Transition in multiple-scale-lengths turbulence in plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Itoh, S.-I.; Yagi, M.; Kawasaki, M.; Kitazawa, A. [Kyushu Univ., Fukuoka (Japan). Research Inst. for Applied Mechanics; Itoh, K. [National Inst. for Fusion Science, Toki, Gifu (Japan)

2002-02-01

The statistical theory of strong turbulence in inhomogeneous plasmas is developed for the cases where fluctuations with different scale-lengths coexist. Statistical nonlinear interactions between semi-micro and micro modes are first kept in the analysis as the drag, noise and drive. The nonlinear dynamics determines both the fluctuation levels and the cross field turbulent transport for the fixed global parameters. A quenching or suppressing effect is induced by their nonlinear interplay, even if both modes are unstable when analyzed independently. Influence of the inhomogeneous global radial electric field is discussed. A new insight is given for the physics of internal transport barrier. The thermal fluctuation of the scale length of {lambda}{sub D} is assumed to be statistically independent. The hierarchical structure is constructed according to the scale lengths. Transitions in turbulence are found and phase diagrams with cusp type catastrophe are obtained. Dynamics is followed. Statistical properties of the subcritical excitation are discussed. The probability density function (PDF) and transition probability are obtained. Power-laws are obtained in the PDF as well as in the transition probability. Generalization for the case where turbulence is composed of three-classes of modes is also developed. A new catastrophe of turbulent sates is obtained. (author)

Transition in multiple-scale-lengths turbulence in plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Itoh, S.-I.; Yagi, M.; Kawasaki, M.; Kitazawa, A.

2002-02-01

The statistical theory of strong turbulence in inhomogeneous plasmas is developed for the cases where fluctuations with different scale-lengths coexist. Statistical nonlinear interactions between semi-micro and micro modes are first kept in the analysis as the drag, noise and drive. The nonlinear dynamics determines both the fluctuation levels and the cross field turbulent transport for the fixed global parameters. A quenching or suppressing effect is induced by their nonlinear interplay, even if both modes are unstable when analyzed independently. Influence of the inhomogeneous global radial electric field is discussed. A new insight is given for the physics of internal transport barrier. The thermal fluctuation of the scale length of λ D is assumed to be statistically independent. The hierarchical structure is constructed according to the scale lengths. Transitions in turbulence are found and phase diagrams with cusp type catastrophe are obtained. Dynamics is followed. Statistical properties of the subcritical excitation are discussed. The probability density function (PDF) and transition probability are obtained. Power-laws are obtained in the PDF as well as in the transition probability. Generalization for the case where turbulence is composed of three-classes of modes is also developed. A new catastrophe of turbulent sates is obtained. (author)

Length scale hierarchy and spatiotemporal change of alluvial morphologies over the Selenga River delta, Russia

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, T. Y.; Nittrouer, J.; McElroy, B. J.; Ma, H.; Czapiga, M. J.; Il'icheva, E.; Pavlov, M.; Parker, G.

2017-12-01

The movement of water and sediment in natural channels creates various types of alluvial morphologies that span length scales from dunes to deltas. The behavior of these morphologies is controlled microscopically by hydrodynamic conditions and bed material size, and macroscopically by hydrologic and geological settings. Alluvial morphologies can be modeled as either diffusive or kinematic waves, in accordance with their respective boundary conditions. Recently, it has been shown that the difference between these two dynamic behaviors of alluvial morphologies can be characterized by the backwater number, which is a dimensionless value normalizing the length scale of a morphological feature to its local hydrodynamic condition. Application of the backwater number has proven useful for evaluating the size of morphologies, including deltas (e.g., by assessing the preferential avulsion location of a lobe), and for comparing bedform types across different fluvial systems. Yet two critical questions emerge when applying the backwater number: First, how do different types of alluvial morphologies compare within a single deltaic system, where there is a hydrodynamic transition from uniform to non-uniform flow? Second, how do different types of morphologies evolve temporally within a system as a function of changing water discharge? This study addresses these questions by compiling and analyzing field data from the Selenga River delta, Russia, which include measurements of flow velocity, channel geometry, bed material grain size, and channel slope, as well as length scales of various morphologies, including dunes, island bars, meanders, bifurcations, and delta lobes. Data analyses reveal that the length scale of morphologies decrease and the backwater number increases as flow transitions from uniform to non-uniform conditions progressing downstream. It is shown that the evaluated length scale hierarchy and planform distribution of different morphologies can be used to

Scale Length of the Galactic Thin Disk

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

tribpo

thin disk density scale length, hR, is rather short (2.7 ± 0.1 kpc). Key words. ... The 2MASS near infrared data provide, for the first time, deep star counts on a ... peaks allows to adjust the spatial extinction law in the model. ... probability that fi.

Many-body localization transition: Schmidt gap, entanglement length, and scaling

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, Johnnie; Bose, Sougato; Bayat, Abolfazl

2018-05-01

Many-body localization has become an important phenomenon for illuminating a potential rift between nonequilibrium quantum systems and statistical mechanics. However, the nature of the transition between ergodic and localized phases in models displaying many-body localization is not yet well understood. Assuming that this is a continuous transition, analytic results show that the length scale should diverge with a critical exponent ν ≥2 in one-dimensional systems. Interestingly, this is in stark contrast with all exact numerical studies which find ν ˜1 . We introduce the Schmidt gap, new in this context, which scales near the transition with an exponent ν >2 compatible with the analytical bound. We attribute this to an insensitivity to certain finite-size fluctuations, which remain significant in other quantities at the sizes accessible to exact numerical methods. Additionally, we find that a physical manifestation of the diverging length scale is apparent in the entanglement length computed using the logarithmic negativity between disjoint blocks.

Instantaneous equations for multiphase flow in porous media without length-scale restrictions using a non-local averaging volume

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Espinosa-Paredes, Gilberto

2010-01-01

The aim of this paper is to propose a framework to obtain a new formulation for multiphase flow conservation equations without length-scale restrictions, based on the non-local form of the averaged volume conservation equations. The simplification of the local averaging volume of the conservation equations to obtain practical equations is subject to the following length-scale restrictions: d << l << L, where d is the characteristic length of the dispersed phases, l is the characteristic length of the averaging volume, and L is the characteristic length of the physical system. If the foregoing inequality does not hold, or if the scale of the problem of interest is of the order of l, the averaging technique and therefore, the macroscopic theories of multiphase flow should be modified in order to include appropriate considerations and terms in the corresponding equations. In these cases the local form of the averaged volume conservation equations are not appropriate to describe the multiphase system. As an example of the conservation equations without length-scale restrictions, the natural circulation boiling water reactor was consider to study the non-local effects on the thermal-hydraulic core performance during steady-state and transient behaviors, and the results were compared with the classic local averaging volume conservation equations.

Empirical scaling of the length of the longest increasing subsequences of random walks

Science.gov (United States)

Mendonça, J. Ricardo G.

2017-02-01

We provide Monte Carlo estimates of the scaling of the length L n of the longest increasing subsequences of n-step random walks for several different distributions of step lengths, short and heavy-tailed. Our simulations indicate that, barring possible logarithmic corrections, {{L}n}∼ {{n}θ} with the leading scaling exponent 0.60≲ θ ≲ 0.69 for the heavy-tailed distributions of step lengths examined, with values increasing as the distribution becomes more heavy-tailed, and θ ≃ 0.57 for distributions of finite variance, irrespective of the particular distribution. The results are consistent with existing rigorous bounds for θ, although in a somewhat surprising manner. For random walks with step lengths of finite variance, we conjecture that the correct asymptotic behavior of L n is given by \\sqrt{n}\\ln n , and also propose the form for the subleading asymptotics. The distribution of L n was found to follow a simple scaling form with scaling functions that vary with θ. Accordingly, when the step lengths are of finite variance they seem to be universal. The nature of this scaling remains unclear, since we lack a working model, microscopic or hydrodynamic, for the behavior of the length of the longest increasing subsequences of random walks.

Natural Length Scales of Ecological Systems: Applications at Community and Ecosystem Levels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Craig R. Johnson

2009-06-01

Full Text Available The characteristic, or natural, length scales of a spatially dynamic ecological landscape are the spatial scales at which the deterministic trends in the dynamic are most sharply in focus. Given recent development of techniques to determine the characteristic length scales (CLSs of real ecological systems, I explore the potential for using CLSs to address three important and vexing issues in applied ecology, viz. (i determining the optimum scales to monitor ecological systems, (ii interpreting change in ecological communities, and (iii ascertaining connectivity between species in complex ecologies. In summarizing the concept of characteristic length scales as system-level scaling thresholds, I emphasize that the primary CLS is, by definition, the optimum scale at which to monitor a system if the objective is to observe its deterministic dynamics at a system level. Using several different spatially explicit individual-based models, I then explore predictions of the underlying theory of CLSs in the context of interpreting change and ascertaining connectivity among species in ecological systems. Analysis of these models support predictions that systems with strongly fluctuating community structure, but an otherwise stable long-term dynamic defined by a stationary attractor, indicate an invariant length scale irrespective of community structure at the time of analysis, and irrespective of the species analyzed. In contrast, if changes in the underlying dynamic are forcibly induced, the shift in dynamics is reflected by a change in the primary length scale. Thus, consideration of the magnitude of the CLS through time enables distinguishing between circumstances where there are temporal changes in community structure but not in the long-term dynamic, from that where changes in community structure reflect some kind of fundamental shift in dynamics. In this context, CLSs emerge as a diagnostic tool to identify phase shifts to alternative stable states

Length-scale effect due to periodic variation of geometrically necessary dislocation densities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Oztop, M. S.; Niordson, Christian Frithiof; Kysar, J. W.

2013-01-01

Strain gradient plasticity theories have been successful in predicting qualitative aspects of the length scale effect, most notably the increase in yield strength and hardness as the size of the deforming volume decreases. However new experimental methodologies enabled by recent developments...... of high spatial resolution diffraction methods in a scanning electron microscope give a much more quantitative understanding of plastic deformation at small length scales. Specifically, geometrically necessary dislocation densities (GND) can now be measured and provide detailed information about...... the microstructure of deformed metals in addition to the size effect. Recent GND measurements have revealed a distribution of length scales that evolves within a metal undergoing plastic deformation. Furthermore, these experiments have shown an accumulation of GND densities in cell walls as well as a variation...

The length and time scales of water's glass transitions

Science.gov (United States)

Limmer, David T.

2014-06-01

Using a general model for the equilibrium dynamics of supercooled liquids, I compute from molecular properties the emergent length and time scales that govern the nonequilibrium relaxation behavior of amorphous ice prepared by rapid cooling. Upon cooling, the liquid water falls out of equilibrium whereby the temperature dependence of its relaxation time is predicted to change from super-Arrhenius to Arrhenius. A consequence of this crossover is that the location of the apparent glass transition temperature depends logarithmically on cooling rate. Accompanying vitrification is the emergence of a dynamical length-scale, the size of which depends on the cooling rate and varies between angstroms and tens of nanometers. While this protocol dependence clarifies a number of previous experimental observations for amorphous ice, the arguments are general and can be extended to other glass forming liquids.

The length and time scales of water's glass transitions.

Science.gov (United States)

Limmer, David T

2014-06-07

Using a general model for the equilibrium dynamics of supercooled liquids, I compute from molecular properties the emergent length and time scales that govern the nonequilibrium relaxation behavior of amorphous ice prepared by rapid cooling. Upon cooling, the liquid water falls out of equilibrium whereby the temperature dependence of its relaxation time is predicted to change from super-Arrhenius to Arrhenius. A consequence of this crossover is that the location of the apparent glass transition temperature depends logarithmically on cooling rate. Accompanying vitrification is the emergence of a dynamical length-scale, the size of which depends on the cooling rate and varies between angstroms and tens of nanometers. While this protocol dependence clarifies a number of previous experimental observations for amorphous ice, the arguments are general and can be extended to other glass forming liquids.

Effective Debye length in closed nanoscopic systems: a competition between two length scales.

Science.gov (United States)

Tessier, Frédéric; Slater, Gary W

2006-02-01

The Poisson-Boltzmann equation (PBE) is widely employed in fields where the thermal motion of free ions is relevant, in particular in situations involving electrolytes in the vicinity of charged surfaces. The applications of this non-linear differential equation usually concern open systems (in osmotic equilibrium with an electrolyte reservoir, a semi-grand canonical ensemble), while solutions for closed systems (where the number of ions is fixed, a canonical ensemble) are either not appropriately distinguished from the former or are dismissed as a numerical calculation exercise. We consider herein the PBE for a confined, symmetric, univalent electrolyte and quantify how, in addition to the Debye length, its solution also depends on a second length scale, which embodies the contribution of ions by the surface (which may be significant in high surface-to-volume ratio micro- or nanofluidic capillaries). We thus establish that there are four distinct regimes for such systems, corresponding to the limits of the two parameters. We also show how the PBE in this case can be formulated in a familiar way by simply replacing the traditional Debye length by an effective Debye length, the value of which is obtained numerically from conservation conditions. But we also show that a simple expression for the value of the effective Debye length, obtained within a crude approximation, remains accurate even as the system size is reduced to nanoscopic dimensions, and well beyond the validity range typically associated with the solution of the PBE.

Wind direction variations in the natural wind – A new length scale

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansson, Jens; Christensen, Silas Sverre

2018-01-01

During an observation period of e.g. 10min, the wind direction will differ from its mean direction for short periods of time, and a body of air will pass by from that direction before the direction changes once again. The present paper introduces a new length scale which we have labeled the angular...... length scale. This length scale expresses the average size of the body of air passing by from any deviation of wind direction away from the mean direction. Using metrological observations from two different sites under varying conditions we have shown that the size of the body of air relative to the mean...... size decreases linearly with the deviation from the mean wind direction when the deviation is normalized with the standard deviation of the wind direction. It is shown that this linear variation is independent of the standard deviation of the wind direction, and that the two full-scale data sets follow...

Effect of length scale on mechanical properties of Al-Cu eutectic alloy

Science.gov (United States)

Tiwary, C. S.; Roy Mahapatra, D.; Chattopadhyay, K.

2012-10-01

This paper attempts a quantitative understanding of the effect of length scale on two phase eutectic structure. We first develop a model that considers both the elastic and plastic properties of the interface. Using Al-Al2Cu lamellar eutectic as model system, the parameters of the model were experimentally determined using indentation technique. The model is further validated using the results of bulk compression testing of the eutectics having different length scales.

Hydrodynamic simulations of long-scale-length two-plasmon–decay experiments at the Omega Laser Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu, S. X.; Michel, D. T.; Edgell, D. H.; Froula, D. H.; Follett, R. K.; Goncharov, V. N.; Myatt, J. F.; Skupsky, S.; Yaakobi, B.

2013-01-01

G c ≃ 4. The hot-electron temperature scales roughly linear with G c . Furthermore, to mitigate TPD instability in long-scale-length plasmas, different ablator materials such as saran and aluminum have been investigated on OMEGA EP. Hot-electron generation has been reduced by a factor of 3–10 for saran and aluminum plasmas, compared to the CH case at the same incident laser intensity. draco simulations suggest that saran might be a better ablator for direct-drive–ignition designs as it balances TPD mitigation with an acceptable hydro-efficiency.

An experimental verification of the compensation of length change of line scales caused by ambient air pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takahashi, Akira; Miwa, Nobuharu

2010-01-01

Line scales are used as a working standard of length for the calibration of optical measuring instruments such as profile projectors, measuring microscopes and video measuring systems. The authors have developed a one-dimensional calibration system for line scales to obtain a lower uncertainty of measurement. The scale calibration system, named Standard Scale Calibrator SSC-05, employs a vacuum interferometer system for length measurement, a 633 nm iodine-stabilized He–Ne laser to calibrate the oscillating frequency of the interferometer laser light source and an Abbe's error compensation structure. To reduce the uncertainty of measurement, the uncertainty factors of the line scale and ambient conditions should not be neglected. Using the length calibration system, the expansion and contraction of a line scale due to changes in ambient air pressure were observed and the measured scale length was corrected into the length under standard atmospheric pressure, 1013.25 hPa. Utilizing a natural rapid change in the air pressure caused by a tropical storm (typhoon), we carried out an experiment on the length measurement of a 1000 mm long line scale made of glass ceramic with a low coefficient of thermal expansion. Using a compensation formula for the length change caused by changes in ambient air pressure, the length change of the 1000 mm long line scale was compensated with a standard deviation of less than 1 nm

Self-assembling block copolymer systems involving competing length scales : A route toward responsive materials

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nap, R; Erukhimovich, [No Value; ten Brinke, G; Erukhimovich, Igor

2004-01-01

The phase behavior of block copolymers melts involving competing length scales, i.e., able to microphase separate on two different length scales, is theoretically investigated using a self-consistent field approach. The specific block copolymers studied consist of a linear A-block linked to an

Elliptic Length Scales in Laminar, Two-Dimensional Supersonic Flows

Science.gov (United States)

2015-06-01

sophisticated computational fluid dynamics ( CFD ) methods. Additionally, for 3D interactions, the length scales would require determination in spanwise as well...Manna, M. “Experimental, Analytical, and Computational Methods Applied to Hypersonic Compression Ramp Flows,” AIAA Journal, Vol. 32, No. 2, Feb. 1994

Invariant length scale in relativistic kinematics: lessons from Dirichlet branes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schuller, Frederic P.; Pfeiffer, Hendryk

2004-01-01

Dirac-Born-Infeld theory is shown to possess a hidden invariance associated with its maximal electric field strength. The local Lorentz symmetry O(1,n) on a Dirichlet-n-brane is thereby enhanced to an O(1,n)xO(1,n) gauge group, encoding both an invariant velocity and acceleration (or length) scale. The presence of this enlarged gauge group predicts consequences for the kinematics of observers on Dirichlet branes, with admissible accelerations being bounded from above. An important lesson is that the introduction of a fundamental length scale into relativistic kinematics does not enforce a deformation of Lorentz boosts, as one might assume naively. The exhibited structures further show that Moffat's non-symmetric gravitational theory qualifies as a candidate for a consistent Born-Infeld type gravity with regulated solutions

Multi length-scale characterisation inorganic materials series

CERN Document Server

Bruce, Duncan W; Walton, Richard I

2013-01-01

Whereas the first five volumes in the Inorganic Materials Series focused on particular classes of materials (synthesis, structures, chemistry, and properties), it is now very timely to provide complementary volumes that introduce and review state-of-the-art techniques for materials characterization. This is an important way of emphasizing the interplay of chemical synthesis and physical characterization. The methods reviewed include spectroscopic, diffraction, and surface techniques that examine the structure of materials on all length scales, from local atomic structure to long-range crystall

Driving force for hydrophobic interaction at different length scales.

Science.gov (United States)

Zangi, Ronen

2011-03-17

We study by molecular dynamics simulations the driving force for the hydrophobic interaction between graphene sheets of different sizes down to the atomic scale. Similar to the prediction by Lum, Chandler, and Weeks for hard-sphere solvation [J. Phys. Chem. B 1999, 103, 4570-4577], we find the driving force to be length-scale dependent, despite the fact that our model systems do not exhibit dewetting. For small hydrophobic solutes, the association is purely entropic, while enthalpy favors dissociation. The latter is demonstrated to arise from the enhancement of hydrogen bonding between the water molecules around small hydrophobes. On the other hand, the attraction between large graphene sheets is dominated by enthalpy which mainly originates from direct solute-solute interactions. The crossover length is found to be inside the range of 0.3-1.5 nm(2) of the surface area of the hydrophobe that is eliminated in the association process. In the large-scale regime, different thermodynamic properties are scalable with this change of surface area. In particular, upon dimerization, a total and a water-induced stabilization of approximately 65 and 12 kJ/mol/nm(2) are obtained, respectively, and on average around one hydrogen bond is gained per 1 nm(2) of graphene sheet association. Furthermore, the potential of mean force between the sheets is also scalable except for interplate distances smaller than 0.64 nm which corresponds to the region around the barrier for removing the last layer of water. It turns out that, as the surface area increases, the relative height of the barrier for association decreases and the range of attraction increases. It is also shown that, around small hydrophobic solutes, the lifetime of the hydrogen bonds is longer than in the bulk, while around large hydrophobes it is the same. Nevertheless, the rearrangement of the hydrogen-bond network for both length-scale regimes is slower than in bulk water. © 2011 American Chemical Society

Scattering Length Scaling Laws for Ultracold Three-Body Collisions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

D'Incao, J.P.; Esry, B.D.

2005-01-01

We present a simple and unifying picture that provides the energy and scattering length dependence for all inelastic three-body collision rates in the ultracold regime for three-body systems with short-range two-body interactions. Here, we present the scaling laws for vibrational relaxation, three-body recombination, and collision-induced dissociation for systems that support s-wave two-body collisions. These systems include three identical bosons, two identical bosons, and two identical fermions. Our approach reproduces all previous results, predicts several others, and gives the general form of the scaling laws in all cases

Characteristic length scale of input data in distributed models: implications for modeling grid size

Science.gov (United States)

Artan, G. A.; Neale, C. M. U.; Tarboton, D. G.

2000-01-01

The appropriate spatial scale for a distributed energy balance model was investigated by: (a) determining the scale of variability associated with the remotely sensed and GIS-generated model input data; and (b) examining the effects of input data spatial aggregation on model response. The semi-variogram and the characteristic length calculated from the spatial autocorrelation were used to determine the scale of variability of the remotely sensed and GIS-generated model input data. The data were collected from two hillsides at Upper Sheep Creek, a sub-basin of the Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed, in southwest Idaho. The data were analyzed in terms of the semivariance and the integral of the autocorrelation. The minimum characteristic length associated with the variability of the data used in the analysis was 15 m. Simulated and observed radiometric surface temperature fields at different spatial resolutions were compared. The correlation between agreement simulated and observed fields sharply declined after a 10×10 m2 modeling grid size. A modeling grid size of about 10×10 m2 was deemed to be the best compromise to achieve: (a) reduction of computation time and the size of the support data; and (b) a reproduction of the observed radiometric surface temperature.

Characteristic length scale of input data in distributed models: implications for modeling grain size

Science.gov (United States)

Artan, Guleid A.; Neale, C. M. U.; Tarboton, D. G.

2000-01-01

The appropriate spatial scale for a distributed energy balance model was investigated by: (a) determining the scale of variability associated with the remotely sensed and GIS-generated model input data; and (b) examining the effects of input data spatial aggregation on model response. The semi-variogram and the characteristic length calculated from the spatial autocorrelation were used to determine the scale of variability of the remotely sensed and GIS-generated model input data. The data were collected from two hillsides at Upper Sheep Creek, a sub-basin of the Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed, in southwest Idaho. The data were analyzed in terms of the semivariance and the integral of the autocorrelation. The minimum characteristic length associated with the variability of the data used in the analysis was 15 m. Simulated and observed radiometric surface temperature fields at different spatial resolutions were compared. The correlation between agreement simulated and observed fields sharply declined after a 10×10 m2 modeling grid size. A modeling grid size of about 10×10 m2 was deemed to be the best compromise to achieve: (a) reduction of computation time and the size of the support data; and (b) a reproduction of the observed radiometric surface temperature.

Nano-scaled graphene platelets with a high length-to-width aspect ratio

Science.gov (United States)

Zhamu, Aruna; Guo, Jiusheng; Jang, Bor Z.

2010-09-07

This invention provides a nano-scaled graphene platelet (NGP) having a thickness no greater than 100 nm and a length-to-width ratio no less than 3 (preferably greater than 10). The NGP with a high length-to-width ratio can be prepared by using a method comprising (a) intercalating a carbon fiber or graphite fiber with an intercalate to form an intercalated fiber; (b) exfoliating the intercalated fiber to obtain an exfoliated fiber comprising graphene sheets or flakes; and (c) separating the graphene sheets or flakes to obtain nano-scaled graphene platelets. The invention also provides a nanocomposite material comprising an NGP with a high length-to-width ratio. Such a nanocomposite can become electrically conductive with a small weight fraction of NGPs. Conductive composites are particularly useful for shielding of sensitive electronic equipment against electromagnetic interference (EMI) or radio frequency interference (RFI), and for electrostatic charge dissipation.

Length-scale dependent mechanical properties of Al-Cu eutectic alloy: Molecular dynamics based model and its experimental verification

Science.gov (United States)

Tiwary, C. S.; Chakraborty, S.; Mahapatra, D. R.; Chattopadhyay, K.

2014-05-01

This paper attempts to gain an understanding of the effect of lamellar length scale on the mechanical properties of two-phase metal-intermetallic eutectic structure. We first develop a molecular dynamics model for the in-situ grown eutectic interface followed by a model of deformation of Al-Al2Cu lamellar eutectic. Leveraging the insights obtained from the simulation on the behaviour of dislocations at different length scales of the eutectic, we present and explain the experimental results on Al-Al2Cu eutectic with various different lamellar spacing. The physics behind the mechanism is further quantified with help of atomic level energy model for different length scale as well as different strain. An atomic level energy partitioning of the lamellae and the interface regions reveals that the energy of the lamellae core are accumulated more due to dislocations irrespective of the length-scale. Whereas the energy of the interface is accumulated more due to dislocations when the length-scale is smaller, but the trend is reversed when the length-scale is large beyond a critical size of about 80 nm.

LPI Thresholds in Longer Scale Length Plasmas Driven by the Nike Laser*

Science.gov (United States)

Weaver, J.; Oh, J.; Phillips, L.; Afeyan, B.; Seely, J.; Kehne, D.; Brown, C.; Obenschain, S.; Serlin, V.; Schmitt, A. J.; Feldman, U.; Holland, G.; Lehmberg, R. H.; McLean, E.; Manka, C.

2010-11-01

The Krypton-Fluoride (KrF) laser is an attractive driver for inertial confinement fusion due to its short wavelength (248nm), large bandwidth (1-3 THz), and beam smoothing by induced spatial incoherence. Experiments with the Nike KrF laser have demonstrated intensity thresholds for laser plasma instabilities (LPI) higher than reported for other high power lasers operating at longer wavelengths (>=351 nm). The previous Nike experiments used short pulses (350 ps FWHM) and small spots (<260 μm FWHM) that created short density scale length plasmas (Ln˜50-70 μm) from planar CH targets and demonstrated the onset of two-plasmon decay (2φp) at laser intensities ˜2x10^15 W/cm^2. This talk will present an overview of the current campaign that uses longer pulses (0.5-4.0 ns) to achieve greater density scale lengths (Ln˜100-200 μm). X-rays, emission near ^1/2φo and ^3/2φo harmonics, and reflected laser light have been monitored for onset of 2φp. The longer density scale lengths will allow better comparison to results from other laser facilities. *Work supported by DoE/NNSA and ONR.

Feasibility analysis of large length-scale thermocapillary flow experiment for the International Space Station

Science.gov (United States)

Alberts, Samantha J.

The investigation of microgravity fluid dynamics emerged out of necessity with the advent of space exploration. In particular, capillary research took a leap forward in the 1960s with regards to liquid settling and interfacial dynamics. Due to inherent temperature variations in large spacecraft liquid systems, such as fuel tanks, forces develop on gas-liquid interfaces which induce thermocapillary flows. To date, thermocapillary flows have been studied in small, idealized research geometries usually under terrestrial conditions. The 1 to 3m lengths in current and future large tanks and hardware are designed based on hardware rather than research, which leaves spaceflight systems designers without the technological tools to effectively create safe and efficient designs. This thesis focused on the design and feasibility of a large length-scale thermocapillary flow experiment, which utilizes temperature variations to drive a flow. The design of a helical channel geometry ranging from 1 to 2.5m in length permits a large length-scale thermocapillary flow experiment to fit in a seemingly small International Space Station (ISS) facility such as the Fluids Integrated Rack (FIR). An initial investigation determined the proposed experiment produced measurable data while adhering to the FIR facility limitations. The computational portion of this thesis focused on the investigation of functional geometries of fuel tanks and depots using Surface Evolver. This work outlines the design of a large length-scale thermocapillary flow experiment for the ISS FIR. The results from this work improve the understanding thermocapillary flows and thus improve technological tools for predicting heat and mass transfer in large length-scale thermocapillary flows. Without the tools to understand the thermocapillary flows in these systems, engineers are forced to design larger, heavier vehicles to assure safety and mission success.

Numerical scalings of the decay lengths in the scrape-off layer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Militello, F.; Naulin, V; Nielsen, Anders Henry

2013-01-01

Numerical simulations of L-mode turbulence in the scrape-off layer (SOL) are used to construct power scaling laws for the characteristic decay lengths of the temperature, density and heat flux at the outer mid-plane. Most of the results obtained are in qualitative agreement with the experimental...... observations despite the known limitation of the model. Quantitative agreement is also obtained for some exponents. In particular, an almost linear inverse dependence of the heat flux decay length with the plasma current is recovered. The relative simplicity of the theoretical model used allows one to gain...

Activity-dependent self-regulation of viscous length scales in biological systems

Science.gov (United States)

Nandi, Saroj Kumar

2018-05-01

The cellular cortex, which is a highly viscous thin cytoplasmic layer just below the cell membrane, controls the cell's mechanical properties, which can be characterized by a hydrodynamic length scale ℓ . Cells actively regulate ℓ via the activity of force-generating molecules, such as myosin II. Here we develop a general theory for such systems through a coarse-grained hydrodynamic approach including activity in the static description of the system providing an experimentally accessible parameter and elucidate the detailed mechanism of how a living system can actively self-regulate its hydrodynamic length scale, controlling the rigidity of the system. Remarkably, we find that ℓ , as a function of activity, behaves universally and roughly inversely proportional to the activity of the system. Our theory rationalizes a number of experimental findings on diverse systems, and comparison of our theory with existing experimental data shows good agreement.

Comparative growth models of big-scale sand smelt (Atherina boyeri Risso, 1810 sampled from Hirfanll Dam Lake, Klrsehir, Ankara, Turkey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Benzer

2017-06-01

Full Text Available In this current publication the growth characteristics of big-scale sand smelt data were compared for population dynamics within artificial neural networks and length-weight relationships models. This study aims to describe the optimal decision of the growth model of big-scale sand smelt by artificial neural networks and length-weight relationships models at Hirfanll Dam Lake, Klrsehir, Turkey. There were a total of 1449 samples collected from Hirfanll Dam Lake between May 2015 and May 2016. Both model results were compared with each other and the results were also evaluated with MAPE (mean absolute percentage error, MSE (mean squared error and r2 (coefficient correlation data as a performance criterion. The results of the current study show that artificial neural networks is a superior estimation tool compared to length-weight relationships models of big-scale sand smelt in Hirfanll Dam Lake.

Channel length scaling and the impact of metal gate work function ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

As the channel length is reduced from one transistor generation to the next, ... As CMOS technology continues to scale, metal gate electrodes need to be intro .... in the z-direction, q is the electron charge, h is the Planck's constant, Ψ(x, z) is the.

Comparative validity of brief to medium-length Big Five and Big Six Personality Questionnaires.

Science.gov (United States)

Thalmayer, Amber Gayle; Saucier, Gerard; Eigenhuis, Annemarie

2011-12-01

A general consensus on the Big Five model of personality attributes has been highly generative for the field of personality psychology. Many important psychological and life outcome correlates with Big Five trait dimensions have been established. But researchers must choose between multiple Big Five inventories when conducting a study and are faced with a variety of options as to inventory length. Furthermore, a 6-factor model has been proposed to extend and update the Big Five model, in part by adding a dimension of Honesty/Humility or Honesty/Propriety. In this study, 3 popular brief to medium-length Big Five measures (NEO Five Factor Inventory, Big Five Inventory [BFI], and International Personality Item Pool), and 3 six-factor measures (HEXACO Personality Inventory, Questionnaire Big Six Scales, and a 6-factor version of the BFI) were placed in competition to best predict important student life outcomes. The effect of test length was investigated by comparing brief versions of most measures (subsets of items) with original versions. Personality questionnaires were administered to undergraduate students (N = 227). Participants' college transcripts and student conduct records were obtained 6-9 months after data was collected. Six-factor inventories demonstrated better predictive ability for life outcomes than did some Big Five inventories. Additional behavioral observations made on participants, including their Facebook profiles and cell-phone text usage, were predicted similarly by Big Five and 6-factor measures. A brief version of the BFI performed surprisingly well; across inventory platforms, increasing test length had little effect on predictive validity. Comparative validity of the models and measures in terms of outcome prediction and parsimony is discussed.

Manufacturing test of large scale hollow capsule and long length cladding in the large scale oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) martensitic steel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Narita, Takeshi; Ukai, Shigeharu; Kaito, Takeji; Ohtsuka, Satoshi; Fujiwara, Masayuki

2004-04-01

Mass production capability of oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) martensitic steel cladding (9Cr) has being evaluated in the Phase II of the Feasibility Studies on Commercialized Fast Reactor Cycle System. The cost for manufacturing mother tube (raw materials powder production, mechanical alloying (MA) by ball mill, canning, hot extrusion, and machining) is a dominant factor in the total cost for manufacturing ODS ferritic steel cladding. In this study, the large-sale 9Cr-ODS martensitic steel mother tube which is made with a large-scale hollow capsule, and long length claddings were manufactured, and the applicability of these processes was evaluated. Following results were obtained in this study. (1) Manufacturing the large scale mother tube in the dimension of 32 mm OD, 21 mm ID, and 2 m length has been successfully carried out using large scale hollow capsule. This mother tube has a high degree of accuracy in size. (2) The chemical composition and the micro structure of the manufactured mother tube are similar to the existing mother tube manufactured by a small scale can. And the remarkable difference between the bottom and top sides in the manufactured mother tube has not been observed. (3) The long length cladding has been successfully manufactured from the large scale mother tube which was made using a large scale hollow capsule. (4) For reducing the manufacturing cost of the ODS steel claddings, manufacturing process of the mother tubes using a large scale hollow capsules is promising. (author)

Length-scale dependent microalloying effects on precipitation behaviors and mechanical properties of Al–Cu alloys with minor Sc addition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang, L.; Li, J.K.; Liu, G.; Wang, R.H.; Chen, B.A.; Zhang, J.Y.; Sun, J.; Yang, M.X.; Yang, G.; Yang, J.; Cao, X.Z.

2015-01-01

Heat-treatable Al alloys containing Al–2.5 wt% Cu (Al–Cu) and Al–2.5 wt% Cu–0.3 wt% Sc (Al–Cu–Sc) with different grain length scales, i.e., average grain size >10 μm ( defined coarse grained, CG), 1–2 μm (fine grained, FG), and <1 μm (ultrafine grained, UFG), were prepared by equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP). The length scale and Sc microalloying effects and their interplay on the precipitation behavior and mechanical properties of the Al–Cu alloys were systematically investigated. In the Al–Cu alloys, intergranular θ-Al 2 Cu precipitation gradually dominated by sacrificing the intragranular θ′-Al 2 Cu precipitation with reducing the length scale. Especially in the UFG regime, only intergranular θ-Al 2 Cu particles were precipitated and intragranular θ′-Al 2 Cu precipitation was completely disappeared. This led to a remarkable reduction in yield strength and ductility due to insufficient dislocation storage capacity. The minor Sc addition resulted in a microalloying effect in the Al–Cu alloy, which, however, is strongly dependent on the length scale. The smaller is the grain size, the more active is the microalloying effect that promotes the intragranular precipitation while reduces the intergranular precipitation. Correspondingly, compared with their Sc-free counterparts, the yield strength of post-aged CG, FG, and UFG Al–Cu alloys with Sc addition increased by ~36 MPa, ~56 MPa, and ~150 MPa, simultaneously in tensile elongation by ~20%, ~30%, and 280%, respectively. The grain size-induced evolutions in vacancy concentration/distribution and number density of vacancy-solute/solute–solute clusters and their influences on precipitation nucleation and kinetics have been comprehensively considered to rationalize the length scale-dependent Sc microalloying mechanisms using positron annihilation lifetime spectrum and three dimension atom probe. The increase in ductility was analyzed in the light of Sc microalloying effect and the

Length-scale dependent microalloying effects on precipitation behaviors and mechanical properties of Al–Cu alloys with minor Sc addition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiang, L.; Li, J.K. [State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi' an Jiaotong University, Xi' an 710049 (China); Liu, G., E-mail: lgsammer@mail.xjtu.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi' an Jiaotong University, Xi' an 710049 (China); Wang, R.H. [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi' an University of Technology, Xi' an 710048 (China); Chen, B.A.; Zhang, J.Y. [State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi' an Jiaotong University, Xi' an 710049 (China); Sun, J., E-mail: junsun@mail.xjtu.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi' an Jiaotong University, Xi' an 710049 (China); Yang, M.X.; Yang, G. [Central Iron and Steel Research Institute, Beijing 100081 (China); Yang, J.; Cao, X.Z. [Key Laboratory of Nuclear Radiation and Nuclear Energy Technology, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China)

2015-06-18

Heat-treatable Al alloys containing Al–2.5 wt% Cu (Al–Cu) and Al–2.5 wt% Cu–0.3 wt% Sc (Al–Cu–Sc) with different grain length scales, i.e., average grain size >10 μm ( defined coarse grained, CG), 1–2 μm (fine grained, FG), and <1 μm (ultrafine grained, UFG), were prepared by equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP). The length scale and Sc microalloying effects and their interplay on the precipitation behavior and mechanical properties of the Al–Cu alloys were systematically investigated. In the Al–Cu alloys, intergranular θ-Al{sub 2}Cu precipitation gradually dominated by sacrificing the intragranular θ′-Al{sub 2}Cu precipitation with reducing the length scale. Especially in the UFG regime, only intergranular θ-Al{sub 2}Cu particles were precipitated and intragranular θ′-Al{sub 2}Cu precipitation was completely disappeared. This led to a remarkable reduction in yield strength and ductility due to insufficient dislocation storage capacity. The minor Sc addition resulted in a microalloying effect in the Al–Cu alloy, which, however, is strongly dependent on the length scale. The smaller is the grain size, the more active is the microalloying effect that promotes the intragranular precipitation while reduces the intergranular precipitation. Correspondingly, compared with their Sc-free counterparts, the yield strength of post-aged CG, FG, and UFG Al–Cu alloys with Sc addition increased by ~36 MPa, ~56 MPa, and ~150 MPa, simultaneously in tensile elongation by ~20%, ~30%, and 280%, respectively. The grain size-induced evolutions in vacancy concentration/distribution and number density of vacancy-solute/solute–solute clusters and their influences on precipitation nucleation and kinetics have been comprehensively considered to rationalize the length scale-dependent Sc microalloying mechanisms using positron annihilation lifetime spectrum and three dimension atom probe. The increase in ductility was analyzed in the light of Sc microalloying

Length and time scales of the near-surface axial velocity in a high Reynolds number turbulent boundary layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Metzger, M.

2006-01-01

Reynolds number effects on relevant length and time scales in the near-wall region of a canonical turbulent boundary layer are investigated. Well resolved measurements in the atmospheric surface layer are compared with existing laboratory data to give a composite Reynolds number range spanning over three orders of magnitude. In the field experiments, a vertical rake of twenty single element hot-wires was used to measure the axial velocity, u, characteristics in the lower log layer region of the atmospheric surface layer that flows over Utah's western desert. Only data acquired under conditions of near-neutral thermal stability are analyzed. The shape of the power spectra of u as a function of distance from the wall, y, and Reynolds number is investigated, with emphasis on the appropriate scaling parameters valid across different wavenumber, k, bands. In particular, distance from the wall is found to scale the region of the u spectra around ky = 1. The presence of a k -1 slope in the spectra is also found to correlate with the Reynolds number dependence in the peak of the root mean square u profile. In addition, Reynolds number trends in the profiles of the Taylor microscales, which represent intermediate length and time scales in the boundary layer, are shown to deviate from classical scaling

Scaling of the critical free length for progressive unfolding of self-bonded graphene

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kwan, Kenny; Cranford, Steven W., E-mail: s.cranford@neu.edu [Laboratory of Nanotechnology in Civil Engineering (NICE), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, 400 Snell Engineering, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115 (United States)

2014-05-19

Like filled pasta, rolled or folded graphene can form a large nanocapsule surrounding a hollow interior. Use as a molecular carrier, however, requires understanding of the opening of such vessels. Here, we investigate a monolayer sheet of graphene as a theoretical trial platform for such a nanocapsule. The graphene is bonded to itself via aligned disulfide (S-S) bonds. Through theoretical analysis and atomistic modeling, we probe the critical nonbonded length (free length, L{sub crit}) that induces fracture-like progressive unfolding as a function of folding radius (R{sub i}). We show a clear linear scaling relationship between the length and radius, which can be used to determine the necessary bond density to predict mechanical opening/closing. However, stochastic dissipated energy limits any exact elastic formulation, and the required energy far exceeds the dissociation energy of the S-S bond. We account for the necessary dissipated kinetic energy through a simple scaling factor (Ω), which agrees well with computational results.

Cosmogenesis and the origin of the fundamental length scale

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brout, R.; Englert, F.; Frere, J.M.; Gunzig, E.; Nardone, P.; Truffin, C.

1980-01-01

The creation of the universe is regarded as a self-consistent process in which matter is engendered by the space-time varying cosmological gravitational field and vice versa. Abundant production can occur only if the mass of the particles so created is of the order of the Planck mass (= ksup(-1/2)). We conjecture that this is the origin of the fundamental length scale in field theory, as it is encountered, for example, in present efforts towards grand unification. The region of particle production is steady state in character. It ceases when the produced particles decay. The geometry of this steady state is characteristic of a de Sitter space. It permits one to estimate the number of ordinary particles presently observed, N. We find log N = O (mtausub(decay)) = O(g -2 ) = O(10 2 ), with the usual estimate of g = O(10 -1 ) at the Planck length scale. This is not inconsistent with the experimental estimate N approx. = O(10 90 ). After production, cosmological history gives way to the more conventional scheme of free expansion. The present paper is a self-contained account of our view of cosmological history and the production of matter in a varying gravitational field. Special care has been taken to describe the vacuum correctly in the present context and to perform the necessary subtractions of zero-point effects. (orig.)

Collective dynamics of glass-forming polymers at intermediate length scales

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Colmenero, J.; Alvarez, F.; Arbe, A.

2015-01-01

Deep understanding of the complex dynamics taking place in glass-forming systems could potentially be gained by exploiting the information provided by the collective response monitored by coherent neutron scattering. We have revisited the question of the characterization of the collective response of polyisobutylene at intermediate length scales observed by neutron spin echo (NSE) experiments. The model, generalized for sub-linear diffusion - as it is the case of glass-forming polymers - has been successfully applied by using the information on the total self-motions available from MD-simulations properly validated by direct comparison with experimental results. From the fits of the coherent NSE data, the collective time at Q → 0 has been extracted that agrees very well with compiled results from different experimental techniques directly accessing such relaxation time. We show that a unique temperature dependence governs both, the Q → 0 and Q → ∞ asymptotic characteristic times. The generalized model also gives account for the modulation of the apparent activation energy of the collective times with the static structure factor. It mainly results from changes of the short-range order at inter-molecular length scales

Measurements of Turbulent Flame Speed and Integral Length Scales in a Lean Stationary Premixed Flame

OpenAIRE

Klingmann, Jens; Johansson, Bengt

1998-01-01

Turbulent premixed natural gas - air flame velocities have been measured in a stationary axi-symmetric burner using LDA. The flame was stabilized by letting the flow retard toward a stagnation plate downstream of the burner exit. Turbulence was generated by letting the flow pass through a plate with drilled holes. Three different hole diameters were used, 3, 6 and 10 mm, in order to achieve different turbulent length scales. Turbulent integral length scales were measured using two-point LD...

Hydrological Storage Length Scales Represented by Remote Sensing Estimates of Soil Moisture and Precipitation

Science.gov (United States)

Akbar, Ruzbeh; Short Gianotti, Daniel; McColl, Kaighin A.; Haghighi, Erfan; Salvucci, Guido D.; Entekhabi, Dara

2018-03-01

The soil water content profile is often well correlated with the soil moisture state near the surface. They share mutual information such that analysis of surface-only soil moisture is, at times and in conjunction with precipitation information, reflective of deeper soil fluxes and dynamics. This study examines the characteristic length scale, or effective depth Δz, of a simple active hydrological control volume. The volume is described only by precipitation inputs and soil water dynamics evident in surface-only soil moisture observations. To proceed, first an observation-based technique is presented to estimate the soil moisture loss function based on analysis of soil moisture dry-downs and its successive negative increments. Then, the length scale Δz is obtained via an optimization process wherein the root-mean-squared (RMS) differences between surface soil moisture observations and its predictions based on water balance are minimized. The process is entirely observation-driven. The surface soil moisture estimates are obtained from the NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission and precipitation from the gauge-corrected Climate Prediction Center daily global precipitation product. The length scale Δz exhibits a clear east-west gradient across the contiguous United States (CONUS), such that large Δz depths (>200 mm) are estimated in wetter regions with larger mean precipitation. The median Δz across CONUS is 135 mm. The spatial variance of Δz is predominantly explained and influenced by precipitation characteristics. Soil properties, especially texture in the form of sand fraction, as well as the mean soil moisture state have a lesser influence on the length scale.

A multiple length scale description of the mechanism of elastomer stretching

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Neuefeind, J.; Skov, Anne Ladegaard; Daniels, J. E.

2016-01-01

Conventionally, the stretching of rubber is modeled exclusively by rotations of segments of the embedded polymer chains; i.e. changes in entropy. However models have not been tested on all relevant length scales due to a lack of appropriate probes. Here we present a universal X-ray based method f...

Differential scaling patterns of vertebrae and the evolution of neck length in mammals.

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, Patrick; Amson, Eli; Fischer, Martin S

2017-06-01

Almost all mammals have seven vertebrae in their cervical spines. This consistency represents one of the most prominent examples of morphological stasis in vertebrae evolution. Hence, the requirements associated with evolutionary modifications of neck length have to be met with a fixed number of vertebrae. It has not been clear whether body size influences the overall length of the cervical spine and its inner organization (i.e., if the mammalian neck is subject to allometry). Here, we provide the first large-scale analysis of the scaling patterns of the cervical spine and its constituting cervical vertebrae. Our findings reveal that the opposite allometric scaling of C1 and C2-C7 accommodate the increase of neck bending moment with body size. The internal organization of the neck skeleton exhibits surprisingly uniformity in the vast majority of mammals. Deviations from this general pattern only occur under extreme loading regimes associated with particular functional and allometric demands. Our results indicate that the main source of variation in the mammalian neck stems from the disparity of overall cervical spine length. The mammalian neck reveals how evolutionary disparity manifests itself in a structure that is otherwise highly restricted by meristic constraints. © 2017 The Author(s). Evolution © 2017 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Relations between overturning length scales at the Spanish planetary boundary layer

Science.gov (United States)

López, Pilar; Cano, José L.

2016-04-01

We analyze the behavior of the maximum Thorpe displacement (dT)max and the Thorpe scale LTat the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), extending previous research with new data and improving our studies related to the novel use of the Thorpe method applied to ABL. The maximum Thorpe displacements vary between -900 m and 950 m for the different field campaigns. The maximum Thorpe displacement is always greater under convective conditions than under stable ones, independently of its sign. The Thorpe scale LT ranges between 0.2 m and 680 m for the different data sets which cover different stratified mixing conditions (turbulence shear-driven and convective regions). The Thorpe scale does not exceed several tens of meters under stable and neutral stratification conditions related to instantaneous density gradients. In contrast, under convective conditions, Thorpe scales are relatively large, they exceed hundreds of meters which may be related to convective bursts. We analyze the relation between (dT)max and the Thorpe scale LT and we deduce that they verify a power law. We also deduce that there is a difference in exponents of the power laws for convective conditions and shear-driven conditions. These different power laws could identify overturns created under different mechanisms. References Cuxart, J., Yagüe, C., Morales, G., Terradellas, E., Orbe, J., Calvo, J., Fernández, A., Soler, M., Infante, C., Buenestado, P., Espinalt, Joergensen, H., Rees, J., Vilà, J., Redondo, J., Cantalapiedra, I. and Conangla, L.: Stable atmospheric boundary-layer experiment in Spain (Sables 98). A report, Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 96, 337-370, 2000. Dillon, T. M.: Vertical Overturns: A Comparison of Thorpe and Ozmidov Length Scales, J. Geophys. Res., 87(C12), 9601-9613, 1982. Itsweire, E. C.: Measurements of vertical overturns in stably stratified turbulent flow, Phys. Fluids, 27(4), 764-766, 1984. Kitade, Y., Matsuyama, M. and Yoshida, J.: Distribution of overturn induced by internal

Electron critical gradient scale length measurements of ICRF heated L-mode plasmas at Alcator C-Mod tokamak

Science.gov (United States)

Houshmandyar, S.; Hatch, D. R.; Horton, C. W.; Liao, K. T.; Phillips, P. E.; Rowan, W. L.; Zhao, B.; Cao, N. M.; Ernst, D. R.; Greenwald, M.; Howard, N. T.; Hubbard, A. E.; Hughes, J. W.; Rice, J. E.

2018-04-01

A profile for the critical gradient scale length (Lc) has been measured in L-mode discharges at the Alcator C-Mod tokamak, where electrons were heated by an ion cyclotron range of frequency through minority heating with the intention of simultaneously varying the heat flux and changing the local gradient. The electron temperature gradient scale length (LTe-1 = |∇Te|/Te) profile was measured via the BT-jog technique [Houshmandyar et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 87, 11E101 (2016)] and it was compared with electron heat flux from power balance (TRANSP) analysis. The Te profiles were found to be very stiff and already above the critical values, however, the stiffness was found to be reduced near the q = 3/2 surface. The measured Lc profile is in agreement with electron temperature gradient (ETG) models which predict the dependence of Lc-1 on local Zeff, Te/Ti, and the ratio of the magnetic shear to the safety factor. The results from linear Gene gyrokinetic simulations suggest ETG to be the dominant mode of turbulence in the electron scale (k⊥ρs > 1), and ion temperature gradient/trapped electron mode modes in the ion scale (k⊥ρs < 1). The measured Lc profile is in agreement with the profile of ETG critical gradients deduced from Gene simulations.

Bending of marble with intrinsic length scales: a gradient theory with surface energy and size effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vardoulakis, I.; Kourkoulis, S.K.; Exadaktylos, G.

1998-01-01

A gradient bending theory is developed based on a strain energy function that includes the classical Bernoulli-Euler term, the shape correction term (microstructural length scale) introduced by Timoshenko, and a term associated with surface energy (micromaterial length scale) accounting for the bending moment gradient effect. It is shown that the last term is capable to interpret the size effect in three-point bending (3PB), namely the decrease of the failure load with decreasing beam length for the same aspect ratio. This theory is used to describe the mechanical behaviour of Dionysos-Pentelikon marble in 3PB. Series of tests with prismatic marble beams of the same aperture but with different lengths were conducted and it was concluded that the present theory predicts well the size effect. (orig.)

Critical point phenomena: universal physics at large length scales

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bruce, A.; Wallace, D.

1993-01-01

This article is concerned with the behaviour of a physical system at, or close to, a critical point (ebullition, ferromagnetism..): study of the phenomena displayed in the critical region (Ising model, order parameter, correlation length); description of the configurations (patterns) formed by the microscopic degrees of freedom near a critical point, essential concepts of the renormalization group (coarse-graining, system flow, fixed-point and scale-invariance); how these concepts knit together to form the renormalization group method; and what kind of problems may be resolved by the renormalization group method. 12 figs., 1 ref

Modified forest rotation lengths: Long-term effects on landscape-scale habitat availability for specialized species.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberge, Jean-Michel; Öhman, Karin; Lämås, Tomas; Felton, Adam; Ranius, Thomas; Lundmark, Tomas; Nordin, Annika

2018-03-15

We evaluated the long-term implications from modifying rotation lengths in production forests for four forest-reliant species with different habitat requirements. By combining simulations of forest development with habitat models, and accounting both for stand and landscape scale influences, we projected habitat availability over 150 years in a large Swedish landscape, using rotation lengths which are longer (+22% and +50%) and shorter (-22%) compared to current practices. In terms of mean habitat availability through time, species requiring older forest were affected positively by extended rotations, and negatively by shortened rotations. For example, the mean habitat area for the treecreeper Certhia familiaris (a bird preferring forest with larger trees) increased by 31% when rotations were increased by 22%, at a 5% cost to net present value (NPV) and a 7% decrease in harvested volume. Extending rotation lengths by 50% provided more habitat for this species compared to a 22% extension, but at a much higher marginal cost. In contrast, the beetle Hadreule elongatula, which is dependent on sun-exposed dead wood, benefited from shortened rather than prolonged rotations. Due to an uneven distribution of stand-ages within the landscape, the relative amounts of habitat provided by different rotation length scenarios for a given species were not always consistent through time during the simulation period. If implemented as a conservation measure, prolonging rotations will require long-term strategic planning to avoid future bottlenecks in habitat availability, and will need to be accompanied by complementary measures accounting for the diversity of habitats necessary for the conservation of forest biodiversity. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nature of the spin-glass phase at experimental length scales

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alvarez Baños, R; Cruz, A; Fernandez, L A; Gil-Narvion, J M; Gordillo-Guerrero, A; Maiorano, A; Martin-Mayor, V; Monforte-Garcia, J; Perez-Gaviro, S; Ruiz-Lorenzo, J J; Seoane, B; Tarancon, A; Guidetti, M; Mantovani, F; Schifano, S F; Tripiccione, R; Marinari, E; Parisi, G; Muñoz Sudupe, A; Navarro, D

2010-01-01

We present a massive equilibrium simulation of the three-dimensional Ising spin glass at low temperatures. The Janus special-purpose computer has allowed us to equilibrate, using parallel tempering, L = 32 lattices down to T ≈ 0.64T c . We demonstrate the relevance of equilibrium finite size simulations to understanding experimental non-equilibrium spin glasses in the thermodynamical limit by establishing a time-length dictionary. We conclude that non-equilibrium experiments performed on a timescale of 1 h can be matched with equilibrium results on L ≈ 110 lattices. A detailed investigation of the probability distribution functions of the spin and link overlap, as well as of their correlation functions, shows that Replica Symmetry Breaking is the appropriate theoretical framework for the physically relevant length scales. Besides, we improve over existing methodologies in ensuring equilibration in parallel tempering simulations

A comparative phylogenetic analysis of full-length mariner elements

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Mariner like elements (MLEs) are widely distributed type II transposons with an open reading frame (ORF) for transposase. We studied comparative phylogenetic evolution and inverted terminal repeat (ITR) conservation of MLEs from Indian saturniid silkmoth, Antheraea mylitta with other full length MLEs submitted in the ...

Dependence of exponents on text length versus finite-size scaling for word-frequency distributions

Science.gov (United States)

Corral, Álvaro; Font-Clos, Francesc

2017-08-01

Some authors have recently argued that a finite-size scaling law for the text-length dependence of word-frequency distributions cannot be conceptually valid. Here we give solid quantitative evidence for the validity of this scaling law, using both careful statistical tests and analytical arguments based on the generalized central-limit theorem applied to the moments of the distribution (and obtaining a novel derivation of Heaps' law as a by-product). We also find that the picture of word-frequency distributions with power-law exponents that decrease with text length [X. Yan and P. Minnhagen, Physica A 444, 828 (2016), 10.1016/j.physa.2015.10.082] does not stand with rigorous statistical analysis. Instead, we show that the distributions are perfectly described by power-law tails with stable exponents, whose values are close to 2, in agreement with the classical Zipf's law. Some misconceptions about scaling are also clarified.

Image processing for quantifying fracture orientation and length scale transitions during brittle deformation

Science.gov (United States)

Rizzo, R. E.; Healy, D.; Farrell, N. J.

2017-12-01

We have implemented a novel image processing tool, namely two-dimensional (2D) Morlet wavelet analysis, capable of detecting changes occurring in fracture patterns at different scales of observation, and able of recognising the dominant fracture orientations and the spatial configurations for progressively larger (or smaller) scale of analysis. Because of its inherited anisotropy, the Morlet wavelet is proved to be an excellent choice for detecting directional linear features, i.e. regions where the amplitude of the signal is regular along one direction and has sharp variation along the perpendicular direction. Performances of the Morlet wavelet are tested against the 'classic' Mexican hat wavelet, deploying a complex synthetic fracture network. When applied to a natural fracture network, formed triaxially (σ1>σ2=σ3) deforming a core sample of the Hopeman sandstone, the combination of 2D Morlet wavelet and wavelet coefficient maps allows for the detection of characteristic scale orientation and length transitions, associated with the shifts from distributed damage to the growth of localised macroscopic shear fracture. A complementary outcome arises from the wavelet coefficient maps produced by increasing the wavelet scale parameter. These maps can be used to chart the variations in the spatial distribution of the analysed entities, meaning that it is possible to retrieve information on the density of fracture patterns at specific length scales during deformation.

