Dynamics of travelling waves in visual perception

Nonlinear wave propagation is ubiquitous in nature, appearing in chemical reaction kinetics, cardiac tissue dynamics, cortical spreading depression and slow wave sleep. The application of dynamical modelling has provided valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying such nonlinear wave phenomena in several domains. Wave propagation can also be perceived as sweeping waves of visibility that occur when the two eyes view radically different stimuli. Termed binocular rivalry, these fluctuating states of perceptual dominance and suppression are thought to provide a window into the neural dynamics that underlie conscious visual awareness. Here we introduce a technique to measure the speed of rivalry dominance waves propagating around a large, essentially one-dimensional annulus. When mapped onto visual cortex, propagation speed is independent of eccentricity. Propagation speed doubles when waves travel along continuous contours, thus demonstrating effects of collinear facilitation. A neural model with reciprocal inhibition between two layers of units provides a quantitative explanation of dominance wave propagation in terms of disinhibition. Dominance waves provide a new tool for investigating fundamental cortical dynamics.     

Travelling waves and spatial hierarchies in measles epidemics.

Spatio-temporal travelling waves are striking manifestations of predator-prey and host-parasite dynamics. However, few systems are well enough documented both to detect repeated waves and to explain their interaction with spatio-temporal variations in population structure and demography. Here, we demonstrate recurrent epidemic travelling waves in an exhaustive spatio-temporal data set for measles in England and Wales. We use wavelet phase analysis, which allows for dynamical non-stationarity--a complication in interpreting spatio-temporal patterns in these and many other ecological time series. In the pre-vaccination era, conspicuous hierarchical waves of infection moved regionally from large cities to small towns; the introduction of measles vaccination restricted but did not eliminate this hierarchical contagion. A mechanistic stochastic model suggests a dynamical explanation for the waves-spread via infective 'sparks' from large 'core' cities to smaller 'satellite' towns. Thus, the spatial hierarchy of host population structure is a prerequisite for these infection waves.     

可激发系统及其对应时空斑图综述

可激发介质的时空动力学研究一直是非线性研究领域的热点.由于其在很多实际系统中广泛存在,相关的研究结果有着重要的应用价值.当外界刺激或扰动低于激发阈值时,可激发系统会很快回到稳定态;当外界刺激超过阈值时,系统将远离定态,做弛豫振荡.在可激发系统的研究中,大部分集中在可激发系统产生的螺旋波斑图方面.螺旋波斑图是一种普遍存在于自然界中的时空斑图,物理、化学、生物体系中都存在这种动力学形式(大都是可激发系统).在实际系统中螺旋波的产生和破碎大都是有害的.比如,螺旋波是产生心动过速的主要原因,螺旋波的破碎对应着心颤(房颤、室颤)等严重的生理疾病.开展对螺旋波的动力学特征、产生和控制的方法研究非常有意义.本文对以上几个问题进行总结归纳,希望对研究者有所帮助.     

Intense plasma waves at and near the solar wind termination shock

Plasma waves are a characteristic feature of shocks in plasmas, and are produced by non-thermal particle distributions that develop in the shock transition layer. The electric fields of these waves have a key role in dissipating energy in the shock and driving the particle distributions back towards thermal equilibrium. Here we report the detection of intense plasma-wave electric fields at the solar wind termination shock. The observations were obtained from the plasma-wave instrument on the Voyager 2 spacecraft. The first evidence of the approach to the shock was the detection of upstream electron plasma oscillations on 1 August 2007 at a heliocentric radial distance of 83.4 au (1 au is the Earth-Sun distance). These narrowband oscillations continued intermittently for about a month until, starting on 31 August 2007 and ending on 1 September 2007, a series of intense bursts of broadband electrostatic waves signalled a series of crossings of the termination shock at a heliocentric radial distance of 83.7 au. The spectrum of these waves is quantitatively similar to those observed at bow shocks upstream of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.     

Stationary and drifting spiral waves of excitation in isolated cardiac muscle.

