1,622 research outputs found
On the stability of self-gravitating accreting flows
Analytic methods show stability of the stationary accretion of test fluids
but they are inconclusive in the case of self-gravitating stationary flows. We
investigate numerically stability of those stationary flows onto compact
objects that are transonic and rich in gas. In all studied examples solutions
appear stable. Numerical investigation suggests also that the analogy between
sonic and event horizons holds for small perturbations of compact support but
fails in the case of finite perturbations.Comment: 10 pages, accepted for publication in PR
A modified expression of the major hydrolase activator in Hypocrea jecorina (Trichoderma reesei) changes enzymatic catalysis of biopolymer degradation
AbstractHypocrea jecorina (anamorph Trichoderma reesei) is a saprophytic fungus that produces hydrolases, which are applied in different types of industries and used for the production of biofuel. A recombinant Hypocrea strain, which constantly expresses the main transcription activator of hydrolases (Xylanase regulator 1), was found to grow faster on xylan and its monomeric backbone molecule d-xylose. This strain also showed improved ability of clearing xylan medium on plates. Furthermore, this strain has a changed transcription profile concerning genes encoding for hydrolases and enzymes associated with degradation of (hemi)celluloses. We demonstrated that enzymes of this strain from a xylan cultivation favoured break down of hemicelluloses to the monomer d-xylose compared to the parental strain, while the enzymes of the latter one formed more xylobiose. Applying supernatants from cultivation on carboxymethylcellulose in enzymatic conversion of hemicelluloses, the enzymes of the recombinant strain were clearly producing more of both, d-xylose and xylobiose, compared to the parental strain. Altogether, these results point to a changed hydrolase expression profile, an enhanced capability to form the xylan-monomer d-xylose and the assumption that there is a disordered induction pattern if the Xylanase regulator 1 is de-regulated in Hypocrea
The Problem of Inertia in Friedmann Universes
In this paper we study the origin of inertia in a curved spacetime,
particularly the spatially flat, open and closed Friedmann universes. This is
done using Sciama's law of inertial induction, which is based on Mach's
principle, and expresses the analogy between the retarded far fields of
electrodynamics and those of gravitation. After obtaining covariant expressions
for electromagnetic fields due to an accelerating point charge in Friedmann
models, we adopt Sciama's law to obtain the inertial force on an accelerating
mass by integrating over the contributions from all the matter in the
universe. The resulting inertial force has the form , where
depends on the choice of the cosmological parameters such as ,
, and and is also red-shift dependent.Comment: 10 page
New insight into cataract formation -- enhanced stability through mutual attraction
Small-angle neutron scattering experiments and molecular dynamics simulations
combined with an application of concepts from soft matter physics to complex
protein mixtures provide new insight into the stability of eye lens protein
mixtures. Exploring this colloid-protein analogy we demonstrate that weak
attractions between unlike proteins help to maintain lens transparency in an
extremely sensitive and non-monotonic manner. These results not only represent
an important step towards a better understanding of protein condensation
diseases such as cataract formation, but provide general guidelines for tuning
the stability of colloid mixtures, a topic relevant for soft matter physics and
industrial applications.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication on Phys. Rev. Let
Is it possible to formulate least action principle for dissipative systems?
A longstanding open question in classical mechanics is to formulate the least
action principle for dissipative systems. In this work, we give a general
formulation of this principle by considering a whole conservative system
including the damped moving body and its environment receiving the dissipated
energy. This composite system has the conservative Hamiltonian
where is the kinetic energy of the moving body, its potential
energy and the energy of the environment. The Lagrangian can be derived
by using the usual Legendre transformation where is the
total kinetic energy of the environment. An equivalent expression of this
Lagrangian is where is the energy dissipated by the
friction from the moving body into the environment from the beginning of the
motion. The usual variation calculus of least action leads to the correct
equation of the damped motion. We also show that this general formulation is a
natural consequence of the virtual work principle.Comment: 11 pages, no figur
(In)finite extent of stationary perfect fluids in Newtonian theory
For stationary, barotropic fluids in Newtonian gravity we give simple
criteria on the equation of state and the "law of motion" which guarantee
finite or infinite extent of the fluid region (providing a priori estimates for
the corresponding stationary Newton-Euler system). Under more restrictive
conditions, we can also exclude the presence of "hollow" configurations. Our
main result, which does not assume axial symmetry, uses the virial theorem as
the key ingredient and generalises a known result in the static case. In the
axially symmetric case stronger results are obtained and examples are
discussed.Comment: Corrections according to the version accepted by Ann. Henri Poincar
Pion interaction with the trinucleon up to the eta production threshold
Pion elastic, charge exchange scattering and induced eta production on the
trinucleon systems are investigated in a coupled-channels approach in momentum
space with Fadeev wave functions. The channel is
included using an isobar model with S-, P-, and D-wave resonances. While the
coherent reactions like He(He can be reasonably well reproduced
up to =500 MeV, large discrepancies appear for the incoherent
processes, He(H and He(H at backward
angles and energies above -resonance. In the forward direction the
calculations underestimate the experimental measurements very
close to threshold but agreement with the data improves with increasing pion
energy. Predictions are made for the asymmetries of the various reactions on
polarized He.Comment: 40 pages, 12 figures (available from the authors), Mainz preprint
MKPH-T-92-1
Flexoelectricity and piezoelectricity - reason for rich variety of phases in antiferroelectric liquid crystals
The free energy of antiferroelectric liquid crystal which takes into account
polar order explicitly is presented. Steric, van der Waals, piezoelectric and
flexoelectric interactions to the nearest layers and dipolar electrostatic
interactions to the nearest and to the next nearest layers induce indirect tilt
interactions with chiral and achiral properties, which extend to the third and
to the fourth nearest layers. Chiral indirect interactions between tilts can be
large and induce helicoidal modulations even in systems with negligible chiral
van der Waals interactions. If indirect chiral interactions compete with chiral
van der Waals interactions, the helix unwinding is possible. Although strength
of microscopic interactions change monotonically with decreasing temperature,
effective interlayer interactions change nonmonotonically and give rise to
nonmonotouous change of modulation period through various phases. Increased
enatiomeric excess i.e. increased chirality changes the phase sequence.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Multicenter phase II trial of gefitinib first-line therapy followed by chemotherapy in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC): SAKK protocol 19/03
Background: Gefitinib is active in patients with pretreated non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We evaluated the activity and toxicity of gefitinib first-line treatment in advanced NSCLC followed by chemotherapy at disease progression. Patients and methods: In all, 63 patients with chemotherapy-naive stage IIIB/IV NSCLC received gefitinib 250 mg/day. At disease progression, gefitinib was replaced by cisplatin 80 mg/m2 on day 1 and gemcitabine 1250 mg/m2 on days 1, 8 for up to six 3-week cycles. Primary end point was the disease stabilization rate (DSR) after 12 weeks of gefitinib. Results: After 12 weeks of gefitinib, the DSR was 24% and the response rate (RR) was 8%. Median time to progression (TtP) was 2.5 months and median overall survival (OS) 11.5 months. Never smokers (n = 9) had a DSR of 56% and a median OS of 20.2 months; patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation (n = 4) had a DSR of 75% and the median OS was not reached after the follow-up of 21.6 months. In all, 41 patients received chemotherapy with an overall RR of 34%, DSR of 71% and median TtP of 6.7 months. Conclusions: First-line gefitinib monotherapy led to a DSR of 24% at 12 weeks in an unselected patients population. Never smokers and patients with EGFR mutations tend to have a better outcome; hence, further trials in selected patients are warrante
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