Functional-structural plant modelling using a combination of architectural analysis, L-systems and a canonical model of function

This paper presents a new method for producing a functional-structural plant model that simulates response to different growth conditions, yet does not require detailed knowledge of underlying physiology. The example used to present this method is the modelling of the mountain birch tree. This new functional-structural modelling approach is based on linking an L-system representation of the dynamic structure of the plant with a canonical mathematical model of plant function. Growth indicated by the canonical model is allocated to the structural model according to probabilistic growth rules, such as rules for the placement and length of new shoots, which were derived from an analysis of architectural data. The main advantage of the approach is that it is relatively simple compared to the prevalent process-based functional-structural plant models and does not require a detailed understanding of underlying physiological processes, yet it is able to capture important aspects of plant function and adaptability, unlike simple empirical models. This approach, combining canonical modelling, architectural analysis and L-systems, thus fills the important role of providing an intermediate level of abstraction between the two extremes of deeply mechanistic process-based modelling and purely empirical modelling. We also investigated the relative importance of various aspects of this integrated modelling approach by analysing the sensitivity of the standard birch model to a number of variations in its parameters, functions and algorithms. The results show that using light as the sole factor determining the structural location of new growth gives satisfactory results. Including the influence of additional regulating factors made little difference to global characteristics of the emergent architecture. Changing the form of the probability functions and using alternative methods for choosing the sites of new growth also had little effect. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spin exchange and superconductivity in a t-J(')-V model for two-dimensional quarter-filled systems

The effect of antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations on two-dimensional quarter-filled systems is studied theoretically. An effective t-J(')-V model on a square lattice which accounts for checkerboard charge fluctuations and next-nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations is considered. From calculations based on large-N theory on this model it is found that the exchange interaction J(') increases the attraction between electrons in the d(xy) channel only, so that both charge and spin fluctuations work cooperatively to produce d(xy) pairing.

Theory of strongly correlated electron systems. I. Intersite coulomb interaction and the approximation of renormalized fermions in total energy calculations

The diagrammatic strong-coupling perturbation theory (SCPT) for correlated electron systems is developed for intersite Coulomb interaction and for a nonorthogonal basis set. The construction is based on iterations of exact closed equations for many - electron Green functions (GFs) for Hubbard operators in terms of functional derivatives with respect to external sources. The graphs, which do not contain the contributions from the fluctuations of the local population numbers of the ion states, play a special role: a one-to-one correspondence is found between the subset of such graphs for the many - electron GFs and the complete set of Feynman graphs of weak-coupling perturbation theory (WCPT) for single-electron GFs. This fact is used for formulation of the approximation of renormalized Fermions (ARF) in which the many-electron quasi-particles behave analogously to normal Fermions. Then, by analyzing: (a) Sham's equation, which connects the self-energy and the exchange- correlation potential in density functional theory (DFT); and (b) the Galitskii and Migdal expressions for the total energy, written within WCPT and within ARF SCPT, a way we suggest a method to improve the description of the systems with correlated electrons within the local density approximation (LDA) to DFT. The formulation, in terms of renormalized Fermions LIDA (RF LDA), is obtained by introducing the spectral weights of the many electron GFs into the definitions of the charge density, the overlap matrices, effective mixing and hopping matrix elements, into existing electronic structure codes, whereas the weights themselves have to be found from an additional set of equations. Compared with LDA+U and self-interaction correction (SIC) methods, RF LDA has the advantage of taking into account the transfer of spectral weights, and, when formulated in terms of GFs, also allows for consideration of excitations and nonzero temperature. Going beyond the ARF SCPT, as well as RF LIDA, and taking into account the fluctuations of ion population numbers would require writing completely new codes for ab initio calculations. The application of RF LDA for ab initio band structure calculations for rare earth metals is presented in part 11 of this study (this issue). (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Theory of strongly correlated electron systems. II. Including correlation effects into electronic structure calculations

We have previously shown that a division of the f-shell into two subsystems gives a better understanding of the cohesive properties as well the general behavior of lanthanide systems. In this article, we present numerical computations, using the suggested method. We show that the picture is consistent with most experimental data, e.g., the equilibrium volume and electronic structure in general. Compared with standard energy band calculations and calculations based on the self-interaction correction and LIDA + U, the f-(non-f)-mixing interaction is decreased by spectral weights of the many-body states of the f-ion. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Factors affecting the design and construction of Lamella suspen-dome systems

The suspen-dome system is a new structural form that has become popular in the construction of long-span roof structures. These domes are very slender and lightweight, their configuration is complicated, and hence sequential consideration in the structural design is needed. This paper focuses on these considerations, which include the method for designing cable prestress force, a simplified analysis method, and the estimation of buckling capacity. Buckling is one of the most important problems for dome structures. This paper presents the findings of an intensive buckling study of the Lamella suspen-dome system that takes geometric imperfection, asymmetric loading, rise-to-span ratio, and connection rigidity into consideration. Finally, suggested design and construction guidelines are given in the conclusion of this paper. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optimal unravellings for feedback control in linear quantum systems

For quantum systems with linear dynamics in phase space much of classical feedback control theory applies. However, there are some questions that are sensible only for the quantum case: Given a fixed interaction between the system and the environment what is the optimal measurement on the environment for a particular control problem? We show that for a broad class of optimal (state- based) control problems ( the stationary linear-quadratic-Gaussian class), this question is a semidefinite program. Moreover, the answer also applies to Markovian (current-based) feedback.

