2,404 research outputs found
Boundary Effects in the One Dimensional Coulomb Gas
We use the functional integral technique of Edwards and Lenard to solve the
statistical mechanics of a one dimensional Coulomb gas with boundary
interactions leading to surface charging. The theory examined is a one
dimensional model for a soap film. Finite size effects and the phenomenon of
charge regulation are studied. We also discuss the pressure of disjunction for
such a film. Even in the absence of boundary potentials we find that the
presence of a surface affects the physics in finite systems. In general we find
that in the presence of a boundary potential the long distance disjoining
pressure is positive but may become negative at closer interplane separations.
This is in accordance with the attractive forces seen at close separations in
colloidal and soap film experiments and with three dimensional calculations
beyond mean field. Finally our exact results are compared with the predictions
of the corresponding Poisson-Boltzmann theory which is often used in the
context of colloidal and thin liquid film systems.Comment: 28 pages, LATEX2e, 11 figures, uses styles[12pt] resubmission because
of minor corrections to tex
Path integrals for stiff polymers applied to membrane physics
Path integrals similar to those describing stiff polymers arise in the
Helfrich model for membranes. We show how these types of path integrals can be
evaluated and apply our results to study the thermodynamics of a minority
stripe phase in a bulk membrane. The fluctuation induced contribution to the
line tension between the stripe and the bulk phase is computed, as well as the
effective interaction between the two phases in the tensionless case where the
two phases have differing bending rigidities.Comment: 11 pages RevTex, 4 figure
Validation of a modified clinical risk score to predict cancer-specific survival for stage II colon cancer
Many patients with stage II colon cancer will die of their disease despite curative surgery. Therefore, identification of patients at high risk of poor outcome after surgery for stage II colon cancer is desirable. This study aims to validate a clinical risk score to predict cancer-specific survival in patients undergoing surgery for stage II colon cancer. Patients undergoing surgery for stage II colon cancer in 16 hospitals in the West of Scotland between 2001 and 2004 were identified from a prospectively maintained regional clinical audit database. Overall and cancer-specific survival rates up to 5 years were calculated. A total of 871 patients were included. At 5 years, cancer-specific survival was 81.9% and overall survival was 65.6%. On multivariate analysis, age ≥75 years (hazard ratio (HR) 2.11, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.57–2.85; P<0.001) and emergency presentation (HR 1.97, 95% CI 1.43–2.70; P<0.001) were independently associated with cancer-specific survival. Age and mode of presentation HRs were added to form a clinical risk score of 0–2. The cancer-specific survival at 5 years for patients with a cumulative score 0 was 88.7%, 1 was 78.2% and 2 was 65.9%. These results validate a modified simple clinical risk score for patients undergoing surgery for stage II colon cancer. The combination of these two universally documented clinical factors provides a solid foundation for the examination of the impact of additional clinicopathological and treatment factors on overall and cancer-specific survival
Some observations on the renormalization of membrane rigidity by long-range interactions
We consider the renormalization of the bending and Gaussian rigidity of model
membranes induced by long-range interactions between the components making up
the membrane. In particular we analyze the effect of a finite membrane
thickness on the renormalization of the bending and Gaussian rigidity by
long-range interactions. Particular attention is paid to the case where the
interactions are of a van der Waals type.Comment: 11 pages RexTex, no figure
Gauged O(n) spin models in one dimension
We consider a gauged O(n) spin model, n >= 2, in one dimension which contains
both the pure O(n) and RP(n-1) models and which interpolates between them. We
show that this model is equivalent to the non-interacting sum of the O(n) and
Ising models. We derive the mass spectrum that scales in the continuum limit,
and demonstrate that there are two universality classes, one of which contains
the O(n) and RP(n-1) models and the other which has a tuneable parameter but
which is degenerate in the sense that it arises from the direct sum of the O(n)
and Ising models.Comment: 9 pages, no figures, LaTeX sourc
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