297 research outputs found
Extended Red Emission and the evolution of carbonaceaous nanograins in NGC 7023
Extended Red Emission (ERE) was recently attributed to the photo-luminescence
of either doubly ionized Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH), or
charged PAH dimers. We analysed the visible and mid-infrared (mid-IR) dust
emission in the North-West and South photo-dissociation regions of the
reflection nebula NGC 7023.Using a blind signal separation method, we extracted
the map of ERE from images obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope, and at the
Canada France Hawaii Telescope. We compared the extracted ERE image to the
distribution maps of the mid-IR emission of Very Small Grains (VSGs), neutral
and ionized PAHs (PAH and PAH) obtained with the Spitzer Space
Telescope and the Infrared Space Observatory. ERE is dominant in transition
regions where VSGs are being photo-evaporated to form free PAH molecules, and
is not observed in regions dominated by PAH. Its carrier makes a minor
contribution to the mid-IR emission spectrum. These results suggest that the
ERE carrier is a transition species formed during the destruction of VSGs.
Singly ionized PAH dimers appear as good candidates but PAH molecules
seem to be excluded.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
Large-eddy simulation of the lid-driven cubic cavity flow by the spectral element method
This paper presents the large-eddy simulation of the lid-driven cubic cavity
flow by the spectral element method (SEM) using the dynamic model. Two spectral
filtering techniques suitable for these simulations have been implemented.
Numerical results for Reynolds number are showing very good
agreement with other experimental and DNS results found in the literature
An efficient iterative solution method for the Chebyshev collocation of advection-dominated transport problems
A new Chebyshev collocation algorithm is proposed for the iterative solution of advection-diffusion problems. The main features of the method lie in the original way in which a finite-difference preconditioner is built and in the fact that the solution is collocated on a set of nodes matching the standard Gauss-Lobatto-Chebyshev set only in the case of pure diffusion problems. The key point of the algorithm is the capability of the preconditioner to represent the high-frequency modes when dealing with advection-dominated problems. The basic idea is developed for a one-dimensional case and is extended to two-dimensional problems. A series of numerical experiments is carried out to demonstrate the efficiency of the algorithm. The proposed algorithm can also be used in the context of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations
Adaptive mesh refinement with spectral accuracy for magnetohydrodynamics in two space dimensions
We examine the effect of accuracy of high-order spectral element methods,
with or without adaptive mesh refinement (AMR), in the context of a classical
configuration of magnetic reconnection in two space dimensions, the so-called
Orszag-Tang vortex made up of a magnetic X-point centered on a stagnation point
of the velocity. A recently developed spectral-element adaptive refinement
incompressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code is applied to simulate this
problem. The MHD solver is explicit, and uses the Elsasser formulation on
high-order elements. It automatically takes advantage of the adaptive grid
mechanics that have been described elsewhere in the fluid context [Rosenberg,
Fournier, Fischer, Pouquet, J. Comp. Phys. 215, 59-80 (2006)]; the code allows
both statically refined and dynamically refined grids. Tests of the algorithm
using analytic solutions are described, and comparisons of the Orszag-Tang
solutions with pseudo-spectral computations are performed. We demonstrate for
moderate Reynolds numbers that the algorithms using both static and refined
grids reproduce the pseudo--spectral solutions quite well. We show that
low-order truncation--even with a comparable number of global degrees of
freedom--fails to correctly model some strong (sup--norm) quantities in this
problem, even though it satisfies adequately the weak (integrated) balance
diagnostics.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, 1 table. Submitted to New Journal of Physic
Pelizaeus-Merzbacher-Like disease presentation of MCT8 mutated male subjects.
Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease is an X-linked hypomyelinatiing leukodystrophy. We
report mutations in the thyroid hormone transporter gene MCT8 in 11% of 53
families affected by hypomyelinating leukodystrophies of unknown aetiology. The
12 MCT8 mutated patients express initially a Pelizaeus-Merzbacher-Like disease
phenotype with a latter unusual improvement of magnetic resonance imaging white
matter signal despite absence of clinical progression. This observation
underlines the interest of determining both free T3 and free T4 serum
concentrations to screen for MCT8 mutations in young patients (<3 y) with a
severe Pelizaeus-Merzbacher-Like disease presentation or older severe mentally
retarded male patients with "hypomyelinated" regions
Theoretical Properties of Projection Based Multilayer Perceptrons with Functional Inputs
Many real world data are sampled functions. As shown by Functional Data
Analysis (FDA) methods, spectra, time series, images, gesture recognition data,
etc. can be processed more efficiently if their functional nature is taken into
account during the data analysis process. This is done by extending standard
data analysis methods so that they can apply to functional inputs. A general
way to achieve this goal is to compute projections of the functional data onto
a finite dimensional sub-space of the functional space. The coordinates of the
data on a basis of this sub-space provide standard vector representations of
the functions. The obtained vectors can be processed by any standard method. In
our previous work, this general approach has been used to define projection
based Multilayer Perceptrons (MLPs) with functional inputs. We study in this
paper important theoretical properties of the proposed model. We show in
particular that MLPs with functional inputs are universal approximators: they
can approximate to arbitrary accuracy any continuous mapping from a compact
sub-space of a functional space to R. Moreover, we provide a consistency result
that shows that any mapping from a functional space to R can be learned thanks
to examples by a projection based MLP: the generalization mean square error of
the MLP decreases to the smallest possible mean square error on the data when
the number of examples goes to infinity
Glymphatic-assisted perivascular brain delivery of intrathecal small gold nanoparticles
Nanoparticles are ultrafine particulate matter having considerable potential for treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders. Despite their tiny size, the blood-brain barrier (BBB) restricts their access to the CNS. Their direct cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) administration bypasses the BBB endothelium, but still fails to give adequate brain uptake. We present a novel approach for efficient CNS delivery of 111In-radiolabelled gold nanoparticles (AuNPs; 10-15 nm) via intra-cisterna magna administration, with tracking by SPECT imaging. To accelerate CSF brain influx, we administered AuNPs intracisternally in conjunction with systemic hypertonic saline, which dramatically increased the parenchymal AuNP uptake, especially in deep brain regions. AuNPs entered the CNS along periarterial spaces as visualized by MRI of gadolinium-labelled AuNPs and were cleared from brain within 24 h and excreted through the kidneys. Thus, the glymphatic-assisted perivascular network augment by systemic hypertonic saline is a pathway for highly efficient brain-wide distribution of small AuNPs.Peer reviewe
Incidence and Reproduction Numbers of Pertussis: Estimates from Serological and Social Contact Data in Five European Countries
Analyses of serological and social contact data from several European countries by Miriam Kretzschmar and colleagues show that vaccination against pertussis has shifted the burden of infection from children to adolescents and adults
Scattering of He-3 Atoms from He-4 Surfaces
We develop a first principles, microscopic theory of impurity atom scattering
from inhomogeneous quantum liquids such as adsorbed films, slabs, or clusters
of He-4. The theory is built upon a quantitative, microscopic description of
the ground state of both the host liquid as well as the impurity atom. Dynamic
effects are treated by allowing all ground-state correlation functions to be
time-dependent.
Our description includes both the elastic and inelastic coupling of impurity
motion to the excitations of the host liquid. As a specific example, we study
the scattering of He-3 atoms from adsorbed He-4 films. We examine the
dependence of ``quantum reflection'' on the substrate, and the consequences of
impurity bound states, resonances, and background excitations for scattering
properties.
A thorough analysis of the theoretical approach and the physical
circumstances point towards the essential role played by inelastic processes
which determine almost exclusively the reflection probabilities. The coupling
to impurity resonances within the film leads to a visible dependence of the
reflection coefficient on the direction of the impinging particle.Comment: 36 pages, 16 figure
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