An adaptation of the lattice gas to the water problem. II. Second-order approximation

The adaptation of the lattice-gas model to embody features possessed by water is further explored. On the basis of Martin's functional derivative formulation of Ising problems, a perturbation scheme is developed which allows calculation of the free energy to any desired order in the interaction potential at fixed density. The free energy correct to second order in the interaction strength is utilized here for calculation of other thermodynamic properties of the model. With reasonable choices of values of the interaction parameters these thermodynamic properties of the model can be brought into agreement with those of real water.     

Detection of heteroplasmy in individual mitochondrial particles

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations have been associated with disease and aging. Since each cell has thousands of mtDNA copies, clustered into nucleoids of five to ten mtDNA molecules each, determining the effects of a given mtDNA mutation and their connection with disease phenotype is not straightforward. It has been postulated that heteroplasmy (coexistence of mutated and wild-type DNA) follows simple probability rules dictated by the random distribution of mtDNA molecules at the nucleoid level. This model has been used to explain how mutation levels correlate with the onset of disease phenotype and loss of cellular function. Nonetheless, experimental evidence of heteroplasmy at the nucleoid level is scarce. Here, we report a new method to determine heteroplasmy of individual mitochondrial particles containing one or more nucleoids. The method uses capillary cytometry with laser-induced fluorescence detection to detect individual mitochondrial particles stained with PicoGreen, which makes it possible to quantify the mtDNA copy number of each particle. After detection, one or more particles are collected into polymerase chain reaction (PCR) wells and then subjected to real-time multiplexed PCR amplification. This PCR strategy is suitable to obtain the relative abundance of mutated and wild-type mtDNA. The results obtained here indicate that individual mitochondrial particles and nucleoids contained within these particles are not heteroplasmic. The results presented here suggest that current models of mtDNA segregation and distribution (i.e., heteroplasmic nucleoids) need further consideration.     

Isoperimetric domains of large volume in homogeneous three-manifolds

Given a non-compact, simply connected homogeneous three-manifold X   and a sequence _{Ωn}n${\{{\Omega }_n\}}_n$ of isoperimetric domains in X   with volumes tending to infinity, we prove that, as n→∞$n\to \infty$:

(1)

The radii of the _Ωn${\Omega }_n$ tend to infinity.     

General relativity in a (2 + 1)-dimensional space-time

General relativity is formulated for a (2+1)-dimensional space-time. Solutions to the vacuum field equations are locally flat. There are no gravitational waves and no Newtonian attraction between masses. The geometry around a point mass is a cone (locally flat) where the angle deficit at the apex is proportional to the mass. A uniform density planet has a spherical cap interior and a conical exterior solution. A convex polyhedron represents a closed universe with point masses at its vertices and approximates a static spherical universe of uniform density dust.     

Vulcanized-rubber protection for strain gages in a seawater environment

New materials and techniques are described for using vulcanized rubber to protect strain gages installed on the components of a controllable-pitch propeller (CPP) system of a Navy destroyer. Strain gages protected by vulcanized rubber have survived many months of full-scale sea trials of the CPP system.     

Influence of Molecular Conformation on the Constitutive Response of Polyethylene: A Comparison of HDPE, UHMWPE, and PEX

The current work presents the characterization and comparison of the mechanical response of three different industrial forms of polyethylene. Specifically, high-density polyethylene (HDPE), ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), and cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) were tested in compression as a function of temperature (−75 to 100°C) and strain-rate (10⁻⁴ to 2,600 s⁻¹). The responses of UHMWPE and PEX are very similar, whereas HDPE exhibits some differences. The HDPE samples display a significantly higher yield stress followed by a flat flow behavior. Conversely UHMWPE and PEX both exhibit significant strain hardening after yield. The temperature and strain-rate dependence are captured by simple linear and logarithmic fits over the full range of conditions investigated. The yield behavior is presented in terms of an empirical mapping function that is extended to analytically solve for the mapping constant. The power-law dependence on strain-rate observed in some polymers is explained using this mapping function.     

Limits of minimal surfaces and Scherk's Fifth Surface

Communicated by J. C. C. Nitsche     

Solving second-order differential equations with variable coefficients

A method is developed in which an analytical solution is obtained for certain classes of second-order differential equations with variable coefficients. By the use of transformations and by repeated iterated integration, a desired solution is obtained. This alternative method represents a different way to acquire a solution from classic power series techniques and other approaches. It is, at times, more involved than traditional methods.     

Largeness of the set of finite products in a semigroup

We investigate when the set of finite products of distinct terms of a sequence 〈x _n 〉 _n=1^∞ in a semigroup (S,⋅) is large in any of several standard notions of largeness. These include piecewise syndetic, central, syndetic, central*, and IP*. In the case of a “nice” sequence in (S,⋅)=(ℕ,+) one has that FS(〈x _n 〉 _n=1^∞) has any or all of the first three properties if and only if {x _n+1−∑ _t=1 ⁿ x _t :n∈ℕ} is bounded from above. N. Hindman acknowledges support received from the National Science Foundation via Grant DMS-0554803.