The surface tension at the free surface of a nematic liquid crystal is computed using the Fowler-Kirkwood-Buff approximation to the interface, and a mean field approximation to the molecular pair distribution function. It is found for a Van der Waals interaction between molecules that : a) the molecules always prefer an orientation in the plane of the surface; b) there is a gap at the nematic-i...

Lipid bilayer membranes of biological cells are likely to be non-random mixtures of membrane components. Lateral membrane domain formation is thought to be involved in essential functions of the membrane, including signaling, sorting, and trafficking. In order to elucidate the physical, mechanical, and physico-chemical basis and consequences of membrane heterogeneity, model systems have been de...

Measurements of the surface tensions, densities and viscosities of aqueous solutions of Triton X-100 (TX-100) and rhamnolipid (RL) mixtures, at constant concentration of RL or TX-100, were carried out. The measured values of the surface tension were compared to those determined using different theoretical models and on the basis of the surface tension of aqueous solutions of individual surfacta...

This article presents a generalized B-spline surface subdivision scheme of arbitrary order with a tension parameter.We first propose a tensor-product subdivision scheme that produces ku×kv order generalized B-spline limit surfaces. Generalized B-spline surface is the unified and extended form of B-splines, trigonometric B-splines and hyperbolic B-splines (Fang et al. 2010). The tensor product s...

This paper describes the fabrication process and the method to determine the membrane tension and defects of an inkjet-printed circular diaphragm. The membrane tension is an important parameter to design and fabricate an acoustic sensor and resonator with the highest sensitivity and selectivity over a determined range of frequency. During this work, the diaphragms are fabricated by inkjet print...

We study the surface tension of ionic solutions at air/water and oil/water interfaces by using field-theoretical methods and including a finite proximal surface-region with ionic-specific interactions. The free energy is expanded to first-order in a loop expansion beyond the mean-field result. We calculate the excess surface tension and obtain analytical predictions that reunite the Onsager-Sam...

In this work a family of tension trigonometric curves analogous to those of cubic Bézier curves is presented. Some properties of the proposed curves are discussed. We propose an efficient interpolating method based on the tension trigonometric splines with various properties, such as partition of unity, geometric invariance and convex hull property, etc. This new interpolating method is applied...

Twitch and tetanic tension have been measured in single skeletal muscle fibres (m.ileofibularis, Rana esculenta and Rana temporaria). On the basis of resistance to fatigue produced by repetitive tetanic stable frequency stimulation with various numbers of stimulation trains, twitch fibers were subdivided in three groups (resembling those as described by Westerblad and Lännergren 1986 in Xenopus...

The fusion of lipid bilayers is studied with dissipative particle dynamics simulations. First, to achieve control over membrane properties, the effects of individual simulation parameters are studied and optimized. Then, a large number of fusion events for a vesicle and a planar bilayer are simulated using the optimized parameter set. In the observed fusion pathway, configurations of individual...

Radial basis functions under tension (RBFT) depend on a positive parameter, incorporate the concept of spline with tension and provide a convenient way for the control of the behavior of the interpolating surface. The RBFT involve a function which is not complicated than exponential and may be easily coded. In this paper, we show that the RBFT, as like thin plate spline, may be associated to a ...