Polymorphism of amyloid-β fibrils and its effects on human erythrocyte catalase binding

The Alzheimer's amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide exists as a number of naturally occurring forms due to differential proteolytic processing of its precursor molecule. Many of the Aβ peptides of different lengths form fibrils in vitro, which often show polymorphisms in the fibril structure. This study presents a TEM based analysis of fibril formation by eighteen different Aβ peptides ranging in length from 5 to 43 amino acids. Spectrophotometric analysis of Congo red binding to the fibrillar material has been assessed and the binding of human erythrocyte catalase (HEC) to Aβ fibrils has also been investigated by TEM. The results show that a diverse range of Aβ peptides form fibrils and also bind Congo red. The ability of both Aβ 1–28 and Aβ 29–40 to form fibrils indicates that there are at least two fibril-forming domains within the full-length Aβ 1–40 sequence, the ability of many Aβ peptides to form Congo red-binding aggregates suggests that there may be up to 4 possible aggregation promoting domains. The binding of HEC was limited to Aβ forms containing residues 29–32. The differing capacities of fibrillar and ribbon-like structures may reflect the accessibility of the 29–32 region and suggest that HEC may be able to discriminate between different forms of Aβ fibrils.     

Nucleation and growth mechanism for flame synthesis of MoO2 hollow microchannels with nanometer wall thickness

The growth and morphological evolution of molybdenum-oxide microstructures formed in the high temperature environment of a counter-flow oxy-fuel flame using molybdenum probes is studied. Experiments conducted using various probe retention times show the sequence of the morphological changes. The morphological row begins with micron size objects exhibiting polygonal cubic shape, develops into elongated channels, changes to large structures with leaf-like shape, and ends in dendritic structures. Time of probe–flame interaction is found to be a governing parameter controlling the wide variety of morphological patterns; a molecular level growth mechanism is attributed to their development. This study reveals that the structures are grown in several consecutive stages: material “evaporation and transportation”, “transformation”, “nucleation”, “initial growth”, “intermediate growth”, and “final growth”. XRD analysis shows that the chemical compositions of all structures correspond to MoO₂.     

Revisiting Born’s Rule through Uhlhorn’s and Gleason’s Theorems

In a previous article we presented an argument to obtain (or rather infer) Born’s rule, based on a simple set of axioms named “Contexts, Systems and Modalities" (CSM). In this approach, there is no “emergence”, but the structure of quantum mechanics can be attributed to an interplay between the quantized number of modalities that is accessible to a quantum system and the continuum of contexts that are required to define these modalities. The strong link of this derivation with Gleason’s theorem was emphasized, with the argument that CSM provides a physical justification for Gleason’s hypotheses. Here, we extend this result by showing that an essential one among these hypotheses—the need of unitary transforms to relate different contexts—can be removed and is better seen as a necessary consequence of Uhlhorn’s theorem.     

Automated photoelasticity: weighted least-squares determination of field stresses

The three-wavelength approach to phase-stepping photoelasticity as developed by the author is extended to determine automatically full-field stress tensor values. The only need for the user to calibrate the results is to give the material fringe value and the value of a stress at a single point. Four phase-stepped images illuminated by three wavelengths of light, that differ by prescribed increments, are collected using a semi-circular polariscope and an RGB CCD camera. A ramped phase map for the isochromatic parameter (α) is produced in the wrapped range −π/2<απ/2 that can be calibrated automatically. The value of the isoclinic angle (θ) is determined in the wrapped range −π/4<θπ/4. A discrete cosine transform algorithm has been developed to separate the stresses into Cartesian components. A convenience of the method is that accurate results can be obtained using a least-squares error minimisation process. The results obtained from experimental testing of a disc-in-compression specimen using transmission photoelasticity presented in comparison with theoretical solutions demonstrate the accuracy of the new approach.     

