Freezing of a Liquid Marble

In this study, we present for the first time the observations of a freezing liquid marble. In the experiment, liquid marbles are gently placed on the cold side of a Thermo-Electric Cooler (TEC) and the morphological changes are recorded and characterized thereafter. These liquid marbles are noticed to undergo a shape transition from a spherical to a flying-saucer shaped morphology. The freezing dynamics of liquid marbles is observed to be very different from that of a freezing water droplet on a superhydrophobic surface. For example, the pointy tip appearing on a frozen water drop could not be observed for a frozen liquid marble. In the end, we highlight a possible explanation for the observed morphology

Analysis of the lactose metabolism in E. coli using sum-of-squares decomposition

We provide a system-theoretic analysis of the mathematical model of lactose induction in E.coli which predicts the level of lactose induction into the cell for specified values of external lactose. Depending on the levels of external lactose and other parameters, the Lac operon is known to have a low steady state in which it is said to be turned off and high steady state where it is said to be turned on. Furthermore, the model has been shown experimentally to exhibit a bi-stable behavior. Using ideas from Lyapunov stability theory and sum-of-squares decomposition, we characterize the reachable state space for different sets of initial conditions, calculating estimates of the regions of attraction of the biologically relevant equilibria of this system. The changes in the basins of attraction with changes in model parameters can be used to provide biological insight. Specifically, we explain the crucial role played by a small basal transcription rate in the Lac operon. We show that if the basal rate is below a threshold, the region of attraction of the low steady state grows significantly, indicating that system is trapped in the (off) mode, showing the importance of the basal rate of transcription

UNDERSTANDING MARKETS IN AFGHANISTAN: A CASE STUDY OF CARPETS AND THE ANDKHOY CARPET MARKET

Industrial Organization,

Flux Compactifications on (S2)N(S_2)^N

We investigate a simple extra-dimensional model and its four-dimensional vacua. This model has a two-form flux and a positive cosmological constant, and the extra dimensions are compactified as the product of $N$ two-spheres. The theory is an interesting laboratory because it is at once simple enough to be soluble but rich enough to exhibit many features not present in previous model landscapes.Comment: 39 pages, 11 figure

Compactifying de Sitter Naturally Selects a Small Cosmological Constant

We study compactifications of $D$-dimensional de Sitter space with a $q$-form flux down to $D-Nq$ dimensions. We show that for $(N-1)(q-1)\geq 2$ there are double-exponentially or even infinitely many compact de Sitter vacua, and that their effective cosmological constants accumulate at zero. This population explosion of $\Lambda \ll 1$ de Sitters arises by a mechanism analogous to natural selection.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Foreign direct investment in Malaysia: Trends and prospects

This paper reports on a study analyzing recent trends, pattern and prospects of the foreign direct investment (FDI) in Malaysia in the post-1997 financial crisis period. Among the ASEAN-4 countries, Malaysia continues to remain as the main centre for attracting FDI.The macroeconomic variables such as GDP, exports and employment are found to be positively influenced by the growth of FDI in Malaysia. To enhance the positive effect of FDI on the growth process of the Malaysian economy the flow of FDI into export-oriented sector and use of domestic inputs by the foreign oriented firms need to be encouraged.It is suggested that for sustained flow of FDI, continual price stability, macroeconomic balances, good governance and economic liberalization reforms are crucially important in the country.In the event of declining inflows of FDI, Malaysia has to shiR towards inward looking policies and search other alternatives to sustain its growth and economic prosperity by seeking more investment oufflows as a global player