181 research outputs found
N-type calcium current, Cav2.2, is enhanced in small diameter sensory neurons isolated from Nf1+/− mice
Major aspects of neuronal function are regulated by Ca2+ including neurotransmitter release, excitability, developmental plasticity, and gene expression. We reported previously that sensory neurons isolated from a mouse model with a heterozygous mutation of the Nf1 gene (Nf1+/−) exhibited both greater excitability and evoked release of neuropeptides compared to wildtype mice. Furthermore, augmented voltage-dependent sodium currents but not potassium currents contribute to the enhanced excitability. To determine the mechanisms giving rise to the enhanced release of substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide in the Nf1+/− sensory neurons, the potential differences in the total voltage-dependent calcium current (ICa) as well as the contributions of individual Ca2+ channel subtypes were assessed. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings from small diameter capsaicin-sensitive sensory neurons demonstrated that the average peak ICa densities were not different between the two genotypes. However, by using selective blockers of channel subtypes, the current density of N-type (Cav2.2) ICa was significantly larger in Nf1+/− neurons compared to wildtype neurons. In contrast, there were no significant differences in L-, P/Q- and R-type currents between the two genotypes. Quantitative real-time PCR measurements made from the isolated but intact dorsal root ganglia indicated that N-type (Cav2.2) and P/Q-type (Cav2.1) Ca2+ channels exhibited the highest mRNA expression levels although there were no significant differences in the levels of mRNA expression between the genotypes. These results suggest that the augmented N-type (Cav2.2) ICa observed in the Nf1+/− sensory neurons does not result from genomic differences but may reflect post-translational or some other non-genomic modifications. Thus, our results demonstrate that sensory neurons from Nf1+/− mice, exhibit increased N-type ICa and likely account for the increased release of substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide that occurs in Nf1+/− sensory neurons
Dynamics and Instabilities of Planar Tensile Cracks in Heterogeneous Media
The dynamics of tensile crack fronts restricted to advance in a plane are
studied. In an ideal linear elastic medium, a propagating mode along the crack
front with a velocity slightly less than the Rayleigh wave velocity, is found
to exist. But the dependence of the effective fracture toughness on
the crack velocity is shown to destabilize the crack front if
. Short wavelength radiation due to weak random
heterogeneities leads to this instability at low velocities. The implications
of these results for the crack dynamics are discussed.Comment: 12 page
Stable propagation of an ordered array of cracks during directional drying
We study the appearance and evolution of an array of parallel cracks in a
thin slab of material that is directionally dried, and show that the cracks
penetrate the material uniformly if the drying front is sufficiently sharp. We
also show that cracks have a tendency to become evenly spaced during the
penetration. The typical distance between cracks is mainly governed by the
typical distance of the pattern at the surface, and it is not modified during
the penetration. Our results agree with recent experimental work, and can be
extended to three dimensions to describe the properties of columnar polygonal
patterns observed in some geological formations.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, to appear in PR
Fracture in Mode I using a Conserved Phase-Field Model
We present a continuum phase-field model of crack propagation. It includes a
phase-field that is proportional to the mass density and a displacement field
that is governed by linear elastic theory. Generic macroscopic crack growth
laws emerge naturally from this model. In contrast to classical continuum
fracture mechanics simulations, our model avoids numerical front tracking. The
added phase-field smoothes the sharp interface, enabling us to use equations of
motion for the material (grounded in basic physical principles) rather than for
the interface (which often are deduced from complicated theories or empirical
observations). The interface dynamics thus emerges naturally. In this paper, we
look at stationary solutions of the model, mode I fracture, and also discuss
numerical issues. We find that the Griffith's threshold underestimates the
critical value at which our system fractures due to long wavelength modes
excited by the fracture process.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures (eps). Added 2 figures and some text. Removed one
section (and a figure). To be published in PR
Structural Relaxation, Self Diffusion and Kinetic Heterogeneity in the Two Dimensional Lattice Coulomb Gas
We present Monte Carlo simulation results on the equilibrium relaxation
dynamics in the two dimensional lattice Coulomb gas, where finite fraction
of the lattice sites are occupied by positive charges. In the case of high
order rational values of close to the irrational number
( is the golden mean), we find that the system
exhibits, for wide range of temperatures above the first-order transition, a
glassy behavior resembling the primary relaxation of supercooled liquids.
