Are X-rays the key to integrated computational materials engineering?

DOE PAGES

Ice, Gene E.

2015-11-01

The ultimate dream of materials science is to predict materials behavior from composition and processing history. Owing to the growing power of computers, this long-time dream has recently found expression through worldwide excitement in a number of computation-based thrusts: integrated computational materials engineering, materials by design, computational materials design, three-dimensional materials physics and mesoscale physics. However, real materials have important crystallographic structures at multiple length scales, which evolve during processing and in service. Moreover, real materials properties can depend on the extreme tails in their structural and chemical distributions. This makes it critical to map structural distributions with sufficient resolutionmore » to resolve small structures and with sufficient statistics to capture the tails of distributions. For two-dimensional materials, there are high-resolution nondestructive probes of surface and near-surface structures with atomic or near-atomic resolution that can provide detailed structural, chemical and functional distributions over important length scales. Furthermore, there are no nondestructive three-dimensional probes with atomic resolution over the multiple length scales needed to understand most materials.« less

Highly localized distributed Brillouin scattering response in a photonic integrated circuit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zarifi, Atiyeh; Stiller, Birgit; Merklein, Moritz; Li, Neuton; Vu, Khu; Choi, Duk-Yong; Ma, Pan; Madden, Stephen J.; Eggleton, Benjamin J.

2018-03-01

The interaction of optical and acoustic waves via stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) has recently reached on-chip platforms, which has opened new fields of applications ranging from integrated microwave photonics and on-chip narrow-linewidth lasers, to phonon-based optical delay and signal processing schemes. Since SBS is an effect that scales exponentially with interaction length, on-chip implementation on a short length scale is challenging, requiring carefully designed waveguides with optimized opto-acoustic overlap. In this work, we use the principle of Brillouin optical correlation domain analysis to locally measure the SBS spectrum with high spatial resolution of 800 μm and perform a distributed measurement of the Brillouin spectrum along a spiral waveguide in a photonic integrated circuit. This approach gives access to local opto-acoustic properties of the waveguides, including the Brillouin frequency shift and linewidth, essential information for the further development of high quality photonic-phononic waveguides for SBS applications.

Sound radiation from a subsonic rotor subjected to turbulence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sevik, M.

1974-01-01

The broadband sound radiated by a subsonic rotor subjected to turbulence in the approach stream has been analyzed. The power spectral density of the sound intensity has been found to depend on a characteristic time scale-namely, the integral scale of the turbulence divided by the axial flow velocity-as well as several length-scale ratios. These consist of the ratio of the integral scale to the acoustic wavelength, rotor radius, and blade chord. Due to the simplified model chosen, only a limited number of cascade parameters appear. Limited comparisons with experimental data indicate good agreement with predicted values.

Giant nonlinear response at a plasmonic nanofocus drives efficient four-wave mixing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nielsen, Michael P.; Shi, Xingyuan; Dichtl, Paul; Maier, Stefan A.; Oulton, Rupert F.

2017-12-01

Efficient optical frequency mixing typically must accumulate over large interaction lengths because nonlinear responses in natural materials are inherently weak. This limits the efficiency of mixing processes owing to the requirement of phase matching. Here, we report efficient four-wave mixing (FWM) over micrometer-scale interaction lengths at telecommunications wavelengths on silicon. We used an integrated plasmonic gap waveguide that strongly confines light within a nonlinear organic polymer. The gap waveguide intensifies light by nanofocusing it to a mode cross-section of a few tens of nanometers, thus generating a nonlinear response so strong that efficient FWM accumulates over wavelength-scale distances. This technique opens up nonlinear optics to a regime of relaxed phase matching, with the possibility of compact, broadband, and efficient frequency mixing integrated with silicon photonics.

Nanotechnology Presentation Agenda

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2005-01-01

Working at the atomic, molecular and supra-molecular levels, in the length scale of approximately 1 - 100 nm range, in order to understand, create and use materials, devices and systems with fundamentally new properties and functions because of their small structure. NNI definition encourages new contributions that were not possible.before. Novel phenomena, properties and functions at nanoscale,which are non scalable outside of the nm domain. The ability to measure / control / manipulate matter at the nanoscale in order to change those properties and functions. Integration along length scales, and fields of application.

Accurate atomistic potentials and training sets for boron-nitride nanostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tamblyn, Isaac

Boron nitride nanotubes exhibit exceptional structural, mechanical, and thermal properties. They are optically transparent and have high thermal stability, suggesting a wide range of opportunities for structural reinforcement of materials. Modeling can play an important role in determining the optimal approach to integrating nanotubes into a supporting matrix. Developing accurate, atomistic scale models of such nanoscale interfaces embedded within composites is challenging, however, due to the mismatch of length scales involved. Typical nanotube diameters range from 5-50 nm, with a length as large as a micron (i.e. a relevant length-scale for structural reinforcement). Unlike their carbon-based counterparts, well tested and transferable interatomic force fields are not common for BNNT. In light of this, we have developed an extensive training database of BN rich materials, under conditions relevant for BNNT synthesis and composites based on extensive first principles molecular dynamics simulations. Using this data, we have produced an artificial neural network potential capable of reproducing the accuracy of first principles data at significantly reduced computational cost, allowing for accurate simulation at the much larger length scales needed for composite design.

Multi-scale Material Parameter Identification Using LS-DYNA® and LS-OPT®

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stander, Nielen; Basudhar, Anirban; Basu, Ushnish

2015-09-14

Ever-tightening regulations on fuel economy, and the likely future regulation of carbon emissions, demand persistent innovation in vehicle design to reduce vehicle mass. Classical methods for computational mass reduction include sizing, shape and topology optimization. One of the few remaining options for weight reduction can be found in materials engineering and material design optimization. Apart from considering different types of materials, by adding material diversity and composite materials, an appealing option in automotive design is to engineer steel alloys for the purpose of reducing plate thickness while retaining sufficient strength and ductility required for durability and safety. A project tomore » develop computational material models for advanced high strength steel is currently being executed under the auspices of the United States Automotive Materials Partnership (USAMP) funded by the US Department of Energy. Under this program, new Third Generation Advanced High Strength Steel (i.e., 3GAHSS) are being designed, tested and integrated with the remaining design variables of a benchmark vehicle Finite Element model. The objectives of the project are to integrate atomistic, microstructural, forming and performance models to create an integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) toolkit for 3GAHSS. The mechanical properties of Advanced High Strength Steels (AHSS) are controlled by many factors, including phase composition and distribution in the overall microstructure, volume fraction, size and morphology of phase constituents as well as stability of the metastable retained austenite phase. The complex phase transformation and deformation mechanisms in these steels make the well-established traditional techniques obsolete, and a multi-scale microstructure-based modeling approach following the ICME [0]strategy was therefore chosen in this project. Multi-scale modeling as a major area of research and development is an outgrowth of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty of 1996 which banned surface testing of nuclear devices [1]. This had the effect that experimental work was reduced from large scale tests to multiscale experiments to provide material models with validation at different length scales. In the subsequent years industry realized that multi-scale modeling and simulation-based design were transferable to the design optimization of any structural system. Horstemeyer [1] lists a number of advantages of the use of multiscale modeling. Among these are: the reduction of product development time by alleviating costly trial-and-error iterations as well as the reduction of product costs through innovations in material, product and process designs. Multi-scale modeling can reduce the number of costly large scale experiments and can increase product quality by providing more accurate predictions. Research tends to be focussed on each particular length scale, which enhances accuracy in the long term. This paper serves as an introduction to the LS-OPT and LS-DYNA methodology for multi-scale modeling. It mainly focuses on an approach to integrate material identification using material models of different length scales. As an example, a multi-scale material identification strategy, consisting of a Crystal Plasticity (CP) material model and a homogenized State Variable (SV) model, is discussed and the parameter identification of the individual material models of different length scales is demonstrated. The paper concludes with thoughts on integrating the multi-scale methodology into the overall vehicle design.« less

A Kinematically Consistent Two-Point Correlation Function

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ristorcelli, J. R.

1998-01-01

A simple kinematically consistent expression for the longitudinal two-point correlation function related to both the integral length scale and the Taylor microscale is obtained. On the inner scale, in a region of width inversely proportional to the turbulent Reynolds number, the function has the appropriate curvature at the origin. The expression for two-point correlation is related to the nonlinear cascade rate, or dissipation epsilon, a quantity that is carried as part of a typical single-point turbulence closure simulation. Constructing an expression for the two-point correlation whose curvature at the origin is the Taylor microscale incorporates one of the fundamental quantities characterizing turbulence, epsilon, into a model for the two-point correlation function. The integral of the function also gives, as is required, an outer integral length scale of the turbulence independent of viscosity. The proposed expression is obtained by kinematic arguments; the intention is to produce a practically applicable expression in terms of simple elementary functions that allow an analytical evaluation, by asymptotic methods, of diverse functionals relevant to single-point turbulence closures. Using the expression devised an example of the asymptotic method by which functionals of the two-point correlation can be evaluated is given.

Design and test of a prototype scale ejector wing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mefferd, L. A.; Alden, R. E.; Bevilacqua, P. M.

1979-01-01

A two dimensional momentum integral analysis was used to examine the effect of changing inlet area ratio, diffuser area ratio, and the ratio of ejector length to width. A relatively wide range of these parameters was considered. It was found that for constant inlet area ratio the augmentation increases with the ejector length, and for constant length: width ratio the augmentation increases with inlet area ratio. Scale model tests were used to verify these trends and to examine th effect of aspect ratio. On the basis of these results, an ejector configuration was selected for fabrication and testing at a scale representative of an ejector wing aircraft. The test ejector was powered by a Pratt-Whitney F401 engine developing approximately 12,000 pounds of thrust. The results of preliminary tests indicate that the ejector develops a thrust augmentation ratio better than 1.65.

Estimation of the vortex length scale and intensity from two-dimensional samples

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reuss, D. L.; Cheng, W. P.

1992-01-01

A method is proposed for estimating flow features that influence flame wrinkling in reciprocating internal combustion engines, where traditional statistical measures of turbulence are suspect. Candidate methods were tested in a computed channel flow where traditional turbulence measures are valid and performance can be rationally evaluated. Two concepts are tested. First, spatial filtering is applied to the two-dimensional velocity distribution and found to reveal structures corresponding to the vorticity field. Decreasing the spatial-frequency cutoff of the filter locally changes the character and size of the flow structures that are revealed by the filter. Second, vortex length scale and intensity is estimated by computing the ensemble-average velocity distribution conditionally sampled on the vorticity peaks. The resulting conditionally sampled 'average vortex' has a peak velocity less than half the rms velocity and a size approximately equal to the two-point-correlation integral-length scale.

Effects of axisymmetric contractions on turbulence of various scales

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tan-Atichat, J.; Nagib, H. M.; Drubka, R. E.

1980-01-01

Digitally acquired and processed results from an experimental investigation of grid generated turbulence of various scales through and downstream of nine matched cubic contour contractions ranging in area ratio from 2 to 36, and in length to inlet diameter ratio from 0.25 to 1.50 are reported. An additional contraction with a fifth order contour was also utilized for studying the shape effect. Thirteen homogeneous and nearly isotropic test flow conditions with a range of turbulence intensities, length scales and Reynolds numbers were generated and used to examine the sensitivity of the contractions to upstream turbulence. The extent to which the turbulence is altered by the contraction depends on the incoming turbulence scales, the total strain experienced by the fluid, as well as the contraction ratio and the strain rate. Varying the turbulence integral scale influences the transverse turbulence components more than the streamwise component. In general, the larger the turbulence scale, the lesser the reduction in the turbulence intensity of the transverse components. Best agreement with rapid distortion theory was obtained for large scale turbulence, where viscous decay over the contraction length was negligible, or when a first order correction for viscous decay was applied to the results.

Lagrangian Formulation of a Magnetostatic Field in the Presence of a Minimal Length Scale Based on the Kempf Algebra

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moayedi, S. K.; Setare, M. R.; Khosropour, B.

2013-11-01

In the 1990s, Kempf and his collaborators Mangano and Mann introduced a D-dimensional (β, β‧)-two-parameter deformed Heisenberg algebra which leads to an isotropic minimal length (\\triangle Xi)\\min = \\hbar √ {Dβ +β '}, \\forall i\\in \\{1, 2, ..., D\\}. In this work, the Lagrangian formulation of a magnetostatic field in three spatial dimensions (D = 3) described by Kempf algebra is presented in the special case of β‧ = 2β up to the first-order over β. We show that at the classical level there is a similarity between magnetostatics in the presence of a minimal length scale (modified magnetostatics) and the magnetostatic sector of the Abelian Lee-Wick model in three spatial dimensions. The integral form of Ampere's law and the energy density of a magnetostatic field in the modified magnetostatics are obtained. Also, the Biot-Savart law in the modified magnetostatics is found. By studying the effect of minimal length corrections to the gyromagnetic moment of the muon, we conclude that the upper bound on the isotropic minimal length scale in three spatial dimensions is 4.42×10-19 m. The relationship between magnetostatics with a minimal length and the Gaete-Spallucci nonlocal magnetostatics [J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 45, 065401 (2012)] is investigated.

Spiers Memorial Lecture. Molecular mechanics and molecular electronics.

PubMed

Beckman, Robert; Beverly, Kris; Boukai, Akram; Bunimovich, Yuri; Choi, Jang Wook; DeIonno, Erica; Green, Johnny; Johnston-Halperin, Ezekiel; Luo, Yi; Sheriff, Bonnie; Stoddart, Fraser; Heath, James R

2006-01-01

We describe our research into building integrated molecular electronics circuitry for a diverse set of functions, and with a focus on the fundamental scientific issues that surround this project. In particular, we discuss experiments aimed at understanding the function of bistable rotaxane molecular electronic switches by correlating the switching kinetics and ground state thermodynamic properties of those switches in various environments, ranging from the solution phase to a Langmuir monolayer of the switching molecules sandwiched between two electrodes. We discuss various devices, low bit-density memory circuits, and ultra-high density memory circuits that utilize the electrochemical switching characteristics of these molecules in conjunction with novel patterning methods. We also discuss interconnect schemes that are capable of bridging the micrometre to submicrometre length scales of conventional patterning approaches to the near-molecular length scales of the ultra-dense memory circuits. Finally, we discuss some of the challenges associated with fabricated ultra-dense molecular electronic integrated circuits.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

Turbulent kinetic energy and a possible hierarchy of length scales in a generalization of the Navier-Stokes alpha theory.

PubMed

Fried, Eliot; Gurtin, Morton E

2007-05-01

We present a continuum-mechanical formulation and generalization of the Navier-Stokes alpha theory based on a general framework for fluid-dynamical theories with gradient dependencies. Our flow equation involves two additional problem-dependent length scales alpha and beta. The first of these scales enters the theory through the internal kinetic energy, per unit mass, alpha2|D|2, where D is the symmetric part of the gradient of the filtered velocity. The remaining scale is associated with a dissipative hyperstress which depends linearly on the gradient of the filtered vorticity. When alpha and beta are equal, our flow equation reduces to the Navier-Stokes alpha equation. In contrast to the original derivation of the Navier-Stokes alpha equation, which relies on Lagrangian averaging, our formulation delivers boundary conditions. For a confined flow, our boundary conditions involve an additional length scale l characteristic of the eddies found near walls. Based on a comparison with direct numerical simulations for fully developed turbulent flow in a rectangular channel of height 2h, we find that alphabeta approximately Re(0.470) and lh approximately Re(-0.772), where Re is the Reynolds number. The first result, which arises as a consequence of identifying the internal kinetic energy with the turbulent kinetic energy, indicates that the choice alpha=beta required to reduce our flow equation to the Navier-Stokes alpha equation is likely to be problematic. The second result evinces the classical scaling relation eta/L approximately Re(-3/4) for the ratio of the Kolmogorov microscale eta to the integral length scale L . The numerical data also suggests that l < or = beta . We are therefore led to conjecture a tentative hierarchy, l < or = beta < alpha , involving the three length scales entering our theory.

Miniaturized integration of a fluorescence microscope

PubMed Central

Ghosh, Kunal K.; Burns, Laurie D.; Cocker, Eric D.; Nimmerjahn, Axel; Ziv, Yaniv; Gamal, Abbas El; Schnitzer, Mark J.

2013-01-01

The light microscope is traditionally an instrument of substantial size and expense. Its miniaturized integration would enable many new applications based on mass-producible, tiny microscopes. Key prospective usages include brain imaging in behaving animals towards relating cellular dynamics to animal behavior. Here we introduce a miniature (1.9 g) integrated fluorescence microscope made from mass-producible parts, including semiconductor light source and sensor. This device enables high-speed cellular-level imaging across ∼0.5 mm2 areas in active mice. This capability allowed concurrent tracking of Ca2+ spiking in >200 Purkinje neurons across nine cerebellar microzones. During mouse locomotion, individual microzones exhibited large-scale, synchronized Ca2+ spiking. This is a mesoscopic neural dynamic missed by prior techniques for studying the brain at other length scales. Overall, the integrated microscope is a potentially transformative technology that permits distribution to many animals and enables diverse usages, such as portable diagnostics or microscope arrays for large-scale screens. PMID:21909102

Miniaturized integration of a fluorescence microscope.

PubMed

Ghosh, Kunal K; Burns, Laurie D; Cocker, Eric D; Nimmerjahn, Axel; Ziv, Yaniv; Gamal, Abbas El; Schnitzer, Mark J

2011-09-11

The light microscope is traditionally an instrument of substantial size and expense. Its miniaturized integration would enable many new applications based on mass-producible, tiny microscopes. Key prospective usages include brain imaging in behaving animals for relating cellular dynamics to animal behavior. Here we introduce a miniature (1.9 g) integrated fluorescence microscope made from mass-producible parts, including a semiconductor light source and sensor. This device enables high-speed cellular imaging across ∼0.5 mm2 areas in active mice. This capability allowed concurrent tracking of Ca2+ spiking in >200 Purkinje neurons across nine cerebellar microzones. During mouse locomotion, individual microzones exhibited large-scale, synchronized Ca2+ spiking. This is a mesoscopic neural dynamic missed by prior techniques for studying the brain at other length scales. Overall, the integrated microscope is a potentially transformative technology that permits distribution to many animals and enables diverse usages, such as portable diagnostics or microscope arrays for large-scale screens.

Scale effects in wind tunnel modeling of an urban atmospheric boundary layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kozmar, Hrvoje

2010-03-01

Precise urban atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) wind tunnel simulations are essential for a wide variety of atmospheric studies in built-up environments including wind loading of structures and air pollutant dispersion. One of key issues in addressing these problems is a proper choice of simulation length scale. In this study, an urban ABL was reproduced in a boundary layer wind tunnel at different scales to study possible scale effects. Two full-depth simulations and one part-depth simulation were carried out using castellated barrier wall, vortex generators, and a fetch of roughness elements. Redesigned “Counihan” vortex generators were employed in the part-depth ABL simulation. A hot-wire anemometry system was used to measure mean velocity and velocity fluctuations. Experimental results are presented as mean velocity, turbulence intensity, Reynolds stress, integral length scale of turbulence, and power spectral density of velocity fluctuations. Results suggest that variations in length-scale factor do not influence the generated ABL models when using similarity criteria applied in this study. Part-depth ABL simulation compares well with two full-depth ABL simulations indicating the truncated vortex generators developed for this study can be successfully employed in urban ABL part-depth simulations.

Effects of small-scale vertical variations in well-screen inflow rates and concentrations of organic compounds on the collection of representative ground-water-quality samples

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gibs, Jacob; Brown, G. Allan; Turner, Kenneth S.; MacLeod, Cecilia L.; Jelinski, James; Koehnlein, Susan A.

1993-01-01

Because a water sample collected from a well is an integration of water from different depths along the well screen, measured concentrations can be biased if analyte concentrations are not uniform along the length of the well screen. The resulting concentration in the sample, therefore, is a function of variations in well-screen inflow rate and analyte concentration with depth. A multiport sampler with seven short screened intervals was designed and used to investigate small-scale vertical variations in water chemistry and aquifer hydraulic conductivity in ground water contaminated by leaded gasoline at Galloway Township, Atlantic County, New Jersey. The multiport samplers were used to collect independent samples from seven intervals within the screened zone that were flow-rate weighted and integrated to simulate a 5-foot-long, 2.375-inch- outside-diameter conventional wire-wound screen. The integration of the results of analyses of samples collected from two multiport samplers showed that a conventional 5-foot-long well screen would integrate contaminant concentrations over its length and resulted in an apparent contaminant concentration that was a little as 28 percent of the maximum concentration observed in the multiport sampler.

Generalized theory of semiflexible polymers.

PubMed

Wiggins, Paul A; Nelson, Philip C

2006-03-01

DNA bending on length scales shorter than a persistence length plays an integral role in the translation of genetic information from DNA to cellular function. Quantitative experimental studies of these biological systems have led to a renewed interest in the polymer mechanics relevant for describing the conformational free energy of DNA bending induced by protein-DNA complexes. Recent experimental results from DNA cyclization studies have cast doubt on the applicability of the canonical semiflexible polymer theory, the wormlike chain (WLC) model, to DNA bending on biologically relevant length scales. This paper develops a theory of the chain statistics of a class of generalized semiflexible polymer models. Our focus is on the theoretical development of these models and the calculation of experimental observables. To illustrate our methods, we focus on a specific, illustrative model of DNA bending. We show that the WLC model generically describes the long-length-scale chain statistics of semiflexible polymers, as predicted by renormalization group arguments. In particular, we show that either the WLC or our present model adequately describes force-extension, solution scattering, and long-contour-length cyclization experiments, regardless of the details of DNA bend elasticity. In contrast, experiments sensitive to short-length-scale chain behavior can in principle reveal dramatic departures from the linear elastic behavior assumed in the WLC model. We demonstrate this explicitly by showing that our toy model can reproduce the anomalously large short-contour-length cyclization factors recently measured by Cloutier and Widom. Finally, we discuss the applicability of these models to DNA chain statistics in the context of future experiments.

Engineering integrated digital circuits with allosteric ribozymes for scaling up molecular computation and diagnostics.

PubMed

Penchovsky, Robert

2012-10-19

Here we describe molecular implementations of integrated digital circuits, including a three-input AND logic gate, a two-input multiplexer, and 1-to-2 decoder using allosteric ribozymes. Furthermore, we demonstrate a multiplexer-decoder circuit. The ribozymes are designed to seek-and-destroy specific RNAs with a certain length by a fully computerized procedure. The algorithm can accurately predict one base substitution that alters the ribozyme's logic function. The ability to sense the length of RNA molecules enables single ribozymes to be used as platforms for multiple interactions. These ribozymes can work as integrated circuits with the functionality of up to five logic gates. The ribozyme design is universal since the allosteric and substrate domains can be altered to sense different RNAs. In addition, the ribozymes can specifically cleave RNA molecules with triplet-repeat expansions observed in genetic disorders such as oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy. Therefore, the designer ribozymes can be employed for scaling up computing and diagnostic networks in the fields of molecular computing and diagnostics and RNA synthetic biology.

Integrated Electrode Arrays for Neuro-Prosthetic Implants

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brandon, Erik; Mojarradi, Mohammede

2003-01-01

Arrays of electrodes integrated with chip-scale packages and silicon-based integrated circuits have been proposed for use as medical electronic implants, including neuro-prosthetic devices that might be implanted in brains of patients who suffer from strokes, spinal-cord injuries, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The electrodes of such a device would pick up signals from neurons in the cerebral cortex, and the integrated circuit would perform acquisition and preprocessing of signal data. The output of the integrated circuit could be used to generate, for example, commands for a robotic arm. Electrode arrays capable of acquiring electrical signals from neurons already exist, but heretofore, there has been no convenient means to integrate these arrays with integrated-circuit chips. Such integration is needed in order to eliminate the need for the extensive cabling now used to pass neural signals to data-acquisition and -processing equipment outside the body. The proposed integration would enable progress toward neuro-prostheses that would be less restrictive of patients mobility. An array of electrodes would comprise a set of thin wires of suitable length and composition protruding from and supported by a fine-pitch micro-ball grid array or chip-scale package (see figure). The associated integrated circuit would be mounted on the package face opposite the probe face, using the solder bumps (the balls of the ball grid array) to make the electrical connections between the probes and the input terminals of the integrated circuit. The key innovation is the insertion of probe wires of the appropriate length and material into the solder bumps through a reflow process, thereby fixing the probes in place and electrically connecting them with the integrated circuit. The probes could be tailored to any distribution of lengths and made of any suitable metal that could be drawn into fine wires. Furthermore, the wires could be coated with an insulating layer using anodization or other processes, to achieve the correct electrical impedance. The probe wires and the packaging materials must be biocompatible using such materials as lead-free solders. For protection, the chip and package can be coated with parylene.

Mid-tropospheric Spectral Length-scale Analysis of Many Constituents from Aircraft, Satellite and Model Results During the 2013 SENEX Field Study.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKeen, S. A.; Angevine, W. M.; Ahmadov, R.; Frost, G. J.; Kim, S. W.; Cui, Y.; McDonald, B.; Trainer, M.; Holloway, J. S.; Ryerson, T. B.; Peischl, J.; Gambacorta, A.; Barnet, C. D.; Smith, N.; Pierce, R. B.

2016-12-01

This study presents preliminary comparisons of satellite, aircraft, and model variance spectra for meteorological, thermodynamic and gas-phase species collected during the 2013 Southeastern Nexus Air Quality Experiment (SENEX). Fourier analysis of 8 constituents collected at 1 Hz by the NOAA W-P3 aircraft in the 25 to 200 km length-scale range exhibit properties consistent with previous scale dependence studies: when spectra are averaged over several 500 mb flight legs, very linear dependence is found on log-log plots of spectral density versus inverse length-scale. Derived slopes for wind speed, temperature, H2O, CO, CO2, CH4, NOy and O3 all fall within ±30% and close to the slope of -5/3 predicted from dimensional scaling theory of isotropic turbulence. Qualitative differences are seen when a similar analysis, without quality control, is applied to a preliminary set of NUCAPS satellite retrievals over the continental U.S. during SENEX. While 500mb water vapor and column integrated water show slopes close to the -5/3 value in the 200 to 1000 km length-scale range, other quantities show significantly shallower slopes, suggesting the need for rigorous quality control. Results from WRF-Chem regional air quality model simulations at 500mb show the model is unable to account for variance on length-scales less than 6ΔX, where ΔX is the model horizontal resolution (12km). Comparisons with satellite data in the 200 to 1000km range show slopes consistent with the -5/3 power law for species such as CO, CH4 and CO2 that do not undergo reinitialization, suggesting potential for future application.

An Experimental Investigation of Unsteady Surface Pressure on an Airfoil in Turbulence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mish, Patrick F.; Devenport, William J.

2003-01-01

Measurements of fluctuating surface pressure were made on a NACA 0015 airfoil immersed in grid generated turbulence. The airfoil model has a 2 ft chord and spans the 6 ft Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel test section. Two grids were used to investigate the effects of turbulence length scale on the surface pressure response. A large grid which produced turbulence with an integral scale 13% of the chord and a smaller grid which produced turbulence with an integral scale 1.3% of the chord. Measurements were performed at angles of attack, alpha from 0 to 20 . An array of microphones mounted subsurface was used to measure the unsteady surface pressure. The goal of this measurement was to characterize the effects of angle of attack on the inviscid response. Lift spectra calculated from pressure measurements at each angle of attack revealed two distinct interaction regions; for omega(sub r) = omega b / U(sub infinity) is less than 10 a reduction in unsteady lift of up to 7 decibels (dB) occurs while an increase occurs for omega(sub r) is greater than 10 as the angle of attack is increased. The reduction in unsteady lift at low omega(sub r) with increasing angle of attack is a result that has never before been shown either experimentally or theoretically. The source of the reduction in lift spectral level appears to be closely related to the distortion of inflow turbulence based on analysis of surface pressure spanwise correlation length scales. Furthermore, while the distortion of the inflow appears to be critical in this experiment, this effect does not seem to be significant in larger integral scale (relative to the chord) flows based on the previous experimental work of McKeough suggesting the airfoils size relative to the inflow integral scale is critical in defining how the airfoil will respond under variation of angle of attack. A prediction scheme is developed that correctly accounts for the effects of distortion when the inflow integral scale is small relative to the airfoil chord. This scheme utilizes Rapid Distortion Theory to account for the distortion of the inflow with the distortion field modeled using a circular cylinder.

The Conscientious Responders Scale Helps Researchers Verify the Integrity of Personality Questionnaire Data.

PubMed

Marjanovic, Zdravko; Bajkov, Lisa; MacDonald, Jennifer

2018-01-01

The Conscientious Responders Scale is a five-item embeddable validity scale that differentiates between conscientious and indiscriminate responding in personality-questionnaire data (CR & IR). This investigation presents further evidence of its validity and generalizability across two experiments. Study 1 tests its sensitivity to questionnaire length, a known cause of IR, and tries to provoke IR by manipulating psychological reactance. As expected, short questionnaires produced higher Conscientious Responders Scale scores than long questionnaires, and Conscientious Responders Scale scores were unaffected by reactance manipulations. Study 2 tests concerns that the Conscientious Responders Scale's unusual item content could potentially irritate and baffle responders, ironically increasing rates of IR. We administered two nearly identical questionnaires: one with an embedded Conscientious Responders Scale and one without the Conscientious Responders Scale. Psychometric comparisons revealed no differences across questionnaires' means, variances, interitem response consistencies, and Cronbach's alphas. In sum, the Conscientious Responders Scale is highly sensitive to questionnaire length-a known correlate of IR-and can be embedded harmlessly in questionnaires without provoking IR or changing the psychometrics of other measures.

Reconfigurable and responsive droplet-based compound micro-lenses.

PubMed

Nagelberg, Sara; Zarzar, Lauren D; Nicolas, Natalie; Subramanian, Kaushikaram; Kalow, Julia A; Sresht, Vishnu; Blankschtein, Daniel; Barbastathis, George; Kreysing, Moritz; Swager, Timothy M; Kolle, Mathias

2017-03-07

Micro-scale optical components play a crucial role in imaging and display technology, biosensing, beam shaping, optical switching, wavefront-analysis, and device miniaturization. Herein, we demonstrate liquid compound micro-lenses with dynamically tunable focal lengths. We employ bi-phase emulsion droplets fabricated from immiscible hydrocarbon and fluorocarbon liquids to form responsive micro-lenses that can be reconfigured to focus or scatter light, form real or virtual images, and display variable focal lengths. Experimental demonstrations of dynamic refractive control are complemented by theoretical analysis and wave-optical modelling. Additionally, we provide evidence of the micro-lenses' functionality for two potential applications-integral micro-scale imaging devices and light field display technology-thereby demonstrating both the fundamental characteristics and the promising opportunities for fluid-based dynamic refractive micro-scale compound lenses.

Reconfigurable and responsive droplet-based compound micro-lenses

PubMed Central

Nagelberg, Sara; Zarzar, Lauren D.; Nicolas, Natalie; Subramanian, Kaushikaram; Kalow, Julia A.; Sresht, Vishnu; Blankschtein, Daniel; Barbastathis, George; Kreysing, Moritz; Swager, Timothy M.; Kolle, Mathias

2017-01-01

Micro-scale optical components play a crucial role in imaging and display technology, biosensing, beam shaping, optical switching, wavefront-analysis, and device miniaturization. Herein, we demonstrate liquid compound micro-lenses with dynamically tunable focal lengths. We employ bi-phase emulsion droplets fabricated from immiscible hydrocarbon and fluorocarbon liquids to form responsive micro-lenses that can be reconfigured to focus or scatter light, form real or virtual images, and display variable focal lengths. Experimental demonstrations of dynamic refractive control are complemented by theoretical analysis and wave-optical modelling. Additionally, we provide evidence of the micro-lenses' functionality for two potential applications—integral micro-scale imaging devices and light field display technology—thereby demonstrating both the fundamental characteristics and the promising opportunities for fluid-based dynamic refractive micro-scale compound lenses. PMID:28266505

Scaled Runge-Kutta algorithms for handling dense output

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Horn, M. K.

1981-01-01

Low order Runge-Kutta algorithms are developed which determine the solution of a system of ordinary differential equations at any point within a given integration step, as well as at the end of each step. The scaled Runge-Kutta methods are designed to be used with existing Runge-Kutta formulas, using the derivative evaluations of these defining algorithms as the core of the system. For a slight increase in computing time, the solution may be generated within the integration step, improving the efficiency of the Runge-Kutta algorithms, since the step length need no longer be severely reduced to coincide with the desired output point. Scaled Runge-Kutta algorithms are presented for orders 3 through 5, along with accuracy comparisons between the defining algorithms and their scaled versions for a test problem.

Developing Higher-Order Materials Knowledge Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fast, Anthony Nathan

2011-12-01

Advances in computational materials science and novel characterization techniques have allowed scientists to probe deeply into a diverse range of materials phenomena. These activities are producing enormous amounts of information regarding the roles of various hierarchical material features in the overall performance characteristics displayed by the material. Connecting the hierarchical information over disparate domains is at the crux of multiscale modeling. The inherent challenge of performing multiscale simulations is developing scale bridging relationships to couple material information between well separated length scales. Much progress has been made in the development of homogenization relationships which replace heterogeneous material features with effective homogenous descriptions. These relationships facilitate the flow of information from lower length scales to higher length scales. Meanwhile, most localization relationships that link the information from a from a higher length scale to a lower length scale are plagued by computationally intensive techniques which are not readily integrated into multiscale simulations. The challenge of executing fully coupled multiscale simulations is augmented by the need to incorporate the evolution of the material structure that may occur under conditions such as material processing. To address these challenges with multiscale simulation, a novel framework called the Materials Knowledge System (MKS) has been developed. This methodology efficiently extracts, stores, and recalls microstructure-property-processing localization relationships. This approach is built on the statistical continuum theories developed by Kroner that express the localization of the response field at the microscale using a series of highly complex convolution integrals, which have historically been evaluated analytically. The MKS approach dramatically improves the accuracy of these expressions by calibrating the convolution kernels in these expressions to results from previously validated physics-based models. These novel tools have been validated for the elastic strain localization in moderate contrast dual-phase composites by direct comparisons with predictions from finite element model. The versatility of the approach is further demonstrated by its successful application to capturing the structure evolution during spinodal decomposition of a binary alloy. Lastly, some key features in the future application of the MKS approach are developed using the Portevin-le Chaterlier effect. It has been shown with these case studies that the MKS approach is capable of accurately reproducing the results from physics based models with a drastic reduction in computational requirements.

Numerical analysis of scalar dissipation length-scales and their scaling properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vaishnavi, Pankaj; Kronenburg, Andreas

2006-11-01

Scalar dissipation rate, χ, is fundamental to the description of scalar-mixing in turbulent non-premixed combustion. Most contributions to the statistics for χ come from the finest turbulent mixing-scales and thus its adequate characterisation requires good resolution. Reliable χ-measurement is complicated by the trade-off between higher resolution and greater signal-to-noise ratio. Thus, the present numerical study utilises the error-free mixture fraction, Z, and fluid mechanical data from the turbulent reacting jet DNS of Pantano (2004). The aim is to quantify the resolution requirements for χ-measurement in terms of easily measurable properties of the flow like the integral-scale Reynolds number, Reδ, using spectral and spatial-filtering [cf. Barlow and Karpetis (2005)] analyses. Analysis of the 1-D cross-stream dissipation spectra enables the estimation of the dissipation length scales. It is shown that these spectrally-computed scales follow the expected Kolmogorov scaling with Reδ-0.75 . The work also involves local smoothening of the instantaneous χ-field over a non-overlapping spatial-interval (filter-width, wf), to study the smoothened χ-value as a function of wf, as wf is extrapolated to the smallest scale of interest. The dissipation length-scales thus captured show a stringent Reδ-1 scaling, compared to the usual Kolmogorov-type. This concurs with the criterion of 'resolution adequacy' of the DNS, as set out by Sreenivasan (2004) using the theory of multi-fractals.

Wigner distribution function and kurtosis parameter of vortex beams propagating through turbulent atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suo, Qiangbo; Han, Yiping; Cui, Zhiwei

2017-09-01

Based on the extended Huygens-Fresnel integral, the analytical expressions for the Wigner distribution function (WDF) and kurtosis parameter of partially coherent flat-topped vortex (PCFTV) beams propagating through atmospheric turbulence and free space are derived. The WDF and kurtosis parameter of PCFTV beams through turbulent atmosphere are discussed with numerical examples. The numerical results show that the beam quality depends on the structure constants, the inner scale turbulence, the outer scale turbulence, the spatial correlation length, the wave length and the beam order. PCFTV beams are less affected by turbulence than partially flat-topped coherent (PCFT) beams under the same conditions, and will be useful in free-space optical communications.

Random cascade model in the limit of infinite integral scale as the exponential of a nonstationary 1/f noise: Application to volatility fluctuations in stock markets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muzy, Jean-François; Baïle, Rachel; Bacry, Emmanuel

2013-04-01

In this paper we propose a new model for volatility fluctuations in financial time series. This model relies on a nonstationary Gaussian process that exhibits aging behavior. It turns out that its properties, over any finite time interval, are very close to continuous cascade models. These latter models are indeed well known to reproduce faithfully the main stylized facts of financial time series. However, it involves a large-scale parameter (the so-called “integral scale” where the cascade is initiated) that is hard to interpret in finance. Moreover, the empirical value of the integral scale is in general deeply correlated to the overall length of the sample. This feature is precisely predicted by our model, which, as illustrated by various examples from daily stock index data, quantitatively reproduces the empirical observations.

Fermion-induced quantum criticality with two length scales in Dirac systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torres, Emilio; Classen, Laura; Herbut, Igor F.; Scherer, Michael M.

2018-03-01

The quantum phase transition to a Z3-ordered Kekulé valence bond solid in two-dimensional Dirac semimetals is governed by a fermion-induced quantum critical point, which renders the putatively discontinuous transition continuous. We study the resulting universal critical behavior in terms of a functional RG approach, which gives access to the scaling behavior on the symmetry-broken side of the phase transition, for general dimensions and number of Dirac fermions. In particular, we investigate the emergence of the fermion-induced quantum critical point for spacetime dimensions 2

Mixing of a passive scalar in isotropic and sheared homogeneous turbulence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shirani, E.; Ferziger, J. H.; Reynolds, W. C.

1981-01-01

In order to calculate the velocity and scalar fields, the three dimensional, time-dependent equations of motion and the diffusion equation were solved numerically. The following cases were treated: isotropic, homogeneous turbulence with decay of a passive scalar; and homogeneous turbulent shear flow with a passive scalar whose mean varies linearly in the spanwise direction. The solutions were obtained at relatively low Reynolds numbers so that all of the turbulent scales could be resolved without modeling. Turbulent statistics such as integral length scales, Taylor microscales, Kolmogorov length scale, one- and two-point correlations of velocity-velocity and velocity-scalar, turbulent Prandtl/Schmidt number, r.m.s. values of velocities, the scalar quantity and pressure, skewness, decay rates, and decay exponents were calculated. The results are compared with the available expermental results, and good agreement is obtained.

Universal entanglement spectra of gapped one-dimensional field theories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, Gil Young; Ludwig, Andreas W. W.; Ryu, Shinsei

2017-03-01

We discuss the entanglement spectrum of the ground state of a (1+1)-dimensional system in a gapped phase near a quantum phase transition. In particular, in proximity to a quantum phase transition described by a conformal field theory (CFT), the system is represented by a gapped Lorentz invariant field theory in the "scaling limit" (correlation length ξ much larger than microscopic "lattice" scale "a "), and can be thought of as a CFT perturbed by a relevant perturbation. We show that for such (1+1) gapped Lorentz invariant field theories in infinite space, the low-lying entanglement spectrum obtained by tracing out, say, left half-infinite space, is precisely equal to the physical spectrum of the unperturbed gapless, i.e., conformal field theory defined on a finite interval of length Lξ=ln(ξ /a ) with certain boundary conditions. In particular, the low-lying entanglement spectrum of the gapped theory is the finite-size spectrum of a boundary conformal field theory, and is always discrete and universal. Each relevant perturbation, and thus each gapped phase in proximity to the quantum phase transition, maps into a particular boundary condition. A similar property has been known to hold for Baxter's corner transfer matrices in a very special class of fine-tuned, namely, integrable off-critical lattice models, for the entire entanglement spectrum and independent of the scaling limit. In contrast, our result applies to completely general gapped Lorentz invariant theories in the scaling limit, without the requirement of integrability, for the low-lying entanglement spectrum. While the entanglement spectrum of the ground state of a gapped theory on a finite interval of length 2 R with suitable boundary conditions, bipartitioned into two equal pieces, turns out to exhibit a crossover between the finite-size spectra of the same CFT with in general different boundary conditions as the system size R crosses the correlation length from the "critical regime'' R ≪ξ to the "gapped regime'' R ≫ξ , the physical spectrum on a finite interval of length R with the same boundary conditions, on the other hand, is known to undergo a dramatic reorganization during the same crossover from being discrete to being continuous.

Studies of Shock Wave Interactions with Homogeneous and Isotropic Turbulence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Briassulis, G.; Agui, J.; Watkins, C. B.; Andreopoulos, Y.

1998-01-01

A nearly homogeneous nearly isotropic compressible turbulent flow interacting with a normal shock wave has been studied experimentally in a large shock tube facility. Spatial resolution of the order of 8 Kolmogorov viscous length scales was achieved in the measurements of turbulence. A variety of turbulence generating grids provide a wide range of turbulence scales. Integral length scales were found to substantially decrease through the interaction with the shock wave in all investigated cases with flow Mach numbers ranging from 0.3 to 0.7 and shock Mach numbers from 1.2 to 1.6. The outcome of the interaction depends strongly on the state of compressibility of the incoming turbulence. The length scales in the lateral direction are amplified at small Mach numbers and attenuated at large Mach numbers. Even at large Mach numbers amplification of lateral length scales has been observed in the case of fine grids. In addition to the interaction with the shock the present work has documented substantial compressibility effects in the incoming homogeneous and isotropic turbulent flow. The decay of Mach number fluctuations was found to follow a power law similar to that describing the decay of incompressible isotropic turbulence. It was found that the decay coefficient and the decay exponent decrease with increasing Mach number while the virtual origin increases with increasing Mach number. A mechanism possibly responsible for these effects appears to be the inherently low growth rate of compressible shear layers emanating from the cylindrical rods of the grid.

A dynamic routing strategy with limited buffer on scale-free network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yufei; Liu, Feng

2016-04-01

In this paper, we propose an integrated routing strategy based on global static topology information and local dynamic data packet queue lengths to improve the transmission efficiency of scale-free networks. The proposed routing strategy is a combination of a global static routing strategy (based on the shortest path algorithm) and local dynamic queue length management, in which, instead of using an infinite buffer, the queue length of each node i in the proposed routing strategy is limited by a critical queue length Qic. When the network traffic is lower and the queue length of each node i is shorter than its critical queue length Qic, it forwards packets according to the global routing table. With increasing network traffic, when the buffers of the nodes with higher degree are full, they do not receive packets due to their limited buffers and the packets have to be delivered to the nodes with lower degree. The global static routing strategy can shorten the transmission time that it takes a packet to reach its destination, and the local limited queue length can balance the network traffic. The optimal critical queue lengths of nodes have been analysed. Simulation results show that the proposed routing strategy can get better performance than that of the global static strategy based on topology, and almost the same performance as that of the global dynamic routing strategy with less complexity.

Shock-Induced Turbulence and Acoustic Loading on Aerospace Structures

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-08-22

aerospace structures. Pulsating flows featuring unsteadiness attributed to SWTBLI can lead to fatigue and structural damages1. Advancing our understanding...transformed system of coordinates in order to minimize scaling effects that appear in stencils consisting of elements of different sizes, as well as to...preceding the separation bubble as the 5th-order MUSCL. An integral length scale of 2Δx in the streamwise direction was chosen for the digital filter

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

PubMed

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

Micron-scale lens array having diffracting structures

DOEpatents

Goldberg, Kenneth A

2013-10-29

A novel micron-scale lens, a microlens, is engineered to concentrate light efficiently onto an area of interest, such as a small, light-sensitive detector element in an integrated electronic device. Existing microlens designs imitate the form of large-scale lenses and are less effective at small sizes. The microlenses described herein have been designed to accommodate diffraction effects, which dominate the behavior of light at small length scales. Thus a new class of light-concentrating optical elements with much higher relative performance has been created. Furthermore, the new designs are much easier to fabricate than previous designs.

Multiscale simulations of patchy particle systems combining Molecular Dynamics, Path Sampling and Green's Function Reaction Dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bolhuis, Peter

Important reaction-diffusion processes, such as biochemical networks in living cells, or self-assembling soft matter, span many orders in length and time scales. In these systems, the reactants' spatial dynamics at mesoscopic length and time scales of microns and seconds is coupled to the reactions between the molecules at microscopic length and time scales of nanometers and milliseconds. This wide range of length and time scales makes these systems notoriously difficult to simulate. While mean-field rate equations cannot describe such processes, the mesoscopic Green's Function Reaction Dynamics (GFRD) method enables efficient simulation at the particle level provided the microscopic dynamics can be integrated out. Yet, many processes exhibit non-trivial microscopic dynamics that can qualitatively change the macroscopic behavior, calling for an atomistic, microscopic description. The recently developed multiscale Molecular Dynamics Green's Function Reaction Dynamics (MD-GFRD) approach combines GFRD for simulating the system at the mesocopic scale where particles are far apart, with microscopic Molecular (or Brownian) Dynamics, for simulating the system at the microscopic scale where reactants are in close proximity. The association and dissociation of particles are treated with rare event path sampling techniques. I will illustrate the efficiency of this method for patchy particle systems. Replacing the microscopic regime with a Markov State Model avoids the microscopic regime completely. The MSM is then pre-computed using advanced path-sampling techniques such as multistate transition interface sampling. I illustrate this approach on patchy particle systems that show multiple modes of binding. MD-GFRD is generic, and can be used to efficiently simulate reaction-diffusion systems at the particle level, including the orientational dynamics, opening up the possibility for large-scale simulations of e.g. protein signaling networks.

End-to-end distance and contour length distribution functions of DNA helices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zoli, Marco

2018-06-01

I present a computational method to evaluate the end-to-end and the contour length distribution functions of short DNA molecules described by a mesoscopic Hamiltonian. The method generates a large statistical ensemble of possible configurations for each dimer in the sequence, selects the global equilibrium twist conformation for the molecule, and determines the average base pair distances along the molecule backbone. Integrating over the base pair radial and angular fluctuations, I derive the room temperature distribution functions as a function of the sequence length. The obtained values for the most probable end-to-end distance and contour length distance, providing a measure of the global molecule size, are used to examine the DNA flexibility at short length scales. It is found that, also in molecules with less than ˜60 base pairs, coiled configurations maintain a large statistical weight and, consistently, the persistence lengths may be much smaller than in kilo-base DNA.

Multi-chord fiber-coupled interferometer with a long coherence length laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Merritt, Elizabeth C.; Lynn, Alan G.; Gilmore, Mark A.; Hsu, Scott C.

2012-03-01

This paper describes a 561 nm laser heterodyne interferometer that provides time-resolved measurements of line-integrated plasma electron density within the range of 1015-1018 cm-2. Such plasmas are produced by railguns on the plasma liner experiment, which aims to produce μs-, cm-, and Mbar-scale plasmas through the merging of 30 plasma jets in a spherically convergent geometry. A long coherence length, 320 mW laser allows for a strong, sub-fringe phase-shift signal without the need for closely matched probe and reference path lengths. Thus, only one reference path is required for all eight probe paths, and an individual probe chord can be altered without altering the reference or other probe path lengths. Fiber-optic decoupling of the probe chord optics on the vacuum chamber from the rest of the system allows the probe paths to be easily altered to focus on different spatial regions of the plasma. We demonstrate that sub-fringe resolution capability allows the interferometer to operate down to line-integrated densities of the order of 5 × 1015 cm-2.

Derivation of Zagarola-Smits scaling in zero-pressure-gradient turbulent boundary layers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Tie; Maciel, Yvan

2018-01-01

This Rapid Communication derives the Zagarola-Smits scaling directly from the governing equations for zero-pressure-gradient turbulent boundary layers (ZPG TBLs). It has long been observed that the scaling of the mean streamwise velocity in turbulent boundary layer flows differs in the near surface region and in the outer layer. In the inner region of small-velocity-defect boundary layers, it is generally accepted that the proper velocity scale is the friction velocity, uτ, and the proper length scale is the viscous length scale, ν /uτ . In the outer region, the most generally used length scale is the boundary layer thickness, δ . However, there is no consensus on velocity scales in the outer layer. Zagarola and Smits [ASME Paper No. FEDSM98-4950 (1998)] proposed a velocity scale, U ZS=(δ1/δ ) U∞ , where δ1 is the displacement thickness and U∞ is the freestream velocity. However, there are some concerns about Zagarola-Smits scaling due to the lack of a theoretical base. In this paper, the Zagarola-Smits scaling is derived directly from a combination of integral, similarity, and order-of-magnitude analysis of the mean continuity equation. The analysis also reveals that V∞, the mean wall-normal velocity at the edge of the boundary layer, is a proper scale for the mean wall-normal velocity V . Extending the analysis to the streamwise mean momentum equation, we find that the Reynolds shear stress in ZPG TBLs scales as U∞V∞ in the outer region. This paper also provides a detailed analysis of the mass and mean momentum balance in the outer region of ZPG TBLs.

Partial polygon pruning of hydrographic features in automated generalization

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stum, Alexander K.; Buttenfield, Barbara P.; Stanislawski, Larry V.

2017-01-01

This paper demonstrates a working method to automatically detect and prune portions of waterbody polygons to support creation of a multi-scale hydrographic database. Water features are known to be sensitive to scale change; and thus multiple representations are required to maintain visual and geographic logic at smaller scales. Partial pruning of polygonal features—such as long and sinuous reservoir arms, stream channels that are too narrow at the target scale, and islands that begin to coalesce—entails concurrent management of the length and width of polygonal features as well as integrating pruned polygons with other generalized point and linear hydrographic features to maintain stream network connectivity. The implementation follows data representation standards developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD). Portions of polygonal rivers, streams, and canals are automatically characterized for width, length, and connectivity. This paper describes an algorithm for automatic detection and subsequent processing, and shows results for a sample of NHD subbasins in different landscape conditions in the United States.

Understanding Hydraulic Fracturing: A Multi-Scale Problem

DOE PAGES

Hyman, Jeffrey De'Haven; Gimenez Martinez, Joaquin; Viswanathan, Hari S.; ...

2016-09-05

Despite the impact that hydraulic fracturing has had on the energy sector, the physical mechanisms that control its efficiency and environmental impacts remain poorly understood in part because the length scales involved range from nano-meters to kilo-meters. We characterize flow and transport in shale formations across and between these scales using integrated computational, theoretical, and experimental efforts. At the field scale, we use discrete fracture network modeling to simulate production at a well site whose fracture network is based on a site characterization of a shale formation. At the core scale, we use triaxial fracture experiments and a finite-element discrete-elementmore » fracture propagation model with a coupled fluid solver to study dynamic crack propagation in low permeability shale. We use lattice Boltzmann pore-scale simulations and microfluidic experiments in both synthetic and real micromodels to study pore-scale flow phenomenon such as multiphase flow and mixing. A mechanistic description and integration of these multiple scales is required for accurate predictions of production and the eventual optimization of hydrocarbon extraction from unconventional reservoirs.« less

LSI (Large Scale Integrated) Design for Testability. Final Report of Design, Demonstration, and Testability Analysis.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-11-01

compound operations, with status. (h) Pre-programmed CRC and double-precision multiply/divide algo- rithms. (i) Double length accumulator with full...IH1.25 _ - MICROCOP ’ RESOLUTION TEST CHART NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS-1963-A .4 ’* • • . - . .. •. . . . . . . . . . . . . . • - -. .• ,. o. . . .- "o

Silicon coupled with plasmon nanocavities generates bright visible hot luminescence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, Chang-Hee; Aspetti, Carlos O.; Park, Joohee; Agarwal, Ritesh

2013-04-01

To address the limitations in device speed and performance in silicon-based electronics, there have been extensive studies on silicon optoelectronics with a view to achieving ultrafast optical data processing. The biggest challenge has been to develop an efficient silicon-based light source, because the indirect bandgap of silicon gives rise to extremely low emission efficiencies. Although light emission in quantum-confined silicon at sub-10 nm length scales has been demonstrated, there are difficulties in integrating quantum structures with conventional electronics. It is desirable to develop new concepts to obtain emission from silicon at length scales compatible with current electronic devices (20-100 nm), which therefore do not utilize quantum-confinement effects. Here, we demonstrate an entirely new method to achieve bright visible light emission in `bulk-sized' silicon coupled with plasmon nanocavities at room temperature, from non-thermalized carrier recombination. The highly enhanced emission (internal quantum efficiency of >1%) in plasmonic silicon, together with its size compatibility with current silicon electronics, provides new avenues for developing monolithically integrated light sources on conventional microchips.

Influence of Turbulence Parameters, Reynolds Number, and Body Shape on Stagnation-Region Heat Transfer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vanfossen, G. James; Simoneau, Robert J.; Ching, Chan Y.

1994-01-01

The purpose of the present work was threefold: (1) to determine if a free-stream turbulence length scale existed that would cause the greatest augmentation in stagnation-region heat transfer over laminar levels; (2) to investigate the effect of velocity gradient on stagnation-region heat transfer augmentation by free-stream turbulence; and (3) to develop a prediction tool for stagnation heat transfer in the presence of free-stream turbulence. Heat transfer was measured in the stagnation region of four models with elliptical leading edges that had ratios of major to minor axes of 1:1, 1.5:1, 2.25:1, and 3:1. Five turbulence-generating grids were fabricated; four were square mesh, biplane grids made from square bars. The fifth grid was an array of fine parallel wires that were perpendicular to the model spanwise direction. Heat transfer data were taken at Reynolds numbers ranging from 37 000 to 228 000. Turbulence intensities were in the range of 1.1 to 15.9% while the ratio of integral length scale to leading-edge diameter ranged from 0.05 to 0.30. Stagnation-point velocity gradient was varied by nearly 50%. Stagnation-region heat transfer augmentation was found to increase with decreasing length scale but no optimum length scale was found. Heat transfer augmentation due to turbulence was found to be unaffected by the velocity gradient near the leading edge. A correlation was developed that fit heat transfer data for the square-bar grids to within +/- 4%.

Amplification and attenuation of shock wave strength caused by homogeneous isotropic turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tanaka, K.; Watanabe, T.; Nagata, K.; Sasoh, A.; Sakai, Y.; Hayase, T.

2018-03-01

We study the pressure increase across a planar shock wave with shock Mach numbers Ms of 1.1, 1.3, and 1.5 propagating through homogeneous isotropic turbulence at a low turbulent Mach number (Mt ˜ 10-4) based on direct numerical simulations (DNSs). Fluctuation in the pressure increase, Δp', on a given shock ray is induced by turbulence around the ray. A local amplification of the shock wave strength, measured with the pressure increase, is caused by the velocity fluctuation opposed to the shock wave propagating direction with a time delay, while the velocity in the opposite direction attenuates the shock wave strength. The turbulence effects on the shock wave are explained based on shock wave deformation due to turbulent shearing motions. The spatial distribution of Δp' on the shock wave has a characteristic length of the order of the integral scale of turbulence. The influence of turbulent velocity fluctuation at a given location on Δp' becomes most significant after the shock wave propagates from the location for a distance close to the integral length scale for all shock Mach numbers, demonstrating that the shock wave properties possess strong memory even during the propagation in turbulence. A lower shock Mach number Ms results in a smaller rms value of Δp', stronger influences on Δp' by turbulence far away from the shock ray, and a larger length scale in the spatial profile of Δp' on the shock wave. Relative intensity of Δp' increases with [Mt/(Ms-1 ) ] α, where DNS and experimental results yield α ≈ 0.73.

A spatial length scale analysis of turbulent temperature and velocity fluctuations within and above an orchard canopy

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wang, Y.S.; Miller, D.R.; Anderson, D.E.; Cionco, R.M.; Lin, J.D.

1992-01-01

Turbulent flow within and above an almond orchard was measured with three-dimensional wind sensors and fine-wire thermocouple sensors arranged in a horizontal array. The data showed organized turbulent structures as indicated by coherent asymmetric ramp patterns in the time series traces across the sensor array. Space-time correlation analysis indicated that velocity and temperature fluctuations were significantly correlated over a transverse distance more than 4m. Integral length scales of velocity and temperature fluctuations were substantially greater in unstable conditions than those in stable conditions. The coherence spectral analysis indicated that Davenport's geometric similarity hypothesis was satisfied in the lower frequency region. From the geometric similarity hypothesis, the spatial extents of large ramp structures were also estimated with the coherence functions.

Modeling and Simulation of Nanoindentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Sixie; Zhou, Caizhi

2017-11-01

Nanoindentation is a hardness test method applied to small volumes of material which can provide some unique effects and spark many related research activities. To fully understand the phenomena observed during nanoindentation tests, modeling and simulation methods have been developed to predict the mechanical response of materials during nanoindentation. However, challenges remain with those computational approaches, because of their length scale, predictive capability, and accuracy. This article reviews recent progress and challenges for modeling and simulation of nanoindentation, including an overview of molecular dynamics, the quasicontinuum method, discrete dislocation dynamics, and the crystal plasticity finite element method, and discusses how to integrate multiscale modeling approaches seamlessly with experimental studies to understand the length-scale effects and microstructure evolution during nanoindentation tests, creating a unique opportunity to establish new calibration procedures for the nanoindentation technique.

