Breaking of symmetry in microfluidic propulsion driven by artificial cilia.

In this Brief Report we investigate biomimetic fluid propulsion due to an array of periodically beating artificial cilia. A generic model system is defined in which the effects of inertial fluid forces and the spatial, temporal, and orientational asymmetries of the ciliary motion can be individually controlled. We demonstrate that the so-far unexplored orientational asymmetry plays an important role in generating flow and that the flow increases sharply with Reynolds number and eventually becomes unidirectional. We introduce the concept of configurational symmetry that unifies the spatial, temporal, and orientational symmetries. The breaking of configurational symmetry leads to fluid propulsion in microfluidic channels.

Effects of phase-breaking on long-range charge transfer in DNA: Partially-coherent-tunneling model study

The mechanism of hole charge transfer in DNA of various lengths and sequences is investigated based on a partially coherent tunneling theory (Zhang et al., J Chem Phys 117:4578, 2002), where the effects of phase-breaking in adenine-thymine and guanine-cytosine base pairs are treated on equal foot. This work aims at providing a self-consistent microscopic interpretation for rate experiments on various DNA systems. We will also clarify the condition under which the simple superexchange-mediated-hopping picture is valid, and make some comments on the further development of present theory.

BREAKING UP OF MISFIT DISLOCATIONS IN GAASIN0.3GA0.7AS/GAAS HETEROSTRUCTURE

The effect of GaAs cap layer with different thicknesses in the GaAs/In0.3Ga0.7As/GaAs heterostructure on misfit dislocation is investigated with transmission electron microscopy, and it is found that lines of misfit dislocation break up and move out of the structure when the GaAs cap layer thickness exceeds a certain amount. The breaking up and moving out of misfit dislocations, initially confined in the (001) substrate/InGaAs epilayer interface, occur mainly along the [110] direction on the interface in the structure. (C) 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Isospin-symmetry breaking effects on the strange electric and magnetic form factors of the nucleon

We examine the electric and magnetic strange form factors of the nucleon in the pseudoscalar-vector SU(3) Skyrme model, with special emphasis on the effects of isospin symmetry breaking (ISB). It is found that ISB has a nontrivial effect on the strange vector form factors of the nucleon and its contribution to the nucleon strangeness is significantly larger than one might naively expect. Our calculations and discussions may be of some significance for the experimental extraction of the authentic strangeness.

General SU(2)(L) x SU(2)(R) x U(1)(EM) sigma model with external sources, dynamical breaking and spontaneous vacuum symmetry breaking

We give a general SU(2)(L) x SU(2)(R) x U(1)(EM) sigma model with external sources, dynamical breaking and spontaneous vacuum symmetry breaking, and present the general formulation of the model. It is found that sigma and pi(0) without electric charges have electromagnetic interaction effects coming front the internal structures. A general Lorentz transformation relative to external sources J(gauge) - (J(A mu) J(A mu)(kappa)) derived, using the general Lorentz transformation and the four-dimensional current of nuclear matter of the ground si ate with J(gauge) = 0, we give the four-dimensional general relations between the different currents of nuclear matter systems with J(gauge) not equal 0 and those with J(gauge) = 0. The relation of the density's coupling with external magnetic field is derived, which conforms well to dense nuclear matter in a strong magnetic field. We show different condensed effects in strong interaction about fermions and antifermions, and give the concrete scalar and pseudoscalar condensed expressions of sigma(0) and pi(0) bosons. About different dynamical breaking and spontaneous vacuum symmetry breaking, the concrete expressions of different mass spectra are obtained in field theory. This paper acquires the running spontaneous vacuum breaking value sigma'(0), and obtains the spontaneous vacuum breaking in tenus of the running sigma'(0), which make nucleon, sigma, and pi particles gain effective masses. We achieve both the effect of external sources and nonvanishing value of the condensed scalar and pseudoscalar paticles. It is deduced that the masses of nucleons, sigma and pi generally depend on different external sources.

