Two-component model for the chemical evolution of the Galactic disk

In the present paper, we introduce a two-component model of the Galactic disk to investigate its chemical evolution. The formation of the thick and thin disks occur in two main accretion episodes with both infall rates to be Gaussian. Both the pre-thin and post-thin scenarios for the formation of the Galactic disk are considered. The best-fitting is obtained through $\chi^2$-test between the models and the new observed metallicity distribution function of G dwarfs in the solar neighbourhood (Hou et al 1998). Our results show that post-thin disk scenario for the formation of the Galactic disk should be preferred. Still, other comparison between model predictions and observations are given.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figure

Molecular biomechanics of collagen molecules

Collagenous tissues, made of collagen molecules, such as tendon and bone, are intriguing materials that have the ability to respond to mechanical forces by altering their structures from the molecular level up, and convert them into biochemical signals that control many biological and pathological processes such as wound healing and tissue remodeling. It is clear that collagen synthesis and degradation are influenced by mechanical loading, and collagenous tissues have a remarkable built-in ability to alter the equilibrium between material formation and breakdown. However, how the mechanical force alters structures of collagen molecules and how the structural changes affect collagen degradation at molecular level is not well understood. The purpose of this article is to review the biomechanics of collagen, using a bottom-up approach that begins with the mechanics of collagen molecules. The current understanding of collagen degradation mechanisms is presented, followed by a discussion of recent studies on how mechanical force mediates collagen breakdown. Understanding the biomechanics of collagen molecules will provide the basis for understanding the mechanobiology of collagenous tissues. Addressing challenges in this field provides an opportunity for developing treatments, designing synthetic collagen materials for a variety of biomedical applications, and creating a new class of ‘smart’ structural materials that autonomously grow when needed, and break down when no longer required, with applications in nanotechnology, devices and civil engineering.National Science Foundation (U.S.)United States. Office of Naval Research. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and EngineersNational Institutes of Health (U.S.) (U01EB014976

Exact Potts Model Partition Functions for Strips of the Honeycomb Lattice

We present exact calculations of the Potts model partition function $Z(G,q,v)$ for arbitrary $q$ and temperature-like variable $v$ on $n$-vertex strip graphs $G$ of the honeycomb lattice for a variety of transverse widths equal to $L_y$ vertices and for arbitrarily great length, with free longitudinal boundary conditions and free and periodic transverse boundary conditions. These partition functions have the form $Z(G,q,v)=\sum_{j=1}^{N_{Z,G,\lambda}} c_{Z,G,j}(\lambda_{Z,G,j})^m$, where $m$ denotes the number of repeated subgraphs in the longitudinal direction. We give general formulas for $N_{Z,G,j}$ for arbitrary $L_y$. We also present plots of zeros of the partition function in the $q$ plane for various values of $v$ and in the $v$ plane for various values of $q$. Explicit results for partition functions are given in the text for $L_y=2,3$ (free) and $L_y=4$ (cylindrical), and plots of partition function zeros are given for $L_y$ up to 5 (free) and $L_y=6$ (cylindrical). Plots of the internal energy and specific heat per site for infinite-length strips are also presented.Comment: 39 pages, 34 eps figures, 3 sty file

Some Exact Results on the Potts Model Partition Function in a Magnetic Field

We consider the Potts model in a magnetic field on an arbitrary graph $G$. Using a formula of F. Y. Wu for the partition function $Z$ of this model as a sum over spanning subgraphs of $G$, we prove some properties of $Z$ concerning factorization, monotonicity, and zeros. A generalization of the Tutte polynomial is presented that corresponds to this partition function. In this context we formulate and discuss two weighted graph-coloring problems. We also give a general structural result for $Z$ for cyclic strip graphs.Comment: 5 pages, late

A Projection-Based K-space Transformer Network for Undersampled Radial MRI Reconstruction with Limited Training Subjects

The recent development of deep learning combined with compressed sensing enables fast reconstruction of undersampled MR images and has achieved state-of-the-art performance for Cartesian k-space trajectories. However, non-Cartesian trajectories such as the radial trajectory need to be transformed onto a Cartesian grid in each iteration of the network training, slowing down the training process and posing inconvenience and delay during training. Multiple iterations of nonuniform Fourier transform in the networks offset the deep learning advantage of fast inference. Current approaches typically either work on image-to-image networks or grid the non-Cartesian trajectories before the network training to avoid the repeated gridding process. However, the image-to-image networks cannot ensure the k-space data consistency in the reconstructed images and the pre-processing of non-Cartesian k-space leads to gridding errors which cannot be compensated by the network training. Inspired by the Transformer network to handle long-range dependencies in sequence transduction tasks, we propose to rearrange the radial spokes to sequential data based on the chronological order of acquisition and use the Transformer to predict unacquired radial spokes from acquired ones. We propose novel data augmentation methods to generate a large amount of training data from a limited number of subjects. The network can be generated to different anatomical structures. Experimental results show superior performance of the proposed framework compared to state-of-the-art deep neural networks.Comment: Accepted at MICCAI 202

