KoreaScience (Korea)

Full Text Available

KoreaScience (Korea)

Full Text Available

CERN Document Server

Convergenomics is about the megatrends that are shaping how people behave and organizations work. In this insightful analysis, Sang Lee and David Olson describe how globalization, digitization, changing demographics, changing industry mix, deregulation and privatization, commoditization of processes, new value chains, emerging new economies, deteriorating environment, and cultural conflicts have led to what they define as a convergence revolution.Lee and Olson discuss this convergence revolution from the perspectives of technology, industry, knowledge, open-source networking and bio-artificial

CERN Document Server

We show the propagation of regularity, uniformly in time, for the scaled solutions of the inelastic Maxwell model for small inelasticity. This result together with the weak convergence towards the homogenous cooling state present in the literature implies the strong convergence in Sobolev norms and in the $L^1$ norm towards it depending on the regularity of the initial data. The strategy of the proof is based on a precise control of the growth of the Fisher information for the inelastic Boltzmann equation. Moreover, as an application we obtain a bound in the $L^1$ distance between the homogeneous cooling state and the corresponding Maxwellian distribution vanishing as the inelasticity goes to zero.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

A one parameter family of iterative methods for the simultaneous approximation of simple complex zeros of a polynomial, based on a cubically convergent Hansen-Patricks family, is studied. We show that the convergence of the basic family of the fourth order can be increased to five and six using Newtons and Halleys corrections, respectively. Since these corrections use the already calculated values, the computational efficiency of the accelerated methods is significantly increased. Further acceleration is achieved by applying the Gauss-Seidel approach (single-step mode). One of the most important problems in solving nonlinear equations, the construction of initial conditions which provide both the guaranteed and fast convergence, is considered for the proposed accelerated family. These cond...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

The quest to understand why we age has given rise to numerous lines of investigation that have gradually converged to include metabolic control by mitochondrial activity as a major player. That...Full Text Available

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Incomplete convergence in numerical simulation such as computational physics simulations and/or Monte Carlo simulations can enter into the calculation of the objective function in an optimization problem, producing noise, bias, and topo- graphical inaccuracy in the objective function. These affect accuracy and convergence rate in the optimization problem. This paper is concerned with global searching of a diverse parameter space, graduating to accelerated local convergence to a (hopefully) global optimum, in a framework that acknowledges convergence uncertainty and manages model resolu- tion to efficiently reduce uncertainty in the final optimum. In its own right, the global-to-local optimization engine employed here (devised for noise tolerance) performs better than other classical and contemporary optimization approaches tried individually and in combination on the "industrial" test problem to be ...

Science.gov (United States)

OVERFLOW Convergence Rsults: Baldwin-Barth. M = 0.2, Re = 100 Million. B-B Pre Sca Diss. B-B NoPre Sca Diss. B-B Pre Mat Diss. B-B NoPre Mat Diss. B-B Roe.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Low level radioactive wastes (concrete pieces) or materials to be melted such as burnt ashes of wastes are charged into a melting furnace. Then, gyrotron of a microwave generator is oscillated, and generated microwaves of a large power are introduced to a melting furnace by a waveguide. The microwaves are irradiated from an irradiator to a beam converging-type reflecting mirror antenna disposed opposite to the irradiator. Then, an antenna driving portion is operated to rotate and move the antenna in parallel. With such procedures, the microwaves of a large power are converged acutely in a beam-like manner to a predetermined range in the melting furnace, and the converged beams of the microwaves are scanned. This can generate heat from the inner side of the materials to be melted charged to the melting furnace by the induction loss and they are melted. (I.N.)

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP), a form of Hebbian plasticity, is inherently stabilizing. Whether and how GABAergic inhibition influences STDP is not well understood. Using a model neuron driven...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Ten patients in the age range 2 to 22 years are described who had operations initially for squint in childhood. Nine had had concomitant convergent strabismus and one divergent. All presented again...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) take a major human toll on society and reduce public confidence in the healthcare system. The current convergence of scientific, public, and legislative...Full Text Available

Science.gov (United States)

The dynamical factors controlling the mean state and variability of the east Pacific intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) and the associated cross-equatorial boundary layer flow are investigated using observations from the East Pacific Investigation of Climate (EPIC2001) project. The tropical east Pacific exhibits a southerly boundary layer flow that terminates in the ITCZ. This flow is induced by the strong meridional sea surface temperature (SST) gradient in the region. Away from the equator and from deep convection, it is reasonably well described on a day-to-day basis by an extended Ekman balance model. Variability in the strength and northward extent of this flow is caused by variations in free-tropospheric pressure gradients that either reinforce or oppose the pressure gradient associated with the SST gradient. These free-tropospheric gradients are caused by easterly waves, tropical cyclones, and the Madden Julian oscillation.Convergence ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The performance of conjugate gradient schemes for minimizing unconstrained energy functionals in the context of electronic structure calculations is studied. The unconstrained functionals allow a straightforward application of conjugate gradients by removing the explicit orthonormality constraints on the quantum-mechanical wave functions. However, the removal of the constraints can lead to slow convergence, in particular when preconditioning is used. The convergence properties of two previously suggested energy functionals are analyzed, and a new functional is proposed, which unifies some of the advantages of the other functionals. A numerical example confirms the analysis.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Monte Carlo criticality calculations have been performed for over 50 years for reactor physics and criticality safety applications. With today's faster computers, these calculations are being carried out to greater precision (smaller uncertainties) in keff, and detailed distributions of power and reaction rates are being computed routinely. This paper provides a review of the fundamental theory of Monte Carlo criticality calculations, with guidance on practical methods for: (1) assuring convergence of both keff and the source distribution, (2) minimizing the bias in keff and reaction rate distributions, and (3) dealing with the under-prediction bias in uncertainties for keff and reaction rate distributions. (authors)

CERN Document Server

We study a stochastic gossip model of continuous opinion dynamics in a society consisting of two types of agents: regular agents, who update their beliefs according to information that they receive from their social neighbors; and stubborn agents, who never update their opinions and might represent leaders, political parties or media sources attempting to influence the beliefs in the rest of the society. When the society contains stubborn agents with different opinions, opinion dynamics never lead to a consensus (among the regular agents). Instead, beliefs in the society almost surely fail to converge, and the belief of each regular agent converges in law to a non-degenerate random variable. The model thus generates long-run disagreement and continuous opinion fluctuations. The structure of the social network and the location of stubborn agents within it shape opinion dynamics. When the society is ``highly fluid'', meaning that the mixing time ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The effect of weak dissipation on drift orbits has been investigated making use of a simple mapping model in a helical magnetic field. It is found that, after many mapping iterations, any orbit tends to an attractor forming a vortex line even with very small dissipation. The convergence is faster for larger dissipation, i.e., the number of iteration N to converge within a certain distance from the attractor is inversely proportional to the amount of the dissipation. Although the behavior of orbits completely change, the basic stability characteristics of the system does not change, i.e, the coordinate of the attractors are determined by the stable fixed points in the area preserving system because the dissipation is very small. Since wide range of orbits are concentrated around the attractors after many toroidal circulations, a pinch effect is created by a small dissipation. Application of this pinch effect to fusion plasmas is discussed. ...

