4,944 research outputs found
Dimensional crossover of the fundamental-measure functional for parallel hard cubes
We present a regularization of the recently proposed fundamental-measure
functional for a mixture of parallel hard cubes. The regularized functional is
shown to have right dimensional crossovers to any smaller dimension, thus
allowing to use it to study highly inhomogeneous phases (such as the solid
phase). Furthermore, it is shown how the functional of the slightly more
general model of parallel hard parallelepipeds can be obtained using the
zero-dimensional functional as a generating functional. The multicomponent
version of the latter system is also given, and it is suggested how to
reformulate it as a restricted-orientation model for liquid crystals. Finally,
the method is further extended to build a functional for a mixture of parallel
hard cylinders.Comment: 4 pages, no figures, uses revtex style files and multicol.sty, for a
PostScript version see http://dulcinea.uc3m.es/users/cuesta/cross.p
A mean spherical model for soft potentials: The hard core revealed as a perturbation
The mean spherical approximation for fluids is extended to treat the case of dense systems interacting via soft-potentials. The extension takes the form of a generalized statement concerning the behavior of the direct correlation function c(r) and radial distribution g(r). From a detailed analysis that views the hard core portion of a potential as a perturbation on the whole, a specific model is proposed which possesses analytic solutions for both Coulomb and Yukawa potentials, in addition to certain other remarkable properties. A variational principle for the model leads to a relatively simple method for obtaining numerical solutions
An application of cluster detection to scene analysis
Certain arrangements of local features in a scene tend to group together and to be seen as units. It is suggested that in some instances, this phenomenon might be interpretable as a process of cluster detection in a graph-structured space derived from the scene. This idea is illustrated using a class of scenes that contain only horizontal and vertical line segments
Phase behaviour of additive binary mixtures in the limit of infinite asymmetry
We provide an exact mapping between the density functional of a binary
mixture and that of the effective one-component fluid in the limit of infinite
asymmetry. The fluid of parallel hard cubes is thus mapped onto that of
parallel adhesive hard cubes. Its phase behaviour reveals that demixing of a
very asymmetric mixture can only occur between a solvent-rich fluid and a
permeated large particle solid or between two large particle solids with
different packing fractions. Comparing with hard spheres mixtures we conclude
that the phase behaviour of very asymmetric hard-particle mixtures can be
determined from that of the large component interacting via an adhesive-like
potential.Comment: Full rewriting of the paper (also new title). 4 pages, LaTeX, uses
revtex, multicol, epsfig, and amstex style files, to appear in Phys. Rev. E
(Rapid Comm.
Research statement: inference of human-computing algorithms from massive-scale educational interventions
The main goal of the present research statement is to develop an educational computerized framework able to detect in which tasks a child has difficulties and generate a personalized intervention based on automatic observation and evaluation of data, as part of an interdisciplinary project at the crossroads of Computer Science, Cognitive Science, Biology and Psychology.
(Párrafo extraído del texto a modo de resumen)Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativa (SADIO
Comprehensive structural model of the mechanochemical cycle of a mitotic motor highlights molecular adaptations in the kinesin family
Kinesins are responsible for a wide variety of microtubule-based, ATP-dependent
functions. Their motor domain drives these activities but the molecular adaptations
that specify these diverse and essential cellular activities are poorly understood. It
has been assumed that the first identified kinesin - the transport motor kinesin-1 – is
the mechanistic paradigm for the entire superfamily, but accumulating evidence
suggests that this is not the case. To address the deficits in our understanding of the
molecular basis of functional divergence within the kinesin superfamily, we studied
kinesin-5s, which are essential mitotic motors whose inhibition blocks cell division.
