443 research outputs found
Fuzzy Topology, Quantization and Gauge Invariance
Dodson-Zeeman fuzzy topology considered as the possible mathematical
framework of quantum geometric formalism. In such formalism the states of
massive particle m correspond to elements of fuzzy manifold called fuzzy
points. Due to their weak (partial) ordering, m space coordinate x acquires
principal uncertainty dx. It's shown that m evolution with minimal number of
additional assumptions obeys to schroedinger and dirac formalisms in
norelativistic and relativistic cases correspondingly. It's argued that
particle's interactions on such fuzzy manifold should be gauge invariant.Comment: 12 pages, Talk given on 'Geometry and Field Theory' conference,
Porto, July 2012. To be published in Int. J. Theor. Phys. (2015
Quantized Rotation of Atoms From Photons with Orbital Angular Momentum
We demonstrate the coherent transfer of the orbital angular momentum of a
photon to an atom in quantized units of hbar, using a 2-photon stimulated Raman
process with Laguerre-Gaussian beams to generate an atomic vortex state in a
Bose-Einstein condensate of sodium atoms. We show that the process is coherent
by creating superpositions of different vortex states, where the relative phase
between the states is determined by the relative phases of the optical fields.
Furthermore, we create vortices of charge 2 by transferring to each atom the
orbital angular momentum of two photons.Comment: New version, 4 pages and 3 figures, accepted for publication in
Physical Review Letter
S100B brain expression and plasma concentrations in a preeclampsia rat model
Objective: To assess brain damage using the neuroinflammation marker S100B in a preeclampsia rat model.Methods: Non-pregnant and pregnant rats were infused with saline or low-dose-endotoxin on day 14 of pregnancy. S100B expression in the brain (immunohistochemistry) and S100B plasma concentrations (ELISA) were studied.Results: No differences in S100B expression in brain tissue were observed between the four groups. Pregnant endotoxin treated animals did not show increased levels of plasma S100B levels as compared with control pregnant rats, while significantly higher plasma S100B levels were found in non-pregnant endotoxin versus pregnant endotoxin infused rats.Conclusion: Pregnancy nor experimental preeclampsia, alter S100B in rat brain, or in plasma. Increased plasma S100B in non-pregnant endotoxin-treated rats may indicate brain injury in these rats, whereas pregnancy might be protective.</p
Nitrous oxide net exchange in a beech dominated mixed forest in Switzerland measured with a quantum cascade laser spectrometer
International audienceNitrous oxide fluxes were measured at the LÀgeren CarboEurope IP flux site over the multi-species mixed forest dominated by European beech and Norway spruce. Measurements were carried out during a four-week period in October?November 2005 during leaf senescence. Fluxes were measured with a standard ultrasonic anemometer in combination with a quantum cascade laser absorption spectrometer that measured N2O, CO2, and H2O mixing ratios simultaneously at 5 Hz time resolution. To distinguish insignificant fluxes from significant ones it is proposed to use a new approach based on the significance of the correlation coefficient between vertical wind speed and mixing ratio fluctuations. This procedure eliminated roughly 56% of our half-hourly fluxes. Based on the remaining, quality checked N2O fluxes we quantified the mean efflux at 0.8 ± 0.4 ?mol m?2 h?1 (mean ± standard error). Most of the contribution to the N2O flux occurred during a 6.5-h period starting 4.5 h before each precipitation event. No relation with precipitation amount could be found. Visibility data representing fog density and duration at the site indicate that wetting of the canopy may have as strong an effect on N2O effluxes as does below-ground microbial activity. It is speculated that above-ground N2O production from the senescing leaves at high moisture (fog, drizzle, onset of precipitation event) may be responsible for part of the measured flux. In comparison with the annual CO2 budget of ?342 g C m?2 yr?1 it is estimated that concurrent N2O fluxes offset at least 5% of the greenhouse forcing reduction via net CO2 uptake
Metabolic profiles of six African cultivars of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) highlight bottlenecks of root yield
Open Access Article; Published online: 17 Jan 2020Cassava is an important staple crop in subâSaharan Africa, due to its high productivity even on nutrient poor soils. The metabolic characteristics underlying this high productivity are poorly understood including the mode of photosynthesis, reasons for the high rate of photosynthesis, the extent of source/sink limitation, the impact of environment, and the extent of variation between cultivars. Six commercial African cassava cultivars were grown in a greenhouse in Erlangen, Germany, and in the field in Ibadan, Nigeria. Source leaves, sink leaves, stems and storage roots were harvested during storage root bulking and analyzed for sugars, organic acids, amino acids, phosphorylated intermediates, minerals, starch, protein, activities of enzymes in central metabolism and yield traits. High ratios of RuBisCO:phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activity support a C3 mode of photosynthesis. The high rate of photosynthesis is likely to be attributed to high activities of enzymes in the CalvinâBenson cycle and pathways for sucrose and starch synthesis. Nevertheless, source limitation is indicated because root yield traits correlated with metabolic traits in leaves rather than in the stem or storage roots. This situation was especially so in greenhouseâgrown plants, where irradiance will have been low. In the field, plants produced more storage roots. This was associated with higher AGPase activity and lower sucrose in the roots, indicating that feedforward loops enhanced sink capacity in the high light and low nitrogen environment in the field. Overall, these results indicated that carbon assimilation rate, the K battery, root starch synthesis, trehalose, and chlorogenic acid accumulation are potential target traits for genetic improvement
