Population cycles and species diversity in dynamic Kill-the-Winner model of microbial ecosystems

Determinants of species diversity in microbial ecosystems remain poorly understood. Bacteriophages are believed to increase the diversity by the virtue of Kill-the-Winner infection bias preventing the fastest growing organism from taking over the community. Phage-bacterial ecosystems are traditionally described in terms of the static equilibrium state of Lotka-Volterra equations in which bacterial growth is exactly balanced by losses due to phage predation. Here we consider a more dynamic scenario in which phage infections give rise to abrupt and severe collapses of bacterial populations whenever they become sufficiently large. As a consequence, each bacterial population in our model follows cyclic dynamics of exponential growth interrupted by sudden declines. The total population of all species fluctuates around the carrying capacity of the environment, making these cycles cryptic. While a subset of the slowest growing species in our model is always driven towards extinction, in general the overall ecosystem diversity remains high. The number of surviving species is inversely proportional to the variation in their growth rates but increases with the frequency and severity of phage-induced collapses. Thus counter-intuitively we predict that microbial communities exposed to more violent perturbations should have higher diversity.

Atomistic Simulation on Buckling Behavior of Monolayer Graphene

The buckling behavior of monolayer graphene sheets with simple-supported, clamped-free and clamped-clamped boundary conditions is investigated by the atomic-scale finite method (AFEM). The initial static equilibrium state of monolayer graphene sheet is obtained in the simulation as a waved configuration which is close to the real graphene observed in experiments. With the increase of compressive displacement, the force displays three stages: linear increasing, nonlinear increasing and decreasing slowly after a sudden drop. Different from the prediction by classical theory, the critical buckling loads of graphene sheets with different boundary conditions are similar, which is attributed to the initial waved configuration of the monolayer graphene sheets.

SOLITON NATURE OF EQUILIBRIUM STATE OF TWO CHARGED MASSES IN GENERAL RELATIVITY

New derivation of static equilibrium state for two charged masses in General Relativity is given in the framework of the Inverse Scattering Method in contradistinction to our previous derivation of this solution by the Integral Equation Method. This shows that such solution is of solitonic character and represents the particular case of more general (12-parametric) stationary axisymmetric electrovacuum two-soliton solution for two rotating charged objects obtained by one of the authors in 1986. This result gives an additional support to our comprehension that the appropriate analytical continuations of solitonic solutions in the space of their parameters are always possible and that applicability of the Inverse Scattering Method in presence of electromagnetic field is not restricted only to the cases with naked singularities. The paper represents the shortened version of the plenary talk given at the Second Galileo - Xu Guangqi meeting (July 12-18, 2010, Ventimiglia, Italy).

Simulation for Silos Discharge with 2D DEM

In this paper, using the discrete element method (PFC2D)particle flow procedure to establish a model of cylindrical silo, in the warehouse filled with particles within the reach of static equilibrium state, then the record of its wall static lateral pressure measurement value, while monitoring the measured dynamic wall pressure during the silo discharging. It was shown that the static pressure as well as the dynamic pressure simulated with the numerical model is in good agreement with the experimental results. So the discrete element method can give a new way to study dynamic question of silos.

State Dependent Riccati Equation (SDRE) Control Method Applied in Cancellation of a Parametric Resonance in a Magnetically Levitated Body

Here, a simplified dynamical model of a magnetically levitated body is considered. The origin of an inertial Cartesian reference frame is set at the pivot point of the pendulum on the levitated body in its static equilibrium state (ie, the gap between the magnet on the base and the magnet on the body, in this state). The governing equations of motion has been derived and the characteristic feature of the strategy is the exploitation of the nonlinear effect of the inertial force associated, with the motion of a pendulum-type vibration absorber driven, by an appropriate control torque [4]. In the present paper, we analyzed the nonlinear dynamics of problem, discussed the energy transfer between the main system and the pendulum in time, and developed State Dependent Riccati Equation (SDRE) control design to reducing the unstable oscillatory movement of the magnetically levitated body to a stable fixed point. The simulations results showed the effectiveness of the (SDRE) control design.

Geometrical Nonlinear Aeroelastic Stability Analysis of a Composite High-Aspect-Ratio Wing

A composite high-aspect-ratio wing of a high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) aircraft was modeled with FEM by MSC/NASTRAN, and the nonlinear static equilibrium state is calculated under design load with follower force effect, but without load redistribution. Assuming the little vibration amplitude of the wing around the static equilibrium state, the system is linearized and the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the deformed structure are obtained. Planar doublet lattice method is used to calculate unsteady aerodynamics in frequency domain ignoring the bending effect of the deflected wing. And then, the aeroelastic stability analysis of the system under a given load condition is successively carried out. Comparing with the linear results, the nonlinear displacement of the wing tip is higher. The results indicate that the critical nonlinear flutter is of the flap/chordwise bending type because of the chordwise bending having quite a large torsion component, with low critical speed and slowly growing damping, which dose not appear in the linear analysis. Furthermore, it is shown that the variation of the nonlinear flutter speed depends on the scale of the load and on the chordwise bending frequency. The research work indicates that, for the very flexible HALE aircraft, the nonlinear aeroelastic stability is very important, and should be considered in the design progress. Using present FEM software as the structure solver (e.g. MSC/NASTRAN), and the unsteady aerodynamic code, the nonlinear aeroelastic stability margin of a complex system other than a simple beam model can be determined.