Complex oscillations and waves of calcium in pancreatic acinar cells

We perform a bifurcation analysis of a model of Ca²⁺ wave propagation in the basal region of pancreatic acinar cells. The model we consider was first presented in Sneyd et al. [J. Sneyd, K. Tsaneva-Atanasova, J.I.E. Bruce, S.V. Straub, D.R. Giovannucci, D.I. Yule, A model of calcium waves in pancreatic and parotid acinar cells, Biophys. J. 85 (2003) 1392–1405], where a partial bifurcation analysis was given of the model in the absence of diffusion. We obtain more complete information about bifurcations of the diffusionless model via numerical studies, then analyse the spatially extended model by numerical investigation of the travelling wave equations and direct numerical solution of the model equations. We find solitary waves in the model equations arising from homoclinic bifurcations in the travelling wave equations. The solitary waves exist and appear to be stable for a significant interval of the primary bifurcation parameter (i.e., the concentration of inositol trisphosphate) but are eventually replaced by irregular spatio-temporal behaviour. The homoclinic bifurcations are related to a number of complicated mathematical structures in the travelling wave equations, including an anomalous homoclinic-Hopf bifurcation, heteroclinic bifurcations between an equilibrium and a periodic orbit, and homoclinic bifurcations of periodic orbits.     

The effects of unequal diffusion coefficients on periodic travelling waves in oscillatory reaction-diffusion systems

Many oscillatory biological systems show periodic travelling waves. These are often modelled using coupled reaction-diffusion equations. However, the effects of different movement rates (diffusion coefficients) of the interacting components on the predictions of these equations are largely unknown. Here we investigate the ways in which varying the diffusion coefficients in such equations alters the wave speed, time period, wavelength, amplitude and stability of periodic wave solutions. We focus on two sets of kinetics that are commonly used in ecological applications: lambda-omega equations, which are the normal form of an oscillatory coupled reaction-diffusion system close to a supercritical Hopf bifurcation, and a standard predator-prey model. Our results show that changing the ratio of the diffusion coefficients can significantly alter the shape of the one-parameter family of periodic travelling wave solutions. The position of the boundary between stable and unstable waves also depends on the ratio of the diffusion coefficients: in all cases, stability changes through an Eckhaus (‘sideband’) instability. These effects are always symmetrical in the two diffusion coefficients for the lambda-omega equations, but are asymmetric in the predator-prey equations, especially when the limit cycle of the kinetics is of large amplitude. In particular, there are two separate regions of stable waves in the travelling wave family for some parameter values in the predator-prey scenario. Our results also show the existence of a one-parameter family of travelling waves, but not necessarily a Hopf bifurcation, for all values of the diffusion coefficients. Simulations of the full partial differential equations reveals that varying the ratio of the diffusion coefficients can significantly change the properties of periodic travelling waves that arise from particular wave generation mechanisms, and our analysis of the travelling wave families assists in the understanding of these effects.     

Bifurcation to chaos in clocked digital systems containing autonomous timing circuits

Observations of chaos and period doubling in a repetitively triggered monostable multivibrator circuit are reported, with the time between trigger pulses as the bifurcation parameter. A theory is presented which predicts the first bifurcation point. Measurements of an experimental circuit confirm the predictions of this theory. The consequences for concurrent digital systems are briefly considered.     

Abundant fractional soliton solutions of a space-time fractional perturbed Gerdjikov-Ivanov equation by a fractional mapping method

A new fractional mapping method based on a generalized fractional auxiliary equation is proposed and applied to solve the space-time fractional perturbed Gerdjikov-Ivanov equation. The main feature of this approach is to obtain more accurate solutions by means of an auxiliary equation. Some exact fractional nonlinear wave solutions, including bright soliton, periodical wave and singularity soliton solutions are constructed by Mittag–Leffler function. Some deformations appear in those fractional nonlinear wave solutions, and those deformations become more obvious with the increase of the fractional order parameter. In addition, the coefficient of group velocity dispersion and the self-steepening for short pulses also affect the intensity of the soliton when the fractional order parameter remains unchanged. The effect of fractional order is explained by the graphical representation of a series of solutions and their physical meanings.     

