Phoretic Motion of Spheroidal Particles Due To Self-Generated Solute Gradients

We study theoretically the phoretic motion of a spheroidal particle, which generates solute gradients in the surrounding unbounded solvent via chemical reactions active on its surface in a cap-like region centered at one of the poles of the particle. We derive, within the constraints of the mapping to classical diffusio-phoresis, an analytical expression for the phoretic velocity of such an object. This allows us to analyze in detail the dependence of the velocity on the aspect ratio of the polar and the equatorial diameters of the particle and on the fraction of the particle surface contributing to the chemical reaction. The particular cases of a sphere and of an approximation for a needle-like particle, which are the most common shapes employed in experimental realizations of such self-propelled objects, are obtained from the general solution in the limits that the aspect ratio approaches one or becomes very large, respectively.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, to appear in European Physical Journal

Interstitial Fe-Cr alloys: Tuning of magnetism by nanoscale structural control and by implantation of nonmagnetic atoms

Using the density functional theory, we perform a full atomic relaxation of the bulk ferrite with 12.5%-concentration of monoatomic interstitial Cr periodically located at the edges of the bcc Fe$_\alpha$ cell. We show that structural relaxation in such artificially engineered alloys leads to significant atomic displacements and results in the formation of novel highly stable configurations with parallel chains of octahedrically arranged Fe. The enhanced magnetic polarization in the low-symmetry metallic state of this type of alloys can be externally controlled by additional inclusion of nonmagnetic impurities like nitrogen. We discuss possible applications of generated interstitial alloys in spintronic devices and propose to consider them as a basis of novel durable types of stainless steels.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figure

C/EBPβ-1 promotes transformation and chemoresistance in Ewing sarcoma cells.

CEBPB copy number gain in Ewing sarcoma was previously shown to be associated with worse clinical outcome compared to tumors with normal CEBPB copy number, although the mechanism was not characterized. We employed gene knockdown and rescue assays to explore the consequences of altered CEBPB gene expression in Ewing sarcoma cell lines. Knockdown of EWS-FLI1 expression led to a decrease in expression of all three C/EBPβ isoforms while re-expression of EWS-FLI1 rescued C/EBPβ expression. Overexpression of C/EBPβ-1, the largest of the three C/EBPβ isoforms, led to a significant increase in colony formation when cells were grown in soft agar compared to empty vector transduced cells. In addition, depletion of C/EBPβ decreased colony formation, and re-expression of either C/EBPβ-1 or C/EBPβ-2 rescued the phenotype. We identified the cancer stem cell marker ALDH1A1 as a target of C/EBPβ in Ewing sarcoma. Furthermore, increased expression of C/EBPβ led to resistance to chemotherapeutic agents. In summary, we have identified CEBPB as an oncogene in Ewing sarcoma. Overexpression of C/EBPβ-1 increases transformation, upregulates expression of the cancer stem cell marker ALDH1A1, and leads to chemoresistance

Generalized stacking fault energetics and dislocation properties: compact vs. spread unit dislocation structures in TiAl and CuAu

We present a general scheme for analyzing the structure and mobility of dislocations based on solutions of the Peierls-Nabarro model with a two component displacement field and restoring forces determined from the ab-initio generalized stacking fault energetics (ie., the so-called $\gamma$-surface). The approach is used to investigate dislocations in L1$_{0}$ TiAl and CuAu; predicted differences in the unit dislocation properties are explicitly related with features of the $\gamma$-surface geometry. A unified description of compact, spread and split dislocation cores is provided with an important characteristic "dissociation path" revealed by this highly tractable scheme.Comment: 7 two columns pages, 2 eps figures. Phys. Rev. B. accepted November 199

Worm Epidemics in Wireless Adhoc Networks

A dramatic increase in the number of computing devices with wireless communication capability has resulted in the emergence of a new class of computer worms which specifically target such devices. The most striking feature of these worms is that they do not require Internet connectivity for their propagation but can spread directly from device to device using a short-range radio communication technology, such as WiFi or Bluetooth. In this paper, we develop a new model for epidemic spreading of these worms and investigate their spreading in wireless ad hoc networks via extensive Monte Carlo simulations. Our studies show that the threshold behaviour and dynamics of worm epidemics in these networks are greatly affected by a combination of spatial and temporal correlations which characterize these networks, and are significantly different from the previously studied epidemics in the Internet

