Can we do better than Hybrid Monte Carlo in Lattice QCD?

The Hybrid Monte Carlo algorithm for the simulation of QCD with dynamical staggered fermions is compared with Kramers equation algorithm. We find substantially different autocorrelation times for local and nonlocal observables. The calculations have been performed on the parallel computer CRAY T3D.Comment: Talk presented at LATTICE96(algorithms), LaTeX 3 pages, uses espcrc2, epsf, 2 postscript figure

Reduced age at first calving: effects on lifetime production, longevity, and profitability

The primary advantages of reducing age at first calving (AFC) include reducing rearing costs as well as reducing time in which the heifer is only a capital drain on farm resources. The primary disadvantage of reducing AFC is that it is frequently associated with a reduction in first-lactation milk yield. Despite this reduction in first-lactation milk yield, production per year of herd life is typically increased by reduced AFC. Furthermore, although the first lactation yield may be influenced by AFC, future lactations are decidedly not. In addition, stayability and health of cows are not influenced by reduced AFC as long as heifers freshen at an adequate weight. Most analyses indicate that the financial advantage afforded from heifers that freshen at a low AFC seems to at the least offset any milk lost during the first lactation. Furthermore, when the time value of money is considered in this analysis, a reduced AFC (~22 months) seems likely to represent a more fiscally sound management decision. When applying these ideas on the farm, a properly managed feeding and breeding program should permit a firstlactation cow to weigh ~1,210 lb after freshening at 22 months of age. The National Research Council recommends a postpartum weight equal to 82% of her mature body weight. This can be achieved with a maximal prepubertal average daily gain (ADG) of 2 lb/day when a traditional preweaning program is employed or 1.8 lb/day when an intensified preweaning program is employed. Because of the well defined link between inadequate body weight at calving and increased mortality and morbidity in first-lactation cows, achieving this target post-calving body weight is of critical importance.; Dairy Day, 2004, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 2004

Equivalent of a Thouless energy in lattice QCD Dirac spectra

Random matrix theory (RMT) is a powerful statistical tool to model spectral fluctuations. In addition, RMT provides efficient means to separate different scales in spectra. Recently RMT has found application in quantum chromodynamics (QCD). In mesoscopic physics, the Thouless energy sets the universal scale for which RMT applies. We try to identify the equivalent of a Thouless energy in complete spectra of the QCD Dirac operator with staggered fermions and $SU_c(2)$ lattice gauge fields. Comparing lattice data with RMT predictions we find deviations which allow us to give an estimate for this scale.Comment: LATTICE99 (theor. devel.), 3 pages, 4 figure

Проектування та оптимізація конструкцій гумових віброізоляторів силосних конструкцій

Certain intracellular bacteria use the host cell cytosol as the replicative niche. Although it has been hypothesized that the successful exploitation of this compartment requires a unique metabolic adaptation, supportive evidence is lacking. For Francisella tularensis, many genes of the Francisella pathogenicity island (FPI) are essential for intracellular growth, and therefore, FPI mutants are useful tools for understanding the prerequisites of intracytosolic replication. We compared the growth of bacteria taken up by phagocytic or nonphagocytic cells with that of bacteria microinjected directly into the host cytosol, using the live vaccine strain (LVS) of F. tularensis; five selected FPI mutants thereof, i.e., Delta iglA, Delta iglC, Delta iglG, Delta iglI, and Delta pdpE strains; and Listeria monocytogenes. After uptake in bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDM), ASC(-/-) BMDM, MyD88(-/-) BMDM, J774 cells, or HeLa cells, LVS, Delta pdpE and Delta iglG mutants, and L. monocytogenes replicated efficiently in all five cell types, whereas the Delta iglA and Delta iglC mutants showed no replication. After microinjection, all 7 strains showed effective replication in J774 macrophages, ASC(-/-) BMDM, and HeLa cells. In contrast to the rapid replication in other cell types, L. monocytogenes showed no replication in MyD88(-/-) BMDM and LVS showed no replication in either BMDM or MyD88(-/-) BMDM after microinjection. Our data suggest that the mechanisms of bacterial uptake as well as the permissiveness of the cytosolic compartment per se are important factors for the intracytosolic replication. Notably, none of the investigated FPI proteins was found to be essential for intracytosolic replication after microinjection.Originally included in thesis in manuscript form.</p

Scale-invariant moving finite elements for nonlinear partial differential equations in two dimensions

A scale-invariant moving finite element method is proposed for the adaptive solution of nonlinear partial differential equations. The mesh movement is based on a finite element discretisation of a scale-invariant conservation principle incorporating a monitor function, while the time discretisation of the resulting system of ordinary differential equations is carried out using a scale-invariant time-stepping which yields uniform local accuracy in time. The accuracy and reliability of the algorithm are successfully tested against exact self-similar solutions where available, and otherwise against a state-of-the-art h-refinement scheme for solutions of a two-dimensional porous medium equation problem with a moving boundary. The monitor functions used are the dependent variable and a monitor related to the surface area of the solution manifold

Hepatic effects of tartrazine (E 102) after systemic exposure are independent of oestrogen receptor interactions in the mouse

