78 research outputs found
The WASp-like protein Scar regulates macropinocytosis, phagocytosis and endosomal membrane flow in Dictyostelium
Scar, a member of the WASp protein family, was discovered in Dictyostelium discoideum during a genetic screen for second-site mutations that suppressed a developmental defect. Disruption of the scar gene reduced the levels of cellular F-actin by 50%. To investigate the role of Scar in endocytosis, phagocytosis and endocytic membrane trafficking, processes that depend on actin polymerization, we have analyzed a Dictyostelium cell line that is genetically null for Scar. Rates of fluid phase macropinocytosis and phagocytosis are significantly reduced in the scar- cell-line. In addition, exocytosis of fluid phase is delayed in these cells and movement of fluid phase from lysosomes to post-lysosomes is also delayed. Inhibition of actin polymerization with cytochalasin A resulted in similar phenotypes, suggesting that Scar-mediated polymerization of the actin cytoskeleton was important in the regulation of these processes. Supporting this conclusion, fluorescence microscopy revealed that some endo-lysosomes were ringed with F-actin in control cells but no F-actin was detected associated with endo-lysosomes in Scar null cells. Disruption of the two genes encoding the actin monomer sequestering protein profilin in wild-type cells causes defects in the rate of pinocytosis and fluid phase efflux. Consistent with a predicted physical interaction between Scar and profilin, disrupting the scar gene in the profilin null background results in greater decreases in the rate of fluid phase internalization and fluid phase release compared to either mutant alone. Taken together, these data support a model in which Scar and profilin functionally interact to regulate internalization of fluid and particles and later steps in the endosomal pathway, probably through regulation of actin cytoskeleton polymerization
On infrared divergences in spin glasses
By studying the structure of infrared divergences in a toy propagator in the
replica approach to the Ising spin glass below , we suggest a possible
cancellation mechanism which could decrease the degree of singularity in the
loop expansion.Comment: 13 pages, Latex , revised versio
Analysis of the infinity-replica symmetry breaking solution of the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model
In this work we analyse the Parisi's infinity-replica symmetry breaking
solution of the Sherrington - Kirkpatrick model without external field using
high order perturbative expansions. The predictions are compared with those
obtained from the numerical solution of the infinity-replica symmetry breaking
equations which are solved using a new pseudo-spectral code which allows for
very accurate results. With this methods we are able to get more insight into
the analytical properties of the solutions. We are also able to determine
numerically the end-point x_{max} of the plateau of q(x) and find that lim_{T
--> 0} x_{max}(T) > 0.5.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures, RevTeX 4.
On the scaling and ageing behaviour of the alternating susceptibility in spin glasses and local scale-invariance
The frequency-dependent scaling of the dispersive and dissipative parts of
the alternating susceptibility is studied for spin glasses at criticality. An
extension of the usual -scaling is proposed. Simulational data from
the three-dimensional Ising spin glass agree with this new scaling form and
moreover reproduce well the scaling functions explicitly calculated for systems
satisfying local scale-invariance. There is also a qualitative agreement with
existing experimental data.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figures, to appear in special issue of J. Phys. Cond.
Matt. dedicated to Lothar Schaefer on the occasion of his 60th birthday,
final form with IOP macro
Multifractality and percolation in the coupling space of perceptrons
The coupling space of perceptrons with continuous as well as with binary
weights gets partitioned into a disordered multifractal by a set of random input patterns. The multifractal spectrum can be
calculated analytically using the replica formalism. The storage capacity and
the generalization behaviour of the perceptron are shown to be related to
properties of which are correctly described within the replica
symmetric ansatz. Replica symmetry breaking is interpreted geometrically as a
transition from percolating to non-percolating cells. The existence of empty
cells gives rise to singularities in the multifractal spectrum. The analytical
results for binary couplings are corroborated by numerical studies.Comment: 13 pages, revtex, 4 eps figures, version accepted for publication in
Phys. Rev.
Spin glass transition in a magnetic field: a renormalization group study
We study the transition of short range Ising spin glasses in a magnetic
field, within a general replica symmetric field theory, which contains three
masses and eight cubic couplings, that is defined in terms of the fields
representing the replicon, anomalous and longitudinal modes. We discuss the
symmetry of the theory in the limit of replica number n to 0, and consider the
regular case where the longitudinal and anomalous masses remain degenerate.
The spin glass transitions in zero and non-zero field are analyzed in a
common framework. The mean field treatment shows the usual results, that is a
transition in zero field, where all the modes become critical, and a transition
in non-zero field, at the de Almeida-Thouless (AT) line, with only the replicon
mode critical. Renormalization group methods are used to study the critical
behavior, to order epsilon = 6-d. In the general theory we find a stable
fixed-point associated to the spin glass transition in zero field. This
fixed-point becomes unstable in the presence of a small magnetic field, and we
calculate crossover exponents, which we relate to zero-field critical
exponents. In a finite magnetic field, we find no physical stable fixed-point
to describe the AT transition, in agreement with previous results of other
authors.Comment: 36 pages with 4 tables. To be published in Phys. Rev.
Multifractal Analysis of the Coupling Space of Feed-Forward Neural Networks
Random input patterns induce a partition of the coupling space of
feed-forward neural networks into different cells according to the generated
output sequence. For the perceptron this partition forms a random multifractal
for which the spectrum can be calculated analytically using the
replica trick. Phase transition in the multifractal spectrum correspond to the
crossover from percolating to non-percolating cell sizes. Instabilities of
negative moments are related to the VC-dimension.Comment: 10 pages, Latex, submitted to PR
Magnetic field chaos in the SK Model
We study the Sherrington--Kirkpatrick model, both above and below the De
Almeida Thouless line, by using a modified version of the Parallel Tempering
algorithm in which the system is allowed to move between different values of
the magnetic field h. The behavior of the probability distribution of the
overlap between two replicas at different values of the magnetic field h_0 and
h_1 gives clear evidence for the presence of magnetic field chaos already for
moderate system sizes, in contrast to the case of temperature chaos, which is
not visible on system sizes that can currently be thermalized.Comment: Latex, 16 pages including 20 postscript figure
Static chaos and scaling behaviour in the spin-glass phase
We discuss the problem of static chaos in spin glasses. In the case of
magnetic field perturbations, we propose a scaling theory for the spin-glass
phase. Using the mean-field approach we argue that some pure states are
suppressed by the magnetic field and their free energy cost is determined by
the finite-temperature fixed point exponents. In this framework, numerical
results suggest that mean-field chaos exponents are probably exact in finite
dimensions. If we use the droplet approach, numerical results suggest that the
zero-temperature fixed point exponent is very close to
. In both approaches is the lower critical dimension in
agreement with recent numerical simulations.Comment: 28 pages + 6 figures, LateX, figures uuencoded at the end of fil
- …