Large-Scale Collection and Analysis of Full-Length cDNAs from Brachypodium distachyon and Integration with Pooideae Sequence Resources

PubMed Central

Mochida, Keiichi; Uehara-Yamaguchi, Yukiko; Takahashi, Fuminori; Yoshida, Takuhiro; Sakurai, Tetsuya; Shinozaki, Kazuo

2013-01-01

A comprehensive collection of full-length cDNAs is essential for correct structural gene annotation and functional analyses of genes. We constructed a mixed full-length cDNA library from 21 different tissues of Brachypodium distachyon Bd21, and obtained 78,163 high quality expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from both ends of ca. 40,000 clones (including 16,079 contigs). We updated gene structure annotations of Brachypodium genes based on full-length cDNA sequences in comparison with the latest publicly available annotations. About 10,000 non-redundant gene models were supported by full-length cDNAs; ca. 6,000 showed some transcription unit modifications. We also found ca. 580 novel gene models, including 362 newly identified in Bd21. Using the updated transcription start sites, we searched a total of 580 plant cis-motifs in the −3 kb promoter regions and determined a genome-wide Brachypodium promoter architecture. Furthermore, we integrated the Brachypodium full-length cDNAs and updated gene structures with available sequence resources in wheat and barley in a web-accessible database, the RIKEN Brachypodium FL cDNA database. The database represents a “one-stop” information resource for all genomic information in the Pooideae, facilitating functional analysis of genes in this model grass plant and seamless knowledge transfer to the Triticeae crops. PMID:24130698

Adaptive liquid microlenses activated by stimuli-responsive hydrogels.

PubMed

Dong, Liang; Agarwal, Abhishek K; Beebe, David J; Jiang, Hongrui

2006-08-03

Despite its compactness, the human eye can easily focus on different distances by adjusting the shape of its lens with the help of ciliary muscles. In contrast, traditional man-made optical systems achieve focusing by physical displacement of the lenses used. But in recent years, advances in miniaturization technology have led to optical systems that no longer require complicated mechanical systems to tune and adjust optical performance. These systems have found wide use in photonics, displays and biomedical systems. They are either based on arrays of microlenses with fixed focal lengths, or use external control to adjust the microlens focal length. An intriguing example is the tunable liquid lens, where electrowetting or external pressure manipulates the shape of a liquid droplet and thereby adjusts its optical properties. Here we demonstrate a liquid lens system that allows for autonomous focusing. The central component is a stimuli-responsive hydrogel integrated into a microfluidic system and serving as the container for a liquid droplet, with the hydrogel simultaneously sensing the presence of stimuli and actuating adjustments to the shape--and hence focal length--of the droplet. By working at the micrometre scale where ionic diffusion and surface tension scale favourably, we can use pinned liquid-liquid interfaces to obtain stable devices and realize response times of ten to a few tens of seconds. The microlenses, which can have a focal length ranging from -infinity to +infinity (divergent and convergent), are also readily integrated into arrays that may find use in applications such as sensing, medical diagnostics and lab-on-a-chip technologies.

Adaptive liquid microlenses activated by stimuli-responsive hydrogels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Liang; Agarwal, Abhishek K.; Beebe, David J.; Jiang, Hongrui

2006-08-01

Despite its compactness, the human eye can easily focus on different distances by adjusting the shape of its lens with the help of ciliary muscles. In contrast, traditional man-made optical systems achieve focusing by physical displacement of the lenses used. But in recent years, advances in miniaturization technology have led to optical systems that no longer require complicated mechanical systems to tune and adjust optical performance. These systems have found wide use in photonics, displays and biomedical systems. They are either based on arrays of microlenses with fixed focal lengths, or use external control to adjust the microlens focal length. An intriguing example is the tunable liquid lens, where electrowetting or external pressure manipulates the shape of a liquid droplet and thereby adjusts its optical properties. Here we demonstrate a liquid lens system that allows for autonomous focusing. The central component is a stimuli-responsive hydrogel integrated into a microfluidic system and serving as the container for a liquid droplet, with the hydrogel simultaneously sensing the presence of stimuli and actuating adjustments to the shape-and hence focal length-of the droplet. By working at the micrometre scale where ionic diffusion and surface tension scale favourably, we can use pinned liquid-liquid interfaces to obtain stable devices and realize response times of ten to a few tens of seconds. The microlenses, which can have a focal length ranging from -∞ to +∞ (divergent and convergent), are also readily integrated into arrays that may find use in applications such as sensing, medical diagnostics and lab-on-a-chip technologies.

Fan noise caused by the ingestion of anisotropic turbulence - A model based on axisymmetric turbulence theory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kerschen, E. J.; Gliebe, P. R.

1980-01-01

An analytical model of fan noise caused by inflow turbulence, a generalization of earlier work by Mani, is presented. Axisymmetric turbulence theory is used to develop a statistical representation of the inflow turbulence valid for a wide range of turbulence properties. Both the dipole source due to rotor blade unsteady forces and the quadrupole source resulting from the interaction of the turbulence with the rotor potential field are considered. The effects of variations in turbulence properties and fan operating conditions are evaluated. For turbulence axial integral length scales much larger than the blade spacing, the spectrum is shown to consist of sharp peaks at the blade passing frequency and its harmonics, with negligible broadband content. The analysis can then be simplified considerably and the total sound power contained within each spectrum peak becomes independent of axial length scale, while the width of the peak is inversely proportional to this parameter. Large axial length scales are characteristic of static fan test facilities, where the transverse contraction of the inlet flow produces highly anisotropic turbulence. In this situation, the rotor/turbulence interaction noise is mainly caused by the transverse component of turbulent velocity.

[Geographic variation of seed morphological traits of Picea schrenkiana var. tianschanica in Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang of Northwest China].

PubMed

Liu, Gui-Feng; Zang, Run-Guo; Liu, Hua; Bai, Zhi-Qiang; Guo, Zhong-Jun; Ding, Yi

2012-06-01

Taking the Picea schrenkiana var. tianschanica forests at three sites with different longitudes (Zhaosu, Tianchi, and Qitai) in Tianshan Mountains as the objects, the cones were collected along an altitudinal gradient to analyze the variation of their seed morphological traits (seed scale length and width, seed scale length/width ratio, seed wing length and width, seed wing length/ width ratio, seed length and width, and seed length/width ratio). All the seed traits except seed width tended to decrease with increasing altitude. The seed traits except seed wing width, seed width, and seed length/width ratio all had significant negative correlations with altitude. Seed scale length and width and seed scale length/width ratio had significant positive correlations with longitude. Seed scale length, seed scale length/width ratio, and seed wing length/width ratio had significant negative correlations with slope degree. No significant correlations were observed between the seed traits except seed wing width and the slope aspect. Altitude was the main factor affecting the seed scale length, seed scale length/width ratio, and seed wing length/width ratio.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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-pass filter time constants shorter than about τ = 38 h, all datasets exhibit a correlation length ξ that falls at least as fast as {{τ }-1} . Since the inter-site separation needed for statistical independence falls for shorter time scales, higher-rate fluctuations can be effectively smoothed by aggregating wind plants over areas smaller than otherwise estimated.

Scaling relationships of channel networks at large scales: Examples from two large-magnitude watersheds in Brittany, France

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crave, A.; Davy, P.

1997-01-01

We present a statistical analysis on two watersheds in French Brittany whose drainage areas are about 10,000 and 2000 km2. The channel system was analysed from the digitised blue lines of the 1:100,000 map and from a 250-m DEM. Link lengths follow an exponential distribution, consistent with the Markovian model of channel branching proposed by Smart (1968). The departure from the exponential distribution for small lengths, that has been extensively discussed before, results from a statistical effect due to the finite number of channels and junctions. The Strahler topology applied on channels defines a self-similar organisation whose similarity dimension is about 1.7, that is clearly smaller than the value of 2 expected for a random organisation. The similarity dimension is consistent with an independent measurement of the Horton ratios of stream numbers and lengths. The variables defined by an upstream integral (drainage area, mainstream length, upstream length) follow power-law distributions limited at large scales by a finite size effect, due to the finite area of the watersheds. A special emphasis is given to the exponent of the drainage area, aA, that has been previously discussed in the context of different aggregation models relevant to channel network growth. We show that aA is consistent with 4/3, a value that was obtained and analytically demonstrated from directed random walk aggregating models, inspired by the model of Scheidegger (1967). The drainage density and mainstream length present no simple scaling with area, except at large areas where they tend to trivial values: constant density and square root of drainage area, respectively. These asymptotic limits necessarily imply that the space dimension of channel networks is 2, equal to the embedding space. The limits are reached for drainage areas larger than 100 km2. For smaller areas, the asymptotic limit represents either a lower bound (drainage density) or an upper bound (mainstream length) of the distributions. Because the fluctuations of the drainage density slowly converge to a finite limit, the system could be adequately described as a fat fractal, where the average drainage density is the sum of a constant plus a fluctuation decreasing as a power law with integrating area. A fat fractal hypothesis could explain why the similarity dimension is not equal to the fractal capacity dimension, as it is for thin fractals. The physical consequences are not yet really understood, but we draw an analogy with a directed aggregating system where the growth process involves both stochastic and deterministic growth. These models are known to be fat fractals, and the deterministic growth, which constitutes a fundamental ingredient of these models, could be attributed in river systems to the role of terrestrial gravity.

Investigating the Complex Chemistry of Functional Energy Storage Systems: The Need for an Integrative, Multiscale (Molecular to Mesoscale) Perspective.

PubMed

Abraham, Alyson; Housel, Lisa M; Lininger, Christianna N; Bock, David C; Jou, Jeffrey; Wang, Feng; West, Alan C; Marschilok, Amy C; Takeuchi, Kenneth J; Takeuchi, Esther S

2016-06-22

Electric energy storage systems such as batteries can significantly impact society in a variety of ways, including facilitating the widespread deployment of portable electronic devices, enabling the use of renewable energy generation for local off grid situations and providing the basis of highly efficient power grids integrated with energy production, large stationary batteries, and the excess capacity from electric vehicles. A critical challenge for electric energy storage is understanding the basic science associated with the gap between the usable output of energy storage systems and their theoretical energy contents. The goal of overcoming this inefficiency is to achieve more useful work (w) and minimize the generation of waste heat (q). Minimization of inefficiency can be approached at the macro level, where bulk parameters are identified and manipulated, with optimization as an ultimate goal. However, such a strategy may not provide insight toward the complexities of electric energy storage, especially the inherent heterogeneity of ion and electron flux contributing to the local resistances at numerous interfaces found at several scale lengths within a battery. Thus, the ability to predict and ultimately tune these complex systems to specific applications, both current and future, demands not just parametrization at the bulk scale but rather specific experimentation and understanding over multiple length scales within the same battery system, from the molecular scale to the mesoscale. Herein, we provide a case study examining the insights and implications from multiscale investigations of a prospective battery material, Fe3O4.

Time and length scales within a fire and implications for numerical simulation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

TIESZEN,SHELDON R.

2000-02-02

A partial non-dimensionalization of the Navier-Stokes equations is used to obtain order of magnitude estimates of the rate-controlling transport processes in the reacting portion of a fire plume as a function of length scale. Over continuum length scales, buoyant times scales vary as the square root of the length scale; advection time scales vary as the length scale, and diffusion time scales vary as the square of the length scale. Due to the variation with length scale, each process is dominant over a given range. The relationship of buoyancy and baroclinc vorticity generation is highlighted. For numerical simulation, first principlesmore » solution for fire problems is not possible with foreseeable computational hardware in the near future. Filtered transport equations with subgrid modeling will be required as two to three decades of length scale are captured by solution of discretized conservation equations. By whatever filtering process one employs, one must have humble expectations for the accuracy obtainable by numerical simulation for practical fire problems that contain important multi-physics/multi-length-scale coupling with up to 10 orders of magnitude in length scale.« less

Quantification of fibre polymerization through Fourier space image analysis

PubMed Central

Nekouzadeh, Ali; Genin, Guy M.

2011-01-01

Quantification of changes in the total length of randomly oriented and possibly curved lines appearing in an image is a necessity in a wide variety of biological applications. Here, we present an automated approach based upon Fourier space analysis. Scaled, band-pass filtered power spectral densities of greyscale images are integrated to provide a quantitative measurement of the total length of lines of a particular range of thicknesses appearing in an image. A procedure is presented to correct for changes in image intensity. The method is most accurate for two-dimensional processes with fibres that do not occlude one another. PMID:24959096

Top-gate pentacene-based organic field-effect transistor with amorphous rubrene gate insulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hiroki, Mizuha; Maeda, Yasutaka; Ohmi, Shun-ichiro

2018-02-01

The scaling of organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) is necessary for high-density integration and for this, OFETs with a top-gate configuration are required. There have been several reports of damageless lithography processes for organic semiconductor or insulator layers. However, it is still difficult to fabricate scaled OFETs with a top-gate configuration. In this study, the lift-off process and the device characteristics of the OFETs with a top-gate configuration utilizing an amorphous (α) rubrene gate insulator were investigated. We have confirmed that α-rubrene shows an insulating property, and its extracted linear mobility was 2.5 × 10-2 cm2/(V·s). The gate length and width were 10 and 60 µm, respectively. From these results, the OFET with a top-gate configuration utilizing an α-rubrene gate insulator is promising for the high-density integration of scaled OFETs.

Correlation Length of Energy-Containing Structures in the Base of the Solar Corona

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abramenko, V.; Zank, G. P.; Dosch, A. M.; Yurchyshyn, V.

2013-12-01

An essential parameter for models of coronal heating and fast solar wind acceleration that relay on the dissipation of MHD turbulence is the characteristic energy-containing length of the squared velocity and magnetic field fluctuations transverse to the mean magnetic field inside a coronal hole (CH) at the base of the corona. The characteristic length scale defines directly the heating rate. Rather surprisingly, almost nothing is known observationally about this critical parameter. Currently, only a very rough estimate of characteristic length was obtained based on the fact that the network spacing is about 30000 km. We attempted estimation of this parameter from observations of photospheric random motions and magnetic fields measured in the photosphere inside coronal holes. We found that the characteristic length scale in the photosphere is about 600-2000 km, which is much smaller than that adopted in previous models. Our results provide a critical input parameter for current models of coronal heating and should yield an improved understanding of fast solar wind acceleration. Fig. 1-- Plotted is the natural logarithm of the correlation function of the transverse velocity fluctuations u^2 versus the spatial lag r for the two CHs. The color code refers to the accumulation time intervals of 2 (blue), 5 (green), 10 (red), and 20 (black) minutes. The values of the Batchelor integral length λ the correlation length ς and the e-folding length L in km are shown. Fig. 2-- Plot of the natural logarithm of the correlation function of magnetic fluctuations b^2 versus the spatial lag r. The insert shows this plot with linear axes.

Multi-scale chromatin state annotation using a hierarchical hidden Markov model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marco, Eugenio; Meuleman, Wouter; Huang, Jialiang; Glass, Kimberly; Pinello, Luca; Wang, Jianrong; Kellis, Manolis; Yuan, Guo-Cheng

2017-04-01

Chromatin-state analysis is widely applied in the studies of development and diseases. However, existing methods operate at a single length scale, and therefore cannot distinguish large domains from isolated elements of the same type. To overcome this limitation, we present a hierarchical hidden Markov model, diHMM, to systematically annotate chromatin states at multiple length scales. We apply diHMM to analyse a public ChIP-seq data set. diHMM not only accurately captures nucleosome-level information, but identifies domain-level states that vary in nucleosome-level state composition, spatial distribution and functionality. The domain-level states recapitulate known patterns such as super-enhancers, bivalent promoters and Polycomb repressed regions, and identify additional patterns whose biological functions are not yet characterized. By integrating chromatin-state information with gene expression and Hi-C data, we identify context-dependent functions of nucleosome-level states. Thus, diHMM provides a powerful tool for investigating the role of higher-order chromatin structure in gene regulation.

The impact of depression and sense of coherence on emotional and social loneliness among nursing home residents without cognitive impairment - a questionnaire survey.

PubMed

Drageset, Jorunn; Espehaug, Birgitte; Kirkevold, Marit

2012-04-01

To analyse the relationships between depressive symptoms, sense of coherence and emotional and social loneliness among nursing home residents without cognitive impairment. Depression symptoms and loneliness are major health problems for older people. Sense of coherence, which is based on a salutogenic theoretical framework, is a strong determinant of positive health and successful coping and is associated with well-being and depression among older people. Few studies have explored the relationships between depression symptoms, sense of coherence and emotional and social loneliness among nursing home residents. A cross-sectional, descriptive, correlational design. Sample - 227 residents 65-102 years old from 30 nursing home residing ≥ six months. All had a Clinical Dementia Rating ≤ 0·5 and could converse. Residents were interviewed using the Social Provisions Scale, Geriatric Depression Scale and Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-13). Possible relationships between these were analysed, controlled for sex, age, marital status, education, length of stay and comorbidity. Before adjustment, Geriatric Depression Scale was associated with attachment and social integration. After adjustment, Geriatric Depression Scale was still associated with attachment and social integration. Further adjusting for Sense of Coherence Scale reduced the association between Geriatric Depression Scale and attachment and even more so for the association between Geriatric Depression Scale and social integration. Sense of coherence and Geriatric Depression Scale did not interact, and SOC-13 was associated with attachment and social integration. Depression symptoms contribute to emotional and social loneliness. Independent of sense of coherence, depression symptoms are associated with emotional loneliness, sense of coherence influence emotional and social loneliness. Clinical nurses should observe residents closely for signs of depression and loneliness and support their sense of coherence to reduce emotional and social loneliness. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The reality of artificial viscosity

DOE PAGES

Margolin, L. G.

2018-02-24

Artificial viscosity is used in the computer simulation of high Reynolds number flows and is one of the oldest numerical artifices. In this work, I will describe the origin and the interpretation of artificial viscosity as a physical phenomenon. The basis of this interpretation is the finite scale theory, which describes the evolution of integral averages of the fluid solution over finite (length) scales. I will outline the derivation of finite scale Navier–Stokes equations and highlight the particular properties of the equations that depend on the finite scales. Those properties include enslavement, inviscid dissipation, and a law concerning the partitionmore » of total flux of conserved quantities into advective and diffusive components.« less

Inertial-Range Reconnection in Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence and in the Solar Wind.

PubMed

Lalescu, Cristian C; Shi, Yi-Kang; Eyink, Gregory L; Drivas, Theodore D; Vishniac, Ethan T; Lazarian, Alexander

2015-07-10

In situ spacecraft data on the solar wind show events identified as magnetic reconnection with wide outflows and extended "X lines," 10(3)-10(4) times ion scales. To understand the role of turbulence at these scales, we make a case study of an inertial-range reconnection event in a magnetohydrodynamic simulation. We observe stochastic wandering of field lines in space, breakdown of standard magnetic flux freezing due to Richardson dispersion, and a broadened reconnection zone containing many current sheets. The coarse-grain magnetic geometry is like large-scale reconnection in the solar wind, however, with a hyperbolic flux tube or apparent X line extending over integral length scales.

The reality of artificial viscosity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Margolin, L. G.

Artificial viscosity is used in the computer simulation of high Reynolds number flows and is one of the oldest numerical artifices. In this work, I will describe the origin and the interpretation of artificial viscosity as a physical phenomenon. The basis of this interpretation is the finite scale theory, which describes the evolution of integral averages of the fluid solution over finite (length) scales. I will outline the derivation of finite scale Navier–Stokes equations and highlight the particular properties of the equations that depend on the finite scales. Those properties include enslavement, inviscid dissipation, and a law concerning the partitionmore » of total flux of conserved quantities into advective and diffusive components.« less

Non-local damage rheology and size effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lyakhovsky, V.

2011-12-01

We study scaling relations controlling the onset of transiently-accelerating fracturing and transition to dynamic rupture propagation in a non-local damage rheology model. The size effect is caused principally by growth of a fracture process zone, involving stress redistribution and energy release associated with a large fracture. This implies that rupture nucleation and transition to dynamic propagation are inherently scale-dependent processes. Linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) and local damage mechanics are formulated in terms of dimensionless strain components and thus do not allow introducing any space scaling, except linear relations between fracture length and displacements. Generalization of Weibull theory provides scaling relations between stress and crack length at the onset of failure. A powerful extension of the LEFM formulation is the displacement-weakening model which postulates that yielding is complete when the crack wall displacement exceeds some critical value or slip-weakening distance Dc at which a transition to kinetic friction is complete. Scaling relations controlling the transition to dynamic rupture propagation in slip-weakening formulation are widely accepted in earthquake physics. Strong micro-crack interaction in a process zone may be accounted for by adopting either integral or gradient type non-local damage models. We formulate a gradient-type model with free energy depending on the scalar damage parameter and its spatial derivative. The damage-gradient term leads to structural stresses in the constitutive stress-strain relations and a damage diffusion term in the kinetic equation for damage evolution. The damage diffusion eliminates the singular localization predicted by local models. The finite width of the localization zone provides a fundamental length scale that allows numerical simulations with the model to achieve the continuum limit. A diffusive term in the damage evolution gives rise to additional damage diffusive time scale associated with the structural length scale. The ratio between two time scales associated with damage accumulation and diffusion, the damage diffusivity ratio, reflects the role of the diffusion-controlled delocalization. We demonstrate that localized fracturing occurs at the damage diffusivity ratio below certain critical value leading to a linear scaling between stress and crack length compatible with size effect for failures at crack initiation. A subseuqent quasi-static fracture growth is self-similar with increasing size of the process zone proportional to the fracture length. At a certain stage, controlled by dynamic weakening, the self-similarity breaks down and crack velocity significantly deviates from that predicted by the quasi-static regime, the size of the process zone decreases, and the rate of crack growth ceases to be controlled by the rate of damage increase. Furthermore, the crack speed approaches that predicted by the elasto-dynamic equation. The non-local damage rheology model predicts that the nucleation size of the dynamic fracture scales with fault zone thickness distance of the stress interraction.

Design, Fabrication, Characterization and Modeling of Integrated Functional Materials

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-10-01

coated microwire to change the temperature of an FBG. We show below that the proposed sensor probe, with a relatively poor thermal coupling with FBG...Seebeck coefficient and decreased thermal conductivity due to the phenomenological properties of nanometer length scales, including enhanced...nanocomposites as compared to bulk polycrystalline materials, in addition to similar thermal conductivities , results in enhanced room temperature ZT as

Influence of turbulence on the wake of a marine current turbine simulator.

PubMed

Blackmore, T; Batten, W M J; Bahaj, A S

2014-10-08

Marine current turbine commercial prototypes have now been deployed and arrays of multiple turbines under design. The tidal flows in which they operate are highly turbulent, but the characteristics of the inflow turbulence have not being considered in present design methods. This work considers the effects of inflow turbulence on the wake behind an actuator disc representation of a marine current turbine. Different turbulence intensities and integral length scales were generated in a large eddy simulation using a gridInlet, which produces turbulence from a grid pattern on the inlet boundary. The results highlight the significance of turbulence on the wake profile, with a different flow regime occurring for the zero turbulence case. Increasing the turbulence intensity reduced the velocity deficit and shifted the maximum deficit closer to the turbine. Increasing the integral length scale increased the velocity deficit close to the turbine due to an increased production of turbulent energy. However, the wake recovery was increased due to the higher rate of turbulent mixing causing the wake to expand. The implication of this work is that marine current turbine arrays could be further optimized, increasing the energy yield of the array when the site-specific turbulence characteristics are considered.

Influence of turbulence on the wake of a marine current turbine simulator

PubMed Central

Blackmore, T.; Batten, W. M. J.; Bahaj, A. S.

2014-01-01

Marine current turbine commercial prototypes have now been deployed and arrays of multiple turbines under design. The tidal flows in which they operate are highly turbulent, but the characteristics of the inflow turbulence have not being considered in present design methods. This work considers the effects of inflow turbulence on the wake behind an actuator disc representation of a marine current turbine. Different turbulence intensities and integral length scales were generated in a large eddy simulation using a gridInlet, which produces turbulence from a grid pattern on the inlet boundary. The results highlight the significance of turbulence on the wake profile, with a different flow regime occurring for the zero turbulence case. Increasing the turbulence intensity reduced the velocity deficit and shifted the maximum deficit closer to the turbine. Increasing the integral length scale increased the velocity deficit close to the turbine due to an increased production of turbulent energy. However, the wake recovery was increased due to the higher rate of turbulent mixing causing the wake to expand. The implication of this work is that marine current turbine arrays could be further optimized, increasing the energy yield of the array when the site-specific turbulence characteristics are considered. PMID:25294966

On the Asymptotic Behavior of a Log Gas in the Bulk Scaling Limit in the Presence of a Varying External Potential I

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bothner, Thomas; Deift, Percy; Its, Alexander; Krasovsky, Igor

2015-08-01

We study the determinant , of the integrable Fredholm operator K s acting on the interval (-1, 1) with kernel . This determinant arises in the analysis of a log-gas of interacting particles in the bulk-scaling limit, at inverse temperature , in the presence of an external potential supported on an interval of length . We evaluate, in particular, the double scaling limit of as and , in the region , for any fixed . This problem was first considered by Dyson (Chen Ning Yang: A Great Physicist of the Twentieth Century. International Press, Cambridge, pp. 131-146, 1995).

Two Point Space-Time Correlation of Density Fluctuations Measured in High Velocity Free Jets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Panda, Jayanta

2006-01-01

Two-point space-time correlations of air density fluctuations in unheated, fully-expanded free jets at Mach numbers M(sub j) = 0.95, 1.4, and 1.8 were measured using a Rayleigh scattering based diagnostic technique. The molecular scattered light from two small probe volumes of 1.03 mm length was measured for a completely non-intrusive means of determining the turbulent density fluctuations. The time series of density fluctuations were analyzed to estimate the integral length scale L in a moving frame of reference and the convective Mach number M(sub c) at different narrow Strouhal frequency (St) bands. It was observed that M(sub c) and the normalized moving frame length scale L*St/D, where D is the jet diameter, increased with Strouhal frequency before leveling off at the highest resolved frequency. Significant differences were observed between data obtained from the lip shear layer and the centerline of the jet. The wave number frequency transform of the correlation data demonstrated progressive increase in the radiative part of turbulence fluctuations with increasing jet Mach number.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feldmann, Daniel; Bauer, Christian; Wagner, Claus

2018-03-01

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

Scale-dependent coupling of hysteretic capillary pressure, trapping, and fluid mobilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doster, F.; Celia, M. A.; Nordbotten, J. M.

2012-12-01

Many applications of multiphase flow in porous media, including CO2-storage and enhanced oil recovery, require mathematical models that span a large range of length scales. In the context of numerical simulations, practical grid sizes are often on the order of tens of meters, thereby de facto defining a coarse model scale. Under particular conditions, it is possible to approximate the sub-grid-scale distribution of the fluid saturation within a grid cell; that reconstructed saturation can then be used to compute effective properties at the coarse scale. If both the density difference between the fluids and the vertical extend of the grid cell are large, and buoyant segregation within the cell on a sufficiently shorte time scale, then the phase pressure distributions are essentially hydrostatic and the saturation profile can be reconstructed from the inferred capillary pressures. However, the saturation reconstruction may not be unique because the parameters and parameter functions of classical formulations of two-phase flow in porous media - the relative permeability functions, the capillary pressure -saturation relationship, and the residual saturations - show path dependence, i.e. their values depend not only on the state variables but also on their drainage and imbibition histories. In this study we focus on capillary pressure hysteresis and trapping and show that the contribution of hysteresis to effective quantities is dependent on the vertical length scale. By studying the transition from the two extreme cases - the homogeneous saturation distribution for small vertical extents and the completely segregated distribution for large extents - we identify how hysteretic capillary pressure at the local scale induces hysteresis in all coarse-scale quantities for medium vertical extents and finally vanishes for large vertical extents. Our results allow for more accurate vertically integrated modeling while improving our understanding of the coupling of capillary pressure and relative permeabilities over larger length scales.

Magnetic exchange coupling through superconductors: A trilayer study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sá de Melo, C. A.

2000-11-01

The possibility of magnetic exchange coupling between two ferromagnets (F) separated by a superconductor (S) spacer is analyzed using the functional integral method. For this coupling to occur three prima facie conditions need to be satisfied. First, an indirect exchange coupling between the ferromagnets must exist when the superconductor is in its normal state. Second, superconductivity must not be destroyed due to the proximity to ferromagnetic boundaries. Third, roughness of the F/S interfaces must be small. Under these conditions, when the superconductor is cooled to below its critical temperature, the magnetic coupling changes. The appearance of the superconducting gap introduces a new length scale (the coherence length of the superconductor) and modifies the temperature dependence of the indirect exchange coupling existent in the normal state. The magnetic coupling is oscillatory both above and below the the critical temperature of the superconductor, as well as strongly temperature-dependent. However, at low temperatures the indirect exchange coupling decay length is controlled by the coherence length of the superconductor, while at temperatures close to and above the critical temperature of the superconductor the magnetic coupling decay length is controlled by the thermal length.

Automated multiplex genome-scale engineering in yeast

PubMed Central

Si, Tong; Chao, Ran; Min, Yuhao; Wu, Yuying; Ren, Wen; Zhao, Huimin

2017-01-01

Genome-scale engineering is indispensable in understanding and engineering microorganisms, but the current tools are mainly limited to bacterial systems. Here we report an automated platform for multiplex genome-scale engineering in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, an important eukaryotic model and widely used microbial cell factory. Standardized genetic parts encoding overexpression and knockdown mutations of >90% yeast genes are created in a single step from a full-length cDNA library. With the aid of CRISPR-Cas, these genetic parts are iteratively integrated into the repetitive genomic sequences in a modular manner using robotic automation. This system allows functional mapping and multiplex optimization on a genome scale for diverse phenotypes including cellulase expression, isobutanol production, glycerol utilization and acetic acid tolerance, and may greatly accelerate future genome-scale engineering endeavours in yeast. PMID:28469255

A Thermal Model for Carbon Nanotube Interconnects

PubMed Central

Mohsin, Kaji Muhammad; Srivastava, Ashok; Sharma, Ashwani K.; Mayberry, Clay

2013-01-01

In this work, we have studied Joule heating in carbon nanotube based very large scale integration (VLSI) interconnects and incorporated Joule heating influenced scattering in our previously developed current transport model. The theoretical model explains breakdown in carbon nanotube resistance which limits the current density. We have also studied scattering parameters of carbon nanotube (CNT) interconnects and compared with the earlier work. For 1 µm length single-wall carbon nanotube, 3 dB frequency in S12 parameter reduces to ~120 GHz from 1 THz considering Joule heating. It has been found that bias voltage has little effect on scattering parameters, while length has very strong effect on scattering parameters. PMID:28348333

Photonic integrated circuit optical buffer for packet-switched networks.

PubMed

Burmeister, Emily F; Mack, John P; Poulsen, Henrik N; Masanović, Milan L; Stamenić, Biljana; Blumenthal, Daniel J; Bowers, John E

2009-04-13

A chip-scale optical buffer performs autonomous contention resolution for 40-byte packets with 99% packet recovery. The buffer consists of a fast, InP-based 2 x 2 optical switch and a silica-on-silicon low loss delay loop. The buffer is demonstrated in recirculating operation, but may be reconfigured in feed-forward operation for longer packet lengths. The recirculating buffer provides packet storage in integer multiples of the delay length of 12.86 ns up to 64.3 ns with 98% packet recovery. The buffer is used to resolve contention between two 40 Gb/s packet streams using multiple photonic chip optical buffers.

Understanding hydraulic fracturing: a multi-scale problem.

PubMed

Hyman, J D; Jiménez-Martínez, J; Viswanathan, H S; Carey, J W; Porter, M L; Rougier, E; Karra, S; Kang, Q; Frash, L; Chen, L; Lei, Z; O'Malley, D; Makedonska, N

2016-10-13

Despite the impact that hydraulic fracturing has had on the energy sector, the physical mechanisms that control its efficiency and environmental impacts remain poorly understood in part because the length scales involved range from nanometres to kilometres. We characterize flow and transport in shale formations across and between these scales using integrated computational, theoretical and experimental efforts/methods. At the field scale, we use discrete fracture network modelling to simulate production of a hydraulically fractured well from a fracture network that is based on the site characterization of a shale gas reservoir. At the core scale, we use triaxial fracture experiments and a finite-discrete element model to study dynamic fracture/crack propagation in low permeability shale. We use lattice Boltzmann pore-scale simulations and microfluidic experiments in both synthetic and shale rock micromodels to study pore-scale flow and transport phenomena, including multi-phase flow and fluids mixing. A mechanistic description and integration of these multiple scales is required for accurate predictions of production and the eventual optimization of hydrocarbon extraction from unconventional reservoirs. Finally, we discuss the potential of CO2 as an alternative working fluid, both in fracturing and re-stimulating activities, beyond its environmental advantages.This article is part of the themed issue 'Energy and the subsurface'. © 2016 The Author(s).

Understanding hydraulic fracturing: a multi-scale problem

PubMed Central

Hyman, J. D.; Jiménez-Martínez, J.; Viswanathan, H. S.; Carey, J. W.; Porter, M. L.; Rougier, E.; Karra, S.; Kang, Q.; Frash, L.; Chen, L.; Lei, Z.; O’Malley, D.; Makedonska, N.

2016-01-01

Despite the impact that hydraulic fracturing has had on the energy sector, the physical mechanisms that control its efficiency and environmental impacts remain poorly understood in part because the length scales involved range from nanometres to kilometres. We characterize flow and transport in shale formations across and between these scales using integrated computational, theoretical and experimental efforts/methods. At the field scale, we use discrete fracture network modelling to simulate production of a hydraulically fractured well from a fracture network that is based on the site characterization of a shale gas reservoir. At the core scale, we use triaxial fracture experiments and a finite-discrete element model to study dynamic fracture/crack propagation in low permeability shale. We use lattice Boltzmann pore-scale simulations and microfluidic experiments in both synthetic and shale rock micromodels to study pore-scale flow and transport phenomena, including multi-phase flow and fluids mixing. A mechanistic description and integration of these multiple scales is required for accurate predictions of production and the eventual optimization of hydrocarbon extraction from unconventional reservoirs. Finally, we discuss the potential of CO2 as an alternative working fluid, both in fracturing and re-stimulating activities, beyond its environmental advantages. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Energy and the subsurface’. PMID:27597789

Studies of interactions of a propagating shock wave with decaying grid turbulence: velocity and vorticity fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agui, Juan H.; Briassulis, George; Andreopoulos, Yiannis

2005-02-01

The unsteady interaction of a moving shock wave with nearly homogeneous and isotropic decaying compressible turbulence has been studied experimentally in a large-scale shock tube facility. Rectangular grids of various mesh sizes were used to generate turbulence with Reynolds numbers based on Taylor's microscale ranging from 260 to 1300. The interaction has been investigated by measuring the three-dimensional velocity and vorticity vectors, the full velocity gradient and rate-of-strain tensors with instrumentation of high temporal and spatial resolution. This allowed estimates of dilatation, compressible dissipation and dilatational stretching to be obtained. The time-dependent signals of enstrophy, vortex stretching/tilting vector and dilatational stretching vector were found to exhibit a rather strong intermittent behaviour which is characterized by high-amplitude bursts with values up to 8 times their r.m.s. within periods of less violent and longer lived events. Several of these bursts are evident in all the signals, suggesting the existence of a dynamical flow phenomenon as a common cause. Fluctuations of all velocity gradients in the longitudinal direction are amplified significantly downstream of the interaction. Fluctuations of the velocity gradients in the lateral directions show no change or a minor reduction through the interaction. Root mean square values of the lateral vorticity components indicate a 25% amplification on average, which appears to be very weakly dependent on the shock strength. The transmission of the longitudinal vorticity fluctuations through the shock appears to be less affected by the interaction than the fluctuations of the lateral components. Non-dissipative vortex tubes and irrotational dissipative motions are more intense in the region downstream of the shock. There is also a significant increase in the number of events with intense rotational and dissipative motions. Integral length scales and Taylor's microscales were reduced after the interaction with the shock in all investigated flow cases. The integral length scales in the lateral direction increase at low Mach numbers and decrease during strong interactions. It appears that in the weakest of the present interactions, turbulent eddies are compressed drastically in the longitudinal direction while their extent in the normal direction remains relatively the same. As the shock strength increases the lateral integral length scales increase while the longitudinal ones decrease. At the strongest interaction of the present flow cases turbulent eddies are compressed in both directions. However, even at the highest Mach number the issue is more complicated since amplification of the lateral scales has been observed in flows with fine grids. Thus the outcome of the interaction strongly depends on the initial conditions.

Fragmentation under the Scaling Symmetry and Turbulent Cascade with Intermittency

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gorokhovski, M.

2003-01-01

Fragmentation plays an important role in a variety of physical, chemical, and geological processes. Examples include atomization in sprays, crushing of rocks, explosion and impact of solids, polymer degradation, etc. Although each individual action of fragmentation is a complex process, the number of these elementary actions is large. It is natural to abstract a simple 'effective' scenario of fragmentation and to represent its essential features. One of the models is the fragmentation under the scaling symmetry: each breakup action reduces the typical length of fragments, r (right arrow) alpha r, by an independent random multiplier alpha (0 < alpha < 1), which is governed by the fragmentation intensity spectrum q(alpha), integral(sup 1)(sub 0) q(alpha)d alpha = 1. This scenario has been proposed by Kolmogorov (1941), when he considered the breakup of solid carbon particle. Describing the breakup as a random discrete process, Kolmogorov stated that at latest times, such a process leads to the log-normal distribution. In Gorokhovski & Saveliev, the fragmentation under the scaling symmetry has been reviewed as a continuous evolution process with new features established. The objective of this paper is twofold. First, the paper synthesizes and completes theoretical part of Gorokhovski & Saveliev. Second, the paper shows a new application of the fragmentation theory under the scale invariance. This application concerns the turbulent cascade with intermittency. We formulate here a model describing the evolution of the velocity increment distribution along the progressively decreasing length scale. The model shows that when the turbulent length scale gets smaller, the velocity increment distribution has central growing peak and develops stretched tails. The intermittency in turbulence is manifested in the same way: large fluctuations of velocity provoke highest strain in narrow (dissipative) regions of flow.

A multi-scale approach to designing therapeutics for tuberculosis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Linderman, Jennifer J.; Cilfone, Nicholas A.; Pienaar, Elsje

Approximately one third of the world’s population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Limited information about how the immune system fights M. tuberculosis and what constitutes protection from the bacteria impact our ability to develop effective therapies for tuberculosis. We present an in vivo systems biology approach that integrates data from multiple model systems and over multiple length and time scales into a comprehensive multi-scale and multi-compartment view of the in vivo immune response to M. tuberculosis. Lastly, we describe computational models that can be used to study (a) immunomodulation with the cytokines tumor necrosis factor and interleukin 10, (b) oralmore » and inhaled antibiotics, and (c) the effect of vaccination.« less

Channeling of multikilojoule high-intensity laser beams in an inhomogeneous plasma

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ivancic, S.; Haberberger, D.; Habara, H.

Channeling experiments were performed that demonstrate the transport of high-intensity (>10¹⁸ W/cm²), multikilojoule laser light through a millimeter-sized, inhomogeneous (~300-μm density scale length) laser produced plasma up to overcritical density, which is an important step forward for the fast-ignition concept. The background plasma density and the density depression inside the channel were characterized with a novel optical probe system. The channel progression velocity was measured, which agrees well with theoretical predictions based on large scale particle-in-cell simulations, confirming scaling laws for the required channeling laser energy and laser pulse duration, which are important parameters for future integrated fast-ignition channeling experiments.

A multi-scale approach to designing therapeutics for tuberculosis

DOE PAGES

Linderman, Jennifer J.; Cilfone, Nicholas A.; Pienaar, Elsje; ...

2015-04-20

Approximately one third of the world’s population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Limited information about how the immune system fights M. tuberculosis and what constitutes protection from the bacteria impact our ability to develop effective therapies for tuberculosis. We present an in vivo systems biology approach that integrates data from multiple model systems and over multiple length and time scales into a comprehensive multi-scale and multi-compartment view of the in vivo immune response to M. tuberculosis. Lastly, we describe computational models that can be used to study (a) immunomodulation with the cytokines tumor necrosis factor and interleukin 10, (b) oralmore » and inhaled antibiotics, and (c) the effect of vaccination.« less

Detectable states, cycle fluxes, and motility scaling of molecular motor kinesin: An integrative kinetic graph theory analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Jie

2017-12-01

The process by which a kinesin motor couples its ATPase activity with concerted mechanical hand-over-hand steps is a foremost topic of molecular motor physics. Two major routes toward elucidating kinesin mechanisms are the motility performance characterization of velocity and run length, and single-molecular state detection experiments. However, these two sets of experimental approaches are largely uncoupled to date. Here, we introduce an integrative motility state analysis based on a theorized kinetic graph theory for kinesin, which, on one hand, is validated by a wealth of accumulated motility data, and, on the other hand, allows for rigorous quantification of state occurrences and chemomechanical cycling probabilities. An interesting linear scaling for kinesin motility performance across species is discussed as well. An integrative kinetic graph theory analysis provides a powerful tool to bridge motility and state characterization experiments, so as to forge a unified effort for the elucidation of the working mechanisms of molecular motors.

Nanofluidic interfaces in microfluidic networks

DOE PAGES

Millet, Larry J.; Doktycz, Mitchel John; Retterer, Scott T.

2015-09-24

The integration of nano- and microfluidic technologies enables the construction of tunable interfaces to physical and biological systems across relevant length scales. The ability to perform chemical manipulations of miniscule sample volumes is greatly enhanced through these technologies and extends the ability to manipulate and sample the local fluidic environments at subcellular, cellular and community or tissue scales. Here we describe the development of a flexible surface micromachining process for the creation of nanofluidic channel arrays integrated within SU-8 microfluidic networks. The use of a semi-porous, silicon rich, silicon nitride structural layer allows rapid release of the sacrificial silicon dioxidemore » during the nanochannel fabrication. Nanochannel openings that form the interface to biological samples are customized using focused ion beam milling. The compatibility of these interfaces with on-chip microbial culture is demonstrated.« less

Ultrastable assembly and integration technology for ground- and space-based optical systems.

PubMed

Ressel, Simon; Gohlke, Martin; Rauen, Dominik; Schuldt, Thilo; Kronast, Wolfgang; Mescheder, Ulrich; Johann, Ulrich; Weise, Dennis; Braxmaier, Claus

2010-08-01

Optical metrology systems crucially rely on the dimensional stability of the optical path between their individual optical components. We present in this paper a novel adhesive bonding technology for setup of quasi-monolithic systems and compare selected characteristics to the well-established state-of-the-art technique of hydroxide-catalysis bonding. It is demonstrated that within the measurement resolution of our ultraprecise custom heterodyne interferometer, both techniques achieve an equivalent passive path length and tilt stability for time scales between 0.1 mHz and 1 Hz. Furthermore, the robustness of the adhesive bonds against mechanical and thermal inputs has been tested, making this new bonding technique in particular a potential option for interferometric applications in future space missions. The integration process itself is eased by long time scales for alignment, as well as short curing times.

Leaky Integrate and Fire Neuron by Charge-Discharge Dynamics in Floating-Body MOSFET.

PubMed

Dutta, Sangya; Kumar, Vinay; Shukla, Aditya; Mohapatra, Nihar R; Ganguly, Udayan

2017-08-15

Neuro-biology inspired Spiking Neural Network (SNN) enables efficient learning and recognition tasks. To achieve a large scale network akin to biology, a power and area efficient electronic neuron is essential. Earlier, we had demonstrated an LIF neuron by a novel 4-terminal impact ionization based n+/p/n+ with an extended gate (gated-INPN) device by physics simulation. Excellent improvement in area and power compared to conventional analog circuit implementations was observed. In this paper, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a compact conventional 3-terminal partially depleted (PD) SOI- MOSFET (100 nm gate length) to replace the 4-terminal gated-INPN device. Impact ionization (II) induced floating body effect in SOI-MOSFET is used to capture LIF neuron behavior to demonstrate spiking frequency dependence on input. MHz operation enables attractive hardware acceleration compared to biology. Overall, conventional PD-SOI-CMOS technology enables very-large-scale-integration (VLSI) which is essential for biology scale (~10 11 neuron based) large neural networks.

The stellar populations of M 33

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Van den bergh, S.

1991-07-01

A review is given of present ideas on the evolution and stellar content of the Triangulum nebula = M 33 = NGC 598. The disk of M 33 is embedded in a halo of globular clusters, metal-poor red giants, and RR Lyrae stars. Its nuclear bulge component is weak, suggesting that the halos of galaxies are not extensions of their bulges to large radii. The ages of M 33 clusters do not appear to exhibit a hiatus in their star-forming history like that which is observed in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Young and intermediate-age clusters with luminosities rivaling themore » populous clusters in the LMC are rare in M 33. The integrated light of the semistellar nucleus of M 33, which contains the strongest X-ray source in the Local Group, is dominated by a young metal-rich population. At optical wavelengths the disk scale length of M 33 is 9.6 arcmin, which is similar to the 9.9 arcmin scale length of OB associations. The ratio of the nova rate in M 33 to that in M 31 is approximately equal to the ratio of their luminosities. This suggests that the nova rate in a galaxy is not determined entirely by the integrated luminosity of old bulge stars. The gas-depletion time scale in the central region of M 33 is found to be about 1.7 {times} 10 to the 9th yr, which is significantly shorter than a Hubble time. 141 refs.« less

Finite-size scaling above the upper critical dimension in Ising models with long-range interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flores-Sola, Emilio J.; Berche, Bertrand; Kenna, Ralph; Weigel, Martin

2015-01-01

The correlation length plays a pivotal role in finite-size scaling and hyperscaling at continuous phase transitions. Below the upper critical dimension, where the correlation length is proportional to the system length, both finite-size scaling and hyperscaling take conventional forms. Above the upper critical dimension these forms break down and a new scaling scenario appears. Here we investigate this scaling behaviour by simulating one-dimensional Ising ferromagnets with long-range interactions. We show that the correlation length scales as a non-trivial power of the linear system size and investigate the scaling forms. For interactions of sufficiently long range, the disparity between the correlation length and the system length can be made arbitrarily large, while maintaining the new scaling scenarios. We also investigate the behavior of the correlation function above the upper critical dimension and the modifications imposed by the new scaling scenario onto the associated Fisher relation.

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

PubMed

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.

Two Independent Contributions to Step Variability during Over-Ground Human Walking

PubMed Central

Collins, Steven H.; Kuo, Arthur D.

2013-01-01

Human walking exhibits small variations in both step length and step width, some of which may be related to active balance control. Lateral balance is thought to require integrative sensorimotor control through adjustment of step width rather than length, contributing to greater variability in step width. Here we propose that step length variations are largely explained by the typical human preference for step length to increase with walking speed, which itself normally exhibits some slow and spontaneous fluctuation. In contrast, step width variations should have little relation to speed if they are produced more for lateral balance. As a test, we examined hundreds of overground walking steps by healthy young adults (N = 14, age < 40 yrs.). We found that slow fluctuations in self-selected walking speed (2.3% coefficient of variation) could explain most of the variance in step length (59%, P < 0.01). The residual variability not explained by speed was small (1.5% coefficient of variation), suggesting that step length is actually quite precise if not for the slow speed fluctuations. Step width varied over faster time scales and was independent of speed fluctuations, with variance 4.3 times greater than that for step length (P < 0.01) after accounting for the speed effect. That difference was further magnified by walking with eyes closed, which appears detrimental to control of lateral balance. Humans appear to modulate fore-aft foot placement in precise accordance with slow fluctuations in walking speed, whereas the variability of lateral foot placement appears more closely related to balance. Step variability is separable in both direction and time scale into balance- and speed-related components. The separation of factors not related to balance may reveal which aspects of walking are most critical for the nervous system to control. PMID:24015308

Big whorls carry little whorls

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hunt, J. C. R.; Buell, J. C.; Wray, A. A.

1987-01-01

The aim of the research was to explore the space-time structure of homogeneous turbulence by computing and then interpreting the two-point spectra and correlations of the velocity and pressure fields. Many of these statistics are of considerable practical importance. In particular, it is of interest to compare the different time and length integral scales and microscales for Eulerian and Lagrangian qualities, and to compare the space and time spectra.

Sediment Transport at Density Fronts in Shallow Water

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-07-16

June 2009 on the Skagit Tidal flats in Puget Sound, coordinated with other researchers in the Tidal Flats DRI. Focused observations of the shallow...on wind correlation length scales and implications for coastal ocean modeling (Raubenheimer et al., 2013). We also worked on applying to the model...From the Skagit model results, we found that the rate of change of stratification, quantified as the integrated potential energy anomaly O (Simpson

Fan Noise Source Diagnostic Test: Vane Unsteady Pressure Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Envia, Edmane

2002-01-01

To investigate the nature of fan outlet guide vane pressure fluctuations and their link to rotor-stator interaction noise, time histories of vane fluctuating pressures were digitally acquired as part of the Fan Noise Source Diagnostic Test. Vane unsteady pressures were measured at seven fan tip speeds for both a radial and a swept vane configuration. Using time-domain averaging and spectral analysis, the blade passing frequency (BPF) harmonic and broadband contents of the vane pressures were individually analyzed. Significant Sound Pressure Level (SPL) reductions were observed for the swept vane relative to the radial vane for the BPF harmonics of vane pressure, but vane broadband reductions due to sweep turned out to be much smaller especially on an average basis. Cross-correlation analysis was used to establish the level of spatial coherence of broadband pressures between different locations on the vane and integral length scales of pressure fluctuations were estimated from these correlations. Two main results of this work are: (1) the average broadband level on the vane (in dB) increases linearly with the fan tip speed for both the radial and swept vanes, and (2) the broadband pressure distribution on the vane is nearly homogeneous and its integral length scale is a monotonically decreasing function of fan tip speed.

Implementation of Dryden Continuous Turbulence Model into Simulink for LSA-02 Flight Test Simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ichwanul Hakim, Teuku Mohd; Arifianto, Ony

2018-04-01

Turbulence is a movement of air on small scale in the atmosphere that caused by instabilities of pressure and temperature distribution. Turbulence model is integrated into flight mechanical model as an atmospheric disturbance. Common turbulence model used in flight mechanical model are Dryden and Von Karman model. In this minor research, only Dryden continuous turbulence model were made. Dryden continuous turbulence model has been implemented, it refers to the military specification MIL-HDBK-1797. The model was implemented into Matlab Simulink. The model will be integrated with flight mechanical model to observe response of the aircraft when it is flight through turbulence field. The turbulence model is characterized by multiplying the filter which are generated from power spectral density with band-limited Gaussian white noise input. In order to ensure that the model provide a good result, model verification has been done by comparing the implemented model with the similar model that is provided in aerospace blockset. The result shows that there are some difference for 2 linear velocities (vg and wg), and 3 angular rate (pg, qg and rg). The difference is instantly caused by different determination of turbulence scale length which is used in aerospace blockset. With the adjustment of turbulence length in the implemented model, both model result the similar output.

Nanoscale integration is the next frontier for nanotechnology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Picraux, Samuel T

2009-01-01

Nanoscale integration of materials and structures is the next critical step to exploit the promise of nanomaterials. Many novel and fascinating properties have been revealed for nanostructured materials. But if nanotechnology is to live up to its promise we must incorporate these nanoscale building blocks into functional systems that connect to the micro- and macroscale world. To do this we will inevitably need to understand and exploit the resulting combined unique properties of these integrated nanosystems. Much science waits to be discovered in the process. Nanoscale integration extends from the synthesis and fabrication of individual nanoscale building blocks, to themore » assembly of these building blocks into composite structures, and finally to the formation of complex functional systems. As illustrated in Figure 1, the building blocks may be homogeneous or heterogeneous, the composite materials may be nanocomposite or patterned structures, and the functional systems will involve additional combinations of materials. Nanoscale integration involves assembling diverse nanoscale materials across length scales to design and achieve new properties and functionality. At each stage size-dependent properties, the influence of surfaces in close proximity, and a multitude of interfaces all come into play. Whether the final system involves coherent electrons in a quantum computing approach, the combined flow of phonons and electrons for a high efficiency thermoelectric micro-generator, or a molecular recognition structure for bio-sensing, the combined effects of size, surface, and interface will be critical. In essence, one wants to combine the novel functions available through nanoscale science to achieve unique multi-functionalities not available in bulk materials. Perhaps the best-known example of integration is that of combining electronic components together into very large scale integrated circuits (VLSI). The integrated circuit has revolutionized electronics in many ways, from exploiting field-effect transistor devices and low power complementary logic to enable the electronic watch and hand calculator in the 1970's, to today's microprocessors and memories with billions of devices and a computational power not imagined a few decades ago. The manipulation of charges on a chip, the new concepts in combining devices for logic functions, and the new approaches to computation, information processing, and imaging have all emerged from Kilby and Noyce's simple concept of integrating devices on a single chip. Moving from hard to soft materials, a second more recent example of integration is the DNA microarray. These microarrays, with up to millions of elements in a planar array that can be optically read out, can simultaneously measure the expression of 10's of thousands of genes to study the effects of disease and treatment, or screen for single nucleotide polymorphisms for uses ranging from forensics to predisposition to disease. While still at an early stage, microarrays have revolutionized biosciences by providing the means to interrogate the complex genetic control of biological functions. Just as integrated circuits and microarrays have led to completely new functionalities and performance, the integration of nanoscale materials and structures is anticipated to lead to new performance and enable the design of new functionalities not previously envisioned. The fundamental questions underlying integration go beyond just complex fabrication or the engineering of known solutions; they lead to new discoveries and new science. The scientific challenges around nanoscale integration necessitate the development of new knowledge that is central to the advance of nanotechnology. To move forward one must address key science questions that arise in nanoscience integration and go beyond a single system or materials area. New science and discoveries especially await around three questions. How does one: (1) Control energy transfer and other interactions across interfaces and over mUltiple length scales? (2) Understand and control the interactions between nanoscale building blocks to assemble specific integrated structures? (3) Design and exploit interactions within assembled structures to achieve new properties and specific functionalities? These high level questions can serve to drive research, and to advance understanding of the complex phenomena and multifunctionality that may emerge from integration. For example, in photonics there is considerable effort to understand and control the response of nanoscale conducting structures on dielectrics, to allow one to localize, manipulate, and control electromagnetic energy in integrated systems such as in the field known as metamaterials. Essential to this area is a fundamental understanding of energy transfer across multiple length scales (question 1 above).« less

Controlled Synthesis of Millimeter-Long Silicon Nanowires with Uniform Electronic Properties

PubMed Central

Park, Won Il; Zheng, Gengfeng; Jiang, Xiaocheng; Tian, Bozhi; Lieber, Charles M.

2009-01-01

We report the nanocluster-catalyzed growth of ultra-long and highly-uniform single-crystalline silicon nanowires (SiNWs) with millimeter-scale lengths and aspect ratios up to ca. 100,000. The average SiNW growth rate using disilane (Si2H6) at 400 °C was 31 µm/min, while the growth rate determined for silane (SiH4) reactant under similar growth conditions was 130 times lower. Transmission electron microscopy studies of millimeter-long SiNWs with diameters of 20–80 nm show that the nanowires grow preferentially along the <110> direction independent of diameter. In addition, ultra-long SiNWs were used as building blocks to fabricate one-dimensional arrays of field-effect transistors (FETs) consisting of ca. 100 independent devices per nanowire. Significantly, electrical transport measurements demonstrated that the millimeter-long SiNWs had uniform electrical properties along the entire length of wires, and each device can behave as a reliable FET with an on-state current, threshold voltage, and transconductance values (average ± 1 standard deviation) of 1.8 ± 0.3 µA, 6.0 ± 1.1 V, 210 ± 60 nS, respectively. Electronically-uniform millimeter-long SiNWs were also functionalized with monoclonal antibody receptors, and used to demonstrate multiplexed detection of cancer marker proteins with a single nanowire. The synthesis of structurally- and electronically-uniform ultra-long SiNWs may open up new opportunities for integrated nanoelectronics, and could serve as unique building blocks linking integrated structures from the nanometer through millimeter length scales. PMID:18710294

Ontogeny of Feeding Mechanics in Smoothhound Sharks: Morphology and Cartilage Stiffness.

PubMed

Wilga, Cheryl A D; Diniz, Stephanye E; Steele, Preston R; Sudario-Cook, Jordan; Dumont, Elizabeth R; Ferry, Lara A

2016-09-01

The diet of dusky smoothhound sharks, Mustelus canis, shifts over ontogeny from soft foods to a diet dominated by crabs. This may be accompanied by changes in the skeletal system that facilitates the capture and processing of large and bulky prey. The hyoid arch, for example, braces the jaws against the cranium, and generates suction for prey capture and intraoral transport. In this study, ontogenetic changes in the hyoid arch were investigated by quantifying size, mineralization, and stiffness to determine whether increasingly stiffer cartilages are associated with the dietary switch. Total length and length of the hyomandibula and ceratohyal cartilages over ontogeny were the proxy for body size. Cross-sectional area, percent mineralization, and second moment of area were quantified in 28 individuals spanning most of the natural size range. Mechanical compression tests were conducted to compare flexural stiffness to size. Our results show that the morphological characters tested for the hyomandibular and ceratohyal cartilages scales isometrically with length. While stiffness of the hyomandibular and ceratohyal cartilages scales isometrically with length when assessed on morphological characters alone (second moment of area), this relationship becomes allometric when mechanical properties are included (flexural stiffness). Thus, while the hyoid arch elements grow isometrically, the mechanical properties dictate a scaling relationship that dwarfs morphological characteristics. The various combinations of morphologies and ontogenetic trajectories of chondrichthyan species illustrate the tremendous flexibility that they possess in the functional organization of the feeding apparatus. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Hydrologic connectivity and the contribution of stream headwaters to ecological integrity at regional scales

USGS Publications Warehouse

Freeman, Mary C.; Pringle, C.M.; Jackson, C.R.

