199 research outputs found
New results on q-positivity
In this paper we discuss symmetrically self-dual spaces, which are simply
real vector spaces with a symmetric bilinear form. Certain subsets of the space
will be called q-positive, where q is the quadratic form induced by the
original bilinear form. The notion of q-positivity generalizes the classical
notion of the monotonicity of a subset of a product of a Banach space and its
dual. Maximal q-positivity then generalizes maximal monotonicity. We discuss
concepts generalizing the representations of monotone sets by convex functions,
as well as the number of maximally q-positive extensions of a q-positive set.
We also discuss symmetrically self-dual Banach spaces, in which we add a Banach
space structure, giving new characterizations of maximal q-positivity. The
paper finishes with two new examples.Comment: 18 page
Algal-fungal mutualism: cell recognition and maintenance of the symbiotic status of lichens
Lichens are specific symbiotic associations between photosynthetic algae or cyanobacteria and heterotrophic fungi forming a double entity in which both components coexist. Specificity required for the lichen establishment can be defined in this context as the preferential, but not exclusive, association of a biont with another, since the algal factor susceptible to be recognized is an inducible protein. Recognition of compatible algal cells is performed by specific lectins produced and secreted by the potential mycobiont. Some lectins from phycolichens and cyanolichens are glycosylated arginases which bind to an algal cell wall receptor, identified as a a-1, 4-polygalactosylated urease. However, other ligands exist which bind other lectins specific for mannose or glucose. This implies that, after recognition of a potential, compatible partner, other fungal lectins could determine the final success of the association. Since the fungus can parasitize non - recognized partners during the development of the association, the success after the first contact needs of a set of algal cells, the number of which was sufficient to prevent that the death of a certain number of them makes fail the symbiosis. Fungal lectins act as chemo tactic factors in such a way that algae and cyanobacteria move towards the hyphae, to acquire that critical size of the colony, by means of successive contractions and relaxation of the actomyosin cytoskeleton in absence of any motile appendages
UVB radiation induced effects on cells studied by FTIR spectroscopy
We have made a preliminary analysis of the results about the eVects on
tumoral cell line (lymphoid T cell line Jurkat) induced by UVB radiation (dose
of 310 mJ/cm^2) with and without a vegetable mixture. In the present study, we
have used two techniques: Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and
flow cytometry. FTIR spectroscopy has the potential to provide the
identiWcation of the vibrational modes of some of the major compounds (lipid,
proteins and nucleic acids) without being invasive in the biomaterials. The
second technique has allowed us to perform measurements of cytotoxicity and to
assess the percentage of apoptosis. We already studied the induction of
apoptotic process in the same cell line by UVB radiation; in particular, we
looked for correspondences and correlations between FTIR spetroscopy and flow
cytometry data finding three highly probable spectroscopic markers of apoptosis
(Pozzi et al. in Radiat Res 168:698-705, 2007). In the present work, the
results have shown significant changes in the absorbance and spectral pattern
in the wavenumber protein and nucleic acids regions after the treatments
Closedness type regularity conditions for surjectivity results involving the sum of two maximal monotone operators
In this note we provide regularity conditions of closedness type which
guarantee some surjectivity results concerning the sum of two maximal monotone
operators by using representative functions. The first regularity condition we
give guarantees the surjectivity of the monotone operator , where and and are maximal monotone operators on
the reflexive Banach space . Then, this is used to obtain sufficient
conditions for the surjectivity of and for the situation when belongs
to the range of . Several special cases are discussed, some of them
delivering interesting byproducts.Comment: 11 pages, no figure
An additive subfamily of enlargements of a maximally monotone operator
We introduce a subfamily of additive enlargements of a maximally monotone
operator. Our definition is inspired by the early work of Simon Fitzpatrick.
