Search results for "fluctuating"
showing 10 items of 39 documents
PARASITIC INFECTION AND DEVELOPMENTAL STABILITY: FLUCTUATING ASYMMETRY IN GAMMARUS PULEX INFECTED WITH TWO ACANTHOCEPHALAN SPECIES
2002
Several studies have reported a negative association between developmental stability and parasitic infection. However, the host-parasite associations examined so far consist only of a limited number of parasite taxa, and developmental stability was appraised on definitive hosts. The present study examines the association between infection by 2 acanthocephalan parasites. Pomphorhynchus laevis and Polymorphus minutus, and the developmental stability of their common intermediate host Gammarus pulex. Developmental stability was estimated from the fluctuating asymmetry (FA) levels of 6 morphological traits. A positive association was found between FA and infection. Infected gammarids tended to b…
Independence between developmental stability and canalization in the skull of the house mouse.
2000
The relationship between the two components of developmental homeostasis, that is canalization and developmental stability (DS), is currently debated. To appraise this relationship, the levels and morphological patterns of interindividual variation and fluctuating asymmetry were assessed using a geometric morphometric approach applied to the skulls of laboratory samples of the house mouse. These three samples correspond to two random-bred strains of the two European subspecies of the house mouse and their F1 hybrids. The inter- and intraindividual variation levels were found to be smaller in the hybrid group compared to the parental ones, suggesting a common heterotic effect on skull canali…
Energy conversion from external fluctuating signals based on asymmetric nanopores
2015
Electrical transduction from fluctuating external signals is central to energy conversion based on nanoscale electrochemical devices and bioelectronics interfaces. We demonstrate theoretically and experimentally a significant energy transduction from white noise signals using the electrical rectification of asymmetric nanopores in polymeric membranes immersed in aqueous electrolyte solutions. Load capacitor voltages of the order of 1 V are obtained within times of the order of 1 min by means of nanofluidic diodes which convert zero time-average potentials of amplitudes of the order of 1 V into average net currents. We consider single-nanopore and multipore membranes to show that the convers…
Electrical network of nanofluidic diodes in electrolyte solutions: Connectivity and coupling to electronic elements
2016
[EN] We consider a nanopore network with simple connectivity, demonstrating a two-dimensional circuit (full-wave rectifier) with ensembles of conical pores acting as nanofluidic diodes. When the bridge nanopore network is fed with an input potential signal of fluctuating polarity, a fixed output polarity is obtained. The full-wave rectification characteristics are demonstrated with square, sinusoidal, and white noise input waveforms. The charging of a load capacitor located between the two legs of the bridge demonstrates that the nanofluidic network is effectively coupled to this electronic element. These results can be relevant for energy transduction and storage procedures with nanopores …
Diffusion in Flashing Periodic Potentials
2005
The one-dimensional overdamped Brownian motion in a symmetric periodic potential modulated by external time-reversible noise is analyzed. The calculation of the effective diffusion coefficient is reduced to the mean first passage time problem. We derive general equations to calculate the effective diffusion coefficient of Brownian particles moving in arbitrary supersymmetric potential modulated: (i) by external white Gaussian noise and (ii) by Markovian dichotomous noise. For both cases the exact expressions for the effective diffusion coefficient are derived. We obtain acceleration of diffusion in comparison with the free diffusion case for fast fluctuating potentials with arbitrary profil…
RESONANT ACTIVATION AND NOISE ENHANCED STABILITY IN JOSEPHSON JUNCTIONS
2005
We investigate the interplay of two noise-induced effects on the temporal characteristics of short overdamped Josephson junctions in the presence of a periodic driving. We find that: (i) the mean life time of superconductive state has a minimum as a function of driving frequency, and near the minimum it actually does not depend on the noise intensity (resonant activation phenomenon); (ii) the noise enhanced stability phenomenon increases the switching time from superconductive to the resistive state. As a consequence there is a suitable frequency range of clock pulses, at which the noise has a minimal effect on pulse propagation in RSFQ electronic devices.
Skyrmions at finite density and temperature: the chiral phase transition
2008
The Skyrme model, an effective low energy theory rooted in large $N_c$ QCD, has been applied to the study of dense matter. Matter is described by various crystal structures of skyrmions. When this system is heated, the dominating thermal degrees of freedom are the fluctuating pions. Taking these mechanisms jointly produces a description of the chiral phase transition leading to the conventional phase diagram with critical temperatures and densities in agreement with expected values.
Rapid evolutionary adaptation to elevated salt concentrations in pathogenic freshwater bacteria Serratia marcescens.
2014
Rapid evolutionary adaptions to new and previously detrimental environmental conditions can increase the risk of invasion by novel pathogens. We tested this hypothesis with a 133-day-long evolutionary experiment studying the evolution of the pathogenic Serratia marcescens bacterium at salinity niche boundary and in fluctuating conditions. We found that S. marcescens evolved at harsh (80 g/L) and extreme (100 g/L) salt conditions had clearly improved salt tolerance than those evolved in the other three treatments (ancestral conditions, nonsaline conditions, and fluctuating salt conditions). Evolutionary theories suggest that fastest evolutionary changes could be observed in intermediate sele…
Escape Times in Fluctuating Metastable Potential and Acceleration of Diffusion in Periodic Fluctuating Potentials
2004
The problems of escape from metastable state in randomly flipping potential and of diffusion in fast fluctuating periodic potentials are considered. For the overdamped Brownian particle moving in a piecewise linear dichotomously fluctuating metastable potential we obtain the mean first-passage time (MFPT) as a function of the potential parameters, the noise intensity and the mean rate of switchings of the dichotomous noise. We find noise enhanced stability (NES) phenomenon in the system investigated and the parameter region of the fluctuating potential where the effect can be observed. For the diffusion of the overdamped Brownian particle in a fast fluctuating symmetric periodic potential w…
Understanding the fluctuations of perceived authenticity in cultural tourism : an investigation of Bali and Alsace contexts
2022
The marketing of cultural tourism faces a dilemma between maximizing the economic return and nurturing the culture’s social functions. It needs to attract segments driven by cultural motifs, through a differentiation based on authenticity. Perceived authenticity changes over a time, but how it does remains elusive to researchers. This research investigated fluctuations of existential authenticity in cultural tourists in Bali. Participants were purposively and conveniently-sampled among visitors of cultural attractions. It comprised two stages: qualitative for building the model, and quantitative fortesting the variables. The first employed Grounded Theory interviewing 24 visitors, found the…