16,984 research outputs found
Quantitative isoperimetric inequalities for log-convex probability measures on the line
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the isoperimetric inequality for
symmetric log-convex probability measures on the line. Using geometric
arguments we first re-prove that extremal sets in the isoperimetric inequality
are intervals or complement of intervals (a result due to Bobkov and Houdr\'e).
Then we give a quantitative form of the isoperimetric inequality, leading to a
somehow anomalous behavior. Indeed, it could be that a set is very close to be
optimal, in the sense that the isoperimetric inequality is almost an equality,
but at the same time is very far (in the sense of the symmetric difference
between sets) to any extremal sets! From the results on sets we derive
quantitative functional inequalities of weak Cheeger type
Exploring the bulk of tidal charged micro-black holes
We study the bulk corresponding to tidal charged brane-world black holes. We
employ a propagating algorithm which makes use of the three-dimensional
multipole expansion and analytically yields the metric elements as functions of
the five-dimensional coordinates and of the ADM mass, tidal charge and brane
tension. Since the projected brane equations cannot determine how the charge
depends on the mass, our main purpose is to select the combinations of these
parameters for which black holes of microscopic size possess a regular bulk.
Our results could in particular be relevant for a better understanding of
TeV-scale black holes.Comment: Latex, 15 pages, 1 table, 5 figures; Section 3.2 extended, typos
corrected, no change in conclusion
Casimir force between eccentric cylinders
We consider the Casimir interaction between a cylinder and a hollow cylinder,
both conducting, with parallel axis and slightly different radii. The Casimir
force, which vanishes in the coaxial situation, is evaluated for both small and
large eccentricities using the proximity approximation. The cylindrical
configuration offers various experimental advantages with respect to the
parallel planes or the plane-sphere geometries, leading to favourable
conditions for the search of extra-gravitational forces in the micrometer range
and for the observation of finite temperature corrections.Comment: To be published in Europhysics Letters. 7 pages, 4 figure
Notes on the Family Ampullariidae (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia) in the Philippines: I. Digestive, Circulatory, and Excretory Systems
A total of 232 ampullariid snails collected from 23 sites covering 7 islands in the Philippines were compared conchologically and 200 alcohol-preserved specimens were dissected for anatomical characteristics. Conchological comparison of the shells of the collected snails with that of identified lots from the Senckenberg Natur-museum, Frankfurt, Germany, the British Museum for Natural History, London, England, the Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen, Brussels, Belgium, and the Rijksmuseum voor Natuurwetenschappen, Leiden, Netherlands, revealed the presence of 5 species in the collected samples. These are: P. conica, P. ampullacea, P. mainitensis, P. quadrasi, and P. vittala. The latter 3 species were previously reported as being indigenous to the Philippines. Aside from characteristics of the shell, the morphology of the stomach may be useful for species discrimination. P. quadrasi and P. vittata, however, do not seem to differ anatomically from P. conica
Equation of Motion for the Solvent Polarization Apparent Charges in the Polarizable Continuum Model: Application to Time-Dependent CI
The dynamics of the electrons for a molecule in solution is coupled to the
dynamics of its polarizable environment, i.e., the solvent. To theoretically
investigate such electronic dynamics, we have recently developed equations of
motion (EOM) for the apparent solvent polarization charges that generate the
reaction field in the Polarizable Continuum Model (PCM) for solvation and we
have coupled them to a real-time time-dependent density functional theory (RT
TDDFT) description of the solute [Corni et al. J. Phys. Chem. A 119, 5405
(2014)]. Here we present an extension of the EOM-PCM approach to a
Time-Dependent Configuration Interaction (TD CI) description of the solute
dynamics, which is free from the qualitative artifacts of RT TDDFT in the
adiabatic approximation. As tests of the developed approach, we investigate the
solvent Debye relaxation after an electronic excitation of the solute obtained
either by a pulse of light or by assuming the idealized sudden promotion
to the excited state. Moreover, we present EOM for the Onsager solvation model
and we compare the results with PCM. The developed approach provides
qualitatively correct real-time evolutions and is promising as a general tool
to investigate the electron dynamics elicited by external electromagnetic
fields for molecules in solution.Comment: This is the final peer-reviewed manuscript accepted for publication
in The Journal of Chemical Physics. Copyright by AIP, the final published
version can be found at
http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/jcp/146/6/10.1063/1.497562
The depletion in Bose Einstein condensates using Quantum Field Theory in curved space
Using methods developed in Quantum Field Theory in curved space we can
estimate the effects of the inhomogeneities and of a non vanishing velocity on
the depletion of a Bose Einstein condensate within the hydrodynamical
approximation.Comment: 4 pages, no figure. Discussion extended and references adde
Measuring the effective complexity of cosmological models
We introduce a statistical measure of the effective model complexity, called
