On the near-critical behavior of cavitation in elastic plane membranes

Abstract Material cavitation under tensile loading is often studied by assuming the pre-existence of a small void. In this case the void would initially grow but without significant change in its size, and cavitation is said to take place if this slow growth is followed by rapid growth at higher load values. In the limit when the original void radius δ tends to zero, there will be no growth until a load or stretch measure, λ say, reaches a well-defined critical value λ cr at which a cavity appears suddenly. In this paper we study the near-critical asymptotic behavior of cavitation in plane membranes when δ is not zero but small, and show that the near-critical behavior is governed by a scaling law in the form λ − λ cr = C ( δ / L ) m , where L is the undeformed outer radius of the plane membrane, and C and m are non-dimensional constants. The positive power m in general depends on the material model used, but for the three classes of material models considered, it happens to be equal to 2 ( 1 + ν ) / ( 3 + ν ) in each case, where ν is Poisson’s ratio for infinitesimal deformations. If a pre-existing void is viewed as an imperfection, then this scaling law describes the imperfection sensitivity of cavitation: it states that in the presence of imperfections significant void growth would occur when λ were increased to within an order ( δ / L ) m interval around λ cr

Effects of pre-stretch, compressibility and material constitution on the period-doubling secondary bifurcation of a film/substrate bilayer

We refine a previously proposed semi-analytical method, and use it to study the effects of pre-stretch, compressibility and material constitution on the period-doubling secondary bifurcation of a uni-axially compressed film/substrate bilayer structure. It is found that compared with the case of incompressible neo-Hookean materials for which the critical strain is approximately 0.17 when the thin layer is much stiffer than the substrate, the critical strain when the Gent materials are used is a monotonically increasing function of the constant Jm that characterizes material extensibility, becoming as small as 0.12 when Jm is equal to 1, whereas for compressible neo-Hookean materials the critical strain is a monotonically decreasing function of Poisson’s ratio; the period-doubling secondary bifurcation seems to become impossible when Poisson’s ratio is approximately equal to 0.307. The latter result may indicate that when Poisson’s ratio is small enough there are other preferred secondary bifurcations — an example is given where a secondary bifurcation mode with times the original period occurs at a lower strain value. The effect of a pre-stretch (compression or extension) in the substrate is not monotonic, giving rise to a critical strain that varies between 0.15 and 0.22

Androgen receptor phosphorylation at serine 515 by Cdk1 predicts biochemical relapse in prostate cancer patients

<br>Background:Prostate cancer cell growth is dependent upon androgen receptor (AR) activation, which is regulated by specific kinases. The aim of the current study is to establish if AR phosphorylation by Cdk1 or ERK1/2 is of prognostic significance.</br> <br>Methods: Scansite 2.0 was utilised to predict which AR sites are phosphorylated by Cdk1 and ERK1/2. Immunohistochemistry for these sites was then performed on 90 hormone-naive prostate cancer specimens. The interaction between Cdk1/ERK1/2 and AR phosphorylation was investigated in vitro using LNCaP cells.</br><br>Results:Phosphorylation of AR at serine 515 (pAR(S515)) and PSA at diagnosis were independently associated with decreased time to biochemical relapse. Cdk1 and pCdk1(161), but not ERK1/2, correlated with pAR(S515). High expression of pAR(S515) in patients with a PSA at diagnosis of ≤20 ng ml(-1) was associated with shorter time to biochemical relapse (P=0.019). This translated into a reduction in disease-specific survival (10-year survival, 38.1% vs 100%, P<0.001). In vitro studies demonstrated that treatment with Roscovitine (a Cdk inhibitor) caused a reduction in pCdk1(161) expression, pAR(S515)expression and cellular proliferation.</br> <br>Conclusion: In prostate cancer patients with PSA at diagnosis of ≤20 ng ml(-1), phosphorylation of AR at serine 515 by Cdk1 may be an independent prognostic marker.</br&gt

Resolution of the stochastic strategy spatial prisoner's dilemma by means of particle swarm optimization

We study the evolution of cooperation among selfish individuals in the stochastic strategy spatial prisoner's dilemma game. We equip players with the particle swarm optimization technique, and find that it may lead to highly cooperative states even if the temptations to defect are strong. The concept of particle swarm optimization was originally introduced within a simple model of social dynamics that can describe the formation of a swarm, i.e., analogous to a swarm of bees searching for a food source. Essentially, particle swarm optimization foresees changes in the velocity profile of each player, such that the best locations are targeted and eventually occupied. In our case, each player keeps track of the highest payoff attained within a local topological neighborhood and its individual highest payoff. Thus, players make use of their own memory that keeps score of the most profitable strategy in previous actions, as well as use of the knowledge gained by the swarm as a whole, to find the best available strategy for themselves and the society. Following extensive simulations of this setup, we find a significant increase in the level of cooperation for a wide range of parameters, and also a full resolution of the prisoner's dilemma. We also demonstrate extreme efficiency of the optimization algorithm when dealing with environments that strongly favor the proliferation of defection, which in turn suggests that swarming could be an important phenomenon by means of which cooperation can be sustained even under highly unfavorable conditions. We thus present an alternative way of understanding the evolution of cooperative behavior and its ubiquitous presence in nature, and we hope that this study will be inspirational for future efforts aimed in this direction.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures; accepted for publication in PLoS ON