Onset of the Mach Reflection of Zel’dovich–von Neumann–Döring Detonations

The present study investigates the similarity problem associated with the onset of the Mach reflection of Zel’dovich–von Neumann–Döring (ZND) detonations in the near field. The results reveal that the self-similarity in the frozen-limit regime is strictly valid only within a small scale, i.e., of the order of the induction length. The Mach reflection becomes non-self-similar during the transition of the Mach stem from “frozen” to “reactive” by coupling with the reaction zone. The triple-point trajectory first rises from the self-similar result due to compressive waves generated by the “hot spot”, and then decays after establishment of the reactive Mach stem. It is also found, by removing the restriction, that the frozen limit can be extended to a much larger distance than expected. The obtained results elucidate the physical origin of the onset of Mach reflection with chemical reactions, which has previously been observed in both experiments and numerical simulations.     

Are Words the Quanta of Human Language? Extending the Domain of Quantum Cognition

In previous research, we showed that ‘texts that tell a story’ exhibit a statistical structure that is not Maxwell–Boltzmann but Bose–Einstein. Our explanation is that this is due to the presence of ‘indistinguishability’ in human language as a result of the same words in different parts of the story being indistinguishable from one another, in much the same way that ’indistinguishability’ occurs in quantum mechanics, also there leading to the presence of Bose–Einstein rather than Maxwell–Boltzmann as a statistical structure. In the current article, we set out to provide an explanation for this Bose–Einstein statistics in human language. We show that it is the presence of ‘meaning’ in ‘texts that tell a story’ that gives rise to the lack of independence characteristic of Bose–Einstein, and provides conclusive evidence that ‘words can be considered the quanta of human language’, structurally similar to how ‘photons are the quanta of electromagnetic radiation’. Using several studies on entanglement from our Brussels research group, we also show, by introducing the von Neumann entropy for human language, that it is also the presence of ‘meaning’ in texts that makes the entropy of a total text smaller relative to the entropy of the words composing it. We explain how the new insights in this article fit in with the research domain called ‘quantum cognition’, where quantum probability models and quantum vector spaces are used in human cognition, and are also relevant to the use of quantum structures in information retrieval and natural language processing, and how they introduce ‘quantization’ and ‘Bose–Einstein statistics’ as relevant quantum effects there. Inspired by the conceptuality interpretation of quantum mechanics, and relying on the new insights, we put forward hypotheses about the nature of physical reality. In doing so, we note how this new type of decrease in entropy, and its explanation, may be important for the development of quantum thermodynamics. We likewise note how it can also give rise to an original explanatory picture of the nature of physical reality on the surface of planet Earth, in which human culture emerges as a reinforcing continuation of life.     

Effects of pressure on flame propagation in a premixture containing fine fuel droplets

Combustion experiments on fuel droplet–vapor–air mixtures have been performed with a rapid expansion apparatus which generates monodispersed droplet clouds with narrow diameter distribution using the condensation method. The effects of fine fuel droplets on flame propagation were investigated for ethanol droplet–vapor–air mixtures at various pressures from 0.2 to 1.0 MPa. A stagnant fuel droplet–vapor–air mixture, generated in a rapid expansion chamber, was ignited at the center of the chamber using an ignition wire. Spherical flame propagation under constant-pressure conditions was observed with a high-speed video camera and flame speed was measured. Total equivalence ratio, and the ratio of liquid fuel mass to total fuel mass, was varied from 0.6 to 1.4 and from zero to 56%, respectively. The mean droplet diameter of fuel droplet–vapor–air mixtures was set at 8.5 and 11 μm. It was found that the flame speed of droplet–vapor–air mixtures less than 0.9 in the total equivalence ratio exceeds that of premixed gases of the same total equivalence ratio at all pressures. The flame speed of fuel droplet–vapor–air mixtures decreases as the pressure increases in all total equivalence ratios. At large ratios of liquid fuel mass to total fuel mass, the normalized flame speed (the flame speed of droplet–vapor–air mixtures divided by the flame speed of the premixed gas with the same total equivalence ratio), increases with the increase in pressure for fuel-lean mixtures, and it decreases for fuel-rich mixtures. The outcome is reversed at small ratios of liquid fuel mass to total fuel mass; the normalized flame speed decreases with the increase in pressure for fuel-lean mixtures, and increases for fuel-rich mixtures. The results suggest that the increase in pressure promotes droplet evaporation in the preheat zone.     

