Modeling of magnetic bandages for drug targeting: Button vs. Halbach arrays

Magnetic targeting of drugs to diseased tissues, such as non-healing wounds or skin tumors, is a promising clinical use of magnetic microspheres. For successful magnetic targeting, a magnet must be placed in close proximity to the target tissue. In this work the forces exerted on magnetic microspheres by different arrangements of magnets including a simple square magnet, a number of button magnet arrays, and a Halbach array were simulated and compared. Magnetic bandages utilizing a Halbach array configuration were found to yield the best trapping characteristics (large and uniform force distributions) for magnetic targeting applications close to a surface.     

Quality of the simulation of torus conditions with different three coil arrangements

The displacement and stress distributions in toroidally arranged circular superconducting coils producing the toroidal field for fusion experiments are computed by a finite element method. The results are compared with the displacement and stress distributions in one superconducting coil which forms part of different arrangements simulating torus conditions. Four arrangements with three coils are discussed; three of them consist of one superconducting coil with an inner coil winding diameter of 0.94 m and a maximum stored magnetic energy of 2.1 MJ, and two copper coils which were designed for experimental tests. The fourth 3-coil arrangement consists of three identical superconducting coils forming a sector of the torus.     

Calculated photoelectron angular distributions of ω-(n-pyrrolyl)alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers for distinguishing between different arrangements of the pyrrole groups

Photoelectron angular distributions from ω-(n-pyrrolyl)alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) were calculated within a single-scattering approximation of the photoemission process. The calculations were carried out on two different surface structures with face-stacked and herringbone arrangements of the pyrrole groups, which were deduced from molecular dynamics calculations. The characteristic angular patterns calculated for the molecular orbital originating from the pyrrole group involve information on the orientations of the pyrrole groups, which allows distinction between these arrangements. The photoelectron angular distributions from substituted SAMs can be used as a clue for studying the surface structures of the substituent groups.     

Inhomogeneous similarity solutions of the Boltzmann equation with confining external forces

The Nikolskii transform makes it possible to construct inhomogeneous solutions of the Boltzmann equation from homogeneous ones. These solutions correspond to a gas in expansion, but if we introduce external forces, they can relax toward absolute Maxwellians. This property holds independently of the assumed intermolecular inverse power force. Consequently, for Maxwell molecules and from energy-dependent homogeneous distributions, we construct effectively a class of inhomogeneous similarity distributions with Maxwellian equilibrium relaxation. We review and investigate again the homogeneous distributions which can be written in closed form, for instance, we show that an elliptic exact solution proposed some years ago violates positivity. For Maxwell interaction with singular cross sections, we numerically construct inhomogeneous distributions having Maxwellian equilibrium states and study the Tjon overshoot effect. We show that both the sign and the time decrease of the external force as well as the microscopic model of the cross section contribute to the asymptotic behavior of the distribution. These inhomogeneous similarity solutions include a class of distributions that asymptotically oscillate between different Maxwellians. Two classes of external forces are considered: linear spatial-dependent forces or linear velocity-dependent forces plus source term.     

Mathematical Operations of Transmissive Near Fields Controlled by Metasurface with Phase and Amplitude Modulations

Metasurfaces show great potential due to their powerful ability to manipulate electromagnetic waves as desired, which has been widely investigated in the microwave, terahertz, infrared, and visible regimes. Here, it is proposed to control near-field distributions through use of a metasurface with both amplitude and phase modulations. A C-shaped particle is designed to provide stable and continuous amplitude and phase profiles independently of transmitted waves by varying its opening and orientation angles. Benefiting from both amplitude and phase modulations on the metasurface, differentiation and integration on electric-field distributions can be achieved by changing the arrangements of complex coefficients on the metasurface. Besides, the differential operation can be utilized to show the edges of predesigned electric-field distributions. It is believed that the proposed method will accelerate the pace of metasurfaces towards many applications by engineering and operating the near-field distributions.     

Impulsive forces of two spark-generated cavity bubbles with phase differences

The characteristics of synchronous and phase difference bubble pairs in axisymmetric configuration near a boundary are investigated experimentally by the spark discharge method. Their destructive forces on nearby boundaries are measured using a polyvinylidene fluoride sensor. The bubble pair interactions and deformed features in the boundary vicinity are dissimilar to those in bulk water. Moreover, significant discrepancies between in-phase and out-of-phase pair interactions and their intensities of impulses are also witnessed. The interbubble distance (η), stand-off distance from the boundary (γ), and phase offset (τ) are crucial parameters affecting the shape evolutions and impulsive forces. From the qualitative analysis of sensor acquisition and high-speed imaging, it is observed that bubble periods are either prolonged or shorter than their corresponding isolated single cavity according to different parameters and arrangements. Additionally, the strongest impingements are produced by in-phase pairs. The impulses of phase difference bubble pairs are remarkably lower than in-phase pairs and even lower than a single bubble in some arrangements.     