Electropolishing effect on roughness metrics of ground stainless steel: a length scale study

Science.gov (United States)

Nakar, Doron; Harel, David; Hirsch, Baruch

2018-03-01

Electropolishing is a widely-used electrochemical surface finishing process for metals. The electropolishing of stainless steel has vast commercial application, such as improving corrosion resistance, improving cleanness, and brightening. The surface topography characterization is performed using several techniques with different lateral resolutions and length scales, from atomic force microscopy in the nano-scale (filter are adopted. While the commonly used roughness amplitude parameters (Ra, Rq and Rz) fail to characterize electropolished textures, the root mean square slope (RΔq) is found to better describe the electropolished surfaces and to be insensitive to scale.

Scaling of localization length of a quasi 1D system with longitudinal boundary roughness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abhijit Kar Gupta; Sen, A.K.

1994-08-01

We introduce irregularities on one of the longitudinal boundaries of a quasi 1D strip which has no bulk disorder. We calculate the localization length of such a system within the scope of tight-binding formalism and see how it behaves with the roughness introduced on the boundary and with the strip-width. We find that localization length scales with a composite one parameter. (author). 6 refs, 4 figs

Scale and time dependence of serial correlations in word-length time series of written texts

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez, E.; Aguilar-Cornejo, M.; Femat, R.; Alvarez-Ramirez, J.

2014-11-01

This work considered the quantitative analysis of large written texts. To this end, the text was converted into a time series by taking the sequence of word lengths. The detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) was used for characterizing long-range serial correlations of the time series. To this end, the DFA was implemented within a rolling window framework for estimating the variations of correlations, quantified in terms of the scaling exponent, strength along the text. Also, a filtering derivative was used to compute the dependence of the scaling exponent relative to the scale. The analysis was applied to three famous English-written literary narrations; namely, Alice in Wonderland (by Lewis Carrol), Dracula (by Bram Stoker) and Sense and Sensibility (by Jane Austen). The results showed that high correlations appear for scales of about 50-200 words, suggesting that at these scales the text contains the stronger coherence. The scaling exponent was not constant along the text, showing important variations with apparent cyclical behavior. An interesting coincidence between the scaling exponent variations and changes in narrative units (e.g., chapters) was found. This suggests that the scaling exponent obtained from the DFA is able to detect changes in narration structure as expressed by the usage of words of different lengths.

Comparison of the Effects of the Different Methods for Computing the Slope Length Factor at a Watershed Scale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fu Suhua

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The slope length factor is one of the parameters of the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE and the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE and is sometimes calculated based on a digital elevation model (DEM. The methods for calculating the slope length factor are important because the values obtained may depend on the methods used for calculation. The purpose of this study was to compare the difference in spatial distribution of the slope length factor between the different methods at a watershed scale. One method used the uniform slope length factor equation (USLFE where the effects of slope irregularities (such as slope gradient, etc. on soil erosion by water were not considered. The other method used segmented slope length factor equation(SSLFE which considered the effects of slope irregularities on soil erosion by water. The Arc Macro Language (AML Version 4 program for the revised universal soil loss equation(RUSLE.which uses the USLFE, was chosen to calculate the slope length factor. In a parallel analysis, the AML code of RUSLE Version 4 was modified according to the SSLFE to calculate the slope length factor. Two watersheds with different slope and gully densities were chosen. The results show that the slope length factor and soil loss using the USLFE method were lower than those using the SSLFE method, especially on downslopes watershed with more frequent steep slopes and higher gully densities. In addition, the slope length factor and soil loss calculated by the USLFE showed less spatial variation.

Enhanced Strain in Functional Nanoporous Gold with a Dual Microscopic Length Scale Structure

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Detsi, Eric; Punzhin, Sergey; Rao, Jiancun; Onck, Patrick R.; De Hosson, Jeff Th. M.

We have synthesized nanoporous Au with a dual microscopic length scale by exploiting the crystal structure of the alloy precursor. The synthesized mesoscopic material is characterized by stacked Au layers of submicrometer thickness. In addition, each layer displays nanoporosity through the entire

Diagnosis of Weibel instability evolution in the rear surface density scale lengths of laser solid interactions via proton acceleration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scott, G G; Brenner, C M; Clarke, R J; Green, J S; Heathcote, R I; Rusby, D R; McKenna, P; Neely, D; Bagnoud, V; Zielbauer, B; Gonzalez-Izquierdo, B; Powell, H W

2017-01-01

It is shown for the first time that the spatial and temporal distribution of laser accelerated protons can be used as a diagnostic of Weibel instability presence and evolution in the rear surface scale lengths of a solid density target. Numerical modelling shows that when a fast electron beam is injected into a decreasing density gradient on the target rear side, a magnetic instability is seeded with an evolution which is strongly dependent on the density scale length. This is manifested in the acceleration of a filamented proton beam, where the degree of filamentation is also found to be dependent on the target rear scale length. Furthermore, the energy dependent spatial distribution of the accelerated proton beam is shown to provide information on the instability evolution on the picosecond timescale over which the protons are accelerated. Experimentally, this is investigated by using a controlled prepulse to introduce a target rear scale length, which is varied by altering the time delay with respect to the main pulse, and similar trends are measured. This work is particularly pertinent to applications using laser pulse durations of tens of picoseconds, or where a micron level density scale length is present on the rear of a solid target, such as proton-driven fast ignition, as the resultant instability may affect the uniformity of fuel energy coupling. (paper)

CHANG-ES. IX. Radio scale heights and scale lengths of a consistent sample of 13 spiral galaxies seen edge-on and their correlations

Science.gov (United States)

Krause, Marita; Irwin, Judith; Wiegert, Theresa; Miskolczi, Arpad; Damas-Segovia, Ancor; Beck, Rainer; Li, Jiang-Tao; Heald, George; Müller, Peter; Stein, Yelena; Rand, Richard J.; Heesen, Volker; Walterbos, Rene A. M.; Dettmar, Ralf-Jürgen; Vargas, Carlos J.; English, Jayanne; Murphy, Eric J.

2018-03-01

Aim. The vertical halo scale height is a crucial parameter to understand the transport of cosmic-ray electrons (CRE) and their energy loss mechanisms in spiral galaxies. Until now, the radio scale height could only be determined for a few edge-on galaxies because of missing sensitivity at high resolution. Methods: We developed a sophisticated method for the scale height determination of edge-on galaxies. With this we determined the scale heights and radial scale lengths for a sample of 13 galaxies from the CHANG-ES radio continuum survey in two frequency bands. Results: The sample average values for the radio scale heights of the halo are 1.1 ± 0.3 kpc in C-band and 1.4 ± 0.7 kpc in L-band. From the frequency dependence analysis of the halo scale heights we found that the wind velocities (estimated using the adiabatic loss time) are above the escape velocity. We found that the halo scale heights increase linearly with the radio diameters. In order to exclude the diameter dependence, we defined a normalized scale height h˜ which is quite similar for all sample galaxies at both frequency bands and does not depend on the star formation rate or the magnetic field strength. However, h˜ shows a tight anticorrelation with the mass surface density. Conclusions: The sample galaxies with smaller scale lengths are more spherical in the radio emission, while those with larger scale lengths are flatter. The radio scale height depends mainly on the radio diameter of the galaxy. The sample galaxies are consistent with an escape-dominated radio halo with convective cosmic ray propagation, indicating that galactic winds are a widespread phenomenon in spiral galaxies. While a higher star formation rate or star formation surface density does not lead to a higher wind velocity, we found for the first time observational evidence of a gravitational deceleration of CRE outflow, e.g. a lowering of the wind velocity from the galactic disk.

Sensitivity of the two-dimensional shearless mixing layer to the initial turbulent kinetic energy and integral length scale

Science.gov (United States)

Fathali, M.; Deshiri, M. Khoshnami

2016-04-01

The shearless mixing layer is generated from the interaction of two homogeneous isotropic turbulence (HIT) fields with different integral scales ℓ1 and ℓ2 and different turbulent kinetic energies E1 and E2. In this study, the sensitivity of temporal evolutions of two-dimensional, incompressible shearless mixing layers to the parametric variations of ℓ1/ℓ2 and E1/E2 is investigated. The sensitivity methodology is based on the nonintrusive approach; using direct numerical simulation and generalized polynomial chaos expansion. The analysis is carried out at Reℓ 1=90 for the high-energy HIT region and different integral length scale ratios 1 /4 ≤ℓ1/ℓ2≤4 and turbulent kinetic energy ratios 1 ≤E1/E2≤30 . It is found that the most influential parameter on the variability of the mixing layer evolution is the turbulent kinetic energy while variations of the integral length scale show a negligible influence on the flow field variability. A significant level of anisotropy and intermittency is observed in both large and small scales. In particular, it is found that large scales have higher levels of intermittency and sensitivity to the variations of ℓ1/ℓ2 and E1/E2 compared to the small scales. Reconstructed response surfaces of the flow field intermittency and the turbulent penetration depth show monotonic dependence on ℓ1/ℓ2 and E1/E2 . The mixing layer growth rate and the mixing efficiency both show sensitive dependence on the initial condition parameters. However, the probability density function of these quantities shows relatively small solution variations in response to the variations of the initial condition parameters.

Temporal and Latitudinal Variations of the Length-Scales and Relative Intensities of the Chromospheric Network

Science.gov (United States)

Raju, K. P.

2018-05-01

The Calcium K spectroheliograms of the Sun from Kodaikanal have a data span of about 100 years and covers over 9 solar cycles. The Ca line is a strong chromospheric line dominated by chromospheric network and plages which are good indicators of solar activity. Length-scales and relative intensities of the chromospheric network have been obtained in the solar latitudes from 50 degree N to 50 degree S from the spectroheliograms. The length-scale was obtained from the half-width of the two-dimensional autocorrelation of the latitude strip which gives a measure of the width of the network boundary. As reported earlier for the transition region extreme ultraviolet (EUV) network, relative intensity and width of the chromospheric network boundary are found to be dependent on the solar cycle. A varying phase difference has been noticed in the quantities in different solar latitudes. A cross-correlation analysis of the quantities from other latitudes with ±30 degree latitude revealed an interesting phase difference pattern indicating flux transfer. Evidence of equatorward flux transfer has been observed. The average equatorward flux transfer was estimated to be 5.8 ms-1. The possible reasons of the drift could be meridional circulation, torsional oscillations, or the bright point migration. Cross-correlation of intensity and length-scale from the same latitude showed increasing phase difference with increasing latitude. We have also obtained the cross correlation of the quantities across the equator to see the possible phase lags in the two hemispheres. Signatures of lags are seen in the length scales of southern hemisphere near the equatorial latitudes, but no such lags in the intensity are observed. The results have important implications on the flux transfer over the solar surface and hence on the solar activity and dynamo.

Designing questionnaires: healthcare survey to compare two different response scales

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background A widely discussed design issue in patient satisfaction questionnaires is the optimal length and labelling of the answering scale. The aim of the present study was to compare intra-individually the answers on two response scales to five general questions evaluating patients’ perception of hospital care. Methods Between November 2011 and January 2012, all in-hospital patients at a Swiss University Hospital received a patient satisfaction questionnaire on an adjectival scale with three to four labelled categories (LS) and five redundant questions displayed on an 11-point end-anchored numeric scale (NS). The scales were compared concerning ceiling effect, internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha), individual item answers (Spearman’s rank correlation), and concerning overall satisfaction by calculating an overall percentage score (sum of all answers related to the maximum possible sum). Results The response rate was 41% (2957/7158), of which 2400 (81%) completely filled out all questions. Baseline characteristics of the responders and non-responders were similar. Floor and ceiling effect were high on both response scales, but more pronounced on the LS than on the NS. Cronbach’s alpha was higher on the NS than on the LS. There was a strong individual item correlation between both answering scales in questions regarding the intent to return, quality of treatment and the judgement whether the patient was treated with respect and dignity, but a lower correlation concerning satisfactory information transfer by physicians or nurses, where only three categories were available in the LS. The overall percentage score showed a comparable distribution, but with a wider spread of lower satisfaction in the NS. Conclusions Since the longer scale did not substantially reduce the ceiling effect, the type of questions rather than the type of answering scale could be addressed with a focus on specific questions about concrete situations instead of general questions

Morphology Characterization of PP/Clay Nanocomposites Across the Length Scales of the Structural Architecture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Szazdi, Laszlo; Abranyi, Agnes; Pukansky Jr, Bela; Vancso, Gyula J.; Pukanszky, B.; Pukanszky, Bela

2006-01-01

The structure and rheological properties of a large number of layered silicate poly(propylene) nanocomposites were studied with widely varying compositions. Morphology characterization at different length scales was achieved by SEM, TEM, and XRD. Rheological measurements supplied additional

Hierarchical self-assembly of two-length-scale multiblock copolymers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brinke, Gerrit ten; Loos, Katja; Vukovic, Ivana; Du Sart, Gerrit Gobius

2011-01-01

The self-assembly in diblock copolymer-based supramolecules, obtained by hydrogen bonding short side chains to one of the blocks, as well as in two-length-scale linear terpolymers results in hierarchical structure formation. The orientation of the different domains, e.g. layers in the case of a lamellar-in-lamellar structure, is determined by the molecular architecture, graft-like versus linear, and the relative magnitude of the interactions involved. In both cases parallel and perpendicular arrangements have been observed. The comb-shaped supramolecules approach is ideally suited for the preparation of nanoporous structures. A bicontinuous morphology with the supramolecular comb block forming the channels was finally achieved by extending the original approach to suitable triblock copolymer-based supramolecules.

Lower Length Scale Model Development for Embrittlement of Reactor Presure Vessel Steel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Yongfeng [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Schwen, Daniel [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Chakraborty, Pritam [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Bai, Xianming [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

2016-09-01

This report summarizes the lower-length-scale effort during FY 2016 in developing mesoscale capabilities for microstructure evolution, plasticity and fracture in reactor pressure vessel steels. During operation, reactor pressure vessels are subject to hardening and embrittlement caused by irradiation induced defect accumulation and irradiation enhanced solute precipitation. Both defect production and solute precipitation start from the atomic scale, and manifest their eventual effects as degradation in engineering scale properties. To predict the property degradation, multiscale modeling and simulation are needed to deal with the microstructure evolution, and to link the microstructure feature to material properties. In this report, the development of mesoscale capabilities for defect accumulation and solute precipitation are summarized. A crystal plasticity model to capture defect-dislocation interaction and a damage model for cleavage micro-crack propagation is also provided.

Self-organization of Au–CdSe hybrid nanoflowers at different length scales via bi-functional diamine linkers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

AbouZeid, Khaled Mohamed [Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of Chemistry (United States); Mohamed, Mona Bakr [Cairo University, National Institute of Laser Enhanced Science (NILES) (Egypt); El-Shall, M. Samy, E-mail: mselshal@vcu.edu [Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of Chemistry (United States)

2016-01-15

This work introduces a series of molecular bridging bi-functional linkers to produce laterally self-assembled nanostructures of the Au–CdSe nanoflowers on different length scales ranging from 10 nm to 100 microns. Assembly of Au nanocrystals within amorphous CdSe rods is found in the early stages of the growth of the Au–CdSe nanoflowers. The Au–CdSe nanoflowers are formed through a one-pot low temperature (150 °C) process where CdSe clusters are adsorbed on the surface of the Au cores, and they then start to form multiple arms and branches resulting in flower-shaped hybrid nanostructures. More complex assembly at a micron length scale can be achieved by means of bi-functional capping agents with appropriate alkyl chain lengths, such as 1,12-diaminododecane.

Condensation on superhydrophobic surfaces: the role of local energy barriers and structure length scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Enright, Ryan; Miljkovic, Nenad; Al-Obeidi, Ahmed; Thompson, Carl V; Wang, Evelyn N

2012-10-09

Water condensation on surfaces is a ubiquitous phase-change process that plays a crucial role in nature and across a range of industrial applications, including energy production, desalination, and environmental control. Nanotechnology has created opportunities to manipulate this process through the precise control of surface structure and chemistry, thus enabling the biomimicry of natural surfaces, such as the leaves of certain plant species, to realize superhydrophobic condensation. However, this "bottom-up" wetting process is inadequately described using typical global thermodynamic analyses and remains poorly understood. In this work, we elucidate, through imaging experiments on surfaces with structure length scales ranging from 100 nm to 10 μm and wetting physics, how local energy barriers are essential to understand non-equilibrium condensed droplet morphologies and demonstrate that overcoming these barriers via nucleation-mediated droplet-droplet interactions leads to the emergence of wetting states not predicted by scale-invariant global thermodynamic analysis. This mechanistic understanding offers insight into the role of surface-structure length scale, provides a quantitative basis for designing surfaces optimized for condensation in engineered systems, and promises insight into ice formation on surfaces that initiates with the condensation of subcooled water.

Scaling Effects on Materials Tribology: From Macro to Micro Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Stoyanov, Pantcho; Chromik, Richard R

2017-05-18

The tribological study of materials inherently involves the interaction of surface asperities at the micro to nanoscopic length scales. This is the case for large scale engineering applications with sliding contacts, where the real area of contact is made up of small contacting asperities that make up only a fraction of the apparent area of contact. This is why researchers have sought to create idealized experiments of single asperity contacts in the field of nanotribology. At the same time, small scale engineering structures known as micro- and nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS) have been developed, where the apparent area of contact approaches the length scale of the asperities, meaning the real area of contact for these devices may be only a few asperities. This is essentially the field of microtribology, where the contact size and/or forces involved have pushed the nature of the interaction between two surfaces towards the regime where the scale of the interaction approaches that of the natural length scale of the features on the surface. This paper provides a review of microtribology with the purpose to understand how tribological processes are different at the smaller length scales compared to macrotribology. Studies of the interfacial phenomena at the macroscopic length scales (e.g., using in situ tribometry) will be discussed and correlated with new findings and methodologies at the micro-length scale.

The small length scale effect for a non-local cantilever beam: a paradox solved.

Science.gov (United States)

Challamel, N; Wang, C M

2008-08-27

Non-local continuum mechanics allows one to account for the small length scale effect that becomes significant when dealing with microstructures or nanostructures. This paper presents some simplified non-local elastic beam models, for the bending analyses of small scale rods. Integral-type or gradient non-local models abandon the classical assumption of locality, and admit that stress depends not only on the strain value at that point but also on the strain values of all points on the body. There is a paradox still unresolved at this stage: some bending solutions of integral-based non-local elastic beams have been found to be identical to the classical (local) solution, i.e. the small scale effect is not present at all. One example is the Euler-Bernoulli cantilever nanobeam model with a point load which has application in microelectromechanical systems and nanoelectromechanical systems as an actuator. In this paper, it will be shown that this paradox may be overcome with a gradient elastic model as well as an integral non-local elastic model that is based on combining the local and the non-local curvatures in the constitutive elastic relation. The latter model comprises the classical gradient model and Eringen's integral model, and its application produces small length scale terms in the non-local elastic cantilever beam solution.

Gradient plasticity for thermo-mechanical processes in metals with length and time scales

Science.gov (United States)

Voyiadjis, George Z.; Faghihi, Danial

2013-03-01

A thermodynamically consistent framework is developed in order to characterize the mechanical and thermal behavior of metals in small volume and on the fast transient time. In this regard, an enhanced gradient plasticity theory is coupled with the application of a micromorphic approach to the temperature variable. A physically based yield function based on the concept of thermal activation energy and the dislocation interaction mechanisms including nonlinear hardening is taken into consideration in the derivation. The effect of the material microstructural interface between two materials is also incorporated in the formulation with both temperature and rate effects. In order to accurately address the strengthening and hardening mechanisms, the theory is developed based on the decomposition of the mechanical state variables into energetic and dissipative counterparts which endowed the constitutive equations to have both energetic and dissipative gradient length scales for the bulk material and the interface. Moreover, the microstructural interaction effect in the fast transient process is addressed by incorporating two time scales into the microscopic heat equation. The numerical example of thin film on elastic substrate or a single phase bicrystal under uniform tension is addressed here. The effects of individual counterparts of the framework on the thermal and mechanical responses are investigated. The model is also compared with experimental results.

Lead Selenide Nanostructures Self-Assembled across Multiple Length Scales and Dimensions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evan K. Wujcik

2016-01-01

Full Text Available A self-assembly approach to lead selenide (PbSe structures that have organized across multiple length scales and multiple dimensions has been achieved. These structures consist of angstrom-scale 0D PbSe crystals, synthesized via a hot solution process, which have stacked into 1D nanorods via aligned dipoles. These 1D nanorods have arranged into nanoscale 2D sheets via directional short-ranged attraction. The nanoscale 2D sheets then further aligned into larger 2D microscale planes. In this study, the authors have characterized the PbSe structures via normal and cryo-TEM and EDX showing that this multiscale multidimensional self-assembled alignment is not due to drying effects. These PbSe structures hold promise for applications in advanced materials—particularly electronic technologies, where alignment can aid in device performance.

Extending the length and time scales of Gram–Schmidt Lyapunov vector computations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Costa, Anthony B., E-mail: acosta@northwestern.edu [Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208 (United States); Green, Jason R., E-mail: jason.green@umb.edu [Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208 (United States); Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA 02125 (United States)

2013-08-01

Lyapunov vectors have found growing interest recently due to their ability to characterize systems out of thermodynamic equilibrium. The computation of orthogonal Gram–Schmidt vectors requires multiplication and QR decomposition of large matrices, which grow as N{sup 2} (with the particle count). This expense has limited such calculations to relatively small systems and short time scales. Here, we detail two implementations of an algorithm for computing Gram–Schmidt vectors. The first is a distributed-memory message-passing method using Scalapack. The second uses the newly-released MAGMA library for GPUs. We compare the performance of both codes for Lennard–Jones fluids from N=100 to 1300 between Intel Nahalem/Infiniband DDR and NVIDIA C2050 architectures. To our best knowledge, these are the largest systems for which the Gram–Schmidt Lyapunov vectors have been computed, and the first time their calculation has been GPU-accelerated. We conclude that Lyapunov vector calculations can be significantly extended in length and time by leveraging the power of GPU-accelerated linear algebra.

Extending the length and time scales of Gram–Schmidt Lyapunov vector computations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Costa, Anthony B.; Green, Jason R.

2013-01-01

Lyapunov vectors have found growing interest recently due to their ability to characterize systems out of thermodynamic equilibrium. The computation of orthogonal Gram–Schmidt vectors requires multiplication and QR decomposition of large matrices, which grow as N 2 (with the particle count). This expense has limited such calculations to relatively small systems and short time scales. Here, we detail two implementations of an algorithm for computing Gram–Schmidt vectors. The first is a distributed-memory message-passing method using Scalapack. The second uses the newly-released MAGMA library for GPUs. We compare the performance of both codes for Lennard–Jones fluids from N=100 to 1300 between Intel Nahalem/Infiniband DDR and NVIDIA C2050 architectures. To our best knowledge, these are the largest systems for which the Gram–Schmidt Lyapunov vectors have been computed, and the first time their calculation has been GPU-accelerated. We conclude that Lyapunov vector calculations can be significantly extended in length and time by leveraging the power of GPU-accelerated linear algebra

A stochastic immersed boundary method for fluid-structure dynamics at microscopic length scales

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Atzberger, Paul J.; Kramer, Peter R.; Peskin, Charles S.

2007-01-01

In modeling many biological systems, it is important to take into account flexible structures which interact with a fluid. At the length scale of cells and cell organelles, thermal fluctuations of the aqueous environment become significant. In this work, it is shown how the immersed boundary method of [C.S. Peskin, The immersed boundary method, Acta Num. 11 (2002) 1-39.] for modeling flexible structures immersed in a fluid can be extended to include thermal fluctuations. A stochastic numerical method is proposed which deals with stiffness in the system of equations by handling systematically the statistical contributions of the fastest dynamics of the fluid and immersed structures over long time steps. An important feature of the numerical method is that time steps can be taken in which the degrees of freedom of the fluid are completely underresolved, partially resolved, or fully resolved while retaining a good level of accuracy. Error estimates in each of these regimes are given for the method. A number of theoretical and numerical checks are furthermore performed to assess its physical fidelity. For a conservative force, the method is found to simulate particles with the correct Boltzmann equilibrium statistics. It is shown in three dimensions that the diffusion of immersed particles simulated with the method has the correct scaling in the physical parameters. The method is also shown to reproduce a well-known hydrodynamic effect of a Brownian particle in which the velocity autocorrelation function exhibits an algebraic (τ -3/2 ) decay for long times [B.J. Alder, T.E. Wainwright, Decay of the Velocity Autocorrelation Function, Phys. Rev. A 1(1) (1970) 18-21]. A few preliminary results are presented for more complex systems which demonstrate some potential application areas of the method. Specifically, we present simulations of osmotic effects of molecular dimers, worm-like chain polymer knots, and a basic model of a molecular motor immersed in fluid subject to a

Comparing short forms of the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale and the Social Phobia Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Carleton, R Nicholas; Thibodeau, Michel A; Weeks, Justin W; Teale Sapach, Michelle J N; McEvoy, Peter M; Horswill, Samantha C; Heimberg, Richard G

2014-12-01

The Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) and the Social Phobia Scale (SPS; Mattick & Clarke, 1998) are companion scales developed to measure anxiety in social interaction and performance situations, respectively. The measures have strong discriminant and convergent validity; however, their factor structures remain debated, and furthermore, the combined administration length (i.e., 39 items) can be prohibitive for some settings. There have been 4 attempts to assess the factor structures of the scales and reduce the item content: the 14-item Social Interaction Phobia Scale (SIPS; Carleton et al., 2009), the 12-item SIAS-6/SPS-6 (Peters, Sunderland, Andrews, Rapee, & Mattick, 2012), the 21-item abbreviated SIAS/SPS (ASIAS/ASPS; Kupper & Denollet, 2012), and the 12-item Readability SIAS and SPS (RSIAS/RSPS; Fergus, Valentiner, McGrath, Gier-Lonsway, & Kim, 2012). The current study compared the short forms on (a) factor structure, (b) ability to distinguish between clinical and non-clinical populations, (c) sensitivity to change following therapy, and (d) convergent validity with related measures. Participants included 3,607 undergraduate students (55% women) and 283 patients with social anxiety disorder (43% women). Results of confirmatory factor analyses, sensitivity analyses, and correlation analyses support the robust utility of items in the SIPS and the SPS-6 and SIAS-6 relative to the other short forms; furthermore, the SIPS and the SPS-6 and SIAS-6 were also supported by convergent validity analyses within the undergraduate sample. The RSIAS/RSPS and the ASIAS/ASPS were least supported, based on the current results and the principle of parsimony. Accordingly, researchers and clinicians should consider carefully which of the short forms will best suit their needs. (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Computational domain length and Reynolds number effects on large-scale coherent motions in turbulent pipe flow

Science.gov (United States)

Feldmann, Daniel; Bauer, Christian; Wagner, Claus

2018-03-01

We present results from direct numerical simulations (DNS) of turbulent pipe flow at shear Reynolds numbers up to Reτ = 1500 using different computational domains with lengths up to ?. The objectives are to analyse the effect of the finite size of the periodic pipe domain on large flow structures in dependency of Reτ and to assess a minimum ? required for relevant turbulent scales to be captured and a minimum Reτ for very large-scale motions (VLSM) to be analysed. Analysing one-point statistics revealed that the mean velocity profile is invariant for ?. The wall-normal location at which deviations occur in shorter domains changes strongly with increasing Reτ from the near-wall region to the outer layer, where VLSM are believed to live. The root mean square velocity profiles exhibit domain length dependencies for pipes shorter than 14R and 7R depending on Reτ. For all Reτ, the higher-order statistical moments show only weak dependencies and only for the shortest domain considered here. However, the analysis of one- and two-dimensional pre-multiplied energy spectra revealed that even for larger ?, not all physically relevant scales are fully captured, even though the aforementioned statistics are in good agreement with the literature. We found ? to be sufficiently large to capture VLSM-relevant turbulent scales in the considered range of Reτ based on our definition of an integral energy threshold of 10%. The requirement to capture at least 1/10 of the global maximum energy level is justified by a 14% increase of the streamwise turbulence intensity in the outer region between Reτ = 720 and 1500, which can be related to VLSM-relevant length scales. Based on this scaling anomaly, we found Reτ⪆1500 to be a necessary minimum requirement to investigate VLSM-related effects in pipe flow, even though the streamwise energy spectra does not yet indicate sufficient scale separation between the most energetic and the very long motions.

Molecular Precision at Micrometer Length Scales: Hierarchical Assembly of DNA-Protein Nanostructures.

Science.gov (United States)

Schiffels, Daniel; Szalai, Veronika A; Liddle, J Alexander

2017-07-25

Robust self-assembly across length scales is a ubiquitous feature of biological systems but remains challenging for synthetic structures. Taking a cue from biology-where disparate molecules work together to produce large, functional assemblies-we demonstrate how to engineer microscale structures with nanoscale features: Our self-assembly approach begins by using DNA polymerase to controllably create double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) sections on a single-stranded template. The single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) sections are then folded into a mechanically flexible skeleton by the origami method. This process simultaneously shapes the structure at the nanoscale and directs the large-scale geometry. The DNA skeleton guides the assembly of RecA protein filaments, which provides rigidity at the micrometer scale. We use our modular design strategy to assemble tetrahedral, rectangular, and linear shapes of defined dimensions. This method enables the robust construction of complex assemblies, greatly extending the range of DNA-based self-assembly methods.

Large-scale parent-child comparison confirms a strong paternal influence on telomere length.

Science.gov (United States)

Nordfjäll, Katarina; Svenson, Ulrika; Norrback, Karl-Fredrik; Adolfsson, Rolf; Roos, Göran

2010-03-01

Telomere length is documented to have a hereditary component, and both paternal and X-linked inheritance have been proposed. We investigated blood cell telomere length in 962 individuals with an age range between 0 and 102 years. Telomere length correlations were analyzed between parent-child pairs in different age groups and between grandparent-grandchild pairs. A highly significant correlation between the father's and the child's telomere length was observed (r=0.454, Pfather-son: r=0.465, Pfather-daughter: r=0.484, Pmothers, the correlations were weaker (mother-child: r=0.148, P=0.098; mother-son: r=0.080, P=0.561; mother-daughter: r=0.297, P=0.013). A positive telomere length correlation was also observed for grandparent-grandchild pairs (r=0.272, P=0.013). Our findings indicate that fathers contribute significantly stronger to the telomere length of the offspring compared with mothers (P=0.012), but we cannot exclude a maternal influence on the daughter's telomeres. Interestingly, the father-child correlations diminished with increasing age (P=0.022), suggesting that nonheritable factors have an impact on telomere length dynamics during life.

Length-scale dependent ensemble-averaged conductance of a 1D disordered conductor: Conductance minimum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tit, N.; Kumar, N.; Pradhan, P.

1993-07-01

Exact numerical calculation of ensemble averaged length-scale dependent conductance for the 1D Anderson model is shown to support an earlier conjecture for a conductance minimum. Numerical results can be understood in terms of the Thouless expression for the conductance and the Wigner level-spacing statistics. (author). 8 refs, 2 figs

Cycles, scaling and crossover phenomenon in length of the day (LOD) time series

Science.gov (United States)

Telesca, Luciano

2007-06-01

The dynamics of the temporal fluctuations of the length of the day (LOD) time series from January 1, 1962 to November 2, 2006 were investigated. The power spectrum of the whole time series has revealed annual, semi-annual, decadal and daily oscillatory behaviors, correlated with oceanic-atmospheric processes and interactions. The scaling behavior was analyzed by using the detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA), which has revealed two different scaling regimes, separated by a crossover timescale at approximately 23 days. Flicker-noise process can describe the dynamics of the LOD time regime involving intermediate and long timescales, while Brownian dynamics characterizes the LOD time series for small timescales.

Scaling behaviour of the correlation length for the two-point correlation function in the random field Ising chain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lange, Adrian; Stinchcombe, Robin [Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford (United Kingdom)

1996-07-07

We study the general behaviour of the correlation length {zeta}(kT:h) for two-point correlation function of the local fields in an Ising chain with binary distributed fields. At zero field it is shown that {zeta} is the same as the zero-field correlation length for the spin-spin correlation function. For the field-dominated behaviour of {zeta} we find an exponent for the power-law divergence which is smaller than the exponent for the spin-spin correlation length. The entire behaviour of the correlation length can be described by a single crossover scaling function involving the new critical exponent. (author)

Efficient coupling of 527 nm laser beam power to a long scale-length plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moody, J.D.; Divol, L.; Glenzer, S.H.; MacKinnon, A.J.; Froula, D.H.; Gregori, G.; Kruer, W.L.; Meezan, N.B.; Suter, L.J.; Williams, E.A.; Bahr, R.; Seka, W.

2006-01-01

We experimentally demonstrate that application of laser smoothing schemes including smoothing by spectral dispersion (SSD) and polarization smoothing (PS) increases the intensity range for efficient coupling of frequency doubled (527 nm) laser light to a long scale-length plasma with n e /n cr equals 0.14 and T e equals 2 keV. (authors)

Modelling of multiple short-length-scale stall cells in an axial compressor using evolved GMDH neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amanifard, N.; Nariman-Zadeh, N.; Farahani, M.H.; Khalkhali, A.

2008-01-01

Over the past 15 years there have been several research efforts to capture the stall inception nature in axial flow compressors. However previous analytical models could not explain the formation of short-length-scale stall cells. This paper provides a new model based on evolved GMDH neural network for transient evolution of multiple short-length-scale stall cells in an axial compressor. Genetic Algorithms (GAs) are also employed for optimal design of connectivity configuration of such GMDH-type neural networks. In this way, low-pass filter (LPF) pressure trace near the rotor leading edge is modelled with respect to the variation of pressure coefficient, flow rate coefficient, and number of rotor rotations which are defined as inputs

Explanation of the values of Hack's drainage basin, river length scaling exponent

Science.gov (United States)

Hunt, A. G.

2015-08-01

Percolation theory can be used to find water flow paths of least resistance. The application of percolation theory to drainage networks allows identification of the range of exponent values that describe the tortuosity of rivers in real river networks, which is then used to generate the observed scaling between drainage basin area and channel length, a relationship known as Hack's law. Such a theoretical basis for Hack's law allows interpretation of the range of exponent values based on an assessment of the heterogeneity of the substrate.

Determining the minimal length scale of the generalized uncertainty principle from the entropy-area relationship

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Wontae; Oh, John J.

2008-01-01

We derive the formula of the black hole entropy with a minimal length of the Planck size by counting quantum modes of scalar fields in the vicinity of the black hole horizon, taking into account the generalized uncertainty principle (GUP). This formula is applied to some intriguing examples of black holes - the Schwarzschild black hole, the Reissner-Nordstrom black hole, and the magnetically charged dilatonic black hole. As a result, it is shown that the GUP parameter can be determined by imposing the black hole entropy-area relationship, which has a Planck length scale and a universal form within the near-horizon expansion

Pollutant Dispersion in Boundary Layers Exposed to Rural-to-Urban Transitions: Varying the Spanwise Length Scale of the Roughness

Science.gov (United States)

Tomas, J. M.; Eisma, H. E.; Pourquie, M. J. B. M.; Elsinga, G. E.; Jonker, H. J. J.; Westerweel, J.

2017-05-01

Both large-eddy simulations (LES) and water-tunnel experiments, using simultaneous stereoscopic particle image velocimetry and laser-induced fluorescence, have been used to investigate pollutant dispersion mechanisms in regions where the surface changes from rural to urban roughness. The urban roughness was characterized by an array of rectangular obstacles in an in-line arrangement. The streamwise length scale of the roughness was kept constant, while the spanwise length scale was varied by varying the obstacle aspect ratio l / h between 1 and 8, where l is the spanwise dimension of the obstacles and h is the height of the obstacles. Additionally, the case of two-dimensional roughness (riblets) was considered in LES. A smooth-wall turbulent boundary layer of depth 10 h was used as the approaching flow, and a line source of passive tracer was placed 2 h upstream of the urban canopy. The experimental and numerical results show good agreement, while minor discrepancies are readily explained. It is found that for l/h=2 the drag induced by the urban canopy is largest of all considered cases, and is caused by a large-scale secondary flow. In addition, due to the roughness transition the vertical advective pollutant flux is the main ventilation mechanism in the first three streets. Furthermore, by means of linear stochastic estimation the mean flow structure is identified that is responsible for street-canyon ventilation for the sixth street and onwards. Moreover, it is shown that the vertical length scale of this structure increases with increasing aspect ratio of the obstacles in the canopy, while the streamwise length scale does not show a similar trend.

Statistical theory and transition in multiple-scale-lengths turbulence in plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Itoh, Sanae-I. [Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu Univ., Kasuga, Fukuoka (Japan); Itoh, Kimitaka [National Inst. for Fusion Science, Toki, Gifu (Japan)

2001-06-01

The statistical theory of strong turbulence in inhomogeneous plasmas is developed for the cases where fluctuations with different scale-lengths coexist. Nonlinear interactions in the same kind of fluctuations as well as nonlinear interplay between different classes of fluctuations are kept in the analysis. Nonlinear interactions are modelled as turbulent drag, nonlinear noise and nonlinear drive, and a set of Langevin equations is formulated. With the help of an Ansatz of a large number of degrees of freedom with positive Lyapunov number, Langevin equations are solved and the fluctuation dissipation theorem in the presence of strong plasma turbulence has been derived. A case where two driving mechanisms (one for micro mode and the other for semi-micro mode) coexist is investigated. It is found that there are several states of fluctuations: in one state, the micro mode is excited and the semi-micro mode is quenched; in the other state, the semi-micro mode is excited, and the micro mode remains at finite but suppressed level. New type of turbulence transition is obtained, and a cusp type catastrophe is revealed. A phase diagram is drawn for turbulence which is composed of multiple classes of fluctuations. Influence of the inhomogeneous global radial electric field is discussed. A new insight is given for the physics of internal transport barrier. Finally, the nonlocal heat transport due to the long-wave-length fluctuations, which are noise-pumped by shorter-wave-length ones, is analyzed and the impact on transient transport problems is discussed. (author)

Intraflagellar transport particle size scales inversely with flagellar length: revisiting the balance-point length control model.

Science.gov (United States)

Engel, Benjamin D; Ludington, William B; Marshall, Wallace F

2009-10-05

The assembly and maintenance of eukaryotic flagella are regulated by intraflagellar transport (IFT), the bidirectional traffic of IFT particles (recently renamed IFT trains) within the flagellum. We previously proposed the balance-point length control model, which predicted that the frequency of train transport should decrease as a function of flagellar length, thus modulating the length-dependent flagellar assembly rate. However, this model was challenged by the differential interference contrast microscopy observation that IFT frequency is length independent. Using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy to quantify protein traffic during the regeneration of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii flagella, we determined that anterograde IFT trains in short flagella are composed of more kinesin-associated protein and IFT27 proteins than trains in long flagella. This length-dependent remodeling of train size is consistent with the kinetics of flagellar regeneration and supports a revised balance-point model of flagellar length control in which the size of anterograde IFT trains tunes the rate of flagellar assembly.

Convergence of macroscopic tongue anatomy in ruminants and scaling relationships with body mass or tongue length.

Science.gov (United States)

Meier, Andrea R; Schmuck, Ute; Meloro, Carlo; Clauss, Marcus; Hofmann, Reinhold R

2016-03-01

Various morphological measures demonstrate convergent evolution in ruminants with their natural diet, in particular with respect to the browser/grazer dichotomy. Here, we report quantitative macroanatomical measures of the tongue (length and width of specific parts) of 65 ruminant species and relate them to either body mass (BM) or total tongue length, and to the percentage of grass in the natural diet (%grass). Models without and with accounting for the phylogenetic structures of the dataset were used, and models were ranked using Akaike's Information Criterion. Scaling relationships followed geometric principles, that is, length measures scaled with BM to the power of 0.33. Models that used tongue length rather than BM as a body size proxy were consistently ranked better, indicating that using size proxies that are less susceptible to a wider variety of factors (such as BM that fluctuates with body condition) should be attempted whenever possible. The proportion of the freely mobile tongue tip of the total tongue (and hence also the corpus length) was negatively correlated to %grass, in accordance with concepts that the feeding mechanism of browsers requires more mobile tongues. It should be noted that some nonbrowsers, such as cattle, use a peculiar mechanism for grazing that also requires long, mobile tongues, but they appear to be exceptions. A larger corpus width with increasing %grass corresponds to differences in snout shape with broader snouts in grazers. The Torus linguae is longer with increasing %grass, a finding that still warrants functional interpretation. This study shows that tongue measures covary with diet in ruminants. In contrast, the shape of the tongue (straight or "hourglass-shaped" as measured by the ratio of the widest and smallest corpus width) is unrelated to diet and is influenced strongly by phylogeny. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Comparing mixing-length models of the diabatic wind profile over homogeneous terrain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pena Diaz, Alfredo; Gryning, Sven-Erik; Hasager, Charlotte Bay

2010-01-01

Models of the diabatic wind profile over homogeneous terrain for the entire atmospheric boundary layer are developed using mixing-length theory and are compared to wind speed observations up to 300 m at the National Test Station for Wind Turbines at Høvsøre, Denmark. The measurements are performe...

Comparative morphology of the scales of roundscale spearfish Tetrapturus georgii and white marlin Kajikia albida.

Science.gov (United States)

Loose, E L; Hilton, E J; Graves, J E

2017-04-01

The comparative morphology of the scales of roundscale spearfish Tetrapturus georgii and white marlin Kajikia albida was investigated. In addition, variation in scale morphology across different body regions within each species was analysed. Although considerable morphological variation was observed among scales from different body regions in both species, scales of K. albida generally have pointed anterior ends, fewer posterior points and are more heavily imbricated than those of T. georgii, which are frequently rounded anteriorly, often have many posterior points and are separated farther within the skin. In all sampled body regions and individuals, scales of T. georgii are significantly broader and have a lower length-to-width aspect ratio than those of K. albida. Superficial to the scales are denticular plates, which are ossified formations occurring on the surface layer of the epidermis; these were observed and described for T. georgii, K. albida and blue marlin Makaira nigricans. Detailed scale descriptions allow for a more accurate characterization of the variation within and differences between these two species and could potentially be a valuable tool for investigating istiophorid systematics. © 2017 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

Density Functional Theory and Materials Modeling at Atomistic Length Scales

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Swapan K. Ghosh

2002-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract: We discuss the basic concepts of density functional theory (DFT as applied to materials modeling in the microscopic, mesoscopic and macroscopic length scales. The picture that emerges is that of a single unified framework for the study of both quantum and classical systems. While for quantum DFT, the central equation is a one-particle Schrodinger-like Kohn-Sham equation, the classical DFT consists of Boltzmann type distributions, both corresponding to a system of noninteracting particles in the field of a density-dependent effective potential, the exact functional form of which is unknown. One therefore approximates the exchange-correlation potential for quantum systems and the excess free energy density functional or the direct correlation functions for classical systems. Illustrative applications of quantum DFT to microscopic modeling of molecular interaction and that of classical DFT to a mesoscopic modeling of soft condensed matter systems are highlighted.

Laser scattering in large-scale-length plasmas relevant to National Ignition Facility hohlraums

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacGowan, B.J.; Berger, R.L.; Afeyan, B.B.

1996-10-01

We have used homogeneous plasmas of high density (up to 1.3 X 10 21 electrons per cm 3 ) and temperature (∼ 3 keV) with large density scale lengths (∼2 mm) to approximate conditions within National Ignition Facility (NIF) hohlraums. Within these plasmas we have studied the dependence of stimulated Raman (SRS) and Brillouin (SBS) scattering on beam smoothing and plasma conditions at the relevant laser intensity (3ω, 2 X 10 15 Wcm 2 ). Both SBS and SRS are reduced by the use of smoothing by spectral dispersion (SSD)

Variability of interconnected wind plants: correlation length and its dependence on variability time scale

Science.gov (United States)

St. Martin, Clara M.; Lundquist, Julie K.; Handschy, Mark A.

2015-04-01

The variability in wind-generated electricity complicates the integration of this electricity into the electrical grid. This challenge steepens as the percentage of renewably-generated electricity on the grid grows, but variability can be reduced by exploiting geographic diversity: correlations between wind farms decrease as the separation between wind farms increases. But how far is far enough to reduce variability? Grid management requires balancing production on various timescales, and so consideration of correlations reflective of those timescales can guide the appropriate spatial scales of geographic diversity grid integration. To answer ‘how far is far enough,’ we investigate the universal behavior of geographic diversity by exploring wind-speed correlations using three extensive datasets spanning continents, durations and time resolution. First, one year of five-minute wind power generation data from 29 wind farms span 1270 km across Southeastern Australia (Australian Energy Market Operator). Second, 45 years of hourly 10 m wind-speeds from 117 stations span 5000 km across Canada (National Climate Data Archive of Environment Canada). Finally, four years of five-minute wind-speeds from 14 meteorological towers span 350 km of the Northwestern US (Bonneville Power Administration). After removing diurnal cycles and seasonal trends from all datasets, we investigate dependence of correlation length on time scale by digitally high-pass filtering the data on 0.25-2000 h timescales and calculating correlations between sites for each high-pass filter cut-off. Correlations fall to zero with increasing station separation distance, but the characteristic correlation length varies with the high-pass filter applied: the higher the cut-off frequency, the smaller the station separation required to achieve de-correlation. Remarkable similarities between these three datasets reveal behavior that, if universal, could be particularly useful for grid management. For high

A micromechanical approach of suffusion based on a length scale analysis of the grain detachment and grain transport processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Wautier, Antoine; Bonelli, Stéphane; Nicot, François

2017-06-01

Suffusion is the selective erosion of the finest particles of a soil subjected to an internal flow. Among the four types of internal erosion and piping identified today, suffusion is the least understood. Indeed, there is a lack of micromechanical approaches for identifying the critical microstructural parameters responsible for this process. Based on a discrete element modeling of non cohesive granular assemblies, specific micromechanical tools are developed in a unified framework to account for the two first steps of suffusion, namely the grain detachment and the grain transport processes. Thanks to the use of an enhanced force chain definition and autocorrelation functions the typical lengths scales associated with grain detachment are characterized. From the definition of transport paths based on a graph description of the pore space the typical lengths scales associated with grain transport are recovered. For a uniform grain size distribution, a separation of scales between these two processes exists for the finest particles of a soil

Comparison of friction and wear of articular cartilage on different length scales.

Science.gov (United States)

Kienle, Sandra; Boettcher, Kathrin; Wiegleb, Lorenz; Urban, Joanna; Burgkart, Rainer; Lieleg, Oliver; Hugel, Thorsten

2015-09-18

The exceptional tribological properties of articular cartilage are still far from being fully understood. Articular cartilage is able to withstand high loads and provide exceptionally low friction. Although the regeneration abilities of the tissue are very limited, it can last for many decades. These biomechanical properties are realized by an interplay of different lubrication and wear protection mechanisms. The deterioration of cartilage due to aging or injury leads to the development of osteoarthritis. A current treatment strategy focuses on supplementing the intra-articular fluid with a saline solution containing hyaluronic acid. In the work presented here, we investigated how changing the lubricating fluid affects friction and wear of articular cartilage, focusing on the boundary and mixed lubrication as well as interstitial fluid pressurization mechanisms. Different length and time scales were probed by atomic force microscopy, tribology and profilometry. We compared aqueous solutions with different NaCl concentrations to a viscosupplement containing hyaluronic acid (HA). In particular, we found that the presence of ions changes the frictional behavior and the wear resistance. In contrast, hyaluronic acid showed no significant impact on the friction coefficient, but considerably reduced wear. This study confirms the previous notion that friction and wear are not necessarily correlated in articular cartilage tribology and that the main role of HA might be to provide wear protection for the articular surface. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Zonal Articular Cartilage Possesses Complex Mechanical Behavior Spanning Multiple Length Scales: Dependence on Chemical Heterogeneity, Anisotropy, and Microstructure

Science.gov (United States)

Wahlquist, Joseph A.

This work focused on characterizing the mechanical behavior of biological material in physiologically relevant conditions and at sub millimeter length scales. Elucidating the time, length scale, and directionally dependent mechanical behavior of cartilage and other biological materials is critical to adequately recapitulate native mechanosensory cues for cells, create computational models that mimic native tissue behavior, and assess disease progression. This work focused on three broad aspects of characterizing the mechanical behavior of articular cartilage. First, we sought to reveal the causes of time-dependent deformation and variation of mechanical properties with distance from the articular surface. Second, we investigated size dependence of mechanical properties. Finally, we examined material anisotropy of both the calcified and uncalcified tissues of the osteochondral interface. This research provides insight into how articular cartilage serves to support physiologic loads and simultaneously sustain chondrocyte viability.

Dealing with imperfection: quantifying potential length scale artefacts from nominally spherical indenter probes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Constantinides, G; Silva, E C C M; Blackman, G S; Vliet, K J Van

2007-01-01

Instrumented nanoindenters are commonly employed to extract elastic, plastic or time-dependent mechanical properties of the indented material surface. In several important cases, accurate determination of the indenter probe radii is essential for the proper analytical interpretation of the experimental response, and it cannot be circumvented by an experimentally determined expression for the contact area as a function of depth. Current approaches quantify the indenter probe radii via inference from a series of indents on a material with known elastic modulus (e.g., fused quartz) or through the fitting of two-dimensional projected images acquired via atomic force microscopy (AFM) or scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. Here, we propose a more robust methodology, based on concepts of differential geometry, for the accurate determination of three-dimensional indenter probe geometry. The methodology is presented and demonstrated for four conospherical indenters with probe radii of the order of 1-10 μm. The deviation of extracted radii with manufacturer specifications is emphasized and the limits of spherical approximations are presented. All four probes deviate from the assumed spherical geometry, such that the effective radii are not independent of distance from the probe apex. Significant errors in interpretation of material behaviour will result if this deviation is unaccounted for during the analysis of indentation load-depth responses obtained from material surfaces of interest, including observation of an artificial length scale that could be misinterpreted as an effect attributable to material length scales less than tens of nanometres in size or extent

Allometry of sexual size dimorphism in turtles: a comparison of mass and length data.

Science.gov (United States)

Regis, Koy W; Meik, Jesse M

2017-01-01

The macroevolutionary pattern of Rensch's Rule (positive allometry of sexual size dimorphism) has had mixed support in turtles. Using the largest carapace length dataset and only large-scale body mass dataset assembled for this group, we determine (a) whether turtles conform to Rensch's Rule at the order, suborder, and family levels, and (b) whether inferences regarding allometry of sexual size dimorphism differ based on choice of body size metric used for analyses. We compiled databases of mean body mass and carapace length for males and females for as many populations and species of turtles as possible. We then determined scaling relationships between males and females for average body mass and straight carapace length using traditional and phylogenetic comparative methods. We also used regression analyses to evalutate sex-specific differences in the variance explained by carapace length on body mass. Using traditional (non-phylogenetic) analyses, body mass supports Rensch's Rule, whereas straight carapace length supports isometry. Using phylogenetic independent contrasts, both body mass and straight carapace length support Rensch's Rule with strong congruence between metrics. At the family level, support for Rensch's Rule is more frequent when mass is used and in phylogenetic comparative analyses. Turtles do not differ in slopes of sex-specific mass-to-length regressions and more variance in body size within each sex is explained by mass than by carapace length. Turtles display Rensch's Rule overall and within families of Cryptodires, but not within Pleurodire families. Mass and length are strongly congruent with respect to Rensch's Rule across turtles, and discrepancies are observed mostly at the family level (the level where Rensch's Rule is most often evaluated). At macroevolutionary scales, the purported advantages of length measurements over weight are not supported in turtles.

Heuristics for Comparing the Lengths of Completed E-TSP Tours: Crossings and Areas

Science.gov (United States)

MacGregor, James N.

2017-01-01

The article reports three experiments designed to explore heuristics used in comparing the lengths of completed Euclidean Traveling Salesman Problem (E-TSP) tours. The experiments used paired comparisons in which participants judged which of two completed tours of the same point set was shorter. The first experiment manipulated two factors, the…

Correlation of optical emission and turbulent length scale in a coaxial jet diffusion flame

OpenAIRE

松山, 新吾; Matsuyama, Shingo

2014-01-01

This article investigates the correlation between optical emission and turbulent length scale in a coaxial jet diffusion flame. To simulate the H2O emission from an H2/O2 diffusion flame, radiative transfer is calculated on flame data obtained by numerical simulation. H2O emission characteristics are examined for a one-dimensional opposed-flow diffusion flame. The results indicate that H2O emission intensity is linearly dependent on flame thickness. The simulation of H2O emission is then exte...

Integrating experimental and simulation length and time scales in mechanistic studies of friction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sawyer, W G; Perry, S S; Phillpot, S R; Sinnott, S B

2008-01-01

Friction is ubiquitous in all aspects of everyday life and has consequently been under study for centuries. Classical theories of friction have been developed and used to successfully solve numerous tribological problems. However, modern applications that involve advanced materials operating under extreme environments can lead to situations where classical theories of friction are insufficient to describe the physical responses of sliding interfaces. Here, we review integrated experimental and computational studies of atomic-scale friction and wear at solid-solid interfaces across length and time scales. The influence of structural orientation in the case of carbon nanotube bundles, and molecular orientation in the case of polymer films of polytetrafluoroethylene and polyethylene, on friction and wear are discussed. In addition, while friction in solids is generally considered to be athermal, under certain conditions thermally activated friction is observed for polymers, carbon nanotubes and graphite. The conditions under which these transitions occur, and their proposed origins, are discussed. Lastly, a discussion of future directions is presented

Assessment of colorectal length using the electromagnetic capsule tracking system: a comparative validation study in healthy subjects.

Science.gov (United States)

Mark, E B; Poulsen, J L; Haase, A M; Frøkjaer, J B; Schlageter, V; Scott, S M; Krogh, K; Drewes, A M

2017-09-01

We aimed to determine colorectal length with the 3D-Transit system by describing a 'centreline' of capsule movement and comparing it with known anatomy, as determined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Further, we aimed to test the day-to-day variation of colorectal length assessed with the system. The 3D-Transit system consists of electromagnetic capsules that can be tracked as they traverse the gastrointestinal tract. Twenty-five healthy subjects were examined with both 3D-Transit and MRI. Another 21 healthy subjects were examined with 3D-Transit on two consecutive days. Computation of colorectal length from capsule passage was possible for 60 of the 67 3D-Transit recordings. The length of the colorectum measured with MRI and 3D-Transit was 95 (75-153) cm and 99 (77-147) cm, respectively (P = 0.15). The coefficient of variation (CV) between MRI and 3D-Transit was 7.8%. Apart from the caecum/ascending colon being 26% (P = 0.002) shorter on MRI, there were no other differences in total or segmental colorectal lengths between methods (all P > 0.05). The length of the colorectum measured with 3D-Transit on two consecutive days was 102 (73-119) cm and 103 (75-123) cm (P = 0.67). The CV between days was 7.3%. The 3D-Transit system allows accurate and reliable determination of colorectal length compared with MRI-derived colorectal length and between days. Antegrade or retrograde capsule movement relative to this centreline, as well as the length and speed of movements, may be determined by future studies to allow better classification and treatment in patients with dysmotility. Colorectal Disease © 2017 The Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland.

Predicting permeability of regular tissue engineering scaffolds: scaling analysis of pore architecture, scaffold length, and fluid flow rate effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Rahbari, A; Montazerian, H; Davoodi, E; Homayoonfar, S

2017-02-01

The main aim of this research is to numerically obtain the permeability coefficient in the cylindrical scaffolds. For this purpose, a mathematical analysis was performed to derive an equation for desired porosity in terms of morphological parameters. Then, the considered cylindrical geometries were modeled and the permeability coefficient was calculated according to the velocity and pressure drop values based on the Darcy's law. In order to validate the accuracy of the present numerical solution, the obtained permeability coefficient was compared with the published experimental data. It was observed that this model can predict permeability with the utmost accuracy. Then, the effect of geometrical parameters including porosity, scaffold pore structure, unit cell size, and length of the scaffolds as well as entrance mass flow rate on the permeability of porous structures was studied. Furthermore, a parametric study with scaling laws analysis of sample length and mass flow rate effects on the permeability showed good fit to the obtained data. It can be concluded that the sensitivity of permeability is more noticeable at higher porosities. The present approach can be used to characterize and optimize the scaffold microstructure due to the necessity of cell growth and transferring considerations.