Science.gov (United States)

This article reports research findings related to converging formats, media, practices, and ideas in the process of academics' interaction with electronic texts during a research project. The findings are part of the results of a study that explored interactions of scholars in literary and historical studies with electronic texts as primary materials. Electronic texts were perceived by the study participants as fluid entities because the electronic environment promotes seamless interactions with a variety of media and formats. Working with electronic texts combines some traditional information and research practices into new patterns of information behavior. The practice called "netchaining" combines aspects of networking with information-seeking practices to establish and shape online information chains, which link sources and people. Different forms of exploration of participants' research questions were enabled by interactions with electronic texts.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smart electricity and gas supply grids are a prerequiste for full-scale utilization of the potential of modern energy-saving appliances and equipment. Direct exchange of information between the supplier and the consumer is indispensable for reducing costly and energy-intensive peak loads. (orig.)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A renormalization procedure is proposed which applies to lattice Feynman integrals containing zero-mass propagators and is analogous to the BPHZL renormalization procedure for continuum Feynman integrals. The renormalized diagrams are infrared convergent for non-exceptional external momenta, if the vertices of the theory satisfy a general infrared constraint. Under the same conditions as in the massive case, the continuum limit of the renormalized theory exists and is independent of the details of the lattice action.

CERN Document Server

Ozsvath and Szabo show that there is a spectral sequence whose E^2 term is the reduced Khovanov homology of L, and which converges to the Heegaard Floer homology of the (orientation reversed) branched double cover of S^3 along L. We prove that the E^k term of this spectral sequence is an invariant of the link L when k>2. If L is a transverse link, then we show that Plamenevskaya's transverse invariant gives rise to a transverse invariant of L in each of these higher terms.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Central limit theorem estimates of anomalous fractal dimensions of self-similar random cascades are studied. It is found that, in general, the normal approximation fails badly. A systematic series of approximations which converges to the exact result (both for the fractal dimensions and for the distribution itself) is derived for the {alpha}-model. Consequences for the 'empty bin effect' are indicated. (orig.).

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In ab initio molecular dynamics, whenever information about the potential energy surface is needed for integrating the equations of motion, it is computed 'on the fly' using electronic structure calculations. For Born-Oppenheimer methods, the electronic structure calculations are converged, whereas in the extended Lagrangian approach the electronic structure is propagated along with the nuclei. Some recent advances for both approaches are discussed.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

In this paper, molecular quantum computation is numerically studied with the quantum search algorithm (Grover's algorithm) by means of optimal control simulation. Qubits are implemented in the vibronic states of I_2, while gate operations are realized by optimally designed laser pulses. The methodological aspects of the simulation are discussed in detail. We show that the algorithm for solving a gate pulse-design problem has the same mathematical form as a state-to-state control problem in the density matrix formalism, which provides monotonically convergent algorithms as an alternative to the Krotov method. The sequential irradiation of separately designed gate pulses leads to the population distribution predicted by Grover's algorithm. The computational accuracy is reduced by the imperfect quality of the pulse design and by the electronic decoherence processes that are modeled by the non-Markovian master equation. However, as long as we focus on the population ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Model-based approaches to pattern recognition and machine vision have been proposed to overcome the exorbitant training requirements of earlier computational paradigms. However, uncertainties in data were found to lead to a combinatorial explosion of the computational complexity. This issue is related here to the roles of a priori knowledge vs. adaptive learning. What is the a-priori knowledge representation that supports learning? I introduce Modeling Field Theory (MFT), a model-based neural network whose adaptive learning is based on a priori models. These models combine deterministic, fuzzy, and statistical aspects to account for a priori knowledge, its fuzzy nature, and data uncertainties. In the process of learning, a priori fuzzy concepts converge to crisp or probabilistic concepts. The MFT is a convergent dynamical system of only linear computational complexity. Fuzzy logic turns out to be essential for reducing the combinatorial ...

CERN Document Server

Experimental results show that certain message passing algorithms, namely, Survey Propagation, are very effective in finding satisfying assignments for random satisfiable 3CNF formulas which are considered hard for other SAT heuristics. Unfortunately, rigorous understanding of this phenomena is still lacking. In this paper we make a modest step towards providing rigorous explanation for the effectiveness of message passing algorithms. We analyze the performance of Warning Propagation, a popular message passing algorithm that is simpler than Survey Propagation. We show that for 3CNF formulas drawn from a certain distribution over random satisfiable 3CNF formulas, commonly referred to as the planted-assignment distribution, running Warning Propagation in the standard way (run message passing until convergence, simplify the formula according to the resulting assignment, and satisfy the remaining subformula, if necessary, using a simple "off the shelf" heuristic) works ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

In the last 40 years, significant advances have been made in the understanding of the neurophysiologic processes involved in the experience of trauma and pain. This knowledge, together with the rapid growth and understanding in the behavioral health sciences, has expanded to include a much better appreciation of how these fields are converging and contribute to a process called neuroplasticity. These basic mechanisms common to all patients have important implications for clinical outcome and for improving clinical practice. This article is written for clinicians who manage patients with sacroiliac joint dysfunction, a specific type of nonspecific low back pain.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Resistance and tolerance are two types of host defense mechanisms that increase fitness in response to fungi. Several genetic polymorphisms in pattern recognition receptors, most remarkably Toll-like receptors (TLRs), have been described to influence resistance and tolerance to aspergillosis in distinct clinical settings. TLRs on dendritic cells pivotally contribute in determining the balance between immunopathology and protective immunity to the fungus. Epithelial cells also contribute to this balance via selected TLRs converging on indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase (IDO). Studies in experimental hematopoietic transplantation confirmed the dichotomy of pathways leading to resistance and tolerance to the fungus providing new insights on the relative contribution of the hematopoietic/nonhematopoi...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

We decided to investigate first the interaction of hydrogen with the 4d transition-metal series, with the first element being hcp Y. Because of the recent development of soft pseudopotentials, we chose to use the plane wave basis set to carry out the calculation. Since problems had been associated with the slow convergence in transition metals, we first tested the computational methods by studying the structural properties of Y; results were encouraging. We started the calculation of YH{sub x} with hydrogen occupying different interstitial sites.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

By the linear augmented plane wave method (APW) the energy zone of silver and technetium structure is calculated. The potential has been determined by means of superposition of atomic charge densities according to slater exchange method. Total and partial state densities have been calculated by the tetrahedron method. The APW-method convergence on the example of silver is studied, the comparison with the calculation results by the APW method and other data is carried out. The APW method high efficiency is pointed out. In dipole approximation the intensity distribution in L"3, M"5 N"3 technetium emission spectra is calculated.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

The algorithmic, or consistent, tangent stiffness was introduced to improve the asymptotic convergence rate of the iterative correction algorithm for the evolutive analysis of elastoplastic structures. The original approach is based on a formulation of the elastoplastic law in terms of a plastic multiplier with an analysis which, in general, requires an operator inversion. A geometric description of the method, based on hypersurface theory, is proposed here to provide a clear picture of the algorithmic properties. An estimate of the tangent stiffness associated with finite step elastoplastic and elastoviscoplastic constitutive models is given. It is based on the properties of the projection operator on the elastic domain and avoids operator inversions retaining the beneficial properties of...

