33,262 research outputs found
Multicomponent bionanocomposites based on clay nanoarchitectures for electrochemical devices
Based on the unique ability of defibrillated sepiolite (SEP) to form stable and homogeneous colloidal dispersions of diverse types of nanoparticles in aqueous media under ultrasonication, multicomponent conductive nanoarchitectured materials integrating halloysite nanotubes (HNTs), graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) and chitosan (CHI) have been developed. The resulting nanohybrid suspensions could be easily formed into films or foams, where each individual component plays a critical role in the biocomposite: HNTs act as nanocontainers for bioactive species, GNPs provide electrical conductivity (enhanced by doping with MWCNTs) and, the CHI polymer matrix introduces mechanical and membrane properties that are of key significance for the development of electrochemical devices. The resulting characteristics allow for a possible application of these active elements as integrated multicomponent materials for advanced electrochemical devices such as biosensors and enzymatic biofuel cells. This strategy can be regarded as an "a la carte" menu, where the selection of the nanocomponents exhibiting different properties will determine a functional set of predetermined utility with SEP maintaining stable colloidal dispersions of different nanoparticles and polymers in water
A list of all integrable 2D homogeneous polynomial potentials with a polynomial integral of order at most 4 in the momenta
We searched integrable 2D homogeneous polynomial potential with a polynomial
first integral by using the so-called direct method of searching for first
integrals. We proved that there exist no polynomial first integrals which are
genuinely cubic or quartic in the momenta if the degree of homogeneous
polynomial potentials is greater than 4.Comment: 22 pages, no figures, to appear in J. Phys. A: Math. Ge
Viral dynamics during structured treatment interruptions of chronic human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection
Although antiviral agents which block human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) replication can result in long-term suppression of viral loads to undetectable levels in plasma, long-term therapy fails to eradicate virus, which generally rebounds after a single treatment interruption. Multiple structured treatment interruptions (STIs) have been suggested as a possible strategy that may boost HIV-specific immune responses and control viral replication. We analyze viral dynamics during four consecutive STI cycles in 12 chronically infected patients with a history (>2 years) of viral suppression under highly active antiretroviral therapy. We fitted a simple model of viral rebound to the viral load data from each patient by using a novel statistical approach that allows us to overcome problems of estimating viral dynamics parameters when there are many viral load measurements below the limit of detection. There is an approximate halving of the average viral growth rate between the first and fourth STI cycles, yet the average time between treatment interruption and detection of viral loads in the plasma is approximately the same in the first and fourth interruptions. We hypothesize that reseeding of viral reservoirs during treatment interruptions can account for this discrepancy, although factors such as stochastic effects and the strength of HIV-specific immune responses may also affect the time to viral rebound. We also demonstrate spontaneous drops in viral load in later STIs, which reflect fluctuations in the rates of viral production and/or clearance that may be caused by a complex interaction between virus and target cells and/or immune responses
Accretion disks around binary black holes of unequal mass: GRMHD simulations of postdecoupling and merger
We report results from simulations in general relativity of magnetized disks
accreting onto merging black hole binaries, starting from relaxed disk initial
data. The simulations feature an effective, rapid radiative cooling scheme as a
limiting case of future treatments with radiative transfer. Here we evolve the
systems after binary-disk decoupling through inspiral and merger, and analyze
the dependence on the binary mass ratio with and . We find that the luminosity associated with local
cooling is larger than the luminosity associated with matter kinetic outflows,
while the electromagnetic (Poynting) luminosity associated with bulk transport
of magnetic field energy is the smallest. The cooling luminosity around merger
is only marginally smaller than that of a single, non-spinning black hole.
