144 research outputs found
The extended gaussian ensemble and metastabilities in the Blume-Capel model
The Blume-Capel model with infinite-range interactions presents analytical
solutions in both canonical and microcanonical ensembles and therefore, its
phase diagram is known in both ensembles. This model exhibits nonequivalent
solutions and the microcanonical thermodynamical features present peculiar
behaviors like nonconcave entropy, negative specific heat, and a jump in the
thermodynamical temperature. Examples of nonequivalent ensembles are in general
related to systems with long-range interactions that undergo canonical
first-order phase transitions. Recently, the extended gaussian ensemble (EGE)
solution was obtained for this model. The gaussian ensemble and its extended
version can be considered as a regularization of the microcanonical ensemble.
They are known to play the role of an interpolating ensemble between the
microcanonical and the canonical ones. Here, we explicitly show how the
microcanonical energy equilibrium states related to the metastable and unstable
canonical solutions for the Blume-Capel model are recovered from EGE, which
presents a concave "extended" entropy as a function of energy.Comment: 6 pages, 5 eps figures. Presented at the XI Latin American Workshop
on Nonlinear Phenomena, October 05-09 (2009), B\'uzios (RJ), Brazil. To
appear in JPC
Ground state of a polydisperse electrorheological solid: Beyond the dipole approximation
The ground state of an electrorheological (ER) fluid has been studied based
on our recently proposed dipole-induced dipole (DID) model. We obtained an
analytic expression of the interaction between chains of particles which are of
the same or different dielectric constants. The effects of dielectric constants
on the structure formation in monodisperse and polydisperse electrorheological
fluids are studied in a wide range of dielectric contrasts between the
particles and the base fluid. Our results showed that the established
body-centered tetragonal ground state in monodisperse ER fluids may become
unstable due to a polydispersity in the particle dielectric constants. While
our results agree with that of the fully multipole theory, the DID model is
much simpler, which offers a basis for computer simulations in polydisperse ER
fluids.Comment: Accepted for publications by Phys. Rev.
Asymptotics of the solutions of the stochastic lattice wave equation
We consider the long time limit theorems for the solutions of a discrete wave
equation with a weak stochastic forcing. The multiplicative noise conserves the
energy and the momentum. We obtain a time-inhomogeneous Ornstein-Uhlenbeck
equation for the limit wave function that holds both for square integrable and
statistically homogeneous initial data. The limit is understood in the
point-wise sense in the former case, and in the weak sense in the latter. On
the other hand, the weak limit for square integrable initial data is
deterministic
Prenatal maternal distress associates with a blunted cortisol response in rhinovirus-positive infants
Introduction: Prenatal exposure to maternal psychological distress (PD) may have programming effects on the fetus/infant hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and subsequently on the development of the fetus’ immune function. Therefore, our aim was to study whether prenatal exposure to PD is related to early infant HPA axis reactivity in the context of a subclinical rhinovirus infection that challenges infants HPA axis postnatally.Methods: This study included 336 10-week-old infants from the nested case control Focus Cohort of the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study. The outcome was infant HPA axis reactivity in a stress test. The acute stressor comprised of pediatric examination with venipuncture and nasal swabs for virus assessment. Saliva cortisol samples were collected at 5 time points: baseline, 0, 15, 25 and 35 min after the stressor. HPA axis reactivity was defined by the cumulative post-stressor cortisol concentration.Results: HPA axis reactivity was blunted in the PD/rhinovirus + group compared to the average of control/rhinovirus+, PD/rhinovirus-, and control/rhinovirus- groups (difference: 14.7 ln [nmol/L] × min, 95% confidence interval 3.8–25.6, p =  .008). HPA axis reactivity was significantly blunted only in boys with rhinovirus detected when separately tested for boys and girls (p =  .04).Conclusion: Our finding of PD-exposed rhinovirus-positive infants having blunted cortisol secretion gives rise to a hypothesis that maternal PD during pregnancy influences infant HPA axis functioning and the functioning of the immune system. Future studies are needed to test whether this suppression of the HPA axis that co-occurs with rhinovirus infection associates with later disease development (e.g., asthma).</p
Gelatine matrix with human thrombin decreases blood loss in adolescents undergoing posterior spinal fusion for idiopathic scoliosis A MULTICENTRE, RANDOMISED CLINICAL TRIAL
