Force density induced by preferential adsorption in a near-critical binary fluid mixture subject to the Soret effect.

We assume that two parallel plates are immersed in a binary fluid mixture lying in the one-phase region near the demixing critical point and that the surface of each plate attracts the mixture components differently via short-range interactions. It is known that the composition inhomogeneity caused by the difference can induce a force exerted on the plate at equilibrium. In the present study, we investigate how a temperature gradient imposed vertically on the plates changes the induced force by calculating the composition profile subject to the Soret effect.

Thermo-osmosis of a near-critical binary fluid mixture: A general formulation and universal flow direction.

We consider a binary fluid mixture, which lies in the one-phase region near the demixing critical point, and study its transport through a capillary tube linking two large reservoirs. We assume that short-range interactions cause preferential adsorption of one component onto the tube's wall. The adsorption layer can become much thicker than the molecular size, which enables us to apply hydrodynamics based on a coarse-grained free-energy functional.

Relaxation rate of the shape fluctuation of a fluid membrane immersed in a near-critical binary fluid mixture.

We consider the two-time correlation of the shape fluctuation of a fluid membrane immersed in a near-critical binary fluid mixture. Usually one component of the mixture is preferably attracted by the membrane. Adsorption layers, where the preferred component is more concentrated, are generated on both sides of the membrane significantly because of the near-criticality.

Undulation amplitude of a fluid membrane surrounded by near-critical binary fluid mixtures.

We consider the thermal undulation, or shape fluctuation, of an almost planar fluid membrane surrounded by the same near-critical binary fluid mixtures on both sides. A weak preferential attraction is assumed between the membrane and one component of the mixture. We use the Gaussian free-energy functional to study the equilibrium average of the undulation amplitude within the linear approximation with respect to the amplitude.

Random-walk mechanism in the genetic recombination.

We have explained some experimental data of the homologous recombination and the genetic interference in terms of one-dimensional random walk over discrete sites. We first review our previous results. Next, we modify our random-walk model for the homologous recombination into a continuous-site model, and discuss a possible explanation for the previous experimental data obtained by means of the plasmid having one-side homology.

Asymmetric random walk in a reaction intermediate of homologous recombination.

At an intermediate step of the homologous recombination between two double-stranded DNA molecules, a point (often called Holliday structure) connecting two strands coming from two recombining partners migrates along the homologous region. Assuming random walk of a connecting point, we previously explained the dependence of recombination frequency on the homology length observed in vivo. In this model, the random walk was assumed to be symmetric in that the forward transition rate equals the backward one.

A reaction-diffusion model for interference in meiotic crossing over.

One crossover point between a pair of homologous chromosomes in meiosis appears to interfere with occurrence of another in the neighborhood. It has been revealed that Drosophila and Neurospora, in spite of their large difference in the frequency of crossover points, show very similar plots of coincidence-a measure of the interference-against the genetic distance of the interval, defined as one-half the average number of crossover points within the interval. We here propose a simple reaction-diffusion model, where a "randomly walking" precursor becomes immobilized and matures into a crossover point.