5,946 research outputs found
The role of M cells and the long QT syndrome in cardiac arrhythmias: simulation studies of reentrant excitations using a detailed electrophysiological model
In this numerical study, we investigate the role of intrinsic heterogeneities
of cardiac tissue due to M cells in the generation and maintenance of reentrant
excitations using the detailed Luo-Rudy dynamic model. This model has been
extended to include a description of the long QT 3 syndrome, and is studied in
both one dimension, corresponding to a cable traversing the ventricular wall,
and two dimensions, representing a transmural slice. We focus on two possible
mechanisms for the generation of reentrant events. We first investigate if
early-after-depolarizations occurring in M cells can initiate reentry. We find
that, even for large values of the long QT strength, the electrotonic coupling
between neighboring cells prevents early-after-depolarizations from creating a
reentry. We then study whether M cell domains, with their slow repolarization,
can function as wave blocks for premature stimuli. We find that the inclusion
of an M cell domain can result in some cases in reentrant excitations and we
determine the lifetime of the reentry as a function of the size and geometry of
the domain and of the strength of the long QT syndrome
Au Tchad, le projet terroir-exploitation-parcelle : un exemple de collaboration étroite entre la recherche et le développement
Méthodologie, démarche, zonage et objectifs sont définis de façon commune par la recherche, les sociétés de développement, les organisations non gouvernementales et les acteurs des terroirs. Neuf zones aux problématiques agraires homogènes ont été identifiées. Des enquêtes ont permis de choisir les terroirs pilotes représentatifs, de définir leurs activités, de connaître les statuts fonciers, les stratégies et autres règles d'accès aux ressources ainsi que de classer les problèmes relevés par les villageois. Les diagnostics - au niveau du terroir, de l'exploitation et de la parcelle - ont traduit ces connaissances en termes techniques et quantifiables. Les transects ont été un support très important de ces informations et des réunions entre les partenaires. Des solutions ont été mises au point puis testées par les volontaires. Citons les jachères courtes, les plantes de couverture et le semis direct, la culture associée céréales-légumineuses, les cultures en couloir, le recyclage el la valorisation des résidus de récolte, la lutte contre l'érosion et l'aménagement de bassins versants. Une innovation technique est en premier lieu choisie pour ses résultats à court terme et ses effets sur l'occupation de l'espace. Mois l'innovation la plus marquante a été sociale : la concertation entre les différents groupes d'intérêt du terroir. Elle a permis des accords sur une instance locale et concertée de gestion de conflits, la création de couloirs de passage des troupeaux, etc. Cette dynamique a aussi abouti au financement d'un centre de formation à la station de Bébédjia. (Résumé d'auteur
First Order Premelting Transition of Vortex Lattices
Vortex lattices in the high temperature superconductors undergo a first order
phase transition which has thus far been regarded as melting from a solid to a
liquid. We point out an alternative possibility of a two step process in which
there is a first order transition from an ordinary vortex lattice to a soft
vortex solid followed by another first order melting transition from the soft
vortex solid to a vortex liquid. We focus on the first step. This premelting
transition is induced by vacancy and interstitial vortex lines. We obtain good
agreement with the experimental transition temperature versus field, latent
heat, and magnetization jumps for YBCO and BSCCO.Comment: revised version replaces 9705092, 5 pages, Latex, 2 postscript
figures, defect line wandering is included, 2 step melting is propose
Dynamics of conduction blocks in a model of paced cardiac tissue
We study numerically the dynamics of conduction blocks using a detailed
electrophysiological model. We find that this dynamics depends critically on
the size of the paced region. Small pacing regions lead to stationary
conduction blocks while larger pacing regions can lead to conduction blocks
that travel periodically towards the pacing region. We show that this
size-dependence dynamics can lead to a novel arrhythmogenic mechanism.
Furthermore, we show that the essential phenomena can be captured in a much
simpler coupled-map model.Comment: 8 pages 6 figure
Atoms and Quantum Dots With a Large Number of Electrons: the Ground State Energy
We compute the ground state energy of atoms and quantum dots with a large
number N of electrons. Both systems are described by a non-relativistic
Hamiltonian of electrons in a d-dimensional space. The electrons interact via
the Coulomb potential. In the case of atoms (d=3), the electrons are attracted
by the nucleus, via the Coulomb potential. In the case of quantum dots (d=2),
the electrons are confined by an external potential, whose shape can be varied.
