136 research outputs found
Theory and simulation of the confined Lebwohl-Lasher model
We discuss the Lebwohl-Lasher model of nematic liquid crystals in a confined
geometry, using Monte Carlo simulation and mean-field theory. A film of
material is sandwiched between two planar, parallel plates that couple to the
adjacent spins via a surface strength . We consider the cases where
the favoured alignments at the two walls are the same (symmetric cell) or
different (asymmetric or hybrid cell). In the latter case, we demonstrate the
existence of a {\it single} phase transition in the slab for all values of the
cell thickness. This transition has been observed before in the regime of
narrow cells, where the two structures involved correspond to different
arrangements of the nematic director. By studying wider cells, we show that the
transition is in fact the usual isotropic-to-nematic (capillary) transition
under confinement in the case of antagonistic surface forces. We show results
for a wide range of values of film thickness, and discuss the phenomenology
using a mean-field model.Comment: 40 pages 19 figures (preprint format). Part of the text and some
figures were modified. New figure was include
Demixing in a single-peak distributed polydisperse mixture of hard spheres
An analytic derivation of the spinodal of a polydisperse mixture is
presented. It holds for fluids whose excess free energy can be accurately
described by a function of a few moments of the size distribution. It is shown
that one such mixture of hard spheres in the Percus-Yevick approximation never
demixes, despite its size distribution. In the
Boublik-Mansoori-Carnahan-Starling-Leland approximation, though, it demixes for
a sufficiently wide log-normal size distribution. The importance of this result
is twofold: first, this distribution is unimodal, and yet it phase separates;
and second, log-normal size distributions appear in many experimental contexts.
The same phenomenon is shown to occur for the fluid of parallel hard cubes.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, needs revtex, multicol, epsfig and amstex style
file
CLIL in teacher training: a Nottingham Trent University and University of Salamanca experience
As English tends to be regarded as a component of basic education, most European countries, Spain amongst them, are issuing legislation to establish the CLIL approach in educational settings. The article presents instances of the implementation of CLIL in the area of teacher training which stem from a long established cooperation between Nottingham Trent University and the University of Salamanca, to show how the CLIL potential can be enhanced and new levels of integration beyond subject and content can be achieved when CLIL initiatives are embedded in larger Language Teacher Education Frames of Reference thus bridging the gap between different cultural and pedagogical visions and making them socially relevant
Phase diagram of a two-dimensional lattice gas model of a ramp system
Using Monte Carlo Simulation and fundamental measure theory we study the
phase diagram of a two-dimensional lattice gas model with a nearest neighbor
hard core exclusion and a next-to-nearest neighbors finite repulsive
interaction. The model presents two competing ranges of interaction and, in
common with many experimental systems, exhibits a low density solid phase,
which melts back to the fluid phase upon compression. The theoretical approach
is found to provide a qualitatively correct picture of the phase diagram of our
model system.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, uses RevTex
Phase behavior of the Confined Lebwohl-Lasher Model
The phase behavior of confined nematogens is studied using the Lebwohl-Lasher
model. For three dimensional systems the model is known to exhibit a
discontinuous nematic-isotropic phase transition, whereas the corresponding two
dimensional systems apparently show a continuous
Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless like transition. In this paper we study the
phase transitions of the Lebwohl-Lasher model when confined between planar
slits of different widths in order to establish the behavior of intermediate
situations between the pure planar model and the three-dimensional system, and
compare with previous estimates for the critical thickness, i.e. the slit width
at which the transition switches from continuous to discontinuous.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review
Lentiviral Vector-Mediated Correction of a Mouse Model of Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency Type I
Leukocyte adhesion deficiency type I (LAD-I) is a primary immunodeficiency caused by mutations in the ITGB2 gene and is characterized by recurrent and life-threatening bacterial infections. These mutations lead to defective or absent expression of β2 integrins on the leukocyte surface, compromising adhesion and extravasation at sites of infection. Three different lentiviral vectors (LVs) conferring ubiquitous or preferential expression of CD18 in myeloid cells were constructed and tested in human and mouse LAD-I cells. All three hCD18-LVs restored CD18 and CD11a membrane expression in LAD-I patient-derived lymphoblastoid cells. Corrected cells recovered the ability to aggregate and bind to sICAM-1 after stimulation. All vectors induced stable hCD18 expression in hematopoietic cells from mice with a hypomorphic Itgb2 mutation (CD18(HYP)), both in vitro and in vivo after transplantation of corrected cells into primary and secondary CD18(HYP) recipients. hCD18(+) hematopoietic cells from transplanted CD18(HYP) mice also showed restoration of mCD11a surface co-expression. The analysis of in vivo neutrophil migration in CD18(HYP) mice subjected to two different inflammation models demonstrated that the LV-mediated gene therapy completely restored neutrophil extravasation in response to inflammatory stimuli. Finally, these vectors were able to correct the phenotype of human myeloid cells derived from CD34(+) progenitors defective in ITGB2 expression. These results support for the first time the use of hCD18-LVs for the treatment of LAD-I patients in clinical trials
Structure and relaxations in liquid and amorphous Selenium
We report a molecular dynamics simulation of selenium, described by a
three-body interaction. The temperatures T_g and T_c and the structural
properties are in agreement with experiment. The mean nearest neighbor
coordination number is 2.1. A small pre-peak at about 1 AA^-1 can be explained
in terms of void correlations. In the intermediate self-scattering function,
i.e. the density fluctuation correlation, classical behavior, alpha- and
beta-regimes, is found. We also observe the plateau in the beta-regime below
T_g. In a second step, we investigated the heterogeneous and/or homogeneous
behavior of the relaxations. At both short and long times the relaxations are
homogeneous (or weakly heterogeneous). In the intermediate time scale, lowering
the temperature increases the heterogeneity. We connect these different domains
to the vibrational (ballistic), beta- and alpha-regimes. We have also shown
that the increase in heterogeneity can be understood in terms of relaxations
Hydrodynamic bubble coarsening in off-critical vapour-liquid phase separation
Late-stage coarsening in off-critical vapour-liquid phase separation is
re-examined. In the limit of bubbles of vapour distributed throughout a
continuous liquid phase, it is argued that coarsening proceeds via inertial
hydrodynamic bubble collapse. This replaces the Lifshitz-Slyozov-Wagner
mechanism seen in binary liquid mixtures. The arguments are strongly supported
by simulations in two dimensions using a novel single-component soft sphere
fluid.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, revtex3.
Patient-Specific Prosthetic Fingers by Remote Collaboration - A Case Study
The concealment of amputation through prosthesis usage can shield an amputee
from social stigma and help improve the emotional healing process especially at
the early stages of hand or finger loss. However, the traditional techniques in
prosthesis fabrication defy this as the patients need numerous visits to the
clinics for measurements, fitting and follow-ups. This paper presents a method
for constructing a prosthetic finger through online collaboration with the
designer. The main input from the amputee comes from the Computer Tomography
(CT) data in the region of the affected and the non-affected fingers. These
data are sent over the internet and the prosthesis is constructed using
visualization, computer-aided design and manufacturing tools. The finished
product is then shipped to the patient. A case study with a single patient
having an amputated ring finger at the proximal interphalangeal joint shows
that the proposed method has a potential to address the patient's psychosocial
concerns and minimize the exposure of the finger loss to the public.Comment: Open Access articl
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