Osteoblastic cell response on magnesium-incorporated apatite coatings

Magnesium is one of the most important bivalent ions associated with biological apatite. A series of magnesium-substituted calcium apatite coatings (Ca_10−xMg_x)(PO₄)₆(OH)₂, where x = 0, 0.50, 1.00, 1.50 and 2.00, are synthesized onto Ti6Al4V substrate by sol-gel dip-coating method to determine how magnesium influences the synthesis and the resulting structural and biological properties. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis shows that the incorporation of magnesium helps formation of Mg-containing β-TCP (β-TCMP) phase. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is used to study the chemical composition and the results show that the apatite structure can only host magnesium less than ∼2.4 wt.% beyond which magnesium aggregates on the surfaces. The incorporation of magnesium slows down the dissolution of Ca²⁺ from the coating. The in vitro behavior of the coatings is evaluated with human osteosarcoma MG63 cells for cell morphology and proliferation. Similar cell morphologies are observed on all coatings. The cell proliferation results show that the incorporation of magnesium up to x = 2 has no adverse effect on cell growth.     

Nonlinear dynamics of vortex-like asymmetric domain walls in magnetic triaxial films

On the basis of numerical solution of the Landau-Lifshitz equation, we investigated the nonlinear dynamic behaviour of 90-degree and 180-degree asymmetric vortex-like domain walls in single-crystal films with cubic symmetry. Films with surfaces of (100) and (110) types are considered. The nonlinear dynamic rearrangement of the internal structure of a wall was investigated. The surface uniaxial magnetic anisotropy is shown to strongly influence the very process of dynamic rearrangement in the internal structure of a wall even up to the complete suppression of the whole process.     

A novel type of domain walls with two-dimensional magnetization distribution in magnetic triaxial films

On the basis of numerical minimization of total energy in magnetic triaxial ferromagnetic films with a surface of a (1 1 0)-type, we investigated two-dimensional structures of domain walls within a rigorous micromagnetic approach that takes into account all the main interactions including the dipole–dipole one. Novel two-vortex and three-vortex domain wall structures are established to exist. The profiles of domain wall structures and their stability regions are studied.     

Theoretical analysis of potential forces in markets

We show that random walks in a moving potential function, with its center at the moving average of market prices, are represented in the form of the self-modulation model. From this point of view we confirm the existence of non-trivial autocorrelation in real market price changes. By generalizing the formulation of potential function we prove that the ARCH model belongs to the special case of random walk in an asymmetric potential with randomly changing coefficient.     

Stochastic resonance in an asymmetric bistable system with coloured noises and periodic rectangular signal

In this paper, we consider the phenomenon of stochastic resonance (SR) in an asymmetric bistable system with coloured noises and periodic rectangular signal. Expression of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) has been obtained under the adiabatic limit. We investigate the effect of any system parameter (such as p, q, r, τ₁, τ₂) on the SNR. The plot of SNR-τ₁ shows SR for some values of the additive noise self-correlation time τ₂, but not for the whole range of τ₂. The system bias r suppresses the SNR. When the intensity of additive noise q is increased, the SR phenomenon disappears in the plot of SNR-p, but the plot of SNR-q presents SR for almost all values of the multiplicative noise intensity p.     

A dynamic model for city size distribution beyond Zipf 's law

We present a growth model for a system of cities. This model recovers not only Zipf's law but also other kinds of city size distributions (CSDs). A new positive exponent α, which yields Zipf's law only when equal to 1, was introduced. We define three classes of CSD depending on the value of α: larger than, smaller than, or equal to 1. The model is based on a random growth of the city population together with the variation of the number of cities in the system. The striking result is the peculiar behavior of the model: it is only statistical deterministic. Moreover, we found that the exponent α may be larger, smaller or equal to 1, just like in real systems of cities, depending on the rate of creation of new cities and the time elapsed during the growth. It is to our knowledge the first time that the influence of the time on the type of the distribution is investigated. The results of the model are in very good agreement with real CSD. The classification and model can be also applied to other entities like countries, incomes, firms, etc     

A heavy ion in a fluid in presence of an electromagnetic field seen as an ordinary Brownian motion

An alternative method of how to characterize, at equilibrium, the diffusion process of a Brownian charged particle (heavy ion) in a fluid in presence of an electromagnetic field is presented. The theory is formulated via a Langevin equation associated with the ion's velocity vector, which is transformed to another velocity-space in which the diffusion process is quite similar to that of the ordinary Brownian motion. The diffusion process is characterized, in absence and in presence of the electric field, through the mean square displacement in the transformed configuration-space and then returned to the original variables, by means of the corresponding transformation. Under the action of the electric field, the diffusion process is studied for a general time-dependent electric field. Explicit results are obtained for a constant and oscillating electric field.     

Limitations on the utility of exact master equations

The low temperature solution of the exact master equation for an oscillator coupled to a linear passive heat bath is known to give rise to serious divergences. We now show that, even in the high temperature regime, problems also exist, notably the fact that the density matrix is not necessarily positive.     

Thermal fluctuations in pinned elastic systems: field theory of rare events and droplets

Using the functional renormalization group (FRG) we study the thermal fluctuations of elastic objects (displacement field u, internal dimension d) pinned by a random potential at low temperature T, as prototypes for glasses. A challenge is how the field theory can describe both typical (minimum energy T = 0) configurations, as well as thermal averages which, at any non-zero T as in the phenomenological droplet picture, are dominated by rare degeneracies between low lying minima. We show that this occurs through an essentially non-perturbative thermal boundary layer (TBL) in the (running) effective action Γ [u] at T > 0 for which we find a consistent scaling ansatz to all orders. The TBL describes how temperature smoothes the singularities of the T = 0 theory and contains the physics of rare thermal excitations (droplets). The formal structure of this TBL, which involves all cumulants of the coarse grained disorder, is first explored around d = 4 using a one-loop Wilson RG. Next, a more systematic exact RG (ERG) method is employed, and first tested on d = 0 models where it can be pushed quite far. There we obtain precise relations between TBL quantities and droplet probabilities (those are constrained by exact identities which are then checked against recent exact results). Our analysis is then extended to higher d, where we illustrate how the TBL scaling remains consistent to all orders in the ERG and how droplet picture results can be retrieved. Since correlations are determined deep in the TBL (by derivatives of Γ [u] at u = 0), it remains to be understood (in any d) how they can be retrieved (as u = 0⁺ limits in the non-analytic T = 0 effective action), i.e., how to recover a T = 0 critical theory. This formidable “matching problem” is solved in detail for d = 0, N = 1 by studying the (partial) TBL structure of higher cumulants when points are brought together. We thereby obtain the β-function at T = 0, all ambiguities removed, displayed here up to four loops. A discussion of the d > 4 case and an exact solution at large d are also provided.     

Fabrication and characterization of TS-1 films on α-Al2O3 substrates using TiCl3 as titanium source

The continuous and highly intergrown anatase-free TS-1 film was fabricated with TiCl₃ as the titanium source for the first time. The in situ nucleation and secondary growth method was employed to synthesize the TS-1 film. By means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images, X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, and FT-IR and UV-vis spectra measurements, the resulting film was observed to be anatase-free, continuous and highly intergrown with the MFI-type structure, and the Ti atoms existed only in tetrahedral coordination.     

Measurement of UV absorption of single living cell for cell manipulation using NIR femtosecond laser

Optical UV absorption of single human living cells ranging from 200 nm to 360 nm was measured in situ for the study of cell manipulation using the near-infrared (NIR) femtosecond laser. Human breast living cells of MCF-10A, MCF-7, and MDA-MB-231 were used in this experiment. The selective photo-disruptions of single living cell and its sub-organelle (nucleus) were also demonstrated using the tightly focused 790 nm wavelength femtosecond laser with pulse duration of 110 fs. It was found that each living cell has its own absorption spectrum in UV wavelength ranges. It was also inferred that intrinsic absorption spectrum is attributed to the amount of DNA and protein of living cell. For the study of photo-disruption of single cell using the multi-photon absorption excited by the NIR femtosecond laser pulse, the origin UV absorption spectrum of targeted living cell is important and fundamental information to understand nonlinear interaction between NIR ultrashort, high-intensity laser light and transparent living cell.     

Controlling the orientation and coverage of silica-MFI zeolite films by surface modification

The silica-MFI (Si-MFI) zeolite films are fabricated on α-Al₂O₃ supported silica-zirconia layers. The roughness and chemistry of the substrate surface are changed by surface modification with hydrogen peroxide and carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) solution to investigate their effects on the formation and orientation control of Si-MFI zeolite films. The AFM images reveal that the roughness of the silica-zirconia surface can be increased under the treatment of hydrogen peroxide. The Si-MFI zeolite films grown on the rough substrate surface are also b-oriented. Diffuse-reflectance FT-IR studies demonstrate that the abundance of functional groups such as -OH and -COOH can be successfully seeded onto the α-Al₂O₃ supported silica-zirconia layer through modification with CMCS solution. Continuous b-oriented Si-MFI zeolite films can be fabricated on the CMCS-modified α-Al₂O₃ supported silica-zirconia layer. It is evident that the orientation and microstructure of Si-MFI zeolite films on α-Al₂O₃ supported silica-zirconia layers are dominantly controlled by the chemical nature of the substrate surface, where the functional groups serve as the structure-directing matrix to induce the orientation and growth of the zeolite crystals with their b-axes perpendicular to the substrate surface.     

The interplay of thermal and pump fluctuations in stimulated Brillouin scattering

We present a experimental and theoretical investigation of spontaneously initiated stimulated Brillouin scattering in which the interplay of two independent noise sources (thermal and pump) can be studied by controlling the relative importance of each source. We vary the pump noise by adding a controlled amount of Gaussian noise to the input pulses, and we control the contribution of the thermal noise by examining the energy statistics of both entire scattered pulses and of temporal slices of the scattered pulses. We show that the energy of the whole Stokes pulses follow a Gaussian distribution but that the energy of the Stokes pulse slices do not.     

Theoretical estimates for proton-NMR spin–lattice relaxation rates of heterometallic spin rings

Heterometallic molecular chromium wheels are fascinating new magnetic materials. We reexamine the available experimental susceptibility data on MCr₇ wheels in terms of a simple isotropic Heisenberg Hamiltonian for M=Fe, Ni, Cu, and Zn and find in that FeCr₇ needs to be described with an iron–chromium exchange that is different from all other cases. In a second step we model the behavior of the proton spin lattice relaxation rate as a function of applied magnetic field for low temperatures as it is measured in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments. It appears that CuCr₇ and NiCr₇ show an unexpectedly reduced relaxation rate at certain level crossings.     

In situ observation of photo-bleaching in human single living cell excited by a NIR femtosecond laser

The photo-bleaching of single living cells excited by femtosecond laser irradiation was observed in situ to study the nonlinear interaction between ultrafast laser pulses and living human breast MDA-MB-231 cells. We conducted a systematic study of the energy dependence of plasma-mediated photo-disruption of fluorescently labeled subcellular structures in the nucleus of living cells using near-infrared (NIR) femtosecond laser pulses through a numerical aperture objective lens (0.75 NA). The behavior of photo-bleached living cells with fluorescently labeled nuclei was observed for 18 h after femtosecond laser irradiation under a fluorescence microscope. The photo-bleaching of single living cells without cell disruption occurred at between 470 and 630 nJ. To study the photo-disruption of subcellular organelles in single living cells using the nonlinear absorption excited by a NIR femtosecond laser pulse, the process of photo-bleaching without photo-disruption provides key information for clarifying the nonlinear interaction between NIR ultrashort, high-intensity laser light and transparent fluorescently labeled living cells.     