Generic theory of colloidal transport

We discuss the motion of colloidal particles relative to a two component fluid consisting of solvent and solute. Particle motion can result from (i) net body forces on the particle due to external fields such as gravity; (ii) slip velocities on the particle surface due to surface dissipative phenomena. The perturbations of the hydrodynamic flow field exhibits characteristic differences in cases (i) and (ii) which reflect different patterns of momentum flux corresponding to the existence of net forces, force dipoles or force quadrupoles. In the absence of external fields, gradients of concentration or pressure do not generate net forces on a colloidal particle. Such gradients can nevertheless induce relative motion between particle and fluid. We present a generic description of surface dissipative phenomena based on the linear response of surface fluxes driven by conjugate surface forces. In this framework we discuss different transport scenarios including self-propulsion via surface slip that is induced by active processes on the particle surface. We clarify the nature of force balances in such situations.Comment: 22 pages, 1 figur

Active and driven hydrodynamic crystals

Motivated by the experimental ability to produce monodisperse particles in microfluidic devices, we study theoretically the hydrodynamic stability of driven and active crystals. We first recall the theoretical tools allowing to quantify the dynamics of elongated particles in a confined fluid. In this regime hydrodynamic interactions between particles arise from a superposition of potential dipolar singularities. We exploit this feature to derive the equations of motion for the particle positions and orientations. After showing that all five planar Bravais lattices are stationary solutions of the equations of motion, we consider separately the case where the particles are passively driven by an external force, and the situation where they are self-propelling. We first demonstrate that phonon modes propagate in driven crystals, which are always marginally stable. The spatial structure of the eigenmodes depend solely on the symmetries of the lattices, and on the orientation of the driving force. For active crystals, the stability of the particle positions and orientations depends not only on the symmetry of the crystals but also on the perturbation wavelengths and on the crystal density. Unlike unconfined fluids, the stability of active crystals is independent of the nature of the propulsion mechanism at the single particle level. The square and rectangular lattices are found to be linearly unstable at short wavelengths provided the volume fraction of the crystals is high enough. Differently, hexagonal, oblique, and face-centered crystals are always unstable. Our work provides a theoretical basis for future experimental work on flowing microfluidic crystals.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figure

Effective swimming strategies in low Reynolds number flows

The optimal strategy for a microscopic swimmer to migrate across a linear shear flow is discussed. The two cases, in which the swimmer is located at large distance, and in the proximity of a solid wall, are taken into account. It is shown that migration can be achieved by means of a combination of sailing through the flow and swimming, where the swimming strokes are induced by the external flow without need of internal energy sources or external drives. The structural dynamics required for the swimmer to move in the desired direction is discussed and two simple models, based respectively on the presence of an elastic structure, and on an orientation dependent friction, to control the deformations induced by the external flow, are analyzed. In all cases, the deformation sequence is a generalization of the tank-treading motion regimes observed in vesicles in shear flows. Analytic expressions for the migration velocity as a function of the deformation pattern and amplitude are provided. The effects of thermal fluctuations on propulsion have been discussed and the possibility that noise be exploited to overcome the limitations imposed on the microswimmer by the scallop theorem have been discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

Comprehensive study of the magnetic stars HD 5797 and HD 40711 with large chromium and iron overabundances

We present the results of a comprehensive study of the chemically peculiar stars HD 5797 and HD 40711. The stars have the same effective temperature, Teff = 8900 K, and a similar chemical composition with large iron (+1.5 dex) and chromium (+3 dex) overabundances compared to the Sun. The overabundance of rare-earth elements typically reaches +3 dex. We have measured the magnetic field of HD 5797. The longitudinal field component Be has been found to vary sinusoidally between -100 and +1000 G with a period of 69 days. Our estimate of the evolutionary status of the stars suggests that HD 5797 and HD 40711, old objects with an age t \approx 5 \times 108 yr, are near the end of the core hydrogen burning phase.Comment: 26 pages, 5 Encapsulated Postscript figure