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)

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

Direct-drive–ignition designs with plastic CH ablators create plasmas of long density scale lengths (L n ≥ 500 μm) at the quarter-critical density (N qc ) region of the driving laser. The two-plasmon–decay (TPD) instability can exceed its threshold in such long-scale-length plasmas (LSPs). To investigate the scaling of TPD-induced hot electrons to laser intensity and plasma conditions, a series of planar experiments have been conducted at the Omega Laser Facility with 2-ns square pulses at the maximum laser energies available on OMEGA and OMEGA EP. Radiation–hydrodynamic simulations have been performed for these LSP experiments using the two-dimensional hydrocode draco. The simulated hydrodynamic evolution of such long-scale-length plasmas has been validated with the time-resolved full-aperture backscattering and Thomson-scattering measurements. draco simulations for CH ablator indicate that (1) ignition-relevant long-scale-length plasmas of L n approaching ∼400 μm have been created; (2) the density scale length at N qc scales as L n (μm)≃(R DPP ×I 1/4 /2); and (3) the electron temperature T e at N qc scales as T e (keV)≃0.95×√(I), with the incident intensity (I) measured in 10 14 W/cm 2 for plasmas created on both OMEGA and OMEGA EP configurations with different-sized (R DPP ) distributed phase plates. These intensity scalings are in good agreement with the self-similar model predictions. The measured conversion fraction of laser energy into hot electrons f hot is found to have a similar behavior for both configurations: a rapid growth [f hot ≃f c ×(G c /4) 6 for G c hot ≃f c ×(G c /4) 1.2 for G c ≥ 4, with the common wave gain is defined as G c =3 × 10 −2 ×I qc L n λ 0 /T e , where the laser intensity contributing to common-wave gain I qc , L n , T e at N qc , and the laser wavelength λ 0 are, respectively, measured in [10 14 W/cm 2 ], [μm], [keV], and [μm]. The saturation level f c is observed to be f c ≃ 10 –2 at around

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.

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.

Size-dependent elastic/inelastic behavior of enamel over millimeter and nanometer length scales.

Science.gov (United States)

Ang, Siang Fung; Bortel, Emely L; Swain, Michael V; Klocke, Arndt; Schneider, Gerold A

2010-03-01

The microstructure of enamel like most biological tissues has a hierarchical structure which determines their mechanical behavior. However, current studies of the mechanical behavior of enamel lack a systematic investigation of these hierarchical length scales. In this study, we performed macroscopic uni-axial compression tests and the spherical indentation with different indenter radii to probe enamel's elastic/inelastic transition over four hierarchical length scales, namely: 'bulk enamel' (mm), 'multiple-rod' (10's microm), 'intra-rod' (100's nm with multiple crystallites) and finally 'single-crystallite' (10's nm with an area of approximately one hydroxyapatite crystallite). The enamel's elastic/inelastic transitions were observed at 0.4-17 GPa depending on the length scale and were compared with the values of synthetic hydroxyapatite crystallites. The elastic limit of a material is important as it provides insights into the deformability of the material before fracture. At the smallest investigated length scale (contact radius approximately 20 nm), elastic limit is followed by plastic deformation. At the largest investigated length scale (contact size approximately 2 mm), only elastic then micro-crack induced response was observed. A map of elastic/inelastic regions of enamel from millimeter to nanometer length scale is presented. Possible underlying mechanisms are also discussed. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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.

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.

Relevant energy scale of color confinement from lattice QCD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamamoto, Arata; Suganuma, Hideo

2009-01-01

We propose a new lattice framework to extract the relevant gluonic energy scale of QCD phenomena which is based on a 'cut' on link variables in momentum space. This framework is expected to be broadly applicable to all lattice QCD calculations. Using this framework, we quantitatively determine the relevant energy scale of color confinement, through the analyses of the quark-antiquark potential and meson masses. The relevant energy scale of color confinement is found to be below 1.5 GeV in the Landau gauge. In fact, the string tension is almost unchanged even after cutting off the high-momentum gluon component above 1.5 GeV. When the relevant low-energy region is cut, the quark-antiquark potential is approximately reduced to a Coulomb-like potential, and each meson becomes a quasifree quark pair. As an analytical model calculation, we also investigate the dependence of the Richardson potential on the cut, and find the consistent behavior with the lattice result.

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

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.

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

The length-scale dependence of strain in networks by SANS

CERN Document Server

Pyckhout-Hintzen, W; Heinrich, M; Richter, D; Westermann, S; Straube, E

2002-01-01

We present a SANS study of the length-scale dependence of chain deformation by means of a suitable labeling in dense, cross-linked elastomers of the HDH-type. This length scale is controlled by the size of the label as well as the cross-link density. The results are compared to long homopolymers. The data are analyzed by means of the tube model of topology in rubber elasticity in combination with the random-phase approximation (RPA) to account for interchain correlations. Chain degradation during cross linking is treated by the standard RPA approach for polydisperse multicomponent systems. A transition from locally freely fluctuating to tube-constrained segmental motion was observed. (orig.)

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.

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

Multi Length Scale Finite Element Design Framework for Advanced Woven Fabrics

Science.gov (United States)

Erol, Galip Ozan

Woven fabrics are integral parts of many engineering applications spanning from personal protective garments to surgical scaffolds. They provide a wide range of opportunities in designing advanced structures because of their high tenacity, flexibility, high strength-to-weight ratios and versatility. These advantages result from their inherent multi scale nature where the filaments are bundled together to create yarns while the yarns are arranged into different weave architectures. Their highly versatile nature opens up potential for a wide range of mechanical properties which can be adjusted based on the application. While woven fabrics are viable options for design of various engineering systems, being able to understand the underlying mechanisms of the deformation and associated highly nonlinear mechanical response is important and necessary. However, the multiscale nature and relationships between these scales make the design process involving woven fabrics a challenging task. The objective of this work is to develop a multiscale numerical design framework using experimentally validated mesoscopic and macroscopic length scale approaches by identifying important deformation mechanisms and recognizing the nonlinear mechanical response of woven fabrics. This framework is exercised by developing mesoscopic length scale constitutive models to investigate plain weave fabric response under a wide range of loading conditions. A hyperelastic transversely isotropic yarn material model with transverse material nonlinearity is developed for woven yarns (commonly used in personal protection garments). The material properties/parameters are determined through an inverse method where unit cell finite element simulations are coupled with experiments. The developed yarn material model is validated by simulating full scale uniaxial tensile, bias extension and indentation experiments, and comparing to experimentally observed mechanical response and deformation mechanisms. Moreover

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.

Stability of icosahedral quasicrystals in a simple model with two-length scales

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang, Kai; Zhang, Pingwen; Shi, An-Chang

2017-01-01

The phase behaviour of a free energy functional with two length scales is examined by comparing the free energy of different candidate phases including three-dimensional icosahedral quasicrystals. Accurate free energy of the quasicrystals has been obtained using the recently developed projection method. The results reveal that the icosahedral quasicrystal and body-centred-cubic spherical phase are the stable ordered phases of the model. Furthermore, the difference between the results obtained from the projection method and the one-mode approximation has been analyzed in detail. The present study extends previous results on two-dimensional systems, demonstrating that the interactions between density waves at two length scales can stabilize two- and three-dimensional quasicrystals. (paper)

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.

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.

Relevant criteria for testing the quality of turbulence models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frandsen, Sten Tronæs; Ejsing Jørgensen, Hans; Sørensen, J.D.

2007-01-01

Seeking relevant criteria for testing the quality of turbulence models, the scale of turbulence and the gust factor have been estimated from data and compared with predictions from first-order models of these two quantities. It is found that the mean of the measured length scales is approx. 10......% smaller than the IEC model, for wind turbine hub height levels. The mean is only marginally dependent on trends in time series. It is also found that the coefficient of variation of the measured length scales is about 50%. 3sec and 10sec pre-averaging of wind speed data are relevant for MW-size wind...... turbines when seeking wind characteristics that correspond to one blade and the entire rotor, respectively. For heights exceeding 50-60m the gust factor increases with wind speed. For heights larger the 60-80m, present assumptions on the value of the gust factor are significantly conservative, both for 3...

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.

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.

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)

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...

Scale-lengths and instabilities in magnetized classical and relativistic plasma fluid models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diver, D A; Laing, E W

2015-01-01

The validity of the traditional plasma continuum is predicated on a hierarchy of scale-lengths, with the Debye length being considered to be effectively unresolvable in the continuum limit. In this article, we revisit the strong magnetic field case in which the Larmor radius is comparable or smaller than the Debye length in the classical plasma, and also for a relativistic plasma. Fresh insight into the validity of the continuum assumption in each case is offered, including a fluid limit on the Alfvén speed that may impose restrictions on the validity of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) in some solar and fusion contexts. Additional implications concerning the role of the firehose instability are also explored. (paper)

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.

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.

A multi-resolution analysis of lidar-DTMs to identify geomorphic processes from characteristic topographic length scales

Science.gov (United States)

Sangireddy, H.; Passalacqua, P.; Stark, C. P.

2013-12-01

Characteristic length scales are often present in topography, and they reflect the driving geomorphic processes. The wide availability of high resolution lidar Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) allows us to measure such characteristic scales, but new methods of topographic analysis are needed in order to do so. Here, we explore how transitions in probability distributions (pdfs) of topographic variables such as (log(area/slope)), defined as topoindex by Beven and Kirkby[1979], can be measured by Multi-Resolution Analysis (MRA) of lidar DTMs [Stark and Stark, 2001; Sangireddy et al.,2012] and used to infer dominant geomorphic processes such as non-linear diffusion and critical shear. We show this correlation between dominant geomorphic processes to characteristic length scales by comparing results from a landscape evolution model to natural landscapes. The landscape evolution model MARSSIM Howard[1994] includes components for modeling rock weathering, mass wasting by non-linear creep, detachment-limited channel erosion, and bedload sediment transport. We use MARSSIM to simulate steady state landscapes for a range of hillslope diffusivity and critical shear stresses. Using the MRA approach, we estimate modal values and inter-quartile ranges of slope, curvature, and topoindex as a function of resolution. We also construct pdfs at each resolution and identify and extract characteristic scale breaks. Following the approach of Tucker et al.,[2001], we measure the average length to channel from ridges, within the GeoNet framework developed by Passalacqua et al.,[2010] and compute pdfs for hillslope lengths at each scale defined in the MRA. We compare the hillslope diffusivity used in MARSSIM against inter-quartile ranges of topoindex and hillslope length scales, and observe power law relationships between the compared variables for simulated landscapes at steady state. We plot similar measures for natural landscapes and are able to qualitatively infer the dominant geomorphic

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

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.)

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

Relevant Criteria for Testing the Quality of Models for Turbulent Wind Speed Fluctuations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frandsen, Sten Tronæs; Ejsing Jørgensen, Hans; Sørensen, John Dalsgaard

2008-01-01

Seeking relevant criteria for testing the quality of turbulence models, the scale of turbulence and the gust factor have been estimated from data and compared with predictions from first-order models of these two quantities. It is found that the mean of the measured length scales is approximately...... 10% smaller than the IEC model for wind turbine hub height levels. The mean is only marginally dependent on trends in time series. It is also found that the coefficient of variation of the measured length scales is about 50%. 3  s and 10  s preaveraging of wind speed data are relevant for megawatt......-size wind turbines when seeking wind characteristics that correspond to one blade and the entire rotor, respectively. For heights exceeding 50-60  m, the gust factor increases with wind speed. For heights larger than 60-80  m, present assumptions on the value of the gust factor are significantly...

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.

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.

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

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.

Accelerating Relevance Vector Machine for Large-Scale Data on Spark

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liu Fang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Relevance vector machine (RVM is a machine learning algorithm based on a sparse Bayesian framework, which performs well when running classification and regression tasks on small-scale datasets. However, RVM also has certain drawbacks which restricts its practical applications such as (1 slow training process, (2 poor performance on training large-scale datasets. In order to solve these problem, we propose Discrete AdaBoost RVM (DAB-RVM which incorporate ensemble learning in RVM at first. This method performs well with large-scale low-dimensional datasets. However, as the number of features increases, the training time of DAB-RVM increases as well. To avoid this phenomenon, we utilize the sufficient training samples of large-scale datasets and propose all features boosting RVM (AFB-RVM, which modifies the way of obtaining weak classifiers. In our experiments we study the differences between various boosting techniques with RVM, demonstrating the performance of the proposed approaches on Spark. As a result of this paper, two proposed approaches on Spark for different types of large-scale datasets are available.

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.

Spatial correlation of atmospheric wind at scales relevant for large scale wind turbines

Science.gov (United States)

Bardal, L. M.; Sætran, L. R.

2016-09-01

Wind measurements a short distance upstream of a wind turbine can provide input for a feedforward wind turbine controller. Since the turbulent wind field will be different at the point/plane of measurement and the rotor plane the degree of correlation between wind speed at two points in space both in the longitudinal and lateral direction should be evaluated. This study uses a 2D array of mast mounted anemometers to evaluate cross-correlation of longitudinal wind speed. The degree of correlation is found to increase with height and decrease with atmospheric stability. The correlation is furthermore considerably larger for longitudinal separation than for lateral separation. The integral length scale of turbulence is also considered.

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.

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.)

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.

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

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

A multi-scale relevance vector regression approach for daily urban water demand forecasting

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, Yun; Wang, Pu; Li, Chuan; Xie, Jingjing; Wang, Yin

2014-09-01

Water is one of the most important resources for economic and social developments. Daily water demand forecasting is an effective measure for scheduling urban water facilities. This work proposes a multi-scale relevance vector regression (MSRVR) approach to forecast daily urban water demand. The approach uses the stationary wavelet transform to decompose historical time series of daily water supplies into different scales. At each scale, the wavelet coefficients are used to train a machine-learning model using the relevance vector regression (RVR) method. The estimated coefficients of the RVR outputs for all of the scales are employed to reconstruct the forecasting result through the inverse wavelet transform. To better facilitate the MSRVR forecasting, the chaos features of the daily water supply series are analyzed to determine the input variables of the RVR model. In addition, an adaptive chaos particle swarm optimization algorithm is used to find the optimal combination of the RVR model parameters. The MSRVR approach is evaluated using real data collected from two waterworks and is compared with recently reported methods. The results show that the proposed MSRVR method can forecast daily urban water demand much more precisely in terms of the normalized root-mean-square error, correlation coefficient, and mean absolute percentage error criteria.

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.

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

Organisationally relevant variables and Keyes's Mental Health Continuum Scale: An exploratory study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deo J.W. Strümpfer

2009-09-01

Full Text Available In an exploratory study on a sample of convenience (n = 165, 11 self-report variables with presumed organisational  relevance were  related,  as  predictors,  to  the  three  subscores  and  summed  score of  the Keyes  (2005a, 2005b; 2007 Mental Health Continuum  scale  (long  form. Keyes's  scale was administered five to seven days after the first set of scales. The predictor scores were reduced to three factorial scores, labelled positive orientation, negative orientation and positive striving. When classified thus, the predictor variables showed significant and meaningful relationships with some or all of the Keyes subscores and the total score, although few reached medium effect sizes.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

Impacts of a lengthening open water season on Alaskan coastal communities: deriving locally relevant indices from large-scale datasets and community observations

Science.gov (United States)

Rolph, Rebecca J.; Mahoney, Andrew R.; Walsh, John; Loring, Philip A.

2018-05-01

Using thresholds of physical climate variables developed from community observations, together with two large-scale datasets, we have produced local indices directly relevant to the impacts of a reduced sea ice cover on Alaska coastal communities. The indices include the number of false freeze-ups defined by transient exceedances of ice concentration prior to a corresponding exceedance that persists, false break-ups, timing of freeze-up and break-up, length of the open water duration, number of days when the winds preclude hunting via boat (wind speed threshold exceedances), the number of wind events conducive to geomorphological work or damage to infrastructure from ocean waves, and the number of these wind events with on- and along-shore components promoting water setup along the coastline. We demonstrate how community observations can inform use of large-scale datasets to derive these locally relevant indices. The two primary large-scale datasets are the Historical Sea Ice Atlas for Alaska and the atmospheric output from a regional climate model used to downscale the ERA-Interim atmospheric reanalysis. We illustrate the variability and trends of these indices by application to the rural Alaska communities of Kotzebue, Shishmaref, and Utqiaġvik (previously Barrow), although the same procedure and metrics can be applied to other coastal communities. Over the 1979-2014 time period, there has been a marked increase in the number of combined false freeze-ups and false break-ups as well as the number of days too windy for hunting via boat for all three communities, especially Utqiaġvik. At Utqiaġvik, there has been an approximate tripling of the number of wind events conducive to coastline erosion from 1979 to 2014. We have also found a delay in freeze-up and earlier break-up, leading to a lengthened open water period for all of the communities examined.

Impacts of a lengthening open water season on Alaskan coastal communities: deriving locally relevant indices from large-scale datasets and community observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. J. Rolph

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Using thresholds of physical climate variables developed from community observations, together with two large-scale datasets, we have produced local indices directly relevant to the impacts of a reduced sea ice cover on Alaska coastal communities. The indices include the number of false freeze-ups defined by transient exceedances of ice concentration prior to a corresponding exceedance that persists, false break-ups, timing of freeze-up and break-up, length of the open water duration, number of days when the winds preclude hunting via boat (wind speed threshold exceedances, the number of wind events conducive to geomorphological work or damage to infrastructure from ocean waves, and the number of these wind events with on- and along-shore components promoting water setup along the coastline. We demonstrate how community observations can inform use of large-scale datasets to derive these locally relevant indices. The two primary large-scale datasets are the Historical Sea Ice Atlas for Alaska and the atmospheric output from a regional climate model used to downscale the ERA-Interim atmospheric reanalysis. We illustrate the variability and trends of these indices by application to the rural Alaska communities of Kotzebue, Shishmaref, and Utqiaġvik (previously Barrow, although the same procedure and metrics can be applied to other coastal communities. Over the 1979–2014 time period, there has been a marked increase in the number of combined false freeze-ups and false break-ups as well as the number of days too windy for hunting via boat for all three communities, especially Utqiaġvik. At Utqiaġvik, there has been an approximate tripling of the number of wind events conducive to coastline erosion from 1979 to 2014. We have also found a delay in freeze-up and earlier break-up, leading to a lengthened open water period for all of the communities examined.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

DETERMINATION OF RELEVANT FEATURES OF A SCALE MODEL FOR A 55 000 DWT BULK CARRIER NECESSARY TO STUDY THE SHIP MANEUVERABILITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ALECU TOMA

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The study method of a ship behavior based on practical tests on scale models is widely used both leading scientists and engineers, architects and researchers in the naval field. In this paper we propose to determine the parameters of a ship handling characteristics relevant to study the 55,000 dwt bulk carrier using a scale model. Scientific background for practical experimentation of this techniques necessary to built a scale model ship consists in applying the principles of similarity or "similitude". The scale model achieved by applying the laws of similarity must allow, through approximations available in certain circumstances, finding relevant parameters needed to simplify and solve the Navier-Stokes equations. These parameters are necessary for modeling the interaction between hull of the real ship and the fluid motion.

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

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.

Ramp injector scale effects on supersonic combustion

Science.gov (United States)

Trebs, Adam

The combustion field downstream of a 10 degree compression ramp injector has been studied experimentally using wall static pressure measurement, OH-PLIF, and 2 kHz intensified video filtered for OH emission at 320 nm. Nominal test section entrance conditions were Mach 2, 131 kPa static pressure, and 756K stagnation temperature. The experiment was equipped with a variable length inlet duct that facilitated varying the boundary layer development length while the injector shock structure in relation to the combustor geometry remained nearly fixed. As the boundary within an engine varies with flight condition and does not scale linearly with the physical scale of the engine, the boundary layer scale relative to mixing structures of the engine becomes relevant to the problem of engine scaling and general engine performance. By varying the boundary layer thickness from 40% of the ramp height to 150% of the ramp height, changes in the combustion flowfield downstream of the injector could be diagnosed. It was found that flame shape changed, the persistence of the vortex cores was reduced, and combustion efficiency rose as the incident boundary layer grew.

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

An evaluation of the hydrologic relevance of lateral flow in snow at hillslope and catchment scales

Science.gov (United States)

David Eiriksson; Michael Whitson; Charles H. Luce; Hans Peter Marshall; John Bradford; Shawn G. Benner; Thomas Black; Hank Hetrick; James P. McNamara

2013-01-01

Lateral downslope flow in snow during snowmelt and rain-on-snow (ROS) events is a well-known phenomenon, yet its relevance to water redistribution at hillslope and catchment scales is not well understood. We used dye tracers, geophysical methods, and hydrometric measurements to describe the snow properties that promote lateral flow, assess the relative velocities of...

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.

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.

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...

Linking electricity and water models to assess electricity choices at water-relevant scales

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sattler, S; Rogers, J; Macknick, J; Lopez, A; Yates, D; Flores-Lopez, F

2012-01-01

Hydrology/water management and electricity generation projections have been modeled separately, but there has been little effort in intentionally and explicitly linking the two sides of the water–energy nexus. This paper describes a platform for assessing power plant cooling water withdrawals and consumption under different electricity pathways at geographic and time scales appropriate for both electricity and hydrology/water management. This platform uses estimates of regional electricity generation by the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) as input to a hydrologic and water management model—the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) system. In WEAP, this electricity use represents thermoelectric cooling water withdrawals and consumption within the broader, regional water resource context. Here we describe linking the electricity and water models, including translating electricity generation results from ReEDS-relevant geographies to the water-relevant geographies of WEAP. The result of this analysis is water use by the electric sector at the regional watershed level, which is used to examine the water resource implications of these electricity pathways. (letter)

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)

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.

User and stakeholder involvement for relevant, reliable and robust local-scale climate projections in Norway

Science.gov (United States)

Neby, Simon; Sobolowski, Stefan

2017-04-01

How can users and stakeholders be actively involved with providing input to and using output from local-scale climate projections? How can the scientific community better understand the needs of local actors? And how should communication and cooperation efforts be organized? These are critical questions we aim to answer in a climate services project funded by the Norwegian Research Council (R3: Relevant, Reliable and Robust local-scale climate projections for Norway). The project takes into consideration not only the scientific issues in establishing useful local-scale climate projections, but also addresses the "usability gap" between climate information and decision-making. The lack of effective communication between scientists and user communities often result in outputs and products that are not matched with decision-relevant climate information. In the R3 project, the scientific participants actively engage with a range of users that have quite different information needs: municipalities, infrastructure developers, agriculture, energy producers, insurance companies, and more. In this particular presentation, we present our experiences concerning three specific issues that relate to the stakeholder-science interface: 1) Preferences are not clear-cut and pre-defined. In practice, this means that stakeholders often do not have precise information about their needs, nor precise information about how, where and whether their needs can be voiced. Similarly, science communities tend to presuppose that stakeholders are interested and have well-articulated needs, which is hardly the case. Collectively, that means that there is a need for an approach that guides the articulation and prioritization of preferences in a manner that integrates both scientific and stakeholder perspectives and takes the integrity of both perspectives seriously. 2) Technologies are unclear. Although information may be produced and used, past experiences, trial and error processes and pragmatic

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.