Excitable media can support spiral waves rotating around an organizing centre. Spiral waves have been discovered in different types of autocatalytic chemical reactions and in biological systems. The so-called 're-entrant excitation' of myocardial cells, causing the most dangerous cardiac arrhythmias, including ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation, could be the result of spiral waves. Here we use a potentiometric dye in combination with CCD (charge-coupled device) imaging technology to demonstrate spiral waves in the heart muscle. The spirals were elongated and the rotation period, Ts, was about 180 ms (3-5 times faster than normal heart rate). In most episodes, the spiral was anchored to small arteries or bands of connective tissue, and gave rise to stationary rotations. In some cases, the core drifted away from its site of origin and dissipated at a tissue border. Drift was associated with a Doppler shift in the local excitation period, T, with T ahead of the core being about 20% shorter than T behind the core.     

二维相移耦合振子系统斑图的缺陷效应

考察了在考虑不同阻挫时,极限环振子耦合系统的斑图动力学行为.每个极限环振子只与其最近邻的4个振子相互作用.螺旋波斑图,湍流和西洋棋盘斑图等都被观察到.我们使耦合系统中极大部分都以相同的相移,其中随机选择少量的耦合以不同的相移,称之为缺陷.当没有缺陷时,整个二维系统呈现出来的是螺旋波斑图结构,当随机改变其中的较少的联接属性(相移)时,就会出现靶波,当缺陷进一步增加时,靶波又会消失,这是个渐变的过程.     

震荡和间歇矩形周期驱动实现螺旋波的抑制

研究了一类激发介质Fitzhugh-Nagumo模型的螺旋波抑制问题.通过对整个系统注入弱的矩形周期信号来改变系统的动力学特性.不同周期的矩形信号驱动会导致丰富的斑图,恰当的驱动周期和信号幅度可以将系统控制到稳定均匀态,最有效的驱动周期接近系统的本征周期.进一步考虑了时空噪声对螺旋波动力学的影响,结果表明,螺旋波发生了破裂.     

New ideas about atrial fibrillation 50 years on.

Atrial fibrillation is a condition in which control of heart rhythm is taken away from the normal sinus node pacemaker by rapid activity in different areas within the upper chambers (atria) of the heart. This results in rapid and irregular atrial activity and, instead of contracting, the atria only quiver. It is the most common cardiac rhythm disturbance and contributes substantially to cardiac morbidity and mortality. For over 50 years, the prevailing model of atrial fibrillation involved multiple simultaneous re-entrant waves, but in light of new discoveries this hypothesis is now undergoing re-evaluation.     

Molecular dynamics simulations of non-Fourier heat conduction

Unsteady heat conduction is known to deviate significantly from Fourier＇s law when the system time and length scales are within certain temporal and spatial windows of relaxation. Classical molecular dynamics simulations were used to investigate unsteady heat conduction in argon thin films with a sudden temperature increase or heat flux at one surface to study the non-Fourier heat conduction effects in argon thin films. The studies were conducted with both pure argon films and films with vacancy defects. The temperature profiles in the argon films showed the existence of mechanical waves when the thin film was suddenly heated and the wave nature of the heat propagation. The flux phase relaxation time, Zq, and the temperature phase relaxation time,τt, were calculated from the temporal variations of the energy flux and temperature distribution in the film. Comparisons of the MD temperature profiles with temperature profiles predicted by Fourier＇s law show that Fourier＇s law is not able to predict the temperature variations with time. Different film thicknesses were also studied to illustrate the variation of the time needed for the films to reach steady-state temperature profiles after a sudden temperature rise at one surface and to illustrate the finite speed of the energy waves.     

Terahertz-field-induced insulator-to-metal transition in vanadium dioxide metamaterial