Stable bonds and unstable bonds in Y(Pr)-123 system

The Pr content dependence of the bond lengths of Y–Cu, Y–O, O–O, Cu–O, Ba–Cu and Ba–O in PrBa₂Cu₃O_y are analyzed and discussed in detail. The different valence bonds can be divided into two groups: stable bonds and unstable bonds. Since the bond lengths and angles between every two ions among O2, Cu2 and O3 are very stable, we conclude that the three ions form an unchangeable triangle when the Pr doping changes. The triangle is called “fixed triangle”. This “fixed triangle” can slightly rotate around the Cu2 ions. It is just this rotation that leads to the unstable bonds. As the increase of the Pr content, the bond lengths between the two Cu(2)–O planes becomes larger and larger, the Cu(2)–O planes bend towards the Ba–O plane. The bonds lengths between the Cu(2)–O and Ba–O planes vary oppositely from those of Cu(2)–O, and become shorter and shorter. These changes connected with the superconductivity are discussed.     

The AGNs and the extragalactic gamma ray background

The first part of this paper describes the identification of γ-ray AGNs. The database of cosmic γ-rays above 100 MeV from the SAS-2 satellite has been analysed to identify γ-ray emissions from 11 quasars, 3 BL Lac Objects and 1 radiogalaxy. Further investigations of the relationship between their γ-ray fluxes in different energy regions (>100 MeV and 35-100 MeV) and the relationship between their γ-ray fluxes and their redshifts, support that the sources detected are genuine extragalactic objects.The second part of this paper describes the determination of the contribution from AGNs to the extragalactic γ-ray background. The SAS-2 γ-ray data have been employed to determine the functional relationships between the absolute γ-ray luminosities L_γ and the absolute optical luminosities of quasars andSeyfert galaxies. From these, their contribution to the extragalaxtic γ-ray background can be derived. We have shown that quasars (B<20) and Seyfert (Type 1 and 1.5) galaxies together contribute to a substantial part (about 59%) of the diffuse γ-ray background in the 35-100 MeV range. Therefore we conclude that the extragalactic γ-ray background is likely to be generated by active galaxies such as quasars and Seyfert galaxies.     

Transient radiation and conduction heat transfer inside a plane-parallel participating gray medium with boundaries having different reflecting characteristics

A hybrid ray-tracing method is developed for the solution to the radiative transfer in a plane-parallel participating medium having one specular surface and another diffuse surface. By this method, radiative transfer coefficients (RTCs) for specular–diffuse (S–D) surfaces are deduced. The medium surfaces are considered to be semitransparent. The effects of convection–radiation parameter, conduction–radiation parameter and refractive index on transient coupled heat transfer are investigated. Results show that the temperature curves of the medium having S–D surfaces is higher than those of the medium having S–S surfaces (two specular surfaces); the total heat flux at steady state for the S–D surfaces is lower than that for the S–S surfaces.     

The current and capacitance response of radiation-damaged silicon PIN diodes

The current–voltage (I–V) and capacitance–voltage (C–V) characteristics of silicon p–i–n diodes have been investigated both prior to and after radiation-induced damage by 1 MeV neutrons. The results have been analysed and several rates of damage evaluated. The indication is mainly that radiation damage occurs only up to certain fluencies. Beyond these, the material becomes resistant to further damage. Thus, initial heavy radiation damage can be used to achieve radiation-hardness of detector diodes. This result is contrary to previous suggestions that continued irradiation renders the detectors inoperable but is in good agreement with our results on radiation-hardness induced by gold-doping.     

Introduction and Analysis of a Method for the Investigation of QCD-like Tree Data

The properties of decays that take place during jet formation cannot be easily deduced from the final distribution of particles in a detector. In this work, we first simulate a system of particles with well-defined masses, decay channels, and decay probabilities. This presents the “true system” for which we want to reproduce the decay probability distributions. Assuming we only have the data that this system produces in the detector, we decided to employ an iterative method which uses a neural network as a classifier between events produced in the detector by the “true system” and some arbitrary “test system”. In the end, we compare the distributions obtained with the iterative method to the “true” distributions.     