Scaling strength distributions in quasi-brittle materials from micro-to macro-scales: A computational approach to modeling Nature-inspired structural ceramics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Genet, Martin; Couegnat, Guillaume; Tomsia, Antoni P.; Ritchie, Robert O.

2014-01-01

This paper presents an approach to predict the strength distribution of quasi-brittle materials across multiple length-scales, with emphasis on Nature-inspired ceramic structures. It permits the computation of the failure probability of any structure under any mechanical load, solely based on considerations of the microstructure and its failure properties by naturally incorporating the statistical and size-dependent aspects of failure. We overcome the intrinsic limitations of single periodic unit-based approaches by computing the successive failures of the material components and associated stress redistributions on arbitrary numbers of periodic units. For large size samples, the microscopic cells are replaced by a homogenized continuum with equivalent stochastic and damaged constitutive behavior. After establishing the predictive capabilities of the method, and illustrating its potential relevance to several engineering problems, we employ it in the study of the shape and scaling of strength distributions across differing length-scales for a particular quasi-brittle system. We find that the strength distributions display a Weibull form for samples of size approaching the periodic unit; however, these distributions become closer to normal with further increase in sample size before finally reverting to a Weibull form for macroscopic sized samples. In terms of scaling, we find that the weakest link scaling applies only to microscopic, and not macroscopic scale, samples. These findings are discussed in relation to failure patterns computed at different size-scales. (authors)

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

Scaling: From quanta to nuclear reactors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zuber, Novak, E-mail: rohatgi@bnl.go [703 New Mark Esplanade, Rockville, MD 20850 (United States)

2010-08-15

This paper has three objectives. The first objective is to show how the Einstein-de Broglie equation (EdB) can be extended to model and scale, via fractional scaling, both conservative and dissipative processes ranging in scale from quanta to nuclear reactors. The paper also discusses how and why a single equation and associated fractional scaling method generate for each process of change the corresponding scaling criterion. The versatility and capability of fractional scaling are demonstrated by applying it to: (a) particle dynamics, (b) conservative (Bernoulli) and dissipative (hydraulic jump) flows, (c) viscous and turbulent flows through rough and smooth pipes, and (d) momentum diffusion in a semi-infinite medium. The capability of fractional scaling to scale a process over a vast range of temporal and spatial scales is demonstrated by applying it to fluctuating processes. The application shows that the modeling of fluctuations in fluid mechanics is analogous to that in relativistic quantum field theory. Thus, Kolmogorov dissipation frequency and length are the analogs of the characteristic time and length of quantum fluctuations. The paper briefly discusses the applicability of the fractional scaling approach (FSA) to nanotechnology and biology. It also notes the analogy between FSA and the approach used to scale polymers. These applications demonstrate the power of scaling as well as the validity of Pierre-Gilles de Gennes' ideas concerning scaling, analogies and simplicity. They also demonstrate the usefulness and efficiency of his approach to solving scientific problems. The second objective is to note and discuss the benefits of applying FSA to NPP technology. The third objective is to present a state of the art assessment of thermal-hydraulics (T/H) capabilities and needs relevant to NPP.

Scaling: From quanta to nuclear reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zuber, Novak

2010-01-01

This paper has three objectives. The first objective is to show how the Einstein-de Broglie equation (EdB) can be extended to model and scale, via fractional scaling, both conservative and dissipative processes ranging in scale from quanta to nuclear reactors. The paper also discusses how and why a single equation and associated fractional scaling method generate for each process of change the corresponding scaling criterion. The versatility and capability of fractional scaling are demonstrated by applying it to: (a) particle dynamics, (b) conservative (Bernoulli) and dissipative (hydraulic jump) flows, (c) viscous and turbulent flows through rough and smooth pipes, and (d) momentum diffusion in a semi-infinite medium. The capability of fractional scaling to scale a process over a vast range of temporal and spatial scales is demonstrated by applying it to fluctuating processes. The application shows that the modeling of fluctuations in fluid mechanics is analogous to that in relativistic quantum field theory. Thus, Kolmogorov dissipation frequency and length are the analogs of the characteristic time and length of quantum fluctuations. The paper briefly discusses the applicability of the fractional scaling approach (FSA) to nanotechnology and biology. It also notes the analogy between FSA and the approach used to scale polymers. These applications demonstrate the power of scaling as well as the validity of Pierre-Gilles de Gennes' ideas concerning scaling, analogies and simplicity. They also demonstrate the usefulness and efficiency of his approach to solving scientific problems. The second objective is to note and discuss the benefits of applying FSA to NPP technology. The third objective is to present a state of the art assessment of thermal-hydraulics (T/H) capabilities and needs relevant to NPP.

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

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...

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.

Tuning Piezo ion channels to detect molecular-scale movements relevant for fine touch

Science.gov (United States)

Poole, Kate; Herget, Regina; Lapatsina, Liudmila; Ngo, Ha-Duong; Lewin, Gary R.

2014-01-01

In sensory neurons, mechanotransduction is sensitive, fast and requires mechanosensitive ion channels. Here we develop a new method to directly monitor mechanotransduction at defined regions of the cell-substrate interface. We show that molecular-scale (~13 nm) displacements are sufficient to gate mechanosensitive currents in mouse touch receptors. Using neurons from knockout mice, we show that displacement thresholds increase by one order of magnitude in the absence of stomatin-like protein 3 (STOML3). Piezo1 is the founding member of a class of mammalian stretch-activated ion channels, and we show that STOML3, but not other stomatin-domain proteins, brings the activation threshold for Piezo1 and Piezo2 currents down to ~10 nm. Structure–function experiments localize the Piezo modulatory activity of STOML3 to the stomatin domain, and higher-order scaffolds are a prerequisite for function. STOML3 is the first potent modulator of Piezo channels that tunes the sensitivity of mechanically gated channels to detect molecular-scale stimuli relevant for fine touch. PMID:24662763

Long-time data storage: relevant time scales

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Elwenspoek, Michael Curt

2011-01-01

Dynamic processes relevant for long-time storage of information about human kind are discussed, ranging from biological and geological processes to the lifecycle of stars and the expansion of the universe. Major results are that life will end ultimately and the remaining time that the earth is

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)

Psychometric properties and clinical relevance of the adolescent sleep hygiene scale in Dutch adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

de Bruin, Eduard J; van Kampen, Ris K A; van Kooten, Tamar; Meijer, Anne Marie

2014-07-01

This study investigated reliability, validity, and clinical relevance of the Adolescent Sleep Hygiene Scale (ASHS) in Dutch adolescents. The Dutch translation of the ASHS was administered to 186 normal-sleeping adolescents and 112 adolescents with insomnia. Their sleep variables were measured using sleep logs and questionnaires. From the insomnia group, scores were also obtained after six weeks of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (n=58) or waiting list (n=22). The full scale of the ASHS had acceptable internal consistency. The results showed moderate to strong correlations of the ASHS (domains) with sleep quality, sleep duration and chronic sleep reduction. Furthermore, the Dutch ASHS was able to discriminate between normal sleepers and adolescents with insomnia, and scores of adolescents with insomnia improved after treatment. These findings confirm the importance of sleep hygiene in adolescent sleep, and contribute to the validity of the ASHS and its applicability in research and clinical practice. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Diffusion effects on volume-selective NMR at small length scales; Diffusionseffekte in volumenselektiver NMR auf kleinen Laengenskalen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gaedke, Achim

2009-01-21

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 {mu}m 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

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...

Particle-scale structure in frozen colloidal suspensions from small-angle x-ray scattering

KAUST Repository

Spannuth, Melissa

2011-02-01

During directional solidification of the solvent in a colloidal suspension, the colloidal particles segregate from the growing solid, forming high-particle-density regions with structure on a hierarchy of length scales ranging from that of the particle-scale packing to the large-scale spacing between these regions. Previous work has concentrated mostly on the medium- to large-length scale structure, as it is the most accessible and thought to be more technologically relevant. However, the packing of the colloids at the particle scale is an important component not only in theoretical descriptions of the segregation process, but also to the utility of freeze-cast materials for new applications. Here we present the results of experiments in which we investigated this structure across a wide range of length scales using a combination of small-angle x-ray scattering and direct optical imaging. As expected, during freezing the particles were concentrated into regions between ice dendrites forming a microscopic pattern of high- and low-particle-density regions. X-ray scattering indicates that the particles in the high-density regions were so closely packed as to be touching. However, the arrangement of the particles does not conform to that predicted by standard interparticle pair potentials, suggesting that the particle packing induced by freezing differs from that formed during equilibrium densification processes. © 2011 American Physical Society.

Particle-scale structure in frozen colloidal suspensions from small-angle x-ray scattering

KAUST Repository

Spannuth, Melissa; Mochrie, S. G. J.; Peppin, S. S. L.; Wettlaufer, J. S.

2011-01-01

During directional solidification of the solvent in a colloidal suspension, the colloidal particles segregate from the growing solid, forming high-particle-density regions with structure on a hierarchy of length scales ranging from that of the particle-scale packing to the large-scale spacing between these regions. Previous work has concentrated mostly on the medium- to large-length scale structure, as it is the most accessible and thought to be more technologically relevant. However, the packing of the colloids at the particle scale is an important component not only in theoretical descriptions of the segregation process, but also to the utility of freeze-cast materials for new applications. Here we present the results of experiments in which we investigated this structure across a wide range of length scales using a combination of small-angle x-ray scattering and direct optical imaging. As expected, during freezing the particles were concentrated into regions between ice dendrites forming a microscopic pattern of high- and low-particle-density regions. X-ray scattering indicates that the particles in the high-density regions were so closely packed as to be touching. However, the arrangement of the particles does not conform to that predicted by standard interparticle pair potentials, suggesting that the particle packing induced by freezing differs from that formed during equilibrium densification processes. © 2011 American Physical Society.

Fluctuation measurements at c/ωpe spatial scales in a tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haines, E.J.; Tan, I.H.; Prager, S.C.

1994-07-01

Magnetic and electrostatic fluctuations have been measured at the short scale length of the collisionless skin depth (c/ω pe using small magnetic and electrostatic probes in the Tokapole II tokamak. For certain conditions and at high frequency (MHz range) the amplitude is observed to increase as wavelength is decreased toward the c/ω pe scale. Wavelength dependence is inferred from measurements with probes of varying sizes. The amplitude of the turbulence at the c/ω pe scale is smaller than the dominant low frequency turbulence, and is thus not relevant to transport in Tokapole II. Comparison with theoretical treatments of c/ω pe turbulence is discussed

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.

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.

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

Origins and Scaling of Hot-Electron Preheat in Ignition-Scale Direct-Drive Inertial Confinement Fusion Experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenberg, M. J.; Solodov, A. A.; Myatt, J. F.; Seka, W.; Michel, P.; Hohenberger, M.; Short, R. W.; Epstein, R.; Regan, S. P.; Campbell, E. M.; Chapman, T.; Goyon, C.; Ralph, J. E.; Barrios, M. A.; Moody, J. D.; Bates, J. W.

2018-01-01

Planar laser-plasma interaction (LPI) experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) have allowed access for the first time to regimes of electron density scale length (˜500 to 700 μ m ), electron temperature (˜3 to 5 keV), and laser intensity (6 to 16 ×1014 W /cm2 ) that are relevant to direct-drive inertial confinement fusion ignition. Unlike in shorter-scale-length plasmas on OMEGA, scattered-light data on the NIF show that the near-quarter-critical LPI physics is dominated by stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) rather than by two-plasmon decay (TPD). This difference in regime is explained based on absolute SRS and TPD threshold considerations. SRS sidescatter tangential to density contours and other SRS mechanisms are observed. The fraction of laser energy converted to hot electrons is ˜0.7 % to 2.9%, consistent with observed levels of SRS. The intensity threshold for hot-electron production is assessed, and the use of a Si ablator slightly increases this threshold from ˜4×10 14 to ˜6 ×1014 W /cm2 . These results have significant implications for mitigation of LPI hot-electron preheat in direct-drive ignition designs.

Web-Scale Discovery Services Retrieve Relevant Results in Health Sciences Topics Including MEDLINE Content

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizabeth Margaret Stovold

2017-06-01

Full Text Available A Review of: Hanneke, R., & O’Brien, K. K. (2016. Comparison of three web-scale discovery services for health sciences research. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 104(2, 109-117. http://dx.doi.org/10.3163/1536-5050.104.2.004 Abstract Objective – To compare the results of health sciences search queries in three web-scale discovery (WSD services for relevance, duplicate detection, and retrieval of MEDLINE content. Design – Comparative evaluation and bibliometric study. Setting – Six university libraries in the United States of America. Subjects – Three commercial WSD services: Primo, Summon, and EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS. Methods – The authors collected data at six universities, including their own. They tested each of the three WSDs at two data collection sites. However, since one of the sites was using a legacy version of Summon that was due to be upgraded, data collected for Summon at this site were considered obsolete and excluded from the analysis. The authors generated three questions for each of six major health disciplines, then designed simple keyword searches to mimic typical student search behaviours. They captured the first 20 results from each query run at each test site, to represent the first “page” of results, giving a total of 2,086 total search results. These were independently assessed for relevance to the topic. Authors resolved disagreements by discussion, and calculated a kappa inter-observer score. They retained duplicate records within the results so that the duplicate detection by the WSDs could be compared. They assessed MEDLINE coverage by the WSDs in several ways. Using precise strategies to generate a relevant set of articles, they conducted one search from each of the six disciplines in PubMed so that they could compare retrieval of MEDLINE content. These results were cross-checked against the first 20 results from the corresponding query in the WSDs. To aid investigation of overall

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 ⊙.

Multiplexed electrospray scaling for liquid fuel injection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Waits, C Mike; Hanrahan, Brendan; Lee, Ivan

2010-01-01

Evaporation and space-charge requirements are evaluated to understand the effect of device scaling and fuel preheating for a liquid fuel injector using a multiplexed electrospray (MES) configuration in compact combustion applications. This work reveals the influence of the droplet diameter, droplet velocity and droplet surface temperature as well as the surrounding gas temperature on the size and performance of microfabricated MES. Measurements from MES devices are used in the model to accurately account for the droplet diameter versus flow rate relationship, the minimum droplet diameter and the relevant droplet velocities. A maximum extractor electrode to ground electrode distance of 3.1 mm required to overcome space-charge forces is found to be independent of voltage or droplet velocity for large levels of multiplexing. This maximum distance also becomes the required evaporation length scale which imposes minimum fuel pre-heating requirements for large flow densities. Required fuel preheating is therefore evaluated for both ethanol and 1-butanol with combustor parameters relevant to fuel reformation, thermoelectric conversion, thermophotovoltaic conversion and thermionic conversion

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.

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.

Submicron scale tissue multifractal anisotropy in polarized laser light scattering

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Nandan Kumar; Dey, Rajib; Chakraborty, Semanti; Panigrahi, Prasanta K.; Meglinski, Igor; Ghosh, Nirmalya

2018-03-01

The spatial fluctuations of the refractive index within biological tissues exhibit multifractal anisotropy, leaving its signature as a spectral linear diattenuation of scattered polarized light. The multifractal anisotropy has been quantitatively assessed by the processing of relevant Mueller matrix elements in the Fourier domain, utilizing the Born approximation and subsequent multifractal analysis. The differential scaling exponent and width of the singularity spectrum appear to be highly sensitive to the structural multifractal anisotropy at the micron/sub-micron length scales. An immediate practical use of these multifractal anisotropy parameters was explored for non-invasive screening of cervical precancerous alterations ex vivo, with the indication of a strong potential for clinical diagnostic purposes.

Extending electronic length frequency analysis in R

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Taylor, M. H.; Mildenberger, Tobias K.

2017-01-01

VBGF (soVBGF) requires a more intensive search due to two additional parameters. This work describes the implementation of two optimisation approaches ("simulated annealing" and "genetic algorithm") for growth function fitting using the open-source software "R." Using a generated LFQ data set......Electronic length frequency analysis (ELEFAN) is a system of stock assessment methods using length-frequency (LFQ) data. One step is the estimation of growth from the progression of LFQ modes through time using the von Bertalanffy growth function (VBGF). The option to fit a seasonally oscillating...... of the asymptotic length parameter (L-infinity) are found to have significant effects on parameter estimation error. An outlook provides context as to the significance of the R-based implementation for further testing and development, as well as the general relevance of the method for data-limited stock assessment....

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.

Mass and charge transfer on various relevant scales in polymer electrolyte fuel cells[Dissertation 16991

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Freunberger, S. A.

2007-07-01

This dissertation is concerned with the development, experimental diagnostics and mathematical modelling and simulation of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC). The central themes throughout this thesis are the closely interlinked phenomena of mass and charge transfer. In the face of developing a PEFC system for vehicle propulsion these phenomena are scrutinized on a broad range of relevant scales. Starting from the material related level of the membrane and the gas diffusion layer (GDL) we turn to length scales, where structural features of the cell additionally come into play. These are the scale of flow channels and ribs, the single cell and the cell stack followed by the cell, stack, and system development for an automotive power train. In Chapter 3 selected fundamental material models and properties, respectively, are explored that are crucial for the mathematical modelling and simulation of PEFC, as needed in some succeeding parts of this work. First, established mathematical models for mass and charge transfer in the membrane are compared within the framework of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA), which represents the electrochemical unit. Second, reliable values for effective diffusivities in the GDLs which are vital for the simulation of gaseous mass transport are measured. Therefore, a method is developed that allows measuring this quantity both as a function of compression and direction as this is a prerequisite of sophisticated more-dimensional numerical PEFC-models. Besides the cross section of the catalyst layer (CL) mass transfer under channels and ribs is considered as a major source of losses in particular under high load operation. As up to now there have been solely non-validated theoretical investigations, in Chapter 4 an experimental method is developed that is for the first time capable of resolving the current density distribution on the this scale. For this, the electron conductors in the cell are considered as 2-dimensional shunt

Large-scale exact diagonalizations reveal low-momentum scales of nuclei

Science.gov (United States)

Forssén, C.; Carlsson, B. D.; Johansson, H. T.; Sääf, D.; Bansal, A.; Hagen, G.; Papenbrock, T.

2018-03-01

Ab initio methods aim to solve the nuclear many-body problem with controlled approximations. Virtually exact numerical solutions for realistic interactions can only be obtained for certain special cases such as few-nucleon systems. Here we extend the reach of exact diagonalization methods to handle model spaces with dimension exceeding 1010 on a single compute node. This allows us to perform no-core shell model (NCSM) calculations for 6Li in model spaces up to Nmax=22 and to reveal the 4He+d halo structure of this nucleus. Still, the use of a finite harmonic-oscillator basis implies truncations in both infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV) length scales. These truncations impose finite-size corrections on observables computed in this basis. We perform IR extrapolations of energies and radii computed in the NCSM and with the coupled-cluster method at several fixed UV cutoffs. It is shown that this strategy enables information gain also from data that is not fully UV converged. IR extrapolations improve the accuracy of relevant bound-state observables for a range of UV cutoffs, thus making them profitable tools. We relate the momentum scale that governs the exponential IR convergence to the threshold energy for the first open decay channel. Using large-scale NCSM calculations we numerically verify this small-momentum scale of finite nuclei.

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.

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

Origins and Scaling of Hot-Electron Preheat in Ignition-Scale Direct-Drive Inertial Confinement Fusion Experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenberg, M J; Solodov, A A; Myatt, J F; Seka, W; Michel, P; Hohenberger, M; Short, R W; Epstein, R; Regan, S P; Campbell, E M; Chapman, T; Goyon, C; Ralph, J E; Barrios, M A; Moody, J D; Bates, J W

2018-02-02

Planar laser-plasma interaction (LPI) experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) have allowed access for the first time to regimes of electron density scale length (∼500 to 700  μm), electron temperature (∼3 to 5 keV), and laser intensity (6 to 16×10^{14}  W/cm^{2}) that are relevant to direct-drive inertial confinement fusion ignition. Unlike in shorter-scale-length plasmas on OMEGA, scattered-light data on the NIF show that the near-quarter-critical LPI physics is dominated by stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) rather than by two-plasmon decay (TPD). This difference in regime is explained based on absolute SRS and TPD threshold considerations. SRS sidescatter tangential to density contours and other SRS mechanisms are observed. The fraction of laser energy converted to hot electrons is ∼0.7% to 2.9%, consistent with observed levels of SRS. The intensity threshold for hot-electron production is assessed, and the use of a Si ablator slightly increases this threshold from ∼4×10^{14} to ∼6×10^{14}  W/cm^{2}. These results have significant implications for mitigation of LPI hot-electron preheat in direct-drive ignition designs.

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.

Validation of the Spanish-language version of the Relevant Outcome Scale for Alzheimer's Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Carnero Pardo, C; López Alcalde, S; Espinosa García, M; Sánchez Magro, I

2017-09-01

The Relevant Outcome Scale for Alzheimer's Disease (ROSA) is a useful tool for evaluating and monitoring dementia patients. This study aims to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Spanish version of ROSA. Spanish multicentre study involving 39 researchers and including 237 patients with Alzheimer disease (78 mild, 79 moderate, and 80 severe). The patients were tested with the following: Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Fototest, Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), Blessed dementia scale, and a Spanish-language version of ROSA. A subsample of 40 subjects was retested in the 14 days following the initial evaluation. The construct validity was evaluated with the Spearman correlation coefficient (r), internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha (alpha), and test-retest reliability with the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). ROSA requires 13.8±7.4minutes to administer and its results show a significant association with the clinical stage of AD (mild, 116.7±23.1; moderate, 92.9±19.8; and severe, 64.3±22.6), and with results on the MMSE (r=0.68), Fototest (r=0.63), NPI (r=0.53), and Blessed dementia scale (r=-0.80). ROSA shows high internal consistency (alpha=0.90) and excellent test-retest reliability (ICC0.97). The Spanish version of ROSA is a brief, valid, and reliable tool permitting overall evaluation of patients with dementia. Copyright © 2016 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Magnetized and collimated millimeter scale plasma jets with astrophysical relevance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brady, Parrish C.; Quevedo, Hernan J.; Valanju, Prashant M.; Bengtson, Roger D.; Ditmire, Todd

2012-01-01

Magnetized collimated plasma jets are created in the laboratory to extend our understanding of plasma jet acceleration and collimation mechanisms with particular connection to astrophysical jets. In this study, plasma collimated jets are formed from supersonic unmagnetized flows, mimicking a stellar wind, subject to currents and magnetohydrodynamic forces. It is found that an external poloidal magnetic field, like the ones found anchored to accretion disks, is essential to stabilize the jets against current-driven instabilities. The maximum jet length before instabilities develop is proportional to the field strength and the length threshold agrees well with Kruskal-Shafranov theory. The plasma evolution is modeled qualitatively using MHD theory of current-carrying flux tubes showing that jet acceleration and collimation arise as a result of electromagnetic forces.

