum dynamics in imaginary time

We propose a method to study dynamical response of a quantum system by evolving it with an imaginary-time dependent Hamiltonian. The leading non-adiabatic response of the system driven to a quantum-critical point is universal and characterized by the same exponents in real and imaginary time. For a linear quench protocol, the fidelity susceptibility and the geometric tensor naturally emerge in the response functions. Beyond linear response, we extend the finite-size scaling theory of quantum phase transitions to non-equilibrium setups. This allows, e.g., for studies of quantum phase transitions in systems of fixed finite size by monitoring expectation values as a function of the quench velocity. Non-equilibrium imaginary-time dynamics is also amenable to quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations, with a scheme that we introduce here and apply to quenches of the transverse-field Ising model to quantum-critical points in one and two dimensions. The QMC method is generic and can be applied to a wide range of models and non-equilibrium setups.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures. Expanded, final published versio

The Equilibrium Photoionized Absorber in 3C351

We present two ROSAT PSPC observations of the radio-loud, lobe-dominated quasar 3C 351, which shows an `ionized absorber' in its X-ray spectrum. The factor 1.7 change in flux in the $\sim$2~years between the observations allows a test of models for this ionized absorber. The absorption feature at ~0.7 keV (quasar frame) is present in both spectra but with a lower optical depth when the source intensity - and hence the ionizing flux at the absorber - is higher, in accordance with a simple, single-zone, equilibrium photoionization model. Detailed modeling confirms this agrement quantitatively. The maximum response time of 2 years allows us to limit the gas density: n_e > 2 x 10^4 cm^{-3}; and the distance of the ionized gas from the central source R < 19 pc. This produces a strong test for a photoionized absorber in 3C~351: a factor 2 flux change in ~1 week in this source must show non-equilibrium effects in the ionized absorber.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, accepted by Ap