Active swimmers in a spherical volume

In this work we investigate the behaviour of active nematic particles confined within a spherical volume by performing molecular dynamics simulations. We find out that the particles’ behaviour relates to previous experimental and theoetical results by other groups in similar systems: We observe the phase separation found in a curvature-free system combined with phenomena found on spherical surfaces and in spherical volumes. It is interesting to see that the results in a three-dimensional system with curvature can to a large extent be derived from these single effects. Another remarkable aspect is that we do not find a significant influence of the degree of curvature. Filling fraction and Péclet number are the parameters decisive for the system’s state

Effects of Ocean Warming and Acidification on Fertilization Success and Early Larval Development in the Green Sea Urchin, Lytechinus variegatus

Climate change is predicted to affect the larval stages of many marine organisms. Ocean warming can reduce larval survival and hasten larval development, whereas ocean acidification can delay larval development. Ocean acidification is especially concerning for marine organisms that develop and grow calcified shells or skeletons in an environment undersaturated with calcium carbonate minerals. This study assessed the effects of ocean warming and acidification on the fertilization and larval development of the green sea urchin, Lytechinus variegatus, a tropical species common in Florida and the Caribbean. After spawning, gametes were fertilized and embryos/larvae were reared at: 1) 28°C and pH 8.1 (control), 2) 28°C and pH 7.8 (ocean acidification scenario), 3) 31°C and pH 8.1 (ocean warming scenario), and 4) 31°C and pH 7.8 (ocean warming and acidification scenario). Exposure to acidified conditions had no effect on fertilization, but delayed larval development, stunted growth and increased asymmetry. Exposure to warm conditions decreased fertilization success at a high sperm to egg ratio (1,847:1), accelerated larval development, but had no significant effect on growth. Under exposure to both stressors (ocean warming and acidification), larval development was accelerated, but larvae were smaller and more asymmetric. These results indicate that climate change will have a serious impact on the larval development and growth of the green sea urchin, L. variegatus, and may negatively affect its persistence

Hidden Breit-Wigner distribution and other properties of random matrices with preferential basis

We study statistical properties of a class of band random matrices which naturally appears in systems of interacting particles. The local spectral density is shown to follow the Breit-Wigner distribution in both localized and delocalized regimes with width independent on the band/system size. We analyse the implications of this distribution to the inverse participation ratio, level spacing statistics and the problem of two interacting particles in a random potential.Comment: 4 pages, 4 postscript figures appended, new version with minor change

A cross impact methodology for the assessment of US telecommunications system with application to fiber optics development: Executive summary

A cross impact model of the U.S. telecommunications system was developed. For this model, it was necessary to prepare forecasts of the major segments of the telecommunications system, such as satellites, telephone, TV, CATV, radio broadcasting, etc. In addition, forecasts were prepared of the traffic generated by a variety of new or expanded services, such as electronic check clearing and point of sale electronic funds transfer. Finally, the interactions among the forecasts were estimated (the cross impacts). Both the forecasts and the cross impacts were used as inputs to the cross impact model, which could then be used to stimulate the future growth of the entire U.S. telecommunications system. By varying the inputs, technology changes or policy decisions with regard to any segment of the system could be evaluated in the context of the remainder of the system. To illustrate the operation of the model, a specific study was made of the deployment of fiber optics, throughout the telecommunications system

Requirements for contractility in disordered cytoskeletal bundles

Actomyosin contractility is essential for biological force generation, and is well understood in highly organized structures such as striated muscle. Additionally, actomyosin bundles devoid of this organization are known to contract both in vivo and in vitro, which cannot be described by standard muscle models. To narrow down the search for possible contraction mechanisms in these systems, we investigate their microscopic symmetries. We show that contractile behavior requires non-identical motors that generate large enough forces to probe the nonlinear elastic behavior of F-actin. This suggests a role for filament buckling in the contraction of these bundles, consistent with recent experimental results on reconstituted actomyosin bundles.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures; text shortene

Contractile units in disordered actomyosin bundles arise from F-actin buckling

Bundles of filaments and motors are central to contractility in cells. The classic example is striated muscle, where actomyosin contractility is mediated by highly organized sarcomeres which act as fundamental contractile units. However, many contractile bundles in vivo and in vitro lack sarcomeric organization. Here we propose a model for how contractility can arise in actomyosin bundles without sarcomeric organization and validate its predictions with experiments on a reconstituted system. In the model, internal stresses in frustrated arrangements of motors with diverse velocities cause filaments to buckle, leading to overall shortening. We describe the onset of buckling in the presence of stochastic actin-myosin detachment and predict that buckling-induced contraction occurs in an intermediate range of motor densities. We then calculate the size of the "contractile units" associated with this process. Consistent with these results, our reconstituted actomyosin bundles contract at relatively high motor density, and we observe buckling at the predicted length scale.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, Supporting text and movies attache

Quantum Electrodynamics in the Light-Front Weyl Gauge

We examine QED(3+1) quantised in the `front form' with finite `volume' regularisation, namely in Discretised Light-Cone Quantisation. Instead of the light-cone or Coulomb gauges, we impose the light-front Weyl gauge $A^-=0$. The Dirac method is used to arrive at the quantum commutation relations for the independent variables. We apply `quantum mechanical gauge fixing' to implement Gau{\ss}' law, and derive the physical Hamiltonian in terms of unconstrained variables. As in the instant form, this Hamiltonian is invariant under global residual gauge transformations, namely displacements. On the light-cone the symmetry manifests itself quite differently.Comment: LaTeX file, 30 pages (A4 size), no figures. Submitted to Physical review D. January 18, 1996. Originally posted, erroneously, with missing `Weyl' in title. Otherwise, paper is identica

Extinctions and Correlations for Uniformly Discrete Point Processes with Pure Point Dynamical Spectra

The paper investigates how correlations can completely specify a uniformly discrete point process. The setting is that of uniformly discrete point sets in real space for which the corresponding dynamical hull is ergodic. The first result is that all of the essential physical information in such a system is derivable from its $n$-point correlations, $n= 2, 3, >...$. If the system is pure point diffractive an upper bound on the number of correlations required can be derived from the cycle structure of a graph formed from the dynamical and Bragg spectra. In particular, if the diffraction has no extinctions, then the 2 and 3 point correlations contain all the relevant information.Comment: 16 page

Scaling Invariance in a Time-Dependent Elliptical Billiard

We study some dynamical properties of a classical time-dependent elliptical billiard. We consider periodically moving boundary and collisions between the particle and the boundary are assumed to be elastic. Our results confirm that although the static elliptical billiard is an integrable system, after to introduce time-dependent perturbation on the boundary the unlimited energy growth is observed. The behaviour of the average velocity is described using scaling arguments

Thalidomide-induced Teratogenesis : History and Mechanisms

Peer reviewedPublisher PD