A semi-analytic method for computing the long-time order parameter dynamics in mean-field coupled overdamped oscillators with colored noises

The order parameter dynamics of a mean-field model is frequently investigated in macroscopic cumulant dynamics, from which a bifurcation can be predicted qualitatively. In this Letter, for quantitatively investigating the long-time order parameter dynamics, a semi-analytic method is proposed based on approximate nonlinear Fokker-Planck equations. Applying the new method to the mean-field model of periodically driven overdamped bistable oscillators with colored noise, we exhibit the bifurcation behavior and the nonlinear stochastic resonance of the order parameter by tuning noise intensity or coupling coefficient, and the accuracy of the new method are verified by direct simulation. Our observations disclose some new properties about the order parameter dynamics of the mean-field model. For example, the periodic signal shifts the critical coupling coefficient to a larger value, while the nonzero correlation time of the colored noise shifts it to a lower value. Our observation also discloses that there is no quantitatively corresponding relation between the resonant peak and the critical bifurcation parameter of the Gaussian moment system.     

Calculation of superdiffusion for the Chirikov-Taylor model

It is widely known that the paradigmatic Chirikov-Taylor model presents enhanced diffusion for specific intervals of its stochasticity parameter due to islands of stability, which are elliptic orbits surrounding accelerator mode fixed points. In contrast with normal diffusion, its effect has never been analytically calculated. Here, we introduce a differential form for the Perron-Frobenius evolution operator in which normal diffusion and superdiffusion are treated separately through phases formed by angular wave numbers. The superdiffusion coefficient is then calculated analytically resulting in a Schloemilch series with an exponent beta=3/2 for the divergences. Numerical simulations support our results.     

Development and transition of spiral wave in the coupled Hindmarsh--Rose neurons in two-dimensional space

The dynamics and the transition of spiral waves in the coupled Hindmarsh--Rose (H--R) neurons in two-dimensional space are investigated in the paper. It is found that the spiral wave can be induced and developed in the coupled HR neurons in two-dimensional space, with appropriate initial values and a parameter region given. However, the spiral wave could encounter instability when the intensity of the external current reaches a threshold value of 1.945. The transition of spiral wave is found to be affected by coupling intensity D and bifurcation parameter r. The spiral wave becomes sparse as the coupling intensity increases, while the spiral wave is eliminated and the whole neuronal system becomes homogeneous as the bifurcation parameter increases to a certain threshold value. Then the coupling action of the four sub-adjacent neurons, which is described by coupling coefficient D’, is also considered, and it is found that the spiral wave begins to breakup due to the introduced coupling action from the sub-adjacent neurons (or sites) and together with the coupling action of the nearest-neighbour neurons, which is described by the coupling intensity D.     

Laser hyperacoustic spectroscopy of single crystal germanium

Using a photothermal laser deflection technique the profiles of laser-induced hyperacoustic pulses in single crystal germanium were studied at a subnanosecond time resolution. It is shown that the hyperacoustic pulses are excited due to an electron-deformation interaction of photogenerated carriers with the crystal lattice, which is much more effective than the thermoelastic mechanism of the acoustic wave generation. Evolution of the hyperacoustic pulse profiles related to the diffraction and acoustic absorption effects was studied. An analysis of the hyperacoustic signal profiles allowed us to estimate the coefficient of ambipolar diffusion of the photogenerated charge carriers and the coefficient of hyperacoustic wave damping. It is established that the front of the electron-hole plasma laser-excited in germanium at room temperature propagates at a supersonic velocity.     

Effect of a Local Source or Sink of Inhibitor on Turing Patterns

We investigate a reaction-diffusion model in which a Turing pattern develops and reproduces the formation of periodic segments behind a propagating chemical wave front. The chemical scheme involves two species known as activator and inhibitor. The model can be used to mimic the formation of prevertebrae during the early development of vertebrate embryo. Deterministic and stochastic analyses of the reaction-diffusion processes are performed for two typical sets of parameter values, far from and close to the Turing bifurcation. The effects of a local source or sink of inhibitor on the growing structure are studied and successfully compared with experiments performed on chick embryos. We show that fluctuations may lead to the formation of additional prevertebra.     

