Importance of many-body correlations in glass transition: an example from polydisperse hard spheres

Most of the liquid-state theories, including glass-transition theories, are constructed on the basis of two-body density correlations. However, we have recently shown that many-body correlations, in particular bond orientational correlations, play a key role in both the glass transition and the crystallization transition. Here we show, with numerical simulations of supercooled polydisperse hard spheres systems, that the lengthscale associated with any two-point spatial correlation function does not increase toward the glass transition. A growing lengthscale is instead revealed by considering many-body correlation functions, such as correlators of orientational order, which follows the lengthscale of the dynamic heterogeneities. Despite the growing of crystal-like bond orientational order, we reveal that the stability against crystallization with increasing polydispersity is due to an increasing population of icosahedral arrangements of particles. Our results suggest that, for this type of systems, many-body correlations are a manifestation of the link between the vitrification and the crystallization phenomena. Whether a system is vitrified or crystallized can be controlled by the degree of frustration against crystallization, polydispersity in this case.Comment: To appear in J. Chem. Phys. for a special issue on the Glass Transitio

DNA methylation and DNA methyltransferases

The prevailing views as to the form, function, and regulation of genomic methylation patterns have their origin many years in the past, at a time when the structure of the mammalian genome was only dimly perceived, when the number of protein-encoding mammalian genes was believed to be at least five times greater than the actual number, and when it was not understood that only ~10% of the genome is under selective pressure and likely to have biological function. We use more recent findings from genome biology and whole-genome methylation profiling to provide a reappraisal of the shape of genomic methylation patterns and the nature of the changes that they undergo during gametogenesis and early development. We observe that the sequences that undergo deep changes in methylation status during early development are largely sequences without regulatory function. We also discuss recent findings that begin to explain the remarkable fidelity of maintenance methylation. Rather than a general overview of DNA methylation in mammals (which has been the subject of many reviews), we present a new analysis of the distribution of methylated CpG dinucleotides across the multiple sequence compartments that make up the mammalian genome, and we offer an updated interpretation of the nature of the changes in methylation patterns that occur in germ cells and early embryos. We discuss the cues that might designate specific sequences for demethylation or de novo methylation during development, and we summarize recent findings on mechanisms that maintain methylation patterns in mammalian genomes. We also describe the several human disorders, each very different from the other, that are caused by mutations in DNA methyltransferase genes

A Canonical Form for Positive Definite Matrices

We exhibit an explicit, deterministic algorithm for finding a canonical form for a positive definite matrix under unimodular integral transformations. We use characteristic sets of short vectors and partition-backtracking graph software. The algorithm runs in a number of arithmetic operations that is exponential in the dimension $n$, but it is practical and more efficient than canonical forms based on Minkowski reduction

External luminescence and photon recycling in near-field thermophotovoltaics

The importance of considering near-field effects on photon recycling and spontaneous emission in a thermophotovoltaic device is investigated. Fluctuational electrodynamics is used to calculate external luminescence from a photovoltaic cell as a function of emitter type, vacuum gap thickness between emitter and cell, and cell thickness. The observed changes in external luminescence suggest strong modifications of photon recycling caused by the presence of the emitter. Photon recycling for propagating modes is affected by reflection at the vacuum-emitter interface and is substantially decreased by the leakage towards the emitter through tunneling of frustrated modes. In addition, spontaneous emission by the cell can be strongly enhanced by the presence of an emitter supporting surface polariton modes. It follows that using a radiative recombination model with a spatially uniform radiative lifetime, even corrected by a photon recycling factor, is inappropriate. Applying the principles of detailed balance, and accounting for non-radiative recombination mechanisms, the impact of external luminescence enhancement in the near field on thermophotovoltaic performance is investigated. It is shown that unlike isolated cells, the external luminescence efficiency is not solely dependent on cell quality, but significantly increases as the vacuum gap thickness decreases below 400 nm for the case of an intrinsic silicon emitter. In turn, the open-circuit voltage and power density benefit from this enhanced external luminescence toward the emitter. This benefit is larger as cell quality, characterized by the contribution of non-radiative recombination, decreases.Comment: 44 pages, 8 figures, 1 table, 4 supplemental figure

Assessing the role of dispersed floralresources for managed bees in providingsupporting ecosystem services for croppollination

