8,045 research outputs found
Minor parties and independents in times of change: Scottish local elections 1974 to 2007
This article explores the electoral performance of minor party and Independent candidates in Scottish local elections from 1974 to 2007. This is a period which began with a major restructuring of local government and ended with a change in the electoral system from first-past-the-post to the single transferable vote. It encompasses a second restructuring in the 1990s, the consolidation of the Scottish National Party as an electoral force, and the creation of the Scottish Parliament. Throughout the period, while there have been ebbs and flows, Independents and minor parties have remained significant players in local electoral politics in Scotland
Structurally specific thermal fluctuations identify functional sites for DNA transcription
We report results showing that thermally-induced openings of double stranded
DNA coincide with the location of functionally relevant sites for
transcription. Investigating both viral and bacterial DNA gene promoter
segments, we found that the most probable opening occurs at the transcription
start site. Minor openings appear to be related to other regulatory sites. Our
results suggest that coherent thermal fluctuations play an important role in
the initiation of transcription. Essential elements of the dynamics, in
addition to sequence specificity, are nonlinearity and entropy, provided by
local base-pair constraints
SLE local martingales in logarithmic representations
A space of local martingales of SLE type growth processes forms a
representation of Virasoro algebra, but apart from a few simplest cases not
much is known about this representation. The purpose of this article is to
exhibit examples of representations where L_0 is not diagonalizable - a
phenomenon characteristic of logarithmic conformal field theory. Furthermore,
we observe that the local martingales bear a close relation with the fusion
product of the boundary changing fields.
Our examples reproduce first of all many familiar logarithmic representations
at certain rational values of the central charge. In particular we discuss the
case of SLE(kappa=6) describing the exploration path in critical percolation,
and its relation with the question of operator content of the appropriate
conformal field theory of zero central charge. In this case one encounters
logarithms in a probabilistically transparent way, through conditioning on a
crossing event. But we also observe that some quite natural SLE variants
exhibit logarithmic behavior at all values of kappa, thus at all central
charges and not only at specific rational values.Comment: 40 pages, 7 figures. v3: completely rewritten, new title, new result
W-Extended Fusion Algebra of Critical Percolation
Two-dimensional critical percolation is the member LM(2,3) of the infinite
series of Yang-Baxter integrable logarithmic minimal models LM(p,p'). We
consider the continuum scaling limit of this lattice model as a `rational'
logarithmic conformal field theory with extended W=W_{2,3} symmetry and use a
lattice approach on a strip to study the fundamental fusion rules in this
extended picture. We find that the representation content of the ensuing closed
fusion algebra contains 26 W-indecomposable representations with 8 rank-1
representations, 14 rank-2 representations and 4 rank-3 representations. We
identify these representations with suitable limits of Yang-Baxter integrable
boundary conditions on the lattice and obtain their associated W-extended
characters. The latter decompose as finite non-negative sums of W-irreducible
characters of which 13 are required. Implementation of fusion on the lattice
allows us to read off the fusion rules governing the fusion algebra of the 26
representations and to construct an explicit Cayley table. The closure of these
representations among themselves under fusion is remarkable confirmation of the
proposed extended symmetry.Comment: 30 page
Pain sensitivity and shoulder function among breast cancer survivors compared to matched controls: a case-control study
Objective Persistent pain and loss of shoulder function are common adverse effects to breast cancer treatment, but the extent of
these issues in comparison with healthy controls is unclear for survivors beyond 1.5 years after treatment. The purpose of this
study was to benchmark differences in pressure pain thresholds (PPT), maximal isokinetic muscle strength (MIMS), and active
range of motion (ROM) of females with persistent pain â„1.5 years after breast cancer treatment (BCS) compared with pain-free
matched controls (CON), and examine the presence of movement-evoked pain (MEP) during assessment of MIMS.
Methods The PPTs of 18 locations were assessed using a pressure algometer and a numeric rating scale was used to assess
intensity of MEP. Active ROM and MIMS were measured using a universal goniometer and an isokinetic dynamometer,
respectively.