CERN Document Server

We study a percolation process on the planted binary tree, where clusters freeze as soon as they become larger than some fixed parameter N. We show that as N goes to infinity, the process converges in some sense to the frozen percolation process introduced by Aldous. In particular, our results show that the asymptotic behaviour differs substantially from that on the square lattice, on which a similar process has been studied recently by van den Berg, de Lima and Nolin.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This report covers application of Argonne National Laboratory`s (ANL`s) computer codes to simulation and analysis of components of the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) power train system at the Component Development and Integration Facility (CDIF). Major components of the system include a 50-MWt coal-fired, two-stage combustor and an MHD channel. The combustor, designed and built by TRW, includes a deswirl section between the first and the second-stage combustor and a converging nozzle following the second-stage combustor, which connects to the MHD channel. ANL used computer codes to simulate and analyze flow characteristics in various components of the MHD system. The first-stage swirl combustor was deemed a mature technology and, therefore, was not included in the computer simulation. Several versions of the ICOMFLO computer code were used for the deswirl section and second-stage combustor. The MGMHD code, upgraded with a slag current leakage submodel, was used for the ...

CERN Document Server

The network utility maximization (NUM) problem for multi-path is a problem which is non-strictly convex and non-separable. Using Jensen's inequality, we approximate the NUM to a strictly convex and separable problem which can be solved efficiently by the dual decomposition method. After a series of approximations, the result of the approximation problem converges to the globally optimal solution of the original NUM. Moreover, because of the separable and dual-based natures of the proposed algorithm, we utilize the reverse engineering frameworks of the current TCPs to develop a series of multi-path TCPs which are totally compatible with current TCPs. The multi-path users using our protocols can run simultaneously with the single-path users using the current TCPs. The simulations of our Multi-path Reno on ns-2 show the compatibility and the fairness among multi-path and single-path users.

CERN Document Server

Hidden Markov models (HMMs) are probabilistic functions of finite Markov chains, or, put in other words, state space models with finite state space. In this paper we examine subspace estimation methods for HMMs whose output lies a finite set as well. In particular we study the geometric structure arising from the non-minimality of the linear state space representation of HMMs, and consistency of a subspace algorithm arising from a certain factorisation of the singular value decomposition of the estimated linear prediction matrix. For this algorithm we show that the estimates of the transition and emission probability matrices are consistent up to a similarity transformation, and that the m-step linear predictor computed from the estimated system matrices is consistent, i.e. converges to the true optimal linear m-step predictor.

CERN Document Server

We assess the accuracy and relevance of the numerical algorithms based on the principles of Geometrical Optics (GO) and Physical Optics (PO) in the analysis of reduced-size homogeneous dielectric lenses prone to behave as open resonators. As a benchmark solution, we use the Muller boundary integral equations discretized with trigonometric Galerkin scheme that has guaranteed and fast convergence as well as controllable accuracy. The lens cross-section is chosen typical for practical applications, namely an extended hemiellipse whose eccentricity satisfies the GO focusing condition. The analysis concerns homogeneous lenses made of rexolite, fused quartz, and silicon with the size varying between 3 and 20 wavelengths in free space. We consider the 2-D case with both E- and H-polarized plane waves under normal and oblique incidence, and compare characteristics of the near fields.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The difficulty and unstability of the parameter estimation of mass action model for radioimmunoassay are the major obstacles to its application in routine work. A unique robust curve fitting method for the mass action model was introduced. large numbers of simulated data were generated with Monte Carlo method to compare the accuracy and robustness of the robust fitting and the least squre fitting (Marquardt method) of the mass action model. The results demonstrated that the new robusst method significantly increased the accuracy and reliability of data processing with the mass action model. It also markedly reduced the influence of outliers in the fitting of RIA data, and it was always 'convergent'. This robust method could also be applied to other mathematical models which can be transformed into high degree equations and no initial estimates are needed for curve fitting.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

In this paper, research on pass schedule of tandem cold mill (TCM) is carried out. According to load (reduction, rolling force, motor power) balance, non-linear equations set with variables of inter-stand thickness is constructed. The pass schedule optimization is carried out by solving the non-linear equations set. As the traditional method, the Newton-Raphson method is used for solving the non-linear equations set. In this paper a new simple method is brought up. On basis of the monotone relations between thickness and load, the inter-stands thickness is adjusted dynamically. The solution of non-linear equations set can be converged by iterative calculation. This method can avoid the derivative calculation used by traditional method. So, this method is simple and calculation speed is high. It is suitable for on-line control. (author)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Even though the currently intensive research efforts on high- temperature superconducting materials have not yet converged on a well specified practical material, the indications are that such a material may be quite brittle, anisotropic, and may contain many flaws such as microcracks and voids at grain boundaries. Consequently, practical applications of high temperature superconducting materials will require a very careful strength analysis based on fracture mechanics considerations. Because of the high sensitivity of the strength of such materials to the presence of defects, methods of quantitative non-destructive evaluation may be expected to play an important role in strength determinations. This proposal is concerned with the use of ultrasonic methods to detect and characterize isolated cracks, clusters of microcracks and microcracks distributed throughout the material. Particular attention has been, and will continue to be devoted to relating ultrasonic ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Recently, we showed (Yu, Phys. Rev. E 58 (1998) 4991) that the widely used simulation code TDA3D, even though a single-frequency code, can be used to determine the power spectrum in the SASE process with excellent approximation in the exponential growth regime. In this paper, we apply this method to the BNL Cornell Wiggler A SASE experiment as an example. When the gain is not very high, there are many modes in the radiation, which seems to make the analytical calculation very difficult. However, we show that the increment of the radiation due to SASE over the spontaneous radiation can be expanded in terms of guided modes with rapid convergence. Thus when the spontaneous radiation is subtracted from the SASE power during the calculation, there is a good agreement between the analytical theory and the numerical simulation.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

ResumeLa convergence des solutions faibles du systeme de Navier-Stokes-Fourier-Poisson compressible avec un terme de frottement est etudiee dans la limite dun frottement infini, la loi de pression incluant, comme cas particulier, celle correspondant aux particules de Fermi-Dirac. La limite se trouve etre une solution faible dun systeme de Smoluchowski-Poisson non isotherme, la temperature ne dependant que de la variable temporelle et etant determinee par la conservation de lenergie totale.

