959 research outputs found
In silico estimates of the free energy rates in growing tumor spheroids
The physics of solid tumor growth can be considered at three distinct size
scales: the tumor scale, the cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) scale and the
sub-cellular scale. In this paper we consider the tumor scale in the interest
of eventually developing a system-level understanding of the progression of
cancer. At this scale, cell populations and chemical species are best treated
as concentration fields that vary with time and space. The cells have
chemo-mechanical interactions with each other and with the ECM, consume glucose
and oxygen that are transported through the tumor, and create chemical
byproducts. We present a continuum mathematical model for the biochemical
dynamics and mechanics that govern tumor growth. The biochemical dynamics and
mechanics also engender free energy changes that serve as universal measures
for comparison of these processes. Within our mathematical framework we
therefore consider the free energy inequality, which arises from the first and
second laws of thermodynamics. With the model we compute preliminary estimates
of the free energy rates of a growing tumor in its pre-vascular stage by using
currently available data from single cells and multicellular tumor spheroids.Comment: 27 pages with 5 figures and 2 tables. Figures and tables appear at
the end of the pape
Atomic Data for Astrophysics. II. New Analytic Fits for Photoionization Cross Sections of Atoms and Ions
We present a complete set of analytic fits to the non-relativistic
photoionization cross sections for the ground states of atoms and ions of
elements from H through Si, and S, Ar, Ca, and Fe. Near the ionization
thresholds, the fits are based on the Opacity Project theoretical cross
sections interpolated and smoothed over resonances. At higher energies, the
fits reproduce calculated Hartree-Dirac-Slater photoionization cross sections.Comment: 24 pages including Postscript figures and tables, uses aaspp4.sty,
accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal. Misprint in Eq.(1) is
correcte
High-Resolution X-ray Spectroscopy of the Interstellar Medium: Structure at the Oxygen Absorption Edge
(Abbrev.) We present high-resolution spectroscopy of the oxygen K-shell
interstellar absorption edge in 7 X-ray binaries using the HETGS onboard
Chandra. Using the brightest sources as templates, we found a best-fit model of
2 absorption edges and 5 Gaussian absorption lines. All of these features can
be explained by the recent predictions of K-shell absorption from neutral and
ionized atomic oxygen. We identify the K alpha and K beta absorption lines from
neutral oxygen, as well as the S=3/2 absorption edge. The expected S=1/2 edge
is not detected in these data due to overlap with instrumental features. We
also identify the K alpha absorption lines from singly and doubly ionized
oxygen. The OI K alpha absorption line is used as a benchmark with which to
adjust the absolute wavelength scale for theoretical predictions of the
absorption cross-sections. We find that shifts of 30-50 mA are required,
consistent with differences previously noticed from comparisons of the theory
with laboratory measurements. Significant oxygen features from dust or
molecular components, as suggested in previous studies, are not required by our
HETGS spectra. With these spectra, we can begin to measure the large-scale
properties of the ISM. We place a limit on the velocity dispersion of the
neutral lines of <200 km s^{-1}, consistent with measurements at other
wavelengths. We also make the first measurement of the oxygen ionization
fractions in the ISM. We constrain the interstellar ratio of OII/OI to ~0.1 and
the ratio of OIII/OI to <0.1.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journal (Vol. 612, September 1 issue
Deposing the Cool Corona of KPD 0005+5106
The ROSAT PSPC pulse height spectrum of the peculiar He-rich hot white dwarf
KPD 0005+5106 provided a great surprise when first analysed by Fleming, Werner
& Barstow (1993). It defied the best non-LTE modelling attempts in terms of
photospheric emission from He-dominated atmospheres including C, N and O and
was instead interpreted as the first evidence for a coronal plasma around a
white dwarf. We show here that a recent high resolution Chandra LETGS spectrum
has more structure than expected from a thermal bremsstrahlung continuum and
lacks the narrow lines of H-like and He-like C expected from a coronal plasma.
Moreover, a coronal model requires a total luminosity more than two orders of
magnitude larger than that of the star itself. Instead, the observed 20-80 AA
flux is consistent with photospheric models containing trace amounts of heavier
elements such as Fe. The soft X-ray flux is highly sensitive to the adopted
metal abundance and provides a metal abundance diagnostic. The weak X-ray
emission at 1 keV announced by O'Dwyer et al (2003) instead cannot arise from
the photosphere and requires alternative explanations. We echo earlier
speculation that such emission arises in a shocked wind. Despite the presence
of UV-optical O VIII lines from transitions between levels n=7-10, no X-ray O
VIII Ly alpha flux is detected. We show that O VIII Lyman photons can be
trapped by resonant scattering within the emitting plasma and destroyed by
photoelectric absorption.Comment: 15 Pages, 4 figures. Accepted for the Astrophysical Journa
Photoexcited electron dynamics in Kondo insulators and heavy fermions
We have studied the photoexcited carrier relaxation dynamics in the Kondo
insulator SmB6 and the heavy fermion metal YbAgCu4 as a function of temperature
and excitation level. The dynamic response is found to be both strongly
temperature dependent and nonlinear. The data are analyzed with a
Rothwarf-Taylor bottleneck model, where the dynamics are governed by the
presence of a narrow gap in the density of states near the Fermi level. The
remarkable agreement with the model suggests that carrier relaxation in a broad
class of heavy electron systems (both metals and insulators) is governed by the
presence of a (weakly temperature dependent) hybridization gap.Comment: accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter
An Atlas of Computed Equivalent Widths of Quasar Broad Emission Lines
We present graphically the results of several thousand photoionization
calculations of broad emission line clouds in quasars, spanning seven orders of
magnitude in hydrogen ionizing flux and particle density. The equivalent widths
of 42 quasar emission lines are presented as contours in the particle density -
ionizing flux plane for a typical incident continuum shape, solar chemical
abundances, and cloud column density of . Results are
similarly given for a small subset of emission lines for two other column
densities ( and ), five other incident
continuum shapes, and a gas metallicity of 5 \Zsun. These graphs should prove
useful in the analysis of quasar emission line data and in the detailed
modeling of quasar broad emission line regions. The digital results of these
emission line grids and many more are available over the Internet.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX (AASTeX aaspp4.sty); to appear in the 1997 ApJS: full
contents of the 9 photoionization grids presented in this paper may be found
at http://www.pa.uky.edu/~korista/grids/grids.htm
Book Reviews
Reviews of the following books: A History of Lumbering in Maine: 1861-1960 by David C. Smith; Edward Preble: A Naval Biography: 1761-1807 by Christopher McKee; New England and the Sea by Robert G. Albion, William A. Baker, Benjamin W. Larabee and Marion V. Brewington; Naval and Maritime History: An Annotated Bibliography by Robert G. Albio
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