Travelling waves in a radiation-combustion free-boundary model for flame propagation

We study a combustion-radiation model which models premixed flames propagating in a gaseous mixture with inert dust. This model combines diffusion of mass and temperature with reaction at the flame front. We choose a free boundary model to describe the propagating flames and take a linearized approximation to model the radiation, but we keep a nonlinear reaction term which is temperature dependent. The radiative transfer of thermal energy emitted and absorbed by dust is modelled using the Eddington equation. We analyse the bifurcation diagram of the travelling wave solution curve. In a specific parameter plane, travelling waves are given by a single smooth curve which is parameterized by the flame temperature.     

Study on Solitary Waves of a General Boussinesq Model

In this paper, we employ the bifurcation method of dynamical systems to study the solitary waves and periodic waves of a generalized Boussinesq equations. All possible phase portraits in the parameter plane for the travelling wave systems are obtained. The possible solitary wave solutions, periodic wave solutions and cusp waves for the general Boussinesq type fluid model are also investigated.     

基于AKEBONO哨声波参数的内辐射带高能电子扩散模拟

为能准确地模拟内辐射带中哨声波对高能电子扩散损失的影响,基于内辐射带AKEBONO哨声波参数统计模型,及随纬度分布的背景冷等离子体密度模型,对引起电子扩散损失的大气分子,空间等离子体嘶声、闪电激发的哨声、人工激发的甚低频三类哨声波,利用准线性扩散理论,计算1.4≤ L≤2.0区域的不同能量电子,受到库仑碰撞和波粒回旋共振相互作用的弹跳周期平均赤道投掷角扩散系数,分析不同作用机制、不同类哨声波、不同能量、不同磁壳参数等对辐射带高能电子扩散损失的影响.结果表明：在赤道面损失锥角附近,高能电子主要受到库仑碰撞作用而扩散;在赤道投掷角接近90°附近区域,等离子体嘶声和闪电激发的哨声是引起扩散的主要因素;内辐射带电子主要受到甚低频电磁波波粒回旋共振扩散影响;扩散系数对高能电子能量及其所处磁壳参数比较敏感,通常,高能电子的能量或所处磁壳参数越大,扩散系数越大.     

Bifurcation and Solitary Waves of the Combined KdV and mKdV Equation

Bifurcation, bistability and solitary waves of the combined KdV and mKdV equation are investigated systematically. At first, bifurcation and bistability are analyzed by selecting an integral constant as the bifurcation parameter. Then, different conditions expressed in terms of the bifurcation parameter are obtained for the existence of breather-like, algebraic, pulse-like solitary waves, and shock waves. All types of the solitary wave and shock wave solutions are given by direct integration. Finally, an approximate analytic method by employing the interpolation polynomials is utilized to give simpler forms for the pulse-like solitary wave solutions. In view of the references, our results are the most complete and the theoretical methods are the simplest hitherto.     

Numerical simulations of short-mixing-time double-wave-vector diffusion-weighting experiments with multiple concatenations on whole-body MR systems

Double- or two-wave-vector diffusion-weighting experiments with short mixing times in which two diffusion-weighting periods are applied in direct succession, are a promising tool to estimate cell sizes in the living tissue. However, the underlying effect, a signal difference between parallel and antiparallel wave vector orientations, is considerably reduced for the long gradient pulses required on whole-body MR systems. Recently, it has been shown that multiple concatenations of the two wave vectors in a single acquisition can double the modulation amplitude if short gradient pulses are used. In this study, numerical simulations of such experiments were performed with parameters achievable with whole-body MR systems. It is shown that the theoretical model yields a good approximation of the signal behavior if an additional term describing free diffusion is included. More importantly, it is demonstrated that the shorter gradient pulses sufficient to achieve the desired diffusion weighting for multiple concatenations, increase the signal modulation considerably, e.g. by a factor of about five for five concatenations. Even at identical echo times, achieved by a shortened diffusion time, a moderate number of concatenations significantly improves the signal modulation. Thus, experiments on whole-body MR systems may benefit from multiple concatenations.     