Distinct conformational properties determined by implicit and explicit representation of protein-solvent interactions. An analytical and computer simulation study

In the protein folding problem, solvent-mediated forces are commonly represented by intra-chain pairwise contact energy. Although this approximation has proven to be useful in several circumstances, it is limited in some other aspects of the problem. Here we show that it is possible to achieve two models to represent the chain-solvent system, one of them with implicit and other with explicit solvent, such that both reproduce the same thermodynamic results. Firstly, lattice models treated by analytical methods, were used to show that the implicit and explicitly representation of solvent effects can be energetically equivalent only if local solvent properties are time and spatially invariant. Following, applying the same reasoning used for the lattice models, two inter-consistent Monte Carlo off-lattice models for implicit and explicit solvent are constructed, being that now in the latter the solvent properties are allowed to fluctuate. Then, it is shown that the chain configurational evolution as well as the globule equilibrium conformation are significantly distinct for implicit and explicit solvent systems. Actually, strongly contrasting with the implicit solvent version, the explicit solvent model predicts: (i) a malleable globule, in agreement with the estimated large protein-volume fluctuations; (ii) thermal conformational stability, resembling the conformational heat resistance of globular proteins, in which radii of gyration are practically insensitive to thermal effects over a relatively wide range of temperatures; and (iii) smaller radii of gyration at higher temperatures, indicating that the chain conformational entropy in the unfolded state is significantly smaller than that estimated from random coil configurations. Finally, we comment on the meaning of these results with respect to the understanding of the folding process.     

Raman scattering and optical absorption studies of an orbital ordered Ca2RuO4

We have reported the Raman scattering and infrared absorption results on a t_2g orbital ordered Ca₂RuO₄. At 10 K, a strong and clear peak was observed in Raman scattering near 1360 cm⁻¹ with x′x′ geometry. In contrast to optic phonon modes, the peak does not show any frequency shift but rapidly decreases with increasing temperature. In addition, the peak is not observed in infrared absorption measurement. By comparing the previous Raman scattering results for several transition metal oxides, we have discussed the possible origins and ambiguities of the intriguing peak in Ca₂RuO₄.     

Fluctuations and correlations in wave transport through complex media

Intensity correlations between waves reflected and transmitted through random media are analyzed within the framework of the random matrix theory of transport. We introduce a new kind of correlations between transmitted and reflected intensities. For transmitted waves, the spatial correlation function can be expressed as the sum of three terms, with distinctive spatial dependences. This result coincides with the one obtained in the diffusive regime from perturbative calculations, but holds all the way from quasi-ballistic transport to localization.     

Noise-induced coupling and phase transition in initially homogeneous bistable system

We show that a colored spatial noise induces a heterogeneous behavior and coupling of initially uncoupled single bistable units. A formal approximation reduces a non-Markovian stochastic process described by the initial set of equations into Markovian process in terms of Langevin equation, for which a simple piecewise linear emulation was used to represent the nonlinear deterministic force. It turned out that the coupling leads to a phase transition due to the noise-induced diffusive term. As an example, a typical bistable noisy system with symmetric double-well potential was studied.     

Differences between fixed time step and kinetic Monte Carlo methods for biased diffusion

We consider biased diffusion in a one-dimensional lattice and compare results obtained with fixed time step and kinetic Monte Carlo methods. Spurious dispersion and particle position correlation appear with the fixed time step Monte Carlo approach. The mentioned correlation increases with time. We demonstrate that the correct results, that correspond to a time step that tends to zero, are obtained using the kinetic Monte Carlo method. The conclusions also apply to biased diffusion in two or more dimensions and to random deposition.