Topology of Cell-Aggregated Planar Graphs

We present new algorithm for growth of non-clustered planar graphs by aggregation of cells with given distribution of size and constraint of connectivity k=3 per node. The emergent graph structures are controlled by two parameters--chemical potential of the cell aggregation and the width of the cell size distribution. We compute several statistical properties of these graphs--fractal dimension of the perimeter, distribution of shortest paths between pairs of nodes and topological betweenness of nodes and links. We show how these topological properties depend on the control parameters of the aggregation process and discuss their relevance for the conduction of current in self-assembled nanopatterns.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Exact Asymptotic Results for Persistence in the Sinai Model with Arbitrary Drift

We obtain exact asymptotic results for the disorder averaged persistence of a Brownian particle moving in a biased Sinai landscape. We employ a new method that maps the problem of computing the persistence to the problem of finding the energy spectrum of a single particle quantum Hamiltonian, which can be subsequently found. Our method allows us analytical access to arbitrary values of the drift (bias), thus going beyond the previous methods which provide results only in the limit of vanishing drift. We show that on varying the drift, the persistence displays a variety of rich asymptotic behaviors including, in particular, interesting qualitative changes at some special values of the drift.Comment: 17 pages, two eps figures (included

Emissivities for the various Graviton Modes in the Background of the Higher-Dimensional Black Hole

The Hawking emissivities for the scalar-, vector-, and tensor-mode bulk gravitons are computed in the full range of the graviton's energy by adopting the analytic continuation numerically when the spacetime background is $(4+n)$-dimensional non-rotating black hole. The total emissivity for the gravitons is only 5.16% of that for the spin-0 field when there is no extra dimension. However, this ratio factor increases rapidly when the extra dimensions exist. For example, this factor becomes 147.7%, 595.2% and 3496% when the number of extra dimensions is 1, 2 and 6, respectively. This fact indicates that the Hawking radiation for the graviton modes becomes more and more significant and dominant with increasing the number of extra dimensions.Comment: 14 pages, 5 eps figures, V2: the incorrect multiplicities are corrected. PLB versio

The Strategic Exploitation of Limited Information and Opportunity in Networked Markets

This paper studies the effect of constraining interactions within a market. A model is analysed in which boundedly rational agents trade with and gather information from their neighbours within a trade network. It is demonstrated that a trader’s ability to profit and to identify the equilibrium price is positively correlated with its degree of connectivity within the market. Where traders differ in their number of potential trading partners, well-connected traders are found to benefit from aggressive trading behaviour.Where information propagation is constrained by the topology of the trade network, connectedness affects the nature of the strategies employed

Absorption and Emission Spectra of an higher-dimensional Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m black hole

The absorption and emission problems of the brane-localized and bulk scalars are examined when the spacetime is a $(4+n)$-dimensional Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m black hole. Making use of an appropriate analytic continuation, we compute the absorption and emission spectra in the full range of particle's energy. For the case of the brane-localized scalar the presence of the nonzero inner horizon parameter $r_-$ generally enhances the absorptivity and suppresses the emission rate compared to the case of the Schwarzschild phase. The low-energy absorption cross section exactly equals to $4\pi r_+^2$, two-dimensional horizon area. The effect of the extra dimensions generally suppresses the absorptivity and enhances the emission rate, which results in the disappearance of the oscillatory pattern in the total absorption cross section when $n$ is large. For the case of the bulk scalar the effect of $r_-$ on the spectra is similar to that in the case of the brane-localized scalar. The low-energy absorption cross section equals to the area of the horizon hypersurface. In the presence of the extra dimensions the total absorption cross section tends to be inclined with a positive slope. It turns out that the ratio of the {\it missing} energy over the {\it visible} one decreases with increase of $r_-$.Comment: 43 pages, 22 eps figures included V2: comment on superradiance and several references are adde

Polyamine pathway activity promotes cysteine essentiality in cancer cells

Cancer cells have high demands for non-essential amino acids (NEAAs), which are precursors for anabolic and antioxidant pathways that support cell survival and proliferation. It is well-established that cancer cells consume the NEAA cysteine, and that cysteine deprivation can induce cell death; however, the specific factors governing acute sensitivity to cysteine starvation are poorly characterized. Here, we show that that neither expression of enzymes for cysteine synthesis nor availability of the primary precursor methionine correlated with acute sensitivity to cysteine starvation. We observed a strong correlation between efflux of the methionine-derived metabolite methylthioadenosine (MTA) and sensitivity to cysteine starvation. MTA efflux results from genetic deletion of methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP), which is frequently deleted in cancers. We show that MTAP loss upregulates polyamine metabolism which, concurrently with cysteine withdrawal, promotes elevated reactive oxygen species and prevents cell survival. Our results reveal an unexplored metabolic weakness at the intersection of polyamine and cysteine metabolism