CERN Document Server

This paper presents three non-linear asymptotic observers corresponding to three examples of engineering interest: a chemical reactor, a non-holonomic car, and an inertial navigation system. For each example, the design is based on physical symmetries. This motivates the theoretical development of invariant observers, i.e, symmetry-preserving observers. We consider an observer to consist in a copy of the system equation and a correction term, and we give a constructive method (based on the Cartan moving-frame method) to find all the symmetry-preserving correction terms. They rely on an invariant frame (a classical notion) and on an invariant output-error, a less standard notion precisely defined here. For each example, the convergence analysis relies also on symmetries consideration with a key use of invariant state-errors. For the non-holonomic car and the inertial navigation system, the invariant state-errors is shown to obey an autonomous differential equation ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The integration of European energy markets is a key goal of EU energy policy, and has also been the focal point of many scientific studies in recent years. International markets for coal, oil, natural gas and electricity have previously been investigated in order to determine the extent of the respective markets. This study enhances this field of research to bioenergy markets. Price series data and time series econometrics are used to determine whether residential sector wood pellet markets of Austria, Germany and Sweden are integrated. The results of the econometric tests show that the German and Austrian markets can be considered to be integrated, whereas the Swedish market is separate from the other two countries. Although increased internationalization of wood pellet markets is likely to contribute to European price convergence and market integration, this process is far from completed. (author)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A new recurrent neural network power system stabilizer (RNNPSS) based on genetic algorithm (GA) was presented. It shows faster convergence than the linear quadratic regulator (LQR) stabilizer in a multi-machine power system, because the proposed GA based neural network was first trained off-line to determine the optimal values of the learning rates. Otherwise, the RNNPSS consists of just two layers. As such, the time consumption of the damping oscillations is lower than with conventional methods. In addition, the operating range of the RNNPSS is greater than that of the LQR and conventional three layer neural networks, since the RNNPSS can greatly reduce system complexity and effectively damp system oscillations. 9 refs., 7 figs.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

The (simplified) Backus? Problem (BP) consists in finding a harmonic function u on the domain exterior to the three dimensional unit sphere S, such that u tends to zero at infinity and the norm of the gradient of u takes prescribed values g on S. Except for a change of sign, the solution is not unique in general. However, there is uniqueness of solutions in the class of functions with the additional property that the radial component of the gradient of u on S is nonpositive. This is the geodetically relevant case. If a solution u with this property exists, then u is the maximal solution of the problem (and -u the minimal one). In this paper we propose a method of successive approximations to get this particular solution of BP and prove the convergence for functions g close to a constant fu...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Abstract We suggest a simple scheme for automatically determining the width parameter of smearing methods of the Brillouin zone integration in electronic structure calculation. The scheme retains one free parameter that at any time can be eliminated by choosing a denser k-space mesh until the desired accuracy is obtained. The tests are carried out in the context of Methfessel-Paxton smearing. This adaptive Gaussian smearing (AGS) is easily implemented, variational with respect to partial occupancies and free from spurious occupancies that are negative or larger than one. Its convergence properties are similar to those obtained with the modified tetrahedron method for energy resolution of -0.1 meV. 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011

CERN Document Server

Suppose an astronomer is equipped with a device capable of detecting emissions -- whether they be electromagnetic, gravitational, or neutrino -- from transient sources distributed throughout the cosmos. Because of source rate density evolution and variation of cosmological volume elements, the sources first detected when the machine is switched on are likely to be ones in the high-redshift universe; as observation time increases, rarer, more local, events will be found. We characterize the observer's evolving record of events in terms of a "probability event horizon", converging on the observer from great distances at enormous speed, and illustrate it by simulating neutron star birth events distributed throughout the cosmos. As an initial application of the concept, we determine the approach of this horizon for gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) by fitting to redshift data. The event rates required to fit the model are consistent with the proposed link between core-collapse ...

Science.gov (United States)

Spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP), a form of Hebbian plasticity, is inherently stabilizing. Whether and how GABAergic inhibition influences STDP is not well understood. Using a model neuron driven by converging inputs modifiable by STDP, we determined that a sufficient level of inhibition was critical to ensure that temporal coherence (correlation among presynaptic spike times) of synaptic inputs, rather than initial strength or number of inputs within a pathway, controlled postsynaptic spike timing. Inhibition exerted this effect by preferentially reducing synaptic efficacy, the ability of inputs to evoke postsynaptic action potentials, of the less coherent inputs. In visual cortical slices, inhibition potently reduced synaptic efficacy at ages during but not before the critical period of ocular dominance (OD) plasticity. Whole-cell recordings revealed that the amplitude of unitary IPSCs from parvalbumin positive (Pv+) interneurons to pyramidal neurons ...

Science.gov (United States)

Observations are presented that link extratropical Rossby wave disturbances excited in the Southern Hemisphere subtropical jet to the initiation of convectively coupled Kelvin waves in the Pacific intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) during austral winter. A baroclinic, zonal wavenumber 6, eastward-propagating Rossby wave train in the subtropical jet turns northeastward in the vicinity of Australia, inducing upper tropospheric divergence and vertical motion fields that spread equatorward and induce cloudiness anomalies in the Tropics. Lower tropospheric pressure surges excited from the extratropics also induce Kelvin wave-like geopotential height and temperature anomalies at the surface, providing additional lower tropospheric convergence and vertical motion forcing. The tropical outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) and circulation fields propagate eastward in tandem with the extratropical Rossby wave train at approximately 17 m s-1. Kelvin wave ...

Science.gov (United States)

To which idea of truth may medicine refer? Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is rooted in the scientific truth. To explain the meaning and to trace the evolution of scientific truth, this article outlines the history of the Scientific Revolution and of the parable of Modernity, up to the arrival of pragmatism and hermeneutics. Here, the concept of truth becomes somehow discomfiting and the momentum leans towards the integration of different points of view. The fuzzy set theory for the definition of disease, as well as the shift from disease to syndrome (which has operational relevance for geriatrics), seems to refer to a more complex perspective on knowledge, albeit one that is less defined as compared to the nosology in use. Supporters of narrative medicine seek the truth in the interpretation of the patients' stories, and take advantage of the medical humanities to find the truth in words, feelings and contact with the patients. Hence, it is possible to mention the parresia, which is the ...

