334 research outputs found
Why was it important for the Byzantines to read Latin? The views of Demetrios Kydones (1324-1398)
Abstract: Fourteenth-century Byzantium witnessed civil wars between cliques of the ruling elite, constant financial crisis and dramatic territorial reduction. As a result of two catastrophic civil wars that were fought in 1321-1328 and 1341-1347, the Byzantine empire evolved into a small state which was struggling to survive and defend itself against large numbers of hostile neighbours, some of whom had or gradually acquired the resources to develop military forces far superior to those of Byzantium. In the 1350s and1360s the Ottoman Turks began the conquest of European territories that belonged to the Byzantine empire and threatened the very existence of the Byzantine state. Seeing that it was impossible to face the Ottomans militarily many Byzantines began to support the idea of a Crusade against the Ottomans and the reconciliation between the Orthodox and the Catholic Churches. One of the most staunchest supporters of this policy was the prolific author and politician Demetrios Kydones. This article will discuss how Kydones promoted the policy of reconciliation and alliance with Western European powers against the Ottomans
The Collapse of the Spin-Singlet Phase in Quantum Dots
We present experimental and theoretical results on a new regime in quantum
dots in which the filling factor 2 singlet state is replaced by new spin
polarized phases. We make use of spin blockade spectroscopy to identify the
transition to this new regime as a function of the number of electrons. The key
experimental observation is a reversal of the phase in the systematic
oscillation of the amplitude of Coulomb blockade peaks as the number of
electrons is increased above a critical number. It is found theoretically that
correlations are crucial to the existence of the new phases.Comment: REVTeX4, 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in PR
Systems analysis of drug-induced receptor tyrosine kinase reprogramming following targeted mono- and combination anti-cancer therapy
The receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are key drivers of cancer progression and targets for drug therapy. A major challenge in anti-RTK treatment is the dependence of drug effectiveness on co-expression of multiple RTKs which defines resistance to single drug therapy. Reprogramming of the RTK network leading to alteration in RTK co-expression in response to drug intervention is a dynamic mechanism of acquired resistance to single drug therapy in many cancers. One route to overcome this resistance is combination therapy. We describe the results of a joint in silico, in vitro, and in vivo investigations on the efficacy of trastuzumab, pertuzumab and their combination to target the HER2 receptors. Computational modelling revealed that these two drugs alone and in combination differentially suppressed RTK network activation depending on RTK co-expression. Analyses of mRNA expression in SKOV3 ovarian tumour xenograft showed up-regulation of HER3 following treatment. Considering this in a computational model revealed that HER3 up-regulation reprograms RTK kinetics from HER2 homodimerisation to HER3/HER2 heterodimerisation. The results showed synergy of the trastuzumab and pertuzumab combination treatment of the HER2 overexpressing tumour can be due to an independence of the combination effect on HER3/HER2 composition when it changes due to drug-induced RTK reprogramming
Non-Markovian Dynamics of Charge Carriers in Quantum Dots
We have investigated the dynamics of bound particles in multilevel
current-carrying quantum dots. We look specifically in the regime of resonant
tunnelling transport, where several channels are available for transport.
Through a non-Markovian formalism under the Born approximation, we investigate
the real-time evolution of the confined particles including transport-induced
decoherence and relaxation. In the case of a coherent superposition between
states with different particle number, we find that a Fock-space coherence may
be preserved even in the presence of tunneling into and out of the dot.
Real-time results are presented for various asymmetries of tunneling rates into
different orbitals.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, International Workshop on Physics-Based
Mathematical Models for Low-Dimensional Semiconductor Nanostructures. BIRS,
November 18-23, 200
Singlet-triplet transition in a single-electron transistor at zero magnetic field
We report sharp peaks in the differential conductance of a single-electron
transistor (SET) at low temperature, for gate voltages at which charge
fluctuations are suppressed. For odd numbers of electrons we observe the
expected Kondo peak at zero bias. For even numbers of electrons we generally
observe Kondo-like features corresponding to excited states. For the latter,
the excitation energy often decreases with gate voltage until a new zero-bias
Kondo peak results. We ascribe this behavior to a singlet-triplet transition in
zero magnetic field driven by the change of shape of the potential that
confines the electrons in the SET.Comment: 4 p., 4 fig., 5 new ref. Rewrote 1st paragr. on p. 4. Revised author
list. More detailed fit results on page 3. A plotting error in the horizontal
axis of Fig. 1b and 3 was corrected, and so were the numbers in the text read
from those fig. Fig. 4 was modified with a better temperature calibration
(changes are a few percent). The inset of this fig. was removed as it is
unnecessary here. Added remarks in the conclusion. Typos are correcte
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A visual analytics framework for spatio-temporal analysis and modelling