A Time-Symmetric Formulation of Quantum Entanglement

I numerically simulate and compare the entanglement of two quanta using the conventional formulation of quantum mechanics and a time-symmetric formulation that has no collapse postulate. The experimental predictions of the two formulations are identical, but the entanglement predictions are significantly different. The time-symmetric formulation reveals an experimentally testable discrepancy in the original quantum analysis of the Hanbury Brown–Twiss experiment, suggests solutions to some parts of the nonlocality and measurement problems, fixes known time asymmetries in the conventional formulation, and answers Bell’s question “How do you convert an ’and’ into an ’or’?”     

Cornelius Lanczos’s Derivation of the Usual Action Integral of Classical Electrodynamics

The usual action integral of classical electrodynamics is derived starting from Lanczos’s electrodynamics – a pure field theory in which charged particles are identified with singularities of the homogeneous Maxwell’s equations interpreted as a generalization of the Cauchy–Riemann regularity conditions from complex to biquaternion functions of four complex variables. It is shown that contrary to the usual theory based on the inhomogeneous Maxwell’s equations, in which charged particles are identified with the sources, there is no divergence in the self-interaction so that the mass is finite, and that the only approximations made in the derivation are the usual conditions required for the internal consistency of classical electrodynamics. Moreover, it is found that the radius of the boundary surface enclosing a singularity interpreted as an electron is on the same order as that of the hypothetical “bag” confining the quarks in a hadron, so that Lanczos’s electrodynamics is engaging the reconsideration of many fundamental concepts related to the nature of elementary particles.     

Deformed “commutative” Chern–Simons’ system

Noncommutative Chern–Simons’ system is non-perturbatively investigated at a full deformed level. A deformed “commutative” phase space is found by a non-canonical change between two sets of deformed variables of noncommutative space. It is explored that in the “commutative” phase space all calculations are similar to the case in commutative space. Spectra of its energy and angular momentum of the Chern–Simons’ system are obtained at the full deformed level. The noncommutative–commutative correspondence is clearly showed. Formalism for the general dynamical system is briefly presented. Some subtle points are clarified.     

Integrated Information in the Spiking–Bursting Stochastic Model

Integrated information has been recently suggested as a possible measure to identify a necessary condition for a system to display conscious features. Recently, we have shown that astrocytes contribute to the generation of integrated information through the complex behavior of neuron–astrocyte networks. Still, it remained unclear which underlying mechanisms governing the complex behavior of a neuron–astrocyte network are essential to generating positive integrated information. This study presents an analytic consideration of this question based on exact and asymptotic expressions for integrated information in terms of exactly known probability distributions for a reduced mathematical model (discrete-time, discrete-state stochastic model) reflecting the main features of the “spiking–bursting” dynamics of a neuron–astrocyte network. The analysis was performed in terms of the empirical “whole minus sum” version of integrated information in comparison to the “decoder based” version. The “whole minus sum” information may change sign, and an interpretation of this transition in terms of “net synergy” is available in the literature. This motivated our particular interest in the sign of the “whole minus sum” information in our analytical considerations. The behaviors of the “whole minus sum” and “decoder based” information measures are found to bear a lot of similarity—they have mutual asymptotic convergence as time-uncorrelated activity increases, and the sign transition of the “whole minus sum” information is associated with a rapid growth in the “decoder based” information. The study aims at creating a theoretical framework for using the spiking–bursting model as an analytically tractable reference point for applying integrated information concepts to systems exhibiting similar bursting behavior. The model can also be of interest as a new discrete-state test bench for different formulations of integrated information.     

