358 research outputs found
P-wave Pairing and Colossal Magnetoresistance in Manganese Oxides
We point out that the existing experimental data of most manganese oxides
show the {\sl frustrated} p-wave superconducting condensation in the
ferromagnetic phase in the sense that the superconducting coherence is not long
enough to cover the whole system. The superconducting state is similar to the
state in superfluid He-3. The sharp drop of resistivity, the steep jump
of specific heat, and the gap opening in tunneling are well understood in terms
of the p-wave pairing. In addition, colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) is
naturally explained by the superconducting fluctuations with increasing
magnetic fields. The finite resistivity may be due to some magnetic
inhomogeneities. This study leads to the possibility of room temperature
superconductivity.Comment: LaTex, 14 pages, For more information, please send me an e-mail.
e-mail adrress : [email protected]
Essential nonlinearities in hearing
Our hearing organ, the cochlea, evidently poises itself at a Hopf bifurcation
to maximize tuning and amplification. We show that in this condition several
effects are expected to be generic: compression of the dynamic range,
infinitely shrap tuning at zero input, and generation of combination tones.
These effects are "essentially" nonlinear in that they become more marked the
smaller the forcing: there is no audible sound soft enough not to evoke them.
All the well-documented nonlinear aspects of hearing therefore appear to be
consequences of the same underlying mechanism.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Optimizing the vertebrate vestibular semicircular canal: could we balance any better?
The fluid-filled semicircular canals (SCCs) of the vestibular system are used
by all vertebrates to sense angular rotation. Despite masses spanning seven
decades, all mammalian SCCs are nearly the same size. We propose that the SCC
represents a sensory organ that evolution has `optimally designed'. Four
geometric parameters are used to characterize the SCC, and `building materials'
of given physical properties are assumed. Identifying physical and
physiological constraints on SCC operation, we find that the most sensitive SCC
has dimensions consistent with available data.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
High Speed X-ray Phase Contrast Imaging of Energetic Composites under Dynamic Compression
Fracture of crystals and frictional heating are associated with the formation of “hot spots” (localized heating) in energetic composites such as polymer bonded explosives (PBXs). Traditional high speed optical imaging methods cannot be used to study the dynamic sub-surface deformation and the fracture behavior of such materials due to their opaque nature. In this study, high speed synchrotron X-ray experiments are conducted to visualize the in situ deformation and the fracture mechanisms in PBXs composed of octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX) crystals and hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene binder doped with iron (III) oxide. A modified Kolsky bar apparatus was used to apply controlled dynamic compression on the PBX specimens, and a high speed synchrotron X-ray phase contrast imaging (PCI) setup was used to record the in situ deformation and failure in the specimens. The experiments show that synchrotron X-ray PCI provides a sufficient contrast between the HMX crystals and the doped binder, even at ultrafast recording rates. Under dynamic compression, most of the cracking in the crystals was observed to be due to the tensile stress generated by the diametral compression applied from the contacts between the crystals. Tensile stress driven cracking was also observed for some of the crystals due to the transverse deformation of the binder and superior bonding between the crystal and the binder. The obtained results are vital to develop improved understanding and to validate the macroscopic and mesoscopic numerical models for energetic composites so that eventually hot spot formation can be predicted
Frequency decoding of periodically timed action potentials through distinct activity patterns in a random neural network
Frequency discrimination is a fundamental task of the auditory system. The
mammalian inner ear, or cochlea, provides a place code in which different
frequencies are detected at different spatial locations. However, a temporal
code based on spike timing is also available: action potentials evoked in an
auditory-nerve fiber by a low-frequency tone occur at a preferred phase of the
stimulus-they exhibit phase locking-and thus provide temporal information about
the tone's frequency. In an accompanying psychoacoustic study, and in agreement
with previous experiments, we show that humans employ this temporal information
for discrimination of low frequencies. How might such temporal information be
read out in the brain? Here we demonstrate that recurrent random neural
networks in which connections between neurons introduce characteristic time
delays, and in which neurons require temporally coinciding inputs for spike
initiation, can perform sharp frequency discrimination when stimulated with
phase-locked inputs. Although the frequency resolution achieved by such
networks is limited by the noise in phase locking, the resolution for realistic
values reaches the tiny frequency difference of 0.2% that has been measured in
humans.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, and supplementary informatio
Hair Cell Bundles: Flexoelectric Motors of the Inner Ear
Microvilli (stereocilia) projecting from the apex of hair cells in the inner ear are actively motile structures that feed energy into the vibration of the inner ear and enhance sensitivity to sound. The biophysical mechanism underlying the hair bundle motor is unknown. In this study, we examined a membrane flexoelectric origin for active movements in stereocilia and conclude that it is likely to be an important contributor to mechanical power output by hair bundles. We formulated a realistic biophysical model of stereocilia incorporating stereocilia dimensions, the known flexoelectric coefficient of lipid membranes, mechanical compliance, and fluid drag. Electrical power enters the stereocilia through displacement sensitive ion channels and, due to the small diameter of stereocilia, is converted to useful mechanical power output by flexoelectricity. This motor augments molecular motors associated with the mechanosensitive apparatus itself that have been described previously. The model reveals stereocilia to be highly efficient and fast flexoelectric motors that capture the energy in the extracellular electro-chemical potential of the inner ear to generate mechanical power output. The power analysis provides an explanation for the correlation between stereocilia height and the tonotopic organization of hearing organs. Further, results suggest that flexoelectricity may be essential to the exquisite sensitivity and frequency selectivity of non-mammalian hearing organs at high auditory frequencies, and may contribute to the “cochlear amplifier” in mammals
Resultant pressure distribution pattern along the basilar membrane in the spiral shaped cochlea
Cochlea is an important auditory organ in the inner ear. In most mammals, it
is coiled as a spiral. Whether this specific shape influences hearing is still
an open problem. By employing a three dimensional fluid model of the cochlea
with an idealized geometry, the influence of the spiral geometry of the cochlea
is examined. We obtain solutions of the model through a conformal
transformation in a long-wave approximation. Our results show that the net
pressure acting on the basilar membrane is not uniform along its spanwise
direction. Also, it is shown that the location of the maximum of the spanwise
pressure difference in the axial direction has a mode dependence. In the
simplest pattern, the present result is consistent with the previous theory
based on the WKB-like approximation [D. Manoussaki, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96,
088701(2006)]. In this mode, the pressure difference in the spanwise direction
is a monotonic function of the distance from the apex and the normal velocity
across the channel width is zero. Thus in the lowest order approximation, we
can neglect the existance of the Reissner's membrane in the upper channel.