Electron-electron interactions can render an otherwise conducting material insulating, with the insulator-metal phase transition in correlated-electron materials being the canonical macroscopic manifestation of the competition between charge-carrier itinerancy and localization. The transition can arise from underlying microscopic interactions among the charge, lattice, orbital and spin degrees of freedom, the complexity of which leads to multiple phase-transition pathways. For example, in many transition metal oxides, the insulator-metal transition has been achieved with external stimuli, including temperature, light, electric field, mechanical strain or magnetic field. Vanadium dioxide is particularly intriguing because both the lattice and on-site Coulomb repulsion contribute to the insulator-to-metal transition at 340?K (ref. 8). Thus, although the precise microscopic origin of the phase transition remains elusive, vanadium dioxide serves as a testbed for correlated-electron phase-transition dynamics. Here we report the observation of an insulator-metal transition in vanadium dioxide induced by a terahertz electric field. This is achieved using metamaterial-enhanced picosecond, high-field terahertz pulses to reduce the Coulomb-induced potential barrier for carrier transport. A nonlinear metamaterial response is observed through the phase transition, demonstrating that high-field terahertz pulses provide alternative pathways to induce collective electronic and structural rearrangements. The metamaterial resonators play a dual role, providing sub-wavelength field enhancement that locally drives the nonlinear response, and global sensitivity to the local changes, thereby enabling macroscopic observation of the dynamics. This methodology provides a powerful platform to investigate low-energy dynamics in condensed matter and, further, demonstrates that integration of metamaterials with complex matter is a viable pathway to realize functional nonlinear electromagnetic composites.     

Cardiac nonrigid motion analysis from image sequences

Noninvasive estimation of the soft tissue kinematics properties from medical image sequences has many important clinical and physiological implications, such as the diagnosis of heart diseases and the understanding of cardiac mechanics. In this paper, we present a biomechanics based strategy, framed as a priori constraints for the ill-posed motion recovery problems, to realize estimation of the cardiac motion and deformation parameters. By constructing the heart dynamics system equations from biomechanics principles, we use the finite element method to generate smooth estimates of heart kinematics throughout the cardiac cycle. We present the application of the strategy to the estimation of displacements and strains from in vivo left ventricular magnetic resonance image sequence.     

用平面电磁波分析大电流矩形母线中电流密度的分布

本文是把从大电流矩形母线的四周往导体内传播的电磁波，近似地看成平面电磁波．其中一对 平面电磁波从母线的左右两侧往内传播，另一对平面电磁波，则由上下两侧面往内传播．两对平 面电磁波中的电波在导体内相叠加的结果，能得到合成的电场强度沿着矩形母线截面的分布，因 而就能找到电流密度的分布规律．     

3轴电动转台动力耦合分析及抑制策略

针对某型号的3轴电动转台,从计算多体系统动力学的观点出发建立其运动学方程和动力学方程,并对这种耦合的影响进行了分析.提出了一种利用速度内反馈来主动抑制3轴电动转台动力耦合的策略.该策略和已有的被动解耦控制策略相比,不需要依赖对被控对象的精确建模,且比较容易实现.仿真结果证明了该耦合抑制策略的有效性,表明转台可以达到较高的位置精度和速率平稳度;转台的实际验证实验表明,控制策略使某电动转台达到了良好的性能指标.     

A feature ensemble technology to identify molecular mechanisms for distinction between multiple subtypes of lymphoma

Due to complexities and genetic heterogeneities of biological phenotypes, robust computational approaches are desirable to achieve high generalization performance with multiple classifiers, perturbations of the data structures, and biological interpretations. The purpose of this study is to extend our developed ensemble decision approach to distinguish multiple heterogeneous phenotypes and to elucidate the underlying molecular bridges that intertwine the subtypes. Our work identifies the significant molecular mechanisms （disease-relevant genes and functions） that underpin the complex molecular mechanisms for distinction between multiple phenotypes. Feature genes and hierarchical gene cores identified by our method have achieved high accuracy in the classification of multiple phenotypes. The results show that the proposed analysis strategy is feasible and powerful in the classification of biological subtypes and in the explanation of the molecular connections between clinical phenotypes. Biological interpretations with Gene Ontology revealed concerted genetic pathways for some lymphoma subtypes.     

