Repton model of gel electrophoresis in the long chain limit

Reptation governs motion of long polymers through a confining environment. Slack enters at the ends and diffuses along the polymer as stored length. The rate at which stored length diffuses limits the speed at which the chain can drift. This paper relates the rate of stored length diffusion to the conformation of the tube within which the polymer is confined. In the scaling limit of long polymer chains and weak applied electric fields, holding the product of polymer length times field finite, the tube length and stored length density take on their zero-field values. The drift velocity then depends only on the the polymer's end-to-end separation in the direction of the field.Comment: 14 pages,4 figure

Separatrix splitting at a Hamiltonian 02iω0^2 i\omega bifurcation

We discuss the splitting of a separatrix in a generic unfolding of a degenerate equilibrium in a Hamiltonian system with two degrees of freedom. We assume that the unperturbed fixed point has two purely imaginary eigenvalues and a double zero one. It is well known that an one-parametric unfolding of the corresponding Hamiltonian can be described by an integrable normal form. The normal form has a normally elliptic invariant manifold of dimension two. On this manifold, the truncated normal form has a separatrix loop. This loop shrinks to a point when the unfolding parameter vanishes. Unlike the normal form, in the original system the stable and unstable trajectories of the equilibrium do not coincide in general. The splitting of this loop is exponentially small compared to the small parameter. This phenomenon implies non-existence of single-round homoclinic orbits and divergence of series in the normal form theory. We derive an asymptotic expression for the separatrix splitting. We also discuss relations with behaviour of analytic continuation of the system in a complex neighbourhood of the equilibrium

The withdrawal from oncogenetic counselling and testing for hereditary and familial breast and ovarian cancer. A descriptive study of an Italian sample

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Oncogenetic counselling is seldom followed through, even when individuals are eligible according to the test criteria. The basic variables which influence the decision to undergo the genetic counselling process are: risk perception, expected benefit or limitations of genetic testing, general psychological distress or cancer-specific distress, lack of trust in one's emotional reactions when faced with negative events, expected level of family support and communications within the family. The aim of this study was to describe the psychosocial variables of an Italian sample that forgoes genetic counselling.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>From May 2002 to December 2006 a psychological questionnaire was sent out to one hundred and six subjects, who freely requested a first genetic informative consultation, and never asked to have a second visit and the family tree drawn up in order to inquire about their eligibility for genetic testing. Statistical analysis was performed by Pearson chi-square test, t-test and Spearman RHO coefficient.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The survey presents a lack of emotional cohesion and structured roles and rules within the family system and a positive correlation between the number of children, anxiety and risk perception. The main reasons for giving up on counselling were a sense that testing was a waste of time and the inability to emotionally handle the negative consequences of the test outcome. The subjects who maintained that test and an early diagnosis were a "waste of time" experienced more anxiety.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The study revealed the importance to ac knowledging the whole persona and their family system as well as provide information highlighting usefulness of early diagnosis.</p

STRA13 Interacts with STAT3 and Modulates Transcription of STAT3-dependent Targets

STRA13 is a pVHL-dependent bHLH transcription factor up-regulated on the mRNA level in multiple cancer cell lines and implicated recently in the regulation of immune cell homeostasis and autoimmunity. In searching for STRA13-interacting proteins with oncogenic potential by the yeast two-hybrid screening, we identified STAT3β as a STRA13-binding partner. We showed that STRA13 binds predominantly to phosphorylated (active) STAT3 α and β isoforms via its HLH and C-terminal regions. We also found that STRA13 was able to activate transcription from STAT-dependent cis-elements. Expression of endogenous STRA13 was shown to be cytokine-inducible, consistent with STRA13 involvement in STAT-dependent transcription regulation. We demonstrated that the STAT3-regulated promoter of the pro-apoptotic Fas gene was activated upon STRA13 over-expression and that co-expression of STRA13 with STAT3β or STAT3α modulated the transcriptional outcome. Forced expression of STRA13 induced apoptosis, in agreement with the STRA13 activation effect on the Fas promoter. Simultaneous expression of STRA13 and STAT3β resulted in alleviation of the STRA13 pro-apoptotic effect. Thus, for the first time, we identify STRA13 as a STAT3 partner and provide a consistent line of evidence for STRA13 involvement into regulation of apoptosis via the STAT pathways

Stability of relative equilibria with singular momentum values in simple mechanical systems

A method for testing $G_\mu$-stability of relative equilibria in Hamiltonian systems of the form "kinetic + potential energy" is presented. This method extends the Reduced Energy-Momentum Method of Simo et al. to the case of non-free group actions and singular momentum values. A normal form for the symplectic matrix at a relative equilibrium is also obtained.Comment: Partially rewritten. Some mistakes fixed. Exposition improve

Mutually Penetrating Motion of Self-Organized 2D Patterns of Soliton-Like Structures

Results of numerical simulations of a recently derived most general dissipative-dispersive PDE describing evolution of a film flowing down an inclined plane are presented. They indicate that a novel complex type of spatiotemporal patterns can exist for strange attractors of nonequilibrium systems. It is suggested that real-life experiments satisfying the validity conditions of the theory are possible: the required sufficiently viscous liquids are readily available.Comment: minor corrections, 4 pages, LaTeX, 6 figures, mpeg simulations available upon or reques

A new method for tracking of motor skill learning through practical application of Fitts’ law

This article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.A novel upper limb motor skill measure, task productivity rate (TPR) was developed integrating speed and spatial error, delivered by a practical motor skill rehabilitation task (MSRT). This prototype task involved placement of 5 short pegs horizontally on a spatially configured rail array. The stability of TPR was tested on 18 healthy right-handed adults (10 women, 8 men, median age 29 years) in a prospective single-session quantitative within-subjects study design. Manipulations of movement rate 10% faster and slower relative to normative states did not significantly affect TPR, F(1.387, 25.009) = 2.465, p = .121. A significant linear association between completion time and error was highest during the normative state condition (Pearson's r = .455, p < .05). Findings provided evidence that improvements in TPR over time reflected motor learning with possible changes in coregulation behavior underlying practice under different conditions. These findings extend Fitts’ law theory to tracking of practical motor skill using a dexterity task, which could have potential clinical applications in rehabilitation

Modulation of Localized States in Electroconvection

We report on the effects of temporal modulation of the driving force on a particular class of localized states, known as worms, that have been observed in electroconvection in nematic liquid crystals. The worms consist of the superposition of traveling waves and have been observed to have unique, small widths, but to vary in length. The transition from the pure conduction state to worms occurs via a backward bifurcation. A possible explanation of the formation of the worms has been given in terms of coupled amplitude equations. Because the worms consist of the superposition of traveling waves, temporal modulation of the control parameter is a useful probe of the dynamics of the system. We observe that temporal modulation increases the average length of the worms and stabilizes worms below the transition point in the absence of modulation.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure