Descripción: We exhibit a new method for showing lower bounds for time-space tradeoffs of polynomial evaluation procedures given by straight-line programs. From the tradeoff results obtained by this method we deduce lower space bounds for polynomial evaluation procedures running in optimal nonscalar time. Time, denoted by L, is measured in terms of nonscalar arithmetic operations and space, denoted by S, is measured by the maximal number of pebbles (registers) used during the given evaluation procedure. The time-space tradeoff function considered in this paper is LS2. We show that for "almost all" univariate polynomials of degree at most d our time-space tradeoff functions satisfy the inequality LS2≥d8. From this we conclude that for "almost all" degree d univariate polynomials, any nonscalar time optimal evaluation procedure requires space at least S≥cd, where c>0 is a suitable universal constant. The main part of this paper is devoted to the exhibition of specific families of univariate polynomials which are "hard to compute" in the sense of time-space tradeoff (this means that our tradeoff function increases linearly in the degree). © 2000 Academic Press.

Descripción: We review a recent theoretical development based on non-equilibrium Green's function formalism to study heat transport in nanomechanical devices modeled by phononic systems of coupled quantum oscillators driven by ac forces and connected to phononic reservoirs. We present the relevant equations to calculate the heat currents flowing along different regions of the setup, as well as the power developed by the time-dependent forces. We also present different strategies to evaluate the Green's functions exactly or approximately within the weak driving regime. We finally discuss the different mechanisms in which the ac driving forces deliver the energy. We show that, besides generating heat, the forces may operate exchanging energy as a quantum engine.

Descripción: Factors affecting mating behaviour in the bug Triatoma infestans were quantitatively studied in the laboratory. Experimental conditions were established so that the probability of copulation increased with the time elapsed since the first adult meal. Copulatory attempts by males did not vary as a function of time, but rejections by females became significantly less frequent with the post feeding time. Non-receptive females displayed four types of rejection behaviour, i.e. flattening, stridulation, evasion and abdominal movements. The occurrence of stridulation performed by females in a sexual context was observed in a regular fashion and was quantified for the first time in this species.

Descripción: We analyze a simple microscopic model to pump heat from a cold to a hot reservoir in a nanomechanical system. The model consists of a one-dimensional chain of masses and springs coupled to a back gate through which a time-dependent perturbation is applied. The action of the gate creates a moving phononic barrier by locally pinning a mass. We solve the problem numerically using a nonequilibrium Green's function technique. For low driving frequencies and for sharp traveling barriers, we show that this microscopic model realizes a phonon refrigerator. © 2012 American Physical Society.

Descripción: We prove upper bounds on the order and degree of the polynomials involved in a resolvent representation of the prime differential ideal associated with a polynomial differential system for a particular class of ordinary first order algebraic-differential equations arising in control theory. We also exhibit a probabilistic algorithm which computes this resolvent representation within time polynomial in the natural syntactic parameters and the degree of a certain algebraic variety related to the input system. In addition, we give a probabilistic polynomial-time algorithm for the computation of the differential Hilbert function of the ideal. © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Descripción: A method is devised for estimating the two-time correlation function and the associated Eulerian decorrelation timescale in turbulence.With the assumptions of a single decorrelation time and a frozen-in flow approximation for the single-point analysis, the method compares two-point correlation measurements with single-point correlation measurements at the corresponding spatial lag. This method is applied to interplanetarymagnetic fieldmeasurements from the Advanced Composition Explorer and Wind spacecraft. An average Eulerian decorrelation time of 2.9 hr is found. This measures the total rate of distortion of turbulent fluid elements-including sweeping, nonlinear distortion, and wave propagation. © 2010. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

Descripción: The displacement of particles or probes in the cell cytoplasm as a function of time is characterized by different anomalous diffusion regimes. The transport of large cargoes, such as organelles, vesicles or large proteins, involves the action of ATP-consuming molecular motors. We investigate the motion of pigment organelles driven by myosin-V motors in Xenopus laevis melanocytes using a high spatio-temporal resolution tracking technique. By analyzing the turning angles (φ) of the obtained 2D trajectories as a function of the time lag, we determine the critical time of the transition between anticorrelated and directed motion as the time when the turning angles begin to concentrate around φ 0. We relate this transition with the crossover from subdiffusive to superdiffusive behavior observed in a previous work [5]. We also assayed the properties of the trajectories in cells with inhibited myosin activity, and we can compare the results in the presence and absence of active motors. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Descripción: We propose a new algorithm for the Capacitated Arc Routing Problem (CARP). Our motivation to deal with this problem is related to its application in several real world scenarios such as street sweeping, urban waste collection and electric meter reading just to mention a few. Based on BRKGA metaheuristic, our algorithm introduces a new random key encoding for CARP, mutation to random keys strings, a restart phase to avoid stagnation and local search. The algorithm was tested with several well-known instances from the literature. The results obtained were competitive in terms of objective function value and required computational time. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.

Descripción: Let Zv t, z be a ℝd-valued jump diffusion controlled by v with initial condition Zv t, z(t) = z. The aim of this paper is to characterize the set V (t) of initial conditions z such that Zv t, z can be driven into a given target at a given time by proving that the function u(, z) = 1 − 1V(t) satisfies, in the viscosity sense, the equation (2) below. As an application, we study the problem of hedging in a financial market with a large investor. © 2007 Applied Probability Trust.

Descripción: The endothelium is an organ that is involved in several physiological processes, mainly blood fluid preservation. Non-activated endothelial cells express an anticoagulant, antiadhesive and vasodilative phenotype, whereas activated endothelial cells express procoagulant, proadhesive and vasoconstrictive properties. The structure and function are regulated in space and time and this fact originates a specific vascular bed haemostasis . The objective of this work is to review the new concepts in endothelial cell heterogeneity and their influence in haemostasis regulation. © 2007 Federación Bioquímica de la Provincia de Buenos Aires.

Descripción: The Navier-Stokes, continuity and energy balance equations including magnetic effects for an inviscid compressible fluid in the ionospheric F-region were perturbed around the tidal phenomenological solution. We imposed adiabaticity and incompressibility to the perturbation. Our results satisfy the internal gravity wave (IGW) dispersion relation. The stable and unstable regions of these modes were derived as a function of two control parameters, the colatitude θ and the slow time evolution for tidal modes τ. These regions were obtained for different values of the magnetic field intensity, showing good agreement with observational data for the South Atlantic anomaly. Our model predictions for other magnetic field intensities corresponding to other latitude dependences need to be contrasted with new observational data. In addition we show for some hours and latitudes that, resonant interaction occurs between low frequency tidal waves and two high frequency gravity waves. In these regions, where tidal modes are linearly unstable, the gravity group velocity is modulated by a function of the tidal phase velocity.

Descripción: We study the intermittency properties of the energy and helicity cascades in two 15363 direct numerical simulations of helical rotating turbulence. Symmetric and antisymmetric velocity increments are examinedas well as probability density functions of the velocity field and of the helicity density. It is found that the direct cascade of energy to small scales is scale invariant and nonintermittentwhereas the direct cascade of helicity is highly intermittent. Furthermorethe study of structure functions of different orders allows us to identify a recovery of isotropy of strong events at very small scales in the flow. Finallywe observe the juxtaposition in space of strong laminar and persistent helical columns next to time-varying vortex tanglesthe former being associated with the self-similarity of energy and the latter with the intermittency of helicity. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.