Convoluted Gauss-Levy distributions and exploding Coulomb clusters

We study the kinetics and the distributions of nonequilibrium systems including Gaussian and Levy-type stochastic forces. We develop the assumption that deviations from the Maxwell distribution which are often observed in nonequilibrium systems may be described by convoluted Gauss-Levy distributions. We derive these distributions by solving Langevin and Fokker-Planck equations for the velocities including two noise sources, centrally distributed over Levy and Gauss functions. As an application, we estimate the evolution of the velocity distributions of exploding Coulomb clusters analytically and by simulations. We show the development of a shoulder in the distribution which is typical for convoluted Gauss-Levy distributions.     

Negative-refractive bicrystal with broken symmetry produces asymmetric electromagnetic fields in guided-wave heterostructures

Heterostructure arrangements of uniaxial bicrystals have been discovered to produce electromagnetic fields with asymmetric distributions in guide wave structures. The property behind this remarkable phenomenon is the broken crystalline symmetry which allows the new physics to be seen in unsymmetric distributions. Here the theory behind this phenomenon is presented, numerical calculations are performed using an ab initio anisotropic Green's function approach, and the results provided at 10 GHz for a realistic crystal system with nominal permittivity of 5. Asymmetric distributions seen here are one facet of the broken symmetry property which generates negative refraction for impinging waves on a bicrystal.     

A nonlinear Fokker–Planck equation approach for interacting systems: Anomalous diffusion and Tsallis statistics

We investigate the solutions for a set of coupled nonlinear Fokker–Planck equations coupled by the diffusion coefficient in presence of external forces. The coupling by the diffusion coefficient implies that the diffusion of each species is influenced by the other and vice versa due to this term, which represents an interaction among them. The solutions for the stationary case are given in terms of the Tsallis distributions, when arbitrary external forces are considered. We also use the Tsallis distributions to obtain a time dependent solution for a linear external force. The results obtained from this analysis show a rich class of behavior related to anomalous diffusion, which can be characterized by compact or long-tailed distributions.     

Topological dragging of solitons

We put forward properties of solitons supported by optical lattices featuring topological dislocations and show that solitons experience attractive and repulsive forces around the dislocations. Suitable arrangements of dislocations are even found to form soliton traps, and the properties of such solitons are shown to crucially depend on the trap topology. The uncovered phenomenon opens a new concept for soliton control and manipulation, e.g., in disk-shaped Bose-Einstein condensates.     

Distribution of pore-size in an exactly solvable two-dimensional biomembrane model

A model for a two-dimensional lipid bilayer in which both short range repulsive forces and long range attractive forces play a role, and which can be solved exactly, is discussed. It is shown that the bilayer consists of long stretches of relatively densely packed lipids separated by small pores. The statistical distributions of number and size of the pores are calculated from first principles.     

Influence of the long-range forces in non-Gaussian random-packing dynamics

In this paper, we perform molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to study the random packing of spheres with different particle size distributions. In particular, we deal with non-Gaussian distributions by means of the Lévy distributions. The initial positions as well as the radii of five thousand non-overlapping particles are assigned inside a confining rectangular box. After that, the system is allowed to settle under gravity towards the bottom of the box. Both the translational and rotational movements of each particle are considered in the simulations. In order to deal with interacting particles, we take into account both the contact and long-range cohesive forces. The normal viscoelastic force is calculated according to the nonlinear Hertz model, whereas the tangential force is calculated through an accurate nonlinear-spring model. Assuming a molecular approach, we account for the long-range cohesive forces using a Lennard-Jones (LJ)-like potential. The packing processes are studied assuming different long-range interaction strengths.     

Fractional conductance in hydrogen-embedded gold nanowires

Interaction of the physically adsorbed molecular hydrogen with a breaking gold nanowire results in additional stable atomic configurations in few atom contacts and appearance of fractional peaks in the conductance histogram. This effect is explained by peculiar dynamic evolution of the hydrogen-embedded nanoconstriction due to competition between tensile and capillary forces. Dimerization within the atomic wire and hydrogen-assisted stabilization of gold dimers results in preferable atomic arrangements with conductivity close to 0.5 and 1.5 of quantum conductance unit G(0)=2e(2)/h.     

