322 research outputs found
Flexibility defines structure in crystals of amphiphilic DNA nanostars.
DNA nanostructures with programmable shape and interactions can be used as building blocks for the self-assembly of crystalline materials with prescribed nanoscale features, holding a vast technological potential. Structural rigidity and bond directionality have been recognised as key design features for DNA motifs to sustain long-range order in 3D, but the practical challenges associated with prescribing building-block geometry with sufficient accuracy have limited the variety of available designs. We have recently introduced a novel platform for the one-pot preparation of crystalline DNA frameworks supported by a combination of Watson-Crick base pairing and hydrophobic forces (Brady et al 2017 Nano Lett. 17 3276-81). Here we use small angle x-ray scattering and coarse-grained molecular simulations to demonstrate that, as opposed to available all-DNA approaches, amphiphilic motifs do not rely on structural rigidity to support long-range order. Instead, the flexibility of amphiphilic DNA building-blocks is a crucial feature for successful crystallisation
Chimpanzees behave prosocially in a group-specific manner
Funding: EJCvL was funded by a Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) and an ERC-Synergy Grant (no. 609819) awarded to JC.Chimpanzees act cooperatively in the wild, but whether they afford benefits to others, and whether their tendency to act prosocially varies across communities, is unclear. Here, we show that chimpanzees from neighboring communities provide valuable resources to group members at personal cost, and that the magnitude of their prosocial behavior is group specific. Provided with a resource-donation experiment allowing free (partner) choice, we observed an increase in prosocial acts across the study period in most of the chimpanzees. When group members could profit (test condition), chimpanzees provided resources more frequently and for longer durations than when their acts produced inaccessible resources (control condition). Strikingly, chimpanzees’ prosocial behavior was group specific, with more socially tolerant groups acting more prosocially. We conclude that chimpanzees may purposely behave prosocially toward group members, and that the notion of group-specific sociality in nonhuman animals should crucially inform discussions on the evolution of prosocial behavior.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
Stationary solutions for the parity-even sector of the CPT-even and Lorentz-covariance-violating term of the standard model extension
In this work, we focus on some properties of the parity-even sector of the
CPT-even electrodynamics of the standard model extension. We analyze how the
six non-birefringent terms belonging to this sector modify the static and
stationary classical solutions of the usual Maxwell theory. We observe that the
parity-even terms do not couple the electric and magnetic sectors (at least in
the stationary regime). The Green's method is used to obtain solutions for the
field strengths E and B at first order in the Lorentz- covariance-violating
parameters. Explicit solutions are attained for point-like and spatially
extended sources, for which a dipolar expansion is achieved. Finally, it is
presented an Earth-based experiment that can lead (in principle) to an upper
bound on the anisotropic coefficients as stringent as
Comment: 8 pages, revtex style, revised published version, to appear in EPJC
(2009
Consistency analysis of a nonbirefringent Lorentz-violating planar model
In this work analyze the physical consistency of a nonbirefringent
Lorentz-violating planar model via the analysis of the pole structure of its
Feynman propagators. The nonbirefringent planar model, obtained from the
dimensional reduction of the CPT-even gauge sector of the standard model
extension, is composed of a gauge and a scalar fields, being affected by
Lorentz-violating (LIV) coefficients encoded in the symmetric tensor
. The propagator of the gauge field is explicitly evaluated
and expressed in terms of linear independent symmetric tensors, presenting only
one physical mode. The same holds for the scalar propagator. A consistency
analysis is performed based on the poles of the propagators. The isotropic
parity-even sector is stable, causal and unitary mode for .
On the other hand, the anisotropic sector is stable and unitary but in general
noncausal. Finally, it is shown that this planar model interacting with a
Higgs field supports compactlike vortex configurations.Comment: 11 pages, revtex style, final revised versio
On the influence of a Coulomb-like potential induced by the Lorentz symmetry breaking effects on the Harmonic Oscillator
In this work, we obtain bound states for a nonrelativistic spin-half neutral
particle under the influence of a Coulomb-like potential induced by the Lorentz
symmetry breaking effects. We present a new possible scenario of studying the
Lorentz symmetry breaking effects on a nonrelativistic quantum system defined
by a fixed space-like vector field parallel to the radial direction interacting
with a uniform magnetic field along the z-axis. Furthermore, we also discuss
the influence of a Coulomb-like potential induced by Lorentz symmetry violation
effects on the two-dimensional harmonic oscillator.Comment: 14 pages, no figure, this work has been accepted for publication in
The European Physical Journal Plu
Extracting Vascular Networks under Physiological Constraints via Integer Programming
Abstract. We introduce an integer programming-based approach to vessel net-work extraction that enforces global physiological constraints on the vessel struc-ture and learn this prior from a high-resolution reference network. The method accounts for both image evidence and geometric relationships between vessels by formulating and solving an integer programming problem. Starting from an over-connected network, it is pruning vessel stumps and spurious connections by evaluating bifurcation angle and connectivity of the graph. We utilize a high-resolution micro computed tomography (µCT) dataset of a cerebrovascular corro-sion cast to obtain a reference network, perform experiments on micro magnetic resonance angiography (µMRA) images of mouse brains and discuss properties of the networks obtained under different tracking and pruning approaches.
Can the stroma provide the clue to the cellular basis for mammographic density?
Mammographic density is recognised as a useful phenotypic biomarker of breast cancer risk. Deeper understanding is needed of the cellular basis, but evidence is limited because of difficulty in designing studies to validate hypotheses. The ductal epithelial components do not adequately explain the physical and dynamic features observed. The stroma is thought to interact with ductal structures in cancer initiation. Stromal tissues might account for the mammographic features, and this interplay can be hypothesised to relate risk to density. In a paper in this issue of Breast Cancer Research, Alowami has shown a relationship between density and stromal proteins, which might provide useful insight into mammographic density
Optic Nerve Head Quantification in Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension by Spectral Domain OCT
Objective: To evaluate 3D spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT) volume scans as a tool for quantification of optic nerve head (ONH) volume as a potential marker for treatment effectiveness and disease progression in idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH). Design and Patients: Cross-sectional pilot trial comparing 19 IIH patients and controls matched for gender, age and body mass index. Each participant underwent SDOCT. A custom segmentation algorithm was developed to quantify ONH volume (ONHV) and height (ONHH) in 3D volume scans. Results:Whereas peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness did not show differences between controls and IIH patients, the newly developed 3D parameters ONHV and ONHH were able to discriminate between controls, treated and untreated patients. Both ONHV and ONHH measures were related to levels of intracranial pressure (ICP). Conclusion: Our findings suggest 3D ONH measures as assessed by SDOCT as potential diagnostic and progression markers in IIH and other disorders with increased ICP. SDOCT may promise a fast and easy diagnostic alternative to repeated lumba
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