Morphological quantification of hierarchical geomaterials by X-ray nano-CT bridges the gap from nano to micro length scales

KAUST Repository

Brisard, S.; Chae, R. S.; Bihannic, I.; Michot, L.; Guttmann, P.; Thieme, J.; Schneider, G.; Monteiro, P. J. M.; Levitz, P.

2012-01-01

Morphological quantification of the complex structure of hierarchical geomaterials is of great relevance for Earth science and environmental engineering, among others. To date, methods that quantify the 3D morphology on length scales ranging from a

Optimization of Kα bursts for photon energies between 1.7 and 7 keV produced by femtosecond-laser-produced plasmas of different scale length

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ziener, Ch.; Uschmann, I.; Stobrawa, G.; Reich, Ch.; Gibbon, P.; Feurer, T.; Morak, A.; Duesterer, S.; Schwoerer, H.; Foerster, E.; Sauerbrey, R.

2002-01-01

The conversion efficiency of a 90 fs high-power laser pulse focused onto a solid target into x-ray Kα line emission was measured. By using three different elements as target material (Si, Ti, and Co), interesting candidates for fast x-ray diffraction applications were selected. The Kα output was measured with toroidally bent crystal monochromators combined with a GaAsP Schottky diode. Optimization was performed for different laser intensities as well as for different density scale lengths of a preformed plasma. These different scale lengths were realized by prepulses of different intensities and delay times with respect to the main pulse. Whereas the Kα yield varied by a factor of 1.8 for different laser intensities, the variation of the density scale length could provide a gain factor up to 4.6 for the Kα output

Length-scale and strain rate-dependent mechanism of defect formation and fracture in carbon nanotubes under tensile loading

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Javvaji, Brahmanandam [Indian Institute of Science, Department of Aerospace Engineering (India); Raha, S. [Indian Institute of Science, Department of Computational and Data Sciences (India); Mahapatra, D. Roy, E-mail: droymahapatra@aero.iisc.ernet.in [Indian Institute of Science, Department of Aerospace Engineering (India)

2017-02-15

Electromagnetic and thermo-mechanical forces play a major role in nanotube-based materials and devices. Under high-energy electron transport or high current densities, carbon nanotubes fail via sequential fracture. The failure sequence is governed by certain length scale and flow of current. We report a unified phenomenological model derived from molecular dynamic simulation data, which successfully captures the important physics of the complex failure process. Length-scale and strain rate-dependent defect nucleation, growth, and fracture in single-walled carbon nanotubes with diameters in the range of 0.47 to 2.03 nm and length which is about 6.17 to 26.45 nm are simulated. Nanotubes with long length and small diameter show brittle fracture, while those with short length and large diameter show transition from ductile to brittle fracture. In short nanotubes with small diameters, we observe several structural transitions like Stone-Wales defect initiation, its propagation to larger void nucleation, formation of multiple chains of atoms, conversion to monatomic chain of atoms, and finally complete fracture of the carbon nanotube. Hybridization state of carbon-carbon bonds near the end cap evolves, leading to the formation of monatomic chain in short nanotubes with small diameter. Transition from ductile to brittle fracture is also observed when strain rate exceeds a critical value. A generalized analytical model of failure is established, which correlates the defect energy during the formation of atomic chain with aspect ratio of the nanotube and strain rate. Variation in the mechanical properties such as elastic modulus, tensile strength, and fracture strain with the size and strain rate shows important implications in mitigating force fields and ways to enhance the life of electronic devices and nanomaterial conversion via fracture in manufacturing.

In Vitro Comparative Study of the Working Length Determination with Radiovisiography and Conventional Radiography in Dilacerated Canals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Bagherpour

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The aim of this study was to compare digital and conventional radiography in determining the working length of dilacerated canals.Methods: Thirty nine human extracted single-rooted teeth with root curvature more than 35 degrees were included in this study. After access preparation, a file was inserted into the canal and advanced until the file tip was visualized at the foramen. With measurement of the file length using a millimeter ruler, true canal length was determined for each canal. Then, teeth were mounted in acrylic blocks and canal length was estimated by using on-screen digital radiography with both 3- and 6-clicks measurement and from conventional radiography by conforming a preserved file on the image of the root canal.Results: There were no significant differences in measurement accuracy between the true canal length and conventional radiographic length, but there were significant difference between both digital radiographic techniques with true canal length. There was no significant correlation between root curvature and canal length estimation error of studied methods.Conclusion: In dilacerated canals, the accuracy of determination of working length by using conventional radiography is higher than digital radiography

Characterization of long-scale-length plasmas produced from plastic foam targets for laser plasma instability (LPI) research

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Jaechul; Weaver, J. L.; Serlin, V.; Obenschain, S. P.

2017-10-01

We report on an experimental effort to produce plasmas with long scale lengths for the study of parametric instabilities, such as two plasmon decay (TPD) and stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), under conditions relevant to fusion plasma. In the current experiment, plasmas are formed from low density (10-100 mg/cc) CH foam targets irradiated by Nike krypton fluoride laser pulses (λ = 248 nm, 1 nsec FWHM) with energies up to 1 kJ. This experiment is conducted with two primary diagnostics: the grid image refractometer (Nike-GIR) to measure electron density and temperature profiles of the coronas, and time-resolved spectrometers with absolute intensity calibration to examine scattered light features of TPD or SRS. Nike-GIR was recently upgraded with a 5th harmonic probe laser (λ = 213 nm) to access plasma regions near quarter critical density of 248 nm light (4.5 ×1021 cm-3). The results will be discussed with data obtained from 120 μm scale-length plasmas created on solid CH targets in previous LPI experiments at Nike. Work supported by DoE/NNSA.

Beam displacement as a function of temperature and turbulence length scale at two different laser radiation wavelengths.

Science.gov (United States)

Isterling, William M; Dally, Bassam B; Alwahabi, Zeyad T; Dubovinsky, Miro; Wright, Daniel

2012-01-01

Narrow laser beams directed from aircraft may at times pass through the exhaust plume of the engines and potentially degrade some of the laser beam characteristics. This paper reports on controlled studies of laser beam deviation arising from propagation through turbulent hot gases, in a well-characterized laboratory burner, with conditions of relevance to aircraft engine exhaust plumes. The impact of the temperature, laser wavelength, and turbulence length scale on the beam deviation has been investigated. It was found that the laser beam displacement increases with the turbulent integral length scale. The effect of temperature on the laser beam angular deviation, σ, using two different laser wavelengths, namely 4.67 μm and 632.8 nm, was recorded. It was found that the beam deviation for both wavelengths may be semiempirically modeled using a single function of the form, σ=a(b+(1/T)(2))(-1), with two parameters only, a and b, where σ is in microradians and T is the temperature in °C. © 2012 Optical Society of America

Physics on smallest scales. An introduction to minimal length phenomenology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sprenger, Martin; Goethe Univ., Frankfurt am Main; Nicolini, Piero; Bleicher, Marcus

2012-02-01

Many modern theories which try to unite gravity with the Standard Model of particle physics, as e.g. string theory, propose two key modifications to the commonly known physical theories: - the existence of additional space dimensions - the existence of a minimal length distance or maximal resolution. While extra dimensions have received a wide coverage in publications over the last ten years (especially due to the prediction of micro black hole production at the LHC), the phenomenology of models with a minimal length is still less investigated. In a summer study project for bachelor students in 2010 we have explored some phenomenological implications of the potential existence of a minimal length. In this paper we review the idea and formalism of a quantum gravity induced minimal length in the generalised uncertainty principle framework as well as in the coherent state approach to non- commutative geometry. These approaches are effective models which can make model-independent predictions for experiments and are ideally suited for phenomenological studies. Pedagogical examples are provided to grasp the effects of a quantum gravity induced minimal length. (orig.)

Air refractometry in a length comparator and the response to changes in the measurement environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pieles, H

1998-11-01

Two different interference refractometers and one air parameter set-up are simultaneously operated in a temperature-stabilized casing of a length comparator. They allow absolute and relative measurements and calculations, respectively of the refractive index of air to be carried out for continuous interferometric length measurements. Measurement results are presented which were obtained under optimized environmental conditions. In addition, sources of disturbances are described which can significantly influence the measurements of the refractive index of air, and consequently may influence the accuracy of interferometric displacement measurements. (orig.)

Toward power scaling in an acetylene mid-infrared hollow-core optical fiber gas laser: effects of pressure, fiber length, and pump power

Science.gov (United States)

Weerasinghe, H. W. Kushan; Dadashzadeh, Neda; Thirugnanasambandam, Manasadevi P.; Debord, Benoît.; Chafer, Matthieu; Gérôme, Frédéric; Benabid, Fetah; Corwin, Kristan L.; Washburn, Brian R.

2018-02-01

The effect of gas pressure, fiber length, and optical pump power on an acetylene mid-infrared hollow-core optical fiber gas laser (HOFGLAS) is experimentally determined in order to scale the laser to higher powers. The absorbed optical power and threshold power are measured for different pressures providing an optimum pressure for a given fiber length. We observe a linear dependence of both absorbed pump energy and lasing threshold for the acetylene HOFGLAS, while maintaining a good mode quality with an M-squared of 1.15. The threshold and mode behavior are encouraging for scaling to higher pressures and pump powers.

Quantifying Contributions to Transport in Ionic Polymers Across Multiple Length Scales

Science.gov (United States)

Madsen, Louis

Self-organized polymer membranes conduct mobile species (ions, water, alcohols, etc.) according to a hierarchy of structural motifs that span sub-nm to >10 μm in length scale. In order to comprehensively understand such materials, our group combines multiple types of NMR dynamics and transport measurements (spectroscopy, diffusometry, relaxometry, imaging) with structural information from scattering and microscopy as well as with theories of porous media,1 electrolytic transport, and oriented matter.2 In this presentation, I will discuss quantitative separation of the phenomena that govern transport in polymer membranes, from intermolecular interactions (<= 2 nm),3 to locally ordered polymer nanochannels (a few to 10s of nm),2 to larger polymer domain structures (10s of nm and larger).1 Using this multi-scale information, we seek to give informed feedback on the design of polymer membranes for use in, e . g . , efficient batteries, fuel cells, and mechanical actuators. References: [1] J. Hou, J. Li, D. Mountz, M. Hull, and L. A. Madsen. Journal of Membrane Science448, 292-298 (2013). [2] J. Li, J. K. Park, R. B. Moore, and L. A. Madsen. Nature Materials 10, 507-511 (2011). [3] M. D. Lingwood, Z. Zhang, B. E. Kidd, K. B. McCreary, J. Hou, and L. A. Madsen. Chemical Communications 49, 4283 - 4285 (2013).

Length of a Hanging Cable

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric Costello

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The shape of a cable hanging under its own weight and uniform horizontal tension between two power poles is a catenary. The catenary is a curve which has an equation defined by a hyperbolic cosine function and a scaling factor. The scaling factor for power cables hanging under their own weight is equal to the horizontal tension on the cable divided by the weight of the cable. Both of these values are unknown for this problem. Newton's method was used to approximate the scaling factor and the arc length function to determine the length of the cable. A script was written using the Python programming language in order to quickly perform several iterations of Newton's method to get a good approximation for the scaling factor.

Gate length scaling effect on high-electron mobility transistors devices using AlGaN/GaN and AlInN/AlN/GaN heterostructures.

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, S Y; Lu, C C; Chang, T; Huang, C F; Cheng, C H; Chang, L B

2014-08-01

Compared to AlGaN/GaN HEMT with 0.15 μm T-gate length, the AlInN/AlN/GaN one exhibits much higher current density and transconductance of 1558 mA/mm at Vd = 2 V and 330 mS/mm, respectively. The high extrinsic ft and fmax of 82 GHz and 70 GHz are extracted from AlInN/AlN/GaN HEMT. Besides, we find that the transconductance roll-off is significant in AlGaN/GaN, but largely improved in AlInN/AlN/GaN HEMT, suggesting that the high carrier density and lattice-matched epitaxial heterostructure is important to reach both large RF output power and high operation frequency, especially for an aggressively gate length scaling.

Characteristic Length Scales in Fracture Networks: Hydraulic Connectivity through Periodic Hydraulic Tests

Science.gov (United States)

Becker, M.; Bour, O.; Le Borgne, T.; Longuevergne, L.; Lavenant, N.; Cole, M. C.; Guiheneuf, N.

2017-12-01

Determining hydraulic and transport connectivity in fractured bedrock has long been an important objective in contaminant hydrogeology, petroleum engineering, and geothermal operations. A persistent obstacle to making this determination is that the characteristic length scale is nearly impossible to determine in sparsely fractured networks. Both flow and transport occur through an unknown structure of interconnected fracture and/or fracture zones making the actual length that water or solutes travel undetermined. This poses difficulties for flow and transport models. For, example, hydraulic equations require a separation distance between pumping and observation well to determine hydraulic parameters. When wells pairs are close, the structure of the network can influence the interpretation of well separation and the flow dimension of the tested system. This issue is explored using hydraulic tests conducted in a shallow fractured crystalline rock. Periodic (oscillatory) slug tests were performed at the Ploemeur fractured rock test site located in Brittany, France. Hydraulic connectivity was examined between three zones in one well and four zones in another, located 6 m apart in map view. The wells are sufficiently close, however, that the tangential distance between the tested zones ranges between 6 and 30 m. Using standard periodic formulations of radial flow, estimates of storativity scale inversely with the square of the separation distance and hydraulic diffusivity directly with the square of the separation distance. Uncertainty in the connection paths between the two wells leads to an order of magnitude uncertainty in estimates of storativity and hydraulic diffusivity, although estimates of transmissivity are unaffected. The assumed flow dimension results in alternative estimates of hydraulic parameters. In general, one is faced with the prospect of assuming the hydraulic parameter and inverting the separation distance, or vice versa. Similar uncertainties exist

Length-Scale-Dependent Phase Transformation of LiFePO4 : An In situ and Operando Study Using Micro-Raman Spectroscopy and XRD.

Science.gov (United States)

Siddique, N A; Salehi, Amir; Wei, Zi; Liu, Dong; Sajjad, Syed D; Liu, Fuqiang

2015-08-03

The charge and discharge of lithium ion batteries are often accompanied by electrochemically driven phase-transformation processes. In this work, two in situ and operando methods, that is, micro-Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD), have been combined to study the phase-transformation process in LiFePO4 at two distinct length scales, namely, particle-level scale (∼1 μm) and macroscopic scale (∼several cm). In situ Raman studies revealed a discrete mode of phase transformation at the particle level. Besides, the preferred electrochemical transport network, particularly the carbon content, was found to govern the sequence of phase transformation among particles. In contrast, at the macroscopic level, studies conducted at four different discharge rates showed a continuous but delayed phase transformation. These findings uncovered the intricate phase transformation in LiFePO4 and potentially offer valuable insights into optimizing the length-scale-dependent properties of battery materials. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Overview of lower length scale model development for accident tolerant fuels regarding U3Si2 fuel and FeCrAl cladding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Yongfeng

2016-01-01

U3Si2 and FeCrAl have been proposed as fuel and cladding concepts, respectively, for accident tolerance fuels with higher tolerance to accident scenarios compared to UO2. However, a lot of key physics and material properties regarding their in-pile performance are yet to be explored. To accelerate the understanding and reduce the cost of experimental studies, multiscale modeling and simulation are used to develop physics-based materials models to assist engineering scale fuel performance modeling. In this report, the lower-length-scale efforts in method and material model development supported by the Accident Tolerance Fuel (ATF) high-impact-problem (HIP) under the NEAMS program are summarized. Significant progresses have been made regarding interatomic potential, phase field models for phase decomposition and gas bubble formation, and thermal conductivity for U3Si2 fuel, and precipitation in FeCrAl cladding. The accomplishments are very useful by providing atomistic and mesoscale tools, improving the current understanding, and delivering engineering scale models for these two ATF concepts.

Overview of lower length scale model development for accident tolerant fuels regarding U3Si2 fuel and FeCrAl cladding

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Yongfeng [Idaho National Laboratory

2016-09-01

U3Si2 and FeCrAl have been proposed as fuel and cladding concepts, respectively, for accident tolerance fuels with higher tolerance to accident scenarios compared to UO2. However, a lot of key physics and material properties regarding their in-pile performance are yet to be explored. To accelerate the understanding and reduce the cost of experimental studies, multiscale modeling and simulation are used to develop physics-based materials models to assist engineering scale fuel performance modeling. In this report, the lower-length-scale efforts in method and material model development supported by the Accident Tolerance Fuel (ATF) high-impact-problem (HIP) under the NEAMS program are summarized. Significant progresses have been made regarding interatomic potential, phase field models for phase decomposition and gas bubble formation, and thermal conductivity for U3Si2 fuel, and precipitation in FeCrAl cladding. The accomplishments are very useful by providing atomistic and mesoscale tools, improving the current understanding, and delivering engineering scale models for these two ATF concepts.

Brief communication: Possible explanation of the values of Hack's drainage basin, river length scaling exponent

Science.gov (United States)

Hunt, Allen G.

2016-04-01

Percolation theory can be used to find water flow paths of least resistance. Application of percolation theory to drainage networks allows identification of the range of exponent values that describe the tortuosity of rivers in real river networks, which is then used to generate the observed scaling between drainage basin area and channel length, a relationship known as Hack's law. Such a theoretical basis for Hack's law may allow interpretation of the range of exponent values based on an assessment of the heterogeneity of the substrate.

Influence of hydration and experimental length scale on themechanical response of human skin in vivo, using optical coherence tomography

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hendriks, F.M.; Brokken, D.; Oomens, C.W.J.; Baaijens, F.P.T.

2004-01-01

Human skin is a complex tissue consisting of different layers. To gain better insight into the mechanical behaviour of different skin layers, the mechanical response was studied with experiments of various length scales. Also, the influence of (superficial) hydration on the mechanical response is

PIV measurements of the turbulence integral length scale on cold combustion flow field of tangential firing boiler

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, Wen-fei; Xie, Jing-xing; Gong, Zhi-jun; Li, Bao-wei [Inner Mongolia Univ. of Science and Technology, Baotou (China). Inner Mongolia Key Lab. for Utilization of Bayan Obo Multi-Metallic Resources: Elected State Key Lab.

2013-07-01

The process of the pulverized coal combustion in tangential firing boiler has prominent significance on improving boiler operation efficiency and reducing NO{sub X} emission. This paper aims at researching complex turbulent vortex coherent structure formed by the four corners jets in the burner zone, a cold experimental model of tangential firing boiler has been built. And by employing spatial correlation analysis method and PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) technique, the law of Vortex scale distribution on the three typical horizontal layers of the model based on the turbulent Integral Length Scale (ILS) has been researched. According to the correlation analysis of ILS and the temporal average velocity, it can be seen that the turbulent vortex scale distribution in the burner zone of the model is affected by both jet velocity and the position of wind layers, and is not linear with the variation of jet velocity. The vortex scale distribution of the upper primary air is significantly different from the others. Therefore, studying the ILS of turbulent vortex integral scale is instructive to high efficiency cleaning combustion of pulverized coal in theory.

Finite length thermal equilibria of a pure electron plasma column

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prasad, S.A.; O'Neil, T.M.

1979-01-01

The electrons of a pure electron plasma may be in thermal equilibrium with each other and still be confined by static magnetic and electric fields. Since the electrons make a significant contribution to the electric field, only certain density profiles are consistent with Poisson's equation. The class of such distributions for a finite length cylindrical column is investigated. In the limit where the Debye length is small compared with the dimensions of the column, the density is essentially constant out to some surface of revolution and then falls off abruptly. The falloff in density is a universal function when measured along the local normal to the surface of revolution and scaled in terms of the Debye length. The solution for the shape of the surface of revolution is simplified by passage to the limit of zero Debye length

Comparative study of freshwater crayfish, Cherax spp. (crustaceae: decapoda: parastacidae) from Papua, Indonesia based on length-weight analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Hamidah, H.; Abinawanto, Bowolaksono, A.

2017-07-01

The freshwater crayfish is one of the most important fish species as the protein resources. Lake and rivers are the habitat of crayfish in Papua. Morphological characters of crayfish, such as color, total body lengths (L) and body weight (W) were influenced by the habitat. The purpose of the study, therefore, was to compare the total body length and body weight as well as the unique color of crayfish from Uter lake (Atinjo district), Seremuk river (Haha village), Baliem river (Pike village; Hubukiak district, Jayawijaya), and Baliem river (Wesaput village; Wesaput district). Length-weight (body length; LB versus wet weight; WWT) relationships were determined for male and female crayfish (Cherax spp.) The length-weight relationships of total individuals was W = 0,022215.L3,159. This regression differed significantly (R2 = 97.5 %) between locations. Both males and females exhibited positive allometric growth as statistical difference was observed in the mean of the wet weight and body length between males and females. Besides, Canonical function was subjected to determine population distribution based on length-weight data.

Stability and dewetting of metal nanoparticle filled thin polymer films: control of instability length scale and dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Mukherjee, Rabibrata; Das, Soma; Das, Anindya; Sharma, Satinder K; Raychaudhuri, Arup K; Sharma, Ashutosh

2010-07-27

We investigate the influence of gold nanoparticle addition on the stability, dewetting, and pattern formation in ultrathin polymer-nanoparticle (NP) composite films by examining the length and time scales of instability, morphology, and dynamics of dewetting. For these 10-50 nm thick (h) polystyrene (PS) thin films containing uncapped gold nanoparticles (diameter approximately 3-4 nm), transitions from complete dewetting to arrested dewetting to absolute stability were observed depending on the concentration of the particles. Experiments show the existence of three distinct stability regimes: regime 1, complete dewetting leading to droplet formation for nanoparticle concentration of 2% (w/w) or below; regime 2, partial dewetting leading to formation of arrested holes for NP concentrations in the range of 3-6%; and regime 3, complete inhibition of dewetting for NP concentrations of 7% and above. Major results are (a) length scale of instability, where lambdaH approximately hn remains unchanged with NP concentration in regime 1 (n approximately 2) but increases in regime 2 with a change in the scaling relation (n approximately 3-3.5); (b) dynamics of instability and dewetting becomes progressively sluggish with an increase in the NP concentration; (c) there are distinct regimes of dewetting velocity at low NP concentrations; (d) force modulation AFM, as well as micro-Raman analysis, shows phase separation and aggregation of the gold nanoparticles within each dewetted polymer droplet leading to the formation of a metal core-polymer shell morphology. The polymer shell could be removed by washing in a selective solvent, thus exposing an array of bare gold nanoparticle aggregates.

Zebrafish brain mapping--standardized spaces, length scales, and the power of N and n.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunter, Paul R; Hendry, Aenea C; Lowe, Andrew S

2015-06-01

Mapping anatomical and functional parameters of the zebrafish brain is moving apace. Research communities undertaking such studies are becoming ever larger and more diverse. The unique features, tools, and technologies associated with zebrafish are propelling them as the 21st century model organism for brain mapping. Uniquely positioned as a vertebrate model system, the zebrafish enables imaging of anatomy and function at different length scales from intraneuronal compartments to sparsely distributed whole brain patterns. With a variety of diverse and established statistical modeling and analytic methods available from the wider brain mapping communities, the richness of zebrafish neuroimaging data is being realized. The statistical power of population observations (N) within and across many samples (n) projected onto a standardized space will provide vast databases for data-driven biological approaches. This article reviews key brain mapping initiatives at different levels of scale that highlight the potential of zebrafish brain mapping. By way of introduction to the next wave of brain mappers, an accessible introduction to the key concepts and caveats associated with neuroimaging are outlined and discussed. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Zero-point length from string fluctuations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fontanini, Michele; Spallucci, Euro; Padmanabhan, T.

2006-01-01

One of the leading candidates for quantum gravity, viz. string theory, has the following features incorporated in it. (i) The full spacetime is higher-dimensional, with (possibly) compact extra-dimensions; (ii) there is a natural minimal length below which the concept of continuum spacetime needs to be modified by some deeper concept. On the other hand, the existence of a minimal length (zero-point length) in four-dimensional spacetime, with obvious implications as UV regulator, has been often conjectured as a natural aftermath of any correct quantum theory of gravity. We show that one can incorporate the apparently unrelated pieces of information-zero-point length, extra-dimensions, string T-duality-in a consistent framework. This is done in terms of a modified Kaluza-Klein theory that interpolates between (high-energy) string theory and (low-energy) quantum field theory. In this model, the zero-point length in four dimensions is a 'virtual memory' of the length scale of compact extra-dimensions. Such a scale turns out to be determined by T-duality inherited from the underlying fundamental string theory. From a low energy perspective short distance infinities are cutoff by a minimal length which is proportional to the square root of the string slope, i.e., α ' . Thus, we bridge the gap between the string theory domain and the low energy arena of point-particle quantum field theory

Development of a scanning tunneling potentiometry system for measurement of electronic transport at short length scales

Science.gov (United States)

Rozler, Michael

It is clear that complete understanding of macroscopic properties of materials is impossible without a thorough knowledge of behavior at the smallest length scales. While the past 25 years have witnessed major advances in a variety of techniques that probe the nanoscale properties of matter, electrical transport measurements -- the heart of condensed matter research -- have lagged behind, never progressing beyond bulk measurements. This thesis describes a scanning tunneling potentiometry (STP) system developed to simultaneously map the transport-related electrochemical potential distribution of a biased sample along with its surface topography, extending electronic transport measurements to the nanoscale. Combining a novel sample biasing technique with a continuous current-nulling feedback scheme pushes the noise performance of the measurement to its fundamental limit - the Johnson noise of the STM tunnel junction. The resulting 130 nV voltage sensitivity allows us to spatially resolve local potentials at scales down to 2 nm, while maintaining atomic scale STM imaging, all at scan sizes of up to 15 microns. A mm-range two-dimensional coarse positioning stage and the ability to operate from liquid helium to room temperature with a fast turn-around time greatly expand the versatility of the instrument. Use of carefully selected model materials, combined with excellent topographic and voltage resolution has allowed us to distinguish measurement artifacts caused by surface roughness from true potentiometric features, a major problem in previous STP measurements. The measurements demonstrate that STP can produce physically meaningful results for homogeneous transport as well as non-uniform conduction dominated by material microstructures. Measurements of several physically interesting materials systems are presented as well, revealing new behaviors at the smallest length sales. The results establish scanning tunneling potentiometry as a useful tool for physics and

Physics on the smallest scales: an introduction to minimal length phenomenology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sprenger, Martin; Nicolini, Piero; Bleicher, Marcus

2012-01-01

Many modern theories which try to unify gravity with the Standard Model of particle physics, such as e.g. string theory, propose two key modifications to the commonly known physical theories: the existence of additional space dimensions; the existence of a minimal length distance or maximal resolution. While extra dimensions have received a wide coverage in publications over the last ten years (especially due to the prediction of micro black hole production at the Large Hadron Collider), the phenomenology of models with a minimal length is still less investigated. In a summer study project for bachelor students in 2010, we have explored some phenomenological implications of the potential existence of a minimal length. In this paper, we review the idea and formalism of a quantum gravity-induced minimal length in the generalized uncertainty principle framework as well as in the coherent state approach to non-commutative geometry. These approaches are effective models which can make model-independent predictions for experiments and are ideally suited for phenomenological studies. Pedagogical examples are provided to grasp the effects of a quantum gravity-induced minimal length. This paper is intended for graduate students and non-specialists interested in quantum gravity. (paper)

Gate length scaling trends of drive current enhancement in CMOSFETs with dual stress overlayers and embedded-SiGe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Flachowsky, S.; Wei, A.; Herrmann, T.; Illgen, R.; Horstmann, M.; Richter, R.; Salz, H.; Klix, W.; Stenzel, R.

2008-01-01

Strain engineering in MOSFETs using tensile nitride overlayer (TOL) films, compressive nitride overlayer (COL) films, and embedded-SiGe (eSiGe) is studied by extensive device experiments and numerical simulations. The scaling behavior was analyzed by gate length reduction down to 40 nm and it was found that drive current strongly depends on the device dimensions. The reduction of drain-current enhancement for short-channel devices can be attributed to two competing factors: shorter gate length devices have increased longitudinal and vertical stress components which should result in improved drain-currents. However, there is a larger degradation from external resistance as the gate length decreases, due to a larger voltage dropped across the external resistance. Adding an eSiGe stressor reduces the external resistance in the p-MOSFET, to the extent that the drive current improvement from COL continues to increase even down the shortest gate length studied. This is due to the reduced resistivity of SiGe itself and the SiGe valence band offset relative to Si, leading to a smaller silicide-active contact resistance. It demonstrates the advantage of combining eSiGe and COL, not only for increased stress, but also for parasitic resistance reduction to enable better COL drive current benefit

Multi-length-scale Material Model for SiC/SiC Ceramic-Matrix Composites (CMCs): Inclusion of In-Service Environmental Effects

Science.gov (United States)

Grujicic, M.; Galgalikar, R.; Snipes, J. S.; Ramaswami, S.

2016-01-01

In our recent work, a multi-length-scale room-temperature material model for SiC/SiC ceramic-matrix composites (CMCs) was derived and parameterized. The model was subsequently linked with a finite-element solver so that it could be used in a general room-temperature, structural/damage analysis of gas-turbine engine CMC components. Due to its multi-length-scale character, the material model enabled inclusion of the effects of fiber/tow (e.g., the volume fraction, size, and properties of the fibers; fiber-coating material/thickness; decohesion properties of the coating/matrix interfaces; etc.) and ply/lamina (e.g., the 0°/90° cross-ply versus plain-weave architectures, the extent of tow crimping in the case of the plain-weave plies, cohesive properties of the inter-ply boundaries, etc.) length-scale microstructural/architectural parameters on the mechanical response of the CMCs. One of the major limitations of the model is that it applies to the CMCs in their as-fabricated conditions (i.e., the effect of prolonged in-service environmental exposure and the associated material aging-degradation is not accounted for). In the present work, the model is upgraded to include such in-service environmental-exposure effects. To demonstrate the utility of the upgraded material model, it is used within a finite-element structural/failure analysis involving impact of a toboggan-shaped turbine shroud segment by a foreign object. The results obtained clearly revealed the effects that different aspects of the in-service environmental exposure have on the material degradation and the extent of damage suffered by the impacted CMC toboggan-shaped shroud segment.

Turbulent boundary layer over roughness transition with variation in spanwise roughness length scale

Science.gov (United States)

Westerweel, Jerry; Tomas, Jasper; Eisma, Jerke; Pourquie, Mathieu; Elsinga, Gerrit; Jonker, Harm

2016-11-01

Both large-eddy simulations (LES) and water-tunnel experiments, using simultaneous stereoscopic PIV and LIF were done to investigate pollutant dispersion in a region where the surface changes from rural to urban roughness. This consists of rectangular obstacles where we vary the spanwise aspect ratio of the obstacles. A line source of passive tracer was placed upstream of the roughness transition. The objectives of the study are: (i) to determine the influence of the aspect ratio on the roughness-transition flow, and (ii) to determine the dominant mechanisms of pollutant removal from street canyons in the transition region. It is found that for a spanwise aspect ratio of 2 the drag induced by the roughness is largest of all considered cases, which is caused by a large-scale secondary flow. In the roughness transition the vertical advective pollutant flux is the main ventilation mechanism in the first three streets. Furthermore, by means of linear stochastic estimation the mean flow structure is identied that is responsible for exchange of the fluid between the roughness obstacles and the outer part of the boundary layer. Furthermore, it is found that the vertical length scale of this structure increases with increasing aspect ratio of the obstacles in the roughness region.

Morphological quantification of hierarchical geomaterials by X-ray nano-CT bridges the gap from nano to micro length scales

KAUST Repository

Brisard, S.

2012-01-30

Morphological quantification of the complex structure of hierarchical geomaterials is of great relevance for Earth science and environmental engineering, among others. To date, methods that quantify the 3D morphology on length scales ranging from a few tens of nanometers to several hun-dred nanometers have had limited success. We demonstrate, for the first time, that it is possible to go beyond visualization and to extract quantitative morphological information from X-ray images in the aforementioned length scales. As examples, two different hierarchical geomaterials exhibiting complex porous structures ranging from nanometer to macroscopic scale are studied: a flocculated clay water suspension and two hydrated cement pastes. We show that from a single projection image it is possible to perform a direct computation of the ultra-small angle-scattering spectra. The predictions matched very well the experimental data obtained by the best ultra-small angle-scattering experimental setups as observed for the cement paste. In this context, we demonstrate that the structure of flocculated clay suspension exhibit two well-distinct regimes of aggregation, a dense mass fractal aggregation at short distance and a more open structure at large distance, which can be generated by a 3D reaction limited cluster-cluster aggregation process. For the first time, a high-resolution 3D image of fibrillar cement paste cluster was obtained from limited angle nanotomography.

New Approaches in the Engineering and Characterization of Macromolecular Interfaces Across the Length Scales: Applications to Hydrophobic and Stimulus Responsive Polymers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Song, Jing

2007-01-01

The aim of the present Thesis is to enhance characterization and surface engineering approaches to test and control physico-chemical changes on modified hydrophobic (LDPE and PDMS) and stimulus-responsive (PFS) polymers across different length scales. [Here LDPE denotes low density polyethylene,

Interplay between multiple length and time scales in complex ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Administrator

Processes in complex chemical systems, such as macromolecules, electrolytes, interfaces, ... by processes operating on a multiplicity of length .... real time. The design and interpretation of femto- second experiments has required considerable ...

Zero-point length, extra-dimensions and string T-duality

OpenAIRE

Spallucci, Euro; Fontanini, Michele

2005-01-01

In this paper, we are going to put in a single consistent framework apparently unrelated pieces of information, i.e. zero-point length, extra-dimensions, string T-duality. More in details we are going to introduce a modified Kaluza-Klein theory interpolating between (high-energy) string theory and (low-energy) quantum field theory. In our model zero-point length is a four dimensional ``virtual memory'' of compact extra-dimensions length scale. Such a scale turns out to be determined by T-dual...

Comparative analysis of maximum renal longitudinal length with positional changes on ultrasound with multiplanar reconstructed MR image in Korea Adults

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, Yun Hee; Cho, Bum Sang; Kang, Min Ho; Kang, Woo Young; Lee, Jisun; Kim, Yook; Lee, Soo Hyun; Lee, Soo Jung; Lee, Jin Yong

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine a suitable position in which the measured length on ultrasound is close to the true renal length obtained through a multiplanar reconstructed MR image. A total of 33 individuals (males: 15, females: 18) without any underlying renal disease were included in the present study. Renal length was measured as the longest axis at the level of the renal hilum in three positions-supine, lateral decubitus, and prone, respectively. With a 3.0 T MR scanner, 3D eTHRIVE was acquired. Subsequently, the maximum longitudinal length of both the kidneys was measured through multiplanar reconstructed MR images. Paired t-test was used to compare the renal length obtained from ultrasonographic measurement with the length obtained through multiplanar reconstructed MR images. Our study demonstrated significant difference between sonographic renal length in three positions and renal length through MRI (p < 0.001). However, the longest longitudinal length of right kidney among the measured three values by ultrasound was statistically similar to the renal length measured by reconstructed MR image. Among them, the lateral decubitus position showed the strongest correlation with true renal length (right: 0.887; left: 0.849). We recommend measurement of the maximum renal longitudinal length in all possible positions on ultrasonography. If not allowed, the best measurement is on the lateral decubitus showing the strongest correlation coefficient with true renal length

Comparative analysis of maximum renal longitudinal length with positional changes on ultrasound with multiplanar reconstructed MR image in Korea Adults

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jang, Yun Hee; Cho, Bum Sang; Kang, Min Ho; Kang, Woo Young; Lee, Jisun; Kim, Yook; Lee, Soo Hyun; Lee, Soo Jung [Dept. of Radiology, Chungbuk National University Hospital, Cheongju (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Jin Yong [Public Health Medical Service, Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2016-07-15

The purpose of this study was to determine a suitable position in which the measured length on ultrasound is close to the true renal length obtained through a multiplanar reconstructed MR image. A total of 33 individuals (males: 15, females: 18) without any underlying renal disease were included in the present study. Renal length was measured as the longest axis at the level of the renal hilum in three positions-supine, lateral decubitus, and prone, respectively. With a 3.0 T MR scanner, 3D eTHRIVE was acquired. Subsequently, the maximum longitudinal length of both the kidneys was measured through multiplanar reconstructed MR images. Paired t-test was used to compare the renal length obtained from ultrasonographic measurement with the length obtained through multiplanar reconstructed MR images. Our study demonstrated significant difference between sonographic renal length in three positions and renal length through MRI (p < 0.001). However, the longest longitudinal length of right kidney among the measured three values by ultrasound was statistically similar to the renal length measured by reconstructed MR image. Among them, the lateral decubitus position showed the strongest correlation with true renal length (right: 0.887; left: 0.849). We recommend measurement of the maximum renal longitudinal length in all possible positions on ultrasonography. If not allowed, the best measurement is on the lateral decubitus showing the strongest correlation coefficient with true renal length.

Laboratory scale electroplating and processing of long lengths of an in situ Cu-Nb3Sn superconductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

LeHuy, H.; Germain, L.; Roberge, R.; Foner, S.; Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge

1984-01-01

A laboratory scale continuous tin electroplating system is described and used to evaluate the effect of various parameters of the alkaline and acid baths plating process. Tin electroplating is shown to be simple and reliable. With an 8 m immersion length production speeds of the order of 1 m min -1 are possible in an alkaline bath at 80degC. An acid bath gives satisfactory tinning deposits with a production speed of up to 3 m min -1 at room temperature. (author)

Effeciency of extracorporeal shock wave therapy in patients with plantar fasciitis and the relationship with subcalcaneal spur length

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Serpil Tuna

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Objective: ESWT is widely used in the treatment of plantar fascitis. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of ESWT on heel pain and symptoms in the short and medium term. We also compared the subcalcaneal spur length and the heel pain severity and examined the effect of the subcalcaneal spur length on the efficiency of ESWT therapy. Methods: The efficiency of ESWT applied to 59 heel of 48 patients compared retrospectively . We used Visual Analog Scale (VAS and Wolgin scale to evaluate the treatment outcomes. We measure the subcalcaneal spurs length of the patients with foot x-ray . Correlation between the VAS scores and the length of subcalcaneal spur were also evaluated. Results: Improvement in VAS in the first week and 3 months after ESWT treatment was statistically significant. There was no correlation between subcalcaneal spur length and the severity of pain. The number of patients in the'' medium, bad'' group decreased while the number of patients in the '' good'' group incresed according to WDS after ESWT treatment. Conclusion: As a result of this study we concluded that ESWT is effective in the treatment of plantar fasciitis in the short and medium term.

The accuracy of three-dimensional fused deposition modeling (FDM) compared with three-dimensional CT-Scans on the measurement of the mandibular ramus vertical length, gonion-menton length, and gonial angle

Science.gov (United States)

Savitri, I. T.; Badri, C.; Sulistyani, L. D.

2017-08-01

Presurgical treatment planning plays an important role in the reconstruction and correction of defects in the craniomaxillofacial region. The advance of solid freeform fabrication techniques has significantly improved the process of preparing a biomodel using computer-aided design and data from medical imaging. Many factors are implicated in the accuracy of the 3D model. To determine the accuracy of three-dimensional fused deposition modeling (FDM) models compared with three-dimensional CT scans in the measurement of the mandibular ramus vertical length, gonion-menton length, and gonial angle. Eight 3D models were produced from the CT scan data (DICOM file) of eight patients at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Indonesia, Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital. Three measurements were done three times by two examiners. The measurements of the 3D CT scans were made using OsiriX software, while the measurements of the 3D models were made using a digital caliper and goniometry. The measurement results were then compared. There is no significant difference between the measurements of the mandibular ramus vertical length, gonion-menton length, and gonial angle using 3D CT scans and FDM 3D models. FDM 3D models are considered accurate and are acceptable for clinical applications in dental and craniomaxillofacial surgery.

A comparative phylogenetic analysis of full-length mariner elements ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Unknown

recent study showing non-occurance of inter-subfamily excisions because of .... length shown in our figure is greater because of the gaps introduced to maintain an ... to test the feasibility of transforming silkmoths with a foreign gene of ...

Spectral analysis of the Forel-Ule Ocean colour comparator scale

Science.gov (United States)

Wernand, M. R.; van der Woerd, H. J.

2010-04-01

François Alphonse Forel (1890) and Willi Ule (1892) composed a colour comparator scale, with tints varying from indigo-blue to coca-cola brown, to quantify the colour of natural waters, like seas, lakes and rivers. For each measurement, the observer compares the colour of the water above a submersed white disc (Secchi disc) with the hand-held scale of pre-defined colours. The scale can be well reproduced from a simple recipe for twenty-one coloured chemical solutions and because the ease of its use, the Forel-Ule (FU) scale has been applied globally and intensively by oceanographers and limnologists from the year 1890. Indeed, the archived FU data belong to the oldest oceanographic data sets and do contain information on the changes in geobiophysical properties of natural waters during the last century. In this article we describe the optical properties of the FU-scale and its ability to cover the colours of natural waters, as observed by the human eye. The recipe of the scale and its reproduction is described. The spectral transmission of the tubes, with belonging chromaticity coordinates, is presented. The FU scale, in all its simplicity, is found to be an adequate ocean colour comparator scale. The scale is well characterized, is stable and observations are reproducible. This supports the idea that the large historic data base of FU measurements is coherent and well calibrated. Moreover, the scale can be coupled to contemporary multi-spectral observations with hand-held and satellite-based spectrometers.

Age-related changes in the plasticity and toughness of human cortical bone at multiple length-scales

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zimmermann, Elizabeth A.; Schaible, Eric; Bale, Hrishikesh; Barth, Holly D.; Tang, Simon Y.; Reichert, Peter; Busse, Bjoern; Alliston, Tamara; Ager III, Joel W.; Ritchie, Robert O.

2011-08-10

The structure of human cortical bone evolves over multiple length-scales from its basic constituents of collagen and hydroxyapatite at the nanoscale to osteonal structures at nearmillimeter dimensions, which all provide the basis for its mechanical properties. To resist fracture, bone’s toughness is derived intrinsically through plasticity (e.g., fibrillar sliding) at structural-scales typically below a micron and extrinsically (i.e., during crack growth) through mechanisms (e.g., crack deflection/bridging) generated at larger structural-scales. Biological factors such as aging lead to a markedly increased fracture risk, which is often associated with an age-related loss in bone mass (bone quantity). However, we find that age-related structural changes can significantly degrade the fracture resistance (bone quality) over multiple lengthscales. Using in situ small-/wide-angle x-ray scattering/diffraction to characterize sub-micron structural changes and synchrotron x-ray computed tomography and in situ fracture-toughness measurements in the scanning electron microscope to characterize effects at micron-scales, we show how these age-related structural changes at differing size-scales degrade both the intrinsic and extrinsic toughness of bone. Specifically, we attribute the loss in toughness to increased non-enzymatic collagen cross-linking which suppresses plasticity at nanoscale dimensions and to an increased osteonal density which limits the potency of crack-bridging mechanisms at micron-scales. The link between these processes is that the increased stiffness of the cross-linked collagen requires energy to be absorbed by “plastic” deformation at higher structural levels, which occurs by the process of microcracking.

Nearly constant ratio between the proton inertial scale and the spectrum break length scale in the plasma beta range from 0.2 to 1.4 in the solar wind turbulence

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, X.; Tu, C. Y.; He, J.; Wang, L.

2017-12-01

The spectrum break at the ion scale of the solar wind magnetic fluctuations are considered to give important clue on the turbulence dissipation mechanism. Among several possible mechanisms, the most notable ones are the two mechanisms that related respectively with proton thermal gyro-radius and proton inertial length. However, no definite conclusion has been given for which one is more reasonable because the two parameters have similar values in the normal plasma beta range. Here we do a statistical study for the first time to see if the two mechanism predictions have different dependence on the solar wind velocity and on the plasma beta in the normal plasma beta range in the solar wind at 1 AU. From magnetic measurements by Wind, Ulysses and Messenger, we select 60 data sets with duration longer than 8 hours. We found that the ratio between the proton inertial scale and the spectrum break scale do not change considerably with both varying the solar wind speed from 300km/s to 800km/s and varying the plasma beta from 0.2 to 1.4. The average value of the ratio times 2pi is 0.46 ± 0.08. However, the ratio between the proton gyro-radius and the break scale changes clearly. This new result shows that the proton inertial scale could be a single factor that determines the break length scale and hence gives a strong evidence to support the dissipation mechanism related to it in the normal plasma beta range. The value of the constant ratio may relate with the dissipation mechanism, but it needs further theoretical study to give detailed explanation.

Length scale dependence of the dynamic properties of hyaluronic acid solutions in the presence of salt.

Science.gov (United States)

Horkay, Ferenc; Falus, Peter; Hecht, Anne-Marie; Geissler, Erik

2010-12-02

In solutions of the charged semirigid biopolymer hyaluronic acid in salt-free conditions, the diffusion coefficient D(NSE) measured at high transfer momentum q by neutron spin echo is more than an order of magnitude smaller than that determined by dynamic light scattering, D(DLS). This behavior contrasts with neutral polymer solutions. With increasing salt content, D(DLS) approaches D(NSE), which is independent of ionic strength. Contrary to theoretical expectation, the ion-polymer coupling, which dominates the low q dynamics of polyelectrolyte solutions, already breaks down at distance scales greater than the Debye-Hückel length.

Length Scales in Bayesian Automatic Adaptive Quadrature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam Gh.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Two conceptual developments in the Bayesian automatic adaptive quadrature approach to the numerical solution of one-dimensional Riemann integrals [Gh. Adam, S. Adam, Springer LNCS 7125, 1–16 (2012] are reported. First, it is shown that the numerical quadrature which avoids the overcomputing and minimizes the hidden floating point loss of precision asks for the consideration of three classes of integration domain lengths endowed with specific quadrature sums: microscopic (trapezoidal rule, mesoscopic (Simpson rule, and macroscopic (quadrature sums of high algebraic degrees of precision. Second, sensitive diagnostic tools for the Bayesian inference on macroscopic ranges, coming from the use of Clenshaw-Curtis quadrature, are derived.

Large-scale parent–child comparison confirms a strong paternal influence on telomere length

OpenAIRE

Nordfjäll, Katarina; Svenson, Ulrika; Norrback, Karl-Fredrik; Adolfsson, Rolf; Roos, Göran

2009-01-01

Telomere length is documented to have a hereditary component, and both paternal and X-linked inheritance have been proposed. We investigated blood cell telomere length in 962 individuals with an age range between 0 and 102 years. Telomere length correlations were analyzed between parent–child pairs in different age groups and between grandparent–grandchild pairs. A highly significant correlation between the father's and the child's telomere length was observed (r=0.454, P

Advancing the speed, sensitivity and accuracy of biomolecular detection using multi-length-scale engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Kelley, Shana O.; Mirkin, Chad A.; Walt, David R.; Ismagilov, Rustem F.; Toner, Mehmet; Sargent, Edward H.

2014-12-01

Rapid progress in identifying disease biomarkers has increased the importance of creating high-performance detection technologies. Over the last decade, the design of many detection platforms has focused on either the nano or micro length scale. Here, we review recent strategies that combine nano- and microscale materials and devices to produce large improvements in detection sensitivity, speed and accuracy, allowing previously undetectable biomarkers to be identified in clinical samples. Microsensors that incorporate nanoscale features can now rapidly detect disease-related nucleic acids expressed in patient samples. New microdevices that separate large clinical samples into nanocompartments allow precise quantitation of analytes, and microfluidic systems that utilize nanoscale binding events can detect rare cancer cells in the bloodstream more accurately than before. These advances will lead to faster and more reliable clinical diagnostic devices.

Temperature gradient scale length measurement: A high accuracy application of electron cyclotron emission without calibration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Houshmandyar, S., E-mail: houshmandyar@austin.utexas.edu; Phillips, P. E.; Rowan, W. L. [Institute for Fusion Studies, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 (United States); Yang, Z. J. [Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074 (China); Hubbard, A. E.; Rice, J. E.; Hughes, J. W.; Wolfe, S. M. [Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02129 (United States)

2016-11-15

Calibration is a crucial procedure in electron temperature (T{sub e}) inference from a typical electron cyclotron emission (ECE) diagnostic on tokamaks. Although the calibration provides an important multiplying factor for an individual ECE channel, the parameter ΔT{sub e}/T{sub e} is independent of any calibration. Since an ECE channel measures the cyclotron emission for a particular flux surface, a non-perturbing change in toroidal magnetic field changes the view of that channel. Hence the calibration-free parameter is a measure of T{sub e} gradient. B{sub T}-jog technique is presented here which employs the parameter and the raw ECE signals for direct measurement of electron temperature gradient scale length.

Information, polarization and term length in democracy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schultz, Christian

2008-01-01

This paper considers term lengths in a representative democracy where the political issue divides the population on the left-right scale. Parties are ideologically different and better informed about the consequences of policies than voters are. A short term length makes the government more...... accountable, but the re-election incentive leads to policy-distortion as the government seeks to manipulate swing voters' beliefs to make its ideology more popular. This creates a trade-off: A short term length improves accountability but gives distortions. A short term length is best for swing voters when...

Width/Length Ratio in Maxillary Anterior Teeth. Comparative Study of Esthetic Preferences among Professionals and Laypersons.

Science.gov (United States)

Álvarez-Álvarez, Lorena; Orozco-Varo, Ana; Arroyo-Cruz, Gema; Jiménez-Castellanos, Emilio

2017-05-17

Many studies have examined the esthetic preferences of professionals in the maxillary anterior region; however, only a few have taken into account the ratios that are more frequent within the population or other ratios suggested in the literature as ideal. Previous studies also failed to compare them with the esthetic preferences of the lay population with regards to the smile. The purpose of this study is to highlight the differences when perceiving the esthetics of smiles between general dentists and laypersons, and linking them with the width/length of the maxillary anterior teeth. Photographs of the full face of a female subject were modified with Photoshop CS regarding the length/width relationships of the 6 maxillary anterior teeth. The three modifications made were: (a) 80% length/width, (b) 85%, length/width, and (c) 85% length/width in central incisors, 80% length/width in lateral incisors and canines. Three sequences of photograph pairs were created with different ratios and presented in PowerPoint to a sample of 100 general dentists and 100 laypersons. The ratio considered as the most esthetic by the majority of the judges was 85% for central incisors and 80% for lateral incisors and canines, with a statistically significant difference (p esthetic preferences of the studied populations either due to gender or professional experience of the dentists (p > 0.01). According to the results obtained in this study, professionals and laypersons considered a width/length ratio of 85% for maxillary central incisors and 80% for lateral incisors and canines as the most esthetic for maxillary anterior teeth. These results do not support findings from other studies previously published with similar ratios in central incisors, lateral incisors, and canines. Today clinicians practice in a treatment environment where not only function and utility but also esthetics is demanded in almost every procedure. Restoring/maintaining function is considered essential in any

Diffusion effects on volume-selective NMR at small length scales

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaedke, Achim

2009-01-01

In this thesis, the interplay between diffusion and relaxation effects in spatially selective NMR experiments at short length scales is explored. This is especially relevant in the context of both conventional and mechanically detected MRI at (sub)micron resolution in biological specimens. Recent results on selectively excited very thin slices showed an in-slice-magnetization recovery orders of magnitude faster than the longitudinal relaxation time T1. However, those experiments were run on fully relaxed samples while MRI and especially mechanically detected NMR experiments are typically run in a periodic fashion with repetition times far below T1. The main purpose of this work therefore was to extend the study of the interplay between diffusion and longitudinal relaxation to periodic excitations. In some way, this is inverse phenomenon to the DESIRE (Diffusive Enhancement of SIgnal and REsolution) approach, proposed 1992 by Lauterbur. Experiments on periodically excited thin slices were carried out at a dedicated static field gradient cryomagnet with magnetic field gradients up to 180 T/m. In order to obtain plane slices, an appropriate isosurface of the gradient magnet had to be identified. It was found at a field of 3.8 T with a gradient of 73 T/m. In this field, slices down to a thickness of 3.2 μm could be excited. The detection of the NMR signal was done using FIDs instead of echoes as the excitation bandwidth of those thin slices is sufficiently small to observe FIDs which are usually considered to be elusive to detection in such strong static field gradients. A simulation toolbox based on the full Bloch-Torrey-equation was developed to describe the excitation and the formation of NMR signals under those unusual conditions as well as the interplay of diffusion and magnetization recovery. Both the experiments and the simulations indicate that diffusion effects lead to a strongly enhanced magnetization modulation signal also under periodic excitation

Cultural differences in ant-dipping tool length between neighbouring chimpanzee communities at Kalinzu, Uganda.

Science.gov (United States)

Koops, Kathelijne; Schöning, Caspar; Isaji, Mina; Hashimoto, Chie

2015-07-22

Cultural variation has been identified in a growing number of animal species ranging from primates to cetaceans. The principal method used to establish the presence of culture in wild populations is the method of exclusion. This method is problematic, since it cannot rule out the influence of genetics and ecology in geographically distant populations. A new approach to the study of culture compares neighbouring groups belonging to the same population. We applied this new approach by comparing ant-dipping tool length between two neighbouring communities of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in the Kalinzu Forest, Uganda. Ant-dipping tool length varies across chimpanzee study sites in relation to army ant species (Dorylus spp.) and dipping location (nest vs. trail). We compared the availability of army ant species and dipping tool length between the two communities. M-group tools were significantly longer than S-group tools, despite identical army ant target species availabilities. Moreover, tool length in S-group was shorter than at all other sites where chimpanzees prey on epigaeic ants at nests. Considering the lack of ecological differences between the two communities, the tool length difference appears to be cultural. Our findings highlight how cultural knowledge can generate small-scale cultural diversification in neighbouring chimpanzee communities.

Bifurcation and phase diagram of turbulence constituted from three different scale-length modes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Itoh, S.-I.; Kitazawa, A.; Yagi, M. [Kyushu Univ., Research Inst. for Applied Mechanics, Kasuga, Fukuoka (Japan); Itoh, K. [National Inst. for Fusion Science, Toki, Gifu (Japan)

2002-04-01

Cases where three kinds of fluctuations having the different typical scale-lengths coexist are analyzed, and the statistical theory of strong turbulence in inhomogeneous plasmas is developed. Statistical nonlinear interactions between fluctuations are kept in the analysis as the renormalized drag, statistical noise and the averaged drive. The nonlinear interplay through them induces a quenching or suppressing effect, even if all the modes are unstable when they are analyzed independently. Variety in mode appearance takes place: one mode quenches the other two modes, or one mode is quenched by the other two modes, etc. The bifurcation of turbulence is analyzed and a phase diagram is drawn. Phase diagrams with cusp type catastrophe and butterfly type catastrophe are obtained. The subcritical bifurcation is possible to occur through the nonlinear interplay, even though each one is supercritical turbulence when analyzed independently. Analysis reveals that the nonlinear stability boundary (marginal point) and the amplitude of each mode may substantially shift from the conventional results of independent analyses. (author)

Examination of flame length for burning pulverized coal in laminar flow reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Jae Dong; Kim, Gyu Bo; Chang, Young June; Song, Ju Hun; Jeon, Chung Hwan [Pusan National University, Busan (Korea, Republic of)

2010-12-15

Because there has been a recent increase in the use of low calorific coal compared to standard coal, it is crucial to control the char flame length governing the burning life-time of coal in a coal-fired utility boiler. The main objective of this study is to develop a simplified model that can theoretically predict the flame length for burning coal in a laboratory-scale entrained laminar flow reactor (LFR) system. The char burning behavior was experimentally observed when sub-bituminous pulverized coal was fed into the LFR under burning conditions similar to those in a real boiler: a heating rate of 1000 K/s, an oxygen molar fraction of 7.7 %, and reacting flue gas temperatures ranging from 1500 to 2000 K. By using the theoretical model developed in this study, the effect of particle size on the coal flame length was exclusively addressed. In this model, the effect of particle mass was eliminated to compare with the experimental result performed under a constant mass feeding of coal. Overall, the computed results for the coal flame length were in good agreement with the experimental data, particularly when the external oxygen diffusion effect was considered in the model

Examination of flame length for burning pulverized coal in laminar flow reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jae Dong; Kim, Gyu Bo; Chang, Young June; Song, Ju Hun; Jeon, Chung Hwan

2010-01-01

Because there has been a recent increase in the use of low calorific coal compared to standard coal, it is crucial to control the char flame length governing the burning life-time of coal in a coal-fired utility boiler. The main objective of this study is to develop a simplified model that can theoretically predict the flame length for burning coal in a laboratory-scale entrained laminar flow reactor (LFR) system. The char burning behavior was experimentally observed when sub-bituminous pulverized coal was fed into the LFR under burning conditions similar to those in a real boiler: a heating rate of 1000 K/s, an oxygen molar fraction of 7.7 %, and reacting flue gas temperatures ranging from 1500 to 2000 K. By using the theoretical model developed in this study, the effect of particle size on the coal flame length was exclusively addressed. In this model, the effect of particle mass was eliminated to compare with the experimental result performed under a constant mass feeding of coal. Overall, the computed results for the coal flame length were in good agreement with the experimental data, particularly when the external oxygen diffusion effect was considered in the model

Scaling laws of design parameters for plasma wakefield accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uhm, Han S.; Nam, In H.; Suk, Hyyong

2012-01-01

Simple scaling laws for the design parameters of plasma wakefield accelerators were obtained using a theoretical model, which were confirmed via particle simulation studies. It was found that the acceleration length was given by Δx=0.804λ p /(1−β g ), where λ p is the plasma wavelength and β g c the propagation velocity of the ion cavity. The acceleration energy can also be given by ΔE=(γ m −1)mc 2 =2.645mc 2 /(1−β g ), where m is the electron rest mass. As expected, the acceleration length and energy increase drastically as β g approached unity. These simple scaling laws can be very instrumental in the design of better-performing plasma wakefield accelerators. -- Highlights: ► Simple scaling laws for the design parameters of laser wakefield accelerators were obtained using a theoretical model. ► The scaling laws for acceleration length and acceleration energy were compared with particle-in-cell simulation results. ► The acceleration length and the energy increase drastically as β g approaches unity. ► These simple scaling laws can be very instrumental in the design of laser wakefield accelerators.

