255 research outputs found
Vortices in simulations of solar surface convection
We report on the occurrence of small-scale vortices in simulations of the
convective solar surface. Using an eigenanalysis of the velocity gradient
tensor, we find the subset of high vorticity regions in which the plasma is
swirling. The swirling regions form an unsteady, tangled network of filaments
in the turbulent downflow lanes. Near-surface vertical vortices are underdense
and cause a local depression of the optical surface. They are potentially
observable as bright points in the dark intergranular lanes. Vortex features
typically exist for a few minutes, during which they are moved and twisted by
the motion of the ambient plasma. The bigger vortices found in the simulations
are possibly, but not necessarily, related to observations of granular-scale
spiraling pathlines in "cork animations" or feature tracking.Comment: 11 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in A&A, complementary
movies at http://www.mps.mpg.de/homes/moll/strudel/papermovies
Texture Analysis of the Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer in Fundus Images via Markov Random Fields
Abstract-This paper describes method for analysis of the texture created by retinal nerve fibers (RNF) via Markov Random Fields. The Causal Autoregressive Random (CAR) model is used to create a feature vector describing the changes in texture due to losses in RNF layer. It is shown that features based on CAR model can be used for discrimination between healthy and glaucomatous tissue using simple linear classifier. The classification error is slightly below 4% for the tested dataset
Quantum bath refrigeration towards absolute zero: unattainability principle challenged
A minimal model of a quantum refrigerator (QR), i.e. a periodically
phase-flipped two-level system permanently coupled to a finite-capacity bath
(cold bath) and an infinite heat dump (hot bath), is introduced and used to
investigate the cooling of the cold bath towards the absolute zero (T=0).
Remarkably, the temperature scaling of the cold-bath cooling rate reveals that
it does not vanish as T->0 for certain realistic quantized baths, e.g. phonons
in strongly disordered media (fractons) or quantized spin-waves in ferromagnets
(magnons). This result challenges Nernst's third-law formulation known as the
unattainability principle
Minimizing energy below the glass thresholds
Focusing on the optimization version of the random K-satisfiability problem,
the MAX-K-SAT problem, we study the performance of the finite energy version of
the Survey Propagation (SP) algorithm. We show that a simple (linear time)
backtrack decimation strategy is sufficient to reach configurations well below
the lower bound for the dynamic threshold energy and very close to the analytic
prediction for the optimal ground states. A comparative numerical study on one
of the most efficient local search procedures is also given.Comment: 12 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev. E, accepted for publicatio
Resistance to Antibiotics in Strains of Staphylococcus spp., Enterococcus spp. and Escherichia coli Isolated from Rectal Swabs of Pigs
The study aimed at determining the level of resistance of selected bacterial species (Staphylococcus spp., Enterococcus spp., Escherichia coli) isolated from rectal swabs of pigs to antimicrobial agents. The tested strains were isolated from piglets aged 7 to 30 days. Bacterial species were identified by standard microbiological techniques and susceptibility to antibiotics was determined quantitatively by the standard microdilution method. Resistance of the Staphylococcus aureus strain to oxacillin was confirmed by detection of the mecA gene and PBP2a. A total of 115 Staphylococcus spp. isolates were collected. In the case of Staphylococcus aureus, the methicillin-resistant strain (MRSA) was identified. Moreover, higher frequency of coagulase-negative staphylococci with minimum inhibitory concentration of oxacillin ≥ 0.5 mg/l was noticed. Inducible resistance to clindamycin in the Staphylococcus hominis strain was also detected. The strains of Enterococcus spp. (61 isolates) exhibited high resistance to tetracycline (98.5%), erythromycin (86.8%) and chloramphenicol (54.4%). Vancomycin-resistant enterococci were not isolated. In the case of Escherichia coli strains (111 isolates), higher frequency of resistant strains to tetracycline (81.1%) and ampicillin (62.2%) was documented. Resistance to fluoroquinolones and production of broad-spectrum β-lactamases was not noticed. The presented study may be considered as a pilot project assessing the prevalence of resistant bacteria in piglets kept on a single farm. It demonstrated the presence of resistant strains of Staphylococcus spp., including one MRSA strain, Enterococcus spp. and Escherichia coli. These strains may be present as a result of postnatal colonization with both bacterial microflora of dams and environmental microflora
Tight Binding Hamiltonians and Quantum Turing Machines
This paper extends work done to date on quantum computation by associating
potentials with different types of computation steps. Quantum Turing machine
Hamiltonians, generalized to include potentials, correspond to sums over tight
binding Hamiltonians each with a different potential distribution. Which
distribution applies is determined by the initial state. An example, which
enumerates the integers in succession as binary strings, is analyzed. It is
seen that for some initial states the potential distributions have
quasicrystalline properties and are similar to a substitution sequence.Comment: 4 pages Latex, 2 postscript figures, submitted to Phys Rev Letter
Gauge Formalism for General Relativity and Fermionic Matter
A new formalism for spinors on curved spaces is developed in the framework of
variational calculus on fibre bundles. The theory has the same structure of a
gauge theory and describes the interaction between the gravitational field and
spinors. An appropriate gauge structure is also given to General Relativity,
replacing the metric field with spin frames. Finally, conserved quantities and
superpotentials are calculated under a general covariant form.Comment: 18 pages, Plain TEX, revision, explicit expression for superpotential
has been adde
Recent growth coherence in long-term oak (Quercus spp.) ring width chronologies in the Czech Republic
Remarks on Conserved Quantities and Entropy of BTZ Black Hole Solutions. Part II: BCEA Theory
The BTZ black hole solution for (2+1)-spacetime is considered as a solution
of a triad-affine theory (BCEA) in which topological matter is introduced to
replace the cosmological constant in the model. Conserved quantities and
entropy are calculated via Noether theorem, reproducing in a geometrical and
global framework earlier results found in the literature using local
formalisms. Ambiguities in global definitions of conserved quantities are
considered in detail. A dual and covariant Legendre transformation is performed
to re-formulate BCEA theory as a purely metric (natural) theory (BCG) coupled
to topological matter. No ambiguities in the definition of mass and angular
momentum arise in BCG theory. Moreover, gravitational and matter contributions
to conserved quantities and entropy are isolated. Finally, a comparison of BCEA
and BCG theories is carried out by relying on the results obtained in both
theories.Comment: PlainTEX, 20 page
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