The relaxation dynamics of a simple glass former confined in a pore

We use molecular dynamics computer simulations to investigate the relaxation dynamics of a binary Lennard-Jones liquid confined in a narrow pore. We find that the average dynamics is strongly influenced by the confinement in that time correlation functions are much more stretched than in the bulk. By investigating the dynamics of the particles as a function of their distance from the wall, we can show that this stretching is due to a strong dependence of the relaxation time on this distance, i.e. that the dynamics is spatially very heterogeneous. In particular we find that the typical relaxation time of the particles close to the wall is orders of magnitude larger than the one of particles in the center of the pore.Comment: 9 pages of Latex, 4 figure

Relaxation properties in a lattice gas model with asymmetrical particles

We study the relaxation process in a two-dimensional lattice gas model, where the interactions come from the excluded volume. In this model particles have three arms with an asymmetrical shape, which results in geometrical frustration that inhibits full packing. A dynamical crossover is found at the arm percolation of the particles, from a dynamical behavior characterized by a single step relaxation above the transition, to a two-step decay below it. Relaxation functions of the self-part of density fluctuations are well fitted by a stretched exponential form, with a $\beta$ exponent decreasing when the temperature is lowered until the percolation transition is reached, and constant below it. The structural arrest of the model seems to happen only at the maximum density of the model, where both the inverse diffusivity and the relaxation time of density fluctuations diverge with a power law. The dynamical non linear susceptibility, defined as the fluctuations of the self-overlap autocorrelation, exhibits a peak at some characteristic time, which seems to diverge at the maximum density as well.Comment: 7 pages and 9 figure

Computer Simulations of Supercooled Liquids and Glasses

After a brief introduction to the dynamics of supercooled liquids, we discuss some of the advantages and drawbacks of computer simulations of such systems. Subsequently we present the results of computer simulations in which the dynamics of a fragile glass former, a binary Lennard-Jones system, is compared to the one of a strong glass former, SiO_2. This comparison gives evidence that the reason for the different temperature dependence of these two types of glass formers lies in the transport mechanism for the particles in the vicinity of T_c, the critical temperature of mode-coupling theory. Whereas the one of the fragile glass former is described very well by the ideal version of mode-coupling theory, the one for the strong glass former is dominated by activated processes. In the last part of the article we review some simulations of glass formers in which the dynamics below the glass transition temperature was investigated. We show that such simulations might help to establish a connection between systems with self generated disorder (e.g. structural glasses) and quenched disorder (e.g. spin glasses).Comment: 37 pages of Latex, 11 figures, to appear as a Topical Review article in J. Phys.: Condens. Matte

The Influence of Recovery and Training Phases on Body Composition, Peripheral Vascular Function and Immune System of Professional Soccer Players

Professional soccer players have a lengthy playing season, throughout which high levels of physical stress are maintained. The following recuperation period, before starting the next pre-season training phase, is generally considered short but sufficient to allow a decrease in these stress levels and therefore a reduction in the propensity for injury or musculoskeletal tissue damage. We hypothesised that these physical extremes influence the body composition, blood flow, and endothelial/immune function, but that the recuperation may be insufficient to allow a reduction of tissue stress damage. Ten professional football players were examined at the end of the playing season, at the end of the season intermission, and after the next pre-season endurance training. Peripheral blood flow and body composition were assessed using venous occlusion plethysmography and DEXA scanning respectively. In addition, selected inflammatory and immune parameters were analysed from blood samples. Following the recuperation period a significant decrease of lean body mass from 74.4±4.2 kg to 72.2±3.9 kg was observed, but an increase of fat mass from 10.3±5.6 kg to 11.1±5.4 kg, almost completely reversed the changes seen in the pre-season training phase. Remarkably, both resting and post-ischemic blood flow (7.3±3.4 and 26.0±6.3 ml/100 ml/min) respectively, were strongly reduced during the playing and training stress phases, but both parameters increased to normal levels (9.0±2.7 and 33.9±7.6 ml/100 ml/min) during the season intermission. Recovery was also characterized by rising levels of serum creatinine, granulocytes count, total IL-8, serum nitrate, ferritin, and bilirubin. These data suggest a compensated hypo-perfusion of muscle during the playing season, followed by an intramuscular ischemia/reperfusion syndrome during the recovery phase that is associated with muscle protein turnover and inflammatory endothelial reaction, as demonstrated by iNOS and HO-1 activation, as well as IL-8 release. The data provided from this study suggest that the immune system is not able to function fully during periods of high physical stress. The implications of this study are that recuperation should be carefully monitored in athletes who undergo intensive training over extended periods, but that these parameters may also prove useful for determining an individual's risk of tissue stress and possibly their susceptibility to progressive tissue damage or injury

Biological Earth observation with animal sensors.

Space-based tracking technology using low-cost miniature tags is now delivering data on fine-scale animal movement at near-global scale. Linked with remotely sensed environmental data, this offers a biological lens on habitat integrity and connectivity for conservation and human health; a global network of animal sentinels of environmen-tal change

Biological Earth observation with animal sensors

Space-based tracking technology using low-cost miniature tags is now delivering data on fine-scale animal movement at near-global scale. Linked with remotely sensed environmental data, this offers a biological lens on habitat integrity and connectivity for conservation and human health; a global network of animal sentinels of environmen-tal change

THE ELECTRON-PHONON COUPLING CONSTANT OF AMORPHOUS METALS

Extending the free-electron theory of electronic transport in simple amorphous metals, the Eliashberg function α2F(ω) and the electron-phonon constant λ are calculated for such materials. A formula relating λ to the temperature coefficient of the resistivity at higher temperatures (T >≈ θD/2) is derived. The validity of this formula is tested for amorphous Ga

HOPPING AND STATIC CORRELATIONS OF HIGHER ORDER IN A LATTICE GAS

In interacting lattice gases at intermediate concentrations the hopping rate is determined by the static correlations of relatively high order among the neighbours of the diffusing particle. For a square lattice with nearest-neighbour exclusion the relevant correlation functions are studied by Monte Carlo simulation and analytically by an extended Bethe-Peierls cluster approximation. The results of both methods are in good agreement with each other and allow to test the accuracy of approximation schemes for higher-order correlation functions such as Kirkwood's superposition approximation and the Gaussian factorization

Size dependence of self-diffusion in dense binary liquid of hard spheres

For a very dense binary liquid of hard spheres the dependence of the velocity-autocorrelation function (VAF) of tagged particles and of the self-diffusion coefficient on system size is derived from the coupling of self diffusion to modes of collective flow. Collective flow is described by longitudinal and transverse current-current correlation functions for different wavevectors which are obtained by molecular dynamics simulation. The size dependence of the VAF is reproduced rather accurately for longer times t > 7τ, where τ is the mean time of free flight. The result for the size dependence of the self-diffusion coefficient is in satisfactory agreement with a direct calculation, but this result also depends on the VAF's at shorter times