Single particle diffusion and structural relaxation show that there exists a
breakdown of proportionality between the time scale of diffusion and that of
structural relaxation analogous to the violation of the Stokes-Einstein
relation in supercooled liquids. Suitably defined dynamic cooperativity is
calculated to exhibit the characteristic nature of dynamic heterogeneity
present in the system.Comment: 12 pages, 20 figure
Zero-point vacancies in quantum solids
A Jastrow wave function (JWF) and a shadow wave function (SWF) describe a
quantum solid with Bose--Einstein condensate; i.e. a supersolid. It is known
that both JWF and SWF describe a quantum solid with also a finite equilibrium
concentration of vacancies x_v. We outline a route for estimating x_v by
exploiting the existing formal equivalence between the absolute square of the
ground state wave function and the Boltzmann weight of a classical solid. We
compute x_v for the quantum solids described by JWF and SWF employing very
accurate numerical techniques. For JWF we find a very small value for the zero
point vacancy concentration, x_v=(1.4\pm0.1) x 10^-6. For SWF, which presently
gives the best variational description of solid 4He, we find the significantly
larger value x_v=(1.4\pm0.1) x 10^-3 at a density close to melting. We also
study two and three vacancies. We find that there is a strong short range
attraction but the vacancies do not form a bound state.Comment: 19 pages, submitted to J. Low Temp. Phy
Time and length scales in supercooled liquids
We numerically obtain the first quantitative demonstration that development
of spatial correlations of mobility as temperature is lowered is responsible
for the ``decoupling'' of transport properties of supercooled liquids. This
result further demonstrates the necessity of a spatial description of the glass
formation and therefore seriously challenges a number of popular alternative
theoretical descriptions.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figs; improved version: new refs and discussion
Statistical Physics of Fracture Surfaces Morphology
Experiments on fracture surface morphologies offer increasing amounts of data
that can be analyzed using methods of statistical physics. One finds scaling
exponents associated with correlation and structure functions, indicating a
rich phenomenology of anomalous scaling. We argue that traditional models of
fracture fail to reproduce this rich phenomenology and new ideas and concepts
are called for. We present some recent models that introduce the effects of
deviations from homogeneous linear elasticity theory on the morphology of
fracture surfaces, succeeding to reproduce the multiscaling phenomenology at
least in 1+1 dimensions. For surfaces in 2+1 dimensions we introduce novel
methods of analysis based on projecting the data on the irreducible
representations of the SO(2) symmetry group. It appears that this approach
organizes effectively the rich scaling properties. We end up with the
proposition of new experiments in which the rotational symmetry is not broken,
such that the scaling properties should be particularly simple.Comment: A review paper submitted to J. Stat. Phy
Diffusion and viscosity in a supercooled polydisperse system
We have carried out extensive molecular dynamics simulations of a supercooled
polydisperse Lennard-Jones liquid with large variations in temperature at a
fixed pressure. The particles in the system are considered to be polydisperse
both in size and mass. The temperature dependence of the dynamical properties
such as the viscosity () and the self-diffusion coefficients () of
different size particles is studied. Both viscosity and diffusion coefficients
show super-Arrhenius temperature dependence and fit well to the well-known
Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann (VFT) equation. Within the temperature range
investigated, the value of the Angell's fragility parameter (D )
classifies the present system into a strongly fragile liquid. The critical
temperature for diffusion () increases with the size of the
particles. The critical temperature for viscosity () is larger than
that for the diffusion and a sizeable deviations appear for the smaller size
particles implying a decoupling of translational diffusion from viscosity in
deeply supercooled liquid. Indeed, the diffusion shows markedly non-Stokesian
behavior at low temperatures where a highly nonlinear dependence on size is
observed. An inspection of the trajectories of the particles shows that at low
temperatures the motions of both the smallest and largest size particles are
discontinuous (jump-type). However, the crossover from continuous Brownian to
large length hopping motion takes place at shorter time scales for the smaller
size particles.Comment: Revtex4, 7 pages, 8 figure
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