Noncommutative spaces and matrix embeddings on flat R^{2n+1}

We conjecture an embedding operator which assigns, to any 2n+1 hermitian matrices, a 2n-dimensional hypersurface in flat (2n + 1)-dimensional Euclidean space. This corresponds to precisely defining a fuzzy D(2n)-brane corresponding to N D0-branes. Points on the emergent hypersurface correspond to zero eigenstates of the embedding operator, which have an interpretation as coherent states underlying the emergent noncommutative geometry. Using this correspondence, all physical properties of the emergent D(2n)-brane can be computed. We apply our conjecture to noncommutative flat and spherical spaces. As a by-product, we obtain a construction of a rotationally symmetric flat noncommutative space in 4 dimensions.Comment: 14 pages, no figures. v2: added references and a clarificatio

Atomistic origins of the phase transition mechanism in Ge2Sb2Te5

Combined static and molecular dynamics first-principles calculations are used to identify a direct structural link between the metastable crystalline and amorphous phases of Ge2Sb2Te5. We find that the phase transition is driven by the displacement of Ge atoms along the rocksalt [111] direction from the stable-octahedron to high-energy-unstable tetrahedron sites close to the intrinsic vacancy regions, which give rise to the formation of local 4-fold coordinated motifs. Our analyses suggest that the high figures of merit of Ge2Sb2Te5 are achieved from the optimal combination of intrinsic vacancies provided by Sb2Te3 and the instability of the tetrahedron sites provided by GeTe

Spin-Orbit Coupling and Ion Displacements in Multiferroic TbMnO3

The electronic and magnetic properties of TbMnO3 leading to its ferroelectric (FE) polarization were investigated on the basis of relativistic density functional theory (DFT) calculations. In agreement with experiment, we show that the spin-spiral plane of TbMnO3 can be either the bc- or ab-plane, but not the ac-plane. As for the mechanism of FE polarization, our work reveals that the "pure electronic" model by Katsura, Nagaosa and Balatsky (KNB) is inadequate in predicting the absolute direction of FE polarization. For the ab-plane spin-spiral state of TbMnO3, the direction of FE polarization predicted by the KNB model is opposite to that predicted by DFT calculations. In determining the magnitude and the absolute direction of FE polarization in spin-spiral states, it is found crucial to consider the displacements of the ions from their ecntrosymmetric positions

In silico cloning and bioinformatic analysis of PEPCK gene in Fusarium oxysporum

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), a critical gluconeogenic enzyme, catalyzes the first committed step in the diversion of tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates toward gluconeogenesis. According to the relative conservation of homologous gene, a bioinformatics strategy was applied toclone Fusarium oxysporum phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene (PEPCK) by blasting search of EST database with homologous gene cDNA of Neurospora crassa and identified. Some characters of the PEPCK that were analyzed and predicted by the tools of bioinformatics in the following aspects include the composition of amino acid sequences, physical and chemical properties, O-glycosylation site, hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity, secondary and tertiary structure of the protein and function. These results showed that the full-length of PEPCK was 1771 bp and it contained a complete ORF (1575 bp), encoded 524 amino acids, which is much conserved in ascomycetes. The calculated molecular weight of PEPCK was 58358.2 Da, theoretical pI of 6.84. It has 20 -helices, 37 sheets, and 12glycosylation sites. It was a hydrophilic and stable protein with active site, ATP -binding site, metalbinding site and substrate-binding site

Understanding the Clean Interface between Covalent Si and Ionic Al2O3

The atomic and electronic structures of the (001)-Si/(001)-gamma-Al2O3 heterointerface are investigated by first principles total energy calculations combined with a newly developed "modified basin-hopping" method. It is found that all interface Si atoms are fourfold coordinated due to the formation of Si-O and unexpected covalent Si-Al bonds in the new abrupt interface model. And the interface has perfect electronic properties in that the unpassivated interface has a large LDA band gap and no gap levels. These results show that it is possible to have clean semiconductor-oxide interfaces