the Bayesian complexity. We demonstrate that the Bayesian complexity can be
used to assess how many effective parameters a set of data can support and that
it is a useful complement to the model likelihood (the evidence) in model
selection questions. We apply this approach to recent measurements of cosmic
microwave background anisotropies combined with the Hubble Space Telescope
measurement of the Hubble parameter. Using mildly non-informative priors, we
show how the 3-year WMAP data improves on the first-year data by being able to
measure both the spectral index and the reionization epoch at the same time. We
also find that a non-zero curvature is strongly disfavored. We conclude that
although current data could constrain at least seven effective parameters, only
six of them are required in a scheme based on the Lambda-CDM concordance
cosmology.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, revised version accepted for publication in PRD,
updated with WMAP3 result
Detection and Quantification of Grass and Olea Airborne Pollen Allergens in Outdoor Air Samples and its Correlation with Pollen Counts
Detection and Quantification of Grass and Olea Airborne Pollen Allergens in Outdoor Air Samples and its Correlation with Pollen Counts
R Ferro1*, R Ribeiro1*, MR Martins1,2, AT Caldeira1,3, E Caeiro6, CM Antunes1,5
& R BrandĂŁo2,4 and the HIALINE working group7
1Dep. of Chemistry, University of Evora, Portugal;
2Mediterranean Inst. Crop and Environment Sciences, Univ.Evora, Portugal;
3Centro QuĂmica, University of Ăvora, Portugal;
4Dep. Biology, University of Evora;
5Center for NeuroSciences and Cell Biology-University of Coimbra, Portugal;
6Soc.Portuguesa Alergol.Imunologia ClĂnica , Portugal
7 M. Thibaudon, France, M. Smith, United Kingdom, C. Galan, Spain R. Albertini, Italy, L. Grewling, Poland, G. Reese, Germany, A. Rantio-LehtimÀki, Finland, S. JÀger and U. Berger, Austria, M. Sofiev, Finland, I. Sauliene, Lithuania, L. Cecchi, Italy
Presenting author: [email protected] tel: +351 266760889
Introduction: Allergic respiratory diseases broken out after an exposure to airborne pollen, as asthma and allergic rhinitis, are deeply increasing and they represent one of the major public health problems nowadays, affecting about 40% of European population. In Portugal, grass and Olea europaea pollen are certainly one of the main sources of athmospheric aeroallergens and as such, one of the main causes of respiratory allergy.
For these reasons, it is useful the development of new strategies for prevention and treatment of these pathologies. The execution of aerobiological analysis including pollen calendars and/or immunoassays for the detection and quantification of allergens which could forecast the allergenic potential of the athmosphere are quite relevant since they would contribute to develop prevention measures of allergic respiratory diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the putative correlation between the concentration of some of the major allergens of and with their pollen counts.
Methodology: On a meteorological platform at the town center of Evora (south Portugal), ambient air was sampled at 800L/min with a Chemvol high-volume cascade impactor equipped with stages PM>10”m, 10 ”m>PM>2.5”m. The polyurethane impacting substrate was extracted with 0.1M NH4HCO3, pH8.1, supplemented with 0.1% BSA. The major pollen allergens from grass Phleum p 5 and olive Ole e 1 were determined with allergen specific ELISAŽs. Airborne pollen of and Olea europaea simultaneously monitored with a Burkard Seven Day Recording Volumetric Spore Trap* , between the 30th of April and the 8th of July of 2009. Both samplers were placed side-by-side with air input at the same level.
Results: During the pollen season of 2009, high values of grass pollen were recorded between May 2th and June 1 th. It was also observed that the air content of Phl p5 or Ole e1 aeroallergens were directly correlated with airborne pollen counts of Poaceae and Oleaceae, respectively.
Conclusions: These results suggest that the directly quantification of aeroallergens may contribute, together with pollen counts of air samples, to define the allergic risk with higher precision.
Acknowledgments: This study is integrated in the european project HIALINE (Executive Agency for Health and Consumers under grant agreement No 2008 11 07
Relaxation times of kinetically constrained spin models with glassy dynamics
We analyze the density and size dependence of the relaxation time for
kinetically constrained spin systems. These have been proposed as models for
strong or fragile glasses and for systems undergoing jamming transitions. For
the one (FA1f) or two (FA2f) spin facilitated Fredrickson-Andersen model at any
density and for the Knight model below the critical density at which
the glass transition occurs, we show that the persistence and the spin-spin
time auto-correlation functions decay exponentially. This excludes the
stretched exponential relaxation which was derived by numerical simulations.
For FA2f in , we also prove a super-Arrhenius scaling of the form
. For FA1f in = we
rigorously prove the power law scalings recently derived in \cite{JMS} while in
we obtain upper and lower bounds consistent with findings therein.
Our results are based on a novel multi-scale approach which allows to analyze
in presence of kinetic constraints and to connect time-scales and
dynamical heterogeneities. The techniques are flexible enough to allow a
variety of constraints and can also be applied to conservative stochastic
lattice gases in presence of kinetic constraints.Comment: 4 page
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