Transient spike adding in the presence of equilibria

Many models of neuronal activity exhibit complex oscillations in response to an input from other neurons in a network or to an input from a stimulus. We consider the effect of a single short stimulus on a simple model designed to mimic some features of neuronal dynamics. We focus on the transient response induced by the stimulus, particularly on the spike-adding behaviour of the response. Our main goal is to explain how the transient response is affected by the presence of unstable equilibria. We also investigate the dependence of the number of spikes on the amplitude and duration of the stimulus. In our analysis, we use numerical continuation methods and exploit the presence of different time scales in the model.     

An Efficient Quantum Private Comparison of Equality over Collective-Noise Channels

This article proposes a collective-noise resistant QPC protocol with the help of an almostdishonest third party (TP) who may try to perform any sort of attacks to derive participants’ private secrets except colluding with any participant. The proposed scheme has some considerable advantages over the state-of-the-art QPC protocols over collective-noise channels, where it does not require any pre-shared key between the participants (Alice and Bob). Nevertheless, the proposed scheme can resist Trojan horse attacks without consuming half of the transmitted qubits and any additional equipment (wavelength filter and PNS) support. As a consequence, the proposed QPC protocol can guarantee higher qubit efficiency as compared to the others over collective noise channels.     

Observation of Non-Hermitian Quantum Correlation Criterion in Mesoscopic Optomechanical System

Although many quantum correlation criteria have been proposed successively in recent years, it is still an open question how to observe these criteria with the non–Hermitian terms in themselves. We propose an indirect scheme in this paper to observe non-Hermitian criteria and to judge whether or not quantum correlation exists in the system even though the expectation value measurement of non-Hermitian operator is invalid in quantum mechanics system. Our idea is to establish a critical state of mesoscopic oscillator under mean–field approximation, and the oscillator state will take place transition when the quantum correlation destroys the mean–field approximation. The non–Hermitian measurement will replace the position measurement in this process and it can be seen as a non–destructive detection. We give an example to explain this idea in a designed mesoscopic optomechanical system.     

A note on general solution of Stokes equations

Li et al. (2015) claim that it is sufficient to use two harmonic functions to express the general solution of Stokes equations. In this paper, we demonstrate that this is not true in a general case and that we in fact need three scalar harmonic functions to represent the general solution of Stokes equations (Venkatalaxmi et al., 2004).     

Self-propulsion of flapping bodies in viscous fluids: Recent advances and perspectives

Flapping-powered propulsion is used by many animals to locomote through air or water. Here we review recent experimental and numerical studies on self-propelled mechanical systems powered by a flapping motion. These studies improve our understanding of the mutual interaction between actively flapping bodies and surrounding fluids. The results obtained in these works provide not only new insights into biolocomotion but also useful information for the bio-mimetic design of artificial flyers and swimmers.     

Numerical analysis of stress distribution in the upper arm tissues under an inflatable cuff: Implications for noninvasive blood pressure measurement

An inflatable cuff wrapped around the upper arm is widely used in noninvasive blood pressure measurement. However, the mechanical interaction between cuff and arm tissues, a factor that potentially affects the accuracy of noninvasive blood pressure measurement, remains rarely addressed. In the present study, finite element (FE) mod-els were constructed to quantify intra-arm stresses generated by cuff compression, aiming to provide some theoretical evi-dence for identifying factors of importance for blood pressure measurement or explaining clinical observations. Obtained results showed that the simulated tissue stresses were highly sensitive to the distribution of cuff pressure on the arm sur-face and the contact condition between muscle and bone. In contrast, the magnitude of cuff pressure and small variations in elastic properties of arm soft tissues had little influence on the efficiency of pressure transmission in arm tissues. In par-ticular, it was found that a thickened subcutaneous fat layer in obese subjects significantly reduced the effective pres-sure transmitted to the brachial artery, which may explain why blood pressure overestimation occurs more frequently in obese subjects in noninvasive blood pressure measurement.