2007-01-01

Cumulatively, headwater streams contribute to maintaining hydrologic connectivity and ecosystem integrity at regional scales. Hydrologic connectivity is the water-mediated transport of matter, energy and organisms within or between elements of the hydrologic cycle. Headwater streams compose over two-thirds of total stream length in a typical river drainage and directly connect the upland and riparian landscape to the rest of the stream ecosystem. Altering headwater streams, e.g., by channelization, diversion through pipes, impoundment and burial, modifies fluxes between uplands and downstream river segments and eliminates distinctive habitats. The large-scale ecological effects of altering headwaters are amplified by land uses that alter runoff and nutrient loads to streams, and by widespread dam construction on larger rivers (which frequently leaves free-flowing upstream portions of river systems essential to sustaining aquatic biodiversity). We discuss three examples of large-scale consequences of cumulative headwater alteration. Downstream eutrophication and coastal hypoxia result, in part, from agricultural practices that alter headwaters and wetlands while increasing nutrient runoff. Extensive headwater alteration is also expected to lower secondary productivity of river systems by reducing stream-system length and trophic subsidies to downstream river segments, affecting aquatic communities and terrestrial wildlife that utilize aquatic resources. Reduced viability of freshwater biota may occur with cumulative headwater alteration, including for species that occupy a range of stream sizes but for which headwater streams diversify the network of interconnected populations or enhance survival for particular life stages. Developing a more predictive understanding of ecological patterns that may emerge on regional scales as a result of headwater alterations will require studies focused on components and pathways that connect headwaters to river, coastal and terrestrial ecosystems. Linkages between headwaters and downstream ecosystems cannot be discounted when addressing large-scale issues such as hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico and global losses of biodiversity.

Abnormalities in Structural Covariance of Cortical Gyrification in Parkinson's Disease.

PubMed

Xu, Jinping; Zhang, Jiuquan; Zhang, Jinlei; Wang, Yue; Zhang, Yanling; Wang, Jian; Li, Guanglin; Hu, Qingmao; Zhang, Yuanchao

2017-01-01

Although abnormal cortical morphology and connectivity between brain regions (structural covariance) have been reported in Parkinson's disease (PD), the topological organizations of large-scale structural brain networks are still poorly understood. In this study, we investigated large-scale structural brain networks in a sample of 37 PD patients and 34 healthy controls (HC) by assessing the structural covariance of cortical gyrification with local gyrification index (lGI). We demonstrated prominent small-world properties of the structural brain networks for both groups. Compared with the HC group, PD patients showed significantly increased integrated characteristic path length and integrated clustering coefficient, as well as decreased integrated global efficiency in structural brain networks. Distinct distributions of hub regions were identified between the two groups, showing more hub regions in the frontal cortex in PD patients. Moreover, the modular analyses revealed significantly decreased integrated regional efficiency in lateral Fronto-Insula-Temporal module, and increased integrated regional efficiency in Parieto-Temporal module in the PD group as compared to the HC group. In summary, our study demonstrated altered topological properties of structural networks at a global, regional and modular level in PD patients. These findings suggests that the structural networks of PD patients have a suboptimal topological organization, resulting in less effective integration of information between brain regions.

NetMHCpan-3.0; improved prediction of binding to MHC class I molecules integrating information from multiple receptor and peptide length datasets.

PubMed

Nielsen, Morten; Andreatta, Massimo

2016-03-30

Binding of peptides to MHC class I molecules (MHC-I) is essential for antigen presentation to cytotoxic T-cells. Here, we demonstrate how a simple alignment step allowing insertions and deletions in a pan-specific MHC-I binding machine-learning model enables combining information across both multiple MHC molecules and peptide lengths. This pan-allele/pan-length algorithm significantly outperforms state-of-the-art methods, and captures differences in the length profile of binders to different MHC molecules leading to increased accuracy for ligand identification. Using this model, we demonstrate that percentile ranks in contrast to affinity-based thresholds are optimal for ligand identification due to uniform sampling of the MHC space. We have developed a neural network-based machine-learning algorithm leveraging information across multiple receptor specificities and ligand length scales, and demonstrated how this approach significantly improves the accuracy for prediction of peptide binding and identification of MHC ligands. The method is available at www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/NetMHCpan-3.0 .

Limits on silicon nanoelectronics for terascale integration.

PubMed

Meindl, J D; Chen, Q; Davis, J A

2001-09-14

Throughout the past four decades, silicon semiconductor technology has advanced at exponential rates in both performance and productivity. Concerns have been raised, however, that the limits of silicon technology may soon be reached. Analysis of fundamental, material, device, circuit, and system limits reveals that silicon technology has an enormous remaining potential to achieve terascale integration (TSI) of more than 1 trillion transistors per chip. Such massive-scale integration is feasible assuming the development and economical mass production of double-gate metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors with gate oxide thickness of about 1 nanometer, silicon channel thickness of about 3 nanometers, and channel length of about 10 nanometers. The development of interconnecting wires for these transistors presents a major challenge to the achievement of nanoelectronics for TSI.

Length scale effects and multiscale modeling of thermally induced phase transformation kinetics in NiTi SMA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frantziskonis, George N.; Gur, Sourav

2017-06-01

Thermally induced phase transformation in NiTi shape memory alloys (SMAs) shows strong size and shape, collectively termed length scale effects, at the nano to micrometer scales, and that has important implications for the design and use of devices and structures at such scales. This paper, based on a recently developed multiscale model that utilizes molecular dynamics (MDs) simulations at small scales and MD-verified phase field (PhF) simulations at larger scales, reports results on specific length scale effects, i.e. length scale effects in martensite phase fraction (MPF) evolution, transformation temperatures (martensite and austenite start and finish) and in the thermally cyclic transformation between austenitic and martensitic phase. The multiscale study identifies saturation points for length scale effects and studies, for the first time, the length scale effect on the kinetics (i.e. developed internal strains) in the B19‧ phase during phase transformation. The major part of the work addresses small scale single crystals in specific orientations. However, the multiscale method is used in a unique and novel way to indirectly study length scale and grain size effects on evolution kinetics in polycrystalline NiTi, and to compare the simulation results to experiments. The interplay of the grain size and the length scale effect on the thermally induced MPF evolution is also shown in this present study. Finally, the multiscale coupling results are employed to improve phenomenological material models for NiTi SMA.

Digital Rocks Portal: a Sustainable Platform for Data Management, Analysis and Remote Visualization of Volumetric Images of Porous Media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prodanovic, M.; Esteva, M.; Ketcham, R. A.

2017-12-01

Nanometer to centimeter-scale imaging such as (focused ion beam) scattered electron microscopy, magnetic resonance imaging and X-ray (micro)tomography has since 1990s introduced 2D and 3D datasets of rock microstructure that allow investigation of nonlinear flow and mechanical phenomena on the length scales that are otherwise impervious to laboratory measurements. The numerical approaches that use such images produce various upscaled parameters required by subsurface flow and deformation simulators. All of this has revolutionized our knowledge about grain scale phenomena. However, a lack of data-sharing infrastructure among research groups makes it difficult to integrate different length scales. We have developed a sustainable, open and easy-to-use repository called the Digital Rocks Portal (https://www.digitalrocksportal.org), that (1) organizes images and related experimental measurements of different porous materials, (2) improves access to them for a wider community of engineering or geosciences researchers not necessarily trained in computer science or data analysis. Digital Rocks Portal (NSF EarthCube Grant 1541008) is the first repository for imaged porous microstructure data. It is implemented within the reliable, 24/7 maintained High Performance Computing Infrastructure supported by the Texas Advanced Computing Center (University of Texas at Austin). Long-term storage is provided through the University of Texas System Research Cyber-infrastructure initiative. We show how the data can be documented, referenced in publications via digital object identifiers (see Figure below for examples), visualized, searched for and linked to other repositories. We show recently implemented integration of the remote parallel visualization, bulk upload for large datasets as well as preliminary flow simulation workflow with the pore structures currently stored in the repository. We discuss the issues of collecting correct metadata, data discoverability and repository sustainability.

Structure and dynamics of hyaluronic acid semidilute solutions: a dielectric spectroscopy study.

PubMed

Vuletić, T; Dolanski Babić, S; Ivek, T; Grgicin, D; Tomić, S; Podgornik, R

2010-07-01

Dielectric spectroscopy is used to investigate fundamental length scales describing the structure of hyaluronic acid sodium salt (Na-HA) semidilute aqueous solutions. In salt-free regime, the length scale of the relaxation mode detected in MHz range scales with HA concentration as c(HA)(-0.5) and corresponds to the de Gennes-Pfeuty-Dobrynin correlation length of polyelectrolytes in semidilute solution. The same scaling was observed for the case of long, genomic DNA. Conversely, the length scale of the mode detected in kilohertz range also varies with HA concentration as c(HA)(-0.5) which differs from the case of DNA (c(DNA)(-0.25)). The observed behavior suggests that the relaxation in the kilohertz range reveals the de Gennes-Dobrynin renormalized Debye screening length, and not the average size of the chain, as the pertinent length scale. Similarly, with increasing added salt the electrostatic contribution to the HA persistence length is observed to scale as the Debye length, contrary to scaling pertinent to the Odijk-Skolnick-Fixman electrostatic persistence length observed in the case of DNA. We argue that the observed features of the kilohertz range relaxation are due to much weaker electrostatic interactions that lead to the absence of Manning condensation as well as a rather high flexibility of HA as compared to DNA.

A Multi-Scale Approach to Airway Hyperresponsiveness: From Molecule to Organ

PubMed Central

Lauzon, Anne-Marie; Bates, Jason H. T.; Donovan, Graham; Tawhai, Merryn; Sneyd, James; Sanderson, Michael J.

2012-01-01

Airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), a characteristic of asthma that involves an excessive reduction in airway caliber, is a complex mechanism reflecting multiple processes that manifest over a large range of length and time scales. At one extreme, molecular interactions determine the force generated by airway smooth muscle (ASM). At the other, the spatially distributed constriction of the branching airways leads to breathing difficulties. Similarly, asthma therapies act at the molecular scale while clinical outcomes are determined by lung function. These extremes are linked by events operating over intermediate scales of length and time. Thus, AHR is an emergent phenomenon that limits our understanding of asthma and confounds the interpretation of studies that address physiological mechanisms over a limited range of scales. A solution is a modular computational model that integrates experimental and mathematical data from multiple scales. This includes, at the molecular scale, kinetics, and force production of actin-myosin contractile proteins during cross-bridge and latch-state cycling; at the cellular scale, Ca2+ signaling mechanisms that regulate ASM force production; at the tissue scale, forces acting between contracting ASM and opposing viscoelastic tissue that determine airway narrowing; at the organ scale, the topographic distribution of ASM contraction dynamics that determine mechanical impedance of the lung. At each scale, models are constructed with iterations between theory and experimentation to identify the parameters that link adjacent scales. This modular model establishes algorithms for modeling over a wide range of scales and provides a framework for the inclusion of other responses such as inflammation or therapeutic regimes. The goal is to develop this lung model so that it can make predictions about bronchoconstriction and identify the pathophysiologic mechanisms having the greatest impact on AHR and its therapy. PMID:22701430

Integration of length and curvature in haptic perception.

PubMed

Panday, Virjanand; Tiest, Wouter M Bergmann; Kappers, Astrid M L

2014-01-24

We investigated if and how length and curvature information are integrated when an object is explored in one hand. Subjects were asked to explore four types of objects between thumb and index finger. Objects differed in either length, curvature, both length and curvature correlated as in a circle, or anti-correlated. We found that when both length and curvature are present, performance is significantly better than when only one of the two cues is available. Therefore, we conclude that there is integration of length and curvature. Moreover, if the two cues are correlated in a circular cross-section instead of in an anti-correlated way, performance is better than predicted by a combination of two independent cues. We conclude that integration of curvature and length is highly efficient when the cues in the object are combined as in a circle, which is the most common combination of curvature and length in daily life.

Digital Rocks Portal: Preservation, Sharing, Remote Visualization and Automated Analysis of Imaged Datasets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prodanovic, M.; Esteva, M.; Ketcham, R. A.; Hanlon, M.; Pettengill, M.; Ranganath, A.; Venkatesh, A.

2016-12-01

Due to advances in imaging modalities such as X-ray microtomography and scattered electron microscopy, 2D and 3D imaged datasets of rock microstructure on nanometer to centimeter length scale allow investigation of nonlinear flow and mechanical phenomena using numerical approaches. This in turn produces various upscaled parameters required by subsurface flow and deformation simulators. However, a single research group typically specializes in an imaging modality and/or related modeling on a single length scale, and lack of data-sharing infrastructure makes it difficult to integrate different length scales. We developed a sustainable, open and easy-to-use repository called the Digital Rocks Portal (http://www.digitalrocksportal.org), that (1) organizes images and related experimental measurements of different porous materials, (2) improves access to them for a wider community of geosciences or engineering researchers not necessarily trained in computer science or data analysis. Our objective is to enable scientific inquiry and engineering decisions founded on a data-driven basis. We show how the data loaded in the portal can be documented, referenced in publications via digital object identifiers, visualize and linked to other repositories. We then show preliminary results on integrating remote parallel visualization and flow simulation workflow with the pore structures currently stored in the repository. We finally discuss the issues of collecting correct metadata, data discoverability and repository sustainability. This is the first repository for this particular data, but is part of the wider ecosystem of geoscience data and model cyber-infrastructure called "Earthcube" (http://earthcube.org/) sponsored by National Science Foundation. For data sustainability and continuous access, the portal is implemented within the reliable, 24/7 maintained High Performance Computing Infrastructure supported by the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at the University of Texas at Austin. Long-term storage is provided through the University of Texas System Research Cyber-infrastructure initiative.

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

DOE PAGES

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

2015-04-02

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. However, 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-pass filter time constants shorter than about τ = 38 h, all datasets exhibit a correlation lengthmore » $$\\xi $$ that falls at least as fast as $${{\\tau }^{-1}}$$ . Since the inter-site separation needed for statistical independence falls for shorter time scales, higher-rate fluctuations can be effectively smoothed by aggregating wind plants over areas smaller than otherwise estimated.« less

Magnetic exchange coupling through superconductors : a trilayer study.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sa de Melo, C. A. R.; Materials Science Division

1997-09-08

The possibility of magnetic exchange coupling between two ferromagnets (F) separated by a superconductor (S) spacer is analyzed using the functional integral method. For this coupling to occur three prima facie conditions need to be satisfied. First, an indirect exchange coupling between the ferromagnets must exist when the superconductor is in its normal state. Second, superconductivity must not be destroyed due to the proximity to ferromagnetic boundaries. Third, roughness of the F/S interfaces must be small. Under these conditions, when the superconductor is cooled to below its critical temperature, the magnetic coupling changes. The appearance of the superconducting gap introducesmore » a new length scale (the coherence length of the superconductor) and modifies the temperature dependence of the indirect exchange coupling existent in the normal state. The magnetic coupling is oscillatory both above and below the critical temperature of the superconductor, as well as strongly temperature-dependent. However, at low temperatures the indirect exchange coupling decay length is controlled by the coherence length of the superconductor, while at temperatures close to and above the critical temperature of the superconductor the magnetic coupling decay length is controlled by the thermal length.« less

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

Multiple plasmonically induced transparency for chip-scale bandpass filters in metallic nanowaveguides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Hua; Yue, Zengqi; Zhao, Jianlin

2018-05-01

We propose and investigate a new kind of bandpass filters based on the plasmonically induced transparency (PIT) effect in a special metal-insulator-metal (MIM) waveguide system. The finite element method (FEM) simulations illustrate that the obvious PIT response can be generated in the metallic nanostructure with the stub and coupled cavities. The lineshape and position of the PIT peak are particularly dependent on the lengths of the stub and coupled cavities, the waveguide width, as well as the coupling distance between the stub and coupled cavities. The numerical simulations are in accordance with the results obtained by the temporal coupled-mode theory. The multi-peak PIT effect can be achieved by integrating multiple coupled cavities into the plasmonic waveguide. This PIT response contributes to the flexible realization of chip-scale multi-channel bandpass filters, which could find crucial applications in highly integrated optical circuits for signal processing.

Monolithic barrier-all-around high electron mobility transistor with planar GaAs nanowire channel.

PubMed

Miao, Xin; Zhang, Chen; Li, Xiuling

2013-06-12

High-quality growth of planar GaAs nanowires (NWs) with widths as small as 35 nm is realized by comprehensively mapping the parameter space of group III flow, V/III ratio, and temperature as the size of the NWs scales down. Using a growth mode modulation scheme for the NW and thin film barrier layers, monolithically integrated AlGaAs barrier-all-around planar GaAs NW high electron mobility transistors (NW-HEMTs) are achieved. The peak extrinsic transconductance, drive current, and effective electron velocity are 550 μS/μm, 435 μA/μm, and ~2.9 × 10(7) cm/s, respectively, at 2 V supply voltage with a gate length of 120 nm. The excellent DC performance demonstrated here shows the potential of this bottom-up planar NW technology for low-power high-speed very-large-scale-integration (VLSI) circuits.

Control of coherent information via on-chip photonic-phononic emitter-receivers.

PubMed

Shin, Heedeuk; Cox, Jonathan A; Jarecki, Robert; Starbuck, Andrew; Wang, Zheng; Rakich, Peter T

2015-03-05

Rapid progress in integrated photonics has fostered numerous chip-scale sensing, computing and signal processing technologies. However, many crucial filtering and signal delay operations are difficult to perform with all-optical devices. Unlike photons propagating at luminal speeds, GHz-acoustic phonons moving at slower velocities allow information to be stored, filtered and delayed over comparatively smaller length-scales with remarkable fidelity. Hence, controllable and efficient coupling between coherent photons and phonons enables new signal processing technologies that greatly enhance the performance and potential impact of integrated photonics. Here we demonstrate a mechanism for coherent information processing based on travelling-wave photon-phonon transduction, which achieves a phonon emit-and-receive process between distinct nanophotonic waveguides. Using this device, physics--which supports GHz frequencies--we create wavelength-insensitive radiofrequency photonic filters with frequency selectivity, narrow-linewidth and high power-handling in silicon. More generally, this emit-receive concept is the impetus for enabling new signal processing schemes.

Wind Tunnel Test Results of Fairings on A.004 Scale Model Rockwell Space Shuttle Integrated Vehicle Aerodynamic Characteristics at Mach Numbers from 0.6 to 4.96 (IA62F)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allen, E. C.; Hamilton, T.

1974-01-01

Experimental aerodynamic investigations were conducted on a .004 scale model (34-OTS) orbiter, external tank, and solid rocket booster combined as an integrated vehicle in the NASA/MSFC 14 x 14 inch trisonic wind tunnel. The primary test objective was to determine the effect of a full length orbiter/external tank fairing on axial force. Secondary objectives were to define the static stability characteristics of the mated vehicle configuration with fairings over a Mach number range of 0.6 thru 4.96. Six component aerodynamic force and moment data were recorded over an angle of attack range from -10 deg to 10 deg at 0 deg sideslip angle and from -10 deg to 10 deg sideslip range at 0 deg and 5 deg angle of attack. Plotted and tabular results are presented herein.

Liquid Tunable Microlenses based on MEMS techniques

PubMed Central

Zeng, Xuefeng; Jiang, Hongrui

2013-01-01

The recent rapid development in microlens technology has provided many opportunities for miniaturized optical systems, and has found a wide range of applications. Of these microlenses, tunable-focus microlenses are of special interest as their focal lengths can be tuned using micro-scale actuators integrated with the lens structure. Realization of such tunable microlens generally relies on the microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technologies. Here, we review the recent progress in tunable liquid microlenses. The underlying physics relevant to these microlenses are first discussed, followed by description of three main categories of tunable microlenses involving MEMS techniques, mechanically driven, electrically driven, and those integrated within microfluidic systems. PMID:24163480

Video data compression using artificial neural network differential vector quantization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krishnamurthy, Ashok K.; Bibyk, Steven B.; Ahalt, Stanley C.

1991-01-01

An artificial neural network vector quantizer is developed for use in data compression applications such as Digital Video. Differential Vector Quantization is used to preserve edge features, and a new adaptive algorithm, known as Frequency-Sensitive Competitive Learning, is used to develop the vector quantizer codebook. To develop real time performance, a custom Very Large Scale Integration Application Specific Integrated Circuit (VLSI ASIC) is being developed to realize the associative memory functions needed in the vector quantization algorithm. By using vector quantization, the need for Huffman coding can be eliminated, resulting in superior performance against channel bit errors than methods that use variable length codes.

Calculating Soil Wetness, Evapotranspiration and Carbon Cycle Processes Over Large Grid Areas Using a New Scaling Technique

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sellers, Piers

2012-01-01

Soil wetness typically shows great spatial variability over the length scales of general circulation model (GCM) grid areas (approx 100 km ), and the functions relating evapotranspiration and photosynthetic rate to local-scale (approx 1 m) soil wetness are highly non-linear. Soil respiration is also highly dependent on very small-scale variations in soil wetness. We therefore expect significant inaccuracies whenever we insert a single grid area-average soil wetness value into a function to calculate any of these rates for the grid area. For the particular case of evapotranspiration., this method - use of a grid-averaged soil wetness value - can also provoke severe oscillations in the evapotranspiration rate and soil wetness under some conditions. A method is presented whereby the probability distribution timction(pdf) for soil wetness within a grid area is represented by binning. and numerical integration of the binned pdf is performed to provide a spatially-integrated wetness stress term for the whole grid area, which then permits calculation of grid area fluxes in a single operation. The method is very accurate when 10 or more bins are used, can deal realistically with spatially variable precipitation, conserves moisture exactly and allows for precise modification of the soil wetness pdf after every time step. The method could also be applied to other ecological problems where small-scale processes must be area-integrated, or upscaled, to estimate fluxes over large areas, for example in treatments of the terrestrial carbon budget or trace gas generation.

Surface-micromachined magnetic undulator with period length between 10μm and 1 mm for advanced light sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harrison, Jere; Joshi, Abhijeet; Lake, Jonathan; Candler, Rob; Musumeci, Pietro

2012-07-01

A technological gap exists between the μm-scale wiggling periods achieved using electromagnetic waves of high intensity laser pulses and the mm scale of permanent-magnet and superconducting undulators. In the sub-mm range, surface-micromachined soft-magnetic micro-electro-mechanical system inductors with integrated solenoidal coils have already experimentally demonstrated 100 to 500 mT field amplitude across air gaps as large as 15μm. Simulations indicate that magnetic fields as large as 1.5 T across 50μm inductor gaps are feasible. A simple rearranging of the yoke and pole geometry allows for fabrication of 10+ cm long undulator structures with period lengths between 12.5μm and 1 mm. Such undulators find application both in high average power spontaneous emission sources and, if used in combination with ultrahigh-brightness electron beams, could lead to the realization of low energy compact free-electron lasers. Challenges include electron energy broadening due to wakefields and Joule heating in the electromagnet.

Scaling theory of topological phase transitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Wei

2016-02-01

Topologically ordered systems are characterized by topological invariants that are often calculated from the momentum space integration of a certain function that represents the curvature of the many-body state. The curvature function may be Berry curvature, Berry connection, or other quantities depending on the system. Akin to stretching a messy string to reveal the number of knots it contains, a scaling procedure is proposed for the curvature function in inversion symmetric systems, from which the topological phase transition can be identified from the flow of the driving energy parameters that control the topology (hopping, chemical potential, etc) under scaling. At an infinitesimal operation, one obtains the renormalization group (RG) equations for the driving energy parameters. A length scale defined from the curvature function near the gap-closing momentum is suggested to characterize the scale invariance at critical points and fixed points, and displays a universal critical behavior in a variety of systems examined.

Recent advances in micro-scale and nano-scale high-performance liquid-phase chromatography for proteome research.

PubMed

Tao, Dingyin; Zhang, Lihua; Shan, Yichu; Liang, Zhen; Zhang, Yukui

2011-01-01

High-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS-MS) is regarded as one of the most powerful techniques for separation and identification of proteins. Recently, much effort has been made to improve the separation capacity, detection sensitivity, and analysis throughput of micro- and nano-HPLC, by increasing column length, reducing column internal diameter, and using integrated techniques. Development of HPLC columns has also been rapid, as a result of the use of submicrometer packing materials and monolithic columns. All these innovations result in clearly improved performance of micro- and nano-HPLC for proteome research.

The FBI wavelet/scalar quantization standard for gray-scale fingerprint image compression

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bradley, J.N.; Brislawn, C.M.; Hopper, T.

1993-05-01

The FBI has recently adopted a standard for the compression of digitized 8-bit gray-scale fingerprint images. The standard is based on scalar quantization of a 64-subband discrete wavelet transform decomposition of the images, followed by Huffman coding. Novel features of the algorithm include the use of symmetric boundary conditions for transforming finite-length signals and a subband decomposition tailored for fingerprint images scanned at 500 dpi. The standard is intended for use in conjunction with ANSI/NBS-CLS 1-1993, American National Standard Data Format for the Interchange of Fingerprint Information, and the FBI`s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System.

The FBI wavelet/scalar quantization standard for gray-scale fingerprint image compression

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bradley, J.N.; Brislawn, C.M.; Hopper, T.

1993-01-01

The FBI has recently adopted a standard for the compression of digitized 8-bit gray-scale fingerprint images. The standard is based on scalar quantization of a 64-subband discrete wavelet transform decomposition of the images, followed by Huffman coding. Novel features of the algorithm include the use of symmetric boundary conditions for transforming finite-length signals and a subband decomposition tailored for fingerprint images scanned at 500 dpi. The standard is intended for use in conjunction with ANSI/NBS-CLS 1-1993, American National Standard Data Format for the Interchange of Fingerprint Information, and the FBI's Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System.

An accurate and efficient laser-envelope solver for the modeling of laser-plasma accelerators

DOE PAGES

Benedetti, C.; Schroeder, C. B.; Geddes, C. G. R.; ...

2017-10-17

Detailed and reliable numerical modeling of laser-plasma accelerators (LPAs), where a short and intense laser pulse interacts with an underdense plasma over distances of up to a meter, is a formidably challenging task. This is due to the great disparity among the length scales involved in the modeling, ranging from the micron scale of the laser wavelength to the meter scale of the total laser-plasma interaction length. The use of the time-averaged ponderomotive force approximation, where the laser pulse is described by means of its envelope, enables efficient modeling of LPAs by removing the need to model the details ofmore » electron motion at the laser wavelength scale. Furthermore, it allows simulations in cylindrical geometry which captures relevant 3D physics at 2D computational cost. A key element of any code based on the time-averaged ponderomotive force approximation is the laser envelope solver. In this paper we present the accurate and efficient envelope solver used in the code INF & RNO (INtegrated Fluid & paRticle simulatioN cOde). The features of the INF & RNO laser solver enable an accurate description of the laser pulse evolution deep into depletion even at a reasonably low resolution, resulting in significant computational speed-ups.« less

The relationship between the carbon monoxide intensity and the radio continuum emission in spiral galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Adler, David S.; Lo, K. Y.; Allen, Ronald J.

1991-01-01

The relationship between the velocity-integrated CO emission and the nonthermal radio continuum brightness in the disks of normal spiral galaxies is examined on a variety of length scales. On a global scale, the total CO intensity correlates strongly with the total radio continuum flux density for a sample of 31 galaxies. On scales of about 2 kpc or more in the disk of individual galaxies, it is found that the ratio I(CO)/T(20) remains fairly constant over the entire disk as well as from galaxy to galaxy. For the eight spirals in the sample, the disk-averaged values of I(CO)/T(20) range from 0.6-2.4, with the average over all eight galaxies being 1.3 +/- 0.6. It is concluded that what these various length scales actually trace are differences in the primary heating mechanism of the gas in the beam. The observed relationship between CO and nonthermal radio continuum emission can be explained by assuming that molecular gas in galactic disks is heated primarily by cosmic rays. The observed relationship is used to show that the brightness of synchrotron emission is proportional to n(cr) exp 0.4 - 0.9 in galactic disks.

An accurate and efficient laser-envelope solver for the modeling of laser-plasma accelerators

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Benedetti, C.; Schroeder, C. B.; Geddes, C. G. R.

Detailed and reliable numerical modeling of laser-plasma accelerators (LPAs), where a short and intense laser pulse interacts with an underdense plasma over distances of up to a meter, is a formidably challenging task. This is due to the great disparity among the length scales involved in the modeling, ranging from the micron scale of the laser wavelength to the meter scale of the total laser-plasma interaction length. The use of the time-averaged ponderomotive force approximation, where the laser pulse is described by means of its envelope, enables efficient modeling of LPAs by removing the need to model the details ofmore » electron motion at the laser wavelength scale. Furthermore, it allows simulations in cylindrical geometry which captures relevant 3D physics at 2D computational cost. A key element of any code based on the time-averaged ponderomotive force approximation is the laser envelope solver. In this paper we present the accurate and efficient envelope solver used in the code INF & RNO (INtegrated Fluid & paRticle simulatioN cOde). The features of the INF & RNO laser solver enable an accurate description of the laser pulse evolution deep into depletion even at a reasonably low resolution, resulting in significant computational speed-ups.« less

An accurate and efficient laser-envelope solver for the modeling of laser-plasma accelerators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benedetti, C.; Schroeder, C. B.; Geddes, C. G. R.; Esarey, E.; Leemans, W. P.

2018-01-01

Detailed and reliable numerical modeling of laser-plasma accelerators (LPAs), where a short and intense laser pulse interacts with an underdense plasma over distances of up to a meter, is a formidably challenging task. This is due to the great disparity among the length scales involved in the modeling, ranging from the micron scale of the laser wavelength to the meter scale of the total laser-plasma interaction length. The use of the time-averaged ponderomotive force approximation, where the laser pulse is described by means of its envelope, enables efficient modeling of LPAs by removing the need to model the details of electron motion at the laser wavelength scale. Furthermore, it allows simulations in cylindrical geometry which captures relevant 3D physics at 2D computational cost. A key element of any code based on the time-averaged ponderomotive force approximation is the laser envelope solver. In this paper we present the accurate and efficient envelope solver used in the code INF&RNO (INtegrated Fluid & paRticle simulatioN cOde). The features of the INF&RNO laser solver enable an accurate description of the laser pulse evolution deep into depletion even at a reasonably low resolution, resulting in significant computational speed-ups.

Gradient Flow and Scale Setting on MILC HISQ Ensembles

DOE PAGES

Bazavov, A.; Bernard, C.; Brown, N.; ...

2016-05-25

We report on a scale determination with gradient-flow techniques on the N f = 2 + 1 + 1 HISQ ensembles generated by the MILC collaboration. The ensembles include four lattice spacings, ranging from approximately 0.15 to 0.06 fm, and both physical and unphysical values of the quark masses. The scales p √t 0/a and w 0/a and their tree-level improvements,√t 0;imp and w 0;imp, are computed on each ensemble using Symanzik ow and the cloverleaf definition of the energy density E. Using a combination of continuum chiral perturbation theory and a Taylor-series ansatz for the lattice-spacing and strong-coupling dependence,more » the results are simultaneously extrapolated to the continuum and interpolated to physical quark masses. We also determine the scales p t 0 = 0:1416( +8 -5) fm and w 0 = 0:1717( +12 -11) fm, where the errors are sums, in quadrature, of statistical and all systematic errors. The precision of w 0 and √t 0 is comparable to or more precise than the best previous estimates, respectively. We also find the continuum mass-dependence of w 0 that will be useful for estimating the scales of other ensembles. Furthermore, we estimate the integrated autocorrelation length of . For long flow times, the autocorrelation length of appears to be comparable to or smaller than that of the topological charge.« less

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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 unstable flows. This scaling procedure allows us to describe the temporal variation of mixing length using a generalized curve for various combinations of the flow conditions and porous medium properties.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

Mesoscopic Length Scale Controls the Rheology of Dense Suspensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonnoit, Claire; Lanuza, Jose; Lindner, Anke; Clement, Eric

2010-09-01

From the flow properties of dense granular suspensions on an inclined plane, we identify a mesoscopic length scale strongly increasing with volume fraction. When the flowing layer height is larger than this length scale, a diverging Newtonian viscosity is determined. However, when the flowing layer height drops below this scale, we evidence a nonlocal effective viscosity, decreasing as a power law of the flow height. We establish a scaling relation between this mesoscopic length scale and the suspension viscosity. These results support recent theoretical and numerical results implying collective and clustered granular motion when the jamming point is approached from below.

Mesoscopic length scale controls the rheology of dense suspensions.

PubMed

Bonnoit, Claire; Lanuza, Jose; Lindner, Anke; Clement, Eric

2010-09-03

From the flow properties of dense granular suspensions on an inclined plane, we identify a mesoscopic length scale strongly increasing with volume fraction. When the flowing layer height is larger than this length scale, a diverging Newtonian viscosity is determined. However, when the flowing layer height drops below this scale, we evidence a nonlocal effective viscosity, decreasing as a power law of the flow height. We establish a scaling relation between this mesoscopic length scale and the suspension viscosity. These results support recent theoretical and numerical results implying collective and clustered granular motion when the jamming point is approached from below.

The role of plasma density scale length on the laser pulse propagation and scattering in relativistic regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pishdast, Masoud; Ghasemi, Seyed Abolfazl; Yazdanpanah, Jamal Aldin

2017-10-01

The role of plasma density scale length on two short and long laser pulse propagation and scattering in under dense plasma have been investigated in relativistic regime using 1 D PIC simulation. In our simulation, different density scale lengths and also two short and long pulse lengths with temporal pulse duration τL = 60 fs and τL = 300 fs , respectively have been used. It is found that laser pulse length and density scale length have considerable effects on the energetic electron generation. The analysis of total radiation spectrum reveals that, for short laser pulses and with reducing density scale length, more unstable electromagnetic modes grow and strong longitudinal electric field generates which leads to the generation of more energetic plasma particles. Meanwhile, the dominant scattering mechanism is Raman scattering and tends to Thomson scattering for longer laser pulse.

Quasi-Continuum Reduction of Field Theories: A Route to Seamlessly Bridge Quantum and Atomistic Length-Scales with Continuum

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-04-01

AFRL-AFOSR-VA-TR-2016-0145 Quasi-continuum reduction of field theories: A route to seamlessly bridge quantum and atomistic length-scales with...field theories: A route to seamlessly bridge quantum and atomistic length-scales with continuum Principal Investigator: Vikram Gavini Department of...calculations on tens of thousands of atoms, and enable continuing efforts towards a seamless bridging of the quantum and continuum length-scales

Modal analysis of passive flow control for the turbulent wake of a generic planar space launcher

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loosen, S.; Statnikov, V.; Meinke, M.; Schröder, W.

2018-06-01

The turbulent wake of a generic planar space launcher equipped with two passive flow control devices is simulated using a zonal RANS-LES method and analyzed by dynamic mode decomposition (DMD). In the first approach, the effect of a classical boat tail on the wake is examined. In the second concept, a flow control device consisting of semi-circular lobes integrated at the base shoulder of the main body is used. The objective of the two concepts is to reduce the reattachment length and thus the lever arm of the forces as well as to stabilize the separated shear layer. Using a boat tail, the reattachment length can be reduced by 50%. Furthermore, it is shown that the semi-circular lobes enhance the turbulent mixing and the shear layer growth rate. Hence, they significantly reduce the reattachment length by about 75%. The semi-circular lobes partially reduce undesired low-frequency pressure fluctuations on the nozzle surface. However, this reduction is achieved at the expense of an increase of high-frequency pressure fluctuations due to intensified small turbulent scales. The DMD analysis of the velocity field reveals that the large-scale coherent structures featuring a wave length of two step heights observed in the reference configuration without flow control can be suppressed by the lobes. The spanwise wave length of the coherent structures seems to depend on the geometry of the lobes, since all detected spatial DMD modes show a spanwise periodicity being equal to the distance between two lobes.

Modal analysis of passive flow control for the turbulent wake of a generic planar space launcher

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loosen, S.; Statnikov, V.; Meinke, M.; Schröder, W.

2017-12-01

The turbulent wake of a generic planar space launcher equipped with two passive flow control devices is simulated using a zonal RANS-LES method and analyzed by dynamic mode decomposition (DMD). In the first approach, the effect of a classical boat tail on the wake is examined. In the second concept, a flow control device consisting of semi-circular lobes integrated at the base shoulder of the main body is used. The objective of the two concepts is to reduce the reattachment length and thus the lever arm of the forces as well as to stabilize the separated shear layer. Using a boat tail, the reattachment length can be reduced by 50%. Furthermore, it is shown that the semi-circular lobes enhance the turbulent mixing and the shear layer growth rate. Hence, they significantly reduce the reattachment length by about 75%. The semi-circular lobes partially reduce undesired low-frequency pressure fluctuations on the nozzle surface. However, this reduction is achieved at the expense of an increase of high-frequency pressure fluctuations due to intensified small turbulent scales. The DMD analysis of the velocity field reveals that the large-scale coherent structures featuring a wave length of two step heights observed in the reference configuration without flow control can be suppressed by the lobes. The spanwise wave length of the coherent structures seems to depend on the geometry of the lobes, since all detected spatial DMD modes show a spanwise periodicity being equal to the distance between two lobes.

Numerical simulation of a lattice polymer model at its integrable point

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bedini, A.; Owczarek, A. L.; Prellberg, T.

2013-07-01

We revisit an integrable lattice model of polymer collapse using numerical simulations. This model was first studied by Blöte and Nienhuis (1989 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 22 1415) and it describes polymers with some attraction, providing thus a model for the polymer collapse transition. At a particular set of Boltzmann weights the model is integrable and the exponents ν = 12/23 ≈ 0.522 and γ = 53/46 ≈ 1.152 have been computed via identification of the scaling dimensions xt = 1/12 and xh = -5/48. We directly investigate the polymer scaling exponents via Monte Carlo simulations using the pruned-enriched Rosenbluth method algorithm. By simulating this polymer model for walks up to length 4096 we find ν = 0.576(6) and γ = 1.045(5), which are clearly different from the predicted values. Our estimate for the exponent ν is compatible with the known θ-point value of 4/7 and in agreement with very recent numerical evaluation by Foster and Pinettes (2012 J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 45 505003).

Integrated multiscale biomaterials experiment and modelling: a perspective

PubMed Central

Buehler, Markus J.; Genin, Guy M.

2016-01-01

Advances in multiscale models and computational power have enabled a broad toolset to predict how molecules, cells, tissues and organs behave and develop. A key theme in biological systems is the emergence of macroscale behaviour from collective behaviours across a range of length and timescales, and a key element of these models is therefore hierarchical simulation. However, this predictive capacity has far outstripped our ability to validate predictions experimentally, particularly when multiple hierarchical levels are involved. The state of the art represents careful integration of multiscale experiment and modelling, and yields not only validation, but also insights into deformation and relaxation mechanisms across scales. We present here a sampling of key results that highlight both challenges and opportunities for integrated multiscale experiment and modelling in biological systems. PMID:28981126

What water isotopes tell us about water cycle responses to climate change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raudzens Bailey, A.; Singh, H. A.; Nusbaumer, J. M.; Dee, S.; Blossey, P. N.; Posmentier, E. S.

2017-12-01

The water cycle is expected to respond strongly to rising global temperatures. Models predict regional imbalances in evaporation and precipitation will intensify, resulting in a slowing of the large-scale circulation. This slowing will extend the moisture length scale by increasing the amount of time water resides in the atmosphere. However, verifying these changes observationally is challenging. Isotope ratios in water vapor and precipitation represent an integrated record of moisture's journey from evaporative source to precipitation sink. Consequently, they provide a unique opportunity to identify changes in moisture length scale associated with shifts in regional hydrologic balance. Leveraging satellite retrievals, box models, climate simulations, and in situ data, this presentation demonstrates how water isotope ratios can be used to estimate water cycle changes over the historical period and into the future. These changes are closely linked to variations in the divergence of atmospheric moisture fluxes, which result from variations in specific humidity, wind direction, and wind speed. This presentation highlights the extent to which isotopic measurements allow us to track changes in the dynamic, or wind-driven, component of moisture transport and to investigate whether remote moisture contributions are becoming increasingly important in augmenting local precipitation.

The role of discharge variation in scaling of drainage area and food chain length in rivers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sabo, John L.; Finlay, Jacques C.; Kennedy, Theodore A.; Post, David M.

2010-01-01

Food chain length (FCL) is a fundamental component of food web structure. Studies in a variety of ecosystems suggest that FCL is determined by energy supply, environmental stability, and/or ecosystem size, but the nature of the relationship between environmental stability and FCL, and the mechanism linking ecosystem size to FCL, remain unclear. Here we show that FCL increases with drainage area and decreases with hydrologic variability and intermittency across 36 North American rivers. Our analysis further suggests that hydrologic variability is the mechanism underlying the correlation between ecosystem size and FCL in rivers. Ecosystem size lengthens river food chains by integrating and attenuating discharge variation through stream networks, thereby enhancing environmental stability in larger river systems.

The role of discharge variation in scaling of drainage area and food chain length in rivers.

PubMed

Sabo, John L; Finlay, Jacques C; Kennedy, Theodore; Post, David M

2010-11-12

Food chain length (FCL) is a fundamental component of food web structure. Studies in a variety of ecosystems suggest that FCL is determined by energy supply, environmental stability, and/or ecosystem size, but the nature of the relationship between environmental stability and FCL, and the mechanism linking ecosystem size to FCL, remain unclear. Here we show that FCL increases with drainage area and decreases with hydrologic variability and intermittency across 36 North American rivers. Our analysis further suggests that hydrologic variability is the mechanism underlying the correlation between ecosystem size and FCL in rivers. Ecosystem size lengthens river food chains by integrating and attenuating discharge variation through stream networks, thereby enhancing environmental stability in larger river systems.

2D materials in electro-optic modulation: energy efficiency, electrostatics, mode overlap, material transfer and integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Zhizhen; Hemnani, Rohit; Bartels, Ludwig; Agarwal, Ritesh; Sorger, Volker J.

2018-02-01

Here we discuss the physics of electro-optic modulators deploying 2D materials. We include a scaling laws analysis and show how energy-efficiency and speed change for three underlying cavity systems as a function of critical device length scaling. A key result is that the energy-per-bit of the modulator is proportional to the volume of the device, thus making the case for submicron-scale modulators possible deploying a plasmonic optical mode. We then show how Graphene's Pauli-blocking modulation mechanism is sensitive to the device operation temperature, whereby a reduction of the temperature enables a 10× reduction in modulator energy efficiency. Furthermore, we show how the high-index tunability of graphene is able to compensate for the small optical overlap factor of 2D-based material modulators, which is unlike classical silicon-based dispersion devices. Lastly, we demonstrate a novel method towards a 2D material printer suitable for cross-contamination free and on-demand printing. The latter paves the way to integrate 2D materials seamlessly into taped-out photonic chips.

Organic field effect transistor with ultra high amplification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torricelli, Fabrizio

2016-09-01

High-gain transistors are essential for the large-scale circuit integration, high-sensitivity sensors and signal amplification in sensing systems. Unfortunately, organic field-effect transistors show limited gain, usually of the order of tens, because of the large contact resistance and channel-length modulation. Here we show organic transistors fabricated on plastic foils enabling unipolar amplifiers with ultra-gain. The proposed approach is general and opens up new opportunities for ultra-large signal amplification in organic circuits and sensors.

Sediment Transport at Density Fronts in Shallow Water: A Continuation of N00014-08-1-0846

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-30

flats in Puget Sound, coordinated with other researchers in the Tidal Flats DRI. Focused observations of the shallow density front and its evolution...an evaluation of effects of complex topography on wind correlation length scales and implications for coastal ocean modeling (Raubenheimer et al...as the integrated potential energy anomaly Φ (Simpson et al. 1990), varied with the Simpson number, , where g is gravity, ∂ρ/∂x is the horizontal

Integrated Approach to Drilling Project in Unconventional Reservoir Using Reservoir Simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stopa, Jerzy; Wiśniowski, Rafał; Wojnarowski, Paweł; Janiga, Damian; Skrzypaszek, Krzysztof

2018-03-01

Accumulation and flow mechanisms in unconventional reservoir are different compared to conventional. This requires a special approach of field management with drilling and stimulation treatments as major factor for further production. Integrated approach of unconventional reservoir production optimization assumes coupling drilling project with full scale reservoir simulation for determine best well placement, well length, fracturing treatment design and mid-length distance between wells. Full scale reservoir simulation model emulate a part of polish shale - gas field. The aim of this paper is to establish influence of technical factor for gas production from shale gas field. Due to low reservoir permeability, stimulation treatment should be direct towards maximizing the hydraulic contact. On the basis of production scenarios, 15 stages hydraulic fracturing allows boost gas production over 1.5 times compared to 8 stages. Due to the possible interference of the wells, it is necessary to determine the distance between the horizontal parts of the wells trajectories. In order to determine the distance between the wells allowing to maximize recovery factor of resources in the stimulated zone, a numerical algorithm based on a dynamic model was developed and implemented. Numerical testing and comparative study show that the most favourable arrangement assumes a minimum allowable distance between the wells. This is related to the volume ratio of the drainage zone to the total volume of the stimulated zone.

Study of G-S/D underlap for enhanced analog performance and RF/circuit analysis of UTB InAs-OI-Si MOSFET using NQS small signal model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maity, Subir Kumar; Pandit, Soumya

2017-01-01

InGaAs (and its variant) appears to be a promising channel material for high-performance, low-power scaled CMOS applications due to its excellent carrier transport properties. However, MOS transistors made of this suffer from poor electrostatic integrity. In this work, we consider an underlap ultra thin body (UTB) InAs-on-Insulator n-channel MOS transistor, and study the effect of varying the gate-source/drain (G-S/D) underlap length on the analog performance of the device with the help of technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulation, calibrated with Schrodinger-Poisson solver and experimental results. The underlap technique improves the gate electrostatic integrity which in turn improves the analog performance. We develop a non-quasi-static (NQS) small signal equivalent circuit model of the device which is used for study of the RF performance. With increase of the underlap length, the unity gain cut-off frequency degrades and the maximum oscillation frequency improves beyond a certain value of the underlap length. We further study the gain-frequency response of a common source amplifier using the NQS model, through SPICE simulation and observe that the voltage gain and the gain bandwidth improves.

Inherent length-scales of periodic solar wind number density structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Viall, N. M.; Kepko, L.; Spence, H. E.

2008-07-01

We present an analysis of the radial length-scales of periodic solar wind number density structures. We converted 11 years (1995-2005) of solar wind number density data into radial length series segments and Fourier analyzed them to identify all spectral peaks with radial wavelengths between 72 (116) and 900 (900) Mm for slow (fast) wind intervals. Our window length for the spectral analysis was 9072 Mm, approximately equivalent to 7 (4) h of data for the slow (fast) solar wind. We required that spectral peaks pass both an amplitude test and a harmonic F-test at the 95% confidence level simultaneously. From the occurrence distributions of these spectral peaks for slow and fast wind, we find that periodic number density structures occur more often at certain radial length-scales than at others, and are consistently observed within each speed range over most of the 11-year interval. For the slow wind, those length-scales are L ˜ 73, 120, 136, and 180 Mm. For the fast wind, those length-scales are L ˜ 187, 270 and 400 Mm. The results argue for the existence of inherent radial length-scales in the solar wind number density.

An investigation into preserving spatially-distinct pore systems in multi-component rocks using a fossiliferous limestone example

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Zeyun; Couples, Gary D.; Lewis, Helen; Mangione, Alessandro

2018-07-01

Limestones containing abundant disc-shaped fossil Nummulites can form significant hydrocarbon reservoirs but they have a distinctly heterogeneous distribution of pore shapes, sizes and connectivities, which make it particularly difficult to calculate petrophysical properties and consequent flow outcomes. The severity of the problem rests on the wide length-scale range from the millimetre scale of the fossil's pore space to the micron scale of rock matrix pores. This work develops a technique to incorporate multi-scale void systems into a pore network, which is used to calculate the petrophysical properties for subsequent flow simulations at different stages in the limestone's petrophysical evolution. While rock pore size, shape and connectivity can be determined, with varying levels of fidelity, using techniques such as X-ray computed tomography (CT) or scanning electron microscopy (SEM), this work represents a more challenging class where the rock of interest is insufficiently sampled or, as here, has been overprinted by extensive chemical diagenesis. The main challenge is integrating multi-scale void structures derived from both SEM and CT images, into a single model or a pore-scale network while still honouring the nature of the connections across these length scales. Pore network flow simulations are used to illustrate the technique but of equal importance, to demonstrate how supportable earlier-stage petrophysical property distributions can be used to assess the viability of several potential geological event sequences. The results of our flow simulations on generated models highlight the requirement for correct determination of the dominant pore scales (one plus of nm, μm, mm, cm), the spatial correlation and the cross-scale connections.

Constructing Current Singularity in a 3D Line-tied Plasma

DOE PAGES

Zhou, Yao; Huang, Yi-Min; Qin, Hong; ...

2017-12-27

We revisit Parker's conjecture of current singularity formation in 3D line-tied plasmas using a recently developed numerical method, variational integration for ideal magnetohydrodynamics in Lagrangian labeling. With the frozen-in equation built-in, the method is free of artificial reconnection, and hence it is arguably an optimal tool for studying current singularity formation. Using this method, the formation of current singularity has previously been confirmed in the Hahm–Kulsrud–Taylor problem in 2D. In this paper, we extend this problem to 3D line-tied geometry. The linear solution, which is singular in 2D, is found to be smooth for arbitrary system length. However, with finitemore » amplitude, the linear solution can become pathological when the system is sufficiently long. The nonlinear solutions turn out to be smooth for short systems. Nonetheless, the scaling of peak current density versus system length suggests that the nonlinear solution may become singular at finite length. Finally, with the results in hand, we can neither confirm nor rule out this possibility conclusively, since we cannot obtain solutions with system length near the extrapolated critical value.« less

Elastic transducers incorporating finite-length optical paths

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peters, Kara J.; Washabaugh, Peter D.

1995-08-01

Frequently, when designing a structure to incorporate integrated sensors, one sacrifices the stiffness of the system to improve sensitivity. However, the use of interferometric displacement sensors that tessellate throughout the volume of a structure has the potential to allow the precision and range of the component measurement to scale with the geometry of the device rather than the maximum strain in the structure. The design of stiff structures that measure all six resultant-load components is described. In addition, an advanced torsion sensor and a linear acceleration transducer are also discussed. Finally, invariant paths are presented that allow the in situ integrity of a structural volume to be monitored with a single pair of displacement sensors.

Open-Source, Distributed Computational Environment for Virtual Materials Exploration

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-01

compromising structural integrity.  For  example, advanced designs could specify advanced materials processing techniques such as heat  treatments  in specific...orchestration of execution of multiple standalone codes at varying  length scales will need advanced  high ‐performance computing (HPC) integration in...possible hooks that could be used to  coordinate larger  workflows spanning tools developed by different groups.    The  high  level approach explored

Multi Length Scale Finite Element Design Framework for Advanced Woven Fabrics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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, mesoscopic unit cell finite elements are coupled with a design-of-experiments method to systematically identify the important yarn material properties for the macroscale response of various weave architectures. To demonstrate the macroscopic length scale approach, two new material models for woven fabrics were developed. The Planar Material Model (PMM) utilizes two important deformation mechanisms in woven fabrics: (1) yarn elongation, and (2) relative yarn rotation due to shear loads. The yarns' uniaxial tensile response is modeled with a nonlinear spring using constitutive relations while a nonlinear rotational spring is implemented to define fabric's shear stiffness. The second material model, Sawtooth Material Model (SMM) adopts the sawtooth geometry while recognizing the biaxial nature of woven fabrics by implementing the interactions between the yarns. Material properties/parameters required by both PMM and SMM can be directly determined from standard experiments. Both macroscopic material models are implemented within an explicit finite element code and validated by comparing to the experiments. Then, the developed macroscopic material models are compared under various loading conditions to determine their accuracy. Finally, the numerical models developed in the mesoscopic and macroscopic length scales are linked thus demonstrating the new systematic design framework involving linked mesoscopic and macroscopic length scale modeling approaches. The approach is demonstrated with both Planar and Sawtooth Material Models and the simulation results are verified by comparing the results obtained from meso and macro models.

Digital Rocks Portal: a sustainable platform for imaged dataset sharing, translation and automated analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prodanovic, M.; Esteva, M.; Hanlon, M.; Nanda, G.; Agarwal, P.

2015-12-01

Recent advances in imaging have provided a wealth of 3D datasets that reveal pore space microstructure (nm to cm length scale) and allow investigation of nonlinear flow and mechanical phenomena from first principles using numerical approaches. This framework has popularly been called "digital rock physics". Researchers, however, have trouble storing and sharing the datasets both due to their size and the lack of standardized image types and associated metadata for volumetric datasets. This impedes scientific cross-validation of the numerical approaches that characterize large scale porous media properties, as well as development of multiscale approaches required for correct upscaling. A single research group typically specializes in an imaging modality and/or related modeling on a single length scale, and lack of data-sharing infrastructure makes it difficult to integrate different length scales. We developed a sustainable, open and easy-to-use repository called the Digital Rocks Portal, that (1) organizes images and related experimental measurements of different porous materials, (2) improves access to them for a wider community of geosciences or engineering researchers not necessarily trained in computer science or data analysis. Once widely accepter, the repository will jumpstart productivity and enable scientific inquiry and engineering decisions founded on a data-driven basis. This is the first repository of its kind. We show initial results on incorporating essential software tools and pipelines that make it easier for researchers to store and reuse data, and for educators to quickly visualize and illustrate concepts to a wide audience. For data sustainability and continuous access, the portal is implemented within the reliable, 24/7 maintained High Performance Computing Infrastructure supported by the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at the University of Texas at Austin. Long-term storage is provided through the University of Texas System Research Cyber-infrastructure initiative.

Air-water oxygen exchange in a large whitewater river

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hall, Robert O.; Kennedy, Theodore A.; Rosi-Marshall, Emma J.

2012-01-01

Air-water gas exchange governs fluxes of gas into and out of aquatic ecosystems. Knowing this flux is necessary to calculate gas budgets (i.e., O2) to estimate whole-ecosystem metabolism and basin-scale carbon budgets. Empirical data on rates of gas exchange for streams, estuaries, and oceans are readily available. However, there are few data from large rivers and no data from whitewater rapids. We measured gas transfer velocity in the Colorado River, Grand Canyon, as decline in O2 saturation deficit, 7 times in a 28-km segment spanning 7 rapids. The O2 saturation deficit exists because of hypolimnetic discharge from Glen Canyon Dam, located 25 km upriver from Lees Ferry. Gas transfer velocity (k600) increased with slope of the immediate reach. k600 was -1 in flat reaches, while k600 for the steepest rapid ranged 3600-7700 cm h-1, an extremely high value of k600. Using the rate of gas exchange per unit length of water surface elevation (Kdrop, m-1), segment-integrated k600 varied between 74 and 101 cm h-1. Using Kdrop we scaled k600 to the remainder of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon. At the scale corresponding to the segment length where 80% of the O2 exchanged with the atmosphere (mean length = 26.1 km), k600 varied 4.5-fold between 56 and 272 cm h-1 with a mean of 113 cm h-1. Gas transfer velocity for the Colorado River was higher than those from other aquatic ecosystems because of large rapids. Our approach of scaling k600 based on Kdrop allows comparing gas transfer velocity across rivers with spatially heterogeneous morphology.

Solute-specific scaling of inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus uptake in streams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hall, R. O., Jr.; Baker, M. A.; Rosi-Marshall, E. J.; Tank, J. L.; Newbold, J. D.

2013-11-01

Stream ecosystem processes such as nutrient cycling may vary with stream position in the network. Using a scaling approach, we examined the relationship between stream size and nutrient uptake length, which represents the mean distance that a dissolved solute travels prior to removal from the water column. Ammonium (NH4+) uptake length increased proportionally with stream size measured as specific discharge (discharge/stream width) with a scaling exponent = 1.01. In contrast, uptake lengths for nitrate (NO3-) and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) increased more rapidly than increases in specific discharge (scaling exponents = 1.19 for NO3- and 1.35 for SRP). Additionally, the ratio of inorganic nitrogen (N) uptake length to SRP uptake length declined with stream size; there was relatively lower demand for SRP compared to N as stream size increased. Finally, we related the scaling of uptake length with specific discharge to that of stream length using Hack's law and downstream hydraulic geometry. Ammonium uptake length increased less than proportionally with distance from the headwaters, suggesting a strong role for larger streams and rivers in regulating nutrient transport.

