3,050 research outputs found
Stochastic pump effect and geometric phases in dissipative and stochastic systems
The success of Berry phases in quantum mechanics stimulated the study of
similar phenomena in other areas of physics, including the theory of living
cell locomotion and motion of patterns in nonlinear media. More recently,
geometric phases have been applied to systems operating in a strongly
stochastic environment, such as molecular motors. We discuss such geometric
effects in purely classical dissipative stochastic systems and their role in
the theory of the stochastic pump effect (SPE).Comment: Review. 35 pages. J. Phys. A: Math, Theor. (in press
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Overview of mathematical approaches used to model bacterial chemotaxis II: bacterial populations
We review the application of mathematical modeling to understanding the behavior of populations of chemotactic bacteria. The application of continuum mathematical models, in particular generalized Keller–Segel models, is discussed along with attempts to incorporate the microscale (individual) behavior on the macroscale, modeling the interaction between different species of bacteria, the interaction of bacteria with their environment, and methods used to obtain experimentally verified parameter values. We allude briefly to the role of modeling pattern formation in understanding collective behavior within bacterial populations. Various aspects of each model are discussed and areas for possible future research are postulated
Models and metaphors: complexity theory and through-life management in the built environment
Complexity thinking may have both modelling and metaphorical applications in the through-life management of the built environment. These two distinct approaches are examined and compared. In the first instance, some of the sources of complexity in the design, construction and maintenance of the built environment are identified. The metaphorical use of complexity in management thinking and its application in the built environment are briefly examined. This is followed by an exploration of modelling techniques relevant to built environment concerns. Non-linear and complex mathematical techniques such as fuzzy logic, cellular automata and attractors, may be applicable to their analysis. Existing software tools are identified and examples of successful built environment applications of complexity modelling are given. Some issues that arise include the definition of phenomena in a mathematically usable way, the functionality of available software and the possibility of going beyond representational modelling. Further questions arising from the application of complexity thinking are discussed, including the possibilities for confusion that arise from the use of metaphor. The metaphor of a 'commentary machine' is suggested as a possible way forward and it is suggested that an appropriate linguistic analysis can in certain situations reduce perceived complexity
Black Holes in the Early Universe
The existence of massive black holes was postulated in the sixties, when the
first quasars were discovered. In the late nineties their reality was proven
beyond doubt, in the Milky way and a handful nearby galaxies. Since then,
enormous theoretical and observational efforts have been made to understand the
astrophysics of massive black holes. We have discovered that some of the most
massive black holes known, weighing billions of solar masses, powered luminous
quasars within the first billion years of the Universe. The first massive black
holes must therefore have formed around the time the first stars and galaxies
formed. Dynamical evidence also indicates that black holes with masses of
millions to billions of solar masses ordinarily dwell in the centers of today's
galaxies. Massive black holes populate galaxy centers today, and shone as
quasars in the past; the quiescent black holes that we detect now in nearby
bulges are the dormant remnants of this fiery past. In this review we report on
basic, but critical, questions regarding the cosmological significance of
massive black holes. What physical mechanisms lead to the formation of the
first massive black holes? How massive were the initial massive black hole
seeds? When and where did they form? How is the growth of black holes linked to
that of their host galaxy? Answers to most of these questions are work in
progress, in the spirit of these Reports on Progress in Physics.Comment: Reports on Progress in Physics, in pres
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A Search for Dark Higgs Bosons
Recent astrophysical and terrestrial experiments have motivated the proposal
of a dark sector with GeV-scale gauge boson force carriers and new Higgs
bosons. We present a search for a dark Higgs boson using 516 fb-1 of data
collected with the BABAR detector. We do not observe a significant signal and
we set 90% confidence level upper limits on the product of the Standard
Model-dark sector mixing angle and the dark sector coupling constant.Comment: 7 pages, 5 postscript figures, published version with improved plots
for b/w printin
Molecular mechanisms of drug resistance in natural Leishmania populations vary with genetic background
The evolution of drug-resistance in pathogens is a major global health threat. Elucidating the molecular basis of pathogen drug-resistance has been the focus of many studies but rarely is it known whether a drug-resistance mechanism identified is universal for the studied pathogen; it has seldom been clarified whether drug-resistance mechanisms vary with the pathogen's genotype. Nevertheless this is of critical importance in gaining an understanding of the complexity of this global threat and in underpinning epidemiological surveillance of pathogen drug resistance in the field. This study aimed to assess the molecular and phenotypic heterogeneity that emerges in natural parasite populations under drug treatment pressure. We studied lines of the protozoan parasite Leishmania (L.) donovani with differential susceptibility to antimonial drugs; the lines being derived from clinical isolates belonging to two distinct genetic populations that circulate in the leishmaniasis endemic region of Nepal. Parasite pathways known to be affected by antimonial drugs were characterised on five experimental levels in the lines of the two populations. Characterisation of DNA sequence, gene expression, protein expression and thiol levels revealed a number of molecular features that mark antimonial-resistant parasites in only one of the two populations studied. A final series of in vitro stress phenotyping experiments confirmed this heterogeneity amongst drug-resistant parasites from the two populations. These data provide evidence that the molecular changes associated with antimonial-resistance in natural Leishmania populations depend on the genetic background of the Leishmania population, which has resulted in a divergent set of resistance markers in the Leishmania populations. This heterogeneity of parasite adaptations provides severe challenges for the control of drug resistance in the field and the design of molecular surveillance tools for widespread applicability