Structure of the Partition Function and Transfer Matrices for the Potts Model in a Magnetic Field on Lattice Strips

We determine the general structure of the partition function of the $q$-state Potts model in an external magnetic field, $Z(G,q,v,w)$ for arbitrary $q$, temperature variable $v$, and magnetic field variable $w$, on cyclic, M\"obius, and free strip graphs $G$ of the square (sq), triangular (tri), and honeycomb (hc) lattices with width $L_y$ and arbitrarily great length $L_x$. For the cyclic case we prove that the partition function has the form $Z(\Lambda,L_y \times L_x,q,v,w)=\sum_{d=0}^{L_y} \tilde c^{(d)} Tr[(T_{Z,\Lambda,L_y,d})^m]$, where $\Lambda$ denotes the lattice type, $\tilde c^{(d)}$ are specified polynomials of degree $d$ in $q$, $T_{Z,\Lambda,L_y,d}$ is the corresponding transfer matrix, and $m=L_x$ ($L_x/2$) for $\Lambda=sq, tri (hc)$, respectively. An analogous formula is given for M\"obius strips, while only $T_{Z,\Lambda,L_y,d=0}$ appears for free strips. We exhibit a method for calculating $T_{Z,\Lambda,L_y,d}$ for arbitrary $L_y$ and give illustrative examples. Explicit results for arbitrary $L_y$ are presented for $T_{Z,\Lambda,L_y,d}$ with $d=L_y$ and $d=L_y-1$. We find very simple formulas for the determinant $det(T_{Z,\Lambda,L_y,d})$. We also give results for self-dual cyclic strips of the square lattice.Comment: Reference added to a relevant paper by F. Y. W

Co-evolution of two GTPases enables efficient protein targeting in an RNA-less chloroplast Signal Recognition Particle pathway

The signal recognition particle (SRP) is an essential ribonucleoprotein particle that mediates the co-translational targeting of newly synthesized proteins to cellular membranes. The SRP RNA is a universally conserved component of SRP that mediates key interactions between two GTPases in SRP and its receptor, thus enabling rapid delivery of cargo to the target membrane. Notably, this essential RNA is bypassed in the chloroplast (cp) SRP of green plants. Previously, we showed that the cpSRP and cpSRP receptor GTPases (cpSRP54 and cpFtsY, respectively) interact efficiently by themselves without the SRP RNA. Here, we explore the molecular mechanism by which this is accomplished. Fluorescence analyses showed that, in the absence of SRP RNA, the M-domain of cpSRP54 both accelerates and stabilizes complex assembly between cpSRP54 and cpFtsY. Cross-linking coupled with mass spectrometry and mutational analyses identified a new interaction between complementarily charged residues on the cpFtsY G-domain and the vicinity of the cpSRP54 M-domain. These residues are specifically conserved in plastids, and their evolution coincides with the loss of SRP RNA in green plants. These results provide an example of how proteins replace the functions of RNA during evolution

Metrology Camera System of Prime Focus Spectrograph for Subaru Telescope

The Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) is a new optical/near-infrared multi-fiber spectrograph designed for the prime focus of the 8.2m Subaru telescope. PFS will cover a 1.3 degree diameter field with 2394 fibers to complement the imaging capabilities of Hyper SuprimeCam. To retain high throughput, the final positioning accuracy between the fibers and observing targets of PFS is required to be less than 10um. The metrology camera system (MCS) serves as the optical encoder of the fiber motors for the configuring of fibers. MCS provides the fiber positions within a 5um error over the 45 cm focal plane. The information from MCS will be fed into the fiber positioner control system for the closed loop control. MCS will be located at the Cassegrain focus of Subaru telescope in order to to cover the whole focal plane with one 50M pixel Canon CMOS camera. It is a 380mm Schmidt type telescope which generates a uniform spot size with a 10 micron FWHM across the field for reasonable sampling of PSF. Carbon fiber tubes are used to provide a stable structure over the operating conditions without focus adjustments. The CMOS sensor can be read in 0.8s to reduce the overhead for the fiber configuration. The positions of all fibers can be obtained within 0.5s after the readout of the frame. This enables the overall fiber configuration to be less than 2 minutes. MCS will be installed inside a standard Subaru Cassgrain Box. All components that generate heat are located inside a glycol cooled cabinet to reduce the possible image motion due to heat. The optics and camera for MCS have been delivered and tested. The mechanical parts and supporting structure are ready as of spring 2016. The integration of MCS will start in the summer of 2016.Comment: 11 pages, 15 figures. SPIE proceeding. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1408.287