Evolution of non-equilibrium systems towards equilibrium is governed by the second law of thermodynamics. For example, in the previous section we showed that for an adia­ batically isolated system entropy must increase in any spontaneous change and reaches a maximum in equilibrium. What about out of equilibrium systems that are not adiabati­ cally isolated and which may also be subject to exter...

This work proposes an enhanced method for cell stiffness evaluation by eliminating the effect from cell viscosity. While the passing time of cell through a μ-channel is used for evaluating cell stiffness in the conventional method, the time includes both the effects of cell stiffness and cell viscosity. The key idea is that we separate the cell motion inside a μ-channel into two phases, the pha...

Convective activity occurs more commonly and frequently across the United States during the spring and summer (nominally, the period of May through September). While distribution of the activity has been examined both temporally (time of maximum activity and severity) and spatially (e.g., nationally as well as regional variations) to depict its characteristic time of occurrence and pattern, ver...

In European Robins, Erithacus rubecula, the magnetic compass is lateralized in favor of the right eye/left hemisphere of the brain. This lateralization develops during the first winter and initially shows a great plasticity. During the first spring migration, it can be temporarily removed by covering the right eye. In the present paper, we used the migratory orientation of robins to analyze the...

Title of Document: THE HYDROLOGIC AND WATER QUALITY PERFORMANCE OF THE SLIGO-DENNIS BIORETENTION CELL. Jennifer M. Olszewski, Master of Science, 2010 Directed By: Professor Allen P. Davis Civil and Environmental Engineering Bioretention cells have been found to improve the hydrologic and water quality performance of impervious areas such as parking lots. The current study recorded hydrologic da...

We explore the escape rate of a dimer crossing a potential barrier using both analytical and numerical approaches. We find that for small coupling strength k, the barrier hopping can be well approximated by a two step reaction scheme where one monomer hops over the barrier and is then followed by the other. In this regime the escape rate increases with k showing that the cooperativity between m...

This paper presents a micrograting-based force sensor integrated with a surface micromachined silicon-nitride probe suitable for characterizing microsurgery force on a single cell or embryo. The probe is supported by springs of a known spring constant, and the surgical penetration force is determined from displacement measurements. The opticalencoder force sensor exhibits conŽgurable sensitivit...

Reich, T. E., S. L. Lindstedt, P. C. LaStayo, and D. J. Pierotti. Is the spring quality of muscle plastic? Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol 278: R1661– R1666, 2000.—During locomotion, major muscle groups are often activated cyclically. This alternate stretch-shorten pattern of activity could enable muscle to function as a spring, storing and recovering elastic recoil potential e...

A flexible linker region between three fragments allows antibodies to adjust their binding sites to an antigen or receptor. Using Neutron Spin Echo Spectroscopy we observed fragment motion on a timescale of 7 ns with motional amplitudes of about 1 nm relative to each other. The mechanistic complexity of the linker region can be described by a spring model with Brownian motion of the fragments i...

In this paper a novel RF MEMS cantilever type switch with low actuation voltage is presented. The cantilever beam of switch is supported by two L-shaped springs to reduce the spring constant. The switch is simulated using Intellisuite software. The actuation voltage of switch is achieved about 2 volt and the size of the switch is 110×60μm, that in compared with other electrostatic cantilever be...