1,644 research outputs found
Organismic Supercategories: I. Proposals for a General Unified Theory of Systems- Classical, Quantum, and Complex Biological Systems.\ud \ud \ud
The representation of physical and complex biological systems in terms of organismic supercategories was introduced in 1968 by Baianu and Marinescu in the attached paper which was published in the Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics, edited by Nicolas Rashevsky. The different approaches to relational biology, developed by Rashevsky, Rosen and by Baianu et al.(1968,1969,1973,1974,1987,2004)were later discussed. \ud
The present paper is an attempt to outline an abstract unitary theory of systems. In the introduction some of the previous abstract representations of systems are discussed. Also a possible connection of abstract representations of systems with a general theory of measure is proposed. Then follow some necessary definitions and authors' proposals for an axiomatic theory of systems. Finally some concrete examples are analyzed in the light of the proposed theory.\ud
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An abstract representation of biological systems from the standpoint of the theory of supercategories is presented. The relevance of such representations forG-relational biologies is suggested. In section A the basic concepts of our representation, that is class, system, supercategory and measure are introduced. Section B is concerned with the mathematical representation starting with some axioms and principles which are natural extensions of the current abstract representations in biology. Likewise, some extensions of the principle of adequate design are introduced in section C. Two theorems which present the connection between categories and supercategories are proved. Two other theorems concerning the dynamical behavior of biological and biophysical systems are derived on the basis of the previous considerations. Section D is devoted to a general study of oscillatory behavior in enzymic systems, some general quantitative relations being derived from our representation. Finally, the relevance of these results for a quantum theoretic approach to biology is discussed.\ud
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http://www.springerlink.com/content/141l35843506596h
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Hydrogen bonding structure of confined water templated by a metal-organic framework with open metal sites.
Water in confinement exhibits properties significantly different from bulk water due to frustration in the hydrogen-bond network induced by interactions with the substrate. Here, we combine infrared spectroscopy and many-body molecular dynamics simulations to probe the structure and dynamics of confined water as a function of relative humidity within a metal-organic framework containing cylindrical pores lined with ordered cobalt open coordination sites. Building upon the agreement between experimental and theoretical spectra, we demonstrate that water at low relative humidity binds initially to open metal sites and subsequently forms disconnected one-dimensional chains of hydrogen-bonded water molecules bridging between cobalt atoms. With increasing relative humidity, these water chains nucleate pore filling, and water molecules occupy the entire pore interior before the relative humidity reaches 30%. Systematic analysis of rotational and translational dynamics indicates heterogeneity in this pore-confined water, with water molecules displaying variable mobility as a function of distance from the interface
A Frobenius variant of Seshadri constants
We define and study a version of Seshadri constant for ample line bundles in
positive characteristic. We prove that lower bounds for this constant imply the
global generation or very ampleness of the corresponding adjoint line bundle.
As a consequence, we deduce that the criterion for global generation and very
ampleness of adjoint line bundles in terms of usual Seshadri constants holds
also in positive characteristic.Comment: 16 page
Uv-Vis investigations on ion beam irradiated polycarbonate
UV-VIS investigations on polycarbonate irradiated with accelerated U ions are reported. The experimental data are consistent with the decrease of the energy gap due to irradiation and indicate the formation of isolated conjugated structures. The relatively weak decrease of the energy gap and the shape of the electron spin resonance lines indicate that the conjugated structures are isolated within the polymeric matrix. published: 8 November, 2008
Nonlinear Near-Field Microwave Microscope For RF Defect Localization in Superconductors
Niobium-based Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) cavity performance is
sensitive to localized defects that give rise to quenches at high accelerating
gradients. In order to identify these material defects on bulk Nb surfaces at
their operating frequency and temperature, it is important to develop a new
kind of wide bandwidth microwave microscopy with localized and strong RF
magnetic fields. By taking advantage of write head technology widely used in
the magnetic recording industry, one can obtain ~200 mT RF magnetic fields,
which is on the order of the thermodynamic critical field of Nb, on submicron
length scales on the surface of the superconductor. We have successfully
induced the nonlinear Meissner effect via this magnetic write head probe on a