CERN Document Server

We explore the relationship between the hard X-ray photon index $\\Gamma$ and the Eddington ratio (\\xi=L_{X}(0.5-25 keV)/L_{Edd}) in six XRBs. We find that different XRBs follow different anti-correlations between $\\Gamma$ and $\\xi$ when $\\xi$ is less than a critical value, while they follow the same positive correlation when $\\xi$ is larger than the critical value. This anti-correlation and positive correlation are also found in LLAGNs and QSOs respectively, and the anti-correlation and positive correlation of different XRBs roughly converge to the same point ($\\log \\xi=-2.1, \\Gamma=1.5$), which may correspond to the accretion mode transition, since that the anti-correlation and positive correlation are consistent with the prediction of ADAFs and standard disk/corona system respectively. The traditional low/hard state are divided into two parts by the cross point $\\log \\xi\\sim-2.1$, i.e., faint-hard state in the anti-correlation part and bright-hard ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The energy bands and the nature of the conduction electrons have been studied for two intermetallic compounds of dysprosium, i.e, DyZn and DyRh, following the self-consistent augmented-plane-wave (APW) method. The convergence of energy was found to be rapid for DyZn because the shell of 3d"1"0 electrons for Zn lies below the conduction band. The Fermi energies (E/sub F/) have been calculated to be 0.421 and 0.477 Ry for DyZn and DyRh, respectively. The densities and the numbers of conduction electrons inside and outside the APW spheres in each of these compounds are calculated, and it is shown that the character of conduction electrons inside the APW sphere of Dy is predominantly of d type. In order to see the accuracy of these results, self-consistent calculations were done for DyZn for different choices of the exchange potentials, and the calculated number of conduction electrons did not change significantly. The consequence of the predominance of d electrons in ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A shock wave appears when the release of accumulated energy is instantaneous. For instance, it accompanies gunpowder explosion, electric discharge, laser beam convergence, collision of high-speed objects, release of high-pressure gas, and supersonic flight. The shock wave research center of Institute of Fluid Science, Tohoku University, is engaged in researches to elucidate the basics of various shock wave phenomena and to apply the fruit to engineering, science, and medicine. In this report, some examples of recent application studies at the center are described, and the trend of shock wave researches in the future is introduced. The ultimate state of the stagnation point of a nozzle flow simulating a reentry into the atmosphere is produced by shock wave compression in a free piston shock tube which is a ground-borne experimental apparatus. Los Alamos National Laboratory, U.S., succeeded in generating metallic hydrogen of a crystalline structure by subjecting ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Evaluates experiments aimed at selecting optimum design and technical specifications of a support system for junctions of gate roads and longwall faces mined by shearer loaders and powered supports. A set of supports used at a junction of a working face and a gate road consisted of 2 supports (each made up of a roof bar and two hydraulic props). Roof bar length ranged from 4.0 to 5.5 m and from 7.0 to 9.0 m respectively. The support roof bars were parallel to the longitudinal axis of a gate road. Stress distribution in strata surrounding a junction of a working face and a gate road was analyzed. The finite element method was used. Convergence of the roof and the floor of a gate road depending on support yield strength and distance from a measuring point to the supports was analyzed. Recommendations are made for optimum yield strength of the supports. Nomograms for selecting optimum support yield strength are given. Practical use of the nomograms is discussed.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Studying the structure of nanoparticles as a function of their size requires a correlation between the image and the diffraction pattern of single nanoparticles. Nanobeam diffraction technique is generally used but requires long and tedious TEM investigations, particularly when nanoparticles are randomly oriented on an amorphous substrate. We bring a new development to this structural study by controlling the nanoprobe of the Bright and Dark Field STEM (BF/DF STEM) modes of the TEM. The particularity of our experiment is to make the STEM nanoprobe parallel (probe size 1 nm and convergence angle <1 mrad) using a fine tuning of the focal lengths of the microscope illumination lenses. The accurate control of the beam position offered by this technique allowed us to obtain diffraction patterns of many single nanoparticles selected in the digital STEM image. By means of this technique, we demonstrate size effects on the order-disorder transition temperature in ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

We will describe recent improvements to the SPEAR reflectometer at the Manuel Lujan Jr. Neutron Scattering Center at Los Alamos. One of the changes consists of wider convergent, incident-beam, collimation to take advantage of optical imaging for specular scattering. In addition, the instrument now views a partially coupled liquid hydrogen moderator as opposed to the decoupled moderator that was previous in-place. While the wavelength distribution is poorer, it matches the time (wavelength) resolution of the reflectometer more closely with the angular resolution. Since the integrated intensity of the partially coupled moderator is higher than the decoupled moderator, we show a similar gain in incident beam flux on the sample without loss of the ability to separate fringes. The increases in intensity from the moderator gain and the improved collimation combine to allow us to measure reflectivities with good statistics down to 10"-"4 in a matter of minutes and ...

CERN Document Server

We investigate weak lensing by large-scale structure using ray tracing through N-body simulations. Photon trajectories are followed through high resolution simulations of structure formation to make simulated maps of shear and convergence on the sky. Tests with varying numerical parameters are used to calibrate the accuracy of computed lensing statistics on angular scales from about 1 arcminute to a few degrees. Various aspects of the weak lensing approximation are also tested. For fields a few degrees on a side the shear power spectrum is almost entirely in the nonlinear regime and agrees well with nonlinear analytical predictions. Sampling fluctuations in power spectrum estimates are investigated by comparing several ray tracing realizations of a given model. For survey areas smaller than a degree on a side the main source of scatter is nonlinear coupling to modes larger than the survey. We develop a method which uses this effect to estimate the mass density ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

An IEC-TDG waveform analysis program that can accurately calculate the waveform parameters in waveforms containing much noise as well as waveforms based on the IEC 1083-2 standard was developed in the impulse voltage and current test field. In the conventional curve fitting method, it is difficult to solve the non-linear equation directly when obtaining waveform parameters from the assigned discrete data. An approximate solution method is low in precision. Therefore, the residual between the standardized data and approximate function was calculated for high-speed Fourier transformation. Unrelated components were eliminated from the calculated frequency spectrum to synthesize waveforms. An L-M method is used for analysis. The solution is first tracked by a maximum diving method. If the convergence is judged to have been largely promoted, the method is switched into a Newton method to continue the calculation. The non-linear equation in a curve fitting part can be ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This thesis consists of five chapters, each of which is a self-contained unit. The first chapter overviews methods for electronic-structure calculations. Chapter 2 introduces a new method to generate a rapidly converging configuration expansion. The approach iteratively combines (1) a least-squares fitting of a configuration expansion to a many-body wave function with (2) a transfer-matrix method for projecting out the ground state. Results are shown to be equivalent to multiconfiguration Hartree-Fock. Results from test calculations are given for a simple finite difference model of the helium atom. In Chapter 3 the use of the finite-element method in electronic structure calculations is discussed. Chapters 4 and 5 discuss developments in Monte Carlo methods based on Hubbard-Stratonovich transformations. Chapter 4 introduces a canonical ensemble formulation of the method, which is more appropriate than the usual grand canonical formulation for electronic structure. ...

