EPJ ST Highlight - Dynamics of fluid flow on (and off) inclined fibres
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- Published on 10 February 2025

An empirical analysis of oil flowing down an inclined fibre has suggested how the structure and dynamics of droplet formation and drop-off is affected by the multiple forces involved in this deceptively simple phenomenon.
The commonplace phenomenon of liquid drops falling from a surface is, perhaps surprisingly, not yet fully understood by scientists. Understanding the complex interactions between the forces involved here would be helpful in industry, where structured packings in cooling towers must be designed to encourage droplet formation in fluid flow but coatings mixed to maintain a pristine, smooth surface. Furthermore, the design of meshes used to harvest clean water from fog or dew, where this is limited, relies on an understanding of how the water condenses on the fibres and drops into collection tanks.
Atefeh Pour Karimi, a PhD student at the Institute of Heat and Mass Transfer, Aachen University, Germany and her supervisors and collaborators have analysed the dynamics of this type of flow in detail and published their findings in the journal EPJ Special Topics (EPJ ST).
EPJ ST Highlight - New call-to-action empathises scientists’ role in combating climate change
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- Published on 03 February 2025

This first paper published in the special issue on Energy Saving in Physics Research and Applications in EPJ Special Topics looks at the roles of science on universe and matter and digital transformation in the ongoing battle to reduce global temperature.
“Climate change is real.” That stark and undeniable statement spearheads a new call to action in a paper published in a special issue of EPJ Special Topics (EPJ ST), focusing on energy saving in physics research and applications. This call to action doesn’t outline a general package of measures and daily life recommendations to aid in efforts to limit rising global temperatures, rather it specifically focuses on the use of resources by scientists conducting research, particularly in the field of universe and matter. The paper advocates the use of digitisation methods to potentially offset resource consumption without sacrificing knowledge gains.
EPJ ST Highlight - Assessing the impact of climate on dengue outbreaks
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- Published on 13 December 2024

Machine learning techniques reveal that researchers can improve their forecasts for the spread of dengue by incorporating climate data – but not in all cases
Dengue is a mosquito-borne disease which infects around 390 million people globally each year. Case numbers have grown steadily in recent years, with the most severe outbreaks occurring in tropical regions of South America. To better predict how the disease spreads, it will be vital for researchers to fully understand how dengue case numbers are linked to different aspects of tropical climates.
Through new analysis published in EPJ Special Topics (EPJ ST), a team led by Enrique Gabrick at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact, Germany, highlight how dengue forecasts can become more accurate by incorporating climate data – but also show that the success of this approach can vary between different regions. The team’s results could enable researchers to develop more accurate forecasts for the spread of dengue, which may ultimately help to save thousands of lives.
EPJ ST Highlight - Taking a step back from the membrane debate
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- Published on 10 December 2024

New progress in a long-standing debate about the nature of biological cell membranes could be made by considering which aspects of the membrane can be captured in simplified simulations
Even after 60 years of exhaustive experimentation and modelling, researchers still haven’t reached a consensus about the true nature of the deeply complex behaviours of biological cell membranes. Today, many disagreements remain over how the membrane’s molecular building blocks cooperate with each other to produce its overarching properties.
Through a new mini-review published in EPJ Special Topics (EPJ ST), John Ipsen at the University of Southern Denmark takes a step back from the debate: showing how complications to the discussion have emerged from the practices widely used to simulate the membrane. The insights presented in his paper could offer useful guidance for researchers, and may help to break a long-standing deadlock in their conflicting interpretations of the membrane’s properties.
EPJ ST Highlight - Modelling Brain Networks in Parkinson’s Disease
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- Published on 18 November 2024

Insights from network theory have led to a novel mathematical representation of Parkinson’s disease development with potential clinical applications
Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, can be thought of as arising from malfunctions in the network of neuronal agglomerates in the brain. It is therefore often useful to apply insights from a branch of mathematics called network theory when studying the development of these diseases. A group of European physicists and engineers led by Maria Mannone of the National Research Council of Italy, the University of Potsdam, Germany, and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Germany, has now taken this further by defining a matrix transforming the brain network of a healthy individual into one affected by Parkinson’s disease. This has now been published in EPJ Special Topics (EPJ ST).
EPJ ST Highlight - A mathematical approach to simulating electromagnetic field of ReBCO superconductors
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- Published on 15 November 2024

