471 research outputs found
Domain Growth, Wetting and Scaling in Porous Media
The lattice Boltzmann (LB) method is used to study the kinetics of domain
growth of a binary fluid in a number of geometries modeling porous media.
Unlike the traditional methods which solve the Cahn-Hilliard equation, the LB
method correctly simulates fluid properties, phase segregation, interface
dynamics and wetting. Our results, based on lattice sizes of up to , do not show evidence to indicate the breakdown of late stage dynamical
scaling, and suggest that confinement of the fluid is the key to the slow
kinetics observed. Randomness of the pore structure appears unnecessary.Comment: 13 pages, latex, submitted to PR
Geodesics of electrically and magnetically charged test particles in the Reissner-Nordstr\"om space-time: analytical solutions
We present the full set of analytical solutions of the geodesic equations of
charged test particles in the Reissner-Nordstr\"om space-time in terms of the
Weierstra{\ss} , and elliptic functions. Based on the
study of the polynomials in the and equations we characterize
the motion of test particles and discuss their properties. The motion of
charged test particles in the Reissner-Nordstr\"om space-time is compared with
the motion of neutral test particles in the field of a gravitomagnetic
monopole. Electrically or magnetically charged particles in the
Reissner-Nordstr\"om space-time with magnetic or electric charges,
respectively, move on cones similar to neutral test particles in the Taub-NUT
space-times
Educational outcomes in extremely preterm children : neuropsychological correlates and predictors of attainment
This study assessed the impact of extremely preterm birth on academic attainment at 11 years of
age, investigated neuropsychological antecedents of attainment in reading and mathematics, and
examined early predictors of educational outcomes. Children born extremely preterm had significantly
poorer academic attainment and a higher prevalence of learning difficulties than their term
peers. General cognitive ability and specific deficits in visuospatial skills or phoneme deletion at 6
years were predictive of mathematics and reading attainment at 11 years in both extremely preterm
and term children. Phonological processing, attention, and executive functions at 6 years were also
associated with academic attainment in children born extremely preterm. Furthermore, social factors,
neonatal factors (necrotizing enterocolitis, breech delivery, abnormal cerebral ultrasound, early
breast milk provision), and developmental factors at 30 months (head circumference, cognitive development),
were independent predictors of educational outcomes at 11 years. Neonatal complications
combined with assessments of early cognitive function provide moderate prediction for educational
outcomes in children born extremely preterm
Epigenetic and phenotypic variability in populaitons of Schistosoma mansoni - a possible kick-off for adaptative host/parasite evolution
International audienceEpigenetics, the science of heritable but modifiable information, is now a well-accepted component of many research fields. Nevertheless, epigenetics has not yet found broad appreciation in one of the most exciting fields of biology: the comprehension of evolution. This is surprising, since the reason for the existence of this alternative information-transmitting system lies certainly in the evolutionary advantage it provides. Theoretical considerations support a model in which epigenetic mechanisms allow for increasing phenotypic variability and permit populations to explore the adaptive landscape without modifications of the genotype. The data presented here support the view that modulating the epigenotype of the human bloodfluke Schistosoma mansoni by treatment of larvae with histone deacetylase inhibitor leads indeed to an increase of phenotypic variability. It is therefore conceivable that environmentally induced changes in the epigenotype release new phenotypes on which selection can act and that this process is the first step in adaptive evolution
Is there life inside black holes?
Bound inside rotating or charged black holes, there are stable periodic
planetary orbits, which neither come out nor terminate at the central
singularity. Stable periodic orbits inside black holes exist even for photons.
