16,639 research outputs found
Early afterdepolarisations and ventricular arrhythmias in cardiac tissue: a computational study
Afterdepolarisations are associated with arrhythmias in the heart, but are difficult to study experimentally. In this study we used a simplified computational model of 1D and 2D cardiac ventricular tissue, where we could control the size of the region generating afterdepolarisations, as well as the properties of the afterdepolarisation waveform. Provided the size of the afterdepolarisation region was greater than around 1 mm, propagating extrasystoles were produced in both 1D and 2D. The number of extrasystoles produced depended on the amplitude, period, and duration of the oscillatory EAD waveform. In 2D, re-entry was also initiated for specific combinations of EAD amplitude, period, and duration, with the afterdepolarisation region acting as a common pathway. The main finding from this modelling study is therefore that afterdepolarisations can act as potent sources of propagating extrasystoles, as well as a source of re-entrant activation
Monopole Condensation in Lattice SU(2) QCD
This is the short review of Monte-Carlo studies of quark confinement in
lattice QCD. After abelian projections both in the maximally abelian and
Polyakov gauges, it is seen that the monopole part alone is responsible for
confinement. A block spin transformation on the dual lattice suggests that
lattice QCD is always ( for all ) in the monopole condensed
phase and so in the confinement phase in the infinite volume limit.Comment: Contribution to Confinement '95, March 1995, Osaka, Japan. Names of
figure files are corrected. 8 page uuencoded latex file and 10 ps figure
Endogenous driving and synchronization in cardiac and uterine virtual tissues: bifurcations and local coupling
Cardiac and uterine muscle cells and tissue can be either autorhythmic or excitable. These behaviours exchange stability at bifurcations produced by changes in parameters, which if spatially localized can produce an ectopic pacemaking focus. The effects of these parameters on cell dynamics have been identified and quantified using continuation algorithms and by numerical solutions of virtual cells. The ability of a compact pacemaker to drive the surrounding excitable tissues depends on both the size of the pacemaker and the strength of electrotonic coupling between cells within, between, and outside the pacemaking region.
We investigate an ectopic pacemaker surrounded by normal excitable tissue. Cellâcell coupling is simulated by the diffusion coefficient for voltage. For uniformly coupled tissues, the behaviour of the hybrid tissue can take one of the three forms: (i) the surrounding tissue electrotonically suppresses the pacemaker; (ii) depressed rate oscillatory activity in the pacemaker but no propagation; and (iii) pacemaker driving propagations into the excitable region.
However, real tissues are heterogeneous with spatial changes in cellâcell coupling. In the gravid uterus during early pregnancy, cells are weakly coupled, with the cellâcell coupling increasing during late pregnancy, allowing synchronous contractions during labour. These effects are investigated for a caricature uterine tissue by allowing both excitability and diffusion coefficient to vary stochastically with space, and for cardiac tissues by spatial gradients in the diffusion coefficient
Modification of light utilization for skeletal growth by water flow in the scleractinian coral Galaxea fascicularis
In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the importance of water flow for skeletal growth (rate) becomes higher with increasing irradiance levels (i.e. a synergistic effect) and that such effect is mediated by a water flow modulated effect on net photosynthesis. Four series of nine nubbins of G. fascicularis were grown at either high (600 ”E m-2 s-1) or intermediate (300 ”E m-2 s-1) irradiance in combination with either high (15â25 cm s-1) or low (5â10 cm s-1) flow. Growth was measured as buoyant weight and surface area. Photosynthetic rates were measured at each coralâs specific experimental irradiance and flow speed. Additionally, the instantaneous effect of water flow on net photosynthetic rate was determined in short-term incubations in a respirometric flowcell. A significant interaction was found between irradiance and water flow for the increase in buoyant weight, the increase in surface area, and specific skeletal growth rate, indicating that flow velocity becomes more important for coral growth with increasing irradiance levels. Enhancement of coral growth with increasing water flow can be explained by increased net photosynthetic rates. Additionally, the need for costly photo-protective mechanisms at low flow regimes could explain the differences in growth with flow
Dilaton stabilization by massive fermion matter
The study started in a former work about the Dilaton mean field stabilization
thanks to the effective potential generated by the existence of massive
fermions, is here extended. Three loop corrections are evaluated in addition to
the previously calculated two loop terms. The results indicate that the Dilaton
vacuum field tend to be fixed at a high value close to the Planck scale, in
accordance with the need for predicting Einstein gravity from string theory.
The mass of the Dilaton is evaluated to be also a high value close to the
Planck mass, which implies the absence of Dilaton scalar signals in modern
cosmological observations. These properties arise when the fermion mass is
chosen to be either at a lower bound corresponding to the top quark mass, or
alternatively, at a very much higher value assumed to be in the grand
unification energy range. One of the three 3-loop terms is exactly evaluated in
terms of Master integrals. The other two graphs are however evaluated in their
leading logarithm correction in the perturbative expansion. The calculation of
the non leading logarithmic contribution and the inclusion of higher loops
terms could made more precise the numerical estimates of the vacuum field value
and masses, but seemingly are expected not to change the qualitative behavior
obtained. The validity of the here employed Yukawa model approximation is
argued for small value of the fermion masses with respect to the Planck one. A
correction to the two loop calculation done in the previous work is here
underlined.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, the study was extended and corrections on the
former calculations and redaction were done. The paper had been accepted for
publication in "Astrophysics and Space Science
Modified gravity without dark matter
On an empirical level, the most successful alternative to dark matter in
bound gravitational systems is the modified Newtonian dynamics, or MOND,
proposed by Milgrom. Here I discuss the attempts to formulate MOND as a
modification of General Relativity. I begin with a summary of the
phenomenological successes of MOND and then discuss the various covariant
theories that have been proposed as a basis for the idea. I show why these
proposals have led inevitably to a multi-field theory. I describe in some
detail TeVeS, the tensor-vector-scalar theory proposed by Bekenstein, and
discuss its successes and shortcomings. This lecture is primarily pedagogical
and directed to those with some, but not a deep, background in General
RelativityComment: 28 pages, 10 figures, lecture given at Third Aegean Summer School,
The Invisible Universe: Dark Matter and Dark Energy, minor errors corrected,
references update
Performance of thermally excited resonators
A study of electrothermal excitation of micromachined silicon beams is reported. The temperature distribution is calculated as a function of the position of the transducer, resulting in stress in the structure which reduces the resonance frequency. Test samples are realized and measurements of resonance frequency, vibration shape and vibration amplitude are carried out. There is a satisfactory agreement between theory and experiment at small thermal stresses. Near the buckling load we find distinct deviations from theory which are ascribed to mechanical imperfections of the beams
CAUSALITY, MEMORY ERASING AND DELAYED CHOICE EXPERIMENTS
Comment on [R.L. Ingraham, Phys. Rev. A 50, 4502 (1994)]. Ingraham suggested
``a delayed-choice experiment with partial, controllable memory erasing''. It
is shown that he cannot be right since his predictions contradict relativistic
causality. A subtle quantum effect which was overlooked by Ingraham is
explained.Comment: 4 pages, LaTe
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