8,307 research outputs found
Recent applications of the transonic wing analysis computer code, TWING
An evaluation of the transonic-wing-analysis computer code TWING is given. TWING utilizes a fully implicit approximate factorization iteration scheme to solve the full potential equation in conservative form. A numerical elliptic-solver grid-generation scheme is used to generate the required finite-difference mesh. Several wing configurations were analyzed, and the limits of applicability of this code was evaluated. Comparisons of computed results were made with available experimental data. Results indicate that the code is robust, accurate (when significant viscous effects are not present), and efficient. TWING generally produces solutions an order of magnitude faster than other conservative full potential codes using successive-line overrelaxation. The present method is applicable to a wide range of isolated wing configurations including high-aspect-ratio transport wings and low-aspect-ratio, high-sweep, fighter configurations
Quasirandom Load Balancing
We propose a simple distributed algorithm for balancing indivisible tokens on
graphs. The algorithm is completely deterministic, though it tries to imitate
(and enhance) a random algorithm by keeping the accumulated rounding errors as
small as possible.
Our new algorithm surprisingly closely approximates the idealized process
(where the tokens are divisible) on important network topologies. On
d-dimensional torus graphs with n nodes it deviates from the idealized process
only by an additive constant. In contrast to that, the randomized rounding
approach of Friedrich and Sauerwald (2009) can deviate up to Omega(polylog(n))
and the deterministic algorithm of Rabani, Sinclair and Wanka (1998) has a
deviation of Omega(n^{1/d}). This makes our quasirandom algorithm the first
known algorithm for this setting which is optimal both in time and achieved
smoothness. We further show that also on the hypercube our algorithm has a
smaller deviation from the idealized process than the previous algorithms.Comment: 25 page
A Unified treatment of small and large- scale dynamos in helical turbulence
Helical turbulence is thought to provide the key to the generation of
large-scale magnetic fields. Turbulence also generically leads to rapidly
growing small-scale magnetic fields correlated on the turbulence scales. These
two processes are usually studied separately. We give here a unified treatment
of both processes, in the case of random fields, incorporating also a simple
model non-linear drift. In the process we uncover an interesting plausible
saturated state of the small-scale dynamo and a novel analogy between quantum
mechanical (QM) tunneling and the generation of large scale fields. The steady
state problem of the combined small/large scale dynamo, is mapped to a
zero-energy, QM potential problem; but a potential which, for non-zero mean
helicity, allows tunneling of bound states. A field generated by the
small-scale dynamo, can 'tunnel' to produce large-scale correlations, which in
steady state, correspond to a force-free 'mean' field.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, Physical Review Letters, in pres
Cosmological Magnetic Fields from Primordial Helical Seeds
Most early Universe scenarios predict negligible magnetic fields on
cosmological scales if they are unprocessed during subsequent expansion of the
Universe. We present a new numerical treatment of the evolution of primordial
fields and apply it to weakly helical seeds as they occur in certain early
Universe scenarios. We find that initial helicities not much larger than the
baryon to photon number can lead to fields of about 10^{-13} Gauss with
coherence scales slightly below a kilo-parsec today.Comment: 4 revtex pages, 2 postscript figures include
Inflation-Produced Magnetic Fields in R^n F^2 and I F^2 models
We re-analyze the production of seed magnetic fields during Inflation in
(R/m^2)^n F_{\mu \nu}F^{\mu \nu} and I F_{\mu \nu}F^{\mu \nu} models, where n
is a positive integer, R the Ricci scalar, m a mass parameter, and I \propto
\eta^\alpha a power-law function of the conformal time \eta, with \alpha a
positive real number. If m is the electron mass, the produced fields are
uninterestingly small for all n. Taking m as a free parameter we find that, for
n \geq 2, the produced magnetic fields can be sufficiently strong in order to
seed dynamo mechanism and then to explain galactic magnetism. For \alpha
\gtrsim 2, there is always a window in the parameters defining Inflation such
that the generated magnetic fields are astrophysically interesting. Moreover,
if Inflation is (almost) de Sitter and the produced fields almost
scale-invariant (\alpha \simeq 4), their intensity can be strong enough to
directly explain the presence of microgauss galactic magnetic fields.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Minor revisions. References added. Accepted for
publication in Phys. Rev.
Magnetohydrodynamics in the Inflationary Universe
Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves are analysed in the early Universe, in the
inflationary era, assuming the Universe to be filled with a nonviscous fluid of
the Zel'dovich type () in a metric of the de Sitter form. A spatially
uniform, time dependent, magnetic field is assumed to be present.
The Einstein equations are first solved to give the time dependence of the
scale factor, assuming that the matter density, but not the magnetic field,
contribute as source terms. The various modes are thereafter analysed; they
turn out to be essentially of the same kind as those encountered in
conventional nongravitational MHD, although the longitudinal magnetosonic wave
is not interpretable as a physical energy-transporting wave as the group
velocity becomes superluminal. We determine the phase speed of the various
modes; they turn out to be scale factor independent. The Alfv\'{e}n velocity of
the transverse magnetohydrodynamic wave becomes extremely small in the
inflationary era, showing that the wave is in practice 'frozen in'.Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX, no figures. Minor additions to the Summary section
and Acknowledgments section. Two new references. Version to appear in Phys.