Global Mechanical Response and Its Relation to Deformation and Failure Modes at Various Length Scales Under Shock Impact in Alumina AD995 Armor Ceramic

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Dandekar, D. P; McCauley, J. W; Green, W. H; Bourne, N. K; Chen, M. W

2008-01-01

... maps relating the experimentally measured global mechanical response of a material through matured shock wave diagnostics to the nature of concurrent deformation and damage generated at varying length scales under shock wave loading.

The length of the glaciers in the world

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Machguth, Horst; Huss, M.; Huss, M.

2014-01-01

a fully automated method based on glacier surface slope, distance to the glacier margins and a set of trade-off functions. The method is developed for East Greenland, evaluated for the same area as well as for Alaska, and eventually applied to all ∼ 200000 glaciers around the globe. The evaluation...... highlights accurately calculated glacier length where DEM quality is good (East 10 Greenland) and limited precision on low quality DEMs (parts of Alaska). Measured length of very small glaciers is subject to a certain level of ambiguity. The global calculation shows that only about 1.5% of all glaciers...... are longer than 10km with Bering Glacier (Alaska/Canada) being the longest glacier in the world at a length of 196 km. Based on model output we derive global and regional area-length scaling laws. Differences among regional scaling parameters appear to be related to characteristics of topography and glacier...

Full-length cDNA sequences from Rhesus monkey placenta tissue: analysis and utility for comparative mapping

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lee Sang-Rae

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta are widely-used as experimental animals in biomedical research and are closely related to other laboratory macaques, such as cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis, and to humans, sharing a last common ancestor from about 25 million years ago. Although rhesus monkeys have been studied extensively under field and laboratory conditions, research has been limited by the lack of genetic resources. The present study generated placenta full-length cDNA libraries, characterized the resulting expressed sequence tags, and described their utility for comparative mapping with human RefSeq mRNA transcripts. Results From rhesus monkey placenta full-length cDNA libraries, 2000 full-length cDNA sequences were determined and 1835 rhesus placenta cDNA sequences longer than 100 bp were collected. These sequences were annotated based on homology to human genes. Homology search against human RefSeq mRNAs revealed that our collection included the sequences of 1462 putative rhesus monkey genes. Moreover, we identified 207 genes containing exon alterations in the coding region and the untranslated region of rhesus monkey transcripts, despite the highly conserved structure of the coding regions. Approximately 10% (187 of all full-length cDNA sequences did not represent any public human RefSeq mRNAs. Intriguingly, two rhesus monkey specific exons derived from the transposable elements of AluYRa2 (SINE family and MER11B (LTR family were also identified. Conclusion The 1835 rhesus monkey placenta full-length cDNA sequences described here could expand genomic resources and information of rhesus monkeys. This increased genomic information will greatly contribute to the development of evolutionary biology and biomedical research.

Phase Behavior of Blends of Linear and Branched Polyethylenes on Micron-Length Scales via Ultra-Small-Angle Neutron Scattering (USANS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agamalian, M.M.; Alamo, R.G.; Londono, J.D.; Mandelkern, L.; Wignall, G.D.

1999-01-01

SANS experiments on blends of linear, high density (HD) and long chain branched, low density (LD) polyethylenes indicate that these systems form a one-phase mixture in the melt. However, the maximum spatial resolution of pinhole cameras is approximately equal to 10 3 and it has therefore been suggested that data might also be interpreted as arising from a bi-phasic melt with large a particle size ( 1 m), because most of the scattering from the different phases would not be resolved. We have addressed this hypothesis by means of USANS experiments, which confirm that HDPEILDPE blends are homogenous in the melt on length scales up to 20 m. We have also studied blends of HDPE and short-chain branched linear low density polyethylenes (LLDPEs), which phase separate when the branch content is sufficiently high. LLDPEs prepared with Ziegler-Natta catalysts exhibit a wide distribution of compositions, and may therefore be thought of as a blend of different species. When the composition distribution is broad enough, a fraction of highly branched chains may phase separate on m-length scales, and USANS has also been used to quantify this phenomenon

Confinement and the Glass Transition Temperature in Supported Polymer Films: Molecular Weight, Repeat Unit Modification, and Cooperativity Length Scale Investigations

Science.gov (United States)

Mundra, Manish K.

2005-03-01

It is well known that the glass transition temperatures, Tgs, of supported polystyrene (PS) films decrease dramatically with decreasing film thickness below 60-80 nm. However, a detailed understanding of the cause of this effect is lacking. We have investigated the impact of several parameters, including polymer molecular weight (MW), repeat unit structure, and the length scale of cooperatively rearranging regions in bulk. There is no significant effect of PS MW on the Tg-confinement effect over a range of 5,000 to 3,000,000 g/mol. In contrast, the strength of the Tg reduction and the onset of the confinement effect increase dramatically upon changing the polymer from PS to poly(4-tert-butylstyrene) (PTBS), with PTBS exhibiting a Tg reduction relative to bulk at a thickness of 300-400 nm. PTBS also shows a Tg reduction relative to bulk of 47 K in a 21-nm-thick film, more than twice that observed in a PS film of identical thickness. Characterization of the length scale of cooperatively rearranging regions has been done by differential scanning calorimetry but reveals at best a limited correlation with the confinement effect.

Small-scale microwave background anisotropies implied by large-scale data

Science.gov (United States)

Kashlinsky, A.

1993-01-01

In the absence of reheating microwave background radiation (MBR) anisotropies on arcminute scales depend uniquely on the amplitude and the coherence length of the primordial density fluctuations (PDFs). These can be determined from the recent data on galaxy correlations, xi(r), on linear scales (APM survey). We develop here expressions for the MBR angular correlation function, C(theta), on arcminute scales in terms of the power spectrum of PDFs and demonstrate their accuracy by comparing with detailed calculations of MBR anisotropies. We then show how to evaluate C(theta) directly in terms of the observed xi(r) and show that the APM data give information on the amplitude, C(O), and the coherence angle of MBR anisotropies on small scales.

Drug delivery across length scales.

Science.gov (United States)

Delcassian, Derfogail; Patel, Asha K; Cortinas, Abel B; Langer, Robert

2018-02-20

Over the last century, there has been a dramatic change in the nature of therapeutic, biologically active molecules available to treat disease. Therapies have evolved from extracted natural products towards rationally designed biomolecules, including small molecules, engineered proteins and nucleic acids. The use of potent drugs which target specific organs, cells or biochemical pathways, necessitates new tools which can enable controlled delivery and dosing of these therapeutics to their biological targets. Here, we review the miniaturisation of drug delivery systems from the macro to nano-scale, focussing on controlled dosing and controlled targeting as two key parameters in drug delivery device design. We describe how the miniaturisation of these devices enables the move from repeated, systemic dosing, to on-demand, targeted delivery of therapeutic drugs and highlight areas of focus for the future.

Chiral battery, scaling laws and magnetic fields

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anand, Sampurn; Bhatt, Jitesh R.; Pandey, Arun Kumar, E-mail: sampurn@prl.res.in, E-mail: jeet@prl.res.in, E-mail: arunp@prl.res.in [Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, 380009 (India)

2017-07-01

We study the generation and evolution of magnetic field in the presence of chiral imbalance and gravitational anomaly which gives an additional contribution to the vortical current. The contribution due to gravitational anomaly is proportional to T {sup 2} which can generate seed magnetic field irrespective of plasma being chirally charged or neutral. We estimate the order of magnitude of the magnetic field to be 10{sup 30} G at T ∼ 10{sup 9} GeV, with a typical length scale of the order of 10{sup −18} cm, which is much smaller than the Hubble radius at that temperature (10{sup −8} cm). Moreover, such a system possess scaling symmetry. We show that the T {sup 2} term in the vorticity current along with scaling symmetry leads to more power transfer from lower to higher length scale as compared to only chiral anomaly without scaling symmetry.

Is the Parkinson Anxiety Scale comparable across raters?

Science.gov (United States)

Forjaz, Maria João; Ayala, Alba; Martinez-Martin, Pablo; Dujardin, Kathy; Pontone, Gregory M; Starkstein, Sergio E; Weintraub, Daniel; Leentjens, Albert F G

2015-04-01

The Parkinson Anxiety Scale is a new scale developed to measure anxiety severity in Parkinson's disease specifically. It consists of three dimensions: persistent anxiety, episodic anxiety, and avoidance behavior. This study aimed to assess the measurement properties of the scale while controlling for the rater (self- vs. clinician-rated) effect. The Parkinson Anxiety Scale was administered to a cross-sectional multicenter international sample of 362 Parkinson's disease patients. Both patients and clinicians rated the patient's anxiety independently. A many-facet Rasch model design was applied to estimate and remove the rater effect. The following measurement properties were assessed: fit to the Rasch model, unidimensionality, reliability, differential item functioning, item local independency, interrater reliability (self or clinician), and scale targeting. In addition, test-retest stability, construct validity, precision, and diagnostic properties of the Parkinson Anxiety Scale were also analyzed. A good fit to the Rasch model was obtained for Parkinson Anxiety Scale dimensions A and B, after the removal of one item and rescoring of the response scale for certain items, whereas dimension C showed marginal fit. Self versus clinician rating differences were of small magnitude, with patients reporting higher anxiety levels than clinicians. The linear measure for Parkinson Anxiety Scale dimensions A and B showed good convergent construct with other anxiety measures and good diagnostic properties. Parkinson Anxiety Scale modified dimensions A and B provide valid and reliable measures of anxiety in Parkinson's disease that are comparable across raters. Further studies are needed with dimension C. © 2014 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Beyond Mixing-length Theory: A Step Toward 321D

Science.gov (United States)

Arnett, W. David; Meakin, Casey; Viallet, Maxime; Campbell, Simon W.; Lattanzio, John C.; Mocák, Miroslav

2015-08-01

We examine the physical basis for algorithms to replace mixing-length theory (MLT) in stellar evolutionary computations. Our 321D procedure is based on numerical solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations. These implicit large eddy simulations (ILES) are three-dimensional (3D), time-dependent, and turbulent, including the Kolmogorov cascade. We use the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) formulation to make concise the 3D simulation data, and use the 3D simulations to give closure for the RANS equations. We further analyze this data set with a simple analytical model, which is non-local and time-dependent, and which contains both MLT and the Lorenz convective roll as particular subsets of solutions. A characteristic length (the damping length) again emerges in the simulations; it is determined by an observed balance between (1) the large-scale driving, and (2) small-scale damping. The nature of mixing and convective boundaries is analyzed, including dynamic, thermal and compositional effects, and compared to a simple model. We find that (1) braking regions (boundary layers in which mixing occurs) automatically appear beyond the edges of convection as defined by the Schwarzschild criterion, (2) dynamic (non-local) terms imply a non-zero turbulent kinetic energy flux (unlike MLT), (3) the effects of composition gradients on flow can be comparable to thermal effects, and (4) convective boundaries in neutrino-cooled stages differ in nature from those in photon-cooled stages (different Péclet numbers). The algorithms are based upon ILES solutions to the Navier-Stokes equations, so that, unlike MLT, they do not require any calibration to astronomical systems in order to predict stellar properties. Implications for solar abundances, helioseismology, asteroseismology, nucleosynthesis yields, supernova progenitors and core collapse are indicated.

BEYOND MIXING-LENGTH THEORY: A STEP TOWARD 321D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arnett, W. David; Meakin, Casey; Viallet, Maxime; Campbell, Simon W.; Lattanzio, John C.; Mocák, Miroslav

2015-01-01

We examine the physical basis for algorithms to replace mixing-length theory (MLT) in stellar evolutionary computations. Our 321D procedure is based on numerical solutions of the Navier–Stokes equations. These implicit large eddy simulations (ILES) are three-dimensional (3D), time-dependent, and turbulent, including the Kolmogorov cascade. We use the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) formulation to make concise the 3D simulation data, and use the 3D simulations to give closure for the RANS equations. We further analyze this data set with a simple analytical model, which is non-local and time-dependent, and which contains both MLT and the Lorenz convective roll as particular subsets of solutions. A characteristic length (the damping length) again emerges in the simulations; it is determined by an observed balance between (1) the large-scale driving, and (2) small-scale damping. The nature of mixing and convective boundaries is analyzed, including dynamic, thermal and compositional effects, and compared to a simple model. We find that (1) braking regions (boundary layers in which mixing occurs) automatically appear beyond the edges of convection as defined by the Schwarzschild criterion, (2) dynamic (non-local) terms imply a non-zero turbulent kinetic energy flux (unlike MLT), (3) the effects of composition gradients on flow can be comparable to thermal effects, and (4) convective boundaries in neutrino-cooled stages differ in nature from those in photon-cooled stages (different Péclet numbers). The algorithms are based upon ILES solutions to the Navier–Stokes equations, so that, unlike MLT, they do not require any calibration to astronomical systems in order to predict stellar properties. Implications for solar abundances, helioseismology, asteroseismology, nucleosynthesis yields, supernova progenitors and core collapse are indicated

Magneto-Induced ac Electrical Permittivity of Metal-Dielectric Composites with a Two Characteristic Length Scales Periodic Microstructure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strelniker, Y.M.; Bergman, D.J.

1998-01-01

A new effect was recently predicted in conducting composites that have a periodic microstructure: an induced strongly anisotropic dc magneto-resistance. This phenomenon is already verified on high mobility n-GaAs films. Here we discuss the possibility of observing analogous behavior in the ac electric permittivity of a metal-dielectric composite with a periodic microstructure in the presence of a strong magnetic field. We developed new analytical and numerical methods to treat the low-frequency magneto-optical properties in composite media with both disordered and periodic conducting micro-structures. Those methods allow us to study composites with inclusions of arbitrary shape (and arbitrary volume fraction) at arbitrarily strong magnetic field. This is exploited in order to calculate an effective dielectric tensor for this system as a function of applied magnetic field and ac frequency. We show that in a non-dilute metal-dielectric composite medium the magneto-plasma resonance and the cyclotron resonance depend upon both the applied magnetic field as well as on the geometric shape of the inclusion. Near such a resonance, it is possible to achieve large values for the ratio of the off-diagonal-to-diagonal electric permittivity tensor components, ε xy /ε xx , (since ε xx →0, while ε xy ≠0), which is analogous to similar ratio of the resistivity tensor components, ρ xy /ρ xx , in the case of dc magneto-transport problem. Motivated by this observation and by results of previous studies of dc magneto-transport in composite conductors, we then performed a numerical study of the ac magneto-electric properties of a particular metal-dielectric composite film with a periodic columnar microstructure which has a two characteristic length scales. The unit cell of such composite is prepared as follows: We placed the conducting square (in cross section) rods (first characteristic length scale) along the perimeter of the unit cell in order to create a dielectric host

Mechanical properties of fiber reinforced restorative composite with two distinguished fiber length distribution.

Science.gov (United States)

Lassila, Lippo; Garoushi, Sufyan; Vallittu, Pekka K; Säilynoja, Eija

2016-07-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the reinforcing effect of discontinuous glass fiber fillers with different length scales on fracture toughness and flexural properties of dental composite. Experimental fiber reinforced composite (Exp-FRC) was prepared by mixing 27wt% of discontinuous E-glass fibers having two different length scales (micrometer and millimeter) with various weight ratios (1:1, 2:1, 1:0 respectively) to the 23wt% of dimethacrylate based resin matrix and then 50wt% of silane treated silica filler were added gradually using high speed mixing machine. As control, commercial FRC and conventional posterior composites were used (everX Posterior, Alert, and Filtek Superme). Fracture toughness, work of fracture, flexural strength, and flexural modulus were determined for each composite material following ISO standards. The specimens (n=6) were dry stored (37°C for 2 days) before they were tested. Scanning electron microscopy was used to evaluate the microstructure of the experimental FRC composites. The results were statistically analyzed using ANOVA followed by post-hoc Tukey׳s test. Level of significance was set at 0.05. ANOVA revealed that experimental composites reinforced with different fiber length scales (hybrid Exp-FRC) had statistically significantly higher mechanical performance of fracture toughness (4.7MPam(1/2)) and flexural strength (155MPa) (plength scales of discontinues fiber fillers (hybrid) with polymer matrix yielded improved mechanical performance compared to commercial FRC and conventional posterior composites. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sizing Up the Milky Way: A Bayesian Mixture Model Meta-analysis of Photometric Scale Length Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Licquia, Timothy C.; Newman, Jeffrey A.

2016-11-01

The exponential scale length (L d ) of the Milky Way’s (MW’s) disk is a critical parameter for describing the global physical size of our Galaxy, important both for interpreting other Galactic measurements and helping us to understand how our Galaxy fits into extragalactic contexts. Unfortunately, current estimates span a wide range of values and are often statistically incompatible with one another. Here, we perform a Bayesian meta-analysis to determine an improved, aggregate estimate for L d , utilizing a mixture-model approach to account for the possibility that any one measurement has not properly accounted for all statistical or systematic errors. Within this machinery, we explore a variety of ways of modeling the nature of problematic measurements, and then employ a Bayesian model averaging technique to derive net posterior distributions that incorporate any model-selection uncertainty. Our meta-analysis combines 29 different (15 visible and 14 infrared) photometric measurements of L d available in the literature; these involve a broad assortment of observational data sets, MW models and assumptions, and methodologies, all tabulated herein. Analyzing the visible and infrared measurements separately yields estimates for L d of {2.71}-0.20+0.22 kpc and {2.51}-0.13+0.15 kpc, respectively, whereas considering them all combined yields 2.64 ± 0.13 kpc. The ratio between the visible and infrared scale lengths determined here is very similar to that measured in external spiral galaxies. We use these results to update the model of the Galactic disk from our previous work, constraining its stellar mass to be {4.8}-1.1+1.5× {10}10 M ⊙, and the MW’s total stellar mass to be {5.7}-1.1+1.5× {10}10 M ⊙.

Multiscale properties of DNA primary structure: cross-scale correlations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Altajskij, M.V.; Ivanov, V.V.; Polozov, R.V.

2000-01-01

Cross-scale correlations of wavelet coefficients of the DNA coding sequences are calculated and compared to that of the generated random sequence of the same length. The coding sequences are shown to have strong correlation between large and small scale structures, while random sequences have not

Inferring spatial memory and spatiotemporal scaling from GPS data: comparing red deer Cervus elaphus movements with simulation models.

Science.gov (United States)

Gautestad, Arild O; Loe, Leif E; Mysterud, Atle

2013-05-01

1. Increased inference regarding underlying behavioural mechanisms of animal movement can be achieved by comparing GPS data with statistical mechanical movement models such as random walk and Lévy walk with known underlying behaviour and statistical properties. 2. GPS data are typically collected with ≥ 1 h intervals not exactly tracking every mechanistic step along the movement path, so a statistical mechanical model approach rather than a mechanistic approach is appropriate. However, comparisons require a coherent framework involving both scaling and memory aspects of the underlying process. Thus, simulation models have recently been extended to include memory-guided returns to previously visited patches, that is, site fidelity. 3. We define four main classes of movement, differing in incorporation of memory and scaling (based on respective intervals of the statistical fractal dimension D and presence/absence of site fidelity). Using three statistical protocols to estimate D and site fidelity, we compare these main movement classes with patterns observed in GPS data from 52 females of red deer (Cervus elaphus). 4. The results show best compliance with a scale-free and memory-enhanced kind of space use; that is, a power law distribution of step lengths, a fractal distribution of the spatial scatter of fixes and site fidelity. 5. Our study thus demonstrates how inference regarding memory effects and a hierarchical pattern of space use can be derived from analysis of GPS data. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2013 British Ecological Society.

Ontogenetic scaling of locomotor kinetics and kinematics of the ostrich (Struthio camelus).

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Nicola C; Jespers, Karin J; Wilson, Alan M

2010-04-01

Kinematic and kinetic parameters of running gait were investigated through growth in the ostrich, from two weeks up to 10 months of age, in order to investigate the effects of increasing body size. Ontogenetic scaling relationships were compared with published scaling relationships found to exist with increasing body size between species to determine whether dynamic similarity is maintained during growth. During the study, ostrich mass (M(b)) ranged from 0.7 kg to 108.8 kg. Morphological measurements showed that lengths scaled with positive allometry during growth (hip height proportional to M(b)(0.40); foot segment length proportional to M(b)(0.40); tarsometatarsus length proportional to M(b)(0.41); tibiotarsus length proportional to M(b)(0.38); femur length proportional to M(b)(0.37)), significantly exceeding the close to geometric scaling observed between mammalian and avian species of increasing body size. Scaling of kinematic variables largely agreed with predicted scaling for increasing size and demonstrated relationships close to dynamic similarity and, as such, ontogenetic scaling of locomotor parameters was similar to that observed with increasing body mass between species. However, the ways in which these scaling trends were achieved were very different, with ontogenetic scaling of locomotor mechanics largely resulting from simple scaling of the limb segments rather than postural changes, likely to be due to developmental constraints. Small deviations from dynamic similarity of kinematic parameters and a reduction in the predicted scaling of limb stiffness (proportional to M(b)(0.59)) were found to be accounted for by the positive allometric scaling of the limb during growth.

Thermal anchoring of wires in large scale superconducting coil test experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patel, Dipak; Sharma, A.N.; Prasad, Upendra; Khristi, Yohan; Varmora, Pankaj; Doshi, Kalpesh; Pradhan, S.

2013-01-01

Highlights: • We addressed how thermal anchoring in large scale coil test is different compare to small cryogenic apparatus? • We did precise estimation of thermal anchoring length at 77 K and 4.2 K heat sink in large scale superconducting coil test experiment. • We addressed, the quality of anchoring without covering entire wires using Kapton/Teflon tape. • We obtained excellent results in temperature measurement without using GE Varnish by doubling estimated anchoring length. -- Abstract: Effective and precise thermal anchoring of wires in cryogenic experiment is mandatory to measure temperature in milikelvin accuracy and to avoid unnecessary cooling power due to additional heat conduction from room temperature (RT) to operating temperature (OT) through potential, field, displacement and stress measurement instrumentation wires. Instrumentation wires used in large scale superconducting coil test experiments are different compare to cryogenic apparatus in terms of unique construction and overall diameter/area due to errorless measurement in large time-varying magnetic field compare to small cryogenic apparatus, often shielded wires are used. Hence, along with other variables, anchoring techniques and required thermal anchoring length are entirely different in this experiment compare to cryogenic apparatus. In present paper, estimation of thermal anchoring length of five different types of instrumentation wires used in coils test campaign at Institute for Plasma Research (IPR), India has been discussed and some temperature measurement results of coils test campaign have been presented

Correlated evolution of sternal keel length and ilium length in birds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tao Zhao

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The interplay between the pectoral module (the pectoral girdle and limbs and the pelvic module (the pelvic girdle and limbs plays a key role in shaping avian evolution, but prior empirical studies on trait covariation between the two modules are limited. Here we empirically test whether (size-corrected sternal keel length and ilium length are correlated during avian evolution using phylogenetic comparative methods. Our analyses on extant birds and Mesozoic birds both recover a significantly positive correlation. The results provide new evidence regarding the integration between the pelvic and pectoral modules. The correlated evolution of sternal keel length and ilium length may serve as a mechanism to cope with the effect on performance caused by a tradeoff in muscle mass between the pectoral and pelvic modules, via changing moment arms of muscles that function in flight and in terrestrial locomotion.

Dorsal Phalloplasty to Preserve Penis Length after Penile Prosthesis Implantation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Osama Shaeer

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Following penile prosthesis implantation (PPI, patients may complain of a decrease in visible penis length. A dorsal phalloplasty defines the penopubic junction by tacking pubic skin to the pubis, revealing the base of the penis. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a dorsal phalloplasty in increasing the visible penis length following PPI. Methods: An inflatable penile prosthesis was implanted in 13 patients with severe erectile dysfunction (ED at the Kamal Shaeer Hospital, Cairo, Egypt, from January 2013 to May 2014. During the surgery, nonabsorbable tacking sutures were used to pin the pubic skin to the pubis through the same penoscrotal incision. Intraoperative penis length was measured before and after the dorsal phalloplasty. Overall patient satisfaction was measured on a 5-point rating scale and patients were requested to subjectively compare their postoperative penis length with memories of their penis length before the onset of ED. Results: Intraoperatively, the dorsal phalloplasty increased the visible length of the erect penis by an average of 25.6%. The average length before and after tacking was 10.2 ± 2.9 cm and 13.7 ± 2.8 cm, respectively (P <0.002. Postoperatively, seven patients (53.8% reported a longer penis, five patients (38.5% reported no change in length and one patient (7.7% reported a slightly shorter penis. The mean overall patient satisfaction score was 4.9 ± 0.3. None of the patients developed postoperative complications. Conclusion: A dorsal phalloplasty during PPI is an effective method of increasing visible penis length, therefore minimising the impression of a shorter penis after implantation.

Application of soft x-ray laser interferometry to study large-scale-length, high-density plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wan, A.S.; Barbee, T.W., Jr.; Cauble, R.

1996-01-01

We have employed a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, using a Ne-like Y x- ray laser at 155 Angstrom as the probe source, to study large-scale- length, high-density colliding plasmas and exploding foils. The measured density profile of counter-streaming high-density colliding plasmas falls in between the calculated profiles using collisionless and fluid approximations with the radiation hydrodynamic code LASNEX. We have also performed simultaneous measured the local gain and electron density of Y x-ray laser amplifier. Measured gains in the amplifier were found to be between 10 and 20 cm -1 , similar to predictions and indicating that refraction is the major cause of signal loss in long line focus lasers. Images showed that high gain was produced in spots with dimensions of ∼ 10 μm, which we believe is caused by intensity variations in the optical drive laser. Measured density variations were smooth on the 10-μm scale so that temperature variations were likely the cause of the localized gain regions. We are now using the interferometry technique as a mechanism to validate and benchmark our numerical codes used for the design and analysis of high-energy-density physics experiments. 11 refs., 6 figs

Comparison of relativity theories with observer-independent scales of both velocity and length/mass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amelino-Camelia, Giovanni; Benedetti, Dario; D'Andrea, Francesco; Procaccini, Andrea

2003-01-01

We consider the two most studied proposals of relativity theories with observer-independent scales of both velocity and length/mass: the one discussed by Amelino-Camelia as an illustrative example for the original proposal (Preprint gr-qc/0012051) of theories with two relativistic invariants, and an alternative more recently proposed by Magueijo and Smolin (Preprint hep-th/0112090). We show that these two relativistic theories are much more closely connected than it would appear on the basis of a naive analysis of their original formulations. In particular, in spite of adopting a rather different formal description of the deformed boost generators, they end up assigning the same dependence of momentum on rapidity, which can be described as the core feature of these relativistic theories. We show that this observation can be used to clarify the concepts of particle mass, particle velocity and energy-momentum conservation rules in these theories with two relativistic invariants

Engineering polyelectrolyte multilayer structure at the nanometer length scale by tuning polymer solution conformation.

Science.gov (United States)

Boddohi, Soheil; Killingsworth, Christopher; Kipper, Matt

2008-03-01

Chitosan (a weak polycation) and heparin (a strong polyanion) are used to make polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEM). PEM thickness and composition are determined as a function of solution pH (4.6 to 5.8) and ionic strength (0.1 to 0.5 M). Over this range, increasing pH increases the PEM thickness; however, the sensitivity to changes in pH is a strong function of ionic strength. The PEM thickness data are correlated to the polymer conformation in solution. Polyelectrolyte conformation in solution is characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The highest sensitivity of PEM structure to pH is obtained at intermediate ionic strength. Different interactions govern the conformation and adsorption phenomena at low and high ionic strength, leading to reduced sensitivity to solution pH at extreme ionic strengths. The correspondence between PEM thickness and polymer solution conformation offers opportunities to tune polymer thin film structure at the nanometer length scale by controlling simple, reproducible processing conditions.

Comparative evaluation of adequacy of final working length after using Raypex5 or radiography: An in vivo study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deepika Singh

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Aim: The aim of this clinical study was to compare the effect of working length (WL determination using electronic apex locator (EAL or WL radiograph on the length adequacy of final WL. Materials and Methods: A total of 153 patients with 153 teeth with single canal were randomized into two groups; in Group 1, the WL was determined by WL radiograph; whereas in Group 2, it was determined by the Raypex5 EAL (VDW, Munich, Germany. Length adequacy was assessed in each group for master cone and categorized into short, acceptable, and over cases. Statistical Analysis Used: The data were statistically analyzed using the Pearson chi-square test at a significance level of P < 0.05. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in the rates of acceptable (Group 1 = 83.1% and Group 2 = 92.1% and short cases (Group 1 = 3.9% and Group 2 = 5.2%. Over cases in master cone radiography were significantly more in Group 1 (13.1% than Group 2 (2.6% (P = 0.017. Conclusion: The results of our study have shown that under clinical condition, success of Raypex5 was comparable to the radiographic WL determination technique in terms of acceptable and short cases. However, there were significantly lesser over cases in EAL group, showing that EALs can avoid the overestimation of WL.

Effects of fracture distribution and length scale on the equivalent continuum elastic compliance of fractured rock masses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marte Gutierrez

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Fracture systems have strong influence on the overall mechanical behavior of fractured rock masses due to their relatively lower stiffness and shear strength than those of the rock matrix. Understanding the effects of fracture geometrical distribution, such as length, spacing, persistence and orientation, is important for quantifying the mechanical behavior of fractured rock masses. The relation between fracture geometry and the mechanical characteristics of the fractured rock mass is complicated due to the fact that the fracture geometry and mechanical behaviors of fractured rock mass are strongly dependent on the length scale. In this paper, a comprehensive study was conducted to determine the effects of fracture distribution on the equivalent continuum elastic compliance of fractured rock masses over a wide range of fracture lengths. To account for the stochastic nature of fracture distributions, three different simulation techniques involving Oda's elastic compliance tensor, Monte Carlo simulation (MCS, and suitable probability density functions (PDFs were employed to represent the elastic compliance of fractured rock masses. To yield geologically realistic results, parameters for defining fracture distributions were obtained from different geological fields. The influence of the key fracture parameters and their relations to the overall elastic behavior of the fractured rock mass were studied and discussed. A detailed study was also carried out to investigate the validity of the use of a representative element volume (REV in the equivalent continuum representation of fractured rock masses. A criterion was also proposed to determine the appropriate REV given the fracture distribution of the rock mass.

Increasing average period lengths by switching of robust chaos maps in finite precision

Science.gov (United States)

Nagaraj, N.; Shastry, M. C.; Vaidya, P. G.

2008-12-01

Grebogi, Ott and Yorke (Phys. Rev. A 38, 1988) have investigated the effect of finite precision on average period length of chaotic maps. They showed that the average length of periodic orbits (T) of a dynamical system scales as a function of computer precision (ɛ) and the correlation dimension (d) of the chaotic attractor: T ˜ɛ-d/2. In this work, we are concerned with increasing the average period length which is desirable for chaotic cryptography applications. Our experiments reveal that random and chaotic switching of deterministic chaotic dynamical systems yield higher average length of periodic orbits as compared to simple sequential switching or absence of switching. To illustrate the application of switching, a novel generalization of the Logistic map that exhibits Robust Chaos (absence of attracting periodic orbits) is first introduced. We then propose a pseudo-random number generator based on chaotic switching between Robust Chaos maps which is found to successfully pass stringent statistical tests of randomness.

Nano-regime Length Scales Extracted from the First Sharp Diffraction Peak in Non-crystalline SiO2 and Related Materials: Device Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Phillips James

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract This paper distinguishes between two different scales of medium range order, MRO, in non-crystalline SiO2: (1 the first is ~0.4 to 0.5 nm and is obtained from the position of the first sharp diffraction peak, FSDP, in the X-ray diffraction structure factor, S(Q, and (2 the second is ~1 nm and is calculated from the FSDP full-width-at-half-maximum FWHM. Many-electron calculations yield Si–O third- and O–O fourth-nearest-neighbor bonding distances in the same 0.4–0.5 nm MRO regime. These derive from the availability of empty Si dπ orbitals for back-donation from occupied O pπ orbitals yielding narrow symmetry determined distributions of third neighbor Si–O, and fourth neighbor O–O distances. These are segments of six member rings contributing to connected six-member rings with ~1 nm length scale within the MRO regime. The unique properties of non-crystalline SiO2 are explained by the encapsulation of six-member ring clusters by five- and seven-member rings on average in a compliant hard-soft nano-scaled inhomogeneous network. This network structure minimizes macroscopic strain, reducing intrinsic bonding defects as well as defect precursors. This inhomogeneous CRN is enabling for applications including thermally grown ~1.5 nm SiO2 layers for Si field effect transistor devices to optical components with centimeter dimensions. There are qualitatively similar length scales in nano-crystalline HfO2 and phase separated Hf silicates based on the primitive unit cell, rather than a ring structure. Hf oxide dielectrics have recently been used as replacement dielectrics for a new generation of Si and Si/Ge devices heralding a transition into nano-scale circuits and systems on a Si chip.

New Finnish growth references for children and adolescents aged 0 to 20 years: Length/height-for-age, weight-for-length/height, and body mass index-for-age.

Science.gov (United States)

Saari, Antti; Sankilampi, Ulla; Hannila, Marja-Leena; Kiviniemi, Vesa; Kesseli, Kari; Dunkel, Leo

2011-05-01

Growth curves require regular updates due to secular trends in linear growth. We constructed contemporary growth curves, assessed secular trends in height, and defined body mass index (BMI) cut-off points for thinness, overweight, and obesity in Finnish children. Mixed cross-sectional/longitudinal data of 73,659 healthy subjects aged 0-20 years (born 1983-2008) were collected from providers in the primary health care setting. Growth references for length/height-for-age, weight-for-length/height, and BMI-for-age were fitted using generalized additive models for location, scale, and shape (GAMLSS). BMI percentile curves passing through BMIs 30, 25, 18.5, 17, and 16 kg/m(2) at the age of 18 years were calculated to define limits for obesity, overweight, and various grades of thinness. Increased length/height-for-age was seen in virtually all age-groups when compared to previous Finnish growth data from 1959 to 1971. Adult height was increased by 1.9 cm in girls and 1.8 cm in boys. The largest increases were seen during the peripubertal years: up to 2.8 cm in girls and 5.6 cm in boys. Median weight-for-length/height had not increased. New Finnish references for length/height-for-age, weight-for-length/height, and BMI-for-age were constructed and should be implemented to monitor growth of children in Finland.

Length Scales of the Neutral Wind Profile over Homogeneous Terrain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pena Diaz, Alfredo; Gryning, Sven-Erik; Mann, Jakob

2010-01-01

The wind speed profile for the neutral boundary layer is derived for a number of mixing-length parameterizations, which account for the height of the boundary layer. The wind speed profiles show good agreement with the reanalysis of the Leipzig wind profile (950 m high) and with combined cup–soni...

Newton's constant from a minimal length: additional models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahlmann, Hanno

2011-01-01

We follow arguments of Verlinde (2010 arXiv:1001.0785 [hep-th]) and Klinkhamer (2010 arXiv:1006.2094 [hep-th]), and construct two models of the microscopic theory of a holographic screen that allow for the thermodynamical derivation of Newton's law, with Newton's constant expressed in terms of a minimal length scale l contained in the area spectrum of the microscopic theory. One of the models is loosely related to the quantum structure of surfaces and isolated horizons in loop quantum gravity. Our investigation shows that the conclusions reached by Klinkhamer regarding the new length scale l seem to be generic in all their qualitative aspects.

Earthquake scaling laws for rupture geometry and slip heterogeneity

Science.gov (United States)

Thingbaijam, Kiran K. S.; Mai, P. Martin; Goda, Katsuichiro

2016-04-01

We analyze an extensive compilation of finite-fault rupture models to investigate earthquake scaling of source geometry and slip heterogeneity to derive new relationships for seismic and tsunami hazard assessment. Our dataset comprises 158 earthquakes with a total of 316 rupture models selected from the SRCMOD database (http://equake-rc.info/srcmod). We find that fault-length does not saturate with earthquake magnitude, while fault-width reveals inhibited growth due to the finite seismogenic thickness. For strike-slip earthquakes, fault-length grows more rapidly with increasing magnitude compared to events of other faulting types. Interestingly, our derived relationship falls between the L-model and W-model end-members. In contrast, both reverse and normal dip-slip events are more consistent with self-similar scaling of fault-length. However, fault-width scaling relationships for large strike-slip and normal dip-slip events, occurring on steeply dipping faults (δ~90° for strike-slip faults, and δ~60° for normal faults), deviate from self-similarity. Although reverse dip-slip events in general show self-similar scaling, the restricted growth of down-dip fault extent (with upper limit of ~200 km) can be seen for mega-thrust subduction events (M~9.0). Despite this fact, for a given earthquake magnitude, subduction reverse dip-slip events occupy relatively larger rupture area, compared to shallow crustal events. In addition, we characterize slip heterogeneity in terms of its probability distribution and spatial correlation structure to develop a complete stochastic random-field characterization of earthquake slip. We find that truncated exponential law best describes the probability distribution of slip, with observable scale parameters determined by the average and maximum slip. Applying Box-Cox transformation to slip distributions (to create quasi-normal distributed data) supports cube-root transformation, which also implies distinctive non-Gaussian slip

Relative strength of second harmonic and 3/2 omega emissions from long-scale-length laser produced plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sinha, B.K.; Kumbhare, S.R.

1988-01-01

Experiments were conducted on the planar slab targets of carbon, aluminum, and copper, using a 1.0641 μm laser, at laser intensities varying from 2 x 10/sup 12/ to 1 x 10/sup 14/ W/cm/sup 2/. The laser had a fluorescent linewidth of 4.5 A. Spectral profiles of parametrically modulated second harmonic as well as 3/2/ω/sub 0/ emissions have been measured for the long-scale-length plasmas so generated. Relative strengths of three emissions with respect to peak signal intensity and spectral energy content as a function of laser intensity are graphically reported. Results are discussed on the basis of two plasmon and parametric decay instabilities

Changes in hip joint muscle-tendon lengths with mode of locomotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Riley, Patrick O; Franz, Jason; Dicharry, Jay; Kerrigan, D Casey

2010-02-01

We have reported that peak hip extension is nearly identical in walking and running, suggesting that anatomical constraints, such as flexor muscle tightness may limit the range of hip extension. To obtain a more mechanistic insight into mobility at the hip and pelvis we examined the lengths of the muscle-tendons units crossing the hip joint. Data defining the three-dimensional kinematics of 26 healthy runners at self-selected walking and running speeds were obtained. These data were used to scale and drive musculoskeletal models using OpenSIM. Muscle-tendon unit (MTU) lengths were calculated for the trailing limb illiacus, rectus femoris, gluteus maximus, and biceps femoris long head and the advancing limb biceps femoris and gluteus maximus. The magnitude and timing of MTU length peaks were each compared between walking and running. The peak length of the right (trailing limb) illiacus MTU, a pure hip flexor, was nearly identical between walking and running, while the maximum length of the rectus femoris MTU, a hip flexor and knee extensor, increased during running. The maximum length of the left (leading limb) biceps femoris was also unchanged between walking and running. Further, the timing of peak illiacus MTU length and peak contralateral biceps femoris MTU length occurred essentially simultaneously during running, at a time during gait when the hamstrings are most vulnerable to stretch injury. This latter finding suggests exploring the role for hip flexor stretching in combination with hamstring stretching to treat and/or prevent running related hamstring injury. Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Inflation of the screening length induced by Bjerrum pairs.

Science.gov (United States)

Zwanikken, Jos; van Roij, René

2009-10-21

Within a modified Poisson-Boltzmann theory we study the effect of Bjerrum pairs on the typical length scale [Formula: see text] over which electric fields are screened in electrolyte solutions, taking into account a simple association-dissociation equilibrium between free ions and Bjerrum pairs. At low densities of Bjerrum pairs, this length scale is well approximated by the Debye length [Formula: see text], with ρ(s) the free-ion density. At high densities of Bjerrum pairs, however, we find [Formula: see text], which is significantly larger than 1/κ due to the enhanced effective permittivity of the electrolyte, caused by the polarization of Bjerrum pairs. We argue that this mechanism may explain the recently observed anomalously large colloid-free zones between an oil-dispersed colloidal crystal and a colloidal monolayer at the oil-water interface.

Allometric relationships among body mass, MUZZLE-tail length, and tibia length during the growth of Wistar rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Santiago, Hildemberg Agostinho Rocha de; De Pierro, Lucas Rodolfo; Reis, Rafael Menezes; Caluz, Antônio Gabriel Ricardo Engracia; Ribeiro, Victor Barbosa; Volpon, José Batista

2015-11-01

To investigate allometric relationships among body mass (BM), muzzle-tail length (MTL), and tibia length (TL) in Wistar rats and establish their growth rate change parameters. Eighteen male and 18 female Wistar rats were studied from the 3rd to the 21st week of age. BM, MTL, and TL were measured daily, and relative growth was compared using allometry. A positive correlation between BM and MTL (p<0.05) and BM and TL (p<0.05) was observed. Males and females showed comparable curves; however, females had turning points at a younger age. The allometric relationship between BM and MTL presented a regular increase until reaching a mass of 351 g (males) and 405 g (females). BM and TL showed an initial increase until 185 g (males) and 182 g (females), and then reached a plateau that finished at 412 g (males) and 334 g (females), to display another increase. The allometric relationship of body mass with animal length and tibia length was comparable for male and female rats, with female rats maturing earlier. Animal longitudinal growth occurred in a single stage. In contrast, tibia length depicted two stages of accelerated growth with an intermediate period of deceleration.

Intermediate length scale dynamics of polyisobutylene

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farago, B.; Arbe, A.; Colmenero, J.; Faust, R.; Buchenau, U.; Richter, D.

2002-01-01

We report on a neutron spin echo investigation of the intermediate scale dynamics of polyisobutylene studying both the self-motion and the collective motion. The momentum transfer (Q) dependences of the self-correlation times are found to follow a Q -2/β law in agreement with the picture of Gaussian dynamics. In the full Q range of observation, their temperature dependence is weaker than the rheological shift factor. The same is true for the stress relaxation time as seen in sound wave absorption. The collective times show both temperature dependences; at the structure factor peak, they follow the temperature dependence of the viscosity, but below the peak, one finds the stress relaxation behavior

Surface-immobilized hydrogel patterns on length scales from micrometer to nanometer

Science.gov (United States)

Zeira, Assaf

The present work concentrates on the study of pattern generation and transfer processes of monolayer covered surfaces, deriving from the basic working concept of Constructive Lithography. As an advancement of constructive lithography, we developed a direct, one-step printing (contact electrochemical printing, CEP) and replication (contact electrochemical replication, CER) of hydrophilic organic monolayer patterns surrounded by a hydrophobic monolayer background. In addition, we present a process of transfer of metal between two contacting solid surfaces to predefined monolayer template pattern sites (contact electrochemical transfer, CET). This thesis shows that CEP, CER, and CET may be implemented under a variety of different experimental conditions, regardless of whether the initial "master" pattern was created by a parallel (fast) or serial (slow) patterning process. CEP and CER also posses the unique attractive property that each replica may equally function as master stamp in the fabrication of additional replicas. Moreover, due to a mechanism of selfcorrection patterned surfaces produced these process are often free of defects that the initial "master" stamp may had. We finally show that the electrochemical patterning of OTS monolayers on silicon can be further extended to flexible polymeric substrate materials as well as to a variety of chemical manipulations, allowing the fabrication of tridimensional (3D) composite structures made on the basis of readily available OTS compound. The results obtained suggest that such contact electrochemical processes could be used to rapidly generate multiple copies of surface patterns spanning variable length scales, this basic approach being applicable to rigid as well as flexible substrate materials.

Low frequency energy scavenging using sub-wave length scale acousto-elastic metamaterial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Riaz U. Ahmed

2014-11-01

Full Text Available This letter presents the possibility of energy scavenging (ES utilizing the physics of acousto-elastic metamaterial (AEMM at low frequencies (<∼3KHz. It is proposed to use the AEMM in a dual mode (Acoustic Filter and Energy Harvester, simultaneously. AEMM’s are typically reported for filtering acoustic waves by trapping or guiding the acoustic energy, whereas this letter shows that the dynamic energy trapped inside the soft constituent (matrix of metamaterials can be significantly harvested by strategically embedding piezoelectric wafers in the matrix. With unit cell AEMM model, we experimentally asserted that at lower acoustic frequencies (< ∼3 KHz, maximum power in the micro Watts (∼35µW range can be generated, whereas, recently reported phononic crystal based metamaterials harvested only nano Watt (∼30nW power against 10KΩ resistive load. Efficient energy scavengers at low acoustic frequencies are almost absent due to large required size relevant to the acoustic wavelength. Here we report sub wave length scale energy scavengers utilizing the coupled physics of local, structural and matrix resonances. Upon validation of the argument through analytical, numerical and experimental studies, a multi-frequency energy scavenger (ES with multi-cell model is designed with varying geometrical properties capable of scavenging energy (power output from ∼10µW – ∼90µW between 0.2 KHz and 1.5 KHz acoustic frequencies.

A multi scale model for small scale plasticity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zbib, Hussein M.

2002-01-01

Full text.A framework for investigating size-dependent small-scale plasticity phenomena and related material instabilities at various length scales ranging from the nano-microscale to the mesoscale is presented. The model is based on fundamental physical laws that govern dislocation motion and their interaction with various defects and interfaces. Particularly, a multi-scale model is developed merging two scales, the nano-microscale where plasticity is determined by explicit three-dimensional dislocation dynamics analysis providing the material length-scale, and the continuum scale where energy transport is based on basic continuum mechanics laws. The result is a hybrid simulation model coupling discrete dislocation dynamics with finite element analyses. With this hybrid approach, one can address complex size-dependent problems, including dislocation boundaries, dislocations in heterogeneous structures, dislocation interaction with interfaces and associated shape changes and lattice rotations, as well as deformation in nano-structured materials, localized deformation and shear band

Deformation Partitioning: The Missing Link Between Outcrop-Scale Observations And Orogen-Scale Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Attia, S.; Paterson, S. R.; Jiang, D.; Miller, R. B.

2017-12-01

Structural studies of orogenic deformation fields are mostly based on small-scale structures ubiquitous in field exposures, hand samples, and under microscopes. Relating deformation histories derived from such structures to changing lithospheric-scale deformation and boundary conditions is not trivial due to vast scale separation (10-6 107 m) between characteristic lengths of small-scale structures and lithospheric plates. Rheological heterogeneity over the range of orogenic scales will lead to deformation partitioning throughout intervening scales of structural development. Spectacular examples of structures documenting deformation partitioning are widespread within hot (i.e., magma-rich) orogens such as the well-studied central Sierra Nevada and Cascades core of western North America: (1) deformation partitioned into localized, narrow, triclinic shear zones separated by broad domains of distributed pure shear at micro- to 10 km scales; (2) deformation partitioned between plutons and surrounding metamorphic host rocks as shown by pluton-wide magmatic fabrics consistently oriented differently than coeval host rock fabrics; (3) partitioning recorded by different fabric intensities, styles, and orientations established from meter-scale grid mapping to 100 km scale domainal analyses; and (4) variations in the causes of strain and kinematics within fold-dominated domains. These complex, partitioned histories require synthesized mapping, geochronology, and structural data at all scales to evaluate partitioning and in the absence of correct scaling can lead to incorrect interpretations of histories. Forward modeling capable of addressing deformation partitioning in materials containing multiple scales of rheologically heterogeneous elements of varying characteristic lengths provides the ability to upscale the large synthesized datasets described above to plate-scale tectonic processes and boundary conditions. By comparing modeling predictions from the recently developed

Validity and reliability of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale-Thai version as compared to the Self-Esteem Visual Analog Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Piyavhatkul, Nawanant; Aroonpongpaisal, Suwanna; Patjanasoontorn, Niramol; Rongbutsri, Somchit; Maneeganondh, Somchit; Pimpanit, Wijitra

2011-07-01

To compare the validity and reliability of the Thai version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale with the Self-Esteem Visual Analog Scale. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was translated into Thai and its content-validity checked by bacA translation. The reliability of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale compared with the Self-Esteem Visual Analog Scale was ther tested between February and March 2008 on 270 volunteers, including 135 patients with psychiatric illness and 135 normal volunteers. The authors analyzed the internal consistency and factor structure of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale-Thai version and the correlation between it and the Visual Analog Scale. The Cronbach's Alpha for the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale-Thai version was 0.849 and the Pearson's correlation between it and the Self-Esteem Visual Analog Scale 0.618 (p = 0.01). Two factors, viz, the positively and negatively framea items, from the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale-Thai version accounted for 44.04% and 12.10% of the variance, respectively. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale-Thai version has acceptable reliability. The Self-Esteem Visual Analog Scale provides an effective measure of self-esteem.

Generation of Length Distribution, Length Diagram, Fibrogram, and Statistical Characteristics by Weight of Cotton Blends

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Azzouz

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The textile fibre mixture as a multicomponent blend of variable fibres imposes regarding the proper method to predict the characteristics of the final blend. The length diagram and the fibrogram of cotton are generated. Then the length distribution, the length diagram, and the fibrogram of a blend of different categories of cotton are determined. The length distributions by weight of five different categories of cotton (Egyptian, USA (Pima, Brazilian, USA (Upland, and Uzbekistani are measured by AFIS. From these distributions, the length distribution, the length diagram, and the fibrogram by weight of four binary blends are expressed. The length parameters of these cotton blends are calculated and their variations are plotted against the mass fraction x of one component in the blend .These calculated parameters are compared to those of real blends. Finally, the selection of the optimal blends using the linear programming method, based on the hypothesis that the cotton blend parameters vary linearly in function of the components rations, is proved insufficient.

Groundwater development stress: Global-scale indices compared to regional modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Alley, William; Clark, Brian R.; Ely, Matt; Faunt, Claudia

2018-01-01

The increased availability of global datasets and technologies such as global hydrologic models and the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites have resulted in a growing number of global-scale assessments of water availability using simple indices of water stress. Developed initially for surface water, such indices are increasingly used to evaluate global groundwater resources. We compare indices of groundwater development stress for three major agricultural areas of the United States to information available from regional water budgets developed from detailed groundwater modeling. These comparisons illustrate the potential value of regional-scale analyses to supplement global hydrological models and GRACE analyses of groundwater depletion. Regional-scale analyses allow assessments of water stress that better account for scale effects, the dynamics of groundwater flow systems, the complexities of irrigated agricultural systems, and the laws, regulations, engineering, and socioeconomic factors that govern groundwater use. Strategic use of regional-scale models with global-scale analyses would greatly enhance knowledge of the global groundwater depletion problem.

Spectral analyses of the Forel-Ule Ocean colour comparator scale

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wernand, M.; van der Woerd, H.J.

2010-01-01

François Alphonse Forel (1890) and Willi Ule (1892) composed a colour comparator scale, with tints varying from indigo-blue to cola brown, to quantify the colour of natural waters, like seas, lakes and rivers. For each measurement, the observer compares the colour of the water above a submersed

Validity of plant fiber length measurement : a review of fiber length measurement based on kenaf as a model

Science.gov (United States)

James S. Han; Theodore. Mianowski; Yi-yu. Lin

1999-01-01

The efficacy of fiber length measurement techniques such as digitizing, the Kajaani procedure, and NIH Image are compared in order to determine the optimal tool. Kenaf bast fibers, aspen, and red pine fibers were collected from different anatomical parts, and the fiber lengths were compared using various analytical tools. A statistical analysis on the validity of the...

Length-scales of Slab-induced Asthenospheric Deformation from Geodynamic Modeling, Mantle Deformation Fabric, and Synthetic Shear Wave Splitting

Science.gov (United States)

Jadamec, M. A.; MacDougall, J.; Fischer, K. M.

2017-12-01

The viscosity structure of the Earth's interior is critically important, because it places a first order constraint on plate motion and mantle flow rates. Geodynamic models using a composite viscosity based on experimentally derived flow laws for olivine aggregates show that lateral viscosity variations emerge in the upper mantle due to the subduction dynamics. However, the length-scale of this transition is still not well understood. Two-dimensional numerical models of subduction are presented that investigate the effect of initial slab dip, maximum yield stress (slab strength), and viscosity formulation (Newtonian versus composite) on the emergent lateral viscosity variations in the upper-mantle and magnitude of slab-driven mantle flow velocity. Significant viscosity reductions occur in regions of large flow velocity gradients due to the weakening effect of the dislocation creep deformation mechanism. The dynamic reductions in asthenospheric viscosity (less than 1018 Pa s) occur within approximately 500 km from driving force of the slab, with peak flow velocities occurring in models with a lower yield stress (weaker slab) and higher stress exponent. This leads to a sharper definition of the rheological base of the lithosphere and implies lateral variability in tractions along the base of the lithosphere. As the dislocation creep mechanism also leads to mantle deformation fabric, we then examine the spatial variation in the LPO development in the asthenosphere and calculate synthetic shear wave splitting. The models show that olivine LPO fabric in the asthenosphere generally increases in alignment strength with increased proximity to the slab, but can be transient and spatially variable on small length scales. The vertical flow fields surrounding the slab tip can produce shear-wave splitting variations with back-azimuth that deviate from the predictions of uniform trench-normal anisotropy, a result that bears on the interpretation of complexity in shear

Modelling of rate effects at multiple scales

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, R.R.; Simone, A.; Sluys, L. J.

2008-01-01

, the length scale in the meso-model and the macro-model can be coupled. In this fashion, a bridging of length scales can be established. A computational analysis of  a Split Hopkinson bar test at medium and high impact load is carried out at macro-scale and meso-scale including information from  the micro-scale.......At the macro- and meso-scales a rate dependent constitutive model is used in which visco-elasticity is coupled to visco-plasticity and damage. A viscous length scale effect is introduced to control the size of the fracture process zone. By comparison of the widths of the fracture process zone...