水中密排圆柱体群的超声多重散射参数

以水中紧密排列的平行圆柱体群为对象,研究平面超声脉冲经多重散射后的透射波性质,通过分析其中头波和散射波的特征获得对应的多重散射参数.对直径随机分布、位置无序排列、数量密度约100个/cm2、面积占空比约0.53的非接触圆柱体群,采用中心频率2.5 MHz的宽带脉冲波入射。为解决透射信号在时域表现出随机性的问题,将散射体尺寸、分布都相同但位置分布不同的多个模型仿真的透射波叠加平均后用于分析.在频域对头波的宽带衰减系数进行分析,并在时域研究散射波声强的时间演化曲线,获得了系统的弹性平均自由程、传输平均自由程等多重散射参数。经多重散射后,透射波中的头波表现出相干性,由不相干近似理论可对其对应的散射参数进行定性描述;散射波是不相干的,其对应的多重散射参数可近似利用扩散近似理论获得。      

Wave train selection behind invasion fronts in reaction-diffusion predator-prey models

Wave trains, or periodic travelling waves, can evolve behind invasion fronts in oscillatory reaction-diffusion models for predator-prey systems. Although there is a one-parameter family of possible wave train solutions, in a particular predator invasion a single member of this family is selected. Sherratt (1998) [13] has predicted this wave train selection, using a λ-ω system that is a valid approximation near a supercritical Hopf bifurcation in the corresponding kinetics and when the predator and prey diffusion coefficients are nearly equal. Away from a Hopf bifurcation, or if the diffusion coefficients differ somewhat, these predictions lose accuracy. We develop a more general wave train selection prediction for a two-component reaction-diffusion predator-prey system that depends on linearizations at the unstable homogeneous steady states involved in the invasion front. This prediction retains accuracy farther away from a Hopf bifurcation, and can also be applied when the predator and prey diffusion coefficients are unequal. We illustrate the selection prediction with its application to three models of predator invasions.     

Bifurcations and chaos in a parametrically damped two-well Duffing oscillator subjected to symmetric periodic pulses

We study a parametrically damped two-well Duffing oscillator, subjected to a periodic string of symmetric pulses. The order-chaos threshold when altering solely the width of the pulses is investigated theoretically through Melnikov analysis. We show analytically and numerically that most of the results appear independent of the particular wave form of the pulses provided that the transmitted impulse is the same. By using this property, the stability boundaries of the stationary solutions are determined to first approximation by means of an elliptic harmonic balance method. Finally, the bifurcation behavior at the stability boundaries is determined numerically.     

Travelling Waves in a Chain¶of Coupled Nonlinear Oscillators

In a chain of nonlinear oscillators, linearly coupled to their nearest neighbors, all travelling waves of small amplitude are found as solutions of finite dimensional reversible dynamical systems. The coupling constant and the inverse wave speed form the parameter space. The groundstate consists of a one-parameter family of periodic waves. It is realized in a certain parameter region containing all cases of light coupling. Beyond the border of this region the complexity of wave-forms increases via a succession of bifurcations. In this paper we give an appropriate formulation of this problem, prove the basic facts about the reduction to finite dimensions, show the existence of the ground states and discuss the first bifurcation by determining a normal form for the reduced system. Finally we show the existence of nanopterons, which are localized waves with a noncancelling periodic tail at infinity whose amplitude is exponentially small in the bifurcation parameter. Received: 10 September 1999 / Accepted: 15 December 1999     

Turing bifurcation in a reaction-diffusion system with density-dependent dispersal

Motivated by the recent finding [N. Kumar, G.M. Viswanathan, V.M. Kenkre, Physica A 388 (2009) 3687] that the dynamics of particles undergoing density-dependent nonlinear diffusion shows sub-diffusive behaviour, we study the Turing bifurcation in a two-variable system with this kind of dispersal. We perform a linear stability analysis of the uniform steady state to find the conditions for the Turing bifurcation and compare it with the standard Turing condition in a reaction-diffusion system, where dispersal is described by simple Fickian diffusion. While activator-inhibitor kinetics are a necessary condition for the Turing instability as in standard two-variable systems, the instability can occur even if the diffusion constant of the inhibitor is equal to or smaller than that of the activator. We apply these results to two model systems, the Brusselator and the Gierer-Meinhardt model.