A genetic polymorphism and its genetic effects on goat myogenin gene in intron 1

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the myogenin (MyoG) gene were tested using primer induced restriction fragment length polymorphism assay-polymerase chain reaction (PIRA-PCR) from Bore goat and its upgrading offspring to Tangshan diary goat (including F1, F2 and F3). The effects of the myogenin gene on the birth weight, 1-month body weight and the weaning weight were also analyzed. On the basis of the DNA sequence of the goat myogenin gene (FJ607135), primers were designed to amplify myogenin gene. The result showed that one polymorphism (transition of g.558C>T) was found in intron 1 of goat myogenin gene, in which two alleles (A and B) and three genotypes (AA, AB and BB) were examined. The distributions of three genotypes were basically identical in four goat populations, and allele A was the dominant gene. The effect of the myogenin genotypes on the birth weight, 1-month body weight and the weaning weight were all not significant (P > 0.05) due to the small number of BB gaots; however, the values of AA genotype goats and AB genotype goats were obviously higher than those of BB genotype goats for three growth traits, in the order of AA > AB > BB. These results suggest that the myogenin genotype has some effects on partial growth traits of goat, and selecting the individuals with A allele could be favorable to the birth weight, 1-month body weight and the weaning weight.Key words: goats, myogenin gene, primer induced restriction fragment length polymorphism assay-polymerase chain reaction (PIRA-PCR), genetic polymorphisms, genetic effects

The evaluation of the bone graft survival status in titanium cervical cages by radionuclide bone CT scan

To find a better way to evaluate the bone graft survival status in cervical cages, forty-one patients suffering from one-level cervical spondylosis were enrolled in this study. All underwent anterior cervical decompression and fusion with titanium cage and plate. When followed up, another 21 patients were confirmed as one-level cervical spondylosis without operation and were enrolled as control group. "Bolus" injection of radioactive 99mTc methylene diphosphonate (99mTc-MDP) with a dose of 25 ~ 30 mCi was performed through cubital vein, and radionuclide distribution images of cervical spine were obtained by single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT). In sagittal view, bone graft was positioned accurately. By “region of interest” (ROI) technique, the same regions in bone graft and thoracic vertebra with the same level of suprasternal fossa were selected. Radioactive count ratio was then obtained. In the control group, “bone graft” was chosen on the inferior vertebra of the lesion segment, and the ratio was similarly gotten. Statistical difference was shown between bone graft group and control group by t test (t = 2.713, P < 0.05). The bone graft survival rate was 100% by SPECT/CT and bony fusion rate was 92.7% by CT scan. It indicated that in all bony fusion cases, bone graft survived; however, the bone survival was not surely together with bony fusion.Key words: Bone graft, titanium cervical cage, radionuclide bone CT

Microstructure and properties of a deformation-processed Cu-Cr-Ag in situ composite by directional solidification

Cu-7Cr-0.07Ag alloys were prepared by casting and directional solidification, from which deformation-processed in situ composites were prepared by thermo-mechanical processing. The microstructure, mechanical properties, and electrical properties were investigated using optical microscopy, scanning electronic microscopy, tensile testing, and a micro-ohmmeter. The second-phase Cr grains of the directional solidification Cu-7Cr-0.07Ag in situ composite were parallel to the drawing direction and were finer, which led to a higher tensile strength and a better combination of properties

Fully gapped topological surface states in Bi2_2Se3_3 films induced by a d-wave high-temperature superconductor

Topological insulators are a new class of materials, that exhibit robust gapless surface states protected by time-reversal symmetry. The interplay between such symmetry-protected topological surface states and symmetry-broken states (e.g. superconductivity) provides a platform for exploring novel quantum phenomena and new functionalities, such as 1D chiral or helical gapless Majorana fermions, and Majorana zero modes which may find application in fault-tolerant quantum computation. Inducing superconductivity on topological surface states is a prerequisite for their experimental realization. Here by growing high quality topological insulator Bi$_2$Se$_3$ films on a d-wave superconductor Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+\delta}$ using molecular beam epitaxy, we are able to induce high temperature superconductivity on the surface states of Bi$_2$Se$_3$ films with a large pairing gap up to 15 meV. Interestingly, distinct from the d-wave pairing of Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+\delta}$, the proximity-induced gap on the surface states is nearly isotropic and consistent with predominant s-wave pairing as revealed by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Our work could provide a critical step toward the realization of the long sought-after Majorana zero modes.Comment: Nature Physics, DOI:10.1038/nphys274