Microfluidics as a tool to assess and induce emulsion destabilization

Microfluidic technology enables a judicious control of the process parameters on a small length-scale, which in turn allows speeding up the destabilization of emulsion droplets interface in microfluidic devices. In...

Evidence for widespread cytoplasmic structuring into mesoscopic condensates

Eukaryotic cytoplasm organizes itself via both membrane-bound organelles and membrane-less biomolecular condensates (BMCs). Known BMCs exhibit liquid-like properties and are typically visualized on the scale of ~1 um. They have been studied mostly by microscopy, examining select individual proteins. Here, we investigate the global organization of native cytoplasm with quantitative proteomics, using differential pressure filtration, size exclusion, and dilution experiments. These assays reveal that BMCs form throughout the cytosplasm, predominantly at the mesoscale of ~100 nm. Our data indicate that at least 18% of the proteome is organized via such mesoscale BMCs, suggesting that cells widely employ dynamic liquid-like clustering to organize their cytoplasm, at surprisingly small length scales.

Coherent tunable diffractional pulse shaping and generation of the 0π-pulse in Rb vapor

We have experimentally studied for the first time a new operation principle of the coherent diffractional pulse shaper (Rabi shaper). In the experiment, we observed an effect of tunable pulse shaping of nanosecond semiconductor laser pulse during the resonant pumping of the D2 line (780.24 nm) of 87Rb vapor in the range of self-diffraction angles φ = ± 4°. We observed the synthesis of nanosecond 0π-pulses at the small length of the nonlinear interaction 0.1…1 mm. We propose to use the Rabi shaper as an energy efficient tunable shaper of classical and single-photon wave packets. We analyze a possibility of the Rabi shaper operation in quantum systems with feedback.

THE INFLUENCE OF GROWTH REGULATORS ON SUNFLOWER PRODUCTIVITY IN THE FOREST-STEPPE ZONE OF THE REPUBLIC OF INGUSHETIA.

ABSTRACT The results of two-year observations of the growth and development of four sunflower varieties: Master, Flagman, Lakomka, Rodnik against the background of the use of three plant growth regulators: Zircon, Epin and Regoplant on the soil in the forest-steppe zone of the Republic of Ingushetia are presented. Studies have shown that the effect of growth regulators begins to manifest itself even during the period of seed germination. The length of seedlings and roots was most influenced by Zircon, less by Regoplant and Epin. Sunflower seeds treated with these growth regulators had roots 2.0-2.5 cm longer than the roots of untreated seeds (control), and the length of seedlings exceeded the control by 2.7-3.5 cm, while the Flagman variety had a small length of seedlings and roots. advantage. During the study period, the Flagman cultivar was distinguished by the highest yield, the Lakomka cultivar was somewhat less productive, and the Rodnik and Master cultivars were the least productive. On average, over two years of research, the varieties Flagman and Lakomka against the background of the use of Regoplant provided 2.5 t / ha of oilseeds, which is significantly more than other options.

A simple scenario of the laminar breakdown in liquid metal flows

In the article, authors present a numerical method for modelling a laminar-turbulent transition in magnetohydrodynamic flows. The small magnetic Reynolds number approach is considered. Velocity, pressure and electrical potential are decomposed to the sum of state values and finite amplitude perturbations. A solver based on the Nektar++ framework is described. The authors suggest using small-length local perturbations as a transition trigger. They can be imposed by blowing or by electrical enforcing. The stability of the Hartmann flow and the flow in the bend are considered as examples. Tables 4, Figs 19, Refs 28.