We show that the dominant terms of the ground state energy are those given by a
semiclassical Hartree-exchange energy, whose N to infinity limit corresponds to
Thomas-Fermi theory. This semiclassical Hartree-exchange theory creates
oscillations in the ground state energy as a function of N. These oscillations
reflect the dynamics of a classical particle moving in the presence of the
Thomas-Fermi potential. The dynamics is regular for atoms and some dots, but in
general in the case of dots, the motion contains a chaotic component. We
compute the correlation effects. They appear at the order N ln N for atoms, in
agreement with available data. For dots, they appear at the order N.Comment: 30 pages, 1 figur
Spin Hall effect of Photons in a Static Gravitational Field
Starting from a Hamiltonian description of the photon within the set of
Bargmann-Wigner equations we derive new semiclassical equations of motion for
the photon propagating in static gravitational field. These equations which are
obtained in the representation diagonalizing the Hamiltonian at the order
, present the first order corrections to the geometrical optics. The
photon Hamiltonian shows a new kind of helicity-magnetotorsion coupling.
However, even for a torsionless space-time, photons do not follow the usual
null geodesic as a consequence of an anomalous velocity term. This term is
responsible for the gravitational birefringence phenomenon: photons with
distinct helicity follow different geodesics in a static gravitational field.Comment: 6 page
Dynamic instabilities of fracture under biaxial strain using a phase field model
We present a phase field model of the propagation of fracture under plane
strain. This model, based on simple physical considerations, is able to
accurately reproduce the different behavior of cracks (the principle of local
symmetry, the Griffith and Irwin criteria, and mode-I branching). In addition,
we test our model against recent experimental findings showing the presence of
oscillating cracks under bi-axial load. Our model again reproduces well
observed supercritical Hopf bifurcation, and is therefore the first simulation
which does so
Appearance of Gauge Fields and Forces beyond the adiabatic approximation
We investigate the origin of quantum geometric phases, gauge fields and
forces beyond the adiabatic regime. In particular, we extend the notions of
geometric magnetic and electric forces discovered in studies of the
Born-Oppenheimer approximation to arbitrary quantum systems described by matrix
valued quantum Hamiltonians. The results are illustrated by several physical
relevant examples
Relationship between mRNA secondary structure and sequence variability in Chloroplast genes: possible life history implications
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Synonymous sites are freer to vary because of redundancy in genetic code. Messenger RNA secondary structure restricts this freedom, as revealed by previous findings in mitochondrial genes that mutations at third codon position nucleotides in helices are more selected against than those in loops. This motivated us to explore the constraints imposed by mRNA secondary structure on evolutionary variability at all codon positions in general, in chloroplast systems.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that the evolutionary variability and intrinsic secondary structure stability of these sequences share an inverse relationship. Simulations of most likely single nucleotide evolution in <it>Psilotum nudum </it>and <it>Nephroselmis olivacea </it>mRNAs, indicate that helix-forming propensities of mutated mRNAs are greater than those of the natural mRNAs for short sequences and vice-versa for long sequences. Moreover, helix-forming propensity estimated by the percentage of total mRNA in helices increases gradually with mRNA length, saturating beyond 1000 nucleotides. Protection levels of functionally important sites vary across plants and proteins: <it>r</it>-strategists minimize mutation costs in large genes; <it>K</it>-strategists do the opposite.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Mrna length presumably predisposes shorter mRNAs to evolve under different constraints than longer mRNAs. The positive correlation between secondary structure protection and functional importance of sites suggests that some sites might be conserved due to packing-protection constraints at the nucleic acid level in addition to protein level constraints. Consequently, nucleic acid secondary structure <it>a priori </it>biases mutations. The converse (exposure of conserved sites) apparently occurs in a smaller number of cases, indicating a different evolutionary adaptive strategy in these plants. The differences between the protection levels of functionally important sites for <it>r</it>- and <it>K-</it>strategists reflect their respective molecular adaptive strategies. These converge with increasing domestication levels of <it>K</it>-strategists, perhaps because domestication increases reproductive output.</p
Wave nucleation rate in excitable systems in the low noise limit
Motivated by recent experiments on intracellular calcium dynamics, we study
the general issue of fluctuation-induced nucleation of waves in excitable
media. We utilize a stochastic Fitzhugh-Nagumo model for this study, a
spatially-extended non-potential pair of equations driven by thermal (i.e.
white) noise. The nucleation rate is determined by finding the most probable
escape path via minimization of an action related to the deviation of the
fields from their deterministic trajectories. Our results pave the way both for
studies of more realistic models of calcium dynamics as well as of nucleation
phenomena in other non-equilibrium pattern-forming processes
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