Comparing relative abundance, lengths, and habitat of temperate reef fishes using simultaneous underwater visual census, video, and trap sampling

KAUST Repository

Bacheler, NM

2017-04-28

Unbiased counts of individuals or species are often impossible given the prevalence of cryptic or mobile species. We used 77 simultaneous multi-gear deployments to make inferences about relative abundance, diversity, length composition, and habitat of the reef fish community along the southeastern US Atlantic coast. In total, 117 taxa were observed by underwater visual census (UVC), stationary video, and chevron fish traps, with more taxa being observed by UVC (100) than video (82) or traps (20). Frequency of occurrence of focal species was similar among all sampling approaches for tomtate Haemulon aurolineatum and black sea bass Centropristis striata, higher for UVC and video compared to traps for red snapper Lutjanus campechanus, vermilion snapper Rhomboplites aurorubens, and gray triggerfish Balistes capriscus, and higher for UVC compared to video or traps for gray snapper L. griseus and lionfish Pterois spp. For 6 of 7 focal species, correlations of relative abundance among gears were strongest between UVC and video, but there was substantial variability among species. The number of recorded species between UVC and video was correlated (ρ = 0.59), but relationships between traps and the other 2 methods were weaker. Lengths of fish visually estimated by UVC were similar to lengths of fish caught in traps, as were habitat characterizations from UVC and video. No gear provided a complete census for any species in our study, suggesting that analytical methods accounting for imperfect detection are necessary to make unbiased inferences about fish abundance.

Comparing the Fullerton Advanced Balance Scale with the Mini-BESTest and Berg Balance Scale to assess postural control in patients with Parkinson disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Schlenstedt, Christian; Brombacher, Stephanie; Hartwigsen, Gesa; Weisser, Burkhard; Möller, Bettina; Deuschl, Günther

2015-02-01

To validate the Fullerton Advanced Balance (FAB) Scale for patients with idiopathic Parkinson disease (PD); and to compare the FAB Scale with the Mini-Balance Evaluation Systems Test (Mini-BESTest) and Berg Balance Scale (BBS). Observational study to assess concurrent validity, test-retest, and interrater reliability of the FAB Scale in patients with PD and to compare the distribution of the scale with the Mini-BESTest and BBS. University hospital in an urban community. Patients with idiopathic PD (N=85; Hoehn and Yahr stages 1-4). Not applicable. FAB Scale, Mini-BESTest, BBS, timed Up and Go test, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, and visual analog scale. Interrater (3 raters) and test-retest (3±1 d) reliability were high for all scales (ICCs≥.95). The FAB Scale was highly correlated with the Mini-BESTest (Spearman ρ=.87) and timed Up and Go test item of the Mini-BESTest (Spearman ρ=.83). In contrast with the BBS, the FAB Scale and Mini-BESTest have only minimal ceiling effects. The FAB Scale demonstrated the most symmetric distribution when compared with the Mini-BESTest and BBS (skewness: FAB scale: -.54; Mini-BESTest: -1.07; BBS: -2.14). The FAB Scale is a valid and reliable tool to assess postural control in patients with PD. No ceiling effect was noted for the FAB Scale. Although the items of the FAB Scale are more detailed when compared with the Mini-BESTest, interrater and test-retest reliability were excellent. The scale is a promising tool to detect small changes of the postural control system in individuals with PD. Copyright © 2015 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Method for Determining Skeletal Lengths from DXA Images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fogelman Ignac

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Skeletal ratios and bone lengths are widely used in anthropology and forensic pathology and hip axis length is a useful predictor of fracture. The aim of this study was to show that skeletal ratios, such as length of femur to height, could be accurately measured from a DXA (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry image. Methods 90 normal Caucasian females, 18–80 years old, with whole body DXA data were used as subjects. Two methods, linear pixel count (LPC and reticule and ruler (RET were used to measure skeletal sizes on DXA images and compared with real clinical measures from 20 subjects and 20 x-rays of the femur and tibia taken in 2003. Results Although both methods were highly correlated, the LPC inter- and intra-observer error was lower at 1.6% compared to that of RET at 2.3%. Both methods correlated positively with real clinical measures, with LPC having a marginally stronger correlation coefficient (r2 = 0.94; r2 = 0.84; average r2 = 0.89 than RET (r2 = 0.86; r2 = 0.84; average r2 = 0.85 with X-rays and real measures respectively. Also, the time taken to use LPC was half that of RET at 5 minutes per scan. Conclusion Skeletal ratios can be accurately and precisely measured from DXA total body scan images. The LPC method is easy to use and relatively rapid. This new phenotype will be useful for osteoporosis research for individuals or large-scale epidemiological or genetic studies.

SQUID magnetometry from nanometer to centimeter length scales

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hatridge, Michael J.

2010-01-01

The development of Superconducting QUantum Interference Device (SQUID)-based magnetometer for two applications, in vivo prepolarized, ultra-low field MRI of humans and dispersive readout of SQUIDs for micro- and nano-scale magnetometery, are the focus of this thesis.

SQUID magnetometry from nanometer to centimeter length scales

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hatridge, Michael J. [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

2010-06-01

The development of Superconducting QUantum Interference Device (SQUID)-based magnetometer for two applications, in vivo prepolarized, ultra-low field MRI of humans and dispersive readout of SQUIDs for micro- and nano-scale magnetometery, are the focus of this thesis.

Scale-relativistic cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nottale, Laurent

2003-01-01

The principle of relativity, when it is applied to scale transformations, leads to the suggestion of a generalization of fundamental dilations laws. These new special scale-relativistic resolution transformations involve log-Lorentz factors and lead to the occurrence of a minimal and of a maximal length-scale in nature, which are invariant under dilations. The minimal length-scale, that replaces the zero from the viewpoint of its physical properties, is identified with the Planck length l P , and the maximal scale, that replaces infinity, is identified with the cosmic scale L=Λ -1/2 , where Λ is the cosmological constant.The new interpretation of the Planck scale has several implications for the structure and history of the early Universe: we consider the questions of the origin, of the status of physical laws at very early times, of the horizon/causality problem and of fluctuations at recombination epoch.The new interpretation of the cosmic scale has consequences for our knowledge of the present universe, concerning in particular Mach's principle, the large number coincidence, the problem of the vacuum energy density, the nature and the value of the cosmological constant. The value (theoretically predicted ten years ago) of the scaled cosmological constant Ω Λ =0.75+/-0.15 is now supported by several different experiments (Hubble diagram of Supernovae, Boomerang measurements, gravitational lensing by clusters of galaxies).The scale-relativity framework also allows one to suggest a solution to the missing mass problem, and to make theoretical predictions of fundamental energy scales, thanks to the interpretation of new structures in scale space: fractal/classical transitions as Compton lengths, mass-coupling relations and critical value 4π 2 of inverse couplings. Among them, we find a structure at 3.27+/-0.26x10 20 eV, which agrees closely with the observed highest energy cosmic rays at 3.2+/-0.9x10 20 eV, and another at 5.3x10 -3 eV, which corresponds to the

Comparative sacral morphology and the reconstructed tail lengths of five extinct primates: Proconsul heseloni, Epipliopithecus vindobonensis, Archaeolemur edwardsi, Megaladapis grandidieri, and Palaeopropithecus kelyus.

Science.gov (United States)

Russo, Gabrielle A

2016-01-01

This study evaluated the relationship between the morphology of the sacrum-the sole bony link between the tail or coccyx and the rest of the body-and tail length (including presence/absence) and function using a comparative sample of extant mammals spanning six orders (Primates, Carnivora, Rodentia, Diprotodontia, Pilosa, Scandentia; N = 472). Phylogenetically-informed regression methods were used to assess how tail length varied with respect to 11 external and internal (i.e., trabecular) bony sacral variables with known or suspected biomechanical significance across all mammals, only primates, and only non-primates. Sacral variables were also evaluated for primates assigned to tail categories ('tailless,' 'nonprehensile short-tailed,' 'nonprehensile long-tailed,' and 'prehensile-tailed'). Compared to primates with reduced tail lengths, primates with longer tails generally exhibited sacra having larger caudal neural openings than cranial neural openings, and last sacral vertebrae with more mediolaterally-expanded caudal articular surfaces than cranial articular surfaces, more laterally-expanded transverse processes, more dorsally-projecting spinous processes, and larger caudal articular surface areas. Observations were corroborated by the comparative sample, which showed that shorter-tailed (e.g., Lynx rufus [bobcat]) and longer-tailed (e.g., Acinonyx jubatus [cheetah]) non-primate mammals morphologically converge with shorter-tailed (e.g., Macaca nemestrina) and longer-tailed (e.g., Macaca fascicularis) primates, respectively. 'Prehensile-tailed' primates exhibited last sacral vertebrae with more laterally-expanded transverse processes and greater caudal articular surface areas than 'nonprehensile long-tailed' primates. Internal sacral variables performed poorly compared to external sacral variables in analyses of extant primates, and were thus deemed less useful for making inferences concerning tail length and function in extinct primates. The tails lengths of

Penile length and circumference: an Indian study.

Science.gov (United States)

Promodu, K; Shanmughadas, K V; Bhat, S; Nair, K R

2007-01-01

Apprehension about the normal size of penis is a major concern for men. Aim of the present investigation is to estimate the penile length and circumference of Indian males and to compare the results with the data from other countries. Results will help in counseling the patients worried about the penile size and seeking penis enlargement surgery. Penile length in flaccid and stretched conditions and circumference were measured in a group of 301 physically normal men. Erected length and circumference were measured for 93 subjects. Mean flaccid length was found to be 8.21 cm, mean stretched length 10.88 cm and circumference 9.14 cm. Mean erected length was found to be 13.01 cm and erected circumference was 11.46 cm. Penile dimensions are found to be correlated with anthropometric parameters. Insight into the normative data of penile size of Indian males obtained. There are significant differences in the mean penile length and circumference of Indian sample compared to the data reported from other countries. Study need to be continued with a large sample to establish a normative data applicable to the general population.

Correlation Lengths for Estimating the Large-Scale Carbon and Heat Content of the Southern Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Mazloff, M. R.; Cornuelle, B. D.; Gille, S. T.; Verdy, A.

2018-02-01

The spatial correlation scales of oceanic dissolved inorganic carbon, heat content, and carbon and heat exchanges with the atmosphere are estimated from a realistic numerical simulation of the Southern Ocean. Biases in the model are assessed by comparing the simulated sea surface height and temperature scales to those derived from optimally interpolated satellite measurements. While these products do not resolve all ocean scales, they are representative of the climate scale variability we aim to estimate. Results show that constraining the carbon and heat inventory between 35°S and 70°S on time-scales longer than 90 days requires approximately 100 optimally spaced measurement platforms: approximately one platform every 20° longitude by 6° latitude. Carbon flux has slightly longer zonal scales, and requires a coverage of approximately 30° by 6°. Heat flux has much longer scales, and thus a platform distribution of approximately 90° by 10° would be sufficient. Fluxes, however, have significant subseasonal variability. For all fields, and especially fluxes, sustained measurements in time are required to prevent aliasing of the eddy signals into the longer climate scale signals. Our results imply a minimum of 100 biogeochemical-Argo floats are required to monitor the Southern Ocean carbon and heat content and air-sea exchanges on time-scales longer than 90 days. However, an estimate of formal mapping error using the current Argo array implies that in practice even an array of 600 floats (a nominal float density of about 1 every 7° longitude by 3° latitude) will result in nonnegligible uncertainty in estimating climate signals.

Comparative prediction of nonepileptic events using MMPI-2 clinical scales, Harris Lingoes subscales, and restructured clinical scales.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamout, Karim Z; Heinrichs, Robin J; Baade, Lyle E; Soetaert, Dana K; Liow, Kore K

2017-03-01

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) is a psychological testing tool used to measure psychological and personality constructs. The MMPI-2 has proven helpful in identifying individuals with nonepileptic events/nonepileptic seizures. However, the MMPI-2 has had some updates that enhanced its original scales. The aim of this article was to test the utility of updated MMPI-2 scales in predicting the likelihood of non-epileptic seizures in individuals admitted to an EEG video monitoring unit. We compared sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratios of traditional MMPI-2 Clinical Scales against more homogenous MMPI-2 Harris-Lingoes subscales and the newer Restructured Clinical (RC) scales. Our results showed that the Restructured Scales did not show significant improvement over the original Clinical scales. However, one Harris-Lingoes subscale (HL4 of Clinical Scale 3) did show improved predictive utility over the original Clinical scales as well as over the newer Restructured Clinical scales. Our study suggests that the predictive utility of the MMPI-2 can be improved using already existing scales. This is particularly useful for those practitioners who are not invested in switching over to the newly developed MMPI-2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2 RF). Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Length and time scales of atmospheric moisture recycling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van der Ent, R.J.; Savenije, H.H.G.

2011-01-01

It is difficult to quantify the degree to which terrestrial evaporation supports the occurrence of precipitation within a certain study region (i.e. regional moisture recycling) due to the scale- and shape-dependence of regional moisture recycling ratios. In this paper we present a novel approach to

Length of stay after vaginal birth: sociodemographic and readiness-for-discharge factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Weiss, Marianne; Ryan, Polly; Lokken, Lisa; Nelson, Magdalen

2004-06-01

The impact of reductions in postpartum length of stay have been widely reported, but factors influencing length of hospital stay after vaginal birth have received less attention. The study purpose was to compare the sociodemographic characteristics and readiness for discharge of new mothers and their newborns at 3 discharge time intervals, and to determine which variables were associated with postpartum length of stay. The study sample comprised 1,192 mothers who were discharged within 2 postpartum days after uncomplicated vaginal birth at a tertiary perinatal center in the midwestern United States. The sample was divided into 3 postpartum length-of-stay groups: group 1 (18-30 hr), group 2 (31-42 hr), and group 3 (43-54 hr). Sociodemographic and readiness-for-discharge data were collected by self-report and from a computerized hospital information system. Measures of readiness for discharge included perceived readiness (single item and Readiness for Discharge After Birth Scale), documented maternal and neonatal clinical problems, and feeding method. Compared with other groups, the longest length-of-stay group was older; of higher socioeconomic status and education; and with more primiparous, breastfeeding, white, married mothers who were living with the baby's father, had adequate home help, and had a private payor source. This group also reported greater readiness for discharge, but their newborns had more documented clinical problems during the postbirth hospitalization. In logistic regression modeling, earlier discharge was associated with young age, multiparity, public payor source, low socioeconomic status, lack of readiness for discharge, bottle-feeding, and absence of a neonatal clinical problem. Sociodemographic characteristics and readiness for discharge (clinical and perceived) were associated with length of postpartum hospital stay. Length of stay is an outcome of a complex interface between patient, provider, and payor influences on discharge timing

Engineering behavior of small-scale foundation piers constructed from alternative materials

Science.gov (United States)

Prokudin, Maxim Mikhaylovich

Testing small-scale prototype pier foundations to evaluate engineering behavior is an alternative to full-scale testing that facilitates testing of several piers and pier groups at relatively low cost. In this study, various pier systems and pier groups at one tenth scale were subjected to static vertical loading under controlled conditions to evaluate stiffness, bearing capacity, and group efficiency. Pier length, material properties and methods of installation were evaluated. Pier length to diameter ratios varied between four and eight. A unique soil pit with dimensions of 2.1 m in width, 1.5 m in length and 2.0 m in depth was designed to carry out this research. The test pit was filled with moisture conditioned and compacted Western Iowa loess. A special load test frame was designed and fabricated to provide up to 25,000 kg vertical reaction force for load testing. A load cell and displacement instrumentation was setup to capture the load test data. Alternative materials to conventional cement concrete were studied. The pier materials evaluated in this study included compacted aggregate, cement stabilized silt, cementitious grouts, and fiber reinforced silt. Key findings from this study demonstrated that (1) the construction method influences the behavior of aggregate piers, (2) the composition of the pier has a significant impact on the stiffness, (3) group efficiencies were found to be a function of pier length and pier material, (4) in comparison to full-scale testing the scaled piers were found to produce a stiffer response with load-settlement and bearing capacities to be similar. Further, although full-scale test results were not available for all pier materials, the small-scale testing provided a means for comparing results between pier systems. Finally, duplicate pier tests for a given length and material were found to be repeatable.

Word length, set size, and lexical factors: Re-examining what causes the word length effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Guitard, Dominic; Gabel, Andrew J; Saint-Aubin, Jean; Surprenant, Aimée M; Neath, Ian

2018-04-19

The word length effect, better recall of lists of short (fewer syllables) than long (more syllables) words has been termed a benchmark effect of working memory. Despite this, experiments on the word length effect can yield quite different results depending on set size and stimulus properties. Seven experiments are reported that address these 2 issues. Experiment 1 replicated the finding of a preserved word length effect under concurrent articulation for large stimulus sets, which contrasts with the abolition of the word length effect by concurrent articulation for small stimulus sets. Experiment 2, however, demonstrated that when the short and long words are equated on more dimensions, concurrent articulation abolishes the word length effect for large stimulus sets. Experiment 3 shows a standard word length effect when output time is equated, but Experiments 4-6 show no word length effect when short and long words are equated on increasingly more dimensions that previous demonstrations have overlooked. Finally, Experiment 7 compared recall of a small and large neighborhood words that were equated on all the dimensions used in Experiment 6 (except for those directly related to neighborhood size) and a neighborhood size effect was still observed. We conclude that lexical factors, rather than word length per se, are better predictors of when the word length effect will occur. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Multi-Scale Scattering Transform in Music Similarity Measuring

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ruobai

Scattering transform is a Mel-frequency spectrum based, time-deformation stable method, which can be used in evaluating music similarity. Compared with Dynamic time warping, it has better performance in detecting similar audio signals under local time-frequency deformation. Multi-scale scattering means to combine scattering transforms of different window lengths. This paper argues that, multi-scale scattering transform is a good alternative of dynamic time warping in music similarity measuring. We tested the performance of multi-scale scattering transform against other popular methods, with data designed to represent different conditions.

Association between maternal symptoms of sleep disordered breathing and fetal telomere length.

Science.gov (United States)

Salihu, Hamisu M; King, Lindsey; Patel, Priyanshi; Paothong, Arnut; Pradhan, Anupam; Louis, Judette; Naik, Eknath; Marty, Phillip J; Whiteman, Valerie

2015-04-01

Our investigation aims to assess the impact of symptoms of maternal sleep-disordered breathing, specifically sleep apnea risk and daytime sleepiness, on fetal leukocyte telomere length. Pregnant women were recruited upon hospital delivery admission. Sleep exposure outcomes were measured using the Berlin Questionnaire to quantify sleep apnea and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale to measure daytime sleepiness. Participants were classified as "High Risk" or "Low Risk" for sleep apnea based on responses to the Berlin, while "Normal" or "Abnormal" daytime sleepiness was determined based on responses to the Epworth. Neonatal umbilical cord blood samples (N = 67) were collected and genomic DNA was isolated from cord blood leukocytes using Quantitative PCR. A ratio of relative telomere length was derived by telomere repeat copy number and single copy gene copy number (T/S ratio) and used to compare telomere lengths. Bootstrap and ANOVA statistical procedures were employed. On the Berlin, 68.7% of participants were classified as Low Risk while 31.3% were classified as High Risk for sleep apnea. According to the Epworth scale, 80.6% were determined to have Normal daytime sleepiness, and 19.4% were found to have Abnormal daytime sleepiness. The T/S ratio among pregnant women at High Risk for sleep apnea was significantly shorter than for those at Low Risk (P value sleep disordered breathing during pregnancy, and suggest sleep disordered breathing as a possible mechanism of accelerated chromosomal aging. © 2015 Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC.

Quantifying Interfacial pH Variation at Molecular Length Scales Using a Concurrent Non-Faradaic Reaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Ryu, Jaeyune; Wuttig, Anna; Surendranath, Yogesh

2018-05-15

We quantify changes in the interfacial pH local to the electrochemical double layer during electrocatalysis, using a concurrent non-faradaic probe reaction. In the absence of electrocatalysis, nanostructured Pt/C surfaces mediate the reaction of H2 with cis-2-butene-1,4-diol to form a mixture of 1,4-butanediol and n-butanol with a selectivity that is linearly dependent on the bulk solution pH. We show that kinetic branching occurs from a common surface-bound intermediate, ensuring that this probe reaction is uniquely sensitive to the interfacial pH within molecular length scales of the surface. We use the pH-dependent selectivity of this reaction to track changes in interfacial pH during concurrent hydrogen oxidation electrocatalysis and find that the local pH can vary dramatically, > 3 units, relative to the bulk value even at modest current densities in well-buffered electrolytes. This work highlights the key role that interfacial pH variation plays in modulating inner-sphere electrocatalysis. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Multi-slice MRI reveals heterogeneity in disease distribution along the length of muscle in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Science.gov (United States)

Chrzanowski, Stephen M; Baligand, Celine; Willcocks, Rebecca J; Deol, Jasjit; Schmalfuss, Ilona; Lott, Donovan J; Daniels, Michael J; Senesac, Claudia; Walter, Glenn A; Vandenborne, Krista

2017-09-01

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) causes progressive pathologic changes to muscle secondary to a cascade of inflammation, lipid deposition, and fibrosis. Clinically, this manifests as progressive weakness, functional loss, and premature mortality. Though insult to whole muscle groups is well established, less is known about the relationship between intramuscular pathology and function. Differences of intramuscular heterogeneity across muscle length were assessed using an ordinal MRI grading scale in lower leg muscles of boys with DMD and correlated to patient's functional status. Cross sectional T 1 weighted MRI images with fat suppression were obtained from ambulatory boys with DMD. Six muscles (tibialis anterior, extensor digitorum longus, peroneus, soleus, medial and lateral gastrocnemii) were graded using an ordinal grading scale over 5 slice sections along the lower leg length. The scores from each slice were combined and results were compared to global motor function and age. Statistically greater differences of involvement were observed at the proximal ends of muscle compared to the midbellies. Multi-slice assessment correlated significantly to age and the Vignos functional scale, whereas single-slice assessment correlated to the Vignos functional scale only. Lastly, differential disease involvement of whole muscle groups and intramuscular heterogeneity were observed amongst similar age subjects. A multi-slice ordinal MRI grading scale revealed that muscles are not uniformly affected, with more advanced disease visible near the tendons in a primarily ambulatory population with DMD. A geographically comprehensive evaluation of the heterogeneously affected muscle in boys with DMD may more accurately assess disease involvement.

Optimal choice of word length when comparing two Markov sequences using a χ 2-statistic.

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, Xin; Tang, Kujin; Ren, Jie; Waterman, Michael; Sun, Fengzhu

2017-10-03

Alignment-free sequence comparison using counts of word patterns (grams, k-tuples) has become an active research topic due to the large amount of sequence data from the new sequencing technologies. Genome sequences are frequently modelled by Markov chains and the likelihood ratio test or the corresponding approximate χ 2 -statistic has been suggested to compare two sequences. However, it is not known how to best choose the word length k in such studies. We develop an optimal strategy to choose k by maximizing the statistical power of detecting differences between two sequences. Let the orders of the Markov chains for the two sequences be r 1 and r 2 , respectively. We show through both simulations and theoretical studies that the optimal k= max(r 1 ,r 2 )+1 for both long sequences and next generation sequencing (NGS) read data. The orders of the Markov chains may be unknown and several methods have been developed to estimate the orders of Markov chains based on both long sequences and NGS reads. We study the power loss of the statistics when the estimated orders are used. It is shown that the power loss is minimal for some of the estimators of the orders of Markov chains. Our studies provide guidelines on choosing the optimal word length for the comparison of Markov sequences.

Differences in caregiver daily impression by sex, education and career length.

Science.gov (United States)

Ae, Ryusuke; Kojo, Takao; Kotani, Kazuhiko; Okayama, Masanobu; Kuwabara, Masanari; Makino, Nobuko; Aoyama, Yasuko; Sano, Takashi; Nakamura, Yosikazu

2017-03-01

We previously proposed the concept of caregiver daily impression (CDI) as a practical tool for emergency triage. We herein assessed how CDI varies by sex, education and career length by determining CDI scores as quantitative outcome measures. We carried out a cross-sectional study using a self-reported questionnaire among caregivers in 20 long-term care facilities in Hyogo, Japan. A total of 10 CDI variables measured participants' previous experience of emergency transfers using a scale from 0-10. The resulting total was defined as the CDI score. We hypothetically considered that higher scores indicated greater caregiver focus. The CDI scores were compared by sex, education and career length using analysis of covariance. A total of 601 personal caregivers were evaluated (mean age 36.7 years; 36% men). The mean career length was 6.9 years, with the following groupings: 1-4 years (38%), 5-9 years (37%) and >10 years (24%). After adjustment for sex and education, the CDI scores for the variable, "poor eye contact," significantly differed between caregivers with ≥10 and Sex-related differences in CDI might also exist. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2016; 17: 410-415. © 2016 Japan Geriatrics Society.

Scaling of musculoskeletal models from static and dynamic trials

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lund, Morten Enemark; Andersen, Michael Skipper; de Zee, Mark

2015-01-01

Subject-specific scaling of cadaver-based musculoskeletal models is important for accurate musculoskeletal analysis within multiple areas such as ergonomics, orthopaedics and occupational health. We present two procedures to scale ‘generic’ musculoskeletal models to match segment lengths and joint...... three scaling methods to an inverse dynamics-based musculoskeletal model and compared predicted knee joint contact forces to those measured with an instrumented prosthesis during gait. Additionally, a Monte Carlo study was used to investigate the sensitivity of the knee joint contact force to random...

Variations in the small-scale galactic magnetic field and short time-scale intensity variations of extragalactic radio sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simonetti, J.H.

1985-01-01

Structure functions of the Faraday rotation measures (RMs) of extragalactic radio sources are used to investigate variations in the interstellar magnetic field on length scales of approx.0.01 to 100 pc. Model structure functions derived assuming a power-law power spectrum of irregularities in n/sub e/B, are compared with those observed. The results indicate an outer angular scale for RM variations of approximately less than or equal to 5 0 and evidence for RM variations on scales as small as 1'. Differences in the variance of n/sub e/B fluctuations for various lines of sight through the Galaxy are found. Comparison of pulsar scintillations in right- and left-circular polarizations yield an upper limit to the variations in n/sub e/ on a length scale of approx.10 11 cm. RMs were determined through high-velocity molecular flows in galactic star-formation regions, with the goal of constraining magnetic fields in and near the flows. RMs of 7 extragalactic sources with a approx.20 arcmin wide area seen through Cep A, fall in two groups separated by approx.150 rad m -2 - large given our knowledge of RM variations on small angular scales and possibly a result of the anisotropy of the high-velocity material

Cutting Whole Length or Partial Length of Internal Anal Sphincter in Managementof Fissure in Ano

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Furat Shani Aoda

2017-12-01

Full Text Available A chronic anal fissure is a common painful perianal condition.The main operative procedure to treat this painful condition is a lateral internal sphincteretomy (LIS.The aim of study is to compare the outcome and complications of closed LIS up to the dentate line (whole length of internal sphincter or up to the fissure apex (partial length of internal sphincter in the treatment of anal fissure.It is a prospective comparativestudy including 100 patients with chronic fissure in ano. All patients assigned to undergo closed LIS. Those patients were randomly divided into two groups: 50 patients underwent LIS to the level of dentate line (whole length and other 50 patients underwent LIS to the level of fissure apex (partial length. Patients were followed up weekly in the 1st month, twice monthly in the second month then monthly   for next 2 months and finally after 1 year. There was satisfactory relief of pain in all patients in both groups & complete healing of the fissure occurred. Regarding post operative incontinence no major degree of incontinence occur in both group but minor degree of incontinence persists In 7 patients after whole length LIS after one year. In conclusion, both whole length & partial length LIS associated with improvement of pain, good chance of healing but whole length LIS associated with more chance of long term  flatus incontinence. Hence,we recommend partial length LIS as treatment forchronic anal fissure.

Length expectation values in quantum Regge calculus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khatsymovsky, V.M.

2004-01-01

Regge calculus configuration superspace can be embedded into a more general superspace where the length of any edge is defined ambiguously depending on the 4-tetrahedron containing the edge. Moreover, the latter superspace can be extended further so that even edge lengths in each the 4-tetrahedron are not defined, only area tensors of the 2-faces in it are. We make use of our previous result concerning quantization of the area tensor Regge calculus which gives finite expectation values for areas. Also our result is used showing that quantum measure in the Regge calculus can be uniquely fixed once we know quantum measure on (the space of the functionals on) the superspace of the theory with ambiguously defined edge lengths. We find that in this framework quantization of the usual Regge calculus is defined up to a parameter. The theory may possess nonzero (of the order of Planck scale) or zero length expectation values depending on whether this parameter is larger or smaller than a certain value. Vanishing length expectation values means that the theory is becoming continuous, here dynamically in the originally discrete framework

CEPF Western Ghats Special Series: Length-weight and length-length relationship of three species of snakehead fish, Channa diplogramma, C. marulius and C. striata from the riverine reaches of Lake Vembanad, Kerala, India.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Ali

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The length-weight relationship (LWR and length-length relationships (LLR of three snakehead fishes, Channa diplogramma, C. marulius and C. striata, exploited by small-scale fishers in the riverine reaches of Lake Vembanad, Kerala were studied using the allometric growth equation Y = aXb. Our analysis shows that the LWR of C. diplogramma and C. marulius is nonisometric with exponents much smaller than the cubic value (b = 3, while that of C. striata is isometric. Channa marulius showed a definite change in LWR with size, with smaller fish growing with positive allometric exponents (b greater than 3 and larger individuals having negative allometric relationship (b less than 3, indicating a possible age-related change in growth pattern. In the case of LLR, all three snakehead species showed non-isometric growth patterns. The caudal fin did not grow substantially with increasing fish length.

Fundamental length and relativistic length

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strel'tsov, V.N.

1988-01-01

It si noted that the introduction of fundamental length contradicts the conventional representations concerning the contraction of the longitudinal size of fast-moving objects. The use of the concept of relativistic length and the following ''elongation formula'' permits one to solve this problem

The scaling of tongue projection in the veiled chameleon, Chamaeleo calyptratus.

Science.gov (United States)

Herrel, Anthony; Redding, Chrystal L; Meyers, J Jay; Nishikawa, Kiisa C

2014-08-01

Within a year of hatching, chameleons can grow by up to two orders of magnitude in body mass. Rapid growth of the feeding mechanism means that bones, muscles, and movements change as chameleons grow while needing to maintain function. A previous morphological study showed that the musculoskeletal components of the feeding apparatus grow with negative allometry relative to snout-vent length (SVL) in chameleons. Here, we investigate the scaling of prey capture kinematics and muscle physiological cross-sectional area in the veiled chameleon, Chamaeleo calyptratus. The chameleons used in this study varied in size from approximately 3 to 18 cm SVL (1-200 g). Feeding sequences of 12 chameleons of different sizes were filmed and the timing of movements and the displacements and velocities of the jaws, tongue, and the hyolingual apparatus were quantified. Our results show that most muscle cross-sectional areas as well as tongue and hyoid mass scaled with isometry relative to mandible length, yet with negative allometry relative to SVL. Durations of movement also scaled with negative allometry relative to SVL and mandible length. Distances and angles generally scaled as predicted under geometric similarity (slopes of 1 and 0, respectively), while velocities generally scaled with slopes greater than 0 relative to SVL and mandible length. These data indicate that the velocity of jaw and tongue movements is generally greater in adults compared to juveniles. The discrepancy between the scaling of cross-sectional areas versus movements suggests changes in the energy storage and release mechanisms implicated in tongue projection. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

The role of reactant unmixedness, strain rate, and length scale on premixed combustor performance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Samuelsen, S.; LaRue, J.; Vilayanur, S. [Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States)] [and others

1995-10-01

Lean premixed combustion provides a means to reduce pollutant formation and increase combustion efficiency. However, fuel-air mixing is rarely uniform in space and time. This nonuniformity in concentration will lead to relative increases in pollutant formation and decreases in combustion efficiency. The nonuniformity of the concentration at the exit of the premixer has been defined by Lyons (1981) as the {open_quotes}unmixedness.{close_quotes} Although turbulence properties such as length scales and strain rate are known to effect unmixedness, the exact relationship is unknown. Evaluating this relationship and the effect of unmixedness in premixed combustion on pollutant formation and combustion efficiency are an important part of the overall goal of US Department of Energy`s Advanced Turbine Systems (ATS) program and are among the goals of the program described herein. The information obtained from ATS is intended to help to develop and commercialize gas turbines which have (1) a wide range of operation/stability, (2) a minimal amount of pollutant formation, and (3) high combustion efficiency. Specifically, with regard to pollutants, the goals are to reduce the NO{sub x} emissions by at least 10%, obtain less than 20 PPM of both CO and UHC, and increase the combustion efficiency by 5%.

Biophysics of filament length regulation by molecular motors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuan, Hui-Shun; Betterton, M D

2013-01-01

Regulating physical size is an essential problem that biological organisms must solve from the subcellular to the organismal scales, but it is not well understood what physical principles and mechanisms organisms use to sense and regulate their size. Any biophysical size-regulation scheme operates in a noisy environment and must be robust to other cellular dynamics and fluctuations. This work develops theory of filament length regulation inspired by recent experiments on kinesin-8 motor proteins, which move with directional bias on microtubule filaments and alter microtubule dynamics. Purified kinesin-8 motors can depolymerize chemically-stabilized microtubules. In the length-dependent depolymerization model, the rate of depolymerization tends to increase with filament length, because long filaments accumulate more motors at their tips and therefore shorten more quickly. When balanced with a constant filament growth rate, this mechanism can lead to a fixed polymer length. However, the mechanism by which kinesin-8 motors affect the length of dynamic microtubules in cells is less clear. We study the more biologically realistic problem of microtubule dynamic instability modulated by a motor-dependent increase in the filament catastrophe frequency. This leads to a significant decrease in the mean filament length and a narrowing of the filament length distribution. The results improve our understanding of the biophysics of length regulation in cells. (paper)

The Effect of Map Scale on the Determination of the Coastline Length and the Area of Islands in the Adriatic Sea - the Example of the Island of Rab

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nada Vučetić

2006-12-01

Full Text Available The procedure to determine the coastline length and the area of the island of Rab from the maps at the scales 1:25 000, 1:50 000, 1:100 000, 1:200 000, 1:300 000, 1:500 000, 1:1 000 000 and 1:2 000 000 is described. The map sheets at the scales 1:25 000, 1:100 000 and 1:200 000 were obtained already in a georeferenced raster format, and the others were scanned and georeferenced. This was followed by a manual vectorization of the coastline and a transformation of all coordinates into the 5th zone of the Gauss-Krüger projection. The length of the coastline and the area of the island were calculated in the Gauss-Krüger projection taking into account the deformations of the projection. The results are given in tables and represented graphically.

Predictors of length of stay in a ward for demented elderly: gender differences.

Science.gov (United States)

Ono, Toshiyuki; Tamai, Akira; Takeuchi, Daisuke; Tamai, Yuzuru; Iseki, Hidenori; Fukushima, Hiromi; Kasahara, Sumie

2010-09-01

In our previous studies, we found both gender differences among care recipients and predictors that influenced outcomes after discharge from a ward for demented elderly. Here, we investigate predictors that influence the length of stay for each sex. We studied the data of 390 patients with dementia who were hospitalized in a ward for demented elderly between 1 April 2000 and 31 March 2008, and treated until 31 March 2009. The patients were divided into groups classified by gender. We analyzed the gender differences of characteristics and evaluated the predictors that influenced the length of stay in the ward for demented elderly using Cox's proportional hazards model. A model using the initial scores of the Revised Hasegawa Dementia Scale (HDS-R), Assessment Scale for Symptoms of Dementia (ASSD) and Nishimura's activity of daily living scale (N-ADL), which were examined on admission, was named Model 1. In Model 1, we checked the effect of each patient's characteristics, except for complications and destinations, on their length of stay. Model 2 used the final scores of HDS-R, ASSD and N-ADL including complications and destinations. There was a clear gender difference in the length of stay. The length of stay of women was longer than that of men. It was difficult to predict the length of stay in Model 1. Age was the only predictor in women and no predictor was identified in men. In Model 2, complications and the final HDS-R and N-ADL scores were predictors of the length of stay in men. Age, complications and destinations were predictors of the length of stay in women. It was observed that there were gender differences among predictors of the length of stay. However, it was difficult to predict the length of stay on admission. Retrospectively, the length of stay was determined by physical and psychological conditions, not by the social variables in men. In women, it was supposed that the caregiver's wish to give care at home reduced the length of stay. Besides

Screening length in dusty plasma crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nikolaev, V S; Timofeev, A V

2016-01-01

Particles interaction and value of the screening length in dusty plasma systems are of great interest in dusty plasma area. Three inter-particle potentials (Debye potential, Gurevich potential and interaction potential in the weakly collisional regime) are used to solve equilibrium equations for two dusty particles suspended in a parabolic trap. The inter-particle distance dependence on screening length, trap parameter and particle charge is obtained. The functional form of inter-particle distance dependence on ion temperature is investigated and compared with experimental data at 200-300 K in order to test used potentials applicability to dusty plasma systems at room temperatures. The preference is given to the Yukawa-type potential including effective values of particle charge and screening length. The estimated effective value of the screening length is 5-15 times larger than the Debye length. (paper)

Intensity limits for propagation of 0.527 μm laser beams through large-scale-length plasmas for inertial confinement fusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niemann, C.; Divol, L.; Froula, D.H.; Gregori, G.; Jones, O.; Kirkwood, R.K.; MacKinnon, A.J.; Meezan, N.B.; Moody, J.D.; Sorce, C.; Suter, L.J.; Glenzer, S.H.; Bahr, R.; Seka, W.

2005-01-01

We have established the intensity limits for propagation of a frequency-doubled (2ω, 527 nm) high intensity interaction beam through an underdense large-scale-length plasma. We observe good beam transmission at laser intensities at or below 2x10 14 W/cm 2 and a strong reduction at intensities up to 10 15 W/cm 2 due to the onset of parametric scattering instabilities. We show that temporal beam smoothing by spectral dispersion allows a factor of 2 higher intensities while keeping the beam spray constant, which establishes frequency-doubled light as an option for ignition and burn in inertial confinement fusion experiments

Effect of wettability on scale-up of multiphase flow from core-scale to reservoir fine-grid-scale

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chang, Y.C.; Mani, V.; Mohanty, K.K. [Univ. of Houston, TX (United States)

1997-08-01

Typical field simulation grid-blocks are internally heterogeneous. The objective of this work is to study how the wettability of the rock affects its scale-up of multiphase flow properties from core-scale to fine-grid reservoir simulation scale ({approximately} 10{prime} x 10{prime} x 5{prime}). Reservoir models need another level of upscaling to coarse-grid simulation scale, which is not addressed here. Heterogeneity is modeled here as a correlated random field parameterized in terms of its variance and two-point variogram. Variogram models of both finite (spherical) and infinite (fractal) correlation length are included as special cases. Local core-scale porosity, permeability, capillary pressure function, relative permeability functions, and initial water saturation are assumed to be correlated. Water injection is simulated and effective flow properties and flow equations are calculated. For strongly water-wet media, capillarity has a stabilizing/homogenizing effect on multiphase flow. For small variance in permeability, and for small correlation length, effective relative permeability can be described by capillary equilibrium models. At higher variance and moderate correlation length, the average flow can be described by a dynamic relative permeability. As the oil wettability increases, the capillary stabilizing effect decreases and the deviation from this average flow increases. For fractal fields with large variance in permeability, effective relative permeability is not adequate in describing the flow.

The Scales of Time, Length, Mass, Energy, and Other Fundamental Physical Quantities in the Atomic World and the Use of Atomic Units in Quantum Mechanical Calculations

Science.gov (United States)

Teo, Boon K.; Li, Wai-Kee

2011-01-01

This article is divided into two parts. In the first part, the atomic unit (au) system is introduced and the scales of time, space (length), and speed, as well as those of mass and energy, in the atomic world are discussed. In the second part, the utility of atomic units in quantum mechanical and spectroscopic calculations is illustrated with…

Path length entropy analysis of diastolic heart sounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Griffel, Benjamin; Zia, Mohammad K; Fridman, Vladamir; Saponieri, Cesare; Semmlow, John L

2013-09-01

Early detection of coronary artery disease (CAD) using the acoustic approach, a noninvasive and cost-effective method, would greatly improve the outcome of CAD patients. To detect CAD, we analyze diastolic sounds for possible CAD murmurs. We observed diastolic sounds to exhibit 1/f structure and developed a new method, path length entropy (PLE) and a scaled version (SPLE), to characterize this structure to improve CAD detection. We compare SPLE results to Hurst exponent, Sample entropy and Multiscale entropy for distinguishing between normal and CAD patients. SPLE achieved a sensitivity-specificity of 80%-81%, the best of the tested methods. However, PLE and SPLE are not sufficient to prove nonlinearity, and evaluation using surrogate data suggests that our cardiovascular sound recordings do not contain significant nonlinear properties. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experimental Evaluation for the Microvibration Performance of a Segmented PC Method Based High Technology Industrial Facility Using 1/2 Scale Test Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sijun Kim

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The precast concrete (PC method used in the construction process of high technology industrial facilities is limited when applied to those with greater span lengths, due to the transport length restriction (maximum length of 15~16 m in Korea set by traffic laws. In order to resolve this, this study introduces a structural system with a segmented PC system, and a 1/2 scale model with a width of 9000 mm (hereafter Segmented Model is manufactured to evaluate vibration performance. Since a real vibrational environment cannot be reproduced for vibration testing using a scale model, a comparative analysis of their relative performances is conducted in this study. For this purpose, a 1/2 scale model with a width of 7200 mm (hereafter Nonsegmented Model of a high technology industrial facility is additionally prepared using the conventional PC method. By applying the same experiment method for both scale models and comparing the results, the relative vibration performance of the Segmented Model is observed. Through impact testing, the natural frequencies of the two scale models are compared. Also, in order to analyze the estimated response induced by the equipment, the vibration responses due to the exciter are compared. The experimental results show that the Segmented Model exhibits similar or superior performances when compared to the Nonsegmented Model.

Non-perturbative gravity at different length scales

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Folkerts, Sarah

2013-01-01

In this thesis, we investigate different aspects of gravity as an effective field theory. Building on the arguments of self-completeness of Einstein gravity, we argue that any sensible theory, which does not propagate negative-norm states and reduces to General Relativity in the low energy limit is self-complete. Due to black hole formation in high energy scattering experiments, distances smaller than the Planck scale are shielded from any accessibility. Degrees of freedom with masses larger than the Planck mass are mapped to large classical black holes which are described by the already existing infrared theory. Since high energy (UV) modifications of gravity which are ghost-free can only produce stronger gravitational interactions than Einstein gravity, the black hole shielding is even more efficient in such theories. In this light, we argue that conventional attempts of a Wilsonian UV completion are severely constrained. Furthermore, we investigate the quantum picture for black holes which emerges in the low energy description put forward by Dvali and Gomez in which black holes are described as Bose-Einstein condensates of many weakly coupled gravitons. Specifically, we investigate a non-relativistic toy model which mimics certain aspects of the graviton condensate picture. This toy model describes the collapse of a condensate of attractive bosons which emits particles due to incoherent scattering. We show that it is possible that the evolution of the condensate follows the critical point which is accompanied by the appearance of a light mode. Another aspect of gravitational interactions concerns the question whether quantum gravity breaks global symmetries. Arguments relying on the no hair theorem and wormhole solutions suggest that global symmetries can be violated. In this thesis, we parametrize such effects in terms of an effective field theory description of three-form fields. We investigate the possible implications for the axion solution of the strong CP

Comparing two versions of the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS).

Science.gov (United States)

Miley, Anna Åkerstedt; Kecklund, Göran; Åkerstedt, Torbjörn

2016-01-01

The Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) is frequently used to study sleepiness in various contexts. However, it exists in two versions, one with labels on every other step (version A), and one with labels on every step (version B) on the 9-point scale. To date, there are no studies examining whether these versions can be used interchangeably. The two versions were here compared in a 24 hr wakefulness study of 12 adults. KSS ratings were obtained every hour, alternating version A and B. Results indicated that the two versions are highly correlated, do not have different response distributions on labeled and unlabeled steps, and that the distributions across all steps have a high level of correspondence (Kappa = 0.73). It was concluded that the two versions are quite similar.

Comparing the Scale of Web Subject Directories Precision in Technical-Engineering Information Retrieval

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehrdokht Wazirpour Keshmiri

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The main purpose of this research was to compare the scale of web subject directories precision in information retrieval of technical-engineering science. Information gathering was documentary and webometric. Keywords of technical-engineering science were chosen at twenty different subjects from IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and engineering magazines that situated in sciencedirect site. These keywords are used at five subject directories Yahoo, Google, Infomine, Intute, Dmoz, that were web directories high-utilization. Usually first results in searching tools are connected to searching keywords. Because, first ten results was evaluated in every search. These assessments to consist of scale of precision, scale of error, scale retrieval items in technical-engineering categories to retrieval items entirely. The used criteria for determining the scale of precision that was according to high-utilization standards in different documents, to consist of presence of the keywords in title, appearance of keywords at the part of web retrieved pages, keywords adjacency, URL of page, page description and subject categories. Information analysis was according to Kruskal-Wallis Test and L.S.D fisher. Results revealed that there was meaningful difference about precision of web subject directories in information retrieval of technical-engineering science, Therefore this theory was confirmed.web subject directories ranked from point of precision as follows. Google, Yahoo, Intute, Dmoz, and Infomine. The scale of observed error at the first results was another criterion that was used for comparing web subject directories. In this research, Yahoo had minimum scale of error and Infomine had most of error. This research also compared the scale of retrieval items in all of categories web subject directories entirely to retrieval items in technical-engineering categories, results revealed that there was meaningful difference between them. And

The Sensitivity of Income Polarization - Time, length of accounting periods, equivalence scales, and income definitions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Azhar, Hussain

This study looks at polarization and its components’ sensitivity to assumptions about equivalence scales, income definition, ethical income distribution parameters, and the income accounting period. A representative sample of Danish individual incomes from 1984 to 2002 is utilised. Results show...... that polarization has increased over time, regardless of the applied measure, when the last part of the period is compared to the first part of the period. Primary causes being increased inequality (alienation) and faster income growth among high incomes relative to those in the middle of the distribution....... Increasing the accounting period confirms the reduction in inequality found for shorter periods, but polarization is virtually unchanged, because income group identification increases. Applying different equivalence scales does not change polarization ranking for different years, but identification ranks...

Nanometer scale materials - characterization and fabrication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murday, J.S.; Colton, R.J.; Rath, B.B.

1993-01-01

Materials and solid state scientists have made excellent progress in understanding material behavior in length scales from microns to meters. Below a micron, the lack of analytical prowess has been a deterrent. At the atomic scale, chemistry and atomic/molecular physics have also contributed significant understanding of matter. The maturity of these three communities, materials, solid state physics, atomic/molecular physics/chemistry, coupled with the development of analytical capability for nanometer-sized structures, promises to broaden our grasp of materials behavior into the last realm of unexplored size scales-nanometer. The motivation for this effort is driven both by the expectation of novel properties as well as by the potential solution to long standing technological issues. Critical scale lengths for many material properties fall in the nanometer range, examples include superconductor coherence lengths, electron inelastic mean free paths, electron wavelengths in solids, critical lengths for dislocation generation. Structures of nanometer size will undoubtedly show behavior unexpected from experience at the larger and smaller scales. Many technological problems such as adhesion, friction, corrosion, elasticity and fracture are believed to depend critically on nanometer scale phenomena. The millennia-old efforts to improve materials behavior have undoubtedly been slowed by our inability to 'observe' in this size range. (orig.)

Gate length variation effect on performance of gate-first self-aligned In₀.₅₃Ga₀.₄₇As MOSFET.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohd Razip Wee, Mohd F; Dehzangi, Arash; Bollaert, Sylvain; Wichmann, Nicolas; Majlis, Burhanuddin Y

2013-01-01

A multi-gate n-type In₀.₅₃Ga₀.₄₇As MOSFET is fabricated using gate-first self-aligned method and air-bridge technology. The devices with different gate lengths were fabricated with the Al2O3 oxide layer with the thickness of 8 nm. In this letter, impact of gate length variation on device parameter such as threshold voltage, high and low voltage transconductance, subthreshold swing and off current are investigated at room temperature. Scaling the gate length revealed good enhancement in all investigated parameters but the negative shift in threshold voltage was observed for shorter gate lengths. The high drain current of 1.13 A/mm and maximum extrinsic transconductance of 678 mS/mm with the field effect mobility of 364 cm(2)/Vs are achieved for the gate length and width of 0.2 µm and 30 µm, respectively. The source/drain overlap length for the device is approximately extracted about 51 nm with the leakage current in order of 10(-8) A. The results of RF measurement for cut-off and maximum oscillation frequency for devices with different gate lengths are compared.

Gate Length Variation Effect on Performance of Gate-First Self-Aligned In0.53Ga0.47As MOSFET

Science.gov (United States)

Mohd Razip Wee, Mohd F.; Dehzangi, Arash; Bollaert, Sylvain; Wichmann, Nicolas; Majlis, Burhanuddin Y.

2013-01-01

A multi-gate n-type In0.53Ga0.47As MOSFET is fabricated using gate-first self-aligned method and air-bridge technology. The devices with different gate lengths were fabricated with the Al2O3 oxide layer with the thickness of 8 nm. In this letter, impact of gate length variation on device parameter such as threshold voltage, high and low voltage transconductance, subthreshold swing and off current are investigated at room temperature. Scaling the gate length revealed good enhancement in all investigated parameters but the negative shift in threshold voltage was observed for shorter gate lengths. The high drain current of 1.13 A/mm and maximum extrinsic transconductance of 678 mS/mm with the field effect mobility of 364 cm2/Vs are achieved for the gate length and width of 0.2 µm and 30µm, respectively. The source/drain overlap length for the device is approximately extracted about 51 nm with the leakage current in order of 10−8 A. The results of RF measurement for cut-off and maximum oscillation frequency for devices with different gate lengths are compared. PMID:24367548

Reynolds number scaling of straining motions in turbulence

Science.gov (United States)

Elsinga, Gerrit; Ishihara, T.; Goudar, M. V.; da Silva, C. B.; Hunt, J. C. R.

2017-11-01

Strain is an important fluid motion in turbulence as it is associated with the kinetic energy dissipation rate, vorticity stretching, and the dispersion of passive scalars. The present study investigates the scaling of the turbulent straining motions by evaluating the flow in the eigenframe of the local strain-rate tensor. The analysis is based on DNS of homogeneous isotropic turbulence covering a Reynolds number range Reλ = 34.6 - 1131. The resulting flow pattern reveals a shear layer containing tube-like vortices and a dissipation sheet, which both scale on the Kolmogorov length scale, η. The vorticity stretching motions scale on the Taylor length scale, while the flow outside the shear layer scales on the integral length scale. These scaling results are consistent with those in wall-bounded flow, which suggests a quantitative universality between the different flows. The overall coherence length of the vorticity is 120 η in all directions, which is considerably larger than the typical size of individual vortices, and reflects the importance of spatial organization at the small scales. Transitions in flow structure are identified at Reλ 45 and 250. Below these respective Reynolds numbers, the small-scale motions and the vorticity stretching motions appear underdeveloped.

Accounting for Scale Heterogeneity in Healthcare-Related Discrete Choice Experiments when Comparing Stated Preferences: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Stuart J; Vass, Caroline M; Sim, Gene; Burton, Michael; Fiebig, Denzil G; Payne, Katherine

2018-02-28

Scale heterogeneity, or differences in the error variance of choices, may account for a significant amount of the observed variation in the results of discrete choice experiments (DCEs) when comparing preferences between different groups of respondents. The aim of this study was to identify if, and how, scale heterogeneity has been addressed in healthcare DCEs that compare the preferences of different groups. A systematic review identified all healthcare DCEs published between 1990 and February 2016. The full-text of each DCE was then screened to identify studies that compared preferences using data generated from multiple groups. Data were extracted and tabulated on year of publication, samples compared, tests for scale heterogeneity, and analytical methods to account for scale heterogeneity. Narrative analysis was used to describe if, and how, scale heterogeneity was accounted for when preferences were compared. A total of 626 healthcare DCEs were identified. Of these 199 (32%) aimed to compare the preferences of different groups specified at the design stage, while 79 (13%) compared the preferences of groups identified at the analysis stage. Of the 278 included papers, 49 (18%) discussed potential scale issues, 18 (7%) used a formal method of analysis to account for scale between groups, and 2 (1%) accounted for scale differences between preference groups at the analysis stage. Scale heterogeneity was present in 65% (n = 13) of studies that tested for it. Analytical methods to test for scale heterogeneity included coefficient plots (n = 5, 2%), heteroscedastic conditional logit models (n = 6, 2%), Swait and Louviere tests (n = 4, 1%), generalised multinomial logit models (n = 5, 2%), and scale-adjusted latent class analysis (n = 2, 1%). Scale heterogeneity is a prevalent issue in healthcare DCEs. Despite this, few published DCEs have discussed such issues, and fewer still have used formal methods to identify and account for the impact of scale

Coarsening of stripe patterns: variations with quench depth and scaling.

Science.gov (United States)

Tripathi, Ashwani K; Kumar, Deepak

2015-02-01

The coarsening of stripe patterns when the system is evolved from random initial states is studied by varying the quench depth ε, which is a measure of distance from the transition point of the stripe phase. The dynamics of the growth of stripe order, which is characterized by two length scales, depends on the quench depth. The growth exponents of the two length scales vary continuously with ε. The decay exponents for free energy, stripe curvature, and densities of defects like grain boundaries and dislocations also show similar variation. This implies a breakdown of the standard picture of nonequilibrium dynamical scaling. In order to understand the variations with ε we propose an additional scaling with a length scale dependent on ε. The main contribution to this length scale comes from the "pinning potential," which is unique to systems where the order parameter is spatially periodic. The periodic order parameter gives rise to an ε-dependent potential, which can pin defects like grain boundaries, dislocations, etc. This additional scaling provides a compact description of variations of growth exponents with quench depth in terms of just one exponent for each of the length scales. The relaxation of free energy, stripe curvature, and the defect densities have also been related to these length scales. The study is done at zero temperature using Swift-Hohenberg equation in two dimensions.

CEBAF Upgrade Bunch Length Measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ahmad, Mahmoud [Old Dominion Univ., Norfolk, VA (United States)

2016-05-01

Many accelerators use short electron bunches and measuring the bunch length is important for efficient operations. CEBAF needs a suitable bunch length because bunches that are too long will result in beam interruption to the halls due to excessive energy spread and beam loss. In this work, bunch length is measured by invasive and non-invasive techniques at different beam energies. Two new measurement techniques have been commissioned; a harmonic cavity showed good results compared to expectations from simulation, and a real time interferometer is commissioned and first checkouts were performed. Three other techniques were used for measurements and comparison purposes without modifying the old procedures. Two of them can be used when the beam is not compressed longitudinally while the other one, the synchrotron light monitor, can be used with compressed or uncompressed beam.

Flux scaling: Ultimate regime

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

First page Back Continue Last page Overview Graphics. Flux scaling: Ultimate regime. With the Nusselt number and the mixing length scales, we get the Nusselt number and Reynolds number (w'd/ν) scalings: and or. and. scaling expected to occur at extremely high Ra Rayleigh-Benard convection. Get the ultimate regime ...

Comparative analyses of industrial-scale human platelet lysate preparations.

Science.gov (United States)

Pierce, Jan; Benedetti, Eric; Preslar, Amber; Jacobson, Pam; Jin, Ping; Stroncek, David F; Reems, Jo-Anna

2017-12-01

Efforts are underway to eliminate fetal bovine serum from mammalian cell cultures for clinical use. An emerging, viable replacement option for fetal bovine serum is human platelet lysate (PL) as either a plasma-based or serum-based product. Nine industrial-scale, serum-based PL manufacturing runs (i.e., lots) were performed, consisting of an average ± standard deviation volume of 24.6 ± 2.2 liters of pooled, platelet-rich plasma units that were obtained from apheresis donors. Manufactured lots were compared by evaluating various biochemical and functional test results. Comprehensive cytokine profiles of PL lots and product stability tests were performed. Global gene expression profiles of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) cultured with plasma-based or serum-based PL were compared to MSCs cultured with fetal bovine serum. Electrolyte and protein levels were relatively consistent among all serum-based PL lots, with only slight variations in glucose and calcium levels. All nine lots were as good as or better than fetal bovine serum in expanding MSCs. Serum-based PL stored at -80°C remained stable over 2 years. Quantitative cytokine arrays showed similarities as well as dissimilarities in the proteins present in serum-based PL. Greater differences in MSC gene expression profiles were attributable to the starting cell source rather than with the use of either PL or fetal bovine serum as a culture supplement. Using a large-scale, standardized method, lot-to-lot variations were noted for industrial-scale preparations of serum-based PL products. However, all lots performed as well as or better than fetal bovine serum in supporting MSC growth. Together, these data indicate that off-the-shelf PL is a feasible substitute for fetal bovine serum in MSC cultures. © 2017 AABB.

