Noise-enhanced human balance control

Noise can enhance the detection and transmission of weak signals in certain nonlinear systems, via a mechanism known as stochastic resonance. Here we show that input noise can be used to improve motor control in humans. Specifically, we show that the postural sway of both young and elderly individuals during quiet standing can be significantly reduced by applying subsensory mechanical noise to the feet. We further demonstrate with input noise a trend towards the reduction of postural sway in elderly subjects to the level of young subjects. These results suggest that noise-based devices, such as randomly vibrating shoe inserts, may enable people to overcome functional difficulties due to age-related sensory loss.     

Synthetic gene network for entraining and amplifying cellular oscillations

We present a model for a synthetic gene oscillator and consider the coupling of the oscillator to a periodic process that is intrinsic to the cell. We investigate the synchronization properties of the coupled system, and show how the oscillator can be constructed to yield a significant amplification of cellular oscillations. We reduce the driven oscillator equations to a normal form, and analytically determine the amplification as a function of the strength of the cellular oscillations. The ability to couple naturally occurring genetic oscillations to a synthetically designed network could lead to possible strategies for entraining and/or amplifying oscillations in cellular protein levels.     

Nature of the high-pressure transition in Fe2O3 hematite

We present a new method to separate the crystallographic and electronic phase transitions in hematite using x-ray emission spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction. Our observations, based on the behavior of a metastable high-pressure phase in the stability domain of the low-pressure phase, show that the electronic transition is preempted by the crystallographic transition. The former occurs only afterwards in the high-pressure phase, possibly as a result of a Mott transition. The idea that the electronic transition drives the transition in hematite is therefore invalidated. Such methods should help elucidate the mechanics and the driving forces behind a number of first-order high-pressure phase transitions.     

Self-assembly of oligomeric porphyrin rings

A cobalt porphyrin equipped with two different but geometrically complementary pyridine ligands self-assembles to form an unusually stable complex with approximately 12 porphyrin monomers arranged in a macrocyclic array.     

Solution conformational preferences of glutaric, 3‐hydroxyglutaric, 3‐methylglutaric acid,and their mono‐ and dianions

Conformational preferences of glutaric, 3‐hydroxyglutaric and 3‐methylglutaric acid, and their mono‐ and dianions have been investigated with the aid of NMR spectroscopy. In contrast to succinic acid, glutaric acid displays essentially statistical conformational equilibria in polar and non‐polar solutions of high and low hydrogen‐bonding ability with no clear evidence for intramolecular hydrogen‐bonding interactions. The acid ionization constant ratios, K ₁/K₂, in D₂O and DMSO of glutaric, 3‐hydroxyglutaric, and 3‐methylglutaric acids also indicate that intramolecular interactions are much less important than, or indeed insignificant, for shorter‐chain acids. FTIR studies on 3‐methylglutaric acid indicate some preference for either association with solvent or dimerization, depending on the solvent, rather than intramolecular hydrogen bonding. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Relation of Generalized Scalar-Tensor Theory with the 5D Space-Time-Matter Theory

The relationship between cosmological solutionsof five-dimensional Space-Time-Matter (STM) theory anda Generalized Scalar-Tensor (GST) theory is investigatedin which the cosmological term Lambda depends not only on a scalar field but also onits time derivative .Identification of these solutions allows us to solve forthe functional form of the cosmological term, and mayhave relevance for the early Universe.     

What is the Cause of Inertia?

The question of the cause of inertial reaction forces and the validity of Mach's principle are investigated. A recent claim that the cause of inertial reaction forces can be attributed to an interaction of the electrical charge of elementary particles with the hypothetical quantum mechanical zero-point fluctuation electromagnetic field is shown to be untenable. It fails to correspond to reality because the coupling of electric charge to the electromagnetic field cannot be made to mimic plausibly the universal coupling of gravity and inertia to the stress-energy-momentum (i.e., matter) tensor. The gravitational explanation of the origin of inertial forces is then briefly laid out, and various important features of it explored in the last half-century are addressed.