Functional immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern after fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose or infection in patients with blood cancer
Patients with blood cancer continue to have a greater risk of inadequate immune responses following three COVID-19 vaccine doses and risk of severe COVID-19 disease. In the context of the CAPTURE study (NCT03226886), we report immune responses in 80 patients with blood cancer who received a fourth dose of BNT162b2. We measured neutralizing antibody titers (NAbTs) using a live virus microneutralization assay against wild-type (WT), Delta, and Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 and T cell responses against WT and Omicron BA.1 using an activation-induced marker (AIM) assay. The proportion of patients with detectable NAb titers and T cell responses after the fourth vaccine dose increased compared with that after the third vaccine dose. Patients who received B cell-depleting therapies within the 12 months before vaccination have the greatest risk of not having detectable NAbT. In addition, we report immune responses in 57 patients with breakthrough infections after vaccination
Search for New Physics with Jets and Missing Transverse Momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
A search for new physics is presented based on an event signature of at least
three jets accompanied by large missing transverse momentum, using a data
sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 inverse picobarns
collected in proton--proton collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV with the CMS detector
at the LHC. No excess of events is observed above the expected standard model
backgrounds, which are all estimated from the data. Exclusion limits are
presented for the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard
model. Cross section limits are also presented using simplified models with new
particles decaying to an undetected particle and one or two jets
De Novo Growth Zone Formation from Fission Yeast Spheroplasts
Eukaryotic cells often form polarized growth zones in response to internal or external cues. To understand the establishment of growth zones with specific dimensions we used fission yeast, which grows as a rod-shaped cell of near-constant width from growth zones located at the cell tips. Removing the cell wall creates a round spheroplast with a disorganized cytoskeleton and depolarized growth proteins. As spheroplasts recover, new growth zones form that resemble normal growing cell tips in shape and width, and polarized growth resumes. Regulators of the GTPase Cdc42, which control width in exponentially growing cells, also control spheroplast growth zone width. During recovery the Cdc42 scaffold Scd2 forms a polarized patch in the rounded spheroplast, demonstrating that a growth zone protein can organize independent of cell shape. Rga4, a Cdc42 GTPase activating protein (GAP) that is excluded from cell tips, is initially distributed throughout the spheroplast membrane, but is excluded from the growth zone after a stable patch of Scd2 forms. These results provide evidence that growth zones with normal width and protein localization can form de novo through sequential organization of cellular domains, and that the size of these growth zones is genetically controlled, independent of preexisting cell shape
X-ray Properties of the First SZE-selected Galaxy Cluster Sample from the South Pole Telescope
We present results of X-ray observations of a sample of 15 clusters selected
via their imprint on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) from the thermal
Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect. These clusters are a subset of the first
SZ-selected cluster catalog, obtained from observations of 178 deg^2 of sky
surveyed by the South Pole Telescope. Using X-ray observations with Chandra and
XMM-Newton, we estimate the temperature, T_X, and mass, M_g, of the
intracluster medium (ICM) within r_500 for each cluster. From these, we
calculate Y_X=M_g T_X and estimate the total cluster mass using a M_500-Y_X
scaling relation measured from previous X-ray studies. The integrated
Comptonization, Y_SZ, is derived from the SZ measurements, using additional
information from the X-ray measured gas density profiles and a universal
temperature profile. We calculate scaling relations between the X-ray and SZ
observables, and find results generally consistent with other measurements and
the expectations from simple self-similar behavior. Specifically, we fit a
Y_SZ-Y_X relation and find a normalization of 0.82 +- 0.07, marginally
consistent with the predicted ratio of Y_SZ/Y_X=0.91+-0.01 that would be
expected from the density and temperature models used in this work. Using the
Y_X derived mass estimates, we fit a Y_SZ-M_500 relation and find a slope
consistent with the self-similar expectation of Y_SZ ~ M^5/3 with a
normalization consistent with predictions from other X-ray studies. We compare
the X-ray mass estimates to previously published SZ mass estimates derived from
cosmological simulations of the SPT survey. We find that the SZ mass estimates
are lower by a factor of 0.89+-0.06, which is within the ~15% systematic
uncertainty quoted for the simulation-based SZ masses.Comment: 28 pages, 19 figures, submitted to Ap
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