Modified Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac statistics if excitations are localized on an intermediate length scale: applications to non-Debye specific heat.

Science.gov (United States)

Chamberlin, Ralph V; Davis, Bryce F

2013-10-01

Disordered systems show deviations from the standard Debye theory of specific heat at low temperatures. These deviations are often attributed to two-level systems of uncertain origin. We find that a source of excess specific heat comes from correlations between quanta of energy if excitations are localized on an intermediate length scale. We use simulations of a simplified Creutz model for a system of Ising-like spins coupled to a thermal bath of Einstein-like oscillators. One feature of this model is that energy is quantized in both the system and its bath, ensuring conservation of energy at every step. Another feature is that the exact entropies of both the system and its bath are known at every step, so that their temperatures can be determined independently. We find that there is a mismatch in canonical temperature between the system and its bath. In addition to the usual finite-size effects in the Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac distributions, if excitations in the heat bath are localized on an intermediate length scale, this mismatch is independent of system size up to at least 10(6) particles. We use a model for correlations between quanta of energy to adjust the statistical distributions and yield a thermodynamically consistent temperature. The model includes a chemical potential for units of energy, as is often used for other types of particles that are quantized and conserved. Experimental evidence for this model comes from its ability to characterize the excess specific heat of imperfect crystals at low temperatures.

Unifying Pore Network Modeling, Continuous Time Random Walk (CTRW) Theory and Experiment to Describe Impact of Spatial Heterogeneities on Solute Dispersion at Multiple Length-scales

Science.gov (United States)

Bijeljic, B.; Blunt, M. J.; Rhodes, M. E.

2009-04-01

This talk will describe and highlight the advantages offered by a novel methodology that unifies pore network modeling, CTRW theory and experiment in description of solute dispersion in porous media. Solute transport in a porous medium is characterized by the interplay of advection and diffusion (described by Peclet number, Pe) that cause dispersion of solute particles. Dispersion is traditionally described by dispersion coefficients, D, that are commonly calculated from the spatial moments of the plume. Using a pore-scale network model based on particle tracking, the rich Peclet-number dependence of dispersion coefficient is predicted from first principles and is shown to compare well with experimental data for restricted diffusion, transition, power-law and mechanical dispersion regimes in the asymptotic limit. In the asymptotic limit D is constant and can be used in an averaged advection-dispersion equation. However, it is highly important to recognize that, until the velocity field is fully sampled, the particle transport is non-Gaussian and D possesses temporal or spatial variation. Furthermore, temporal probability density functions (PDF) of tracer particles are studied in pore networks and an excellent agreement for the spectrum of transition times for particles from pore to pore is obtained between network model results and CTRW theory. Based on the truncated power-law interpretation of PDF-s, the physical origin of the power-law scaling of dispersion coefficient vs. Peclet number has been explained for unconsolidated porous media, sands and a number of sandstones, arriving at the same conclusion from numerical network modelling, analytic CTRW theory and experiment. The length traveled by solute plumes before Gaussian behaviour is reached increases with an increase in heterogeneity and/or Pe. This opens up the question on the nature of dispersion in natural systems where the heterogeneities at the larger scales will significantly increase the range of

An Assessment of the Length and Variability of Mercury's Magnetotail

Science.gov (United States)

Milan, S. E.; Slavin, J. A.

2011-01-01

We employ Mariner 10 measurements of the interplanetary magnetic field in the vicinity of Mercury to estimate the rate of magnetic reconnection between the interplanetary magnetic field and the Hermean magnetosphere. We derive a time-series of the open magnetic flux in Mercury's magnetosphere. from which we can deduce the length of the magnetotail The length of the magnetotail is shown to be highly variable. with open field lines stretching between 15R(sub H) and 8S0R(sub H) downstream of the planet (median 150R(sub H)). Scaling laws allow the tail length at perihelion to be deduced from the aphelion Mariner 10 observations.

Analysing the length of care episode after hip fracture: a nonparametric and a parametric Bayesian approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Riihimäki, Jaakko; Sund, Reijo; Vehtari, Aki

2010-06-01

Effective utilisation of limited resources is a challenge for health care providers. Accurate and relevant information extracted from the length of stay distributions is useful for management purposes. Patient care episodes can be reconstructed from the comprehensive health registers, and in this paper we develop a Bayesian approach to analyse the length of care episode after a fractured hip. We model the large scale data with a flexible nonparametric multilayer perceptron network and with a parametric Weibull mixture model. To assess the performances of the models, we estimate expected utilities using predictive density as a utility measure. Since the model parameters cannot be directly compared, we focus on observables, and estimate the relevances of patient explanatory variables in predicting the length of stay. To demonstrate how the use of the nonparametric flexible model is advantageous for this complex health care data, we also study joint effects of variables in predictions, and visualise nonlinearities and interactions found in the data.

Comparative analysis of the scales of wind speed Saffir-Simpson y Rodriguez Ramirez

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blanco Heredia, R.; Llanes Buron, C.

2013-01-01

The work consists on a comparative analysis of the scales of intensity of wind internationally well-known Saffir-Simpson and the proposed scale of the carbon investigator Dr. Mario E. Rodriguez Ramirez and their use in the studies of risks for extreme winds, carrying out, the authors a proposal of use of this scale modified that they make them more compatible with the practical reality for the work to architectonic scale. The importance of the article resides in that the carried out proposal tries of femonstrating the pertinent and effective that is the application of the Cuban scale, without gets lost the importance that has as international scale the Saffir-Simpson, in its application in the studies of risks for extreme winds in any region of the basin of Great Caribbean. (Author)

The prediction of stellar effective temperatures from the mixing-length theory of convection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pedersen, B.B.; Vandenberg, D.A.; Irwin, A.W.

1990-01-01

A generalized version of the mixing-length theory (MLT) of convection, along with simplifications in the limits of high and low convective efficiency, is described. This forms the basis for a study of the effects of proposed modifications to the original (Boehm-Vitense, 1958) form of the MLT on the predicted effective temperatures of cool stars. These modifications include the parameters y and m. It is found that none of the suggested refinements to the MLT affect the location and shape of an evolutionary track on the H-R diagram in ways that cannot be mimicked to high accuracy by a suitable choice of mixing length parameters alone. Thus, if mixing length parameters is calibrated by comparing stellar models with observed main-sequence stars with well-determined properties, then the subsequent evolutionary tracks and isochrones are uniquely defined, regardless of what version of the MLT is used in the calculations. A careful examination of the Revised Yale Isochrones suggests that the Teff scale of these isochrones is inconsistent with the assumed MLT, thereby resolving much of the known discrepancies between these calculations and those of VandenBerg and Bell (1958). 44 refs

A laboratory scale fundamental time?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mendes, R.V.

2012-01-01

The existence of a fundamental time (or fundamental length) has been conjectured in many contexts. However, the ''stability of physical theories principle'' seems to be the one that provides, through the tools of algebraic deformation theory, an unambiguous derivation of the stable structures that Nature might have chosen for its algebraic framework. It is well-known that c and ℎ are the deformation parameters that stabilize the Galilean and the Poisson algebra. When the stability principle is applied to the Poincare-Heisenberg algebra, two deformation parameters emerge which define two time (or length) scales. In addition there are, for each of them, a plus or minus sign possibility in the relevant commutators. One of the deformation length scales, related to non-commutativity of momenta, is probably related to the Planck length scale but the other might be much larger and already detectable in laboratory experiments. In this paper, this is used as a working hypothesis to look for physical effects that might settle this question. Phase-space modifications, resonances, interference, electron spin resonance and non-commutative QED are considered. (orig.)

Comparative Effect of Massage Therapy versus Kangaroo Mother Care on Body Weight and Length of Hospital Stay in Low Birth Weight Preterm Infants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Priya Singh Rangey

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Massage therapy (MT and kangaroo mother care (KMC are both effective in increasing the weight and reducing length of hospital stay in low birth weight preterm infants but they have not been compared. Aim. Comparison of effectiveness of MT and KMC on body weight and length of hospital stay in low birth weight preterm (LBWPT infants. Method. 30 LBWPT infants using convenience sampling from Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, V.S. hospital, were randomly divided into 2 equal groups. Group 1 received MT and Group 2 received KMC for 15 minutes, thrice daily for 5 days. Medically stable babies with gestational age < 37 weeks and birth weight < 2500 g were included. Those on ventilators and with congenital, orthopedic, or genetic abnormality were excluded. Outcome measures, body weight and length of hospital stay, were taken before intervention day 1 and after intervention day 5. Level of significance was 5%. Result. Data was analyzed using SPSS16. Both MT and KMC were found to be effective in improving body weight (P = 0.001, P = 0.001. Both were found to be equally effective for improving body weight (P = 0.328 and reducing length of hospital stay (P = 0.868. Conclusion. MT and KMC were found to be equally effective in improving body weight and reducing length of hospital stay. Limitation. Long term follow-up was not taken.

The scaling of urban surface water abundance and impairment with city size

Science.gov (United States)

Steele, M. K.

2018-03-01

Urbanization alters surface water compared to nonurban landscapes, yet little is known regarding how basic aquatic ecosystem characteristics, such as the abundance and impairment of surface water, differ with population size or regional context. This study examined the abundance, scaling, and impairment of surface water by quantifying the stream length, water body area, and impaired stream length for 3520 cities in the United States with populations from 2500 to 18 million. Stream length, water body area, and impaired stream length were quantified using the National Hydrography Dataset and the EPA's 303(d) list. These metrics were scaled with population and city area using single and piecewise power-law models and related to biophysical factors (precipitation, topography) and land cover. Results show that abundance of stream length and water body area in cities actually increases with city area; however, the per person abundance decreases with population size. Relative to population, impaired stream length did not increase until city populations were > 25,000 people, then scaled linearly with population. Some variation in abundance and impairment was explained by biophysical context and land cover. Development intensity correlated with stream density and impairment; however, those relationships depended on the orientation of the land covers. When high intensity development occupied the local elevation highs (+ 15 m) and undeveloped land the elevation lows, the percentage of impaired streams was less than the opposite land cover orientation (- 15 m) or very flat land. These results show that surface water abundance and impairment across contiguous US cities are influenced by city size and by biophysical setting interacting with land cover intensity.

Medicine in words and numbers: a cross-sectional survey comparing probability assessment scales

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Koele Pieter

2007-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In the complex domain of medical decision making, reasoning under uncertainty can benefit from supporting tools. Automated decision support tools often build upon mathematical models, such as Bayesian networks. These networks require probabilities which often have to be assessed by experts in the domain of application. Probability response scales can be used to support the assessment process. We compare assessments obtained with different types of response scale. Methods General practitioners (GPs gave assessments on and preferences for three different probability response scales: a numerical scale, a scale with only verbal labels, and a combined verbal-numerical scale we had designed ourselves. Standard analyses of variance were performed. Results No differences in assessments over the three response scales were found. Preferences for type of scale differed: the less experienced GPs preferred the verbal scale, the most experienced preferred the numerical scale, with the groups in between having a preference for the combined verbal-numerical scale. Conclusion We conclude that all three response scales are equally suitable for supporting probability assessment. The combined verbal-numerical scale is a good choice for aiding the process, since it offers numerical labels to those who prefer numbers and verbal labels to those who prefer words, and accommodates both more and less experienced professionals.

Bunch length measurements in the SLC damping ring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Decker, F.J.; Limberg, T.; Minty, M.; Ross, M.

1993-05-01

The synchrotron light of the SLC damping ring was used to measure the bunch length with a streak camera at different times in the damping cycle. There are bunch length oscillations after injection, different equilibrium length during the cycle due to rf manipulations to avoid microwave instability oscillations, and just before extraction there is a longitudinal phase space rotation (bunch muncher) to shorten the bunch length. Measurements under these different conditions are presented and compared with BPM pulse height signals. Calibration and adjustment issues and the connection of the streak camera to the SLC control system are also discussed

A scale invariance criterion for LES parametrizations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Urs Schaefer-Rolffs

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Turbulent kinetic energy cascades in fluid dynamical systems are usually characterized by scale invariance. However, representations of subgrid scales in large eddy simulations do not necessarily fulfill this constraint. So far, scale invariance has been considered in the context of isotropic, incompressible, and three-dimensional turbulence. In the present paper, the theory is extended to compressible flows that obey the hydrostatic approximation, as well as to corresponding subgrid-scale parametrizations. A criterion is presented to check if the symmetries of the governing equations are correctly translated into the equations used in numerical models. By applying scaling transformations to the model equations, relations between the scaling factors are obtained by demanding that the mathematical structure of the equations does not change.The criterion is validated by recovering the breakdown of scale invariance in the classical Smagorinsky model and confirming scale invariance for the Dynamic Smagorinsky Model. The criterion also shows that the compressible continuity equation is intrinsically scale-invariant. The criterion also proves that a scale-invariant turbulent kinetic energy equation or a scale-invariant equation of motion for a passive tracer is obtained only with a dynamic mixing length. For large-scale atmospheric flows governed by the hydrostatic balance the energy cascade is due to horizontal advection and the vertical length scale exhibits a scaling behaviour that is different from that derived for horizontal length scales.

Childhood adversity, social support, and telomere length among perinatal women.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Amanda M; Kowalsky, Jennifer M; Epel, Elissa S; Lin, Jue; Christian, Lisa M

2018-01-01

Adverse perinatal health outcomes are heightened among women with psychosocial risk factors, including childhood adversity and a lack of social support. Biological aging could be one pathway by which such outcomes occur. However, data examining links between psychosocial factors and indicators of biological aging among perinatal women are limited. The current study examined the associations of childhood socioeconomic status (SES), childhood trauma, and current social support with telomere length in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in a sample of 81 women assessed in early, mid, and late pregnancy as well as 7-11 weeks postpartum. Childhood SES was defined as perceived childhood social class and parental educational attainment. Measures included the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and average telomere length in PBMCs. Per a linear mixed model, telomere length did not change across pregnancy and postpartum visits; thus, subsequent analyses defined telomere length as the average across all available timepoints. ANCOVAs showed group differences by perceived childhood social class, maternal and paternal educational attainment, and current family social support, with lower values corresponding with shorter telomeres, after adjustment for possible confounds. No effects of childhood trauma or social support from significant others or friends on telomere length were observed. Findings demonstrate that while current SES was not related to telomeres, low childhood SES, independent of current SES, and low family social support were distinct risk factors for cellular aging in women. These data have relevance for understanding potential mechanisms by which early life deprivation of socioeconomic and relationship resources affect maternal health. In turn, this has potential significance for intergenerational transmission of telomere length. The predictive value of

Accuracy of working length determination with root ZX apex locator ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The purpose of this study was to clinically compare working length (WL) determination with root ZX apex locator and radiography, and then compare them with direct visualization method ex vivo. A total of 75 maxillary central and lateral incisors were selected. Working length determination was carried out using radiographic ...

Dynamic critical behaviour and scaling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oezoguz, B.E.

2001-01-01

Traditionally the scaling is the property of dynamical systems at thermal equilibrium. In second order phase transitions scaling behaviour is due to the infinite correlation length around the critical point. In first order phase transitions however, the correlation length remains finite and a different type of scaling can be observed. For first order phase transitions all singularities are governed by the volume of the system. Recently, a different type of scaling, namely dynamic scaling has attracted attention in second order phase transitions. In dynamic scaling, when a system prepared at high temperature is quenched to the critical temperature, it exhibits scaling behaviour. Dynamic scaling has been applied to various spin systems and the validity of the arguments are shown. Firstly, in this thesis project the dynamic scaling is applied to 4-dimensional using spin system which exhibits second order phase transition with mean-field critical indices. Secondly, it is shown that although the dynamic is quite different, first order phase transitions also has a different type of dynamic scaling

Finite length Taylor Couette flow

Science.gov (United States)

Streett, C. L.; Hussaini, M. Y.

1987-01-01

Axisymmetric numerical solutions of the unsteady Navier-Stokes equations for flow between concentric rotating cylinders of finite length are obtained by a spectral collocation method. These representative results pertain to two-cell/one-cell exchange process, and are compared with recent experiments.

Fragment Length of Circulating Tumor DNA.

Science.gov (United States)

Underhill, Hunter R; Kitzman, Jacob O; Hellwig, Sabine; Welker, Noah C; Daza, Riza; Baker, Daniel N; Gligorich, Keith M; Rostomily, Robert C; Bronner, Mary P; Shendure, Jay

2016-07-01

Malignant tumors shed DNA into the circulation. The transient half-life of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) may afford the opportunity to diagnose, monitor recurrence, and evaluate response to therapy solely through a non-invasive blood draw. However, detecting ctDNA against the normally occurring background of cell-free DNA derived from healthy cells has proven challenging, particularly in non-metastatic solid tumors. In this study, distinct differences in fragment length size between ctDNAs and normal cell-free DNA are defined. Human ctDNA in rat plasma derived from human glioblastoma multiforme stem-like cells in the rat brain and human hepatocellular carcinoma in the rat flank were found to have a shorter principal fragment length than the background rat cell-free DNA (134-144 bp vs. 167 bp, respectively). Subsequently, a similar shift in the fragment length of ctDNA in humans with melanoma and lung cancer was identified compared to healthy controls. Comparison of fragment lengths from cell-free DNA between a melanoma patient and healthy controls found that the BRAF V600E mutant allele occurred more commonly at a shorter fragment length than the fragment length of the wild-type allele (132-145 bp vs. 165 bp, respectively). Moreover, size-selecting for shorter cell-free DNA fragment lengths substantially increased the EGFR T790M mutant allele frequency in human lung cancer. These findings provide compelling evidence that experimental or bioinformatic isolation of a specific subset of fragment lengths from cell-free DNA may improve detection of ctDNA.

Extreme telomere length dimorphism in the Tasmanian devil and related marsupials suggests parental control of telomere length.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hannah S Bender

Full Text Available Telomeres, specialised structures that protect chromosome ends, play a critical role in preserving chromosome integrity. Telomere dynamics in the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii are of particular interest in light of the emergence of devil facial tumour disease (DFTD, a transmissible malignancy that causes rapid mortality and threatens the species with extinction. We used fluorescent in situ hybridisation to investigate telomere length in DFTD cells, in healthy Tasmanian devils and in four closely related marsupial species. Here we report that animals in the Order Dasyuromorphia have chromosomes characterised by striking telomere length dimorphism between homologues. Findings in sex chromosomes suggest that telomere length dimorphism may be regulated by events in the parental germlines. Long telomeres on the Y chromosome imply that telomere lengthening occurs during spermatogenesis, whereas telomere diminution occurs during oogenesis. Although found in several somatic cell tissue types, telomere length dimorphism was not found in DFTD cancer cells, which are characterised by uniformly short telomeres. This is, to our knowledge, the first report of naturally occurring telomere length dimorphism in any species and suggests a novel strategy of telomere length control. Comparative studies in five distantly related marsupials and a monotreme indicate that telomere dimorphism evolved at least 50 million years ago.

Word-Length Correlations and Memory in Large Texts: A Visibility Network Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lev Guzmán-Vargas

2015-11-01

Full Text Available We study the correlation properties of word lengths in large texts from 30 ebooks in the English language from the Gutenberg Project (www.gutenberg.org using the natural visibility graph method (NVG. NVG converts a time series into a graph and then analyzes its graph properties. First, the original sequence of words is transformed into a sequence of values containing the length of each word, and then, it is integrated. Next, we apply the NVG to the integrated word-length series and construct the network. We show that the degree distribution of that network follows a power law, P ( k ∼ k - γ , with two regimes, which are characterized by the exponents γ s ≈ 1 . 7 (at short degree scales and γ l ≈ 1 . 3 (at large degree scales. This suggests that word lengths are much more strongly correlated at large distances between words than at short distances between words. That finding is also supported by the detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA and recurrence time distribution. These results provide new information about the universal characteristics of the structure of written texts beyond that given by word frequencies.

Inflation of the screening length induced by Bjerrum pairs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zwanikken, J.W.; van Roij, R.H.H.G.

2009-01-01

Within a modified Poisson–Boltzmann theory we study the effect of Bjerrum pairs on the typical length scale 1/¯κ over which electric fields are screened in electrolyte solutions, taking into account a simple association–dissociation equilibrium between free ions and Bjerrum pairs. At low densities

Scaling of spectra in grid turbulence with a mean cross-stream temperature gradient

Science.gov (United States)

Bahri, Carla; Arwatz, Gilad; Mueller, Michael E.; George, William K.; Hultmark, Marcus

2014-11-01

Scaling of grid turbulence with a constant mean cross-stream temperature gradient is investigated using a combination of theoretical predictions, DNS, and experimental data. Conditions for self-similarity of the governing equations and the scalar spectrum are investigated, which reveals necessary conditions for self-similarity to exist. These conditions provide a theoretical framework for scaling of the temperature spectrum as well as the temperature flux spectrum. One necessary condition, predicted by the theory, is that the characteristic length scale describing the scalar spectrum must vary as √{ t} for a self-similar solution to exist. In order to investigate this, T-NSTAP sensors, specially designed for temperature measurements at high frequencies, were deployed in a heated passive grid turbulence setup together with conventional cold-wires, and complementary DNS calculations were performed to complement and complete the experimental data. These data are used to compare the behavior of different length scales and validate the theoretical predictions.

A new subgrid characteristic length for turbulence simulations on anisotropic grids

Science.gov (United States)

Trias, F. X.; Gorobets, A.; Silvis, M. H.; Verstappen, R. W. C. P.; Oliva, A.

2017-11-01

Direct numerical simulations of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are not feasible yet for most practical turbulent flows. Therefore, dynamically less complex mathematical formulations are necessary for coarse-grained simulations. In this regard, eddy-viscosity models for Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) are probably the most popular example thereof. This type of models requires the calculation of a subgrid characteristic length which is usually associated with the local grid size. For isotropic grids, this is equal to the mesh step. However, for anisotropic or unstructured grids, such as the pancake-like meshes that are often used to resolve near-wall turbulence or shear layers, a consensus on defining the subgrid characteristic length has not been reached yet despite the fact that it can strongly affect the performance of LES models. In this context, a new definition of the subgrid characteristic length is presented in this work. This flow-dependent length scale is based on the turbulent, or subgrid stress, tensor and its representations on different grids. The simplicity and mathematical properties suggest that it can be a robust definition that minimizes the effects of mesh anisotropies on simulation results. The performance of the proposed subgrid characteristic length is successfully tested for decaying isotropic turbulence and a turbulent channel flow using artificially refined grids. Finally, a simple extension of the method for unstructured meshes is proposed and tested for a turbulent flow around a square cylinder. Comparisons with existing subgrid characteristic length scales show that the proposed definition is much more robust with respect to mesh anisotropies and has a great potential to be used in complex geometries where highly skewed (unstructured) meshes are present.

Lienard--Wiechert's potentials and the relativistic length conception

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Strel' tsov, V N

1974-12-31

ABS>The concept of the distance (used in electrodynamics, based on the Lignard--Wiechert's potentials) which gives evidence for the conception of the relativistic length (as a space part of half difference of two 4-vectors describing the light signal distribution along some scale in the forward and backward direction) different from the conventional conception is outlined. (auth)

Scale covariant physics: a 'quantum deformation' of classical electrodynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knoll, Yehonatan; Yavneh, Irad

2010-01-01

We present a deformation of classical electrodynamics, continuously depending on a 'quantum parameter', featuring manifest gauge, Poincare and scale covariance. The theory, dubbed extended charge dynamics (ECD), associates a certain length scale with each charge which, due to scale covariance, is an attribute of a solution, not a parameter of the theory. When the EM field experienced by an ECD charge is slowly varying over that length scale, the dynamics of the charge reduces to classical dynamics, its emitted radiation reduces to the familiar Lienard-Wiechert potential and the above length scale is identified as the charge's Compton length. It is conjectured that quantum mechanics describes statistical aspects of ensembles of ECD solutions, much like classical thermodynamics describes statistical aspects of ensembles of classical solutions. A unique 'remote sensing' feature of ECD, supporting that conjecture, is presented, along with an explanation for the illusion of a photon within a classical treatment of the EM field. Finally, a novel conservation law associated with the scale covariance of ECD is derived, indicating that the scale of a solution may 'drift' with time at a constant rate, much like translation covariance implies a uniform drift of the (average) position.

Stimulus-dependent modulation of spike burst length in cat striate cortical cells.

Science.gov (United States)

DeBusk, B C; DeBruyn, E J; Snider, R K; Kabara, J F; Bonds, A B

1997-07-01

Burst activity, defined by groups of two or more spikes with intervals of cats. Bursting varied broadly across a population of 507 simple and complex cells. Half of this population had > or = 42% of their spikes contained in bursts. The fraction of spikes in bursts did not vary as a function of average firing rate and was stationary over time. Peaks in the interspike interval histograms were found at both 3-5 ms and 10-30 ms. In many cells the locations of these peaks were independent of firing rate, indicating a quantized control of firing behavior at two different time scales. The activity at the shorter time scale most likely results from intrinsic properties of the cell membrane, and that at the longer scale from recurrent network excitation. Burst frequency (bursts per s) and burst length (spikes per burst) both depended on firing rate. Burst frequency was essentially linear with firing rate, whereas burst length was a nonlinear function of firing rate and was also governed by stimulus orientation. At a given firing rate, burst length was greater for optimal orientations than for nonoptimal orientations. No organized orientation dependence was seen in bursts from lateral geniculate nucleus cells. Activation of cortical contrast gain control at low response amplitudes resulted in no burst length modulation, but burst shortening at optimal orientations was found in responses characterized by supersaturation. At a given firing rate, cortical burst length was shortened by microinjection of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and bursts became longer in the presence of N-methyl-bicuculline, a GABA(A) receptor blocker. These results are consistent with a model in which responses are reduced at nonoptimal orientations, at least in part, by burst shortening that is mediated by GABA. A similar mechanism contributes to response supersaturation at high contrasts via recruitment of inhibitory responses that are tuned to adjacent orientations. Burst length modulation can serve

Choice of word length in the design of a specialized hardware for lossless wavelet compression of medical images

Science.gov (United States)

Urriza, Isidro; Barragan, Luis A.; Artigas, Jose I.; Garcia, Jose I.; Navarro, Denis

1997-11-01

Image compression plays an important role in the archiving and transmission of medical images. Discrete cosine transform (DCT)-based compression methods are not suitable for medical images because of block-like image artifacts that could mask or be mistaken for pathology. Wavelet transforms (WTs) are used to overcome this problem. When implementing WTs in hardware, finite precision arithmetic introduces quantization errors. However, lossless compression is usually required in the medical image field. Thus, the hardware designer must look for the optimum register length that, while ensuring the lossless accuracy criteria, will also lead to a high-speed implementation with small chip area. In addition, wavelet choice is a critical issue that affects image quality as well as system design. We analyze the filters best suited to image compression that appear in the literature. For them, we obtain the maximum quantization errors produced in the calculation of the WT components. Thus, we deduce the minimum word length required for the reconstructed image to be numerically identical to the original image. The theoretical results are compared with experimental results obtained from algorithm simulations on random test images. These results enable us to compare the hardware implementation cost of the different filter banks. Moreover, to reduce the word length, we have analyzed the case of increasing the integer part of the numbers while maintaining constant the word length when the scale increases.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE METHODS FOR EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVE LENGTH OF COLUMNS

OpenAIRE

Paschal Chimeremeze Chiadighikaobi

2017-01-01

This article looks into the effective length of columns using different methods. The codes in use in this article are those from the AISC (American Institute of Steel Construction). And that of AS 4100 (Australian Steel code). A conclusion was drawn after investigating a frame using three different methods. Solved Exercise 6 (LeMessurier Method) was investigated using same frame but different dimension. Further analysis and investigation will be done using Java codes to analyze the frames.

Size variation and collapse of emphysema holes at inspiration and expiration CT scan: evaluation with modified length scale method and image co-registration.

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Sang Young; Lee, Minho; Seo, Joon Beom; Kim, Namkug; Lee, Sang Min; Lee, Jae Seung; Oh, Yeon Mok

2017-01-01

A novel approach of size-based emphysema clustering has been developed, and the size variation and collapse of holes in emphysema clusters are evaluated at inspiratory and expiratory computed tomography (CT). Thirty patients were visually evaluated for the size-based emphysema clustering technique and a total of 72 patients were evaluated for analyzing collapse of the emphysema hole in this study. A new approach for the size differentiation of emphysema holes was developed using the length scale, Gaussian low-pass filtering, and iteration approach. Then, the volumetric CT results of the emphysema patients were analyzed using the new method, and deformable registration was carried out between inspiratory and expiratory CT. Blind visual evaluations of EI by two readers had significant correlations with the classification using the size-based emphysema clustering method ( r -values of reader 1: 0.186, 0.890, 0.915, and 0.941; reader 2: 0.540, 0.667, 0.919, and 0.942). The results of collapse of emphysema holes using deformable registration were compared with the pulmonary function test (PFT) parameters using the Pearson's correlation test. The mean extents of low-attenuation area (LAA), E1 (holes may be useful for understanding the dynamic collapse of emphysema and its functional relation.

Scaling and predictability in stock markets: a comparative study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huishu Zhang

Full Text Available Most people who invest in stock markets want to be rich, thus, many technical methods have been created to beat the market. If one knows the predictability of the price series in different markets, it would be easier for him/her to make the technical analysis, at least to some extent. Here we use one of the most basic sold-and-bought trading strategies to establish the profit landscape, and then calculate the parameters to characterize the strength of predictability. According to the analysis of scaling of the profit landscape, we find that the Chinese individual stocks are harder to predict than US ones, and the individual stocks are harder to predict than indexes in both Chinese stock market and US stock market. Since the Chinese (US stock market is a representative of emerging (developed markets, our comparative study on the markets of these two countries is of potential value not only for conducting technical analysis, but also for understanding physical mechanisms of different kinds of markets in terms of scaling.

Scaling and predictability in stock markets: a comparative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Huishu; Wei, Jianrong; Huang, Jiping

2014-01-01

Most people who invest in stock markets want to be rich, thus, many technical methods have been created to beat the market. If one knows the predictability of the price series in different markets, it would be easier for him/her to make the technical analysis, at least to some extent. Here we use one of the most basic sold-and-bought trading strategies to establish the profit landscape, and then calculate the parameters to characterize the strength of predictability. According to the analysis of scaling of the profit landscape, we find that the Chinese individual stocks are harder to predict than US ones, and the individual stocks are harder to predict than indexes in both Chinese stock market and US stock market. Since the Chinese (US) stock market is a representative of emerging (developed) markets, our comparative study on the markets of these two countries is of potential value not only for conducting technical analysis, but also for understanding physical mechanisms of different kinds of markets in terms of scaling.

Scaling of rotational inertia of primate mandibles.

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Callum F; Iriarte-Diaz, Jose; Platts, Ellen; Walsh, Treva; Heins, Liam; Gerstner, Geoffrey E; Taylor, Andrea B

2017-05-01

The relative importance of pendulum mechanics and muscle mechanics in chewing dynamics has implications for understanding the optimality criteria driving the evolution of primate feeding systems. The Spring Model (Ross et al., 2009b), which modeled the primate chewing system as a forced mass-spring system, predicted that chew cycle time would increase faster than was actually observed. We hypothesized that if mandibular momentum plays an important role in chewing dynamics, more accurate estimates of the rotational inertia of the mandible would improve the accuracy with which the Spring Model predicts the scaling of primate chew cycle period. However, if mass-related momentum effects are of negligible importance in the scaling of primate chew cycle period, this hypothesis would be falsified. We also predicted that greater "robusticity" of anthropoid mandibles compared with prosimians would be associated with higher moments of inertia. From computed tomography scans, we estimated the scaling of the moment of inertia (I j ) of the mandibles of thirty-one species of primates, including 22 anthropoid and nine prosimian species, separating I j into the moment about a transverse axis through the center of mass (I xx ) and the moment of the center of mass about plausible axes of rotation. We found that across primates I j increases with positive allometry relative to jaw length, primarily due to positive allometry of jaw mass and I xx , and that anthropoid mandibles have greater rotational inertia compared with prosimian mandibles of similar length. Positive allometry of I j of primate mandibles actually lowers the predictive ability of the Spring Model, suggesting that scaling of primate chew cycle period, and chewing dynamics in general, are more strongly influenced by factors other than scaling of inertial properties of the mandible, such as the dynamic properties of the jaw muscles and neural control. Differences in cycle period scaling between chewing and locomotion

A Small Crack Length Evaluation Technique by Electronic Scanning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Yong Sang; Kim, Jae Hoon

2009-01-01

The results of crack evaluation by conventional UT(Ultrasonic Test)is highly depend on the inspector's experience or knowledge of ultrasound. Phased array UT system and its application methods for small crack length evaluation will be a good alternative method which overcome present UT weakness. This study was aimed at checking the accuracy of crack length evaluation method by electronic scanning and discuss about characteristics of electronic scanning for crack length evaluation. Especially ultrasonic phased array with electronic scan technique was used in carrying out both sizing and detect ability of crack as its length changes. The response of ultrasonic phased array was analyzed to obtain the special method of determining crack length without moving the transducer and detectability of crack minimal length and depth from the material. A method of crack length determining by electronic scanning for the small crack is very real method which has it's accuracy and verify the effectiveness of method compared to a conventional crack length determination

Multi-scale modeling of dispersed gas-liquid two-phase flow

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Deen, N.G.; Sint Annaland, van M.; Kuipers, J.A.M.

2004-01-01

In this work the concept of multi-scale modeling is demonstrated. The idea of this approach is to use different levels of modeling, each developed to study phenomena at a certain length scale. Information obtained at the level of small length scales can be used to provide closure information at the

Why the Length of a Quantum String Cannot Be Lorentz Contracted

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio Aurilia

2013-01-01

Full Text Available We propose a quantum gravity-extended form of the classical length contraction law obtained in special relativity. More specifically, the framework of our discussion is the UV self-complete theory of quantum gravity. We show how our results are consistent with (i the generalized form of the uncertainty principle (GUP, (ii the so-called hoop-conjecture, and (iii the intriguing notion of “classicalization” of trans-Planckian physics. We argue that there is a physical limit to the Lorentz contraction rule in the form of some minimal universal length determined by quantum gravity, say the Planck Length, or any of its current embodiments such as the string length, or the TeV quantum gravity length scale. In the latter case, we determine the critical boost that separates the ordinary “particle phase,” characterized by the Compton wavelength, from the “black hole phase,” characterized by the effective Schwarzschild radius of the colliding system.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE METHODS FOR EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVE LENGTH OF COLUMNS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paschal Chimeremeze Chiadighikaobi

2017-08-01

Full Text Available This article looks into the effective length of columns using different methods. The codes in use in this article are those from the AISC (American Institute of Steel Construction. And that of AS 4100 (Australian Steel code. A conclusion was drawn after investigating a frame using three different methods. Solved Exercise 6 (LeMessurier Method was investigated using same frame but different dimension. Further analysis and investigation will be done using Java codes to analyze the frames.

Scanning transmission x-ray microscopy of polymer nanoparticles: probing morphology on sub-10 nm length scales.

Science.gov (United States)

Burke, Kerry B; Stapleton, Andrew J; Vaughan, Ben; Zhou, Xiaojing; Kilcoyne, A L David; Belcher, Warwick J; Dastoor, Paul C

2011-07-01

Water-processable nanoparticle dispersions of semiconducting polymers offer an attractive approach to the fabrication of organic electronic devices since they offer: (1) control of nanoscale morphology and (2) environmentally friendly fabrication. Although the nature of phase segregation in these polymer nanoparticles is critical to device performance, to date there have been no techniques available to directly determine their intra-particle structure, which consequently has been poorly understood. Here, we present scanning transmission x-ray microscopy (STXM) compositional maps for nanoparticles fabricated from poly(9,9-dioctyl-fluorene-2,7-diyl-co-bis-N, N'-(4-butylphenyl)-bis-N, N'-phenyl-1,4-phenylenedi-amine) (PFB) and poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-2,7-diyl-co-benzothiadiazole) (F8BT) 1:1 blend mixtures. The images show distinct phase segregation within the nanoparticles. The compositional data reveals that, within these nanoparticles, PFB and F8BT segregate into a core-shell morphology, with an F8BT-rich core and a PFB-rich shell. Structural modelling demonstrates that the STXM technique is capable of quantifying morphological features on a sub-10 nm length scale; below the spot size of the incident focused x-ray beam. These results have important implications for the development of water-based 'solar paints' fabricated from microemulsions of semiconducting polymers.

Scanning transmission x-ray microscopy of polymer nanoparticles: probing morphology on sub-10 nm length scales

Science.gov (United States)

Burke, Kerry B.; Stapleton, Andrew J.; Vaughan, Ben; Zhou, Xiaojing; Kilcoyne, A. L. David; Belcher, Warwick J.; Dastoor, Paul C.

2011-07-01

Water-processable nanoparticle dispersions of semiconducting polymers offer an attractive approach to the fabrication of organic electronic devices since they offer: (1) control of nanoscale morphology and (2) environmentally friendly fabrication. Although the nature of phase segregation in these polymer nanoparticles is critical to device performance, to date there have been no techniques available to directly determine their intra-particle structure, which consequently has been poorly understood. Here, we present scanning transmission x-ray microscopy (STXM) compositional maps for nanoparticles fabricated from poly(9,9-dioctyl-fluorene-2,7-diyl-co-bis-N, N'-(4-butylphenyl)-bis-N, N'-phenyl-1,4-phenylenedi-amine) (PFB) and poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-2,7-diyl-co-benzothiadiazole) (F8BT) 1:1 blend mixtures. The images show distinct phase segregation within the nanoparticles. The compositional data reveals that, within these nanoparticles, PFB and F8BT segregate into a core-shell morphology, with an F8BT-rich core and a PFB-rich shell. Structural modelling demonstrates that the STXM technique is capable of quantifying morphological features on a sub-10 nm length scale; below the spot size of the incident focused x-ray beam. These results have important implications for the development of water-based 'solar paints' fabricated from microemulsions of semiconducting polymers.

Scanning transmission x-ray microscopy of polymer nanoparticles: probing morphology on sub-10 nm length scales

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burke, Kerry B; Stapleton, Andrew J; Vaughan, Ben; Zhou Xiaojing; Belcher, Warwick J; Dastoor, Paul C; Kilcoyne, A L David

2011-01-01

Water-processable nanoparticle dispersions of semiconducting polymers offer an attractive approach to the fabrication of organic electronic devices since they offer: (1) control of nanoscale morphology and (2) environmentally friendly fabrication. Although the nature of phase segregation in these polymer nanoparticles is critical to device performance, to date there have been no techniques available to directly determine their intra-particle structure, which consequently has been poorly understood. Here, we present scanning transmission x-ray microscopy (STXM) compositional maps for nanoparticles fabricated from poly(9,9-dioctyl-fluorene-2,7-diyl-co-bis-N, N ' -(4-butylphenyl)-bis-N, N ' -phenyl-1,4-phenylenedi-amine) (PFB) and poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-2,7-diyl-co-benzothiadiazole) (F8BT) 1:1 blend mixtures. The images show distinct phase segregation within the nanoparticles. The compositional data reveals that, within these nanoparticles, PFB and F8BT segregate into a core-shell morphology, with an F8BT-rich core and a PFB-rich shell. Structural modelling demonstrates that the STXM technique is capable of quantifying morphological features on a sub-10 nm length scale; below the spot size of the incident focused x-ray beam. These results have important implications for the development of water-based 'solar paints' fabricated from microemulsions of semiconducting polymers.

Micro- and meso-scale effects of forested terrain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dellwik, Ebba; Mann, Jakob; Sogachev, Andrey

2011-01-01

scales are the height of the planetary boundary layer and the Monin-Obukhov length, which both are related to the energy balance of the surface. Examples of important micro- and meso-scale effects of forested terrain are shown using data and model results from recent and ongoing experiments. For micro......The height and rotor diameter of modern wind turbines are so extensive, that the wind conditions they encounter often are well above the surface layer, where traditionally it is assumed that wind direction and turbulent fluxes are constant with respect to height, if the surface is homogenous....... Deviations from the requirement of homogeneity are often the focus of micro-scale studies in forested areas. Yet, to explain the wind climate in the relevant height range for turbines, it is necessary to also account for the length scales that are important parameters for the meso-scale flow. These length...

Taylor-plasticity-based analysis of length scale effects in void growth

KAUST Repository

Liu, Junxian

2014-09-25

We have studied the void growth problem by employing the Taylor-based strain gradient plasticity theories, from which we have chosen the following three, namely, the mechanism-based strain gradient (MSG) plasticity (Gao et al 1999 J. Mech. Phys. Solids 47 1239, Huang et al 2000 J. Mech. Phys. Solids 48 99-128), the Taylor-based nonlocal theory (TNT; 2001 Gao and Huang 2001 Int. J. Solids Struct. 38 2615) and the conventional theory of MSG (CMSG; Huang et al 2004 Int. J. Plast. 20 753). We have addressed the following three issues which occur when plastic deformation at the void surface is unconstrained. (1) Effects of elastic deformation. Elasticity is essential for cavitation instability. It is therefore important to guarantee that the gradient term entering the Taylor model is the effective plastic strain gradient instead of the total strain gradient. We propose a simple elastic-plastic decomposition method. When the void size approaches the minimum allowable initial void size related to the maximum allowable geometrically necessary dislocation density, overestimation of the flow stress due to the negligence of the elastic strain gradient is on the order of lεY/R0 near the void surface, where l, εY and R0 are, respectively, the intrinsic material length scale, the yield strain and the initial void radius. (2) MSG intrinsic inconsistency, which was initially mentioned in Gao et al (1999 J. Mech. Phys. Solids 47 1239) but has not been the topic of follow-up studies. We realize that MSG higher-order stress arises due to the linear-strain-field approximation within the mesoscale cell with a nonzero size, lε. Simple analysis shows that within an MSG mesoscale cell near the void surface, the difference between microscale and mesoscale strains is on the order of (lε/R0)2, indicating that when lε/R0 ∼ 1.0, the higher-order stress effect can make the MSG result considerably different from the TNT or CMSG results. (3) Critical condition for cavitation instability

The influence of presentation method on auditory length perception

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kirkwood, Brent Christopher

2005-01-01

Humans are capable of hearing the lengths of wooden rods dropped onto hard floors. In an attempt to understand the influence of the stimulus presentation method for testing this kind of everyday listening task, listener performance was compared for three presentation methods in an auditory length...

The Influence of Presentation Method on Auditory Length Perception

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kirkwood, Brent Christopher

Humans are capable of hearing the lengths of wooden rods dropped onto hard floors. In an attempt to understand the influence of the stimulus presentation method for testing this kind of everyday listening task, listener performance was compared for three presentation methods in an auditory length...

Comparative validation of proxy-based montgomery-asberg depression rating scale and cornell scale for depression in dementia in nursing home residents with dementia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Leontjevas, R.; Gerritsen, D.L.; Vernooij-Dassen, M.F.J.; Smalbrugge, M.; Koopmans, R.T.C.M.

2012-01-01

Objective: To 1) compare the accuracy of the Montgomery-̊Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD) in nursing home residents with dementia when professional caregivers are the only available source of information and 2) explore different methods

Turbulence closure for mixing length theories

Science.gov (United States)

Jermyn, Adam S.; Lesaffre, Pierre; Tout, Christopher A.; Chitre, Shashikumar M.

2018-05-01

We present an approach to turbulence closure based on mixing length theory with three-dimensional fluctuations against a two-dimensional background. This model is intended to be rapidly computable for implementation in stellar evolution software and to capture a wide range of relevant phenomena with just a single free parameter, namely the mixing length. We incorporate magnetic, rotational, baroclinic, and buoyancy effects exactly within the formalism of linear growth theories with non-linear decay. We treat differential rotation effects perturbatively in the corotating frame using a novel controlled approximation, which matches the time evolution of the reference frame to arbitrary order. We then implement this model in an efficient open source code and discuss the resulting turbulent stresses and transport coefficients. We demonstrate that this model exhibits convective, baroclinic, and shear instabilities as well as the magnetorotational instability. It also exhibits non-linear saturation behaviour, and we use this to extract the asymptotic scaling of various transport coefficients in physically interesting limits.

Scale Effect of Premixed Methane-Air Combustion in Confined Space Using LES Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liang Wang

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Gas explosion is the most hazardous incident occurring in underground airways. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD techniques are sophisticated in simulating explosions in confined spaces; specifically, when testing large-scale gaseous explosions, such as methane explosions in underground mines. The dimensions of a confined space where explosions could occur vary significantly. Thus, the scale effect on explosion parameters is worth investigating. In this paper, the impact of scaling on explosion overpressures is investigated by employing two scaling factors: The Gas-fill Length Scaling Factor (FLSF and the Hydraulic Diameter Scaling Factor (HDSF. The combinations of eight FLSFs and five HDSFs will cover a wide range of space dimensions where flammable gas could accumulate. Experiments were also conducted to evaluate the selected numerical models. The Large Eddy Simulation turbulence model was selected because it shows accuracy compared to the widely used Reynolds’ averaged models for the scenarios investigated in the experiments. Three major conclusions can be drawn: (1 The overpressure increases with both FLSF and HDSF within the deflagration regime; (2 In an explosion duct with a length to diameter ratio greater than 54, detonation is more likely to be triggered for a stoichiometric methane/air mixture; (3 Overpressure increases as an increment hydraulic diameter of a geometry within deflagration regime. A relative error of 7% is found when predicting blast peak overpressure for the base case compared to the experiment; a good agreement for the wave arrival time is also achieved.

Minimal length uncertainty relation and ultraviolet regularization

Science.gov (United States)

Kempf, Achim; Mangano, Gianpiero

1997-06-01

Studies in string theory and quantum gravity suggest the existence of a finite lower limit Δx0 to the possible resolution of distances, at the latest on the scale of the Planck length of 10-35 m. Within the framework of the Euclidean path integral we explicitly show ultraviolet regularization in field theory through this short distance structure. Both rotation and translation invariance can be preserved. An example is studied in detail.

Dependence of the L-Mode scrape-off layer power fall-off length on the upper triangularity in TCV

Science.gov (United States)

Faitsch, M.; Maurizio, R.; Gallo, A.; Coda, S.; Eich, T.; Labit, B.; Merle, A.; Reimerdes, H.; Sieglin, B.; Theiler, C.; the Eurofusion MST1 Team; the TCV Team

2018-04-01

This paper reports on experimental observations on TCV with a scan in upper triangularity {δ }up}, including negative triangularity, focusing on the power fall-off length {λ }{{q}} in L-Mode. The upper triangularity is scanned from -0.28 to 0.47. Smaller {λ }{{q}}out} is measured at the outer divertor target for decreasing {δ }up} together with higher edge temperature {T}{{e},{edge}} leading to increased confinement. This effect is observed for both magnetic drift directions for discharges in deuterium and helium. In helium larger {λ }{{q}} values are observed compared to deuterium. The power fall-off length at the inner divertor target {λ }{{q}}in} has a non-monotonic behaviour with changing triangularity. The largest values are around {δ }up}=0. The ratio {λ }{{q}}in}/{λ }{{q}}out} increases for decreasing {δ }up} for positive triangularity and is approximately constant for negative triangularity. {λ }{{q}}out} is compared to available scaling laws. Partial agreement is only observed for a scaling law containing a proxy for {T}{{e},{edge}} at ASDEX Upgrade (Sieglin 2016 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 58 055015). Extending this scaling to TCV and using {T}{{e},{edge}} at {ρ }pol}=0.95 suggests that {λ }{{q}}out} is independent of machine size {λ }{{q}}{{L} - {Mode}} ({mm}) = 165\\cdot {B}pol}{({{T}})}-0.66\\cdot A{({{u}})}-0.15\\cdot {T}{{e},{edge}}{({eV})}-0.93\\cdot R{({{m}})}-0.03. Possible explanations for smaller {λ }{{q}}out} for decreasing {δ }up} is a reduction in turbulence or a direct effect of increasing {T}{{e},{edge}}.

Detection of different-time-scale signals in the length of day variation based on EEMD analysis technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenbin Shen

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Scientists pay great attention to different-time-scale signals in the length of day (LOD variations ΔLOD, which provide signatures of the Earth's interior structure, couplings among different layers, and potential excitations of ocean and atmosphere. In this study, based on the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD, we analyzed the latest time series of ΔLOD data spanning from January 1962 to March 2015. We observed the signals with periods and amplitudes of about 0.5 month and 0.19 ms, 1.0 month and 0.19 ms, 0.5 yr and 0.22 ms, 1.0 yr and 0.18 ms, 2.28 yr and 0.03 ms, 5.48 yr and 0.05 ms, respectively, in coincidence with the results of predecessors. In addition, some signals that were previously not definitely observed by predecessors were detected in this study, with periods and amplitudes of 9.13 d and 0.12 ms, 13.69 yr and 0.10 ms, respectively. The mechanisms of the LOD fluctuations of these two signals are still open.

Short Is Beautiful: Dimensionality and Measurement Invariance in Two Length of the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction at Work Scale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mårten Eriksson

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Self-determination theory proposes that all humans have three intrinsic psychological needs: the needs for Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness. These needs take different forms in different areas of life. The present study examines the psychometric properties of a Swedish version of the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction at Work (BPNS-W scale. The fit of 10-factor structures previously suggested for related versions of the scale were compared. Cross-sectional data from 1,200 participants were examined in a confirmatory factor analysis framework. Both the original 21-item version and a reduced 12-item version of the BPNS-W were examined. The General Health Questionnaire was used for validation. The results supported a three-factor solution with correlated error variances for the reversed items. Invariance testing of the long and short scales gave best support to the short scale, for which partial scalar invariance was achieved. The external validity of the short scale was supported by a hierarchical regression analysis in which each need made a unique contribution in predicting psychological well-being. In conclusion, the results corroborate a three-factor structure of BPNS-W. Although not perfect the short scale should, it is argued, be preferred over the long version. Directions for the future development of the scale are discussed.

Comparative reproductive and physiological responses of northern bobwhite and scaled quail to water deprivation

Science.gov (United States)

Giuliano, W.M.; Patino, R.; Lutz, R.S.

1998-01-01

We compared reproductive and physiological responses of captive female northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and scaled quail (Callipepla squamata) under control and water deprivation conditions. Scaled quail required less food and water to reproduce successfully under control conditions than northern bobwhite. Additionally, in scaled quail, serum osmolality levels and kidney mass were unaffected by water deprivation, whereas in northern bobwhite, serum osmolality levels increased and kidney mass declined. This finding indicates that scaled quail may have osmoregulatory abilities superior to those of northern bobwhite. Under control conditions, northern bobwhite gained more body mass and produced more but smaller eggs than scaled quail. Under water deprivation conditions, northern bobwhite lost more body mass but had more laying hens with a higher rate of egg production than scaled quail. Our data suggest that northern bobwhite allocated more resources to reproduction than to body maintenance, while scaled quail apparently forego reproduction in favor of body maintenance during water deprivation conditions.

The analysis of projected fission track lengths

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laslett, G.M.; Galbraith, R.F.; Green, P.F.

1994-01-01

This article deals with the question of how features of the thermal history can be estimated from projected track length measurements, i.e. lengths of the remaining parts of tracks that have intersected a surface, projected onto that surface. The appropriate mathematical theory is described and used to provide a sound basis both for understanding the nature of projected length measurements and for analysing observed data. The estimation of thermal history parameters corresponding to the current temperature, the maximum palaeotemperature and the time since cooling, is studied using laboratory data and simulations. In general the information contained in projected track lengths and angles is fairly limited, compared, for example, with that from a much smaller number of confined tracks, though we identify some circumstances when such measurements may be useful. Also it is not straightforward to extract the information and simple ad hoc estimation methods are generally inadequate. (author)

The Effects of Cannabis on Inpatient Agitation, Aggression, and Length of Stay.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Joseph M; Wu, Chris Y; Winder, Gerald Scott; Casher, Michael I; Marshall, Vincent D; Bostwick, Jolene R

2016-01-01

This study examines the association between cannabis use and the hospital course of patients admitted to the psychiatric inpatient unit with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder. Many confounding variables potentially contribute to the clinical presentation of hospitalized patients in the psychiatric unit. Illicit drug use, in particular, has been associated with acute agitation, and questions can be raised as to what lasting effects drug use prior to admission may have throughout a patient's hospital stay. Subjects with a discharge diagnosis of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or psychosis not otherwise specified (N = 201) were retrospectively identified, and those with positive results of urine drug screen for cannabis on admission were compared to negative counterparts. Agitation and aggression were measured using an adaptation of the Excited Component of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS-EC). These markers were also quantified by comparing charted episodes of restraint and seclusion and administration of as needed medications, such as benzodiazepines and antipsychotics. Positive urine drug screen results for cannabis was correlated with young (p = .001) males (p = .003) with bipolar disorder (p = .009) exhibiting active manic symptoms (p = .003) at the time of admission. Cannabis use was further associated with a shorter length of stay (p = .008), agitation triggering adapted PANSS-EC nursing assessments (p = .029), and oral medications as needed (p = .002) for agitation. Cannabis use, as defined by positive urine drug screen results, was more common in patients with bipolar disorder and was accompanied by a higher incidence of inpatient agitation. Although these patients also had short hospital lengths of stay, there was no clear relationship between level of agitation and length of stay across all patient groups. One possible explanation for patients with bipolar disorder

The length-weight and length-length relationships of bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix (Linnaeus, 1766 from Samsun, middle Black Sea region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melek Özpiçak

2017-10-01

Full Text Available In this study, length-weight relationship (LWR and length-length relationship (LLR of bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix were determined. A total of 125 specimens were sampled from Samsun, the middle Black Sea in 2014 fishing season. Bluefish specimens were monthly collected from commercial fishing boats from October to December 2014. All captured individuals (N=125 were measured to the nearest 0.1 cm for total, fork and standard lengths. The weight of each fish (W was recorded to the nearest 0.01 g. According to results of analyses, there were no statistically significant differences between sexes in term of length and weight (P˃0.05. The minimum and maximum total, fork and standard lengths of bluefish ranged between 13.5-23.6 cm, 12.50-21.80 cm and 10.60-20.10 cm, respectively. The equation of length-weight relationship were calculated as W=0.008TL3.12 (r2>0.962. Positive allometric growth was observed for bluefish (b>3. Length-length relationship was also highly significant (P<0.001 with coefficient of determination (r2 ranging from 0.916 to 0.988.

WDM networking on a European Scale

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Parnis, Noel; Limal, Emmanuel; Hjelme, Dag R.

1998-01-01

Four different topological approaches to designing a pan-European optical network are discussed. For such an ultra-high capacity large-scale network, it is necessary to overcome physical path length limitations and to limit Optical Cross-Connect (OXC) complexity.......Four different topological approaches to designing a pan-European optical network are discussed. For such an ultra-high capacity large-scale network, it is necessary to overcome physical path length limitations and to limit Optical Cross-Connect (OXC) complexity....

Comparative Analysis of Human and Canine Campylobacter upsaliensis Isolates by Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Damborg, Peter; Guardabassi, Luca; Pedersen, Karl

2008-01-01

Human (n = 33) and canine (n = 53) Campylobacter upsaliensis isolates from seven countries were genotyped by a new amplified fragment length polymorphism method. We observed 100% typeability and high overall diversity. The majority of human strains (23/33) clustered separately from canine strains...

Accurate switching intensities and length scales in quasi-phase-matched materials

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bang, Ole; Graversen, Torben Winther; Corney, Joel Frederick

2001-01-01

We consider unseeded typeI second-harmonic generation in quasi-phase-matched quadratic nonlinear materials and derive an accurate analytical expression for the evolution of the average intensity. The intensity- dependent nonlinear phase mismatch that is due to the cubic nonlinearity induced...... by quasi phase matching is found. The equivalent formula for the intensity of maximum conversion, the crossing of which changes the one-period nonlinear phase shift of the fundamental abruptly by p , corrects earlier estimates [Opt.Lett. 23, 506 (1998)] by a factor of 5.3. We find the crystal lengths...... that are necessary to obtain an optimal flat phase versus intensity response on either side of this separatrix intensity....

Displacement-length scaling of brittle faults in ductile shear.

