Geometric derivation of the microscopic stress: A covariant central force decomposition

We revisit the derivation of the microscopic stress, linking the statistical mechanics of particle systems and continuum mechanics. The starting point in our geometric derivation is the Doyle–Ericksen formula, which states that the Cauchy stress tensor is the derivative of the free-energy with respect to the ambient metric tensor and which follows from a covariance argument. Thus, our approach to define the microscopic stress tensor does not rely on the statement of balance of linear momentum as in the classical Irving–Kirkwood–Noll approach. Nevertheless, the resulting stress tensor satisfies balance of linear and angular momentum. Furthermore, our approach removes the ambiguity in the definition of the microscopic stress in the presence of multibody interactions by naturally suggesting a canonical and physically motivated force decomposition into pairwise terms, a key ingredient in this theory. As a result, our approach provides objective expressions to compute a microscopic stress for a system in equilibrium and for force-fields expanded into multibody interactions of arbitrarily high order. We illustrate the proposed methodology with molecular dynamics simulations of a fibrous protein using a force-field involving up to 5-body interactions.     

On oscillatory third order difference equations

In this paper, sufficient conditions have been obtained for oscillation/nonoscillation of a class of homogeneous/nonhomogeneous linear difference equations of third order.     

Asymptotically Constant Solutions of Functional Difference Systems

We consider the functional difference system ( A ) j x i ( n )= f i ( n ; X ), 1 h i h k , where X =( x 1 ,…, x k ) and f 1 (·; X ),…, f k (·; X ) are real-valued functionals of X , which may depend quite arbitrarily on values of X ( l ) for multiple values of l ] Z . We give sufficient conditions for ( A ) to have solutions that approach specified constant vectors as n M X . Some of the results guarantee only that the solutions are defined for n sufficiently large, while others are global. The proof of the main theorem is based on the Schauder-Tychonoff theorem. Applications to specific quasi-linear systems are included.     

Nonstandard Finite Difference Schemes for Differential Equations

This paper gives an introduction to nonstandard finite difference methods useful for the construction of discrete models of differential equations when numerical solutions are required. While the general rules for such schemes are not precisely known at the present time, several important criterion have been found. We provide an explanation of their significance and apply them to several model ordinary and partial differential equations. The paper ends with a discussion of several outstanding problems in this area and other related issues.     

Asymptotic Behavior of Solutions to the Difference Equation Using the Second Differences of a Liapunov Function

We introduce the concept of the second Liapunov differences in difference equations and show that, in the autonomous case, the second variations can guarantee the existence of solutions tending to zero while others starting arbitrarily near 0 go to ∞. These are based on Yorke's results for ordinary differential equations.     

On the Dynamics of

We investigate the existence of unbounded solutions and the period-two convergence of solutions of the equation in the title with the parameter γ positive, the remaining parameters nonnegative, and with nonnegative initial conditions.     

Existence and multiplicity results for periodic solutions of nonlinear difference equations

We use Brouwer degree to prove existence and multiplicity results for the periodic solutions of some nonlinear second-order and first-order difference equations. We obtain, in particular upper and lower solutions theorems, Ambrosetti–Prodi type results and sharp existence conditions for nonlinearities which are bounded from below or above.     

Asyptotics for linear difference equations I:basic theory

We present here a unified treatment of asymptotic theory of linear difference equations. This is based on anadapted theory of discrete dichotomy. The obtained results narrow the gap between Poincarés Theorem and (the discrete analoue of) Levinson's Theorem.     

Quantitative assessment of motion correction for high angular resolution diffusion imaging

Several methods have been proposed for motion correction of high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) data. There have been few comparisons of these methods, partly due to a lack of quantitative metrics of performance. We compare two motion correction strategies using two figures of merit: displacement introduced by the motion correction and the 95% confidence interval of the cone of uncertainty of voxels with prolate tensors. What follows is a general approach for assessing motion correction of HARDI data that may have broad application for quality assurance and optimization of postprocessing protocols. Our analysis demonstrates two important issues related to motion correction of HARDI data: (1) although neither method we tested was dramatically superior in performance, both were dramatically better than performing no motion correction, and (2) iteration of motion correction can improve the final results. Based on the results demonstrated here, iterative motion correction is strongly recommended for HARDI acquisitions.     

Combined prostate diffusion tensor imaging and dynamic contrast enhanced MRI at 3T — quantitative correlation with biopsy

The purpose of this work was to compare diagnostic accuracy of Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI), dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE MRI) and their combination in diagnosing prostate cancer. Twenty-five patients with clinical suspicion of prostate cancer underwent MRI, prior to transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsies. MRI data were correlated to biopsy results. Logistic regression models were constructed for the DTI parameters, DCE MRI parameters, and their combination. The areas under the receiver operator characteristic curves (AUC) were compared between the models. The nonparametric Wilcoxon signed rank test was used for statistical analysis. The sensitivity and specificity values were respectively 81% (74–87%) and 85% (79–90%) for DTI and 63% (55–70%) and 90% (85–94%) for DCE. The combination “DTI or DCE MRI” had 100% (97–100%) sensitivity and 77% (69–83%) specificity, while “DTI and DCE MRI” had 44% (37–52%) sensitivity and 98% (94–100%) specificity. The AUC for DTI+DCE parameters was significantly higher than that for either DTI (0.96 vs. 0.92, P=.0143) or DCE MRI parameters (0.96 vs. 0.87, P=.00187) alone. In conclusion, the combination of DTI and DCE MRI has significantly better accuracy in prostate cancer diagnosis than either technique alone.