3,082 research outputs found
Role of Multipoles in Counterion-Mediated Interactions between Charged Surfaces: Strong and Weak Coupling
We present general arguments for the importance, or lack thereof, of the
structure in the charge distribution of counterions for counterion-mediated
interactions between bounding symmetrically charged surfaces. We show that on
the mean field or weak coupling level, the charge quadrupole contributes the
lowest order modification to the contact value theorem and thus to the
intersurface electrostatic interactions. The image effects are non-existent on
the mean-field level even with multipoles. On the strong coupling level the
quadrupoles and higher order multipoles contribute additional terms to the
interaction free energy only in the presence of dielectric inhomogeneities.
Without them, the monopole is the only multipole that contributes to the strong
coupling electrostatics. We explore the consequences of these statements in all
their generality.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure
Diffusive Evolution of Stable and Metastable Phases II: Theory of Non-Equilibrium Behaviour in Colloid-Polymer Mixtures
By analytically solving some simple models of phase-ordering kinetics, we
suggest a mechanism for the onset of non-equilibrium behaviour in
colloid-polymer mixtures. These mixtures can function as models of atomic
systems; their physics therefore impinges on many areas of thermodynamics and
phase-ordering. An exact solution is found for the motion of a single, planar
interface separating a growing phase of uniform high density from a
supersaturated low density phase, whose diffusive depletion drives the
interfacial motion. In addition, an approximate solution is found for the
one-dimensional evolution of two interfaces, separated by a slab of a
metastable phase at intermediate density. The theory predicts a critical
supersaturation of the low-density phase, above which the two interfaces become
unbound and the metastable phase grows ad infinitum. The growth of the stable
phase is suppressed in this regime.Comment: 27 pages, Latex, eps
The Role of Solid Friction in the Sedimentation of Strongly Attractive Colloidal Gels
We study experimentally and theoretically the sedimentation of gels made of
strongly aggregated colloidal particles, focussing on the long time behavior,
when mechanical equilibrium is asymptotically reached. The asymptotic gel
height is found to vary linearly with the initial height, a finding in stark
contrast with a recent study on similar gels [Manley \textit{et al.} 2005
\textit{Phys. Rev. Lett.} \textbf{94} 218302]. We show that the asymptotic
compaction results from the balance between gravity pull, network elasticity,
and solid friction between the gel and the container walls. Based on these
ingredients, we propose a simple model to account for the dependence of the
height loss on the initial height and volume fraction. As a result of our
analysis, we show that the static friction coefficient between the gel and the
container walls strongly depends on volume fraction: the higher the volume
fraction, the weaker the solid friction. This nonintuitive behavior is
explained using simple scaling arguments.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to JSTA
Phase behaviour of additive binary mixtures in the limit of infinite asymmetry
We provide an exact mapping between the density functional of a binary
mixture and that of the effective one-component fluid in the limit of infinite
asymmetry. The fluid of parallel hard cubes is thus mapped onto that of
parallel adhesive hard cubes. Its phase behaviour reveals that demixing of a
very asymmetric mixture can only occur between a solvent-rich fluid and a
permeated large particle solid or between two large particle solids with
different packing fractions. Comparing with hard spheres mixtures we conclude
that the phase behaviour of very asymmetric hard-particle mixtures can be
determined from that of the large component interacting via an adhesive-like
potential.Comment: Full rewriting of the paper (also new title). 4 pages, LaTeX, uses
revtex, multicol, epsfig, and amstex style files, to appear in Phys. Rev. E
(Rapid Comm.
