Generalized Archimedes' principle in active fluids.

We show how a gradient in the motility properties of noninteracting pointlike active particles can cause a pressure gradient that pushes a large inert object. We calculate the force on an object inside a system of active particles with position-dependent motion parameters, in one and two dimensions, and show that a modified Archimedes' principle is satisfied. We characterize the system, both in terms of the model parameters and in terms of experimentally measurable quantities: the spatial profiles of the density, velocity and pressure.

Flow-induced adhesion of shear-activated polymers to a substrate.

Adhesion of polymers and proteins to substrates plays a crucial role in many technological applications and biological processes. A prominent example is the von Willebrand factor (VWF) protein, which is essential in blood clotting as it mediates adhesion of blood platelets to the site of injury at high shear rates. VWF is activated by flow and is able to bind efficiently to damaged vessel walls even under extreme flow-stress conditions; however, its adhesion is reversible when the flow strength is significantly reduced or the flow is ceased.

Multi-scale account of the network structure of macaque visual cortex.

Cortical network structure has been extensively characterized at the level of local circuits and in terms of long-range connectivity, but seldom in a manner that integrates both of these scales. Furthermore, while the connectivity of cortex is known to be related to its architecture, this knowledge has not been used to derive a comprehensive cortical connectivity map. In this study, we integrate data on cortical architecture and axonal tracing data into a consistent multi-scale framework of the structure of one hemisphere of macaque vision-related cortex.

Mixed Weyl semimetals and low-dissipation magnetization control in insulators by spin-orbit torques.

Reliable and energy-efficient magnetization switching by electrically induced spin-orbit torques is of crucial technological relevance for spintronic devices implementing memory and logic functionality. Here we predict that the strength of spin-orbit torques and the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in topologically nontrivial magnetic insulators can exceed by far that of conventional metals. In analogy to the quantum anomalous Hall effect, we explain this extraordinary response in the absence of longitudinal currents as hallmark of monopoles in the electronic structure of systems that are interpreted most naturally within the framework of mixed Weyl semimetals.

Human sperm steer with second harmonics of the flagellar beat.

Sperm are propelled by bending waves traveling along their flagellum. For steering in gradients of sensory cues, sperm adjust the flagellar waveform. Symmetric and asymmetric waveforms result in straight and curved swimming paths, respectively.

Margination and stretching of von Willebrand factor in the blood stream enable adhesion.

The protein von Willebrand factor (VWF) is essential in primary hemostasis, as it mediates platelet adhesion to vessel walls. VWF retains its compact (globule-like) shape in equilibrium due to internal molecular associations, but is able to stretch when a high enough shear stress is applied. Even though the shear-flow sensitivity of VWF conformation is well accepted, the behavior of VWF under realistic blood flow conditions remains poorly understood.

Time Evolution of the Kondo Resonance in Response to a Quench.

We investigate the time evolution of the Kondo resonance in response to a quench by applying the time-dependent numerical renormalization group (TDNRG) approach to the Anderson impurity model in the strong correlation limit. For this purpose, we derive within the TDNRG approach a numerically tractable expression for the retarded two-time nonequilibrium Green function G(t+t^{'},t), and its associated time-dependent spectral function, A(ω,t), for times t both before and after the quench. Quenches from both mixed valence and Kondo correlated initial states to Kondo correlated final states are considered.

Guided Molecular Assembly on a Locally Reactive 2D Material.

Atomically precise engineering of the position of molecular adsorbates on surfaces of 2D materials is key to their development in applications ranging from catalysis to single-molecule spintronics. Here, stable room-temperature templating of individual molecules with localized electronic states on the surface of a locally reactive 2D material, silicene grown on ZrB , is demonstrated. Using a combination of scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory, it is shown that the binding of iron phthalocyanine (FePc) molecules is mediated via the strong chemisorption of the central Fe atom to the sp -like dangling bond of Si atoms in the linear silicene domain boundaries.

Bistability, non-ergodicity, and inhibition in pairwise maximum-entropy models.

Pairwise maximum-entropy models have been used in neuroscience to predict the activity of neuronal populations, given only the time-averaged correlations of the neuron activities. This paper provides evidence that the pairwise model, applied to experimental recordings, would produce a bimodal distribution for the population-averaged activity, and for some population sizes the second mode would peak at high activities, that experimentally would be equivalent to 90% of the neuron population active within time-windows of few milliseconds. Several problems are connected with this bimodality: 1.

Devil's staircase and the absence of chaos in the dc- and ac-driven overdamped Frenkel-Kontorova model.

The devil's staircase structure arising from the complete mode locking of an entirely nonchaotic system, the overdamped dc+ac driven Frenkel-Kontorova model with deformable substrate potential, was observed. Even though no chaos was found, a hierarchical ordering of the Shapiro steps was made possible through the use of a previously introduced continued fraction formula. The absence of chaos, deduced here from Lyapunov exponent analyses, can be attributed to the overdamped character and the Middleton no-passing rule.

A gateway towards non-collinear spin processing using three-atom magnets with strong substrate coupling.

A cluster of a few magnetic atoms on the surface of a nonmagnetic substrate is one suitable realization of a bit for spin-based information technology. The prevalent approach to achieve magnetic stability is decoupling the cluster spin from substrate conduction electrons in order to suppress destabilizing spin-flips. However, this route entails less flexibility in tailoring the coupling between the bits needed for spin-processing.

Enhanced Dynamics of Confined Cytoskeletal Filaments Driven by Asymmetric Motors.