Crystal Plasticity Model of Reactor Pressure Vessel Embrittlement in GRIZZLY

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chakraborty, Pritam; Biner, Suleyman Bulent; Zhang, Yongfeng

2015-07-01

The integrity of reactor pressure vessels (RPVs) is of utmost importance to ensure safe operation of nuclear reactors under extended lifetime. Microstructure-scale models at various length and time scales, coupled concurrently or through homogenization methods, can play a crucial role in understanding and quantifying irradiation-induced defect production, growth and their influence on mechanical behavior of RPV steels. A multi-scale approach, involving atomistic, meso- and engineering-scale models, is currently being pursued within the GRIZZLY project to understand and quantify irradiation-induced embrittlement of RPV steels. Within this framework, a dislocation-density based crystal plasticity model has been developed in GRIZZLY that captures themore » effect of irradiation-induced defects on the flow stress behavior and is presented in this report. The present formulation accounts for the interaction between self-interstitial loops and matrix dislocations. The model predictions have been validated with experiments and dislocation dynamics simulation.« less

The Snakelike Chain Character of Unstructured RNA

PubMed Central

Jacobson, David R.; McIntosh, Dustin B.; Saleh, Omar A.

2013-01-01

In the absence of base-pairing and tertiary structure, ribonucleic acid (RNA) assumes a random-walk conformation, modulated by the electrostatic self-repulsion of the charged, flexible backbone. This behavior is often modeled as a Kratky-Porod “wormlike chain” (WLC) with a Barrat-Joanny scale-dependent persistence length. In this study we report measurements of the end-to-end extension of poly(U) RNA under 0.1 to 10 pN applied force and observe two distinct elastic-response regimes: a low-force, power-law regime characteristic of a chain of swollen blobs on long length scales and a high-force, salt-valence-dependent regime consistent with ion-stabilized crumpling on short length scales. This short-scale structure is additionally supported by force- and salt-dependent quantification of the RNA ion atmosphere composition, which shows that ions are liberated under stretching; the number of ions liberated increases with increasing bulk salt concentration. Both this result and the observation of two elastic-response regimes directly contradict the WLC model, which predicts a single elastic regime across all forces and, when accounting for scale-dependent persistence length, the opposite trend in ion release with salt concentration. We conclude that RNA is better described as a “snakelike chain,” characterized by smooth bending on long length scales and ion-stabilized crumpling on short length scales. In monovalent salt, these two regimes are separated by a characteristic length that scales with the Debye screening length, highlighting the determining importance of electrostatics in RNA conformation. PMID:24314087

Experimental evidence for two thermodynamic length scales in neutralized polyacrylate gels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horkay, Ferenc; Hecht, Anne-Marie; Grillo, Isabelle; Basser, Peter J.; Geissler, Erik

2002-11-01

The small angle neutron scattering (SANS) behavior of fully neutralized sodium polyacrylate gels is investigated in the presence of calcium ions. Analysis of the SANS response reveals the existence of three characteristic length scales, two of which are of thermodynamic origin, while the third length is associated with the frozen-in structural inhomogeneities. This latter contribution exhibits power law behavior with a slope of about -3.6, reflecting the presence of interfaces. The osmotically active component of the scattering signal is defined by two characteristic length scales, a correlation length ξ and a persistence length L.

Nanomechanics of silk: the fundamentals of a strong, tough and versatile material

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Isabelle; Buehler, Markus J.

2016-07-01

Spider silk is a remarkable material that provides a template for upscaling molecular properties to the macroscale. In this article we review fundamental aspects of the mechanisms behind these behaviors, discuss the molecular makeup, chemical designs, and how these integrate in a complex arrangement to form webs, cocoons and other material architectures. Moreover, this review paper explores the unique ability of silk to tolerate various kinds of defects, in a way enabling this material platform to serve as one of the most resilient materials in nature. We conclude the discussion with a summary of key scaling laws, an attempt model and define hierarchical length-scales, and the translation to synthetic materials.

Nanomechanics of silk: the fundamentals of a strong, tough and versatile material.

PubMed

Su, Isabelle; Buehler, Markus J

2016-07-29

Spider silk is a remarkable material that provides a template for upscaling molecular properties to the macroscale. In this article we review fundamental aspects of the mechanisms behind these behaviors, discuss the molecular makeup, chemical designs, and how these integrate in a complex arrangement to form webs, cocoons and other material architectures. Moreover, this review paper explores the unique ability of silk to tolerate various kinds of defects, in a way enabling this material platform to serve as one of the most resilient materials in nature. We conclude the discussion with a summary of key scaling laws, an attempt model and define hierarchical length-scales, and the translation to synthetic materials.

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

PubMed

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.

Scaling Effects on Materials Tribology: From Macro to Micro Scale

PubMed Central

Stoyanov, Pantcho; Chromik, Richard R.

2017-01-01

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. PMID:28772909

Length scale effects of friction in particle compaction using atomistic simulations and a friction scaling model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stone, T. W.; Horstemeyer, M. F.

2012-09-01

The objective of this study is to illustrate and quantify the length scale effects related to interparticle friction under compaction. Previous studies have shown as the length scale of a specimen decreases, the strength of a single crystal metal or ceramic increases. The question underlying this research effort continues the thought—If there is a length scale parameter related to the strength of a material, is there a length scale parameter related to friction? To explore the length scale effects of friction, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using an embedded atom method potential were performed to analyze the compression of two spherical FCC nickel nanoparticles at different contact angles. In the MD model study, we applied a macroscopic plastic contact formulation to determine the normal plastic contact force at the particle interfaces and used the average shear stress from the MD simulations to determine the tangential contact forces. Combining this information with the Coulomb friction law, we quantified the MD interparticle coefficient of friction and showed good agreement with experimental studies and a Discrete Element Method prediction as a function of contact angle. Lastly, we compared our MD simulation friction values to the tribological predictions of Bhushan and Nosonovsky (BN), who developed a friction scaling model based on strain gradient plasticity and dislocation-assisted sliding that included a length scale parameter. The comparison revealed that the BN elastic friction scaling model did a much better job than the BN plastic scaling model of predicting the coefficient of friction values obtained from the MD simulations.

Ultrafast and nanoscale diodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Peng; Lau, Y. Y.

2016-10-01

Charge carrier transport across interfaces of dissimilar materials (including vacuum) is the essence of all electronic devices. Ultrafast charge transport across a nanometre length scale is of fundamental importance in the miniaturization of vacuum and plasma electronics. With the combination of recent advances in electronics, photonics and nanotechnology, these miniature devices may integrate with solid-state platforms, achieving superior performance. This paper reviews recent modelling efforts on quantum tunnelling, ultrafast electron emission and transport, and electrical contact resistance. Unsolved problems and challenges in these areas are addressed.

Development of an Aero-Optics Software Library and Integration into Structured Overset and Unstructured Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Flow Solvers

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-01

some similarities to the far- field (i.e. atmospheric ) propagation, but due to the interactions between turbulence length scales, beam wavelengths...equivalently, phase differences, have been used to characterize the beam distortion caused by the unsteady turbulent flow field. A Partially-Averaged Navier...A., Wang, M., and Moin, P., “Computational Study of Aero-Optical Distortion by Turbulent Wake,” AIAA Paper 2005-4655. [11] Mani, A., Wang, M., and

Multi-scale Material Parameter Identification Using LS-DYNA® and LS-OPT®

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stander, Nielen; Basudhar, Anirban; Basu, Ushnish

2015-06-15

Ever-tightening regulations on fuel economy and carbon emissions demand continual innovation in finding ways for reducing vehicle mass. Classical methods for computational mass reduction include sizing, shape and topology optimization. One of the few remaining options for weight reduction can be found in materials engineering and material design optimization. Apart from considering different types of materials by adding material diversity, an appealing option in automotive design is to engineer steel alloys for the purpose of reducing thickness while retaining sufficient strength and ductility required for durability and safety. Such a project was proposed and is currently being executed under themore » auspices of the United States Automotive Materials Partnership (USAMP) funded by the Department of Energy. Under this program, new steel alloys (Third Generation Advanced High Strength Steel or 3GAHSS) are being designed, tested and integrated with the remaining design variables of a benchmark vehicle Finite Element model. In this project the principal phases identified are (i) material identification, (ii) formability optimization and (iii) multi-disciplinary vehicle optimization. This paper serves as an introduction to the LS-OPT methodology and therefore mainly focuses on the first phase, namely an approach to integrate material identification using material models of different length scales. For this purpose, a multi-scale material identification strategy, consisting of a Crystal Plasticity (CP) material model and a Homogenized State Variable (SV) model, is discussed and demonstrated. The paper concludes with proposals for integrating the multi-scale methodology into the overall vehicle design.« less

Comparative study of subtalar arthrodesis after calcaneal frature malunion with autologous bone graft or freeze-dried xenograft.

PubMed

Henning, Carlo; Poglia, Gabriel; Leie, Murilo Anderson; Galia, Carlos Roberto

2015-12-01

Calcaneal fracture malunion may evolve into arthrosis and severe foot deformities. The aim of this study was to identify differences in bony union following corrective subtalar arthrodesis with interposition of autologous tricortical bone graft or freeze-dried bovine xenograft. We prospectively evaluated 12 patients who underwent subtalar arthrodesis, six patients received autografts and 6 received freeze-dried bovine xenografts. After a mean followup of 58 weeks, the patients were clinical assessed using AOFAS scale and the visual analog scale (VAS) for pain and for final radiographic parameters measurement. Two blind raters evaluated the length of time required for solid union of the arthrodesis and graft integration by retrospective radiographic examination. In the autograft group, AOFAS score improved from a preoperative average of 37 to 64 points postoperatively (p = 0.02) and mean VAS score improved from 4.7 to 1.9 (p = 0.028). In the xenograft group, AOFAS score improved from 38 to 74 points (p = 0.02) and VAS from 5.5 to 2.7 (p = 0.046). Solid union was achieved in all cases in the autograft group at an average of 5.3 weeks and in five cases in the xenograft group at 8.8 weeks (p = 0.077). Graft integration occurred after an average of 10.7 weeks in the autograft group and 28.8 weeks in the xenograft group (p = 0.016). With the numbers available, no significant difference could be detected in the length of time required for solid union of subtalar arthrodesis between groups, although time to integration of freeze-dried bovine xenografts was statistically higher. Clinical and functional improvement was observed in both groups.

How much a galaxy knows about its large-scale environment?: An information theoretic perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pandey, Biswajit; Sarkar, Suman

2017-05-01

The small-scale environment characterized by the local density is known to play a crucial role in deciding the galaxy properties but the role of large-scale environment on galaxy formation and evolution still remain a less clear issue. We propose an information theoretic framework to investigate the influence of large-scale environment on galaxy properties and apply it to the data from the Galaxy Zoo project that provides the visual morphological classifications of ˜1 million galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We find a non-zero mutual information between morphology and environment that decreases with increasing length-scales but persists throughout the entire length-scales probed. We estimate the conditional mutual information and the interaction information between morphology and environment by conditioning the environment on different length-scales and find a synergic interaction between them that operates up to at least a length-scales of ˜30 h-1 Mpc. Our analysis indicates that these interactions largely arise due to the mutual information shared between the environments on different length-scales.

Integration of Tuyere, Raceway and Shaft Models for Predicting Blast Furnace Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Dong; Tang, Guangwu; Zhao, Yongfu; D'Alessio, John; Zhou, Chenn Q.

2018-06-01

A novel modeling strategy is presented for simulating the blast furnace iron making process. Such physical and chemical phenomena are taking place across a wide range of length and time scales, and three models are developed to simulate different regions of the blast furnace, i.e., the tuyere model, the raceway model and the shaft model. This paper focuses on the integration of the three models to predict the entire blast furnace process. Mapping output and input between models and an iterative scheme are developed to establish communications between models. The effects of tuyere operation and burden distribution on blast furnace fuel efficiency are investigated numerically. The integration of different models provides a way to realistically simulate the blast furnace by improving the modeling resolution on local phenomena and minimizing the model assumptions.

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

PubMed

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.

Implementation of a flow-dependent background error correlation length scale formulation in the NEMOVAR OSTIA system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fiedler, Emma; Mao, Chongyuan; Good, Simon; Waters, Jennifer; Martin, Matthew

2017-04-01

OSTIA is the Met Office's Operational Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and Ice Analysis system, which produces L4 (globally complete, gridded) analyses on a daily basis. Work is currently being undertaken to replace the original OI (Optimal Interpolation) data assimilation scheme with NEMOVAR, a 3D-Var data assimilation method developed for use with the NEMO ocean model. A dual background error correlation length scale formulation is used for SST in OSTIA, as implemented in NEMOVAR. Short and long length scales are combined according to the ratio of the decomposition of the background error variances into short and long spatial correlations. The pre-defined background error variances vary spatially and seasonally, but not on shorter time-scales. If the derived length scales applied to the daily analysis are too long, SST features may be smoothed out. Therefore a flow-dependent component to determining the effective length scale has also been developed. The total horizontal gradient of the background SST field is used to identify regions where the length scale should be shortened. These methods together have led to an improvement in the resolution of SST features compared to the previous OI analysis system, without the introduction of spurious noise. This presentation will show validation results for feature resolution in OSTIA using the OI scheme, the dual length scale NEMOVAR scheme, and the flow-dependent implementation.

Scaling dependence of memory windows and different carrier charging behaviors in Si nanocrystal nonvolatile memory devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Jie; Chen, Kun-ji; Ma, Zhong-yuan; Zhang, Xin-xin; Jiang, Xiao-fan; Wu, Yang-qing; Huang, Xin-fan; Oda, Shunri

2016-09-01

Based on the charge storage mode, it is important to investigate the scaling dependence of memory performance in silicon nanocrystal (Si-NC) nonvolatile memory (NVM) devices for its scaling down limit. In this work, we made eight kinds of test key cells with different gate widths and lengths by 0.13-μm node complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology. It is found that the memory windows of eight kinds of test key cells are almost the same of about 1.64 V @ ± 7 V/1 ms, which are independent of the gate area, but mainly determined by the average size (12 nm) and areal density (1.8 × 1011/cm2) of Si-NCs. The program/erase (P/E) speed characteristics are almost independent of gate widths and lengths. However, the erase speed is faster than the program speed of test key cells, which is due to the different charging behaviors between electrons and holes during the operation processes. Furthermore, the data retention characteristic is also independent of the gate area. Our findings are useful for further scaling down of Si-NC NVM devices to improve the performance and on-chip integration. Project supported by the State Key Development Program for Basic Research of China (Grant No. 2010CB934402) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11374153, 61571221, and 61071008).

Modeling cumulus clouds in a two-phase wind tunnel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bordás, R.; Thévenin, D.

2009-04-01

Experiments in wind-tunnels concerning meteorological flows are not very frequent in the literature. However, they are indispensable for a well-controlled and accurate investigation of turbulence-droplet interactions at the micro-scale. Of course it is impossible to reproduce perfectly the turbulent properties of clouds in a comparatively small wind-tunnel. The enormous length scales that are predominant in nature (integral length scale of typically 100 meters) lead to very high Reynolds numbers, roughly 107 calculated with the cloud dimensions or 104 as Taylor Reynolds number Reλ. Nevertheless, it is not necessary to reproduce exactly the whole turbulence spectrum to investigate the issue of rain formation in cumulus clouds. Only those scales and turbulence properties should be reproduced in the wind tunnel, which are physically important for the droplet population. In this work the key properties of cumulus clouds will be identified and implemented in a two-phase wind tunnel, allowing reproducible and accurate measurements. These properties are in particular the droplet number density, the turbulent kinetic energy and its dissipation rate. It is demonstrated by means of non-intrusive optical measurement techniques that the flow velocity, droplet number density, and key turbulence properties have been matched and are in the right order of magnitude. In this manner wind-tunnel investigations become possible and deliver realistic information concerning the interaction between droplets and turbulence in cumulus clouds.

How thin barrier metal can be used to prevent Co diffusion in the modern integrated circuits?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dixit, Hemant; Konar, Aniruddha; Pandey, Rajan; Ethirajan, Tamilmani

2017-11-01

In modern integrated circuits (ICs), billions of transistors are connected to each other via thin metal layers (e.g. copper, cobalt, etc) known as interconnects. At elevated process temperatures, inter-diffusion of atomic species can occur among these metal layers, causing sub-optimal performance of interconnects, which may lead to the failure of an IC. Thus, typically a thin barrier metal layer is used to prevent the inter-diffusion of atomic species within interconnects. For ICs with sub-10 nm transistors (10 nm technology node), the design rule (thickness scaling) demands the thinnest possible barrier layer. Therefore, here we investigate the critical thickness of a titanium-nitride (TiN) barrier that can prevent the cobalt diffusion using multi-scale modeling and simulations. First, we compute the Co diffusion barrier in crystalline and amorphous TiN with the nudged elastic band method within first-principles density functional theory simulations. Later, using the calculated activation energy barriers, we quantify the Co diffusion length in the TiN metal layer with the help of kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. Such a multi-scale modelling approach yields an exact critical thickness of the metal layer sufficient to prevent the Co diffusion in IC interconnects. We obtain a diffusion length of a maximum of 2 nm for a typical process of thermal annealing at 400 °C for 30 min. Our study thus provides useful physical insights for the Co diffusion in the TiN layer and further quantifies the critical thickness (~2 nm) to which the metal barrier layer can be thinned down for sub-10 nm ICs.

A framework for simultaneous aerodynamic design optimization in the presence of chaos

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Günther, Stefanie, E-mail: stefanie.guenther@scicomp.uni-kl.de; Gauger, Nicolas R.; Wang, Qiqi

Integrating existing solvers for unsteady partial differential equations into a simultaneous optimization method is challenging due to the forward-in-time information propagation of classical time-stepping methods. This paper applies the simultaneous single-step one-shot optimization method to a reformulated unsteady constraint that allows for both forward- and backward-in-time information propagation. Especially in the presence of chaotic and turbulent flow, solving the initial value problem simultaneously with the optimization problem often scales poorly with the time domain length. The new formulation relaxes the initial condition and instead solves a least squares problem for the discrete partial differential equations. This enables efficient one-shot optimizationmore » that is independent of the time domain length, even in the presence of chaos.« less

Nanoscale patterning controls inorganic-membrane interface structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Almquist, Benjamin D.; Verma, Piyush; Cai, Wei; Melosh, Nicholas A.

2011-02-01

The ability to non-destructively integrate inorganic structures into or through biological membranes is essential to realizing full bio-inorganic integration, including arrayed on-chip patch-clamps, drug delivery, and biosensors. Here we explore the role of nanoscale patterning on the strength of biomembrane-inorganic interfaces. AFM measurements show that inorganic probes functionalized with hydrophobic bands with thicknesses complimentary to the hydrophobic lipid bilayer core exhibit strong attachment in the bilayer. As hydrophobic band thickness increases to 2-3 times the bilayer core the interfacial strength decreases, comparable to homogeneously hydrophobic probes. Analytical calculations and molecular dynamics simulations predict a transition between a `fused' interface and a `T-junction' that matches the experimental results, showing lipid disorder and defect formation for thicker bands. These results show that matching biological length scales leads to more intimate bio-inorganic junctions, enabling rational design of non-destructive membrane interfaces.The ability to non-destructively integrate inorganic structures into or through biological membranes is essential to realizing full bio-inorganic integration, including arrayed on-chip patch-clamps, drug delivery, and biosensors. Here we explore the role of nanoscale patterning on the strength of biomembrane-inorganic interfaces. AFM measurements show that inorganic probes functionalized with hydrophobic bands with thicknesses complimentary to the hydrophobic lipid bilayer core exhibit strong attachment in the bilayer. As hydrophobic band thickness increases to 2-3 times the bilayer core the interfacial strength decreases, comparable to homogeneously hydrophobic probes. Analytical calculations and molecular dynamics simulations predict a transition between a `fused' interface and a `T-junction' that matches the experimental results, showing lipid disorder and defect formation for thicker bands. These results show that matching biological length scales leads to more intimate bio-inorganic junctions, enabling rational design of non-destructive membrane interfaces. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Breakthrough rate as a function of force plots for 5 nm, 10 nm and ∞-probes.. See DOI: 10.1039/c0nr00486c

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

PubMed

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.

Interactions between a fractal tree-like object and hydrodynamic turbulence: flow structure and characteristic mixing length

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meneveau, C. V.; Bai, K.; Katz, J.

2011-12-01

The vegetation canopy has a significant impact on various physical and biological processes such as forest microclimate, rainfall evaporation distribution and climate change. Most scaled laboratory experimental studies have used canopy element models that consist of rigid vertical strips or cylindrical rods that can be typically represented through only one or a few characteristic length scales, for example the diameter and height for cylindrical rods. However, most natural canopies and vegetation are highly multi-scale with branches and sub-branches, covering a wide range of length scales. Fractals provide a convenient idealization of multi-scale objects, since their multi-scale properties can be described in simple ways (Mandelbrot 1982). While fractal aspects of turbulence have been studied in several works in the past decades, research on turbulence generated by fractal objects started more recently. We present an experimental study of boundary layer flow over fractal tree-like objects. Detailed Particle-Image-Velocimetry (PIV) measurements are carried out in the near-wake of a fractal-like tree. The tree is a pre-fractal with five generations, with three branches and a scale reduction factor 1/2 at each generation. Its similarity fractal dimension (Mandelbrot 1982) is D ~ 1.58. Detailed mean velocity and turbulence stress profiles are documented, as well as their downstream development. We then turn attention to the turbulence mixing properties of the flow, specifically to the question whether a mixing length-scale can be identified in this flow, and if so, how it relates to the geometric length-scales in the pre-fractal object. Scatter plots of mean velocity gradient (shear) and Reynolds shear stress exhibit good linear relation at all locations in the flow. Therefore, in the transverse direction of the wake evolution, the Boussinesq eddy viscosity concept is appropriate to describe the mixing. We find that the measured mixing length increases with increasing streamwise locations. Conversely, the measured eddy viscosity and mixing length decrease with increasing elevation, which differs from eddy viscosity and mixing length behaviors of traditional boundary layers or canopies studied before. In order to find an appropriate length for the flow, several models based on the notion of superposition of scales are proposed and examined. One approach is based on spectral distributions. Another more practical approach is based on length-scale distributions evaluated using fractal geometry tools. These proposed models agree well with the measured mixing length. The results indicate that information about multi-scale clustering of branches as it occurs in fractals has to be incorporated into models of the mixing length for flows through canopies with multiple scales. The research is supported by National Science Foundation grant ATM-0621396 and AGS-1047550.

Control of coherent information via on-chip photonic–phononic emitter–receivers

DOE PAGES

Shin, Heedeuk; Cox, Jonathan A.; Jarecki, Robert; ...

2015-03-05

We report that rapid progress in integrated photonics has fostered numerous chip-scale sensing, computing and signal processing technologies. However, many crucial filtering and signal delay operations are difficult to perform with all-optical devices. Unlike photons propagating at luminal speeds, GHz-acoustic phonons moving at slower velocities allow information to be stored, filtered and delayed over comparatively smaller length-scales with remarkable fidelity. Hence, controllable and efficient coupling between coherent photons and phonons enables new signal processing technologies that greatly enhance the performance and potential impact of integrated photonics. Here we demonstrate a mechanism for coherent information processing based on travelling-wave photon–phonon transduction,more » which achieves a phonon emit-and-receive process between distinct nanophotonic waveguides. Using this device, physics—which supports GHz frequencies—we create wavelength-insensitive radiofrequency photonic filters with frequency selectivity, narrow-linewidth and high power-handling in silicon. More generally, this emit-receive concept is the impetus for enabling new signal processing schemes.« less

Orientation of chain molecules in ionotropic gels: a Brownian dynamics model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woelki, Stefan; Kohler, Hans-Helmut

2003-09-01

As is known from birefringence measurements, polysaccharide molecules of ionotropic gels are preferentially orientated normal to the direction of gel growth. In this paper the orientation effect is investigated by means of an off-lattice Brownian dynamics model simulating the gel formation process. The model describes the integration of a single coarse grained phantom chain into the growing gel. The equations of motion of the chain are derived. The computer simulations show that, during the process of integration, the chain is contracting normal to the direction of gel growth. A scaling relation is obtained for the degree of contraction as a function of the length parameters of the chain, the velocity of the gel formation front and the rate constant of the crosslinking reaction. It is shown that the scaling relation, if applied to the example of ionotropic copper alginate gel, leads to reasonable predictions of the time course of the degree of contraction of the alginate chains.

Control of coherent information via on-chip photonic–phononic emitter–receivers

PubMed Central

Shin, Heedeuk; Cox, Jonathan A.; Jarecki, Robert; Starbuck, Andrew; Wang, Zheng; Rakich, Peter T.

2015-01-01

Rapid progress in integrated photonics has fostered numerous chip-scale sensing, computing and signal processing technologies. However, many crucial filtering and signal delay operations are difficult to perform with all-optical devices. Unlike photons propagating at luminal speeds, GHz-acoustic phonons moving at slower velocities allow information to be stored, filtered and delayed over comparatively smaller length-scales with remarkable fidelity. Hence, controllable and efficient coupling between coherent photons and phonons enables new signal processing technologies that greatly enhance the performance and potential impact of integrated photonics. Here we demonstrate a mechanism for coherent information processing based on travelling-wave photon–phonon transduction, which achieves a phonon emit-and-receive process between distinct nanophotonic waveguides. Using this device, physics—which supports GHz frequencies—we create wavelength-insensitive radiofrequency photonic filters with frequency selectivity, narrow-linewidth and high power-handling in silicon. More generally, this emit-receive concept is the impetus for enabling new signal processing schemes. PMID:25740405

The snakelike chain character of unstructured RNA.

PubMed

Jacobson, David R; McIntosh, Dustin B; Saleh, Omar A

2013-12-03

In the absence of base-pairing and tertiary structure, ribonucleic acid (RNA) assumes a random-walk conformation, modulated by the electrostatic self-repulsion of the charged, flexible backbone. This behavior is often modeled as a Kratky-Porod "wormlike chain" (WLC) with a Barrat-Joanny scale-dependent persistence length. In this study we report measurements of the end-to-end extension of poly(U) RNA under 0.1 to 10 pN applied force and observe two distinct elastic-response regimes: a low-force, power-law regime characteristic of a chain of swollen blobs on long length scales and a high-force, salt-valence-dependent regime consistent with ion-stabilized crumpling on short length scales. This short-scale structure is additionally supported by force- and salt-dependent quantification of the RNA ion atmosphere composition, which shows that ions are liberated under stretching; the number of ions liberated increases with increasing bulk salt concentration. Both this result and the observation of two elastic-response regimes directly contradict the WLC model, which predicts a single elastic regime across all forces and, when accounting for scale-dependent persistence length, the opposite trend in ion release with salt concentration. We conclude that RNA is better described as a "snakelike chain," characterized by smooth bending on long length scales and ion-stabilized crumpling on short length scales. In monovalent salt, these two regimes are separated by a characteristic length that scales with the Debye screening length, highlighting the determining importance of electrostatics in RNA conformation. Copyright © 2013 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Size dependence of spin-torque induced magnetic switching in CoFeB-based perpendicular magnetization tunnel junctions (invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, J. Z.; Trouilloud, P. L.; Gajek, M. J.; Nowak, J.; Robertazzi, R. P.; Hu, G.; Abraham, D. W.; Gaidis, M. C.; Brown, S. L.; O'Sullivan, E. J.; Gallagher, W. J.; Worledge, D. C.

2012-04-01

CoFeB-based magnetic tunnel junctions with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy are used as a model system for studies of size dependence in spin-torque-induced magnetic switching. For integrated solid-state memory applications, it is important to understand the magnetic and electrical characteristics of these magnetic tunnel junctions as they scale with tunnel junction size. Size-dependent magnetic anisotropy energy, switching voltage, apparent damping, and anisotropy field are systematically compared for devices with different materials and fabrication treatments. Results reveal the presence of sub-volume thermal fluctuation and reversal, with a characteristic length-scale of the order of approximately 40 nm, depending on the strength of the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and exchange stiffness. To have the best spin-torque switching efficiency and best stability against thermal activation, it is desirable to optimize the perpendicular anisotropy strength with the junction size for intended use. It also is important to ensure strong exchange-stiffness across the magnetic thin film. These combine to give an exchange length that is comparable or larger than the lateral device size for efficient spin-torque switching.

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

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tiwary, C. S., E-mail: cst.iisc@gmail.com; Chattopadhyay, K.; Chakraborty, S.

2014-05-28

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-Al{sub 2}Cu 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-Al{sub 2}Cu eutectic with various different lamellar spacing. The physics behind the mechanism is further quantified with help of atomic level energy model for different lengthmore » 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.« less

Taming active turbulence with patterned soft interfaces.

PubMed

Guillamat, P; Ignés-Mullol, J; Sagués, F

2017-09-15

Active matter embraces systems that self-organize at different length and time scales, often exhibiting turbulent flows apparently deprived of spatiotemporal coherence. Here, we use a layer of a tubulin-based active gel to demonstrate that the geometry of active flows is determined by a single length scale, which we reveal in the exponential distribution of vortex sizes of active turbulence. Our experiments demonstrate that the same length scale reemerges as a cutoff for a scale-free power law distribution of swirling laminar flows when the material evolves in contact with a lattice of circular domains. The observed prevalence of this active length scale can be understood by considering the role of the topological defects that form during the spontaneous folding of microtubule bundles. These results demonstrate an unexpected strategy for active systems to adapt to external stimuli, and provide with a handle to probe the existence of intrinsic length and time scales.Active nematics consist of self-driven components that develop orientational order and turbulent flow. Here Guillamat et al. investigate an active nematic constrained in a quasi-2D geometrical setup and show that there exists an intrinsic length scale that determines the geometry in all forcing regimes.

An Integrative Review of Factors Associated with Telomere Length and Implications for Biobehavioral Research

PubMed Central

Starkweather, Angela R.; Alhaeeri, Areej A.; Montpetit, Alison; Brumelle, Jenni; Filler, Kristin; Montpetit, Marty; Mohanraj, Lathika; Lyon, Debra E.; Jackson-Cook, Colleen K.

2014-01-01

Background Although telomere shortening occurs as a natural part of aging, there is now a robust body of research that suggests that there is a relationship between psychosocial, environmental, and behavioral factors and changes in telomere length. These factors need to be considered when integrating telomere measurement in biobehavioral research studies. Objectives This article provides a brief summary of the known facts about telomere biology and an integrative review of current human research studies that assessed relationships between psychosocial, environmental, or behavioral factors and telomere length. Methods An integrative review was conducted to examine human research studies that focused on psychosocial, environmental, and behavioral factors affecting telomere length and telomerase activity using the electronic databases PubMed/Medline and CINAHL from 2003 to the present. In addition to the known individual factors that are associated with telomere length, the results of the integrative review suggest that perceived stress, childhood adversities, major depressive disorder, educational attainment, physical activity, and sleep duration should also be measured. Discussion Multiple factors have been shown to affect telomere length. To advance understanding of the role of telomere length in health and disease risk, it will be important to further elucidate the mechanisms that contribute to telomere shortening. PMID:24335912

Computer modelling of cyclic deformation of high-temperature materials. Technical progress report, 16 November 1992-15 February 1993

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Duesbery, M.S.

1993-02-26

This program aims at improving current methods of lifetime assessment by building in the characteristics of the micro-mechanisms known to be responsible for damage and failure. The broad approach entails the integration and, where necessary, augmentation of the micro-scale research results currently available in the literature into a macro-scale model with predictive capability. In more detail, the program will develop a set of hierarchically structured models at different length scales, from atomic to macroscopic, at each level taking as parametric input the results of the model at the next smaller scale. In this way the known microscopic properties can bemore » transported by systematic procedures to the unknown macro-scale region. It may not be possible to eliminate empiricism completely, because some of the quantities involved cannot yet be estimated to the required degree of precision. In this case the aim will be at least to eliminate functional empiricism.« less

The Incorporation of Ribonucleotides Induces Structural and Conformational Changes in DNA.

PubMed

Meroni, Alice; Mentegari, Elisa; Crespan, Emmanuele; Muzi-Falconi, Marco; Lazzaro, Federico; Podestà, Alessandro

2017-10-03

Ribonucleotide incorporation is the most common error occurring during DNA replication. Cells have hence developed mechanisms to remove ribonucleotides from the genome and restore its integrity. Indeed, the persistence of ribonucleotides into DNA leads to severe consequences, such as genome instability and replication stress. Thus, it becomes important to understand the effects of ribonucleotides incorporation, starting from their impact on DNA structure and conformation. Here we present a systematic study of the effects of ribonucleotide incorporation into DNA molecules. We have developed, to our knowledge, a new method to efficiently synthesize long DNA molecules (hundreds of basepairs) containing ribonucleotides, which is based on a modified protocol for the polymerase chain reaction. By means of atomic force microscopy, we could therefore investigate the changes, upon ribonucleotide incorporation, of the structural and conformational properties of numerous DNA populations at the single-molecule level. Specifically, we characterized the scaling of the contour length with the number of basepairs and the scaling of the end-to-end distance with the curvilinear distance, the bending angle distribution, and the persistence length. Our results revealed that ribonucleotides affect DNA structure and conformation on scales that go well beyond the typical dimension of the single ribonucleotide. In particular, the presence of ribonucleotides induces a systematic shortening of the molecules, together with a decrease of the persistence length. Such structural changes are also likely to occur in vivo, where they could directly affect the downstream DNA transactions, as well as interfere with protein binding and recognition. Copyright © 2017 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Variational Integration for Ideal Magnetohydrodynamics and Formation of Current Singularities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhou, Yao

Coronal heating has been a long-standing conundrum in solar physics. Parker's conjecture that spontaneous current singularities lead to nanoflares that heat the corona has been controversial. In ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), can genuine current singularities emerge from a smooth 3D line-tied magnetic field? To numerically resolve this issue, the schemes employed must preserve magnetic topology exactly to avoid artificial reconnection in the presence of (nearly) singular current densities. Structure-preserving numerical methods are favorable for mitigating numerical dissipation, and variational integration is a powerful machinery for deriving them. However, successful applications of variational integration to ideal MHD have been scarce. In thismore » thesis, we develop variational integrators for ideal MHD in Lagrangian labeling by discretizing Newcomb's Lagrangian on a moving mesh using discretized exterior calculus. With the built-in frozen-in equation, the schemes are free of artificial reconnection, hence optimal for studying current singularity formation. Using this method, we first study a fundamental prototype problem in 2D, the Hahm-Kulsrud-Taylor (HKT) problem. It considers the effect of boundary perturbations on a 2D plasma magnetized by a sheared field, and its linear solution is singular. We find that with increasing resolution, the nonlinear solution converges to one with a current singularity. The same signature of current singularity is also identified in other 2D cases with more complex magnetic topologies, such as the coalescence instability of magnetic islands. We then extend the HKT problem to 3D line-tied geometry, which models the solar corona by anchoring the field lines in the boundaries. The effect of such geometry is crucial in the controversy over Parker's conjecture. The linear solution, which is singular in 2D, is found to be smooth. However, with finite amplitude, it can become pathological above a critical system length. The nonlinear solution turns out smooth for short systems. Nonetheless, the scaling of peak current density vs. system length suggests that the nonlinear solution may become singular at a finite length. With the results in hand, we cannot confirm or rule out this possibility conclusively, since we cannot obtain solutions with system lengths near the extrapolated critical value.« less

Performance of Renormalization Group Algebraic Turbulence Model on Boundary Layer Transition Simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ahn, Kyung H.

1994-01-01

The RNG-based algebraic turbulence model, with a new method of solving the cubic equation and applying new length scales, is introduced. An analysis is made of the RNG length scale which was previously reported and the resulting eddy viscosity is compared with those from other algebraic turbulence models. Subsequently, a new length scale is introduced which actually uses the two previous RNG length scales in a systematic way to improve the model performance. The performance of the present RNG model is demonstrated by simulating the boundary layer flow over a flat plate and the flow over an airfoil.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kornreich, Drew E; Vaidya, Rajendra U; Ammerman, Curtt N

Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) is a novel overarching approach to bridge length and time scales in computational materials science and engineering. This approach integrates all elements of multi-scale modeling (including various empirical and science-based models) with materials informatics to provide users the opportunity to tailor material selections based on stringent application needs. Typically, materials engineering has focused on structural requirements (stress, strain, modulus, fracture toughness etc.) while multi-scale modeling has been science focused (mechanical threshold strength model, grain-size models, solid-solution strengthening models etc.). Materials informatics (mechanical property inventories) on the other hand, is extensively data focused. All of thesemore » elements are combined within the framework of ICME to create architecture for the development, selection and design new composite materials for challenging environments. We propose development of the foundations for applying ICME to composite materials development for nuclear and high-radiation environments (including nuclear-fusion energy reactors, nuclear-fission reactors, and accelerators). We expect to combine all elements of current material models (including thermo-mechanical and finite-element models) into the ICME framework. This will be accomplished through the use of a various mathematical modeling constructs. These constructs will allow the integration of constituent models, which in tum would allow us to use the adaptive strengths of using a combinatorial scheme (fabrication and computational) for creating new composite materials. A sample problem where these concepts are used is provided in this summary.« less

Thermal Testing and Integration: Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) Observatories with Digital 1-Wire Sensors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Solimani, Jason A.; Rosanova, Santino

2015-01-01

Thermocouples require two thin wires to be routed out of the spacecraft to connect to the ground support equipment used to monitor and record the temperature data. This large number of wires that exit the observatory complicates integration and creates an undesirable heat path during testing. These wires exiting the spacecraft need to be characterized as a thermal short that will not exist during flight. To minimize complexity and reduce thermal variables from these ground support equipment (GSE) wires, MMS pursued a hybrid path for temperature monitoring, utilizing thermocouples and digital 1-wire temperature sensors. Digital 1-wire sensors can greatly reduce harness mass, length and complexity as they can be spliced together. For MMS, 350 digital 1-wire sensors were installed on the spacecraft with only 18 wires exiting as opposed to a potential 700 thermocouple wires. Digital 1-wire sensors had not been used in such a large scale at NASAGSFC prior to the MMS mission. During the MMS thermal vacuum testing a lessons learned matrix was formulated that will assist future integration of 1-wires into thermal testing and one day into flight.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

Integration Science and Technology of Advanced Ceramics for Energy and Environmental Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Singh, M.

2012-01-01

The discovery of new and innovative materials has been known to culminate in major turning points in human history. The transformative impact and functional manifestation of new materials have been demonstrated in every historical era by their integration into new products, systems, assemblies, and devices. In modern times, the integration of new materials into usable products has a special relevance for the technological development and economic competitiveness of industrial societies. Advanced ceramic technologies dramatically impact the energy and environmental landscape due to potential wide scale applications in all aspects of energy production, storage, distribution, conservation, and efficiency. Examples include gas turbine propulsion systems, fuel cells, thermoelectrics, photovoltaics, distribution and transmission systems based on superconductors, nuclear power generation, and waste disposal. Robust ceramic integration technologies enable hierarchical design and manufacturing of intricate ceramic components starting with geometrically simpler units that are subsequently joined to themselves and/or to metals to create components with progressively higher levels of complexity and functionality. However, for the development of robust and reliable integrated systems with optimum performance under different operating conditions, the detailed understanding of various thermochemical and thermomechanical factors is critical. Different approaches are required for the integration of ceramic-metal and ceramic-ceramic systems across length scales (macro to nano). In this presentation, a few examples of integration of ceramic to metals and ceramic to ceramic systems will be presented. Various challenges and opportunities in design, fabrication, and testing of integrated similar (ceramic-ceramic) and dissimilar (ceramic-metal) material systems will be discussed. Potential opportunities and need for the development of innovative design philosophies, approaches, and integrated system testing under simulated application conditions will also be presented.

Combined Monte Carlo and path-integral method for simulated library of time-resolved reflectance curves from layered tissue models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, Robert H.; Vishwanath, Karthik; Mycek, Mary-Ann

2009-02-01

Monte Carlo (MC) simulations are considered the "gold standard" for mathematical description of photon transport in tissue, but they can require large computation times. Therefore, it is important to develop simple and efficient methods for accelerating MC simulations, especially when a large "library" of related simulations is needed. A semi-analytical method involving MC simulations and a path-integral (PI) based scaling technique generated time-resolved reflectance curves from layered tissue models. First, a zero-absorption MC simulation was run for a tissue model with fixed scattering properties in each layer. Then, a closed-form expression for the average classical path of a photon in tissue was used to determine the percentage of time that the photon spent in each layer, to create a weighted Beer-Lambert factor to scale the time-resolved reflectance of the simulated zero-absorption tissue model. This method is a unique alternative to other scaling techniques in that it does not require the path length or number of collisions of each photon to be stored during the initial simulation. Effects of various layer thicknesses and absorption and scattering coefficients on the accuracy of the method will be discussed.

Scattering of electromagnetic wave by the layer with one-dimensional random inhomogeneities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kogan, Lev; Zaboronkova, Tatiana; Grigoriev, Gennadii., IV.

A great deal of attention has been paid to the study of probability characteristics of electro-magnetic waves scattered by one-dimensional fluctuations of medium dielectric permittivity. However, the problem of a determination of a density of a probability and average intensity of the field inside the stochastically inhomogeneous medium with arbitrary extension of fluc-tuations has not been considered yet. It is the purpose of the present report to find and to analyze the indicated functions for the plane electromagnetic wave scattered by the layer with one-dimensional fluctuations of permittivity. We assumed that the length and the amplitude of individual fluctuations as well the interval between them are random quantities. All of indi-cated fluctuation parameters are supposed as independent random values possessing Gaussian distribution. We considered the stationary time cases both small-scale and large-scale rarefied inhomogeneities. Mathematically such problem can be reduced to the solution of integral Fred-holm equation of second kind for Hertz potential (U). Using the decomposition of the field into the series of multiply scattered waves we obtained the expression for a probability density of the field of the plane wave and determined the moments of the scattered field. We have shown that all odd moments of the centered field (U-¡U¿) are equal to zero and the even moments depend on the intensity. It was obtained that the probability density of the field possesses the Gaussian distribution. The average field is small compared with the standard fluctuation of scattered field for all considered cases of inhomogeneities. The value of average intensity of the field is an order of a standard of fluctuations of field intensity and drops with increases the inhomogeneities length in the case of small-scale inhomogeneities. The behavior of average intensity is more complicated in the case of large-scale medium inhomogeneities. The value of average intensity is the oscillating function versus the average fluctuations length if the standard of fluctuations of inhomogeneities length is greater then the wave length. When the standard of fluctuations of medium inhomogeneities extension is smaller then the wave length, the av-erage intensity value weakly depends from the average fluctuations extension. The obtained results may be used for analysis of the electromagnetic wave propagation into the media with the fluctuating parameters caused by such factors as leafs of trees, cumulus, internal gravity waves with a chaotic phase and etc. Acknowledgment: This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (projects 08-02-97026 and 09-05-00450).

Materials-by-design: computation, synthesis, and characterization from atoms to structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yeo, Jingjie; Jung, Gang Seob; Martín-Martínez, Francisco J.; Ling, Shengjie; Gu, Grace X.; Qin, Zhao; Buehler, Markus J.

2018-05-01

In the 50 years that succeeded Richard Feynman’s exposition of the idea that there is ‘plenty of room at the bottom’ for manipulating individual atoms for the synthesis and manufacturing processing of materials, the materials-by-design paradigm is being developed gradually through synergistic integration of experimental material synthesis and characterization with predictive computational modeling and optimization. This paper reviews how this paradigm creates the possibility to develop materials according to specific, rational designs from the molecular to the macroscopic scale. We discuss promising techniques in experimental small-scale material synthesis and large-scale fabrication methods to manipulate atomistic or macroscale structures, which can be designed by computational modeling. These include recombinant protein technology to produce peptides and proteins with tailored sequences encoded by recombinant DNA, self-assembly processes induced by conformational transition of proteins, additive manufacturing for designing complex structures, and qualitative and quantitative characterization of materials at different length scales. We describe important material characterization techniques using numerous methods of spectroscopy and microscopy. We detail numerous multi-scale computational modeling techniques that complements these experimental techniques: DFT at the atomistic scale; fully atomistic and coarse-grain molecular dynamics at the molecular to mesoscale; continuum modeling at the macroscale. Additionally, we present case studies that utilize experimental and computational approaches in an integrated manner to broaden our understanding of the properties of two-dimensional materials and materials based on silk and silk-elastin-like proteins.

Tip vortices in the actuator line model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martinez, Luis; Meneveau, Charles

2017-11-01

The actuator line model (ALM) is a widely used tool to represent the wind turbine blades in computational fluid dynamics without the need to resolve the full geometry of the blades. The ALM can be optimized to represent the `correct' aerodynamics of the blades by choosing an appropriate smearing length scale ɛ. This appropriate length scale creates a tip vortex which induces a downwash near the tip of the blade. A theoretical frame-work is used to establish a solution to the induced velocity created by a tip vortex as a function of the smearing length scale ɛ. A correction is presented which allows the use of a non-optimal smearing length scale but still provides the downwash which would be induced using the optimal length scale. Thanks to the National Science Foundation (NSF) who provided financial support for this research via Grants IGERT 0801471, IIA-1243482 (the WINDINSPIRE project) and ECCS-1230788.

Modeling of Ceiling Fire Spread and Thermal Radiation.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-10-01

under a PMMA ceiling and flame lengths under an inert ceiling are found to be in reasonable agreement with full-scale behavior. Although fire spread...5 3 Flame Lengths under Full-Scale Ceilings 12 4 Correlation of Flame Length under Inert Ceilings 16 5 Correlation of Flame Length under No 234 Model...Ceilings 17 6 Correlation of Flame Length under No B8811 Model Ceilings 18 7 Correlation of Flame Length under No. 223 Model Ceilings 19 8

Natural Length Scales Shape Liquid Phase Continuity in Unsaturated Flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Assouline, S.; Lehmann, P. G.; Or, D.

2015-12-01

Unsaturated flows supporting soil evaporation and internal drainage play an important role in various hydrologic and climatic processes manifested at a wide range of scales. We study inherent natural length scales that govern these flow processes and constrain the spatial range of their representation by continuum models. These inherent length scales reflect interactions between intrinsic porous medium properties that affect liquid phase continuity, and the interplay among forces that drive and resist unsaturated flow. We have defined an intrinsic length scale for hydraulic continuity based on pore size distribution that controls soil evaporation dynamics (i.e., stage 1 to stage 2 transition). This simple metric may be used to delineate upper bounds for regional evaporative losses or the depth of soil-atmosphere interactions (in the absence of plants). A similar length scale governs the dynamics of internal redistribution towards attainment of field capacity, again through its effect on hydraulic continuity in the draining porous medium. The study provides a framework for guiding numerical and mathematical models for capillary flows across different scales considering the necessary conditions for coexistence of stationarity (REV), hydraulic continuity and intrinsic capillary gradients.

Effects of amyloid and small vessel disease on white matter network disruption.

PubMed

Kim, Hee Jin; Im, Kiho; Kwon, Hunki; Lee, Jong Min; Ye, Byoung Seok; Kim, Yeo Jin; Cho, Hanna; Choe, Yearn Seong; Lee, Kyung Han; Kim, Sung Tae; Kim, Jae Seung; Lee, Jae Hong; Na, Duk L; Seo, Sang Won

2015-01-01

There is growing evidence that the human brain is a large scale complex network. The structural network is reported to be disrupted in cognitively impaired patients. However, there have been few studies evaluating the effects of amyloid and small vessel disease (SVD) markers, the common causes of cognitive impairment, on structural networks. Thus, we evaluated the association between amyloid and SVD burdens and structural networks using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Furthermore, we determined if network parameters predict cognitive impairments. Graph theoretical analysis was applied to DTI data from 232 cognitively impaired patients with varying degrees of amyloid and SVD burdens. All patients underwent Pittsburgh compound-B (PiB) PET to detect amyloid burden, MRI to detect markers of SVD, including the volume of white matter hyperintensities and the number of lacunes, and detailed neuropsychological testing. The whole-brain network was assessed by network parameters of integration (shortest path length, global efficiency) and segregation (clustering coefficient, transitivity, modularity). PiB retention ratio was not associated with any white matter network parameters. Greater white matter hyperintensity volumes or lacunae numbers were significantly associated with decreased network integration (increased shortest path length, decreased global efficiency) and increased network segregation (increased clustering coefficient, increased transitivity, increased modularity). Decreased network integration or increased network segregation were associated with poor performances in attention, language, visuospatial, memory, and frontal-executive functions. Our results suggest that SVD alters white matter network integration and segregation, which further predicts cognitive dysfunction.

Asymptotic expressions for turbulent burning velocity at the leading edge of a premixed flame brush and their validation by published measurement data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Jaeseo; Lee, Gwang G.; Huh, Kang Y.

2014-12-01

This paper presents validation of new analytical expressions for the turbulent burning velocity, ST, based on asymptotic behavior at the leading edge (LE) in turbulent premixed combustion. Reaction and density variation are assumed to be negligible at the LE to avoid the cold boundary difficulty in the statistically steady state. Good agreement is shown for the slopes, dST/du', with respect to Lc/δf at low turbulence, with both normalized by those of the reference cases. δf is the inverse of the maximum gradient of reaction progress variable through an unstretched laminar flame, and Lc is the characteristic length scale given as burner diameter or measured integral length scale. Comparison is made for thirty-five datasets involving different fuels, equivalence ratios, H2 fractions in fuel, pressures, and integral length scales from eight references [R. C. Aldredge et al., "Premixed-flame propagation in turbulent Taylor-Couette flow," Combust. Flame 115, 395 (1998); M. Lawes et al., "The turbulent burning velocity of iso-octane/air mixtures," Combust. Flame 159, 1949 (2012); H. Kido et al., "Influence of local flame displacement velocity on turbulent burning velocity," Proc. Combust. Inst. 29, 1855 (2002); J. Wang et al., "Correlation of turbulent burning velocity for syngas/air mixtures at high pressure up to 1.0 MPa," Exp. Therm. Fluid Sci. 50, 90 (2013); H. Kobayashi et al., "Experimental study on general correlation of turbulent burning velocity at high pressure," Proc. Combust. Inst. 27, 941 (1998); C. W. Chiu et al., "High-pressure hydrogen/carbon monoxide syngas turbulent burning velocities measured at constant turbulent Reynolds numbers," Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 37, 10935 (2012); P. Venkateswaran et al., "Pressure and fuel effects on turbulent consumption speeds of H2/CO blends," Proc. Combust. Inst. 34, 1527 (2013); M. Fairweather et al., "Turbulent burning rates of methane and methane-hydrogen mixtures," Combust. Flame 156, 780 (2009)]. The turbulent burning velocity is shown to increase as the flamelet thickness, δf, decreases at a high pressure, for an equivalence ratio slightly rich or close to stoichiometric and for mixture of a high H2 fraction. Two constants involved are C to scale turbulent diffusivity as a product of turbulent intensity and characteristic length scale and Cs to relate δf with the mean effective Lm. L m = (D m u / SL u 0) is the scale of exponential decay at the LE of an unstretched laminar flame. The combined constant, KC/Cs, is adjusted to match measured turbulent burning velocities at low turbulence in each of the eight different experimental setups. All measured S T / SL u 0 values follow the line, KDtu/Dmu + 1, at low turbulent intensities and show bending below the line due to positive mean curvature and broadened flamelet thickness at high turbulent intensities. Further work is required to determine the constants, Cs and K, and the factor, (L m / Lm * - L m (∇ ṡ n) f), that is responsible for bending in different conditions of laminar flamelet and incoming turbulence.

The influence of free-stream turbulence on turbulent boundary layers with mild adverse pressure gradients

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoffmann, Jon A.

1988-01-01

The influence of near isotropic free-stream turbulence on the shape factors and skin friction coefficients of turbulent bounday layers is presented for the cases of zero and mild adverse pressure gradients. With free-stream turbulence, improved fluid mixing occurs in boundary layers with adverse pressure gradients relative to the zero pressure gradient condition, with the same free-stream turbulence intensity and length scale. Stronger boundary layers with lower shape factors occur as a result of a lower ratio of the integral scale of turbulence to the boundary layer thickness, and to vortex stretching of the turbulent eddies in the free stream, both of which act to improve the transmission of momentum from the free stream to the boundary layers.

The influence of free-stream turbulence on turbulent boundary layers with mild adverse pressure gradients

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoffmann, J. A.; Kassir, S. M.; Larwood, S. M.

1989-01-01

The influence of near isotropic free-stream turbulence on the shape factors and skin friction coefficients of turbulent boundary layers is presented for the cases of zero and mild adverse pressure gradients. With free-stream turbulence, improved fluid mixing occurs in boundary layers with adverse pressure gradients relative to the zero pressure gradient condition, with the same free-stream turbulence intensity and length scale. Stronger boundary layers with lower shape factors occur as a result of a lower ratio of the integral scale of turbulence to the boundary layer thickness, and to vortex stretching of the turbulent eddies in the free-stream, both of which act to improve the transmission of momentum from the free-stream to the boundary layers.

Failure analysis of fuel cell electrodes using three-dimensional multi-length scale X-ray computed tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pokhrel, A.; El Hannach, M.; Orfino, F. P.; Dutta, M.; Kjeang, E.

2016-10-01

X-ray computed tomography (XCT), a non-destructive technique, is proposed for three-dimensional, multi-length scale characterization of complex failure modes in fuel cell electrodes. Comparative tomography data sets are acquired for a conditioned beginning of life (BOL) and a degraded end of life (EOL) membrane electrode assembly subjected to cathode degradation by voltage cycling. Micro length scale analysis shows a five-fold increase in crack size and 57% thickness reduction in the EOL cathode catalyst layer, indicating widespread action of carbon corrosion. Complementary nano length scale analysis shows a significant reduction in porosity, increased pore size, and dramatically reduced effective diffusivity within the remaining porous structure of the catalyst layer at EOL. Collapsing of the structure is evident from the combination of thinning and reduced porosity, as uniquely determined by the multi-length scale approach. Additionally, a novel image processing based technique developed for nano scale segregation of pore, ionomer, and Pt/C dominated voxels shows an increase in ionomer volume fraction, Pt/C agglomerates, and severe carbon corrosion at the catalyst layer/membrane interface at EOL. In summary, XCT based multi-length scale analysis enables detailed information needed for comprehensive understanding of the complex failure modes observed in fuel cell electrodes.

Frontiers of optofluidics in synthetic biology.

PubMed

Tan, Cheemeng; Lo, Shih-Jie; LeDuc, Philip R; Cheng, Chao-Min

2012-10-07

The development of optofluidic-based technology has ushered in a new era of lab-on-a-chip functionality, including miniaturization of biomedical devices, enhanced sensitivity for molecular detection, and multiplexing of optical measurements. While having great potential, optofluidic devices have only begun to be exploited in many biotechnological applications. Here, we highlight the potential of integrating optofluidic devices with synthetic biological systems, which is a field focusing on creating novel cellular systems by engineering synthetic gene and protein networks. First, we review the development of synthetic biology at different length scales, ranging from single-molecule, single-cell, to cellular population. We emphasize light-sensitive synthetic biological systems that would be relevant for the integration with optofluidic devices. Next, we propose several areas for potential applications of optofluidics in synthetic biology. The integration of optofluidics and synthetic biology would have a broad impact on point-of-care diagnostics and biotechnology.

Telomere length is an independent prognostic marker in MDS but not in de novo AML.

PubMed

Williams, Jenna; Heppel, Nicole H; Britt-Compton, Bethan; Grimstead, Julia W; Jones, Rhiannon E; Tauro, Sudhir; Bowen, David T; Knapper, Steven; Groves, Michael; Hills, Robert K; Pepper, Chris; Baird, Duncan M; Fegan, Chris

2017-07-01

Telomere dysfunction is implicated in the generation of large-scale genomic rearrangements that drive progression to malignancy. In this study we used high-resolution single telomere length analysis (STELA) to examine the potential role of telomere dysfunction in 80 myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and 95 de novo acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) patients. Despite the MDS cohort being older, they had significantly longer telomeres than the AML cohort (P < 0·0001) where telomere length was also significantly shorter in younger AML patients (age <60 years) (P = 0·02) and in FLT3 internal tandem duplication-mutated AML patients (P = 0·03). Using a previously determined telomere length threshold for telomere dysfunction (3·81 kb) did not provide prognostic resolution in AML [Hazard ratio (HR) = 0·68, P = 0·2]. In contrast, the same length threshold was highly prognostic for overall survival in the MDS cohort (HR = 5·0, P < 0·0001). Furthermore, this telomere length threshold was an independent parameter in multivariate analysis when adjusted for age, gender, cytogenetic risk group, number of cytopenias and International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) score (HR = 2·27, P < 0·0001). Therefore, telomere length should be assessed in a larger prospective study to confirm its prognostic role in MDS with a view to integrating this variable into a revised IPSS. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Modeling Framework for Fracture in Multiscale Cement-Based Material Structures

PubMed Central

Qian, Zhiwei; Schlangen, Erik; Ye, Guang; van Breugel, Klaas

2017-01-01

Multiscale modeling for cement-based materials, such as concrete, is a relatively young subject, but there are already a number of different approaches to study different aspects of these classical materials. In this paper, the parameter-passing multiscale modeling scheme is established and applied to address the multiscale modeling problem for the integrated system of cement paste, mortar, and concrete. The block-by-block technique is employed to solve the length scale overlap challenge between the mortar level (0.1–10 mm) and the concrete level (1–40 mm). The microstructures of cement paste are simulated by the HYMOSTRUC3D model, and the material structures of mortar and concrete are simulated by the Anm material model. Afterwards the 3D lattice fracture model is used to evaluate their mechanical performance by simulating a uniaxial tensile test. The simulated output properties at a lower scale are passed to the next higher scale to serve as input local properties. A three-level multiscale lattice fracture analysis is demonstrated, including cement paste at the micrometer scale, mortar at the millimeter scale, and concrete at centimeter scale. PMID:28772948

Vortex tubes in turbulence velocity fields at Reynolds numbers Re lambda approximately equal to 300-1300.

