Electrode current distributions in MGD CHANNELS

Current distribution to and electric field behavior of segmented electrodes in linear magnetogasdynamic generato

Nonlinearity arising from noncooperative transcription factor binding enhances negative feedback and promotes genetic oscillations

We study the effects of multiple binding sites in the promoter of a genetic oscillator. We evaluate the regulatory function of a promoter with multiple binding sites in the absence of cooperative binding, and consider different hypotheses for how the number of bound repressors affects transcription rate. Effective Hill exponents of the resulting regulatory functions reveal an increase in the nonlinearity of the feedback with the number of binding sites. We identify optimal configurations that maximize the nonlinearity of the feedback. We use a generic model of a biochemical oscillator to show that this increased nonlinearity is reflected in enhanced oscillations, with larger amplitudes over wider oscillatory ranges. Although the study is motivated by genetic oscillations in the zebrafish segmentation clock, our findings may reveal a general principle for gene regulation.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure

A Correlation Between the Intrinsic Brightness and Average Decay Rate of Gamma-ray Burst X-ray Afterglow Light Curves

We present a correlation between the average temporal decay ({\alpha}X,avg,>200s) and early-time luminosity (LX,200s) of X-ray afterglows of gamma-ray bursts as observed by Swift-XRT. Both quantities are measured relative to a rest frame time of 200 s after the {\gamma}-ray trigger. The luminosity average decay correlation does not depend on specific temporal behavior and contains one scale independent quantity minimizing the role of selection effects. This is a complementary correlation to that discovered by Oates et al. (2012) in the optical light curves observed by Swift-UVOT. The correlation indicates that on average, more luminous X-ray afterglows decay faster than less luminous ones, indicating some relative mechanism for energy dissipation. The X-ray and optical correlations are entirely consistent once corrections are applied and contamination is removed. We explore the possible biases introduced by different light curve morphologies and observational selection effects, and how either geometrical effects or intrinsic properties of the central engine and jet could explain the observed correlation.Comment: Accepted for Publication in ApJ; 16 pages, 15 figures, 2 table

Human consumption of agricultural toxicants from organic and conventional food

Over the past 60 years both the number of agricultural toxicants in use and rates of toxin-related diseases have increased dramatically, and countless studies attest to a link between the two. While data from residue surveys confirms higher levels of toxicants in conventionally farmed produce, few studies directly assess whether consuming organic produce results in a reduction in pesticide exposure in humans or confers any health benefits. Future research needs to confirm whether and to what extent agricultural toxicant levels vary between consumers of organic and conventional produce before attempting to draw any conclusions about the potential health implications of such differences

Physiological demands of fencing: A narrative review

Background and Aim Fencers compete over long competition days (9-11 hours) wearing full body protective clothing whilst performing high-intensity explosive movements interspersed with low intensity preparatory or recovery movements. Therefore the aim of this review is to provide contemporary perspectives of the literature discussing the physiological and thermoregulatory demands of fencing to inform training, competition, and recovery practices. Methods Research articles were searched through three online databases (Pubmed, SPORTDiscus, and Google Scholar; 1985-2022) and included results discussing physiological demands for all three weapons (epée, foil, and sabre). Results The physiological demands of fencing performance are high and increase as fencers move from Poule fights to knockout Direct Elimination fights. Fencers compete at 75-100% of maximum heart rate, and ~75% maximal oxygen consumption in Direct Elimination fights. Fencing performance is reliant on the phosphocreatine and aerobic energy systems as shown through low blood lactate concentrations. Considerable variation in distance covered during competition is generally reported (i.e., 435 to 1652m in Direct Elimination fights). Despite fencers competing in full body protective clothing with a potentially large thermoregulatory challenge only one study has examined thermoregulatory responses during fencing whereby fencers’ gastrointestinal temperature can peak at >39°C. Conclusions Future research highlighted by the findings of this review includes studies of all weapon types especially foil and sabre, during actual competitive environments. Thermoregulatory responses of fencing need to be determined including measures of skin temperature, mask temperature (as a measure of micro-climates) and thermal sensation, allowing for appropriate cooling strategies to be applied between fights to maintain or improve performance. Practical Applications A greater understanding of the physiological demands of fencing performance will allow athletes, coaches, and practitioners to design training to prepare athletes for competition and allow fencing specific protocols to be developed to determine recovery strategies within fencing