Electromagnetic field and alternating current loss in high-temperature ReBCO superconductors can be obtained by treating their complex electromagnetic interactions as a convex optimisation problem
Rare-earth barium copper oxides (ReBCO) are a family of superconducting materials that allow electrical currents to flow with zero resistance, even at temperatures well above absolute zero. This allows them to sustain stronger magnetic fields than other type of superconductors. However, these materials often host a complex nonlinear electromagnetic response. So far, it is a challenge to deal with the electromagnetic problem of ReBCO superconductors accurately and efficiently.
Through new research published in EPJ Special Topics (EPJ ST), Huadong Yong and colleagues at Lanzhou University, China, show that the electromagnetic problem with power law relation can be approached as a mathematical challenge known as a ‘convex optimisation problem’. By applying this problem-solving method, the team was able to accurately calculate the electromagnetic field and alternating current loss for a variety of real-life superconducting structures.
EPJ ST Highlight – Observing Flows at a Liquid-Liquid-Solid Intersection
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- Published on 21 June 2024

Experiments reveal how a liquid-liquid interface interacts with a moving contact line.
Most of us are familiar with the classic example of a liquid-gas moving contact line on a solid surface: a raindrop, sheared by the wind, creeps along a glass windscreen. The contact line’s movements depend on the interplay between viscous and surface tension forces - a relationship that has been thoroughly investigated in experimental fluid mechanics. In a study published in EPJ Special Topics (EPJ ST), Harish Dixit, of the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, and his colleagues now examine the movements of a contact line formed at the interface between two immiscible liquids and a solid. The experiments fill a gap in fluid dynamics and suggest a mechanism for an imposed boundary condition that eludes mathematical description.
EPJ ST: Miroslav Dramićanin new Editor on board
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- Published on 20 June 2024

The publishers are very pleased to announce that Prof. Miroslav Dramićanin has recently joined the EPJST Editorial Board.
Prof. Miroslav Dramićanin is a full professor of applied physics at the University of Belgrade and a research fellow at the Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences in Belgrade. His research group, the Optical Materials and Spectroscopy Group, is working on luminescent materials and nanomaterials for lighting and sensing. His primary interests are lanthanide and transition metal-activated phosphors, luminescence thermometry, and optical spectroscopy. He is an animal lover and environmental activist.
EPJ ST: Norbert Marwan new Editor on board
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- Published on 13 June 2024

The publishers are very pleased to announce that Dr. Norbert Marwan has recently joined the EPJST Editorial Board.
Dr. Norbert Marwan is the deputy head of the Complexity Science department at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Potsdam, Germany. He also serves as a private docent at both the Institute of Physics and Astronomy and the Institute of Geosciences at the University of Potsdam. He studied Theoretical Physics at the Dresden University of Technology and earned his PhD from the University of Potsdam in 2003. Additionally, he is the organizer of the biennial International Symposium on Recurrence Plots.
His research interests encompass all aspects of investigating complex systems, nonlinear data analysis, and related interdisciplinary applications. One particular focus is on recurrence plot-related methods and studying palaeoclimate variability using speleothems. He has published more than 270 peer-reviewed research papers.
EPJ ST: John Weisend new Editor on board
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- Published on 12 June 2024

The publishers are very pleased to announce that Dr. John Weisend has recently joined the EPJST Editorial Board.
John Weisend is currently a Senior Scientist in the Accelerator Division at the European Spallation Source in Lund, Sweden. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Engineering at Lund University. He received his Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He has worked at the SSC Laboratory, the Centre D’Etudes Nucleaires Grenoble, the Deutsches Elecktronen-Synchrotron Laboratory (DESY), the Stanford Linear Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), the National Science Foundation and Michigan State University.
Dr. Weisend’s interests include He II, cryogenic safety, large scale accelerator cryogenics and the development of large international science projects. He published various books including Superfluid, He is for Helium, Going for Cold (co-authored with T. Meaden), Cryogenic Safety (co-authored with T. Peterson), Cryogenic Two-Phase Flow (co-authored with N. Filina) and is an editor of the Handbook of Cryogenic Engineering and of Cryostat Design. He writes a regular column “Cryo Bios” for the publication Cold Facts. Dr. Weisend is a Co-Editor in Chief for the journal Interactions. He is a chair of the Cryogenic Society of America and the International Cryogenic Engineering Conference Board.