PubMed

Mouri, Hideaki; Hori, Akihiro; Kawashima, Yoshihide

2004-12-01

The most elementary structures of turbulence, i.e., vortex tubes, are studied using velocity data obtained in a laboratory experiment for boundary layers with Reynolds numbers Re(lambda) =295-1258 . We conduct conditional averaging for enhancements of a small-scale velocity increment and obtain the typical velocity profile for vortex tubes. Their radii are of the order of the Kolmogorov length. Their circulation velocities are of the order of the root-mean-square velocity fluctuation. We also obtain the distribution of the interval between successive enhancements of the velocity increment as the measure of the spatial distribution of vortex tubes. They tend to cluster together below about the integral length and more significantly below about the Taylor microscale. These properties are independent of the Reynolds number and are hence expected to be universal.

Bonding thermoplastic polymers

DOEpatents

Wallow, Thomas I [Fremont, CA; Hunter, Marion C [Livermore, CA; Krafcik, Karen Lee [Livermore, CA; Morales, Alfredo M [Livermore, CA; Simmons, Blake A [San Francisco, CA; Domeier, Linda A [Danville, CA

2008-06-24

We demonstrate a new method for joining patterned thermoplastic parts into layered structures. The method takes advantage of case-II permeant diffusion to generate dimensionally controlled, activated bonding layers at the surfaces being joined. It is capable of producing bonds characterized by cohesive failure while preserving the fidelity of patterned features in the bonding surfaces. This approach is uniquely suited to production of microfluidic multilayer structures, as it allows the bond-forming interface between plastic parts to be precisely manipulated at micrometer length scales. The bond enhancing procedure is easily integrated in standard process flows and requires no specialized equipment.

Analysis of data from NASA B-57B gust gradient program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frost, W.; Lin, M. C.; Chang, H. P.; Ringnes, E.

1985-01-01

Statistical analysis of the turbulence measured in flight 6 of the NASA B-57B over Denver, Colorado, from July 7 to July 23, 1982 included the calculations of average turbulence parameters, integral length scales, probability density functions, single point autocorrelation coefficients, two point autocorrelation coefficients, normalized autospectra, normalized two point autospectra, and two point cross sectra for gust velocities. The single point autocorrelation coefficients were compared with the theoretical model developed by von Karman. Theoretical analyses were developed which address the effects spanwise gust distributions, using two point spatial turbulence correlations.

A parallel VLSI architecture for a digital filter using a number theoretic transform

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Truong, T. K.; Reed, I. S.; Yeh, C. S.; Shao, H. M.

1983-01-01

The advantages of a very large scalee integration (VLSI) architecture for implementing a digital filter using fermat number transforms (FNT) are the following: It requires no multiplication. Only additions and bit rotations are needed. It alleviates the usual dynamic range limitation for long sequence FNT's. It utilizes the FNT and inverse FNT circuits 100% of the time. The lengths of the input data and filter sequences can be arbitraty and different. It is regular, simple, and expandable, and as a consequence suitable for VLSI implementation.

Relations between overturning length scales at the Spanish planetary boundary layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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 tides and Thorpe scale in Uchiura Bay, Journal of Oceanography, 59, 845-850, 2003. López P., Cano J. L., Cano D. and Tijera M.: Thorpe method applied to planetary boundary layer data, Il Nuovo Cimento, 31C(5-6), 881-892, 2008. DOI: 10.1393/ncc/i2009-10338-3. Lorke A. and Wüest A.: Probability density of displacement and overturning length scales under diverse stratification, J. Geophys. Res., 107 (C12), 3214-3225, 2002. Piera, J., Roget, E. and Catalan, J.: Turbulent patch identification in microstructure profiles: a method based on wavelet denoising and Thorpe displacement analysis, J. Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 19, 1390-1402, 2002. Piera, J.: Signal processing of microstructure profiles: integrating turbulent spatial scales in aquatic ecological modelling, Ph. D. Thesis, Gerona University, Spain, 2004. Smyth, W. D. and Moum, J. N.: Length scales of turbulence in stably stratified mixing layers, Phys. Fluids., 12, 1327-1342, 2000. Thorpe, S.A.: Turbulence and Mixing in a Scottish Loch, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London (Ser. A), 286(1334), 125-18, 1977.

The Effect of Contact Area on the Fluid Flow-Fracture Specific Stiffness Relationship

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petrovitch, C.; Pyrak-Nolte, L. J.; Nolte, D. D.

2009-12-01

The integrity of subsurface CO2 sequestration sites can be compromised by the presence of mechanical discontinuities such as fractures, joints and faults. The ability to detect, seismically, and determine whether a discontinuity poses a risk, requires an understanding of the interrelationships among the mechanical, hydraulic and seismic properties of fractures rock. We performed a computational study to investigate the effect of fracture geometry on the relationship between fluid flow and fracture specific stiffness. The form of this relationship and the ability to scale it among different sample sizes provides a key link between the hydraulic and seismic response of fractures. In this study, model fracture topologies were simulated using the stratified continuum percolation method. This method constructs a hierarchical aperture distribution with a tunable spatial correlation length. Fractures with correlated and uncorrelated aperture distributions were used. The contact area across the fracture plane ranged from approximately 5% to 40%. The fracture specific stiffness was calculated by deforming each fracture numerically under a normal load and extracting the stiffness from the displacement-stress curves. Single-phase flow was calculated for each increment of stress by modeling the fracture topology as a network of elliptical pipes and solving the corresponding linear system of equations. We analyzed the relationship between fracture displacement and contact area and found that the correlation length associated with the contact area distribution enables a scaling relationship between displacement and contact area. The collapse of the fluid flow - stress relationship required use of standard percolation functional forms that use average aperture (cubic law), the void area fraction, and the correlation length of the contact area clusters. A final scaling relationship between fluid flow and fracture specific was found for the class of correlated fractures while a separate relationship was found for the uncorrelated fractures. By expanding the scaling parameters to include additional length scales, it may be possible to unify all of the flow-stiffness relationships, independent of geometry. Acknowledgments: The authors wish to acknowledge support of this work by the Geosciences Research Program, Office of Basic Energy Sciences US Department of Energy (DEFG02-97ER14785 08), the GeoMathematical Imaging Group at Purdue University and from the Computer Research Institute At Purdue University.

Understanding dislocation mechanics at the mesoscale using phase field dislocation dynamics

PubMed Central

Hunter, A.

2016-01-01

In this paper, we discuss the formulation, recent developments and findings obtained from a mesoscale mechanics technique called phase field dislocation dynamics (PFDD). We begin by presenting recent advancements made in modelling face-centred cubic materials, such as integration with atomic-scale simulations to account for partial dislocations. We discuss calculations that help in understanding grain size effects on transitions from full to partial dislocation-mediated slip behaviour and deformation twinning. Finally, we present recent extensions of the PFDD framework to alternative crystal structures, such as body-centred cubic metals, and two-phase materials, including free surfaces, voids and bi-metallic crystals. With several examples we demonstrate that the PFDD model is a powerful and versatile method that can bridge the length and time scales between atomistic and continuum-scale methods, providing a much needed understanding of deformation mechanisms in the mesoscale regime. PMID:27002063

Mesoscale mechanics of twisting carbon nanotube yarns.

PubMed

Mirzaeifar, Reza; Qin, Zhao; Buehler, Markus J

2015-03-12

Fabricating continuous macroscopic carbon nanotube (CNT) yarns with mechanical properties close to individual CNTs remains a major challenge. Spinning CNT fibers and ribbons for enhancing the weak interactions between the nanotubes is a simple and efficient method for fabricating high-strength and tough continuous yarns. Here we investigate the mesoscale mechanics of twisting CNT yarns using full atomistic and coarse grained molecular dynamics simulations, considering concurrent mechanisms at multiple length-scales. To investigate the mechanical response of such a complex structure without losing insights into the molecular mechanism, we applied a multiscale strategy. The full atomistic results are used for training a coarse grained model for studying larger systems consisting of several CNTs. The mesoscopic model parameters are updated as a function of the twist angle, based on the full atomistic results, in order to incorporate the atomistic scale deformation mechanisms in larger scale simulations. By bridging across two length scales, our model is capable of accurately predicting the mechanical behavior of twisted yarns while the atomistic level deformations in individual nanotubes are integrated into the model by updating the parameters. Our results focused on studying a bundle of close packed nanotubes provide novel mechanistic insights into the spinning of CNTs. Our simulations reveal how twisting a bundle of CNTs improves the shear interaction between the nanotubes up to a certain level due to increasing the interaction surface. Furthermore, twisting the bundle weakens the intertube interactions due to excessive deformation in the cross sections of individual CNTs in the bundle.

Λ(t)CDM model as a unified origin of holographic and agegraphic dark energy models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yun; Zhu, Zong-Hong; Xu, Lixin; Alcaniz, J. S.

2011-04-01

Motivated by the fact that any nonzero Λ can introduce a length scale or a time scale into Einstein's theory, r=ct=3/|Λ|. Conversely, any cosmological length scale or time scale can introduce a Λ(t), Λ(t)=3/rΛ2(t)=3/(c2tΛ2(t)). In this Letter, we investigate the time varying Λ(t) corresponding to the length scales, including the Hubble horizon, the particle horizon and the future event horizon, and the time scales, including the age of the universe and the conformal time. It is found out that, in this scenario, the Λ(t)CDM model can be taken as the unified origin of the holographic and agegraphic dark energy models with interaction between the matter and the dark energy, where the interacting term is determined by Q=-ρ. We place observational constraints on the Λ(t)CDM models originating from different cosmological length scales and time scales with the recently compiled “Union2 compilation” which consists of 557 Type Ia supernovae (SNIa) covering a redshift range 0.015⩽z⩽1.4. In conclusion, an accelerating expansion universe can be derived in the cases taking the Hubble horizon, the future event horizon, the age of the universe and the conformal time as the length scale or the time scale.

Similarity and Scale Invariance of Velocity and Temperature Structure Functions within and above Dense Canopies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghannam, K.; Katul, G. G.; Chamecki, M.

2016-12-01

The scale-wise properties of turbulent flow statistics are conventionally quantified using the structure function D_ss (r)= <〖(Δs)〗^2 > describing velocity (s=u) or scalar (s=c) concentration increments Δs=s(x+r)-s(x) at various scales or separation distances r, where <.> is Reynolds averaging over coordinates of statistical homogeneity. For locally homogeneous and isotropic turbulence, the structure function can unfold statistical invariance of the form D_ss (βr)=β^p D_ss (r) as has been demonstrated by Kolmogorov's theory for the inertial subrange in the absence of intermittency corrections. For scales larger than inertial, scale invariance need not hold though universal scaling properties can still emerge provided an appropriate length and velocity scales are identified. One recent study on the structure function of the streamwise velocity (s=u) in smooth and rough wall-bounded flows argued that a logarithmic scaling of the form D_ss/(u_*^2 )=A+B ln(r/l_ɛ ) exists at any height z above the wall (or roughness elements), with,l_ɛ,〖 u〗_*, A and B being a dissipation length scale, the friction velocity, and two similarity constants to be determined. Whether this scaling is valid across all atmospheric stability regimes in the roughness sublayer (RSL) and the possible co-existence of length scales other than l_ɛ that collapse D_ss (r) for velocity and temperature frames the scope of this work. Using year-round field measurements within and above an Amazonian canopy, the work here explores the aforementioned scaling for the streamwise (s=u) and vertical velocity (s=w) components, along with its extension to active scalars (s=T, the air temperature) inside canopies and in the RSL above canopies. While the premise is that a length scale such as l_ɛ may serve as a master closure length scale for turbulent momentum and heat flux budgets, the role of the vorticity thickness, the Obukhov length, the adjustment length scale, and height z are also explored for various scale (or r) regimes. Because the RSL blends D_ss (r) from its form inside the canopy to its form in the well-studied atmospheric surface layer, the scaling laws derived here offer a new perspective on the thickness of the RSL for momentum and scalars and its variations with atmospheric stability.

Constant Stress Drop Fits Earthquake Surface Slip-Length Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaw, B. E.

2011-12-01

Slip at the surface of the Earth provides a direct window into the earthquake source. A longstanding controversy surrounds the scaling of average surface slip with rupture length, which shows the puzzling feature of continuing to increase with rupture length for lengths many times the seismogenic width. Here we show that a more careful treatment of how ruptures transition from small circular ruptures to large rectangular ruptures combined with an assumption of constant stress drop provides a new scaling law for slip versus length which (1) does an excellent job fitting the data, (2) gives an explanation for the large crossover lengthscale at which slip begins to saturate, and (3) supports constant stress drop scaling which matches that seen for small earthquakes. We additionally discuss how the new scaling can be usefully applied to seismic hazard estimates.

Taxonomic changes and description of two new species for the Phyllodactylus lanei complex (Gekkota: Phyllodactylidae) in Mexico.

PubMed

RamÍrez-Reyes, Tonatiuh; Flores-Villela, Oscar

2018-04-10

An integrative taxonomy approach was implemented based on analysis of genetic, phylogenetic, morphological and ecological data to identify the cryptic diversity within the Phyllodactylus lanei complex. At least six species can be identified, of which four are currently considered subspecies: Phyllodactylus lanei, Phyllodactylus rupinus, Phyllodactylus isabelae, Phyllodactylus lupitae and two corresponding to undescribed taxa, which are identified and described in this contribution. These differ from other Mexican geckos in several characters: genetic distance (DNAmt), position in molecular phylogeny (concatened data DNAmt+DNAnu), species tree, morphological characters such as snout-vent length, longitudinal scales, tubercles from head to tail, interorbital scales, scales across venter, third labial-snout scales and rows of tubercles across dorsum; there are also differences in their bioclimatic profiles (temperature and precipitation) and geographical distribution. The most recent studies on taxonomy and evolution of Mexican geckos (Phyllodactylus) show that the diversity of this group of reptiles is currently underestimated, suggesting that more research and conservation efforts are should be addressed at these lizards.

Tornado outbreak variability follows Taylor's power law of fluctuation scaling and increases dramatically with severity.

PubMed

Tippett, Michael K; Cohen, Joel E

2016-02-29

Tornadoes cause loss of life and damage to property each year in the United States and around the world. The largest impacts come from 'outbreaks' consisting of multiple tornadoes closely spaced in time. Here we find an upward trend in the annual mean number of tornadoes per US tornado outbreak for the period 1954-2014. Moreover, the variance of this quantity is increasing more than four times as fast as the mean. The mean and variance of the number of tornadoes per outbreak vary according to Taylor's power law of fluctuation scaling (TL), with parameters that are consistent with multiplicative growth. Tornado-related atmospheric proxies show similar power-law scaling and multiplicative growth. Path-length-integrated tornado outbreak intensity also follows TL, but with parameters consistent with sampling variability. The observed TL power-law scaling of outbreak severity means that extreme outbreaks are more frequent than would be expected if mean and variance were independent or linearly related.

Tornado outbreak variability follows Taylor's power law of fluctuation scaling and increases dramatically with severity

PubMed Central

Tippett, Michael K.; Cohen, Joel E.

2016-01-01

Tornadoes cause loss of life and damage to property each year in the United States and around the world. The largest impacts come from ‘outbreaks' consisting of multiple tornadoes closely spaced in time. Here we find an upward trend in the annual mean number of tornadoes per US tornado outbreak for the period 1954–2014. Moreover, the variance of this quantity is increasing more than four times as fast as the mean. The mean and variance of the number of tornadoes per outbreak vary according to Taylor's power law of fluctuation scaling (TL), with parameters that are consistent with multiplicative growth. Tornado-related atmospheric proxies show similar power-law scaling and multiplicative growth. Path-length-integrated tornado outbreak intensity also follows TL, but with parameters consistent with sampling variability. The observed TL power-law scaling of outbreak severity means that extreme outbreaks are more frequent than would be expected if mean and variance were independent or linearly related. PMID:26923210

Tornado outbreak variability follows Taylor's power law of fluctuation scaling and increases dramatically with severity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tippett, Michael K.; Cohen, Joel E.

2016-02-01

Tornadoes cause loss of life and damage to property each year in the United States and around the world. The largest impacts come from `outbreaks' consisting of multiple tornadoes closely spaced in time. Here we find an upward trend in the annual mean number of tornadoes per US tornado outbreak for the period 1954-2014. Moreover, the variance of this quantity is increasing more than four times as fast as the mean. The mean and variance of the number of tornadoes per outbreak vary according to Taylor's power law of fluctuation scaling (TL), with parameters that are consistent with multiplicative growth. Tornado-related atmospheric proxies show similar power-law scaling and multiplicative growth. Path-length-integrated tornado outbreak intensity also follows TL, but with parameters consistent with sampling variability. The observed TL power-law scaling of outbreak severity means that extreme outbreaks are more frequent than would be expected if mean and variance were independent or linearly related.

Assessing implicit models for nonpolar mean solvation forces: The importance of dispersion and volume terms

PubMed Central

Wagoner, Jason A.; Baker, Nathan A.

2006-01-01

Continuum solvation models provide appealing alternatives to explicit solvent methods because of their ability to reproduce solvation effects while alleviating the need for expensive sampling. Our previous work has demonstrated that Poisson-Boltzmann methods are capable of faithfully reproducing polar explicit solvent forces for dilute protein systems; however, the popular solvent-accessible surface area model was shown to be incapable of accurately describing nonpolar solvation forces at atomic-length scales. Therefore, alternate continuum methods are needed to reproduce nonpolar interactions at the atomic scale. In the present work, we address this issue by supplementing the solvent-accessible surface area model with additional volume and dispersion integral terms suggested by scaled particle models and Weeks–Chandler–Andersen theory, respectively. This more complete nonpolar implicit solvent model shows very good agreement with explicit solvent results and suggests that, although often overlooked, the inclusion of appropriate dispersion and volume terms are essential for an accurate implicit solvent description of atomic-scale nonpolar forces. PMID:16709675

3D multiscale crack propagation using the XFEM applied to a gas turbine blade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holl, Matthias; Rogge, Timo; Loehnert, Stefan; Wriggers, Peter; Rolfes, Raimund

2014-01-01

This work presents a new multiscale technique to investigate advancing cracks in three dimensional space. This fully adaptive multiscale technique is designed to take into account cracks of different length scales efficiently, by enabling fine scale domains locally in regions of interest, i.e. where stress concentrations and high stress gradients occur. Due to crack propagation, these regions change during the simulation process. Cracks are modeled using the extended finite element method, such that an accurate and powerful numerical tool is achieved. Restricting ourselves to linear elastic fracture mechanics, the -integral yields an accurate solution of the stress intensity factors, and with the criterion of maximum hoop stress, a precise direction of growth. If necessary, the on the finest scale computed crack surface is finally transferred to the corresponding scale. In a final step, the model is applied to a quadrature point of a gas turbine blade, to compute crack growth on the microscale of a real structure.

Driven, underdamped Frenkel-Kontorova model on a quasiperiodic substrate

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vanossi, A.; Ro''der, J.; Bishop, A. R.

2001-01-01

We consider the underdamped dynamics of a chain of atoms subject to a dc driving force and a quasiperiodic substrate potential. The system has three inherent length scales which we take to be mutually incommensurate. We find that when the length scales are related by the spiral mean (a cubic irrational) there exists a value of the interparticle interaction strength above which the static friction is zero. When the length scales are related by the golden mean (a quadratic irrational) the static friction is always nonzero. >From considerations based on the connection of this problem to standard map theory, wemore » postulate that zero static friction is generally possible for incommensurate ratios of the length scales involved. However, when the length scales are quadratic irrationals, or have some commensurability with each other, the static friction will be nonzero for all choices of interaction parameters. We also comment on the nature of the depinning mechanisms and the steady states achieved by the moving chain.« less

Brillouin Scattering of Picosecond Laser Pulses in Preformed, Short-Scale-Length Plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaeris, A. C.; Fisher, Y.; Delettrez, J. A.; Meyerhofer, D. D.

1996-11-01

Brillouin scattering (BS) has been studied in short-scale-length, preformed plasmas. The backscattered and specularly reflected light resulting from the interaction of high-power picosecond pulses with preformed silicon plasmas has been measured. A first laser pulse forms a short-scale-length plasma -- without significant BS -- while a second delayed pulse interacts with an expanded, drifting underdense region of the plasma with density scale length (0 <= Ln <= 600 λ _L). The pulses are generated at λ L = 1054 nm, with intensities up to 10^16 W/cm^2. The backscattered light spectra, threshold intensities, and enhanced reflectivities have been determined for different plasma-density scale lengths and are compared to Liu, Rosenbluth, and White's(C. S. Liu, M. N. Rosenbluth, and R. B. White, Phys. Fluids 17, 1211 (1974).) WKB treatment of stimulated Brillouin scattering in inhomogeneous drifting plasmas. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Inertial Confinement Fusion under Cooperative Agreement No. DE-FC03-92SF19460.

Influence of Turbulent Flow and Fractal Scaling on Effective Permeability of Fracture Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, J.

2017-12-01

A new approach is developed to calculate hydraulic gradient dependent effective permeability of a fractal fracture network where both laminar and turbulent flows may occur in individual fractures. A critical fracture length is used to distinguish flow characteristics in individual fractures. The developed new solutions can be used for the case of a general scaling relationship, an extension to the linear scaling. We examine the impact on the effective permeability of the network of fractal fracture network characteristics, which include the fractal scaling coefficient and exponent, fractal dimension, ratio of minimum over maximum fracture lengths. Results demonstrate that the developed solution can explain more variations of the effective permeability in relation to the fractal dimensions estimated from the field observations. At high hydraulic gradient the effective permeability decreases with the fractal scaling exponent, but increases with the fractal scaling exponent at low gradient. The effective permeability increases with the scaling coefficient, fractal dimension, fracture length ratio and maximum fracture length.

End-monomer Dynamics in Semiflexible Polymers

PubMed Central

Hinczewski, Michael; Schlagberger, Xaver; Rubinstein, Michael; Krichevsky, Oleg; Netz, Roland R.

2009-01-01

Spurred by an experimental controversy in the literature, we investigate the end-monomer dynamics of semiflexible polymers through Brownian hydrodynamic simulations and dynamic mean-field theory. Precise experimental observations over the last few years of end-monomer dynamics in the diffusion of double-stranded DNA have given conflicting results: one study indicated an unexpected Rouse-like scaling of the mean squared displacement (MSD) 〈r2(t)〉 ~ t1/2 at intermediate times, corresponding to fluctuations at length scales larger than the persistence length but smaller than the coil size; another study claimed the more conventional Zimm scaling 〈r2(t)〉 ~ t2/3 in the same time range. Using hydrodynamic simulations, analytical and scaling theories, we find a novel intermediate dynamical regime where the effective local exponent of the end-monomer MSD, α(t) = d log〈r2(t)〉/d log t, drops below the Zimm value of 2/3 for sufficiently long chains. The deviation from the Zimm prediction increases with chain length, though it does not reach the Rouse limit of 1/2. The qualitative features of this intermediate regime, found in simulations and in an improved mean-field theory for semiflexible polymers, in particular the variation of α(t) with chain and persistence lengths, can be reproduced through a heuristic scaling argument. Anomalously low values of the effective exponent α are explained by hydrodynamic effects related to the slow crossover from dynamics on length scales smaller than the persistence length to dynamics on larger length scales. PMID:21359118

Ultralow-Loss CMOS Copper Plasmonic Waveguides.

PubMed

Fedyanin, Dmitry Yu; Yakubovsky, Dmitry I; Kirtaev, Roman V; Volkov, Valentyn S

2016-01-13

Surface plasmon polaritons can give a unique opportunity to manipulate light at a scale well below the diffraction limit reducing the size of optical components down to that of nanoelectronic circuits. At the same time, plasmonics is mostly based on noble metals, which are not compatible with microelectronics manufacturing technologies. This prevents plasmonic components from integration with both silicon photonics and silicon microelectronics. Here, we demonstrate ultralow-loss copper plasmonic waveguides fabricated in a simple complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible process, which can outperform gold plasmonic waveguides simultaneously providing long (>40 μm) propagation length and deep subwavelength (∼λ(2)/50, where λ is the free-space wavelength) mode confinement in the telecommunication spectral range. These results create the backbone for the development of a CMOS plasmonic platform and its integration in future electronic chips.

Catalytic ignition model in a monolithic reactor with in-depth reaction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tien, Ta-Ching; Tien, James S.

1990-01-01

Two transient models have been developed to study the catalytic ignition in a monolithic catalytic reactor. The special feature in these models is the inclusion of thermal and species structures in the porous catalytic layer. There are many time scales involved in the catalytic ignition problem, and these two models are developed with different time scales. In the full transient model, the equations are non-dimensionalized by the shortest time scale (mass diffusion across the catalytic layer). It is therefore accurate but is computationally costly. In the energy-integral model, only the slowest process (solid heat-up) is taken as nonsteady. It is approximate but computationally efficient. In the computations performed, the catalyst is platinum and the reactants are rich mixtures of hydrogen and oxygen. One-step global chemical reaction rates are used for both gas-phase homogeneous reaction and catalytic heterogeneous reaction. The computed results reveal the transient ignition processes in detail, including the structure variation with time in the reactive catalytic layer. An ignition map using reactor length and catalyst loading is constructed. The comparison of computed results between the two transient models verifies the applicability of the energy-integral model when the time is greater than the second largest time scale of the system. It also suggests that a proper combined use of the two models can catch all the transient phenomena while minimizing the computational cost.

Length of residence and social integration: The contingent effects of neighborhood poverty

PubMed Central

Keene, Danya; Bader, Michael; Ailshire, Jennifer

2013-01-01

Given the well-established benefits of social integration for physical and mental health, studies have begun to explore how access to social ties and social support may be shaped by the residential context in which people live. As a critical health exposure, social integration may be one important mechanism by which places affect health. This paper brings together research on two previously studied contextual determinants of social integration. Specifically, we use multi-level data from the Chicago Community Adult Health Survey to investigate the relationships between an individual’s length of residence and measures of social integration. We then investigate the extent to which these relationships are moderated by neighborhood poverty. We find that the relationship between length of residence and some measures of social integration are stronger in poor neighborhoods than in more affluent ones. PMID:23501379

The Role of Free Stream Turbulence on the Aerodynamic Performance of a Wind Turbine Blade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maldonado, Victor; Thormann, Adrien; Meneveau, Charles; Castillo, Luciano; Turbulence Group Collaboration

2012-11-01

In the present research, a 2-D wind turbine blade section based on the S809 airfoil was manufactured and tested at Johns Hopkins University in the Stanley Corrsin wind tunnel facility. A free stream velocity of 10 m/s produced a Reynolds number based on blade chord of 2.08.x105. Free stream turbulence was generated using an active grid placed 5.5 m upstream of the blade which generated a turbulence intensity, Tu of up to 6.1% and an integral length scale, L∞ of about 0.15 m. The blade was pitched to a range of angles of attack, α from 0 to 18 degrees in order to study the effects of the integral length scales on the aerodynamic characteristics of the wind turbine under fully attached and separated flow conditions. Pressure measurements around the blade and wake velocity deficit measurements utilizing a hot-wire probe were acquired to compute the lift and drag coefficient. Results suggest that turbulence generally increases aerodynamic performance as measured by the lift to drag ratio, L / D except at 0 degrees angle of attack. A significant enhancement in L / D results with free stream turbulence at post-stall angles of attack of 16 and 18 degrees, where L / D increase from 2.49 to 5.43 and from 0.64 to 4.00 respectively. This is a consequence of delaying flow separation with turbulence (which is observed in the suction pressure distribution) which in turn reduces the momentum loss in the wake particularly at 18 degrees angle of attack.

Top-Contact Self-Aligned Printing for High-Performance Carbon Nanotube Thin-Film Transistors with Sub-Micron Channel Length.

PubMed

Cao, Xuan; Wu, Fanqi; Lau, Christian; Liu, Yihang; Liu, Qingzhou; Zhou, Chongwu

2017-02-28

Semiconducting single-wall carbon nanotubes are ideal semiconductors for printed thin-film transistors due to their excellent electrical performance and intrinsic printability with solution-based deposition. However, limited by resolution and registration accuracy of current printing techniques, previously reported fully printed nanotube transistors had rather long channel lengths (>20 μm) and consequently low current-drive capabilities (<0.2 μA/μm). Here we report fully inkjet printed nanotube transistors with dramatically enhanced on-state current density of ∼4.5 μA/μm by downscaling the devices to a sub-micron channel length with top-contact self-aligned printing and employing high-capacitance ion gel as the gate dielectric. Also, the printed transistors exhibited a high on/off ratio of ∼10 5 , low-voltage operation, and good mobility of ∼15.03 cm 2 V -1 s -1 . These advantageous features of our printed transistors are very promising for future high-definition printed displays and sensing systems, low-power consumer electronics, and large-scale integration of printed electronics.

Simulation of fatigue crack growth under large scale yielding conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schweizer, Christoph; Seifert, Thomas; Riedel, Hermann

2010-07-01

A simple mechanism based model for fatigue crack growth assumes a linear correlation between the cyclic crack-tip opening displacement (ΔCTOD) and the crack growth increment (da/dN). The objective of this work is to compare analytical estimates of ΔCTOD with results of numerical calculations under large scale yielding conditions and to verify the physical basis of the model by comparing the predicted and the measured evolution of the crack length in a 10%-chromium-steel. The material is described by a rate independent cyclic plasticity model with power-law hardening and Masing behavior. During the tension-going part of the cycle, nodes at the crack-tip are released such that the crack growth increment corresponds approximately to the crack-tip opening. The finite element analysis performed in ABAQUS is continued for so many cycles until a stabilized value of ΔCTOD is reached. The analytical model contains an interpolation formula for the J-integral, which is generalized to account for cyclic loading and crack closure. Both simulated and estimated ΔCTOD are reasonably consistent. The predicted crack length evolution is found to be in good agreement with the behavior of microcracks observed in a 10%-chromium steel.

How tough is Brittle Bone? Investigating Osteogenesis Imperfecta in Mouse Bone††

PubMed Central

Carriero, A.; Zimmermann, E. A.; Paluszny, A.; Tang, S. Y.; Bale, H.; Busse, B.; Alliston, T.; Kazakia, G.

2015-01-01

The multiscale hierarchical structure of bone is naturally optimized to resist fractures. In osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease, genetic mutations affect the quality and/or quantity of collagen, dramatically increasing bone fracture risk. Here we reveal how the collagen defect results in bone fragility in a mouse model of osteogenesis imperfecta (oim), which has homotrimeric α1(I) collagen. At the molecular level we attribute the loss in toughness to a decrease in the stabilizing enzymatic crosslinks and an increase in non-enzymatic crosslinks, which may break prematurely inhibiting plasticity. At the tissue level, high vascular canal density reduces the stable crack growth, and extensive woven bone limits the crack-deflection toughening during crack growth. This demonstrates how modifications at the bone molecular level have ramifications at larger length scales affecting the overall mechanical integrity of the bone; thus, treatment strategies have to address multiscale properties in order to regain bone toughness. In this regard, findings from the heterozygous oim bone, where defective as well as normal collagen are present, suggest that increasing the quantity of healthy collagen in these bones helps to recover toughness at the multiple length scales. PMID:24420672

Rayleigh instability at small length scales.

PubMed

Gopan, Nandu; Sathian, Sarith P

2014-09-01

The Rayleigh instability (also called the Plateau-Rayleigh instability) of a nanosized liquid propane thread is investigated using molecular dynamics (MD). The validity of classical predictions at small length scales is verified by comparing the temporal evolution of liquid thread simulated by MD against classical predictions. Previous works have shown that thermal fluctuations become dominant at small length scales. The role and influence of the stochastic nature of thermal fluctuations in determining the instability at small length scale is also investigated. Thermal fluctuations are seen to dominate and accelerate the breakup process only during the last stages of breakup. The simulations also reveal that the breakup profile of nanoscale threads undergo modification due to reorganization of molecules by the evaporation-condensation process.

Impact of underlap spacer region variation on electrostatic and analog performance of symmetrical high-k SOI FinFET at 20 nm channel length

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jain, Neeraj; Raj, Balwinder

2017-12-01

Continued scaling of CMOS technology to achieve high performance and low power consumption of semiconductor devices in the complex integrated circuits faces the degradation in terms of electrostatic integrity, short channel effects (SCEs), leakage currents, device variability and reliability etc. Nowadays, multigate structure has become the promising candidate to overcome these problems. SOI FinFET is one of the best multigate structures that has gained importance in all electronic design automation (EDA) industries due to its improved short channel effects (SCEs), because of its more effective gate-controlling capabilities. In this paper, our aim is to explore the sensitivity of underlap spacer region variation on the performance of SOI FinFET at 20 nm channel length. Electric field modulation is analyzed with spacer length variation and electrostatic performance is evaluated in terms of performance parameter like electron mobility, electric field, electric potential, sub-threshold slope (SS), ON current (I on), OFF current (I off) and I on/I off ratio. The potential benefits of SOI FinFET at drain-to-source voltage, V DS = 0.05 V and V DS = 0.7 V towards analog and RF design is also evaluated in terms of intrinsic gain (A V), output conductance (g d), trans-conductance (g m), gate capacitance (C gg), and cut-off frequency (f T = g m/2πC gg) with spacer region variations.

Sustainable multistage process for enhanced productivity of bioplastics from waste remediation through aerobic dynamic feeding strategy: Process integration for up-scaling.

PubMed

Amulya, K; Jukuri, Srinivas; Venkata Mohan, S

2015-01-01

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) production was evaluated in a multistage operation using food waste as a renewable feedstock. The first step involved the production of bio-hydrogen (bio-H2) via acidogenic fermentation. Volatile fatty acid (VFA) rich effluent from bio-H2 reactor was subsequently used for PHA production, which was carried out in two stages, Stage II (culture enrichment) and Stage III (PHA production). PHA-storing microorganisms were enriched in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR), operated at two different cycle lengths (CL-24; CL-12). Higher polymer recovery as well as VFA removal was achieved in CL-12 operation both in Stage II (16.3% dry cell weight (DCW); VFA removal, 84%) and Stage III (23.7% DCW; VFA removal, 88%). The PHA obtained was a co-polymer [P(3HB-co-3HV)] of PHB and PHV. The results obtained indicate that this integrated multistage process offers new opportunities to further leverage large scale PHA production with simultaneous waste remediation in the framework of biorefinery. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of the US3D Code for Advanced Compressible and Reacting Flow Simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Candler, Graham V.; Johnson, Heath B.; Nompelis, Ioannis; Subbareddy, Pramod K.; Drayna, Travis W.; Gidzak, Vladimyr; Barnhardt, Michael D.

2015-01-01

Aerothermodynamics and hypersonic flows involve complex multi-disciplinary physics, including finite-rate gas-phase kinetics, finite-rate internal energy relaxation, gas-surface interactions with finite-rate oxidation and sublimation, transition to turbulence, large-scale unsteadiness, shock-boundary layer interactions, fluid-structure interactions, and thermal protection system ablation and thermal response. Many of the flows have a large range of length and time scales, requiring large computational grids, implicit time integration, and large solution run times. The University of Minnesota NASA US3D code was designed for the simulation of these complex, highly-coupled flows. It has many of the features of the well-established DPLR code, but uses unstructured grids and has many advanced numerical capabilities and physical models for multi-physics problems. The main capabilities of the code are described, the physical modeling approaches are discussed, the different types of numerical flux functions and time integration approaches are outlined, and the parallelization strategy is overviewed. Comparisons between US3D and the NASA DPLR code are presented, and several advanced simulations are presented to illustrate some of novel features of the code.

Bending analysis of embedded nanoplates based on the integral formulation of Eringen's nonlocal theory using the finite element method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ansari, R.; Torabi, J.; Norouzzadeh, A.

2018-04-01

Due to the capability of Eringen's nonlocal elasticity theory to capture the small length scale effect, it is widely used to study the mechanical behaviors of nanostructures. Previous studies have indicated that in some cases, the differential form of this theory cannot correctly predict the behavior of structure, and the integral form should be employed to avoid obtaining inconsistent results. The present study deals with the bending analysis of nanoplates resting on elastic foundation based on the integral formulation of Eringen's nonlocal theory. Since the formulation is presented in a general form, arbitrary kernel functions can be used. The first order shear deformation plate theory is considered to model the nanoplates, and the governing equations for both integral and differential forms are presented. Finally, the finite element method is applied to solve the problem. Selected results are given to investigate the effects of elastic foundation and to compare the predictions of integral nonlocal model with those of its differential nonlocal and local counterparts. It is found that by the use of proposed integral formulation of Eringen's nonlocal model, the paradox observed for the cantilever nanoplate is resolved.

Nanoscale heterogeneity at the aqueous electrolyte-electrode interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Limmer, David T.; Willard, Adam P.

2015-01-01

Using molecular dynamics simulations, we reveal emergent properties of hydrated electrode interfaces that while molecular in origin are integral to the behavior of the system across long times scales and large length scales. Specifically, we describe the impact of a disordered and slowly evolving adsorbed layer of water on the molecular structure and dynamics of the electrolyte solution adjacent to it. Generically, we find that densities and mobilities of both water and dissolved ions are spatially heterogeneous in the plane parallel to the electrode over nanosecond timescales. These and other recent results are analyzed in the context of available experimental literature from surface science and electrochemistry. We speculate on the implications of this emerging microscopic picture on the catalytic proficiency of hydrated electrodes, offering a new direction for study in heterogeneous catalysis at the nanoscale.

Small-scale explosive seam welding. [using ribbon explosive encased in lead sheath

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bement, L. J.

1972-01-01

A unique small scale explosive seam welding technique is reported that has successfully joined a variety of aluminum alloys and alloy combinations in thicknesses to 0.125 inch, as well as titanium in thicknesses to 0.056 inch. The explosively welded joints are less than one-half inch in width and apparently have no long length limitation. The ribbon explosive developed in this study contains very small quantities of explosive encased in a flexible thin lead sheath. The evaluation and demonstration of this welding technique was accomplished in three phases: evaluation and optimization of ten major explosive welding variables, the development of four weld joints, and an applicational analysis which included photomicrographs, pressure integrity tests, vacuum effects, and fabrication of some potentially useful structures in aluminum and titanium.

Roles of telomeres and telomerase in cancer, and advances in telomerase-targeted therapies.

PubMed

Jafri, Mohammad A; Ansari, Shakeel A; Alqahtani, Mohammed H; Shay, Jerry W

2016-06-20

Telomeres maintain genomic integrity in normal cells, and their progressive shortening during successive cell divisions induces chromosomal instability. In the large majority of cancer cells, telomere length is maintained by telomerase. Thus, telomere length and telomerase activity are crucial for cancer initiation and the survival of tumors. Several pathways that regulate telomere length have been identified, and genome-scale studies have helped in mapping genes that are involved in telomere length control. Additionally, genomic screening for recurrent human telomerase gene hTERT promoter mutations and mutations in genes involved in the alternative lengthening of telomeres pathway, such as ATRX and DAXX, has elucidated how these genomic changes contribute to the activation of telomere maintenance mechanisms in cancer cells. Attempts have also been made to develop telomere length- and telomerase-based diagnostic tools and anticancer therapeutics. Recent efforts have revealed key aspects of telomerase assembly, intracellular trafficking and recruitment to telomeres for completing DNA synthesis, which may provide novel targets for the development of anticancer agents. Here, we summarize telomere organization and function and its role in oncogenesis. We also highlight genomic mutations that lead to reactivation of telomerase, and mechanisms of telomerase reconstitution and trafficking that shed light on its function in cancer initiation and tumor development. Additionally, recent advances in the clinical development of telomerase inhibitors, as well as potential novel targets, will be summarized.

Time-symmetric integration in astrophysics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernandez, David M.; Bertschinger, Edmund

2018-04-01

Calculating the long-term solution of ordinary differential equations, such as those of the N-body problem, is central to understanding a wide range of dynamics in astrophysics, from galaxy formation to planetary chaos. Because generally no analytic solution exists to these equations, researchers rely on numerical methods that are prone to various errors. In an effort to mitigate these errors, powerful symplectic integrators have been employed. But symplectic integrators can be severely limited because they are not compatible with adaptive stepping and thus they have difficulty in accommodating changing time and length scales. A promising alternative is time-reversible integration, which can handle adaptive time-stepping, but the errors due to time-reversible integration in astrophysics are less understood. The goal of this work is to study analytically and numerically the errors caused by time-reversible integration, with and without adaptive stepping. We derive the modified differential equations of these integrators to perform the error analysis. As an example, we consider the trapezoidal rule, a reversible non-symplectic integrator, and show that it gives secular energy error increase for a pendulum problem and for a Hénon-Heiles orbit. We conclude that using reversible integration does not guarantee good energy conservation and that, when possible, use of symplectic integrators is favoured. We also show that time-symmetry and time-reversibility are properties that are distinct for an integrator.

A physics based multiscale modeling of cavitating flows.

PubMed

Ma, Jingsen; Hsiao, Chao-Tsung; Chahine, Georges L

2017-03-02

Numerical modeling of cavitating bubbly flows is challenging due to the wide range of characteristic lengths of the physics at play: from micrometers (e.g., bubble nuclei radius) to meters (e.g., propeller diameter or sheet cavity length). To address this, we present here a multiscale approach which integrates a Discrete Singularities Model (DSM) for dispersed microbubbles and a two-phase Navier Stokes solver for the bubbly medium, which includes a level set approach to describe large cavities or gaseous pockets. Inter-scale schemes are used to smoothly bridge the two transitioning subgrid DSM bubbles into larger discretized cavities. This approach is demonstrated on several problems including cavitation inception and vapor core formation in a vortex flow, sheet-to-cloud cavitation over a hydrofoil, cavitation behind a blunt body, and cavitation on a propeller. These examples highlight the capabilities of the developed multiscale model in simulating various form of cavitation.

A physics based multiscale modeling of cavitating flows

PubMed Central

Ma, Jingsen; Hsiao, Chao-Tsung; Chahine, Georges L.

2018-01-01

Numerical modeling of cavitating bubbly flows is challenging due to the wide range of characteristic lengths of the physics at play: from micrometers (e.g., bubble nuclei radius) to meters (e.g., propeller diameter or sheet cavity length). To address this, we present here a multiscale approach which integrates a Discrete Singularities Model (DSM) for dispersed microbubbles and a two-phase Navier Stokes solver for the bubbly medium, which includes a level set approach to describe large cavities or gaseous pockets. Inter-scale schemes are used to smoothly bridge the two transitioning subgrid DSM bubbles into larger discretized cavities. This approach is demonstrated on several problems including cavitation inception and vapor core formation in a vortex flow, sheet-to-cloud cavitation over a hydrofoil, cavitation behind a blunt body, and cavitation on a propeller. These examples highlight the capabilities of the developed multiscale model in simulating various form of cavitation. PMID:29720773

Stencil Nano Lithography Based on a Nanoscale Polymer Shadow Mask: Towards Organic Nanoelectronics

PubMed Central

Yun, Hoyeol; Kim, Sangwook; Kim, Hakseong; Lee, Junghyun; McAllister, Kirstie; Kim, Junhyung; Pyo, Sengmoon; Sung Kim, Jun; Campbell, Eleanor E. B.; Hyoung Lee, Wi; Wook Lee, Sang

2015-01-01

A stencil lithography technique has been developed to fabricate organic-material-based electronic devices with sub-micron resolution. Suspended polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) membranes were used as shadow masks for defining organic channels and top electrodes. Arrays of pentacene field effect transistors (FETs) with various channel lengths from 50 μm down to 500 nm were successfully produced from the same batch using this technique. Electrical transport measurements showed that the electrical contacts of all devices were stable and the normalized contact resistances were much lower than previously studied organic FETs. Scaling effects, originating from the bulk space charge current, were investigated by analyzing the channel-length-dependent mobility and hysteresis behaviors. This novel lithography method provides a reliable means for studying the fundamental transport properties of organic materials at the nanoscale as well as enabling potential applications requiring the fabrication of integrated organic nanoelectronic devices. PMID:25959389

Stencil nano lithography based on a nanoscale polymer shadow mask: towards organic nanoelectronics.

PubMed

Yun, Hoyeol; Kim, Sangwook; Kim, Hakseong; Lee, Junghyun; McAllister, Kirstie; Kim, Junhyung; Pyo, Sengmoon; Sung Kim, Jun; Campbell, Eleanor E B; Hyoung Lee, Wi; Wook Lee, Sang

2015-05-11

A stencil lithography technique has been developed to fabricate organic-material-based electronic devices with sub-micron resolution. Suspended polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) membranes were used as shadow masks for defining organic channels and top electrodes. Arrays of pentacene field effect transistors (FETs) with various channel lengths from 50 μm down to 500 nm were successfully produced from the same batch using this technique. Electrical transport measurements showed that the electrical contacts of all devices were stable and the normalized contact resistances were much lower than previously studied organic FETs. Scaling effects, originating from the bulk space charge current, were investigated by analyzing the channel-length-dependent mobility and hysteresis behaviors. This novel lithography method provides a reliable means for studying the fundamental transport properties of organic materials at the nanoscale as well as enabling potential applications requiring the fabrication of integrated organic nanoelectronic devices.

Excess entropy scaling for the segmental and global dynamics of polyethylene melts.

PubMed

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.

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

PubMed Central

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

Nanometre-scale thermometry in a living cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kucsko, G.; Maurer, P. C.; Yao, N. Y.; Kubo, M.; Noh, H. J.; Lo, P. K.; Park, H.; Lukin, M. D.

2013-08-01

Sensitive probing of temperature variations on nanometre scales is an outstanding challenge in many areas of modern science and technology. In particular, a thermometer capable of subdegree temperature resolution over a large range of temperatures as well as integration within a living system could provide a powerful new tool in many areas of biological, physical and chemical research. Possibilities range from the temperature-induced control of gene expression and tumour metabolism to the cell-selective treatment of disease and the study of heat dissipation in integrated circuits. By combining local light-induced heat sources with sensitive nanoscale thermometry, it may also be possible to engineer biological processes at the subcellular level. Here we demonstrate a new approach to nanoscale thermometry that uses coherent manipulation of the electronic spin associated with nitrogen-vacancy colour centres in diamond. Our technique makes it possible to detect temperature variations as small as 1.8 mK (a sensitivity of 9 mK Hz-1/2) in an ultrapure bulk diamond sample. Using nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond nanocrystals (nanodiamonds), we directly measure the local thermal environment on length scales as short as 200 nanometres. Finally, by introducing both nanodiamonds and gold nanoparticles into a single human embryonic fibroblast, we demonstrate temperature-gradient control and mapping at the subcellular level, enabling unique potential applications in life sciences.

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

PubMed

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.

Desert bird associations with broad-scale boundary length: Applications in avian conservation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gutzwiller, K.J.; Barrow, W.C.

2008-01-01

1. Current understanding regarding the effects of boundaries on bird communities has originated largely from studies of forest-non-forest boundaries in mesic systems. To assess whether broad-scale boundary length can affect bird community structure in deserts, and to identify patterns and predictors of species' associations useful in avian conservation, we studied relations between birds and boundary-length variables in Chihuahuan Desert landscapes. Operationally, a boundary was the border between two adjoining land covers, and broad-scale boundary length was the total length of such borders in a large area. 2. Within 2-km radius areas, we measured six boundary-length variables. We analysed bird-boundary relations for 26 species, tested for assemblage-level patterns in species' associations with boundary-length variables, and assessed whether body size, dispersal ability and cowbird-host status were correlates of these associations. 3. The abundances or occurrences of a significant majority of species were associated with boundary-length variables, and similar numbers of species were related positively and negatively to boundary-length variables. 4. Disproportionately small numbers of species were correlated with total boundary length, land-cover boundary length and shrubland-grassland boundary length (variables responsible for large proportions of boundary length). Disproportionately large numbers of species were correlated with roadside boundary length and riparian vegetation-grassland boundary length (variables responsible for small proportions of boundary length). Roadside boundary length was associated (positively and negatively) with the most species. 5. Species' associations with boundary-length variables were not correlated with body size, dispersal ability or cowbird-host status. 6. Synthesis and applications. For the species we studied, conservationists can use the regressions we report as working models to anticipate influences of boundary-length changes on bird abundance and occurrence, and to assess avifaunal composition for areas under consideration for protection. Boundary-length variables associated with a disproportionate or large number of species can be used as foci for landscape management. Assessing the underlying causes of bird-boundary relations may improve the prediction accuracy of associated models. We therefore advocate local- and broad-scale manipulative experiments involving the boundary types with which species were correlated, as indicated by the regressions. ?? 2008 The Authors.

Resolving Properties of Polymers and Nanoparticle Assembly through Coarse-Grained Computational Studies.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Grest, Gary S.

2017-09-01

Coupled length and time scales determine the dynamic behavior of polymers and polymer nanocomposites and underlie their unique properties. To resolve the properties over large time and length scales it is imperative to develop coarse grained models which retain the atomistic specificity. Here we probe the degree of coarse graining required to simultaneously retain significant atomistic details a nd access large length and time scales. The degree of coarse graining in turn sets the minimum length scale instrumental in defining polymer properties and dynamics. Using polyethylene as a model system, we probe how the coarse - graining scale affects themore » measured dynamics with different number methylene group s per coarse - grained beads. Using these models we simulate polyethylene melts for times over 500 ms to study the viscoelastic properties of well - entangled polymer melts and large nanoparticle assembly as the nanoparticles are driven close enough to form nanostructures.« less

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

A watershed-scale goals approach to assessing and funding wastewater infrastructure.

PubMed

Rahm, Brian G; Vedachalam, Sridhar; Shen, Jerry; Woodbury, Peter B; Riha, Susan J

2013-11-15

Capital needs during the next twenty years for public wastewater treatment, piping, combined sewer overflow correction, and storm-water management are estimated to be approximately $300 billion for the USA. Financing these needs is a significant challenge, as Federal funding for the Clean Water Act has been reduced by 70% during the last twenty years. There is an urgent need for new approaches to assist states and other decision makers to prioritize wastewater maintenance and improvements. We present a methodology for performing an integrated quantitative watershed-scale goals assessment for sustaining wastewater infrastructure. We applied this methodology to ten watersheds of the Hudson-Mohawk basin in New York State, USA that together are home to more than 2.7 million people, cover 3.5 million hectares, and contain more than 36,000 km of streams. We assembled data on 183 POTWs treating approximately 1.5 million m(3) of wastewater per day. For each watershed, we analyzed eight metrics: Growth Capacity, Capacity Density, Soil Suitability, Violations, Tributary Length Impacted, Tributary Capital Cost, Volume Capital Cost, and Population Capital Cost. These metrics were integrated into three goals for watershed-scale management: Tributary Protection, Urban Development, and Urban-Rural Integration. Our results demonstrate that the methodology can be implemented using widely available data, although some verification of data is required. Furthermore, we demonstrate substantial differences in character, need, and the appropriateness of different management strategies among the ten watersheds. These results suggest that it is feasible to perform watershed-scale goals assessment to augment existing approaches to wastewater infrastructure analysis and planning. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A multi-scale PDMS fabrication strategy to bridge the size mismatch between integrated circuits and microfluidics†

PubMed Central

Muluneh, Melaku

2015-01-01

In recent years there has been great progress harnessing the small-feature size and programmability of integrated circuits (ICs) for biological applications, by building microfluidics directly on top of ICs. However, a major hurdle to the further development of this technology is the inherent size-mismatch between ICs (~mm) and microfluidic chips (~cm). Increasing the area of the ICs to match the size of the microfluidic chip, as has often been done in previous studies, leads to a waste of valuable space on the IC and an increase in fabrication cost (>100×). To address this challenge, we have developed a three dimensional PDMS chip that can straddle multiple length scales of hybrid IC/microfluidic chips. This approach allows millimeter-scale ICs, with no post-processing, to be integrated into a centimeter-sized PDMS chip. To fabricate this PDMS chip we use a combination of soft-lithography and laser micromachining. Soft lithography was used to define micrometer-scale fluid channels directly on the surface of the IC, allowing fluid to be controlled with high accuracy and brought into close proximity to sensors for highly sensitive measurements. Laser micromachining was used to create ~50 μm vias to connect these molded PDMS channels to a larger PDMS chip, which can connect multiple ICs and house fluid connections to the outside world. To demonstrate the utility of this approach, we built and demonstrated an in-flow magnetic cytometer that consisted of a 5 × 5 cm2 microfluidic chip that incorporated a commercial 565 × 1145 μm2 IC with a GMR sensing circuit. We additionally demonstrated the modularity of this approach by building a chip that incorporated two of these GMR chips connected in series. PMID:25284502

Robot-assisted vs. sensory integration training in treating gait and balance dysfunctions in patients with multiple sclerosis: a randomized controlled trial

PubMed Central

Gandolfi, Marialuisa; Geroin, Christian; Picelli, Alessandro; Munari, Daniele; Waldner, Andreas; Tamburin, Stefano; Marchioretto, Fabio; Smania, Nicola

2014-01-01

Background: Extensive research on both healthy subjects and patients with central nervous damage has elucidated a crucial role of postural adjustment reactions and central sensory integration processes in generating and “shaping” locomotor function, respectively. Whether robotic-assisted gait devices might improve these functions in Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients is not fully investigated in literature. Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of end-effector robot-assisted gait training (RAGT) and sensory integration balance training (SIBT) in improving walking and balance performance in patients with MS. Methods: Twenty-two patients with MS (EDSS: 1.5–6.5) were randomly assigned to two groups. The RAGT group (n = 12) underwent end-effector system training. The SIBT group (n = 10) underwent specific balance exercises. Each patient received twelve 50-min treatment sessions (2 days/week). A blinded rater evaluated patients before and after treatment as well as 1 month post treatment. Primary outcomes were walking speed and Berg Balance Scale. Secondary outcomes were the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale, Sensory Organization Balance Test, Stabilometric Assessment, Fatigue Severity Scale, cadence, step length, single and double support time, Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-54. Results: Between groups comparisons showed no significant differences on primary and secondary outcome measures over time. Within group comparisons showed significant improvements in both groups on the Berg Balance Scale (P = 0.001). Changes approaching significance were found on gait speed (P = 0.07) only in the RAGT group. Significant changes in balance task-related domains during standing and walking conditions were found in the SIBT group. Conclusion: Balance disorders in patients with MS may be ameliorated by RAGT and by SIBT. PMID:24904361

A multi-scale PDMS fabrication strategy to bridge the size mismatch between integrated circuits and microfluidics.

PubMed

Muluneh, Melaku; Issadore, David

2014-12-07

In recent years there has been great progress harnessing the small-feature size and programmability of integrated circuits (ICs) for biological applications, by building microfluidics directly on top of ICs. However, a major hurdle to the further development of this technology is the inherent size-mismatch between ICs (~mm) and microfluidic chips (~cm). Increasing the area of the ICs to match the size of the microfluidic chip, as has often been done in previous studies, leads to a waste of valuable space on the IC and an increase in fabrication cost (>100×). To address this challenge, we have developed a three dimensional PDMS chip that can straddle multiple length scales of hybrid IC/microfluidic chips. This approach allows millimeter-scale ICs, with no post-processing, to be integrated into a centimeter-sized PDMS chip. To fabricate this PDMS chip we use a combination of soft-lithography and laser micromachining. Soft lithography was used to define micrometer-scale fluid channels directly on the surface of the IC, allowing fluid to be controlled with high accuracy and brought into close proximity to sensors for highly sensitive measurements. Laser micromachining was used to create ~50 μm vias to connect these molded PDMS channels to a larger PDMS chip, which can connect multiple ICs and house fluid connections to the outside world. To demonstrate the utility of this approach, we built and demonstrated an in-flow magnetic cytometer that consisted of a 5 × 5 cm(2) microfluidic chip that incorporated a commercial 565 × 1145 μm(2) IC with a GMR sensing circuit. We additionally demonstrated the modularity of this approach by building a chip that incorporated two of these GMR chips connected in series.

Resolving Dynamic Properties of Polymers through Coarse-Grained Computational Studies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Salerno, K. Michael; Agrawal, Anupriya; Perahia, Dvora

2016-02-05

Coupled length and time scales determine the dynamic behavior of polymers and underlie their unique viscoelastic properties. To resolve the long-time dynamics it is imperative to determine which time and length scales must be correctly modeled. In this paper, we probe the degree of coarse graining required to simultaneously retain significant atomistic details and access large length and time scales. The degree of coarse graining in turn sets the minimum length scale instrumental in defining polymer properties and dynamics. Using linear polyethylene as a model system, we probe how the coarse-graining scale affects the measured dynamics. Iterative Boltzmann inversion ismore » used to derive coarse-grained potentials with 2–6 methylene groups per coarse-grained bead from a fully atomistic melt simulation. We show that atomistic detail is critical to capturing large-scale dynamics. Finally, using these models we simulate polyethylene melts for times over 500 μs to study the viscoelastic properties of well-entangled polymer melts.« less

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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 (<0.1 µm) to stylus and optical profilometry in the micro- and mesoscales (0.1 µm-1 mm). This paper presents an experimental length scale study of the surface texture of ground stainless steel followed by an electropolishing process in the micro and meso lateral scales. Both stylus and optical profilometers are used, and multiple cut-off lengths of the standard Gaussian 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.

Cold-Flow Testing of a Proposed Integrated Center-Body Diffuser/Steam Blocker Concept for Plum Brook Station's B-2 Test Facility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Edwards, Daryl A.; Weaver, Harold F; Kastner, Carl E., Jr.