心肌动作电位对心脏节律的影响

采用数值方法分析心肌动作电位对心脏节律的影响。心肌动作电位用Noble模型来描述，心脏节律用Bernardo-Signorint模型来模拟。数值分析结果表明，心肌动作电位形成的靶环波和螺旋波对心脏节律影响较大。当心肌动作电位表现为噪声时，心脏节律可完全破坏。     

Contractile force measured in unskinned isolated adult rat heart fibres

A number of investigators have succeeded in preparing isolated cardiac cells by enzymatic digestion which tolerate external [Ca2+] in the millimolar range. However, a persistent problem with these preparations is that, unlike in situ adult ventricular fibres, the isolated fibres usually beat spontaneously. This spontaneity suggests persistent ionic leakage not present in situ. A preferable preparation for mechanical and electrical studies would be one which is quiescent but excitable in response to electrical stimulation and which does not undergo contracture with repeated stimulation. We report here a modified method of cardiac fibre isolation and perfusion which leaves the fibre membrane electrically excitable and moderately resistant to mechanical stress so that the attachment of suction micropipettes to the fibre is possible for force measurement and length control. Force generation in single isolated adult rat heart fibres is consistent with in situ contractile force. The negative staircase effect (treppe) characteristic of adult not heart tissue is present with increased frequency of stimulation. Isometric developed tension increases with fibre length as in in situ ventricular tissue.     

混联式混合动力再生制动控制策略

 再生制动系统是混合动力汽车和电动汽车特有的系统。该系统可将汽车制动过程中消耗的汽车动能和势能通过电动机发电的方式储存到电池中,在起动和加速过程中加以利用。本研究以长丰CJY6470E越野车为对象,在传统汽车制动理论的基础上,基于制动安全及制动效能,提出一种混联式混合动力汽车制动能量分配与再生制动控制策略。前后轴采用理想制动力分配,在分配好后,再对前后轴的再生和摩擦制动进行二次分配。进行二次分配时,主要考虑电机及电池的使用寿命,以车速及SOC作为电机再生制动功率影响因素,并通过对ADVISOR2002进行二次开发,建立整车模型,最后进行仿真。结果表明,采用所提出的再生制动控制策略可实现高效的制动能量回收,延长电池的使用寿命,且该策略具有可行性。     

多纵模激光器模式的锁定

本文用数学方法较详细地分析了三个不同频率的光波的叠加和多纵模激光器模式的锁定．证明了模式锁定的条件。首次较准确系统地给出了三个不同频率的光波叠加前后的光波电场和叠加后的光强Ｅ（ｔ）２曲线和七个纵模锁定后的光波电场Ｅ（ｔ）、电场的包络Ａ（ｔ）和光强的包络Ａ２（ｔ）曲线．并进一步地讨论了多纵模锁定后输出激光的特性     

Low-energy acoustic plasmons at metal surfaces

Nearly two-dimensional (2D) metallic systems formed in charge inversion layers and artificial layered materials permit the existence of low-energy collective excitations, called 2D plasmons, which are not found in a three-dimensional (3D) metal. These excitations have caused considerable interest because their low energy allows them to participate in many dynamical processes involving electrons and phonons, and because they might mediate the formation of Cooper pairs in high-transition-temperature superconductors. Metals often support electronic states that are confined to the surface, forming a nearly 2D electron-density layer. However, it was argued that these systems could not support low-energy collective excitations because they would be screened out by the underlying bulk electrons. Rather, metallic surfaces should support only conventional surface plasmons-higher-energy modes that depend only on the electron density. Surface plasmons have important applications in microscopy and sub-wavelength optics, but have no relevance to the low-energy dynamics. Here we show that, in contrast to expectations, a low-energy collective excitation mode can be found on bare metal surfaces. The mode has an acoustic (linear) dispersion, different to the dependence of a 2D plasmon, and was observed on Be(0001) using angle-resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy. First-principles calculations show that it is caused by the coexistence of a partially occupied quasi-2D surface-state band with the underlying 3D bulk electron continuum and also that the non-local character of the dielectric function prevents it from being screened out by the 3D states. The acoustic plasmon reported here has a very general character and should be present on many metal surfaces. Furthermore, its acoustic dispersion allows the confinement of light on small surface areas and in a broad frequency range, which is relevant for nano-optics and photonics applications.     

电动汽车制动能量回收系统设计

针对采用增加蓄电池容量解决电动汽车续驶距离短困难的现状,提出采用再生制动的方法实现机械能向电能的高效转化.建立了制动系统的数学模型,阐述了再生制动能量回收系统的控制策略,设计了制动能量回收控制器,并利用Proteus软件进行了仿真.仿真结果表明该模型可以简便、有效地实现电动汽车的电气回馈制动,提高电动汽车的能量利用率.