These bound orbits may be defined as orbits of the third kind, following the
Chandrasekhar classification of particle orbits in the black hole gravitational
field. The existence domain for the third kind orbits is rather spacious, and
thus there is place for life inside supermassive black holes in the galactic
nuclei. Interiors of the supermassive black holes may be inhabited by
civilizations, being invisible from the outside. In principle, one can get
information from the interiors of black holes by observing their white hole
counterparts.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures; references adde
Lattice Boltzmann Simulation of Non-Ideal Fluids
A lattice Boltzmann scheme able to model the hydrodynamics of phase
separation and two-phase flow is described. Thermodynamic consistency is
ensured by introducing a non-ideal pressure tensor directly into the collision
operator. We also show how an external chemical potential can be used to
supplement standard boundary conditions in order to investigate the effect of
wetting on phase separation and fluid flow in confined geometries. The approach
has the additional advantage of reducing many of the unphysical discretisation
problems common to previous lattice Boltzmann methods.Comment: 11 pages, revtex, 4 Postscript figures, uuencode
Particle motion in the field of a five-dimensional charged black hole
In this paper, we have investigated the geodesics of neutral particles near a
five-dimensional charged black hole using a comparative approach. The effective
potential method is used to determine the location of the horizons and to study
radial and circular trajectories. This also helps us to analyze the stability
of radial and circular orbits. The radius of the innermost stable circular
orbits have also been determined. Contrary to the case of massive particles for
which, the circular orbits may have up to eight possible values of specific
radius, we find that the photons will only have two distinct values for the
specific radii of circular trajectories. Finally we have used the dynamical
systems analysis to determine the critical points and the nature of the
trajectories for the timelike and null geodesics.Comment: 15 pages, accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Scienc
Neonatal Pain-Related Stress and NFKBIA Genotype Are Associated with Altered Cortisol Levels in Preterm Boys at School Age
Neonatal pain-related stress is associated with elevated salivary cortisol levels to age 18 months in children born very preterm, compared to full-term, suggesting early programming effects. Importantly, interactions between immune/inflammatory and neuroendocrine systems may underlie programming effects. We examined whether cortisol changes persist to school age, and if common genetic variants in the promoter region of the NFKBIA gene involved in regulation of immune and inflammatory responses, modify the association between early experience and later life stress as indexed by hair cortisol levels, which provide an integrated index of endogenous HPA axis activity. Cortisol was assayed in hair samples from 128 children (83 born preterm ≤ 32 weeks gestation and 45 born full-term) without major sensory, motor or cognitive impairments at age 7 years. We found that hair cortisol levels were lower in preterm compared to term-born children. Downregulation of the HPA axis in preterm children without major impairment, seen years after neonatal stress terminated, suggests persistent alteration of stress system programming. Importantly, the etiology was gender-specific such that in preterm boys but not girls, specifically those with the minor allele for NFKBIA rs2233409, lower hair cortisol was associated with greater neonatal pain (number of skin-breaking procedures from birth to term), independent of medical confounders. Moreover, the minor allele (CT or TT) of NFKBIA rs2233409 was associated with higher secretion of inflammatory cytokines, supporting the hypothesis that neonatal pain-related stress may act as a proinflammatory stimulus that induces long-term immune cell activation. These findings are the first evidence that a long-term association between early pain-related stress and cortisol may be mediated by a genetic variants that regulate the activity of NF-κB, suggesting possible involvement of stress/inflammatory mechanisms in HPA programming in boys born very preterm
Hydrodynamic Spinodal Decomposition: Growth Kinetics and Scaling Functions
We examine the effects of hydrodynamics on the late stage kinetics in
spinodal decomposition. From computer simulations of a lattice Boltzmann scheme
we observe, for critical quenches, that single phase domains grow
asymptotically like , with in two dimensions
and in three dimensions, both in excellent agreement with
theoretical predictions.Comment: 12 pages, latex, Physical Review B Rapid Communication (in press
Tract-Based Spatial Statistics in Preterm-Born Neonates Predicts Cognitive and Motor Outcomes at 18 Months.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Adverse neurodevelopmental outcome is common in children born preterm. Early sensitive predictors of neurodevelopmental outcome such as MR imaging are needed. Tract-based spatial statistics, a diffusion MR imaging analysis method, performed at term-equivalent age (40 weeks) is a promising predictor of neurodevelopmental outcomes in children born very preterm. We sought to determine the association of tract-based spatial statistics findings before term-equivalent age with neurodevelopmental outcome at 18-months corrected age.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Of 180 neonates (born at 24-32-weeks\u27 gestation) enrolled, 153 had DTI acquired early at 32 weeks\u27 postmenstrual age and 105 had DTI acquired later at 39.6 weeks\u27 postmenstrual age. Voxelwise statistics were calculated by performing tract-based spatial statistics on DTI that was aligned to age-appropriate templates. At 18-month corrected age, 166 neonates underwent neurodevelopmental assessment by using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, 3rd ed, and the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales, 2nd ed.
RESULTS: Tract-based spatial statistics analysis applied to early-acquired scans (postmenstrual age of 30-33 weeks) indicated a limited significant positive association between motor skills and axial diffusivity and radial diffusivity values in the corpus callosum, internal and external/extreme capsules, and midbrain (P \u3c .05, corrected). In contrast, for term scans (postmenstrual age of 37-41 weeks), tract-based spatial statistics analysis showed a significant relationship between both motor and cognitive scores with fractional anisotropy in the corpus callosum and corticospinal tracts (P \u3c .05, corrected). Tract-based spatial statistics in a limited subset of neonates (n = 22) scanned at
CONCLUSIONS: The strength of the association between fractional anisotropy values and neurodevelopmental outcome scores increased from early-to-late-acquired scans in preterm-born neonates, consistent with brain dysmaturation in this population
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