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Migration of Elastic Capsules by an Optical Force in a Uniform flow
AbstractThe behavior of an elastic capsule by an optical force in a uniform flow is examined by using the penalty immersed boundary method. The elastic capsule is subjected to the laser beam with Gaussian distribution in the perpendicular direction to the fluid flow. The elastic capsule migrated by the optical force along the direction of the laser beam propagation, and the migration distance is dependent on its properties. The oblate capsule with b/a = 0.5 obeying the neo-Hookean constitutive law is first considered, and the effects of the surface Young's modulus and the initial inclination angle on the migration distance are studied. The migration distance of the oblate capsule is increased as the surface Young's modulus increases, and the non-inclined oblate capsule is more migrated than the differently inclined capsules. Then the spherical, oblate, and biconcave capsules obeying the Skalak constitutive law are considered. A comparison of the trajectories of the capsules indicates that the migration of the spherical capsule is the largest. Unlike the oblate capsule, the non-inclined biconcave capsule is less migrated than other inclination angles due to its initial shape
Temperature-dependent evolutions of excitonic superfluid plasma frequency in a srong excitonic insulator candidate, TaNiSe
We investigate an interesting anisotropic van der Waals material,
TaNiSe, using optical spectroscopy. TaNiSe has been
known as one of the few excitonic insulators proposed over 50 years ago.
TaNiSe has quasi-one dimensional chains along the -axis. We have
obtained anisotropic optical properties of a single crystal TaNiSe
along the - and -axes. The measured - and -axis optical
conductivities exhibit large anisotropic electronic and phononic properties.
With regard to the -axis optical conductivity, a sharp peak near 3050
cm at 9 K, with a well-defined optical gap ( 1800
cm) and a strong temperature-dependence, is observed. With an increase
in temperature, this peak broadens and the optical energy gap closes around
325 K(). The spectral weight redistribution with respect to the
frequency and temperature indicates that the normalized optical energy gap
() is . The
temperature-dependent superfluid plasma frequency of the excitonic condensation
in TaNiSe has been determined from measured optical data. Our
findings may be useful for future research on excitonic insulators.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure
Effects of Lowering Dialysate Calcium Concentrations on Arterial Stiffness in Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis
BACKGROUND/AIMS: We assessed changes in hemodynamic and arterial stiffness parameters following reductions of dialysate calcium concentrations in patients undergoing hemodialysis.
METHODS: In this prospective study, 20 patients on maintenance hemodialysis (10 females, 10 males) with dialysate calcium concentrations of 1.75 mmol/L were enrolled. At the start of the study, the dialysate calcium level was lowered to 1.50 mmol/L. Serial changes in biochemical, hemodynamic, and arterial stiffness parameters, including pulse wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation index (AIx), were assessed every 2 months for 6 months. We also examined changes in the calcification-inhibitory protein, serum fetuin-A.
RESULTS: During the 6-month study period, serum total calcium and ionized calcium decreased consistently (9.5 ± 1.0 to 9.0 ± 0.7, p = 0.002 vs. 1.3 ± 0.1 to 1.1 ± 0.1, p = 0.035). Although no apparent changes in blood pressure were observed, heart-femoral PWW (hf-PWV) and AIx showed significant improvement (p = 0.012, 0.043, respectively). Repeated-measures ANOVA indicated a significant effect of lowering dialysate calcium on hf-PWV (F = 4.58, p = 0.004) and AIx (F = 2.55, p = 0.049). Accompanying the change in serum calcium, serum fetuin-A levels significantly increased (95.8 ± 45.8 pmol/mL at baseline to 124.9 ± 82.2 pmol/mL at 6 months, p = 0.043).
CONCLUSIONS: Lowering dialysate calcium concentration significantly improved arterial stiffness parameters, which may have been associated with upregulation of serum fetuin-A.ope
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