191 research outputs found
Universality in Bacterial Colonies
The emergent spatial patterns generated by growing bacterial colonies have
been the focus of intense study in physics during the last twenty years. Both
experimental and theoretical investigations have made possible a clear
qualitative picture of the different structures that such colonies can exhibit,
depending on the medium on which they are growing. However, there are
relatively few quantitative descriptions of these patterns. In this paper, we
use a mechanistically detailed simulation framework to measure the scaling
exponents associated with the advancing fronts of bacterial colonies on hard
agar substrata, aiming to discern the universality class to which the system
belongs. We show that the universal behavior exhibited by the colonies can be
much richer than previously reported, and we propose the possibility of up to
four different sub-phases within the medium-to-high nutrient concentration
regime. We hypothesize that the quenched disorder that characterizes one of
these sub-phases is an emergent property of the growth and division of bacteria
competing for limited space and nutrients.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure
Metabolic origins of spatial organization in the tumor microenvironment.
The genetic and phenotypic diversity of cells within tumors is a major obstacle for cancer treatment. Because of the stochastic nature of genetic alterations, this intratumoral heterogeneity is often viewed as chaotic. Here we show that the altered metabolism of cancer cells creates predictable gradients of extracellular metabolites that orchestrate the phenotypic diversity of cells in the tumor microenvironment. Combining experiments and mathematical modeling, we show that metabolites consumed and secreted within the tumor microenvironment induce tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) to differentiate into distinct subpopulations according to local levels of ischemia and their position relative to the vasculature. TAMs integrate levels of hypoxia and lactate into progressive activation of MAPK signaling that induce predictable spatial patterns of gene expression, such as stripes of macrophages expressing arginase 1 (ARG1) and mannose receptor, C type 1 (MRC1). These phenotypic changes are functionally relevant as ischemic macrophages triggered tube-like morphogenesis in neighboring endothelial cells that could restore blood perfusion in nutrient-deprived regions where angiogenic resources are most needed. We propose that gradients of extracellular metabolites act as tumor morphogens that impose order within the microenvironment, much like signaling molecules convey positional information to organize embryonic tissues. Unearthing embryology-like processes in tumors may allow us to control organ-like tumor features such as tissue repair and revascularization and treat intratumoral heterogeneity
Enhanced mesoscopic fluctuations in the crossover between random matrix ensembles
In random-matrix ensembles that interpolate between the three basic ensembles
(orthogonal, unitary, and symplectic), there exist correlations between
elements of the same eigenvector and between different eigenvectors. We study
such correlations, using a remarkable correspondence between the interpolating
ensembles late in the crossover and a basic ensemble of finite size. In small
metal grains or semiconductor quantum dots, the correlations between different
eigenvectors lead to enhanced fluctuations of the electron-electron interaction
matrix elements which become parametrically larger than the non-universal
fluctuations.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX; 3 figure
Analysis by x-ray microtomography of a granular packing undergoing compaction
Several acquisitions of X-ray microtomography have been performed on a beads
packing while it compacts under vertical vibrations. An image analysis allows
to study the evolution of the packing structure during its progressive
densification. In particular, the volume distribution of the pores reveals a
large tail, compatible to an exponential law, which slowly reduces as the
system gets more compact. This is quite consistent, for large pores, with the
free volume theory. These results are also in very good agreement with those
obtained by a previous numerical model of granular compaction.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Latex (revtex4). to be published in Phys. Rev.
Transitions from small to large Fermi momenta in a one-dimensional Kondo lattice model
We study a one-dimensional system that consists of an electron gas coupled to
a spin-1/2 chain by Kondo interaction away from half-filling. We show that
zero-temperature transitions between phases with "small" and "large" Fermi
momenta can be continuous. Such a continuous but Fermi-momentum-changing
transition arises in the presence of spin anisotropy, from a Luttinger liquid
with a small Fermi momentum to a Kondo-dimer phase with a large Fermi momentum.
We have also added a frustrating next-nearest-neighbor interaction in the spin
chain to show the possibility of a similar Fermi-momentum-changing transition,
between the Kondo phase and a spin-Peierls phase, in the spin isotropic case.
This transition, however, appears to involve a region in which the two phases
coexist.Comment: The updated version clarifies the definitions of small and large
Fermi momenta, the role of anisotropy, and how Kondo interaction affects
Luttinger liquid phase. 12 pages, 5 figure
Burden of respiratory disease attributable to secondhand smoke exposure at home in children in Spain (2015)
This study aimed to estimate the number of incident cases and hospital admissions attributable to secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure at home for asthma, otitis media (OM), and lower respiratory infections (LRI) in children in Spain. The burden of respiratory disease caused by SHS exposure was estimated in terms of incident cases and hospitalized cases for asthma, OM, and LRI. Estimates were calculated using the population attributable fraction. The age-specific (0-1 year, 0-4 years, 5-11 years, and 0-11 years) prevalence of SHS exposure in children was estimated through a telephone survey performed in a representative sample of Spanish households with children in 2016. The risk estimates for all diseases were selected from international meta-analyses. The number of hospitalized cases was obtained for each disease from the Hospital Minimum Data Set provided by the Ministry of Health of Spain. Incident cases were obtained from the Global Health Data Exchange. In 2015, SHS exposure caused an estimated total of 136,403 incident cases of the following respiratory diseases: 9058 (8.5%) cases of asthma, 120,248 (8.5%) of OM, and 7097 (13.5%) of LRI in children aged 0–14 years old in Spain. Likewise, SHS exposure caused a total of 3028 hospitalized cases, with 379 (8.5%) for asthma and 167 (8.5%) for OM in children 0–11 years old, and 2482 (11.6%) for LRI in children <2 years old. The high burden of respiratory disease attributed to SHS exposure supports the need to improve protection of children against SHS exposure by extending smoke-free regulations to homes and cars.This work was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PN I+D+I 2013–2016) and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) (grant number PI13/02734). The Evaluation and Intervention Methods Service of the Public Health Agency of Barcelona and the Tobacco Control Unit of the Catalan Institute of Oncology were also partially supported by the Ministry of Universities and Research of Catalonia (AGAUR) (grant numbers 2014SGR1373 and 2014SGR319). This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 681040S
Universality and scaling study of the critical behavior of the two-dimensional Blume-Capel model in short-time dynamics
In this paper we study the short-time behavior of the Blume-Capel model at
the tricritical point as well as along the second order critical line. Dynamic
and static exponents are estimated by exploring scaling relations for the
magnetization and its moments at early stage of the dynamic evolution. Our
estimates for the dynamic exponents, at the tricritical point, are and .Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure
О неустойчивости решений динамических уравнений на временной шкале
В роботi наведено результати аналiзу нестiйкостi динамiчних рiвнянь на часовiй шкалi. Застосовнiсть отриманого результату iлюструється на прикладi системи другого порядку.We present new results on the instability for dynamic equations on time scales. To demonstrate the applicability, we use some examples of dynamic equations of the second order
- …