TY - JOUR A1 - Kuznetsov, Alexander P. A1 - Turukina, Ludmila V. A1 - Chernyshov, Nikolai Yu A1 - Sedova, Yuliya V. T1 - Oscillations and Synchronization in a System of Three Reactively Coupled Oscillators JF - International journal of bifurcation and chaos : in applied sciences and engineering N2 - We consider a system of three interacting van der Pol oscillators with reactive coupling. Phase equations are derived, using proper order of expansion over the coupling parameter. The dynamics of the system is studied by means of the bifurcation analysis and with the method of Lyapunov exponent charts. Essential and physically meaningful features of the reactive coupling are discussed. KW - Synchronization KW - quasi-periodic oscillation KW - bifurcation KW - chaos Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1142/S0218127416500103 SN - 0218-1274 SN - 1793-6551 VL - 26 SP - 31 EP - 39 PB - World Scientific CY - Singapore ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yadavalli, Nataraja Sekhar A1 - Loebner, Sarah A1 - Papke, Thomas A1 - Sava, Elena A1 - Hurduc, Nicolae A1 - Santer, Svetlana T1 - A comparative study of photoinduced deformation in azobenzene containing polymer films JF - Soft matter N2 - In this paper two groups supporting different views on the mechanism of light induced polymer deformation argue about the respective underlying theoretical conceptions, in order to bring this interesting debate to the attention of the scientific community. The group of Prof. Nicolae Hurduc supports the model claiming that the cyclic isomerization of azobenzenes may cause an athermal transition of the glassy azobenzene containing polymer into a fluid state, the so-called photo-fluidization concept. This concept is quite convenient for an intuitive understanding of the deformation process as an anisotropic flow of the polymer material. The group of Prof. Svetlana Santer supports the re-orientational model where the mass-transport of the polymer material accomplished during polymer deformation is stated to be generated by the light-induced re-orientation of the azobenzene side chains and as a consequence of the polymer backbone that in turn results in local mechanical stress, which is enough to irreversibly deform an azobenzene containing material even in the glassy state. For the debate we chose three polymers differing in the glass transition temperature, 32 degrees C, 87 degrees C and 95 degrees C, representing extreme cases of flexible and rigid materials. Polymer film deformation occurring during irradiation with different interference patterns is recorded using a homemade set-up combining an optical part for the generation of interference patterns and an atomic force microscope for acquiring the kinetics of film deformation. We also demonstrated the unique behaviour of azobenzene containing polymeric films to switch the topography in situ and reversibly by changing the irradiation conditions. We discuss the results of reversible deformation of three polymers induced by irradiation with intensity (IIP) and polarization (PIP) interference patterns, and the light of homogeneous intensity in terms of two approaches: the re-orientational and the photo-fluidization concepts. Both agree in that the formation of opto-mechanically induced stresses is a necessary prerequisite for the process of deformation. Using this argument, the deformation process can be characterized either as a flow or mass transport. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c6sm00029k SN - 1744-683X SN - 1744-6848 VL - 12 SP - 2593 EP - 2603 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER - TY - GEN A1 - Teif, Vladimir B. A1 - Cherstvy, Andrey G. T1 - Chromatin and epigenetics: current biophysical views T2 - AIMS biophysics N2 - Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing experiments and their theoretical descriptions have determined fast dynamics of the "chromatin and epigenetics" field, with new concepts appearing at high rate. This field includes but is not limited to the study of DNA-protein-RNA interactions, chromatin packing properties at different scales, regulation of gene expression and protein trafficking in the cell nucleus, binding site search in the crowded chromatin environment and modulation of physical interactions by covalent chemical modifications of the binding partners. The current special issue does not pretend for the full coverage of the field, but it rather aims to capture its development and provide a snapshot of the most recent concepts and approaches. Eighteen open-access articles comprising this issue provide a delicate balance between current theoretical and experimental biophysical approaches to uncover chromatin structure and understand epigenetic regulation, allowing free flow of new ideas and preliminary results. KW - chromatin KW - epigenetics KW - linker histones KW - nucleosome KW - DNA-protein binding KW - histone modifications KW - remodelers KW - topologically associated domains KW - DNA methylation KW - DNA supercoiling Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3934/biophy.2016.1.88 SN - 2377-9098 VL - 3 SP - 88 EP - 98 PB - American Institute of Mathematical Sciences CY - Springfield ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Liebig, Ferenc A1 - Sarhan, Radwan Mohamed A1 - Prietzel, Claudia Christina A1 - Reinecke, Antje A1 - Koetz, Joachim T1 - "Green" gold nanotriangles: synthesis, purification by polyelectrolyte/micelle depletion flocculation and performance in surface-enhanced Raman scattering JF - RSC Advances N2 - The aim of this study was to develop a one-step synthesis of gold nanotriangles (NTs) in the presence of mixed phospholipid vesicles followed by a separation process to isolate purified NTs. Negatively charged vesicles containing AOT and phospholipids, in the absence and presence of additional reducing agents (polyampholytes, polyanions or low molecular weight compounds), were used as a template phase to form anisotropic gold nanoparticles. Upon addition of the gold chloride solution, the nucleation process is initiated and both types of particles, i.e., isotropic spherical and anisotropic gold nanotriangles, are formed simultaneously. As it was not possible to produce monodisperse nanotriangles with such a one-step procedure, the anisotropic nanoparticles needed to be separated from the spherical ones. Therefore, a new type of separation procedure using combined polyelectrolyte/micelle depletion flocculation was successfully applied. As a result of the different purification steps, a green colored aqueous dispersion was obtained containing highly purified, well-defined negatively charged flat nanocrystals with a platelet thickness of 10 nm and an edge length of about 175 nm. The NTs produce promising results in surface-enhanced Raman scattering. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c6ra04808k SN - 2046-2069 VL - 6 SP - 33561 EP - 33568 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sandmann, Michael A1 - Garz, Andreas A1 - Menzel, Ralf T1 - Physiological response of two different Chlamydomonas reinhardtii strains to light-dark rhythms JF - Botany N2 - Cells of a cell-wall deficient line (cw15-type) of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and of the corresponding wild type were grown during repetitive light-dark cycles. In a direct comparison, both lines showed approximately the same relative biomass increase during light phase but the cw-line produced significantly more, and smaller, daughter cells. Throughout the light period the average cellular starch content, the cellular chlorophyll content, the cellular rate of dark respiration, and the cellular rate of photosynthesis of the cw-line was lower. Despite this, several non-cell volume related parameters like the development of starch content per cell volume were clearly different over time between the strains. Additionally, the chlorophyll-based photosynthesis rates were 2-fold higher in the mutant than in the wild-type cells, and the ratio of chlorophyll a to chlorophyll b as well as the light-saturation index were also consistently higher in the mutant cells. Differences in the starch content were also confirmed by single cell analyses using a sensitive SHG-based microscopy approach. In summary, the cw15-type mutant deviates from its genetic background in the entire cell physiology. Both lines should be used in further studies in comparative systems biology with focus on the detailed relation between cell volume increase, photosynthesis, starch metabolism, and daughter cell productivity. KW - cell wall deficient mutant KW - diurnal rhythm KW - nonlinear microscopy KW - photosynthesis KW - single-cell analysis Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1139/cjb-2015-0144 SN - 1916-2790 SN - 1916-2804 VL - 94 SP - 53 EP - 64 PB - NRC Research Press CY - Ottawa ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Frieler, Katja A1 - Mengel, M. A1 - Levermann, Anders T1 - Delaying future sea-level rise by storing water in Antarctica JF - Earth system dynamics N2 - Even if greenhouse gas emissions were stopped today, sea level would continue to rise for centuries, with the long-term sea-level commitment of a 2 degrees C warmer world significantly exceeding 2 m. In view of the potential implications for coastal populations and ecosystems worldwide, we investigate, from an ice-dynamic perspective, the possibility of delaying sea-level rise by pumping ocean water onto the surface of the Antarctic ice sheet. We find that due to wave propagation ice is discharged much faster back into the ocean than would be expected from a pure advection with surface velocities. The delay time depends strongly on the distance from the coastline at which the additional mass is placed and less strongly on the rate of sea-level rise that is mitigated. A millennium-scale storage of at least 80% of the additional ice requires placing it at a distance of at least 700 km from the coastline. The pumping energy required to elevate the potential energy of ocean water to mitigate the currently observed 3 mmyr(-1) will exceed 7% of the current global primary energy supply. At the same time, the approach offers a comprehensive protection for entire coastlines particularly including regions that cannot be protected by dikes. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-7-203-2016 SN - 2190-4979 SN - 2190-4987 VL - 7 SP - 203 EP - 210 PB - Copernicus CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sandev, Trifce A1 - Iomin, Alexander A1 - Kantz, Holger A1 - Metzler, Ralf A1 - Chechkin, Aleksei V. T1 - Comb Model with Slow and Ultraslow Diffusion JF - Mathematical modelling of natural phenomena N2 - We consider a generalized diffusion equation in two dimensions for modeling diffusion on a comb-like structures. We analyze the probability distribution functions and we derive the mean squared displacement in x and y directions. Different forms of the memory kernels (Dirac delta, power-law, and distributed order) are considered. It is shown that anomalous diffusion may occur along both x and y directions. Ultraslow diffusion and some more general diffusive processes are observed as well. We give the corresponding continuous time random walk model for the considered two dimensional diffusion-like equation on a comb, and we derive the probability distribution functions which subordinate the process governed by this equation to the Wiener process. KW - comb-like model KW - anomalous diffusion KW - mean squared displacement KW - probability density function Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1051/mmnp/201611302 SN - 0973-5348 SN - 1760-6101 VL - 11 SP - 18 EP - 33 PB - EDP Sciences CY - Les Ulis ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pavlenko, Elena S. A1 - Sander, Mathias A1 - Mitzscherling, S. A1 - Pudell, Jan-Etienne A1 - Zamponi, Flavio A1 - Roessle, M. A1 - Bojahr, Andre A1 - Bargheer, Matias T1 - Azobenzene - functionalized polyelectrolyte nanolayers as ultrafast optoacoustic transducers JF - Nanoscale N2 - We introduce azobenzene-functionalized polyelectrolyte multilayers as efficient, inexpensive optoacoustic transducers for hyper-sound strain waves in the GHz range. By picosecond transient reflectivity measurements we study the creation of nanoscale strain waves, their reflection from interfaces, damping by scattering from nanoparticles and propagation in soft and hard adjacent materials like polymer layers, quartz and mica. The amplitude of the generated strain epsilon similar to 5 x 10(-4) is calibrated by ultrafast X-ray diffraction. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c6nr01448h SN - 2040-3364 SN - 2040-3372 VL - 8 SP - 13297 EP - 13302 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Holländer, Lars A1 - Kossack, Wilhelm A1 - Kollosche, Matthias A1 - Wirges, Werner A1 - Kremer, Friedrich A1 - Gerhard, Reimund T1 - Influence of the remanent polarisation on the liquid crystal alignment in composite films of ferroelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) and a cyanobiphenyl-based liquid crystal JF - Liquid crystals : an international journal of science and technology N2 - Polymer-dispersed liquid crystals (PDLCs) of ferroelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) and nematic 4-cyano-4ʹ-n-hexylbiphenyl (6CB) or 4-cyano-4ʹ-n-pentylbiphenyl (5CB) were prepared to study the effect of the remanent polarisation of the polymer on the liquid crystal alignment. We measured the macroscopic alignment of the liquid crystal molecules in the thickness direction by means of Infrared Transition-Moment Orientational Analysis. Electrical poling at 100 V/µm caused an increased order parameter up to 0.15. After subsequent annealing above the nematic-to-isotropic phase-transition temperature, the order parameter was reduced to 0.02. Nevertheless, the order parameter was still higher than for non-poled film indicating a slight orientation in thickness direction. Both values are lower than those expected from model calculations. In agreement with dielectric measurements, we attribute this result to the shielding effect of mobile charge carriers within the liquid crystal inclusions. KW - Polymer-dispersed liquid crystal KW - ferroelectric polymer KW - remanent polarisation KW - liquid crystal alignment Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/02678292.2016.1185174 SN - 0267-8292 SN - 1366-5855 VL - 43 SP - 1514 EP - 1521 PB - Editions Rodopi BV CY - Abingdon ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Münch, Thomas A1 - Kipfstuhl, Sepp A1 - Freitag, Johannes A1 - Meyer, Hanno A1 - Laepple, Thomas T1 - Regional climate signal vs. local noise: a two-dimensional view of water isotopes in Antarctic firn at Kohnen Station, Dronning Maud Land JF - Climate of the past : an interactive open access journal of the European Geosciences Union N2 - In low-accumulation regions, the reliability of delta O-18-derived temperature signals from ice cores within the Holocene is unclear, primarily due to the small climate changes relative to the intrinsic noise of the isotopic signal. In order to learn about the representativity of single ice cores and to optimise future ice-core-based climate reconstructions, we studied the stable-water isotope composition of firn at Kohnen Station, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Analysing delta O-18 in two 50m long snow trenches allowed us to create an unprecedented, two-dimensional image characterising the isotopic variations from the centimetre to the 100-metre scale. Our results show seasonal layering of the isotopic composition but also high horizontal isotopic variability caused by local stratigraphic noise. Based on the horizontal and vertical structure of the isotopic variations, we derive a statistical noise model which successfully explains the trench data. The model further allows one to determine an upper bound for the reliability of climate reconstructions conducted in our study region at seasonal to annual resolution, depending on the number and the spacing of the cores taken. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1565-2016 SN - 1814-9324 SN - 1814-9332 VL - 12 SP - 1565 EP - 1581 PB - Copernicus CY - Göttingen ER -