Descripción: Hypoxia-Inducible Factor (HIF) prolyl hydroxylase domains (PHDs) have been proposed to act as sensors that have an important role in oxygen homeostasis. In the presence of oxygen, they hydroxylate two specific prolyl residues in HIF-α polypeptides, thereby promoting their proteasomal degradation. So far, however, the developmental consequences of the inactivation of PHDs in higher metazoans have not been reported. Here, we describe novel loss-of-function mutants of fatiga, the gene encoding the Drosophila PHD oxygen sensor, which manifest growth defects and lethality. We also report a null mutation in dHIF-α/sima, which is unable to adapt to hypoxia but is fully viable in normoxic conditions. Strikingly, loss-of-function mutations of sima rescued the developmental defects observed in fatiga mutants and enabled survival to adulthood. These results indicate that the main functions of Fatiga in development, including control of cell size, involve the regulation of dHIF/Sima. © 2005 European Molecular Biology Organization.

Descripción: A new eigentechnique approach, Principal Sequence Pattern Analysis (PSPA), is introduced for the analysis of spatial pattern sequence, as an extension of the traditional Principal Component Analysis set in the T-Mode. In this setting, the variables are sequences of k spatial fields of a given meteorological variable. PSPA is described and applied to a sample of 256 consecutive daily 1000 hPa geopotential height fields. The results of the application of the technique to 5-day sequences demonstrate the advantages of this procedure in identifying field pattern sequences, thereby allowing the determination of the evolution and development of the systems, together with cyclogenesis and anticyclogenesis processes. In order to complete the study, the more traditional Extended Empirical Orthogonal Function (EEOF) analysis, which is the S-mode equivalent of the PSPA, was applied to the same dataset. For EEOF, it was not possible to identify any real sequences that could correspond to the sequences of patterns yielded by the EEOF. Furthermore, the explained variance distribution in the EEOF was significantly different from that obtained with PSPA. Conversely, the PSPA approach allowed for the identification of the sequences corresponding to those sequences observed in the data. Using diagrams of the squares of the component loadings values, as a function of time, the study of the times of occurrence of dominant field characteristics was also possible. In other words, successful determination of periods where the basic flow was dominant and times when strongly perturbed transient events with a significant meridional component occurred, was facilitated by PSPA. © 2001 Royal Meteorological Society.

Descripción: The idea that memories are immutable after consolidation has been challenged. Several reports have shown that after the presentation of a specific reminder, reactivated old memories become labile and again susceptible to amnesic agents. Such vulnerability diminishes with the progress of time and implies a re-stabilization phase, usually referred to as reconsolidation. To date, the main findings describe the mechanisms associated with the labilization-reconsolidation process, but little is known about its functionality from a biological standpoint. Indeed, two functions have been proposed. One suggests that destabilization of the original memory after the reminder allows the integration of new information into the background of the original memory (memory updating), and the other suggests that the labilization-reconsolidation process strengthens the original memory (memory strengthening). We have previously reported the reconsolidation of human declarative memories, demonstrating memory updating in the framework of reconsolidation. Here we deal with the strengthening function attributed to the reconsolidation process. We triggered labilization-reconsolidation processes successively by repeated presentations of the proper reminder. Participants learned an association between five cue-syllables and their respective response-syllables. Twenty-four hours later, the paired-associate verbal memory was labilized by exposing the subjects to one, two or four reminders. The List-memory was evaluated on Day 3 showing that the memory was improved when at least a second reminder was presented in the time window of the first labilization-reconsolidation process prompted by the earlier reminder. However, the improvement effect was revealed on Day 3, only when at least two reminders were presented on Day2 and not as a consequence of only retrieval. Therefore, we propose central concepts for the reconsolidation process, emphasizing its biological role and the parametrical constrains for this function to be operative. © 2011 Forcato et al.