However, higher responsive modes show different behavior and, thus, the real
maximum is expected to be located not exactly at the apex, but at a position
determined by the spiral geometry of the cochlea and the width of the cochlear
duct. In these modes, the spanwise normal velocities are not zero. Thus, it
indicates that one should take into account of the detailed geometry of the
cochlear duct for a more quantitative result. The present result clearly
demonstrates that not only the spiral geometry, but also the geometry of the
cochlear duct play decisive roles in distributing the wave energy.Comment: 21 pages. (to appear in J. Biol. Phys.
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Where to find 1.5 million year old ice for the IPICS “Oldest Ice” ice core
The recovery of a 1.5 million yr long ice core from Antarctica represents a keystone of our understanding of Quaternary climate, the progression of glaciation over this time period and the role of greenhouse gas cycles in this progression. Here we tackle the question of where such ice may still be found in the Antarctic ice sheet. We can show that such old ice is most likely to exist in the plateau area of the East Antarctic ice sheet (EAIS) without stratigraphic disturbance and should be able to be recovered after careful pre-site selection studies. Based on a simple ice and heat flow model and glaciological observations, we conclude that positions in the vicinity of major domes and saddle position on the East Antarctic Plateau will most likely have such old ice in store and represent the best study areas for dedicated reconnaissance studies in the near future. In contrast to previous ice core drill site selections, however, we strongly suggest significantly reduced ice thickness to avoid bottom melting. For example for the geothermal heat flux and accumulation conditions at Dome C, an ice thickness lower than but close to about 2500 m would be required to find 1.5 Myr old ice (i.e., more than 700 m less than at the current EPICA Dome C drill site). Within this constraint, the resolution of an Oldest-Ice record and the distance of such old ice to the bedrock should be maximized to avoid ice flow disturbances, for example, by finding locations with minimum geothermal heat flux. As the geothermal heat flux is largely unknown for the EAIS, this parameter has to be carefully determined beforehand. In addition, detailed bedrock topography and ice flow history has to be reconstructed for candidates of an Oldest-Ice ice coring site. Finally, we argue strongly for rapid access drilling before any full, deep ice coring activity commences to bring datable samples to the surface and to allow an age check of the oldest ice
Scenario Planning and Nanotechnological Futures
Scenario planning may assist us in harnessing the benefits of nanotechnology
and managing the associated risks for the good of the society. Scenario
planning is a way to describe the present state of the world and develop
several hypotheses about the future of the world, thereby enabling discussions
about how the world ought to be. Scenario planning thus is not only a tool for
learning and foresight, but also for leadership. Informed decision-making by
experts and political leaders becomes possible, while simultaneously allaying
public's perception of the risks of new and emerging technologies such as
nanotechnology. Two scenarios of the societal impact of nanotechnology are the
mixed-signals scenario and the confluence scenario. Technoscientists have major
roles to play in both scenarios
Power efficiency of outer hair cell somatic electromotility
© 2009 Rabbitt et al. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in PLoS Computational Biology 5 (2009): e1000444, doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000444.Cochlear outer hair cells (OHCs) are fast biological motors that serve to enhance the vibration of the organ of Corti and increase the sensitivity of the inner ear to sound. Exactly how OHCs produce useful mechanical power at auditory frequencies, given their intrinsic biophysical properties, has been a subject of considerable debate. To address this we formulated a mathematical model of the OHC based on first principles and analyzed the power conversion efficiency in the frequency domain. The model includes a mixture-composite constitutive model of the active lateral wall and spatially distributed electro-mechanical fields. The analysis predicts that: 1) the peak power efficiency is likely to be tuned to a specific frequency, dependent upon OHC length, and this tuning may contribute to the place principle and frequency selectivity in the cochlea; 2) the OHC power output can be detuned and attenuated by increasing the basal conductance of the cell, a parameter likely controlled by the brain via the efferent system; and 3) power output efficiency is limited by mechanical properties of the load, thus suggesting that impedance of the organ of Corti may be matched regionally to the OHC. The high power efficiency, tuning, and efferent control of outer hair cells are the direct result of biophysical properties of the cells, thus providing the physical basis for the remarkable sensitivity and selectivity of hearing.This work was supported by NIDCD R01 DC04928 (Rabbitt), NIDCD R01 DC00384 (Brownell) and NASA Ames GSRA56000135 (Breneman)
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