395 research outputs found
Mean field approaches to the totally asymmetric exclusion process with quenched disorder and large particles
The process of protein synthesis in biological systems resembles a one
dimensional driven lattice gas in which the particles (ribosomes) have spatial
extent, covering more than one lattice site. Realistic, nonuniform gene
sequences lead to quenched disorder in the particle hopping rates. We study the
totally asymmetric exclusion process with large particles and quenched disorder
via several mean field approaches and compare the mean field results with Monte
Carlo simulations. Mean field equations obtained from the literature are found
to be reasonably effective in describing this system. A numerical technique is
developed for computing the particle current rapidly. The mean field approach
is extended to include two-point correlations between adjacent sites. The
two-point results are found to match Monte Carlo simulations more closely
Unilateral Hemiparesis with Thoracic Epidural in an Adolescent
Objective. Unilateral sensory and motor blockade is known to occur with epidural anesthesia but is rarely reported in children. The differential diagnosis should include the presence of a midline epidural septum. Case Report. We describe a case of a 16-year-old adolescent who developed repeated complete unilateral extensive epidural sensory and motor blockade with Horner's syndrome after thoracic epidural catheter placement. This unusual presentation of complete hemibody neural blockade has not been reported in the pediatric population. Maneuvers to improve contralateral uniform neural blockade were unsuccessful. An epidurogram was performed to ascertain the correct location of the catheter within the epidural space and presence of sagittal compartmentalization. Conclusion. This case report highlights a less frequently reported reason for unilateral sensory and motor blockade with epidural anesthesia in children. The presence of a midline epidural septum should be considered in the differential diagnosis of unilateral epidural blockade
Barkhausen Noise and Critical Scaling in the Demagnetization Curve
The demagnetization curve, or initial magnetization curve, is studied by
examining the embedded Barkhausen noise using the non-equilibrium, zero
temperature random-field Ising model. The demagnetization curve is found to
reflect the critical point seen as the system's disorder is changed. Critical
scaling is found for avalanche sizes and the size and number of spanning
avalanches. The critical exponents are derived from those related to the
saturation loop and subloops. Finally, the behavior in the presence of long
range demagnetizing fields is discussed. Results are presented for simulations
of up to one million spins.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter
Effect of the reservoir size on gas adsorption in inhomogeneous porous media
We study the influence of the relative size of the reservoir on the
adsorption isotherms of a fluid in disordered or inhomogeneous mesoporous
solids. We consider both an atomistic model of a fluid in a simple, yet
structured pore, whose adsorption isotherms are computed by molecular
simulation, and a coarse-grained model for adsorption in a disordered
mesoporous material, studied by a density functional approach in a local
mean-field approximation. In both cases, the fluid inside the porous solid
exchanges matter with a reservoir of gas that is at the same temperature and
chemical potential and whose relative size can be varied, and the control
parameter is the total number of molecules present in the porous sample and in
the reservoir. Varying the relative sizes of the reservoir and the sample may
change the shape of the hysteretic isotherms, leading to a "reentrant" behavior
compared to the grand-canonical isotherm when the latter displays a jump in
density. We relate these phenomena to the organization of the metastable states
that are accessible for the adsorbed fluid at a given chemical potential or
density.Comment: 16 page
Is demagnetization an efficient optimization method?
Demagnetization, commonly employed to study ferromagnets, has been proposed
as the basis for an optimization tool, a method to find the ground state of a
disordered system. Here we present a detailed comparison between the ground
state and the demagnetized state in the random field Ising model, combing exact
results in and numerical solutions in . We show that there are
important differences between the two states that persist in the thermodynamic
limit and thus conclude that AC demagnetization is not an efficient
optimization method.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figur
Contesting the cruel treatment of abortion-seeking women
NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Reproductive Health Matters. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH MATTERS, [VOL 22, ISSUE 44, (2014)] DOI: 10.1016/S0968-8080(14)44818-
Nonlinear Waves in Disordered Diatomic Granular Chains
We investigate the propagation and scattering of highly nonlinear waves in
disordered granular chains composed of diatomic (two-mass) units of spheres
that interact via Hertzian contact. Using ideas from statistical mechanics, we
consider each diatomic unit to be a "spin", so that a granular chain can be
viewed as a spin chain composed of units that are each oriented in one of two
possible ways. Experiments and numerical simulations both reveal the existence
of two different mechanisms of wave propagation: In low-disorder chains, we
observe the propagation of a solitary pulse with exponentially decaying
amplitude. Beyond a critical level of disorder, the wave amplitude instead
decays as a power law, and the wave transmission becomes insensitive to the
level of disorder. We characterize the spatio-temporal structure of the wave in
both propagation regimes and propose a simple theoretical interpretation for
such a transition. Our investigation suggests that an elastic spin chain can be
used as a model system to investigate the role of heterogeneities in the
propagation of highly nonlinear waves.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures (some with multiple parts), to appear in Physical
Review E; summary of changes: new title, one new figure, additional
discussion of several points (including both background and results
Gas adsorption/desorption in silica aerogels: a theoretical study of scattering properties
We present a numerical study of the structural correlations associated to gas
adsorption/desorption in silica aerogels in order to provide a theoretical
interpretation of scattering experiments. Following our earlier work, we use a
coarse-grained lattice-gas description and determine the nonequilibrium
behavior of the adsorbed gas within a local mean-field analysis.
We focus on the differences between the adsorption and desorption mechanisms
and their signature in the fluid-fluid and gel-fluid structure factors as a
function of temperature. At low temperature, but still in the regime where the
isotherms are continuous, we find that the adsorbed fluid density, during both
filling and draining, is correlated over distances that may be much larger than
the gel correlation length. In particular, extended fractal correlations may
occur during desorption, indicating the existence of a ramified cluster of
vapor filled cavities. This also induces an important increase of the
scattering intensity at small wave vectors. The similarity and differences with
the scattering of fluids in other porous solids such as Vycor are discussed.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figure
Dislocation Kinks in Copper: Widths, Barriers, Effective Masses, and Quantum Tunneling
We calculate the widths, migration barriers, effective masses, and quantum
tunneling rates of kinks and jogs in extended screw dislocations in copper,
using an effective medium theory interatomic potential. The energy barriers and
effective masses for moving a unit jog one lattice constant are close to
typical atomic energies and masses: tunneling will be rare. The energy barriers
and effective masses for the motion of kinks are unexpectedly small due to the
spreading of the kinks over a large number of atoms. The effective masses of
the kinks are so small that quantum fluctuations will be important. We discuss
implications for quantum creep, kink--based tunneling centers, and Kondo
resonances
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