Automated Testing of WS-BPEL Service Compositions: A Scenario-Oriented Approach

Nowadays, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) has become one mainstream paradigm for developing distributed applications. As the basic unit in SOA, Web services can be composed to construct complex applications. The quality of Web services and their compositions is critical to the success of SOA applications. Testing, as a major quality assurance technique, is confronted with new challenges in the context of service compositions. In this paper, we propose a scenario-oriented testing approach that can automatically generate test cases for service compositions. Our approach is particularly focused on the service compositions specified by Business Process Execution Language for Web Services (WS-BPEL), a widely recognized executable service composition language. In the approach, a WS-BPEL service composition is first abstracted into a graph model; test scenarios are then derived from the model; finally, test cases are generated according to different scenarios. We also developed a prototype tool implementing the proposed approach, and an empirical study was conducted to demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of our approach. The experimental results show that the automatic scenario-oriented testing approach is effective in detecting many types of faults seeded in the service compositions

Strict Major Histocompatibility Complex Molecule Class-Specific Binding by Co-Receptors Enforces MHC-Restricted αβ TCR Recognition during T Lineage Subset Commitment

Since the discovery of co-receptor dependent αβTCR recognition, considerable effort has been spent on elucidating the basis of CD4 and CD8 lineage commitment in the thymus. The latter is responsible for generating mature CD4 helper and CD8αβ cytotoxic T cell subsets. Although CD4+ and CD8+ T cell recognition of peptide antigens is known to be MHC class II- and MHC class I-restricted, respectively, the mechanism of single positive (SP) thymocyte lineage commitment from bipotential double-positive (DP) progenitors is not fully elucidated. Classical models to explain thymic CD4 vs. CD8 fate determination have included a stochastic selection model or instructional models. The latter are based either on strength of signal or duration of signal impacting fate. More recently, differential co-receptor gene imprinting has been shown to be involved in expression of transcription factors impacting cytotoxic T cell development. Here, we address commitment from a structural perspective, focusing on the nature of co-receptor binding to MHC molecules. By surveying 58 MHC class II and 224 MHC class I crystal structures in the Protein Data Bank, it becomes clear that CD4 cannot bind to MHC I molecules, nor can CD8αβ or CD8αα bind to MHC II molecules. Given that the co-receptor delivers Lck to phosphorylate exposed CD3 ITAMs within a peptide/MHC (pMHC)-ligated TCR complex to initiate cell signaling, this strict co-receptor recognition fosters MHC class-restricted SP thymocyte lineage commitment at the DP stage even though both co-receptors are expressed on a single cell. In short, the binding preference of an αβTCR for a peptide complexed with an MHC molecule dictates which co-receptor subsequently binds, thereby supporting development of that subset lineage. How function within the lineage is linked further to biopotential fate determination is discussed

Analytical Solution of Suspended Sediment Concentration Profile: Relevance of Dispersive Flow Term in Vegetated Channels

YesSimulation of the suspended sediment concentration (SSC) has great significance in predicting the sediment transport rate, vegetation growth and the river ecosystem in the vegetated open channel flows. The present study focuses on investigating the vertical SSC profile in the vegetated open channel flows. To this end, a model of the dispersive flux is proposed in which the dispersive coefficient is expressed as partitioned linear profile above or below the half height of vegetation. The double-averaging method, i.e. time-spatial average, is applied to improve the prediction accuracy of the vertical SSC profile in the vegetated open channel flows. The analytical solution of SSC in both the submerged and the emergent vegetated open channel flows is obtained by solving the vertical double-averaging sediment advection-diffusion equation. The morphological coefficient, a key factor of the dispersive coefficient, is obtained by fitting the existing experimental data. The analytically predicted SSC agrees well with the experimental measurements, indicating that the proposed model can be used to accurately predict the SSC in the vegetated open channel flows. Results show that the dispersive term can be ignored in the region without vegetation, while the dispersive term has significant effect on the vertical SSC profile within the region of vegetation. The present study demonstrates that the dispersive coefficient is closely related to the vegetation density, the vegetation structure and the stem Reynolds number, but has little relation to the flow depth. With a few exceptions, the absolute value of the dispersive coefficient decreases with the increase of the vegetation density and increases with the increase of the stem Reynolds number in the submerged vegetated open channel flows.Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 11872285 and 11672213), The UK Royal Society – International Exchanges Program (IES\R2\181122) and the Open Funding of State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science (WRHES), Wuhan University (Project No: 2018HLG01)