Rev.
Cosmic rays and Radio Halos in galaxy clusters : new constraints from radio observations
Clusters of galaxies are sites of acceleration of charged particles and
sources of non-thermal radiation. We report on new constraints on the
population of cosmic rays in the Intra Cluster Medium (ICM) obtained via radio
observations of a fairly large sample of massive, X-ray luminous, galaxy
clusters in the redshift interval 0.2--0.4. The bulk of the observed galaxy
clusters does not show any hint of Mpc scale synchrotron radio emission at the
cluster center (Radio Halo). We obtained solid upper limits to the diffuse
radio emission and discuss their implications for the models for the origin of
Radio Halos. Our measurements allow us to derive also a limit to the content of
cosmic ray protons in the ICM. Assuming spectral indices of these protons delta
=2.1-2.4 and microG level magnetic fields, as from Rotation Measures, these
limits are one order of magnitude deeper than present EGRET upper limits, while
they are less stringent for steeper spectra and lower magnetic fields.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, ApJ Letter, accepte
Anisotropic stresses in inhomogeneous universes
Anisotropic stress contributions to the gravitational field can arise from
magnetic fields, collisionless relativistic particles, hydrodynamic shear
viscosity, gravitational waves, skew axion fields in low-energy string
cosmologies, or topological defects. We investigate the effects of such
stresses on cosmological evolution, and in particular on the dissipation of
shear anisotropy. We generalize some previous results that were given for
homogeneous anisotropic universes, by including small inhomogeneity in the
universe. This generalization is facilitated by a covariant approach. We find
that anisotropic stress dominates the evolution of shear, slowing its decay.
The effect is strongest in radiation-dominated universes, where there is slow
logarithmic decay of shear.Comment: 7 pages Revte
Heat shock-induced phosphorylation of TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) by MAPK/ERK kinase regulates TDP-43 function
TAR DNA-binding protein (TDP-43) is a highly conserved and essential DNA- and RNA-binding protein that controls gene expression through RNA processing, in particular, regulation of splicing. Intracellular aggregation of TDP-43 is a hallmark of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and ubiquitin-positive frontotemporal lobar degeneration. This TDP-43 pathology is also present in other types of neurodegeneration including Alzheimer's disease. We report here that TDP-43 is a substrate of MEK, a central kinase in the MAPK/ERK signaling pathway. TDP-43 dual phosphorylation by MEK, at threonine 153 and tyrosine 155 (p-T153/Y155), was dramatically increased by the heat shock response (HSR) in human cells. HSR promotes cell survival under proteotoxic conditions by maintaining protein homeostasis and preventing protein misfolding. MEK is activated by HSR and contributes to the regulation of proteome stability. Phosphorylated TDP-43 was not associated with TDP-43 aggregation, and p-T153/Y155 remained soluble under conditions that promote protein misfolding. We found that active MEK significantly alters TDP-43-regulated splicing and that phosphomimetic substitutions at these two residues reduce binding to GU-rich RNA. Cellular imaging using a phospho-specific p-T153/Y155 antibody showed that phosphorylated TDP-43 was specifically recruited to the nucleoli, suggesting that p-T153/Y155 regulates a previously unappreciated function of TDP-43 in the processing of nucleolar-associated RNA. These findings highlight a new mechanism that regulates TDP-43 function and homeostasis through phosphorylation and, therefore, may contribute to the development of strategies to prevent TDP-43 aggregation and to uncover previously unexplored roles of TDP-43 in cell metabolism
Using Unnatural Amino Acid Mutagenesis To Probe the Regulation of PRMT1
Protein arginine methyltransferase 1 (PRMT1)-dependent methylation contributes to the onset and progression of numerous diseases (e.g., cancer, heart disease, ALS); however, the regulatory mechanisms that control PRMT1 activity are relatively unexplored. We therefore set out to decipher how phosphorylation regulates PRMT1 activity. Curated mass spectrometry data identified Tyr291, a residue adjacent to the conserved THW loop, as being phosphorylated. Natural and unnatural amino acid mutagenesis, including the incorporation of p-carboxymethyl-L-phenylalanine (pCmF) as a phosphotyrosine mimic, were used to show that Tyr291 phosphorylation alters the substrate specificity of PRMT1. Additionally, p-benzoyl-L-phenylalanine (pBpF) was incorporated at the Tyr291 position, and cross-linking experiments with K562 cell extracts identified several proteins (e.g., hnRNPA1 and hnRNP center dot center dot H3) that bind specifically to this site. Moreover, we also demonstrate that Tyr291 phosphorylation impairs PRMT1\u27s ability to bind and methylate both proteins. In total, these studies demonstrate that Tyr291 phosphorylation alters both PRMT1 substrate specificity and protein-protein interacions
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