A spatial filtering technique for improved holographic character recognition

Conventional holographic pattern recognition systems suffer from the disadvantage that, in dealing with highly ordered patterns such as Arabic numerals or the letters of the Roman alphabet it is sometimes impossible to distinguish between patterns with a high degree of similarity (eg the capital letters ‘E’ and ‘F’ or ‘B’ and ‘P’).The present paper analyzes a simple case and shows how the insertion of a suitable spatial filter in the Fourier transform plane can reduce the unwanted cross-correlation signal between dissimilar patterns to zero, without removing the desired auto-correlation signal between similar patterns. Although no attempt is made to generalize the analysis, it seems probable that in cases involving the recognition of a small number of patterns with a strong ‘family resemblance’ a compromise filtering arrangement could be developed which would lead to a substantially improved performance.     

An experimental investigation of the propagation mechanism of critical deflagration waves that lead to the onset of detonation

The reflection of a CJ detonation from a perforated plate is used to generate high speed deflagrations downstream in order to investigate the critical conditions that lead to the onset of detonation. Different perforated plates were used to control the turbulence in the downstream deflagration waves. Streak Schlieren photography, ionization probes and pressure transducers are used to monitor the flow field and the transition to detonation. Stoichiometric mixtures of acetylene–oxygen and propane–oxygen were tested at low initial pressures. In some cases, acetylene–oxygen was diluted with 80% argon in order to render the mixture more “stable” (i.e., more regular detonation cell structure). The results show that prior to successful detonation initiation, a deflagration is formed that propagates at about half the CJ detonation velocity of the mixture. This “critical” deflagration (which propagates at a relatively constant velocity for a certain duration prior to the onset of detonation) is comprised of a leading shock wave followed by an extended turbulent reaction zone. The critical deflagration speed is not dependent on the turbulence characteristics of the perforated plate but rather on the energetics of the mixture like a CJ detonation (i.e., the deflagration front is driven by the expansion of the combustion products). Hence, the critical deflagration is identified as a CJ deflagration. The high intensity turbulence that is required to sustain its propagation is maintained via chemical instabilities in the reaction zone due to the coupling of pressure fluctuations with the energy release. Therefore, in “unstable” mixtures, critical deflagrations can be supported for long durations, whereas in “stable” mixtures, deflagrations decay as the initial plate generated turbulence decays. The eventual onset of detonation is postulated to be a result of the amplification of pressure waves (i.e., turbulence) that leads to the formation of local explosion centers via the SWACER mechanism during the pre-detonation period.     

Effect of welding speed on butt joint quality of Ti–6Al–4V alloy welded using a high-power Nd:YAG laser

Annealed Ti–6Al–4V alloy sheets with 1 and 2 mm thickness are welded using a 4 kW Nd:YAG laser system. The effects of welding speed on surface morphology and shape, welding defects, microstructure, hardness and tensile properties are investigated. Weld joints without or with minor cracks, porosity and shape defects were obtained indicating that high-power Nd:YAG laser welding is a suitable method for Ti–6Al–4V alloy. The fusion zone consists mainly of acicular α′ martensite leading to an increase of approximately 20% in hardness compared with that in the base metal. The heat-affected zone consists of a mixture of α′ martensite and primary α phases. Significant gradients of microstructures and hardness are obtained over the narrow heat-affected zone. The laser welded joints have similar or slightly higher joint strength but there is a significant decrease in ductility. The loss of ductility is related to the presence of micropores and aluminum oxide inclusions.     

From Quantum Probabilities to Quantum Amplitudes

The task of reconstructing the system’s state from the measurements results, known as the Pauli problem, usually requires repetition of two successive steps. Preparation in an initial state to be determined is followed by an accurate measurement of one of the several chosen operators in order to provide the necessary “Pauli data”. We consider a similar yet more general problem of recovering Feynman’s transition (path) amplitudes from the results of at least three consecutive measurements. The three-step histories of a pre- and post-selected quantum system are subjected to a type of interference not available to their two-step counterparts. We show that this interference can be exploited, and if the intermediate measurement is “fuzzy”, the path amplitudes can be successfully recovered. The simplest case of a two-level system is analysed in detail. The “weak measurement” limit and the usefulness of the path amplitudes are also discussed.