Parametrically excited surface waves in magnetic fluids: observation of domain structures

Observations of parametrically excited surface waves in a magnetic fluid are presented. Under the influence of a magnetic field these waves have a non--monotonic dispersion relation, which leads to a richer behavior than in ordinary liquids. We report observation of three novel effects, namely: i) domain structures, ii) oscillating defects and iii) relaxational phase oscillations.Comment: to be published in Physical Review Letter

Super-lattice, rhombus, square, and hexagonal standing waves in magnetically driven ferrofluid surface

Standing wave patterns that arise on the surface of ferrofluids by (single frequency) parametric forcing with an ac magnetic field are investigated experimentally. Depending on the frequency and amplitude of the forcing, the system exhibits various patterns including a superlattice and subharmonic rhombuses as well as conventional harmonic hexagons and subharmonic squares. The superlattice arises in a bicritical situation where harmonic and subharmonic modes collide. The rhombic pattern arises due to the non-monotonic dispersion relation of a ferrofluid

Experimental evidence for beneficial effects of projected climate change on hibernating amphibians

Amphibians are the most threatened vertebrates today, experiencing worldwide declines. In recent years considerable effort was invested in exposing the causes of these declines. Climate change has been identified as such a cause; however, the expectable effects of predicted milder, shorter winters on hibernation success of temperate-zone Amphibians have remained controversial, mainly due to a lack of controlled experimental studies. Here we present a laboratory experiment, testing the effects of simulated climate change on hibernating juvenile common toads (Bufo bufo). We simulated hibernation conditions by exposing toadlets to current (1.5 °C) or elevated (4.5 °C) hibernation temperatures in combination with current (91 days) or shortened (61 days) hibernation length. We found that a shorter winter and milder hibernation temperature increased survival of toads during hibernation. Furthermore, the increase in temperature and shortening of the cold period had a synergistic positive effect on body mass change during hibernation. Consequently, while climate change may pose severe challenges for amphibians of the temperate zone during their activity period, the negative effects may be dampened by shorter and milder winters experienced during hibernation

Critical exponents of directed percolation measured in spatiotemporal intermittency

A new experimental system showing a transition to spatiotemporal intermittency is presented. It consists of a ring of hundred oscillating ferrofluidic spikes. Four of five of the measured critical exponents of the system agree with those obtained from a theoretical model of directed percolation.Comment: 7 pages, 12 figures, submitted to PR

The effect of disagreement on children’s source memory performance

Source representations play a role both in the formation of individual beliefs as well as in the social transmission of such beliefs. Both of these functions suggest that source information should be particularly useful in the context of interpersonal disagreement. Three experi- ments with an identical design (one original study and two replications) with 3- to 4-year-old- children (N = 100) assessed whether children’s source memory performance would improve in the face of disagreement and whether such an effect interacts with different types of sources (first- vs. second-hand). In a 2 x 2 repeated-measures design, children found out about the contents of a container either by looking inside or being told (IV1). Then they were questioned about the contents of the container by an interlocutor puppet who either agreed or disagreed with their answer (IV2). We measured children’s source memory performance in response to a free recall question (DV1) followed by a forced-choice question (DV2). Four-year-olds (but not three-year-olds) performed better in response to the free recall source memory question (but not the forced-choice question) when their interlocutor had disagreed with them compared to when it had agreed with them. Children were also better at recalling ‘having been told’ than ‘having seen’. These results demonstrate that by four years of age, source memory capacities are sensitive to the communicative context of assertions and serve social functions

Antigenic specificity of antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity directed against human immunodeficiency virus in antibody-positive sera

Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) specific for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been described for HIV-infected individuals. To determine the antigenic specificity of this immune response and to define its relationship to the disease state, an ADCC assay was developed using Epstein-Barr virus-transformed lymphoblastoid cell line targets infected with vaccinia virus vectors expressing HIV proteins. The vaccinia virus vectors induced appropriate HIV proteins (envelope glycoproteins gp160, gp120, and gp41 or gag proteins p55, p40, p24, and p17) in infected lymphoblastoid cell lines as demonstrated by radioimmunoprecipitation and syncytia formation with c8166 cells. Killer cell-mediated, HIV-specific ADCC was found in sera from HIV-seropositive but not HIV-seronegative hemophiliacs. This HIV-specific response was directed against envelope glycoprotein but was completely absent against target cells expressing the HIV gag proteins. The ADCC directed against gp160 was present at serum dilutions up to 1/316,000. There was no correlation between serum ADCC titer and the stage of HIV-related illness as determined by T-helper-cell numbers. These experiments clearly implicated gp160 as the target antigen of HIV-specific ADCC activity following natural infection. Vaccines which stimulate antibodies directed against gp160, which are capable of mediating ADCC against infected cells, could be important for protection against infection by cell-associated virus

Detection of major histocompatibility complex class I-restricted, HIV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes in the blood of infected hemophiliacs

Major histocompatibility (MHC)-restricted, human immunodeficiency virus type one (HIV-1)-specific, cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) were detected in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of HIV-1-infected individuals. Using a system of autologous B and T lymphoblastoid cell lines infected with recombinant vaccinia vectors (VVs) expressing HIV-1 gene products, we were able to detect HIV-1-specific cytolytic responses in the PBMCs of 88% of HIV-1-seropositive hemophiliac patients in the absence of in vitro stimulation. These cytolytic responses were directed against both HIV-1 envelope and gag gene products. The responses were resistant to natural killer (NK) cell depletion and were inhibited by monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) to the T cell receptor, CD8 surface antigens, and MHC class I antigens, suggesting a classical MHC class I restricted, virus-specific CTL response

Parametrically Excited Surface Waves: Two-Frequency Forcing, Normal Form Symmetries, and Pattern Selection

Motivated by experimental observations of exotic standing wave patterns in the two-frequency Faraday experiment, we investigate the role of normal form symmetries in the pattern selection problem. With forcing frequency components in ratio m/n, where m and n are co-prime integers, there is the possibility that both harmonic and subharmonic waves may lose stability simultaneously, each with a different wavenumber. We focus on this situation and compare the case where the harmonic waves have a longer wavelength than the subharmonic waves with the case where the harmonic waves have a shorter wavelength. We show that in the former case a normal form transformation can be used to remove all quadratic terms from the amplitude equations governing the relevant resonant triad interactions. Thus the role of resonant triads in the pattern selection problem is greatly diminished in this situation. We verify our general results within the example of one-dimensional surface wave solutions of the Zhang-Vinals model of the two-frequency Faraday problem. In one-dimension, a 1:2 spatial resonance takes the place of a resonant triad in our investigation. We find that when the bifurcating modes are in this spatial resonance, it dramatically effects the bifurcation to subharmonic waves in the case of forcing frequencies are in ratio 1/2; this is consistent with the results of Zhang and Vinals. In sharp contrast, we find that when the forcing frequencies are in ratio 2/3, the bifurcation to (sub)harmonic waves is insensitive to the presence of another spatially-resonant bifurcating mode.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures, late

Wave Number of Maximal Growth in Viscous Magnetic Fluids of Arbitrary Depth

An analytical method within the frame of linear stability theory is presented for the normal field instability in magnetic fluids. It allows to calculate the maximal growth rate and the corresponding wave number for any combination of thickness and viscosity of the fluid. Applying this method to magnetic fluids of finite depth, these results are quantitatively compared to the wave number of the transient pattern observed experimentally after a jump--like increase of the field. The wave number grows linearly with increasing induction where the theoretical and the experimental data agree well. Thereby a long-standing controversy about the behaviour of the wave number above the critical magnetic field is tackled.Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures, RevTex; revised version with a new figure and references added. submitted to Phys Rev