Non Markovian persistence in the diluted Ising model at criticality

We investigate global persistence properties for the non-equilibrium critical dynamics of the randomly diluted Ising model. The disorder averaged persistence probability $\bar{{P}_c}(t)$ of the global magnetization is found to decay algebraically with an exponent $\theta_c$ that we compute analytically in a dimensional expansion in $d=4-\epsilon$. Corrections to Markov process are found to occur already at one loop order and $\theta_c$ is thus a novel exponent characterizing this disordered critical point. Our result is thoroughly compared with Monte Carlo simulations in $d=3$, which also include a measurement of the initial slip exponent. Taking carefully into account corrections to scaling, $\theta_c$ is found to be a universal exponent, independent of the dilution factor $p$ along the critical line at $T_c(p)$, and in good agreement with our one loop calculation.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Is platelet activating factor (PAF) an important mediator in bronchial asthma?

The development of selective PAF receptor antagonists may provide a novel approach to the treatment of human bronchial asthma. In preclinical animal models of human asthma, PAF receptor antagonists have been found to be efficacious in blocking antigen-induced changes in lung function. However, the majority of these models involve acute inflammatory events and transient changes in lung function and, therefore, their relevance to human asthma is questionable. In a recent study with a primate model of chronic airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness, we have shown that treatment with a PAF receptor antagonist had no effect on reducing chronic inflammation and hyperresponsiveness. Similarly, recent studies in human asthmatics with PAF receptor antagonists have failed to show efficacy in blocking allergen-induced airway responses or to have any steroid sparing effects in patients with ongoing asthma. Thus, it seems that PAF may not be a key mediator which can be blocked and thereby provide therapy for bronchial asthma

Fast vectorized algorithm for the Monte Carlo Simulation of the Random Field Ising Model

An algoritm for the simulation of the 3--dimensional random field Ising model with a binary distribution of the random fields is presented. It uses multi-spin coding and simulates 64 physically different systems simultaneously. On one processor of a Cray YMP it reaches a speed of 184 Million spin updates per second. For smaller field strength we present a version of the algorithm that can perform 242 Million spin updates per second on the same machine.Comment: 13 pp., HLRZ 53/9

A PAF receptor antagonist inhibits acute airway inflammation and late-phase responses but not chronic airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness in a primate model of asthma

We have examined the effects of a PAF receptor antagonist, WEB 2170, on several indices of acute and chronic airway inflammation and associated changes in lung function in a primate model of allergic asthma. A single oral administration WEB 2170 provided dose related inhibition of the release of leukotriene C4 (LTC4) and prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) recovered and quantified in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid obtained during the acute phase response to inhaled antigen. In addition, oral WEB 2170 treatment in dual responder primates blocked the acute influx of neutrophils into the airways as well as the associated late-phase airway obstruction occurring 6 h after antigen inhalation. In contrast, a multiple dosing regime with WEB 2170 (once a day for 7 consecutive days) failed to reduce the chronic airway inflammation (eosinophilic) and associated airway hyperresponsiveness to inhaled methacholine that is characteristic of dual responder monkeys. Thus, we conclude that the generation of PAF following antigen inhalation contributes to the development of lipid mediators, acute airway inflammation and associated late-phase airway obstruction in dual responder primates; however, PAF does not play a significant role in the maintenance of chronic airway inflammation and associated airway hyperresponsiveness in this primate model

Monte Carlo Simulation of Universal Short-Time Behavior in Critical Relaxation

The time evolution of the three-dimensional critical Ising model relaxing from a nonequilibrium initial state is studied by means of Monte Carlo simulation. We observe the characteristic initial increase of the (spatially) averaged magnetization predicted by Janssen et al. The exponent theta' that governs the initial behavior is determined, and the dependence of the long-time linear decay on the initial magnetization analyzed. Our simulation corroborates earlier results derived from continuum models.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, uuencoded postscript file, Si-94-1

Self Consistent Screening Approximation For Critical Dynamics

We generalise Bray's self-consistent screening approximation to describe the critical dynamics of the $\phi^4$ theory. In order to obtain the dynamical exponent $z$, we have to make an ansatz for the form of the scaling functions, which fortunately can be much constrained by general arguments. Numerical values of $z$ for $d=3$, and $n=1,...,10$ are obtained using two different ans\"atze, and differ by a very small amount. In particular, the value of $z \simeq 2.115$ obtained for the 3-d Ising model agrees well with recent Monte-Carlo simulations.Comment: 21 pages, LaTeX file + 4 (EPS) figure

Wang-Landau study of the 3D Ising model with bond disorder

We implement a two-stage approach of the Wang-Landau algorithm to investigate the critical properties of the 3D Ising model with quenched bond randomness. In particular, we consider the case where disorder couples to the nearest-neighbor ferromagnetic interaction, in terms of a bimodal distribution of strong versus weak bonds. Our simulations are carried out for large ensembles of disorder realizations and lattices with linear sizes $L$ in the range $L=8-64$. We apply well-established finite-size scaling techniques and concepts from the scaling theory of disordered systems to describe the nature of the phase transition of the disordered model, departing gradually from the fixed point of the pure system. Our analysis (based on the determination of the critical exponents) shows that the 3D random-bond Ising model belongs to the same universality class with the site- and bond-dilution models, providing a single universality class for the 3D Ising model with these three types of quenched uncorrelated disorder.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Eur. Phys. J.

Friction Drag on a Particle Moving in a Nematic Liquid Crystal

The flow of a liquid crystal around a particle does not only depend on its shape and the viscosity coefficients but also on the direction of the molecules. We studied the resulting drag force on a sphere moving in a nematic liquid crystal (MBBA) in a low Reynold's number approach for a fixed director field (low Ericksen number regime) using the computational artificial compressibility method. Taking the necessary disclination loop around the sphere into account, the value of the drag force anisotropy (F_\perp/F_\parallel=1.50) for an exactly computed field is in good agreement with experiments (~1.5) done by conductivity diffusion measurements. We also present data for weak anchoring of the molecules on the particle surface and of trial fields, which show to be sufficiently good for most applications. Furthermore, the behaviour of the friction close to the transition point nematic isotropic and for a rod-like and a disc-like liquid crystal will be given.Comment: 23 pages RevTeX, including 3 PS figures, 1 PS table and 1 PS-LaTeX figure; Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.