2009-01-01

The center-body diffuser (CBD) steam blocker (SB) system is a concept that incorporates a set of secondary drive nozzles into the envelope of a CBD, such that both nozzle systems (i.e., the rocket engine and the steam blocking nozzles) utilize the same supersonic diffuser, and will operate either singularly or concurrently. In this manner, the SB performs as an exhaust system stage when the rocket engine is not operating, and virtually eliminates discharge flow on rocket engine shutdown. A 2.25-percent scale model of a proposed SB integrated into a diffuser for the Plum Brook B-2 facility was constructed and cold-flow tested for the purpose of evaluating performance characteristics of various design options. These specific design options addressed secondary drive nozzle design (method of steam injection), secondary drive nozzle location relative to CBD throat, and center-body throat length to diameter (L/D) ratios. The objective of the test program is to identify the desired configuration to carry forward should the next phase of design proceed. The tested scale model can provide data for various pressure ratios; however, its design is based on a proposed B-2 spray chamber (SC) operating pressure of 4.0 psia and a steam supply pressure of 165 psia. Evaluation of the test data acquired during these tests indicate that either the discrete axial or annular nozzle configuration integrated into a CBD, with an annular throat length of 1.5 L/D at the nominal injection position, would be suitable to carry forward from the SB's perspective. Selection between these two then becomes more a function of constructability and implementation than performance. L/D also has some flexibility, and final L/D selection can be a function of constructability issues within a limited range.

Constructing new seismograms from old earthquakes: Retrospective seismology at multiple length scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Entwistle, Elizabeth; Curtis, Andrew; Galetti, Erica; Baptie, Brian; Meles, Giovanni

2015-04-01

If energy emitted by a seismic source such as an earthquake is recorded on a suitable backbone array of seismometers, source-receiver interferometry (SRI) is a method that allows those recordings to be projected to the location of another target seismometer, providing an estimate of the seismogram that would have been recorded at that location. Since the other seismometer may not have been deployed at the time the source occurred, this renders possible the concept of 'retrospective seismology' whereby the installation of a sensor at one period of time allows the construction of virtual seismograms as though that sensor had been active before or after its period of installation. Using the benefit of hindsight of earthquake location or magnitude estimates, SRI can establish new measurement capabilities closer to earthquake epicenters, thus potentially improving earthquake location estimates. Recently we showed that virtual SRI seismograms can be constructed on target sensors in both industrial seismic and earthquake seismology settings, using both active seismic sources and ambient seismic noise to construct SRI propagators, and on length scales ranging over 5 orders of magnitude from ~40 m to ~2500 km[1]. Here we present the results from earthquake seismology by comparing virtual earthquake seismograms constructed at target sensors by SRI to those actually recorded on the same sensors. We show that spatial integrations required by interferometric theory can be calculated over irregular receiver arrays by embedding these arrays within 2D spatial Voronoi cells, thus improving spatial interpolation and interferometric results. The results of SRI are significantly improved by restricting the backbone receiver array to include approximately those receivers that provide a stationary phase contribution to the interferometric integrals. We apply both correlation-correlation and correlation-convolution SRI, and show that the latter constructs virtual seismograms with fewer non-physical arrivals. Finally we reconstruct earthquake seismograms at sensors that were previously active but were subsequently removed before the earthquakes occurred; thus we create virtual earthquake seismograms at those sensors, truly retrospectively. Such SRI seismograms can be used to create a catalogue of new, virtual earthquake seismograms that are available to complement real earthquake data in future earthquake seismology studies. [1]E. Entwistle, Curtis, A., Galetti, E., Baptie, B., Meles, G., Constructing new seismograms from old earthquakes: Retrospective seismology at multiple length scales, JGR, in press.

Length scales and pinning of interfaces

PubMed Central

Tan, Likun

2016-01-01

The pinning of interfaces and free discontinuities by defects and heterogeneities plays an important role in a variety of phenomena, including grain growth, martensitic phase transitions, ferroelectricity, dislocations and fracture. We explore the role of length scale on the pinning of interfaces and show that the width of the interface relative to the length scale of the heterogeneity can have a profound effect on the pinning behaviour, and ultimately on hysteresis. When the heterogeneity is large, the pinning is strong and can lead to stick–slip behaviour as predicted by various models in the literature. However, when the heterogeneity is small, we find that the interface may not be pinned in a significant manner. This shows that a potential route to making materials with low hysteresis is to introduce heterogeneities at a length scale that is small compared with the width of the phase boundary. Finally, the intermediate setting where the length scale of the heterogeneity is comparable to that of the interface width is characterized by complex interactions, thereby giving rise to a non-monotone relationship between the relative heterogeneity size and the critical depinning stress. PMID:27002068

Current sheet extension and reconnection scaling in collisionless, hyperresistive, Hall MHD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sullivan, B. P.; Bhattacharjee, A.; Huang, Y. M.

2009-11-01

We present Sweet-Parker type scaling arguments in the context of collisionless, hyper-resistive, Hall magnetohyrdodynamics (MHD). The predicted steady state scalings are consistent with those found by Chac'on et al. [PRL 99, 235001 (2007)], and Uzdensky, [PoP 16, 040702 (2009)], though our methods differ slightly. As with those studies, no prediction of electron dissipation region length is made. Numerical experiments confirm that both cusp like & extended geometries are realizable. Importantly, the length of the electron dissipation region (taken as a parameter by several recent studies) is found to depend on the level of hyper-resistivity. Although hyper-resistivity can produce modestly extended dissipation regions, the dissipation regions observed here are much shorter than those seen in many kinetic studies. The thickness of the dissipation region scales in a similar way as the length,so that the reconnection rate is not strongly sensitive to the level of hyperresistivity. The length of the electron dissipation region depends on electron inertia as well.The limitations of scaling theories that do not predict the length of the electron dissipation region are emphasized.

In vivo evaluation of axial integrity of coronary stents using intravascular ultrasound: Insights on longitudinal stent deformation.

PubMed

Dvir, Danny; Kitabata, Hironori; Barbash, Israel M; Minha, Sa'ar; Badr, Salem; Loh, Joshua P; Chen, Fang; Torguson, Rebecca; Waksman, Ron

2014-09-01

To evaluate the axial integrity of different coronary stents using intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). Longitudinal stent deformation was recently reported. Consecutive patients who underwent IVUS analysis after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation for de novo coronary lesions were evaluated. Stent length was compared with label length for calculation of absolute change and relative difference (absolute change divided by label length). A total of 233 DES utilizing five different platforms were included. The median absolute change in stent length was 0.90 mm (interquartile range [IQR] 0.48-1.39) and the relative difference was 5.24% (IQR 2.55-8.29). There was no significant difference among the groups in median absolute or relative change: Cypher 0.89 mm/3.89%, Taxus 0.88 mm/5.39%, Endeavor 1.16 mm/6.77%, Xience V 0.86 mm/5.80%, and PROMUS Element 0.79 mm/5.34% (P = 0.085, P = 0.072, respectively). Multivariate logistic regression revealed that the Cypher stent was independently correlated with a lower change in length, whereas stent label length and deployment pressure were correlated with higher absolute change. The axial integrity of DES platforms examined in vivo was high, with only mild changes in stent length after implantation. While there are differences between first- and second-generation DES, axial integrity among second-generation DES was similar. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Skin Friction Reduction Through Large-Scale Forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhatt, Shibani; Artham, Sravan; Gnanamanickam, Ebenezer

2017-11-01

Flow structures in a turbulent boundary layer larger than an integral length scale (δ), referred to as large-scales, interact with the finer scales in a non-linear manner. By targeting these large-scales and exploiting this non-linear interaction wall shear stress (WSS) reduction of over 10% has been achieved. The plane wall jet (PWJ), a boundary layer which has highly energetic large-scales that become turbulent independent of the near-wall finer scales, is the chosen model flow field. It's unique configuration allows for the independent control of the large-scales through acoustic forcing. Perturbation wavelengths from about 1 δ to 14 δ were considered with a reduction in WSS for all wavelengths considered. This reduction, over a large subset of the wavelengths, scales with both inner and outer variables indicating a mixed scaling to the underlying physics, while also showing dependence on the PWJ global properties. A triple decomposition of the velocity fields shows an increase in coherence due to forcing with a clear organization of the small scale turbulence with respect to the introduced large-scale. The maximum reduction in WSS occurs when the introduced large-scale acts in a manner so as to reduce the turbulent activity in the very near wall region. This material is based upon work supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under Award Number FA9550-16-1-0194 monitored by Dr. Douglas Smith.

Minimal Length Scale Scenarios for Quantum Gravity.

PubMed

Hossenfelder, Sabine

2013-01-01

We review the question of whether the fundamental laws of nature limit our ability to probe arbitrarily short distances. First, we examine what insights can be gained from thought experiments for probes of shortest distances, and summarize what can be learned from different approaches to a theory of quantum gravity. Then we discuss some models that have been developed to implement a minimal length scale in quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. These models have entered the literature as the generalized uncertainty principle or the modified dispersion relation, and have allowed the study of the effects of a minimal length scale in quantum mechanics, quantum electrodynamics, thermodynamics, black-hole physics and cosmology. Finally, we touch upon the question of ways to circumvent the manifestation of a minimal length scale in short-distance physics.

A new length scale for quantum gravity: A resolution of the black hole information loss paradox

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Tejinder P.

We show why and how Compton wavelength and Schwarzschild radius should be combined into one single new length scale, which we call the Compton-Schwarzschild length. Doing so offers a resolution of the black hole information loss paradox, and suggests Planck mass remnant black holes as candidates for dark matter. It also compels us to introduce torsion, and identify the Dirac field with a complex torsion field. Dirac equation and Einstein equations, are shown to be mutually dual limiting cases of an underlying gravitation theory which involves the Compton-Schwarzschild length scale, and includes a complex torsion field.

FracPaQ: a MATLAB™ Toolbox for the Quantification of Fracture Patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Healy, D.; Rizzo, R. E.; Cornwell, D. G.; Timms, N.; Farrell, N. J.; Watkins, H.; Gomez-Rivas, E.; Smith, M.

2016-12-01

The patterns of fractures in deformed rocks are rarely uniform or random. Fracture orientations, sizes, shapes and spatial distributions often exhibit some kind of order. In detail, there may be relationships among the different fracture attributes e.g. small fractures dominated by one orientation, larger fractures by another. These relationships are important because the mechanical (e.g. strength, anisotropy) and transport (e.g. fluids, heat) properties of rock depend on these fracture patterns and fracture attributes. This presentation describes an open source toolbox to quantify fracture patterns, including distributions in fracture attributes and their spatial variation. Software has been developed to quantify fracture patterns from 2-D digital images, such as thin section micrographs, geological maps, outcrop or aerial photographs or satellite images. The toolbox comprises a suite of MATLAB™ scripts based on published quantitative methods for the analysis of fracture attributes: orientations, lengths, intensity, density and connectivity. An estimate of permeability in 2-D is made using a parallel plate model. The software provides an objective and consistent methodology for quantifying fracture patterns and their variations in 2-D across a wide range of length scales. Our current focus for the application of the software is on quantifying the fracture patterns in and around fault zones. There is a large body of published work on the quantification of relatively simple joint patterns, but fault zones present a bigger, and arguably more important, challenge. The method presented is inherently scale independent, and a key task will be to analyse and integrate quantitative fracture pattern data from micro- to macro-scales. Planned future releases will incorporate multi-scale analyses based on a wavelet method to look for scale transitions, and combining fracture traces from multiple 2-D images to derive the statistically equivalent 3-D fracture pattern.

The electrostatic persistence length of polymers beyond the OSF limit.

PubMed

Everaers, R; Milchev, A; Yamakov, V

2002-05-01

We use large-scale Monte Carlo simulations to test scaling theories for the electrostatic persistence length l(e) of isolated, uniformly charged polymers with Debye-Hückel intrachain interactions in the limit where the screening length kappa(-1) exceeds the intrinsic persistence length of the chains. Our simulations cover a significantly larger part of the parameter space than previous studies. We observe no significant deviations from the prediction l(e) proportional to kappa(-2) by Khokhlov and Khachaturian which is based on applying the Odijk-Skolnick-Fixman theories of electrostatic bending rigidity and electrostatically excluded volume to the stretched de Gennes-Pincus-Velasco-Brochard polyelectrolyte blob chain. A linear or sublinear dependence of the persistence length on the screening length can be ruled out. We show that previous results pointing into this direction are due to a combination of excluded-volume and finite chain length effects. The paper emphasizes the role of scaling arguments in the development of useful representations for experimental and simulation data.

Micro-scale and meso-scale architectural cues cooperate and compete to direct aligned tissue formation

PubMed Central

Gilchrist, Christopher L.; Ruch, David S.; Little, Dianne; Guilak, Farshid

2014-01-01

Tissue and biomaterial microenvironments provide architectural cues that direct important cell behaviors including cell shape, alignment, migration, and resulting tissue formation. These architectural features may be presented to cells across multiple length scales, from nanometers to millimeters in size. In this study, we examined how architectural cues at two distinctly different length scales, “micro-scale” cues on the order of ~1–2 μm, and “meso-scale” cues several orders of magnitude larger (>100 μm), interact to direct aligned neo-tissue formation. Utilizing a micro-photopatterning (μPP) model system to precisely arrange cell-adhesive patterns, we examined the effects of substrate architecture at these length scales on human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) organization, gene expression, and fibrillar collagen deposition. Both micro- and meso-scale architectures directed cell alignment and resulting tissue organization, and when combined, meso cues could enhance or compete against micro-scale cues. As meso boundary aspect ratios were increased, meso-scale cues overrode micro-scale cues and controlled tissue alignment, with a characteristic critical width (~500 μm) similar to boundary dimensions that exist in vivo in highly aligned tissues. Meso-scale cues acted via both lateral confinement (in a cell-density-dependent manner) and by permitting end-to-end cell arrangements that yielded greater fibrillar collagen deposition. Despite large differences in fibrillar collagen content and organization between μPP architectural conditions, these changes did not correspond with changes in gene expression of key matrix or tendon-related genes. These findings highlight the complex interplay between geometric cues at multiple length scales and may have implications for tissue engineering strategies, where scaffold designs that incorporate cues at multiple length scales could improve neo-tissue organization and resulting functional outcomes. PMID:25263687

On the saturation of the refractive index structure function. II - Influence of the correlation length on astronomical 'seeing'

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Venkatakrishnan, P.

1987-01-01

A physical length scale in the wavefront corresponding to the parameter (r sub 0) characterizing the loss in detail in a long exposure image is identified, and the influence of the correlation scale of turbulence as r sub 0 approaches this scale is shown. Allowing for the effect of 2-point correlations in the fluctuations of the refractive index, Venkatakrishnan and Chatterjee (1987) proposed a modified law for the phase structure function. It is suggested that the departure of the phase structure function from the 5/3 power law for length scales in the wavefront approaching the correlation scale of turbulence may lead to better 'seeing' at longer wavelengths.

Variations in atmospheric angular momentum and the length of day

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rosen, R. D.; Salstein, D. A.

1982-01-01

Six years of twice daily global analyses were used to create and study a lengthy time series of high temporal resolution angular momentum values. Changes in these atmospheric values were compared to independently determined charges in the rotation rate of the solid Earth. Finally, the atmospheric data was examined in more detail to determine the time and space scales on which variations in momentum occur within the atmosphere and which regions are contributing most to the changes found in the global integral. The data and techniques used to derive the time series of momentum values are described.

Solar potential scaling and the urban road network topology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Najem, Sara

2017-01-01

We explore the scaling of cities' solar potentials with their number of buildings and reveal a latent dependence between the solar potential and the length of the corresponding city's road network. This scaling is shown to be valid at the grid and block levels and is attributed to a common street length distribution. Additionally, we compute the buildings' solar potential correlation function and length in order to determine the set of critical exponents typifying the urban solar potential universality class.

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

PubMed

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.

Scale Effects between Body Size and Limb Design in Quadrupedal Mammals

PubMed Central

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 mass0.40); 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 mass1.0), 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. PMID:24260117

The prospects of transition metal dichalcogenides for ultimately scaled CMOS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

Path integral Monte Carlo ground state approach: formalism, implementation, and applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Yangqian; Blume, D.

2017-11-01

Monte Carlo techniques have played an important role in understanding strongly correlated systems across many areas of physics, covering a wide range of energy and length scales. Among the many Monte Carlo methods applicable to quantum mechanical systems, the path integral Monte Carlo approach with its variants has been employed widely. Since semi-classical or classical approaches will not be discussed in this review, path integral based approaches can for our purposes be divided into two categories: approaches applicable to quantum mechanical systems at zero temperature and approaches applicable to quantum mechanical systems at finite temperature. While these two approaches are related to each other, the underlying formulation and aspects of the algorithm differ. This paper reviews the path integral Monte Carlo ground state (PIGS) approach, which solves the time-independent Schrödinger equation. Specifically, the PIGS approach allows for the determination of expectation values with respect to eigen states of the few- or many-body Schrödinger equation provided the system Hamiltonian is known. The theoretical framework behind the PIGS algorithm, implementation details, and sample applications for fermionic systems are presented.

A variable mixing-length ratio for convection theory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chan, K. L.; Wolff, C. L.; Sofia, S.

1981-01-01

It is argued that a natural choice for the local mixing length in the mixing-length theory of convection has a value proportional to the local density scale height of the convective bubbles. The resultant variable mixing-length ratio (the ratio between the mixing length and the pressure scale height) of this theory is enhanced in the superadiabatic region and approaches a constant in deeper layers. Numerical tests comparing the new mixing length successfully eliminate most of the density inversion that typically plagues conventional results. The new approach also seems to indicate the existence of granular motion at the top of the convection zone.

Assessing self-care and social function using a computer adaptive testing version of the pediatric evaluation of disability inventory.

PubMed

Coster, Wendy J; Haley, Stephen M; Ni, Pengsheng; Dumas, Helene M; Fragala-Pinkham, Maria A

2008-04-01

To examine score agreement, validity, precision, and response burden of a prototype computer adaptive testing (CAT) version of the self-care and social function scales of the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory compared with the full-length version of these scales. Computer simulation analysis of cross-sectional and longitudinal retrospective data; cross-sectional prospective study. Pediatric rehabilitation hospital, including inpatient acute rehabilitation, day school program, outpatient clinics; community-based day care, preschool, and children's homes. Children with disabilities (n=469) and 412 children with no disabilities (analytic sample); 38 children with disabilities and 35 children without disabilities (cross-validation sample). Not applicable. Summary scores from prototype CAT applications of each scale using 15-, 10-, and 5-item stopping rules; scores from the full-length self-care and social function scales; time (in seconds) to complete assessments and respondent ratings of burden. Scores from both computer simulations and field administration of the prototype CATs were highly consistent with scores from full-length administration (r range, .94-.99). Using computer simulation of retrospective data, discriminant validity, and sensitivity to change of the CATs closely approximated that of the full-length scales, especially when the 15- and 10-item stopping rules were applied. In the cross-validation study the time to administer both CATs was 4 minutes, compared with over 16 minutes to complete the full-length scales. Self-care and social function score estimates from CAT administration are highly comparable with those obtained from full-length scale administration, with small losses in validity and precision and substantial decreases in administration time.

Deterministic Integration of Biological and Soft Materials onto 3D Microscale Cellular Frameworks

PubMed Central

McCracken, Joselle M.; Xu, Sheng; Badea, Adina; Jang, Kyung-In; Yan, Zheng; Wetzel, David J.; Nan, Kewang; Lin, Qing; Han, Mengdi; Anderson, Mikayla A.; Lee, Jung Woo; Wei, Zijun; Pharr, Matt; Wang, Renhan; Su, Jessica; Rubakhin, Stanislav S.; Sweedler, Jonathan V.

2018-01-01

Complex 3D organizations of materials represent ubiquitous structural motifs found in the most sophisticated forms of matter, the most notable of which are in life-sustaining hierarchical structures found in biology, but where simpler examples also exist as dense multilayered constructs in high-performance electronics. Each class of system evinces specific enabling forms of assembly to establish their functional organization at length scales not dissimilar to tissue-level constructs. This study describes materials and means of assembly that extend and join these disparate systems—schemes for the functional integration of soft and biological materials with synthetic 3D microscale, open frameworks that can leverage the most advanced forms of multilayer electronic technologies, including device-grade semiconductors such as monocrystalline silicon. Cellular migration behaviors, temporal dependencies of their growth, and contact guidance cues provided by the nonplanarity of these frameworks illustrate design criteria useful for their functional integration with living matter (e.g., NIH 3T3 fibroblast and primary rat dorsal root ganglion cell cultures). PMID:29552634

A geometric viewpoint on generalized hydrodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doyon, Benjamin; Spohn, Herbert; Yoshimura, Takato

2018-01-01

Generalized hydrodynamics (GHD) is a large-scale theory for the dynamics of many-body integrable systems. It consists of an infinite set of conservation laws for quasi-particles traveling with effective ("dressed") velocities that depend on the local state. We show that these equations can be recast into a geometric dynamical problem. They are conservation equations with state-independent quasi-particle velocities, in a space equipped with a family of metrics, parametrized by the quasi-particles' type and speed, that depend on the local state. In the classical hard rod or soliton gas picture, these metrics measure the free length of space as perceived by quasi-particles; in the quantum picture, they weigh space with the density of states available to them. Using this geometric construction, we find a general solution to the initial value problem of GHD, in terms of a set of integral equations where time appears explicitly. These integral equations are solvable by iteration and provide an extremely efficient solution algorithm for GHD.

Multiscale roughness characterization from multiresolution remote sensing data acquired over the Asal-Ghoubbet rift, Republic of Djibouti

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Labarre, Sébastien; Jacquemoud, Stéphane; Ferrari, Cécile; Delorme, Arthur; Rupnik, Ewelina; Derrien, Allan; Pierrot-Deseilligny, Marc; Grandin, Raphaël; Jalludin, Mohamed

2017-04-01

Surface roughness is a key parameter in soil physics which controls many surface processes at a wide range of scales: microscopic and mesoscopic scales from 10 μm to 1 cm (soil particles or regolith), macroscopic scale from 1 cm to 1 m (clods, aggregates of rock or ice, micro-fractures or lava flows), and topographic scale from 1 m to several kilometers (faults, hills, craters or mountains). While it is recognized that surface roughness is strongly scale-dependent, it is often expressed as an integrated parameter (root-mean-square height, correlation length, tortuosity index), which does not address the full range of spatial features present on the surface. In particular, the Hapke roughness parameter is defined as the mean slope angle of the facets composing the surface, integrated over all scales from the microscopic to the macroscopic scales. Yet its physical meaning is still a question at issue, as the scale at which it occurs is undefined in the model. Photogrammetry has been shown to be an inexpensive and powerful method for topography reconstruction from optical data. We took advantage of a series of 21 Pléiades-1B images (video acquisition mode) to build a global digital elevation model (DEM) over the Asal-Ghoubbet rift, Republic of Djibouti. Additionally, we acquired close range data with a quadcopter equipped with a HD camera. Topography at four scales is available: 1 m with the satellite images (694 km), 1 cm with the drone flying at medium altitude ( 100 m), 1 mm with the drone flying at low altitude ( 10 m), and <1 mm with the handheld camera ( 1.5 m). We have defined twenty-two sites, 20 × 30 m in dimension, corresponding to a wide range of volcanic and sedimentary terrains, from regolith-like structures to very rough lava flows, over which DEMs have been generated at two or more resolutions. In order to investigate the contribution of each scale to the integrated roughness and to test the ability of the Hapke model to retrieve a roughness parameter that depicts well the ground truth, we applied two multiscale methods: fractal analysis and wavelet transform. The latter allows splitting the frequency band of a signal in several sub-bands, each of which corresponding to a spatial scale. By analyzing data acquired at Piton de la Fournaise Volcano, Réunion island, we showed that wavelet transform is a very powerful tool for characterizing roughness regimes over scales and that sub-centimeter surface features mostly explain the integrated roughness for meter-sized surfaces (Labarre et al., 2017, Icarus). This has to be confirmed on Djibouti terrains, for which we have a broader range of resolutions and larger areas.

Disentangling Complexity in Bayesian Automatic Adaptive Quadrature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adam, Gheorghe; Adam, Sanda

2018-02-01

The paper describes a Bayesian automatic adaptive quadrature (BAAQ) solution for numerical integration which is simultaneously robust, reliable, and efficient. Detailed discussion is provided of three main factors which contribute to the enhancement of these features: (1) refinement of the m-panel automatic adaptive scheme through the use of integration-domain-length-scale-adapted quadrature sums; (2) fast early problem complexity assessment - enables the non-transitive choice among three execution paths: (i) immediate termination (exceptional cases); (ii) pessimistic - involves time and resource consuming Bayesian inference resulting in radical reformulation of the problem to be solved; (iii) optimistic - asks exclusively for subrange subdivision by bisection; (3) use of the weaker accuracy target from the two possible ones (the input accuracy specifications and the intrinsic integrand properties respectively) - results in maximum possible solution accuracy under minimum possible computing time.

The dynamics of oceanic fronts. Part 1: The Gulf Stream

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kao, T. W.

1970-01-01

The establishment and maintenance of the mean hydrographic properties of large scale density fronts in the upper ocean is considered. The dynamics is studied by posing an initial value problem starting with a near surface discharge of buoyant water with a prescribed density deficit into an ambient stationary fluid of uniform density. The full time dependent diffusion and Navier-Stokes equations for a constant Coriolis parameter are used in this study. Scaling analysis reveals three independent length scales of the problem, namely a radius of deformation or inertial length scale, Lo, a buoyance length scale, ho, and a diffusive length scale, hv. Two basic dimensionless parameters are then formed from these length scales, the thermal (or more precisely, the densimetric) Rossby number, Ro = Lo/ho and the Ekman number, E = hv/ho. The governing equations are then suitably scaled and the resulting normalized equations are shown to depend on E alone for problems of oceanic interest. Under this scaling, the solutions are similar for all Ro. It is also shown that 1/Ro is a measure of the frontal slope. The governing equations are solved numerically and the scaling analysis is confirmed. The solution indicates that an equilibrium state is established. The front can then be rendered stationary by a barotropic current from a larger scale along-front pressure gradient. In that quasisteady state, and for small values of E, the main thermocline and the inclined isopycnics forming the front have evolved, together with the along-front jet. Conservation of potential vorticity is also obtained in the light water pool. The surface jet exhibits anticyclonic shear in the light water pool and cyclonic shear across the front.

Rating disease progression of Friedreich’s ataxia by the International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale: analysis of a 603-patient database

PubMed Central

Coppard, Nicholas; Cooper, Jonathon M.; Delatycki, Martin B.; Dürr, Alexandra; Di Prospero, Nicholas A.; Giunti, Paola; Lynch, David R.; Schulz, J. B.; Rummey, Christian; Meier, Thomas

2013-01-01

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to analyse disease progression in Friedreich’s ataxia as measured by the International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale. Single ratings from 603 patients with Friedreich’s ataxia were analysed as a function of disease duration, age of onset and GAA repeat lengths. The relative contribution of items and subscales to the total score was studied as a function of disease progression. In addition, the scaling properties were assessed using standard statistical measures. Average total scale progression per year depends on the age of disease onset, the time since diagnosis and the GAA repeat length. The age of onset inversely correlates with increased GAA repeat length. For patients with an age of onset ≤14 years associated with a longer repeat length, the average yearly rate of decline was 2.5 ± 0.18 points in the total International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale for the first 20 years of disease duration, whereas patients with a later onset progress more slowly (1.8 ± 0.27 points/year). Ceiling effects in posture, gait and lower limb scale items lead to a reduced sensitivity of the scale in the severely affected population with a total score of >60 points. Psychometric scaling analysis shows generally favourable properties for the total scale, but the subscale grouping could be improved. This cross-sectional study provides a detailed characterization of the International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale. The analysis further provides rates of change separated for patients with early and late disease onset, which is driven by the GAA repeat length. Differences in the subscale dynamics merit consideration in the design of future clinical trials applying this scale as a neurological assessment instrument in Friedreich’s ataxia. PMID:23365101

Lambda Red recombinase-mediated integration of the high molecular weight DNA into the Escherichia coli chromosome.

PubMed

Juhas, Mario; Ajioka, James W

2016-10-05

Escherichia coli K-12 is a frequently used host for a number of synthetic biology and biotechnology applications and chassis for the development of the minimal cell factories. Novel approaches for integrating high molecular weight DNA into the E. coli chromosome would therefore greatly facilitate engineering efforts in this bacterium. We developed a reliable and flexible lambda Red recombinase-based system, which utilizes overlapping DNA fragments for integration of the high molecular weight DNA into the E. coli chromosome. Our chromosomal integration strategy can be used to integrate high molecular weight DNA of variable length into any non-essential locus in the E. coli chromosome. Using this approach we integrated 15 kb DNA encoding sucrose catabolism and lactose metabolism and transport operons into the fliK locus of the flagellar region 3b in the E. coli K12 MG1655 chromosome. Furthermore, with this system we integrated 50 kb of Bacillus subtilis 168 DNA into two target sites in the E. coli K12 MG1655 chromosome. The chromosomal integrations into the fliK locus occurred with high efficiency, inhibited motility, and did not have a negative effect on the growth of E. coli. In addition to the rational design of synthetic biology devices, our high molecular weight DNA chromosomal integration system will facilitate metabolic and genome-scale engineering of E. coli.

A Two-length Scale Turbulence Model for Single-phase Multi-fluid Mixing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schwarzkopf, J. D.; Livescu, D.; Baltzer, J. R.

2015-09-08

A two-length scale, second moment turbulence model (Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes, RANS) is proposed to capture a wide variety of single-phase flows, spanning from incompressible flows with single fluids and mixtures of different density fluids (variable density flows) to flows over shock waves. The two-length scale model was developed to address an inconsistency present in the single-length scale models, e.g. the inability to match both variable density homogeneous Rayleigh-Taylor turbulence and Rayleigh-Taylor induced turbulence, as well as the inability to match both homogeneous shear and free shear flows. The two-length scale model focuses on separating the decay and transport length scales,more » as the two physical processes are generally different in inhomogeneous turbulence. This allows reasonable comparisons with statistics and spreading rates over such a wide range of turbulent flows using a common set of model coefficients. The specific canonical flows considered for calibrating the model include homogeneous shear, single-phase incompressible shear driven turbulence, variable density homogeneous Rayleigh-Taylor turbulence, Rayleigh-Taylor induced turbulence, and shocked isotropic turbulence. The second moment model shows to compare reasonably well with direct numerical simulations (DNS), experiments, and theory in most cases. The model was then applied to variable density shear layer and shock tube data and shows to be in reasonable agreement with DNS and experiments. Additionally, the importance of using DNS to calibrate and assess RANS type turbulence models is highlighted.« less

Microphase separation of comb copolymers with two different lengths of side chains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aliev, M. A.; Kuzminyh, N. Yu.

2009-10-01

The phase behavior of the monodisperse AB comb copolymer melt contained the macromolecules of special architecture is discussed. Each macromolecule is assumed to be composed of two comb blocks which differ in numbers of side chains and numbers of monomer units in these chains. It is shown (by analysis of the structure factor of the melt) that microphase separation at two different length scales in the melt is possible. The large and small length scales correspond to separation between comb blocks and separation between monomer units in repeating fragments of blocks, respectively. The classification diagrams indicated which length scale is favored for a given parameters of chemical structure of macromolecules are constructed.

Three-dimensional micro-scale strain mapping in living biological soft tissues.

PubMed

Moo, Eng Kuan; Sibole, Scott C; Han, Sang Kuy; Herzog, Walter

2018-04-01

Non-invasive characterization of the mechanical micro-environment surrounding cells in biological tissues at multiple length scales is important for the understanding of the role of mechanics in regulating the biosynthesis and phenotype of cells. However, there is a lack of imaging methods that allow for characterization of the cell micro-environment in three-dimensional (3D) space. The aims of this study were (i) to develop a multi-photon laser microscopy protocol capable of imprinting 3D grid lines onto living tissue at a high spatial resolution, and (ii) to develop image processing software capable of analyzing the resulting microscopic images and performing high resolution 3D strain analyses. Using articular cartilage as the biological tissue of interest, we present a novel two-photon excitation imaging technique for measuring the internal 3D kinematics in intact cartilage at sub-micrometer resolution, spanning length scales from the tissue to the cell level. Using custom image processing software, we provide accurate and robust 3D micro-strain analysis that allows for detailed qualitative and quantitative assessment of the 3D tissue kinematics. This novel technique preserves tissue structural integrity post-scanning, therefore allowing for multiple strain measurements at different time points in the same specimen. The proposed technique is versatile and opens doors for experimental and theoretical investigations on the relationship between tissue deformation and cell biosynthesis. Studies of this nature may enhance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying cell mechano-transduction, and thus, adaptation and degeneration of soft connective tissues. We presented a novel two-photon excitation imaging technique for measuring the internal 3D kinematics in intact cartilage at sub-micrometer resolution, spanning from tissue length scale to cellular length scale. Using a custom image processing software (lsmgridtrack), we provide accurate and robust micro-strain analysis that allowed for detailed qualitative and quantitative assessment of the 3D tissue kinematics. The approach presented here can also be applied to other biological tissues such as meniscus and annulus fibrosus, as well as tissue-engineered tissues for the characterization of their mechanical properties. This imaging technique opens doors for experimental and theoretical investigation on the relationship between tissue deformation and cell biosynthesis. Studies of this nature may enhance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying cell mechano-transduction, and thus, adaptation and degeneration of soft connective tissues. Copyright © 2018 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Radial distribution of dust, stars, gas, and star-formation rate in DustPedia⋆ face-on galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casasola, V.; Cassarà, L. P.; Bianchi, S.; Verstocken, S.; Xilouris, E.; Magrini, L.; Smith, M. W. L.; De Looze, I.; Galametz, M.; Madden, S. C.; Baes, M.; Clark, C.; Davies, J.; De Vis, P.; Evans, R.; Fritz, J.; Galliano, F.; Jones, A. P.; Mosenkov, A. V.; Viaene, S.; Ysard, N.

2017-09-01

Aims: The purpose of this work is the characterization of the radial distribution of dust, stars, gas, and star-formation rate (SFR) in a sub-sample of 18 face-on spiral galaxies extracted from the DustPedia sample. Methods: This study is performed by exploiting the multi-wavelength DustPedia database, from ultraviolet (UV) to sub-millimeter bands, in addition to molecular (12CO) and atomic (Hi) gas maps and metallicity abundance information available in the literature. We fitted the surface-brightness profiles of the tracers of dust and stars, the mass surface-density profiles of dust, stars, molecular gas, and total gas, and the SFR surface-density profiles with an exponential curve and derived their scale-lengths. We also developed a method to solve for the CO-to-H2 conversion factor (αCO) per galaxy by using dust- and gas-mass profiles. Results: Although each galaxy has its own peculiar behavior, we identified a common trend of the exponential scale-lengths versus wavelength. On average, the scale-lengths normalized to the B-band 25 mag/arcsec2 radius decrease from UV to 70 μm, from 0.4 to 0.2, and then increase back up to 0.3 at 500 microns. The main result is that, on average, the dust-mass surface-density scale-length is about 1.8 times the stellar one derived from IRAC data and the 3.6 μm surface brightness, and close to that in the UV. We found a mild dependence of the scale-lengths on the Hubble stage T: the scale-lengths of the Herschel bands and the 3.6 μm scale-length tend to increase from earlier to later types, the scale-length at 70 μm tends to be smaller than that at longer sub-mm wavelength with ratios between longer sub-mm wavelengths and 70 μm that decrease with increasing T. The scale-length ratio of SFR and stars shows a weak increasing trend towards later types. Our αCO determinations are in the range (0.3-9) M⊙ pc-2 (K km s-1)-1, almost invariant by using a fixed dust-to-gas ratio mass (DGR) or a DGR depending on metallicity gradient. DustPedia is a project funded by the EU under the heading "Exploitation of space science and exploration data". It has the primary goal of exploiting existing data in the Herschel Space Observatory and Planck Telescope databases.

Creation of current filaments in the solar corona

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mikic, Z.; Schnack, D. D.; Van Hoven, G.

1989-01-01

It has been suggested that the solar corona is heated by the dissipation of electric currents. The low value of the resistivity requires the magnetic field to have structure at very small length scales if this mechanism is to work. In this paper it is demonstrated that the coronal magnetic field acquires small-scale structure through the braiding produced by smooth, randomly phased, photospheric flows. The current density develops a filamentary structure and grows exponentially in time. Nonlinear processes in the ideal magnetohydrodynamic equations produce a cascade effect, in which the structure introduced by the flow at large length scales is transferred to smaller scales. If this process continues down to the resistive dissipation length scale, it would provide an effective mechanism for coronal heating.

Moisture effect on interfacial integrity of epoxy-bonded system: a hierarchical approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tam, Lik-ho; Lun Chow, Cheuk; Lau, Denvid

2018-01-01

The epoxy-bonded system has been widely used in various applications across different scale lengths. Prior investigations have indicated that the moisture-affected interfacial debonding is the major failure mode of such a system, but the fundamental mechanism remains unknown, such as the basis for the invasion of water molecules in the cross-linked epoxy and the epoxy-bonded interface. This prevents us from predicting the long-term performance of the epoxy-related applications under the effect of the moisture. Here, we use full atomistic models to investigate the response of the epoxy-bonded system towards the adhesion test, and provide a detailed analysis of the interfacial integrity under the moisture effect and the associated debonding mechanism. Molecular dynamics simulations show that water molecules affect the hierarchical structure of the epoxy-bonded system at the nanoscale by disrupting the film-substrate interaction and the molecular interaction within the epoxy, which leads to the detachment of the epoxy thin film, and the final interfacial debonding. The simulation results show good agreement with the experimental results of the epoxy-bonded system. Through identifying the relationship between the epoxy structure and the debonding mechanism at multiple scales, it is shown that the hierarchical structure of the epoxy-bonded system is crucial for the interfacial integrity. In particular, the available space of the epoxy-bonded system, which consists of various sizes ranging from the atomistic scale to the macroscale and is close to the interface facilitates the moisture accumulation, leading to a distinct interfacial debonding when compared to the dry scenario.

High flexibility of DNA on short length scales probed by atomic force microscopy.

PubMed

Wiggins, Paul A; van der Heijden, Thijn; Moreno-Herrero, Fernando; Spakowitz, Andrew; Phillips, Rob; Widom, Jonathan; Dekker, Cees; Nelson, Philip C

2006-11-01

The mechanics of DNA bending on intermediate length scales (5-100 nm) plays a key role in many cellular processes, and is also important in the fabrication of artificial DNA structures, but previous experimental studies of DNA mechanics have focused on longer length scales than these. We use high-resolution atomic force microscopy on individual DNA molecules to obtain a direct measurement of the bending energy function appropriate for scales down to 5 nm. Our measurements imply that the elastic energy of highly bent DNA conformations is lower than predicted by classical elasticity models such as the worm-like chain (WLC) model. For example, we found that on short length scales, spontaneous large-angle bends are many times more prevalent than predicted by the WLC model. We test our data and model with an interlocking set of consistency checks. Our analysis also shows how our model is compatible with previous experiments, which have sometimes been viewed as confirming the WLC.

Scale effects in crystal plasticity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Padubidri Janardhanachar, Guruprasad

The goal of this research work is to further the understanding of crystal plasticity, particularly at reduced structural and material length scales. Fundamental understanding of plasticity is central to various challenges facing design and manufacturing of materials for structural and electronic device applications. The development of microstructurally tailored advanced metallic materials with enhanced mechanical properties that can withstand extremes in stress, strain, and temperature, will aid in increasing the efficiency of power generating systems by allowing them to work at higher temperatures and pressures. High specific strength materials can lead to low fuel consumption in transport vehicles. Experiments have shown that enhanced mechanical properties can be obtained in materials by constraining their size, microstructure (e.g. grain size), or both for various applications. For the successful design of these materials, it is necessary to have a thorough understanding of the influence of different length scales and evolving microstructure on the overall behavior. In this study, distinction is made between the effect of structural and material length scale on the mechanical behavior of materials. A length scale associated with an underlying physical mechanism influencing the mechanical behavior can overlap with either structural length scales or material length scales. If it overlaps with structural length scales, then the material is said to be dimensionally constrained. On the other hand, if it overlaps with material length scales, for example grain size, then the material is said to be microstructurally constrained. The objectives of this research work are: (1) to investigate scale and size effects due to dimensional constraints; (2) to investigate size effects due to microstructural constraints; and (3) to develop a size dependent hardening model through coarse graining of dislocation dynamics. A discrete dislocation dynamics (DDD) framework where the scale of analysis is intermediate between a fully discretized (e.g. atomistic) and fully continuum is used for this study. This mesoscale tool allows to address all the stated objectives of this study within a single framework. Within this framework, the effect of structural and the material length scales are naturally accounted for in the simulations and need not be specified in an ad hoc manner, as in some continuum models. It holds the promise of connecting the evolution of the defect microstructure to the effective response of the crystal. Further, it provides useful information to develop physically motivated continuum models to model size effects in materials. The contributions of this study are: (a) provides a new interpretation of mechanical size effect due to only dimensional constraint using DDD; (b) a development of an experimentally validated DDD simulation methodology to model Cu micropillars; (c) a coarse graining technique using DDD to develop a phenomenological model to capture size effect on strain hardening; and (d) a development of a DDD framework for polycrystals to investigate grain size effect on yield strength and strain hardening.

Experimental Investigation and Modeling of Scale Effects in Micro Jet Pumps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gardner, William Geoffrey

2011-12-01

Since the mid-1990s there has been an active effort to develop hydrocarbon-fueled power generation and propulsion systems on the scale of centimeters or smaller. This effort led to the creation and expansion of a field of research focused around the design and reduction to practice of Power MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) devices, beginning first with microscale jet engines and a generation later more broadly encompassing MEMS devices which generate power or pump heat. Due to small device scale and fabrication techniques, design constraints are highly coupled and conventional solutions for device requirements may not be practicable. This thesis describes the experimental investigation, modeling and potential applications for two classes of microscale jet pumps: jet ejectors and jet injectors. These components pump fluids with no moving parts and can be integrated into Power MEMS devices to satisfy pumping requirements by supplementing or replacing existing solutions. This thesis presents models developed from first principles which predict losses experienced at small length scales and agree well with experimental results. The models further predict maximum achievable power densities at the onset of detrimental viscous losses.

Regional-scale calculation of the LS factor using parallel processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Kai; Tang, Guoan; Jiang, Ling; Zhu, A.-Xing; Yang, Jianyi; Song, Xiaodong

2015-05-01

With the increase of data resolution and the increasing application of USLE over large areas, the existing serial implementation of algorithms for computing the LS factor is becoming a bottleneck. In this paper, a parallel processing model based on message passing interface (MPI) is presented for the calculation of the LS factor, so that massive datasets at a regional scale can be processed efficiently. The parallel model contains algorithms for calculating flow direction, flow accumulation, drainage network, slope, slope length and the LS factor. According to the existence of data dependence, the algorithms are divided into local algorithms and global algorithms. Parallel strategy are designed according to the algorithm characters including the decomposition method for maintaining the integrity of the results, optimized workflow for reducing the time taken for exporting the unnecessary intermediate data and a buffer-communication-computation strategy for improving the communication efficiency. Experiments on a multi-node system show that the proposed parallel model allows efficient calculation of the LS factor at a regional scale with a massive dataset.

Properties of the Magnitude Terms of Orthogonal Scaling Functions.

PubMed

Tay, Peter C; Havlicek, Joseph P; Acton, Scott T; Hossack, John A

2010-09-01

The spectrum of the convolution of two continuous functions can be determined as the continuous Fourier transform of the cross-correlation function. The same can be said about the spectrum of the convolution of two infinite discrete sequences, which can be determined as the discrete time Fourier transform of the cross-correlation function of the two sequences. In current digital signal processing, the spectrum of the contiuous Fourier transform and the discrete time Fourier transform are approximately determined by numerical integration or by densely taking the discrete Fourier transform. It has been shown that all three transforms share many analogous properties. In this paper we will show another useful property of determining the spectrum terms of the convolution of two finite length sequences by determining the discrete Fourier transform of the modified cross-correlation function. In addition, two properties of the magnitude terms of orthogonal wavelet scaling functions are developed. These properties are used as constraints for an exhaustive search to determine an robust lower bound on conjoint localization of orthogonal scaling functions.

Changes in divergence-free grid turbulence interacting with a weak spherical shock wave

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kitamura, T.; Nagata, K.; Sakai, Y.; Sasoh, A.; Ito, Y.

2017-06-01

The characteristics of divergence-free grid turbulence interacting with a weak spherical shock wave with a Mach number of 1.05 are experimentally investigated. Turbulence-generating grids are used to generate nearly isotropic, divergence-free turbulence. The turbulent Reynolds number based on the Taylor microscale R eλ and the turbulent Mach number Mt are 49 ≤R eλ≤159 and 0.709 × 1 0-3≤Mt≤2.803 ×1 0-3, respectively. A spherical shock wave is generated by a diaphragmless shock tube. The instantaneous streamwise velocity before and after the interaction is measured by a hot wire probe. The results show that the root-mean-square value of streamwise velocity fluctuations (r.m.s velocity) increases and the streamwise integral length scale decreases after the interaction. The changes in the r.m.s velocity become small with the increase in R eλ and Mt for the same strength of the shock wave. This tendency is similar to that of the streamwise integral length scale. The continuous wavelet analysis shows that high intensity appears mainly in the low-frequency region and positive and negative wavelet coefficients appear periodically in time before the interaction, whereas such high intensity appears in both the low- and high-frequency regions after the interaction. The spectral analysis reveals that the energy at high wavenumbers increases after the interaction. The change in turbulence after the interaction is explained from the viewpoint of the initial turbulent Mach number. It is suggested that the change is more significant for initial divergence-free turbulence than for curl-free turbulence.

Aerosol based direct-write micro-additive fabrication method for sub-mm 3D metal-dielectric structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahman, Taibur; Renaud, Luke; Heo, Deuk; Renn, Michael; Panat, Rahul

2015-10-01

The fabrication of 3D metal-dielectric structures at sub-mm length scale is highly important in order to realize low-loss passives and GHz wavelength antennas with applications in wearable and Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices. The inherent 2D nature of lithographic processes severely limits the available manufacturing routes to fabricate 3D structures. Further, the lithographic processes are subtractive and require the use of environmentally harmful chemicals. In this letter, we demonstrate an additive manufacturing method to fabricate 3D metal-dielectric structures at sub-mm length scale. A UV curable dielectric is dispensed from an Aerosol Jet system at 10-100 µm length scale and instantaneously cured to build complex 3D shapes at a length scale  <1 mm. A metal nanoparticle ink is then dispensed over the 3D dielectric using a combination of jetting action and tilted dispense head, also using the Aerosol Jet technique and at a length scale 10-100 µm, followed by the nanoparticle sintering. Simulation studies are carried out to demonstrate the feasibility of using such structures as mm-wave antennas. The manufacturing method described in this letter opens up the possibility of fabricating an entirely new class of custom-shaped 3D structures at a sub-mm length scale with potential applications in 3D antennas and passives.

The role of spatial integration in the perception of surface orientation with active touch.

PubMed

Giachritsis, Christos D; Wing, Alan M; Lovell, Paul G

2009-10-01

Vision research has shown that perception of line orientation, in the fovea area, improves with line length (Westheimer & Ley, 1997). This suggests that the visual system may use spatial integration to improve perception of orientation. In the present experiments, we investigated the role of spatial integration in the perception of surface orientation using kinesthetic and proprioceptive information from shoulder and elbow. With their left index fingers, participants actively explored virtual slanted surfaces of different lengths and orientations, and were asked to reproduce an orientation or discriminate between two orientations. Results showed that reproduction errors and discrimination thresholds improve with surface length. This suggests that the proprioceptive shoulder-elbow system may integrate redundant spatial information resulting from extended arm movements to improve orientation judgments.

Accurate aging of juvenile salmonids using fork lengths

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sethi, Suresh; Gerken, Jonathon; Ashline, Joshua

2017-01-01

Juvenile salmon life history strategies, survival, and habitat interactions may vary by age cohort. However, aging individual juvenile fish using scale reading is time consuming and can be error prone. Fork length data are routinely measured while sampling juvenile salmonids. We explore the performance of aging juvenile fish based solely on fork length data, using finite Gaussian mixture models to describe multimodal size distributions and estimate optimal age-discriminating length thresholds. Fork length-based ages are compared against a validation set of juvenile coho salmon, Oncorynchus kisutch, aged by scales. Results for juvenile coho salmon indicate greater than 95% accuracy can be achieved by aging fish using length thresholds estimated from mixture models. Highest accuracy is achieved when aged fish are compared to length thresholds generated from samples from the same drainage, time of year, and habitat type (lentic versus lotic), although relatively high aging accuracy can still be achieved when thresholds are extrapolated to fish from populations in different years or drainages. Fork length-based aging thresholds are applicable for taxa for which multiple age cohorts coexist sympatrically. Where applicable, the method of aging individual fish is relatively quick to implement and can avoid ager interpretation bias common in scale-based aging.

Porotic paradox: distribution of cortical bone pore sizes at nano- and micro-levels in healthy vs. fragile human bone.

PubMed

Milovanovic, Petar; Vukovic, Zorica; Antonijevic, Djordje; Djonic, Danijela; Zivkovic, Vladimir; Nikolic, Slobodan; Djuric, Marija

2017-05-01

Bone is a remarkable biological nanocomposite material showing peculiar hierarchical organization from smaller (nano, micro) to larger (macro) length scales. Increased material porosity is considered as the main feature of fragile bone at larger length-scales. However, there is a shortage of quantitative information on bone porosity at smaller length-scales, as well as on the distribution of pore sizes in healthy vs. fragile bone. Therefore, here we investigated how healthy and fragile bones differ in pore volume and pore size distribution patterns, considering a wide range of mostly neglected pore sizes from nano to micron-length scales (7.5 to 15000 nm). Cortical bone specimens from four young healthy women (age: 35 ± 6 years) and five women with bone fracture (age: 82 ± 5 years) were analyzed by mercury porosimetry. Our findings showed that, surprisingly, fragile bone demonstrated lower pore volume at the measured scales. Furtnermore, pore size distribution showed differential patterns between healthy and fragile bones, where healthy bone showed especially high proportion of pores between 200 and 15000 nm. Therefore, although fragile bones are known for increased porosity at macroscopic level and level of tens or hundreds of microns as firmly established in the literature, our study with a unique assessment range of nano-to micron-sized pores reveal that osteoporosis does not imply increased porosity at all length scales. Our thorough assessment of bone porosity reveals a specific distribution of porosities at smaller length-scales and contributes to proper understanding of bone structure which is important for designing new biomimetic bone substitute materials.

Assessing self-care and social function using a computer adaptive testing version of the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory Accepted for Publication, Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

PubMed Central

Coster, Wendy J.; Haley, Stephen M.; Ni, Pengsheng; Dumas, Helene M.; Fragala-Pinkham, Maria A.

2009-01-01

Objective To examine score agreement, validity, precision, and response burden of a prototype computer adaptive testing (CAT) version of the Self-Care and Social Function scales of the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) compared to the full-length version of these scales. Design Computer simulation analysis of cross-sectional and longitudinal retrospective data; cross-sectional prospective study. Settings Pediatric rehabilitation hospital, including inpatient acute rehabilitation, day school program, outpatient clinics; community-based day care, preschool, and children’s homes. Participants Four hundred sixty-nine children with disabilities and 412 children with no disabilities (analytic sample); 38 children with disabilities and 35 children without disabilities (cross-validation sample). Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures Summary scores from prototype CAT applications of each scale using 15-, 10-, and 5-item stopping rules; scores from the full-length Self-Care and Social Function scales; time (in seconds) to complete assessments and respondent ratings of burden. Results Scores from both computer simulations and field administration of the prototype CATs were highly consistent with scores from full-length administration (all r’s between .94 and .99). Using computer simulation of retrospective data, discriminant validity and sensitivity to change of the CATs closely approximated that of the full-length scales, especially when the 15- and 10-item stopping rules were applied. In the cross-validation study the time to administer both CATs was 4 minutes, compared to over 16 minutes to complete the full-length scales. Conclusions Self-care and Social Function score estimates from CAT administration are highly comparable to those obtained from full-length scale administration, with small losses in validity and precision and substantial decreases in administration time. PMID:18373991

Ultrafast Microscopy of Energy and Charge Transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Libai

The frontier in solar energy research now lies in learning how to integrate functional entities across multiple length scales to create optimal devices. Advancing the field requires transformative experimental tools that probe energy transfer processes from the nano to the meso lengthscales. To address this challenge, we aim to understand multi-scale energy transport across both multiple length and time scales, coupling simultaneous high spatial, structural, and temporal resolution. In my talk, I will focus on our recent progress on visualization of exciton and charge transport in solar energy harvesting materials from the nano to mesoscale employing ultrafast optical nanoscopy. With approaches that combine spatial and temporal resolutions, we have recently revealed a new singlet-mediated triplet transport mechanism in certain singlet fission materials. This work demonstrates a new triplet exciton transport mechanism leading to favorable long-range triplet exciton diffusion on the picosecond and nanosecond timescales for solar cell applications. We have also performed a direct measurement of carrier transport in space and in time by mapping carrier density with simultaneous ultrafast time resolution and 50 nm spatial precision in perovskite thin films using transient absorption microscopy. These results directly visualize long-range carrier transport of 220nm in 2 ns for solution-processed polycrystalline CH3NH3PbI3 thin films. The spatially and temporally resolved measurements reported here underscore the importance of the local morphology and establish an important first step towards discerning the underlying transport properties of perovskite materials.

Hierarchical roughness of sticky and non-sticky superhydrophobic surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raza, Muhammad; Kooij, Stefan; van Silfhout, Arend; Zandvliet, Harold; Poelsema, Bene

2011-11-01

The importance of superhydrophobic substrates (contact angle >150° with sliding angle <10°) in modern technology is undeniable. We present a simple colloidal route to manufacture superstructured arrays with single- and multi-length-scaled roughness to obtain sticky and non-sticky superhydrophobic surfaces. The largest length scale is provided by (multi-)layers of silica spheres (1 μm, 500nm and 150nm diameter). Decoration with gold nanoparticles (14nm, 26nm and 47nm) gives rise to a second length scale. To lower the surface energy, gold nanoparticles are functionalized with dodecanethiol and the silica spheres by perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane. The morphology was examined by helium ion microscopy (HIM), while wettability measurements were performed by using the sessile drop method. We conclude that wettability can be controlled by changing the surface chemistry and/or length scales of the structures. To achieve truly non-sticky superhydrophobic surfaces, hierarchical roughness plays a vital role.

On the physics of electron ejection from laser-irradiated overdense plasmas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Thévenet, M.; Vincenti, H.; Faure, J.

2016-06-15

Using 1D and 2D PIC simulations, we describe and model the backward ejection of electron bunches when a laser pulse reflects off an overdense plasma with a short density gradient on its front side. The dependence on the laser intensity and gradient scale length is studied. It is found that during each laser period, the incident laser pulse generates a large charge-separation field, or plasma capacitor, which accelerates an attosecond bunch of electrons toward vacuum. This process is maximized for short gradient scale lengths and collapses when the gradient scale length is comparable to the laser wavelength. We develop amore » model that reproduces the electron dynamics and the dependence on laser intensity and gradient scale length. This process is shown to be strongly linked with high harmonic generation via the Relativistic Oscillating Mirror mechanism.« less

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

PubMed

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 underlie scale effects in stride frequency and length between smaller and larger neognaths. While variation in linear proportions of limbs appear to be governed by developmental mechanisms, variation in mass proportions does not appear to be constrained so.

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

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Introduction 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. Results 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. Conclusions 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 underlie scale effects in stride frequency and length between smaller and larger neognaths. While variation in linear proportions of limbs appear to be governed by developmental mechanisms, variation in mass proportions does not appear to be constrained so. PMID:24876886

Neandertal clavicle length

PubMed Central

Trinkaus, Erik; Holliday, Trenton W.; Auerbach, Benjamin M.

2014-01-01

The Late Pleistocene archaic humans from western Eurasia (the Neandertals) have been described for a century as exhibiting absolutely and relatively long clavicles. This aspect of their body proportions has been used to distinguish them from modern humans, invoked to account for other aspects of their anatomy and genetics, used in assessments of their phylogenetic polarities, and used as evidence for Late Pleistocene population relationships. However, it has been unclear whether the usual scaling of Neandertal clavicular lengths to their associated humeral lengths reflects long clavicles, short humeri, or both. Neandertal clavicle lengths, along with those of early modern humans and latitudinally diverse recent humans, were compared with both humeral lengths and estimated body masses (based on femoral head diameters). The Neandertal do have long clavicles relative their humeri, even though they fall within the ranges of variation of early and recent humans. However, when scaled to body masses, their humeral lengths are relatively short, and their clavicular lengths are indistinguishable from those of Late Pleistocene and recent modern humans. The few sufficiently complete Early Pleistocene Homo clavicles seem to have relative lengths also well within recent human variation. Therefore, appropriately scaled clavicular length seems to have varied little through the genus Homo, and it should not be used to account for other aspects of Neandertal biology or their phylogenetic status. PMID:24616525

Inherited chromosomally integrated human herpesvirus 6 as a predisposing risk factor for the development of angina pectoris.

