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We carried out umbrella sampling and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate molecular interactions between sulfobetaine zwitterions or between sulfobetaine brushes in different media. Simulation results show that it is more energetically favorable for the two sulfobetaine zwitterions or brushes to be fully hydrated in aqueous solutions than in vacuum where strong ion pairs are formed. Structural properties of the hydrated sulfobetaine brush array and its antifouling behavior against a foulant gel are subsequently studied through steered MD simulations. We find that sulfobetaine brush arrays with different grafting densities have different structures and antifouling mechanisms. At a comparably higher grafting density, the sulfobetaine brush array exhibits a more organized structure which can hold a tightly bound hydration water layer at the interface. Compression of this hydration layer results in a strong repulsive force. However, at a comparably lower grafting density, the brush array exhibits a randomly oriented structure in which the antifouling of the brush array is through the deformation of the sulfobetaine branches.

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The asymmetries of both light-flavor antiquark $\bar{d}(x)-\bar{u}(x)$ and strange-antistrange $s(x)-\bar{s}(x)$ distributions of the nucleon sea are considered with more details in the effective chiral quark model. We find that the asymmetric distribution of light-flavor antiquarks $\bar{d}(x)-\bar{u}(x)$ matches the experiment data well and that the asymmetry of strange and antistrange distributions can bring about 60-100% correction to the NuTeV anomaly of $\sin^{2}\theta_{w}$, which are three standard deviations from the world average value measured in other electroweak processes. The results on the correction to the NuTeV anomaly are insensitive to the inputs of the constituent quark distributions and the cut-off parameters. The ratios of $\bar{d}(x)/\bar{u}(x)$ and $s(x)/\bar{s}(x)$ are also discussed, and it is found that the ratio $s(x)/\bar{s}(x)$ is compatible with the available experiments with an additional symmetric sea contribution being considered effectively.Comment: 24 Latex pages, 8 figure

The fundamental questions of how lubricant molecules organize into a layered structure under nanometers confinement and what is the interplay between layering and friction are still not well answered in the field of nanotribology. While the phase transition of lubricants during a squeeze-out process under compression is a long-standing controversial debate (i.e., liquid-like to solid-like phase transition versus amorphous glass-like transition), recent different interpretations to the stick-slip friction of lubricants in boundary lubrication present new challenges in this field. We carry out molecular dynamics simulations of a model lubricant film (cyclohexane) confined between molecularly smooth surfaces (mica)--a prototypical model system studied in surface force apparatus or surface force balance experiments. Through fully atomistic simulations, we find that repulsive force between two solid surfaces starts at about seven lubricant layers ( = 7) and the lubricant film undergoes a sudden liquid-like to solid-like phase transition at < 6 monolayers thickness. Shear of solidified lubricant films at three- or four-monolayer thickness results in stick-slip friction. The sliding friction simulation shows that instead of shear melting of the film during the slip of the surface, boundary slips at solid-lubricant interfaces happen, while the solidified structure of the lubricant film is well maintained during repeated stick-slip friction cycles. Moreover, no dilation of the lubricant film during the slip is observed, which is surprisingly consistent with recent surface force balance experimental measurements.