3,742 research outputs found
Reentrant Behavior of the Spinodal Curve in a Nonequilibrium Ferromagnet
The metastable behavior of a kinetic Ising--like ferromagnetic model system
in which a generic type of microscopic disorder induces nonequilibrium steady
states is studied by computer simulation and a mean--field approach. We pay
attention, in particular, to the spinodal curve or intrinsic coercive field
that separates the metastable region from the unstable one. We find that, under
strong nonequilibrium conditions, this exhibits reentrant behavior as a
function of temperature. That is, metastability does not happen in this regime
for both low and high temperatures, but instead emerges for intermediate
temperature, as a consequence of the non-linear interplay between thermal and
nonequilibrium fluctuations. We argue that this behavior, which is in contrast
with equilibrium phenomenology and could occur in actual impure specimens,
might be related to the presence of an effective multiplicative noise in the
system.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures; Final version to appear in Phys. Rev. E; Section
V has been revise
Entangled networks, synchronization, and optimal network topology
A new family of graphs, {\it entangled networks}, with optimal properties in
many respects, is introduced. By definition, their topology is such that
optimizes synchronizability for many dynamical processes. These networks are
shown to have an extremely homogeneous structure: degree, node-distance,
betweenness, and loop distributions are all very narrow. Also, they are
characterized by a very interwoven (entangled) structure with short average
distances, large loops, and no well-defined community-structure. This family of
nets exhibits an excellent performance with respect to other flow properties
such as robustness against errors and attacks, minimal first-passage time of
random walks, efficient communication, etc. These remarkable features convert
entangled networks in a useful concept, optimal or almost-optimal in many
senses, and with plenty of potential applications computer science or
neuroscience.Comment: Slightly modified version, as accepted in Phys. Rev. Let
Keystroke Inference Using Smartphone Kinematics
The use of smartphones is becoming ubiquitous in modern society, these very personal devices store large amounts of personal information and we use these devices to access everything from our bank to our social networks, we communicate using these devices in both open one-to-many communications and in more closed, private one-to-one communications. In this paper we have created a method to infer what is typed on a device purely from how the device moves in the user’s hand. With very small amounts of training data (less than the size of a tweet) we are able to predict the text typed on a device with accuracies of up to 90%. We found no effect on this accuracy from how fast users type, how comfortable they are using smartphone keyboards or how the device was held in the hand. It is trivial to create an application that can access the motion data of a phone whilst a user is engaged in other applications, the accessing of motion data does not require any permission to be granted by the user and hence represents a tangible threat to smartphone users
Plant spatial aggregation modulates the interplay between plant competition and pollinator attraction with contrasting outcomes of plant fitness
Ecosystem functions such as seed production are
the result of a complex interplay between competitive plant–plant
interactions and mutualistic pollinator–plant interactions. In this
interplay, spatial plant aggregation could work in two different directions:
it could increase hetero- and conspecific competition, thus reducing seed
production; but it could also attract pollinators, increasing plant fitness.
To shed light on how plant spatial arrangement modulates this balance, we
conducted a field study in a Mediterranean annual grassland with three focal plant species with different phenology, Chamaemelum fuscatum (early phenology), Leontodon maroccanus (middle
phenology) and Pulicaria paludosa (late phenology), and a diverse guild of pollinators (flies,
bees, beetles and butterflies). All three species showed spatial
aggregation of conspecific individuals. Additionally, we found that the two
mechanisms were working simultaneously: crowded neighborhoods reduced
individual seed production via plant–plant competition, but they also made
individual plants more attractive for some pollinator guilds, increasing
visitation rates and plant fitness. The balance between these two forces
varied depending on the focal species and the spatial scale considered.
Therefore, our results indicate that mutualistic interactions do not always
effectively compensate for competitive interactions in situations of spatial
aggregation of flowering plants, at least in our study system. We highlight
the importance of explicitly considering the spatial structure at different
spatial scales of multitrophic interactions to better understand individual
plant fitness and community dynamics.</p
A simple one-dimensional model of heat conduction which obeys Fourier's law
We present the computer simulation results of a chain of hard point particles
with alternating masses interacting on its extremes with two thermal baths at
different temperatures. We found that the system obeys Fourier's law at the
thermodynamic limit. This result is against the actual belief that one
dimensional systems with momentum conservative dynamics and nonzero pressure
have infinite thermal conductivity. It seems that thermal resistivity occurs in
our system due to a cooperative behavior in which light particles tend to
absorb much more energy than the heavier ones.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to be published in PR
La metodologĂa de la investigaciĂłn en TraductologĂa
Empirical research methods in Translation Studies have been used in Spain for a decade. A glimpse of the most recent studies carried out in our country is given, as well as the actual trends in research. A research methodology based on the scientific method is proposed, and a research design to study the acquisition of translation competence in trainees is presented, including three original measuring instruments created for the study: the first instrument measures the translation notions of the students; the second one measures students' performance when faced with translation problems; and the third one measures performance regarding translation errors
Dangerous Liaisons: Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) and Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts (CAFs)
The crosstalk between cancer cells and the tumor microenvironment (TME) is a key determinant of cancer metastasis. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), one of the main cellular components of TME, promote cancer cell invasion and dissemination through mechanisms including cell-cell interactions and the paracrine secretion of growth factors, cytokines and chemokines. During metastasis, circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are shed from the primary tumor to the bloodstream, where they can be detected as single cells or clusters. The current knowledge about the biology of CTC clusters positions them as key actors in metastasis formation. It also indicates that CTCs do not act alone and that they may be aided by stromal and immune cells, which seem to shape their metastatic potential. Among these cells, CAFs are found associated with CTCs in heterotypic CTC clusters, and their presence seems to increase their metastatic efficiency. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on the role that CAFs play on metastasis and we discuss their implication on the biogenesis, metastasis-initiating capacity of CTC clusters, and clinical implications. Moreover, we speculate about possible therapeutic strategies aimed to limit the metastatic potential of CTC clusters involving the targeting of CAFs as well as their difficulties and limitations
A polynomial bound for untangling geometric planar graphs
To untangle a geometric graph means to move some of the vertices so that the
resulting geometric graph has no crossings. Pach and Tardos [Discrete Comput.
Geom., 2002] asked if every n-vertex geometric planar graph can be untangled
while keeping at least n^\epsilon vertices fixed. We answer this question in
the affirmative with \epsilon=1/4. The previous best known bound was
\Omega((\log n / \log\log n)^{1/2}). We also consider untangling geometric
trees. It is known that every n-vertex geometric tree can be untangled while
keeping at least (n/3)^{1/2} vertices fixed, while the best upper bound was
O(n\log n)^{2/3}. We answer a question of Spillner and Wolff [arXiv:0709.0170
2007] by closing this gap for untangling trees. In particular, we show that for
infinitely many values of n, there is an n-vertex geometric tree that cannot be
untangled while keeping more than 3(n^{1/2}-1) vertices fixed. Moreover, we
improve the lower bound to (n/2)^{1/2}.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure
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