CERN Document Server

Because of the stochastic nature of traffic requirement matrix, it is very difficult to get the optimal traffic distribution to minimize the delay even with adaptive routing protocol in a fixed connection network where capacity already defined for each link. Hence there is a requirement to define such a method, which could generate the optimal solution very quickly and efficiently. This paper presenting a new concept to provide the adaptive optimal traffic distribution for dynamic condition of traffic matrix using nature based intelligence methods. With the defined load and fixed capacity of links, average delay for packet has minimized with various variations of evolutionary programming and particle swarm optimization. Comparative study has given over their performance in terms of converging speed. Universal approximation capability, the key feature of feed forward neural network has applied to predict the flow distribution on each link to minimize the average ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Due to the increased computer power and advanced algorithms, quantum mechanical calculations based on Density Functional Theory are more and more widely used to solve real materials science problems. In this context large nonlinear generalized eigenvalue problems must be solved repeatedly to calculate the electronic ground state of a solid or molecule. Due to the nonlinear nature of this problem, an iterative solution of the eigenvalue problem can be more efficient provided it does not disturb the convergence of the self-consistent-field problem. The blocked Davidson method is one of the widely used and efficient schemes for that purpose, but its performance depends critically on the preconditioning, i.e. the procedure to improve the search space for an accurate solution. For more diagonally dominated problems, which appear typically for plane wave based pseudopotential calculations, the inverse of the diagonal of (H - ES) is used. However, for the more efficient ...

CERN Document Server

In a holomorphic family $(X_b)_{b\\in B}$ of non-K\\"ahlerian compact manifolds, the holomorphic curves representing a fixed 2-homology class do not form a proper family in general. The deep source of this fundamental difficulty in non-K\\"ahler geometry is the {\\it explosion of the area} phenomenon: the area of a curve $C_b\\subset X_b$ in a fixed 2-homology class can diverge as $b\\to b_0$. This phenomenon occurs frequently in the deformation theory of class VII surfaces. For instance it is well known that any minimal GSS surface $X_0$ is a degeneration of a 1-parameter family of simply blown up primary Hopf surfaces $(X_z)_{z\\in D\\setminus\\{0\\}}$, so one obtains non-proper families of exceptional divisors $E_z\\subset X_z$ whose area diverge as $z\\to 0$. Our main goal is to study in detail this non-properness phenomenon in the case of class VII surfaces. We will prove that, under certain technical assumptions, a lift $\\widetilde E_z$ of $E_z$ in the universal cover ...

Science.gov (United States)

High precision, fast computation speed, as well as a good capability of fault tolerant and reconstruction are required more and more for spacecraft attitude determination system. To realize the above requirement, an approach was presented to the synthesis of federated filters using sigma point technique. In this algorithm, the sigma point technique brought the algorithm a high precision, while the federated structure significantly enhanced the filters' capability of multi-rate information fusion, fault tolerance, and system modularity. Within consideration of computation consumption, a simple information-sharing formulation was derived to adapt to the special property of sigma point distribution, and a dynamical information sharing strategy for multi-rate fusion was developed. A numerical simulation example was employed to give the algorithm a test, where the simulated system contained a suit of gyroscopes; a three-axis magnetometer and a sun sensor each had a different sampling time. ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This work considers the problem of controlling multiple nonholonomic vehicles so that they converge to a scent source without colliding with each other. Since the control is to be implemented on simple 8-bit microcontrollers, fuzzy control rules are used to simplify a linear quadratic regulator control design. The inputs to the fuzzy controllers for each vehicle are the (noisy) direction to the source, the distance to the closest neighbor vehicle, and the direction to the closest vehicle. These directions are discretized into four values: Forward, Behind, Left, and Right, and the distance into three values: Near, Far, Gone. The values of the control at these discrete values are obtained based on the collision-avoidance repulsive forces and the change of variables that reduces the motion control problem of each nonholonomic vehicle to a nonsingular one with two degrees of freedom, instead of three. A fuzzy inference system is used to obtain control values for inputs ...

CERN Document Server

(Abridged) We use 3D SPH calculations with higher resolution, as well as with more realistic viscosity and sound-speed prescriptions than previous work to examine the eccentric instability which underlies the superhump phenomenon in semi-detached binaries. We illustrate the importance of the two-armed spiral mode in the generation of superhumps. Differential motions in the fluid disc cause converging flows which lead to strong spiral shocks once each superhump cycle. The dissipation associated with these shocks powers the superhump. We compare 2D and 3D results, and conclude that 3D simulations are necessary to faithfully simulate the disc dynamics. We ran our simulations for unprecedented durations, so that an eccentric equilibrium is established except at high mass ratios where the growth rate of the instability is very low. Our improved simulations give a closer match to the observed relationship between superhump period excess and binary mass ratio than ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The numerous challenges facing the North American electric utility industry were discussed. In addition to competition, electric utilities are faced with low demand growth, public pressure to avoid adding transmission and distribution capacity, and strict environmental requirements. In view of these developments, large central generation additions that have been industry norm until recently, do not always make economic sense in the current environment. Instead, smaller, distributed additions to generating capacity is becoming the new norm. Small-scale on-site generating capacity has the added advantage of reducing the need for expensive high-voltage transmission lines. The Ballard generation system described here is a modular, efficient fuel cell-based solution to implementing distributed power concepts. The system is natural gas fueled, with low noise, vibration and emissions. Apart from its other advantages, it provides ideal convergence opportunity by using the ...

Science.gov (United States)

Examination of measurement invariance provides a powerful method to evaluate the hypothesis that the same set of psychological constructs underlies a set of test scores in different populations. If measurement invariance is observed, then the same psychological meaning can be ascribed to scores in both populations. In this study, the measurement model including core and supplementary subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth edition (WAIS-IV) were compared across the U.S. and Canadian standardization samples. Populations were compared on the 15 subtest version of the test in people aged 70 and younger and on the 12 subtest version in people aged 70 or older. Results indicated that a slightly modified version of the four-factor model reported in the WAIS-IV technical manual provided the best fit in both populations and in both age groups. The null hypothesis of measurement invariance across populations was not rejected, and the results provide direct evidence for the ...