Descripción: Rapidly rotating turbulent flow is characterized by the emergence of columnar structures that are representative of quasi-two-dimensional behavior of the flow. It is known that when energy is injected into the fluid at an intermediate scale L f, it cascades towards smaller as well as larger scales. In this paper we analyze the flow in the inverse cascade range at a small but fixed Rossby number, Ro f≈0.05. Several numerical simulations with helical and nonhelical forcing functions are considered in periodic boxes with unit aspect ratio. In order to resolve the inverse cascade range with reasonably large Reynolds number, the analysis is based on large eddy simulations which include the effect of helicity on eddy viscosity and eddy noise. Thus, we model the small scales and resolve explicitly the large scales. We show that the large-scale energy spectrum has at least two solutions: one that is consistent with Kolmogorov-Kraichnan-Batchelor-Leith phenomenology for the inverse cascade of energy in two-dimensional (2D) turbulence with a ∼k⊥-5/3 scaling, and the other that corresponds to a steeper ∼k⊥-3 spectrum in which the three-dimensional (3D) modes release a substantial fraction of their energy per unit time to the 2D modes. The spectrum that emerges depends on the anisotropy of the forcing function, the former solution prevailing for forcings in which more energy is injected into the 2D modes while the latter prevails for isotropic forcing. In the case of anisotropic forcing, whence the energy goes from the 2D to the 3D modes at low wave numbers, large-scale shear is created, resulting in a time scale τ sh, associated with shear, thereby producing a ∼k -1 spectrum for the total energy with the horizontal energy of the 2D modes still following a ∼k⊥-5/3 scaling. © 2012 American Physical Society.

Descripción: We have calculated the electrical conductivity in the current-in-plane geometry of multilayered granular alloys composed of Co clusters embedded in Ag alternating with pure Ag layers. In particular, we have paid attention to the conductivity behavior as a function of Ag layer thickness, Co clusters' size, and degree of percolation. The electronic structure is self-consistently calculated within the unrestricted Hartree-Fock approximation using a parametrized tight binding Hamiltonian which includes a Hubbard-like term. The conductivity tensor is obtained by using the semiclassical Boltzmann equation in the anisotropic relaxation time approximation. We have used a s-d Mott-like scattering model for the electronic mean free path taking into account the Sondheimer's picture for electronic transport in thin films. We find that the experimental conductivity behavior at coalescence can be explained through the electronic band contribution. The conductivity behavior of continuous multilayers is already attained in the very early stage of percolation, as in the experiments. © 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Descripción: The factors affecting the sexual behaviour of Panstrongylus megistus were studied under laboratory conditions. A general description of mating behaviour is presented for this species. The effect of the time elapsed after the first imaginal feeding on the mating frequency, the motivation of males to mate and the rejection behaviour by females, were analyzed. We also determined the number of copulas accepted by females of this species. Finally, the possible existence of a sexual chemical signal promoting male aggregation around mating couples was evaluated. Results showed that mating frequency increased with the time elapsed since the first adult meal. Despite the number of male copulatory attempts did not change as a function of time, the rejection behaviour of females became gradually less frequent. Females rejected mating by means of body flattening on the substrate, abdominal movements, evasion or stridulation. After a single copula, females did not usually accept to mate again. Neither male nor female aggregation around mating couples was observed, suggesting the absence of a sexual assembling pheromone in P. megistus.

Descripción: We generalize the effective field theory of single clock inflation to include dissipative effects. Working in unitary gauge we couple a set of composite operators, OZ μ...., in the effective action which is constrained solely by invariance under time-dependent spatial diffeomorphisms. We restrict ourselves to situations where the degrees of freedom responsible for dissipation do not contribute to the density perturbations at late time. The dynamics of the perturbations is then modified by the appearance of 'friction' and noise terms, and assuming certain locality properties for the Green's functions of these composite operators, we show that there is a regime characterized by a large friction term γ H in which the ζ-correlators are dominated by the noise and the power spectrum can be significantly enhanced. We also compute the three point function hζζζi for a wide class of models and discuss under which circumstances large friction leads to an increased level of non-Gaussianities. In particular, under our assumptions, we show that strong dissipation together with the required non-linear realization of the symmetries implies |fNL| ∼ . c2s H 1. As a paradigmatic example we work out a variation of the 'trapped inflation' scenario with local response functions and perform the matching with our effective theory. A detection of the generic type of signatures that result from incorporating dissipative effects during inflation, as we describe here, would teach us about the dynamics of the early universe and also extend the parameter space of inflationary models. © SISSA 2012.