1,223 research outputs found
Flight Mechanics and Control of Escape Manoeuvres in Hummingbirds. II. Aerodynamic Force Production, Flight Control and Performance Limitations
The superior manoeuvrability of hummingbirds emerges from complex interactions of specialized neural and physiological processes with the unique flight dynamics of flapping wings. Escape manoeuvring is an ecologically relevant, natural behaviour of hummingbirds, from which we can gain understanding into the functional limits of vertebrate locomotor capacity. Here, we extend our kinematic analysis of escape manoeuvres from a companion paper to assess two potential limiting factors of the manoeuvring performance of hummingbirds: (1) muscle mechanical power output and (2) delays in the neural sensing and control system. We focused on the magnificent hummingbird (Eugenes fulgens, 7.8 g) and the black-chinned hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri, 3.1 g), which represent large and small species, respectively. We first estimated the aerodynamic forces, moments and the mechanical power of escape manoeuvres using measured wing kinematics. Comparing active-manoeuvring and passive-damping aerodynamic moments, we found that pitch dynamics were lightly damped and dominated by the effect of inertia, while roll dynamics were highly damped. To achieve observed closed-loop performance, pitch manoeuvres required faster sensorimotor transduction, as hummingbirds can only tolerate half the delay allowed in roll manoeuvres. Accordingly, our results suggested that pitch control may require a more sophisticated control strategy, such as those based on prediction. For the magnificent hummingbird, we estimated that escape manoeuvres required muscle mass-specific power 4.5 times that during hovering. Therefore, in addition to the limitation imposed by sensorimotor delays, muscle power could also limit the performance of escape manoeuvres
Optically Thin Metallic Films for High-radiative-efficiency Plasmonics
Plasmonics enables deep-subwavelength concentration of light and has become
important for fundamental studies as well as real-life applications. Two major
existing platforms of plasmonics are metallic nanoparticles and metallic films.
Metallic nanoparticles allow efficient coupling to far field radiation, yet
their synthesis typically leads to poor material quality. Metallic films offer
substantially higher quality materials, but their coupling to radiation is
typically jeopardized due to the large momentum mismatch with free space. Here,
we propose and theoretically investigate optically thin metallic films as an
ideal platform for high-radiative-efficiency plasmonics. For far-field
scattering, adding a thin high-quality metallic substrate enables a higher
quality factor while maintaining the localization and tunability that the
nanoparticle provides. For near-field spontaneous emission, a thin metallic
substrate, of high quality or not, greatly improves the field overlap between
the emitter environment and propagating surface plasmons, enabling high-Purcell
(total enhancement > ), high-quantum-yield (> 50 %) spontaneous emission,
even as the gap size vanishes (35 nm). The enhancement has almost
spatially independent efficiency and does not suffer from quenching effects
that commonly exist in previous structures.Comment: Supporting Information not included but freely available from
DOI:10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b0085
Statistical Origin of Constituent-Quark Scaling in the QGP hadronization
Nonextensive statistics in a Blast-Wave model (TBW) is implemented to
describe the identified hadron production in relativistic p+p and
nucleus-nucleus collisions. Incorporating the core and corona components within
the TBW formalism allows us to describe simultaneously some of the major
observations in hadronic observables at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider
(RHIC): the Number of Constituent Quark Scaling (NCQ), the large radial and
elliptic flow, the effect of gluon saturation and the suppression of hadron
production at high transverse momentum (pT) due to jet quenching. In this
formalism, the NCQ scaling at RHIC appears as a consequence of non-equilibrium
process. Our study also provides concise reference distributions with a least
chi2 fit of the available experimental data for future experiments and models.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; added two tables, explained a little bit more on
TBW_p
Security of Binary Modulated Continuous Variable Quantum Key Distribution under Collective Attacks
We give an achievable secret key rate of a binary modulated continuous
variable quantum key distribution schemes in the collective attack scenario
considering quantum channels that impose arbitrary noise on the exchanged
signals. Bob performs homodyne measurements on the received states and the two
honest parties employ a reverse reconciliation procedure in the classical
post-processing step of the protocol.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figure
Schr\"odinger equation of general potential
It is well known that the Schr\"odinger equation is only suitable for the
