3,428 research outputs found
Lattice Dynamics in the Half-Space, II. Energy Transport Equation
We consider the lattice dynamics in the half-space. The initial data are
random according to a probability measure which enforces slow spatial variation
on the linear scale . We establish two time regimes. For
times of order , , locally the measure
converges to a Gaussian measure which is time stationary with a covariance
inherited from the initial measure (non-Gaussian, in general). For times of
order , this covariance changes in time and is governed by a
semiclassical transport equation.Comment: 35 page
Current reservoirs in the simple exclusion process
We consider the symmetric simple exclusion process in the interval
with additional birth and death processes respectively on , , and
. The exclusion is speeded up by a factor , births and deaths
by a factor . Assuming propagation of chaos (a property proved in a
companion paper "Truncated correlations in the stirring process with births and
deaths") we prove convergence in the limit to the linear heat
equation with Dirichlet condition on the boundaries; the boundary conditions
however are not known a priori, they are obtained by solving a non linear
equation. The model simulates mass transport with current reservoirs at the
boundaries and the Fourier law is proved to hold
Current large deviations in a driven dissipative model
We consider lattice gas diffusive dynamics with creation-annihilation in the
bulk and maintained out of equilibrium by two reservoirs at the boundaries.
This stochastic particle system can be viewed as a toy model for granular gases
where the energy is injected at the boundary and dissipated in the bulk. The
large deviation functional for the particle currents flowing through the system
is computed and some physical consequences are discussed: the mechanism for
local current fluctuations, dynamical phase transitions, the
fluctuation-relation
Clinical, Biomechanical, and Physiological Translational Interpretations of Human Resting Myofascial Tone or Tension
Background: Myofascial tissues generate integrated webs and networks of passive and active tensional forces that provide stabilizing support and that control movement in the body. Passive [central nervous system (CNS)–independent] resting myofascial tension is present in the body and provides a low-level stabilizing component to help maintain balanced postures. This property was recently called “human resting myofascial tone” (HRMT). The HRMT model evolved from electromyography (EMG) research in the 1950s that showed lumbar muscles usually to be EMG-silent in relaxed gravity-neutral upright postures.
Methods: Biomechanical, clinical, and physiological studies were reviewed to interpret the passive stiffness properties of HRMT that help to stabilize various relaxed functions such as quiet balanced standing. Biomechanical analyses and experimental studies of the lumbar multifidus were reviewed to interpret its passive stiffness properties. The lumbar multifidus was illustrated as the major core stabilizing muscle of the spine, serving an important passive biomechanical role in the body.
Results: Research into muscle physiology suggests that passive resting tension (CNS-independent) is generated in sarcomeres by the molecular elasticity of low-level cycling cross-bridges between the actomyosin filaments. In turn, tension is complexly transmitted to intimately enveloping fascial matrix fibrils and other molecular elements in connective tissue, which, collectively, constitute the myofascial unit. Postural myofascial tonus varies with age and sex. Also, individuals in the population are proposed to vary in a polymorphism of postural HRMT. A few people are expected to have outlier degrees of innate postural hypotonicity or hypertonicity. Such biomechanical variations likely predispose to greater risk of related musculoskeletal disorders, a situation that deserves greater attention in clinical practice and research. Axial myofascial hypertonicity was hypothesized to predispose to ankylosing spondylitis. This often-progressive deforming condition of vertebrae and sacroiliac joints is characterized by stiffness features and particular localization of bony lesions at entheseal sites. Such unique features imply concentrations and transmissions of excessive force, leading to tissue micro-injury and maladaptive repair reactions.
Conclusions: The HRMT model is now expanded and translated for clinical relevance to therapists. Its passive role in helping to maintain balanced postures is supported by biomechanical principles of myofascial elasticity, tension, stress, stiffness, and tensegrity. Further research is needed to determine the molecular basis of HRMT in sarcomeres, the transmission of tension by the enveloping fascial elements, and the means by which the myofascia helps to maintain efficient passive postural balance in the body. Significant deficiencies or excesses of postural HRMT may predispose to symptomatic or pathologic musculoskeletal disorders whose mechanisms are currently unexplained
Low temperature dynamics of kinks on Ising interfaces
The anisotropic motion of an interface driven by its intrinsic curvature or
by an external field is investigated in the context of the kinetic Ising model
in both two and three dimensions. We derive in two dimensions (2d) a continuum
evolution equation for the density of kinks by a time-dependent and nonlocal
mapping to the asymmetric exclusion process. Whereas kinks execute random walks
biased by the external field and pile up vertically on the physical 2d lattice,
then execute hard-core biased random walks on a transformed 1d lattice. Their
density obeys a nonlinear diffusion equation which can be transformed into the
standard expression for the interface velocity v = M[(gamma + gamma'')kappa +
H]$, where M, gamma + gamma'', and kappa are the interface mobility, stiffness,
and curvature, respectively. In 3d, we obtain the velocity of a curved
interface near the orientation from an analysis of the self-similar
evolution of 2d shrinking terraces. We show that this velocity is consistent
with the one predicted from the 3d tensorial generalization of the law for
anisotropic curvature-driven motion. In this generalization, both the interface
stiffness tensor and the curvature tensor are singular at the
orientation. However, their product, which determines the interface velocity,
is smooth. In addition, we illustrate how this kink-based kinetic description
provides a useful framework for studying more complex situations by modeling
the effect of immobile dilute impurities.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure
Phase Segregation Dynamics in Particle Systems with Long Range Interactions I: Macroscopic Limits
We present and discuss the derivation of a nonlinear non-local
integro-differential equation for the macroscopic time evolution of the
conserved order parameter of a binary alloy undergoing phase segregation. Our
model is a d-dimensional lattice gas evolving via Kawasaki exchange dynamics,
i.e. a (Poisson) nearest-neighbor exchange process, reversible with respect to
the Gibbs measure for a Hamiltonian which includes both short range (local) and
long range (nonlocal) interactions. A rigorous derivation is presented in the
case in which there is no local interaction. In a subsequent paper (part II),
we discuss the phase segregation phenomena in the model. In particular we argue
that the phase boundary evolutions, arising as sharp interface limits of the
family of equations derived in this paper, are the same as the ones obtained
from the corresponding limits for the Cahn-Hilliard equation.Comment: amstex with macros (included in the file), tex twice, 20 page
WZ Sge-Type Star V592 Herculis
We observed the entire course of the 1998 outburst of V592 Her, which was
originally reported as a nova in 1968. We have been able to construct a full
light curve of the outburst, which is characterized by a rapid initial decline
(0.98 mag/d), which smoothly developed into a plateau phase with a slower
linear decline. We detected superhumps characteristic to SU UMa-type dwarf
novae ~7 d after the optical maximum. The overall behavior of the light curve
and the development of superhumps were characteristic to a WZ Sge-type dwarf
nova. Combined with the past literature, we have been able to uniquely
determine the superhump period to be 0.05648(2) d. From this period, together
with a modern interpretation of the absolute magnitude of the outburst light
curve, we conclude that the overall picture of V592 Her is not inconsistent
with a lower main-sequence secondary star in contrast to a previous claim that
V592 Her contains a brown dwarf.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Publ. Astron. Soc.
Japa
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