These enlargements constitute a subfamily of the family of enlargements
introduced by Svaiter. When the operator under consideration is the
subdifferential of a convex lower semicontinuous proper function, we prove that
some members of the subfamily are smaller than the classical
-subdifferential enlargement widely used in convex analysis. We also
recover the epsilon-subdifferential within the subfamily. Since they are all
additive, the enlargements in our subfamily can be seen as structurally closer
to the -subdifferential enlargement
Individual variability in cardiac biomarker release after 30 min of high-intensity rowing in elite and amateur athletes
This study had two objectives: (i) to examine individual variation in the pattern of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) release in response to high-intensity rowing exercise, and (ii) to establish whether individual heterogeneity in biomarker appearance was influenced by athletic status (elite vs. amateur). We examined cTnI and NT-proBNP in 18 elite and 14 amateur rowers before and 5 min, 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 h after a 30-min maximal rowing test. Compared with pre-exercise levels, peak postexercise cTnI (pre: 0.014 ± 0.030 μg·L–1; peak post: 0.058 ± 0.091 μg·L–1; p = 0.000) and NT-proBNP (pre: 15 ± 11 ng·L–1; peak post: 31 ± 19 ng·L–1; p = 0.000) were elevated. Substantial individual heterogeneity in peak and time-course data was noted for cTnI. Peak cTnI exceeded the upper reference limit (URL) in 9 elite and 3 amateur rowers. No rower exceeded the URL for NT-proBNP. Elite rowers had higher baseline (0.019 ± 0.038 vs. 0.008 ± 0.015 μg·L–1; p = 0.003) and peak postexercise cTnI (0.080 ± 0.115 vs. 0.030 ± 0.029 μg·L–1; p = 0.022) than amateur rowers, but the change with exercise was similar between groups. There were no significant differences in baseline and peak postexercise NT-proBNP between groups. In summary, marked individuality in the cTnI response to a short but high-intensity rowing bout was observed. Athletic status did not seem to affect the change in cardiac biomarkers in response to high-intensity exercise
Set optimization - a rather short introduction
Recent developments in set optimization are surveyed and extended including
various set relations as well as fundamental constructions of a convex analysis
for set- and vector-valued functions, and duality for set optimization
problems. Extensive sections with bibliographical comments summarize the state
of the art. Applications to vector optimization and financial risk measures are
discussed along with algorithmic approaches to set optimization problems
General models in min-max continous location
In this paper, a class of min-max continuous location problems is discussed. After giving a complete characterization of th stationary points, we propose a simple central and deep-cut ellipsoid algorithm to solve these problems for the quasiconvex case. Moreover, an elementary convergence proof of this algorithm and some computational results are presented
Best approximation by downward sets with applications
We develop a theory of downward sets for a class of normed ordered spaces. We study best approximation in a normed ordered space X by elements of downward sets, and give necessary and sufficient conditions for any element of best approximation by a closed downward subset of X. We also characterize strictly downward subsets of X, and prove that a downward subset of X is strictly downward if and only if each its boundary point is Chebyshev. The results obtained are used for examination of some Chebyshev pairs (W,x), where x E X and W is a closed downward subset of X.C
A convergent algorithm for the hybrid problem of reconstructing conductivity from minimal interior data
We consider the hybrid problem of reconstructing the isotropic electric
conductivity of a body from interior Current Density Imaging data
obtainable using MRI measurements. We only require knowledge of the magnitude
of one current generated by a given voltage on the boundary
. As previously shown, the corresponding voltage potential u in
is a minimizer of the weighted least gradient problem
with . In this paper we present an
alternating split Bregman algorithm for treating such least gradient problems,
for non-negative and . We
give a detailed convergence proof by focusing to a large extent on the dual
problem. This leads naturally to the alternating split Bregman algorithm. The
dual problem also turns out to yield a novel method to recover the full vector
field from knowledge of its magnitude, and of the voltage on the
boundary. We then present several numerical experiments that illustrate the
convergence behavior of the proposed algorithm
- …