Nonlinear ring waves in a two-layer fluid

Surface and interfacial weakly-nonlinear ring waves in a two-layer fluid are modelled numerically, within the framework of the recently derived 2+1-dimensional cKdV-type equation. In a case study, we consider concentric waves from a localised initial condition and waves in a 2D version of the dam-break problem, as well as discussing the effect of a piecewise-constant shear flow. The modelling shows, in particular, the formation of 2D dispersive shock waves (DSWs) and oscillatory wave trains. The surface and interfacial DSWs generated in our numerical experiments look distinctively different.Comment: 16 pages, 21 figure

A Comment on "Memory Effects in an Interacting Magnetic Nanoparticle System"

Recently, Sun et al reported that striking memory effects had been clearly observed in their new experiments on an interacting nanoparticle system [1]. They claimed that the phenomena evidenced the existence of a spin-glass-like phase and supported the hierarchical model. No doubt that a particle system may display spin-glass-like behaviors [2]. However, in our opinion, the experiments in Ref. [1] cannot evidence the existence of spin-glass-like phase at all. We will demonstrate below that all the phenomena in Ref. [1] can be observed in a non-interacting particle system with a size distribution. Numerical simulations of our experiments also display the same features.Comment: A comment on "Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 167206

Rhythmic firing patterns in SCN: The role of circuit interactions

The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is believed to contain the main generator of circadian rhythmicity in mammals. In order to obtain further functional details of this, electrophysiological extracellular measurements in vitro were made. By means of an interspike interval distribution analysis, it is shown that there is a novel kind of neuronal firing pattern: the harmonic pattern. From these observations, we have developed a theoretical model based on possible filtering processes occurring during synaptic transmission. The model suffices to infer that regular ultradian oscillators could be an emergent property of circuit interactions of cells in the suprachiasmatic nucleus