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Identification of Trace Organic Components in the CR Chondrites by 4D TOFMS
This paper reports preliminary results of a 4D TOFMS study of CR chondrite organic material, highlighting the low-level organic species that may further reveal the complexity of parent body modification of interstellar precursors
Control of scroll wave turbulence using resonant perturbations
Turbulence of scroll waves is a sort of spatio-temporal chaos that exists in
three-dimensional excitable media. Cardiac tissue and the Belousov-Zhabotinsky
reaction are examples of such media. In cardiac tissue, chaotic behaviour is
believed to underlie fibrillation which, without intervention, precedes cardiac
death. In this study we investigate suppression of the turbulence using
stimulation of two different types, "modulation of excitability" and "extra
transmembrane current". With cardiac defibrillation in mind, we used a single
pulse as well as repetitive extra current with both constant and feedback
controlled frequency. We show that turbulence can be terminated using either a
resonant modulation of excitability or a resonant extra current. The turbulence
is terminated with much higher probability using a resonant frequency
perturbation than a non-resonant one. Suppression of the turbulence using a
resonant frequency is up to fifty times faster than using a non-resonant
frequency, in both the modulation of excitability and the extra current modes.
We also demonstrate that resonant perturbation requires strength one order of
magnitude lower than that of a single pulse, which is currently used in
clinical practice to terminate cardiac fibrillation. Our results provide a
robust method of controlling complex chaotic spatio-temporal processes.
Resonant drift of spiral waves has been studied extensively in two dimensions,
however, these results show for the first time that it also works in three
dimensions, despite the complex nature of the scroll wave turbulence.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Phys Rev E 2008/06/13. Last
version: 2008/09/18, after revie
Mechanisms of vascular smooth muscle contraction and the basis for pharmacologic treatment of smooth muscle disorders
The smooth muscle cell directly drives the contraction of the vascular wall and hence regulates the size of the blood vessel lumen. We review here the current understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which agonists, therapeutics, and diseases regulate contractility of the vascular smooth muscle cell and we place this within the context of whole body function. We also discuss the implications for personalized medicine and highlight specific potential target molecules that may provide opportunities for the future development of new therapeutics to regulate vascular function.Accepted manuscrip
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Pyrolysis-GCĂ—GC-TOFMS to characterize carbonaceous chondrites
Using pyrolysis-GCxGC-TOFMS to analyze organic carbon in carbonaceous chondrites gives a massive increase in both sensitivity and structural information from samples when compared to traditional Py-GC-MS
Frequency response in surface-potential driven electro-hydrodynamics
Using a Fourier approach we offer a general solution to calculations of slip
velocity within the circuit description of the electro-hydrodynamics in a
binary electrolyte confined by a plane surface with a modulated surface
potential. We consider the case with a spatially constant intrinsic surface
capacitance where the net flow rate is in general zero while harmonic rolls as
well as time-averaged vortex-like components may exist depending on the spatial
symmetry and extension of the surface potential. In general the system displays
a resonance behavior at a frequency corresponding to the inverse RC time of the
system. Different surface potentials share the common feature that the
resonance frequency is inversely proportional to the characteristic length
scale of the surface potential. For the asymptotic frequency dependence above
resonance we find a 1/omega^2 power law for surface potentials with either an
even or an odd symmetry. Below resonance we also find a power law omega^alpha
with alpha being positive and dependent of the properties of the surface
potential. Comparing a tanh potential and a sech potential we qualitatively
find the same slip velocity, but for the below-resonance frequency response the
two potentials display different power law asymptotics with alpha=1 and
alpha~2, respectively.Comment: 4 pages including 1 figure. Accepted for PR
Knowledge, Food and Place: a way of producing a way of knowing
The article examines the dynamics of knowledge in the valorisation of local food, drawing on the results from the CORASON project (A cognitive approach to rural sustainable development: the dynamics of expert and lay knowledge), funded by the EU under its Framework Programme 6. It is based on the analysis of several in-depth case studies on food relocalisation carried out in 10 European countries
Revertant fibres and dystrophin traces in Duchenne muscular dystrophy: Implication for clinical trials
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is characterised by the absence of dystrophin in muscle biopsies, although residual dystrophin can be present, either as dystrophin-positive (revertant) fibres or traces. As restoration of dystrophin expression is the end point of clinical trials, such residual dystrophin is a key factor in recruitment of patients and may also confound the analysis of dystrophin restoration in treated patients, if, as previously observed in the mdx mouse, revertant fibres increase with age. In 62% of the diagnostic biopsies reports of 65 DMD patients studied, traces or revertants were recorded with no correlation between traces or revertants, the patients' performance, or corticosteroids response. In nine of these patients, there was no increase in traces or revertants in biopsies taken a mean of 8.23 years (5.8-10.4 years) after the original diagnostic biopsy. This information should help in the design and execution of clinical trials focused on dystrophin restoration strategies. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Does the effective Lagrangian for low-energy QCD scale?
QCD is not an approximately scale invariant theory. Hence a dilaton field is
not expected to provide a good description of the low-energy dynamics
associated with the gluon condensate. Even if such a field is introduced, it
remains almost unchanged in hadronic matter at normal densities. This is
because the large glueball mass together with the size of the phenomenological
gluon condensate ensure that changes to that condensate are very small at such
densities. Any changes in hadronic masses and decay constants in matter
generated by that condensate will be much smaller that those produced directly
by changes in the quark condensate. Hence masses and decay constants are not
expected to display a universal scaling.Comment: 7 pages (RevTeX), MC/TH 94/0
Dust Grain-Size Distributions From MRN to MEM
Employing the Maximum Entropy Method algorithm, we fit interstellar
extinction measurements which span the wavelength range 0.125-3 micron. We
present a uniform set of MEM model fits, all using the same grain materials,
optical constants and abundance constraints. In addition, we are taking
advantage of improved UV and IR data and better estimates of the gas-to-dust
ratio. The model fits cover the entire range of extinction properties that have
been seen in the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds. The grain models employed
for this presentation are the simplistic homogeneous spheres models (i.e.,
Mathis, Rumpl, & Nordsieck 1977) with two (graphite, silicate) or three
(graphite, silicate, amorphous carbon) components. Though such usage is only a
first step, the results do provide interesting insight into the use of grain
size as a diagnostic of dust environment. We find that the SMC Bar extinction
curve cannot be fit using carbon grains alone. This is a challenge to the
recent observational result indicating little silicon depletion in the SMC.Comment: 24 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
Surface Layers in General Relativity and Their Relation to Surface Tensions
For a thin shell, the intrinsic 3-pressure will be shown to be analogous to
-A, where A is the classical surface tension: First, interior and exterior
Schwarzschild solutions will be matched together such that the surface layer
generated at the common boundary has no gravitational mass; then its intrinsic
3-pressure represents a surface tension fulfilling Kelvin's relation between
mean curvature and pressure difference in the Newtonian limit. Second, after a
suitable definition of mean curvature, the general relativistic analogue to
Kelvin's relation will be proven to be contained in the equation of motion of
the surface layer.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX, no figur
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