Tartrazine is a food colour that activates the transcriptional function of the human oestrogen receptor alpha in an in vitro cell model. Since oestrogens are cholestatic, we hypothesised tartrazine will cause periportal injury to the liver in vivo. To test this hypothesis, tartrazine was initially administered systemically to mice resulting in a periportal recruitment of inflammatory cells, increased serum alkaline phosphatase activity and mild periportal fibrosis. To determine whether an oestrogenic effect may be a key event in this response, tartrazine, sulphonated metabolites and a food additive contaminant were screened for their ability to interact with murine oestrogen receptors. In all cases, there were no interactions as agonists or antagonists and further, no oestrogenicity was observed with tartrazine in an in vivo uterine growth assay. To examine the relevance of the hepatic effects of tartrazine to its use as a food additive, tartrazine was orally administered to transgenic NF-κB-Luc mice. Pre- and concurrent oral treatment with alcohol was incorporated given its potential to promote gut permeability and hepatic inflammation. Tartrazine alone induced NF- κB activities in the colon and liver but there was no periportal recruitment of inflammatory cells or fibrosis. Tartrazine, its sulphonated metabolites and the contaminant inhibited sulphotransferase activities in murine hepatic S9 extracts. Given the role of sulfotransferases in bile acid excretion, the initiating event giving rise to periportal inflammation and subsequent hepatic pathology through systemic tartrazine exposure is therefore potentially associated an inhibition of bile acid sulphation and excretion and not on oestrogen receptor-mediated transcriptional function. However, these effects were restricted to systemic exposures to tartrazine and did not occur to any significant effect after oral exposure

Statistical analysis and the equivalent of a Thouless energy in lattice QCD Dirac spectra

Random Matrix Theory (RMT) is a powerful statistical tool to model spectral fluctuations. This approach has also found fruitful application in Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). Importantly, RMT provides very efficient means to separate different scales in the spectral fluctuations. We try to identify the equivalent of a Thouless energy in complete spectra of the QCD Dirac operator for staggered fermions from SU(2) lattice gauge theory for different lattice size and gauge couplings. In disordered systems, the Thouless energy sets the universal scale for which RMT applies. This relates to recent theoretical studies which suggest a strong analogy between QCD and disordered systems. The wealth of data allows us to analyze several statistical measures in the bulk of the spectrum with high quality. We find deviations which allows us to give an estimate for this universal scale. Other deviations than these are seen whose possible origin is discussed. Moreover, we work out higher order correlators as well, in particular three--point correlation functions.Comment: 24 pages, 24 figures, all included except one figure, missing eps file available at http://pluto.mpi-hd.mpg.de/~wilke/diff3.eps.gz, revised version, to appear in PRD, minor modifications and corrected typos, Fig.4 revise

Universal and non-universal behavior in Dirac spectra

We have computed ensembles of complete spectra of the staggered Dirac operator using four-dimensional SU(2) gauge fields, both in the quenched approximation and with dynamical fermions. To identify universal features in the Dirac spectrum, we compare the lattice data with predictions from chiral random matrix theory for the distribution of the low-lying eigenvalues. Good agreement is found up to some limiting energy, the so-called Thouless energy, above which random matrix theory no longer applies. We determine the dependence of the Thouless energy on the simulation parameters using the scalar susceptibility and the number variance.Comment: LATTICE98(confine), 9 pages, 11 figure

Différences de connectivité effective entre des enfants dyslexiques et des enfants lecteurs normaux pendant une tâche de lecture de pseudomots : une étude par IRMf

International audiencePurpose.—This fMRI study investigated phonological and lexicosemantic processing in dyslexic and in chronological age- and reading level-matched children in a pseudoword reading task.Materials and methods.—The effective connectivity network was compared between the three groups using a structural model including the supramarginal cortex (BA 40; BA: Brodmann area), fusiform cortex (BA 37) and inferior frontal cortex (BA 44/45) areas of the left hemisphere.Results.—The results revealed differences in connectivity patterns. In dyslexic patients, in contrast with chronological age- and reading level-matched groups, no causal relationship was demonstrated between BA 40 and BA 44/45. However, a significant causal relationship was demonstrated between BA 37 and BA 44/45 both in dyslexic children and in the reading levelmatchedgroup.Conclusions.—These findings were interpreted as evidence for a phonological deficit in developmental dyslexiaBut.—Explorer par imagerie fonctionnelle d’activation cérébrale chez l’enfant les aires corticales et les circuits cérébraux impliqués dans le traitement phonologique et lexico sémantique d’une tâche de lecture.Matériel et methods.—Un réseau d’aires cérébrales interconnectées est examiné sur la base d’un modèle structural incluant les cortex supramarginal (aire 40 de Brodmann), fusiforme (aire 37de Brodmann) et frontal inférieur (aires 44/45 de Brodmann) de l’hémisphère gauche. La méthode de modélisation proposée permet d’évaluer une différence de connectivité effective des circuits engagés au cours d’une tâche de lecture de pseudomots entre des enfants dyslexiques et des enfants normaux lecteurs appariés en âge chronologique et lexical.Résultats.—Chez les patients dyslexiques, contrairement aux groupes témoins appariés par l’âge ou le niveau de lecture, aucune interaction causale n’a été démontrée entre les aires 40 et 44/45 de Brodmann qui constituent les noeuds du circuit d’assemblage phonologique. En revanche, une interaction significative a été retrouvée au niveau du circuit d’adressage lexico sémantique, entre les aires 37 et 44/45 de Brodmann, chez les enfants dyslexiques et les enfants appariés par le niveau de lecture.Conclusions.—Ces résultats confirment l’existence d’un déficit des processus phonologiques dans la dyslexie développementale