912 research outputs found
The flow and turbulence structure at a rectangular bridge pier with a low angle of attack
River hydrodynamicsInteraction with structure
On higher congruences between cusp forms and Eisenstein series
In this paper we present several finite families of congruences between cusp
forms and Eisenstein series of higher weights at powers of prime ideals. We
formulate a conjecture which describes properties of the prime ideals and their
relation to the weights. We check the validity of the conjecture on several
numerical examples.Comment: 20 page
Conformational changes of calmodulin upon Ca2+ binding studied with a microfluidic mixer
A microfluidic mixer is applied to study the kinetics of calmodulin conformational changes upon Ca2+ binding. The device facilitates rapid, uniform mixing by decoupling hydrodynamic focusing from diffusive mixing and accesses time scales of tens of microseconds. The mixer is used in conjunction with multiphoton microscopy to examine the fast Ca2+-induced transitions of acrylodan-labeled calmodulin. We find that the kinetic rates of the conformational changes in two homologous globular domains differ by more than an order of magnitude. The characteristic time constants are â490 ÎŒs for the transitions in the C-terminal domain and â20 ms for those in the N-terminal domain of the protein. We discuss possible mechanisms for the two distinct events and the biological role of the stable intermediate, half-saturated calmodulin
Raman and fluorescence contributions to resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering on LaAlO/SrTiO heterostructures
We present a detailed study of the Ti 3 carriers at the interface of
LaAlO/SrTiO heterostructures by high-resolution resonant inelastic soft
x-ray scattering (RIXS), with special focus on the roles of overlayer thickness
and oxygen vacancies. Our measurements show the existence of interfacial Ti
3 electrons already below the critical thickness for conductivity and an
increase of the total interface charge up to a LaAlO overlayer thickness of
6 unit cells before it levels out. By comparing stoichiometric and oxygen
deficient samples we observe strong Ti 3 charge carrier doping by oxygen
vacancies. The RIXS data combined with photoelectron spectroscopy and transport
measurements indicate the simultaneous presence of localized and itinerant
charge carriers. However, it is demonstrated that the relative amount of
localized and itinerant Ti electrons in the ground state cannot be deduced
from the relative intensities of the Raman and fluorescence peaks in excitation
energy dependent RIXS measurements, in contrast to previous interpretations.
Rather, we attribute the observation of either the Raman or the fluorescence
signal to the spatial extension of the intermediate state reached in the RIXS
excitation process.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
Nonstimulated early visual areas carry information about surrounding context
Even within the early sensory areas, the majority of the input to any given cortical neuron comes from other cortical neurons. To extend our knowledge of the contextual information that is transmitted by such lateral and feedback connections, we investigated how visually nonstimulated regions in primary visual cortex (V1) and visual area V2 are influenced by the surrounding context. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and pattern-classification methods to show that the cortical representation of a nonstimulated quarter-field carries information that can discriminate the surrounding visual context. We show further that the activity patterns in these regions are significantly related to those observed with feed-forward stimulation and that these effects are driven primarily by V1. These results thus demonstrate that visual context strongly influences early visual areas even in the absence of differential feed-forward thalamic stimulation
Cytokinin is required for escape but not release from auxin mediated apical dominance.
Auxin produced by an active primary shoot apex is transported down the main stem and inhibits the growth of the axillary buds below it, contributing to apical dominance. Here we use Arabidopsis thaliana cytokinin (CK) biosynthetic and signalling mutants to probe the role of CK in this process. It is well established that bud outgrowth is promoted by CK, and that CK synthesis is inhibited by auxin, leading to the hypothesis that release from apical dominance relies on an increased supply of CK to buds. Our data confirm that decapitation induces the expression of at least one ISOPENTENYLTRANSFERASE (IPT) CK biosynthetic gene in the stem. We further show that transcript abundance of a clade of the CK-responsive type-A Arabidopsis response regulator (ARR) genes increases in buds following CK supply, and that, contrary to their typical action as inhibitors of CK signalling, these genes are required for CK-mediated bud activation. However, analysis of the relevant arr and ipt multiple mutants demonstrates that defects in bud CK response do not affect auxin-mediated bud inhibition, and increased IPT transcript levels are not needed for bud release following decapitation. Instead, our data suggest that CK acts to overcome auxin-mediated bud inhibition, allowing buds to escape apical dominance under favourable conditions, such as high nitrate availability
Self-assembly in solution of a reversible comb-shaped supramolecular polymer
We report a single step synthesis of a polyisobutene with a bis-urea moiety
in the middle of the chain. In low polarity solvents, this polymer
self-assembles by hydrogen bonding to form a combshaped polymer with a central
hydrogen bonded backbone and polyisobutene arms. The comb backbone can be
reversibly broken, and consequently, its length can be tuned by changing the
solvent, the concentration or the temperature. Moreover, we have proved that
the bulkiness of the side-chains have a strong influence on both the
self-assembly pattern and the length of the backbone. Finally, the density of
arms can be reduced, by simply mixing with a low molar mass bis-urea
Assessing Patient Experience and Orientation in the Emergency Department with Virtual Windows
Patients have benefitted from increasingly sophisticated diagnostic and therapeutic innovations over the years. However, the design of the physical hospital environment has garnered less attention. This may negatively impact a patientâs experience and health. In areas of the hospital, such as the emergency department (ED), patients may spend hours, or even days, in a windowless environment. Studies have highlighted the importance of natural light and imagery, as they are essential in providing important stimuli to regulate circadian rhythm and orientation, and to mitigate the onset of certain medical conditions. In hospital locations where standard windows may be infeasible, the use of a virtual window may simulate the benefits of an actual window. In this pilot study, we assessed patient experience and orientation with virtual windows in the ED. We demonstrated that virtual windows are an acceptable technology that may improve patient experience and orientation
BaFe12O19 single-particle-chain nanofibers : preparation, characterization, formation principle, and magnetization reversal mechanism
BaFe12O19 single-particle-chain
nanofibers have been successfully prepared by
an electrospinning method and calcination
process, and their morphology, chemistry,
and crystal structure have been characterized
at the nanoscale. It is found that individual
BaFe12O19 nanofibers consist of single nanoparticles which are found to stack along the
nanofiber axis. The chemical analysis shows that the atomic ratio of Ba/Fe is 1:12, suggesting a
BaFe12O19 composition. The crystal structure of the BaFe12O19 single-particle-chain nanofibers
is proved to be M-type hexagonal. The single crystallites on each BaFe12O19 single-particlechain
nanofibers have random orientations. A formation mechanism is proposed based on
thermogravimetry/differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission
electron microscopy (TEM) at six temperatures, 250, 400, 500, 600, 650, and 800 ïżœC.
The magnetic measurement of the BaFe12O19 single-particle-chain nanofibers reveals that the
coercivity reaches a maximum of 5943 Oe and the saturated magnetization is 71.5 emu/g at
room temperature. Theoretical analysis at the micromagnetism level is adapted to describe the
magnetic behavior of the BaFe12O19 single-particle-chain nanofibers
Majorana edge modes of superfluid 3He A-phase in a slab
Motivated by a recent experiment on the superfluid 3He A-phase with a chiral
p-wave pairing confined in a thin slab, we propose designing a concrete
experimental setup for observing the Majorana edge modes that appear around the
circumference edge region. We solve the quasi-classical Eilenberger equation,
which is quantitatively reliable, to evaluate several observables. To derive
the property inherent to the Majorana edge state, the full quantum mechanical
Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation is solved in this setting. On the basis of the
results obtained, we perform decisive experiments to check the Majorana nature.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
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