On the motifs distribution in random hierarchical networks

The distribution of motifs in random hierarchical networks defined by nonsymmetric random block--hierarchical adjacency matrices, is constructed for the first time. According to the classification of U. Alon et al of network superfamilies by their motifs distributions, our artificial directed random hierarchical networks falls into the superfamily of natural networks to which the class of neuron networks belongs. This is the first example of ``handmade'' networks with the motifs distribution as in a special class of natural networks of essential biological importance.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Tissue oxygenation with graded dissolved oxygen delivery during cardiopulmonary bypass

AbstractBackground: Intravascular perfluorochemical emulsions together with a high oxygen tension may increase the delivery of dissolved oxygen to useful levels. The hypothesis of this study is that increasing the dissolved oxygen content of blood with incremental doses of a perfluorochemical emulsion improves tissue oxygenation during cardiopulmonary bypass in a dose-related fashion. Methods and Results: Oxygen utilization was studied in a profoundly anemic canine model of hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass. Forty-two dogs (mean ± standard error of the mean). Cardiopulmonary bypass was begun and resulted in a hematocrit of 9.4% + 0.6%. A standard primng solution was used in the control group (n = 12), and the test groups received 1.35 gm perfluorochemical · kg-1 (n = 10 dogs), or 5.4 gm perfluorochemical · kg-1 (n = 10 dogs), 2.7 gm perfluorochemical · kg-1(n = 10 dogs) through the venous return cannula. Each animal underwent a series of randomized pump flows (0.25,0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 3.0 L · min-1 · m-2 ) at 32° C. After the randomized flows were completed at 32° C, the temperature was raised to 38° C and cardiopulmonary bypass was discontinued. Mortality from cardiac failure on separation from cardiopulmonary bypass was 42% in the control group and 20% in perfluorochemical-treated groups. The mean perfluorochemical dose was higher in surviviors than in nonsurvivors (2.9 + 0.4 versus 1.3 + 0.5 gm perfluorochemical · kg-1; p < 0.05). No differences in oxygen consumption or transbody lactate gradient were found between groups during cardiopulmonary bypass. Analysis of mixed venous oxygen tension (a surrogate measure for tissue oxygenation) as a function of cardiopulmonary bypass flow normalized to body surface area showed that the control group had significantly lower mixed venous oxygen tension (p < 0.05) than the perfluorochemical emulsion-treated groups. Furthermore, the differences were related to the perfluorochemical emulsion dose. These differences in mixed venous oxygen tension continued after termination of cardiopulmonary bypass. The coronary sinus oxygen tension and cardiac arterial-venous oxygen content differences during and after cardiopulmonary bypass were similar among the control and perfluorochemical emulsion-treated animals. Dissolved oxygen consumption during and after cardiopulmonary bypass was calculated. Dissolved oxygen consumption increased in the perfluorochemical-treated animals in a perfluorochemical dose-related manner and was significantly higher in perfluoro-chemical-treated animals than in the control animals (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Graded increases in mixed venous oxygen tension during cardiopulmonary bypass were observed in response to graded increases in the dissolved oxygen delivery. These data suggest that enhancing oxygenation with perfluorochemical-dissolved oxygen is an effective temporary substitute for the use of hemoglobin-bound oxygen during cardiopulmonary bypass. Perfluorochemical-dissolved oxygen may be particularly beneficial in the setting of multiple hypoxic stresses. (J THORAC CARDIOVASC SURG 1995;110: 774-85)J THORAC CARDIOVASC SURG 1995;110:1-85

Very-high energy gamma-ray astronomy: A 23-year success story in high-energy astroparticle physics

Very-high energy (VHE) gamma quanta contribute only a minuscule fraction - below one per million - to the flux of cosmic rays. Nevertheless, being neutral particles they are currently the best "messengers" of processes from the relativistic/ultra-relativistic Universe because they can be extrapolated back to their origin. The window of VHE gamma rays was opened only in 1989 by the Whipple collaboration, reporting the observation of TeV gamma rays from the Crab nebula. After a slow start, this new field of research is now rapidly expanding with the discovery of more than 150 VHE gamma-ray emitting sources. Progress is intimately related with the steady improvement of detectors and rapidly increasing computing power. We give an overview of the early attempts before and around 1989 and the progress after the pioneering work of the Whipple collaboration. The main focus of this article is on the development of experimental techniques for Earth-bound gamma-ray detectors; consequently, more emphasis is given to those experiments that made an initial breakthrough rather than to the successors which often had and have a similar (sometimes even higher) scientific output as the pioneering experiments. The considered energy threshold is about 30 GeV. At lower energies, observations can presently only be performed with balloon or satellite-borne detectors. Irrespective of the stormy experimental progress, the success story could not have been called a success story without a broad scientific output. Therefore we conclude this article with a summary of the scientific rationales and main results achieved over the last two decades.Comment: 45 pages, 38 figures, review prepared for EPJ-H special issue "Cosmic rays, gamma rays and neutrinos: A survey of 100 years of research

