Scaling laws for the response of nonlinear elastic media with implications for cell mechanics

We show how strain stiffening affects the elastic response to internal forces, caused either by material defects and inhomogeneities or by active forces that molecular motors generate in living cells. For a spherical force dipole in a material with a strongly nonlinear strain energy density, strains change sign with distance, indicating that, even around a contractile inclusion or molecular motor, there is radial compression; it is only at a long distance that one recovers the linear response in which the medium is radially stretched. Scaling laws with irrational exponents relate the far-field renormalized strain to the near-field strain applied by the inclusion or active force.     

Network rigidity in GeSe2 glass at high pressure

Acoustic measurements using synchrotron radiation have been performed on glassy GeSe2 up to pressures of 9.6 GPa. A minimum observed in the shear-wave velocity, associated anomalous behavior in Poisson's ratio, and discontinuities in elastic moduli at 4 GPa are indicative of a gradual structural transition in the glass. This is attributed to a network rigidity minimum originating from a competition between two densification mechanisms. At pressures up to 3 GPa, a conversion from edge- to corner-sharing tetrahedra results in a more flexible network. This is contrasted by a gradual increase in coordination number with pressure, which leads to an overall stiffening of the glass.     

The effect of pressure on the superconducting transition temperature in TaSe3

The transition temperature of TaSe₃ is found to decrease for pressures up to 10 kbar at a rate -7.5 ± 0.3×10^-5 °K/bar. This unusually large decrease can only be explained by both a pressure induced lattice stiffening and a decrease in the Fermi level density of states.     

Influence of tensile deformation on the crystalline organization of ethylene copolymers

The influence of tensile deformation on the crystalline properties of ethylene copolymers (ethylene-vinyl acetate [EVA] copolymers) was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The consequence of drawing on the mobility of the amorphous phase also was investigated through the study of the glass transition temperature. The results indicate that more disorganized crystals, melting at a lower temperature, are present after the tensile deformation, reducing the mobility of the amorphous chains, as shown by an increase of the glass transition temperature. For the lowest molecular weight copolymer. less crystalline changes are observed after the tensile test, probably due to the fact that no stiffening appears during the drawing.     

Ultrasonic investigation of amorphous carbon in various frequencies at low temperatures from 2.1 to 300 K

Using pulse echo overlap measurement, the elastic behavior of amorphous carbon has been studied at ambient and low temperatures. The smaller ratio B/G of the bulk modulus to shear modulus and smaller Poisson's ratio σ at room temperature indicate that there is an intrinsic stiffening of transverse acoustic phonons in the amorphous carbon. The acoustic velocity and attenuation for longitudinal modes have been measured between 2.1 and 300 K at three frequencies of 7, 21 and 35 MHz, respectively. Their frequency and temperature dependence are observed. The elastic constant C₁₁ increases with decreasing temperature and show enhanced stiffening at low temperatures. In the 130-220 K region, the abnormal change and effect of longitudinal velocity and attenuation with temperature and frequency, and a phase transition associated with structure relaxations are discussed.     

Direct observation of soft mode stiffening in V3Si by high magnetic fields

The velocity of the soft associated with the martensitic phase transition in V₃Si has been studied by ultrasonic means in magnetic fields up to 84 kOe for temperatures between 10 and 25K. Above the superconducting transition temperature the velocity of this mode has been found to increase quadratically with field, in agreement with the lattice stiffening effect predicted by Dieterich and Fulde.     

Potential mapping of optical tweezers

Optical tweezers are very often used for measurement of piconewton range forces. Depending on the displacement of the trapped bead, the trap may become stiffer which causes considerable underestimation of the measured force. We have shown, both by theory and experiment, that such a stiffening occurs for beads larger than 0.5 μm in radius. For the first time, we have shown that the displacement at which the stiffening starts is size dependent and that the stiffening starts at higher forces for larger beads. We have shown that for the applications, which simultaneous force measurement and position sensing are on demand (such as biopolymer stretching), mid-range sized (～1.5 μm in radius) beads could be the best choice.     

