We analyze the phenomenon of spreading of a Myxococcus xanthus bacterial colony on plates coated with nutrient. The bacteria spread by gliding on the surface. In the first few hours, cell growth is irrelevant to colony spread. In this case, bacteria spread through peninsular protrusions from the edge of the initial colony. We analyze the diffusion through the narrowing reticulum of cells on the...

The number of patients with diabetes is increasing in Japan. Recently, Social capital (SC) has received increasing attention as a factor influencing health conditions. In the US, the relation between SC and diabetes control has been reported, but little attention has been paid to this connection in Japan. Three SC questionnaires, entitled "trust in people in a community," "social support," and ...

Due to an increase in demand of petroleum products which are transported by vessels or exported by pipelines, oil spill management becomes a controversial issue in coastal environment safety as well as making serious financial problems. After spilling oil in the water body, oil spreads as a thin layer on the water surface. Currents, waves and wind are the main causes of oil slick transport. The...

TieSieN coatings are synthesized on titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) by arc-enhanced magnetron sputtering and the microstructure and tribological properties are determined. The friction coefficient of the TieSieN coatings, which is smaller in human serum than ambient air, decreases gradually with Si contents. Protein gel electrophoresis shows that the small friction coefficient is due to adsorbed prote...

The effect of hydrodynamic interactions on the spreading of clusters of colloid particles in a quasi-one-dimensional channel is analyzed both experimentally and theoretically. An n-particle cluster spreading diffusion coefficient is defined, in terms of the displacement Deltax(t) in time t, by D(n)[triple bond]<[Sigma(i=1)(n)Deltax(i)(t)](2)>/2nt, where the average is taken over all groups of n...

Polycrystalline Er-Sc silicates (Er x Sc2-x Si2O7 and Er x Sc2-x SiO5) were fabricated using multilayer nanostructured films of Er2O3/SiO2/Sc2O3 deposited on SiO2/Si substrates by RF sputtering and thermal annealing at high temperature. The films were characterized by synchrotron radiation grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X...

Biological systems exhibit complex patterns at length scales ranging from the molecular to the organismic. Along chromosomes, events often occur stochastically at different positions in different nuclei but nonetheless tend to be relatively evenly spaced. Examples include replication origin firings, formation of chromatin loops along chromosome axes and, during meiosis, localization of crossove...