Running droplets have been studied recent years as dissipative macroscopic structures with locomotive capability, a characteristic of which is shared with biological systems. We constructed a numerical model of a droplet that integrates fluid dynamics and chemical reaction. Our results show that the chemical gradient generates droplet’s motion, accompanied with convection flow. This convection ...

Self-sustaining autocatalytic networks play a central role in living systems, from metabolism at the origin of life, simple RNA networks, and the modern cell, to ecology and cognition. A collectively autocatalytic network that can be sustained from an ambient food set is also referred to more formally as a ‘Reflexively Autocatalytic F-generated’ (RAF) set. In this paper, we first investigate a ...

The authors have found that the two yeast mRNA capping enzymes, Cet1p and Ceg1p, are potent in vitro inhibitors of transcription. Cet1p, stimulated by its Ceg1p binding partner, stalled transcription by blocking reinitiation at already activated promoters. Conversely, elimination of Cet1p in vivo stimulated transcription. Although Cet1p is the first general repressor found to act at reinitiatio...

The template-directed construction of crown-ether-like macrocycles around secondary dialkylammonium ions (R2NH2+) has been utilized for the expedient (one-pot) and high-yielding synthesis of a diverse range of mechanically interlocked molecules. The clipping together of appropriately designed dialdehyde and diamine compounds around R2NH2+-containing dumbbell-shaped components proceeds through t...

The most common use of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is to collect environmental data from a specific area, and to channel it to a central processing node for on-line or off-line analysis. The WSN technology, however, can be used for much more ambitious goals. We claim that merging the concepts and technology of WSN with the concepts and technology of distributed robotics and multi-agent syst...

Greater distributed production of energy from renewable resources such as solar radiation has increased fluctuations of power on the electrical grid. Current infrastructure has limited ability to handle continued increases in fluctuations. Predicting weather patterns in areas containing a high penetration of solar photovoltaic installations can allow time to switch to energy storage and inform ...

In vitro mechanical conditioning has been demonstrated to be of critical importance in the tissue engineering of cardiovascular substitutes, i.e. vascular grafts and heart valves. Therefore, after static culturing, cell seeded constructs are placed in a bioreactor and subjected to pulsatile loading conditions. The objective is to stimulate cell proliferation and differentiation as well as extra...

We show that in a particular model of catalytic reaction systems, known as the binary polymer model, there is a mathematical concordance between two versions of the model: (1) random catalysis and (2) template-based catalysis. In particular, we derive an analytical calculation that allows us to accurately predict the (observed) required level of catalysis in one version of the model from that i...

Sensors based on nanoelectromechanical systems vibrating at high and ultrahigh frequencies are capable of levels of performance that surpass those of larger sensors. Nanoelectromechanical devices have achieved unprecedented sensitivity in the detection of displacement, mass, force and charge. To date, these milestones have been achieved with passive devices that require external periodic or imp...