Distribution Of Foraging Shearwaters Relative To Inner Front Of SE Bering Sea
We examined the hypothesis that short-tailed shearwaters Puffinus tenuirostris aggregate to forage at the inner front of the SE Bering Sea because of enhanced production there. We tested this hypothesis by comparing primary production, the distribution of euphausiids and the distribution of shearwaters relative to the front during late spring and late summer/early fall of 1997, 1998 and 1999. We found enhanced primary production at the front and offshore of the front during summer but not during spring. Primary production varied between seasons and years. Major differences were related to anomalous conditions in 1997 and 1998. The density of euphausiids was higher at the front and offshore of the front during summer, but there were no differences among regions during spring. Foraging shearwaters aggregated in high densities at the front during summer, but foraged close to shore during spring. At the front, shearwaters foraged on euphausiids Thysanoessa raschii and T. inermis as expected, and on copepods that accumulated in the area. The proportion of zooplankton consumed at the front decreased from summer 1997 to summer 1999, while consumption of sandlance Ammodytes hexapterus at this feature increased. Our results show that, during summer, the inner front supports aggregations of euphausiids and their seabird predators. The means by which the frontal system supports enhanced production and the subsequent trophic transfers is dependent on the availability of nutrients at depth in the frontal region and the aggregation of small zooplankton organisms in this feature
Polymorphic evolution sequence and evolutionary branching
We are interested in the study of models describing the evolution of a
polymorphic population with mutation and selection in the specific scales of
the biological framework of adaptive dynamics. The population size is assumed
to be large and the mutation rate small. We prove that under a good combination
of these two scales, the population process is approximated in the long time
scale of mutations by a Markov pure jump process describing the successive
trait equilibria of the population. This process, which generalizes the
so-called trait substitution sequence, is called polymorphic evolution
sequence. Then we introduce a scaling of the size of mutations and we study the
polymorphic evolution sequence in the limit of small mutations. From this study
in the neighborhood of evolutionary singularities, we obtain a full
mathematical justification of a heuristic criterion for the phenomenon of
evolutionary branching. To this end we finely analyze the asymptotic behavior
of 3-dimensional competitive Lotka-Volterra systems
Smooth free involution of and Smith conjecture for imbeddings of in
This paper establishes an equivalence between existence of free involutions
on and existence of involutions on with fixed point set an
imbedded , then a family of counterexamples of the Smith conjecture for
imbeddings of in are given by known result on . In
addition, this paper also shows that every smooth homotopy complex projective
3-space admits no orientation preserving smooth free involution, which answers
an open problem [Pe]. Moreover, the study of existence problem for smooth
orientation preserving involutions on is completed.Comment: 10 pages, final versio
Le Chatelier principle in replicator dynamics
The Le Chatelier principle states that physical equilibria are not only
stable, but they also resist external perturbations via short-time
negative-feedback mechanisms: a perturbation induces processes tending to
diminish its results. The principle has deep roots, e.g., in thermodynamics it
is closely related to the second law and the positivity of the entropy
production. Here we study the applicability of the Le Chatelier principle to
evolutionary game theory, i.e., to perturbations of a Nash equilibrium within
the replicator dynamics. We show that the principle can be reformulated as a
majorization relation. This defines a stability notion that generalizes the
concept of evolutionary stability. We determine criteria for a Nash equilibrium
to satisfy the Le Chatelier principle and relate them to mutualistic
interactions (game-theoretical anticoordination) showing in which sense
mutualistic replicators can be more stable than (say) competing ones. There are
globally stable Nash equilibria, where the Le Chatelier principle is violated
even locally: in contrast to the thermodynamic equilibrium a Nash equilibrium
can amplify small perturbations, though both this type of equilibria satisfy
the detailed balance condition.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure
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