574 research outputs found
Global exponential convergence to variational traveling waves in cylinders
We prove, under generic assumptions, that the special variational traveling
wave that minimizes the exponentially weighted Ginzburg-Landau functional
associated with scalar reaction-diffusion equations in infinite cylinders is
the long-time attractor for the solutions of the initial value problems with
front-like initial data. The convergence to this traveling wave is
exponentially fast. The obtained result is mainly a consequence of the gradient
flow structure of the considered equation in the exponentially weighted spaces
and does not depend on the precise details of the problem. It strengthens our
earlier generic propagation and selection result for "pushed" fronts.Comment: 23 page
Phase Slips and the Eckhaus Instability
We consider the Ginzburg-Landau equation, , with complex amplitude . We first analyze the phenomenon of
phase slips as a consequence of the {\it local} shape of . We next prove a
{\it global} theorem about evolution from an Eckhaus unstable state, all the
way to the limiting stable finite state, for periodic perturbations of Eckhaus
unstable periodic initial data. Equipped with these results, we proceed to
prove the corresponding phenomena for the fourth order Swift-Hohenberg
equation, of which the Ginzburg-Landau equation is the amplitude approximation.
This sheds light on how one should deal with local and global aspects of phase
slips for this and many other similar systems.Comment: 22 pages, Postscript, A
Interaction of vortices in viscous planar flows
We consider the inviscid limit for the two-dimensional incompressible
Navier-Stokes equation in the particular case where the initial flow is a
finite collection of point vortices. We suppose that the initial positions and
the circulations of the vortices do not depend on the viscosity parameter \nu,
and we choose a time T > 0 such that the Helmholtz-Kirchhoff point vortex
system is well-posed on the interval [0,T]. Under these assumptions, we prove
that the solution of the Navier-Stokes equation converges, as \nu -> 0, to a
superposition of Lamb-Oseen vortices whose centers evolve according to a
viscous regularization of the point vortex system. Convergence holds uniformly
in time, in a strong topology which allows to give an accurate description of
the asymptotic profile of each individual vortex. In particular, we compute to
leading order the deformations of the vortices due to mutual interactions. This
allows to estimate the self-interactions, which play an important role in the
convergence proof.Comment: 39 pages, 1 figur
Orbital stability of periodic waves for the nonlinear Schroedinger equation
The nonlinear Schroedinger equation has several families of quasi-periodic
travelling waves, each of which can be parametrized up to symmetries by two
real numbers: the period of the modulus of the wave profile, and the variation
of its phase over a period (Floquet exponent). In the defocusing case, we show
that these travelling waves are orbitally stable within the class of solutions
having the same period and the same Floquet exponent. This generalizes a
previous work where only small amplitude solutions were considered. A similar
result is obtained in the focusing case, under a non-degeneracy condition which
can be checked numerically. The proof relies on the general approach to orbital
stability as developed by Grillakis, Shatah, and Strauss, and requires a
detailed analysis of the Hamiltonian system satisfied by the wave profile.Comment: 34 pages, 7 figure
Coherent vortex structures and 3D enstrophy cascade
Existence of 2D enstrophy cascade in a suitable mathematical setting, and
under suitable conditions compatible with 2D turbulence phenomenology, is known
both in the Fourier and in the physical scales. The goal of this paper is to
show that the same geometric condition preventing the formation of
singularities - 1/2-H\"older coherence of the vorticity direction - coupled
with a suitable condition on a modified Kraichnan scale, and under a certain
modulation assumption on evolution of the vorticity, leads to existence of 3D
enstrophy cascade in physical scales of the flow.Comment: 15 pp; final version -- to appear in CM
Human papillomavirus (HPV) contamination of gynaecological equipment.
OBJECTIVE: The gynaecological environment can become contaminated by human papillomavirus (HPV) from healthcare workers' hands and gloves. This study aimed to assess the presence of HPV on frequently used equipment in gynaecological practice.
METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 179 samples were taken from fomites (glove box, lamp of a gynaecological chair, gel tubes for ultrasound, colposcope and speculum) in two university hospitals and in four gynaecological private practices. Samples were collected with phosphate-buffered saline-humidified polyester swabs according to a standardised pattern, and conducted twice per day for 2 days. The samples were analysed by a semiquantitative real-time PCR. Statistical analysis was performed using Pearson's χ(2) test and multivariate regression analysis.