Isospin symmetry breaking at high spins in the mirror pair Se-67 and As-67

Recent experimental data have revealed large mirror energy differences (MED) between high-spin states in the mirror nuclei Se-67 and As-67, the heaviest pair where MED have been determined so far. The MED are generally attributed to the isospin symmetry breaking caused by the Coulomb force and by the isospin-nonconserving part of the nucleon-nucleon residual interaction. The different contributions of the various terms have been extensively studied in the fp shell. By employing large-scale shell-model calculations, we show that the inclusion of the g(9/2) orbit causes interference between the electromagnetic spin-orbit and the Coulomb monopole radial terms at high spin. The large MED are attributed to the aligned proton pair excitations from the p(3/2) and f(5/2) orbits to the g(9/2) orbit. The relation of the MED to deformation is discussed.

solving global unconstrained optimization problems by symmetry-breaking

IEEE Computer Society; International Association for; Computer and Information Science, ACIS

Breaking seasonal limitation: year-round sporogenesis in the brown alga Laminaria saccharina by blocking the transport of putative sporulation inhibitors

Year-round induction of sporogenesis of Laminaria saccharina was performed by mechanically blocking the transport of the putative sporulation inhibitors produced by the blade meristem and culturing the plants in constant short days. Sporogenesis was successfully induced by removal of the blade meristem, either by cultivating distal blade fragments or by performing a transverse cut in the frond. The earliest sorus formation after artificial induction was 10 days. The age of the sporophytes used for induction was 6-11 months or 2 years in tank-grown or field-collected sporophytes, respectively. Zoospores were successfully released in all cases. Thus, by year-round artificial induction of sporogenesis, (1) sporeling production of L. saccharina and thereafter sporophyte cultivation could be achieved without seasonal limitation, and (2) the life cycle of L. saccharina (from spore to spore) could be completed within 8 months under controlled conditions. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Simulation of the ocean surface mixed layer under the wave breaking

A one-dimensional mixed-layer model, including a Mellor-Yamada level 2.5 turbulence closure scheme, was implemented to investigate the dynamical and thermal structures of the ocean surface mixed layer in the northern South China Sea. The turbulent kinetic energy released through wave breaking was incorporated into the model as a source of energy at the ocean surface, and the influence of the breaking waves on the mixed layer was studied. The numerical simulations show that the simulated SST is overestimated in summer without the breaking waves. However, the cooler SST is simulated when the effect of the breaking waves is considered, the corresponding discrepancy with the observed data decreases up to 20% and the MLD calculated averagely deepens 3.8 m. Owing to the wave-enhanced turbulence mixing in the summertime, the stratification at the bottom of the mixed layer was modified and the temperature gradient spread throughout the whole thermocline compared with the concentrated distribution without wave breaking.

A microwave emissivity model of sea surface under wave breaking

With the effective medium approximation theory of composites, a remedial model is proposed for estimating the microwave emissivity of sea surface under wave breaking driven by strong wind on the basis of an empirical model given by Pandey and Kakar. In our model, the effects of the shapes of seawater droplets and the thickness of whitecap layer (i.e. a composite layer of air and sea water droplets) over the sea surface on the microwave emissivity are investigated by calculating the effective dielectric constant of whitecaps layer. The wind speed is included in our model, and the responses of water droplets shapes, such as sphere and ellipsoid, to the emissivity are also discussed at different microwave frequencies. The model is in good agreement with the experimental data of microwave emissivity of sea surface at microwave frequencies of 6.6, 10.7 and 37GHz.

Influence of mean water depth and a subsurface sandbar on the onset and strength of wave breaking

Wave breaking in the open ocean and coastal zones remains an intriguing yet incompletely understood process, with a strong observed association with wave groups. Recent numerical study of the evolution of fully nonlinear, two-dimensional deep water wave groups identified a robust threshold of a diagnostic growth-rate parameter that separated nonlinear wave groups that evolved to breaking from those that evolved with recurrence. This paper investigates whether these deep water wave-breaking results apply more generally, particularly in finite-water-depth conditions. For unforced nonlinear wave groups in intermediate water depths over a flat bottom, it was found that the upper bound of the diagnostic growth-rate threshold parameter established for deep water wave groups is also applicable in intermediate water depths, given by k(0) h greater than or equal to 2, where k(0) is the mean carrier wavenumber and h is the mean depth. For breaking onset over an idealized circular arc sandbar located on an otherwise flat, intermediate-depth (k(0) h greater than or equal to 2) environment, the deep water breaking diagnostic growth rate was found to be applicable provided that the height of the sandbar is less than one-quarter of the ambient mean water depth. Thus, for this range of intermediate-depth conditions, these two classes of bottom topography modify only marginally the diagnostic growth rate found for deep water waves. However, when intermediate-depth wave groups ( k(0) h greater than or equal to 2) shoal over a sandbar whose height exceeds one-half of the ambient water depth, the waves can steepen significantly without breaking. In such cases, the breaking threshold level and the maximum of the diagnostic growth rate increase systematically with the height of the sandbar. Also, the dimensions and position of the sandbar influenced the evolution and breaking threshold of wave groups. For sufficiently high sandbars, the effects of bottom topography can induce additional nonlinearity into the wave field geometry and associated dynamics that modifies the otherwise robust deep water breaking-threshold results.