10,242 research outputs found
Using Automatic Differentiation for Adjoint CFD Code Development
This paper addresses the concerns of CFD code developers who are facing the task of creating a discrete adjoint CFD code for design optimisation. It discusses how the development of such a code can be greatly eased through the selective use of Automatic Differentiation, and how the software development can be subjected to a sequence of checks to ensure the correctness of the final software
Structural basis of complement membrane attack complex formation
In response to complement activation, the membrane attack complex (MAC) assembles from fluid-phase proteins to form pores in lipid bilayers. MAC directly lyses pathogens by a ‘multi-hit’ mechanism; however, sublytic MAC pores on host cells activate signalling pathways. Previous studies have described the structures of individual MAC components and subcomplexes; however, the molecular details of its assembly and mechanism of action remain unresolved. Here we report the electron cryo-microscopy structure of human MAC at subnanometre resolution. Structural analyses define the stoichiometry of the complete pore and identify a network of interaction interfaces that determine its assembly mechanism. MAC adopts a ‘split-washer’ configuration, in contrast to the predicted closed ring observed for perforin and cholesterol-dependent cytolysins. Assembly precursors partially penetrate the lipid bilayer, resulting in an irregular β-barrel pore. Our results demonstrate how differences in symmetric and asymmetric components of the MAC underpin a molecular basis for pore formation and suggest a mechanism of action that extends beyond membrane penetration
Spectral variation in the X-ray pulsar GX 1+4 during a low-flux episode
The X-ray pulsar GX 1+4 was observed with the RXTE satellite for a total of
51ks between 1996 July 19 - 21. During this period the flux decreased smoothly
from an initial mean level of ~ 6 X 10^36 erg/s to a minimum of ~ 4 X 10^35
erg/s (2-60 keV, assuming a source distance of 10 kpc) before partially
recovering towards the initial level at the end of the observation.
BATSE pulse timing measurements indicate that a torque reversal took place
approximately 10 d after this observation. Both the mean pulse profile and the
photon spectrum varied significantly. The observed variation in the source may
provide important clues as to the mechanism of torque reversals.
The single best-fitting spectral model was based on a component originating
from thermal photons with kT ~ 1 keV Comptonised by a plasma of temperature kT
\~ 7 keV. Both the flux modulation with phase during the brightest interval and
the evolution of the mean spectra over the course of the observation are
consistent with variations in this model component; with, in addition, a
doubling of the column density nH contributing to the mean spectral change.
A strong flare of duration 50 s was observed during the interval of minimum
flux, with the peak flux ~ 20 times the mean level. Although beaming effects
are likely to mask the true variation in Mdot thought to give rise to the
flare, the timing of a modest increase in flux prior to the flare is consistent
with dual episodes of accretion resulting from successive orbits of a locally
dense patch of matter in the accretion disc.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, submitted to MNRA
Ground-based photometry of the 21-day Neptune HD106315c
Space-based transit surveys such as K2 and TESS allow the detection of small
transiting planets with orbital periods beyond 10 days. Few of these warm
Neptunes are currently known around stars bright enough to allow for detailed
follow-up observations dedicated to their atmospheric characterization. The
21-day period and 3.95 planet HD106315c has been discovered based on
the observation of two of its transits by K2. We have observed HD106315 using
the 1.2m Euler telescope equipped with the EulerCam camera on two instances to
confirm the transit using broad band photometry and refine the planetary
period. Based on two observed transits of HD106315c, we detect its 1 mmag
transit and obtain a precise measurement of the planetary ephemerids, which are
critical for planning further follow-up observations. We have used the attained
precision together with the predicted yield from the TESS mission to evaluate
the potential for ground-based confirmation of Neptune-sized planets found by
TESS. We find that 1-meter-class telescopes on the ground equipped with precise
photometers could substantially contribute to the follow-up of 162 TESS
candidates orbiting stars with magnitudes of . Out of these, 74
planets orbit stars with and 12 planets orbit , which
makes these candidates high-priority objects for atmospheric characterization
with high-end instrumentation.Comment: Published in A&A letters, 4 pages, 3 figure
Vacancy clustering and diffusion in silicon: Kinetic lattice Monte Carlo simulations
Diffusion and clustering of lattice vacancies in silicon as a function of
temperature, concentration, and interaction range are investigated by Kinetic
Lattice Monte Carlo simulations. It is found that higher temperatures lead to
larger clusters with shorter lifetimes on average, which grow by attracting
free vacancies, while clusters at lower temperatures grow by aggregation of
smaller clusters. Long interaction ranges produce enhanced diffusivity and
fewer clusters. Greater vacancy concentrations lead to more clusters, with
fewer free vacancies, but the size of the clusters is largely independent of
concentration. Vacancy diffusivity is shown to obey power law behavior over
time, and the exponent of this law is shown to increase with concentration, at
fixed temperature, and decrease with temperature, at fixed concentration.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures. To appear in Physical Review