Science.gov (United States)

Grasemann, Bernhard; Exner, Ulrike; Tschegg, Cornelius

2011-11-01

Within a low-grade ductile shear zone, we investigated exceptionally well exposed brittle faults, which accumulated antithetic slip and rotated into the shearing direction. The foliation planes of the mylonitic host rock intersect the faults approximately at their centre and exhibit ductile reverse drag. Three types of brittle faults can be distinguished: (i) Faults developing on pre-existing K-feldspar/mica veins that are oblique to the shear direction. These faults have triclinic flanking structures. (ii) Wing cracks opening as mode I fractures at the tips of the triclinic flanking structures, perpendicular to the shear direction. These cracks are reactivated as faults with antithetic shear, extend from the parent K-feldspar/mica veins and form a complex linked flanking structure system. (iii) Joints forming perpendicular to the shearing direction are deformed to form monoclinic flanking structures. Triclinic and monoclinic flanking structures record elliptical displacement-distance profiles with steep displacement gradients at the fault tips by ductile flow in the host rocks, resulting in reverse drag of the foliation planes. These structures record one of the greatest maximum displacement/length ratios reported from natural fault structures. These exceptionally high ratios can be explained by localized antithetic displacement along brittle slip surfaces, which did not propagate during their rotation during surrounding ductile flow.

Displacement–length scaling of brittle faults in ductile shear

Science.gov (United States)

Grasemann, Bernhard; Exner, Ulrike; Tschegg, Cornelius

2011-01-01

Within a low-grade ductile shear zone, we investigated exceptionally well exposed brittle faults, which accumulated antithetic slip and rotated into the shearing direction. The foliation planes of the mylonitic host rock intersect the faults approximately at their centre and exhibit ductile reverse drag. Three types of brittle faults can be distinguished: (i) Faults developing on pre-existing K-feldspar/mica veins that are oblique to the shear direction. These faults have triclinic flanking structures. (ii) Wing cracks opening as mode I fractures at the tips of the triclinic flanking structures, perpendicular to the shear direction. These cracks are reactivated as faults with antithetic shear, extend from the parent K-feldspar/mica veins and form a complex linked flanking structure system. (iii) Joints forming perpendicular to the shearing direction are deformed to form monoclinic flanking structures. Triclinic and monoclinic flanking structures record elliptical displacement–distance profiles with steep displacement gradients at the fault tips by ductile flow in the host rocks, resulting in reverse drag of the foliation planes. These structures record one of the greatest maximum displacement/length ratios reported from natural fault structures. These exceptionally high ratios can be explained by localized antithetic displacement along brittle slip surfaces, which did not propagate during their rotation during surrounding ductile flow. PMID:26806996

Short fetal leukocyte telomere length and preterm prelabor rupture of the membranes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramkumar Menon

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Rupture of the fetal membranes is a common harbinger of imminent labor and delivery. Telomere shortening is a surrogate for oxidative stress (OS and senescence. Fetal leukocyte and placental membrane DNA telomere lengths were evaluated to determine their association with preterm prelabor rupture of the membranes (pPROM or spontaneous preterm births with intact membranes (PTB, compared to term birth. METHODS: Telomere lengths were quantified in cord blood leukocytes (n = 133 from three major groups: 1 pPROM (n = 28, 2 PTB (n = 69 and 3 uncomplicated full term births (controls, n = 35, using real-time quantitative PCR. Placental membrane specimens (n = 18 were used to correlate fetal leukocyte and placental telomere lengths. Telomere length differences among the groups were analyzed by ANOVA. Pearson correlation coefficients determined relationships between leukocyte and placental membrane telomere lengths. RESULTS: In pregnancies with intact membranes, fetal leukocyte telomere length was inversely proportional to gestational age. The mean telomere length decreased as gestation progressed, with the shortest at term. pPROM had telomere lengths (9962 ± 3124 bp that were significantly shorter than gestational age-matched PTB (11546 ± 4348 bp, p = 0.04, but comparable to term births (9011 ± 2497 bp, p = 0.31. Secondary analyses revealed no effects of race (African American vs. Caucasian or intraamniotic infection on telomere length. A strong Pearson's correlation was noted between fetal leukocyte and placental membrane telomere lengths (ρ = 0.77; p<0.01. CONCLUSIONS: Fetal leukocyte telomere length is reduced in pPROM compared to PTB but is similar to term births. pPROM represents a placental membrane disease likely mediated by OS-induced senescence.

Exploiting Universality in Atoms with Large Scattering Lengths

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Braaten, Eric

2012-01-01

The focus of this research project was atoms with scattering lengths that are large compared to the range of their interactions and which therefore exhibit universal behavior at sufficiently low energies. Recent dramatic advances in cooling atoms and in manipulating their scattering lengths have made this phenomenon of practical importance for controlling ultracold atoms and molecules. This research project was aimed at developing a systematically improvable method for calculating few-body observables for atoms with large scattering lengths starting from the universal results as a first approximation. Significant progress towards this goal was made during the five years of the project.

Scaling of graphene integrated circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Bianchi, Massimiliano; Guerriero, Erica; Fiocco, Marco; Alberti, Ruggero; Polloni, Laura; Behnam, Ashkan; Carrion, Enrique A; Pop, Eric; Sordan, Roman

2015-05-07

The influence of transistor size reduction (scaling) on the speed of realistic multi-stage integrated circuits (ICs) represents the main performance metric of a given transistor technology. Despite extensive interest in graphene electronics, scaling efforts have so far focused on individual transistors rather than multi-stage ICs. Here we study the scaling of graphene ICs based on transistors from 3.3 to 0.5 μm gate lengths and with different channel widths, access lengths, and lead thicknesses. The shortest gate delay of 31 ps per stage was obtained in sub-micron graphene ROs oscillating at 4.3 GHz, which is the highest oscillation frequency obtained in any strictly low-dimensional material to date. We also derived the fundamental Johnson limit, showing that scaled graphene ICs could be used at high frequencies in applications with small voltage swing.

Exploring Shared Measurement Properties and Score Comparability between Two Versions of the "Supports Intensity Scale"

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, Hyojeong; Shogren, Karrie A.; Wehmeyer, Michael L.; Hughes, Carolyn; Thompson, James R.; Little, Todd D.; Palmer, Susan B.

2016-01-01

This study examined similarities and differences in measurement properties and score comparability of the "Supports Intensity Scale-Adult Version" (16-64 years) and the "Supports Intensity Scale-Children's Version" (5-16 years). Data were collected from 142 adolescents with intellectual disability with both versions of the…

Modes in a nonneutral plasma column of finite length

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rasband, S. Neil; Spencer, Ross L.

2002-01-01

A Galerkin, finite-element, nonuniform mesh computation of the mode equation for waves in a non-neutral plasma of finite length in a Cold-Fluid model gives an accurate calculation of the mode eigenfrequencies and eigenfunctions. We report on studies of the following: (1) finite-length Trivelpiece-Gould modes with flat-top and realistic density profiles, (2) finite-length diocotron modes with flat density profiles. We compare with the frequency equation of Fine and Driscoll [Phys Plasmas 5, 601 (1998)

Matrix continued-fraction calculation of localization length in disordered systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pastawski, H.M.; Weisz, J.F.

1983-01-01

A Matrix Continued-Fraction method is used to study the localization length of the states at the band center of a two dimensional crystals with disorder given by the Anderson model. It is found that exponentially localized states which scale according to the work of Mac Kinnon and Kramer, becomes weakly localized as the disorder becomes weaker, and there is some critical disorder for which the localization length does not saturate with the width of the strips, this confirms the resuts found by Pichard and Sarma. Weakly localized states are also found in one dimension for w/v [pt

Matrix continued-fraction calculation of localization length in disordered systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pastawski, H.M.; Weisz, J.F.

1983-01-01

A Matrix Continued-Fraction method is used to study the localization length of the states at the band center of a two dimensional crystal with disorder given by the Anderson model. It is found that exponentially localized states, which scale according to the work of Mac Kinnon and Kramer, becomes weakly localized as the disorder becomes weaker, and there is some critical disorder for which the localization length does not saturate with the width of the strips, this confirms the results found by Pichard and Sarma. Weakly localized states are also found in one dimension for w/v [pt

The dependence of the optoelectrical properties of silver nanowire networks on nanowire length and diameter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sorel, Sophie; Lyons, Philip E; De, Sukanta; Coleman, Jonathan N; Dickerson, Janet C

2012-01-01

We have characterized the optoelectrical properties of networks of silver nanowires as a function of nanowire dimension by measuring transmittance (T) and sheet resistance (R s ) for a large number of networks of different thicknesses fabricated from wires of different diameters (D) and lengths (L). We have analysed these data using both bulk-like and percolative models. We find the network DC conductivity to scale linearly with wire length while the optical conductivity is approximately invariant with nanowire length. The ratio of DC to optical conductivity, often taken as a figure of merit for transparent conductors, scales approximately as L/D. Interestingly, the percolative exponent, n, scales empirically as D 2 , while the percolative figure of merit, Π, displays large values at low D. As high T and low R s are associated with low n and high Π, these data are consistent with improved optoelectrical performance for networks of low-D wires. We predict that networks of wires with D = 25 nm could give sheet resistance as low as 25 Ω/□ for T = 90%. (paper)

The prospects of transition metal dichalcogenides for ultimately scaled CMOS

Science.gov (United States)

Thiele, S.; Kinberger, W.; Granzner, R.; Fiori, G.; Schwierz, F.

2018-05-01

MOSFET gate length scaling has been a main source of progress in digital electronics for decades. Today, researchers still spend considerable efforts on reducing the gate length and on developing ultimately scaled MOSFETs, thereby exploring both new device architectures and alternative channel materials beyond Silicon such as two-dimensional TMDs (transition metal dichalcogenide). On the other hand, the envisaged scaling scenario for the next 15 years has undergone a significant change recently. While the 2013 ITRS edition required a continuation of aggressive gate length scaling for at least another 15 years, the 2015 edition of the ITRS suggests a deceleration and eventually a levelling off of gate length scaling and puts more emphasis on alternative options such as pitch scaling to keep Moore's Law alive. In the present paper, future CMOS scaling is discussed in the light of emerging two-dimensional MOSFET channel, in particular two-dimensional TMDs. To this end, the scaling scenarios of the 2013 and 2015 ITRS editions are considered and the scaling potential of TMD MOSFETs is investigated by means of quantum-mechanical device simulations. It is shown that for ultimately scaled MOSFETs as required in the 2013 ITRS, the heavy carrier effective masses of the Mo- and W-based TMDs are beneficial for the suppression of direct source-drain tunneling, while to meet the significantly relaxed scaling targets of the 2016 ITRS heavy-effective-mass channels are not needed.

Ocular growth in the fetus. 1. Comparative study of axial length and biometric parameters in the fetus.

Science.gov (United States)

Denis, D; Righini, M; Scheiner, C; Volot, F; Boubli, L; Dezard, X; Vola, J; Saracco, J B

1993-01-01

The knowledge of ocular growth during fetal life, when compared with other fetal biometric parameters, could not only provide a better definition of malformation syndromes but could also give a better understanding of certain pathological processes in premature babies and in newborns. As the literature concerning prenatal ocular dimensions contains few data, the aim of this study was to measure the axial length of the globe (AL) in fetuses and compare this measurement with their gestational age, weight, height, head circumference (HC) and thoracic circumference (TC) in order to compile a reference table. In the present study, 76 globes from 38 fetuses (18-41 weeks gestational age) from the Department of Pathology (Timone University Hospital, Marseille) were examined. Ultrasonography A and B were used to measure the AL, and a pathological examination determined fetal weight, HC, TC and height. We were interested to find out which of the parameters studied would give the best correlation with ocular growth. Statistical analysis showed that HC remained the most discriminant factor and correlated best with ocular growth. We thus obtained an equation for ocular size according to HC that could serve as a basis for detecting pre- or postnatal ocular defects.

Vortex matter beyond SANS. Neutron studies of vortex structures covering a length scale of 0.01 ti 10 μm

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reimann, Tommy

2017-01-09

This thesis is concerned with different generic types of vortex matter arising in the intermediate state of the type-I superconductor lead, the intermediate mixed state of the type-II superconductor niobium, and the helimagnetic phase of the compound manganese silicide. It is demonstrated and explained how a combination of i) the radiographic techniques neutron grating interferometry and neutron diffractive imaging with ii) scattering methods such as small-angle-neutron scattering and ultra-small-angle neutron scattering can provide novel insight into the bulk behavior of these vortex systems. By means of the used scattering methods, detailed information on the morphology of the vortex phases covering a length scale of 0.01 to 10 μm are obtained, while the radiographic approaches additionally map the spatial distribution of vortices within the sample. In particular, this thesis focuses on the strong influences of demagnetization, geometric barriers and pinning on the vortex configuration.

Vortex matter beyond SANS. Neutron studies of vortex structures covering a length scale of 0.01 ti 10 μm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reimann, Tommy

2017-01-01

This thesis is concerned with different generic types of vortex matter arising in the intermediate state of the type-I superconductor lead, the intermediate mixed state of the type-II superconductor niobium, and the helimagnetic phase of the compound manganese silicide. It is demonstrated and explained how a combination of i) the radiographic techniques neutron grating interferometry and neutron diffractive imaging with ii) scattering methods such as small-angle-neutron scattering and ultra-small-angle neutron scattering can provide novel insight into the bulk behavior of these vortex systems. By means of the used scattering methods, detailed information on the morphology of the vortex phases covering a length scale of 0.01 to 10 μm are obtained, while the radiographic approaches additionally map the spatial distribution of vortices within the sample. In particular, this thesis focuses on the strong influences of demagnetization, geometric barriers and pinning on the vortex configuration.

Link lengths and their growth powers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huh, Youngsik; No, Sungjong; Oh, Seungsang; Rawdon, Eric J

2015-01-01

For a certain infinite family F of knots or links, we study the growth power ratios of their stick number, lattice stick number, minimum lattice length and minimum ropelength compared with their minimum crossing number c(K) for every K∈F. It is known that the stick number and lattice stick number grow between the (1/2) and linear power of the crossing number, and minimum lattice length and minimum ropelength grow with at least the (3/4) power of crossing number (which is called the four-thirds power law). Furthermore, the minimal lattice length and minimum ropelength grow at most as O (c(K)[ln(c(K))] 5 ), but it is unknown whether any family exhibits superlinear growth. For any real number r between (1/2) and 1, we give an infinite family of non-splittable prime links in which the stick number and lattice stick number grow exactly as the rth power of crossing number. Furthermore for any real number r between (3/4) and 1, we give another infinite family of non-splittable prime links in which the minimum lattice length and minimum ropelength grow exactly as the rth power of crossing number. (paper)

A numerical investigation of the interplay between fireline length, geometry, and rate of spread

Science.gov (United States)

J. M. Canfield; R. R. Linn; J. A. Sauer; M. Finney; J. Forthofer

2014-01-01

The current study focuses on coupled dynamics and resultant geometry of fireline segments of various ignition lengths. As an example, for ignition lines of length scales typical for field experiments, fireline curvature is the result of a competition between the head fire and the flanks of the fire. A number of physical features (i.e. buoyancy and wind field divergence...

Scanning transmission x-ray microscopy of polymer nanoparticles: probing morphology on sub-10 nm length scales

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Burke, Kerry B; Stapleton, Andrew J; Vaughan, Ben; Zhou Xiaojing; Belcher, Warwick J; Dastoor, Paul C [Centre for Organic Electronics, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308 (Australia); Kilcoyne, A L David, E-mail: Paul.Dastoor@newcastle.edu.au [Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)

2011-07-01

Water-processable nanoparticle dispersions of semiconducting polymers offer an attractive approach to the fabrication of organic electronic devices since they offer: (1) control of nanoscale morphology and (2) environmentally friendly fabrication. Although the nature of phase segregation in these polymer nanoparticles is critical to device performance, to date there have been no techniques available to directly determine their intra-particle structure, which consequently has been poorly understood. Here, we present scanning transmission x-ray microscopy (STXM) compositional maps for nanoparticles fabricated from poly(9,9-dioctyl-fluorene-2,7-diyl-co-bis-N, N{sup '}-(4-butylphenyl)-bis-N, N{sup '}-phenyl-1,4-phenylenedi-amine) (PFB) and poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-2,7-diyl-co-benzothiadiazole) (F8BT) 1:1 blend mixtures. The images show distinct phase segregation within the nanoparticles. The compositional data reveals that, within these nanoparticles, PFB and F8BT segregate into a core-shell morphology, with an F8BT-rich core and a PFB-rich shell. Structural modelling demonstrates that the STXM technique is capable of quantifying morphological features on a sub-10 nm length scale; below the spot size of the incident focused x-ray beam. These results have important implications for the development of water-based 'solar paints' fabricated from microemulsions of semiconducting polymers.

XenDB: Full length cDNA prediction and cross species mapping in Xenopus laevis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giegerich Robert

2005-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Research using the model system Xenopus laevis has provided critical insights into the mechanisms of early vertebrate development and cell biology. Large scale sequencing efforts have provided an increasingly important resource for researchers. To provide full advantage of the available sequence, we have analyzed 350,468 Xenopus laevis Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs both to identify full length protein encoding sequences and to develop a unique database system to support comparative approaches between X. laevis and other model systems. Description Using a suffix array based clustering approach, we have identified 25,971 clusters and 40,877 singleton sequences. Generation of a consensus sequence for each cluster resulted in 31,353 tentative contig and 4,801 singleton sequences. Using both BLASTX and FASTY comparison to five model organisms and the NR protein database, more than 15,000 sequences are predicted to encode full length proteins and these have been matched to publicly available IMAGE clones when available. Each sequence has been compared to the KOG database and ~67% of the sequences have been assigned a putative functional category. Based on sequence homology to mouse and human, putative GO annotations have been determined. Conclusion The results of the analysis have been stored in a publicly available database XenDB http://bibiserv.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de/xendb/. A unique capability of the database is the ability to batch upload cross species queries to identify potential Xenopus homologues and their associated full length clones. Examples are provided including mapping of microarray results and application of 'in silico' analysis. The ability to quickly translate the results of various species into 'Xenopus-centric' information should greatly enhance comparative embryological approaches. Supplementary material can be found at http://bibiserv.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de/xendb/.

Comparison of Echo 7 field line length measurements to magnetospheric model predictions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nemzek, R.J.; Winckler, J.R.; Malcolm, P.R.

1992-01-01

The Echo 7 sounding rocket experiment injected electron beams on central tail field lines near L = 6.5. Numerous injections returned to the payload as conjugate echoes after mirroring in the southern hemisphere. The authors compare field line lengths calculated from measured conjugate echo bounce times and energies to predictions made by integrating electron trajectories through various magnetospheric models: the Olson-Pfitzer Quiet and Dynamic models and the Tsyganenko-Usmanov model. Although Kp at launch was 3-, quiet time magnetic models est fit the echo measurements. Geosynchronous satellite magnetometer measurements near the Echo 7 field lies during the flight were best modeled by the Olson-Pfitzer Dynamic Model and the Tsyganenko-Usmanov model for Kp = 3. The discrepancy between the models that best fit the Echo 7 data and those that fit the satellite data was most likely due to uncertainties in the small-scale configuration of the magnetospheric models. The field line length measured by the conjugate echoes showed some temporal variation in the magnetic field, also indicated by the satellite magnetometers. This demonstrates the utility an Echo-style experiment could have in substorm studies

Factors affecting length of stay in forensic hospital setting: need for therapeutic security and course of admission.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Davoren, Mary

2015-01-01

Patients admitted to a secure forensic hospital are at risk of a long hospital stay. Forensic hospital beds are a scarce and expensive resource and ability to identify the factors predicting length of stay at time of admission would be beneficial. The DUNDRUM-1 triage security scale and DUNDRUM-2 triage urgency scale are designed to assess need for therapeutic security and urgency of that need while the HCR-20 predicts risk of violence. We hypothesized that items on the DUNDRUM-1 and DUNDRUM-2 scales, rated at the time of pre-admission assessment, would predict length of stay in a medium secure forensic hospital setting.

Does an inter-flaw length control the accuracy of rupture forecasting in geological materials?

Science.gov (United States)

Vasseur, Jérémie; Wadsworth, Fabian B.; Heap, Michael J.; Main, Ian G.; Lavallée, Yan; Dingwell, Donald B.

2017-10-01

Multi-scale failure of porous materials is an important phenomenon in nature and in material physics - from controlled laboratory tests to rockbursts, landslides, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. A key unsolved research question is how to accurately forecast the time of system-sized catastrophic failure, based on observations of precursory events such as acoustic emissions (AE) in laboratory samples, or, on a larger scale, small earthquakes. Until now, the length scale associated with precursory events has not been well quantified, resulting in forecasting tools that are often unreliable. Here we test the hypothesis that the accuracy of the forecast failure time depends on the inter-flaw distance in the starting material. We use new experimental datasets for the deformation of porous materials to infer the critical crack length at failure from a static damage mechanics model. The style of acceleration of AE rate prior to failure, and the accuracy of forecast failure time, both depend on whether the cracks can span the inter-flaw length or not. A smooth inverse power-law acceleration of AE rate to failure, and an accurate forecast, occurs when the cracks are sufficiently long to bridge pore spaces. When this is not the case, the predicted failure time is much less accurate and failure is preceded by an exponential AE rate trend. Finally, we provide a quantitative and pragmatic correction for the systematic error in the forecast failure time, valid for structurally isotropic porous materials, which could be tested against larger-scale natural failure events, with suitable scaling for the relevant inter-flaw distances.

Scale effects between body size and limb design in quadrupedal mammals.

Science.gov (United States)

Kilbourne, Brandon M; Hoffman, Louwrens C

2013-01-01

Recently the metabolic cost of swinging the limbs has been found to be much greater than previously thought, raising the possibility that limb rotational inertia influences the energetics of locomotion. Larger mammals have a lower mass-specific cost of transport than smaller mammals. The scaling of the mass-specific cost of transport is partly explained by decreasing stride frequency with increasing body size; however, it is unknown if limb rotational inertia also influences the mass-specific cost of transport. Limb length and inertial properties--limb mass, center of mass (COM) position, moment of inertia, radius of gyration, and natural frequency--were measured in 44 species of terrestrial mammals, spanning eight taxonomic orders. Limb length increases disproportionately with body mass via positive allometry (length ∝ body mass(0.40)); the positive allometry of limb length may help explain the scaling of the metabolic cost of transport. When scaled against body mass, forelimb inertial properties, apart from mass, scale with positive allometry. Fore- and hindlimb mass scale according to geometric similarity (limb mass ∝ body mass(1.0)), as do the remaining hindlimb inertial properties. The positive allometry of limb length is largely the result of absolute differences in limb inertial properties between mammalian subgroups. Though likely detrimental to locomotor costs in large mammals, scale effects in limb inertial properties appear to be concomitant with scale effects in sensorimotor control and locomotor ability in terrestrial mammals. Across mammals, the forelimb's potential for angular acceleration scales according to geometric similarity, whereas the hindlimb's potential for angular acceleration scales with positive allometry.

Electron Bunch Length Diagnostic With Coherent Smith-Purcell Radiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nguyen, D.C.

1997-05-12

The authors have designed a new technique for measuring subpicosecond electron bunch lengths using coherent Smith-Purcell radiation. This new diagnostic technique involves passing the electron beam in close proximity of a grating with a period comparable to the electron bunch length. The emitted Smith-Purcell radiation will have a coherent component whose angular position and distribution are directly related to the electron bunch length and longitudinal profile, respectively. This new diagnostic technique is inherently simple, inexpensive and non-intercepting. The authors show that the new technique is also scaleable to femtosecond regime.

Electron Bunch Length Diagnostic With Coherent Smith-Purcell Radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nguyen, D.C.

1997-01-01

The authors have designed a new technique for measuring subpicosecond electron bunch lengths using coherent Smith-Purcell radiation. This new diagnostic technique involves passing the electron beam in close proximity of a grating with a period comparable to the electron bunch length. The emitted Smith-Purcell radiation will have a coherent component whose angular position and distribution are directly related to the electron bunch length and longitudinal profile, respectively. This new diagnostic technique is inherently simple, inexpensive and non-intercepting. The authors show that the new technique is also scaleable to femtosecond regime

L-mode SOL width scaling in the MAST spherical tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahn, J-W; Counsell, G F; Kirk, A

2006-01-01

A new data-set of outboard mid-plane scrape-off layer (SOL) heat flux widths, Δ h , has been constructed for L-mode plasmas in the MAST spherical tokamak (ST). The scaling with key plasma parameters such as density, toroidal magnetic field, parallel connection length in the SOL and surface heat flux at the separatrix is investigated. An empirical scaling is developed for the Δ h data-set, which exhibits a strong positive dependence on both the connection length (or edge safety factor) and density and weak or moderate inverse dependences on the surface heat flux and magnetic field, respectively. The empirical scaling is compared with earlier results for a range of tokamaks with conventional geometry, which show weaker dependence on the density and edge safety factor. Importantly, however, the weak negative dependence on the surface heat flux (and thus heating power) is common in both conventional and ST geometries. The experimental data are also used to test a number of dimensionally correct Δ h scalings developed from theoretical models for perpendicular transport in the SOL coupled with classical transport parallel to the magnetic field. A scaling based on perpendicular transport driven by resistive MHD interchange provides the best fit, although several models are close. A subset of the better fitting theoretical scalings are used to extrapolate for Δ h in one design for a future burning ST machine and finally to predict the peak heat loading on the outboard divertor target plate

Determination of Longitudinal Electron Bunch Lengths on Picosecond Time Scales

CERN Document Server

Martínez, C; Calviño, F

1999-01-01

At CERN (European Laboratory for Particle Physics) the CLIC (Compact Linear Collider) study is pursuing the design of an electron-positron high-energy linear collider using an innovative concept for the RF (Radio Frequency) power production, the socalled two-beam acceleration scheme. In order to keep the length of the collider in a reasonable range while being able of accelerating electrons and positrons up to 5 TeV, the normal-conducting accelerating structures should operate at very high frequency (in this case 30 GHz). The RF power necessary to feed the accelerating cavities is provided by a second electron beam, the drive beam, running parallel to the main beam. The CLIC Test Facility (CTF) was build with the main aim of studying and demonstrating the feasibility of the two beam acceleration scheme and technology. It is composed of two beams, the drive beam that will generate the 30 GHz RF power and the main beam which will be accelerated by this power. In order to have a good efficiency for the power gen...

Dependence of paracentric inversion rate on tract length

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

York, Thomas L; Durrett, Rick; Nielsen, Rasmus

2007-01-01

BACKGROUND: We develop a Bayesian method based on MCMC for estimating the relative rates of pericentric and paracentric inversions from marker data from two species. The method also allows estimation of the distribution of inversion tract lengths. RESULTS: We apply the method to data from...... Drosophila melanogaster and D. yakuba. We find that pericentric inversions occur at a much lower rate compared to paracentric inversions. The average paracentric inversion tract length is approx. 4.8 Mb with small inversions being more frequent than large inversions.If the two breakpoints defining...... a paracentric inversion tract are uniformly and independently distributed over chromosome arms there will be more short tract-length inversions than long; we find an even greater preponderance of short tract lengths than this would predict. Thus there appears to be a correlation between the positions...

Neutron-triton scattering lengths for interactions reproducing low-energy trinucleon data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Levashev, V.P.

1981-01-01

By solving the integral equations for four nucleons the neutron-triton scattering lengths and total cross section are calculated using different S-wave rank-one separable potentials. A number of linear correlations between the neutron-triton scattering lengths and triton binding energy are found. The scattering lengths consistent with low-energy trinucleon data. The results obtained are compared with available experimental data [ru

The length-weight and length-length relationships of bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix (Linnaeus, 1766) from Samsun, middle Black Sea region

OpenAIRE

Özpiçak, Melek; Saygın, Semra; Polat, Nazmi

2017-01-01

In this study, length-weight relationship (LWR) and length-length relationship (LLR) of bluefish,Pomatomus saltatrix were determined. A total of 125 specimens were sampled from Samsun, themiddle Black Sea in 2014 fishing season. Bluefish specimens were monthly collected fromcommercial fishing boats from October to December 2014. All captured individuals (N=125) weremeasured to the nearest 0.1 cm for total, fork and standard lengths. The weight of each fish (W)was recorded to the nearest 0.01 ...

Acculturation Predicts Negative Affect and Shortened Telomere Length.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruiz, R Jeanne; Trzeciakowski, Jerome; Moore, Tiffany; Ayers, Kimberly S; Pickler, Rita H

2016-10-12

Chronic stress may accelerate cellular aging. Telomeres, protective "caps" at the end of chromosomes, modulate cellular aging and may be good biomarkers for the effects of chronic stress, including that associated with acculturation. The purpose of this analysis was to examine telomere length (TL) in acculturating Hispanic Mexican American women and to determine the associations among TL, acculturation, and psychological factors. As part of a larger cross-sectional study of 516 pregnant Hispanic Mexican American women, we analyzed DNA in blood samples (N = 56) collected at 22-24 weeks gestation for TL as an exploratory measure using monochrome multiplex quantitative telomere polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We measured acculturation with the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans, depression with the Beck Depression Inventory, discrimination with the Experiences of Discrimination Scale, and stress with the Perceived Stress Scale. TL was negatively moderately correlated with two variables of acculturation: Anglo orientation and greater acculturation-level scores. We combined these scores for a latent variable, acculturation, and we combined depression, stress, and discrimination scores in another latent variable, "negative affectivity." Acculturation and negative affectivity were bidirectionally correlated. Acculturation significantly negatively predicted TL. Using structural equation modeling, we found the model had an excellent fit with the root mean square error of approximation estimate = .0001, comparative fit index = 1.0, Tucker-Lewis index = 1.0, and standardized root mean square residual = .05. The negative effects of acculturation on the health of Hispanic women have been previously demonstrated. Findings from this analysis suggest a link between acculturation and TL, which may indicate accelerated cellular aging associated with overall poor health outcomes. © The Author(s) 2016.

Signatures of non-universal large scales in conditional structure functions from various turbulent flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blum, Daniel B; Voth, Greg A; Bewley, Gregory P; Bodenschatz, Eberhard; Gibert, Mathieu; Xu Haitao; Gylfason, Ármann; Mydlarski, Laurent; Yeung, P K

2011-01-01

We present a systematic comparison of conditional structure functions in nine turbulent flows. The flows studied include forced isotropic turbulence simulated on a periodic domain, passive grid wind tunnel turbulence in air and in pressurized SF 6 , active grid wind tunnel turbulence (in both synchronous and random driving modes), the flow between counter-rotating discs, oscillating grid turbulence and the flow in the Lagrangian exploration module (in both constant and random driving modes). We compare longitudinal Eulerian second-order structure functions conditioned on the instantaneous large-scale velocity in each flow to assess the ways in which the large scales affect the small scales in a variety of turbulent flows. Structure functions are shown to have larger values when the large-scale velocity significantly deviates from the mean in most flows, suggesting that dependence on the large scales is typical in many turbulent flows. The effects of the large-scale velocity on the structure functions can be quite strong, with the structure function varying by up to a factor of 2 when the large-scale velocity deviates from the mean by ±2 standard deviations. In several flows, the effects of the large-scale velocity are similar at all the length scales we measured, indicating that the large-scale effects are scale independent. In a few flows, the effects of the large-scale velocity are larger on the smallest length scales. (paper)

Quantitative atom probe analysis of nanostructure containing clusters and precipitates with multiple length scales

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marceau, R.K.W.; Stephenson, L.T.; Hutchinson, C.R.; Ringer, S.P.

2011-01-01

A model Al-3Cu-(0.05 Sn) (wt%) alloy containing a bimodal distribution of relatively shear-resistant θ' precipitates and shearable GP zones is considered in this study. It has recently been shown that the addition of the GP zones to such microstructures can lead to significant increases in strength without a decrease in the uniform elongation. In this study, atom probe tomography (APT) has been used to quantitatively characterise the evolution of the GP zones and the solute distribution in the bimodal microstructure as a function of applied plastic strain. Recent nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis has clearly shown strain-induced dissolution of the GP zones, which is supported by the current APT data with additional spatial information. There is significant repartitioning of Cu from the GP zones into the solid solution during deformation. A new approach for cluster finding in APT data has been used to quantitatively characterise the evolution of the sizes and shapes of the Cu containing features in the solid solution solute as a function of applied strain. -- Research highlights: → A new approach for cluster finding in atom probe tomography (APT) data has been used to quantitatively characterise the evolution of the sizes and shapes of the Cu containing features with multiple length scales. → In this study, a model Al-3Cu-(0.05 Sn) (wt%) alloy containing a bimodal distribution of relatively shear-resistant θ' precipitates and shearable GP zones is considered. → APT has been used to quantitatively characterise the evolution of the GP zones and the solute distribution in the bimodal microstructure as a function of applied plastic strain. → It is clearly shown that there is strain-induced dissolution of the GP zones with significant repartitioning of Cu from the GP zones into the solid solution during deformation.

Geomagnetic field and length-of-day fluctuations at decadal and subdecadal time scales. A plea for looking beyond the atmosphere for partners in Earth's rotation

Science.gov (United States)

Demetrescu, C.; Dobrica, V.; Stefan, C.

2017-12-01

A rich scientific literature is linking length-of-day (LOD) fluctuations to geomagnetic field and flow oscillations in the fluid outer core. We demostrate that the temporal evolution of the geomagnetic field shows the existence of several oscillations at decadal, inter-decadal, and sub-centennial time scales that superimpose on a so-called inter-centennial constituent. We show that while the subcentennial oscillations of the geomagnetic field, produced by torsional oscillations in the core, could be linked to oscillations of LOD at a similar time scale, the oscillations at decadal and sub-decadal time scales, of external origin, can be found in LOD too. We discuss these issues from the perspective of long time-span main field models (gufm1 - Jackson et al., 2000; COV-OBS - Gillet et al., 2013) that are used to retrieve time series of geomagnetic elements in a 2.5x2.5° network. The decadal and sub-decadal constituents of the time series of annual values in LOD and geomagnetic field were separated in the cyclic component of a Hodrick-Prescott filtering applied to data, and shown to highly correlate to variations of external sources such as the magnetospheric ring current.

The Effect of Omega-3 Docosahexaenoic Acid Supplementation on Gestational Length: Randomized Trial of Supplementation Compared to Nutrition Education for Increasing n-3 Intake from Foods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mary A. Harris

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. DHA supplementation was compared to nutrition education to increase DHA consumption from fish and DHA fortified foods. Design. This two-part intervention included a randomized double-blind placebo controlled DHA supplementation arm and a nutrition education arm designed to increase intake of DHA from dietary sources by 300 mg per day. Setting. Denver Health Hospitals and Clinics, Denver, Colorado, USA. Population. 871 pregnant women aged 18–40 were recruited between16 and 20 weeks of gestation of whom 564 completed the study and complete delivery data was available in 505 women and infants. Methods. Subjects received either 300 or 600 mg DHA or olive oil placebo or nutrition education. Main Outcome Variable. Gestational length. Results. Gestational length was significantly increased by 4.0–4.5 days in women supplemented with 600 mg DHA per day or provided with nutrition education. Each 1% increase in RBC DHA at delivery was associated with a 1.6-day increase in gestational length. No significant effects on birth weight, birth length, or head circumference were demonstrated. The rate of early preterm birth (1.7% in those supplemented with DHA (combined 300 and 600 mg/day was significantly lower than in controls. Conclusion. Nutrition education or supplementation with DHA can be effective in increasing gestational length.

Comparing the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 at macro- and microscopic scales

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Torras-Rosell, Antoni; Johannsen, Sabrina Rostgaard; Dirscherl, Kai

2016-01-01

. The photocatalytic properties of TiO2 at macro- and microscopic scales are investigated by comparing photocatalytic degradation of acetone and electrochemical experiments to Kelvin probe force microscopy. The good agreement between the macro- and microscopic experiments suggests that Kelvin probe force microscopy...

Quantum scattering in one-dimensional systems satisfying the minimal length uncertainty relation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bernardo, Reginald Christian S., E-mail: rcbernardo@nip.upd.edu.ph; Esguerra, Jose Perico H., E-mail: jesguerra@nip.upd.edu.ph

2016-12-15

In quantum gravity theories, when the scattering energy is comparable to the Planck energy the Heisenberg uncertainty principle breaks down and is replaced by the minimal length uncertainty relation. In this paper, the consequences of the minimal length uncertainty relation on one-dimensional quantum scattering are studied using an approach involving a recently proposed second-order differential equation. An exact analytical expression for the tunneling probability through a locally-periodic rectangular potential barrier system is obtained. Results show that the existence of a non-zero minimal length uncertainty tends to shift the resonant tunneling energies to the positive direction. Scattering through a locally-periodic potential composed of double-rectangular potential barriers shows that the first band of resonant tunneling energies widens for minimal length cases when the double-rectangular potential barrier is symmetric but narrows down when the double-rectangular potential barrier is asymmetric. A numerical solution which exploits the use of Wronskians is used to calculate the transmission probabilities through the Pöschl–Teller well, Gaussian barrier, and double-Gaussian barrier. Results show that the probability of passage through the Pöschl–Teller well and Gaussian barrier is smaller in the minimal length cases compared to the non-minimal length case. For the double-Gaussian barrier, the probability of passage for energies that are more positive than the resonant tunneling energy is larger in the minimal length cases compared to the non-minimal length case. The approach is exact and applicable to many types of scattering potential.

Telomere length analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Canela, Andrés; Klatt, Peter; Blasco, María A

2007-01-01

Most somatic cells of long-lived species undergo telomere shortening throughout life. Critically short telomeres trigger loss of cell viability in tissues, which has been related to alteration of tissue function and loss of regenerative capabilities in aging and aging-related diseases. Hence, telomere length is an important biomarker for aging and can be used in the prognosis of aging diseases. These facts highlight the importance of developing methods for telomere length determination that can be employed to evaluate telomere length during the human aging process. Telomere length quantification methods have improved greatly in accuracy and sensitivity since the development of the conventional telomeric Southern blot. Here, we describe the different methodologies recently developed for telomere length quantification, as well as their potential applications for human aging studies.

A note on the length-weight relationship in dolphin fish, Coryphaena hippurus L.

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Chatterji, A.; Ansari, Z.A.

Length-weight relationship in Coryphaena hippurus almost follows the cube law and the weight of the fish increases more than the square of the length. The value of 'b' was higher in males as compared to females. The equations for length...

Comparative effect of implant-abutment connections, abutment angulations, and screw lengths on preloaded abutment screw using three-dimensional finite element analysis: An in vitro study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kanneganti, Krishna Chaitanya; Vinnakota, Dileep Nag; Pottem, Srinivas Rao; Pulagam, Mahesh

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study is to compare the effect of implant-abutment connections, abutment angulations, and screw lengths on screw loosening (SL) of preloaded abutment using three dimensional (3D) finite element analysis. 3D models of implants (conical connection with hex/trilobed connections), abutments (straight/angulated), abutment screws (short/long), and crown and bone were designed using software Parametric Technology Corporation Creo and assembled to form 8 simulations. After discretization, the contact stresses developed for 150 N vertical and 100 N oblique load applications were analyzed, using ABAQUS. By assessing damage initiation and shortest fatigue load on screw threads, the SL for 2.5, 5, and 10 lakh cyclic loads were estimated, using fe-safe program. The obtained values were compared for influence of connection design, abutment angulation, and screw length. In straight abutment models, conical connection showed more damage (14.3%-72.3%) when compared to trilobe (10.1%-65.73%) at 2.5, 5, and 10 lakh cycles for both vertical and oblique loads, whereas in angulated abutments, trilobe (16.1%-76.9%) demonstrated more damage compared to conical (13.5%-70%). Irrespective of the connection type and abutment angulation, short screws showed more percentage of damage compared to long screws. The present study suggests selecting appropriate implant-abutment connection based on the abutment angulation, as well as preferring long screws with more number of threads for effective preload retention by the screws.

Effectiveness of a controlled release chlorhexidine chip (PerioColTM‑CG as an adjunctive to scaling and root planing when compared to scaling and root planing alone in the treatment of chronic periodontitis: A comparative study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kameswari Kondreddy

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Aims and objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a controlled-release chlorhexidine chip as an adjunctive therapy to scaling and root planing when compared with scaling and root planing alone in the treatment of chronic periodontitis. Materials and Methods: 20 patients with a total number of 40 posterior sites were selected. These sites were divided into two groups in a split mouth design,: Group A (control site had 20 sites treated with scaling and root planing alone and Group B (test site had 20 sites treated with scaling and root planing and PerioCol TM -CG. The clinical parameters (Plaque index, bleeding on probing, probing pocket depth, clinical attachment level were recorded at baseline, 90 th and 180 th day for both the groups. Results: When both groups were compared the change in Plaque index was significantly higher in Group B when compared to Group A on the 90 th day and 180 th day. However, there was no statistically significant difference in the mean percentage of gingival bleeding sites between the two groups on the 90 th day, though Group B showed a statistically higher reduction in the mean percentage of gingival bleeding sites at the end of 180 th day. There was no statistically significant difference in probing pocket depth between the two groups on both 90 th and 180 th day. Gain in clinical attachment level was significantly higher in Group B when compared to Group A on the 90 th and 180 th day. Conclusion: From the results observed in this study, it can be concluded that the adjunctive use of PerioCol TM -CG was safe and provided significant improvement in both Plaque index and gingival bleeding index. It was also more favorable than scaling and root planing alone for gain in clinical attachment level.

Ultrashort Channel Length Black Phosphorus Field-Effect Transistors.

Science.gov (United States)

Miao, Jinshui; Zhang, Suoming; Cai, Le; Scherr, Martin; Wang, Chuan

2015-09-22

This paper reports high-performance top-gated black phosphorus (BP) field-effect transistors with channel lengths down to 20 nm fabricated using a facile angle evaporation process. By controlling the evaporation angle, the channel length of the transistors can be reproducibly controlled to be anywhere between 20 and 70 nm. The as-fabricated 20 nm top-gated BP transistors exhibit respectable on-state current (174 μA/μm) and transconductance (70 μS/μm) at a VDS of 0.1 V. Due to the use of two-dimensional BP as the channel material, the transistors exhibit relatively small short channel effects, preserving a decent on-off current ratio of 10(2) even at an extremely small channel length of 20 nm. Additionally, unlike the unencapsulated BP devices, which are known to be chemically unstable in ambient conditions, the top-gated BP transistors passivated by the Al2O3 gate dielectric layer remain stable without noticeable degradation in device performance after being stored in ambient conditions for more than 1 week. This work demonstrates the great promise of atomically thin BP for applications in ultimately scaled transistors.

New Empirical Earthquake Source‐Scaling Laws

KAUST Repository

Thingbaijam, Kiran Kumar S.

2017-12-13

We develop new empirical scaling laws for rupture width W, rupture length L, rupture area A, and average slip D, based on a large database of rupture models. The database incorporates recent earthquake source models in a wide magnitude range (M 5.4–9.2) and events of various faulting styles. We apply general orthogonal regression, instead of ordinary least-squares regression, to account for measurement errors of all variables and to obtain mutually self-consistent relationships. We observe that L grows more rapidly with M compared to W. The fault-aspect ratio (L/W) tends to increase with fault dip, which generally increases from reverse-faulting, to normal-faulting, to strike-slip events. At the same time, subduction-inter-face earthquakes have significantly higher W (hence a larger rupture area A) compared to other faulting regimes. For strike-slip events, the growth of W with M is strongly inhibited, whereas the scaling of L agrees with the L-model behavior (D correlated with L). However, at a regional scale for which seismogenic depth is essentially fixed, the scaling behavior corresponds to the W model (D not correlated with L). Self-similar scaling behavior with M − log A is observed to be consistent for all the cases, except for normal-faulting events. Interestingly, the ratio D/W (a proxy for average stress drop) tends to increase with M, except for shallow crustal reverse-faulting events, suggesting the possibility of scale-dependent stress drop. The observed variations in source-scaling properties for different faulting regimes can be interpreted in terms of geological and seismological factors. We find substantial differences between our new scaling relationships and those of previous studies. Therefore, our study provides critical updates on source-scaling relations needed in seismic–tsunami-hazard analysis and engineering applications.

Three-dimensional volumetric gray-scale uterine cervix histogram prediction of days to delivery in full term pregnancy.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Ji Youn; Kim, Hai-Joong; Hahn, Meong Hi; Jeon, Hye Jin; Cho, Geum Joon; Hong, Sun Chul; Oh, Min Jeong

2013-09-01

Our aim was to figure out whether volumetric gray-scale histogram difference between anterior and posterior cervix can indicate the extent of cervical consistency. We collected data of 95 patients who were appropriate for vaginal delivery with 36th to 37th weeks of gestational age from September 2010 to October 2011 in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Korea University Ansan Hospital. Patients were excluded who had one of the followings: Cesarean section, labor induction, premature rupture of membrane. Thirty-four patients were finally enrolled. The patients underwent evaluation of the cervix through Bishop score, cervical length, cervical volume, three-dimensional (3D) cervical volumetric gray-scale histogram. The interval days from the cervix evaluation to the delivery day were counted. We compared to 3D cervical volumetric gray-scale histogram, Bishop score, cervical length, cervical volume with interval days from the evaluation of the cervix to the delivery. Gray-scale histogram difference between anterior and posterior cervix was significantly correlated to days to delivery. Its correlation coefficient (R) was 0.500 (P = 0.003). The cervical length was significantly related to the days to delivery. The correlation coefficient (R) and P-value between them were 0.421 and 0.013. However, anterior lip histogram, posterior lip histogram, total cervical volume, Bishop score were not associated with days to delivery (P >0.05). By using gray-scale histogram difference between anterior and posterior cervix and cervical length correlated with the days to delivery. These methods can be utilized to better help predict a cervical consistency.

Dynamics and Scaling Properties of Fractures in clay-like Materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Walmann, Thomas

1998-12-31

Computer models that can help oil companies predict realistic and physically correct fracture patterns are important. To verify such a model, experiments described in this thesis were undertaken, using wet clay and powder. The main focus was on extensional fractures, but other types of fractures were also studied. High resolution digital images of the fracture patterns were recorded and analyzed using statistical physics and fractal geometry. The characteristic shapes and size distributions of individual fractures and the overall fracture patterns obtained from laboratory model studies were compared to results from aerial photographs of a fracture pattern in a collapsed glacier that had undergone a similar deformation. A new scaling relation (a power-law) between the length of a fracture and the projected area is derived for fractures formed during clay model experiments. This scaling relation is found also in a field study of a fracture pattern in a glacier. The forms of the different distributions that characterizes fractures in clay experiments are discussed. Several characteristic lengths are associated with the laboratory experiments. They are related to the sample size and shape, the model material and the nature of the imposed deformation. The roughness of the fracture traces obtained from powder experiments was found to have a self-affine form. The roughness, or Hurst exponent, was found to have the value 0.73, plus or minus 0.09. A large number of interacting fractures were formed in the systems studied, and under such conditions the fluctuations about the direction perpendicular to the principle strain direction are influenced by neighbouring fractures. As expected, an upper cutoff for the scaling range was observed. But the length at which the crossover from a self-affine shape to a flat shape took place did not depend systematically on any of the experimental parameters or characteristic length scales. The total fracture trace patterns could not be

Stopping potential and ion beamlet control for micro-resistive patterning through sub-Debye length plasma apertures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abhishek Chowdhury

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Focused multiple ion beamlets from a microwave plasma source is investigated for localized micron-scale modification of substrates in a patterned manner. Plasma electrodes (PE with an array of through apertures having aperture diameters of the order of plasma Debye length are investigated for generating the beamlets. Extraction through sub-Debye length apertures becomes possible when the PE is kept at floating potential. It is found that the current – voltage characteristics of the extracted beamlets exhibits interesting features such as a space-charge-limited region that has a different behaviour than the conventional Child-Langmuir’s law and an extraction-voltage-limited region that does not undergo saturation but exhibits a Schottky-like behaviour similar to that of a vacuum diode. A switching technique to control the motion of individual beamlets is developed and the stopping potential determined. The beamlets are thereafter used to create localized micro-resistive patterns. The experimental results are compared with simulations and reasonably good agreement is obtained.

discouraged by queue length

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. R. Parthasarathy

2001-01-01

Full Text Available The transient solution is obtained analytically using continued fractions for a state-dependent birth-death queue in which potential customers are discouraged by the queue length. This queueing system is then compared with the well-known infinite server queueing system which has the same steady state solution as the model under consideration, whereas their transient solutions are different. A natural measure of speed of convergence of the mean number in the system to its stationarity is also computed.

String matching with variable length gaps

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bille, Philip; Gørtz, Inge Li; Vildhøj, Hjalte Wedel

2012-01-01

primitive in computational biology applications. Let m and n be the lengths of P and T, respectively, and let k be the number of strings in P. We present a new algorithm achieving time O(nlogk+m+α) and space O(m+A), where A is the sum of the lower bounds of the lengths of the gaps in P and α is the total...... number of occurrences of the strings in P within T. Compared to the previous results this bound essentially achieves the best known time and space complexities simultaneously. Consequently, our algorithm obtains the best known bounds for almost all combinations of m, n, k, A, and α. Our algorithm...

Scale dependence of acoustic velocities. An experimental study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gotusso, Angelamaria Pillitteri

2001-06-01

Reservoir and overburden data (e.g. seismic, sonic log and core data) are collected at different stages of field development, at different scales, and under different measurement conditions. A more precise reservoir characterization could be obtained by combining all the collected data. Reliable data may also be obtained from drill cuttings. This methodology can give data in quasi-real time, it is easily applicable, and cheap. It is then important, to understand the relationship between results obtained from measurements at different scales. In this Thesis acoustic velocities measured at several different laboratory scales are presented. This experimental study was made in order to give the base for the development of a model aiming to use/combine appropriately the data collected at different scales. The two main aspects analyzed are the experimental limitations due to the decrease in sample size and the significance of measurements in relation to material heterogeneities. Plexiglas, an isotropic, non-dispersive artificial material, with no expected scale effect, was used to evaluate the robustness of the measurement techniques. The results emphasize the importance of the wavelength used with respect to the sample length. If the sample length (L) is at least 5 time bigger than wavelength used ({lambda}), then the measured velocities do not depend on sample size. Leca stone, an artificial isotropic material containing spherical grains was used to evaluate the combined effects of technique, heterogeneities and sample length. The ratio between the scale of the heterogeneities and the sample length has to be taken in to account. In this case velocities increase with decreasing sample length when the ratio L/{lambda} is smaller than 10-15 and at the same time the ratio between sample length and grain size is greater than 10. Measurements on natural rocks demonstrate additional influence of grain mineralogy, shape and orientation. Firenzuola sandstone shows scale and

Cigarette smoking and telomere length: A systematic review of 84 studies and meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Astuti, Yuliana; Wardhana, Ardyan; Watkins, Johnathan; Wulaningsih, Wahyu

2017-10-01

Cigarette smoking is a risk factor for ageing-related disease, but its association with biological ageing, indicated by telomere length, is unclear. We systematically reviewed evidence evaluating association between smoking status and telomere length. Searches were performed in MEDLINE (Ovid) and EMBASE (Ovid) databases, combining variation of keywords "smoking" and "telomere". Data was extracted for study characteristics and estimates for association between smoking and telomere length. Quality of studies was assessed with a risk of bias score, and publication bias was assessed with a funnel plot. I 2 test was used to observe heterogeneity. Meta-analysis was carried out to compare mean difference in telomere length by smoking status, and a dose-response approach was carried out for pack-years of smoking and telomere length. A sensitivity analysis was carried out to examine sources of heterogeneity. A total of 84 studies were included in the review, and 30 among them were included in our meta-analysis. Potential bias was addressed in half of included studies, and there was little evidence of small study bias. Telomere length was shorter among ever smokers compared to never smokers (summary standard mean difference [SMD]: -0.11 (95% CI -0.16 to -0.07)). Similarly, shorter telomere length was found among smokers compared to non-smokers, and among current smokers compared to never or former smokers. Dose-response meta-analysis suggested an inverse trend between pack-years of smoking and telomere length. However, heterogeneity among some analyses was observed. Shorter telomeres among ever smokers compared to those who never smoked may imply mechanisms linking tobacco smoke exposure to ageing-related disease. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Vertically migrating swimmers generate aggregation-scale eddies in a stratified column.

Science.gov (United States)

Houghton, Isabel A; Koseff, Jeffrey R; Monismith, Stephen G; Dabiri, John O

2018-04-01

Biologically generated turbulence has been proposed as an important contributor to nutrient transport and ocean mixing 1-3 . However, to produce non-negligible transport and mixing, such turbulence must produce eddies at scales comparable to the length scales of stratification in the ocean. It has previously been argued that biologically generated turbulence is limited to the scale of the individual animals involved 4 , which would make turbulence created by highly abundant centimetre-scale zooplankton such as krill irrelevant to ocean mixing. Their small size notwithstanding, zooplankton form dense aggregations tens of metres in vertical extent as they undergo diurnal vertical migration over hundreds of metres 3,5,6 . This behaviour potentially introduces additional length scales-such as the scale of the aggregation-that are of relevance to animal interactions with the surrounding water column. Here we show that the collective vertical migration of centimetre-scale swimmers-as represented by the brine shrimp Artemia salina-generates aggregation-scale eddies that mix a stable density stratification, resulting in an effective turbulent diffusivity up to three orders of magnitude larger than the molecular diffusivity of salt. These observed large-scale mixing eddies are the result of flow in the wakes of the individual organisms coalescing to form a large-scale downward jet during upward swimming, even in the presence of a strong density stratification relative to typical values observed in the ocean. The results illustrate the potential for marine zooplankton to considerably alter the physical and biogeochemical structure of the water column, with potentially widespread effects owing to their high abundance in climatically important regions of the ocean 7 .