To support analysis and modelling of large amounts of spatio-temporal data having the form of spatially referenced time series (TS) of numeric values, we combine interactive visual techniques with computational methods from machine learning and statistics. Clustering methods and interactive techniques are used to group TS by similarity. Statistical methods for TS modelling are then applied to representative TS derived from the groups of similar TS. The framework includes interactive visual interfaces to a library of modelling methods supporting the selection of a suitable method, adjustment of model parameters, and evaluation of the models obtained. The models can be externally stored, communicated, and used for prediction and in further computational analyses. From the visual analytics perspective, the framework suggests a way to externalize spatio-temporal patterns emerging in the mind of the analyst as a result of interactive visual analysis: the patterns are represented in the form of computer-processable and reusable models. From the statistical analysis perspective, the framework demonstrates how TS analysis and modelling can be supported by interactive visual interfaces, particularly, in a case of numerous TS that are hard to analyse individually. From the application perspective, the framework suggests a way to analyse large numbers of spatial TS with the use of well-established statistical methods for TS analysis
Incommensurate ground state of double-layer quantum Hall systems
Double-layer quantum Hall systems possess interlayer phase coherence at
sufficiently small layer separations, even without interlayer tunneling. When
interlayer tunneling is present, application of a sufficiently strong in-plane
magnetic field drives a commensurate-incommensurate (CI)
transition to an incommensurate soliton-lattice (SL) state. We calculate the
Hartree-Fock ground-state energy of the SL state for all values of
within a gradient approximation, and use it to obtain the
anisotropic SL stiffness, the Kosterlitz-Thouless melting temperature for the
SL, and the SL magnetization. The in-plane differential magnetic susceptibility
diverges as when the CI transition is approached
from the SL state.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Physical Review
Effect of polyamines and synthetic polyamine-analogues on the expression of antizyme (AtoC) and its regulatory genes
BACKGROUND: In bacteria, the biosynthesis of polyamines is modulated at the level of transcription as well as post-translationally. Antizyme (Az) has long been identified as a non-competitive protein inhibitor of polyamine biosynthesis in E. coli. Az was also revealed to be the product of the atoC gene. AtoC is the response regulator of the AtoS-AtoC two-component system and it functions as the positive transcriptional regulator of the atoDAEB operon genes, encoding enzymes involved in short chain fatty acid metabolism. The antizyme is referred to as AtoC/Az, to indicate its dual function as both a transcriptional and post-translational regulator. RESULTS: The roles of polyamines on the transcription of atoS and atoC genes as well as that of atoDAEB(ato) operon were studied. Polyamine-mediated induction was tested both in atoSC positive and negative E. coli backgrounds by using β-galactosidase reporter constructs carrying the appropriate promoters patoDAEB, patoS, patoC. In addition, a selection of synthetic polyamine analogues have been synthesized and tested for their effectiveness in inducing the expression of atoC/Az, the product of which plays a pivotal role in the feedback inhibition of putrescine biosynthesis and the transcriptional regulation of the ato operon. The effects of these compounds were also determined on the ato operon expression. The polyamine analogues were also tested for their effect on the activity of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), the key enzyme of polyamine biosynthesis and on the growth of polyamine-deficient E. coli. CONCLUSION: Polyamines, which have been reported to induce the protein levels of AtoC/Az in E. coli, act at the transcriptional level, since they cause activation of the atoC transcription. In addition, a series of polyamine analogues were studied on the transcription of atoC gene and ODC activity
Drivers of spatial change in urban housing submarkets
Spatial urban housing submarkets are now widely used constructs. Recent housing market modelling strategies have emphasised the need for flexibility in modelling approaches in order to best accommodate submarkets which account for spatial variations in hedonic prices. But this raises important unanswered questions concerning the stability of submarket structures over time, and the role of housing market dynamics in breaking down or shifting submarket boundaries. The influence of new supply, in particular, may have a stabilising or destabilising effect on differences in hedonic prices, depending on the wider housing market context. In this paper we examine the temporal influence of new supply, intra‐urban migration and socio‐economic change as a means of understanding the impact of key drivers of submarket boundary change. Using the Greater Perth region of Western Australia as a case study, we estimate income elasticities of demand for housing services that vary spatially within the urban area. We find evidence that higher income elasticities, new development, socio‐economic change and intra‐urban migration are associated with changes in the spatial structure of housing prices within the metropolitan housing market
Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling of Ferromagnetic Domain Walls
Quantum tunneling of domain walls out of an impurity potential in a
mesoscopic ferromagnetic sample is investigated. Using improved expressions for
the domain wall mass and for the pinning potential, we find that the cross-over
temperature between thermal activation and quantum tunneling is of a different
functional form than found previously. In materials like Ni or YIG, the
crossover temperatures are around 5 mK. We also find that the WKB exponent is
typically two orders of magnitude larger than current estimates. The sources
for these discrepancies are discussed, and precise estimates for the transition
from three-dimensional to one-dimensional magnetic behavior of a wire are
given. The cross-over temperatures from thermal to quantum transitions and
tunneling rates are calculated for various materials and sample sizes.Comment: 10 pages, 2 postscript figures, REVTe
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