408 research outputs found
Thermodynamics of Heat Shock Response
Production of heat shock proteins are induced when a living cell is exposed
to a rise in temperature. The heat shock response of protein DnaK synthesis in
E.coli for temperature shifts from temperature T to T plus 7 degrees,
respectively to T minus 7 degrees is measured as function of the initial
temperature T. We observe a reversed heat shock at low T. The magnitude of the
shock increases when one increase the distance to the temperature , thereby mimicking the non monotous stability of proteins at low
temperature. Further we found that the variation of the heat shock with T
quantitatively follows the thermodynamic stability of proteins with
temperature. This suggest that stability related to hot as well as cold
unfolding of proteins is directly implemented in the biological control of
protein folding. We demonstrate that such an implementation is possible in a
minimalistic chemical network.Comment: To be published in Physical Review Letter
Topological features of massive bosons on two dimensional Einstein space-time
In this paper we tackle the problem of constructing explicit examples of
topological cocycles of Roberts' net cohomology, as defined abstractly by
Brunetti and Ruzzi. We consider the simple case of massive bosonic quantum
field theory on the two dimensional Einstein cylinder. After deriving some
crucial results of the algebraic framework of quantization, we address the
problem of the construction of the topological cocycles. All constructed
cocycles lead to unitarily equivalent representations of the fundamental group
of the circle (seen as a diffeomorphic image of all possible Cauchy surfaces).
The construction is carried out using only Cauchy data and related net of local
algebras on the circle.Comment: 41 pages, title changed, minor changes, typos corrected, references
added. Accepted for publication in Ann. Henri Poincare
Developed turbulence: From full simulations to full mode reductions
Developed Navier-Stokes turbulence is simulated with varying wavevector mode
reductions. The flatness and the skewness of the velocity derivative depend on
the degree of mode reduction. They show a crossover towards the value of the
full numerical simulation when the viscous subrange starts to be resolved. The
intermittency corrections of the scaling exponents of the pth order velocity
structure functions seem to depend mainly on the proper resolution of the
inertial subrange. Universal scaling properties (i.e., independent of the
degree of mode reduction) are found for the relative scaling exponents rho
which were recently defined by Benzi et al.Comment: 4 pages, 5 eps-figures, replaces version from August 5th, 199
Ice flux divergence anomalies on 79north Glacier, Greenland
International audienc
Unitary Positive-Energy Representations of Scalar Bilocal Quantum Fields
The superselection sectors of two classes of scalar bilocal quantum fields in
D>=4 dimensions are explicitly determined by working out the constraints
imposed by unitarity. The resulting classification in terms of the dual of the
respective gauge groups U(N) and O(N) confirms the expectations based on
general results obtained in the framework of local nets in algebraic quantum
field theory, but the approach using standard Lie algebra methods rather than
abstract duality theory is complementary. The result indicates that one does
not lose interesting models if one postulates the absence of scalar fields of
dimension D-2 in models with global conformal invariance. Another remarkable
outcome is the observation that, with an appropriate choice of the Hamiltonian,
a Lie algebra embedded into the associative algebra of observables completely
fixes the representation theory.Comment: 27 pages, v3: result improved by eliminating redundant assumptio
Analgesic treatment of ciguatoxin-induced cold allodynia
Ciguatera, the most common form of nonbacterial ichthyosarcotoxism, is caused by consumption of fish that have bioaccumulated the polyether sodium channel activator ciguatoxin. The neurological symptoms of ciguatera include distressing, often persistent sensory disturbances such as paraesthesias and the pathognomonic symptom of cold allodynia. We show that intracutaneous administration of ciguatoxin in humans elicits a pronounced axon-reflex flare and replicates cold allodynia. To identify compounds able to inhibit ciguatoxin-induced Na-v responses, we developed a novel in vitro ciguatoxin assay using the human neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y. Pharmacological characterisation of this assay demonstrated a major contribution of Na(v)1.2 and Na(v)1.3, but not Na(v)1.7, to ciguatoxin-induced Ca2+ responses. Clinically available Nav inhibitors, as well as the K(v)7 agonist flupirtine, inhibited tetrodotoxin-sensitive ciguatoxin-evoked responses. To establish their in vivo efficacy, we used a novel animal model of ciguatoxin-induced cold allodynia. However, differences in the efficacy of these compounds to reverse ciguatoxin-induced cold allodynia did not correlate with their potency to inhibit ciguatoxin-induced responses in SH-SY5Y cells or at heterologously expressed Nav1.3, Na(v)1.6, Na(v)1.7, or Na(v)1.8, indicating cold allodynia might be more complex than simple activation of Na-v channels. These findings highlight the need for suitable animal models to guide the empiric choice of analgesics, and suggest that lamotrigine and flupirtine could be potentially useful for the treatment of ciguatera. (C) 2013 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved
Hyperentangled States
We investigate a new class of entangled states, which we call
'hyperentangled',that have EPR correlations identical to those in the vacuum
state of a relativistic quantum field. We show that whenever hyperentangled
states exist in any quantum theory, they are dense in its state space. We also
give prescriptions for constructing hyperentangled states that involve an
arbitrarily large collection of systems.Comment: 23 pages, LaTeX, Submitted to Physical Review
Deterministic and stochastic descriptions of gene expression dynamics
A key goal of systems biology is the predictive mathematical description of
gene regulatory circuits. Different approaches are used such as deterministic
and stochastic models, models that describe cell growth and division explicitly
or implicitly etc. Here we consider simple systems of unregulated
(constitutive) gene expression and compare different mathematical descriptions
systematically to obtain insight into the errors that are introduced by various
common approximations such as describing cell growth and division by an
effective protein degradation term. In particular, we show that the population
average of protein content of a cell exhibits a subtle dependence on the
dynamics of growth and division, the specific model for volume growth and the
age structure of the population. Nevertheless, the error made by models with
implicit cell growth and division is quite small. Furthermore, we compare
various models that are partially stochastic to investigate the impact of
different sources of (intrinsic) noise. This comparison indicates that
different sources of noise (protein synthesis, partitioning in cell division)
contribute comparable amounts of noise if protein synthesis is not or only
weakly bursty. If protein synthesis is very bursty, the burstiness is the
dominant noise source, independent of other details of the model. Finally, we
discuss two sources of extrinsic noise: cell-to-cell variations in protein
content due to cells being at different stages in the division cycles, which we
show to be small (for the protein concentration and, surprisingly, also for the
protein copy number per cell) and fluctuations in the growth rate, which can
have a significant impact.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figures; Journal of Statistical physics (2012
Boundary conditions in the Unruh problem
We have analyzed the Unruh problem in the frame of quantum field theory and
have shown that the Unruh quantization scheme is valid in the double Rindler
wedge rather than in Minkowski spacetime. The double Rindler wedge is composed
of two disjoint regions (- and -wedges of Minkowski spacetime) which are
causally separated from each other. Moreover the Unruh construction implies
existence of boundary condition at the common edge of - and -wedges in
Minkowski spacetime. Such boundary condition may be interpreted as a
topological obstacle which gives rise to a superselection rule prohibiting any
correlations between - and - Unruh particles. Thus the part of the field
from the -wedge in no way can influence a Rindler observer living in the
-wedge and therefore elimination of the invisible "left" degrees of freedom
will take no effect for him. Hence averaging over states of the field in one
wedge can not lead to thermalization of the state in the other. This result is
proved both in the standard and algebraic formulations of quantum field theory
and we conclude that principles of quantum field theory does not give any
grounds for existence of the "Unruh effect".Comment: 31 pages,1 figur
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