Mechanism of Reconnection on Kinetic Scales Based on Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission Observations
We examine the role that ions and electrons play in reconnection using observations from the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission on kinetic ion and electron scales, which are much shorter than magnetohydrodynamic scales. This study reports observations with unprecedented high resolution that MMS provides for magnetic eld (7.8 ms) and plasma (30 ms for electrons and 150 ms for ions). We analyze and compare approaches to the magnetopause in 2016 November, to the electron diffusion region in the magnetotail in 2017 July followed by a current sheet crossing in 2018 July. Besides magnetic eld reversals, changes in the direction of the ow velocity, and ion and electron heating, MMS observed large uctuations in the electron ow speeds in the magnetotail. As expected from numerical simulations, we have veried that when the eld lines and plasma become decoupled a large reconnecting electric eld related to the Hall current (110 mV/m) is responsible for fast reconnection in the ion diffusion region. Although inertial accelerating forces remain moderate (12 mV/m), the electric elds resulting from the divergence of the full electron pressure tensor provide the main contribution to the generalized Ohms law at the neutral sheet (as large as 200 mV/m). In our view, this illustrates that when ions decouple electron physics dominates. The results obtained on kinetic scales may be useful for better understanding the physical mechanisms governing reconnection processes in various magnetized laboratory and space plasmas
Conditional sampling for barrier option pricing under the LT method
We develop a conditional sampling scheme for pricing knock-out barrier
options under the Linear Transformations (LT) algorithm from Imai and Tan
(2006). We compare our new method to an existing conditional Monte Carlo scheme
from Glasserman and Staum (2001), and show that a substantial variance
reduction is achieved. We extend the method to allow pricing knock-in barrier
options and introduce a root-finding method to obtain a further variance
reduction. The effectiveness of the new method is supported by numerical
results
Radiation reaction on charged particles in three-dimensional motion in classical and quantum electrodynamics
We extend our previous work (see arXiv:quant-ph/0501026), which compared the
predictions of quantum electrodynamics concerning radiation reaction with those
of the Abraham-Lorentz-Dirac theory for a charged particle in linear motion.
Specifically, we calculate the predictions for the change in position of a
charged scalar particle, moving in three-dimensional space, due to the effect
of radiation reaction in the one-photon-emission process in quantum
electrodynamics. The scalar particle is assumed to be accelerated for a finite
period of time by a three-dimensional electromagnetic potential dependent only
on one of the spacetime coordinates. We perform this calculation in the
limit and show that the change in position agrees with that
obtained in classical electrodynamics with the Lorentz-Dirac force treated as a
perturbation. We also show for a time-dependent but space-independent
electromagnetic potential that the forward-scattering amplitude at order
does not contribute to the position change in the limit after the
mass renormalization is taken into account.Comment: Latex, 20page
Sub-shot-noise shadow sensing with quantum correlations
The quantised nature of the electromagnetic field sets the classical limit to the sensitivity of position measurements. However, techniques based on the properties of quantum states can be exploited to accurately measure the relative displacement of a physical object beyond this classical limit. In this work, we use a simple scheme based on the split-detection of quantum correlations to measure the position of a shadow at the single-photon light level, with a precision that exceeds the shot-noise limit. This result is obtained by analysing the correlated signals of bi-photon pairs, created in parametric downconversion and detected by an electron multiplying CCD (EMCCD) camera employed as a split-detector. By comparing the measured statistics of spatially anticorrelated and uncorrelated photons we were able to observe a significant noise reduction corresponding to an improvement in position sensitivity of up to 17% (0.8dB). Our straightforward approach to sub-shot-noise position measurement is compatible with conventional shadow-sensing techniques based on the split-detection of light-fields, and yields an improvement that scales favourably with the detector’s quantum efficiency
DESIGN OF COX-2 INHIBITORS-AN IN-SILICO APPROACH
Objective: The aim of the present work was to design the novel series of chalcone derivatives of indane-1,3-dione for its inhibition towards COX-2.
Methods: COX-2 inhibitors were designed on the binding ability of the compounds with the target. Docking analysis was performed using Acclerys discovery studio 3.5. Molecular properties, ADME parameters, Toxicity parameters were analysed using the same in-silico tool.
Results: Most of the designed compounds were possessing good binding affinity towards the COX-2. Other in-silico parameters such as ADMET and TOPKAT were within the appreciable range. Among all the designed compounds several compounds possess good CDOCKER energy and CDOCKER interaction energy with specific amino acid indicating that it could possess good binding with the target. Most of the design compounds could act as COX-2 because it forms hydrogen bonding with ARG120.
Conclusion: Compound l possess good binding affinity indicating that the presence of hydroxyl group in the phenyl ring possess good activity which can be further optimized for its druggabality after its pharmacological activity.
 
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