The spectrum of small-scale density fluctuations in the solar wind

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Readhead, A.C.S.; Kemp, M.C.; Hewish, A.

1978-01-01

Interplanetary scintillation observations at frequencies between 74 and 1400 MHz and solar elongations in the range 10 to 90 0 are combined to determine the form of the wavenumber spectrum of electron density fluctuations in the range 10 -3 -1 /km (where k = 2π/lambda). The data are best explained by a spectrum in which there is a genuine scale-length; they are not consistent with a simple power-law spectrum. This suggests that turbulence may be less important than some kind of plasma instability in generating small-scale density fluctuations. The relevance of these conclusions to the use of IPS for determining radio source structure is discussed. (author)

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.

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.

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

Summary of coherent neutron scattering length

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rauch, H.

1981-07-01

Experimental values of neutron-nuclei bound scattering lengths for some 354 isotopes and elements and the various spin-states are compiled in a uniform way together with their error bars as quoted in the original literature. Recommended values are also given. The definitions of the relevant quantities presented in the data tables and the basic principles of measurements are explained in the introductory chapters. The data is also available on a magnetic tape

Nostalgia's place among self-relevant emotions.

Science.gov (United States)

van Tilburg, Wijnand A P; Wildschut, Tim; Sedikides, Constantine

2017-07-24

How is nostalgia positioned among self-relevant emotions? We tested, in six studies, which self-relevant emotions are perceived as most similar versus least similar to nostalgia, and what underlies these similarities/differences. We used multidimensional scaling to chart the perceived similarities/differences among self-relevant emotions, resulting in two-dimensional models. The results were revealing. Nostalgia is positioned among self-relevant emotions characterised by positive valence, an approach orientation, and low arousal. Nostalgia most resembles pride and self-compassion, and least resembles embarrassment and shame. Our research pioneered the integration of nostalgia among self-relevant emotions.

Functionally relevant microsatellites in sugarcane unigenes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Singh Nagendra K

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Unigene sequences constitute a rich source of functionally relevant microsatellites. The present study was undertaken to mine the microsatellites in the available unigene sequences of sugarcane for understanding their constitution in the expressed genic component of its complex polyploid/aneuploid genome, assessing their functional significance in silico, determining the extent of allelic diversity at the microsatellite loci and for evaluating their utility in large-scale genotyping applications in sugarcane. Results The average frequency of perfect microsatellite was 1/10.9 kb, while it was 1/44.3 kb for the long and hypervariable class I repeats. GC-rich trinucleotides coding for alanine and the GA-rich dinucleotides were the most abundant microsatellite classes. Out of 15,594 unigenes mined in the study, 767 contained microsatellite repeats and for 672 of these putative functions were determined in silico. The microsatellite repeats were found in the functional domains of proteins encoded by 364 unigenes. Its significance was assessed by establishing the structure-function relationship for the beta-amylase and protein kinase encoding unigenes having repeats in the catalytic domains. A total of 726 allelic variants (7.42 alleles per locus with different repeat lengths were captured precisely for a set of 47 fluorescent dye labeled primers in 36 sugarcane genotypes and five cereal species using the automated fragment analysis system, which suggested the utility of designed primers for rapid, large-scale and high-throughput genotyping applications in sugarcane. Pair-wise similarity ranging from 0.33 to 0.84 with an average of 0.40 revealed a broad genetic base of the Indian varieties in respect of functionally relevant regions of the large and complex sugarcane genome. Conclusion Microsatellite repeats were present in 4.92% of sugarcane unigenes, for most (87.6% of which functions were determined in silico. High level of

Energy partitioning constraints at kinetic scales in low-β turbulence

Science.gov (United States)

Gershman, Daniel J.; F.-Viñas, Adolfo; Dorelli, John C.; Goldstein, Melvyn L.; Shuster, Jason; Avanov, Levon A.; Boardsen, Scott A.; Stawarz, Julia E.; Schwartz, Steven J.; Schiff, Conrad; Lavraud, Benoit; Saito, Yoshifumi; Paterson, William R.; Giles, Barbara L.; Pollock, Craig J.; Strangeway, Robert J.; Russell, Christopher T.; Torbert, Roy B.; Moore, Thomas E.; Burch, James L.

2018-02-01

Turbulence is a fundamental physical process through which energy injected into a system at large scales cascades to smaller scales. In collisionless plasmas, turbulence provides a critical mechanism for dissipating electromagnetic energy. Here, we present observations of plasma fluctuations in low-β turbulence using data from NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale mission in Earth's magnetosheath. We provide constraints on the partitioning of turbulent energy density in the fluid, ion-kinetic, and electron-kinetic ranges. Magnetic field fluctuations dominated the energy density spectrum throughout the fluid and ion-kinetic ranges, consistent with previous observations of turbulence in similar plasma regimes. However, at scales shorter than the electron inertial length, fluctuation power in electron kinetic energy significantly exceeded that of the magnetic field, resulting in an electron-motion-regulated cascade at small scales. This dominance is highly relevant for the study of turbulence in highly magnetized laboratory and astrophysical plasmas.

Fine-Scale Cartography of Human Impacts along French Mediterranean Coasts: A Relevant Map for the Management of Marine Ecosystems.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Florian Holon

Full Text Available Ecosystem services provided by oceans and seas support most human needs but are threatened by human activities. Despite existing maps illustrating human impacts on marine ecosystems, information remains either large-scale but rough and insufficient for stakeholders (1 km² grid, lack of data along the coast or fine-scale but fragmentary and heterogeneous in methodology. The objectives of this study are to map and quantify the main pressures exerted on near-coast marine ecosystems, at a large spatial scale though in fine and relevant resolution for managers (one pixel = 20 x 20 m. It focuses on the French Mediterranean coast (1,700 km of coastline including Corsica at a depth of 0 to 80 m. After completing and homogenizing data presently available under GIS on the bathymetry and anthropogenic pressures but also on the seabed nature and ecosystem vulnerability, we provide a fine modeling of the extent and impacts of 10 anthropogenic pressures on marine habitats. The considered pressures are man-made coastline, boat anchoring, aquaculture, urban effluents, industrial effluents, urbanization, agriculture, coastline erosion, coastal population and fishing. A 1:10 000 continuous habitat map is provided considering 11 habitat classes. The marine bottom is mostly covered by three habitats: infralittoral soft bottom, Posidonia oceanica meadows and circalittoral soft bottom. Around two thirds of the bottoms are found within medium and medium high cumulative impact categories. Seagrass meadows are the most impacted habitats. The most important pressures (in area and intensity are urbanization, coastal population, coastal erosion and man-made coastline. We also identified areas in need of a special management interest. This work should contribute to prioritize environmental needs, as well as enhance the development of indicators for the assessment of the ecological status of coastal systems. It could also help better apply and coordinate management measures

Fine-Scale Cartography of Human Impacts along French Mediterranean Coasts: A Relevant Map for the Management of Marine Ecosystems.

Science.gov (United States)

Holon, Florian; Mouquet, Nicolas; Boissery, Pierre; Bouchoucha, Marc; Delaruelle, Gwenaelle; Tribot, Anne-Sophie; Deter, Julie

2015-01-01

Ecosystem services provided by oceans and seas support most human needs but are threatened by human activities. Despite existing maps illustrating human impacts on marine ecosystems, information remains either large-scale but rough and insufficient for stakeholders (1 km² grid, lack of data along the coast) or fine-scale but fragmentary and heterogeneous in methodology. The objectives of this study are to map and quantify the main pressures exerted on near-coast marine ecosystems, at a large spatial scale though in fine and relevant resolution for managers (one pixel = 20 x 20 m). It focuses on the French Mediterranean coast (1,700 km of coastline including Corsica) at a depth of 0 to 80 m. After completing and homogenizing data presently available under GIS on the bathymetry and anthropogenic pressures but also on the seabed nature and ecosystem vulnerability, we provide a fine modeling of the extent and impacts of 10 anthropogenic pressures on marine habitats. The considered pressures are man-made coastline, boat anchoring, aquaculture, urban effluents, industrial effluents, urbanization, agriculture, coastline erosion, coastal population and fishing. A 1:10 000 continuous habitat map is provided considering 11 habitat classes. The marine bottom is mostly covered by three habitats: infralittoral soft bottom, Posidonia oceanica meadows and circalittoral soft bottom. Around two thirds of the bottoms are found within medium and medium high cumulative impact categories. Seagrass meadows are the most impacted habitats. The most important pressures (in area and intensity) are urbanization, coastal population, coastal erosion and man-made coastline. We also identified areas in need of a special management interest. This work should contribute to prioritize environmental needs, as well as enhance the development of indicators for the assessment of the ecological status of coastal systems. It could also help better apply and coordinate management measures at a relevant

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

Investigating self-esteem in individuals with schizophrenia: relevance of the Self-Esteem Rating Scale-Short Form.

Science.gov (United States)

Lecomte, Tania; Corbière, Marc; Laisné, François

2006-06-30

Studies investigating self-esteem in individuals with severe mental illness, either as a treatment goal, outcome or correlate to other variables, have increased over the past few years. One of the main difficulties in assessing self-esteem is the assessment itself, often measuring global and stable self-esteem as in the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, or requiring extensive training and long interviews. The present article aims at demonstrating the relevance of the French and English versions of the Self-Esteem Rating Scale-Short Form with individuals with severe mental illness. The instrument's reliability and validity were investigated in a sample of 250 French Canadian college students, 247 British college students and three samples of English- or French-speaking individuals with severe mental illness (N=254, N=150 and N=171). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that a shorter version of the instrument (20 items), with a positive and a negative self-esteem factor, had a great validity for all the samples studied. The Self-Esteem Rating Scale-Short Form, with its positive and negative self-esteem subscales, appears to be a valid and reliable self-esteem measure for individuals with mental health problems. Limitations of this study and future directions are discussed.

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...

Ontogenetic scaling patterns and functional anatomy of the pelvic limb musculature in emus (Dromaius novaehollandiae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luis P. Lamas

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Emus (Dromaius novaehollandiae are exclusively terrestrial, bipedal and cursorial ratites with some similar biomechanical characteristics to humans. Their growth rates are impressive, as their body mass increases eighty-fold from hatching to adulthood whilst maintaining the same mode of locomotion throughout life. These ontogenetic characteristics stimulate biomechanical questions about the strategies that allow emus to cope with their rapid growth and locomotion, which can be partly addressed via scaling (allometric analysis of morphology. In this study we have collected pelvic limb anatomical data (muscle architecture, tendon length, tendon mass and bone lengths and calculated muscle physiological cross sectional area (PCSA and average tendon cross sectional area from emus across three ontogenetic stages (n = 17, body masses from 3.6 to 42 kg. The data were analysed by reduced major axis regression to determine how these biomechanically relevant aspects of morphology scaled with body mass. Muscle mass and PCSA showed a marked trend towards positive allometry (26 and 27 out of 34 muscles respectively and fascicle length showed a more mixed scaling pattern. The long tendons of the main digital flexors scaled with positive allometry for all characteristics whilst other tendons demonstrated a less clear scaling pattern. Finally, the two longer bones of the limb (tibiotarsus and tarsometatarsus also exhibited positive allometry for length, and two others (femur and first phalanx of digit III had trends towards isometry. These results indicate that emus experience a relative increase in their muscle force-generating capacities, as well as potentially increasing the force-sustaining capacities of their tendons, as they grow. Furthermore, we have clarified anatomical descriptions and provided illustrations of the pelvic limb muscle–tendon units in emus.

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

s -wave scattering length of a Gaussian potential

Science.gov (United States)

Jeszenszki, Peter; Cherny, Alexander Yu.; Brand, Joachim

2018-04-01

We provide accurate expressions for the s -wave scattering length for a Gaussian potential well in one, two, and three spatial dimensions. The Gaussian potential is widely used as a pseudopotential in the theoretical description of ultracold-atomic gases, where the s -wave scattering length is a physically relevant parameter. We first describe a numerical procedure to compute the value of the s -wave scattering length from the parameters of the Gaussian, but find that its accuracy is limited in the vicinity of singularities that result from the formation of new bound states. We then derive simple analytical expressions that capture the correct asymptotic behavior of the s -wave scattering length near the bound states. Expressions that are increasingly accurate in wide parameter regimes are found by a hierarchy of approximations that capture an increasing number of bound states. The small number of numerical coefficients that enter these expressions is determined from accurate numerical calculations. The approximate formulas combine the advantages of the numerical and approximate expressions, yielding an accurate and simple description from the weakly to the strongly interacting limit.

Large Scale Chromosome Folding Is Stable against Local Changes in Chromatin Structure.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana-Maria Florescu

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Characterizing the link between small-scale chromatin structure and large-scale chromosome folding during interphase is a prerequisite for understanding transcription. Yet, this link remains poorly investigated. Here, we introduce a simple biophysical model where interphase chromosomes are described in terms of the folding of chromatin sequences composed of alternating blocks of fibers with different thicknesses and flexibilities, and we use it to study the influence of sequence disorder on chromosome behaviors in space and time. By employing extensive computer simulations, we thus demonstrate that chromosomes undergo noticeable conformational changes only on length-scales smaller than 105 basepairs and time-scales shorter than a few seconds, and we suggest there might exist effective upper bounds to the detection of chromosome reorganization in eukaryotes. We prove the relevance of our framework by modeling recent experimental FISH data on murine chromosomes.

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 .

Scale dependence of the average potential around the maximum in Φ4 theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tetradis, N.; Wetterich, C.

1992-04-01

The average potential describes the physics at a length scale k - 1 by averaging out the degrees of freedom with characteristic moments larger than k. The dependence on k can be described by differential evolution equations. We solve these equations for the nonconvex part of the potential around the origin in φ 4 theories, in the phase with spontaneous symmetry breaking. The average potential is real and approaches the convex effective potential in the limit k → 0. Our calculation is relevant for processes for which the shape of the potential at a given scale is important, such as tunneling phenomena or inflation. (orig.)

Pragmatic inferences and self-relevant judgments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Puente-Diaz, Rogelio; Cavazos Arroyo, Judith; Brem, Alexander

2016-01-01

Three studies examined the influence of type of scale on self-relevant judgments and the moderating role of age, prevention, focus, and need for cogni- tion. Participants were randomly assigned to a bipolar or a unipolar scale condition in all three studies. Results from study 1 with a representa...

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.

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

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.

Length bias correction in gene ontology enrichment analysis using logistic regression.

Science.gov (United States)

Mi, Gu; Di, Yanming; Emerson, Sarah; Cumbie, Jason S; Chang, Jeff H

2012-01-01

When assessing differential gene expression from RNA sequencing data, commonly used statistical tests tend to have greater power to detect differential expression of genes encoding longer transcripts. This phenomenon, called "length bias", will influence subsequent analyses such as Gene Ontology enrichment analysis. In the presence of length bias, Gene Ontology categories that include longer genes are more likely to be identified as enriched. These categories, however, are not necessarily biologically more relevant. We show that one can effectively adjust for length bias in Gene Ontology analysis by including transcript length as a covariate in a logistic regression model. The logistic regression model makes the statistical issue underlying length bias more transparent: transcript length becomes a confounding factor when it correlates with both the Gene Ontology membership and the significance of the differential expression test. The inclusion of the transcript length as a covariate allows one to investigate the direct correlation between the Gene Ontology membership and the significance of testing differential expression, conditional on the transcript length. We present both real and simulated data examples to show that the logistic regression approach is simple, effective, and flexible.

High-throughput telomere length quantification by FISH and its application to human population studies.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2007-03-27

A major limitation of studies of the relevance of telomere length to cancer and age-related diseases in human populations and to the development of telomere-based therapies has been the lack of suitable high-throughput (HT) assays to measure telomere length. We have developed an automated HT quantitative telomere FISH platform, HT quantitative FISH (Q-FISH), which allows the quantification of telomere length as well as percentage of short telomeres in large human sample sets. We show here that this technique provides the accuracy and sensitivity to uncover associations between telomere length and human disease.

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.

Feature-selective Attention in Frontoparietal Cortex: Multivoxel Codes Adjust to Prioritize Task-relevant Information.

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, Jade; Rich, Anina N; Williams, Mark A; Woolgar, Alexandra

2017-02-01

Human cognition is characterized by astounding flexibility, enabling us to select appropriate information according to the objectives of our current task. A circuit of frontal and parietal brain regions, often referred to as the frontoparietal attention network or multiple-demand (MD) regions, are believed to play a fundamental role in this flexibility. There is evidence that these regions dynamically adjust their responses to selectively process information that is currently relevant for behavior, as proposed by the "adaptive coding hypothesis" [Duncan, J. An adaptive coding model of neural function in prefrontal cortex. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2, 820-829, 2001]. Could this provide a neural mechanism for feature-selective attention, the process by which we preferentially process one feature of a stimulus over another? We used multivariate pattern analysis of fMRI data during a perceptually challenging categorization task to investigate whether the representation of visual object features in the MD regions flexibly adjusts according to task relevance. Participants were trained to categorize visually similar novel objects along two orthogonal stimulus dimensions (length/orientation) and performed short alternating blocks in which only one of these dimensions was relevant. We found that multivoxel patterns of activation in the MD regions encoded the task-relevant distinctions more strongly than the task-irrelevant distinctions: The MD regions discriminated between stimuli of different lengths when length was relevant and between the same objects according to orientation when orientation was relevant. The data suggest a flexible neural system that adjusts its representation of visual objects to preferentially encode stimulus features that are currently relevant for behavior, providing a neural mechanism for feature-selective attention.

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 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%.

Long-Time Data Storage: Relevant Time Scales

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miko C. Elwenspoek

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Dynamic processes relevant for long-time storage of information about human kind are discussed, ranging from biological and geological processes to the lifecycle of stars and the expansion of the universe. Major results are that life will end ultimately and the remaining time that the earth is habitable for complex life is about half a billion years. A system retrieved within the next million years will be read by beings very closely related to Homo sapiens. During this time the surface of the earth will change making it risky to place a small number of large memory systems on earth; the option to place it on the moon might be more favorable. For much longer timescales both options do not seem feasible because of geological processes on the earth and the flux of small meteorites to the moon.

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)

Relevant Spatial Scales of Chemical Variation in Aplysina aerophoba

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oriol Sacristan-Soriano

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Understanding the scale at which natural products vary the most is critical because it sheds light on the type of factors that regulate their production. The sponge Aplysina aerophoba is a common Mediterranean sponge inhabiting shallow waters in the Mediterranean and its area of influence in Atlantic Ocean. This species contains large concentrations of brominated alkaloids (BAs that play a number of ecological roles in nature. Our research investigates the ecological variation in BAs of A. aerophoba from a scale of hundred of meters to thousand kilometers. We used a nested design to sample sponges from two geographically distinct regions (Canary Islands and Mediterranean, over 2500 km, with two zones within each region (less than 50 km, two locations within each zone (less than 5 km, and two sites within each location (less than 500 m. We used high-performance liquid chromatography to quantify multiple BAs and a spectrophotometer to quantify chlorophyll a (Chl a. Our results show a striking degree of variation in both natural products and Chl a content. Significant variation in Chl a content occurred at the largest and smallest geographic scales. The variation patterns of BAs also occurred at the largest and smallest scales, but varied depending on which BA was analyzed. Concentrations of Chl a and isofistularin-3 were negatively correlated, suggesting that symbionts may impact the concentration of some of these compounds. Our results underline the complex control of the production of secondary metabolites, with factors acting at both small and large geographic scales affecting the production of multiple secondary metabolites.

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

Looking for a relevant potential evapotranspiration model at the watershed scale

Science.gov (United States)

Oudin, L.; Hervieu, F.; Michel, C.; Perrin, C.; Anctil, F.; Andréassian, V.

2003-04-01

In this paper, we try to identify the most relevant approach to calculate Potential Evapotranspiration (PET) for use in a daily watershed model, to try to bring an answer to the following question: "how can we use commonly available atmospheric parameters to represent the evaporative demand at the catchment scale?". Hydrologists generally see the Penman model as the ideal model regarding to its good adequacy with lysimeter measurements and its physically-based formulation. However, in real-world engineering situations, where meteorological stations are scarce, hydrologists are often constrained to use other PET formulae with less data requirements or/and long-term average of PET values (the rationale being that PET is an inherently conservative variable). We chose to test 28 commonly used PET models coupled with 4 different daily watershed models. For each test, we compare both PET input options: actual data and long-term average data. The comparison is made in terms of streamflow simulation efficiency, over a large sample of 308 watersheds. The watersheds are located in France, Australia and the United States of America and represent varied climates. Strikingly, we find no systematic improvements of the watershed model efficiencies when using actual PET series instead of long-term averages. This suggests either that watershed models may not conveniently use the climatic information contained in PET values or that formulae are only awkward indicators of the real PET which watershed models need.

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

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.

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.

Combined short scale roughness and surface dielectric function gradient effects on the determination of tip-sample force in atomic force microscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gusso, André, E-mail: gusso@metal.eeimvr.uff.br [Departamento de Ciências Exatas-EEIMVR, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Volta Redonda, RJ 27255-125 (Brazil)

2013-11-11

The contribution of tip roughness to the van der Waals force between an atomic force microscopy probe tip and the sample is calculated using the multilayer effective medium model, which allows us to consider the relevant case of roughness characterized by correlation length and amplitude in the nanometer scale. The effect of the surface dielectric function gradient is incorporated in the tip-sample force model. It is concluded that for rms roughness in the few nanometers range the effect of short scale tip roughness is quite significant.

Correlation between mass transfer coefficient kLa and relevant operating parameters in cylindrical disposable shaken bioreactors on a bench-to-pilot scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Klöckner, Wolf; Gacem, Riad; Anderlei, Tibor; Raven, Nicole; Schillberg, Stefan; Lattermann, Clemens; Büchs, Jochen

2013-12-02

Among disposable bioreactor systems, cylindrical orbitally shaken bioreactors show important advantages. They provide a well-defined hydrodynamic flow combined with excellent mixing and oxygen transfer for mammalian and plant cell cultivations. Since there is no known universal correlation between the volumetric mass transfer coefficient for oxygen kLa and relevant operating parameters in such bioreactor systems, the aim of this current study is to experimentally determine a universal kLa correlation. A Respiration Activity Monitoring System (RAMOS) was used to measure kLa values in cylindrical disposable shaken bioreactors and Buckingham's π-Theorem was applied to define a dimensionless equation for kLa. In this way, a scale- and volume-independent kLa correlation was developed and validated in bioreactors with volumes from 2 L to 200 L. The final correlation was used to calculate cultivation parameters at different scales to allow a sufficient oxygen supply of tobacco BY-2 cell suspension cultures. The resulting equation can be universally applied to calculate the mass transfer coefficient for any of seven relevant cultivation parameters such as the reactor diameter, the shaking frequency, the filling volume, the viscosity, the oxygen diffusion coefficient, the gravitational acceleration or the shaking diameter within an accuracy range of +/- 30%. To our knowledge, this is the first kLa correlation that has been defined and validated for the cited bioreactor system on a bench-to-pilot scale.