Econophysics and the Entropic Foundations of Economics

This paper examines relations between econophysics and the law of entropy as foundations of economic phenomena. Ontological entropy, where actual thermodynamic processes are involved in the flow of energy from the Sun through the biosphere and economy, is distinguished from metaphorical entropy, where similar mathematics used for modeling entropy is employed to model economic phenomena. Areas considered include general equilibrium theory, growth theory, business cycles, ecological economics, urban–regional economics, income and wealth distribution, and financial market dynamics. The power-law distributions studied by econophysicists can reflect anti-entropic forces is emphasized to show how entropic and anti-entropic forces can interact to drive economic dynamics, such as in the interaction between business cycles, financial markets, and income distributions.     

Stationary solutions of Liouville equations for non-Hamiltonian systems

We consider the class of non-Hamiltonian and dissipative statistical systems with distributions that are determined by the Hamiltonian. The distributions are derived analytically as stationary solutions of the Liouville equation for non-Hamiltonian systems. The class of non-Hamiltonian systems can be described by a non-holonomic (non-integrable) constraint: the velocity of the elementary phase volume change is directly proportional to the power of non-potential forces. The coefficient of this proportionality is determined by Hamiltonian. The constant temperature systems, canonical-dissipative systems, and Fermi-Bose classical systems are the special cases of this class of non-Hamiltonian systems.     

Quantum-resolved angular distributions of neutral products in electron-stimulated processes: NO desorption from and NO2 dissociation on Pt(111)

We present the first quantum-resolved angular distributions of ground-state neutral molecules which are products of electron stimulated desorption (ESD) and electron stimulated dissociation. Laser resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) and two-dimensional imaging have been used to obtain angular distributions of NO desorbed by 350 eV electrons from O-precovered Pt(111). In a similar fashion, we have measured angular distributions for the NO product of NO₂ dissociation on clean and O-precovered Pt(111). In all cases, we observe narrow widths which are roughly the same as ion distributions determined by ESDIAD (ESD ion angular distributions). The angular distribution for NO ESD is sharply peaked (7° half-width at half maximum) along the surface normal for an O coverage (θ_o) of 0.25 monolayer (ML). The angular distribution of the NO product from dissociation of side-bonded NO₂ on clean Pt(111) is unexpectedly peaked about the surface normal, and thus does not reflect dissociative forces parallel to the surface or the 25° off-normal ground-state bond direction. On O-precovered Pt(111), where NO₂ is N-bonded, 6° off-normal beams are observed. When the substrate is precovered with θ_o > 0.5 ML, local disorder creates asymmetric site geometries which result in multiple peaked angular distributions with both normal and off-normal (9–10°) components; similar effects for NO ESD are observed. In all these studies, the NO angular distributions are invariant to rotational or vibrational state. This implies that the lateral translational degrees of freedom are essentially de-coupled from the internal modes of the molecule. The results are discussed in terms of desorption mechanisms, dissociative forces, site geometries, and disordered coadsorbate layers.     

硅和锗纳米线的原子排布和电荷分布的密度泛函紧束缚方法研究

低维硅锗材料是制备纳米电子器件的重要候选材料,是研发高效率、低能耗和超高速新一代纳米电子器件的基础材料之一,有着潜在的应用价值。采用密度泛函紧束缚方法分别对厚度相同、宽度在0.272 nm~0.554 nm之间的硅纳米线和宽度在0.283 nm~0.567 nm之间的锗纳米线的原子排布和电荷分布进行了计算研究。硅、锗纳米线宽度的改变使原子排布,纳米线的原子间键长和键角发生明显改变。纳米线表层结构的改变对各层内的电荷分布产生重要影响。纳米线中各原子的电荷转移量与该原子在表层内的位置相关。纳米线的尺寸和表层内原子排列结构对体系的稳定性产生重要影响。     

Tilted and helical columnar phases for an axially symmetric discoidal system

We report novel phase behavior for a system of disclike ellipsoidal particles interacting via a pair potential. We identify a structural phase transition between two hexagonal columnar phases, both tilted, induced by spatial ordering of the tilt about the columnar axis and positional correlations between neighboring columns upon cooling. The local minima of the potential energy surface support irregular helical arrangements of the discoids about the columnar axis for the high-temperature hexagonal columnar phase, and a tilted arrangement for both phases. Our study demonstrates that dispersion-repulsion forces corresponding to oblate ellipsoids are sufficient to produce a columnar phase that is tilted and helical.     

Stretch-induced hairpin-coil transitions in designed polynucleotide chains

The structural property of a poly( dG-dC) or poly( dA-dT) nucleotide is investigated. At low force and room temperatures, the polymer takes on compact hairpin structures. An abrupt transition from hairpin to random coil occurs at certain critical forces, its high cooperativity is related to the unfavorable formation of hairpin and other kinds of looped structures. It is hence necessary to consider the enthalpic effects of single-stranded loops in realistic models of RNA folding. A possible new way to obtain the statistical weights of elementary nucleotide arrangements is by single-macromolecular mechanical measurements on specifically designed polynucleotides.