Activities around modelling DNA segregation and positioning in the bacterial genome

Synthesis temperatures of composite materials are usually far less than the ones of their use, thus carbon nanotubes (CNTs) embedded into a polymer matrix undergo significant axial stress. We develop a continuous theory, which describes the dynamics of stressed single-walled (SW-) CNTs and predicts their low-frequency phonon spectra. The changes in dispersion laws of SWCNT low-frequency phonon modes due to the axial stress of different signs are discussed. Then, the results obtained are used to analyze low-temperature (T<70 K) heat capacity and thermal conductivity of individual nanotubes. We demonstrate that compressive stress leads to increase in heat capacity CV of an individual SWCNT, while tensile stress causes CV to decrease. In the latter case at T→0 heat capacity diminishes according to a linear law ~T instead of a power one ~T1/2.Nevertheless, according to our results, axial stress hardly affects low-temperature thermal conductance of SWCNTs.Influence of investigated effects on the corresponding macroscopic properties of CNT-based composite materials are discussed as well.

In vitro, depending on extracellular matrix (ECM) architecture, macrophages migrate either in amoeboid or mesenchymal mode; while the first is a general trait of leukocytes, the latter is associated with tissue remodelling via Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMPs). To assess whether these stereotyped migrations could be also observed in a physiological context, we used the zebrafish embryo and monitored macrophage morphology, behaviour and capacity to mobilisation haematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs), as a final functional readout. Morphometric analysis identified 4 different cell shapes. Live imaging revealed that macrophages successively adopt all four shapes as they migrate through ECM. Treatment with inhibitors of MMPs or Rac GTPase to abolish mesenchymal migration, suppresses both ECM degradation and HSPC mobilisation while differently affecting macrophage behaviour. This study depicts real time macrophage behaviour in a physiological context and reveals extreme reactivity of these cells constantly adapting and switching migratory shapes to achieve HSPCs proper mobilisation.

Nanophotonic circuits using group III-nitrides on silicon are still lacking one key component: efficient electrical injection. In this paper we demonstrate an electrical injection scheme using a metal microbridge contact in thin III-nitride on silicon mushroom-type microrings that is compatible with integrated nanophotonic circuits with the goal of achieving electrically injected lasing. Using a central buried n-contact to bypass the insulating buffer layers, we are able to underetch the microring, which is essential for maintaining vertical confinement in a thin disk. We demonstrate direct current room-temperature electroluminescence with 440 mW/cm 2 output power density at 20 mA from such microrings with diameters of 30 to 50 µm. The first steps towards achieving an integrated photonic circuit are demonstrated.

The transient Casimir-Polder force on a two-level atom introduced into a three-dimensional, inhomogeneous, generally nonreciprocal environment is evaluated using non-Markovian Weisskopf-Wigner theory in the strong- and weak-coupling regimes. Ground-state and excited atoms are shown to decouple into two separate initial-value problems, and both the short-time and long-time atomic population and force are evaluated. The results are compared with various Markov approximations of the Weisskopf-Wigner theory and with previous Markov results from the Heisenberg picture.

Double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs), consisting of two coaxial and weakly van der Waals coupled single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), are one of the most ideal and fundamental systems to study the effects of inter-tube coupling on the physical properties in one-dimensional structures.On this poster, we report on the investigations of individual, spatially isolated and suspended double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs) by combination of high-resolution electron microscopy, electron diffraction, Rayleigh spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy (Figure 1) [1,2]. We first present an overview of the effect of the diameters, inter-tube distance and nature (metallic or semiconducting) on the Raman signature (Radial Breathing Like [1,3,4] and Tangential Modes [4-6]) of DWNTs. We then examine the features of tangential modes and find a clear frequency shift of the inner-layer G modes as a function of the inter-tube distance with respect to the corresponding G modes in equivalent single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT).[4-6] These results are understood by considering the effects of the relaxation of the layers and the interaction between the relaxed structures.[7] Finally, we study the experimental excitation dependence of the G modes intensity of the constituent inner and outer SWNTs. In particular, we discuss the effects of the quantum interference between different electronic transitions on the observed behaviors.[8]References[1] D.I. Levshov et al., Carbon, 114, 141 (2017). [2] D.I. Levshov et al., Phys Rev. B 96 (2017), 195410.[3] D.I. Levshov et al., Nano Lett. 11(11) (2011), 4800. [4] H.-N. Tran et al., Adv. Nat. Sci. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. (2017), 8, 15018.[5] D. Levshov et al., J. Phys. Chem. C 119(40) (2015), 23196.[6] D.I. Levshov et al., Phys. Status Solidi B 254(11) (2017), 1700251.[7] V.N. Popov et al., Phys. Rev. B 97 (2018), 165417.[8] H.-N. Tran et al., Phys. Rev. B 95 (2017), 95 (20), 205411