548 research outputs found
Renormalization group for the probability distribution of magnetic impurities in a random-field model
Extending the usual Ginzburg-Landau theory for the random-field Ising model,
the possibility of dimensional reduction is reconsidered. A renormalization
group for the probability distribution of magnetic impurities is applied. New
parameters corresponding to the extra coupling constants in the
replica Hamiltonian are introduced. Although they do not affect the critical
phenomena near the upper critical dimension, they can when dimensions are
lowered.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, revte
Computationally efficient algorithms for the two-dimensional Kolmogorov-Smirnov test
Goodness-of-fit statistics measure the compatibility of random samples against some theoretical or reference probability distribution function. The classical one-dimensional Kolmogorov-Smirnov test is a non-parametric statistic for comparing two empirical distributions which defines the largest absolute difference between the two cumulative distribution functions as a measure of disagreement. Adapting this test to more than one dimension is a challenge because there are 2^d-1 independent ways of ordering a cumulative distribution function in d dimensions. We discuss Peacock's version of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for two-dimensional data sets which computes the differences between cumulative distribution functions in 4n^2 quadrants. We also examine Fasano and Franceschini's variation of Peacock's test, Cooke's algorithm for Peacock's test, and ROOT's version of the two-dimensional Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. We establish a lower-bound limit on the work for computing Peacock's test of
Omega(n^2.lg(n)), introducing optimal algorithms for both this and Fasano and Franceschini's test, and show that Cooke's algorithm is not a faithful implementation of Peacock's test. We also discuss and evaluate parallel algorithms for Peacock's test
Replica Method for Wide Correlators in Gaussian Orthogonal, Unitary And Symplectic Random Matrix Ensembles
We calculate connected correlators in Gaussian orthogonal, unitary and
symplectic random matrix ensembles by the replica method in the 1/N-expansion.
We obtain averaged one-point Green's functions up to the next-to-leading order
O(1/N) and wide two-level correlators up to the first nontrivial order O(1/N^2)
and wide three-level correlators up to the first nontrivial order by
carefully treating fluctuations in saddle-point evaluation.Comment: LaTeX 21 pages, a new result on wide three-level correlators adde
Dynamics of oscillating scalar field in thermal environment
There often appear coherently oscillating scalar fields in particle physics
motivated cosmological scenarios, which may have rich phenomenological
consequences. Scalar fields should somehow interact with background thermal
bath in order to decay into radiation at an appropriate epoch, but introducing
some couplings to the scalar field makes the dynamics complicated. We
investigate in detail the dynamics of a coherently oscillating scalar field,
which has renormalizable couplings to another field interacting with thermal
background. The scalar field dynamics and its resultant abundance are
significantly modified by taking account of following effects : (1) thermal
correction to the effective potential, (2) dissipation effect on the scalar
field in thermal bath, (3) non-perturbative particle production events and (4)
formation of non-topological solitons. There appear many time scales depending
on the scalar mass, amplitude, couplings and the background temperature, which
make the efficiencies of these effects non-trivial.Comment: 45 pages, 6 figures; v2: several typos corrected; v3: minor
corrections and references added; v4: minor corrections to reflect the
published version; v5: minor correction
The Calcitonin and Glucocorticoids Combination: Mechanistic Insights into Their Class-Effect Synergy in Experimental Arthritis
PMCID: PMC3564948This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
The chemopreventive polyphenol Curcumin prevents hematogenous breast cancer metastases in immunodeficient mice
Dissemination of metastatic cells probably occurs long before diagnosis of the primary tumor. Metastasis during early phases of carcinogenesis in high risk patients is therefore a potential prevention target. The plant polyphenol Curcumin has been proposed for dietary prevention of cancer. We therefore examined its effects on the human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 in vitro and in a mouse metastasis model. Curcumin strongly induces apoptosis in MDA- MB- 231 cells in correlation with reduced activation of the survival pathway NF kappa B, as a consequence of diminished I kappa B and p65 phosphorylation. Curcumin also reduces the expression of major matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) due to reduced NF kappa B activity and transcriptional downregulation of AP-1. NF kappa B/p65 silencing is sufficient to downregulate c-jun and MMP expression. Reduced NF kappa B/AP-1 activity and MMP expression lead to diminished invasion through a reconstituted basement membrane and to a significantly lower number of lung metastases in immunodeficient mice after intercardiac injection of 231 cells (p=0.0035). 68% of Curcumin treated but only 17% of untreated animals showed no or very few lung metastases, most likely as a consequence of down-regulation of NF kappa B/AP-1 dependent MMP expression and direct apoptotic effects on circulating tumor cells but not on established metastases. Dietary chemoprevention of metastases appears therefore feasible. Copyright (c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel
Recent advances in pulsed-laser deposition of complex-oxides
Pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) is one of the most promising techniques for the
formation of complex-oxide heterostructures, superlattices, and well-controlled
interfaces. The first part of this paper presents a review of several useful
modifications of the process, including methods inspired by combinatorial
approaches. We then discuss detailed growth kinetics results, which illustrate
that 'true' layer-by-layer (LBL) growth can only be approached, but not fully
met, even though many characterization techniques reveal interfaces with
unexpected sharpness. Time-resolved surface x-ray diffraction measurements show
that crystallization and the majority of interlayer mass transport occur on
time scales that are comparable to those of the plume/substrate interaction,
providing direct experimental evidence that a growth regime exists in which
non-thermal processes dominate PLD. This understanding shows how kinetic growth
manipulation can bring PLD closer to ideal LBL than any other growth method
available today.Comment: 37 pages, 9 figures. Revie
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