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…

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.

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

Intrinsic pinning in superconductors with extremely small coherence lengths

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schimmele, L.; Kronmueller, H.; Teichler, H.

1988-01-01

By means of a Ginsburg-Landau-type theory which takes into account the discrete lattice structure the variation of the energy ('Peierls potential') of an isolated flux line is calculated when shifted relatively to the crystal lattice. In particular, a primitive cubic lattice is considered with a straight flux line, aligned parallel to a cubic axis. The resulting Peierls potential may lead to intrinsic pinning if the coherence length is smaller than about two nearest neighbour distances. The coherence lengths at low temperatures determined for the recently discovered high T c superconductors of the YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 class come very close to this value so that intrinsic pinning might possibly be relevant for these superconductors. (author)

What is the Entanglement Length in a Polymer Melt?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grest, Gary S.; Kremer, Kurt; Putz, Mathias

1999-01-01

We present the results of molecular dynamics simulations of very long model polymer chains analyzed by various experimentally relevant techniques. The segment motion of the chains is found to be in very good agreement with the reptation model. We also calculated the plateau modulus G 0 N . The predictions of the entanglement length N e from G 0 N and from the mean square displacement of the chain segments disagree by a factor of about 2.2(2), indicating an error in the prefactor in the standard formula for G 0 N . We show that recent neutron spin echo measurements were carried out for chain lengths which are too small to allow for a correct determination of N e

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.)

Organismal climatology: analyzing environmental variability at scales relevant to physiological stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Helmuth, Brian; Broitman, Bernardo R; Yamane, Lauren; Gilman, Sarah E; Mach, Katharine; Mislan, K A S; Denny, Mark W

2010-03-15

Predicting when, where and with what magnitude climate change is likely to affect the fitness, abundance and distribution of organisms and the functioning of ecosystems has emerged as a high priority for scientists and resource managers. However, even in cases where we have detailed knowledge of current species' range boundaries, we often do not understand what, if any, aspects of weather and climate act to set these limits. This shortcoming significantly curtails our capacity to predict potential future range shifts in response to climate change, especially since the factors that set range boundaries under those novel conditions may be different from those that set limits today. We quantitatively examine a nine-year time series of temperature records relevant to the body temperatures of intertidal mussels as measured using biomimetic sensors. Specifically, we explore how a 'climatology' of body temperatures, as opposed to long-term records of habitat-level parameters such as air and water temperatures, can be used to extrapolate meaningful spatial and temporal patterns of physiological stress. Using different metrics that correspond to various aspects of physiological stress (seasonal means, cumulative temperature and the return time of extremes) we show that these potential environmental stressors do not always occur in synchrony with one another. Our analysis also shows that patterns of animal temperature are not well correlated with simple, commonly used metrics such as air temperature. Detailed physiological studies can provide guidance to predicting the effects of global climate change on natural ecosystems but only if we concomitantly record, archive and model environmental signals at appropriate scales.

Energetic benefits and adaptations in mammalian limbs: Scale effects and selective pressures.

Science.gov (United States)

Kilbourne, Brandon M; Hoffman, Louwrens C

2015-06-01

Differences in limb size and shape are fundamental to mammalian morphological diversity; however, their relevance to locomotor costs has long been subject to debate. In particular, it remains unknown if scale effects in whole limb morphology could partially underlie decreasing mass-specific locomotor costs with increasing limb length. Whole fore- and hindlimb inertial properties reflecting limb size and shape-moment of inertia (MOI), mass, mass distribution, and natural frequency-were regressed against limb length for 44 species of quadrupedal mammals. Limb mass, MOI, and center of mass position are negatively allometric, having a strong potential for lowering mass-specific locomotor costs in large terrestrial mammals. Negative allometry of limb MOI results in a 40% reduction in MOI relative to isometry's prediction for our largest sampled taxa. However, fitting regression residuals to adaptive diversification models reveals that codiversification of limb mass, limb length, and body mass likely results from selection for differing locomotor modes of running, climbing, digging, and swimming. The observed allometric scaling does not result from selection for energetically beneficial whole limb morphology with increasing size. Instead, our data suggest that it is a consequence of differing morphological adaptations and body size distributions among quadrupedal mammals, highlighting the role of differing limb functions in mammalian evolution. © 2015 The Author(s). Evolution © 2015 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Emerging and Submerging Shorelines: Impacts of Physical Change on Bioband Length

Science.gov (United States)

Kruger, L. E.; Johnson, A. C.; Gregovich, D.; Buma, B.; Noel, J.

2017-12-01

We approximated shifts in coastal benthic species for shoreline length units undergoing both sea level rise and relative sea level lowering (often post-glacial, termed isostatic rebound) where subsistence-based, southeast Alaska Natives reside. From six community centers, we examined 30 km radii shoreline reaches by merging relevant portions of the NOAA ShoreZone database with near shore bathymetry and measures of mean global sea level rise with local global positioning system information (GIS) of tectonic shift and isostatic rebound. For our analysis, we estimated change for 9,868 assessed shoreline length units having uniform substrate and biologic type over a 100-yr time span (2008-2108) using geometric analysis of shoreline attributes. For each shoreline length unit we assessed relationships among substrate, slope, exposure, and presence of five benthic species including eel grass (Zostera marina), blue mussel (Mytilus edulis), butter clams (Saxidomus gigantean), bull kelp (Nereocytis leutkeana), and foliose red algae including ribbon kelp (Palmaria sp.). Our research indicates that both emergence, up to 1.8 m, and submergence, up 0.2 m, of the land will result in disportionately larger shoreline length segment alterations for habitats in protected low-slope gradient bays and estuaries (dominated by eelgrass and butter clam habitats) with less change for rocky steep-gradient exposed penninsulas (red algae and canopy kelp). This trend, holding true regardless of isostatic rebound, tectonic shift or sea level rise rate, highlights the importance of initial geomorphology-based assessments serving to improve bio-physical, chemical, and socially-related coastal research. Where shorelines are emerging 30% decreases in estuary lengths are predicted, but where shorelines are submerging up to 3% increases in estuaries are expected. Our research results are consistent with anthropology studies assessing past coastal change. Coastal change, influencing subsistance foods

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.

Discrete Dislocation Plasticity Analysis of Cracks and Fracture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Giessen, Erik van der; Pippan, R; Gumbsch, P

2010-01-01

Fracture in plastically deforming crystals involves several length scales for cleavage-like crack growth. The relevant length scales range from that of the macroscale object to the atomic scale, including the various microstructural length scales in between that are associated with, for example,

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.

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.

Length-weight relationships for 13 fish species from the Gulf of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Length-weight relationships (LWR) were estimated for 13 fish species which are of economic relevance in the commercial fisheries of the Gulf of Gabes (southern Tunisia). A total of 2403 fish specimens were sampled with several fishing gears from October 2008 to September 2009. The sample size ranged from 65 ...

Finite-Length Diocotron Modes in a Non-neutral Plasma Column

Science.gov (United States)

Walsh, Daniel; Dubin, Daniel

2017-10-01

Diocotron modes are 2D distortions of a non-neutral plasma column that propagate azimuthally via E × B drifts. While the infinite-length theory of diocotron modes is well-understood for arbitrary azimuthal mode number l, the finite-length mode frequency is less developed (with some exceptions), and is naturally of relevance to experiments. In this poster, we present an approach to address finite length effects, such as temperature dependence of the mode frequency. We use a bounce-averaged solution to the Vlasov Equation, in which the Vlasov Equation is solved using action-angle variables of the unperturbed Hamiltonian. We write the distribution function as a Fourier series in the bounce-angle variable ψ, keeping only the bounce-averaged term. We demonstrate a numerical solution to this equation for a realistic plasma with a finite Debye Length, compare to the existing l = 1 theory, and discuss possible extensions of the existing theory to l ≠ 1 . Supported by NSF/DOE Partnership Grants PHY1414570 and DESC0002451.

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 ...

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.

Atomic scale modeling of defect production and microstructure evolution in irradiated metals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Diaz de la Rubia, T.; Soneda, N.; Shimomura, Y. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)] [and others

1997-04-01

Irradiation effects in materials depend in a complex way on the form of the as-produced primary damage state and its spatial and temporal evolution. Thus, while collision cascades produce defects on a time scale of tens of picosecond, diffusion occurs over much longer time scales, of the order of seconds, and microstructure evolution over even longer time scales. In this report the authors present work aimed at describing damage production and evolution in metals across all the relevant time and length scales. They discuss results of molecular dynamics simulations of displacement cascades in Fe and V. They show that interstitial clusters are produced in cascades above 5 keV, but not vacancy clusters. Next, they discuss the development of a kinetic Monte Carlo model that enables calculations of damage evolution over much longer time scales (1000`s of s) than the picosecond lifetime of the cascade. They demonstrate the applicability of the method by presenting predictions on the fraction of freely migrating defects in {alpha}Fe during irradiation at 600 K.

Atomic scale modeling of defect production and microstructure evolution in irradiated metals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diaz de la Rubia, T.; Soneda, N.; Shimomura, Y.

1997-01-01

Irradiation effects in materials depend in a complex way on the form of the as-produced primary damage state and its spatial and temporal evolution. Thus, while collision cascades produce defects on a time scale of tens of picosecond, diffusion occurs over much longer time scales, of the order of seconds, and microstructure evolution over even longer time scales. In this report the authors present work aimed at describing damage production and evolution in metals across all the relevant time and length scales. They discuss results of molecular dynamics simulations of displacement cascades in Fe and V. They show that interstitial clusters are produced in cascades above 5 keV, but not vacancy clusters. Next, they discuss the development of a kinetic Monte Carlo model that enables calculations of damage evolution over much longer time scales (1000's of s) than the picosecond lifetime of the cascade. They demonstrate the applicability of the method by presenting predictions on the fraction of freely migrating defects in αFe during irradiation at 600 K

Clinical relevance of findings in trials of CBT for depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Lepping, P; Whittington, R; Sambhi, R S; Lane, S; Poole, R; Leucht, S; Cuijpers, P; McCabe, R; Waheed, W

2017-09-01

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is beneficial in depression. Symptom scores can be translated into Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scale scores to indicate clinical relevance. We aimed to assess the clinical relevance of findings of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of CBT in depression. We identified RCTs of CBT that used the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD). HAMD scores were translated into Clinical Global Impression - Change scale (CGI-I) scores to measure clinical relevance. One hundred and seventy datasets from 82 studies were included. The mean percentage HAMD change for treatment arms was 53.66%, and 29.81% for control arms, a statistically significant difference. Combined active therapies showed the biggest improvement on CGI-I score, followed by CBT alone. All active treatments had better than expected HAMD percentage reduction and CGI-I scores. CBT has a clinically relevant effect in depression, with a notional CGI-I score of 2.2, indicating a significant clinical response. The non-specific or placebo effect of being in a psychotherapy trial was a 29% reduction of HAMD. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

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.

Planned upgrade to the coaxial plasma source facility for high heat flux plasma flows relevant to tokamak disruption simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caress, R.W.; Mayo, R.M.; Carter, T.A.

1995-01-01

Plasma disruptions in tokamaks remain serious obstacles to the demonstration of economical fusion power. In disruption simulation experiments, some important effects have not been taken into account. Present disruption simulation experimental data do not include effects of the high magnetic fields expected near the PFCs in a tokamak major disruption. In addition, temporal and spatial scales are much too short in present simulation devices to be of direct relevance to tokamak disruptions. To address some of these inadequacies, an experimental program is planned at North Carolina State University employing an upgrade to the Coaxial Plasma Source (CPS-1) magnetized coaxial plasma gun facility. The advantages of the CPS-1 plasma source over present disruption simulation devices include the ability to irradiate large material samples at extremely high areal energy densities, and the ability to perform these material studies in the presence of a high magnetic field. Other tokamak disruption relevant features of CPS-1U include a high ion temperature, high electron temperature, and long pulse length

Dynamic scaling in natural swarms

Science.gov (United States)

Cavagna, Andrea; Conti, Daniele; Creato, Chiara; Del Castello, Lorenzo; Giardina, Irene; Grigera, Tomas S.; Melillo, Stefania; Parisi, Leonardo; Viale, Massimiliano

2017-09-01

Collective behaviour in biological systems presents theoretical challenges beyond the borders of classical statistical physics. The lack of concepts such as scaling and renormalization is particularly problematic, as it forces us to negotiate details whose relevance is often hard to assess. In an attempt to improve this situation, we present here experimental evidence of the emergence of dynamic scaling laws in natural swarms of midges. We find that spatio-temporal correlation functions in different swarms can be rescaled by using a single characteristic time, which grows with the correlation length with a dynamical critical exponent z ~ 1, a value not found in any other standard statistical model. To check whether out-of-equilibrium effects may be responsible for this anomalous exponent, we run simulations of the simplest model of self-propelled particles and find z ~ 2, suggesting that natural swarms belong to a novel dynamic universality class. This conclusion is strengthened by experimental evidence of the presence of non-dissipative modes in the relaxation, indicating that previously overlooked inertial effects are needed to describe swarm dynamics. The absence of a purely dissipative regime suggests that natural swarms undergo a near-critical censorship of hydrodynamics.

Modelling of spatio-temporal precipitation relevant for urban hydrology with focus on scales, extremes and climate change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørup, Hjalte Jomo Danielsen

-correlation lengths for sub-daily extreme precipitation besides having too low intensities. Especially the wrong spatial correlation structure is disturbing from an urban hydrological point of view as short-term extremes will cover too much ground if derived directly from bias corrected regional climate model output...... of precipitation are compared and used to rank climate models with respect to performance metrics. The four different observational data sets themselves are compared at daily temporal scale with respect to climate indices for mean and extreme precipitation. Data density seems to be a crucial parameter for good...... happening in summer and most of the daily extremes in fall. This behaviour is in good accordance with reality where short term extremes originate in convective precipitation cells that occur when it is very warm and longer term extremes originate in frontal systems that dominate the fall and winter seasons...

Accelerating research into bio-based FDCA-polyesters by using small scale parallel film reactors.

Science.gov (United States)

Gruter, Gert-Jan M; Sipos, Laszlo; Adrianus Dam, Matheus

2012-02-01

High Throughput experimentation has been well established as a tool in early stage catalyst development and catalyst and process scale-up today. One of the more challenging areas of catalytic research is polymer catalysis. The main difference with most non-polymer catalytic conversions is the fact that the product is not a well defined molecule and the catalytic performance cannot be easily expressed only in terms of catalyst activity and selectivity. In polymerization reactions, polymer chains are formed that can have various lengths (resulting in a molecular weight distribution rather than a defined molecular weight), that can have different compositions (when random or block co-polymers are produced), that can have cross-linking (often significantly affecting physical properties), that can have different endgroups (often affecting subsequent processing steps) and several other variations. In addition, for polyolefins, mass and heat transfer, oxygen and moisture sensitivity, stereoregularity and many other intrinsic features make relevant high throughput screening in this field an incredible challenge. For polycondensation reactions performed in the melt often the viscosity becomes already high at modest molecular weights, which greatly influences mass transfer of the condensation product (often water or methanol). When reactions become mass transfer limited, catalyst performance comparison is often no longer relevant. This however does not mean that relevant experiments for these application areas cannot be performed on small scale. Relevant catalyst screening experiments for polycondensation reactions can be performed in very efficient small scale parallel equipment. Both transesterification and polycondensation as well as post condensation through solid-stating in parallel equipment have been developed. Next to polymer synthesis, polymer characterization also needs to be accelerated without making concessions to quality in order to draw relevant conclusions.

Development of an Efficient Meso- scale Multi-phase Flow Solver in Nuclear Applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Taehun [City Univ. (CUNY), NY (United States)

2015-10-20

The proposed research aims at formulating a predictive high-order Lattice Boltzmann Equation for multi-phase flows relevant to nuclear energy related application - namely, saturated and sub-cooled boiling in reactors, and liquid- liquid mixing and extraction for fuel cycle separation. An efficient flow solver will be developed based on the Finite Element based Lattice Boltzmann Method (FE- LBM), accounting for phase-change heat transfer and capable of treating multiple phases over length scales from the submicron to the meter. A thermal LBM will be developed in order to handle adjustable Prandtl number, arbitrary specific heat ratio, a wide range of temperature variations, better numerical stability during liquid-vapor phase change, and full thermo-hydrodynamic consistency. Two-phase FE-LBM will be extended to liquid–liquid–gas multi-phase flows for application to high-fidelity simulations building up from the meso-scale up to the equipment sub-component scale. While several relevant applications exist, the initial applications for demonstration of the efficient methods to be developed as part of this project include numerical investigations of Critical Heat Flux (CHF) phenomena in nuclear reactor fuel bundles, and liquid-liquid mixing and interfacial area generation for liquid-liquid separations. In addition, targeted experiments will be conducted for validation of this advanced multi-phase model.

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.

Increasing LIGO sensitivity by feedforward subtraction of auxiliary length control noise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meadors, Grant David; Riles, Keith; Kawabe, Keita

2014-01-01

LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, has been designed and constructed to measure gravitational wave strain via differential arm length. The LIGO 4 km Michelson arms with Fabry–Perot cavities have auxiliary length control servos for suppressing Michelson motion of the beam-splitter and arm cavity input mirrors, which degrades interferometer sensitivity. We demonstrate how a post facto pipeline improves a data sample from LIGO Science Run 6 with feedforward subtraction. Dividing data into 1024 s windows, we numerically fit filter functions representing the frequency-domain transfer functions from Michelson length channels into the gravitational-wave strain data channel for each window, then subtract the filtered Michelson channel noise (witness) from the strain channel (target). In this paper we describe the algorithm, assess achievable improvements in sensitivity to astrophysical sources, and consider relevance to future interferometry. (paper)

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

Energy loss of a high charge bunched electron beam in plasma: Simulations, scaling, and accelerating wakefields

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. B. Rosenzweig

2004-06-01

Full Text Available The energy loss and gain of a beam in the nonlinear, “blowout” regime of the plasma wakefield accelerator, which features ultrahigh accelerating fields, linear transverse focusing forces, and nonlinear plasma motion, has been asserted, through previous observations in simulations, to scale linearly with beam charge. Additionally, from a recent analysis by Barov et al., it has been concluded that for an infinitesimally short beam, the energy loss is indeed predicted to scale linearly with beam charge for arbitrarily large beam charge. This scaling is predicted to hold despite the onset of a relativistic, nonlinear response by the plasma, when the number of beam particles occupying a cubic plasma skin depth exceeds that of plasma electrons within the same volume. This paper is intended to explore the deviations from linear energy loss using 2D particle-in-cell simulations that arise in the case of experimentally relevant finite length beams. The peak accelerating field in the plasma wave excited behind the finite-length beam is also examined, with the artifact of wave spiking adding to the apparent persistence of linear scaling of the peak field amplitude into the nonlinear regime. At large enough normalized charge, the linear scaling of both decelerating and accelerating fields collapses, with serious consequences for plasma wave excitation efficiency. Using the results of parametric particle-in-cell studies, the implications of these results for observing severe deviations from linear scaling in present and planned experiments are discussed.

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

Self-similarity and scaling theory of complex networks

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Chaoming

Scale-free networks have been studied extensively due to their relevance to many real systems as diverse as the World Wide Web (WWW), the Internet, biological and social networks. We present a novel approach to the analysis of scale-free networks, revealing that their structure is self-similar. This result is achieved by the application of a renormalization procedure which coarse-grains the system into boxes containing nodes within a given "size". Concurrently, we identify a power-law relation between the number of boxes needed to cover the network and the size of the box defining a self-similar exponent, which classifies fractal and non-fractal networks. By using the concept of renormalization as a mechanism for the growth of fractal and non-fractal modular networks, we show that the key principle that gives rise to the fractal architecture of networks is a strong effective "repulsion" between the most connected nodes (hubs) on all length scales, rendering them very dispersed. We show that a robust network comprised of functional modules, such as a cellular network, necessitates a fractal topology, suggestive of a evolutionary drive for their existence. These fundamental properties help to understand the emergence of the scale-free property in complex networks.

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

Functionally relevant microorganisms to enhanced biological phosphorus removal performance at full-scale wastewater treatment plants in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, April Z; Saunders, A; Neethling, J B; Stensel, H D; Blackall, L L

2008-08-01

The abundance and relevance ofAccumulibacter phosphatis (presumed to be polyphosphate-accumulating organisms [PAOs]), Competibacter phosphatis (presumed to be glycogen-accumulating organisms [GAOs]), and tetrad-forming organisms (TFOs) to phosphorus removal performance at six full-scale enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) wastewater treatment plants were investigated. Coexistence of various levels of candidate PAOs and GAOs were found at these facilities. Accumulibacter were found to be 5 to 20% of the total bacterial population, and Competibacter were 0 to 20% of the total bacteria population. The TFO abundance varied from nondetectable to dominant. Anaerobic phosphorus (P) release to acetate uptake ratios (P(rel)/HAc(up)) obtained from bench tests were correlated positively with the abundance ratio of Accumulibacter/(Competibacter +TFOs) and negatively with the abundance of (Competibacter +TFOs) for all plants except one, suggesting the relevance of these candidate organisms to EBPR processes. However, effluent phosphorus concentration, amount of phosphorus removed, and process stability in an EBPR system were not directly related to high PAO abundance or mutually exclusive with a high GAO fraction. The plant that had the lowest average effluent phosphorus and highest stability rating had the lowest P(rel)/HAc(up) and the most TFOs. Evaluation of full-scale EBPR performance data indicated that low effluent phosphorus concentration and high process stability are positively correlated with the influent readily biodegradable chemical oxygen demand-to-phosphorus ratio. A system-level carbon-distribution-based conceptual model is proposed for capturing the dynamic competition between PAOs and GAOs and their effect on an EBPR process, and the results from this study seem to support the model hypothesis.

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)

Length sensing and control of a Michelson interferometer with power recycling and twin signal recycling cavities.

Science.gov (United States)

Gräf, Christian; Thüring, André; Vahlbruch, Henning; Danzmann, Karsten; Schnabel, Roman

2013-03-11

The techniques of power recycling and signal recycling have proven as key concepts to increase the sensitivity of large-scale gravitational wave detectors by independent resonant enhancement of light power and signal sidebands within the interferometer. Developing the latter concept further, twin signal recycling was proposed as an alternative to conventional detuned signal recycling. Twin signal recycling features the narrow-band sensitivity gain of conventional detuned signal recycling but furthermore facilitates the injection of squeezed states of light, increases the detector sensitivity over a wide frequency band and requires a less complex detection scheme for optimal signal readout. These benefits come at the expense of an additional recycling mirror, thus increasing the number of degrees of freedom in the interferometer which need to be controlled.In this article we describe the development of a length sensing and control scheme and its successful application to a tabletop-scale power recycled Michelson interferometer with twin signal recycling. We were able to lock the interferometer in all relevant longitudinal degrees of freedom and thus laid the foundation for further investigations of this interferometer configuration to evaluate its viability for the application in gravitational wave detectors.

Predicted singers' vocal fold lengths and voice classification-a study of x-ray morphological measures.

