Dislocation plasticity in thin metal films

This article describes the current level of understanding of dislocation plasticity in thin films and small structures in which the film or structure dimension plays an important role. Experimental observations of the deformation behavior of thin films, including mechanical testing as well as electron microscopy studies, will be discussed in light of theoretical models and dislocation simulations. In particular, the potential of applying strain-gradient plasticity theory to thin-film deformation is discussed. Although the results of all studies presented follow a “smaller is stronger” trend, a clear functional dependence has not yet been established

Adhesion and Cellular Compatibility of Silicone-Based Skin Adhesives

Pressure-sensitive adhesives based on silicone materials have emerging potential as adhesives in healthcare products, in particular for gentle skin adhesives. To this end, adhesion to rough skin and biocompatibility are crucial factors for a successful implementation. In this study, the mechanical, adhesive, and biological properties of the two-component poly(dimethylsiloxane) Soft Skin Adhesive MG 7-9800 (SSA, Dow Corning) have been investigated and compared to Sylgard 184. Different mixing ratios of SSA's components allow for tuning of the shear modulus, thereby modifying the adhesive properties of the polymer. To give a comprehensive insight, the authors have analyzed the interplay between pull-off stress, adhesion energy, and stretch of the adhesive films on smooth and rough surfaces. The focus is placed on the effects of substrate roughness and on low pressure oxygen plasma treatment of the adhesive films. SSA shows superior biocompatibility in in vitro cell culture experiments. High pull-off stresses in the range of 3 N cm−2 on a rough surface are achieved, promising broad application spectra for SSA-based healthcare products

On the Hadronic Contribution to Light-by-light Scattering in gμ−2g_\mu-2

We comment on the theoretical uncertainties involved in estimating the hadronic effects on the light-by-light scattering contribution to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, especially based on the analysis and results of T. Kinoshita, B. Ni\v zi\'c, and Y. Okamoto, Phys.\ Rev.\ D31, 2108 (1985). From the point of view of an effective field theory and chiral perturbation theory, we suggest that the charged pion contribution may be better determined than has been appreciated. However, the neutral pion contribution needs greater theoretical insight before its magnitude can be reliably estimated.Comment: 9 pages, no figures, U. Michigan UM-TH-93-18. (Input phyzzm to compile.) Revised version has minor changes in text. To be published in Phys. Rev. D, Comments sectio

Breakdown of continuum models for spherical probe adhesion tests on micropatterned surfaces

Funding Information: SB, DY, EA, and RH acknowledge funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Seventh Framework Program (FP/2007–2013)/ERC Advanced Grant No. 340929 . RMM acknowledges the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for awarding the “Virtual Humboldt Cluster on the Mechanics and Physics of Adhesion and Grip”.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Automated generation of colluding apps for experimental research

Colluding apps bypass the security measures enforced by sandboxed operating systems such as Android. App collusion can be a real threat in cloud environments as well. Research in detecting and protecting against app collusion requires a variety of colluding apps for experimentation. Presently the number of (real or manually crafted) apps available to researchers is very limited. In this paper we propose a system called Application Collusion Engine (ACE) to automatically generate combinations of colluding and non-colluding Android apps to help researchers fairly evaluate different collusion detection and protection methods. Our initial implementation includes a variety of components that enable the system to create more than 5,000 different colluding and non-colluding app sets. ACE can be extended with more functional components to create even more colluding apps. To show the usefulness of our system, we have applied different risk evaluation and collusion detection methods to the created set of colluding apps

Muon Anomalous Magnetic Moment and Lepton Flavor Violation

A non-universal interaction, which involves only the third family leptons induces lepton flavor violating couplings and contributes to the anomalous magnetic moment of muon. In this paper, we study the effects of non-universal interaction on muon (g-2) and rare decay $\tau \to \mu \gamma$ by using an effective lagrangian technique, and a phenomenological $Z^\prime$ model where $Z^\prime$ couples only to the third family lepton. We find that the deviation from the theory can be explained and the induced $\tau \to \mu \gamma$ rate could be very close to the current experimental limit. In the $Z^\prime$ model, $M_{Z^\prime}$ has to be lighter than 2.6 TeV.Comment: references added, the version to appear in PR

A Self-Adhesive Elastomeric Wound Scaffold for Sensitive Adhesion to Tissue

Pressure sensitive adhesives based on silicone materials are used particularly for skin adhesion, e.g., the fixation of electrocardiogram (ECG) electrodes or wound dressings. However, adhesion to sensitive tissue structures is not sufficiently addressed due to the risk of damage or rupture. We propose an approach in which a poly-(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)-based soft skin adhesive (SSA) acts as cellular scaffold for wound healing. Due to the intrinsically low surface free energy of silicone elastomers, functionalization strategies are needed to promote the attachment and spreading of eukaryotic cells. In the present work, the effect of physical adsorption of three different proteins on the adhesive properties of the soft skin adhesive was investigated. Fibronectin adsorption slightly affects adhesion but significantly improves the cellular interaction of L929 murine fibroblasts with the polymeric surface. Composite films were successfully attached to explanted tympanic membranes. This demonstrates the potential of protein functionalized SSA to act as an adhesive scaffold in delicate biomedical applications

Higgs-Boson Mass Limits and Precise Measurements beyond the Standard Model

The triviality and vacuum stability bounds on the Higgs-boson mass (\mh) were revisited in presence of weakly-coupled new interactions parameterized in a model-independent way by effective operators of dimension 6. The constraints from precision tests of the Standard Model were taken into account. It was shown that for the scale of new physics in the region \Lambda \simeq 2 \div 50 \tev the Standard Model triviality upper bound remains unmodified whereas it is natural to expect that the lower bound derived from the requirement of vacuum stability is substantially modified depending on the scale \La and strength of coefficients of effective operators. A natural generalization of the standard triviality condition leads also to a substantial reduction of the allowed region in the (\Lambda,\mh) space.Comment: 18 pages 3 eps figures. The discussion in the appendix was modified slightly and some typographical errors were correcte

Bounds on the Higgs-Boson Mass in the Presence of Non-Standard Interactions

The triviality and vacuum stability bounds on the Higgs-boson mass are revisited in the presence of new interactions parameterized in a model-independent way by an effective lagrangian. When the scale of new physics is below 50 TeV the triviality bound is unchanged but the stability lower bound is increased by 40-60 GeV. Should the Higgs-boson mass be close to its current lower experimental limit, this leads to the possibility of new physics at the scale of a few TeV, even for modest values of the effective lagrangian parameters.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, RevTex, submitted to PR