On the influence of aggressive driving behavior on the dynamics of traffic flow

The car following model under discussion is a system of ordinary differential equations describing N cars moving around a circular road. We extend the stability analysis of the model in two directions: variable reaction time (depending on the headway) and an additional part describing the aggressive driving tendency. We study the global bifurcation dynamics and in particular its dependence on these two new ingredients. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Bacterial interactions with proteins and cells relevant to the development of life-threatening endocarditis studied by use of a quartz-crystal microbalance

Implant-related infections are a major challenge in clinical routine because of severe complications, for example infective endocarditis (IE). The purpose of this study was to investigate the real-time interaction of S. gordonii with proteins and cells important in the development of IE, in a flow system, by use of a quartz-crystal microbalance (QCM). Acoustic sensors were biologically modified by preconditioning with sterile saliva, platelet-poor plasma (PPP), or platelet-rich plasma (PRP), followed then by perfusion of a bacterial suspension. After perfusion, additional fluorescence and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) studies were performed. The surface structure of S. gordonii was analyzed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Compared with S. gordonii adhesion on the abiotic sensor surface following normal mass loading indicated by a frequency decrease, adhesion on saliva, PPP, or PRP-conditioned sensors resulted in an increase in frequency. Furthermore, adhesion induced slightly increased damping signals for saliva and PPP-coated sensors but a decrease upon bacterial adhesion to PRP, indicating the formation of a more rigid biofilm. Microscopic analysis confirmed the formation of dense and vital bacterial layers and the aggregation of platelets and bacteria. In conclusion, our study shows that the complex patterns of QCM output data observed are strongly dependent on the biological substrate and adhesion mechanisms of S. gordonii. Overall, QCM sheds new light on the pathways of such severe infections as IE.     

Thinner,Smaller, Faster: IR Techniques To Probe the Functionality of Biological and Biomimetic Systems

New techniques in vibrational spectroscopy are promising for the study of biological samples as they provide exquisite spatial and/or temporal resolution with the benefit of minimal perturbation of the system during observation. In this Minireview we showcase the power of modern infrared techniques when applied to biological and biomimetic systems. Examples will be presented on how conformational changes in peptides can be traced with femtosecond resolution and nanometer sensitivity by 2D IR spectroscopy, and how surface‐enhanced infrared difference absorption spectroscopy can be used to monitor the effect of the membrane potential on a single proton‐transfer step in an integral membrane protein. Vibrational spectra of monolayers of molecules at basically any interface can be recorded with sum‐frequency generation, which is strictly surface‐sensitive. Chemical images are recorded by applying scanning near‐field infrared microscopy at lateral resolutions better than 50 nm.     

Measuring hidden Higgs and strongly-interacting Higgs scenarios

Higgs couplings can be affected by physics beyond the Standard Model. We study modifications through interactions with a hidden sector and in specific composite Higgs models accessible at the LHC. Both scenarios give rise to congruent patterns of universal, or partially universal, shifts. In addition, Higgs decays to the hidden sector may lead to invisible decay modes which we also exploit. Experimental bounds on such potential modifications will measure the concordance of an observed Higgs boson with the Standard Model.     

Evidence for coherent collective Rydberg excitation in the strong blockade regime

We report on strong van der Waals blockade in two-photon Rydberg excitation of ultracold magnetically trapped 87Rb atoms. The excitation dynamics was investigated for a large range of densities and laser intensities and shows a full saturation and a strong suppression with respect to single-atom behavior. The observed scaling of the initial increase with density and laser intensity provides evidence for coherent collective excitation. This coherent collective behavior, that was observed for up to several thousand atoms per blockade volume, is generic for all mesoscopic systems which are able to carry only one single quantum of excitation.     

Combinatorial approach for fast screening of functional materials

We present an integrated system with automated sample fabrication for combinatorial investigations of solution-processed organic materials. To illustrate the applicability of the system, we give examples of typical experimental results with organic electronic devices. Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on a poly-(N-vinylcarbazole) matrix system with small molecule hole-transporter N,N′-Bis(3-methylphenyl)-N,N′-diphenyl-benzidine (TPD) and electron transporter 2-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-5-(4-biphenylyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole (PBD) were optimized. In a single experimental run, the optimum range of TPD and PBD concentrations has been determined. Furthermore, we screened the influence of a gate dielectric modification with poly(methyl silsesquioxane) in organic field effect transistors and show that the choice of the material system, which constitutes the interface between the gate dielectric and the organic semiconductor, modulates the mobility of the field-effect device by more than two orders of magnitude. Finally, we present a combinatorial study of the influence of PEDOT-PSS and P3HT-PC₆₁BM layer thickness variation in organic photo voltaic cells. To summarize, we describe the possibilities of a combinatorial tool for solution based multilayer devices comprising functional materials. The tool is applicable to a vast variety of such materials. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 1587–1593, 2010