Science.gov (United States)

Roers, Friederike; Mürbe, Dirk; Sundberg, Johan

2009-07-01

Students admitted to the solo singing education at the University of Music Dresden, Germany have been submitted to a detailed physical examination of a variety of factors with relevance to voice function since 1959. In the years 1959-1991, this scheme of examinations included X-ray profiles of the singers' vocal tracts. This material of 132 X-rays of voice professionals was used to investigate different laryngeal morphological measures and their relation to vocal fold length. Further, the study aimed to investigate if there are consistent anatomical differences between singers of different voice classifications. The study design used was a retrospective analysis. Vocal fold length could be measured in 29 of these singer subjects directly. These data showed a strong correlation with the anterior-posterior diameter of the subglottis and the trachea as well as with the distance from the anterior contour of the thyroid cartilage to the anterior contour of the spine. These relations were used in an attempt to predict the 132 singers' vocal fold lengths. The results revealed a clear covariation between predicted vocal fold length and voice classification. Anterior-posterior subglottic-tracheal diameter yielded mean vocal fold lengths of 14.9, 16.0, 16.6, 18.4, 19.5, and 20.9mm for sopranos, mezzo-sopranos, altos, tenors, baritones, and basses, respectively. The data support the assumption that there are consistent anatomical laryngeal differences between singers of different voice classifications, which are of relevance to pitch range and timbre of the voice.

Clinical relevance of findings in trials of CBT for depression

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lepping, P.; Whittington, R.; Sambhi, R.S.; Lane, S.; Poole, R.; Leucht, S.; Cuijpers, P.; McCabe, R.; Waheed, W.

2017-01-01

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is beneficial in depression. Symptom scores can be translated into Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scale scores to indicate clinical relevance. We aimed to assess the clinical relevance of findings of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of CBT in depression. We

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

Corrections to scaling for block entanglement in massive spin chains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calabrese, Pasquale; Cardy, John; Peschel, Ingo

2010-01-01

We consider the Rényi entropies S n in one-dimensional massive integrable models diagonalizable by means of corner transfer matrices (such as Heisenberg and Ising spin chains). By means of explicit examples and using the relation of the corner transfer matrix with the Virasoro algebra, we show that close to a conformally invariant critical point, when the correlation length ξ is finite but large, the corrections to the scaling are of the unusual form ξ −x/n , with x the dimension of a relevant operator in the conformal theory. This is reminiscent of the results for gapless chains and should be valid for any massive one-dimensional model close to a conformal critical point

Relevance in the science classroom: A multidimensional analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Hartwell, Matthew F.

While perceived relevance is considered a fundamental component of adaptive learning, the experience of relevance and its conceptual definition have not been well described. The mixed-methods research presented in this dissertation aimed to clarify the conceptual meaning of relevance by focusing on its phenomenological experience from the students' perspective. Following a critical literature review, I propose an identity-based model of perceived relevance that includes three components: a contextual target, an identity target, and a connection type, or lens. An empirical investigation of this model that consisted of two general phases was implemented in four 9th grade-biology classrooms. Participants in Phase 1 (N = 118) completed a series of four open-ended writing activities focused on eliciting perceived personal connections to academic content. Exploratory qualitative content analysis of a 25% random sample of the student responses was used to identify the main meaning-units of the proposed model as well as different dimensions of student relevance perceptions. These meaning-units and dimensions provided the basis for the construction of a conceptual mapping sentence capturing students' perceived relevance, which was then applied in a confirmatory analysis to all other student responses. Participants in Phase 2 (N = 139) completed a closed survey designed based on the mapping sentence to assess their perceived relevance of a biology unit. The survey also included scales assessing other domain-level motivational processes. Exploratory factor analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling indicated a coherent conceptual structure, which included a primary interpretive relevance dimension. Comparison of the conceptual structure across various groups (randomly-split sample, gender, academic level, domain-general motivational profiles) provided support for its ubiquity and insight into variation in the experience of perceived relevance among students of different

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.

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.

Correlation between length and tilt of lipid tails

Science.gov (United States)

Kopelevich, Dmitry I.; Nagle, John F.

2015-10-01

It is becoming recognized from simulations, and to a lesser extent from experiment, that the classical Helfrich-Canham membrane continuum mechanics model can be fruitfully enriched by the inclusion of molecular tilt, even in the fluid, chain disordered, biologically relevant phase of lipid bilayers. Enriched continuum theories then add a tilt modulus κθ to accompany the well recognized bending modulus κ. Different enrichment theories largely agree for many properties, but it has been noticed that there is considerable disagreement in one prediction; one theory postulates that the average length of the hydrocarbon chain tails increases strongly with increasing tilt and another predicts no increase. Our analysis of an all-atom simulation favors the latter theory, but it also shows that the overall tail length decreases slightly with increasing tilt. We show that this deviation from continuum theory can be reconciled by consideration of the average shape of the tails, which is a descriptor not obviously includable in continuum theory.

Correlation between length and tilt of lipid tails

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kopelevich, Dmitry I., E-mail: dkopelevich@che.ufl.edu [Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611 (United States); Nagle, John F., E-mail: nagle@cmu.edu [Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213 (United States)

2015-10-21

It is becoming recognized from simulations, and to a lesser extent from experiment, that the classical Helfrich-Canham membrane continuum mechanics model can be fruitfully enriched by the inclusion of molecular tilt, even in the fluid, chain disordered, biologically relevant phase of lipid bilayers. Enriched continuum theories then add a tilt modulus κ{sub θ} to accompany the well recognized bending modulus κ. Different enrichment theories largely agree for many properties, but it has been noticed that there is considerable disagreement in one prediction; one theory postulates that the average length of the hydrocarbon chain tails increases strongly with increasing tilt and another predicts no increase. Our analysis of an all-atom simulation favors the latter theory, but it also shows that the overall tail length decreases slightly with increasing tilt. We show that this deviation from continuum theory can be reconciled by consideration of the average shape of the tails, which is a descriptor not obviously includable in continuum theory.

Nano-scale structure in membranes in relation to enzyme action - computer simulation vs. experiment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Høyrup, P.; Jørgensen, Kent; Mouritsen, O.G.

2002-01-01

There is increasing theoretical and experimental evidence indicating that small-scale domain structure and dynamical heterogeneity develop in lipid membranes as a consequence of the the underlying phase transitions and the associated density and composition fluctuations. The relevant coherence...... lengths are in the nano-meter range. The nano-scale structure is believed to be important for controlling the activity of enzymes, specifically phospholipases, which act at bilayer membranes. We propose here a lattice-gas statistical mechanical model with appropriate dynamics to account for the non......-equilibrium action of the enzyme phospholipase A(2) which hydrolyses lipid-bilayer substrates. The resulting product molecules are assumed to induce local variations in the membrane interfacial pressure. Monte Carlo simulations of the non-equilibrium properties of the model for one-component as well as binary lipid...

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

Multi-scale modeling of diffusion-controlled reactions in polymers: renormalisation of reactivity parameters.

Science.gov (United States)

Everaers, Ralf; Rosa, Angelo

2012-01-07

The quantitative description of polymeric systems requires hierarchical modeling schemes, which bridge the gap between the atomic scale, relevant to chemical or biomolecular reactions, and the macromolecular scale, where the longest relaxation modes occur. Here, we use the formalism for diffusion-controlled reactions in polymers developed by Wilemski, Fixman, and Doi to discuss the renormalisation of the reactivity parameters in polymer models with varying spatial resolution. In particular, we show that the adjustments are independent of chain length. As a consequence, it is possible to match reactions times between descriptions with different resolution for relatively short reference chains and to use the coarse-grained model to make quantitative predictions for longer chains. We illustrate our results by a detailed discussion of the classical problem of chain cyclization in the Rouse model, which offers the simplest example of a multi-scale descriptions, if we consider differently discretized Rouse models for the same physical system. Moreover, we are able to explore different combinations of compact and non-compact diffusion in the local and large-scale dynamics by varying the embedding dimension.

Defining ecologically relevant scales for spatial protection with long-term data on an endangered seabird and local prey availability.

Science.gov (United States)

Sherley, Richard B; Botha, Philna; Underhill, Les G; Ryan, Peter G; van Zyl, Danie; Cockcroft, Andrew C; Crawford, Robert J M; Dyer, Bruce M; Cook, Timothée R

2017-12-01

Human activities are important drivers of marine ecosystem functioning. However, separating the synergistic effects of fishing and environmental variability on the prey base of nontarget predators is difficult, often because prey availability estimates on appropriate scales are lacking. Understanding how prey abundance at different spatial scales links to population change can help integrate the needs of nontarget predators into fisheries management by defining ecologically relevant areas for spatial protection. We investigated the local population response (number of breeders) of the Bank Cormorant (Phalacrocorax neglectus), a range-restricted endangered seabird, to the availability of its prey, the heavily fished west coast rock lobster (Jasus lalandii). Using Bayesian state-space modeled cormorant counts at 3 colonies, 22 years of fisheries-independent data on local lobster abundance, and generalized additive modeling, we determined the spatial scale pertinent to these relationships in areas with different lobster availability. Cormorant numbers responded positively to lobster availability in the regions with intermediate and high abundance but not where regime shifts and fishing pressure had depleted lobster stocks. The relationships were strongest when lobsters 20-30 km offshore of the colony were considered, a distance greater than the Bank Cormorant's foraging range when breeding, and may have been influenced by prey availability for nonbreeding birds, prey switching, or prey ecology. Our results highlight the importance of considering the scale of ecological relationships in marine spatial planning and suggest that designing spatial protection around focal species can benefit marine predators across their full life cycle. We propose the precautionary implementation of small-scale marine protected areas, followed by robust assessment and adaptive-management, to confirm population-level benefits for the cormorants, their prey, and the wider ecosystem, without

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.

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.

Scale-up considerations relevant to experimental studies of nuclear waste-package behavior

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coles, D.G.; Peters, R.D.

1986-04-01

Results from a study that investigated whether testing large-scale nuclear waste-package assemblages was technically warranted are reported. It was recognized that the majority of the investigations for predicting waste-package performance to date have relied primarily on laboratory-scale experimentation. However, methods for the successful extrapolation of the results from such experiments, both geometrically and over time, to actual repository conditions have not been well defined. Because a well-developed scaling technology exists in the chemical-engineering discipline, it was presupposed that much of this technology could be applicable to the prediction of waste-package performance. A review of existing literature documented numerous examples where a consideration of scaling technology was important. It was concluded that much of the existing scale-up technology is applicable to the prediction of waste-package performance for both size and time extrapolations and that conducting scale-up studies may be technically merited. However, the applicability for investigating the complex chemical interactions needs further development. It was recognized that the complexity of the system, and the long time periods involved, renders a completely theoretical approach to performance prediction almost hopeless. However, a theoretical and experimental study was defined for investigating heat and fluid flow. It was concluded that conducting scale-up modeling and experimentation for waste-package performance predictions is possible using existing technology. A sequential series of scaling studies, both theoretical and experimental, will be required to formulate size and time extrapolations of waste-package performance

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....

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Some relevant parameters for assessing fire hazards of combustible mine materials using laboratory scale experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Litton, Charles D; Perera, Inoka E; Harteis, Samuel P; Teacoach, Kara A; DeRosa, Maria I; Thomas, Richard A; Smith, Alex C

2018-04-15

When combustible materials ignite and burn, the potential for fire growth and flame spread represents an obvious hazard, but during these processes of ignition and flaming, other life hazards present themselves and should be included to ensure an effective overall analysis of the relevant fire hazards. In particular, the gases and smoke produced both during the smoldering stages of fires leading to ignition and during the advanced flaming stages of a developing fire serve to contaminate the surrounding atmosphere, potentially producing elevated levels of toxicity and high levels of smoke obscuration that render the environment untenable. In underground mines, these hazards may be exacerbated by the existing forced ventilation that can carry the gases and smoke to locations far-removed from the fire location. Clearly, materials that require high temperatures (above 1400 K) and that exhibit low mass loss during thermal decomposition, or that require high heat fluxes or heat transfer rates to ignite represent less of a hazard than materials that decompose at low temperatures or ignite at low levels of heat flux. In order to define and quantify some possible parameters that can be used to assess these hazards, small-scale laboratory experiments were conducted in a number of configurations to measure: 1) the toxic gases and smoke produced both during non-flaming and flaming combustion; 2) mass loss rates as a function of temperature to determine ease of thermal decomposition; and 3) mass loss rates and times to ignition as a function of incident heat flux. This paper describes the experiments that were conducted, their results, and the development of a set of parameters that could possibly be used to assess the overall fire hazard of combustible materials using small scale laboratory experiments.

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.

Strategies for Directing the Structure and Function of 3D Collagen Biomaterials across Length Scales

Science.gov (United States)

Walters, Brandan D.; Stegemann, Jan P.

2013-01-01

Collagen type I is a widely used natural biomaterial that has found utility in a variety of biological and medical applications. Its well characterized structure and role as an extracellular matrix protein make it a highly relevant material for controlling cell function and mimicking tissue properties. Collagen type I is abundant in a number of tissues, and can be isolated as a purified protein. This review focuses on hydrogel biomaterials made by reconstituting collagen type I from a solubilized form, with an emphasis on in vitro studies in which collagen structure can be controlled. The hierarchical structure of collagen from the nanoscale to the macroscale is described, with an emphasis on how structure is related to function across scales. Methods of reconstituting collagen into hydrogel materials are presented, including molding of macroscopic constructs, creation of microscale modules, and electrospinning of nanoscale fibers. The modification of collagen biomaterials to achieve desired structures and functions is also addressed, with particular emphasis on mechanical control of collagen structure, creation of collagen composite materials, and crosslinking of collagenous matrices. Biomaterials scientists have made remarkable progress in rationally designing collagen-based biomaterials and in applying them to both the study of biology and for therapeutic benefit. This broad review illustrates recent examples of techniques used to control collagen structure, and to thereby direct its biological and mechanical functions. PMID:24012608

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.

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.

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...

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 ...

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.

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.

Rapid prototyping of multi-scale biomedical microdevices by combining additive manufacturing technologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Hengsbach, Stefan; Lantada, Andrés Díaz

2014-08-01

The possibility of designing and manufacturing biomedical microdevices with multiple length-scale geometries can help to promote special interactions both with their environment and with surrounding biological systems. These interactions aim to enhance biocompatibility and overall performance by using biomimetic approaches. In this paper, we present a design and manufacturing procedure for obtaining multi-scale biomedical microsystems based on the combination of two additive manufacturing processes: a conventional laser writer to manufacture the overall device structure, and a direct-laser writer based on two-photon polymerization to yield finer details. The process excels for its versatility, accuracy and manufacturing speed and allows for the manufacture of microsystems and implants with overall sizes up to several millimeters and with details down to sub-micrometric structures. As an application example we have focused on manufacturing a biomedical microsystem to analyze the impact of microtextured surfaces on cell motility. This process yielded a relevant increase in precision and manufacturing speed when compared with more conventional rapid prototyping procedures.

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.

Blood capillary length estimation from three-dimensional microscopic data by image analysis and stereology.

Science.gov (United States)

Kubínová, Lucie; Mao, Xiao Wen; Janáček, Jiří

2013-08-01

Studies of the capillary bed characterized by its length or length density are relevant in many biomedical studies. A reliable assessment of capillary length from two-dimensional (2D), thin histological sections is a rather difficult task as it requires physical cutting of such sections in randomized directions. This is often technically demanding, inefficient, or outright impossible. However, if 3D image data of the microscopic structure under investigation are available, methods of length estimation that do not require randomized physical cutting of sections may be applied. Two different rat brain regions were optically sliced by confocal microscopy and resulting 3D images processed by three types of capillary length estimation methods: (1) stereological methods based on a computer generation of isotropic uniform random virtual test probes in 3D, either in the form of spatial grids of virtual "slicer" planes or spherical probes; (2) automatic method employing a digital version of the Crofton relations using the Euler characteristic of planar sections of the binary image; and (3) interactive "tracer" method for length measurement based on a manual delineation in 3D of the axes of capillary segments. The presented methods were compared in terms of their practical applicability, efficiency, and precision.

Independent effects of step length and foot strike pattern on tibiofemoral joint forces during running.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowersock, Collin D; Willy, Richard W; DeVita, Paul; Willson, John D

2017-10-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of step length and foot strike pattern along with their interaction on tibiofemoral joint (TFJ) and medial compartment TFJ kinetics during running. Nineteen participants ran with a rear foot strike pattern at their preferred speed using a short (-10%), preferred, and long (+10%) step length. These step length conditions were then repeated using a forefoot strike pattern. Regardless of foot strike pattern, a 10% shorter step length resulted in decreased peak contact force, force impulse per step, force impulse per kilometre, and average loading rate at the TFJ and medial compartment, while a 10% increased step length had the opposite effects (all P forefoot strike pattern significantly lowered TFJ and medial compartment TFJ average loading rates compared with a rear foot strike pattern (both forefoot strike pattern produced the greatest reduction in peak medial compartment contact force (P < 0.05). Knowledge of these running modification effects may be relevant to the management or prevention of TFJ injury or pathology among runners.

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

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

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.

Why relevance theory is relevant for lexicography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bothma, Theo; Tarp, Sven

2014-01-01

This article starts by providing a brief summary of relevance theory in information science in relation to the function theory of lexicography, explaining the different types of relevance, viz. objective system relevance and the subjective types of relevance, i.e. topical, cognitive, situational...... that is very important for lexicography as well as for information science, viz. functional relevance. Since all lexicographic work is ultimately aimed at satisfying users’ information needs, the article then discusses why the lexicographer should take note of all these types of relevance when planning a new...... dictionary project, identifying new tasks and responsibilities of the modern lexicographer. The article furthermore discusses how relevance theory impacts on teaching dictionary culture and reference skills. By integrating insights from lexicography and information science, the article contributes to new...

Factors that influence femoral neck length. Analysis of 1543 patients with advanced osteoarthritis of the hip

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Prins, Wybren; Kollen, Boudewijn J.; Ettema, Harmen B.; Verheyen, Cees C. P. M.

2013-01-01

Background and purpose: There is little known about the relationship between patient characteristic and the variance in geometrical properties of the femoral neck. The length of the femoral neck is relevant when considering a femoral neck preserving hip replacement. Based on surgical experience we

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

Moving beyond Text Highlights: Inferring Users' Interests to Improve the Relevance of Retrieval

Science.gov (United States)

Balakrishnan, Vimala; Mehmood, Yasir; Nagappan, Yoganathan

2016-01-01

Introduction: Studies have indicated that users' text highlighting behaviour can be further manipulated to improve the relevance of retrieved results. This article reports on a study that examined users' text highlight frequency, length and users' copy-paste actions. Method: A binary voting mechanism was employed to determine the weights for the…

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.

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.

Representative Sinusoids for Hepatic Four-Scale Pharmacokinetics Simulations.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lars Ole Schwen

Full Text Available The mammalian liver plays a key role for metabolism and detoxification of xenobiotics in the body. The corresponding biochemical processes are typically subject to spatial variations at different length scales. Zonal enzyme expression along sinusoids leads to zonated metabolization already in the healthy state. Pathological states of the liver may involve liver cells affected in a zonated manner or heterogeneously across the whole organ. This spatial heterogeneity, however, cannot be described by most computational models which usually consider the liver as a homogeneous, well-stirred organ. The goal of this article is to present a methodology to extend whole-body pharmacokinetics models by a detailed liver model, combining different modeling approaches from the literature. This approach results in an integrated four-scale model, from single cells via sinusoids and the organ to the whole organism, capable of mechanistically representing metabolization inhomogeneity in livers at different spatial scales. Moreover, the model shows circulatory mixing effects due to a delayed recirculation through the surrounding organism. To show that this approach is generally applicable for different physiological processes, we show three applications as proofs of concept, covering a range of species, compounds, and diseased states: clearance of midazolam in steatotic human livers, clearance of caffeine in mouse livers regenerating from necrosis, and a parameter study on the impact of different cell entities on insulin uptake in mouse livers. The examples illustrate how variations only discernible at the local scale influence substance distribution in the plasma at the whole-body level. In particular, our results show that simultaneously considering variations at all relevant spatial scales may be necessary to understand their impact on observations at the organism scale.

Investigating Darcy-scale assumptions by means of a multiphysics algorithm

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Tomin, Pavel; Lunati, Ivan

2016-09-01

Multiphysics (or hybrid) algorithms, which couple Darcy and pore-scale descriptions of flow through porous media in a single numerical framework, are usually employed to decrease the computational cost of full pore-scale simulations or to increase the accuracy of pure Darcy-scale simulations when a simple macroscopic description breaks down. Despite the massive increase in available computational power, the application of these techniques remains limited to core-size problems and upscaling remains crucial for practical large-scale applications. In this context, the Hybrid Multiscale Finite Volume (HMsFV) method, which constructs the macroscopic (Darcy-scale) problem directly by numerical averaging of pore-scale flow, offers not only a flexible framework to efficiently deal with multiphysics problems, but also a tool to investigate the assumptions used to derive macroscopic models and to better understand the relationship between pore-scale quantities and the corresponding macroscale variables. Indeed, by direct comparison of the multiphysics solution with a reference pore-scale simulation, we can assess the validity of the closure assumptions inherent to the multiphysics algorithm and infer the consequences for macroscopic models at the Darcy scale. We show that the definition of the scale ratio based on the geometric properties of the porous medium is well justified only for single-phase flow, whereas in case of unstable multiphase flow the nonlinear interplay between different forces creates complex fluid patterns characterized by new spatial scales, which emerge dynamically and weaken the scale-separation assumption. In general, the multiphysics solution proves very robust even when the characteristic size of the fluid-distribution patterns is comparable with the observation length, provided that all relevant physical processes affecting the fluid distribution are considered. This suggests that macroscopic constitutive relationships (e.g., the relative

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.

Length Scales and Types of Heterogeneities Along the Deep Subduction Interface: Insights From an Exhumed Subduction Complex on Syros Island, Greece

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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.

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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.

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.

Length-weight and length-length relationships of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) in the middle and southern Iraq provinces

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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.

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.

Scaling high-order harmonic generation from laser-solid interactions to ultrahigh intensity.

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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.

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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)

Measurement of the magneto-optical correlation length in turbid media

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Lenke, Ralf; Eisenmann, Christoph; Reinke, Daniel; Maret, Georg

2002-11-01

In multiple light scattering media, magnetic field induced circular birefringence (Faraday effect) influences interference effects such as speckle pattern or coherent backscattering. It was predicted that in the diffusive regime the relevant correlation length with respect to the Faraday rotation l*F differs, in general, from the transport mean free path l*. We have experimentally verified the prediction that the ratio l*F/l* equals 2 for Rayleigh scattering and decreases to 1 with increasing scatterer size. We also discuss the influence of the structure factor on l*F.

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.

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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.