Control functionals for quasi-Monte Carlo integration

Quasi-Monte Carlo (QMC) methods are being adopted in statistical applications due to the increasingly challenging nature of numerical integrals that are now routinely encountered. For integrands with d-dimensions and derivatives of order α, an optimal QMC rule converges at a best-possible rate O(N^-α/d). However, in applications the value of αcan be unknown and/or a rate-optimal QMC rule can be unavailable. Standard practice is to employ \alpha_L-optimal QMC where the lower bound \alpha_L ≤αis known, but in general this does not exploit the full power of QMC. One solution is to trade-off numerical integration with functional approximation. This strategy is explored herein and shown to be well-suited to modern statistical computation. A challenging application to robotic arm data demonstrates a substantial variance reduction in predictions for mechanical torques

Thermoregulatory demands of épée fencing during competition

The International Olympic Committee recently introduced a consensus statement on recommendations for outdoor sports in the heat. However, indoor sports such as fencing whereby athletes are required to wear full body protective clothing when competing have received no recommendations. Such scenarios could cause high thermoregulatory demands particularly as competition progresses into latter rounds (direct elimination; DE). Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the thermoregulatory responses of épée fencing across different phases of competition (Poule and DE). Seven well-trained fencers competed in a simulated competition comprising of seven Poule and seven DE fights. Gastrointestinal temperature (Tgast), skin temperature (Tskin), mask temperature (Tmask), heart rate (HR), thermal sensation, differentiated ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), and movement characteristics were collected for all fights. There was a moderate thermoregulatory demand during Poule rounds shown by post-fight Tgast (38.1 ± 0.4°C), Tskin (34.4 ± 0.7°C), and thermal sensation ratings (6 ± 1). A greater thermoregulatory and perceptual demand observed during DE rounds evidenced by Tgast (38.7 ± 0.3°C post fight), Tskin (35.1 ± 0.7°C), thermal sensation (7 ± 1), increases in Tmask across DE rounds (~1.1°C), and RPE (~15). Furthermore, a significant (p < 0.05) reduction in distance covered from DE 1 to DE 7 suggests a thermoregulatory based impact on performance. This is the first study demonstrating the thermoregulatory demands of épée fencing, highlighting the need to develop heat exertion guidelines within fencing

GRB Flares: UV/Optical Flaring (Paper I)

We present a new algorithm for the detection of flares in gamma-ray burst (GRB) light curves and use this algorithm to detect flares in the UV/optical. The algorithm makes use of the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) to analyze the residuals of the fitted light curve, removing all major features, and to determine the statistically best fit to the data by iteratively adding additional `breaks' to the light curve. These additional breaks represent the individual components of the detected flares: T_start, T_stop, and T_peak. We present the detection of 119 unique flaring periods detected by applying this algorithm to light curves taken from the Second Swift Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) GRB Afterglow Catalog. We analyzed 201 UVOT GRB light curves and found episodes of flaring in 68 of the light curves. For those light curves with flares, we find an average number of ~2 flares per GRB. Flaring is generally restricted to the first 1000 seconds of the afterglow, but can be observed and detected beyond 10^5 seconds. More than 80% of the flares detected are short in duration with Delta t/t of < 0.5. Flares were observed with flux ratios relative to the underlying light curve of between 0.04 to 55.42. Many of the strongest flares were also seen at greater than 1000 seconds after the burst.Comment: Submitted to ApJ. 20 pages (including 8 figures and 1 table