CERN Document Server

Classical control theory has played a major role in the development of present-day technologies. Likewise, recently developed quantum optimal control methods can be applied to emerging quantum technologies, e.g. quantum information processing -- until now, at the level of a few qubits. However, such methods encounter severe limits when applied to many-body quantum systems: due to the complexity of simulating the latter, existing quantum control algorithms (requiring many iterations to converge) usually fail to yield a desired final state within an acceptable computational time. In contrast, we present here a strategy for controlling a vast range of non-integrable one-dimensional systems that is efficiently applicable to quantum many-body systems, as it can be merged with state-of-the-art tensor network simulation methods like the Density Matrix Renormalization Group. To demonstrate its potential, we employ it to solve a major issue in current optical-lattice ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

To propose a new design concept of a nuclear reactor used in the space, research has been conducted on the conceptual design of a new nuclear reactor on the basis of the following three main concepts: (1) Thermionic generation by thermionic fuel elements (TFE), (2) reactivity control by rotary reflector, and (3) reactor cooling by liquid metal. The outcomes of the research are: (1) A calculation algorithm was derived for obtaining convergent conditions by repeating nuclear characteristic calculation and thermal flow characteristic calculation for the space nuclear reactor. (2) Use of this algorithm and the parametric study established that a space nuclear reactor using 97% enriched uranium nitride as the fuel and lithium as the coolant and having a core with a radius of about 25 cm, a height of about 50 cm and a generation efficiency of about 7% can probably be operated continuously for at least more than ten years at 100 kW only by reactivity control by rotary ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Between December 2001 and May 2004, a ventilation experiment (VE) was performed in the Mont Terri Underground Research Laboratory (URL) and co-financed by the Commission of the European Communities. The objective was to investigate the desaturation of consolidated clay formations in consequence of the ventilation of underground openings of a repository in such a formation. The results of the geoelectric measurements performed in the second phase of the Mont Terri ventilation test can be summarized as follows: Geoelectric tomography has been found suitable for monitoring ventilation-induced saturation changes in the Opalinus clay. During ventilation with dry air a desaturation down to below 50% could be detected in both desaturation cycles. The desaturated zone extends less than 0.5 m into the rock around the microtunnel. During the second resaturation phase, ventilation with humid air led to quick resaturation at the tunnel surface, while resaturation of the rock mass took months. The ...

Science.gov (United States)

Two branches of research are conducted in this thesis. The first deals with nonlinear combustion response as a mechanism for triggering combustion instabilities in solid rocket motors. A nonlinear wave equation is developed to study a wide class of combustion response functions to second-order in fluctuation amplitude. Conditions for triggering are derived from analysis of limit cycles, and regions of triggering are found in parametric space. Introduction of linear cross-coupling and quadratic self-coupling among the acoustic modes appears to be how the nonlinear combustion response produces triggering to a stable limit cycle. Regions of initial conditions corresponding to stable pulses were found, suggesting that stability depends on initial phase angle and harmonic content, as well as the composite amplitude, of the pulse. Also, dependence of nonlinear stability upon system parameters is considered. The second part of this thesis presents research for a controller to improve the ...

Science.gov (United States)

The summertime tropical cyclogenesis rate per unit area in the eastern Pacific ocean is arguably higher than in any other location in the world. Many if not most of these cyclones form from African easterly waves which cross Central America into the Pacific. Of order 25% of these waves intensify into cyclones. A significant fraction of east Pacific tropical cyclones undergoes landfall on the Mexican coast. Those which do not, generally dissipate over cold ocean waters north of the east Pacific intertropical convergence zone, often not far from land. The layer of warm ocean water which supports the development of east Pacific cyclones is unusually shallow and is structured by anticyclonic vortices which form by various processes and propagate slowly to the west. These vortices locally deepen the oceanic mixed layer and support stronger convection than their surroundings, possibly promoting cyclogenesis and cyclone intensification. Cyclones in turn have an ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This thesis presents an experimental study performed on compacted loose and natural dense expansive soils using osmotic odometers. Several successive cycles were applied under three different low constant vertical net stresses. The loose soil presents a significant shrinkage accumulation while the dense one produces the swelling accumulation during the suction cycles. The suction cycles induced an equilibrium stage which indicates an elastic behaviour of the samples. At the end of suction cycles, a loading/unloading test was performed at the constant suctions for both materials. The mechanical parameters, i.e. the virgin compression index lambda(s), the apparent pre-consolidation stress p0(s) and the elastic compression index values lambda are completely dependent on the followed stress paths. The whole experimental results made it possible to define the yielding surfaces: suction limit between micro and macrostructure (Lm/M), loading collapse (LC) and saturation curve (SCS). The ...

Science.gov (United States)

We have measured the Raman isotropic profiles of the ?(C?N) band at 2235 cm(-1) for five solutions of ME6N (4-cyanophenyl-4'-hexylbenzoate) liquid crystal dissolved in CCl(4) in the range from x = 0.12 to 0.007 (x, mole fraction of ME6N) and then obtained the corresponding vibrational correlation functions, C(v)(t), by time Fourier transformation. The increase with dilution of the dephasing times ?(v) complies with the behavior of the nonmonotonic concentration dependence predicted by the fluctuation concentration model for this concentration range (x Rothschild, which, being based on the assumption that the environmental modulation is described by a stretched exponential decay e(-(t/?(0))(?)), is more appropriate for the interpretation of the vibrational correlation function arising from a distribution of relaxation processes caused, as in the present case, by the persistence of pseudonematic domains. With dilution the dispersion parameter ? and the average correlation time ?(0) ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A phenomenological analysis of lifetimes of bottom and charmed hadrons within the framework of the heavy quark expansion is performed. The baryon matrix element is evaluated using the bag model and the nonrelativistic quark model. We find that bottom-baryon lifetimes follow the pattern #tau#(#OMEGA#_b)#approx =##tau#(#XI#_b"-)>#tau#(#LAMBDA#_b)#approx =##tau#(#XI#_b"0). However, neither the lifetime ratio #tau#(#LAMBDA#_b)/#tau#(B_d) nor the absolute decay rates of the #LAMBDA#_b baryon and B mesons can be explained. One way of solving both difficulties is to allow the presence of linear 1/m_Q corrections by scaling the inclusive nonleptonic width with the fifth power of the hadron mass m_H__Q rather than the heavy quark mass m_Q. The hierarchy of bottom baryon lifetimes is dramatically modified to #tau#(#LAMBDA#_b)>#tau#(#XI#_b"-)>#tau#(#XI#_b"0)>#tau#(#OMEGA#_b): The longest-lived #OMEGA#_b among bottom baryons in the OPE prescription now becomes the shortest lived. The ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The authors are developing MP-TOUGH2 for exploiting massively parallel computers. The goals of this effort are to (1) create a data-parallel subsurface transport code for solving larger problems than currently practical on workstations, (2) write portable code that can take advantage of scalability to run on machines with more processors, and (3) minimize the necessity for additional validation and verification of the resulting code. The initial strategy they have followed is to focus on optimizing the generic and time-consuming task of linear equation solution while leaving the bulk of TOUGH2 unmodified. In so doing, they have implemented a massively parallel direct solver (MPDS) that takes advantage of the banded structure of TOUGH2 Jacobian matrices. The authors have compared timings of the iterative conjugate gradient solvers DSLUBC, DSLUCS, and DSLUGM written in Fortran77 for the front end with the MPDS which uses the data parallel unit. The MPDS shows good performance relative to ...