铁电液晶MBOPDOB相变的光散射研究

我们对铁电液晶 MBOPDOB 进行了温度有关的拉曼散射研究。在低频范围记录了三条拉曼谱线(15,49,93cm~(-1))。其中15和49cm~(-1)谱线消失于 C-Sm C相变温度,没有检测到任何频移现象。93cm~(-1)拉曼线产生部分频移,消失于各向同性相,联系着偶极-偶极互作用。高频范围四个振动模(1178和1116cm~(-1),1710和1738cm~(-1))之间能量转移归于由电子转移引起的 C=0键硬化和 C-0健的弱化。同时也讨论了该液晶 Sm C-Sm A 相变的二级连续型特征。     

Torsional response and stiffening of individual multiwalled carbon nanotubes

We report on the characterization of torsional oscillators which use multiwalled carbon nanotubes as the spring elements. Through atomic-force-microscope force-distance measurements we are able to apply torsional strains to the nanotubes and measure their torsional spring constants, and estimate their effective shear moduli. The data show that the nanotubes are stiffened by repeated flexing. We speculate that changes in the intershell mechanical coupling are responsible for the stiffening.     

Nd0.5Ca0.5Mn0.97Co0.03O3体系的超声研究

系统研究了Nd0.5Ca0.5Mn0.97Co0.03O3单相多晶样品在低温下的电磁性质和超声特性.超声测量结果表明,体系在低温下超声声速出现异常,超声声速从室温开始随着温度的降低逐渐减小,并在220K附近声速达到最小,其相对变化(ΔV/V)超过2%.之后,随着温度的进一步降低,声速急剧硬化,其相对变化达到14.5%.分析表明这是由于体系中电-声子相互作用导致的电荷有序态转变的结果,该电声子耦合来源于Mn3 的JahnTeller效应.同时,该体系在100K左右出现了金属绝缘体转变同时伴随着铁磁相变,分析表明在低温下Co离子与Mn离子之间存在着铁磁交换作用,因此微量的Co掺杂会在反铁磁区域内形成部分铁磁小团簇,当铁磁团簇连通后,体系由反铁磁电荷有序态(AFMCO)向铁磁金属态(FMM)转变.研究结果表明了样品在电荷有序相变温度TCO与金属绝缘体转变温度TMI之间(TMI相似文献   

Structural instability in high-T c superconducting oxides

Two broad internal friction (attenuation as well) peaks in YBCO measured at around 120 K and 250 K are found to exhibit the characteristics of a first-order phase transition. X-ray diffraction indicates no symmetry change on cooling from room temperature but only a downward jump of the lattice parameters was observed. This is referred to as a phase-like transition (PLT) and further confirmed by stress-strain, specific heat and Debye-Waller factor measurements. There always occurs a phase-like transition at 10-30 K above T _c in YBCO, BSCCO and TBCCO which disappears in the non-superconducting phases. Ultrasonic studies on single-crystal BSCCO reveal a pronounced elastic anisotropy in the c-plane and a velocity minimum associated with PLT. The overall trend of elastic stiffening below room temperature and some discrepancies and questions in elasticity measurements so far observed for high-T _c oxides have been explained or clarified in terms of an abnormal fast change of lattice parameters.     

具有大范围运动和非线性变形的空间柔性梁在非惯性坐标系下的动力学分析

本文针对具有大范围运动和非线性变形的空间柔性梁, 导出其在运动规律已知的非惯性坐标系下的动力学方程. 通过计算分析, 发现在本文精确模型下, 其各矩阵项较原来的一次耦合模型增加了两类耦合项. 通过仿真研究, 发现由于这两类耦合项的作用造成了附加刚度项K₁、动力刚度项K_d 的变化, 而刚度项对结构的动力学特性具有较大的影响.     

Erdös Rényi随机网络上爆炸渗流模型相变性质的数值模拟研究

基于改进的Newman和Ziff算法以及有限尺寸标度理论, 通过对表征渗流相变特征物理量的序参量、平均集团尺寸、二阶矩、标准偏差及尺寸不均匀性的数值模拟, 分析研究了Erdös Rényi随机网络上Achlioptas爆炸渗流模型的相变性质.研究表明: 尽管序参量表现出了不连续相变的特征, 但序参量以及其他特征物理量仍具有连续相变的幂律标度行为.因此严格地说, Erdös Rényi随机网络中的爆炸渗流相变是一种奇异相变, 它既不是标准的不连续相变, 又与常规随机渗流表现出的连续相变处于不同的普适类. 关键词： Erdös Rényi随机网络 爆炸渗流模型 相变 幂律标度行为     

Synchronization of excitatory neurons with strongly heterogeneous phase responses

In many real-world oscillator systems, the phase response curves are highly heterogeneous. However, the dynamics of heterogeneous oscillator networks has not been seriously addressed. We propose a theoretical framework to analyze such a system by dealing explicitly with the heterogeneous phase response curves. We develop a method to solve the self-consistent equations for order parameters by using formal complex-valued phase variables, and apply our theory to networks of in vitro cortical neurons. We find a novel state transition that is not observed in previous oscillator network models.     