PubMed

Gravel, Annie; Dubuc, Isabelle; Morissette, Guillaume; Sedlak, Ruth H; Jerome, Keith R; Flamand, Louis

2015-06-30

Inherited chromosomally integrated human herpesvirus-6 (iciHHV-6) results in the germ-line transmission of the HHV-6 genome. Every somatic cell of iciHHV-6+ individuals contains the HHV-6 genome integrated in the telomere of chromosomes. Whether having iciHHV-6 predisposes humans to diseases remains undefined. DNA from 19,597 participants between 40 and 69 years of age were analyzed by quantitative PCR (qPCR) for the presence of iciHHV-6. Telomere lengths were determined by qPCR. Medical records, hematological, biochemical, and anthropometric measurements and telomere lengths were compared between iciHHV-6+ and iciHHV-6- subjects. The prevalence of iciHHV-6 was 0.58%. Two-way ANOVA with a Holm-Bonferroni correction was used to determine the effects of iciHHV6, sex, and their interaction on continuous outcomes. Two-way logistic regression with a Holm-Bonferroni correction was used to determine the effects of iciHHV6, sex, and their interaction on disease prevalence. Of 50 diseases monitored, a single one, angina pectoris, is significantly elevated (3.3×) in iciHHV-6+ individuals relative to iciHHV-6- subjects (P = 0.017; 95% CI, 1.73-6.35). When adjusted for potential confounding factors (age, body mass index, percent body fat, and systolic blood pressure), the prevalence of angina remained three times greater in iciHHV-6+ subjects (P = 0.015; 95%CI, 1.23-7.15). Analyses of telomere lengths between iciHHV-6- without angina, iciHHV-6- with angina, and iciHHV-6+ with angina indicate that iciHHV-6+ with angina have shorter telomeres than age-matched iciHHV-6- subjects (P = 0.006). Our study represents, to our knowledge, the first large-scale analysis of disease association with iciHHV-6. Our results are consistent with iciHHV-6 representing a risk factor for the development of angina.

Spatial confinement of active microtubule networks induces large-scale rotational cytoplasmic flow

PubMed Central

Suzuki, Kazuya; Miyazaki, Makito; Takagi, Jun; Itabashi, Takeshi; Ishiwata, Shin’ichi

2017-01-01

Collective behaviors of motile units through hydrodynamic interactions induce directed fluid flow on a larger length scale than individual units. In cells, active cytoskeletal systems composed of polar filaments and molecular motors drive fluid flow, a process known as cytoplasmic streaming. The motor-driven elongation of microtubule bundles generates turbulent-like flow in purified systems; however, it remains unclear whether and how microtubule bundles induce large-scale directed flow like the cytoplasmic streaming observed in cells. Here, we adopted Xenopus egg extracts as a model system of the cytoplasm and found that microtubule bundle elongation induces directed flow for which the length scale and timescale depend on the existence of geometrical constraints. At the lower activity of dynein, kinesins bundle and slide microtubules, organizing extensile microtubule bundles. In bulk extracts, the extensile bundles connected with each other and formed a random network, and vortex flows with a length scale comparable to the bundle length continually emerged and persisted for 1 min at multiple places. When the extracts were encapsulated in droplets, the extensile bundles pushed the droplet boundary. This pushing force initiated symmetry breaking of the randomly oriented bundle network, leading to bundles aligning into a rotating vortex structure. This vortex induced rotational cytoplasmic flows on the length scale and timescale that were 10- to 100-fold longer than the vortex flows emerging in bulk extracts. Our results suggest that microtubule systems use not only hydrodynamic interactions but also mechanical interactions to induce large-scale temporally stable cytoplasmic flow. PMID:28265076

Polymer Physics Prize Talk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olvera de La Cruz, Monica

Polymer electrolytes have been particularly difficult to describe theoretically given the large number of disparate length scales involved in determining their physical properties. The Debye length, the Bjerrum length, the ion size, the chain length, and the distance between the charges along their backbones determine their structure and their response to external fields. We have developed an approach that uses multi-scale calculations with the capability of demonstrating the phase behavior of polymer electrolytes and of providing a conceptual understanding of how charge dictates nano-scale structure formation. Moreover, our molecular dynamics simulations have provided an understanding of the coupling of their conformation to their dynamics, which is crucial to design self-assembling materials, as well as to explore the dynamics of complex electrolytes for energy storage and conversion applications.

A new species of the genus Capoeta Valenciennes, 1842 from the Caspian Sea basin in Iran (Teleostei, Cyprinidae)

PubMed Central

Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash; Eagderi, Soheil; Ghanavi, Hamid Reza; Doadrio, Ignacio

2017-01-01

Abstract A new species of algae-scraping cyprinid of the genus Capoeta Valenciennes, 1842 is described from the Kheyroud River, located in the southern part of the Caspian Sea basin in Iran. The species differs from other members of this genus by a combination of the following characters: one pair of barbels; predorsal length equal to postdorsal length; maxillary barbel slightly smaller than eye’s horizontal diameter and reach to posterior margin of orbit; intranasal length slightly shorter than snout length; lateral line with 46–54 scales; 7–9 scales between dorsal-fin origin and lateral line, and 6–7 scales between anal-fin origin and lateral line. PMID:28769726

The Link Between Shocks, Turbulence, and Magnetic Reconnection in Collisionless Plasmas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Karimabadi, H.; Roytershteyn, V.; Vu, H. X.; Omelchenko, Y. A.; Scudder, J.; Daughton, W.; Dimmock, A.; Nykyri, K.; Wan, M.; Sibeck, D.;

ICME — A Mere Coupling of Models or a Discipline of Its Own?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bambach, Markus; Schmitz, Georg J.; Prahl, Ulrich

Technically, ICME — Integrated computational materials engineering — is an approach for solving advanced engineering problems related to the design of new materials and processes by combining individual materials and process models. The combination of models by now is mainly achieved by manual transformation of the output of a simulation to form the input to a subsequent one. This subsequent simulation is either performed at a different length scale or constitutes a subsequent step along the process chain. Is ICME thus just a synonym for the coupling of simulations? In fact, most ICME publications up to now are examples of the joint application of selected models and software codes to a specific problem. However, from a systems point of view, the coupling of individual models and/or software codes across length scales and along material processing chains leads to highly complex meta-models. Their viability has to be ensured by joint efforts from science, industry, software developers and independent organizations. This paper identifies some developments that seem necessary to make future ICME simulations viable, sustainable and broadly accessible and accepted. The main conclusion is that ICME is more than a multi-disciplinary subject but a discipline of its own, for which a generic structural framework has to be elaborated and established.

A test of Lee's quasi-linear theory of ion acceleration by interplanetary traveling shocks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kennel, C. F.; Coroniti, F. V.; Scarf, F. L.; Livesey, W. A.; Russell, C. T.; Smith, E. J.

1986-01-01

Lee's (1983) quasi-linear theory of ion acceleration is tested using ISEE-3 measurements of the November 12, 1978 quasi-parallel interplanetary shock. His theory accounts with varying degrees of precision for the energetic proton spatial profiles; the dependence of the spectral index of the power law proton velocity distribution upon the shock compression ratio; the power law dependence of the upstream proton scalelength upon energy; the absolute magnitude of the upstream proton scale length; the behavior of the energetic proton anisotropy upstream and downstream of the shock; the behavior of the alpha-particle proton ratio upstream; the equality of the spatial scale lengths at the shock of the upstream waves and of the protons that resonate with them; and the dependence of the integrated wave energy density upon the proton energy density at the shock. However, the trace magnetic field frequency spectra disagree with his theory in two ways. The part of the spectrum that can resonate with the observed protons via first-order cyclotron resonance is flat, whereas Lee's theory predicts an f exp - 7/4 frequency dependence for the November 12 shock. Higher frequency waves, which could not resonate with the observed upstream protons, increased in amplitude as the shock approached, suggesting that they too were generated by the shock.

Single-shot optical recorder with sub-picosecond resolution and scalable record length on a semiconductor wafer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Muir, R.; Heebner, J.

In this study, we demonstrate a novel, single-shot recording technology for transient optical signals. A resolution of 0.4 ps over a record length of 54 ps was demonstrated. Here, a pump pulse crossing through a signal samples a diagonal “slice” of space–time, enabling a camera to record spatially the time content of the signal. Unlike related X (2)-based cross-correlation techniques, here the signal is sampled through optically pumped carriers that modify the refractive index of a silicon wafer. Surrounding the wafer with birefringent retarders enables two time-staggered, orthogonally polarized signal copies to probe the wafer. Recombining the copies at amore » final crossed polarizer destructively interferes with them, except during the brief stagger window, where a differential phase shift is incurred. This enables the integrating response of the rapidly excited but persistent carriers to be optically differentiated. Lastly, this sampling mechanism has several advantages that enable scaling to long record lengths, including making use of large, inexpensive semiconductor wafers, eliminating the need for phase matching, broad insensitivity to the spectral and angular properties of the pump, and overall hardware simplicity.« less

Single-shot optical recorder with sub-picosecond resolution and scalable record length on a semiconductor wafer

DOE PAGES

Muir, R.; Heebner, J.

2017-10-24

In this study, we demonstrate a novel, single-shot recording technology for transient optical signals. A resolution of 0.4 ps over a record length of 54 ps was demonstrated. Here, a pump pulse crossing through a signal samples a diagonal “slice” of space–time, enabling a camera to record spatially the time content of the signal. Unlike related X (2)-based cross-correlation techniques, here the signal is sampled through optically pumped carriers that modify the refractive index of a silicon wafer. Surrounding the wafer with birefringent retarders enables two time-staggered, orthogonally polarized signal copies to probe the wafer. Recombining the copies at amore » final crossed polarizer destructively interferes with them, except during the brief stagger window, where a differential phase shift is incurred. This enables the integrating response of the rapidly excited but persistent carriers to be optically differentiated. Lastly, this sampling mechanism has several advantages that enable scaling to long record lengths, including making use of large, inexpensive semiconductor wafers, eliminating the need for phase matching, broad insensitivity to the spectral and angular properties of the pump, and overall hardware simplicity.« less

Motion of Molecular Probes and Viscosity Scaling in Polyelectrolyte Solutions at Physiological Ionic Strength

PubMed Central

Sozanski, Krzysztof; Wisniewska, Agnieszka; Kalwarczyk, Tomasz; Sznajder, Anna; Holyst, Robert

2016-01-01

We investigate transport properties of model polyelectrolyte systems at physiological ionic strength (0.154 M). Covering a broad range of flow length scales—from diffusion of molecular probes to macroscopic viscous flow—we establish a single, continuous function describing the scale dependent viscosity of high-salt polyelectrolyte solutions. The data are consistent with the model developed previously for electrically neutral polymers in a good solvent. The presented approach merges the power-law scaling concepts of de Gennes with the idea of exponential length scale dependence of effective viscosity in complex liquids. The result is a simple and applicable description of transport properties of high-salt polyelectrolyte solutions at all length scales, valid for motion of single molecules as well as macroscopic flow of the complex liquid. PMID:27536866

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mamontov, Eugene; Zolnierczuk, Piotr A.; Ohl, Michael E.

Using neutron spin-echo and backscattering spectroscopy, we have found that at low temperatures water molecules in an aqueous solution engage in center-of-mass dynamics that are different from both the main structural relaxations and the well-known localized motions in the transient cages of the nearest neighbor molecules. While the latter localized motions are known to take place on the picosecond time scale and Angstrom length scale, the slower motions that we have observed are found on the nanosecond time scale and nanometer length scale. They are associated with the slow secondary relaxations, or excess wing dynamics, in glass-forming liquids. Our approach,more » therefore, can be applied to probe the characteristic length scale of the dynamic entities associated with slow dynamics in glass-forming liquids, which presently cannot be studied by other experimental techniques.« less

Correlation lengths in hydrodynamic models of active nematics.

PubMed

Hemingway, Ewan J; Mishra, Prashant; Marchetti, M Cristina; Fielding, Suzanne M

2016-09-28

We examine the scaling with activity of the emergent length scales that control the nonequilibrium dynamics of an active nematic liquid crystal, using two popular hydrodynamic models that have been employed in previous studies. In both models we find that the chaotic spatio-temporal dynamics in the regime of fully developed active turbulence is controlled by a single active scale determined by the balance of active and elastic stresses, regardless of whether the active stress is extensile or contractile in nature. The observed scaling of the kinetic energy and enstrophy with activity is consistent with our single-length scale argument and simple dimensional analysis. Our results provide a unified understanding of apparent discrepancies in the previous literature and demonstrate that the essential physics is robust to the choice of model.

The length of the glaciers in the world - a straightforward method for the automated calculation of glacier center lines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Machguth, H.; Huss, M.

2014-05-01

Glacier length is an important measure of glacier geometry but global glacier inventories are mostly lacking length data. Only recently semi-automated approaches to measure glacier length have been developed and applied regionally. Here we present a first global assessment of glacier length using 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 ∼200 000 glaciers around the globe. The evaluation highlights accurately calculated glacier length where DEM quality is good (East 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 10 km 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 mass balance. The present study adds glacier length as a central parameter to global glacier inventories. Global and regional scaling laws might proof beneficial in conceptual glacier models.

The length of the world's glaciers - a new approach for the global calculation of center lines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Machguth, H.; Huss, M.

2014-09-01

Glacier length is an important measure of glacier geometry. Nevertheless, global glacier inventories are mostly lacking length data. Only recently semi-automated approaches to measure glacier length have been developed and applied regionally. Here we present a first global assessment of glacier length using an automated method that relies 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 East Greenland as well as for Alaska and eventually applied to all ~ 200 000 glaciers around the globe. The evaluation highlights accurately calculated glacier length where digital elevation model (DEM) quality is high (East Greenland) and limited accuracy 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 10 km, with Bering Glacier (Alaska/Canada) being the longest glacier in the world at a length of 196 km. Based on the output of our algorithm we derive global and regional area-length scaling laws. Differences among regional scaling parameters appear to be related to characteristics of topography and glacier mass balance. The present study adds glacier length as a key parameter to global glacier inventories. Global and regional scaling laws might prove beneficial in conceptual glacier models.

Multi-Scale Structure of Coacervates formed by Oppositely Charged Polyelectrolytes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rubinstein, Michael

We develop a scaling model of coacervates formed by oppositely charged polyelectrolytes and demonstrate that they self-organize into multi-scale structures. The intramolecular electrostatic interactions in dilute polyanion or polycation solutions are characterized by the electrostatic blobs with size D- and D+ respectively, that repel neighboring blobs on the same chains with electrostatic energy on the order of thermal energy kT . After mixing, electrostatic intramolecular repulsion of polyelectrolytes with higher charged density, say polyanions, keeps these polyanions in coacervates aligned into stretched arrays of electrostatic blobs of size D-

Integrated magnetic tweezers and single-molecule FRET for investigating the mechanical properties of nucleic acid.

PubMed

Long, Xi; Parks, Joseph W; Stone, Michael D

2016-08-01

Many enzymes promote structural changes in their nucleic acid substrates via application of piconewton forces over nanometer length scales. Magnetic tweezers (MT) is a single molecule force spectroscopy method widely used for studying the energetics of such mechanical processes. MT permits stable application of a wide range of forces and torques over long time scales with nanometer spatial resolution. However, in any force spectroscopy experiment, the ability to monitor structural changes in nucleic acids with nanometer sensitivity requires the system of interest to be held under high degrees of tension to improve signal to noise. This limitation prohibits measurement of structural changes within nucleic acids under physiologically relevant conditions of low stretching forces. To overcome this challenge, researchers have integrated a spatially sensitive fluorescence spectroscopy method, single molecule-FRET, with MT to allow simultaneous observation and manipulation of nanoscale structural transitions over a wide range of forces. Here, we describe a method for using this hybrid instrument to analyze the mechanical properties of nucleic acids. We expect that this method for analysis of nucleic acid structure will be easily adapted for experiments aiming to interrogate the mechanical responses of other biological macromolecules. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Integrated magnetic tweezers and single-molecule FRET for investigating the mechanical properties of nucleic acid

PubMed Central

Long, Xi; Parks, Joseph W.; Stone, Michael D.

2017-01-01

Many enzymes promote structural changes in their nucleic acid substrates via application of piconewton forces over nanometer length scales. Magnetic tweezers (MT) is a single molecule force spectroscopy method widely used for studying the energetics of such mechanical processes. MT permits stable application of a wide range of forces and torques over long time scales with nanometer spatial resolution. However, in any force spectroscopy experiment, the ability to monitor structural changes in nucleic acids with nanometer sensitivity requires the system of interest to be held under high degrees of tension to improve signal to noise. This limitation prohibits measurement of structural changes within nucleic acids under physiologically relevant conditions of low stretching forces. To overcome this challenge, researchers have integrated a spatially sensitive fluorescence spectroscopy method, single molecule-FRET, with MT to allow simultaneous observation and manipulation of nanoscale structural transitions over a wide range of forces. Here, we describe a method for using this hybrid instrument to analyze the mechanical properties of nucleic acids. We expect that this method for analysis of nucleic acid structure will be easily adapted for experiments aiming to interrogate the mechanical responses of other biological macromolecules. PMID:27320203

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhu, Lin; Dai, Zhenxue; Gong, Huili

Understanding the heterogeneity arising from the complex architecture of sedimentary sequences in alluvial fans is challenging. This study develops a statistical inverse framework in a multi-zone transition probability approach for characterizing the heterogeneity in alluvial fans. An analytical solution of the transition probability matrix is used to define the statistical relationships among different hydrofacies and their mean lengths, integral scales, and volumetric proportions. A statistical inversion is conducted to identify the multi-zone transition probability models and estimate the optimal statistical parameters using the modified Gauss–Newton–Levenberg–Marquardt method. The Jacobian matrix is computed by the sensitivity equation method, which results in anmore » accurate inverse solution with quantification of parameter uncertainty. We use the Chaobai River alluvial fan in the Beijing Plain, China, as an example for elucidating the methodology of alluvial fan characterization. The alluvial fan is divided into three sediment zones. In each zone, the explicit mathematical formulations of the transition probability models are constructed with optimized different integral scales and volumetric proportions. The hydrofacies distributions in the three zones are simulated sequentially by the multi-zone transition probability-based indicator simulations. Finally, the result of this study provides the heterogeneous structure of the alluvial fan for further study of flow and transport simulations.« less

Nanometer scale thermometry in a living cell

PubMed Central

Kucsko, G.; Maurer, P. C.; Yao, N. Y.; Kubo, M.; Noh, H. J.; Lo, P. K.; Park, H.; Lukin, M. D.

2014-01-01

Sensitive probing of temperature variations on nanometer scales represents an outstanding challenge in many areas of modern science and technology1. In particular, a thermometer capable of sub-degree temperature resolution over a large range of temperatures as well as integration within a living system could provide a powerful new tool for many areas of biological, physical and chemical research; possibilities range from the temperature-induced control of gene expression2–5 and tumor metabolism6 to the cell-selective treatment of disease7,8 and the study of heat dissipation in integrated circuits1. By combining local light-induced heat sources with sensitive nanoscale thermometry, it may also be possible to engineer biological processes at the sub-cellular level2–5. Here, we demonstrate a new approach to nanoscale thermometry that utilizes coherent manipulation of the electronic spin associated with nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color centers in diamond. We show the ability to detect temperature variations down to 1.8 mK (sensitivity of 9mK/Hz) in an ultra-pure bulk diamond sample. Using NV centers in diamond nanocrystals (nanodiamonds, NDs), we directly measure the local thermal environment at length scales down to 200 nm. Finally, by introducing both nanodiamonds and gold nanoparticles into a single human embryonic fibroblast, we demonstrate temperature-gradient control and mapping at the sub-cellular level, enabling unique potential applications in life sciences. PMID:23903748

High-Performance Complementary Transistors and Medium-Scale Integrated Circuits Based on Carbon Nanotube Thin Films.

PubMed

Yang, Yingjun; Ding, Li; Han, Jie; Zhang, Zhiyong; Peng, Lian-Mao

2017-04-25

Solution-derived carbon nanotube (CNT) network films with high semiconducting purity are suitable materials for the wafer-scale fabrication of field-effect transistors (FETs) and integrated circuits (ICs). However, it is challenging to realize high-performance complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) FETs with high yield and stability on such CNT network films, and this difficulty hinders the development of CNT-film-based ICs. In this work, we developed a doping-free process for the fabrication of CMOS FETs based on solution-processed CNT network films, in which the polarity of the FETs was controlled using Sc or Pd as the source/drain contacts to selectively inject carriers into the channels. The fabricated top-gated CMOS FETs showed high symmetry between the characteristics of n- and p-type devices and exhibited high-performance uniformity and excellent scalability down to a gate length of 1 μm. Many common types of CMOS ICs, including typical logic gates, sequential circuits, and arithmetic units, were constructed based on CNT films, and the fabricated ICs exhibited rail-to-rail outputs because of the high noise margin of CMOS circuits. In particular, 4-bit full adders consisting of 132 CMOS FETs were realized with 100% yield, thereby demonstrating that this CMOS technology shows the potential to advance the development of medium-scale CNT-network-film-based ICs.

Vernier effect-based multiplication of the Sagnac beating frequency in ring laser gyroscope sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adib, George A.; Sabry, Yasser M.; Khalil, Diaa

2018-02-01

A multiplication method of the Sagnac effect scale factor in ring laser gyroscopes is presented based on the Vernier effect of a dual-coupler passive ring resonator coupled to the active ring. The multiplication occurs when the two rings have comparable lengths or integer multiples and their scale factors have opposite signs. In this case, and when the rings have similar areas, the scale factor is multiplied by ratio of their length to their length difference. The scale factor of the presented configuration is derived analytically and the lock-in effect is analyzed. The principle is demonstrated using optical fiber rings and semiconductor optical amplifier as gain medium. A scale factor multiplication by about 175 is experimentally measured, demonstrating larger than two orders of magnitude enhancement in the Sagnac effect scale factor for the first time in literature, up to the authors' knowledge.

Homing by path integration when a locomotion trajectory crosses itself.

PubMed

Yamamoto, Naohide; Meléndez, Jayleen A; Menzies, Derek T

2014-01-01

Path integration is a process with which navigators derive their current position and orientation by integrating self-motion signals along a locomotion trajectory. It has been suggested that path integration becomes disproportionately erroneous when the trajectory crosses itself. However, there is a possibility that this previous finding was confounded by effects of the length of a traveled path and the amount of turns experienced along the path, two factors that are known to affect path integration performance. The present study was designed to investigate whether the crossover of a locomotion trajectory truly increases errors of path integration. In an experiment, blindfolded human navigators were guided along four paths that varied in their lengths and turns, and attempted to walk directly back to the beginning of the paths. Only one of the four paths contained a crossover. Results showed that errors yielded from the path containing the crossover were not always larger than those observed in other paths, and the errors were attributed solely to the effects of longer path lengths or greater degrees of turns. These results demonstrated that path crossover does not always cause significant disruption in path integration processes. Implications of the present findings for models of path integration are discussed.

Persistence length of collagen molecules based on nonlocal viscoelastic model.

PubMed

Ghavanloo, Esmaeal

2017-12-01

Persistence length is one of the most interesting properties of a molecular chain, which is used to describe the stiffness of a molecule. The experimentally measured values of the persistence length of the collagen molecule are widely scattered from 14 to 180 nm. Therefore, an alternative approach is highly desirable to predict the persistence length of a molecule and also to explain the experimental results. In this paper, a nonlocal viscoelastic model is developed to obtain the persistence length of the collagen molecules in solvent. A new explicit formula is proposed for the persistence length of the molecule with the consideration of the small-scale effect, viscoelastic properties of the molecule, loading frequency, and viscosity of the solvent. The presented model indicates that there exists a range of molecule lengths in which the persistence length strongly depends on the frequency and spatial mode of applied loads, small-scale effect, and viscoelastic properties of the collagen.

Anomalous dispersion in correlated porous media: a coupled continuous time random walk approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Comolli, Alessandro; Dentz, Marco

2017-09-01

We study the causes of anomalous dispersion in Darcy-scale porous media characterized by spatially heterogeneous hydraulic properties. Spatial variability in hydraulic conductivity leads to spatial variability in the flow properties through Darcy's law and thus impacts on solute and particle transport. We consider purely advective transport in heterogeneity scenarios characterized by broad distributions of heterogeneity length scales and point values. Particle transport is characterized in terms of the stochastic properties of equidistantly sampled Lagrangian velocities, which are determined by the flow and conductivity statistics. The persistence length scales of flow and transport velocities are imprinted in the spatial disorder and reflect the distribution of heterogeneity length scales. Particle transitions over the velocity length scales are kinematically coupled with the transition time through velocity. We show that the average particle motion follows a coupled continuous time random walk (CTRW), which is fully parameterized by the distribution of flow velocities and the medium geometry in terms of the heterogeneity length scales. The coupled CTRW provides a systematic framework for the investigation of the origins of anomalous dispersion in terms of heterogeneity correlation and the distribution of conductivity point values. We derive analytical expressions for the asymptotic scaling of the moments of the spatial particle distribution and first arrival time distribution (FATD), and perform numerical particle tracking simulations of the coupled CTRW to capture the full average transport behavior. Broad distributions of heterogeneity point values and lengths scales may lead to very similar dispersion behaviors in terms of the spatial variance. Their mechanisms, however are very different, which manifests in the distributions of particle positions and arrival times, which plays a central role for the prediction of the fate of dissolved substances in heterogeneous natural and engineered porous materials. Contribution to the Topical Issue "Continuous Time Random Walk Still Trendy: Fifty-year History, Current State and Outlook", edited by Ryszard Kutner and Jaume Masoliver.

Phase and vortex correlations in superconducting Josephson-junction arrays at irrational magnetic frustration.

PubMed

Granato, Enzo

2008-07-11

Phase coherence and vortex order in a Josephson-junction array at irrational frustration are studied by extensive Monte Carlo simulations using the parallel-tempering method. A scaling analysis of the correlation length of phase variables in the full equilibrated system shows that the critical temperature vanishes with a power-law divergent correlation length and critical exponent nuph, in agreement with recent results from resistivity scaling analysis. A similar scaling analysis for vortex variables reveals a different critical exponent nuv, suggesting that there are two distinct correlation lengths associated with a decoupled zero-temperature phase transition.

Thermal diffusivity study of aged Li-ion batteries using flash method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagpure, Shrikant C.; Dinwiddie, Ralph; Babu, S. S.; Rizzoni, Giorgio; Bhushan, Bharat; Frech, Tim

Advanced Li-ion batteries with high energy and power density are fast approaching compatibility with automotive demands. While the mechanism of operation of these batteries is well understood, the aging mechanisms are still under investigation. Investigation of aging mechanisms in Li-ion batteries becomes very challenging, as aging does not occur due to a single process, but because of multiple physical processes occurring at the same time in a cascading manner. As the current characterization techniques such as Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and atomic force microscopy are used independent of each other they do not provide a comprehensive understanding of material degradation at different length (nm 2 to m 2) scales. Thus to relate the damage mechanisms of the cathode at mm length scale to micro/nanoscale, data at an intermediate length scale is needed. As such, we demonstrate here the use of thermal diffusivity analysis by flash method to bridge the gap between different length scales. In this paper we present the thermal diffusivity analysis of an unaged and aged cell. Thermal diffusivity analysis maps the damage to the cathode samples at millimeter scale lengths. Based on these maps we also propose a mechanism leading to the increase of the thermal diffusivity as the cells are aged.

Southern Regional Center for Lightweight Innovative Design

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Horstemeyer, Mark F.; Wang, Paul

The three major objectives of this Phase III project are: To develop experimentally validated cradle-to-grave modeling and simulation tools to optimize automotive and truck components for lightweighting materials (aluminum, steel, and Mg alloys and polymer-based composites) with consideration of uncertainty to decrease weight and cost, yet increase the performance and safety in impact scenarios; To develop multiscale computational models that quantify microstructure-property relations by evaluating various length scales, from the atomic through component levels, for each step of the manufacturing process for vehicles; and To develop an integrated K-12 educational program to educate students on lightweighting designs and impact scenarios.

Conductor-gap-silicon plasmonic waveguides and passive components at subwavelength scale.

PubMed

Wu, Marcelo; Han, Zhanghua; Van, Vien

2010-05-24

Subwavelength conductor-gap-silicon plasmonic waveguides along with compact S-bends and Y-splitters were theoretically investigated and experimentally demonstrated on a silicon-on-insulator platform. A thin SiO2 gap between the conductor layer and silicon core provides subwavelength confinement of light while a long propagation length of 40 microm was achieved. Coupling of light between the plasmonic and conventional silicon photonic waveguides was also demonstrated with a high efficiency of 80%. The compact sizes, low loss operation, efficient input/output coupling, combined with a CMOS-compatible fabrication process, make these conductor-gap-silicon plasmonic devices a promising platform for realizing densely-integrated plasmonic circuits.

SHARP pre-release v1.0 - Current Status and Documentation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mahadevan, Vijay S.; Rahaman, Ronald O.

The NEAMS Reactor Product Line effort aims to develop an integrated multiphysics simulation capability for the design and analysis of future generations of nuclear power plants. The Reactor Product Line code suite’s multi-resolution hierarchy is being designed to ultimately span the full range of length and time scales present in relevant reactor design and safety analyses, as well as scale from desktop to petaflop computing platforms. In this report, building on a several previous report issued in September 2014, we describe our continued efforts to integrate thermal/hydraulics, neutronics, and structural mechanics modeling codes to perform coupled analysis of a representativemore » fast sodium-cooled reactor core in preparation for a unified release of the toolkit. The work reported in the current document covers the software engineering aspects of managing the entire stack of components in the SHARP toolkit and the continuous integration efforts ongoing to prepare a release candidate for interested reactor analysis users. Here we report on the continued integration effort of PROTEUS/Nek5000 and Diablo into the NEAMS framework and the software processes that enable users to utilize the capabilities without losing scientific productivity. Due to the complexity of the individual modules and their necessary/optional dependency library chain, we focus on the configuration and build aspects for the SHARP toolkit, which includes capability to autodownload dependencies and configure/install with optimal flags in an architecture-aware fashion. Such complexity is untenable without strong software engineering processes such as source management, source control, change reviews, unit tests, integration tests and continuous test suites. Details on these processes are provided in the report as a building step for a SHARP user guide that will accompany the first release, expected by Mar 2016.« less

Lead Scales for X-Radiographs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burley, Richard K.; Adams, James F.

1987-01-01

Indentations made by typing on lead tape. Lead scales for inclusion in x-radiographs as length and position references created by repeatedly imprinting character like upper-case I, L, or V, or lower-case L into lead tape with typewriter. Character pitch of typewriter serves as length reference for scale. Thinning of tape caused by impacts of type shows up dark in radiograph.

Length and area equivalents for interpreting wildland resource maps

Treesearch

Elliot L. Amidon; Marilyn S. Whitfield

1969-01-01

Map users must refer to an appropriate scale in interpreting wildland resource maps. Length and area equivalents for nine map scales commonly used have been computed. For each scale a 1-page table consists of map-to-ground equivalents, buffer strip or road widths, and cell dimensions required for a specified acreage. The conversion factors are stored in a Fortran...

Fall risk assessment: retrospective analysis of Morse Fall Scale scores in Portuguese hospitalized adult patients.

PubMed

Sardo, Pedro Miguel Garcez; Simões, Cláudia Sofia Oliveira; Alvarelhão, José Joaquim Marques; Simões, João Filipe Fernandes Lindo; Melo, Elsa Maria de Oliveira Pinheiro de

2016-08-01

The Morse Fall Scale is used in several care settings for fall risk assessment and supports the implementation of preventive nursing interventions. Our work aims to analyze the Morse Fall Scale scores of Portuguese hospitalized adult patients in association with their characteristics, diagnoses and length of stay. Retrospective cohort analysis of Morse Fall Scale scores of 8356 patients hospitalized during 2012. Data were associated to age, gender, type of admission, specialty units, length of stay, patient discharge, and ICD-9 diagnosis. Elderly patients, female, with emergency service admission, at medical units and/or with longer length of stays were more frequently included in the risk group for falls. ICD-9 diagnosis may also be an important risk factor. More than a half of hospitalized patients had "medium" to "high" risk of falling during the length of stay, which determines the implementation and maintenance of protocoled preventive nursing interventions throughout hospitalization. There are several fall risk factors not assessed by Morse Fall Scale. There were no statistical differences in Morse Fall Scale score between the first and the last assessment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effect of artificial length scales in large eddy simulation of a neutral atmospheric boundary layer flow: A simple solution to log-layer mismatch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chatterjee, Tanmoy; Peet, Yulia T.

2017-07-01

A large eddy simulation (LES) methodology coupled with near-wall modeling has been implemented in the current study for high Re neutral atmospheric boundary layer flows using an exponentially accurate spectral element method in an open-source research code Nek 5000. The effect of artificial length scales due to subgrid scale (SGS) and near wall modeling (NWM) on the scaling laws and structure of the inner and outer layer eddies is studied using varying SGS and NWM parameters in the spectral element framework. The study provides an understanding of the various length scales and dynamics of the eddies affected by the LES model and also the fundamental physics behind the inner and outer layer eddies which are responsible for the correct behavior of the mean statistics in accordance with the definition of equilibrium layers by Townsend. An economical and accurate LES model based on capturing the near wall coherent eddies has been designed, which is successful in eliminating the artificial length scale effects like the log-layer mismatch or the secondary peak generation in the streamwise variance.

Sharp Interface Tracking in Rotating Microflows of Solvent Extraction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Glimm, James; Almeida, Valmor de; Jiao, Xiangmin

2013-01-08

The objective of this project is to develop a specialized sharp interface tracking simulation capability for predicting interaction of micron-sized drops and bubbles in rotating flows relevant to optimized design of contactor devices used in solvent extraction processes of spent nuclear fuel reprocessing. The primary outcomes of this project include the capability to resolve drops and bubbles micro-hydrodynamics in solvent extraction contactors, determining from first principles continuum fluid mechanics how micro-drops and bubbles interact with each other and the surrounding shearing fluid for realistic flows. In the near term, this effort will play a central role in providing parameters andmore » insight into the flow dynamics of models that average over coarser scales, say at the millimeter unit length. In the longer term, it will prove to be the platform to conduct full-device, detailed simulations as parallel computing power reaches the exaflop level. The team will develop an accurate simulation tool for flows containing interacting droplets and bubbles with sharp interfaces under conditions that mimic those found in realistic contactor operations. The main objective is to create an off-line simulation capability to model drop and bubble interactions in a domain representative of the averaged length scale. The technical approach is to combine robust interface tracking software, subgrid modeling, validation quality experiments, powerful computational hardware, and a team with simulation modeling, physical modeling and technology integration experience. Simulations will then fully resolve the microflow of drops and bubbles at the microsecond time scale. This approach is computationally intensive but very accurate in treating important coupled physical phenomena in the vicinity of interfaces. The method makes it possible to resolve spatial scales smaller than the typical distance between bubbles and to model some non-equilibrium thermodynamic features such as finite critical tension in cavitating liquids« less

Progress in long scale length laser plasma interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glenzer, S. H.; Arnold, P.; Bardsley, G.; Berger, R. L.; Bonanno, G.; Borger, T.; Bower, D. E.; Bowers, M.; Bryant, R.; Buckman, S.; Burkhart, S. C.; Campbell, K.; Chrisp, M. P.; Cohen, B. I.; Constantin, C.; Cooper, F.; Cox, J.; Dewald, E.; Divol, L.; Dixit, S.; Duncan, J.; Eder, D.; Edwards, J.; Erbert, G.; Felker, B.; Fornes, J.; Frieders, G.; Froula, D. H.; Gardner, S. D.; Gates, C.; Gonzalez, M.; Grace, S.; Gregori, G.; Greenwood, A.; Griffith, R.; Hall, T.; Hammel, B. A.; Haynam, C.; Heestand, G.; Henesian, M.; Hermes, G.; Hinkel, D.; Holder, J.; Holdner, F.; Holtmeier, G.; Hsing, W.; Huber, S.; James, T.; Johnson, S.; Jones, O. S.; Kalantar, D.; Kamperschroer, J. H.; Kauffman, R.; Kelleher, T.; Knight, J.; Kirkwood, R. K.; Kruer, W. L.; Labiak, W.; Landen, O. L.; Langdon, A. B.; Langer, S.; Latray, D.; Lee, A.; Lee, F. D.; Lund, D.; MacGowan, B.; Marshall, S.; McBride, J.; McCarville, T.; McGrew, L.; Mackinnon, A. J.; Mahavandi, S.; Manes, K.; Marshall, C.; Menapace, J.; Mertens, E.; Meezan, N.; Miller, G.; Montelongo, S.; Moody, J. D.; Moses, E.; Munro, D.; Murray, J.; Neumann, J.; Newton, M.; Ng, E.; Niemann, C.; Nikitin, A.; Opsahl, P.; Padilla, E.; Parham, T.; Parrish, G.; Petty, C.; Polk, M.; Powell, C.; Reinbachs, I.; Rekow, V.; Rinnert, R.; Riordan, B.; Rhodes, M.; Roberts, V.; Robey, H.; Ross, G.; Sailors, S.; Saunders, R.; Schmitt, M.; Schneider, M. B.; Shiromizu, S.; Spaeth, M.; Stephens, A.; Still, B.; Suter, L. J.; Tietbohl, G.; Tobin, M.; Tuck, J.; Van Wonterghem, B. M.; Vidal, R.; Voloshin, D.; Wallace, R.; Wegner, P.; Whitman, P.; Williams, E. A.; Williams, K.; Winward, K.; Work, K.; Young, B.; Young, P. E.; Zapata, P.; Bahr, R. E.; Seka, W.; Fernandez, J.; Montgomery, D.; Rose, H.

2004-12-01

The first experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) have employed the first four beams to measure propagation and laser backscattering losses in large ignition-size plasmas. Gas-filled targets between 2 and 7 mm length have been heated from one side by overlapping the focal spots of the four beams from one quad operated at 351 nm (3ω) with a total intensity of 2 × 1015 W cm-2. The targets were filled with 1 atm of CO2 producing up to 7 mm long homogeneously heated plasmas with densities of ne = 6 × 1020 cm-3 and temperatures of Te = 2 keV. The high energy in an NIF quad of beams of 16 kJ, illuminating the target from one direction, creates unique conditions for the study of laser-plasma interactions at scale lengths not previously accessible. The propagation through the large-scale plasma was measured with a gated x-ray imager that was filtered for 3.5 keV x-rays. These data indicate that the beams interact with the full length of this ignition-scale plasma during the last ~1 ns of the experiment. During that time, the full aperture measurements of the stimulated Brillouin scattering and stimulated Raman scattering show scattering into the four focusing lenses of 3% for the smallest length (~2 mm), increasing to 10-12% for ~7 mm. These results demonstrate the NIF experimental capabilities and further provide a benchmark for three-dimensional modelling of the laser-plasma interactions at ignition-size scale lengths.

Fundamental Scaling Laws in Nanophotonics

PubMed Central

Liu, Ke; Sun, Shuai; Majumdar, Arka; Sorger, Volker J.

2016-01-01

The success of information technology has clearly demonstrated that miniaturization often leads to unprecedented performance, and unanticipated applications. This hypothesis of “smaller-is-better” has motivated optical engineers to build various nanophotonic devices, although an understanding leading to fundamental scaling behavior for this new class of devices is missing. Here we analyze scaling laws for optoelectronic devices operating at micro and nanometer length-scale. We show that optoelectronic device performance scales non-monotonically with device length due to the various device tradeoffs, and analyze how both optical and electrical constrains influence device power consumption and operating speed. Specifically, we investigate the direct influence of scaling on the performance of four classes of photonic devices, namely laser sources, electro-optic modulators, photodetectors, and all-optical switches based on three types of optical resonators; microring, Fabry-Perot cavity, and plasmonic metal nanoparticle. Results show that while microrings and Fabry-Perot cavities can outperform plasmonic cavities at larger length-scales, they stop working when the device length drops below 100 nanometers, due to insufficient functionality such as feedback (laser), index-modulation (modulator), absorption (detector) or field density (optical switch). Our results provide a detailed understanding of the limits of nanophotonics, towards establishing an opto-electronics roadmap, akin to the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors. PMID:27869159

Fundamental Scaling Laws in Nanophotonics.

PubMed

Liu, Ke; Sun, Shuai; Majumdar, Arka; Sorger, Volker J

2016-11-21

The success of information technology has clearly demonstrated that miniaturization often leads to unprecedented performance, and unanticipated applications. This hypothesis of "smaller-is-better" has motivated optical engineers to build various nanophotonic devices, although an understanding leading to fundamental scaling behavior for this new class of devices is missing. Here we analyze scaling laws for optoelectronic devices operating at micro and nanometer length-scale. We show that optoelectronic device performance scales non-monotonically with device length due to the various device tradeoffs, and analyze how both optical and electrical constrains influence device power consumption and operating speed. Specifically, we investigate the direct influence of scaling on the performance of four classes of photonic devices, namely laser sources, electro-optic modulators, photodetectors, and all-optical switches based on three types of optical resonators; microring, Fabry-Perot cavity, and plasmonic metal nanoparticle. Results show that while microrings and Fabry-Perot cavities can outperform plasmonic cavities at larger length-scales, they stop working when the device length drops below 100 nanometers, due to insufficient functionality such as feedback (laser), index-modulation (modulator), absorption (detector) or field density (optical switch). Our results provide a detailed understanding of the limits of nanophotonics, towards establishing an opto-electronics roadmap, akin to the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors.

Fundamental Scaling Laws in Nanophotonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Ke; Sun, Shuai; Majumdar, Arka; Sorger, Volker J.

2016-11-01

The success of information technology has clearly demonstrated that miniaturization often leads to unprecedented performance, and unanticipated applications. This hypothesis of “smaller-is-better” has motivated optical engineers to build various nanophotonic devices, although an understanding leading to fundamental scaling behavior for this new class of devices is missing. Here we analyze scaling laws for optoelectronic devices operating at micro and nanometer length-scale. We show that optoelectronic device performance scales non-monotonically with device length due to the various device tradeoffs, and analyze how both optical and electrical constrains influence device power consumption and operating speed. Specifically, we investigate the direct influence of scaling on the performance of four classes of photonic devices, namely laser sources, electro-optic modulators, photodetectors, and all-optical switches based on three types of optical resonators; microring, Fabry-Perot cavity, and plasmonic metal nanoparticle. Results show that while microrings and Fabry-Perot cavities can outperform plasmonic cavities at larger length-scales, they stop working when the device length drops below 100 nanometers, due to insufficient functionality such as feedback (laser), index-modulation (modulator), absorption (detector) or field density (optical switch). Our results provide a detailed understanding of the limits of nanophotonics, towards establishing an opto-electronics roadmap, akin to the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors.

Vertical length scale selection for pancake vortices in strongly stratified viscous fluids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Godoy-Diana, Ramiro; Chomaz, Jean-Marc; Billant, Paul

2004-04-01

The evolution of pancake dipoles of different aspect ratio is studied in a stratified tank experiment. Two cases are reported here for values of the dipole initial aspect ratio alpha_0 = L_v/L_h (where L_v and L_h are vertical and horizontal length scales, respectively) of alpha_0 = 0.4 (case I) and alpha_0 = 1.2 (case II). In the first case, the usual decay scenario is observed where the dipole diffuses slowly with a growing thickness and a decaying circulation. In case II, we observed a regime where the thickness of the dipole decreases and the circulation in the horizontal mid-plane of the vortices remains constant. We show that this regime where the vertical length scale decreases can be explained by the shedding of two boundary layers at the top and bottom of the dipole that literally peel off vorticity layers. Horizontal advection and vertical diffusion cooperate in this regime and the decrease towards the viscous vertical length scale delta = L_hRe(-1/2) occurs on a time scale alpha_0 Re(1/2) T_A, T_A being the advection time L_h/U. From a scaling analysis of the equations for a stratified viscous fluid in the Boussinesq approximation, two dominant balances depending on the parameter R = ReF_h(2) are discussed, where F_h = U/NL_h is the horizontal Froude number and Re = UL_h/nu is the Reynolds number, U, N and nu being, respectively, the translation speed of the dipole, the Brunt Väisälä frequency and the kinematic viscosity. When R≫ 1 the vertical length scale is determined by buoyancy effects to be of order L_b = U/N. The experiments presented in this paper pertain to the case of small R, where viscous effects govern the selection of the vertical length scale. We show that if initially L_v ≤ delta, the flow diffuses on the vertical (case I), while if L_v ≫ delta (case II), vertically sheared horizontal advection decreases the vertical length scale down to delta. This viscous regime may explain results from experiments and numerical simulations on the late evolution of stratified flows where the decay is observed to be independent of the buoyancy frequency N.

A modification in the technique of computing average lengths from the scales of fishes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Van Oosten, John

1953-01-01

In virtually all the studies that employ scales, otollths, or bony structures to obtain the growth history of fishes, it has been the custom to compute lengths for each individual fish and from these data obtain the average growth rates for any particular group. This method involves a considerable amount of mathematical manipulation, time, and effort. Theoretically it should be possible to obtain the same information simply by averaging the scale measurements for each year of life and the length of the fish employed and computing the average lengths from these data. This method would eliminate all calculations for individual fish. Although Van Oosten (1929: 338) pointed out many years ago the validity of this method of computation, his statements apparently have been overlooked by subsequent investigators.

Filtering mountain landscapes and hydrology through sediment transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phillips, C. B.; Jerolmack, D. J.

2013-12-01

Long-term denudation of landscapes is balanced, and sometimes limited by, the sediment mass flux leaving the system through rivers. Suspended sediment represents the largest fraction of mass exiting the landscape, however coarse bed load transport may be the rate-limiting process of landscape denudation through its control on bedrock channel erosion and incision. We present research linking particle mechanics for a coarse alluvial gravel stream at the flood scale to particle dynamics at the annual timescale, and examine the implications of these results on channel geometry and the hydrology of mountain rivers. We examine the transport dynamics of individual cobbles tagged with passive radio transponder tags from the Mameyes River in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico, in both bedrock and alluvial stretches. These data are composed of measured 'flight' lengths for each transported particle, the fraction of tagged particles mobilized, and high-resolution river stage measurements. At the single flood scale, measured tracer particle flight lengths are exponentially distributed, and modal flight lengths scale linearly with excess shear velocity (U*-U*c). This is in quantitative agreement with recent theory and laboratory experiments, suggesting that moving particles' velocity is determined by momentum balance with the fluid. Examining tracer displacement at long timescales we use a dimensionless impulse (I*) - obtained by integrating the cumulative excess shear velocity over the duration of a flood (normalized by grain size) - and find that the mean travel distance collapses onto a linear relationship. Data show that partial bed load transport with intermittent motion is the dominant mode for the duration of record. Examining flood statistics, we find that the frequency-magnitude distribution of shear velocity is a power law; however, this scaling is truncated at the threshold of motion, beyond which it displays exponential scaling. The thin-tailed scaling of (U*-U*c) suggests that the distribution is well defined by a single characteristic value, which validates long-term landscape evolution models' treatment of the variable fluid stress with an intermittency factor times the channel formative stress. The PDF of I* has a well defined peak coincident with the flood of maximum geomorphic work, indicating that particle motion and channel geometry are adjusted to near-threshold conditions determined by the integrated momentum of the characteristic flood. We test the generality of these observations using a compilation of hydrological and morphological data from across the United States. We utilize USGS stream data for gravel and bedrock rivers where the threshold of motion and channel geometry are known. This compilation shows that frequency magnitude distributions of (U*-U*c) in these threshold streams are all thin tailed, i.e., have a convergent mean value - even though flood recurrence plots for discharge are power law. Channels display morphological breaks coincident with the flood of maximum geomorphic work, indicating that the threshold of particle motion acts as a strong filter on hydrology. Data indicate that gravel and bedrock channels generally have a dominant flood - despite strong hydrologic variability - and maintain characteristic geometries associated with near-threshold transport during this flood.

Scale and the evolutionarily based approximate number system: an exploratory study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delgado, Cesar; Jones, M. Gail; You, Hye Sun; Robertson, Laura; Chesnutt, Katherine; Halberda, Justin

2017-05-01

Crosscutting concepts such as scale, proportion, and quantity are recognised by U.S. science standards as a potential vehicle for students to integrate their scientific and mathematical knowledge; yet, U.S. students and adults trail their international peers in scale and measurement estimation. Culturally based knowledge of scale such as measurement units may be built on evolutionarily-based systems of number such as the approximate number system (ANS), which processes approximate representations of numerical magnitude. ANS is related to mathematical achievement in pre-school and early elementary students, but there is little research on ANS among older students or in science-related areas such as scale. Here, we investigate the relationship between ANS precision in public school U.S. seventh graders and their accuracy estimating the length of standard units of measurement in SI and U.S. customary units. We also explored the relationship between ANS and science and mathematics achievement. Accuracy estimating the metre was positively and significantly related to ANS precision. Mathematics achievement, science achievement, and accuracy estimating other units were not significantly related to ANS. We thus suggest that ANS precision may be related to mathematics understanding beyond arithmetic, beyond the early school years, and to the crosscutting concepts of scale, proportion, and quantity.

Using wintergreen oil for mounting mosquito larvae: a safer alternative to xylene.

PubMed

Koay, J B; Natasya, N N; Nashithatul, Mag; Ihsanuddin, R; Salleh, F M; Azil, A H

2016-01-01

Permanent mounting of fourth instar mosquito larvae is essential for identifying Aedes spp. This procedure requires extensive exposure to xylene, a clearing agent in the mounting process. We investigated wintergreen oil as a substitute for xylene. Five hundred larvae were mounted on slides to evaluate shrinkage or expansion of specimens after clearing using xylene or wintergreen oil. We examined the ventral brush and siphonal hair tufts for species identification and for preservation of morphological characteristics after clearing specimens in xylene or wintergreen oil. Shrinkage of the length of whole larvae and width of the head, thorax and abdomen after mounting was significantly greater after clearing with xylene than with wintergreen oil. The length of the comb scale nearest the ventral brush was similar for both clearing agents. The clarity of the specimens after mounting was improved by clearing with wintergreen oil, but the integrity of the ventral brush and siphonal hair tufts were similar for both clearing agents.

Myosin II Controls Junction Fluctuations to Guide Epithelial Tissue Ordering.

PubMed

Curran, Scott; Strandkvist, Charlotte; Bathmann, Jasper; de Gennes, Marc; Kabla, Alexandre; Salbreux, Guillaume; Baum, Buzz

2017-11-20

Under conditions of homeostasis, dynamic changes in the length of individual adherens junctions (AJs) provide epithelia with the fluidity required to maintain tissue integrity in the face of intrinsic and extrinsic forces. While the contribution of AJ remodeling to developmental morphogenesis has been intensively studied, less is known about AJ dynamics in other circumstances. Here, we study AJ dynamics in an epithelium that undergoes a gradual increase in packing order, without concomitant large-scale changes in tissue size or shape. We find that neighbor exchange events are driven by stochastic fluctuations in junction length, regulated in part by junctional actomyosin. In this context, the developmental increase of isotropic junctional actomyosin reduces the rate of neighbor exchange, contributing to tissue order. We propose a model in which the local variance in tension between junctions determines whether actomyosin-based forces will inhibit or drive the topological transitions that either refine or deform a tissue. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

The Spacing of Strongly Meandering Jets in Quasigeostrophic Turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scott, R.

2017-12-01

Based on an assumption of inhomogeneous potential vorticity mixing,estimates are obtained for kinetic and potential energies inquasigeostrophic β -plane turbulence with strongly meanderingjets and in the limit of small Rossby deformation length. Theestimates provide, inter alia, a means to predict the jetspacing based on knowledge of either the kinetic or potential energy,which, in situations where the flow is forced with a uniform totalenergy input, are known a priori in the case of frictional orthermal damping, respectively. The estimates are lower bounds for thejet spacing, achieved in the limit of perfect mixing between regularlyspaced jets with simple meanders. These lower bounds are sharp in astrict mathematical sense but are likely to substantiallyunderestimate jet spacing in actual flows, which exhibit a remarkablediversity of structures and irregularities. The latter areillustrated numerically in direct integrations of the forced system.A convenient description of the forced system is presented in terms ofa number of independent length scales of the problem, anddimensionless ratios of these.

Fiber optic sensing technology for detecting gas hydrate formation and decomposition.

PubMed

Rawn, C J; Leeman, J R; Ulrich, S M; Alford, J E; Phelps, T J; Madden, M E

2011-02-01

A fiber optic-based distributed sensing system (DSS) has been integrated with a large volume (72 l) pressure vessel providing high spatial resolution, time-resolved, 3D measurement of hybrid temperature-strain (TS) values within experimental sediment-gas hydrate systems. Areas of gas hydrate formation (exothermic) and decomposition (endothermic) can be characterized through this proxy by time series analysis of discrete data points collected along the length of optical fibers placed within a sediment system. Data are visualized as an animation of TS values along the length of each fiber over time. Experiments conducted in the Seafloor Process Simulator at Oak Ridge National Laboratory clearly indicate hydrate formation and dissociation events at expected pressure-temperature conditions given the thermodynamics of the CH(4)-H(2)O system. The high spatial resolution achieved with fiber optic technology makes the DSS a useful tool for visualizing time-resolved formation and dissociation of gas hydrates in large-scale sediment experiments.

Advanced k-epsilon modeling of heat transfer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kwon, Okey; Ames, Forrest E.

1995-01-01

This report describes two approaches to low Reynolds-number k-epsilon turbulence modeling which formulate the eddy viscosity on the wall-normal component of turbulence and a length scale. The wall-normal component of turbulence is computed via integration of the energy spectrum based on the local dissipation rate and is bounded by the isotropic condition. The models account for the anisotropy of the dissipation and the reduced mixing length due to the high strain rates present in the near-wall region. The turbulent kinetic energy and its dissipation rate were computed from the k and epsilon transport equations of Durbin. The models were tested for a wide range of turbulent flows and proved to be superior to other k-epsilon models, especially for nonequilibrium anisotropic flows. For the prediction of airfoil heat transfer, the models included a set of empirical correlations for predicting laminar-turbulent transition and laminar heat transfer augmentation due to the presence of freestream turbulence. The predictions of surface heat transfer were generally satisfactory.

Fiber optic sensing technology for detecting gas hydrate formation and decomposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rawn, C. J.; Leeman, J. R.; Ulrich, S. M.; Alford, J. E.; Phelps, T. J.; Madden, M. E.

2011-02-01

A fiber optic-based distributed sensing system (DSS) has been integrated with a large volume (72 l) pressure vessel providing high spatial resolution, time-resolved, 3D measurement of hybrid temperature-strain (TS) values within experimental sediment-gas hydrate systems. Areas of gas hydrate formation (exothermic) and decomposition (endothermic) can be characterized through this proxy by time series analysis of discrete data points collected along the length of optical fibers placed within a sediment system. Data are visualized as an animation of TS values along the length of each fiber over time. Experiments conducted in the Seafloor Process Simulator at Oak Ridge National Laboratory clearly indicate hydrate formation and dissociation events at expected pressure-temperature conditions given the thermodynamics of the CH4-H2O system. The high spatial resolution achieved with fiber optic technology makes the DSS a useful tool for visualizing time-resolved formation and dissociation of gas hydrates in large-scale sediment experiments.

A nomograph for the computation of the growth of fish from scale measurements

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hile, Ralph

1950-01-01

Directions are given for the construction and operation of a nomograph that can be employed for the computation of the growth of fish from scale measurements regardless of the nature of the body-scale relationship, so long as that relationship is known. The essential feature of the nomograph that makes rapid calculations possible is a ruler on which the graduations are in terms of length with the distance of each length graduation from the O graduation equal to the corresponding theoretical scale measurement. The chief advantage of the nomograph lies in the fact that the calculation of the lengths for all years of life of an individual fish requires only one setting of the single movable part.

Probing sub-alveolar length scales with hyperpolarized-gas diffusion NMR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, Wilson; Carl, Michael; Mooney, Karen; Mugler, John; Cates, Gordon

2009-05-01

Diffusion MRI of the lung is a promising technique for detecting alterations of normal lung microstructure in diseases such as emphysema. The length scale being probed using this technique is related to the time scale over which the helium-3 or xenon-129 diffusion is observed. We have developed new MR pulse sequence methods for making diffusivity measurements at sub-millisecond diffusion times, allowing one to probe smaller length scales than previously possible in-vivo, and opening the possibility of making quantitative measurements of the ratio of surface area to volume (S/V) in the lung airspaces. The quantitative accuracy of simulated and experimental measurements in microstructure phantoms will be discussed, and preliminary in-vivo results will be presented.

Dissipative Effects on Inertial-Range Statistics at High Reynolds Numbers.

PubMed

Sinhuber, Michael; Bewley, Gregory P; Bodenschatz, Eberhard

2017-09-29

Using the unique capabilities of the Variable Density Turbulence Tunnel at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Göttingen, we report experimental measurements in classical grid turbulence that uncover oscillations of the velocity structure functions in the inertial range. This was made possible by measuring extremely long time series of up to 10^{10} samples of the turbulent fluctuating velocity, which corresponds to O(10^{7}) integral length scales. The measurements were conducted in a well-controlled environment at a wide range of high Reynolds numbers from R_{λ}=110 up to R_{λ}=1600, using both traditional hot-wire probes as well as the nanoscale thermal anemometry probe developed at Princeton University. An implication of the observed oscillations is that dissipation influences the inertial-range statistics of turbulent flows at scales significantly larger than predicted by current models and theories.

Towards the computation of time-periodic inertial range dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Veen, L.; Vela-Martín, A.; Kawahara, G.