particle in common potential . In this paper, a general Quantum
Mechanics is proposed, where the Lagrangian is the general form. The new
quantum wave equation can describe the particle which is in general potential
. We think these new quantum wave equations can
be applied in many fields.Comment: 10 pages, 0 figures, accepted for publication in International
Journal of Modern Physics B. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with
arXiv:0909.2995; and text overlap with arXiv:0711.3544 by other authors
without attributio
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Van der Walls interaction affects wrinkle formation in two-dimensional materials
Nonlinear mechanics of solids is an exciting field that encompasses both beautiful mathematics, such as the emergence of instabilities and the formation of complex patterns, as well as multiple applications. Two-dimensional crystals and van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures allow revisiting this field on the atomic level, allowing much finer control over the parameters and offering atomistic interpretation of experimental observations. In this work, we consider the formation of instabilities consisting of radially oriented wrinkles around mono- and few-layer “bubbles” in two-dimensional vdW heterostructures. Interestingly, the shape and wavelength of the wrinkles depend not only on the thickness of the two-dimensional crystal forming the bubble, but also on the atomistic structure of the interface between the bubble and the substrate, which can be controlled by their relative orientation. We argue that the periodic nature of these patterns emanates from an energetic balance between the resistance of the top membrane to bending, which favors large wavelength of wrinkles, and the membrane-substrate vdW attraction, which favors small wrinkle amplitude. Employing the classical “Winkler foundation” model of elasticity theory, we show that the number of radial wrinkles conveys a valuable relationship between the bending rigidity of the top membrane and the strength of the vdW interaction. Armed with this relationship, we use our data to demonstrate a nontrivial dependence of the bending rigidity on the number of layers in the top membrane, which shows two different regimes driven by slippage between the layers, and a high sensitivity of the vdW force to the alignment between the substrate and the membrane
Developments of a 2D Position Sensitive Neutron Detector
Chinese Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS), one project of the 12th
five-year-plan scheme of China, is under construction in Guangdong province.
Three neutron spectrometers will be installed at the first phase of the
project, where two-dimensional position sensitive thermal neutron detectors are
required. Before the construction of the neutron detector, a prototype of
two-dimensional 200 mmx200 mm Multi-wire Proportional Chamber (MWPC) with the
flowing gas of Ar/CO2 (90/10) has been constructed and tested with the 55Fe
X-Ray using part of the electronics in 2009, which showed a good performance.
Following the test in 2009, the neutron detector has been constructed with the
complete electronics and filled with the 6atm.3He + 2.5atm.C3H8 gas mixture in
2010. The neutron detector has been primarily tested with an Am/Be source. In
this paper, some new developments of the neutron detector including the design
of the high pressure chamber, the optimization of the gas purifying system and
the gas filling process will be reported. The results and discussion are also
presented in this paper.Comment: 5 page
MerTK is required for apoptotic cell–induced T cell tolerance
Self-antigens expressed by apoptotic cells (ACs) may become targets for autoimmunity. Tolerance to these antigens is partly established by an ill-defined capacity of ACs to inhibit antigen-presenting cells such as dendritic cells (DCs). We present evidence that the receptor tyrosine kinase Mer (MerTK) has a key role in mediating AC-induced inhibition of DC activation/maturation. Pretreatment of DCs prepared from nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice with AC blocked secretion of proinflammatory cytokines, up-regulation of costimulatory molecule expression, and T cell activation. The effect of ACs on DCs was dependent on Gas6, which is a MerTK ligand. NOD DCs lacking MerTK expression (NOD.MerTKKD/KD) were resistant to AC-induced inhibition. Notably, autoimmune diabetes was exacerbated in NOD.MerTKKD/KD versus NOD mice expressing the transgenic BDC T cell receptor. In addition, β cell–specific CD4+ T cells adoptively transferred into NOD.MerTKKD/KD mice in which β cell apoptosis was induced with streptozotocin exhibited increased expansion and differentiation into type 1 T cell effectors. In both models, the lack of MerTK expression was associated with an increased frequency of activated pancreatic CD11c+CD8α+ DCs, which exhibited an enhanced T cell stimulatory capacity. These findings demonstrate that MerTK plays a critical role in regulating self-tolerance mediated between ACs, DCs, and T cells
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