Results A two-way analysis of variance revealed that PPTs across all locations,MIMS for horizontal shoulder extension/flexion
and shoulder adduction, active ROM for shoulder flexion, horizontal shoulder extension, shoulder abduction, and external
shoulder rotation were significantly lower for BCS compared with CON (P < 0.05). MEP was significantly higher for BCS
and MEP intensity had a significant, negative correlation with PPTs (P < 0.01).
Discussion/conclusion BCS with persistent pain â„1.5 years after treatment demonstrates widespread reductions in PPTs and
movement-specific reductions inMIMS and active ROMof the affected shoulder, along with MEP during physical performance
assessment.
Implications for cancer survivors BCS with persistent pain â„1.5 years after treatment shows signs of central sensitization andmay
benefit from individualized rehabilitation.Danish Cancer Association
R204-A1246
Solvable Critical Dense Polymers
A lattice model of critical dense polymers is solved exactly for finite
strips. The model is the first member of the principal series of the recently
introduced logarithmic minimal models. The key to the solution is a functional
equation in the form of an inversion identity satisfied by the commuting
double-row transfer matrices. This is established directly in the planar
Temperley-Lieb algebra and holds independently of the space of link states on
which the transfer matrices act. Different sectors are obtained by acting on
link states with s-1 defects where s=1,2,3,... is an extended Kac label. The
bulk and boundary free energies and finite-size corrections are obtained from
the Euler-Maclaurin formula. The eigenvalues of the transfer matrix are
classified by the physical combinatorics of the patterns of zeros in the
complex spectral-parameter plane. This yields a selection rule for the
physically relevant solutions to the inversion identity and explicit finitized
characters for the associated quasi-rational representations. In particular, in
the scaling limit, we confirm the central charge c=-2 and conformal weights
Delta_s=((2-s)^2-1)/8 for s=1,2,3,.... We also discuss a diagrammatic
implementation of fusion and show with examples how indecomposable
representations arise. We examine the structure of these representations and
present a conjecture for the general fusion rules within our framework.Comment: 35 pages, v2: comments and references adde
A spatial model of autocatalytic reactions
Biological cells with all of their surface structure and complex interior
stripped away are essentially vesicles - membranes composed of lipid bilayers
which form closed sacs. Vesicles are thought to be relevant as models of
primitive protocells, and they could have provided the ideal environment for
pre-biotic reactions to occur. In this paper, we investigate the stochastic
dynamics of a set of autocatalytic reactions, within a spatially bounded
domain, so as to mimic a primordial cell. The discreteness of the constituents
of the autocatalytic reactions gives rise to large sustained oscillations, even
when the number of constituents is quite large. These oscillations are
spatio-temporal in nature, unlike those found in previous studies, which
consisted only of temporal oscillations. We speculate that these oscillations
may have a role in seeding membrane instabilities which lead to vesicle
division. In this way synchronization could be achieved between protocell
growth and the reproduction rate of the constituents (the protogenetic
material) in simple protocells.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev.
Wind on the boundary for the Abelian sandpile model
We continue our investigation of the two-dimensional Abelian sandpile model
in terms of a logarithmic conformal field theory with central charge c=-2, by
introducing two new boundary conditions. These have two unusual features: they
carry an intrinsic orientation, and, more strangely, they cannot be imposed
uniformly on a whole boundary (like the edge of a cylinder). They lead to seven
new boundary condition changing fields, some of them being in highest weight
representations (weights -1/8, 0 and 3/8), some others belonging to
indecomposable representations with rank 2 Jordan cells (lowest weights 0 and
1). Their fusion algebra appears to be in full agreement with the fusion rules
conjectured by Gaberdiel and Kausch.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figure
Phase diagram for diblock copolymer melts under cylindrical confinement
We extensively study the phase diagram of a diblock copolymer melt confined
in a cylindrical nanopore using real-space self-consistent mean-field theory.
We discover a rich variety of new two-dimensional equilibrium structures that
have no analog in the unconfined system. These include non-hexagonally
coordinated cylinder phases and structures intermediate between lamellae and
cylinders. We map the stability regions and phase boundaries for all the
structures we find. As the pore radius is decreased, the pore accommodates
fewer cylindrical domains and structural transitions occur as cylinders are
eliminated. Our results are consistent with experiments, but we also predict
phases yet to be observed.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures. submitted to Physical Review Letter
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