Correlation Differences in Heartbeat Fluctuations During Rest and Exercise
We study the heartbeat activity of healthy individuals at rest and during
exercise. We focus on correlation properties of the intervals formed by
successive peaks in the pulse wave and find significant scaling differences
between rest and exercise. For exercise the interval series is anticorrelated
at short time scales and correlated at intermediate time scales, while for rest
we observe the opposite crossover pattern -- from strong correlations in the
short-time regime to weaker correlations at larger scales. We suggest a
physiologically motivated stochastic scenario to explain the scaling
differences between rest and exercise and the observed crossover patterns.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Strong Coupling Electrostatics in the Presence of Dielectric Inhomogeneities
We study the strong-coupling (SC) interaction between two like-charged
membranes of finite thickness embedded in a medium of higher dielectric
constant. A generalized SC theory is applied along with extensive Monte-Carlo
simulations to study the image charge effects induced by multiple dielectric
discontinuities in this system. These effects lead to strong counterion
crowding in the central region of the inter-surface space upon increasing the
solvent/membrane dielectric mismatch and change the membrane interactions from
attractive to repulsive at small separations. These features agree
quantitatively with the SC theory at elevated couplings or dielectric mismatch
where the correlation hole around counterions is larger than the thickness of
the central counterion layer.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Social media use and impact during the holiday travel planning process
Through an empirical study among holiday travellers, residing in the Former Soviet Union Republics, this paper presents a comprehensive view of role and impact of social media on the whole holiday travel planning process: Before, during and after the trip, providing insights on usage levels, scope of use, level of influence and trust. Findings suggest that social media are predominantly used after holidays for experience sharing. It is also shown that there is a strong correlation between perceived level of influence from social media and changes made in holiday plans prior to final decisions. Moreover, it is revealed that user-generated content is perceived as more trustworthy when compared to official tourism websites, travel agents and mass media advertising
Detection of novel astroviruses in urban brown rats and previously known astroviruses in humans
Several novel astroviruses have been recently discovered in humans and in other animals. Here, we report results from our surveillance of astroviruses in human and rodent faecal samples in Hong Kong. Classical human astroviruses (n=9) and a human MLB1 astrovirus were detected in human faecal samples (n=622). Novel astroviruses were detected from 1.6 % of the faecal samples of urban brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) (n=441), indicating the prevalence of astrovirus infection in rats might be much lower than that recently observed in bats. These rat astroviruses were phylogenetically related to recently discovered human astroviruses MLB1 and MLB2, suggesting that the MLB viruses and these novel rat astroviruses may share a common ancestor
Comparison of diagnostic accuracy of early screening for pre-eclampsia by NICE guidelines and a method combining maternal factors and biomarkers: results of SPREE
Objective To test the hypothesis that the performance of first-trimester screening for pre-eclampsia (PE) by a method that uses Bayes’ theorem to combine maternal factors with biomarkers is superior to that defined by current National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
Methods This was a prospective multicenter study (screening program for pre-eclampsia (SPREE)) in seven National Health Service maternity hospitals in England, of women recruited between April and December 2016. Singleton pregnancies at 11–13weeks’ gestation had recording of maternal characteristics and medical history and measurements of mean arterial pressure (MAP), uterine artery pulsatility index (UtA-PI), serum placental growth factor (PlGF) and serum pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A). The performance of screening for PE by the Bayes’ theorem-based method was compared with that of the NICE method. Primary comparison was detection rate (DR) using NICE method vs mini-combined test (maternal factors, MAP and PAPP-A) in the prediction of PE at any gestational age (all-PE) for the same screen-positive rate determined by the NICE method. Key secondary comparisons were DR of screening recommended by the NICE guidelines vs three Bayes’ theorem-based methods (maternal factors, MAP and PAPP-A; maternal factors, MAP and PlGF; and maternal factors, MAP, UtA-PI and PlGF) in the prediction of preterm PE, defined as that requiring delivery <37 weeks.
Results All-PE developed in 473 (2.8%) of the 16 747 pregnancies and preterm PE developed in 142 (0.8%). The screen-positive rate by the NICE method was 10.3% and the DR for all-PE was 30.4% and for preterm PE it was 40.8%. Compliance with the NICE recommendation that women at high risk for PE should be treated with aspirin from the first trimester to the end of pregnancy was only 23%. The DR of the mini-combined test for all-PE was 42.5%, which was superior to that of the NICE method by 12.1% (95% CI, 7.9–16.2%). In screening for preterm PE by a combination of maternal factors, MAP and PlGF, the DR was 69.0%, which was superior to that of the NICE method by 28.2% (95% CI, 19.4–37.0%) and with the addition of UtA-PI the DR was 82.4%, which was higher than that of the NICE method by 41.6% (95% CI, 33.2–49.9%).
Conclusions The performance of screening for PE as currently recommended by NICE guidelines is poor and compliance with these guidelines is low. The performance of screening is substantially improved by a method combining maternal factors with biomarkers
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