Open Access

A time-periodic axial force acting on a continuous structure can be destabilized by parametric excitation. Moreover, it is capable of increasing the equivalent damping and shortening the transient vibrations. In this work, this concept is extended, and dynamic stability of a Mindlin-Reissner plate is analyzed. The FE formulation for the four-node plate element is derived by employing the variational approach including the action of an axial force. The stability of the time-periodic system is evaluated both numerically and analytically, using Floquet theory and first-order approximation based on the averaging method, respectively. The influence of plate length, thickness, and aspect ratio on dynamic stability is highlighted. It is demonstrated that the instability tongue at a parametric combination resonance frequency of the summation type is shifted toward higher axial force amplitudes by increasing the plate width and decreasing the plate length. Alternatively, the axial force acting in the vicinity of a parametric combination frequency of the difference type shows a parametric antiresonance which is maximized by exactly the opposite tuning of the plate design. This guideline is important when plate design under the action of a harmonic axial force is considered.

This article aims to compare different types of optical amplifiers implemented in metropolitan xWDM-PON networks. The first part is an analysis of the issue with the focus on the used optical access network based on xWDM-PON. In the next part the deployment of optical amplifiers (SOA, EDFA and Raman) into the network and their analysis is presented. The following part is dedicated to the simulation of WDM-PON networks in the OptiSystem tool from Optiwave, with applied appropriate optical amplifier for chosen channels. In the last part, the simulated results (based on optical power, BER, Q-factor, eye-diagram and spectral analysis) are evaluated and discussed.

We present the design of a 16-channel 100 GHz colorless AWG multiplexer/demultiplexer. The AWG was designed for the central wavelength of 1550 nm and simulated in the wavelength range 1500 nm - 1600 nm. The AWG was designed using the specially developed standalone tool “AWG-Parameters”. The AWG structure was created and simulated using two different commercial photonics design tools. The simulated transmission characteristics and calculated transmission parameters are discussed in detail and compared with each other.

Whether at the intramolecular or cellular scale in organisms, cell-cell adhesion adapt to external mechanical cues arising from the static environment of cells and from dynamic interactions between neighboring cells. Cell-cell adhesions need to resist detachment forces to secure the integrity and internal organization of organisms. In the past, various techniques have been developed to characterize adhesion properties of molecules and cells in vitro, and to understand how cells sense and probe their environment. Atomic force microscopy and dual-pipette aspiration, where cells are mainly present in suspension, are common methods for studying detachment forces of cell-cell adhesions. How cell-cell adhesion forces are developed for adherent and environment-adapted cells, however, is less clear. Here, we designed the Cell-Cell Separation Device (CC-SD), a microstructured substrate that measures both intercellular forces and external stresses of cells towards the matrix. The design is based on micropillar arrays originally designed for cell traction-force measurements. We designed PDMS micropillar-blocks, to which cells could adhere and be able to connect to each other across the gap. Controlled stretching of the whole substrate changed the distance between blocks and increased gap size. That allowed us to apply strains to cell-cell contacts, eventually leading to cell-cell adhesion detachment, which was measured by pillar deflections. The CC-SD provided an increase of the gap between the blocks of up to 2.4-fold, which was sufficient to separate substrate-attached cells with fully developed F-actin network. Simultaneously measured pillar deflections allowed us to address cellular response to the intercellular strain applied. The CC-SD thus opens up possibilities for the analysis of intercellular force detachments and sheds light on the robustness of cell-cell adhesions in dynamic processes in tissue development.

Design, simulation, and optimization of the 1×4 optical three-dimensional multimode interference splitter using IP-Dip polymer as a core and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) Sylgard 184 as a cladding is demonstrated. The splitter was simulated by using beam propagation method in BeamPROP simulation module of RSoft photonic tool and optimized for an operating wavelength of 1.55 μm . According to the minimum insertion loss, the dimensions of the splitter were optimized for a waveguide with a core size of 4×4 μm2 . The objective of the study is to create the design for fabrication by three-dimensional direct laser writing optical lithography.