PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Shifting boundaries and changing surfaces

Shifting boundaries and changing surfaces
2014-12-10
(Press-News.org) This news release is available in Japanese.

New research published in the Proceedings of The Royal Society A by members of the Mathematical Soft Matter Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University examines the energies at work in a closed flexible loop spanned by a soap film. While the underlying experiments are simple enough to be replicated in a kitchen sink, the research generates potentially important questions and changes how we think about different disciplines from material science to vertebrate morphogenesis. Aisa Biria and Professor Eliot Fried, who heads the unit, conducted the research.

The problem of determining the shape of a soap film that spans a given rigid frame goes back to experiments first conducted by Joseph Plateau in the 1870s. Due to the rigidity of the boundary, only the surface energy of the soap film plays a role in these experiments. In the experiments that inspired this work, OIST Prof. Fried explains that "you have not only the surface tension caused by the soap film, but also energy resulting from the resistance of the loop material to bending and twisting. These energies compete to influence the equilibrium states accessible to the model."

A work published by Luca Giomi and L. Mahadevan in 2012, which served as the foundation for the research done at OIST, focused on a model in which two energies competed: surface tension from a spanning soap film and the flexural resistance of the bounding loop. As the length of the loop increases, the resistance of the bounding loop decreases and experiments and numerical simulations found a wide range of equilibrium states where the surface tension of the soap films buckles the loop, creating a multitude of different non-flat shapes. The recent work published by the OIST Mathematical Soft Matter unit examines the next logical problem of how energy associated with the resistance of the loop to twisting about its axis influences the collection of energetically favorable equilibrium states.

The studies, which take into account the energies associated with surface tension and with the bending and twisting of the loop, show both physically and mathematically the points at which these energies overtake one another and act to alter the shape of the loop and the soap film that spans it. Specifically the new research demonstrates the stabilizing effect of torsional rigidity or resistance to twisting within these models.

The study of loops that can both twist and bend in response to an applied surface tension provides a simple model for various biological systems where elastic filaments or tubes are spanned by membranes. Such naturally occurring structures include high-density lipoproteins, which transport various forms of cholesterol around the body, and the dorsal mesentery, namely the membrane inside the gut which suspends internal structures like the colon. The 2012 work of Giomi and Mahadevan, which this newest paper continues to build upon, already drew connections to bending and surface tension energies as being both problematic and also a key regulator of vertebrate gut formation. Adding to this the effect of twisting allows future researchers to ask questions about the role such competing energies play in health problems related to highly twisted intestines.

INFORMATION:


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Shifting boundaries and changing surfaces Shifting boundaries and changing surfaces 2

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Limiting internet congestion a key factor in net neutrality debate

Limiting internet congestion a key factor in net neutrality debate
2014-12-10
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY'S HAAS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS -Too many vehicles on the highway inevitably slow down traffic. On the Internet information highway, consumers value high-speed Internet service, but there is little reason to think broadband traffic congestion will improve if the Federal Communications Commission abandons net neutrality, according to economic research. In their paper, "The Economics of Network Neutrality," Ben Hermalin, Haas Economics Analysis and Policy Group, and Nicholas Economides, Berkeley-Haas visiting professor from NYU'S Stern School ...

Breakthrough simplifies design of gels for food, cosmetics and biomedicine

2014-12-10
Scientists at the University of Strathclyde and City University of New York have created methods that dramatically simplify the discovery of biological gels for food, cosmetics and biomedicine, as published in the journal Nature Chemistry. Strathclyde's Dr Tell Tuttle and Professor Rein Ulijn, the director of nanoscience at City University New York's new advanced research centre who also holds a position at Strathclyde, believe their team's breakthrough dramatically simplifies discovery of functional gels that can be used in a wide range of applications. Until now, ...

Daclatasvir for hepatitis C: Added benefit not proven

2014-12-10
The drug daclatasvir (trade name Daklinza) has been available since August 2014 for the treatment of adults with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infection. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined in a dossier assessment whether this new drug offers an added benefit over the appropriate comparator therapy. The drug manufacturer presented data for patients without cirrhosis of the liver who are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1, and for patients with HCV genotype 4. However, these data are unsuitable in various aspects to ...