Science.gov (United States)

In this dissertation, we design and analyze efficient numerical methods for obtaining accurate solutions to model problems arising in fuel cells. A basic fuel cell model consists of five principles of conservation, namely, mass, momentum, species, charges (electrons and ions), and thermal energy. Overall, transport equations couple with electrochemical processes through source terms to describe reaction kinetics and electro-osmotic drag in the polymer electrolyte. To model multiphase species transport in the porous media and the gas channel of fuel cells, we consider a multiphase mixture model framework. The diffusivity of the two-phase mixture water conservation equation in this model is nonlinear, discontinuous, and degenerate. To handle this difficulty, we developed efficient and fast nonlinear iterative solvers based on the Kirchhoff transformation and nonlinear Dirichlet-Neumann domain decomposition methods. To model the coupling between the multiphase flow in the porous media and ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This paper is dedicated to the numerical study of natural ventilation in a room through a large external opening using the CFD code Fluent. Bidimensional numerical simulations are performed for wind speeds up to 5.55 m-s{sup -1} (20 km-h{sup -1}). We propose a two-step solution procedure with grid refinement. When combined with appropriate thermal boundary conditions, this technique appears very efficient at limiting local convergence problems. Through an analysis of the flow pattern in the cavity, we qualitatively explain those results and define a critical Archimedes number. Calculated air change rates are compared to values deduced from empirical correlations of the literature. Agreement is in general poor, which can be explained by the differences between the conditions of our simulations and those of the experiments that lead to those correlations. However, from our simulations, we derived very clear correlations between the air change coefficient and the ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In order to illustrate morphological features and variations of temperature in the upper thermosphere, we performed numerical simulations with a whole atmosphere general circulation model (GCM) for the solar minimum and geomagnetically quiet conditions in March, June, September, and December. In previous GCMs, tidal effects were imposed at the lower boundaries assuming dominant diurnal and semi-diurnal tidal modes. Since the GCM used in the present study covers all the atmospheric regions, the atmospheric tides with various modes are generated within the GCM. The global temperature distributions obtained from the GCM are in agreement with ones obtained from NRLMSISE-00. In addition, the GCM also represents localised temperature structures which are superimposed on the global day-night distributions. These localised structures, which vary from hour to hour, would be observed as variations with periods of about 2-3 h at a single site. The amplitudes of the 2-3 h variations are ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mild hydrotreating is the key to successful re-refining of used lubricating oils. Coupled with pre-distillation and metals removal, the process produces oil of superior color and clarity with acceptable viscosity and heteroatom content. Furthermore, the entire process provides operational simplicity, economic feasibility and environmental attractiveness. Re-refining preserves a valuable resource while solving a potential environmental problem. Increased sensitivity to disposal of hazardous material once again makes re-refining almost a necessity. Various technologies developed to re-refine used lubricating oils range from simple acid/clay contacting to complex solvent extraction. Most technologies require similar capital investment; however, operating costs vary substantially. Current technology seems to converge on a two-step procedure: distillation of dehydrated used oil in a thin-film evaporator, and subsequent hydrotreating of distilled stocks. Filtered used ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The exchange charge model (ECM) of crystal field is utilized to provide the theoretical explanation of the ground state absorption and the excited state absorption observed for the octahedrally coordinated Ni{sup 2+} ions in the spinel MgAl{sub 2}O{sub 4}. The ECM enables modeling of the crystal field parameters (CFPs) for the impurity ions based on the crystal structure data of the host lattice. To ensure the reliability of the CFPs, the convergence of the CFP values with the increasing number of the coordination spheres taken into account in the ECM calculations is considered. The trigonal CFPs B{sub 2}{sup 0},B{sub 4}{sup 0}andB{sub 4}{sup -3} determined by the ECM, together with the appropriate Racah parameters B and C, serve as input to two crystal field analysis computer packages, which compute the energy level schemes within the whole 3d{sup 8} configuration. The cubic approximation utilizing only one CFP Dq is also discussed. Basic features of the ground ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In dynamic cardiac SPECT estimates of kinetic parameters ofa one-compartment perfusion model are usually obtained in a two stepprocess: 1) first a MAP iterative algorithm, which properly models thePoisson statistics and the physics of the data acquisition, reconstructsa sequence of dynamic reconstructions, 2) then kinetic parameters areestimated from time activity curves generated from the dynamicreconstructions. This paper provides a method for calculating thecovariance matrix of the kinetic parameters, which are determined usingweighted least squares fitting that incorporates the estimated varianceand covariance of the dynamic reconstructions. For each transaxial slicesets of sequential tomographic projections are reconstructed into asequence of transaxial reconstructions usingfor each reconstruction inthe time sequence an iterative MAP reconstruction to calculate themaximum a priori reconstructed estimate. Time-activity curves for a sumof activity in a blood region inside the left ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The field of neutron imaging has a broad scope of applications and has played a pivotal role in visualizing and quantifying hydrogenous masses in metallic matrices. The field continues to expand into new applications with the installation of new neutron imaging facilities. In this scope, a neutron imaging facility for computed tomography and real-time neutron radiography is currently being developed around 2.0 MW TRIGA MARK-II Reactor at Maamora Nuclear Research Centre in Morocco (CENM). The neutron imaging facility consists of a neutron collimator, a real-time neutron imaging system and imaging process systems. In order to reduce the gamma-ray content in the neutron beam, the reactor tangential channel was selected. For power of 250 kW, the corresponding thermal neutron flux measured at the inlet of the tangential channel is around 3.1011 n*cm2/s. This facility will be based on a conical neutron collimator with two circular diaphragms with diameters of 4 cm and 2 cm corresponding to ...

Science.gov (United States)

The effect of aerosol on clouds poses one of the largest uncertainties in estimating the anthropogenic contribution to climate change. Small human-induced perturbations to cloud characteristics via aerosol pathways can create a change in the top-of-atmosphere radiative forcing of hundreds of Wm-2. Here we focus on links between aerosol and deep convective clouds of the Atlantic and Pacific Intertropical Convergence Zones, noting that the aerosol environment in each region is entirely different. The tops of these vertically developed clouds consisting of mostly ice can reach high levels of the atmosphere, overshooting the lower stratosphere and reaching altitudes greater than 16 km. We show a link between aerosol, clouds and the free atmosphere wind profile that can change the magnitude and sign of the overall climate radiative forcing. We find that increased aerosol loading is associated with taller cloud towers and anvils. The taller clouds reach levels of ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

We investigate the evolution of Type Ib/c supernova (SN Ib/c) progenitors in close binary systems, using new evolutionary models that include the effects of rotation, with initial masses of 12-25 M_s_u_n for the primary components, and of single helium stars with initial masses of 2.8-20 M_s_u_n. We find that, despite the impact of tidal interaction on the rotation of primary stars, the amount of angular momentum retained in the core at the presupernova stage in different binary model sequences converges to a value similar to those found in previous single star models. This amount is large enough to produce millisecond pulsars, but too small to produce magnetars or long gamma-ray bursts. We employ the most up-to-date estimate for the Wolf-Rayet mass-loss rate, and its implications for SN Ib/c progenitors are discussed in detail. In terms of stellar structure, SN Ib/c progenitors in binary systems at solar metallicity are predicted to have a wide range of final ...