GH peak response to GHRH-arginine: relationship to insulin resistance and other cardiovascular risk factors in a population of adults aged 50–90

OBJECTIVE: To assess the GH response to GHRH-arginine in apparently healthy adults in relation to cardiovascular risk factors. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. PATIENTS: Eighty-six male and female volunteers aged 50–90. MEASUREMENTS: GH peak response to GHRH-arginine and cardiovascular risk factors, including obesity, insulin resistance, low levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, elevated triglycerides, and hypertension. The primary outcome measurement was GH response to GHRH-arginine. The relationship between GH peak responses and cardiovascular risk factors was determined after data collection. RESULTS: GH peaks were highly variable, ranging from 2·3 to 185 µg/l (14% with GH peaks < 9 µg/l). An increasing number of cardiovascular risk factors were associated with a lower mean GH peak (P < 0·0001). By univariate analysis, fasting glucose, insulin, body mass index (BMI), HDL cholesterol and triglycerides were significantly associated with GH peak (all P < 0·0001). Multiple regression analysis revealed that fasting glucose, fasting insulin, BMI, triglycerides and sex accounted for 54% of GH peak variability. The role of abdominal fat as it relates to GH peak was explored in a subset of 45 subjects. Trunk fat and abdominal subregion fat measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) were inversely related to GH peak (P < 0·008 and 0·001, respectively). Analysis of this subgroup by multiple regression revealed that subregion abdominal fat became the significant obesity-related determinant of GH peak, but still lagged behind fasting insulin and glucose. CONCLUSIONS: GH response to secretagogues was highly variable in apparently healthy adults aged 50–90 years. Peak GH was significantly related to fasting glucose, insulin, BMI, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, trunk fat and abdominal subregion fat, with fasting glucose ranking first by multiple regression analysis. There was a strong relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and low GH, with individual risk factors being additive. Although these data do not differentiate between low GH being a cause or an effect of these cardiovascular risk factors, they indicate that the relationship between low GH and increased cardiovascular risk may be physiologically important in the absence of pituitary disease

Red Queen Coevolution on Fitness Landscapes

Species do not merely evolve, they also coevolve with other organisms. Coevolution is a major force driving interacting species to continuously evolve ex- ploring their fitness landscapes. Coevolution involves the coupling of species fit- ness landscapes, linking species genetic changes with their inter-specific ecological interactions. Here we first introduce the Red Queen hypothesis of evolution com- menting on some theoretical aspects and empirical evidences. As an introduction to the fitness landscape concept, we review key issues on evolution on simple and rugged fitness landscapes. Then we present key modeling examples of coevolution on different fitness landscapes at different scales, from RNA viruses to complex ecosystems and macroevolution.Comment: 40 pages, 12 figures. To appear in "Recent Advances in the Theory and Application of Fitness Landscapes" (H. Richter and A. Engelbrecht, eds.). Springer Series in Emergence, Complexity, and Computation, 201

Cooperative AUV Navigation using a Single Maneuvering Surface Craft

In this paper we describe the experimental implementation of an online algorithm for cooperative localization of submerged autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) supported by an autonomous surface craft. Maintaining accurate localization of an AUV is difficult because electronic signals, such as GPS, are highly attenuated by water. The usual solution to the problem is to utilize expensive navigation sensors to slow the rate of dead-reckoning divergence. We investigate an alternative approach that utilizes the position information of a surface vehicle to bound the error and uncertainty of the on-board position estimates of a low-cost AUV. This approach uses the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) acoustic modem to exchange vehicle location estimates while simultaneously estimating inter-vehicle range. A study of the system observability is presented so as to motivate both the choice of filtering approach and surface vehicle path planning. The first contribution of this paper is to the presentation of an experiment in which an extended Kalman filter (EKF) implementation of the concept ran online on-board an OceanServer Iver2 AUV while supported by an autonomous surface vehicle moving adaptively. The second contribution of this paper is to provide a quantitative performance comparison of three estimators: particle filtering (PF), non-linear least-squares optimization (NLS), and the EKF for a mission using three autonomous surface craft (two operating in the AUV role). Our results indicate that the PF and NLS estimators outperform the EKF, with NLS providing the best performance.United States. Office of Naval Research (Grant N000140711102)United States. Office of Naval Research. Multidisciplinary University Research InitiativeSingapore. National Research FoundationSingapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology. Center for Environmental Sensing and Monitorin

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