134 research outputs found
Self-similar disk packings as model spatial scale-free networks
The network of contacts in space-filling disk packings, such as the
Apollonian packing, are examined. These networks provide an interesting example
of spatial scale-free networks, where the topology reflects the broad
distribution of disk areas. A wide variety of topological and spatial
properties of these systems are characterized. Their potential as models for
networks of connected minima on energy landscapes is discussed.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures; some bugs fixed and further discussion of
higher-dimensional packing
Dimer coverings on the Sierpinski gasket with possible vacancies on the outmost vertices
We present the number of dimers on the Sierpinski gasket
at stage with dimension equal to two, three, four or five, where one of
the outmost vertices is not covered when the number of vertices is an
odd number. The entropy of absorption of diatomic molecules per site, defined
as , is calculated to be
exactly for . The numbers of dimers on the generalized
Sierpinski gasket with and are also obtained
exactly. Their entropies are equal to , , ,
respectively. The upper and lower bounds for the entropy are derived in terms
of the results at a certain stage for with . As the
difference between these bounds converges quickly to zero as the calculated
stage increases, the numerical value of with can be
evaluated with more than a hundred significant figures accurate.Comment: 35 pages, 20 figures and 1 tabl
Stability of asymmetric tetraquarks in the minimal-path linear potential
The linear potential binding a quark and an antiquark in mesons is
generalized to baryons and multiquark configurations as the minimal length of
flux tubes neutralizing the color, in units of the string tension. For
tetraquark systems, i.e., two quarks and two antiquarks, this involves the two
possible quark--antiquark pairings, and the Steiner tree linking the quarks to
the antiquarks. A novel inequality for this potential demonstrates rigorously
that within this model the tetraquark is stable in the limit of large
quark-to-antiquark mass ratio.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, pdflate
GMO detection using a bioluminescent real time reporter (BART) of loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) suitable for field use
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is an increasing need for quantitative technologies suitable for molecular detection in a variety of settings for applications including food traceability and monitoring of genetically modified (GM) crops and their products through the food processing chain. Conventional molecular diagnostics utilising real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and fluorescence-based determination of amplification require temperature cycling and relatively complex optics. In contrast, isothermal amplification coupled to a bioluminescent output produced in real-time (BART) occurs at a constant temperature and only requires a simple light detection and integration device.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) shows robustness to sample-derived inhibitors. Here we show the applicability of coupled LAMP and BART reactions (LAMP-BART) for determination of genetically modified (GM) maize target DNA at low levels of contamination (0.1-5.0% GM) using certified reference material, and compare this to RT-PCR. Results show that conventional DNA extraction methods developed for PCR may not be optimal for LAMP-BART quantification. Additionally, we demonstrate that LAMP is more tolerant to plant sample-derived inhibitors, and show this can be exploited to develop rapid extraction techniques suitable for simple field-based qualitative tests for GM status determination. We also assess the effect of total DNA assay load on LAMP-BART quantitation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>LAMP-BART is an effective and sensitive technique for GM detection with significant potential for quantification even at low levels of contamination and in samples derived from crops such as maize with a large genome size. The resilience of LAMP-BART to acidic polysaccharides makes it well suited to rapid sample preparation techniques and hence to both high throughput laboratory settings and to portable GM detection applications. The impact of the plant sample matrix and genome loading within a reaction must be controlled to ensure quantification at low target concentrations.</p
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