Aims In a multicentre, randomised study of adolescents undergoing posterior spinal fusion for idiopathic scoliosis, we investigated the effect of adding gelatine matrix with human thrombin to the standard surgical methods of controlling blood loss. Patients and Methods Patients in the intervention group (n = 30) were randomised to receive a minimum of two and a maximum of four units of gelatine matrix with thrombin in addition to conventional surgical methods of achieving haemostasis. Only conventional surgical methods were used in the control group (n = 30). We measured the intra-operative and total blood loss (intra-operative blood loss plus post-operative drain output). Results Each additional hour of operating time increased the intra-operative blood loss by 356.9 ml (p <0.001) and the total blood loss by 430.5 ml (p <0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the intervention significantly decreased the intra-operative (-171 ml, p = 0.025) and total blood loss (-177 ml, p = 0.027). The decrease in haemoglobin concentration from the day before the operation to the second post-operative day was significantly smaller in the intervention group (-6 g/I, p = 0.013) than in the control group. Conclusion The addition of gelatine matrix with human thrombin to conventional methods of achieving haemostasis reduces both the intra-operative blood loss and the decrease in haemoglobin concentration post-operatively in adolescents undergoing posterior spinal fusion for idiopathic scoliosis. Take home message: A randomised clinical trial showed that gelatine matrix with human thrombin decreases intra-operative blood loss by 30% when added to traditional surgical haemostatic methods in adolescents undergoing posterior spinal fusion for idiopathic scoliosis.Peer reviewe
On low temperature kinetic theory; spin diffusion, Bose Einstein condensates, anyons
The paper considers some typical problems for kinetic models evolving through
pair-collisions at temperatures not far from absolute zero, which illustrate
specific quantum behaviours. Based on these examples, a number of differences
between quantum and classical Boltzmann theory is then discussed in more
general terms.Comment: 25 pages, minor updates of previous versio
Energy transfer in a fast-slow Hamiltonian system
We consider a finite region of a lattice of weakly interacting geodesic flows
on manifolds of negative curvature and we show that, when rescaling the
interactions and the time appropriately, the energies of the flows evolve
according to a non linear diffusion equation. This is a first step toward the
derivation of macroscopic equations from a Hamiltonian microscopic dynamics in
the case of weakly coupled systems
'Return to equilibrium' for weakly coupled quantum systems: a simple polymer expansion
Recently, several authors studied small quantum systems weakly coupled to
free boson or fermion fields at positive temperature. All the approaches we are
aware of employ complex deformations of Liouvillians or Mourre theory (the
infinitesimal version of the former). We present an approach based on polymer
expansions of statistical mechanics. Despite the fact that our approach is
elementary, our results are slightly sharper than those contained in the
literature up to now. We show that, whenever the small quantum system is known
to admit a Markov approximation (Pauli master equation \emph{aka} Lindblad
equation) in the weak coupling limit, and the Markov approximation is
exponentially mixing, then the weakly coupled system approaches a unique
invariant state that is perturbatively close to its Markov approximation.Comment: 23 pages, v2-->v3: Revised version: The explanatory section 1.7 has
changed and Section 3.2 has been made more explici
Thermal conductivity in harmonic lattices with random collisions
We review recent rigorous mathematical results about the macroscopic
behaviour of harmonic chains with the dynamics perturbed by a random exchange
of velocities between nearest neighbor particles. The random exchange models
the effects of nonlinearities of anharmonic chains and the resulting dynamics
have similar macroscopic behaviour. In particular there is a superdiffusion of
energy for unpinned acoustic chains. The corresponding evolution of the
temperature profile is governed by a fractional heat equation. In non-acoustic
chains we have normal diffusivity, even if momentum is conserved.Comment: Review paper, to appear in the Springer Lecture Notes in Physics
volume "Thermal transport in low dimensions: from statistical physics to
nanoscale heat transfer" (S. Lepri ed.
A microscopic model for thin film spreading
A microscopic, driven lattice gas model is proposed for the dynamics and
spatio-temporal fluctuations of the precursor film observed in spreading
experiments. Matter is transported both by holes and particles, and the
distribution of each can be described by driven diffusion with a moving
boundary. This picture leads to a stochastic partial differential equation for
the shape of the boundary, which agrees with the simulations of the lattice
gas. Preliminary results for flow in a thermal gradient are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Submitte
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