Using cryo-electron microscopy and subnanometer resolution structure
determination, we have visualised conformations of microtubule-bound human
kinesin-5 motor domain at successive steps in its ATPase cycle. Following ATP
hydrolysis, nucleotide-dependent conformational changes in the active site are
allosterically propagated into rotations of the motor domain and uncurling of the drugbinding
loop L5. In addition, the mechanical neck-linker element that is crucial for
motor stepping undergoes discrete, ordered displacements. We also observed large
reorientations of the motor N-terminus that indicate its importance for kinesin-5
function through control of neck-linker conformation. A kinesin-5 mutant lacking this
N-terminus is enzymatically active, and ATP-dependent neck-linker movement and
motility is defective although not ablated. All these aspects of kinesin-5
mechanochemistry are distinct from kinesin-1. Our findings directly demonstrate the
regulatory role of the kinesin-5 N-terminus in collaboration with the motor’s structured
neck-linker, and highlight the multiple adaptations within kinesin motor domains that
tune their mechanochemistries according to distinct functional requirements
Lattice density-functional theory of surface melting: the effect of a square-gradient correction
I use the method of classical density-functional theory in the
weighted-density approximation of Tarazona to investigate the phase diagram and
the interface structure of a two-dimensional lattice-gas model with three
phases -- vapour, liquid, and triangular solid. While a straightforward
mean-field treatment of the interparticle attraction is unable to give a stable
liquid phase, the correct phase diagram is obtained when including a suitably
chosen square-gradient term in the system grand potential. Taken this theory
for granted, I further examine the structure of the solid-vapour interface as
the triple point is approached from low temperature. Surprisingly, a novel
phase (rather than the liquid) is found to grow at the interface, exhibiting an
unusually long modulation along the interface normal. The conventional
surface-melting behaviour is recovered only by artificially restricting the
symmetries being available to the density field.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure
Depletion potential in hard-sphere mixtures: theory and applications
We present a versatile density functional approach (DFT) for calculating the
depletion potential in general fluid mixtures. In contrast to brute force DFT,
our approach requires only the equilibrium density profile of the small
particles {\em before} the big (test) particle is inserted. For a big particle
near a planar wall or a cylinder or another fixed big particle the relevant
density profiles are functions of a single variable, which avoids the numerical
complications inherent in brute force DFT. We implement our approach for
additive hard-sphere mixtures. By investigating the depletion potential for
high size asymmetries we assess the regime of validity of the well-known
Derjaguin approximation for hard-sphere mixtures and argue that this fails. We
provide an accurate parametrization of the depletion potential in hard-sphere
fluids which should be useful for effective Hamiltonian studies of phase
behavior and colloid structure
Rippled area formed by surface plasmon polaritons upon femtosecond laser double-pulse irradiation of silicon: the role of carrier generation and relaxation processes
The formation of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS, ripples)
upon irradiation of silicon with multiple irradiation sequences consisting of
femtosecond laser pulse pairs (pulse duration 150 fs, central wavelength 800
nm) is studied numerically using a rate equation system along with a
two-temperature model accounting for one- and two-photon absorption and
subsequent carrier diffusion and Auger recombination processes. The temporal
delay between the individual equal-energy fs-laser pulses was varied between
and ps for quantification of the transient carrier densities in
the conduction band of the laser-excited silicon. The results of the numerical
analysis reveal the importance of carrier generation and relaxation processes
in fs-LIPSS formation on silicon and quantitatively explain the two time
constants of the delay dependent decrease of the Low-Spatial-Frequency LIPSS
(LSFL) area observed experimentally. The role of carrier generation, diffusion
and recombination are quantified individually.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, Conference On Laser Ablation (COLA) 2013. The
final publication is available at http://link.springer.com. Accepted for
publication in Applied Physics
Hard-Sphere Fluids in Contact with Curved Substrates
The properties of a hard-sphere fluid in contact with hard spherical and
cylindrical walls are studied. Rosenfeld's density functional theory (DFT) is
applied to determine the density profile and surface tension for wide
ranges of radii of the curved walls and densities of the hard-sphere fluid.
Particular attention is paid to investigate the curvature dependence and the
possible existence of a contribution to that is proportional to the
logarithm of the radius of curvature. Moreover, by treating the curved wall as
a second component at infinite dilution we provide an analytical expression for
the surface tension of a hard-sphere fluid close to arbitrary hard convex
walls. The agreement between the analytical expression and DFT is good. Our
results show no signs for the existence of a logarithmic term in the curvature
dependence of .Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure
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