PET-CT offers accurate assessment of tumour length in oesophageal malignancy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rollins, K.E.; Lucas, E.; Tewari, N.; James, E.; Hughes, S.; Catton, J.A.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • We examine the accuracy of staging modalities in estimating tumour length of oesophageal malignancy. • PET CT correlates most strongly with histopathological length of resected specimen. • Better measure than EUS with OGD correlating poorly. • Potential impact in radiotherapy and surgical resection planning. - Abstract: Introduction: Radiotherapy is increasingly used for both curative and palliative treatment of oesophageal malignancy. Accurate treatment depends on determining tumour location and length. This study assessed the value of PET-CT versus other staging modalities in determining tumour length. Materials and methods: Oesophageal cancer patients who underwent staging with PET/CT and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) in addition to their diagnostic upper GI endoscopy and subsequent surgical resection were assessed. PET/CT length was obtained retrospectively by using Hermes Hybrid Viewer™ with a 1–5 Standardised Uptake Value grey scale. An SUV of 5 was used as the cut off for determining length. Direct measurement by EUS and OGD were determined. Results: 53 patients underwent PET-CT, EUS, OGD and surgical resection for oesophageal cancer. Overall the correlation between PET-CT and histopathological length was strongest (Pearson r = 0.5977, 95% CI 0.390–0.747) versus EUS (Pearson R = 0.5365, 95% CI 0.311–0.705) and OGD (Pearson r = 0.1574, 95% CI −0.118 to 0.410). After excluding tumours with a significant chemotherapy response, PET-CT length correlated significantly with histopathological length (R = 0.5651, p = 0.0005). In comparison, the correlation between histological length and EUS (R = 0.4637, p = 0.0057) measurement was less significant and this did not correlate with OGD (R = −0.1084, p = 0.5417). Conclusion: Tumour length estimated by PET-CT correlated most strongly with histopathological length of oesophageal malignancy and is the most accurate determinant of tumour length of all the staging modalities. This suggests a

PET-CT offers accurate assessment of tumour length in oesophageal malignancy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rollins, K.E., E-mail: james.catton@nuh.nhs.uk [Department of Oesophago-Gastric Surgery, Nottingham University Hospitals, Hucknall Road, Nottingham (United Kingdom); Lucas, E. [University of Nottingham, Derby Road, Nottingham (United Kingdom); Tewari, N. [Department of Oesophago-Gastric Surgery, Nottingham University Hospitals, Hucknall Road, Nottingham (United Kingdom); James, E. [Department of Oncology, Nottingham University Hospitals, Hucknall Road, Nottingham (United Kingdom); Hughes, S. [Department of Radiology, Nottingham University Hospitals, Hucknall Road, Nottingham (United Kingdom); Catton, J.A. [Department of Oesophago-Gastric Surgery, Nottingham University Hospitals, Hucknall Road, Nottingham (United Kingdom)

2015-02-15

Highlights: • We examine the accuracy of staging modalities in estimating tumour length of oesophageal malignancy. • PET CT correlates most strongly with histopathological length of resected specimen. • Better measure than EUS with OGD correlating poorly. • Potential impact in radiotherapy and surgical resection planning. - Abstract: Introduction: Radiotherapy is increasingly used for both curative and palliative treatment of oesophageal malignancy. Accurate treatment depends on determining tumour location and length. This study assessed the value of PET-CT versus other staging modalities in determining tumour length. Materials and methods: Oesophageal cancer patients who underwent staging with PET/CT and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) in addition to their diagnostic upper GI endoscopy and subsequent surgical resection were assessed. PET/CT length was obtained retrospectively by using Hermes Hybrid Viewer™ with a 1–5 Standardised Uptake Value grey scale. An SUV of 5 was used as the cut off for determining length. Direct measurement by EUS and OGD were determined. Results: 53 patients underwent PET-CT, EUS, OGD and surgical resection for oesophageal cancer. Overall the correlation between PET-CT and histopathological length was strongest (Pearson r = 0.5977, 95% CI 0.390–0.747) versus EUS (Pearson R = 0.5365, 95% CI 0.311–0.705) and OGD (Pearson r = 0.1574, 95% CI −0.118 to 0.410). After excluding tumours with a significant chemotherapy response, PET-CT length correlated significantly with histopathological length (R = 0.5651, p = 0.0005). In comparison, the correlation between histological length and EUS (R = 0.4637, p = 0.0057) measurement was less significant and this did not correlate with OGD (R = −0.1084, p = 0.5417). Conclusion: Tumour length estimated by PET-CT correlated most strongly with histopathological length of oesophageal malignancy and is the most accurate determinant of tumour length of all the staging modalities. This suggests a

Value of 18FDG PET-CT in defining the length of esophageal cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuan Shuanghu; Yu Jinming; Yu Yonghua; Yang Xinhua; Chen Shaoqing; Fu Zheng; Yang Guoren; Guo Hongbo; Wang Xiaohang; Zhou Yingzhi

2006-01-01

Objective: To assess the value of 18-fluoro-deoxy-glucose positron emission-CT (FDG PET-CT) in defining the length of primary esophageal cancer. Methods: Thirty-two patients had undergone esophagoscopy, esophagography and FDG PET-CT scans one week before esophagectomy. There was one tumor located in the upper thoracic esophagus, 22 in the middle thoracic esophagus, and 9 in the lower thoracic esophagus. The location and length of primary lesion of the tumor was determined by esophagoscopy, esophagography, and FDG PET-CT. The length of the abnormality seen on the CT portion of the PET-CT scan was determined separately and independently by two radiologists. All results were compared with the resected specimen. Results: According to esophagography, CT and PET-CT, all lesion lengths were compared with that of the resected specimen. It was found that the tumor location determined by esophagoscopy was not in accordance with the resected specimen in 2 patients. The mean length of the primary tumor, being from short to long, were (3.8±1.4),(4.1±1.5),(4.4±1.6),(5.3±1.9) and (4.7±1.7) cm, as determined by esophagoscopy, esophagography, CT, actral length of the resected specimen and PET-CT. Compared with the resected specimen,there was obvious difference (P=0.000, 0.007, 0.025, 0.001). Considering that there might be some kind of shrinkage in the resected specimen (about 83.59%, as reported by Ma et al), we rectified the length of resected specimen and compared with other findings again. It was found that insignificant difference existed between PET-CT and rectified length value of the resected specimen (P=0.082). Conclusions: FDG PET-CT is effective in the length determination of primary esophageal cancer. It may be used to determine the length of esophagus to be resected for patients indicated for esophagectomy. It may also be used to accurately delineate the gross tumor volume for patients eligible for radiotherapy. (authors)

Electron bunch length measurement at the Vanderbilt FEL

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amirmadhi, F.; Brau, C.A.; Mendenhall, M. [Vanderbilt Free-Electron-Laser Center, Nashville, TN (United States)] [and others

1995-12-31

During the past few years, a number of experiments have been performed to demonstrate the possibility to extract the longitudinal charge distribution from spectroscopic measurements of the coherent far-infrared radiation emitted as transition radiation or synchrotron radiation. Coherent emission occurs in a spectral region where the wavelength is comparable to or longer than the bunch length, leading to an enhancement of the radiation intensity that is on the order of the number of particles per bunch, as compared to incoherent radiation. This technique is particularly useful in the region of mm and sub-mm bunch lengths, a range where streak-cameras cannot be used for beam diagnostics due to their limited time resolution. Here we report on experiments that go beyond the proof of principle of this technique by applying it to the study and optimization of FEL performance. We investigated the longitudinal bunch length of the Vanderbilt FEL by analyzing the spectrum of coherent transition radiation emitted by the electron bunches. By monitoring the bunch length while applying a bunch-compression technique, the amount of the compression could be easily observed. This enabled us to perform a systematic study of the FEL performance, especially gain and optical pulse width, as a function of the longitudinal electron distribution in the bunch. The results of this study will be presented and discussed.

Boundary asymptotics for a non-neutral electrochemistry model with small Debye length

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Chiun-Chang; Ryham, Rolf J.

2018-04-01

This article addresses the boundary asymptotics of the electrostatic potential in non-neutral electrochemistry models with small Debye length in bounded domains. Under standard physical assumptions motivated by non-electroneutral phenomena in oxidation-reduction reactions, we show that the electrostatic potential asymptotically blows up at boundary points with respect to the bulk reference potential as the scaled Debye length tends to zero. The analysis gives a lower bound for the blow-up rate with respect to the model parameters. Moreover, the maximum potential difference over any compact subset of the physical domain vanishes exponentially in the zero-Debye-length limit. The results mathematically confirm the physical description that electrolyte solutions are electrically neutral in the bulk and are strongly electrically non-neutral near charged surfaces.

Size variation and collapse of emphysema holes at inspiration and expiration CT scan: evaluation with modified length scale method and image co-registration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oh SY

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Sang Young Oh,1,* Minho Lee,1,* Joon Beom Seo,1,* Namkug Kim,1,2,* Sang Min Lee,1 Jae Seung Lee,3 Yeon Mok Oh3 1Department of Radiology, 2Department of Convergence Medicine, 3Department of Pulmonology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: A novel approach of size-based emphysema clustering has been developed, and the size variation and collapse of holes in emphysema clusters are evaluated at inspiratory and expiratory computed tomography (CT. Thirty patients were visually evaluated for the size-based emphysema clustering technique and a total of 72 patients were evaluated for analyzing collapse of the emphysema hole in this study. A new approach for the size differentiation of emphysema holes was developed using the length scale, Gaussian low-pass filtering, and iteration approach. Then, the volumetric CT results of the emphysema patients were analyzed using the new method, and deformable registration was carried out between inspiratory and expiratory CT. Blind visual evaluations of EI by two readers had significant correlations with the classification using the size-based emphysema clustering method (r-values of reader 1: 0.186, 0.890, 0.915, and 0.941; reader 2: 0.540, 0.667, 0.919, and 0.942. The results of collapse of emphysema holes using deformable registration were compared with the pulmonary function test (PFT parameters using the Pearson’s correlation test. The mean extents of low-attenuation area (LAA, E1 (<1.5 mm, E2 (<7 mm, E3 (<15 mm, and E4 (≥15 mm were 25.9%, 3.0%, 11.4%, 7.6%, and 3.9%, respectively, at the inspiratory CT, and 15.3%, 1.4%, 6.9%, 4.3%, and 2.6%, respectively at the expiratory CT. The extents of LAA, E2, E3, and E4 were found to be significantly correlated with the PFT ­parameters (r=−0.53, −0.43, −0.48, and −0.25, with forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1; −0.81, −0.62, −0.75, and

The Allometry of Bee Proboscis Length and Its Uses in Ecology.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel P Cariveau

Full Text Available Allometric relationships among morphological traits underlie important patterns in ecology. These relationships are often phylogenetically shared; thus quantifying allometric relationships may allow for estimating difficult-to-measure traits across species. One such trait, proboscis length in bees, is assumed to be important in structuring bee communities and plant-pollinator networks. However, it is difficult to measure and thus rarely included in ecological analyses. We measured intertegular distance (as a measure of body size and proboscis length (glossa and prementum, both individually and combined of 786 individual bees of 100 species across 5 of the 7 extant bee families (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila. Using linear models and model selection, we determined which parameters provided the best estimate of proboscis length. We then used coefficients to estimate the relationship between intertegular distance and proboscis length, while also considering family. Using allometric equations with an estimation for a scaling coefficient between intertegular distance and proboscis length and coefficients for each family, we explain 91% of the variance in species-level means for bee proboscis length among bee species. However, within species, individual-level intertegular distance was a poor predictor of individual proboscis length. To make our findings easy to use, we created an R package that allows estimation of proboscis length for individual bee species by inputting only family and intertegular distance. The R package also calculates foraging distance and body mass based on previously published equations. Thus by considering both taxonomy and intertegular distance we enable accurate estimation of an ecologically and evolutionarily important trait.

Multi-scale variation in spatial heterogeneity for microbial community structure in an eastern Virginia agricultural field

Science.gov (United States)

Franklin, Rima B.; Mills, Aaron L.

2003-01-01

To better understand the distribution of soil microbial communities at multiple spatial scales, a survey was conducted to examine the spatial organization of community structure in a wheat field in eastern Virginia (USA). Nearly 200 soil samples were collected at a variety of separation distances ranging from 2.5 cm to 11 m. Whole-community DNA was extracted from each sample, and community structure was compared using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) DNA fingerprinting. Relative similarity was calculated between each pair of samples and compared using geostatistical variogram analysis to study autocorrelation as a function of separation distance. Spatial autocorrelation was found at scales ranging from 30 cm to more than 6 m, depending on the sampling extent considered. In some locations, up to four different correlation length scales were detected. The presence of nested scales of variability suggests that the environmental factors regulating the development of the communities in this soil may operate at different scales. Kriging was used to generate maps of the spatial organization of communities across the plot, and the results demonstrated that bacterial distributions can be highly structured, even within a habitat that appears relatively homogeneous at the plot and field scale. Different subsets of the microbial community were distributed differently across the plot, and this is thought to be due to the variable response of individual populations to spatial heterogeneity associated with soil properties. c2003 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparing Hospitalist-Resident to Hospitalist-Midlevel Practitioner Team Performance on Length of Stay and Direct Patient Care Cost.

Science.gov (United States)

Iannuzzi, Michael C; Iannuzzi, James C; Holtsbery, Andrew; Wright, Stuart M; Knohl, Stephen J

2015-03-01

A perception exists that residents are more costly than midlevel providers (MLPs). Since graduate medical education (GME) funding is a key issue for teaching programs, hospitals should conduct cost-benefit analyses when considering staffing models. Our aim was to compare direct patient care costs and length of stay (LOS) between resident and MLP inpatient teams. We queried the University HealthSystems Consortium clinical database (UHC CDB) for 13 553 "inpatient" discharges at our institution from July 2010 to June 2013. Patient assignment was based on bed availability rather than "educational value." Using the UHC CDB data, discharges for resident and MLP inpatient teams were compared for observed and expected LOS, direct cost derived from hospital charges, relative expected mortality (REM), and readmissions. We also compared patient satisfaction for physician domain questions using Press Ganey data. Bivariate analysis was performed for factors associated with differences between the 2 services using χ(2) analysis and Student t test for categorical and continuous variables, respectively. During the 3-year period, while REM was higher on the hospitalist-resident services (P higher for resident teams. There were no differences in patient demographics, daily discharge rates, readmissions, or deaths. Resident teams are economically more efficient than MLP teams and have higher patient satisfaction. The findings offer guidance when considering GME costs and inpatient staffing models.

Reasonable designing method for fillet welding leg length

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kiso, T; Michiyuki, T; Nagao, S; Yoshikawa, M; Miyazaki, S

1976-12-01

In VLCC and ULCC vessels, the scantling of structural members, especially the thickness of web plate, increases naturally. The present rule of each classification society generally prescribes that welding leg length should be based on the thickness of the web plate. Welding leg length between this web plate and skin plate such as shell plate, deck plate, etc., or face plate, increases according to increase of the thickness of the web plate. We investigated the method to decide reasonable welding leg length and its programming by using the results of finite element method structural analysis, without adhering to the above rule about welding leg length. As a result of applying this method to actual ships under classification societies' approval, the amount of welding decreased by from about 10 percent to 15 percent compared with that required by the above rule. The rationality of the method has been already confirmed by successful results of the application to several vessels in service.

Charge Separation in Intermixed Polymer:PC70BM Photovoltaic Blends: Correlating Structural and Photophysical Length Scales as a Function of Blend Composition

KAUST Repository

Utzat, Hendrik

2017-04-24

A key challenge in achieving control over photocurrent generation by bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells is understanding how the morphology of the active layer impacts charge separation and in particular the separation dynamics within molecularly intermixed donor-acceptor domains versus the dynamics between phase-segregated domains. This paper addresses this issue by studying blends and devices of the amorphous silicon-indacenodithiophene polymer SiIDT-DTBT and the acceptor PCBM. By changing the blend composition, we modulate the size and density of the pure and intermixed domains on the nanometer length scale. Laser spectroscopic studies show that these changes in morphology correlate quantitatively with the changes in charge separation dynamics on the nanosecond time scale and with device photocurrent densities. At low fullerene compositions, where only a single, molecularly intermixed polymer-fullerene phase is observed, photoexcitation results in a ∼ 30% charge loss from geminate polaron pair recombination, which is further studied via light intensity experiments showing that the radius of the polaron pairs in the intermixed phase is 3-5 nm. At high fullerene compositions (≥67%), where the intermixed domains are 1-3 nm and the pure fullerene phases reach ∼4 nm, the geminate recombination is suppressed by the reduction of the intermixed phase, making the fullerene domains accessible for electron escape.

Exploring the difference between Turkish and Bosnian students in Triangular Love scale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Selvira Draganović

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Numerous studies show that different cultures experience emotions. Some cultures tend to express emotions without restrictions while some others try to suppress the expression of emotions. These differences are particularly more manifest when Eastern and Western cultures are compared. The fact that definition of love differs between different cultures makes it difficult to determine cultural differences in the concept of love. This might serve as a basis of prejudices about some nations in relation to how they perceive love. The main aim of this study is to explore differences between Turkish and Bosnian students on love scale. The term love is operationalized by Sternberg's triangular theory of love scale which includes intimacy, passion and commitment component of love. Using quasi-experimental design we tested gender differences, the length of current relationship and correlation between them on overall scale and individual subscales. The sample consisted of 87 Turkish (22 males and 65 females and 64 Bosnian students (23 males and 41 females total 151 students (N=151. Results of the study show statistically significant differences between Turkish and Bosnian students on two dimensions in Sternberg triangular love scale intimacy and passion. Bosnian students scored higher on these subscales. Study results suggest that there is no statistically significant differences between males and females in any subscale. The length of love relationship is positively correlated with intimacy, which indicates that the length of connections weakly associated with intimacy, and that is not associated with the passion and the decision of commitment, suggesting longer relationship does not mean more romantic relationship, and vice versa

Length Scales and Types of Heterogeneities Along the Deep Subduction Interface: Insights From an Exhumed Subduction Complex on Syros Island, Greece

Science.gov (United States)

Kotowski, A. J.; Behr, W. M.; Tong, X.; Lavier, L.

2017-12-01

The rheology of the deep subduction interface strongly influences the occurrence, recurrence, and migration of episodic tremor and slow slip (ETS) events. To better understand the environment of deep ETS, we characterize the length scales and types of rheological heterogeneities that decorate the deep interface using an exhumed subduction complex. The Cycladic Blueschist Unit on Syros, Greece, records Eocene subduction to 60 km, partial exhumation along the top of the slab, and final exhumation along Miocene detachment faults. The CBU reached 450-580˚C and 14-16 kbar, PT conditions similar to where ETS occurs in several modern subduction zones. Rheological heterogeneity is preserved in a range of rock types on Syros, with the most prominent type being brittle pods embedded within a viscous matrix. Prograde, blueschist-facies metabasalts show strong deformation fabrics characteristic of viscous flow; cm- to m-scale eclogitic lenses are embedded within them as massive, veined pods, foliated pods rotated with respect to the blueschist fabric, and attenuated, foliation-parallel lenses. Similar relationships are observed in blueschist-facies metasediments interpreted to have deformed during early exhumation. In these rocks, metabasalts form lenses ranging in size from m- to 10s of m and are distributed at the m-scale throughout the metasedimentary matrix. Several of the metamafic lenses, and the matrix rocks immediately adjacent to them, preserve multiple generations of dilational veins and shear fractures filled with quartz and high pressure minerals. These observations suggest that coupled brittle-viscous deformation under high fluid pressures may characterize the subduction interface in the deep tremor source region. To test this further, we modeled the behavior of an elasto-plastic pod in a viscous shear zone under high fluid pressures. Our models show that local stress concentrations around the pod are large enough to generate transient dilational shear at seismic

Excess entropy scaling for the segmental and global dynamics of polyethylene melts.

Science.gov (United States)

Voyiatzis, Evangelos; Müller-Plathe, Florian; Böhm, Michael C

2014-11-28

The range of validity of the Rosenfeld and Dzugutov excess entropy scaling laws is analyzed for unentangled linear polyethylene chains. We consider two segmental dynamical quantities, i.e. the bond and the torsional relaxation times, and two global ones, i.e. the chain diffusion coefficient and the viscosity. The excess entropy is approximated by either a series expansion of the entropy in terms of the pair correlation function or by an equation of state for polymers developed in the context of the self associating fluid theory. For the whole range of temperatures and chain lengths considered, the two estimates of the excess entropy are linearly correlated. The scaled bond and torsional relaxation times fall into a master curve irrespective of the chain length and the employed scaling scheme. Both quantities depend non-linearly on the excess entropy. For a fixed chain length, the reduced diffusion coefficient and viscosity scale linearly with the excess entropy. An empirical reduction to a chain length-independent master curve is accessible for both dynamic quantities. The Dzugutov scheme predicts an increased value of the scaled diffusion coefficient with increasing chain length which contrasts physical expectations. The origin of this trend can be traced back to the density dependence of the scaling factors. This finding has not been observed previously for Lennard-Jones chain systems (Macromolecules, 2013, 46, 8710-8723). Thus, it limits the applicability of the Dzugutov approach to polymers. In connection with diffusion coefficients and viscosities, the Rosenfeld scaling law appears to be of higher quality than the Dzugutov approach. An empirical excess entropy scaling is also proposed which leads to a chain length-independent correlation. It is expected to be valid for polymers in the Rouse regime.

A STUDY OF CORRELATION OF FOOT LENGTH AND GESTATIONAL MATURITY IN NEONATES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Bhuvaneswari

2018-03-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND Gestational age estimation at birth can be done by clinical estimation through careful history of LMP, ultrasonic estimation of gestational age, date of first recorded foetal activity “quickening” first felt at approximately 16-18 weeks, Date of first recorded foetal heart sounds. MATERIALS AND METHODS A study sample of 800 live newborns were selected by simple random sampling technique born at GVR hospital and Government General Hospital, Kurnool from April 2015 to May 2016. Data was collected using standard proforma meeting the objectives of the study. a Gestational age assessment was done using modified Bellard’s score and b Foot length was measured using sliding calipers which is having an accuracy of a millimeter. Following instruments are used: 1 Sliding calipers for measuring foot length, 2 Flexible, non-stretchable measuring tape for head circumference, 3 Infantometer for measuring crown heel length, 4 Electronic weighing scale for measuring weight. RESULTS The foot length of preterm neonates ranged from 4.5-7.8 cm with the mean foot length of 6.1571 cm and 6.6964 cm for preterm SGA and AGA, respectively. The foot length of term neonates ranged from 5.4-8.7 cm with a mean foot length of 7.0471 cm, 7.5703 cm, 8.0391 cm for term SGA, AGA, LGA respectively. The foot length for post term neonates ranged from 6.7-8.8 cm, with a mean foot length of 7.5688 cm, 8.0170 cm and 8.2667 cm for post term SGA, AGA and LGA, respectively. This shows that foot length increases as the gestational age increases. CONCLUSION Foot length can be correlated significantly with the gestational age, birth weight, head circumference and crown heel length.

Length-weight and length-length relationships of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) in the middle and southern Iraq provinces

Science.gov (United States)

Al-jebory, Taymaa A.; Das, Simon K.; Usup, Gires; Bakar, Y.; Al-saadi, Ali H.

2018-04-01

In this study, length-weight and length-length relationships of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) in the middle and southern Iraq provinces were determined. Fish specimens were procured from seven provinces from July to December, 2015. A negative and positive allometric growth pattern was obtained, where the total length (TL) ranged from 25.60 cm to 33.53 cm, and body weight (BW) ranged from 700 g to 1423 g. Meanwhile, the lowest of 1.03 and highest of 3.54 in "b" value was recorded in group F and group C, respectively. Therefore, Fulton condition factor (K) range from 2.57 to 4.94. While, relative condition factor (Kn) was in the ranged of 0.95 to 1.01. A linear relationship between total length (TL) and standard length (SL) among the provinces for fish groups was obtained. The variances in "b" value ranged from 0.10 to 0.93 with correlation coefficient (r2) of 0.02 to 0.97. This research could be used as a guide to study the ecology and biology of common Carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) in the middle and southern Iraq provinces.

Assessment of colorectal length using the electromagnetic capsule tracking system

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mark, E B; Poulsen, J L; Haase, A M

2017-01-01

AIM: We aimed to determine colorectal length with the 3D-Transit system by describing a 'centerline' of capsule movement and compare it to known anatomy, as determined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Further, we aimed to test the day-to-day variation of colorectal length assessed......: Computation of colorectal length from capsule passage was possible in 60 of the 67 3D-Transit recordings. Length of the colorectum measured with MRI and 3D-Transit was respectively 95 cm (75-153 cm) and 99 cm (77-147 cm), P = 0.15. Coefficient of variation (CV) between MRI and 3D-Transit was 7.8%. Apart from...... the cecum / ascending colon being 26% (P = 0.002) shorter on MRI, there were no other differences in total or segmental colorectal lengths between methods (all P > 0.05). Length of the colorectum measured with 3D-Transit on two consecutive days was 102 cm (73-119 cm) and 103 cm (75-123 cm), P = 0.67. CV...

Appearance of a Minimal Length in $e^+ e^-$ Annihilation

CERN Document Server

Dymnikova, Irina; Ulbricht, Jürgen

2014-01-01

Experimental data reveal with a 5$\\sigma$ significance the existence of a characteristic minimal length $l_e$= 1.57 × 10$^{−17}$ cm at the scale E = 1.253 TeV in the annihilation reaction $e^+e^- \\to \\gamma\\gamma(\\gamma)$ . Nonlinear electrodynamics coupled to gravity and satisfying the weak energy condition predicts, for an arbitrary gauge invariant Lagrangian, the existence of spinning charged electromagnetic soliton asymptotically Kerr-Newman for a distant observer with the gyromagnetic ratio g=2 . Its internal structure includes a rotating equatorial disk of de Sitter vacuum which has properties of a perfect conductor and ideal diamagnetic, displays superconducting behavior, supplies a particle with the finite positive electromagnetic mass related to breaking of space-time symmetry, and gives some idea about the physical origin of a minimal length in annihilation.

The Distribution of Lightning Channel Lengths in Northern Alabama Thunderstorms

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson, H. S.; Koshak, W. J.

2010-01-01

Lightning is well known to be a major source of tropospheric NOx, and in most cases is the dominant natural source (Huntreiser et al 1998, Jourdain and Hauglustaine 2001). Production of NOx by a segment of a lightning channel is a function of channel segment energy density and channel segment altitude. A first estimate of NOx production by a lightning flash can be found by multiplying production per segment [typically 104 J/m; Hill (1979)] by the total length of the flash s channel. The purpose of this study is to determine average channel length for lightning flashes near NALMA in 2008, and to compare average channel length of ground flashes to the average channel length of cloud flashes.

Scaling high-order harmonic generation from laser-solid interactions to ultrahigh intensity.

Science.gov (United States)

Dollar, F; Cummings, P; Chvykov, V; Willingale, L; Vargas, M; Yanovsky, V; Zulick, C; Maksimchuk, A; Thomas, A G R; Krushelnick, K

2013-04-26

Coherent x-ray beams with a subfemtosecond (scale length, which can strongly influence the harmonic generation mechanism. It is shown that for intensities in excess of 10(21)  W cm(-2) an optimum density ramp scale length exists that balances an increase in efficiency with a growth of parametric plasma wave instabilities. We show that for these higher intensities the optimal scale length is c/ω0, for which a variety of HOHG properties are optimized, including total conversion efficiency, HOHG divergence, and their power law scaling. Particle-in-cell simulations show striking evidence of the HOHG loss mechanism through parametric instabilities and relativistic self-phase modulation, which affect the produced spectra and conversion efficiency.

Umbilical cord length in singleton gestations: a Finnish population-based retrospective register study.

Science.gov (United States)

Georgiadis, L; Keski-Nisula, L; Harju, M; Räisänen, S; Georgiadis, S; Hannila, M-L; Heinonen, S

2014-04-01

Many complications of pregnancy and delivery are associated with umbilical cord length. It is important to examine the variation in length, in order to identify normal and abnormal conditions. Moreover, the factors influencing cord growth and development are not precisely known. The main objectives were to provide updated reference charts for umbilical cord length in singleton pregnancies and to evaluate potential factors affecting cord length. Birth register data of 47,284 singleton pregnant women delivering in Kuopio University Hospital, Finland was collected prospectively. Gender-specific centile charts for cord length from 22 to 44 gestational weeks were obtained using generalized additive models for location, scale, and shape (GAMLSS). Gestational, fetal, and maternal factors were studied for their potential influence on cord length with single variable analysis and stepwise multiple linear regression analysis. Cord length increased according to gestational age, while the growth decelerated post-term. Birth weight, placental weight, pregravid maternal body mass index, parity, and maternal age correlated to cord length. Gestational diabetes and previous miscarriages were associated with longer cords, while female gender and placental abruption were associated with shorter cords. Girls had shorter cords throughout gestation although there was substantial variation in length in both genders. Cord length associated significantly with birth weight, placental weight, and gestational age. Significantly shorter cords were found in women with placental abruption. This important finding requires further investigation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adaptive local routing strategy on a scale-free network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng, Liu; Han, Zhao; Ming, Li; Yan-Bo, Zhu; Feng-Yuan, Ren

2010-01-01

Due to the heterogeneity of the structure on a scale-free network, making the betweennesses of all nodes become homogeneous by reassigning the weights of nodes or edges is very difficult. In order to take advantage of the important effect of high degree nodes on the shortest path communication and preferentially deliver packets by them to increase the probability to destination, an adaptive local routing strategy on a scale-free network is proposed, in which the node adjusts the forwarding probability with the dynamical traffic load (packet queue length) and the degree distribution of neighbouring nodes. The critical queue length of a node is set to be proportional to its degree, and the node with high degree has a larger critical queue length to store and forward more packets. When the queue length of a high degree node is shorter than its critical queue length, it has a higher probability to forward packets. After higher degree nodes are saturated (whose queue lengths are longer than their critical queue lengths), more packets will be delivered by the lower degree nodes around them. The adaptive local routing strategy increases the probability of a packet finding its destination quickly, and improves the transmission capacity on the scale-free network by reducing routing hops. The simulation results show that the transmission capacity of the adaptive local routing strategy is larger than that of three previous local routing strategies. (general)

Information filtering via a scaling-based function.

Science.gov (United States)

Qiu, Tian; Zhang, Zi-Ke; Chen, Guang

2013-01-01

Finding a universal description of the algorithm optimization is one of the key challenges in personalized recommendation. In this article, for the first time, we introduce a scaling-based algorithm (SCL) independent of recommendation list length based on a hybrid algorithm of heat conduction and mass diffusion, by finding out the scaling function for the tunable parameter and object average degree. The optimal value of the tunable parameter can be abstracted from the scaling function, which is heterogeneous for the individual object. Experimental results obtained from three real datasets, Netflix, MovieLens and RYM, show that the SCL is highly accurate in recommendation. More importantly, compared with a number of excellent algorithms, including the mass diffusion method, the original hybrid method, and even an improved version of the hybrid method, the SCL algorithm remarkably promotes the personalized recommendation in three other aspects: solving the accuracy-diversity dilemma, presenting a high novelty, and solving the key challenge of cold start problem.

Information filtering via a scaling-based function.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tian Qiu

Full Text Available Finding a universal description of the algorithm optimization is one of the key challenges in personalized recommendation. In this article, for the first time, we introduce a scaling-based algorithm (SCL independent of recommendation list length based on a hybrid algorithm of heat conduction and mass diffusion, by finding out the scaling function for the tunable parameter and object average degree. The optimal value of the tunable parameter can be abstracted from the scaling function, which is heterogeneous for the individual object. Experimental results obtained from three real datasets, Netflix, MovieLens and RYM, show that the SCL is highly accurate in recommendation. More importantly, compared with a number of excellent algorithms, including the mass diffusion method, the original hybrid method, and even an improved version of the hybrid method, the SCL algorithm remarkably promotes the personalized recommendation in three other aspects: solving the accuracy-diversity dilemma, presenting a high novelty, and solving the key challenge of cold start problem.

The Assessment of Masculinity and Femininity: Scale 5 of the MMPI Compared with the BSRI and the PAQ.

Science.gov (United States)

Volentine, Susen Zimmerman

1981-01-01

Compared the MMPI Scale 5 to the Bem Sex Role Inventory and Personal Attributes Questionnaire. Femininity measures were related more strongly to Scale 5 score than masculinity measures. It was concluded that Scale 5 may be interpreted more accurately as a measure of femininity rather than masculinity/femininity. (Author)

A New European Slope Length and Steepness Factor (LS-Factor for Modeling Soil Erosion by Water

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Panos Panagos

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE model is the most frequently used model for soil erosion risk estimation. Among the six input layers, the combined slope length and slope angle (LS-factor has the greatest influence on soil loss at the European scale. The S-factor measures the effect of slope steepness, and the L-factor defines the impact of slope length. The combined LS-factor describes the effect of topography on soil erosion. The European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC developed a new pan-European high-resolution soil erosion assessment to achieve a better understanding of the spatial and temporal patterns of soil erosion in Europe. The LS-calculation was performed using the original equation proposed by Desmet and Govers (1996 and implemented using the System for Automated Geoscientific Analyses (SAGA, which incorporates a multiple flow algorithm and contributes to a precise estimation of flow accumulation. The LS-factor dataset was calculated using a high-resolution (25 m Digital Elevation Model (DEM for the whole European Union, resulting in an improved delineation of areas at risk of soil erosion as compared to lower-resolution datasets. This combined approach of using GIS software tools with high-resolution DEMs has been successfully applied in regional assessments in the past, and is now being applied for first time at the European scale.

Comparing an Annual and a Daily Time-Step Model for Predicting Field-Scale Phosphorus Loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Bolster, Carl H; Forsberg, Adam; Mittelstet, Aaron; Radcliffe, David E; Storm, Daniel; Ramirez-Avila, John; Sharpley, Andrew N; Osmond, Deanna

2017-11-01

A wide range of mathematical models are available for predicting phosphorus (P) losses from agricultural fields, ranging from simple, empirically based annual time-step models to more complex, process-based daily time-step models. In this study, we compare field-scale P-loss predictions between the Annual P Loss Estimator (APLE), an empirically based annual time-step model, and the Texas Best Management Practice Evaluation Tool (TBET), a process-based daily time-step model based on the Soil and Water Assessment Tool. We first compared predictions of field-scale P loss from both models using field and land management data collected from 11 research sites throughout the southern United States. We then compared predictions of P loss from both models with measured P-loss data from these sites. We observed a strong and statistically significant ( loss between the two models; however, APLE predicted, on average, 44% greater dissolved P loss, whereas TBET predicted, on average, 105% greater particulate P loss for the conditions simulated in our study. When we compared model predictions with measured P-loss data, neither model consistently outperformed the other, indicating that more complex models do not necessarily produce better predictions of field-scale P loss. Our results also highlight limitations with both models and the need for continued efforts to improve their accuracy. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

Allometric convergence in savanna trees and implications for the use of plant scaling models in variable ecosystems.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew T Tredennick

Full Text Available Theoretical models of allometric scaling provide frameworks for understanding and predicting how and why the morphology and function of organisms vary with scale. It remains unclear, however, if the predictions of 'universal' scaling models for vascular plants hold across diverse species in variable environments. Phenomena such as competition and disturbance may drive allometric scaling relationships away from theoretical predictions based on an optimized tree. Here, we use a hierarchical Bayesian approach to calculate tree-specific, species-specific, and 'global' (i.e. interspecific scaling exponents for several allometric relationships using tree- and branch-level data harvested from three savanna sites across a rainfall gradient in Mali, West Africa. We use these exponents to provide a rigorous test of three plant scaling models (Metabolic Scaling Theory (MST, Geometric Similarity, and Stress Similarity in savanna systems. For the allometric relationships we evaluated (diameter vs. length, aboveground mass, stem mass, and leaf mass the empirically calculated exponents broadly overlapped among species from diverse environments, except for the scaling exponents for length, which increased with tree cover and density. When we compare empirical scaling exponents to the theoretical predictions from the three models we find MST predictions are most consistent with our observed allometries. In those situations where observations are inconsistent with MST we find that departure from theory corresponds with expected tradeoffs related to disturbance and competitive interactions. We hypothesize savanna trees have greater length-scaling exponents than predicted by MST due to an evolutionary tradeoff between fire escape and optimization of mechanical stability and internal resource transport. Future research on the drivers of systematic allometric variation could reconcile the differences between observed scaling relationships in variable ecosystems and

Quantum-critical scaling of fidelity in 2D pairing models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adamski, Mariusz, E-mail: mariusz.adamski@ift.uni.wroc.pl [Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Wrocław, pl. Maksa Borna 9, 50–204, Wrocław (Poland); Jȩdrzejewski, Janusz [Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Wrocław, pl. Maksa Borna 9, 50–204, Wrocław (Poland); Krokhmalskii, Taras [Institute for Condensed Matter Physics, 1 Svientsitski Street, 79011, Lviv (Ukraine)

2017-01-15

The laws of quantum-critical scaling theory of quantum fidelity, dependent on the underlying system dimensionality D, have so far been verified in exactly solvable 1D models, belonging to or equivalent to interacting, quadratic (quasifree), spinless or spinfull, lattice-fermion models. The obtained results are so appealing that in quest for correlation lengths and associated universal critical indices ν, which characterize the divergence of correlation lengths on approaching critical points, one might be inclined to substitute the hard task of determining an asymptotic behavior at large distances of a two-point correlation function by an easier one, of determining the quantum-critical scaling of the quantum fidelity. However, the role of system's dimensionality has been left as an open problem. Our aim in this paper is to fill up this gap, at least partially, by verifying the laws of quantum-critical scaling theory of quantum fidelity in a 2D case. To this end, we study correlation functions and quantum fidelity of 2D exactly solvable models, which are interacting, quasifree, spinfull, lattice-fermion models. The considered 2D models exhibit new, as compared with 1D ones, features: at a given quantum-critical point there exists a multitude of correlation lengths and multiple universal critical indices ν, since these quantities depend on spatial directions, moreover, the indices ν may assume larger values. These facts follow from the obtained by us analytical asymptotic formulae for two-point correlation functions. In such new circumstances we discuss the behavior of quantum fidelity from the perspective of quantum-critical scaling theory. In particular, we are interested in finding out to what extent the quantum fidelity approach may be an alternative to the correlation-function approach in studies of quantum-critical points beyond 1D.

Early life adversity and telomere length: a meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Ridout, K K; Levandowski, M; Ridout, S J; Gantz, L; Goonan, K; Palermo, D; Price, L H; Tyrka, A R

2018-04-01

Early adversity, in the form of abuse, neglect, socioeconomic status and other adverse experiences, is associated with poor physical and mental health outcomes. To understand the biologic mechanisms underlying these associations, studies have evaluated the relationship between early adversity and telomere length, a marker of cellular senescence. Such results have varied in regard to the size and significance of this relationship. Using meta-analytic techniques, we aimed to clarify the relationship between early adversity and telomere length while exploring factors affecting the association, including adversity type, timing and study design. A comprehensive search in July 2016 of PubMed/MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Web of Science identified 2462 studies. Multiple reviewers appraised studies for inclusion or exclusion using a priori criteria; 3.9% met inclusion criteria. Data were extracted into a structured form; the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale assessed study quality, validity and bias. Forty-one studies (N=30 773) met inclusion criteria. Early adversity and telomere length were significantly associated (Cohen's d effect size=-0.35; 95% CI, -0.46 to -0.24; P<0.0001). Sensitivity analyses revealed no outlier effects. Adversity type and timing significantly impacted the association with telomere length (P<0.0001 and P=0.0025, respectively). Subgroup and meta-regression analyses revealed that medication use, medical or psychiatric conditions, case-control vs longitudinal study design, methodological factors, age and smoking significantly affected the relationship. Comprehensive evaluations of adversity demonstrated more extensive telomere length changes. These results suggest that early adversity may have long-lasting physiological consequences contributing to disease risk and biological aging.

Logarithmic superposition of force response with rapid length changes in relaxed porcine airway smooth muscle.

Science.gov (United States)

Ijpma, G; Al-Jumaily, A M; Cairns, S P; Sieck, G C

2010-12-01

We present a systematic quantitative analysis of power-law force relaxation and investigate logarithmic superposition of force response in relaxed porcine airway smooth muscle (ASM) strips in vitro. The term logarithmic superposition describes linear superposition on a logarithmic scale, which is equivalent to multiplication on a linear scale. Additionally, we examine whether the dynamic response of contracted and relaxed muscles is dominated by cross-bridge cycling or passive dynamics. The study shows the following main findings. For relaxed ASM, the force response to length steps of varying amplitude (0.25-4% of reference length, both lengthening and shortening) are well-fitted with power-law functions over several decades of time (10⁻² to 10³ s), and the force response after consecutive length changes is more accurately fitted assuming logarithmic superposition rather than linear superposition. Furthermore, for sinusoidal length oscillations in contracted and relaxed muscles, increasing the oscillation amplitude induces greater hysteresivity and asymmetry of force-length relationships, whereas increasing the frequency dampens hysteresivity but increases asymmetry. We conclude that logarithmic superposition is an important feature of relaxed ASM, which may facilitate a more accurate prediction of force responses in the continuous dynamic environment of the respiratory system. In addition, the single power-function response to length changes shows that the dynamics of cross-bridge cycling can be ignored in relaxed muscle. The similarity in response between relaxed and contracted states implies that the investigated passive dynamics play an important role in both states and should be taken into account.

Inviscid criterion for decomposing scales

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Dongxiao; Aluie, Hussein

2018-05-01

The proper scale decomposition in flows with significant density variations is not as straightforward as in incompressible flows, with many possible ways to define a "length scale." A choice can be made according to the so-called inviscid criterion [Aluie, Physica D 24, 54 (2013), 10.1016/j.physd.2012.12.009]. It is a kinematic requirement that a scale decomposition yield negligible viscous effects at large enough length scales. It has been proved [Aluie, Physica D 24, 54 (2013), 10.1016/j.physd.2012.12.009] recently that a Favre decomposition satisfies the inviscid criterion, which is necessary to unravel inertial-range dynamics and the cascade. Here we present numerical demonstrations of those results. We also show that two other commonly used decompositions can violate the inviscid criterion and, therefore, are not suitable to study inertial-range dynamics in variable-density and compressible turbulence. Our results have practical modeling implication in showing that viscous terms in Large Eddy Simulations do not need to be modeled and can be neglected.

Comparative Criticality Analysis of Two Monte Carlo Codes on Centrifugal Atomizer: MCNPS and SCALE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, H-S; Jang, M-S; Kim, S-R; Park, J-M; Kim, K-N

2015-01-01

There are two well-known Monte Carlo codes for criticality analysis, MCNP5 and SCALE. MCNP5 is a general-purpose Monte Carlo N-Particle code that can be used for neutron, photon, electron or coupled neutron / photon / electron transport, including the capability to calculate eigenvalues for critical system as a main analysis code. SCALE provides a comprehensive, verified and validated, user-friendly tool set for criticality safety, reactor physics, radiation shielding, radioactive source term characterization, and sensitivity and uncertainty analysis. SCALE was conceived and funded by US NRC to perform standardized computer analysis for licensing evaluation and is used widely in the world. We performed a validation test of MCNP5 and a comparative analysis of Monte Carlo codes, MCNP5 and SCALE, in terms of the critical analysis of centrifugal atomizer. In the criticality analysis using MCNP5 code, we obtained the statistically reliable results by using a large number of source histories per cycle and performing of uncertainty analysis

Comparative Criticality Analysis of Two Monte Carlo Codes on Centrifugal Atomizer: MCNPS and SCALE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kang, H-S; Jang, M-S; Kim, S-R [NESS, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Park, J-M; Kim, K-N [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

There are two well-known Monte Carlo codes for criticality analysis, MCNP5 and SCALE. MCNP5 is a general-purpose Monte Carlo N-Particle code that can be used for neutron, photon, electron or coupled neutron / photon / electron transport, including the capability to calculate eigenvalues for critical system as a main analysis code. SCALE provides a comprehensive, verified and validated, user-friendly tool set for criticality safety, reactor physics, radiation shielding, radioactive source term characterization, and sensitivity and uncertainty analysis. SCALE was conceived and funded by US NRC to perform standardized computer analysis for licensing evaluation and is used widely in the world. We performed a validation test of MCNP5 and a comparative analysis of Monte Carlo codes, MCNP5 and SCALE, in terms of the critical analysis of centrifugal atomizer. In the criticality analysis using MCNP5 code, we obtained the statistically reliable results by using a large number of source histories per cycle and performing of uncertainty analysis.

Telomere Length and the Cancer-Atherosclerosis Trade-Off.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rivka C Stone

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Modern humans, the longest-living terrestrial mammals, display short telomeres and repressed telomerase activity in somatic tissues compared with most short-living small mammals. The dual trait of short telomeres and repressed telomerase might render humans relatively resistant to cancer compared with short-living small mammals. However, the trade-off for cancer resistance is ostensibly increased age-related degenerative diseases, principally in the form of atherosclerosis. In this communication, we discuss (a the genetics of human telomere length, a highly heritable complex trait that is influenced by genetic ancestry, sex, and paternal age at conception, (b how cancer might have played a role in the evolution of telomere biology across mammals, (c evidence that in modern humans telomere length is a determinant (rather than only a biomarker of cancer and atherosclerosis, and (d the potential influence of relatively recent evolutionary forces in fashioning the variation in telomere length across and within populations, and their likely lasting impact on major diseases in humans. Finally, we propose venues for future research on human telomere genetics in the context of its potential role in shaping the modern human lifespan.

Weight-for-length/height growth curves for children and adolescents in China in comparison with body mass index in prevalence estimates of malnutrition.

Science.gov (United States)

Zong, Xinnan; Li, Hui; Zhang, Yaqin; Wu, Huahong

2017-05-01

It is important to update weight-for-length/height growth curves in China and re-examine their performance in screening malnutrition. To develop weight-for-length/height growth curves for Chinese children and adolescents. A total of 94 302 children aged 0-19 years with complete sex, age, weight and length/height data were obtained from two cross-sectional large-scaled national surveys in China. Weight-for-length/height growth curves were constructed using the LMS method before and after average spermarcheal/menarcheal ages, respectively. Screening performance in prevalence estimates of wasting, overweight and obesity was compared between weight-for-height and body mass index (BMI) criteria based on a test population of 21 416 children aged 3-18. The smoothed weight-for-length percentiles and Z-scores growth curves with length 46-110 cm for both sexes and weight-for-height with height 70-180 cm for boys and 70-170 cm for girls were established. The weight-for-height and BMI-for-age had strong correlation in screening wasting, overweight and obesity in each age-sex group. There was no striking difference in prevalence estimates of wasting, overweight and obesity between two indicators except for obesity prevalence at ages 6-11. This set of smoothed weight-for-length/height growth curves may be useful in assessing nutritional status from infants to post-pubertal adolescents.

Comparative analysis of minor histocompatibility antigens genotyping methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. S. Vdovin

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The wide range of techniques could be employed to find mismatches in minor histocompatibility antigens between transplant recipients and their donors. In the current study we compared three genotyping methods based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR for four minor antigens. Three of the tested methods: allele-specific PCR, restriction fragment length polymorphism and real-time PCR with TaqMan probes demonstrated 100% reliability when compared to Sanger sequencing for all of the studied polymorphisms. High resolution melting analysis was unsuitable for genotyping of one of the tested minor antigens (HA-1 as it has linked synonymous polymorphism. Obtained data could be used to select the strategy for large-scale clinical genotyping.

Normal standards for kidney length as measured with US in premature infants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schlesinger, A.E.; Hedlund, G.L.; Pierson, W.P.; Null, D.M.

1986-01-01

In order to develop normal standards for kidney length in premature infants, the authors measured kidney length by US imaging in 39 (to date) premature infants less than 72 hours old and without known renal disease. Kidney length was compared with four different parameters of body size, including gestational age, birth weight, birth length, and body surface area. Similar standards have been generated previously for normal renal length as measured by US imaging in full-term infants and older children. These standards have proven utility in cases of congenital and acquired disorders that abnormally increase or decrease renal size. Scatter plots of kidney length versus body weight and kidney length versus body surface area conformed well to a logarithmic distribution, with a high correlation coefficient and close-fitting 95% confidence limits (SEE = 2.05)

The Extended Relativity Theory in Born-Clifford Phase Spaces with a Lower and Upper Length Scales and Clifford Group Geometric Unification

CERN Document Server

Castro, C

2004-01-01

We construct the Extended Relativity Theory in Born-Clifford-Phase spaces with an upper and lower length scales (infrared/ultraviolet cutoff). The invariance symmetry leads naturally to the real Clifford algebra Cl (2, 6, R ) and complexified Clifford Cl_C ( 4 ) algebra related to Twistors. We proceed with an extensive review of Smith's 8D model based on the Clifford algebra Cl ( 1 ,7) that reproduces at low energies the physics of the Standard Model and Gravity; including the derivation of all the coupling constants, particle masses, mixing angles, ....with high precision. Further results by Smith are discussed pertaining the interplay among Clifford, Jordan, Division and Exceptional Lie algebras within the hierarchy of dimensions D = 26, 27, 28 related to bosonic string, M, F theory. Two Geometric actions are presented like the Clifford-Space extension of Maxwell's Electrodynamics, Brandt's action related the 8D spacetime tangent-bundle involving coordinates and velocities (Finsler geometries) followed by a...

Characteristic length scale of the magnon accumulation in Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}/Pt bilayer structures by incoherent thermal excitation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anadón, A., E-mail: anadonb@unizar.es; Lucas, I.; Morellón, L. [Instituto de Nanociencia de Aragón, Universidad de Zaragoza, E-50018 Zaragoza (Spain); Departamento de Física de la Materia Condensada, Universidad de Zaragoza, E-50009 Zaragoza (Spain); Ramos, R. [WPI Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577 (Japan); Spin Quantum Rectification Project, ERATO, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Sendai 980-8577 (Japan); Algarabel, P. A. [Departamento de Física de la Materia Condensada, Universidad de Zaragoza, E-50009 Zaragoza (Spain); Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Aragón, Universidad de Zaragoza and Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 50009 Zaragoza (Spain); Ibarra, M. R.; Aguirre, M. H. [Instituto de Nanociencia de Aragón, Universidad de Zaragoza, E-50018 Zaragoza (Spain); Departamento de Física de la Materia Condensada, Universidad de Zaragoza, E-50009 Zaragoza (Spain); Laboratorio de Microscopías avanzadas, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50018 Zaragoza (Spain)

2016-07-04

The dependence of Spin Seebeck effect (SSE) with the thickness of the magnetic materials is studied by means of incoherent thermal excitation. The SSE voltage signal in Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}/Pt bilayer structure increases with the magnetic material thickness up to 100 nm, approximately, showing signs of saturation for larger thickness. This dependence is well described in terms of a spin current pumped in the platinum film by the magnon accumulation in the magnetic material. The spin current is generated by a gradient of temperature in the system and detected by the Pt top contact by means of inverse spin Hall effect. Calculations in the frame of the linear response theory adjust with a high degree of accuracy the experimental data, giving a thermal length scale of the magnon accumulation (Λ) of 17 ± 3 nm at 300 K and Λ = 40 ± 10 nm at 70 K.

Determination and Scaling of Thermo Acoustic Characteristics of Premixed Flames

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. R. Alemela

2010-06-01

Full Text Available The paper investigates the determination and the scaling of thermo acoustical characteristics of lean premixed flames as used in gas turbine combustion systems. In the first part, alternative methods to characterize experimentally the flame dynamics are outlined and are compared on the example of a scaled model of an industrial gas turbine burner. Transfer matrix results from the most general direct method are contrasted with data obtained from the hybrid method, which is based on Rankine-Hugoniot relations and the experimental flame transfer function obtained from OH*-chemiluminescence measurements. Also the new network model based regression method is assessed, which is based on a n – τ – σ dynamic flame model. The results indicate very good consistency between the three techniques, providing a global check of the methods/tools used for analyzing the thermo acoustic mechanisms of flames. In the second part, scaling rules are developed that allow to calculate the dynamic flame characteristics at different operation points. Towards this a geometric flame length model is formulated. Together with the other operational data of the flame it provides the dynamic flame model parameters at these points. The comparison between the measured and modeled flame lengths as well as the n – τ – σ parameters shows an excellent agreement.

Decoupling processes and scales of shoreline morphodynamics

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Hapke, Cheryl J.; Plant, Nathaniel G.; Henderson, Rachel E.; Schwab, William C.; Nelson, Timothy R.

2016-01-01

Behavior of coastal systems on time scales ranging from single storm events to years and decades is controlled by both small-scale sediment transport processes and large-scale geologic, oceanographic, and morphologic processes. Improved understanding of coastal behavior at multiple time scales is required for refining models that predict potential erosion hazards and for coastal management planning and decision-making. Here we investigate the primary controls on shoreline response along a geologically-variable barrier island on time scales resolving extreme storms and decadal variations over a period of nearly one century. An empirical orthogonal function analysis is applied to a time series of shoreline positions at Fire Island, NY to identify patterns of shoreline variance along the length of the island. We establish that there are separable patterns of shoreline behavior that represent response to oceanographic forcing as well as patterns that are not explained by this forcing. The dominant shoreline behavior occurs over large length scales in the form of alternating episodes of shoreline retreat and advance, presumably in response to storms cycles. Two secondary responses include long-term response that is correlated to known geologic variations of the island and the other reflects geomorphic patterns with medium length scale. Our study also includes the response to Hurricane Sandy and a period of post-storm recovery. It was expected that the impacts from Hurricane Sandy would disrupt long-term trends and spatial patterns. We found that the response to Sandy at Fire Island is not notable or distinguishable from several other large storms of the prior decade.

Comparability of scores on the MMPI-2-RF scales generated with the MMPI-2 and MMPI-2-RF booklets.

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Van der Heijden, P T; Egger, J I M; Derksen, J J L

2010-05-01

In most validity studies on the recently released 338-item MMPI-2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF; Ben-Porath & Tellegen, 2008; Tellegen & Ben-Porath, 2008), scale scores were derived from the 567-item MMPI-2 booklet. In this study, we evaluated the comparability of the MMPI-2-RF scale scores derived from the original 567-item MMPI-2 booklet with MMPI-2-RF scale scores derived from the 338-item MMPI-2-RF booklet in a Dutch student sample (N = 107). We used a counterbalanced (ABBA) design. We compared results with those previously reported by Tellegen and Ben-Porath (2008). Our findings support the comparability of the scores of the 338-item version and the 567-item version of the 50 MMPI-2-RF scales. We discuss clinical implications and directions for further research.

The Sensetivity of Flood Frequency Analysis on Record Length in Continuous United States

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Hu, L.; Nikolopoulos, E. I.; Anagnostou, E. N.

2017-12-01

In flood frequency analysis (FFA), sufficiently long data series are important to get more reliable results. Compared to return periods of interest, at-site FFA usually needs large data sets. Generally, the precision of at site estimators and time-sampling errors are associated with the length of a gauged record. In this work, we quantify the difference with various record lengths. we use generalized extreme value (GEV) and Log Pearson type III (LP3), two traditional methods on annual maximum stream flows to undertake FFA, and propose quantitative ways, relative difference in median and interquartile range (IQR) to compare the flood frequency performances on different record length from selected 350 USGS gauges, which have more than 70 years record length in Continuous United States. Also, we group those gauges into different regions separately based on hydrological unit map and discuss the geometry impacts. The results indicate that long record length can avoid imposing an upper limit on the degree of sophistication. Working with relatively longer record length may lead accurate results than working with shorter record length. Furthermore, the influence of hydrologic unites for the watershed boundary dataset on those gauges also be presented. The California region is the most sensitive to record length, while gauges in the east perform steady.

Zen meditation, Length of Telomeres, and the Role of Experiential Avoidance and Compassion.

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Alda, Marta; Puebla-Guedea, Marta; Rodero, Baltasar; Demarzo, Marcelo; Montero-Marin, Jesus; Roca, Miquel; Garcia-Campayo, Javier

Mindfulness refers to an awareness that emerges by intentionally focusing on the present experience in a nonjudgmental or evaluative manner. Evidence regarding its efficacy has been increasing exponentially, and recent research suggests that the practice of meditation is associated with longer leukocyte telomere length. However, the psychological mechanisms underlying this potential relationship are unknown. We examined the telomere lengths of a group of 20 Zen meditation experts and another 20 healthy matched comparison participants who had not previously meditated. We also measured multiple psychological variables related to meditation practice. Genomic DNA was extracted for telomere measurement using a Life Length proprietary program. High-throughput quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization (HT-Q-FISH) was used to measure the telomere length distribution and the median telomere length (MTL). The meditators group had a longer MTL ( p  = 0.005) and a lower percentage of short telomeres in individual cells ( p  = 0.007) than those in the comparison group. To determine which of the psychological variables contributed more to telomere maintenance, two regression analyses were conducted. In the first model, which applied to the MTL, the following three factors were significant: age, absence of experiential avoidance, and Common Humanity subscale of the Self Compassion Scale. Similarly, in the model that examined the percentage of short telomeres, the same factors were significant: age, absence of experiential avoidance, and Common Humanity subscale of the Self Compassion Scale. Although limited by a small sample size, these results suggest that the absence of experiential avoidance of negative emotions and thoughts is integral to the connection between meditation and telomeres.

Estimation of tissue stiffness, reflex activity, optimal muscle length and slack length in stroke patients using an electromyography driven antagonistic wrist model.

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de Gooijer-van de Groep, Karin L; de Vlugt, Erwin; van der Krogt, Hanneke J; Helgadóttir, Áróra; Arendzen, J Hans; Meskers, Carel G M; de Groot, Jurriaan H

2016-06-01

About half of all chronic stroke patients experience loss of arm function coinciding with increased stiffness, reduced range of motion and a flexed wrist due to a change in neural and/or structural tissue properties. Quantitative assessment of these changes is of clinical importance, yet not trivial. The goal of this study was to quantify the neural and structural properties contributing to wrist joint stiffness and to compare these properties between healthy subjects and stroke patients. Stroke patients (n=32) and healthy volunteers (n=14) were measured using ramp-and-hold rotations applied to the wrist joint by a haptic manipulator. Neural (reflexive torque) and structural (connective tissue stiffness and slack lengths and (contractile) optimal muscle lengths) parameters were estimated using an electromyography driven antagonistic wrist model. Kruskal-Wallis analysis with multiple comparisons was used to compare results between healthy subjects, stroke patients with modified Ashworth score of zero and stroke patients with modified Ashworth score of one or more. Stroke patients with modified Ashworth score of one or more differed from healthy controls (Pslack length of connective tissue of the flexor muscles. Non-invasive quantitative analysis, including estimation of optimal muscle lengths, enables to identify neural and non-neural changes in chronic stroke patients. Monitoring these changes in time is important to understand the recovery process and to optimize treatment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.