1,826 research outputs found
Homogeneous bubble nucleation limit of mercury under the normal working conditions of the planned European Spallation Source
In spallation neutron sources, liquid mercury is the subject of big thermal
and pressure shocks, upon adsorbing the proton beam. These changes can cause
unstable bubbles in the liquid, which can damage the structural material. While
there are methods to deal with the pressure shock, the local temperature shock
cannot be avoided. In our paper we calculated the work of the critical cluster
formation (i.e. for mercury micro-bubbles) together with the rate of their
formation (nucleation rate). It is shown that the homogeneous nucleation rates
are very low even after adsorbing several proton pulses, therefore the
probability of temperature induced homogeneous bubble nucleation is negligible.Comment: 22 Pages, 11 figures, one of them is colour, we plan to publish it in
Eur. Phys. J.
Capillary pressure of van der Waals liquid nanodrops
The dependence of the surface tension on a nanodrop radius is important for
the new-phase formation process. It is demonstrated that the famous Tolman
formula is not unique and the size-dependence of the surface tension can
distinct for different systems. The analysis is based on a relationship between
the surface tension and disjoining pressure in nanodrops. It is shown that the
van der Waals interactions do not affect the new-phase formation thermodynamics
since the effect of the disjoining pressure and size-dependent component of the
surface tension cancel each other.Comment: The paper is dedicated to the 80th anniversary of A.I. Rusano
Association between genetic variants in the Coenzyme Q10 metabolism and Coenzyme Q10 status in humans
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Coenzyme Q<sub>10 </sub>(CoQ<sub>10</sub>) is essential for mitochondrial energy production and serves as an antioxidants in extra mitochondrial membranes. The genetics of primary CoQ<sub>10 </sub>deficiency has been described in several studies, whereas the influence of common genetic variants on CoQ<sub>10 </sub>status is largely unknown. Here we tested for non-synonymous single-nucleotidepolymorphisms (SNP) in genes involved in the biosynthesis (CoQ3<sup>G272S </sup>, CoQ6<sup>M406V</sup>, CoQ7<sup>M103T</sup>), reduction (NQO1<sup>P187S</sup>, NQO2<sup>L47F</sup>) and metabolism (apoE3/4) of CoQ<sub>10 </sub>and their association with CoQ<sub>10 </sub>status. For this purpose, CoQ<sub>10 </sub>serum levels of 54 healthy male volunteers were determined before (T<sub>0</sub>) and after a 14 days supplementation (T<sub>14</sub>) with 150 mg/d of the reduced form of CoQ<sub>10</sub>.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>At T<sub>0</sub>, the CoQ<sub>10 </sub>level of heterozygous NQO1<sup>P187S </sup>carriers were significantly lower than homozygous S/S carriers (0.93 ± 0.25 μM versus 1.34 ± 0.42 μM, p = 0.044). For this polymorphism a structure homology-based method (PolyPhen) revealed a possibly damaging effect on NQO1 protein activity. Furthermore, CoQ<sub>10 </sub>plasma levels were significantly increased in apoE4/E4 genotype after supplementation in comparison to apoE2/E3 genotype (5.93 ± 0.151 μM versus 4.38 ± 0.792 μM, p = 0.034). Likewise heterozygous CoQ3<sup>G272S </sup>carriers had higher CoQ<sub>10 </sub>plasma levels at T<sub>14 </sub>compared to G/G carriers but this difference did not reach significance (5.30 ± 0.96 μM versus 4.42 ± 1.67 μM, p = 0.082).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In conclusion, our pilot study provides evidence that NQO1<sup>P187S </sup>and apoE polymorphisms influence CoQ<sub>10 </sub>status in humans.</p
Process economics evaluation and optimization of adeno-associated virus downstream processing
Adeno-associated virus (AAV) manufacturing has traditionally focused upon lab-scale techniques to culture and purify vector products, leading to limitations in production capacity. The tool presented in this paper assesses the feasibility of using non-scalable technologies at high AAV demands and identifies optimal flowsheets at large-scale that meet both cost and purity targets. The decisional tool comprises (a) a detailed process economics model with the relevant mass balance, sizing, and costing equations for AAV upstream and downstream technologies, (b) a built-in Monte Carlo simulation to assess uncertainties, and (c) a brute-force optimization algorithm for