922 research outputs found
Fast convergence to equilibrium for long-chain polymer melts using a MD/continuum hybrid method
Effective and fast convergence toward an equilibrium state for long-chain
polymer melts is realized by a hybrid method coupling molecular dynamics and
the elastic continuum. The required simulation time to achieve the equilibrium
state is reduced drastically compared with conventional equilibration methods.
The polymers move on a wide range of the energy landscape due to large-scale
fluctuation generated by the elastic continuum. A variety of chain structures
is generated in the polymer melt which results in the fast convergence to the
equilibrium state.Comment: 13 page
Decaying Sterile Neutrinos as a Heating Source in the Milky Way Center
Recent Chandra and Newton observations indicate that there are
two-temperature components ( 8 keV, 0.8 keV) of the diffuse x-rays
emitted from deep inside the center of Milky Way. We show that this can be
explained by the existence of sterile neutrinos, which decay to emit photons
that can be bound-free absorbed by the isothermal hot gas particles in the
center of Milky Way. This model can account for the two-temperature components
naturally as well as the energy needed to maintain the 8 keV temperature
in the hot gas. The predicted sterile neutrino mass is between 16-18 keV.Comment: Accepted by MNRAS with minor correction
Autonomous Robust Skill Generation Using Reinforcement Learning with Plant Variation
This paper discusses an autonomous space robot for a truss structure assembly using some reinforcement learning. It is difficult for a space robot to complete contact tasks within a real environment, for example, a peg-in-hole task, because of error between the real environment and the controller model. In order to solve problems, we propose an autonomous space robot able to obtain proficient and robust skills by overcoming error to complete a task. The proposed approach develops skills by reinforcement learning that considers plant variation, that is, modeling error. Numerical simulations and experiments show the proposed method is useful in real environments
Galactic X-ray Survey
We review highlights of the results obtained from recent Galactic X-ray
survey observations, in particular ASCA Galactic center and plane survey and
our Chandra deep survey on the (l,b)=(28.5,0) region. Strong hard X-ray diffuse
components are observed from Galactic ridge, center and bulge, and they have
both thermal and non-thermal spectral components. Dozens of discrete and
extended sources have been discovered on the Galactic plane, which also
indicate thermal and/or non-thermal X-ray energy spectra. They are often
associated with radio sources and are considered to be SNR candidates. Most of
the hard X-ray point sources in the outer part of the Galactic plane are
considered to be background AGNs, while fraction of the Galactic hard X-ray
sources (such as quiescent dwarf novae) increases toward the Galactic center.
Most of the soft X-ray sources on the Galactic plane are presumably nearby
active stars.Comment: Presented at "X-ray surveys in the light of new observations", 4-6
September, Santander, Spain. 4 pages with 4 figure
Molecular mechanisms and animal models of spinal muscular atrophy
AbstractSpinal muscular atrophy (SMA), the leading genetic cause of infant mortality, is characterized by the degeneration of spinal motor neurons and muscle atrophy. Although the genetic cause of SMA has been mapped to the Survival Motor Neuron1 (SMN1) gene, mechanisms underlying selective motor neuron degeneration in SMA remain largely unknown. Here we review the latest developments and our current understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying SMA pathogenesis, focusing on the animal model systems that have been developed, as well as new diagnostic and treatment strategies that have been identified using these model systems. This article is part of a special issue entitled: Neuromuscular Diseases: Pathology and Molecular Pathogenesis
Solving the degeneracy of the lepton-flavor mixing angle theta_atm by the T2KK two detector neutrino oscillation experiment
If the atmospheric neutrino oscillation amplitude, sin^2 2theta_atm is not
maximal, there is a two fold ambiguity in the neutrino parameter space: sin^2
theta_atm>0.5 or sin^2 theta_atm<0.5. In this article, we study the impact of
this degeneracy, the so-called octant degeneracy, on the T2KK experiment, which
is a proposed extension of the T2K (Tokai-to-Kaimoka) neutrino oscillation
experiment with an additional water cherenkov detector placed in Korea. We find
that the degeneracy between sin^2 theta_atm= 0.40 and 0.60 can be resolved at
the 3sigma level for sin^2 2theta_rct>0.12 (0.08) for the optimal combination
of a 3.0^circ off-axis beam (OAB) at SK (L=295km) and a 0.5^circ OAB at
L=1000km with a far detector of 100kton volume, after 5 years of exposure with
1.0(5.0) time 10^21 POT/year, if the hierarchy is normal. We also study the
influence of the octant degeneracy on the capability of T2KK experiment to
determine the mass hierarchy and the leptonic CP phase. The capability of
rejecting the wrong mass hierarchy grows with increasing sin^2 theta_atm when
the hierarchy is normal, whereas it is rather insensitive to sin^2 theta_atm
for the inverted hierarchy. We also find that the 1sigma allowed region of the
CP phase is not affected significantly even when the octant degeneracy is not
resolved. All our results are obtained for the 22.5 kton Super-Kamiokande as a
near detector and without an anti-neutrino beam.Comment: 23 pages, 9 figure
Change of direction speed in youth male soccer players: The predictive value of anthropometrics and biological maturity