Incipient jets are launched independently of the mass ratio, while the same
initial disk accreting on a single non-spinning black hole does not lead to a
jet, as expected. For all mass ratios we see a transient behavior in the
collimated, magnetized outflows lasting after
merger: the outflows become increasingly magnetically dominated and accelerated
to higher velocities, boosting the Poynting luminosity. These sudden changes
can alter the electromagnetic emission across the jet and potentially help
distinguish mergers of black holes in AGNs from single accreting black holes
based on jet morphology alone.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, matches published versio
A model of maxilla resection to test new hybrid implants:macroporous titanium and tissue engineering elements
Maxillary bone loss in commonly found in humans, due to bone ageing, tooth loos, periodontal disease and, more severely, to trauma, radiotherapy and tumor resection. Masillofacial reconstructive surgery is a still unmet clinical demand, available therapies include grafting of autologous or heterologous bone tissue and/or the implantation of metallic plates, buy these treatments are still unable to resume form and function. The emrgence of 3D-printing technology applied to metal alloys now allows the manufacturing of customized, patient-tailored prosthetic implants. However, poor bone quiality at the implant site due to ageing or disease still hamper proper osseointegration. By combining Electron Beam Melting metal sintering and tissue engineering, we are developing hybrid maxillofacial implants, wher a metal framework of Ti6Al4V alloy confers both and appropiaate shape and mechanical stabilty, while stem cells and osteogenic molecules stimulate bone growth into the metal framework, thus pormoting osseointegration. We hereby present the in vitro work driving to the development of our hybrid maxillofacial prostheses, as well as the setting up of an in vivo model of complete maxilla full resection, created in order to test the prostheses in a preclinical studyUniversidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech
Noise in Grover's Quantum Search Algorithm
Grover's quantum algorithm improves any classical search algorithm. We show
how random Gaussian noise at each step of the algorithm can be modelled easily
because of the exact recursion formulas available for computing the quantum
amplitude in Grover's algorithm. We study the algorithm's intrinsic robustness
when no quantum correction codes are used, and evaluate how much noise the
algorithm can bear with, in terms of the size of the phone book and a desired
probability of finding the correct result. The algorithm loses efficiency when
noise is added, but does not slow down. We also study the maximal noise under
which the iterated quantum algorithm is just as slow as the classical
algorithm. In all cases, the width of the allowed noise scales with the size of
the phone book as N^-2/3.Comment: 17 pages, 2 eps figures. Revised version. To be published in PRA,
December 199
Analysis of CMB maps with 2D wavelets
We consider the 2D wavelet transform with two scales to study sky maps of
temperature anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB). We
apply this technique to simulated maps of small sky patches of size 12.8 \times
12.8 square degrees and 1.5' \times 1.5' pixels. The relation to the standard
approach, based on the cl's is established through the introduction of the
scalogram. We consider temperature fluctuations derived from standard, open and
flat-Lambda CDM models. We analyze CMB anisotropies maps plus uncorrelated
Gaussian noise (uniform and non-uniform) at idfferent S/N levels. We explore in
detail the denoising of such maps and compare the results with other techniques
already proposed in the literature. Wavelet methods provide a good
reconstruction of the image and power spectrum. Moreover, they are faster than
previously proposed methods.Comment: latex file 7 pages + 5 postscript files + 1 gif file; accepted for
publication in A&A
Proving and Computing: Applying Automated Reasoning to the Verification of Symbolic Computation Systems
The application of automated reasoning to the formal verification
of symbolic computation systems is motivated by the need of
ensuring the correctness of the results computed by the system, beyond
the classical approach of testing. Formal verification of properties of the
implemented algorithms require not only to formalize the properties of
the algorithm, but also of the underlying (usually rich) mathematical
theory.
We show how we can use ACL2, a first-order interactive theorem
prover, to reason about properties of algorithms that are typically implemented
as part of symbolic computation systems. We emphasize two
aspects. First, how we can override the apparent lack of expressiveness we
have using a first-order approach (at least compared to higher-order logics).
Second, how we can execute the algorithms (efficiently, if possible)
in the same setting where we formally reason about their correctness.
Three examples of formal verification of symbolic computation algorithms
are presented to illustrate the main issues one has to face in this
task: a Gr¨obner basis algorithm, a first-order unification algorithm based
on directed acyclic graphs, and the Eilenberg-Zilber algorithm, one of
the central components of a symbolic computation system in algebraic
topology
- …