rapid investigation into the optimal purification combinations. The results overall highlighted that switching to more scalable upstream and downstream processing alternatives is economically advantageous. The base case analysis showed the cost and robustness advantages of utilizing suspension cell culture over adherent, as well as a fully chromatographic purification platform over batch ultracentrifugation. Expanding the set of purification options available gave insights into the optimal combination to satisfy both cost and purity targets. As the purity target increased, the optimal polishing solution moved from the non-capsid purifying multimodal chromatography to anion-exchange chromatography or continuous ultracentrifugation
Constrained Dynamics of Universally Coupled Massive Spin 2-spin 0 Gravities
The 2-parameter family of massive variants of Einstein's gravity (on a
Minkowski background) found by Ogievetsky and Polubarinov by excluding lower
spins can also be derived using universal coupling. A Dirac-Bergmann
constrained dynamics analysis seems not to have been presented for these
theories, the Freund-Maheshwari-Schonberg special case, or any other massive
gravity beyond the linear level treated by Marzban, Whiting and van Dam. Here
the Dirac-Bergmann apparatus is applied to these theories. A few remarks are
made on the question of positive energy. Being bimetric, massive gravities have
a causality puzzle, but it appears soluble by the introduction and judicious
use of gauge freedom.Comment: 6 pages; Talk given at QG05, Cala Gonone (Italy), September 200
Actin3 promoter reveals undulating F-actin bundles at shanks and dynamic F-actin meshworks at tips of tip-growing pollen tubes
The dynamic actin cytoskeleton of pollen tubes is both the driver of the tip growth and the organizer of cell polarity. In order to understand this fast re-arranging cytoskeletal system, we need reliable constructs expressed under relevant promoters. Here we are reporting that the Lifeact reporter, expressed under the pollen-specific Actin3 promoter, visualizes very dynamic F-actin elements both in germinating pollen grains and tip-growing pollen tubes. Importantly, we have documented very active actin polymerization at the cell periphery, especially in the bulging area during pollen germination and in the apical clear zone. Expression of the Lifeact reporter under control of the pollen-specific Actin3 promoter revealed 2 new aspects: (i) long F-actin bundles in pollen tube shanks are dynamic, showing undulating movements, (ii) subapical ‘actin collars’ or ‘fringes’ are absent
Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics: Structural Relaxation, Fictive temperature and Tool-Narayanaswamy phenomenology in Glasses
Starting from the second law of thermodynamics applied to an isolated system
consisting of the system surrounded by an extremely large medium, we formulate
a general non-equilibrium thermodynamic description of the system when it is
out of equilibrium. We then apply it to study the structural relaxation in
glasses and establish the phenomenology behind the concept of the fictive
temperature and of the empirical Tool-Narayanaswamy equation on firmer
theoretical foundation.Comment: 20 pages, 1 figur
A condensed matter interpretation of SM fermions and gauge fields
We present the bundle Aff(3) x C x /(R^3), with a geometric Dirac equation on
it, as a three-dimensional geometric interpretation of the SM fermions. Each C
x /(R^3) describes an electroweak doublet. The Dirac equation has a
doubler-free staggered spatial discretization on the lattice space Aff(3) x C
(Z^3). This space allows a simple physical interpretation as a phase space of a
lattice of cells in R^3. We find the SM SU(3)_c x SU(2)_L x U(1)_Y action on
Aff(3) x C x /(R^3) to be a maximal anomaly-free special gauge action
preserving E(3) symmetry and symplectic structure, which can be constructed
using two simple types of gauge-like lattice fields: Wilson gauge fields and
correction terms for lattice deformations. The lattice fermion fields we
propose to quantize as low energy states of a canonical quantum theory with
Z_2-degenerated vacuum state. We construct anticommuting fermion operators for
the resulting Z_2-valued (spin) field theory. A metric theory of gravity
compatible with this model is presented too.Comment: Minimal modifications in comparison with the published versio
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