Analysis of Existing and Proposed 3-Bit and Multi-Bit Multiplier Algorithms for FIR Filters and Adaptive Channel Equalizers on FPGA

Different multiplication algorithms have different performance characteristics. Some are good at speed while others consume less area when implemented on hardware, like Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)-the advanced implementation technology for DSP systems. The eminent parallel and sequential multiplication algorithms include Shift and Add, Wallace Tree, Booth, and Array. The multiplier optimization attempts have also been reported in adders used for partial product addition. In this paper, analogous to conventional multipliers, two new multiplication algorithms implemented on FPGA are shown and compared with conventional algorithms as stand-alone and by using them in the implementation of FIR filters and adaptive channel equalizer using the LMS algorithm. The work is carried out on Spartan-6 FPG that may be extended for any type of FPGA. Results are compared in terms of resource utilization, power consumption, and maximum achieved frequency. The results show that for a small length of coefficients like 3-bit, the proposed algorithms work very well in terms of achieved frequency, consumed power, and even resource utilization. Whilst for the length greater than 3-bit, the Pipelined multiplier is much better in frequency than the proposed and conventional ones, and the Booth multiplier consumes fewer resources in terms of lookup tables.

Equilibrium morphologies of a macromolecule under soft confinement

We study equilibrium shapes and shape transformations of a confined semiflexible chain inside a soft lipid tubule using simulations and continuum theories. The deformed tubular shapes and chain conformations depend on the relative magnitude of their bending moduli. We characterise the collapsed macromolecular shapes by computing statistical quantities that probe the polymer properties at small length scales and report a prolate to toroidal coil transition for stiff chains. Deformed tubular shapes, calculated using elastic theories, agree with simulations. In conjunction with scattering studies, our work may provide a mechanistic understanding of gene encapsulation in soft structures.

Average Intensity and Beam Quality of Hermite-Gaussian Correlated Schell-Model Beams Propagating in Turbulent Biological Tissue

The propagation characteristics of a Hermite-Gaussian correlated Schell-model (HGCSM) beam in the turbulence of biological tissue are analyzed. The average intensity, spectral degree of coherence, and the dependence of the propagation factors on the beam orders, transverse coherence width, fractal dimension, characteristic length of heterogeneity, and small length-scale factor are numerically investigated. It is shown that the HGCSM beam does not exhibit self-splitting properties on propagation in tissues due to the strong turbulence in the refractive index of biological tissue. The larger the beam orders, the fractal dimension, and the small length-scale factor are, or the smaller the transverse coherence width and the characteristic length of heterogeneity are, the smaller the normalized propagation factor is, and the better the beam quality of HGCSM beams in turbulence of biological tissue is. Moreover, under the same condition, the HGCSM beam is less affected by turbulence than of Gaussian Schell-model (GSM) beam. It is expected that the results obtained in this paper may be useful for the application of partially coherent beams in tissue imaging and biomedical diagnosis.

Experimental study on shear mechanical properties of through-step joints under direct shear

In this study, direct shear tests were carried out on artificial rock mass specimens with single-ladder, single-rectangular, and double-rectangular step joints. Consequently, the shear strength, cohesive force (c), internal friction angle (φ), and crack shape of specimens with these through-step joints were analyzed, in order to understand the influence of the shape of the through-step joint on their direct shear mechanical properties. The results of the investigation were as follows: (1) Under the same normal stress, any increases in the height h of the step joint caused an initial-increase–decrease in the shear strengths of specimens with single-ladder and double-rectangular step joints, with a type-W variation pattern for the specimens with single-rectangular step joint. More essentially, when normal stress and h were constant, the shear strength of specimens with a single-ladder step joint was the greatest, followed by specimens with a double-rectangular step joint, whereas that for specimens with a single-rectangular step joint was the least. (2) For specimens with a single-ladder step joint, a small length of the bottom of the step joint with a large length of the rock bridge allowed c to dominantly influence the specimen shear strength. Conversely, a large length of the bottom of the step joint with a small length of the rock bridge caused φ to play a key role in the specimen shear strength. For specimens with a single-rectangular step joint, when the length of the top of the step joint and that of the rock bridge were large, c had the dominant influence on the specimen. Otherwise, when the length of the top of the step joint and that of the rock bridge were small, φ had the major influence on the specimen shear strength. (3) Furthermore, given a small h and low normal stress, specimens with a single-ladder step joint mainly experienced shear failure, whereas specimens with single-rectangular and double-rectangular step joints mainly generated extrusion milling in the step joints. Any increases in h caused specimens with the three types of step joints to have oblique cracks at the bottom and apex points of the step joint. The number of oblique cracks was expected to increase with greater normal stress.