CO oxidation activity of Pt/CeO2 catalysts below 0ºC: Platinum loading effects

Reducing the operating temperature of oxidation catalysts is important for designing energy efficient processes, extending catalyst lifetime, and abating pollutants, especially in cold climates. Herein, high CO oxidation activity at sub-ambient temperatures is reported for Pt/CeO2 catalysts with high content of Pt in the form of dispersed Pt2+ and Pt4+ centers. Whereas the reference 1 wt%Pt catalyst was active for CO oxidation only above 100ᵒC, the 8 and 20 wt%Pt catalysts converted 60 and 90 % of CO, respectively, below 0ᵒC. Ionic platinum was shown to facilitate oxygen release from ceria and lower the light-off temperature of the reaction occurring through the Mars-van-Krevelen mechanism. However, the remarkable activity observed at sub-ambient temperatures for the ≥8 wt%Pt catalysts is proposed to involve O2 and CO reactants weakly adsorbed on PtOx clusters. The synergies between ionic platinum and nanostructured ceria reported in this work advance the knowledge-driven design of catalysts for low-temperature oxidation reactions

Exotic trees

We discuss the scaling properties of free branched polymers. The scaling behaviour of the model is classified by the Hausdorff dimensions for the internal geometry: d_L and d_H, and for the external one: D_L and D_H. The dimensions d_H and D_H characterize the behaviour for long distances while d_L and D_L for short distances. We show that the internal Hausdorff dimension is d_L=2 for generic and scale-free trees, contrary to d_H which is known be equal two for generic trees and to vary between two and infinity for scale-free trees. We show that the external Hausdorff dimension D_H is directly related to the internal one as D_H = \alpha d_H, where \alpha is the stability index of the embedding weights for the nearest-vertex interactions. The index is \alpha=2 for weights from the gaussian domain of attraction and 0<\alpha <2 for those from the L\'evy domain of attraction. If the dimension D of the target space is larger than D_H one finds D_L=D_H, or otherwise D_L=D. The latter result means that the fractal structure cannot develop in a target space which has too low dimension.Comment: 33 pages, 6 eps figure

The Harris-Luck criterion for random lattices

The Harris-Luck criterion judges the relevance of (potentially) spatially correlated, quenched disorder induced by, e.g., random bonds, randomly diluted sites or a quasi-periodicity of the lattice, for altering the critical behavior of a coupled matter system. We investigate the applicability of this type of criterion to the case of spin variables coupled to random lattices. Their aptitude to alter critical behavior depends on the degree of spatial correlations present, which is quantified by a wandering exponent. We consider the cases of Poissonian random graphs resulting from the Voronoi-Delaunay construction and of planar, ``fat'' $\phi^3$ Feynman diagrams and precisely determine their wandering exponents. The resulting predictions are compared to various exact and numerical results for the Potts model coupled to these quenched ensembles of random graphs.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, REVTeX 4. Version as published, one figure added for clarification, minor re-wordings and typo cleanu

The ANTARES Optical Beacon System

ANTARES is a neutrino telescope being deployed in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of a three dimensional array of photomultiplier tubes that can detect the Cherenkov light induced by charged particles produced in the interactions of neutrinos with the surrounding medium. High angular resolution can be achieved, in particular when a muon is produced, provided that the Cherenkov photons are detected with sufficient timing precision. Considerations of the intrinsic time uncertainties stemming from the transit time spread in the photomultiplier tubes and the mechanism of transmission of light in sea water lead to the conclusion that a relative time accuracy of the order of 0.5 ns is desirable. Accordingly, different time calibration systems have been developed for the ANTARES telescope. In this article, a system based on Optical Beacons, a set of external and well-controlled pulsed light sources located throughout the detector, is described. This calibration system takes into account the optical properties of sea water, which is used as the detection volume of the ANTARES telescope. The design, tests, construction and first results of the two types of beacons, LED and laser-based, are presented.Comment: 21 pages, 18 figures, submitted to Nucl. Instr. and Meth. Phys. Res.

Worldwide variation in cardiovascular magnetic resonance practice models

INTRODUCTION: The use of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) for diagnosis and management of a broad range of cardiac and vascular conditions has quickly expanded worldwide. It is essential to understand how CMR is utilized in different regions around the world and the potential practice differences between high-volume and low-volume centers. METHODS: CMR practitioners and developers from around the world were electronically surveyed by the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (SCMR) twice, requesting data from 2017. Both surveys were carefully merged, and the data were curated professionally by a data expert using cross-references in key questions and the specific media access control IP address. According to the United Nations classification, responses were analyzed by region and country and interpreted in the context of practice volumes and demography. RESULTS: From 70 countries and regions, 1092 individual responses were included. CMR was performed more often in academic (695/1014, 69%) and hospital settings (522/606, 86%), with adult cardiologists being the primary referring providers (680/818, 83%). Evaluation of cardiomyopathy was the top indication in high-volume and low-volume centers (p = 0.06). High-volume centers were significantly more likely to list evaluation of ischemic heart disease (e.g., stress CMR) as a primary indicator compared to low-volume centers (p < 0.001), while viability assessment was more commonly listed as a primary referral reason in low-volume centers (p = 0.001). Both developed and developing countries noted cost and competing technologies as top barriers to CMR growth. Access to scanners was listed as the most common barrier in developed countries (30% of responders), while lack of training (22% of responders) was the most common barrier in developing countries. CONCLUSION: This is the most extensive global assessment of CMR practice to date and provides insights from different regions worldwide. We identified CMR as heavily hospital-based, with referral volumes driven primarily by adult cardiology. Indications for CMR utilization varied by center volume. Efforts to improve the adoption and utilization of CMR should include growth beyond the traditional academic, hospital-based location and an emphasis on cardiomyopathy and viability assessment in community centers

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results