Elasticity of globular proteins measured from the ac susceptibility

We introduce a new method to measure the elastic constants of globular proteins. Gold nanoparticles, tethered to a gold surface by the protein, are driven by an ac electric field while their displacement is synchronously detected by evanescent wave scattering, yielding the mechanical response function of the macromolecular sample in the frequency domain. We apply the method to measure the stiffening of an enzyme upon binding its substrate.     

Social influence in small—world networks

We report on our numerical studies of the Axelrod model for social influence in small-world networks.Our simulation results show that the topology of the network has a crucial effect on the evolution of cultures .As the randomness of the network increases,the system undergoes a transition from a highly fragmented phase to a uniform phase.we also find that the power-law distribution at the transition point,reported by castellano et al,is not a critical phenomenon;it exists not only at the onset of transition but also for almost any control parameters,All these power-law distributions are stable against pertubations.A mean-field theory is developed to explain these phenomena.     

Simulation of track-ground vibrations due to a high-speed train: the case of X-2000 at Ledsgard

This paper attempts to demonstrate an application of the author's simulation model for predicting the train-track and nearby ground-borne vibrations by the Swedish high-speed train X-2000 at Ledsgard. The validation of the computation results are tested against the available field measurement data at the site. In this way, the theoretical prediction of the model can be verified whilst also providing a clear-cut explanation of the observed data. The findings are stated as follows:The train-induced vibrations at the track differ significantly depending on train geometry and speed. At low speeds the response is quasi-static so that the track response due to train axle loads appears mostly downward at the point of their action. On the other hand, at high speeds the train-induced response becomes dynamic due to the inertia generated in the track-ground system, so that the track vibrations appear evenly in both upward and downward directions. As the results of the soft soil deposits at Ledsgard, the high train speed is almost in the trans-Rayleigh wave state so that a large amplified track response appeared due to the resonance between the track behavior and the Rayleigh wave propagation in the ground. This is explained by the frequency-wavenumber spectrum.To provide useful engineering information relating to vibration mitigation at the train track and nearby ground, a preliminary investigation was carried out by simulating the effect of constructing of a wave impeding barrier (WIB) at the site. The aforementioned frequency-wavenumber spectrum showed that the stiffening effects by the WIB installation into soft layers led a shift of response from a large dynamic one at high train speeds to a small, quasi-static one.     

Pressure effects on the superconductivity of ternary rare earth palladium Heusler alloys

The application of hydrostatic pressure linearly depresses the superconducting transition temperature with a typical rate of dT_c/dP ～10^-5 K/bar for the Heusler alloys RPd₂Z, where R=Sc, Y, Tm, Yb, Lu and Z=Sn, Pb. This depression can be explained by a stiffening of the primitive cubic palladium sublattice with increasing pressure.     

Nd0.5Ca0.5Mn1-xAlxO3 (x=0,0.03)体系中电荷有序态的超声研究

系统研究了Nd0．5Ca0．5Mn1-xAlxO3(x=0,0．03)单相多晶样品在低温下的电磁性质和超声特性．电阻和磁化率测量表明,Nd0．5Ca0.5O3体系在TCO-257 K处发生了电荷有序相变．超声声速从室温开始随着温度的降低逐渐减小,并在TCO附近达到最小,之后,随着温度的进一步降低,声速急刷增加,同时伴随着一个尖锐的超声衰减峰出现.TCO附近的超声异常表明体系中存在着强烈的电-声子相互作用,该电-声子耦合来源于Mn3 的Jahn-Teller效应．在低温下,出现了另一个超声衰减峰,它的出现归结为反铁磁相与顺磁相之间的相分离现象.随着Al在Mn位的掺入,超声声速的最低点和衰减峰向低温移动,表明体系中的电荷有序态和反铁磁相均被部分抑制,     

Structural phase transitions in KMnF3

The structural transitions of the perovskite KMnF₃ are studied with an energy-dispersive X-ray diffractometer. It is found that the 83 K transition is of first order, though the transition related to the condensation of a M₃-soft phonon mode is considerably affected by crystallographic domain-walls occurring below the 186 K transition. The latter transition is observed at 88.0 K (first-order), and 92.0 K (second-order) in different single crystals, respectively. The difference of the transition temperature and the transition order is interpreted in terms of inner strains appeared in the domain walls.