Most pollination ecosystem services studies have focussed on wild pollinators and their dependence on natural floral resources adjacent to crop fields. However, managed pollinators depend on a mixture of floral resources that are spatially separated from the crop field. Here, we consider the supporting role these resources play as an ecosystem services provider to quantify the use and availability of floral resources, and to estimate their relative contribution to support pollination services of managed honeybees. Beekeepers supplying pollination services to the Western Cape deciduous fruit industry were interviewed to obtain information on their use of floral resources. For 120 apiary sites, we also analysed floral resources within a two km radius of each site based on geographic data. The relative availability of floral resources at sites was compared to regional availability. The relative contribution of floral resources-types to sustain managed honeybees was estimated. Beekeepers showed a strong preference for eucalypts and canola. Beekeepers selectively placed more hives at sites with eucalypt and canola and less with natural vegetation. However, at the landscape-scale, eucalypt was the least available resource, whereas natural vegetation was most common. Based on analysis of apiary sites, we estimated that 700,818 ha of natural vegetation, 73,910 ha of canola fields, and 10,485 ha of eucalypt are used to support the managed honeybee industry in the Western Cape. Whereas the Cape managed honeybee system uses a bee native to the region, alien plant species appear disproportionately important among the floral resources being exploited. We suggest that an integrated approach, including evidence from interview and landscape data, and fine-scale biological data is needed to study floral resources supporting managed honeybees

Probabilistic Opacity in Refinement-Based Modeling

Given a probabilistic transition system (PTS) $\cal A$ partially observed by an attacker, and an $\omega$-regular predicate $\varphi$over the traces of $\cal A$, measuring the disclosure of the secret $\varphi$ in $\cal A$ means computing the probability that an attacker who observes a run of $\cal A$ can ascertain that its trace belongs to $\varphi$. In the context of refinement, we consider specifications given as Interval-valued Discrete Time Markov Chains (IDTMCs), which are underspecified Markov chains where probabilities on edges are only required to belong to intervals. Scheduling an IDTMC $\cal S$ produces a concrete implementation as a PTS and we define the worst case disclosure of secret $\varphi$ in ${\cal S}$ as the maximal disclosure of $\varphi$ over all PTSs thus produced. We compute this value for a subclass of IDTMCs and we prove that refinement can only improve the opacity of implementations

A transferable ab-initio based force field for aqueous ions

We present a new polarizable force field for aqueous ions (Li+, Na+, K+, Rb+, Cs+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Sr2+ and Cl-) derived from condensed phase ab-initio calculations. We use Maximally Localized Wannier Functions together with a generalized force and dipole-matching procedure to determine the whole set of parameters. Experimental data is then used only for validation purposes and a good agreement is obtained for structural, dynamic and thermodynamic properties. The same procedure applied to crystalline phases allows to parametrize the interaction between cations and the chloride anion. Finally, we illustrate the good transferability of the force field to other thermodynamic conditions by investigating concentrated solutions.Comment: 31 pages, 8 figure

COSMOS 2044: Lung morphology study, experiment K-7-28

Researchers examined the effect of microgravity during spaceflight on lung tissue. The ultrastructure of the left lungs of 5 Czechoslovakian Wister rats flown on the 13 day, 19+ hour Cosmos 2044 mission was examined and compared to 5 vivarium and 5 synchronous controls at 1-g conditions, and 5 rats exposed to 14 days of tail suspension. Pulmonary hemorrage and alveolar adema of unknown origin occurred to a greater extent in the flight, tail-suspended, and synchronous control animals, and in the dorsal regions of the lung when compared with the vivarium controls. The cause of these changes, which are possibly due to an increase in pulmonary vascular pressure, requires further investigation

A set of Eurocode 8-compatible synthetic time-series as input to dynamic analysis

International audienceNon-linear dynamic analysis of existing or planned structures often requires the use of accelerograms that match a target design spectrum. Here, our main concern is to generate a set of motions with a good level of fit to the Eurocode 8 (EC8) design spectra for France. Synthetic time series are generated by means of a non-stationary stochastic method. To calibrate the distributions of various strong-motion parameters, we first select a reference set of accelerograms for a type B site category from the PEER Ground-Motion Database, which are then adjusted to the target spectrum through wavelet addition. Finally, we analyse non-linear seismic responses of a soil column including pore pressure effects and ductile structures using these records, revealing considerable variability despite the similarities in terms of spectral acceleration