4,185 research outputs found
Casimir torque between corrugated metallic plates
We consider two parallel corrugated plates and show that a Casimir torque
arises when the corrugation directions are not aligned. We follow the
scattering approach and calculate the Casimir energy up to second order in the
corrugation amplitudes, taking into account nonspecular reflections,
polarization mixing and the finite conductivity of the metals. We compare our
results with the proximity force approximation, which overestimates the torque
by a factor 2 when taking the conditions that optimize the effect. We argue
that the Casimir torque could be measured for separation distances as large as
1 Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, contribution to QFEXT07 proceeding
Dynamic model of gene regulation for the lac operon
Gene regulatory network is a collection of DNA which interact with each other and with other matter in the cell. The lac operon is an example of a relatively simple genetic network and is one of the best-studied structures in the Escherichia coli bacteria. In this work we consider a deterministic model of the lac operon with a noise term, representing the stochastic nature of the regulation. The model is written in terms of a system of simultaneous first order differential equations with delays. We investigate an analytical and numerical solution and analyse the range of values for the parameters corresponding to a stable solution
Ideally embedded space-times
Due to the growing interest in embeddings of space-time in higher-dimensional
spaces we consider a specific type of embedding. After proving an inequality
between intrinsically defined curvature invariants and the squared mean
curvature, we extend the notion of ideal embeddings from Riemannian geometry to
the indefinite case. Ideal embeddings are such that the embedded manifold
receives the least amount of tension from the surrounding space. Then it is
shown that the de Sitter spaces, a Robertson-Walker space-time and some
anisotropic perfect fluid metrics can be ideally embedded in a five-dimensional
pseudo-Euclidean space.Comment: layout changed and typos corrected; uses revtex
Expression Of Mcl-1 And Ki-67 In Papillary Thyroid Carcinomas
Studying molecules that are differentially expressed in cancers as well as benign and normal tissues is crucial for identifying novel bio-markers for cancer immunotherapy. This study aimed to investigate the clinical utility of the immunochemical expression of the proliferative cell marker Ki-67 and the apoptotic blocker Mcl-1 in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Methods: We built a tissue microarray with 282 thyroid specimens. There were 59 PTCs including 35 classic (CPTC), 3 tall cell (TCPTC) and 21 follicular variants (FVPTC); 79 benign thyroid diseases (22 follicular adenomas; 57 adenomatoid hyperplasia); 33 Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) specimens; and 111 normal thyroid tissues. Clinical history and ultrasound data were retrospectively obtained by chart review. Results: Mcl-1 overexpression was evident in 66.7% of the PTC tissues compared to 32% of the benign thyroid diseases. Mcl-1 strong staining distinguished benign from malignant thyroid lesions (sensitivity = 61.3%; specificity = 72.8%; negative predictive value, NPV = 68%; positive predictive value, PPV = 66.7% and 67.5% accuracy). Positive nuclear Ki-67 staining was observed in 34% of PTCs vs. 19% of thyroid adenomas (P = 0.031). Strong Mcl-1 and Ki-67 co-expression was identified in 57.5% of PTCs with a higher PPV (75.8%). Mcl-1 and Ki-67 expression was not associated with any clinicopathological feature of malignancy. No deaths occurred during the follow-up. Conclusions: Mcl-1 immunochemical overexpression allowed differentiating low-risk PTC from the benign thyroid lesions. We suggest that Mcl-1 expression may help differentiate follicular patterned thyroid lesions. The influence of the Mcl-1 expression on several features of tumor aggressiveness has to be studied in large series of high-risk thyroid carcinomas.124420921
Theory of Optical Tweezers
We derive a partial-wave (Mie) expansion of the axial force exerted on a
transparent sphere by a laser beam focused through a high numerical aperture
objective. The results hold throughout the range of interest for practical
applications. The ray optics limit is shown to follow from the Mie expansion by
size averaging. Numerical plots show large deviations from ray optics near the
focal region and oscillatory behavior (explained in terms of a simple
interferometer picture) of the force as a function of the size parameter.
Available experimental data favor the present model over previous ones.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Development of a decentralized monitoring system of domestic water consumption
6th International Conference on Energy and Environment Research, ICEERInefficient use of water represents a major source of direct cost of water production, but especially of excessive energy use to purify it. Greater efficiency could be achieved if management were supported by objective data in addition to the rules of good practice that have been disseminated. This work aims to contribute directly to the reduction of water consumption and indirectly to the huge amount of energy used to pump water from its reserves and then to treat and make it drinkable through the use of a decentralized consumption monitoring system.Authors thank the financial support of the project UID/EQU/00305/2013 – Center for Innovation in Engineering and Industrial Technology (CIETI), Portugal. This work was financially supported by project UID/EQU/00511/2019 – Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy (LEPABE), Portugal funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) and Project LEPABE-2-ECO-INNOVATION” — NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000005, funded by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020) , under PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Decoherence via Dynamical Casimir Effect
We derive a master equation for a mirror interacting with the vacuum field
via radiation pressure. The dynamical Casimir effect leads to decoherence of a
'Schroedinger cat' state in a time scale that depends on the degree of
'macroscopicity' of the state components, and which may be much shorter than
the relaxation time scale. Coherent states are selected by the interaction as
pointer states.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Quantum radiation pressure on a moving mirror at finite temperature
We compute the radiation pressure force on a moving mirror, in the
nonrelativistic approximation, assuming the field to be at temperature At
high temperature, the force has a dissipative component proportional to the
mirror velocity, which results from Doppler shift of the reflected thermal
photons. In the case of a scalar field, the force has also a dispersive
component associated to a mass correction. In the electromagnetic case, the
separate contributions to the mass correction from the two polarizations
cancel. We also derive explicit results in the low temperature regime, and
present numerical results for the general case. As an application, we compute
the dissipation and decoherence rates for a mirror in a harmonic potential
well.Comment: Figure 3 replaced, changes mainly in Sections IV and V, new appendix
introduced. To appear in Physical Review
The Embedding of Schwarzschild in Braneworld
The braneworlds models were inspired partly by Kaluza-Klein's theory, where
both the gravitational and the gauge fields are obtained from the geometry of a
higher dimensional space. The positive aspects of these models consist in
perspectives of modifications it could bring in to particle physics, such as:
unification in a TeV scale, quantum gravity in this scale and deviation of
Newton's law for small distances. One of the principles of these models is to
suppose that all space-times can be embedded in a bulk of higher dimension. The
main result in these notes is a theorem showing a mathematical inconsistency of
the Randall-Sundrum braneworld model, namely that the Schwarzschild space-time
cannot be embedded locally and isometrically in a five dimensional bulk with
constant curvature,(for example AdS-5). From the point of view of
semi-Riemannian geometry this last result represents a serious restriction to
the Randall-Sundrum's braneworld model.Comment: Published in the Int. J. Theor. Phys, 200
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