28,745 research outputs found
Time scale of entropic segregation of flexible polymers in confinement: Implications for chromosome segregation in filamentous bacteria
We report molecular dynamics simulations of the segregation of two
overlapping chains in cylindrical confinement. We find that the entropic
repulsion between the chains can be sufficiently strong to cause segregation on
a time scale that is short compared to the one for diffusion. This result
implies that entropic driving forces are sufficiently strong to cause rapid
bacterial chromosome segregation.Comment: Minor changes. Added some references, corrected the labels in figure
6 and reformatted in two columns. Also added reference to published version
in PR
Angular intricacies in hot gauge field theories
It is argued that in hot gauge field theories, "Hard Thermal Loops" leading
order calculations call for a definite sequence of angular averages and
discontinuity (or Imaginary part prescription) operations, and run otherwise
into incorrect results. The ten years old collinear singularity problem of hot
, provides a striking illustration of that fate.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figur
Which diagnostic tests are most useful in a chest pain unit protocol?
Background
The chest pain unit (CPU) provides rapid diagnostic assessment for patients with acute, undifferentiated chest pain, using a combination of electrocardiographic (ECG) recording, biochemical markers and provocative cardiac testing. We aimed to identify which elements of a CPU protocol were most diagnostically and prognostically useful.
Methods
The Northern General Hospital CPU uses 2–6 hours of serial ECG / ST segment monitoring, CK-MB(mass) on arrival and at least two hours later, troponin T at least six hours after worst pain and exercise treadmill testing. Data were prospectively collected over an eighteen-month period from patients managed on the CPU. Patients discharged after CPU assessment were invited to attend a follow-up appointment 72 hours later for ECG and troponin T measurement. Hospital records of all patients were reviewed to identify adverse cardiac events over the subsequent six months. Diagnostic accuracy of each test was estimated by calculating sensitivity and specificity for: 1) acute coronary syndrome (ACS) with clinical myocardial infarction and 2) ACS with myocyte necrosis. Prognostic value was estimated by calculating the relative risk of an adverse cardiac event following a positive result.
Results
Of the 706 patients, 30 (4.2%) were diagnosed as ACS with myocardial infarction, 30 (4.2%) as ACS with myocyte necrosis, and 32 (4.5%) suffered an adverse cardiac event. Sensitivities for ACS with myocardial infarction and myocyte necrosis respectively were: serial ECG / ST segment monitoring 33% and 23%; CK-MB(mass) 96% and 63%; troponin T (using 0.03 ng/ml threshold) 96% and 90%. The only test that added useful prognostic information was exercise treadmill testing (relative risk 6 for cardiac death, non-fatal myocardial infarction or arrhythmia over six months).
Conclusion
Serial ECG / ST monitoring, as used in our protocol, adds little diagnostic or prognostic value in patients with a normal or non-diagnostic initial ECG. CK-MB(mass) can rule out ACS with clinical myocardial infarction but not myocyte necrosis(defined as a troponin elevation without myocardial infarction). Using a low threshold for positivity for troponin T improves sensitivity of this test for myocardial infarction and myocardial necrosis. Exercise treadmill testing predicts subsequent adverse cardiac events
Spin-Correlation Coefficients and Phase-Shift Analysis for p+He Elastic Scattering
Angular Distributions for the target spin-dependent observables A,
A, and A have been measured using polarized proton beams at
several energies between 2 and 6 MeV and a spin-exchange optical pumping
polarized He target. These measurements have been included in a global
phase-shift analysis following that of George and Knutson, who reported two
best-fit phase-shift solutions to the previous global p+He elastic
scattering database below 12 MeV. These new measurements, along with
measurements of cross-section and beam-analyzing power made over a similar
energy range by Fisher \textit{et al.}, allowed a single, unique solution to be
obtained. The new measurements and phase-shifts are compared with theoretical
calculations using realistic nucleon-nucleon potential models.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev.
Acetylene terminated matrix resins
The synthesis of resins with terminal acetylene groups has provided a promising technology to yield high performance structural materials. Because these resins cure through an addition reaction, no volatile by-products are produced during the processing. The cured products have high thermal stability and good properties retention after exposure to humidity. Resins with a wide variety of different chemical structures between the terminal acetylene groups are synthesized and their mechanical properties studied. The ability of the acetylene cured polymers to give good mechanical properties is demonstrated by the resins with quinoxaline structures. Processibility of these resins can be manipulated by varying the chain length between the acetylene groups or by blending in different amounts of reactive deluents. Processing conditions similar to the state-of-the-art epoxy can be attained by using backbone structures like ether-sulfone or bis-phenol-A. The wide range of mechanical properties and processing conditions attainable by this class of resins should allow them to be used in a wide variety of applications
Hydrodynamics of Micro-swimmers in Films
One of the principal mechanisms by which surfaces and interfaces affect
microbial life is by perturbing the hydrodynamic flows generated by swimming.
By summing a recursive series of image systems we derive a numerically
tractable approximation to the three-dimensional flow fields of a Stokeslet
(point force) within a viscous film between a parallel no-slip surface and
no-shear interface and, from this Green's function, we compute the flows
produced by a force- and torque-free micro-swimmer. We also extend the exact
solution of Liron & Mochon (1976) to the film geometry, which demonstrates that
the image series gives a satisfactory approximation to the swimmer flow fields
if the film is sufficiently thick compared to the swimmer size, and we derive
the swimmer flows in the thin-film limit. Concentrating on the thick film case,
we find that the dipole moment induces a bias towards swimmer accumulation at
the no-slip wall rather than the water-air interface, but that higher-order
multipole moments can oppose this. Based on the analytic predictions we propose
an experimental method to find the multipole coefficient that induces circular
swimming trajectories, allowing one to analytically determine the swimmer's
three-dimensional position under a microscope.Comment: 35 pages, 11 figures, 5 table
Uranium(III) coordination chemistry and oxidation in a flexible small-cavity macrocycle
U(III) complexes of the conformationally flexible, small-cavity macrocycle trans-calix[2]benzene[2]pyrrolide (L)2–, [U(L)X] (X = O-2,6-tBu2C6H3, N(SiMe3)2), have been synthesized from [U(L)BH4] and structurally characterized. These complexes show binding of the U(III) center in the bis(arene) pocket of the macrocycle, which flexes to accommodate the increase in the steric bulk of X, resulting in long U–X bonds to the ancillary ligands. Oxidation to the cationic U(IV) complex [U(L)X][B(C6F5)4] (X = BH4) results in ligand rearrangement to bind the smaller, harder cation in the bis(pyrrolide) pocket, in a conformation that has not been previously observed for (L)2–, with X located between the two ligand arene rings
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