Multicellular rosettes drive fluid-solid transition in epithelial tissues

Models for confluent biological tissues often describe the network formed by cells as a triple-junction network, similar to foams. However, higher order vertices or multicellular rosettes are prevalent in developmental and {\it in vitro} processes and have been recognized as crucial in many important aspects of morphogenesis, disease, and physiology. In this work, we study the influence of rosettes on the mechanics of a confluent tissue. We find that the existence of rosettes in a tissue can greatly influence its rigidity. Using a generalized vertex model and effective medium theory we find a fluid-to-solid transition driven by rosette density and intracellular tensions. This transition exhibits several hallmarks of a second-order phase transition such as a growing correlation length and a universal critical scaling in the vicinity a critical point. Further, we elucidate the nature of rigidity transitions in dense biological tissues and other cellular structures using a generalized Maxwell constraint counting approach. This answers a long-standing puzzle of the origin of solidity in these systems.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures + 8 pages, 7 figures in Appendix. To be appear in PR

Nontrivial standing wave state in frequency-weighted Kuramoto model

Synchronization in a frequency-weighted Kuramoto model with a uniform frequency distribution is studied. We plot the bifurcation diagram and identify the asymptotic coherent states. Numerical simulations show that the system undergoes two first-order transitions in both the forward and backward directions. Apart from the trivial phase-locked state, a novel nonstationary coherent state, i.e., a nontrivial standing wave state is observed and characterized. In this state, oscillators inside the coherent clusters are not frequency-locked as they would be in the usual standing wave state. Instead, their average frequencies are locked to a constant. The critical coupling strength from the incoherent state to the nontrivial standing wave state can be obtained by performing linear stability analysis. The theoretical results are supported by the numerical simulations

Probing Light Stop Pairs at the LHC

In this work, we study the light stop pair signals at the LHC. We explore the SUSY parameter space with non-universal gaugino and third generation masses at the GUT scale. Recent LHC SUSY search results based on 35pb$^{-1}$ and 1fb$^{-1}$ of data are implemented to put the limits on stop pair events. The dark matter relic density and direct detection constraints are also taken into account. Detailed simulations on the signals and background for some benchmark points are performed, and it is found that the stop pair signals usually escape the LHC search if the present cut conditions are used. We also explore the potential and sensitivity of ILC to probe such scenarios. It is found that the ILC can detect them with an integrated luminosity of a few tens of fb$^{-1}$.Comment: 35pages, 13figure

Another Sogdian-Chinese bilingual epitaph

AbstractTwo stone tablets in the Wangye Museum, Shenzhen, contain a bilingual Sogdian and Chinese epitaph for a Sogdian merchant and his wife, who lived in the northern Chinese city of Ye 鄴 in the late sixth centuryce. The two texts are published here for the first time and accompanied by a detailed commentary on philological and historical points of interest.</jats:p