2012 THIN FILM AND SMALL SCALE MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR GRS/GRC, JULY 21-27, 2012

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Balk, Thomas

2012-07-27

The mechanical behavior of materials with small dimension(s) is of both fundamental scientific interest and technological relevance. The size effects and novel properties that arise from changes in deformation mechanism have important implications for modern technologies such as thin films for microelectronics and MEMS devices, thermal and tribological coatings, materials for energy production and advanced batteries, etc. The overarching goal of the 2012 Gordon Research Conference on "Thin Film and Small Scale Mechanical Behavior" is to discuss recent studies and future opportunities regarding elastic, plastic and time-dependent deformation, as well as degradation and failure mechanisms such as fatigue, fracture and wear. Specific topics of interest include, but are not limited to: fundamental studies of physical mechanisms governing small-scale mechanical behavior; advances in test techniques for materials at small length scales, such as nanotribology and high-temperature nanoindentation; in-situ mechanical testing and characterization; nanomechanics of battery materials, such as swelling-induced phenomena and chemomechanical behavior; flexible electronics; mechanical properties of graphene and carbon-based materials; mechanical behavior of small-scale biological structures and biomimetic materials. Both experimental and computational work will be included in the oral and poster presentations at this Conference.

Infinite coherence time of edge spins in finite-length chains

Science.gov (United States)

Maceira, Ivo A.; Mila, Frédéric

2018-02-01

Motivated by the recent observation that exponentially long coherence times can be achieved for edge spins in models with strong zero modes, we study the impact of level crossings in finite-length spin chains on the dynamics of the edge spins. Focusing on the X Y spin-1 /2 chain with a transverse or longitudinal magnetic field, two models relevant to understanding recent experimental results on cobalt adatoms, we show that the edge spins can remain coherent for an infinite time even for a finite-length chain if the magnetic field is tuned to a value at which there is a level crossing. Furthermore, we show that the edge spins remain coherent for any initial state for the integrable case of a transverse field because all states have level crossings at the same value of the field, while the coherence time is increasingly large for lower temperatures in the case of a longitudinal field, which is nonintegrable.

Instantaneous variance scaling of AIRS thermodynamic profiles using a circular area Monte Carlo approach

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Dorrestijn, Jesse; Kahn, Brian H.; Teixeira, João; Irion, Fredrick W.

2018-05-01

Satellite observations are used to obtain vertical profiles of variance scaling of temperature (T) and specific humidity (q) in the atmosphere. A higher spatial resolution nadir retrieval at 13.5 km complements previous Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) investigations with 45 km resolution retrievals and enables the derivation of power law scaling exponents to length scales as small as 55 km. We introduce a variable-sized circular-area Monte Carlo methodology to compute exponents instantaneously within the swath of AIRS that yields additional insight into scaling behavior. While this method is approximate and some biases are likely to exist within non-Gaussian portions of the satellite observational swaths of T and q, this method enables the estimation of scale-dependent behavior within instantaneous swaths for individual tropical and extratropical systems of interest. Scaling exponents are shown to fluctuate between β = -1 and -3 at scales ≥ 500 km, while at scales ≤ 500 km they are typically near β ≈ -2, with q slightly lower than T at the smallest scales observed. In the extratropics, the large-scale β is near -3. Within the tropics, however, the large-scale β for T is closer to -1 as small-scale moist convective processes dominate. In the tropics, q exhibits large-scale β between -2 and -3. The values of β are generally consistent with previous works of either time-averaged spatial variance estimates, or aircraft observations that require averaging over numerous flight observational segments. The instantaneous variance scaling methodology is relevant for cloud parameterization development and the assessment of time variability of scaling exponents.

The relationship between telomere length and mortality in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jee Lee

Full Text Available Some have suggested that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD is a disease of accelerated aging. Aging is characterized by shortening of telomeres. The relationship of telomere length to important clinical outcomes such as mortality, disease progression and cancer in COPD is unknown. Using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR, we measured telomere length of peripheral leukocytes in 4,271 subjects with mild to moderate COPD who participated in the Lung Health Study (LHS. The subjects were followed for approximately 7.5 years during which time their vital status, FEV(1 and smoking status were ascertained. Using multiple regression methods, we determined the relationship of telomere length to cancer and total mortality in these subjects. We also measured telomere length in healthy "mid-life" volunteers and patients with more severe COPD. The LHS subjects had significantly shorter telomeres than those of healthy "mid-life" volunteers (p<.001. Compared to individuals in the 4(th quartile of relative telomere length (i.e. longest telomere group, the remaining participants had significantly higher risk of cancer mortality (Hazard ratio, HR, 1.48; p = 0.0324 and total mortality (HR, 1.29; p = 0.0425. Smoking status did not make a significant difference in peripheral blood cells telomere length. In conclusion, COPD patients have short leukocyte telomeres, which are in turn associated increased risk of total and cancer mortality. Accelerated aging is of particular relevance to cancer mortality in COPD.

Turbulent dispersivity under conditions relevant to airborne disease transmission between laboratory animals

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Halloran, Siobhan; Ristenpart, William

2013-11-01

Virologists and other researchers who test pathogens for airborne disease transmissibility often place a test animal downstream from an inoculated animal and later determine whether the test animal became infected. Despite the crucial role of the airflow in pathogen transmission between the animals, to date the infectious disease community has paid little attention to the effect of airspeed or turbulent intensity on the probability of transmission. Here we present measurements of the turbulent dispersivity under conditions relevant to experimental tests of airborne disease transmissibility between laboratory animals. We used time lapse photography to visualize the downstream transport and turbulent dispersion of smoke particulates released from a point source downstream of an axial fan, thus mimicking the release and transport of expiratory aerosols exhaled by an inoculated animal. We show that for fan-generated turbulence the plume width is invariant with the mean airspeed and, close to the point source, increases linearly with downstream position. Importantly, the turbulent dispersivity is insensitive to the presence of meshes placed downstream from the point source, indicating that the fan length scale dictates the turbulent intensity and corresponding dispersivity.

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.

The design of PSB-VVER experiments relevant to accident management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Del Nevo, Alessandro; D'auria, Francesco; Mazzini, Marino; Bykov, Michael; Elkin, Ilya V.; Suslov, Alexander

2008-01-01

Experimental programs carried-out in integral test facilities are relevant for validating the best estimate thermal-hydraulic codes, which are used for accident analyses, design of accident management procedures, licensing of nuclear power plants, etc. The validation process, in fact, is based on well designed experiments. It consists in the comparison of the measured and calculated parameters and the determination whether a computer code has an adequate capability in predicting the major phenomena expected to occur in the course of transient and/or accidents. University of Pisa was responsible of the numerical design of the 12 experiments executed in PSB-VVER facility, operated at Electrogorsk Research and Engineering Center (Russia), in the framework of the TACIS 2.03/97 Contract 3.03.03 Part A, EC financed. The paper describes the methodology adopted at University of Pisa, starting form the scenarios foreseen in the final test matrix until the execution of the experiments. This process considers three key topics: a) the scaling issue and the simulation, with unavoidable distortions, of the expected performance of the reference nuclear power plants; b) the code assessment process involving the identification of phenomena challenging the code models; c) the features of the concerned integral test facility (scaling limitations, control logics, data acquisition system, instrumentation, etc.). The activities performed in this respect are discussed, and emphasis is also given to the relevance of the thermal losses to the environment. This issue affects particularly the small scaled facilities and has relevance on the scaling approach related to the power and volume of the facility. (author)

The Design of PSB-VVER Experiments Relevant to Accident Management

Science.gov (United States)

Nevo, Alessandro Del; D'Auria, Francesco; Mazzini, Marino; Bykov, Michael; Elkin, Ilya V.; Suslov, Alexander

Experimental programs carried-out in integral test facilities are relevant for validating the best estimate thermal-hydraulic codes(1), which are used for accident analyses, design of accident management procedures, licensing of nuclear power plants, etc. The validation process, in fact, is based on well designed experiments. It consists in the comparison of the measured and calculated parameters and the determination whether a computer code has an adequate capability in predicting the major phenomena expected to occur in the course of transient and/or accidents. University of Pisa was responsible of the numerical design of the 12 experiments executed in PSB-VVER facility (2), operated at Electrogorsk Research and Engineering Center (Russia), in the framework of the TACIS 2.03/97 Contract 3.03.03 Part A, EC financed (3). The paper describes the methodology adopted at University of Pisa, starting form the scenarios foreseen in the final test matrix until the execution of the experiments. This process considers three key topics: a) the scaling issue and the simulation, with unavoidable distortions, of the expected performance of the reference nuclear power plants; b) the code assessment process involving the identification of phenomena challenging the code models; c) the features of the concerned integral test facility (scaling limitations, control logics, data acquisition system, instrumentation, etc.). The activities performed in this respect are discussed, and emphasis is also given to the relevance of the thermal losses to the environment. This issue affects particularly the small scaled facilities and has relevance on the scaling approach related to the power and volume of the facility.

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.

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.

Decoupling processes and scales of shoreline morphodynamics

Science.gov (United States)

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.

Zen meditation, Length of Telomeres, and the Role of Experiential Avoidance and Compassion.

Science.gov (United States)

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.

Walking on inclines: how do desert ants monitor slope and step length

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seidl Tobias

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background During long-distance foraging in almost featureless habitats desert ants of the genus Cataglyphis employ path-integrating mechanisms (vector navigation. This navigational strategy requires an egocentric monitoring of the foraging path by incrementally integrating direction, distance, and inclination of the path. Monitoring the latter two parameters involves idiothetic cues and hence is tightly coupled to the ant's locomotor behavior. Results In a kinematic study of desert ant locomotion performed on differently inclined surfaces we aimed at pinpointing the relevant mechanisms of estimating step length and inclination. In a behavioral experiment with ants foraging on slippery surfaces we broke the otherwise tightly coupled relationship between stepping frequency and step length and examined the animals' ability to monitor distances covered even under those adverse conditions. We show that the ants' locomotor system is not influenced by inclined paths. After removing the effect of speed, slope had only marginal influence on kinematic parameters. Conclusion From the obtained data we infer that the previously proposed monitoring of angles of the thorax-coxa joint is not involved in inclinometry. Due to the tiny variations in cycle period, we also argue that an efference copy of the central pattern generator coding the step length in its output frequency will most likely not suffice for estimating step length and complementing the pedometer. Finally we propose that sensing forces acting on the ant's legs could provide the desired neuronal correlate employed in monitoring inclination and step length.

The scaling structure of the global road network.

Science.gov (United States)

Strano, Emanuele; Giometto, Andrea; Shai, Saray; Bertuzzo, Enrico; Mucha, Peter J; Rinaldo, Andrea

2017-10-01

Because of increasing global urbanization and its immediate consequences, including changes in patterns of food demand, circulation and land use, the next century will witness a major increase in the extent of paved roads built worldwide. To model the effects of this increase, it is crucial to understand whether possible self-organized patterns are inherent in the global road network structure. Here, we use the largest updated database comprising all major roads on the Earth, together with global urban and cropland inventories, to suggest that road length distributions within croplands are indistinguishable from urban ones, once rescaled to account for the difference in mean road length. Such similarity extends to road length distributions within urban or agricultural domains of a given area. We find two distinct regimes for the scaling of the mean road length with the associated area, holding in general at small and at large values of the latter. In suitably large urban and cropland domains, we find that mean and total road lengths increase linearly with their domain area, differently from earlier suggestions. Scaling regimes suggest that simple and universal mechanisms regulate urban and cropland road expansion at the global scale. As such, our findings bear implications for global road infrastructure growth based on land-use change and for planning policies sustaining urban expansions.

Telomere Length and Mortality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kimura, Masayuki; Hjelmborg, Jacob V B; Gardner, Jeffrey P

2008-01-01

Leukocyte telomere length, representing the mean length of all telomeres in leukocytes, is ostensibly a bioindicator of human aging. The authors hypothesized that shorter telomeres might forecast imminent mortality in elderly people better than leukocyte telomere length. They performed mortality...

Factors affecting economies of scale in combined sewer systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Maurer, Max; Wolfram, Martin; Anja, Herlyn

2010-01-01

A generic model is introduced that represents the combined sewer infrastructure of a settlement quantitatively. A catchment area module first calculates the length and size distribution of the required sewer pipes on the basis of rain patterns, housing densities and area size. These results are fed into the sewer-cost module in order to estimate the combined sewer costs of the entire catchment area. A detailed analysis of the relevant input parameters for Swiss settlements is used to identify the influence of size on costs. The simulation results confirm that an economy of scale exists for combined sewer systems. This is the result of two main opposing cost factors: (i) increased construction costs for larger sewer systems due to larger pipes and increased rain runoff in larger settlements, and (ii) lower costs due to higher population and building densities in larger towns. In Switzerland, the more or less organically grown settlement structures and limited land availability emphasise the second factor to show an apparent economy of scale. This modelling approach proved to be a powerful tool for understanding the underlying factors affecting the cost structure for water infrastructures.

Relevance of multiple spatial scales in habitat models: A case study with amphibians and grasshoppers

Science.gov (United States)

Altmoos, Michael; Henle, Klaus

2010-11-01

Habitat models for animal species are important tools in conservation planning. We assessed the need to consider several scales in a case study for three amphibian and two grasshopper species in the post-mining landscapes near Leipzig (Germany). The two species groups were selected because habitat analyses for grasshoppers are usually conducted on one scale only whereas amphibians are thought to depend on more than one spatial scale. First, we analysed how the preference to single habitat variables changed across nested scales. Most environmental variables were only significant for a habitat model on one or two scales, with the smallest scale being particularly important. On larger scales, other variables became significant, which cannot be recognized on lower scales. Similar preferences across scales occurred in only 13 out of 79 cases and in 3 out of 79 cases the preference and avoidance for the same variable were even reversed among scales. Second, we developed habitat models by using a logistic regression on every scale and for all combinations of scales and analysed how the quality of habitat models changed with the scales considered. To achieve a sufficient accuracy of the habitat models with a minimum number of variables, at least two scales were required for all species except for Bufo viridis, for which a single scale, the microscale, was sufficient. Only for the European tree frog ( Hyla arborea), at least three scales were required. The results indicate that the quality of habitat models increases with the number of surveyed variables and with the number of scales, but costs increase too. Searching for simplifications in multi-scaled habitat models, we suggest that 2 or 3 scales should be a suitable trade-off, when attempting to define a suitable microscale.

Stuttering Frequency in Relation to Lexical Diversity, Syntactic Complexity, and Utterance Length

Science.gov (United States)

Wagovich, Stacy A.; Hall, Nancy E.

2018-01-01

Children's frequency of stuttering can be affected by utterance length, syntactic complexity, and lexical content of language. Using a unique small-scale within-subjects design, this study explored whether language samples that contain more stuttering have (a) longer, (b) syntactically more complex, and (c) lexically more diverse utterances than…

Image steganography based on 2k correction and coherent bit length

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Shuliang; Guo, Yongning

2014-10-01

In this paper, a novel algorithm is proposed. Firstly, the edge of cover image is detected with Canny operator and secret data is embedded in edge pixels. Sorting method is used to randomize the edge pixels in order to enhance security. Coherent bit length L is determined by relevant edge pixels. Finally, the method of 2k correction is applied to achieve better imperceptibility in stego image. The experiment shows that the proposed method is better than LSB-3 and Jae-Gil Yu's in PSNR and capacity.

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.

Role of medium heterogeneity and viscosity contrast in miscible flow regimes and mixing zone growth: A computational pore-scale approach

Science.gov (United States)

Afshari, Saied; Hejazi, S. Hossein; Kantzas, Apostolos

2018-05-01

Miscible displacement of fluids in porous media is often characterized by the scaling of the mixing zone length with displacement time. Depending on the viscosity contrast of fluids, the scaling law varies between the square root relationship, a sign for dispersive transport regime during stable displacement, and the linear relationship, which represents the viscous fingering regime during an unstable displacement. The presence of heterogeneities in a porous medium significantly affects the scaling behavior of the mixing length as it interacts with the viscosity contrast to control the mixing of fluids in the pore space. In this study, the dynamics of the flow and transport during both unit and adverse viscosity ratio miscible displacements are investigated in heterogeneous packings of circular grains using pore-scale numerical simulations. The pore-scale heterogeneity level is characterized by the variations of the grain diameter and velocity field. The growth of mixing length is employed to identify the nature of the miscible transport regime at different viscosity ratios and heterogeneity levels. It is shown that as the viscosity ratio increases to higher adverse values, the scaling law of mixing length gradually shifts from dispersive to fingering nature up to a certain viscosity ratio and remains almost the same afterwards. In heterogeneous media, the mixing length scaling law is observed to be generally governed by the variations of the velocity field rather than the grain size. Furthermore, the normalization of mixing length temporal plots with respect to the governing parameters of viscosity ratio, heterogeneity, medium length, and medium aspect ratio is performed. The results indicate that mixing length scales exponentially with log-viscosity ratio and grain size standard deviation while the impact of aspect ratio is insignificant. For stable flows, mixing length scales with the square root of medium length, whereas it changes linearly with length during

Gravo-Aeroelastic Scaling for Extreme-Scale Wind Turbines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fingersh, Lee J [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Loth, Eric [University of Virginia; Kaminski, Meghan [University of Virginia; Qin, Chao [University of Virginia; Griffith, D. Todd [Sandia National Laboratories

2017-06-09

A scaling methodology is described in the present paper for extreme-scale wind turbines (rated at 10 MW or more) that allow their sub-scale turbines to capture their key blade dynamics and aeroelastic deflections. For extreme-scale turbines, such deflections and dynamics can be substantial and are primarily driven by centrifugal, thrust and gravity forces as well as the net torque. Each of these are in turn a function of various wind conditions, including turbulence levels that cause shear, veer, and gust loads. The 13.2 MW rated SNL100-03 rotor design, having a blade length of 100-meters, is herein scaled to the CART3 wind turbine at NREL using 25% geometric scaling and blade mass and wind speed scaled by gravo-aeroelastic constraints. In order to mimic the ultralight structure on the advanced concept extreme-scale design the scaling results indicate that the gravo-aeroelastically scaled blades for the CART3 are be three times lighter and 25% longer than the current CART3 blades. A benefit of this scaling approach is that the scaled wind speeds needed for testing are reduced (in this case by a factor of two), allowing testing under extreme gust conditions to be much more easily achieved. Most importantly, this scaling approach can investigate extreme-scale concepts including dynamic behaviors and aeroelastic deflections (including flutter) at an extremely small fraction of the full-scale cost.

Collective motion in prolate γ-rigid nuclei within minimal length concept via a quantum perturbation method

Science.gov (United States)

Chabab, M.; El Batoul, A.; Lahbas, A.; Oulne, M.

2018-05-01

Based on the minimal length concept, inspired by Heisenberg algebra, a closed analytical formula is derived for the energy spectrum of the prolate γ-rigid Bohr-Mottelson Hamiltonian of nuclei, within a quantum perturbation method (QPM), by considering a scaled Davidson potential in β shape variable. In the resulting solution, called X(3)-D-ML, the ground state and the first β-band are all studied as a function of the free parameters. The fact of introducing the minimal length concept with a QPM makes the model very flexible and a powerful approach to describe nuclear collective excitations of a variety of vibrational-like nuclei. The introduction of scaling parameters in the Davidson potential enables us to get a physical minimum of this latter in comparison with previous works. The analysis of the corrected wave function, as well as the probability density distribution, shows that the minimal length parameter has a physical upper bound limit.

Leg Length, Body Proportion, and Health: A Review with a Note on Beauty

Science.gov (United States)

Bogin, Barry; Varela-Silva, Maria Inês

2010-01-01

Decomposing stature into its major components is proving to be a useful strategy to assess the antecedents of disease, morbidity and death in adulthood. Human leg length (femur + tibia), sitting height (trunk length + head length) and their proportions, for example, (leg length/stature), or the sitting height ratio (sitting height/stature × 100), among others) are associated with epidemiological risk for overweight (fatness), coronary heart disease, diabetes, liver dysfunction and certain cancers. There is also wide support for the use of relative leg length as an indicator of the quality of the environment for growth during infancy, childhood and the juvenile years of development. Human beings follow a cephalo-caudal gradient of growth, the pattern of growth common to all mammals. A special feature of the human pattern is that between birth and puberty the legs grow relatively faster than other post-cranial body segments. For groups of children and youth, short stature due to relatively short legs (i.e., a high sitting height ratio) is generally a marker of an adverse environment. The development of human body proportions is the product of environmental x genomic interactions, although few if any specific genes are known. The HOXd and the short stature homeobox-containing gene (SHOX) are genomic regions that may be relevant to human body proportions. For example, one of the SHOX related disorders is Turner syndrome. However, research with non-pathological populations indicates that the environment is a more powerful force influencing leg length and body proportions than genes. Leg length and proportion are important in the perception of human beauty, which is often considered a sign of health and fertility. PMID:20617018

A study of small-scale foliation in lengths of core enclosing fault zones in borehole WD-3, Permit Area D, Lac du Bonnet Batholith

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ejeckam, R. B.

1992-12-01

Small-scale foliation measurements in lengths of core from borehole WD-3 of Permit Area D of the Lac du Bonnet Batholith have defined five major mean orientation sets. They strike NW, N and NE. The orientations (strike to the left of the dip direction/dip) of these sets are as follows: Set I - 028/74 deg; II - 001/66 deg; III - 100/58 deg; IV - 076/83 deg; and V - 210/40 deg. The small-scale foliations were defined by different mineral types such as biotite crystals, plagioclase, mineral banding and quartz lenses. Well-developed biotite foliation is commonly present whenever well-developed plagioclase foliation exists, but as the strength of development weakens, the preferred orientations of plagioclase foliation do not correspond to those of biotite. It is also noted that the foliations appear to strike in directions orthogonal to the fractures in the fracture zones in the same depth interval. No significant change in foliation orientation was observed in Zones I to IV. Set V, however, whose mean orientation is 210/40 deg, is absent from the Zone IV interval, ranging from 872 to 905 m. (auth)

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

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.

Non-London electrodynamics in a multiband London model: Anisotropy-induced nonlocalities and multiple magnetic field penetration lengths

Science.gov (United States)

Silaev, Mihail; Winyard, Thomas; Babaev, Egor

2018-05-01

The London model describes strongly type-2 superconductors as massive vector field theories, where the magnetic field decays exponentially at the length scale of the London penetration length. This also holds for isotropic multiband extensions, where the presence of multiple bands merely renormalizes the London penetration length. We show that, by contrast, the magnetic properties of anisotropic multiband London models are not this simple, and the anisotropy leads to the interband phase differences becoming coupled to the magnetic field. This results in the magnetic field in such systems having N +1 penetration lengths, where N is the number of field components or bands. That is, in a given direction, the magnetic field decay is described by N +1 modes with different amplitudes and different decay length scales. For certain anisotropies we obtain magnetic modes with complex masses. That means that magnetic field decay is not described by a monotonic exponential increment set by a real penetration length but instead is oscillating. Some of the penetration lengths are shown to diverge away from the superconducting phase transition when the mass of the phase-difference mode vanishes. Finally the anisotropy-driven hybridization of the London mode with the Leggett modes can provide an effectively nonlocal magnetic response in the nominally local London model. Focusing on the two-component model, we discuss the magnetic field inversion that results from the effective nonlocality, both near the surface of the superconductor and around vortices. In the regime where the magnetic field decay becomes nonmonotonic, the multiband London superconductor is shown to form weakly-bound states of vortices.