RESULTS: Thirty-two (18%) HPV-positive samples were found. When centres were compared, there was a higher risk of HPV contamination in gynaecological private practices compared with hospitals (OR 2.69, 95% CI 1.06 to 6.86). Overall, there was no difference in the risk of contamination with respect to the time of day (OR 1.79, 95% CI 0.68 to 4.69). When objects were compared, the colposcope had the highest risk of contamination (OR 3.02, 95% CI 0.86 to 10.57).
CONCLUSIONS: Gynaecological equipment and surfaces are contaminated by HPV despite routine cleaning. While there is no evidence that contaminated surfaces carry infectious viruses, our results demonstrate the need for strategies to prevent HPV contamination. These strategies, based on health providers' education, should lead to well-established cleaning protocols, adapted to gynaecological rooms, aimed at eliminating HPV material
Renormalizing Partial Differential Equations
In this review paper, we explain how to apply Renormalization Group ideas to
the analysis of the long-time asymptotics of solutions of partial differential
equations. We illustrate the method on several examples of nonlinear parabolic
equations. We discuss many applications, including the stability of profiles
and fronts in the Ginzburg-Landau equation, anomalous scaling laws in
reaction-diffusion equations, and the shape of a solution near a blow-up point.Comment: 34 pages, Latex; [email protected]; [email protected]
Probability density of quantum expectation values
We consider the quantum expectation value \mathcal{A}=\ of an
observable A over the state |\psi\> . We derive the exact probability
distribution of \mathcal{A} seen as a random variable when |\psi\> varies over
the set of all pure states equipped with the Haar-induced measure. The
probability density is obtained with elementary means by computing its
characteristic function, both for non-degenerate and degenerate observables. To
illustrate our results we compare the exact predictions for few concrete
examples with the concentration bounds obtained using Levy's lemma. Finally we
comment on the relevance of the central limit theorem and draw some results on
an alternative statistical mechanics based on the uniform measure on the energy
shell.Comment: Substantial revision. References adde
Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-binding protein in human serum determines the tumor necrosis factor response of monocytes to LPS
Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-binding protein (LBP) and CD14 represent key elements in monocyte activation by LPS. The mean concentration of LBP was 18.1 microgram/mL in normal serum and 40-60 micrograms/mL in serum of patients with septic shock, independent of the fact that patients had gram-negative or other infections. Ten percent normal serum presented large concentrations of LPS (in the microgram range) to monocytes. Only when diluted 1:100 was LBP in plasma a limiting factor for monocyte activation, as measured by tumor necrosis factor (TNF) release. When LBP was depleted from serum with anti-LBP antibodies, the resulting serum did not support TNF release of monocytes upon LPS challenge. In conclusion, monocyte activation resulting in TNF secretion was related to LBP, which is abundantly present in normal serum, and elevated two to three times in patients with septic shock
SosA inhibits cell division in Staphylococcus aureus in response to DNA damage.
Inhibition of cell division is critical for viability under DNA-damaging conditions. DNA damage induces the SOS response that in bacteria inhibits cell division while repairs are being made. In coccoids, such as the human pathogen, Staphylococcus aureus, this process remains poorly studied. Here, we identify SosA as the staphylococcal SOS-induced cell division inhibitor. Overproduction of SosA inhibits cell division, while sosA inactivation sensitizes cells to genotoxic stress. SosA is a small, predicted membrane protein with an extracellular C-terminal domain in which point mutation of residues that are conserved in staphylococci and major truncations abolished the inhibitory activity. In contrast, a minor truncation led to SosA accumulation and a strong cell division inhibitory activity, phenotypically similar to expression of wild-type SosA in a CtpA membrane protease mutant. This suggests that the extracellular C-terminus of SosA is required both for cell division inhibition and for turnover of the protein. Microscopy analysis revealed that SosA halts cell division and synchronizes the cell population at a point where division proteins such as FtsZ and EzrA are localized at midcell, and the septum formation is initiated but unable to progress to closure. Thus, our findings show that SosA is central in cell division regulation in staphylococci
- …