Revolutionary new procedure for epilepsy diagnosis unlocked by research

2014-12-10
Pioneering new research by the University of Exeter could revolutionise global diagnostic procedures for one of the most common forms of epilepsy. Scientists from Exeter have investigated using mathematical modelling to assess susceptibility to idiopathic generalised epilepsy (IGE) by analysing electrical activity of the brain while the patient is in a resting state. Current diagnosis practices typically observe electrical activities associated with seizures in a clinical environment. The ground-breaking research has revealed differences in the way that distant regions ...

Anyone who is good at German learns English better

2014-12-10
"A tree must be bent while it is young," as one saying about learning a foreign language goes. In other words, the earlier you start learning a foreign language systematically, the better the language level will be in the long run. The second widely held view is that you need to be solid in your first language (L1) in order to develop good literacy skills in the foreign language. Linguist Simone Pfenninger from the University of Zurich has been examining these two myths in her five-year study involving Swiss high-school children in order to identify the optimal starting ...

Nuclear medicine treatment shows promise for cancer therapy

2014-12-10
Reston, Va. (December 9, 2014) - Cancer therapy can be much more effective using a new way to customize nuclear medicine treatment, researchers say in the December 2014 issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. The process could also be useful for other diseases that could benefit from targeted radiation. Targeted therapy with radiopharmaceuticals--radioactive compounds used in nuclear medicine for diagnosis or treatment--has great potential for the treatment of cancer, especially for cancer cells that have migrated from primary tumors to lymph nodes and secondary organs ...

Guidelines for treatment of Ebola patients are urgently needed

2014-12-10
London, United Kingdom, December 9, 2014 - As the Ebola Virus Diseases (EVD) epidemic continues to rage in West Africa, infectious diseases experts call attention to the striking lack of treatment guidelines. With over 16,000 total cases and more than 500 new infections reported per week, and probable underreporting of both cases and fatalities, the medical community still does not have specific approved treatment in place for Ebola, according to an editorial published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. Not only are treatment guidelines lacking, but ...

With experience, people can tell bears apart

2014-12-10
Studying the social interaction of bears through the use of camera traps and visual observations requires that humans be able to tell individuals apart. A study done using volunteers to study the vulnerable Andean bear indicates that people can learn to identify individual bears, given a little practice. The research, done by San Diego Zoo conservationists with international collaborators using photos spanning many years, also indicates that young bears usually retain many of their unique markings as they grow older. "Knowing, scientifically, that people who have been ...

German researchers propose better substances for treating the dengue virus

2014-12-10
Researchers from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg are proposing potential new active substances for treating the dengue virus. Just like Ebola, dengue fever is also caused by a virus for which there is currently no cure and no vaccine and can be fatal. In the quest for medication to treat the dengue virus, the scientific community is focusing on a particular enzyme of the pathogen, the protease known as NS2B/NS3. The reason for this is that inhibitors of similar proteases have been revealed to be very effective ...

Immune function marker does not predict benefit of trastuzumab in HER-2+ breast cancer

2014-12-10
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A marker of immune function that predicts for better outcomes in patients treated with chemotherapy for triple negative breast cancer is also linked to improved prognosis in patients treated with chemotherapy for HER2-positive breast cancer. But that marker -- the quantity of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (S-TILs) in a biopsy -- appears irrelevant when trastuzumab is used. And since trastuzumab, and not chemotherapy alone, is the standard of care for the HER2-positive sub-class of breast cancer, there is no need to test for these lymphocytes in ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue

UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’

New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening

Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition

CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam

Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers

Antibiotic resistance among key bacterial species plateaus over time

‘Some insects are declining but what’s happening to the other 99%?’

Powerful new software platform could reshape biomedical research by making data analysis more accessible

Revealing capillaries and cells in living organs with ultrasound

American College of Physicians awards $260,000 in grants to address equity challenges in obesity care

Researchers from MARE ULisboa discover that the European catfish, an invasive species in Portugal, has a prolonged breeding season, enhancing its invasive potential

Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, FAACR, honored with the 2025 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research

Solar cells made of moon dust could power future space exploration

Deporting immigrants may further shrink the health care workforce

Border region emergency medical services in migrant emergency care

Resident physician intentions regarding unionization

[Press-News.org] Shifting boundaries and changing surfaces