Does length or neighborhood size cause the word length effect?

Science.gov (United States)

Jalbert, Annie; Neath, Ian; Surprenant, Aimée M

2011-10-01

Jalbert, Neath, Bireta, and Surprenant (2011) suggested that past demonstrations of the word length effect, the finding that words with fewer syllables are recalled better than words with more syllables, included a confound: The short words had more orthographic neighbors than the long words. The experiments reported here test two predictions that would follow if neighborhood size is a more important factor than word length. In Experiment 1, we found that concurrent articulation removed the effect of neighborhood size, just as it removes the effect of word length. Experiment 2 demonstrated that this pattern is also found with nonwords. For Experiment 3, we factorially manipulated length and neighborhood size, and found only effects of the latter. These results are problematic for any theory of memory that includes decay offset by rehearsal, but they are consistent with accounts that include a redintegrative stage that is susceptible to disruption by noise. The results also confirm the importance of lexical and linguistic factors on memory tasks thought to tap short-term memory.

Mobile Stride Length Estimation With Deep Convolutional Neural Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Hannink, Julius; Kautz, Thomas; Pasluosta, Cristian F; Barth, Jens; Schulein, Samuel; GaBmann, Karl-Gunter; Klucken, Jochen; Eskofier, Bjoern M

2018-03-01

Accurate estimation of spatial gait characteristics is critical to assess motor impairments resulting from neurological or musculoskeletal disease. Currently, however, methodological constraints limit clinical applicability of state-of-the-art double integration approaches to gait patterns with a clear zero-velocity phase. We describe a novel approach to stride length estimation that uses deep convolutional neural networks to map stride-specific inertial sensor data to the resulting stride length. The model is trained on a publicly available and clinically relevant benchmark dataset consisting of 1220 strides from 101 geriatric patients. Evaluation is done in a tenfold cross validation and for three different stride definitions. Even though best results are achieved with strides defined from midstance to midstance with average accuracy and precision of , performance does not strongly depend on stride definition. The achieved precision outperforms state-of-the-art methods evaluated on the same benchmark dataset by . Due to the independence of stride definition, the proposed method is not subject to the methodological constrains that limit applicability of state-of-the-art double integration methods. Furthermore, it was possible to improve precision on the benchmark dataset. With more precise mobile stride length estimation, new insights to the progression of neurological disease or early indications might be gained. Due to the independence of stride definition, previously uncharted diseases in terms of mobile gait analysis can now be investigated by retraining and applying the proposed method.

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.

Effects of Pedal Speed and Crank Length on Pedaling Mechanics during Submaximal Cycling

Science.gov (United States)

BARRATT, PAUL RICHARD; MARTIN, JAMES C.; ELMER, STEVE J.; KORFF, THOMAS

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT During submaximal cycling, the neuromuscular system has the freedom to select different intermuscular coordination strategies. From both a basic science and an applied perspective, it is important to understand how the central nervous system adjusts pedaling mechanics in response to changes in pedaling conditions. Purpose To determine the effect of changes in pedal speed (a marker of muscle shortening velocity) and crank length (a marker of muscle length) on pedaling mechanics during submaximal cycling. Methods Fifteen trained cyclists performed submaximal isokinetic cycling trials (90 rpm, 240 W) using pedal speeds of 1.41 to 1.61 m·s−1 and crank lengths of 150 to 190 mm. Joint powers were calculated using inverse dynamics. Results Increases in pedal speed and crank length caused large increases knee and hip angular excursions and velocities (P 0.05). Joint moments and joint powers were less affected by changes in the independent variables, but some interesting effects and trends were observed. Most noteworthy, knee extension moments and powers tended to decrease, whereas hip extension power tended to increase with an increase in crank length. Conclusions The distribution of joint moments and powers is largely maintained across a range of pedaling conditions. The crank length induced differences in knee extension moments, and powers may represent a trade-off between the central nervous system’s attempts to simultaneously minimize muscle metabolic and mechanical stresses. These results increase our understanding of the neural and mechanical mechanisms underlying multi-joint task performance, and they have practical relevance to coaches, athletes, and clinicians. PMID:26559455

Fundamental length

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pradhan, T.

1975-01-01

The concept of fundamental length was first put forward by Heisenberg from purely dimensional reasons. From a study of the observed masses of the elementary particles known at that time, it is sumrised that this length should be of the order of magnitude 1 approximately 10 -13 cm. It was Heisenberg's belief that introduction of such a fundamental length would eliminate the divergence difficulties from relativistic quantum field theory by cutting off the high energy regions of the 'proper fields'. Since the divergence difficulties arise primarily due to infinite number of degrees of freedom, one simple remedy would be the introduction of a principle that limits these degrees of freedom by removing the effectiveness of the waves with a frequency exceeding a certain limit without destroying the relativistic invariance of the theory. The principle can be stated as follows: It is in principle impossible to invent an experiment of any kind that will permit a distintion between the positions of two particles at rest, the distance between which is below a certain limit. A more elegant way of introducing fundamental length into quantum theory is through commutation relations between two position operators. In quantum field theory such as quantum electrodynamics, it can be introduced through the commutation relation between two interpolating photon fields (vector potentials). (K.B.)

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.

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.

AMPLIFIED FRAGMENT LENGTH POLYMORPHISM ANALYSIS OF MYCOBACTERIUM AVIUM COMPLEX ISOLATES RECOVERED FROM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Science.gov (United States)

Fine-scale genotyping methods are necessary in order to identify possible sources of human exposure to opportunistic pathogens belonging to the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC). In this study, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis was evaluated for fingerprintin...

Physics in space-time with scale-dependent metrics

Science.gov (United States)

Balankin, Alexander S.

2013-10-01

We construct three-dimensional space Rγ3 with the scale-dependent metric and the corresponding Minkowski space-time Mγ,β4 with the scale-dependent fractal (DH) and spectral (DS) dimensions. The local derivatives based on scale-dependent metrics are defined and differential vector calculus in Rγ3 is developed. We state that Mγ,β4 provides a unified phenomenological framework for dimensional flow observed in quite different models of quantum gravity. Nevertheless, the main attention is focused on the special case of flat space-time M1/3,14 with the scale-dependent Cantor-dust-like distribution of admissible states, such that DH increases from DH=2 on the scale ≪ℓ0 to DH=4 in the infrared limit ≫ℓ0, where ℓ0 is the characteristic length (e.g. the Planck length, or characteristic size of multi-fractal features in heterogeneous medium), whereas DS≡4 in all scales. Possible applications of approach based on the scale-dependent metric to systems of different nature are briefly discussed.

Mammography: Correlation of pectoral muscle width and the length in the mediolateral oblique view of the breast

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spuur, K.; Poulos, A.; Currie, G.; Rickard, M.

2010-01-01

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between the width and length of the pectoral muscle in the mediolateral oblique mammogram of the breast. Method: Mammograms reviewed for this study were performed on women undergoing routine mammographic screening with BreastScreen NSW South West, Australia. The study included a total of 2800 randomly selected mediolateral oblique mammograms from examinations taken between July 2004 and September 2006. Measurements of the width and length of the pectoral muscle were recorded. Results: No statistically significant difference was demonstrated between the mean values for right and left width (p = 0.5293) or length (p = 0.2079). Matched pair analysis demonstrated a statistically significant difference width, (p = 0.0069) and length, (p = 0.0369). No relationship could be demonstrated between the width and length of the pectoral muscle, (p = 0.0701). Conclusion: The inability to determine a relationship between the width and length of the pectoral muscle suggests that these criteria should be assessed independently of each other. This new understanding of the presentation of the pectoral muscle will enable clinically relevant redevelopment of current image evaluation systems to include statistically supported mean performance values. Further research is needed to explore the relationship of width and length to other key image evaluation criteria used in mammography image quality evaluation.

Taijin kyofusho and social anxiety and their clinical relevance in indonesia and Switzerland.

Science.gov (United States)

Vriends, N; Pfaltz, M C; Novianti, P; Hadiyono, J

2013-01-01

Taijin Kyofusho Scale (TKS) is an interpersonal fear to offend others and is defined by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) as a culturally bound syndrome that occurs in Japan and Korea. Recently, cases with TKS have also been recognized in other cultures. The present questionnaire study investigated self-report TKS symptoms and social anxiety symptoms, and their clinical relevance in an Indonesian and Swiss sample. It also investigated whether self-construal is associated with TKS and social anxiety, and if self-construal is a mediator of the expected association between cultural background and social anxiety and TKS symptoms. 311 Indonesian and 349 Swiss university students filled out the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, the Taijin Kyofusho Scale, the Self-Construal Scale, self-report social phobia DSM-IV criteria, and rated their wish for professional help to deal with social fears. TKS and social anxiety symptoms were higher in the Indonesian than the Swiss sample. TKS symptoms were associated with clinical relevance in Indonesia, whereas in Switzerland only social anxiety symptoms were associated with clinical relevance. Independent self-construal was negatively associated and interdependent self-construal was positively associated with TKS and social anxiety symptoms. Interdependent self-construal mediated the association between cultural background and these symptoms. TKS might be a clinically relevant syndrome in all individuals or cultures with an interdependent self-construal or less independent self-construal. The proposal to include the fear of offending others in the DSM-V criteria of social phobia is supported by the present findings.

Fractal properties and small-scale structure of cosmic string networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martins, C.J.A.P.; Shellard, E.P.S.

2006-01-01

We present results from a detailed numerical study of the small-scale and loop production properties of cosmic string networks, based on the largest and highest resolution string simulations to date. We investigate the nontrivial fractal properties of cosmic strings, in particular, the fractal dimension and renormalized string mass per unit length, and we also study velocity correlations. We demonstrate important differences between string networks in flat (Minkowski) spacetime and the two very similar expanding cases. For high resolution matter era network simulations, we provide strong evidence that small-scale structure has converged to 'scaling' on all dynamical length scales, without the need for other radiative damping mechanisms. We also discuss preliminary evidence that the dominant loop production size is also approaching scaling

Producing Turbulent Wind Tunnel Inflows Relevant to Wind Turbines using an Active Grid

Science.gov (United States)

Rumple, Christopher; Welch, Matthew; Naughton, Jonathan

2017-11-01

The rise of industries like wind energy have provided motivation for generating realistic turbulent inflows in wind tunnels. Facilities with the ability to produce such inflows can study the interaction between the inflow turbulence and the flow of interest such as a wind turbine wake. An active grid - a system of actively driven elements - has gained increasing acceptance in turbulence research over the last 20 years. The ability to tailor the inflow turbulence quantities (e.g. turbulence intensities, integral length scale, and turbulence spectrum) is a driving reason for the growing use of active grids. An active grid with 40 independent axes located within the forward contraction of a low speed wind tunnel is used to explore the range of turbulent inflows possible using hot-wire anemometry to characterize the turbulence. Motor control algorithms (i.e. user waveform inputs) used to produce various turbulent inflows will be presented. Wind data available from meteorological towers are used to develop relevant inflows for wind turbines to demonstrate the usefulness of the active grid. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, under Award # DE-SC0012671.

Scaling and percolation in the small-world network model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Newman, M. E. J. [Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 (United States); Watts, D. J. [Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 (United States)

1999-12-01

In this paper we study the small-world network model of Watts and Strogatz, which mimics some aspects of the structure of networks of social interactions. We argue that there is one nontrivial length-scale in the model, analogous to the correlation length in other systems, which is well-defined in the limit of infinite system size and which diverges continuously as the randomness in the network tends to zero, giving a normal critical point in this limit. This length-scale governs the crossover from large- to small-world behavior in the model, as well as the number of vertices in a neighborhood of given radius on the network. We derive the value of the single critical exponent controlling behavior in the critical region and the finite size scaling form for the average vertex-vertex distance on the network, and, using series expansion and Pade approximants, find an approximate analytic form for the scaling function. We calculate the effective dimension of small-world graphs and show that this dimension varies as a function of the length-scale on which it is measured, in a manner reminiscent of multifractals. We also study the problem of site percolation on small-world networks as a simple model of disease propagation, and derive an approximate expression for the percolation probability at which a giant component of connected vertices first forms (in epidemiological terms, the point at which an epidemic occurs). The typical cluster radius satisfies the expected finite size scaling form with a cluster size exponent close to that for a random graph. All our analytic results are confirmed by extensive numerical simulations of the model. (c) 1999 The American Physical Society.

Scaling and percolation in the small-world network model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Newman, M. E. J.; Watts, D. J.

1999-01-01

In this paper we study the small-world network model of Watts and Strogatz, which mimics some aspects of the structure of networks of social interactions. We argue that there is one nontrivial length-scale in the model, analogous to the correlation length in other systems, which is well-defined in the limit of infinite system size and which diverges continuously as the randomness in the network tends to zero, giving a normal critical point in this limit. This length-scale governs the crossover from large- to small-world behavior in the model, as well as the number of vertices in a neighborhood of given radius on the network. We derive the value of the single critical exponent controlling behavior in the critical region and the finite size scaling form for the average vertex-vertex distance on the network, and, using series expansion and Pade approximants, find an approximate analytic form for the scaling function. We calculate the effective dimension of small-world graphs and show that this dimension varies as a function of the length-scale on which it is measured, in a manner reminiscent of multifractals. We also study the problem of site percolation on small-world networks as a simple model of disease propagation, and derive an approximate expression for the percolation probability at which a giant component of connected vertices first forms (in epidemiological terms, the point at which an epidemic occurs). The typical cluster radius satisfies the expected finite size scaling form with a cluster size exponent close to that for a random graph. All our analytic results are confirmed by extensive numerical simulations of the model. (c) 1999 The American Physical Society

Contact damage and fracture micromechanisms of multilayered TiN/CrN coatings at micro- and nano-length scales

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roa, J.J.; Jiménez-Piqué, E.; Martínez, R.; Ramírez, G.; Tarragó, J.M.

2014-01-01

In this study, systematic nanomechanical and micromechanical studies have been conducted in three multilayer TiN/CrN systems with different bilayer periods (8, 19 and 25 nm). Additionally, experimental work has been performed on corresponding TiN and CrN single layers, for comparison purposes. The investigation includes the use of different indenter tip geometries as well as contact loading conditions (i.e. indentation/scratch) such to induce different stress field and damage scenarios within the films. The surface and subsurface damage under the different indentation imprints and scratch tracks have been observed by atomic force microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy and focused ion beam. Multilayer TiN/CrN coated systems are found to exhibit higher adhesion strength (under sliding contact load) and cracking resistance (under spherical indentation) than those coated with reference TiN and CrN monolayers. The main reason behind these findings is the effective development of microstructurally-driven deformation and cracking resistant micromechanisms: rotation of columnar grains (and associated distortion of bilayer period) and crack deflection of interlayer thickness length scale, respectively. - Highlights: • Nanomechanical and micromechanical study in TiN/CrN systems • TiN/CrN coated systems exhibit higher adhesion strength and cracking resistance. • Main deformation and cracking micromechanisms: columnar grain rotation and crack deflection

Contact damage and fracture micromechanisms of multilayered TiN/CrN coatings at micro- and nano-length scales

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roa, J.J., E-mail: joan.josep.roa@upc.edu [CIEFMA — Departament de Ciència dels Materials i Eng. Metallúrgica, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Avda. Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); CRnE, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, C. Pasqual i Vila 15, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); Jiménez-Piqué, E. [CIEFMA — Departament de Ciència dels Materials i Eng. Metallúrgica, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Avda. Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); CRnE, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, C. Pasqual i Vila 15, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); Martínez, R. [Centro de Ingeniería Avanzada de Superfícies, Asociación de la Industria Navarra — AIN, Crta. Pamplona, 1, Edificio AIN, 31191 Cordovilla (Spain); Ramírez, G. [CIEFMA — Departament de Ciència dels Materials i Eng. Metallúrgica, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Avda. Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); Fundació CTM Centre Tecnològic, Avda. Bases de Manresa 1, 08243 Manresa (Spain); Tarragó, J.M. [CIEFMA — Departament de Ciència dels Materials i Eng. Metallúrgica, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Avda. Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); CRnE, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, C. Pasqual i Vila 15, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); and others

2014-11-28

In this study, systematic nanomechanical and micromechanical studies have been conducted in three multilayer TiN/CrN systems with different bilayer periods (8, 19 and 25 nm). Additionally, experimental work has been performed on corresponding TiN and CrN single layers, for comparison purposes. The investigation includes the use of different indenter tip geometries as well as contact loading conditions (i.e. indentation/scratch) such to induce different stress field and damage scenarios within the films. The surface and subsurface damage under the different indentation imprints and scratch tracks have been observed by atomic force microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy and focused ion beam. Multilayer TiN/CrN coated systems are found to exhibit higher adhesion strength (under sliding contact load) and cracking resistance (under spherical indentation) than those coated with reference TiN and CrN monolayers. The main reason behind these findings is the effective development of microstructurally-driven deformation and cracking resistant micromechanisms: rotation of columnar grains (and associated distortion of bilayer period) and crack deflection of interlayer thickness length scale, respectively. - Highlights: • Nanomechanical and micromechanical study in TiN/CrN systems • TiN/CrN coated systems exhibit higher adhesion strength and cracking resistance. • Main deformation and cracking micromechanisms: columnar grain rotation and crack deflection.

Morphological observation and length-weight relationship of critically endangered riverine catfish Rita rita (Hamilton).

Science.gov (United States)

Amin, M R; Mollah, M F A; Taslima, K; Muhammadullah

2014-01-15

The experiment was conducted to investigate the morphological status of the critically endangered riverine catfish Rita rita using morphometric and meristic traits. About 158 species of Rita were collected from the old Brahmaputra river in Mymensingh district and were studied in the laboratory of the Fisheries Biology and Genetics Department, Bangladesh Agricultural University. Measurement of length and weight of Rita were recorded by using measuring scale and electric balance respectively. Significant curvilinear relationship existed between total length and other morphometric characters and between head length and other characters of the head. Relationships between total length and various body measurements of the fish were highly significant (p < 0.01) except the relationship between total length and pelvic fin length of male fish (p < 0.05). In case of meristic characters-dorsal fin rays, pelvic fin rays, pectoral fin rays, anal fin rays, caudal fin rays, number of vertebrae and branchiostegal rays were found to be more or less similar except slight differences. The values of condition factors (k) in the total length body-weight relationships for female and male were found to be 0.41 and 0.38, respectively. The mean values of relative condition factors (kn) were 1.0 and 1.005 for female and male, respectively.

Summarizing Simulation Results using Causally-relevant States

Science.gov (United States)

Parikh, Nidhi; Marathe, Madhav; Swarup, Samarth

2016-01-01

As increasingly large-scale multiagent simulations are being implemented, new methods are becoming necessary to make sense of the results of these simulations. Even concisely summarizing the results of a given simulation run is a challenge. Here we pose this as the problem of simulation summarization: how to extract the causally-relevant descriptions of the trajectories of the agents in the simulation. We present a simple algorithm to compress agent trajectories through state space by identifying the state transitions which are relevant to determining the distribution of outcomes at the end of the simulation. We present a toy-example to illustrate the working of the algorithm, and then apply it to a complex simulation of a major disaster in an urban area. PMID:28042620

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

Psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of place attachment scale for youth in residential care.

Science.gov (United States)

Magalhães, Eunice; Calheiros, María M

2015-01-01

Although the significant scientific advances on place attachment literature, no instruments exist specifically developed or adapted to residential care. 410 adolescents (11 - 18 years old) participated in this study. The place attachment scale evaluates five dimensions: Place identity, Place dependence, Institutional bonding, Caregivers bonding and Friend bonding. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, content validity, construct validity (Confirmatory Factor Analysis), concurrent validity with correlations with satisfaction with life and with institution, and reliability evidences. The relationship with individual characteristics and placement length was also verified. Content validity analysis revealed that more than half of the panellists perceive all the items as relevant to assess the construct in residential care. The structure with five dimensions revealed good fit statistics and concurrent validity evidences were found, with significant correlations with satisfaction with life and with the institution. Acceptable values of internal consistence and specific gender differences were found. The preliminary psychometric properties of this scale suggest it potential to be used with youth in care.

Determination of the coherence length in high-mobility semiconductor-coupled Josephson weak links

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kleinsasser, A.W.

1991-01-01

A Nb-InAs-Nb superconductor-semiconductor-superconductor weak link based on a high-mobility homoepitaxial n-InAs film was reported recently [Akazaki, Kawakami, and Nittu J. Appl. Phys. 66, 6121 (1989)]. Measurements of the electron concentration, effective mass, and mobility allowed the coherence length in the normal link to be calculated. The mobility was high enough that the dirty limit was not applicable in the temperature range (∼2--7 K) over which the device critical current was measured. The temperature dependence of the critical current could not be fit by the usual theoretical form, even though an expression for the coherence length was used that should be applicable in both the clean and dirty limits. In this paper is demonstrated an excellent fit to the data, obtained by using the magnitude of the coherence length as a fitting parameter and assuming the dirty limit temperature dependence. This implies a coherence length proportional to T -1/2 but far shorter than that calculated from the known material parameters. It is suggested that a different scaling length may apply in high-mobility devices

Scaling in Free-Swimming Fish and Implications for Measuring Size-at-Time in the Wild

Science.gov (United States)

Broell, Franziska; Taggart, Christopher T.

2015-01-01

This study was motivated by the need to measure size-at-age, and thus growth rate, in fish in the wild. We postulated that this could be achieved using accelerometer tags based first on early isometric scaling models that hypothesize that similar animals should move at the same speed with a stroke frequency that scales with length-1, and second on observations that the speed of primarily air-breathing free-swimming animals, presumably swimming ‘efficiently’, is independent of size, confirming that stroke frequency scales as length-1. However, such scaling relations between size and swimming parameters for fish remain mostly theoretical. Based on free-swimming saithe and sturgeon tagged with accelerometers, we introduce a species-specific scaling relationship between dominant tail beat frequency (TBF) and fork length. Dominant TBF was proportional to length-1 (r2 = 0.73, n = 40), and estimated swimming speed within species was independent of length. Similar scaling relations accrued in relation to body mass-0.29. We demonstrate that the dominant TBF can be used to estimate size-at-time and that accelerometer tags with onboard processing may be able to provide size-at-time estimates among free-swimming fish and thus the estimation of growth rate (change in size-at-time) in the wild. PMID:26673777

Scaling in Free-Swimming Fish and Implications for Measuring Size-at-Time in the Wild.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Franziska Broell

Full Text Available This study was motivated by the need to measure size-at-age, and thus growth rate, in fish in the wild. We postulated that this could be achieved using accelerometer tags based first on early isometric scaling models that hypothesize that similar animals should move at the same speed with a stroke frequency that scales with length-1, and second on observations that the speed of primarily air-breathing free-swimming animals, presumably swimming 'efficiently', is independent of size, confirming that stroke frequency scales as length-1. However, such scaling relations between size and swimming parameters for fish remain mostly theoretical. Based on free-swimming saithe and sturgeon tagged with accelerometers, we introduce a species-specific scaling relationship between dominant tail beat frequency (TBF and fork length. Dominant TBF was proportional to length-1 (r2 = 0.73, n = 40, and estimated swimming speed within species was independent of length. Similar scaling relations accrued in relation to body mass-0.29. We demonstrate that the dominant TBF can be used to estimate size-at-time and that accelerometer tags with onboard processing may be able to provide size-at-time estimates among free-swimming fish and thus the estimation of growth rate (change in size-at-time in the wild.

