Comment on "Regularizing capacity of metabolic networks"

In a recent paper, Marr, Muller-Linow and Hutt [Phys. Rev. E 75, 041917 (2007)] investigate an artificial dynamic system on metabolic networks. They find a less complex time evolution of this dynamic system in real networks, compared to networks of reference models. The authors argue that this suggests that metabolic network structure is a major factor behind the stability of biochemical steady states. We reanalyze the same kind of data using a dynamic system modeling actual reaction kinetics. The conclusions about stability, from our analysis, are inconsistent with those of Marr et al. We argue that this issue calls for a more detailed type of modeling

Consumer Demand for Blockchain-Enabled Peer-to-Peer Electricity Trading in the United Kingdom: An online survey experiment

Peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading could help address grid management challenges in a decentralizing electricity system, as well as provide other social and environmental benefits. Many existing and proposed trading schemes are enabled by blockchain, a distributed ledger technology (DLT) relying on cryptographic proof of ownership rather than human intermediaries to establish energy transactions. This study used an online survey experiment (n = 2064) to investigate how consumer demand for blockchain-enabled peer-to-peer energy trading schemes in the United Kingdom varies depending on how the consumer proposition is designed and communicated. The analysis provides some evidence of a preference for schemes offering to meet a higher proportion of participants’ energy needs and for those operating at the city/region (as compared to national or neighbourhood) level. People were more likely to say they would participate when the scheme was framed as being run by their local council, followed by an energy supplier, community energy organization, and social media company. Anonymity was the most valued DLT characteristic and mentioning blockchain’s association with Bitcoin led to a substantial decrease in intended uptake. We highlight a range of important questions and implications suggested by these findings for the introduction and operation of P2P trading schemes

L1-determined ideals in group algebras of exponential Lie groups

A locally compact group $G$ is said to be $\ast$-regular if the natural map \Psi:\Prim C^\ast(G)\to\Prim_{\ast} L^1(G) is a homeomorphism with respect to the Jacobson topologies on the primitive ideal spaces \Prim C^\ast(G) and \Prim_{\ast} L^1(G). In 1980 J. Boidol characterized the $\ast$-regular ones among all exponential Lie groups by a purely algebraic condition. In this article we introduce the notion of $L^1$-determined ideals in order to discuss the weaker property of primitive $\ast$-regularity. We give two sufficient criteria for closed ideals $I$ of $C^\ast(G)$ to be $L^1$-determined. Herefrom we deduce a strategy to prove that a given exponential Lie group is primitive $\ast$-regular. The author proved in his thesis that all exponential Lie groups of dimension $\le 7$ have this property. So far no counter-example is known. Here we discuss the example $G=B_5$, the only critical one in dimension $\le 5$

Construction of Parseval wavelets from redundant filter systems

We consider wavelets in L^2(R^d) which have generalized multiresolutions. This means that the initial resolution subspace V_0 in L^2(R^d) is not singly generated. As a result, the representation of the integer lattice Z^d restricted to V_0 has a nontrivial multiplicity function. We show how the corresponding analysis and synthesis for these wavelets can be understood in terms of unitary-matrix-valued functions on a torus acting on a certain vector bundle. Specifically, we show how the wavelet functions on R^d can be constructed directly from the generalized wavelet filters.Comment: 34 pages, AMS-LaTeX ("amsproc" document class) v2 changes minor typos in Sections 1 and 4, v3 adds a number of references on GMRA theory and wavelet multiplicity analysis; v4 adds material on pages 2, 3, 5 and 10, and two more reference

Boosting Biomass Quantity and Quality by Improved Mixotrophic Culture of the Diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum

Diatoms are photoautotrophic unicellular algae and are among the most abundant, adaptable, and diverse marine phytoplankton. They are extremely interesting not only for their ecological role but also as potential feedstocks for sustainable biofuels and high-value commodities such as omega fatty acids, because of their capacity to accumulate lipids. However, the cultivation of microalgae on an industrial scale requires higher cell densities and lipid accumulation than those found in nature to make the process economically viable. One of the known ways to induce lipid accumulation in Phaeodactylum tricornutum is nitrogen deprivation, which comes at the expense of growth inhibition and lower cell density. Thus, alternative ways need to be explored to enhance the lipid production as well as biomass density to make them sustainable at industrial scale. In this study, we have used experimental and metabolic modeling approaches to optimize the media composition, in terms of elemental composition, organic and inorganic carbon sources, and light intensity, that boost both biomass quality and quantity of P. tricornutum. Eventually, the optimized conditions were scaled-up to 2 L photobioreactors, where a better system control (temperature, pH, light, aeration/mixing) allowed a further improvement of the biomass capacity of P. tricornutum to 12 g/L

Imaging of the relative saturation current density and sheet resistance of laser doped regions via photoluminescence

We present an approach to characterize the relative saturation current density (J oe) and sheet resistance (RSH) of laser doped regions on silicon wafers based on rapid photoluminescence (PL) imaging. In the absence of surface passivation layers, the RSH of laser doped regions using a wide range of laser parameters is found to be inversely proportional to the PL intensity (I PL ). We explain the underlying mechanism for this correlation, which reveals that, in principle, I PL is inversely proportional to J oe at any injection level. The validity of this relationship under a wide range of typical experimental conditions is confirmed by numerical simulations. This method allows the optimal laser parameters for achieving low RSH and J oe to be determined from a simple PL image.The authors acknowledge financial support from the Australian Solar Institute (ASI)/Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) under the ANU PV Core project, Postdoctoral Fellowship and Australia-Germany Collaborative Solar Research and Development projects. The authors also acknowledge support from the Australian Government’s NCRIS/EIF funding programs for access to Heavy Ion Accelerator Facilities at the Australian National University

Cosmological perturbations on local systems

We study the effect of cosmological expansion on orbits--galactic, planetary, or atomic--subject to an inverse-square force law. We obtain the laws of motion for gravitational or electrical interactions from general relativity--in particular, we find the gravitational field of a mass distribution in an expanding universe by applying perturbation theory to the Robertson-Walker metric. Cosmological expansion induces an ($\ddot a/a) \vec r$ force where $a(t)$ is the cosmological scale factor. In a locally Newtonian framework, we show that the $(\ddot a/a) \vec r$ term represents the effect of a continuous distribution of cosmological material in Hubble flow, and that the total force on an object, due to the cosmological material plus the matter perturbation, can be represented as the negative gradient of a gravitational potential whose source is the material actually present. We also consider the effect on local dynamics of the cosmological constant. We calculate the perihelion precession of elliptical orbits due to the cosmological constant induced force, and work out a generalized virial relation applicable to gravitationally bound clusters.Comment: 10 page