Improvement of the Derjaguin-Broekhoff-de Boer theory for capillary condensation/evaporation of nitrogen in mesoporous systems and its implications for pore size analysis of MCM-41 silicas and related materials

In this work, we propose an improvement of the classical Derjaguin-Broekhoff-de Boer (DBdB) theory for capillary condensation/evaporation in mesoporous systems. The primary idea of this improvement is to employ the Gibbs-Tolman-Koenig-Buff equation to predict the surface tension changes in mesopores. In addition, the statistical film thickness (so-called t-curve) evaluated accurately on the basis of the adsorption isotherms measured for the MCM-41 materials is used instead of the originally proposed t-curve (to take into account the excess of the chemical potential due to the surface forces). It is shown that the aforementioned modifications of the original DBdB theory have significant implications for the pore size analysis of mesoporous solids. To verify our improvement of the DBdB pore size analysis method (IDBdB), a series of the calcined MCM-41 samples, which are well-defined materials with hexagonally ordered cylindrical mesopores, were used for the evaluation of the pore size distributions. The correlation of the IDBdB method with the empirically calibrated Kruk-Jaroniec-Sayari (KJS) relationship is very good in the range of small mesopores. So, a major advantage of the IDBdB method is its applicability for small mesopores as well as for the mesopore range beyond that established by the KJS calibration, i.e., for mesopore radii greater than similar to4.5 nm. The comparison of the IDBdB results with experimental data reported by Kruk and Jaroniec for capillary condensation/evaporation as well as with the results from nonlocal density functional theory developed by Neimark et al. clearly justifies our approach. Note that the proposed improvement of the classical DBdB method preserves its original simplicity and simultaneously ensures a significant improvement of the pore size analysis, which is confirmed by the independent estimation of the mean pore size by the powder X-ray diffraction method.

Studies on the membrane interactions of the cyclotides kalata B1 and kalata B6 on model membrane systems by surface plasmon resonance

In this study we have demonstrated the interactions of kalata B1 and its naturally occurring analogue kalata B6 with five model lipid membranes and have analyzed the binding kinetics using surface plasmon resonance. Two kalata peptides showed a higher affinity for the phosphatidylethanolamine-containing membranes, indicating that the peptides would bind selectively to bacterial membranes. Also we have optimized the procedure for the immobilization of five liposome mixtures and have shown that the procedure provides reproducible levels of immobilized liposomes and could be used to screen the selective binding of putative antimicrobial peptides to model mammalian or microbial phospholipid membranes. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Anaerobic metabolism of propionate by polyphosphate-accumulating organisms in enhanced biological phosphorus removal systems

Propionate, a carbon substrate abundant in many prefermenters, has been shown in several previous studies to be a more favorable substrate than acetate for enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR). The anaerobic metabolism of propionate by polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) is studied in this paper. A metabolic model is proposed to characterize the anaerobic biochemical transformations of propionate uptake by PAOs. The model is demonstrated to predict very well the experimental data from a PAO culture enriched in a laboratory-scale reactor with propionate as the sole carbon source. Quantitative fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) analysis shows that Candidatus Accumulibacter phosphatis, the only identified PAO to date, constitute 63% of the bacterial population in this culture. Unlike the anaerobic metabolism of acetate by PAOs, which induces mainly poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) production, the major fractions of poly-beta-hydroxyalkanoate (PHA) produced with propionate as the carbon source are poly-beta-hydroxyvalerate (PHV) and poly-beta-hydroxy-2-methylvalerate (PH2MV). PHA formation correlates very well with a selective (or nonrandom) condensation of acetyl-CoA and propionyl-CoA molecules. The maximum specific propionate uptake rate by PAOs found in this study is 0.18 C-mol/C-mol-biomass h, which is very similar to the maximum specific acetate uptake rate reported in literature. The energy required for transporting 1 carbon-mole of propionate across the PAO cell membrane is also determined to be similar to the transportation of 1 carbon-mole of acetate. Furthermore, the experimental results suggest that PAOs possess a similar preference toward acetate and propionate uptake on a carbon-mole basis. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Optimisation of poly-b-hydroxyalkanoate analysis using gas chromatography for enhanced biological phosphorus removal systems

Poly-beta-hydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is a polymer commonly used in carbon and energy storage for many different bacterial cells. Polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) and glycogen accumulating organisms (GAOs), store PHA anaerobically through metabolism of carbon substrates such as acetate and propionate. Although poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate (PHB)and poly-beta-hydroxyvalerate (PHV) are commonly quantified using a previously developed gas chromatography (GC) method, poly-beta-hydroxy-2-methyl valerate (PH2MV) is seldom quantified despite the fact that it has been shown to be a key PHA fraction produced when PAOs or GAOs metabolise propionate. This paper presents two GC-based methods modified for extraction and quantification of PHB, PHV and PH2MV from enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) systems. For the extraction Of PHB and PHV from acetate fed PAO and GAO cultures, a 3% sulfuric acid concentration and a 2-20 h digestion time is recommended, while a 10% sulfuric acid solution digested for 20 h is recommended for PHV and PH2MV analysis from propionate fed EBPR systems. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A distributed systems approach to secure Internet mail

One of the obstacles to improved security of the Internet is ad hoc development of technologies with different design goals and different security goals. This paper proposes reconceptualizing the Internet as a secure distributed system, focusing specifically on the application layer. The notion is to redesign specific functionality, based on principles discovered in research on distributed systems in the decades since the initial development of the Internet. Because of the problems in retrofitting new technology across millions of clients and servers, any options with prospects of success must support backward compatibility. This paper outlines a possible new architecture for internet-based mail which would replace existing protocols by a more secure framework. To maintain backward compatibility, initial implementation could offer a web browser-based front end but the longer-term approach would be to implement the system using appropriate models of replication. (C) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.