Understanding the catalytic activity of gold nanoparticles through multi-scale simulations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodersen, Simon Hedegaard; Vej-Hansen, Ulrik Grønbjerg; Larsen, Britt Hvolbæk

2011-01-01

We investigate how the chemical reactivity of gold nanoparticles depends on the cluster size and shape using a combination of simulation techniques at different length scales, enabling us to model at the atomic level the shapes of clusters in the size range relevant for catalysis. The detailed......-coordinated active sites is found, and their reactivities are extracted from models based on Density Functional Theory calculations. This enables us to determine the chemical activity of clusters in the same range of particle sizes that is accessible experimentally. The variation of reactivity with particle size...... is in excellent agreement with experiments, and we conclude that the experimentally observed trends are mostly explained by the high reactivity of under-coordinated corner atoms on the gold clusters. Other effects, such as the effect of the substrate, may influence the reactivities significantly, but the presence...

Accentuation-suppression and scaling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Thomas Alrik; Bundesen, Claus

2012-01-01

The limitations of the visual short-term memory (VSTM) system have become an increasingly popular field of study. One line of inquiry has focused on the way attention selects objects for encoding into VSTM. Using the framework of the Theory of Visual Attention (TVA; Bundesen, 1990 Psychological...... a scaling mechanism modulating the decision bias of the observer and also through an accentuation-suppression mechanism that modulates the degree of subjective relevance of objects, contracting attention around fewer, highly relevant objects while suppressing less relevant objects. These mechanisms may...

Genetic parameters for different growth scales in GIFT strain of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus).

Science.gov (United States)

He, J; Gao, H; Xu, P; Yang, R

2015-12-01

Body weight, length, width and depth at two growth stages were observed for a total of 5015 individuals of GIFT strain, along with a pedigree including 5588 individuals from 104 sires and 162 dams was collected. Multivariate animal models and a random regression model were used to genetically analyse absolute and relative growth scales of these growth traits. In absolute growth scale, the observed growth traits had moderate heritabilities ranging from 0.321 to 0.576, while pairwise ratios between body length, width and depth were lowly inherited and maximum heritability was only 0.146 for length/depth. All genetic correlations were above 0.5 between pairwise growth traits and genetic correlation between length/width and length/depth varied between both growth stages. Based on those estimates, selection index of multiple traits of interest can be formulated in future breeding program to improve genetically body weight and morphology of the GIFT strain. In relative growth scale, heritabilities in relative growths of body length, width and depth to body weight were 0.257, 0.412 and 0.066, respectively, while genetic correlations among these allometry scalings were above 0.8. Genetic analysis for joint allometries of body weight to body length, width and depth will contribute to genetically regulate the growth rate between body shape and body weight. © 2015 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Measuring the attenuation length of water in the CHIPS-M water Cherenkov detector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amat, F.; Bizouard, P. [Aix Marseille University Saint-Jerome, 13013 Marseille (France); Bryant, J. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, UCL, Gower St, London WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom); Carroll, T.J.; Rijck, S. De [Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712 (United States); Germani, S. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, UCL, Gower St, London WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom); Joyce, T. [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States); Kriesten, B. [Department of Physics, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA 23187 (United States); Marshak, M.; Meier, J. [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States); Nelson, J.K. [Department of Physics, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA 23187 (United States); Perch, A.J.; Pfützner, M.M. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, UCL, Gower St, London WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom); Salazar, R. [Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712 (United States); Thomas, J., E-mail: jennifer.thomas@ucl.ac.uk [Department of Physics and Astronomy, UCL, Gower St, London WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom); Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706 (United States); Trokan-Tenorio, J. [Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706 (United States); Vahle, P. [Department of Physics, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA 23187 (United States); Wade, R. [Avenir Consulting, Abingdon, Oxfordshire (United Kingdom); Wendt, C. [Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706 (United States); Whitehead, L.H. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, UCL, Gower St, London WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom); and others

2017-02-01

The water at the proposed site of the CHIPS water Cherenkov detector has been studied to measure its attenuation length for Cherenkov light as a function of filtering time. A scaled model of the CHIPS detector filled with water from the Wentworth 2W pit, proposed site of the CHIPS deployment, in conjunction with a 3.2 m vertical column filled with this water, was used to study the transmission of 405 nm laser light. Results consistent with attenuation lengths of up to 100 m were observed for this wavelength with filtration and UV sterilization alone.

The relevance of "non-relevant metabolites" from plant protection products (PPPs) for drinking water: the German view.

Science.gov (United States)

Dieter, Hermann H

2010-03-01

"Non-relevant metabolites" are those degradation products of plant protection products (PPPs), which are devoid of the targeted toxicities of the PPP and devoid of genotoxicity. Most often, "non-relevant metabolites" have a high affinity to the aquatic environment, are very mobile within this environment, and, usually, are also persistent. Therefore, from the point of drinking water hygiene, they must be characterized as "relevant for drinking water" like many other hydrophilic/polar environmental contaminants of different origins. "Non-relevant metabolites" may therefore penetrate to water sources used for abstraction of drinking water and may thus ultimately be present in drinking water. The presence of "non-relevant metabolites" and similar trace compounds in the water cycle may endanger drinking water quality on a long-term scale. During oxidative drinking water treatment, "non-relevant metabolites" may also serve as the starting material for toxicologically relevant transformation products similar to processes observed by drinking water disinfection with chlorine. This hypothesis was recently confirmed by the detection of the formation of N-nitroso-dimethylamine from ozone and dimethylsulfamide, a "non-relevant metabolite" of the fungicide tolylfluanide. In order to keep drinking water preferably free of "non-relevant metabolites", the German drinking water advisory board of the Federal Ministry of Health supports limiting their penetration into raw and drinking water to the functionally (agriculturally) unavoidable extent. On this background, the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) recently has recommended two health related indication values (HRIV) to assess "non-relevant metabolites" from the view of drinking water hygiene. Considering the sometimes incomplete toxicological data base for some "non-relevant metabolites", HRIV also have the role of health related precautionary values. Depending on the completeness and quality of the toxicological

Continuum and crystal strain gradient plasticity with energetic and dissipative length scales

Science.gov (United States)

Faghihi, Danial

This work, standing as an attempt to understand and mathematically model the small scale materials thermal and mechanical responses by the aid of Materials Science fundamentals, Continuum Solid Mechanics, Misro-scale experimental observations, and Numerical methods. Since conventional continuum plasticity and heat transfer theories, based on the local thermodynamic equilibrium, do not account for the microstructural characteristics of materials, they cannot be used to adequately address the observed mechanical and thermal response of the micro-scale metallic structures. Some of these cases, which are considered in this dissertation, include the dependency of thin films strength on the width of the sample and diffusive-ballistic response of temperature in the course of heat transfer. A thermodynamic-based higher order gradient framework is developed in order to characterize the mechanical and thermal behavior of metals in small volume and on the fast transient time. The concept of the thermal activation energy, the dislocations interaction mechanisms, nonlocal energy exchange between energy carriers and phonon-electrons interactions are taken into consideration in proposing the thermodynamic potentials such as Helmholtz free energy and rate of dissipation. The same approach is also adopted to incorporate the effect of the material microstructural interface between two materials (e.g. grain boundary in crystals) into the formulation. The developed grain boundary flow rule accounts for the energy storage at the grain boundary due to the dislocation pile up as well as energy dissipation caused by the dislocation transfer through the grain boundary. Some of the abovementioned responses of small scale metallic compounds are addressed by means of the numerical implementation of the developed framework within the finite element context. In this regard, both displacement and plastic strain fields are independently discretized and the numerical implementation is performed in

Evaluation of scaling invariance embedded in short time series.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xue Pan

Full Text Available Scaling invariance of time series has been making great contributions in diverse research fields. But how to evaluate scaling exponent from a real-world series is still an open problem. Finite length of time series may induce unacceptable fluctuation and bias to statistical quantities and consequent invalidation of currently used standard methods. In this paper a new concept called correlation-dependent balanced estimation of diffusion entropy is developed to evaluate scale-invariance in very short time series with length ~10(2. Calculations with specified Hurst exponent values of 0.2,0.3,...,0.9 show that by using the standard central moving average de-trending procedure this method can evaluate the scaling exponents for short time series with ignorable bias (≤0.03 and sharp confidential interval (standard deviation ≤0.05. Considering the stride series from ten volunteers along an approximate oval path of a specified length, we observe that though the averages and deviations of scaling exponents are close, their evolutionary behaviors display rich patterns. It has potential use in analyzing physiological signals, detecting early warning signals, and so on. As an emphasis, the our core contribution is that by means of the proposed method one can estimate precisely shannon entropy from limited records.

Evaluation of scaling invariance embedded in short time series.

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Xue; Hou, Lei; Stephen, Mutua; Yang, Huijie; Zhu, Chenping

2014-01-01

Scaling invariance of time series has been making great contributions in diverse research fields. But how to evaluate scaling exponent from a real-world series is still an open problem. Finite length of time series may induce unacceptable fluctuation and bias to statistical quantities and consequent invalidation of currently used standard methods. In this paper a new concept called correlation-dependent balanced estimation of diffusion entropy is developed to evaluate scale-invariance in very short time series with length ~10(2). Calculations with specified Hurst exponent values of 0.2,0.3,...,0.9 show that by using the standard central moving average de-trending procedure this method can evaluate the scaling exponents for short time series with ignorable bias (≤0.03) and sharp confidential interval (standard deviation ≤0.05). Considering the stride series from ten volunteers along an approximate oval path of a specified length, we observe that though the averages and deviations of scaling exponents are close, their evolutionary behaviors display rich patterns. It has potential use in analyzing physiological signals, detecting early warning signals, and so on. As an emphasis, the our core contribution is that by means of the proposed method one can estimate precisely shannon entropy from limited records.

Dynamical scaling laws – A few unanswered questions

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

a highly nonlinear process far from equilibrium. The second phase grows with ... The scaling hypothesis assumes the existence of a single characteristic length scale L(t) such that the domain sizes and ... the mean density of the medium varies as a function of distance from a given point, should exhibit the scaling form with ...

Electric Arc Furnace Modeling with Artificial Neural Networks and Arc Length with Variable Voltage Gradient

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raul Garcia-Segura

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Electric arc furnaces (EAFs contribute to almost one third of the global steel production. Arc furnaces use a large amount of electrical energy to process scrap or reduced iron and are relevant to study because small improvements in their efficiency account for significant energy savings. Optimal controllers need to be designed and proposed to enhance both process performance and energy consumption. Due to the random and chaotic nature of the electric arcs, neural networks and other soft computing techniques have been used for modeling EAFs. This study proposes a methodology for modeling EAFs that considers the time varying arc length as a relevant input parameter to the arc furnace model. Based on actual voltages and current measurements taken from an arc furnace, it was possible to estimate an arc length suitable for modeling the arc furnace using neural networks. The obtained results show that the model reproduces not only the stable arc conditions but also the unstable arc conditions, which are difficult to identify in a real heat process. The presented model can be applied for the development and testing of control systems to improve furnace energy efficiency and productivity.

Spatial scaling of core and dominant forest cover in the Upper Mississippi and Illinois River floodplains, USA

Science.gov (United States)

De Jager, Nathan R.; Rohweder, Jason J.

2011-01-01

Different organisms respond to spatial structure in different terms and across different spatial scales. As a consequence, efforts to reverse habitat loss and fragmentation through strategic habitat restoration ought to account for the different habitat density and scale requirements of various taxonomic groups. Here, we estimated the local density of floodplain forest surrounding each of ~20 million 10-m forested pixels of the Upper Mississippi and Illinois River floodplains by using moving windows of multiple sizes (1–100 ha). We further identified forest pixels that met two local density thresholds: 'core' forest pixels were nested in a 100% (unfragmented) forested window and 'dominant' forest pixels were those nested in a >60% forested window. Finally, we fit two scaling functions to declines in the proportion of forest cover meeting these criteria with increasing window length for 107 management-relevant focal areas: a power function (i.e. self-similar, fractal-like scaling) and an exponential decay function (fractal dimension depends on scale). The exponential decay function consistently explained more variation in changes to the proportion of forest meeting both the 'core' and 'dominant' criteria with increasing window length than did the power function, suggesting that elevation, soil type, hydrology, and human land use constrain these forest types to a limited range of scales. To examine these scales, we transformed the decay constants to measures of the distance at which the probability of forest meeting the 'core' and 'dominant' criteria was cut in half (S 1/2, m). S 1/2 for core forest was typically between ~55 and ~95 m depending on location along the river, indicating that core forest cover is restricted to extremely fine scales. In contrast, half of all dominant forest cover was lost at scales that were typically between ~525 and 750 m, but S 1/2 was as long as 1,800 m. S 1/2 is a simple measure that (1) condenses information derived from multi-scale

Scale effects and morphological diversification in hindlimb segment mass proportions in neognath birds.

Science.gov (United States)

Kilbourne, Brandon M

2014-01-01

In spite of considerable work on the linear proportions of limbs in amniotes, it remains unknown whether differences in scale effects between proximal and distal limb segments has the potential to influence locomotor costs in amniote lineages and how changes in the mass proportions of limbs have factored into amniote diversification. To broaden our understanding of how the mass proportions of limbs vary within amniote lineages, I collected data on hindlimb segment masses - thigh, shank, pes, tarsometatarsal segment, and digits - from 38 species of neognath birds, one of the most speciose amniote clades. I scaled each of these traits against measures of body size (body mass) and hindlimb size (hindlimb length) to test for departures from isometry. Additionally, I applied two parameters of trait evolution (Pagel's λ and δ) to understand patterns of diversification in hindlimb segment mass in neognaths. All segment masses are positively allometric with body mass. Segment masses are isometric with hindlimb length. When examining scale effects in the neognath subclade Land Birds, segment masses were again positively allometric with body mass; however, shank, pedal, and tarsometatarsal segment masses were also positively allometric with hindlimb length. Methods of branch length scaling to detect phylogenetic signal (i.e., Pagel's λ) and increasing or decreasing rates of trait change over time (i.e., Pagel's δ) suffer from wide confidence intervals, likely due to small sample size and deep divergence times. The scaling of segment masses appears to be more strongly related to the scaling of limb bone mass as opposed to length, and the scaling of hindlimb mass distribution is more a function of scale effects in limb posture than proximo-distal differences in the scaling of limb segment mass. Though negative allometry of segment masses appears to be precluded by the need for mechanically sound limbs, the positive allometry of segment masses relative to body mass may

Multiple scaling power in liquid gallium under pressure conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Renfeng; Wang, Luhong; Li, Liangliang; Yu, Tony; Zhao, Haiyan; Chapman, Karena W.; Rivers, Mark L.; Chupas, Peter J.; Mao, Ho-kwang; Liu, Haozhe

2017-06-01

Generally, a single scaling exponent, Df, can characterize the fractal structures of metallic glasses according to the scaling power law. However, when the scaling power law is applied to liquid gallium upon compression, the results show multiple scaling exponents and the values are beyond 3 within the first four coordination spheres in real space, indicating that the power law fails to describe the fractal feature in liquid gallium. The increase in the first coordination number with pressure leads to the fact that first coordination spheres at different pressures are not similar to each other in a geometrical sense. This multiple scaling power behavior is confined within a correlation length of ξ ≈ 14–15 Å at applied pressure according to decay of G(r) in liquid gallium. Beyond this length the liquid gallium system could roughly be viewed as homogeneous, as indicated by the scaling exponent, Ds, which is close to 3 beyond the first four coordination spheres.

Urban Aerodynamic Roughness Length Mapping Using Multitemporal SAR Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fengli Zhang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Aerodynamic roughness is very important to urban meteorological and climate studies. Radar remote sensing is considered to be an effective means for aerodynamic roughness retrieval because radar backscattering is sensitive to the surface roughness and geometric structure of a given target. In this paper, a methodology for aerodynamic roughness length estimation using SAR data in urban areas is introduced. The scale and orientation characteristics of backscattering of various targets in urban areas were firstly extracted and analyzed, which showed great potential of SAR data for urban roughness elements characterization. Then the ground truth aerodynamic roughness was calculated from wind gradient data acquired by the meteorological tower using fitting and iterative method. And then the optimal dimension of the upwind sector for the aerodynamic roughness calculation was determined through a correlation analysis between backscattering extracted from SAR data at various upwind sector areas and the aerodynamic roughness calculated from the meteorological tower data. Finally a quantitative relationship was set up to retrieve the aerodynamic roughness length from SAR data. Experiments based on ALOS PALSAR and COSMO-SkyMed data from 2006 to 2011 prove that the proposed methodology can provide accurate roughness length estimations for the spatial and temporal analysis of urban surface.

A scaling law derived from a broadband impedance applications to SPEAR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vos, L.

1990-01-01

The bunch length in high-brightness synchrotron radiation sources is an important performance parameter. It is critically dependent on the μ-wave instability. Usually the SPEAR scaling law is used to compute the expected bunch length. In this paper we show that the SPEAR scaling law is compatible with a broadband impedance. This makes it possible to calculate the appropriate scaling law for a machine like the one proposed in Berkeley assuming that the impedance is known from measurements and/or calculations. (author) 4 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab

Multiple scales and phases in discrete chains with application to folded proteins

Science.gov (United States)

Sinelnikova, A.; Niemi, A. J.; Nilsson, Johan; Ulybyshev, M.

2018-05-01

Chiral heteropolymers such as large globular proteins can simultaneously support multiple length scales. The interplay between the different scales brings about conformational diversity, determines the phase properties of the polymer chain, and governs the structure of the energy landscape. Most importantly, multiple scales produce complex dynamics that enable proteins to sustain live matter. However, at the moment there is incomplete understanding of how to identify and distinguish the various scales that determine the structure and dynamics of a complex protein. Here we address this impending problem. We develop a methodology with the potential to systematically identify different length scales, in the general case of a linear polymer chain. For this we introduce and analyze the properties of an order parameter that can both reveal the presence of different length scales and can also probe the phase structure. We first develop our concepts in the case of chiral homopolymers. We introduce a variant of Kadanoff's block-spin transformation to coarse grain piecewise linear chains, such as the C α backbone of a protein. We derive analytically, and then verify numerically, a number of properties that the order parameter can display, in the case of a chiral polymer chain. In particular, we propose that in the case of a chiral heteropolymer the order parameter can reveal traits of several different phases, contingent on the length scale at which it is scrutinized. We confirm that this is the case with crystallographic protein structures in the Protein Data Bank. Thus our results suggest relations between the scales, the phases, and the complexity of folding pathways.

Nonlocal strain gradient theory calibration using molecular dynamics simulation based on small scale vibration of nanotubes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mehralian, Fahimeh [Mechanical Engineering Department, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Tadi Beni, Yaghoub, E-mail: tadi@eng.sku.ac.ir [Faculty of Engineering, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Karimi Zeverdejani, Mehran [Mechanical Engineering Department, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2017-06-01

Featured by two small length scale parameters, nonlocal strain gradient theory is utilized to investigate the free vibration of nanotubes. A new size-dependent shell model formulation is developed by using the first order shear deformation theory. The governing equations and boundary conditions are obtained using Hamilton's principle and solved for simply supported boundary condition. As main purpose of this study, since the values of two small length scale parameters are still unknown, they are calibrated by the means of molecular dynamics simulations (MDs). Then, the influences of different parameters such as nonlocal parameter, scale factor, length and thickness on vibration characteristics of nanotubes are studied. It is also shown that increase in thickness and decrease in length parameters intensify the effect of nonlocal parameter and scale factor.

Integrated, Multi-Scale Characterization of Imbibition and Wettability Phenomena Using Magnetic Resonance and Wide-Band Dielectric Measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mukul M. Sharma; Steven L. Bryant; Carlos Torres-Verdin; George Hirasaki

2007-09-30

The petrophysical properties of rocks, particularly their relative permeability and wettability, strongly influence the efficiency and the time-scale of all hydrocarbon recovery processes. However, the quantitative relationships needed to account for the influence of wettability and pore structure on multi-phase flow are not yet available, largely due to the complexity of the phenomena controlling wettability and the difficulty of characterizing rock properties at the relevant length scales. This project brings together several advanced technologies to characterize pore structure and wettability. Grain-scale models are developed that help to better interpret the electric and dielectric response of rocks. These studies allow the computation of realistic configurations of two immiscible fluids as a function of wettability and geologic characteristics. These fluid configurations form a basis for predicting and explaining macroscopic behavior, including the relationship between relative permeability, wettability and laboratory and wireline log measurements of NMR and dielectric response. Dielectric and NMR measurements have been made show that the response of the rocks depends on the wetting and flow properties of the rock. The theoretical models can be used for a better interpretation and inversion of standard well logs to obtain accurate and reliable estimates of fluid saturation and of their producibility. The ultimate benefit of this combined theoretical/empirical approach for reservoir characterization is that rather than reproducing the behavior of any particular sample or set of samples, it can explain and predict trends in behavior that can be applied at a range of length scales, including correlation with wireline logs, seismic, and geologic units and strata. This approach can substantially enhance wireline log interpretation for reservoir characterization and provide better descriptions, at several scales, of crucial reservoir flow properties that govern oil

Multitude scaling laws in axisymmetric turbulent wake

Science.gov (United States)

Layek, G. C.; Sunita

2018-03-01

We establish theoretically multitude scaling laws of a self-similar (statistical) axisymmetric turbulent wake. At infinite Reynolds number limit, the flow evolves as general power law and a new exponential law of streamwise distance, consistent with the criterion of equilibrium similarity hypothesis. We found power law scalings for components of the homogeneous dissipation rate (ɛ) obeying the non-Richardson-Kolmogorov cascade as ɛu˜ku3 /2/(l R elm ) , ɛv˜kv3 /2/l , kv˜ku/R el2 m, 0 stress, l is the local length scale, and Rel is the Reynolds number. The Richardson-Kolmogorov cascade corresponds to m = 0. For m ≈ 1, the power law agrees with non-equilibrium scaling laws observed in recent experiments of the axisymmetric wake. On the contrary, the exponential scaling law follows the above dissipation law with different regions of existence for power index m = 3. At finite Reynolds number with kinematic viscosity ν, scalings obey the dissipation laws ɛu ˜ νku/l2 and ɛv ˜ νkv/l2 with kv˜ku/R eln. The value of n is preferably 0 and 2. Different possibilities of scaling laws and symmetry breaking process are discussed at length.