variety of superconductors. This design should have a high spatial resolution
and is a promising candidate to find localized defects on bulk Nb surfaces and
thin film coatings of interest for accelerator applications.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures Journal-ref: 2010 Applied Superconductivity
Conferenc
Irreducible Killing Tensors from Third Rank Killing-Yano Tensors
We investigate higher rank Killing-Yano tensors showing that third rank
Killing-Yano tensors are not always trivial objects being possible to construct
irreducible Killing tensors from them. We give as an example the Kimura IIC
metric were from two rank Killing-Yano tensors we obtain a reducible Killing
tensor and from third rank Killing-Yano tensors we obtain three Killing
tensors, one reducible and two irreducible.Comment: 10 page
Separable mechanisms underlying global feature-based attention
Feature-based attention is known to operate in a spatially global manner, in that the selection of attended features is not bound to the spatial focus of attention. Here we used electromagnetic recordings in human observers to characterize the spatiotemporal signature of such global selection of an orientation feature. Observers performed a simple orientation-discrimination task while ignoring task-irrelevant orientation probes outside the focus of attention. We observed that global feature-based selection, indexed by the brain response to unattended orientation probes, is composed of separable functional components. One such component reflects global selection based on the similarity of the probe with task-relevant orientation values ("template matching"), which is followed by a component reflecting selection based on the similarity of the probe with the orientation value under discrimination in the focus of attention ("discrimination matching"). Importantly, template matching occurs at similar to 150 ms after stimulus onset, similar to 80 ms before the onset of discrimination matching. Moreover, source activity underlying template matching and discrimination matching was found to originate from ventral extrastriate cortex, with the former being generated in more anterolateral and the latter in more posteromedial parts, suggesting template matching to occur in visual cortex higher up in the visual processing hierarchy than discrimination matching. We take these observations to indicate that the population-level signature of global feature-based selection reflects a sequence of hierarchically ordered operations in extrastriate visual cortex, in which the selection based on task relevance has temporal priority over the selection based on the sensory similarity between input representations
Ultrafast Magneto-Acoustics in Nickel Films
We report about the existence of magneto-acoustic pulses propagating in a
200-nm-thick ferromagnetic nickel film excited with 120 fs laser pulses. They
result from the coupling between the magnetization of the ferromagnetic film
and the longitudinal acoustic waves associated to the propagation of the
lattice deformation induced by the femtosecond laser pulses. The
magneto-acoustic pulses are detected from both the front and back sides of the
film, using the time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr technique, measuring both
the time dependent rotation and ellipticity. We show that the propagating
acoustic pulse couples efficiently to the magnetization and is strong enough to
induce a precession of the magnetization. It is due to a transient change of
the crystalline anisotropy associated to the lattice deformation. It is shown
that the results can be interpreted by combining the concepts of acoustic pulse
propagation and ultrafast magnetization dynamics.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Submitted to Physical Review Letters on November
30th 201
Adverse reactions of biological therapies in patients with psoriasis
Psoriasis is a chronic, immune-mediated disorder characterized by well demarcated, erythematous plaques covered by thick, silvery-white scales, most often located on the knees, elbows, sacral area and scalp. It has a significant impact on the patient\u27s quality of life.
Biological therapies revolutionized the treatment of psoriasis vulgaris but there has been concern regarding the use of those agents due to severe adverse reactions reported in patients receiving TNF-α inhibitors for various inflammatory diseases.
The aim of this paper is to review the most important adverse reactions reported in patients receiving biological treatments. The most common and severe side effects associated with biologicals are infections, cardiac adverse reactions, neurologic adverse reactions, lymphomas, non-melanoma skin cancers and hepatobiliary disease
Spin-Electric Coupling in Molecular Magnets
We study the triangular antiferromagnet Cu in external electric fields,
using symmetry group arguments and a Hubbard model approach. We identify a
spin-electric coupling caused by an interplay between spin exchange, spin-orbit
interaction, and the chirality of the underlying spin texture of the molecular
magnet. This coupling allows for the electric control of the spin (qubit)
states, e.g. by using an STM tip or a microwave cavity. We propose an
experimental test for identifying molecular magnets exhibiting spin-electric
effects.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
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