Algorithm for Mesoscopic Advection-Diffusion

In this paper, an algorithm is presented to calculate the transition rates between adjacent mesoscopic subvolumes in the presence of flow and diffusion. These rates can be integrated in stochastic simulations of reaction-diffusion systems that follow a mesoscopic approach, i.e., that partition the environment into homogeneous subvolumes and apply the spatial stochastic simulation algorithm (spatial SSA). The rates are derived by integrating Fick's second law over a single subvolume in one dimension (1D), and are also shown to apply in three dimensions (3D). The proposed algorithm corrects the derived rates to ensure that they are physically meaningful and it is implemented in the AcCoRD simulator (Actor-based Communication via Reaction-Diffusion). Simulations using the proposed method are compared with a naive mesoscopic approach, microscopic simulations that track every molecule, and analytical results that are exact in 1D and an approximation in 3D. By choosing subvolumes that are sufficiently small, such that the Peclet number associated with a subvolume is sufficiently less than 2, the accuracy of the proposed method is comparable with the microscopic method, thus enabling the simulation of advection-reaction-diffusion systems with the spatial SSA.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures. Submitted to IEEE Transactions on NanoBioscienc

Television coverage of issues related to global education in Greece

Based on the assumption that mass media's role on diffusing information and values as well as developing global consciousness is critical, this article examined the extent to which 10 top-ranked global issues were covered on the six most popular Greek Television stations. We looked at headline content patterns in terms of particular keywords and their descriptors to identify whether global issues are being covered. It was found that the priority of commercial criteria over quality dominates especially in the privately-operated stations. Therefore, although it has been stated that the purpose of Greek broadcasting is to provide information, education and recreation for the people of Greece, it seems that information and education lags much behind and there is a need for a change in the programme policy towards maximising the role of television for increasing global consciousness.peer-reviewe

Asymptotic Solutions of the Phase Space Schrodinger Equation: Anisotropic Gaussian Approximation

We consider the singular semiclassical initial value problem for the phase space Schrodinger equation. We approximate semiclassical quantum evolution in phase space by analyzing initial states as superpositions of Gaussian wave packets and applying individually semiclassical anisotropic Gaussian wave packet dynamics, which is based on the the nearby orbit approximation; we accordingly construct a semiclassical approximation of the phase space propagator, semiclassical wave packet propagator, which admits WKBM semiclassical states as initial data. By the semiclassical propagator we construct asymptotic solutions of the phase space Schrodinger equation, noting the connection of this construction to the initial value repsresentations for the Schrodinger equation

Fourier integrals and a new representation of Maslov's canonical operator near caustics

We suggest a new representation of Maslov's canonical operator in a neighborhood of the caustics using a special class of coordinate systems (\eikonal coordinates") on Lagrangian manifolds

Root Mean Square Error of Neural Spike Train Sequence Matching with Optogenetics

Optogenetics is an emerging field of neuroscience where neurons are genetically modified to express light-sensitive receptors that enable external control over when the neurons fire. Given the prominence of neuronal signaling within the brain and throughout the body, optogenetics has significant potential to improve the understanding of the nervous system and to develop treatments for neurological diseases. This paper uses a simple optogenetic model to compare the timing distortion between a randomly-generated target spike sequence and an externally-stimulated neuron spike sequence. The distortion is measured by filtering each sequence and finding the root mean square error between the two filter outputs. The expected distortion is derived in closed form when the target sequence generation rate is sufficiently low. Derivations are verified via simulations.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. Will be presented at IEEE Global Communications Conference (IEEE GLOBECOM 2017) in December 201

New formulas for Maslov's canonical operator in a neighborhood of focal points and caustics in 2D semiclassical asymptotics

We suggest a new representation of Maslov’s canonical operator in a neighborhood of caustics using a special class of coordinate systems (eikonal coordinates) on Lagrangian manifolds. We present the results in the two-dimensional case and illustrate them with examples