Simulation of Cavity Flow by the Lattice Boltzmann Method

A detailed analysis is presented to demonstrate the capabilities of the lattice Boltzmann method. Thorough comparisons with other numerical solutions for the two-dimensional, driven cavity flow show that the lattice Boltzmann method gives accurate results over a wide range of Reynolds numbers. Studies of errors and convergence rates are carried out. Compressibility effects are quantified for different maximum velocities, and parameter ranges are found for stable simulations. The paper's objective is to stimulate further work using this relatively new approach for applied engineering problems in transport phenomena utilizing parallel computers.Comment: Submitted to J. Comput. Physics, late

Molecular dynamics simulations of the evaporation of particle-laden droplets

We use molecular dynamics simulations to study the evaporation of particle-laden droplets on a heated surface. The droplets are composed of a Lennard-Jones fluid containing rigid particles which are spherical sections of an atomic lattice, and heating is controlled through the temperature of an atomistic substrate. We observe that sufficiently large (but still nano-sized) particle-laden drops exhibit contact line pinning, measure the outward fluid flow field which advects particle to the drop rim, and find that the structure of the resulting aggregate varies with inter-particle interactions. In addition, the profile of the evaporative fluid flux is measured with and without particles present, and is also found to be in qualitative agreement with earlier theory. The compatibility of simple nanoscale calculations and micron-scale experiments indicates that molecular simulation may be used to predict aggregate structure in evaporative growth processes

Assessment of the Compositional Influences on the Toughness of TiCr\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e-Base Laves Phase Alloys

Systematic studies of alloys based on TiCr, have been performed in order to improve the toughness of Laves phase intermetallics. The extent to which alloy compositions and annealing treatments influence the toughness was quantified by Vickers indentation. The single-phase Laves behavior was first established by studying stoichiometric and nonstoichiometric TiCr,. Next, alloying effects were investigated with ternary Laves phases based on TiCr2. Different microstructures of two-phase alloys consisting of (Ti,Cr)-bcc+TiCr2, were also examined. Various toughening theories based on vacancies, site-substitutions, crystal structure (C14, C36, or Cl5) stabilization, and the presence of a second phase were evaluated. The most effective factors improving the toughness of TiCr2, were determined, and toughening mechanisms are suggested

Simulation studies of a phenomenological model for elongated virus capsid formation

We study a phenomenological model in which the simulated packing of hard, attractive spheres on a prolate spheroid surface with convexity constraints produces structures identical to those of prolate virus capsid structures. Our simulation approach combines the traditional Monte Carlo method with a modified method of random sampling on an ellipsoidal surface and a convex hull searching algorithm. Using this approach we identify the minimum physical requirements for non-icosahedral, elongated virus capsids, such as two aberrant flock house virus (FHV) particles and the prolate prohead of bacteriophage $\phi_{29}$, and discuss the implication of our simulation results in the context of recent experimental findings. Our predicted structures may also be experimentally realized by evaporation-driven assembly of colloidal spheres

Why the braking indices of young pulsars are less than 3?

In this letter we discuss two possible reasons which cause the observed braking indices n of young radio pulsars to be smaller than 3: (a) the evolving spin-down model of the magnetic field component $B_{\perp}$ increases with time; (b) the extrinsic braking torque model in which the tidal torques exerted on the pulsar by the fallback disk, and carries away the spin angular momentum from the pulsar. Based on some simple assumptions, we derive the expression of the braking indices, and calculate the spin-down evolutionary tracks of pulsars for different input parameters.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in A&A Letter

Detection of a 63 Degree Cold Stellar Stream in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

We report on the detection in Sloan Digital Sky Survey data of a 63 degree-long tidal stream of stars, extending from Ursa Major to Cancer. The stream has no obvious association with the orbit of any known cluster or galaxy. The contrast of the detected stream is greatest when using a star count filter that is matched to the color-magnitude distribution of stars in M 13, which suggests that the stars making up the stream are old and metal poor. The visible portion of the stream is very narrow and about 8.5 kpc above the Galactic disk, suggesting that the progenitor is or was a globular cluster. While the surface density of the stream varies considerably along its length, its path on the sky is very smooth and uniform, showing no evidence of perturbations by large mass concentrations in the nearby halo. While definitive constraints cannot be established without velocity information, the stream's projected path and estimates of its distance suggest that we are observing the stream near the perigalacticon of its orbit.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. Updated to correspond to version accepted by Ap

Waves and instability in a one-dimensional microfluidic array

Motion in a one-dimensional (1D) microfluidic array is simulated. Water droplets, dragged by flowing oil, are arranged in a single row, and due to their hydrodynamic interactions spacing between these droplets oscillates with a wave-like motion that is longitudinal or transverse. The simulation yields wave spectra that agree well with experiment. The wave-like motion has an instability which is confirmed to arise from nonlinearities in the interaction potential. The instability's growth is spatially localized. By selecting an appropriate correlation function, the interaction between the longitudinal and transverse waves is described

Chaotic dynamics of cold atoms in far-off-resonant donut beam

We describe the classical two dimensinal nonlinear dynamics of cold atoms in far-off-resonant donut beams. We show that there chaotic dynamics exists for charge greater than unity, when the intensity of the beam is periodically modulated. The two dimensional distributions of atoms in $(x,y)$ plane for charge two are simulated. We show that the atoms will acumulate on several ring regions when the system enters to regime of global chaos.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure

Proteostasis by STUB1/HSP70 complex controls sensitivity to androgen receptor targeted therapy in advanced prostate cancer.

Protein homeostasis (proteostasis) is a potential mechanism that contributes to cancer cell survival and drug resistance. Constitutively active androgen receptor (AR) variants confer anti-androgen resistance in advanced prostate cancer. However, the role of proteostasis involved in next generation anti-androgen resistance and the mechanisms of AR variant regulation are poorly defined. Here we show that the ubiquitin-proteasome-system (UPS) is suppressed in enzalutamide/abiraterone resistant prostate cancer. AR/AR-V7 proteostasis requires the interaction of E3 ubiquitin ligase STUB1 and HSP70 complex. STUB1 disassociates AR/AR-V7 from HSP70, leading to AR/AR-V7 ubiquitination and degradation. Inhibition of HSP70 significantly inhibits prostate tumor growth and improves enzalutamide/abiraterone treatments through AR/AR-V7 suppression. Clinically, HSP70 expression is upregulated and correlated with AR/AR-V7 levels in high Gleason score prostate tumors. Our results reveal a novel mechanism of anti-androgen resistance via UPS alteration which could be targeted through inhibition of HSP70 to reduce AR-V7 expression and overcome resistance to AR-targeted therapies