Cytoskeletal filaments and molecular motors facilitate the micron-scale force generation necessary for the distribution of organelles and the restructuring of the cytoskeleton within eukaryotic cells. Although the mesoscopic structure and the dynamics of such filaments have been studied in vitro and in vivo, their connection with filament polarity-dependent motor-mediated force generation is not well understood. Using 2D Brownian dynamics simulations, we study a dense, confined mixture of rigid microtubules (MTs) and active springs that have arms that cross-link neighboring MT pairs and move unidirectionally on the attached MT.

Phase-coherence classification: A new wavelet-based method to separate local field potentials into local (in)coherent and volume-conducted components.

Background: Local field potentials (LFP) reflect the integrated electrophysiological activity of large neuron populations and may thus reflect the dynamics of spatially and functionally different networks.

New Method: We introduce the wavelet-based phase-coherence classification (PCC), which separates LFP into volume-conducted, local incoherent and local coherent components. It allows to compute power spectral densities for each component associated with local or remote electrophysiological activity.

Structural Modeling of Human Prion Protein's Point Mutations.

Prion diseases, or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, are a group of rare fatal neurodegenerative maladies that affect humans and animals. The main event in disease progression is the posttranslational conversion of the ubiquitously expressed cellular form of the prion protein (PrP) into its misfolded and pathogenic isoform, known as prion or PrP. In the presence of specific disease-linked mutations, the conversion may occur spontaneously.

Antiskyrmions stabilized at interfaces by anisotropic Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions.

Chiral magnets are an emerging class of topological matter harboring localized and topologically protected vortex-like magnetic textures called skyrmions, which are currently under intense scrutiny as an entity for information storage and processing. Here, on the level of micromagnetics we rigorously show that chiral magnets can not only host skyrmions but also antiskyrmions as least energy configurations over all non-trivial homotopy classes. We derive practical criteria for their occurrence and coexistence with skyrmions that can be fulfilled by (110)-oriented interfaces depending on the electronic structure.

Local magnetic moments in iron and nickel at ambient and Earth's core conditions.

Some Bravais lattices have a particular geometry that can slow down the motion of Bloch electrons by pre-localization due to the band-structure properties. Another known source of electronic localization in solids is the Coulomb repulsion in partially filled d or f orbitals, which leads to the formation of local magnetic moments. The combination of these two effects is usually considered of little relevance to strongly correlated materials.

Generalized GW+Boltzmann Approach for the Description of Ultrafast Electron Dynamics in Topological Insulators.

Quantum-phase transitions between trivial insulators and topological insulators differ from ordinary metal-insulator transitions in that they arise from the inversion of the bulk band structure due to strong spin-orbit coupling. Such topological phase transitions are unique in nature as they lead to the emergence of topological surface states which are characterized by a peculiar spin texture that is believed to play a central role in the generation and manipulation of dissipationless surface spin currents on ultrafast timescales. Here, we provide a generalized G W +Boltzmann approach for the description of ultrafast dynamics in topological insulators driven by electron-electron and electron-phonon scatterings.

Direct Observation of the Band Gap Transition in Atomically Thin ReS.

ReS is considered as a promising candidate for novel electronic and sensor applications. The low crystal symmetry of this van der Waals compound leads to a highly anisotropic optical, vibrational, and transport behavior. However, the details of the electronic band structure of this fascinating material are still largely unexplored.

Modeling the cleavage of von Willebrand factor by ADAMTS13 protease in shear flow.

Von Willebrand factor (VWF) is a key protein in hemostasis as it mediates adhesion of blood platelets to a site of vascular injury. A proper distribution of VWF lengths is important for normal functioning of hemostatic processes, because a diminished number of long VWF chains may significantly limit blood clotting and lead to bleeding, while an abundant number of long VWFs may result in undesired thrombotic events. VWF size distribution is controlled by ADAMTS13 protease, which can cleave VWF chains beyond a critical shear rate when the chains are stretched enough such that cleavage sites become accessible.

Tuning Paramagnetic Spin Excitations of Single Adatoms.

We predict the existence of paramagnetic spin excitations (PSE) in nonmagnetic single adatoms. Our calculations demonstrate that PSE develop a well-defined structure in the meV region when the adatom's Stoner criterion for magnetism is close to the critical point. We further reveal a subtle tunability and enhancement of PSE by external magnetic fields.

On-Surface Synthesis of Sandwich Molecular Nanowires on Graphene.

We demonstrate a new synthesis route for the growth of organometallic sandwich molecular nanowires, taking the example of Eu-cyclooctatetraene (EuCot), a predicted ferromagnetic semiconductor. We employ simultaneous exposure of Cot molecules and Eu vapor in ultrahigh vacuum to an inert substrate, such as graphene. Using a Cot excess under temperature conditions of a finite residence time of the molecule, the reactand diffusion confined to two dimensions results in a clean product of ultralong wires.

Unified neural field theory of brain dynamics underlying oscillations in Parkinson's disease and generalized epilepsies.

The mechanisms underlying pathologically synchronized neural oscillations in Parkinson's disease (PD) and generalized epilepsies are explored in parallel via a physiologically-based neural field model of the corticothalamic-basal ganglia (CTBG) system. The basal ganglia (BG) are approximated as a single effective population and their roles in the modulation of oscillatory dynamics of the corticothalamic (CT) system and vice versa are analyzed. In addition to normal EEG rhythms, enhanced activity around 4 Hz and 20 Hz exists in the model, consistent with the characteristic frequencies observed in PD.

Dynamical amplification of magnetoresistances and Hall currents up to the THz regime.

Spin-orbit-related effects offer a highly promising route for reading and writing information in magnetic units of future devices. These phenomena rely not only on the static magnetization orientation but also on its dynamics to achieve fast switchings that can reach the THz range. In this work, we consider Co/Pt and Fe/W bilayers to show that accounting for the phase difference between different processes is crucial to the correct description of the dynamical currents.