Damping-Antidamping Effect on Comets Motion

We make an observation about Galilean transformation on a 1-D mass variable systems which leads us to the right way to deal with mass variable systems. Then using this observation, we study two-bodies gravitational problem where the mass of one of the bodies varies and suffers a damping-antidamping effect due to star wind during its motion. For this system, a constant of motion, a Lagrangian and a Hamiltonian are given for the radial motion, and the period of the body is studied using the constant of motion of the system. Our theoretical results are applied to Halley's comet.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:0910.468

Deformation of a flexible fiber in a viscous flow past an obstacle

We study the deformation and transport of elastic fibers in a viscous Hele-Shaw flow with curved streamlines. The variations of the global velocity and orientation of the fiber follow closely those of the local flow velocity. The ratios of the curvatures of the fibers by the corresponding curvatures of the streamlines reflect a balance between elastic and viscous forces: this ratio is shown experimentally to be determined by a dimensionless {\it Sperm number} $Sp$ combining the characteristic parameters of the flow (transverse velocity gradient, viscosity, fiber diameter/cell gap ratio) and those of the fiber (diameter, effective length, Young's modulus). For short fibers, the effective length is that of the fiber; for long ones, it is equal to the transverse characteristic length of the flow. For $S\_p \lesssim 250$, the ratio of the curvatures increases linearly with $Sp$; For $S\_p \gtrsim 250$, the fiber reaches the same curvature as the streamlines

Mediators of mechanotransduction between bone cells

Mechanical forces are known to regulate the function of tissues in the body, including bone. Bone adapts to its mechanical environment by altering its shape and increasing its size in response to increases in mechanical load associated with exercise, and by decreasing its size in response to decreases in mechanical load associated with microgravity or prolonged bed rest. Changes in bone size and shape are produced by a cooperative action of two main types of the bone cells - osteoclasts that destroy bone and osteoblasts that build bone. These cell types come from different developmental origins, and vary greatly in their characteristics, such as size, shape, and expression of receptor subtypes, which potentially may affect their responses to mechanical stimuli. The objective of this study is to compare the responses of osteoclasts and osteoblasts to mechanical stimulation. This study has allowed us to conclude the following: 1. A mediator is released from a single source cell. 2. The response to the mediator changes with distance. 3. The value of the apparent diffusion coeficient increases with distance. 4. A plausible proposed mechanism is that ATP is released and degrades to ADP. 5. Future experiments are required to confim that ATP is the mediator as suggested

New Precision Electroweak Tests of SU(5) x U(1) Supergravity

We explore the one-loop electroweak radiative corrections in $SU(5)\times U(1)$ supergravity via explicit calculation of vacuum-polarization and vertex-correction contributions to the $\epsilon_1$ and $\epsilon_b$ parameters. Experimentally, these parameters are obtained from a global fit to the set of observables $\Gamma_{l}, \Gamma_{b}, A^{l}_{FB}$, and $M_W/M_Z$. We include $q^2$-dependent effects, which induce a large systematic negative shift on $\epsilon_{1}$ for light chargino masses (m_{\chi^\pm_1}\lsim70\GeV). The (non-oblique) supersymmetric vertex corrections to \Zbb, which define the $\epsilon_b$ parameter, show a significant positive shift for light chargino masses, which for $\tan\beta\approx2$ can be nearly compensated by a negative shift from the charged Higgs contribution. We conclude that at the 90\%CL, for m_t\lsim160\GeV the present experimental values of $\epsilon_1$ and $\epsilon_b$ do not constrain in any way $SU(5)\times U(1)$ supergravity in both no-scale and dilaton scenarios. On the other hand, for m_t\gsim160\GeV the constraints on the parameter space become increasingly stricter. We demonstrate this trend with a study of the m_t=170\GeV case, where only a small region of parameter space, with \tan\beta\gsim4, remains allowed and corresponds to light chargino masses (m_{\chi^\pm_1}\lsim70\GeV). Thus $SU(5)\times U(1)$ supergravity combined with high-precision LEP data would suggest the presence of light charginos if the top quark is not detected at the Tevatron.Comment: LaTeX, 11 Pages+4 Figures(not included), the figures available upon request as an uuencoded file(0.4MB) or 4 PS files from [email protected], CERN-TH.7078/93, CTP-TAMU-68/93, ACT-24/9

H3++H_3^{++} molecular ions can exist in strong magnetic fields

Using the variational method it is shown that for magnetic fields $B\geq 10^{11}$ G there can exist a molecular ion $H_3^{++}$.Comment: LaTeX, 7 pp, 1 table, 4 figures. Title modified. Consideration of the longitudinal size of the system was adde