This is an accepted manuscript of a paper published by Human Kinetics on 05/05/2022 available online at: ttps://doi.org/10.1123/pes.2021-0178 The accepted manuscript of the publication may differ from the final published version.This study aimed to develop the optimal allometric body size/shape and a biological maturity model that predicted the change of direction (CoD) mean speed performance in youth male soccer players. One-hundred and fifteen youth soccer players (age: 12.4 [1.3] y) participated in this study. The 505 test was used to assess CoD mean speed performance. Anthropometric measurements comprised body height (cm), sitting height (cm), body mass (kg), fat mass (kg), lower limb length (cm), thigh length (cm), leg length (cm), foot length (cm), thigh girth (cm), and calf girth (cm). The maturity status was determined based on the maturity offset method. To identify size/shape and maturity characteristics associated with CoD speed performance, we computed a multiplicative allometric log-linear regression model, which was refined using backward elimination. The multiplicative allometric model exploring the association between 505 CoD mean speed performance and the different anthropometric characteristics in youth soccer players estimated that fat mass (P < .001), sitting height (P = .02), and maturity offset (P = .004) are the key predictors. More specifically, youths who are more mature and have a lower fat mass and a shorter trunk length, are likely to achieve a better CoD mean speed performance. These findings highlight the relevance of considering anthropometric and maturity characteristics in youth soccer players to support talent identification.Published versio
Asymptotic Regge Trajectories of Non-strange Mesons
We analyze the asymptotic behavior of Regge trajectories of non-strange
mesons. In contrast to an existing belief, it is demonstrated that for the
asymptotically linear Regge trajectories the width of heavy hadrons cannot
linearly depend on their mass. Using the data on masses and widths of rho_J,
omega_J, a_J and f_J mesons for the spin values J \leq 6, we extract the
parameters of the asymptotically linear Regge trajectory predicted by the
finite width model of quark gluon bags. As it is shown the obtained parameters
for the data set B correspond to the cross-over temperature lying in the
interval 170.9-175.3 MeV which is consistent with the kinetic freeze-out
temperature of early hadronizing particles found in relativistic heavy ion
collisions at and above the highest SPS energy.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure
Patient-specific iPSC-derived cellular models of LGMDR1
Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy recessive 1 (LGMDR1) represents one of the most common types of LGMD in the population, where patients develop a progressive muscle degeneration. The disease is caused by mutations in calpain 3 gene, with over 500 mutations reported to date. However, the molecular events that lead to muscle wasting are not clear, nor the reasons for the great clinical variability among patients, and this has so far hindered the development of effective therapies. Here we generate human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from skin fibroblasts of 2 healthy controls and 4 LGMDR1 patients with different mutations. The generated lines were able to differentiate into myogenic progenitors and myotubes in vitro and in vivo, upon a transient PAX7 overexpressing protocol. Thus, we have generated myogenic cellular models of LGMDR1 that harbor different CAPN3 mutations within a human genetic background, and which do not derive from muscular biopsies. These models will allow us to investigate disease mechanisms and test therapies. Despite the variability found among iPSC lines that was unrelated to CAPN3 mutations, we found that patient-derived myogenic progenitors and myotubes express lower levels of DMD, which codes a key protein in satellite cell regulation and myotube maturation
Discerning excellence from mediocrity in swimming: new insights using Bayesian quantile regression
This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in European Journal of Sport Science on 10/08/2020, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2020.1808080
The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published versionPurpose: Previous research has captured point estimates for population means of somatic variables associated with swimming speed across strokes, but have not determined if predictors of swimming speed operate the same at the upper tails of the distribution (τ =0.9) as they do at the median levels (τ =0.5) and lower levels (τ =0.1). Method: Three hundred sixty-three competitive-level swimmers (male [n=202]; female [n=161]) participated in the study. To identify key somatic variables associated with 100-m swimming across and between strokes controlling for age, we used a Bayesian allometric quantile regression model, refined using Bayes Factors and Leave-one-out cross validation. Results: High probabilities (>99%) were found for arm-span, seated-height and shoulder-breadth being the strongest somatic predictors across strokes. For individual strokes, Bayesian quantile regression demonstrated that the relative importance of predictors differs across quantiles. For swimmers in the 0.9 quartile, shoulder-breadth is a more important than height for front-crawl, wide shoulders are important for breaststroke swimmers but can be detrimental when combined with narrow hips, seated-height and hip-width are important for backstroke swimming speed, and calf girth for butterfly. Conclusion: These results highlight the importance of considering key somatic variables for talent identification in swimming and ensure young swimmers focus on strokes compatible with their somatic structure. The most important new insight is that predictors differ for the best swimmers compared to average or poorer swimmers. This has implications beyond swimming, pointing to the importance of considering the upper tails of distributions in performance and talent identification contexts.Published onlin
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