2018-04-01

We explore the possibility of computing simple invariant solutions, like travelling waves or periodic orbits, in Large Eddy Simulation (LES) on a periodic domain with constant external forcing. The absence of material boundaries and the simple forcing mechanism make this system a comparatively simple target for the study of turbulent dynamics through invariant solutions. We show, that in spite of the application of eddy viscosity the computations are still rather challenging and must be performed on GPU cards rather than conventional coupled CPUs. We investigate the onset of turbulence in this system by means of bifurcation analysis, and present a long-period, large-amplitude unstable periodic orbit that is filtered from a turbulent time series. Although this orbit is computed on a coarse grid, with only a small separation between the integral scale and the LES filter length, the periodic dynamics seem to capture a regeneration process of the large-scale vortices.

Multi-scale Multi-mechanism Design of Tough Hydrogels: Building Dissipation into Stretchy Networks

PubMed Central

Zhao, Xuanhe

2014-01-01

As swollen polymer networks in water, hydrogels are usually brittle. However, hydrogels with high toughness play critical roles in many plant and animal tissues as well as in diverse engineering applications. Here we review the intrinsic mechanisms of a wide variety of tough hydrogels developed over past few decades. We show that tough hydrogels generally possess mechanisms to dissipate substantial mechanical energy but still maintain high elasticity under deformation. The integrations and interactions of different mechanisms for dissipating energy and maintaining elasticity are essential to the design of tough hydrogels. A matrix that combines various mechanisms is constructed for the first time to guide the design of next-generation tough hydrogels. We further highlight that a particularly promising strategy for the design is to implement multiple mechanisms across multiple length scales into nano-, micro-, meso-, and macro-structures of hydrogels. PMID:24834901

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

Asymptotic Expansion Homogenization for Multiscale Nuclear Fuel Analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hales, J. D.; Tonks, M. R.; Chockalingam, K.

2015-03-01

Engineering scale nuclear fuel performance simulations can benefit by utilizing high-fidelity models running at a lower length scale. Lower length-scale models provide a detailed view of the material behavior that is used to determine the average material response at the macroscale. These lower length-scale calculations may provide insight into material behavior where experimental data is sparse or nonexistent. This multiscale approach is especially useful in the nuclear field, since irradiation experiments are difficult and expensive to conduct. The lower length-scale models complement the experiments by influencing the types of experiments required and by reducing the total number of experiments needed.more » This multiscale modeling approach is a central motivation in the development of the BISON-MARMOT fuel performance codes at Idaho National Laboratory. These codes seek to provide more accurate and predictive solutions for nuclear fuel behavior. One critical aspect of multiscale modeling is the ability to extract the relevant information from the lower length-scale sim- ulations. One approach, the asymptotic expansion homogenization (AEH) technique, has proven to be an effective method for determining homogenized material parameters. The AEH technique prescribes a system of equations to solve at the microscale that are used to compute homogenized material constants for use at the engineering scale. In this work, we employ AEH to explore the effect of evolving microstructural thermal conductivity and elastic constants on nuclear fuel performance. We show that the AEH approach fits cleanly into the BISON and MARMOT codes and provides a natural, multidimensional homogenization capability.« less

Computed tomography-based diagnosis of diffuse compensatory enlargement of coronary arteries using scaling power laws.

PubMed

Huo, Yunlong; Choy, Jenny Susana; Wischgoll, Thomas; Luo, Tong; Teague, Shawn D; Bhatt, Deepak L; Kassab, Ghassan S

2013-04-06

Glagov's positive remodelling in the early stages of coronary atherosclerosis often results in plaque rupture and acute events. Because positive remodelling is generally diffused along the epicardial coronary arterial tree, it is difficult to diagnose non-invasively. Hence, the objective of the study is to assess the use of scaling power law for the diagnosis of positive remodelling of coronary arteries based on computed tomography (CT) images. Epicardial coronary arterial trees were reconstructed from CT scans of six Ossabaw pigs fed on a high-fat, high-cholesterol, atherogenic diet for eight months as well as the same number of body-weight-matched farm pigs fed on a lean chow (101.9±16.1 versus 91.5±13.1 kg). The high-fat diet Ossabaw pig model showed diffuse positive remodelling of epicardial coronary arteries. Good fit of measured coronary data to the length-volume scaling power law ( where L(c) and V(c) are crown length and volume) were found for both the high-fat and control groups (R(2) = 0.95±0.04 and 0.99±0.01, respectively). The coefficient, K(LV), decreased significantly in the high-fat diet group when compared with the control (14.6±2.6 versus 40.9±5.6). The flow-length scaling power law, however, was nearly unaffected by the positive remodelling. The length-volume and flow-length scaling power laws were preserved in epicardial coronary arterial trees after positive remodelling. K(LV) < 18 in the length-volume scaling relation is a good index of positive remodelling of coronary arteries. These findings provide a clinical rationale for simple, accurate and non-invasive diagnosis of positive remodelling of coronary arteries, using conventional CT scans.

Manufacturing technology of integrated textile-based sensor networks for in situ monitoring applications of composite wind turbine blades

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haentzsche, Eric; Mueller, Ralf; Huebner, Matthias; Ruder, Tristan; Unger, Reimar; Nocke, Andreas; Cherif, Chokri

2016-10-01

Based on in situ strain sensors consisting of piezo-resistive carbon filament yarns (CFYs), which have been successfully integrated into textile reinforcement structures during their textile-technological manufacturing process, a continuous load of fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) components has been realised. These sensors are also suitable for structural health monitoring (SHM) applications. The two-dimensional sensor layout is made feasible by the usage of a modular warp yarn path manipulation unit. Using a functional model of a small wind turbine blade in thermoset composite design, the sensor function for basic SHM applications (e.g. static load monitoring) are demonstrated. Any mechanical loads along the pressure or suction side of the wind turbine blade can be measured and calculated via a correlative change in resistance of the CFYs within the textile reinforcement plies. Performing quasi-static load tests on both tensile specimen and full-scale wind turbine blade, elementary results have been obtained concerning electro-mechanical behaviour and spatial resolution of global and even local static stresses according to the CFY sensor integration length. This paper demonstrates the great potential of textile-based and textile-technological integrated sensors in reinforcement structures for future SHM applications of FRPs.

Parametrization of Drag and Turbulence for Urban Neighbourhoods with Trees

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krayenhoff, E. S.; Santiago, J.-L.; Martilli, A.; Christen, A.; Oke, T. R.

2015-08-01

Urban canopy parametrizations designed to be coupled with mesoscale models must predict the integrated effect of urban obstacles on the flow at each height in the canopy. To assess these neighbourhood-scale effects, results of microscale simulations may be horizontally-averaged. Obstacle-resolving computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of neutrally-stratified flow through canopies of blocks (buildings) with varying distributions and densities of porous media (tree foliage) are conducted, and the spatially-averaged impacts on the flow of these building-tree combinations are assessed. The accuracy with which a one-dimensional (column) model with a one-equation (-) turbulence scheme represents spatially-averaged CFD results is evaluated. Individual physical mechanisms by which trees and buildings affect flow in the column model are evaluated in terms of relative importance. For the treed urban configurations considered, effects of buildings and trees may be considered independently. Building drag coefficients and length scale effects need not be altered due to the presence of tree foliage; therefore, parametrization of spatially-averaged flow through urban neighbourhoods with trees is greatly simplified. The new parametrization includes only source and sink terms significant for the prediction of spatially-averaged flow profiles: momentum drag due to buildings and trees (and the associated wake production of turbulent kinetic energy), modification of length scales by buildings, and enhanced dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy due to the small scale of tree foliage elements. Coefficients for the Santiago and Martilli (Boundary-Layer Meteorol 137: 417-439, 2010) parametrization of building drag coefficients and length scales are revised. Inclusion of foliage terms from the new parametrization in addition to the Santiago and Martilli building terms reduces root-mean-square difference (RMSD) of the column model streamwise velocity component and turbulent kinetic energy relative to the CFD model by 89 % in the canopy and 71 % above the canopy on average for the highest leaf area density scenarios tested: . RMSD values with the new parametrization are less than 20 % of mean layer magnitude for the streamwise velocity component within and above the canopy, and for above-canopy turbulent kinetic energy; RMSD values for within-canopy turbulent kinetic energy are negligible for most scenarios. The foliage-related portion of the new parametrization is required for scenarios with tree foliage of equal or greater height than the buildings, and for scenarios with foliage below roof height for building plan area densities less than approximately 0.25.

Elliptic Length Scales in Laminar, Two-Dimensional Supersonic Flows

DTIC Science & Technology

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

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

Bilateral cochlear implants in infants: a new approach--Nucleus Hybrid S12 project.

PubMed

Gantz, Bruce J; Dunn, Camille C; Walker, Elizabeth A; Kenworthy, Maura; Van Voorst, Tanya; Tomblin, Bruce; Turner, Chris

2010-10-01

The purpose of this feasibility study was to evaluate whether the use of a shorter-length cochlear implant (10 mm) on one ear and a standard electrode (24 mm) on the contralateral ear is a viable bilateral option for children with profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. A secondary purpose of this study was to determine whether the ear with the shorter-length electrode performs similarly to the standard-length electrode. Our goal was to provide an option of electrical stimulation that theoretically might preserve the structures of the scala media and organ of Corti. The study is being conducted as a repeated-measure, single-subject experiment. University of Iowa-Department of Otolaryngology. Eight pediatric patients with profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss between the ages of 12 and 24 months. Nucleus Hybrid S12 10-mm electrode and a Nucleus Freedom implant in the contralateral ear. The Infant-Toddler Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (IT-MAIS) parent questionnaire, Early Speech Perception, Glendonald Auditory Screening Procedure word test, and Children's Vowel tests will be used to evaluate speech perception and the Minnesota Child Development Inventory and Preschool Language Scales 3 test will be used to evaluate language growth. Preliminary results for 8 children have been collected before and after the operation using the IT-MAIS. All 3 children showed incremental improvements in their IT-MAIS scores overtime. Early Speech Perception, Glendonald Auditory Screening Procedure word test, and Children's Vowel word perception results indicated no difference between the individual ears for the 2 children tested. Performance compared with age-matched children implanted with standard bilateral cochlear implants showed similar results to the children implanted with Nucleus Hybrid S12 10-mm electrode and a Nucleus Freedom implant in contralateral ears. The use of a shorter-length cochlear implant on one ear and a standard-length electrode on the contralateral ear might provide a viable option for bilateral cochlear implantation in children with bilateral profound sensorineural hearing loss. Further study of this patient population will be continued.

Bilateral Cochlear Implants in Infants: A New Approach—Nucleus Hybrid S12 Project

PubMed Central

Gantz, Bruce J.; Dunn, Camille C.; Walker, Elizabeth A.; Kenworthy, Maura; Van Voorst, Tanya; Tomblin, Bruce; Turner, Chris

2010-01-01

Objective The purpose of this feasibility study was to evaluate whether the use of a shorter-length cochlear implant (10 mm) on one ear and a standard electrode (24 mm) on the contralateral ear is a viable bilateral option for children with profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. A secondary purpose of this study was to determine whether the ear with the shorter-length electrode performs similarly to the standard-length electrode. Our goal was to provide an option of electrical stimulation that theoretically might preserve the structures of the scala media and organ of Corti. Study Design The study is being conducted as a repeated-measure, single-subject experiment. Setting University of Iowa—Department of Otolaryngology. Patients Eight pediatric patients with profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss between the ages of 12 and 24 months. Interventions Nucleus Hybrid S12 10-mm electrode and a Nucleus Freedom implant in the contralateral ear. Main Outcome Measures The Infant-Toddler Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (IT-MAIS) parent questionnaire, Early Speech Perception, Glendonald Auditory Screening Procedure word test, and Children’s Vowel tests will be used to evaluate speech perception and the Minnesota Child Development Inventory and Preschool Language Scales 3 test will be used to evaluate language growth. Results Preliminary results for 8 children have been collected before and after the operation using the IT-MAIS. All 3 children showed incremental improvements in their IT-MAIS scores overtime. Early Speech Perception, Glendonald Auditory Screening Procedure word test, and Children’s Vowel word perception results indicated no difference between the individual ears for the 2 children tested. Performance compared with age-matched children implanted with standard bilateral cochlear implants showed similar results to the children implanted with Nucleus Hybrid S12 10-mm electrode and a Nucleus Freedom implant in contralateral ears. Conclusion The use of a shorter-length cochlear implant on one ear and a standard-length electrode on the contralateral ear might provide a viable option for bilateral cochlear implantation in children with bilateral profound sensorineural hearing loss. Further study of this patient population will be continued. PMID:20802369

A Spectral Element Discretisation on Unstructured Triangle / Tetrahedral Meshes for Elastodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

May, Dave A.; Gabriel, Alice-A.

2017-04-01

The spectral element method (SEM) defined over quadrilateral and hexahedral element geometries has proven to be a fast, accurate and scalable approach to study wave propagation phenomena. In the context of regional scale seismology and or simulations incorporating finite earthquake sources, the geometric restrictions associated with hexahedral elements can limit the applicability of the classical quad./hex. SEM. Here we describe a continuous Galerkin spectral element discretisation defined over unstructured meshes composed of triangles (2D), or tetrahedra (3D). The method uses a stable, nodal basis constructed from PKD polynomials and thus retains the spectral accuracy and low dispersive properties of the classical SEM, in addition to the geometric versatility provided by unstructured simplex meshes. For the particular basis and quadrature rule we have adopted, the discretisation results in a mass matrix which is not diagonal, thereby mandating linear solvers be utilised. To that end, we have developed efficient solvers and preconditioners which are robust with respect to the polynomial order (p), and possess high arithmetic intensity. Furthermore, we also consider using implicit time integrators, together with a p-multigrid preconditioner to circumvent the CFL condition. Implicit time integrators become particularly relevant when considering solving problems on poor quality meshes, or meshes containing elements with a widely varying range of length scales - both of which frequently arise when meshing non-trivial geometries. We demonstrate the applicability of the new method by examining a number of two- and three-dimensional wave propagation scenarios. These scenarios serve to characterise the accuracy and cost of the new method. Lastly, we will assess the potential benefits of using implicit time integrators for regional scale wave propagation simulations.

A phenomenological description of space-time noise in quantum gravity.

PubMed

Amelino-Camelia, G

2001-04-26

Space-time 'foam' is a geometric picture of the smallest size scales in the Universe, which is characterized mainly by the presence of quantum uncertainties in the measurement of distances. All quantum-gravity theories should predict some kind of foam, but the description of the properties of this foam varies according to the theory, thereby providing a possible means of distinguishing between such theories. I previously showed that foam-induced distance fluctuations would introduce a new source of noise to the measurements of gravity-wave interferometers, but the theories are insufficiently developed to permit detailed predictions that would be of use to experimentalists. Here I propose a phenomenological approach that directly describes space-time foam, and which leads naturally to a picture of distance fluctuations that is independent of the details of the interferometer. The only unknown in the model is the length scale that sets the overall magnitude of the effect, but recent data already rule out the possibility that this length scale could be identified with the 'string length' (10-34 m < Ls < 10-33 m). Length scales even smaller than the 'Planck length' (LP approximately 10-35 m) will soon be probed experimentally.

Geostatistics and the representative elementary volume of gamma ray tomography attenuation in rocks cores

USGS Publications Warehouse

Vogel, J.R.; Brown, G.O.

2003-01-01

Semivariograms of samples of Culebra Dolomite have been determined at two different resolutions for gamma ray computed tomography images. By fitting models to semivariograms, small-scale and large-scale correlation lengths are determined for four samples. Different semivariogram parameters were found for adjacent cores at both resolutions. Relative elementary volume (REV) concepts are related to the stationarity of the sample. A scale disparity factor is defined and is used to determine sample size required for ergodic stationarity with a specified correlation length. This allows for comparison of geostatistical measures and representative elementary volumes. The modifiable areal unit problem is also addressed and used to determine resolution effects on correlation lengths. By changing resolution, a range of correlation lengths can be determined for the same sample. Comparison of voxel volume to the best-fit model correlation length of a single sample at different resolutions reveals a linear scaling effect. Using this relationship, the range of the point value semivariogram is determined. This is the range approached as the voxel size goes to zero. Finally, these results are compared to the regularization theory of point variables for borehole cores and are found to be a better fit for predicting the volume-averaged range.

The Impact of Host Family Relations and Length of Stay on Adolescent Identity Expression during Study Abroad

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grieve, Averil Marie

2015-01-01

This study focuses on the relationships between host family success, social integration, length of stay and acquisition of adolescent language by students on extended international homestay programmes. Degree of adolescent language acquisition and integration is measured by use of two hallmarks of adolescent language: markers of approximation…

Minimal Solutions to the Box Problem

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chuang, Jer-Chin

2009-01-01

The "box problem" from introductory calculus seeks to maximize the volume of a tray formed by folding a strictly rectangular sheet from which identical squares have been cut from each corner. In posing such questions, one would like to choose integral side-lengths for the sheet so that the excised squares have rational or integral side-length.…

Adult Chinese as a Second Language Learners' Willingness to Communicate in Chinese: Effects of Cultural, Affective, and Linguistic Variables.

PubMed

Liu, Meihua

2017-06-01

The present research explored the effects of cultural, affective, and linguistic variables on adult Chinese as a second language learners' willingness to communicate in Chinese. One hundred and sixty-two Chinese as a second language learners from a Chinese university answered the Willingness to Communicate in Chinese Scale, the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale, Chinese Speaking Anxiety Scale, Chinese Learning Motivation Scale, Use of Chinese Profile, as well as the Background Questionnaire. The major findings were as follows: (1) the Willingness to Communicate in Chinese Scales were significantly negatively correlated with Chinese Speaking Anxiety Scale but positively correlated with length of stay in China and (2) Chinese Speaking Anxiety Scale was a powerful negative predictor for the overall willingness to communicate in Chinese and the Willingness to Communicate in Chinese Scales, followed by length of stay in China, Chinese Learning Motivation Scale, interaction attentiveness, and Chinese proficiency level. Apparently, students' willingness to communicate in Chinese is largely determined by their Chinese Speaking Anxiety Scale level and length of stay in China, mediated by other variables such as Chinese proficiency level and intercultural communication sensitivity level.

Magnesite Dissolution Rates Across Scales: Role of Spatial Heterogeneity, Equilibrium Lengths, and Reactive Time Scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wen, H.; Li, L.

2017-12-01

This work develops a general rate law for magnesite dissolution in heterogeneous media under variable flow and length conditions, expanding the previous work under one particular flow and length conditions (Wen and Li, 2017). We aim to answer: 1) How does spatial heterogeneity influence the time and length scales to reach equilibrium? 2) How do relative timescales of advection, diffusion/dispersion, and reactions influence dissolution rates under variable flow and length conditions? We carried out 640 Monte-Carlo numerical experiments of magnesite dissolution within quartz matrix with heterogeneity characterized by permeability variance and correlation length under a range of length and flow velocity. A rate law Rhete = kAT(1-exp(τeq,m/τa))(1-exp(- Lβ))^α was developed. The former part is rates in equivalent homogeneous media kAT(1-exp(τeq,m/τa)), depending on rate constant k, magnesite surface area AT, and relative timescales of reactions τeq,m and advection τa. The latter term (1-exp(- Lβ))^α is the heterogeneity factor χ that quantifies the deviation of heterogeneous media from its homogeneous counterpart. The term has a scaling factor, called reactive transport number β=τa/(τad,r+τeq,m), for domain length L, and the geostatistical characteristics of heterogeneity α. The β quantifies the relative timescales of advection at the domain scale τa versus the advective-diffusive-dispersive transport time out of reactive zones τad,r and reaction time τeq,m. The χ is close to 1 and is insignificant under long residence time conditions (low flow velocity and / or long length) where the residence time is longer than the time needed for Mg to dissolve and transport out of reactive zones (τad,r+τeq,m) so that equilibrium is reached and homogenization occurs. In contrast, χ deviates from 1 and is significant only when β is small, which occurs at short length or fast flow where timescales of reactive transport in reactive zones are much longer than the global residence time so that reactive transport is the limiting step. These findings demonstrate that dissolution rates in heterogeneous media reach asymptotic values in homogeneous media at "sufficiently" long lengths. Wen, H. and Li, L. (2017) An upscaled rate law for magnesite dissolution in heterogeneous porous media. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 210, 289-305.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stevens, David E.

The process by which super-thermal ions slow down against background Coulomb potentials arises in many fields of study. In particular, this is one of the main mechanisms by which the mass and energy from the reaction products of fusion reactions is deposited back into the background. Many of these fields are characterized by length and time scales that are the same magnitude as the range and duration of the trajectory of these particles, before they thermalize into the background. This requires numerical simulation of this slowing down process through numerically integrating the velocities and energies of these particles. This papermore » first presents a simple introduction to the required plasma physics, followed by the description of the numerical integration used to integrate a beam of particles. This algorithm is unique in that it combines in an integrated manner both a second-order integration of the slowing down with the particle beam dispersion. These two processes are typically computed in isolation from each other. A simple test problem of a beam of alpha particles slowing down against an inert background of deuterium and tritium with varying properties of both the beam and the background illustrate the utility of the algorithm. This is followed by conclusions and appendices. The appendices define the notation, units, and several useful identities.« less

Topographic mapping of a hierarchy of temporal receptive windows using a narrated story

PubMed Central

Lerner, Y.; Honey, C.J.; Silbert, L.J.; Hasson, U.

2011-01-01

Real life activities, such as watching a movie or engaging in conversation, unfold over many minutes. In the course of such activities the brain has to integrate information over multiple time scales. We recently proposed that the brain uses similar strategies for integrating information across space and over time. Drawing a parallel with spatial receptive fields (SRF), we defined the temporal receptive window(TRW) of a cortical microcircuit as the length of time prior to a response during which sensory information may affect that response. Our previous findings in the visual system are consistent with the hypothesis that TRWs become larger when moving from low-level sensory to high-level perceptual and cognitive areas. In this study, we mapped TRWs in auditory and language areas by measuring fMRI activity in subjects listening to a real life story scrambled at the time scales of words, sentences and paragraphs. Our results revealed a hierarchical topography of TRWs. In early auditory cortices (A1+), brain responses were driven mainly by the momentary incoming input and were similarly reliable across all scrambling conditions. In areas with an intermediate TRW, coherent information at the sentence time scale or longer was necessary to evoke reliable responses. At the apex of the TRW hierarchy we found parietal and frontal areas which responded reliably only when intact paragraphs were heard in a meaningful sequence. These results suggest that the time scale of processing is a functional property that may provide a general organizing principle for the human cerebral cortex. PMID:21414912

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

2013-03-01

Direct-drive-ignition designs with plastic CH ablators create plasmas of long density scale lengths (Ln ≥ 500 μm) at the quarter-critical density (Nqc) 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 Ln approaching ˜400 μm have been created; (2) the density scale length at Nqc scales as Ln(μm)≃(RDPP×I1/4/2); and (3) the electron temperature Te at Nqc scales as Te(keV)≃0.95×√I , with the incident intensity (I) measured in 1014 W/cm2 for plasmas created on both OMEGA and OMEGA EP configurations with different-sized (RDPP) 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 fhot is found to have a similar behavior for both configurations: a rapid growth [fhot≃fc×(Gc/4)6 for Gc < 4] followed by a saturation of the form, fhot≃fc×(Gc/4)1.2 for Gc ≥ 4, with the common wave gain is defined as Gc=3 × 10-2×IqcLnλ0/Te, where the laser intensity contributing to common-wave gain Iqc, Ln, Te at Nqc, and the laser wavelength λ0 are, respectively, measured in [1014 W/cm2], [μm], [keV], and [μm]. The saturation level fc is observed to be fc ≃ 10-2 at around Gc ≃ 4. The hot-electron temperature scales roughly linear with Gc. Furthermore, to mitigate TPD instability in long-scale-length plasmas, different ablator materials such as saran and aluminum have been investigated on OMEGA EP. Hot-electron generation has been reduced by a factor of 3-10 for saran and aluminum plasmas, compared to the CH case at the same incident laser intensity. draco simulations suggest that saran might be a better ablator for direct-drive-ignition designs as it balances TPD mitigation with an acceptable hydro-efficiency.

SSI/MSI/LSI/VLSI/ULSI.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alexander, George

1984-01-01

Discusses small-scale integrated (SSI), medium-scale integrated (MSI), large-scale integrated (LSI), very large-scale integrated (VLSI), and ultra large-scale integrated (ULSI) chips. The development and properties of these chips, uses of gallium arsenide, Josephson devices (two superconducting strips sandwiching a thin insulator), and future…

Procedure for Determining Turbulence Length Scales Using Hotwire Anemometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

El-Gabry, Lamyaa A.; Thurman, Douglas R.; Poinsatte, Philip E.

2014-01-01

Hotwire anemometers are used to measure instantaneous velocity from which the mean velocity and the velocity fluctuation can be determined. Using a hotwire system, it is possible to deduce not only the velocity components and their fluctuation but to also analyze the energy spectra and from that the turbulence length scales. In this experiment, hotwire anemometry is used to measure the flow field turbulence for an array of film cooling holes. The objective of this paper is to document the procedure that is used to reduce the instantaneous velocity measurements to determine the turbulence length scales using data from the film-cooling experiments to illustrate the procedure.

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

PubMed

Davoren, Mary; Byrne, Orla; O'Connell, Paul; O'Neill, Helen; O'Reilly, Ken; Kennedy, Harry G

2015-11-23

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. This is a prospective study. All admissions to a medium secure forensic hospital setting were collated over a 54 month period (n = 279) and followed up for a total of 66 months. Each patient was rated using the DUNDRUM-1 triage security scale and DUNDRUM-2 triage urgency scale as part of a pre-admission assessment (n = 279) and HCR-20 within 2 weeks of admission (n = 187). Episodes of harm to self, harm to others and episodes of seclusion whilst an in-patient were collated. Date of discharge was noted for each individual. Diagnosis at the time of pre-admission assessment (adjustment disorder v other diagnosis), predicted legal status (sentenced v mental health order) and items on the DUNDRUM-1 triage security scale and the DUNDRUM-2 triage urgency scale, also rated at the time of pre-admission assessment, predicted length of stay in the forensic hospital setting. Need for seclusion following admission also predicted length of stay. These findings may form the basis for a structured professional judgment instrument, rated prior to or at time of admission, to assist in estimating length of stay for forensic patients. Such a tool would be useful to clinicians, service planners and commissioners given the high cost of secure psychiatric care.

Recent assimilation developments of FOAM the Met Office ocean forecast system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lea, Daniel; Martin, Matthew; Waters, Jennifer; Mirouze, Isabelle; While, James; King, Robert

2015-04-01

FOAM is the Met Office's operational ocean forecasting system. This system comprises a range of models from a 1/4 degree resolution global to 1/12 degree resolution regional models and shelf seas models at 7 km resolution. The system is made up of the ocean model NEMO (Nucleus for European Modeling of the Ocean), the Los Alomos sea ice model CICE and the NEMOVAR assimilation run in 3D-VAR FGAT mode. Work is ongoing to transition to both a higher resolution global ocean model at 1/12 degrees and to run FOAM in coupled models. The FOAM system generally performs well. One area of concern however is the performance in the tropics where spurious oscillations and excessive vertical velocity gradients are found after assimilation. NEMOVAR includes a balance operator which in the extra-tropics uses geostrophic balance to produce velocity increments which balance the density increments applied. In the tropics, however, the main balance is between the pressure gradients produced by the density gradient and the applied wind stress. A scheme is presented which aims to maintain this balance when increments are applied. Another issue in FOAM is that there are sometimes persistent temperature and salinity errors which are not effectively corrected by the assimilation. The standard NEMOVAR has a single correlation length scale based on the local Rossby radius. This means that observations in the extra tropics have influence on the model only on short length-scales. In order to maximise the information extracted from the observations and to correct large scale model biases a multiple correlation length-scale scheme has been developed. This includes a larger length scale which spreads observation information further. Various refinements of the scheme are also explored including reducing the longer length scale component at the edge of the sea ice and in areas with high potential vorticity gradients. A related scheme which varies the correlation length scale in the shelf seas is also described.

Universality from disorder in the random-bond Blume-Capel model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fytas, N. G.; Zierenberg, J.; Theodorakis, P. E.; Weigel, M.; Janke, W.; Malakis, A.

2018-04-01

Using high-precision Monte Carlo simulations and finite-size scaling we study the effect of quenched disorder in the exchange couplings on the Blume-Capel model on the square lattice. The first-order transition for large crystal-field coupling is softened to become continuous, with a divergent correlation length. An analysis of the scaling of the correlation length as well as the susceptibility and specific heat reveals that it belongs to the universality class of the Ising model with additional logarithmic corrections which is also observed for the Ising model itself if coupled to weak disorder. While the leading scaling behavior of the disordered system is therefore identical between the second-order and first-order segments of the phase diagram of the pure model, the finite-size scaling in the ex-first-order regime is affected by strong transient effects with a crossover length scale L*≈32 for the chosen parameters.

Correspondence: Reply to ‘Phantom phonon localization in relaxors’

DOE PAGES

Manley, Michael E.; Abernathy, Douglas L.; Budai, John D.

2017-12-05

The Correspondence by Gehring et al. mistakes Anderson phonon localization for the concept of an atomic-scale local mode. An atomic-scale local mode refers to a single atom vibrating on its own within a crystal. Such a local mode will have an almost flat intensity profile, but this is not the same as phonon localization. Anderson localization is a wave interference effect in a disordered system that results in waves becoming spatially localized. The length scale of the localized waves is set by the wavelength, which is approximately 2 nm in this case. This larger length scale in real space meansmore » narrower intensity profiles in reciprocal space. Here, we conclude that the claims in the Correspondence by Gehring et al. are incorrect because they mistakenly assume that the length scale for Anderson localization is atomic, and because the experimental observations rule out multiple scattering as the origin.« less

Correspondence: Reply to ‘Phantom phonon localization in relaxors’

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Manley, Michael E.; Abernathy, Douglas L.; Budai, John D.

The Correspondence by Gehring et al. mistakes Anderson phonon localization for the concept of an atomic-scale local mode. An atomic-scale local mode refers to a single atom vibrating on its own within a crystal. Such a local mode will have an almost flat intensity profile, but this is not the same as phonon localization. Anderson localization is a wave interference effect in a disordered system that results in waves becoming spatially localized. The length scale of the localized waves is set by the wavelength, which is approximately 2 nm in this case. This larger length scale in real space meansmore » narrower intensity profiles in reciprocal space. Here, we conclude that the claims in the Correspondence by Gehring et al. are incorrect because they mistakenly assume that the length scale for Anderson localization is atomic, and because the experimental observations rule out multiple scattering as the origin.« less

Microbiological-enhanced mixing across scales during in-situ bioreduction of metals and radionuclides at Department of Energy Sites

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Valocchi, Albert; Werth, Charles; Liu, Wen-Tso

Bioreduction is being actively investigated as an effective strategy for subsurface remediation and long-term management of DOE sites contaminated by metals and radionuclides (i.e. U(VI)). These strategies require manipulation of the subsurface, usually through injection of chemicals (e.g., electron donor) which mix at varying scales with the contaminant to stimulate metal reducing bacteria. There is evidence from DOE field experiments suggesting that mixing limitations of substrates at all scales may affect biological growth and activity for U(VI) reduction. Although current conceptual models hold that biomass growth and reduction activity is limited by physical mixing processes, a growing body of literaturemore » suggests that reaction could be enhanced by cell-to-cell interaction occurring over length scales extending tens to thousands of microns. Our project investigated two potential mechanisms of enhanced electron transfer. The first is the formation of single- or multiple-species biofilms that transport electrons via direct electrical connection such as conductive pili (i.e. ‘nanowires’) through biofilms to where the electron acceptor is available. The second is through diffusion of electron carriers from syntrophic bacteria to dissimilatory metal reducing bacteria (DMRB). The specific objectives of this work are (i) to quantify the extent and rate that electrons are transported between microorganisms in physical mixing zones between an electron donor and electron acceptor (e.g. U(IV)), (ii) to quantify the extent that biomass growth and reaction are enhanced by interspecies electron transport, and (iii) to integrate mixing across scales (e.g., microscopic scale of electron transfer and macroscopic scale of diffusion) in an integrated numerical model to quantify these mechanisms on overall U(VI) reduction rates. We tested these hypotheses with five tasks that integrate microbiological experiments, unique micro-fluidics experiments, flow cell experiments, and multi-scale numerical models. Continuous fed-batch reactors were used to derive kinetic parameters for DMRB, and to develop an enrichment culture for elucidation of syntrophic relationships in a complex microbial community. Pore and continuum scale experiments using microfluidic and bench top flow cells were used to evaluate the impact of cell-to-cell and microbial interactions on reaction enhancement in mixing-limited bioactive zones, and the mechanisms of this interaction. Some of the microfluidic experiments were used to develop and test models that considers direct cell-to-cell interactions during metal reduction. Pore scale models were incorporated into a multi-scale hybrid modeling framework that combines pore scale modeling at the reaction interface with continuum scale modeling. New computational frameworks for combining continuum and pore-scale models were also developed« less

Reducing Risk in CO2 Sequestration: A Framework for Integrated Monitoring of Basin Scale Injection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seto, C. J.; Haidari, A. S.; McRae, G. J.

2009-12-01

Geological sequestration of CO2 is an option for stabilization of atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Technical ability to safely store CO2 in the subsurface has been demonstrated through pilot projects and a long history of enhanced oil recovery and acid gas disposal operations. To address climate change, current injection operations must be scaled up by a factor of 100, raising issues of safety and security. Monitoring and verification is an essential component in ensuring safe operations and managing risk. Monitoring provides assurance that CO2 is securely stored in the subsurface, and the mechanisms governing transport and storage are well understood. It also provides an early warning mechanism for identification of anomalies in performance, and a means for intervention and remediation through the ability to locate the CO2. Through theoretical studies, bench scale experiments and pilot tests, a number of technologies have demonstrated their ability to monitor CO2 in the surface and subsurface. Because the focus of these studies has been to demonstrate feasibility, individual techniques have not been integrated to provide a more robust method for monitoring. Considering the large volumes required for injection, size of the potential footprint, length of time a project must be monitored and uncertainty, operational considerations of cost and risk must balance safety and security. Integration of multiple monitoring techniques will reduce uncertainty in monitoring injected CO2, thereby reducing risk. We present a framework for risk management of large scale injection through model based monitoring network design. This framework is applied to monitoring CO2 in a synthetic reservoir where there is uncertainty in the underlying permeability field controlling fluid migration. Deformation and seismic data are used to track plume migration. A modified Ensemble Kalman filter approach is used to estimate flow properties by jointly assimilating flow and geomechanical observations. Issues of risk, cost and uncertainty are considered.

Nonlocal Electrostatics in Spherical Geometries Using Eigenfunction Expansions of Boundary-Integral Operators.

PubMed

Bardhan, Jaydeep P; Knepley, Matthew G; Brune, Peter

2015-01-01

In this paper, we present an exact, infinite-series solution to Lorentz nonlocal continuum electrostatics for an arbitrary charge distribution in a spherical solute. Our approach relies on two key steps: (1) re-formulating the PDE problem using boundary-integral equations, and (2) diagonalizing the boundary-integral operators using the fact that their eigenfunctions are the surface spherical harmonics. To introduce this uncommon approach for calculations in separable geometries, we first re-derive Kirkwood's classic results for a protein surrounded concentrically by a pure-water ion-exclusion (Stern) layer and then a dilute electrolyte, which is modeled with the linearized Poisson-Boltzmann equation. The eigenfunction-expansion approach provides a computationally efficient way to test some implications of nonlocal models, including estimating the reasonable range of the nonlocal length-scale parameter λ. Our results suggest that nonlocal solvent response may help to reduce the need for very high dielectric constants in calculating pH-dependent protein behavior, though more sophisticated nonlocal models are needed to resolve this question in full. An open-source MATLAB implementation of our approach is freely available online.

Nonlocal Electrostatics in Spherical Geometries Using Eigenfunction Expansions of Boundary-Integral Operators

PubMed Central

Bardhan, Jaydeep P.; Knepley, Matthew G.; Brune, Peter

2015-01-01

In this paper, we present an exact, infinite-series solution to Lorentz nonlocal continuum electrostatics for an arbitrary charge distribution in a spherical solute. Our approach relies on two key steps: (1) re-formulating the PDE problem using boundary-integral equations, and (2) diagonalizing the boundary-integral operators using the fact that their eigenfunctions are the surface spherical harmonics. To introduce this uncommon approach for calculations in separable geometries, we first re-derive Kirkwood’s classic results for a protein surrounded concentrically by a pure-water ion-exclusion (Stern) layer and then a dilute electrolyte, which is modeled with the linearized Poisson–Boltzmann equation. The eigenfunction-expansion approach provides a computationally efficient way to test some implications of nonlocal models, including estimating the reasonable range of the nonlocal length-scale parameter λ. Our results suggest that nonlocal solvent response may help to reduce the need for very high dielectric constants in calculating pH-dependent protein behavior, though more sophisticated nonlocal models are needed to resolve this question in full. An open-source MATLAB implementation of our approach is freely available online. PMID:26273581

Electrical Design and Evaluation of Asynchronous Serial Bus Communication Network of 48 Sensor Platform LSIs with Single-Ended I/O for Integrated MEMS-LSI Sensors.

PubMed

Shao, Chenzhong; Tanaka, Shuji; Nakayama, Takahiro; Hata, Yoshiyuki; Muroyama, Masanori

2018-01-15

For installing many sensors in a limited space with a limited computing resource, the digitization of the sensor output at the site of sensation has advantages such as a small amount of wiring, low signal interference and high scalability. For this purpose, we have developed a dedicated Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) Large-Scale Integration (LSI) (referred to as "sensor platform LSI") for bus-networked Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS)-LSI integrated sensors. In this LSI, collision avoidance, adaptation and event-driven functions are simply implemented to relieve data collision and congestion in asynchronous serial bus communication. In this study, we developed a network system with 48 sensor platform LSIs based on Printed Circuit Board (PCB) in a backbone bus topology with the bus length being 2.4 m. We evaluated the serial communication performance when 48 LSIs operated simultaneously with the adaptation function. The number of data packets received from each LSI was almost identical, and the average sampling frequency of 384 capacitance channels (eight for each LSI) was 73.66 Hz.

Reconfigurable exciton-plasmon interconversion for nanophotonic circuits

PubMed Central

Lee, Hyun Seok; Luong, Dinh Hoa; Kim, Min Su; Jin, Youngjo; Kim, Hyun; Yun, Seokjoon; Lee, Young Hee

2016-01-01

The recent challenges for improving the operation speed of nanoelectronics have motivated research on manipulating light in on-chip integrated circuits. Hybrid plasmonic waveguides with low-dimensional semiconductors, including quantum dots and quantum wells, are a promising platform for realizing sub-diffraction limited optical components. Meanwhile, two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have received broad interest in optoelectronics owing to tightly bound excitons at room temperature, strong light-matter and exciton-plasmon interactions, available top-down wafer-scale integration, and band-gap tunability. Here, we demonstrate principal functionalities for on-chip optical communications via reconfigurable exciton-plasmon interconversions in ∼200-nm-diameter Ag-nanowires overlapping onto TMD transistors. By varying device configurations for each operation purpose, three active components for optical communications are realized: field-effect exciton transistors with a channel length of ∼32 μm, field-effect exciton multiplexers transmitting multiple signals through a single NW and electrical detectors of propagating plasmons with a high On/Off ratio of∼190. Our results illustrate the unique merits of two-dimensional semiconductors for constructing reconfigurable device architectures in integrated nanophotonic circuits. PMID:27892463

Flexible chain molecules in the marginal and concentrated regimes: universal static scaling laws and cross-over predictions.

PubMed

Laso, Manuel; Karayiannis, Nikos Ch

2008-05-07

We present predictions for the static scaling exponents and for the cross-over polymer volumetric fractions in the marginal and concentrated solution regimes. Corrections for finite chain length are made. Predictions are based on an analysis of correlated fluctuations in density and chain length, in a semigrand ensemble in which mers and solvent sites exchange identities. Cross-over volumetric fractions are found to be chain length independent to first order, although reciprocal-N corrections are also estimated. Predicted scaling exponents and cross-over regimes are compared with available data from extensive off-lattice Monte Carlo simulations [Karayiannis and Laso, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 050602 (2008)] on freely jointed, hard-sphere chains of average lengths from N=12-500 and at packing densities from dilute ones up to the maximally random jammed state.

CONVECTION THEORY AND SUB-PHOTOSPHERIC STRATIFICATION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Arnett, David; Meakin, Casey; Young, Patrick A., E-mail: darnett@as.arizona.ed, E-mail: casey.meakin@gmail.co, E-mail: patrick.young.1@asu.ed

2010-02-20

As a preliminary step toward a complete theoretical integration of three-dimensional compressible hydrodynamic simulations into stellar evolution, convection at the surface and sub-surface layers of the Sun is re-examined, from a restricted point of view, in the language of mixing-length theory (MLT). Requiring that MLT use a hydrodynamically realistic dissipation length gives a new constraint on solar models. While the stellar structure which results is similar to that obtained by Yale Rotational Evolution Code (Guenther et al.; Bahcall and Pinsonneault) and Garching models (Schlattl et al.), the theoretical picture differs. A new quantitative connection is made between macro-turbulence, micro-turbulence, andmore » the convective velocity scale at the photosphere, which has finite values. The 'geometric parameter' in MLT is found to correspond more reasonably with the thickness of the superadiabatic region (SAR), as it must for consistency in MLT, and its integrated effect may correspond to that of the strong downward plumes which drive convection (Stein and Nordlund), and thus has a physical interpretation even in MLT. If we crudely require the thickness of the SAR to be consistent with the 'geometric factor' used in MLT, there is no longer a free parameter, at least in principle. Use of three-dimensional simulations of both adiabatic convection and stellar atmospheres will allow the determination of the dissipation length and the geometric parameter (i.e., the entropy jump) more realistically, and with no astronomical calibration. A physically realistic treatment of convection in stellar evolution will require substantial additional modifications beyond MLT, including nonlocal effects of kinetic energy flux, entrainment (the most dramatic difference from MLT found by Meakin and Arnett), rotation, and magnetic fields.« less

Effect of von Karman Vortex Shedding on Regular and Open-slit V-gutter Stabilized Turbulent Premixed Flames

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-04-01

Both flame lengths shrink and large scale disruptions occur downstream with vortex shedding carrying reaction zones. Flames in both flameholders...9) the flame structure changes dramatically for both regular and open-slit V-gutter. Both flame lengths shrink and large scale disruptions occur...reduces the flame length . However, qualitatively the open-slit V-gutter appears to be more sensitive than the regular V-gutter. Both flames remain

Evaluation of removal of the size effect using data scaling and elliptic Fourier descriptors in otolith shape analysis, exemplified by the discrimination of two yellow croaker stocks along the Chinese coast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Bo; Liu, Jinhu; Song, Junjie; Cao, Liang; Dou, Shuozeng

2017-11-01

Removal of the length effect in otolith shape analysis for stock identification using length scaling is an important issue; however, few studies have attempted to investigate the effectiveness or weakness of this methodology in application. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether commonly used size scaling methods and normalized elliptic Fourier descriptors (NEFDs) could effectively remove the size effect of fish in stock discrimination. To achieve this goal, length groups from two known geographical stocks of yellow croaker, Larimichthys polyactis, along the Chinese coast (five groups from the Changjiang River estuary of the East China Sea and three groups from the Bohai Sea) were subjected to otolith shape analysis. The results indicated that the variation of otolith shape caused by intra-stock fish length might exceed that due to inter-stock geographical separation, even when otolith shape variables are standardized with length scaling methods. This variation could easily result in misleading stock discrimination through otolith shape analysis. Therefore, conclusions about fish stock structure should be carefully drawn from otolith shape analysis because the observed discrimination may primarily be due to length effects, rather than differences among stocks. The application of multiple methods, such as otoliths shape analysis combined with elemental fingering, tagging or genetic analysis, is recommended for sock identification.

Microtubule Dynamics Scale with Cell Size to Set Spindle Length and Assembly Timing.

PubMed

Lacroix, Benjamin; Letort, Gaëlle; Pitayu, Laras; Sallé, Jérémy; Stefanutti, Marine; Maton, Gilliane; Ladouceur, Anne-Marie; Canman, Julie C; Maddox, Paul S; Maddox, Amy S; Minc, Nicolas; Nédélec, François; Dumont, Julien

2018-05-21

Successive cell divisions during embryonic cleavage create increasingly smaller cells, so intracellular structures must adapt accordingly. Mitotic spindle size correlates with cell size, but the mechanisms for this scaling remain unclear. Using live cell imaging, we analyzed spindle scaling during embryo cleavage in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus. We reveal a common scaling mechanism, where the growth rate of spindle microtubules scales with cell volume, which explains spindle shortening. Spindle assembly timing is, however, constant throughout successive divisions. Analyses in silico suggest that controlling the microtubule growth rate is sufficient to scale spindle length and maintain a constant assembly timing. We tested our in silico predictions to demonstrate that modulating cell volume or microtubule growth rate in vivo induces a proportional spindle size change. Our results suggest that scalability of the microtubule growth rate when cell size varies adapts spindle length to cell volume. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Multi-Length Scale-Enriched Continuum-Level Material Model for Kevlar (registered trademark)-Fiber-Reinforced Polymer-Matrix Composites

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-03-01

of coarser-scale materials and structures containing Kevlar fibers (e.g., yarns, fabrics, plies, lamina, and laminates ). Journal of Materials...Multi-Length Scale-Enriched Continuum-Level Material Model for Kevlar -Fiber-Reinforced Polymer-Matrix Composites M. Grujicic, B. Pandurangan, J.S...extensive set of molecular-level computational analyses regarding the role of various microstructural/morphological defects on the Kevlar fiber

Underscreening in concentrated electrolytes.

PubMed

Lee, Alpha A; Perez-Martinez, Carla S; Smith, Alexander M; Perkin, Susan

2017-07-01

Screening of a surface charge by an electrolyte and the resulting interaction energy between charged objects is of fundamental importance in scenarios from bio-molecular interactions to energy storage. The conventional wisdom is that the interaction energy decays exponentially with object separation and the decay length is a decreasing function of ion concentration; the interaction is thus negligible in a concentrated electrolyte. Contrary to this conventional wisdom, we have shown by surface force measurements that the decay length is an increasing function of ion concentration and Bjerrum length for concentrated electrolytes. In this paper we report surface force measurements to test directly the scaling of the screening length with Bjerrum length. Furthermore, we identify a relationship between the concentration dependence of this screening length and empirical measurements of activity coefficient and differential capacitance. The dependence of the screening length on the ion concentration and the Bjerrum length can be explained by a simple scaling conjecture based on the physical intuition that solvent molecules, rather than ions, are charge carriers in a concentrated electrolyte.

Scaling and functional morphology in strigiform hind limbs

PubMed Central

Madan, Meena A.; Rayfield, Emily J.; Bright, Jen A.

2017-01-01

Strigiformes are an order of raptorial birds consisting exclusively of owls: the Tytonidae (barn owls) and the Strigidae (true owls), united by a suite of adaptations aiding a keen predatory lifestyle, including robust hind limb elements modified for grip strength. To assess variation in hind limb morphology, we analysed how the dimensions of the major hind limb elements in subfossil and modern species scaled with body mass. Comparing hind limb element length, midshaft width, and robusticity index (RI: ratio of midshaft width to maximum length) to body mass revealed that femoral and tibiotarsal width scale with isometry, whilst length scales with negative allometry, and close to elastic similarity in the tibiotarsus. In contrast, tarsometatarsus width shows strong positive allometry with body mass, whilst length shows strong negative allometry. Furthermore, the tarsometatarsi RI scales allometrically to mass0.028, whilst a weak relationship exists in femora (mass0.004) and tibiotarsi (mass0.004). Our results suggest that tarsometatarsi play a more substantial functional role than tibiotarsi and femora. Given the scaling relationship between tarsometatarsal width and robusticity to body mass, it may be possible to infer the body mass of prehistoric owls by analysing tarsometatarsi, an element that is frequently preserved in the fossil record of owls. PMID:28327549

Advancing multiscale structural mapping of the brain through fluorescence imaging and analysis across length scales

PubMed Central

Hogstrom, L. J.; Guo, S. M.; Murugadoss, K.; Bathe, M.

2016-01-01

Brain function emerges from hierarchical neuronal structure that spans orders of magnitude in length scale, from the nanometre-scale organization of synaptic proteins to the macroscopic wiring of neuronal circuits. Because the synaptic electrochemical signal transmission that drives brain function ultimately relies on the organization of neuronal circuits, understanding brain function requires an understanding of the principles that determine hierarchical neuronal structure in living or intact organisms. Recent advances in fluorescence imaging now enable quantitative characterization of neuronal structure across length scales, ranging from single-molecule localization using super-resolution imaging to whole-brain imaging using light-sheet microscopy on cleared samples. These tools, together with correlative electron microscopy and magnetic resonance imaging at the nanoscopic and macroscopic scales, respectively, now facilitate our ability to probe brain structure across its full range of length scales with cellular and molecular specificity. As these imaging datasets become increasingly accessible to researchers, novel statistical and computational frameworks will play an increasing role in efforts to relate hierarchical brain structure to its function. In this perspective, we discuss several prominent experimental advances that are ushering in a new era of quantitative fluorescence-based imaging in neuroscience along with novel computational and statistical strategies that are helping to distil our understanding of complex brain structure. PMID:26855758

Sheaths: A Comparison of Magnetospheric, ICME, and Heliospheric Sheaths

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sibeck, D. G.; Richardson, J. D.; Liu, W.

2007-01-01

When a supersonic flow encounters an obstacles, shocks form to divert the flow around the obstacle. The region between the shock and the obstacle is the sheath, where the supersonic flow is compressed, heated, decelerated, and deflected. Supersonic flows, obstacles, and thus sheaths are observed on many scales throughout the Universe. We compare three examples seen in the heliosphere, illustrating the interaction of the solar wind with obstacles of three very different scales lengths. Magnetosheaths form behind planetary bow shocks on scales ranging from tens to 100 planetary radii. ICME sheath form behind shocks driven by solar disturbances on scale lengths of a few to tens of AU. The heliosheath forms behind the termination shock due to the obstacle presented by the interstellar medium on scale lengths of tens to a hundred AU. Despite this range in scales some common features have been observed. Magnetic holes, possibly due to mirror mode waves, have been observed in all three of these sheaths. Plasma depletion layers are observed in planetary and ICME sheaths. Other features observed in some sheaths are wave activity (ion cyclotron, plasma), energetic particles, transmission of Alfven waves/shocks, tangential discontinuities turbulence behind quasi-parallel shocks, standing slow mode waves, and reconnection on the obstacle boundary. We compare these sheath regions, discussing similarities and differences and how these may relate to the scale lengths of these regions.

Genetic and epigenetic diversity and structure of Phragmites australis from local habitats of the Songnen Prairie using amplified fragment length polymorphism markers.

PubMed

Qiu, T; Jiang, L L; Yang, Y F

2016-08-19

The genetic and epigenetic diversity and structure of naturally occurring Phragmites australis populations occupying two different habitats on a small spatial scale in the Songnen Prairie in northeastern China were investigated by assessing amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) and methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphisms (MSAPs) through fluorescent capillary detection. The two groups of P. australis were located in a seasonal waterlogged low-lying and alkalized meadow with a pH of 8-8.5 and in an alkaline patch without accumulated rainwater and with a pH greater than 10. These groups showed high levels of genetic diversity at the habitat level based on the percentage of polymorphic bands (90.32, 82.56%), Nei's gene diversity index (0.262, 0.248), and the Shannon diversity index (0.407, 0.383). Although little is known about the between-habitat genetic differentiation of P. australis on a small spatial scale, our results implied significant genetic differentiation between habitats. Extensive epigenetic diversity within habitats, along with clear differentiation, was found. Specifically, the former habitat (Habitat 1, designated H1) harbored higher levels of genetic and epigenetic diversity than the latter (Habitat 2, designated H2), and population-level diversity was also high. This study represents one of few attempts to predict habitat-based genetic differentiation of reeds on a small scale. These assessments of genetic and epigenetic variation are integral aspects of molecular ecological studies on P. australis. Possible causes for within- and between-habitat genetic and epigenetic variations are discussed.

Ultrasound scatter in heterogeneous 3D microstructures: Parameters affecting multiple scattering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Engle, B. J.; Roberts, R. A.; Grandin, R. J.

2018-04-01

This paper reports on a computational study of ultrasound propagation in heterogeneous metal microstructures. Random spatial fluctuations in elastic properties over a range of length scales relative to ultrasound wavelength can give rise to scatter-induced attenuation, backscatter noise, and phase front aberration. It is of interest to quantify the dependence of these phenomena on the microstructure parameters, for the purpose of quantifying deleterious consequences on flaw detectability, and for the purpose of material characterization. Valuable tools for estimation of microstructure parameters (e.g. grain size) through analysis of ultrasound backscatter have been developed based on approximate weak-scattering models. While useful, it is understood that these tools display inherent inaccuracy when multiple scattering phenomena significantly contribute to the measurement. It is the goal of this work to supplement weak scattering model predictions with corrections derived through application of an exact computational scattering model to explicitly prescribed microstructures. The scattering problem is formulated as a volume integral equation (VIE) displaying a convolutional Green-function-derived kernel. The VIE is solved iteratively employing FFT-based con-volution. Realizations of random microstructures are specified on the micron scale using statistical property descriptions (e.g. grain size and orientation distributions), which are then spatially filtered to provide rigorously equivalent scattering media on a length scale relevant to ultrasound propagation. Scattering responses from ensembles of media representations are averaged to obtain mean and variance of quantities such as attenuation and backscatter noise levels, as a function of microstructure descriptors. The computational approach will be summarized, and examples of application will be presented.

Flexible superconducting Nb transmission lines on thin film polyimide for quantum computing applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tuckerman, David B.; Hamilton, Michael C.; Reilly, David J.; Bai, Rujun; Hernandez, George A.; Hornibrook, John M.; Sellers, John A.; Ellis, Charles D.

2016-08-01

We describe progress and initial results achieved towards the goal of developing integrated multi-conductor arrays of shielded controlled-impedance flexible superconducting transmission lines with ultra-miniature cross sections and wide bandwidths (dc to >10 GHz) over meter-scale lengths. Intended primarily for use in future scaled-up quantum computing systems, such flexible thin-film niobium/polyimide ribbon cables could provide a physically compact and ultra-low thermal conductance alternative to the rapidly increasing number of discrete coaxial cables that are currently used by quantum computing experimentalists to transmit signals between the several low-temperature stages (from ˜4 K down to ˜20 mK) of a dilution refrigerator. We have concluded that these structures are technically feasible to fabricate, and so far they have exhibited acceptable thermo-mechanical reliability. S-parameter results are presented for individual 2-metal layer Nb microstrip structures having 50 Ω characteristic impedance; lengths ranging from 50 to 550 mm were successfully fabricated. Solderable pads at the end terminations allowed testing using conventional rf connectors. Weakly coupled open-circuit microstrip resonators provided a sensitive measure of the overall transmission line loss as a function of frequency, temperature, and power. Two common microelectronic-grade polyimide dielectrics, one conventional and the other photo-definable (PI-2611 and HD-4100, respectively) were compared. Our most striking result, not previously reported to our knowledge, was that the dielectric loss tangents of both polyimides, over frequencies from 1 to 20 GHz, are remarkably low at deep cryogenic temperatures, typically 100× smaller than corresponding room temperature values. This enables fairly long-distance (meter-scale) transmission of microwave signals without excessive attenuation, and also permits usefully high rf power levels to be transmitted without creating excessive dielectric heating. We observed loss tangents as low as 2.2 × 10-5 at 20 mK, although losses increased somewhat at very low rf power levels, similar to the well-known behavior of amorphous inorganic dielectrics such as SiO2. Our fabrication techniques could be extended to more complex structures such as multiconductor cables, embedded microstrip, 3-metal layer stripline or rectangular coax, and integrated attenuators and thermalization structures.

A comprehensive allometric analysis of 2nd digit length to 4th digit length in humans.

PubMed

Lolli, Lorenzo; Batterham, Alan M; Kratochvíl, Lukáš; Flegr, Jaroslav; Weston, Kathryn L; Atkinson, Greg

2017-06-28

It has been widely reported that men have a lower ratio of the 2nd and 4th human finger lengths (2D : 4D). Size-scaling ratios, however, have the seldom-appreciated potential for providing biased estimates. Using an information-theoretic approach, we compared 12 candidate models, with different assumptions and error structures, for scaling untransformed 2D to 4D lengths from 154 men and 262 women. In each hand, the two-parameter power function and the straight line with intercept models, both with normal, homoscedastic error, were superior to the other models and essentially equivalent to each other for normalizing 2D to 4D lengths. The conventional 2D : 4D ratio biased relative 2D length low for the generally bigger hands of men, and vice versa for women, thereby leading to an artefactual indication that mean relative 2D length is lower in men than women. Conversely, use of the more appropriate allometric or linear regression models revealed that mean relative 2D length was, in fact, greater in men than women. We conclude that 2D does not vary in direct proportion to 4D for both men and women, rendering the use of the simple 2D : 4D ratio inappropriate for size-scaling purposes and intergroup comparisons. © 2017 The Author(s).

FracPaQ: a MATLAB™ toolbox for the quantification of fracture patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Healy, David; Rizzo, Roberto; Farrell, Natalie; Watkins, Hannah; Cornwell, David; Gomez-Rivas, Enrique; Timms, Nick

2017-04-01

The patterns of fractures in deformed rocks are rarely uniform or random. Fracture orientations, sizes, shapes and spatial distributions often exhibit some kind of order. In detail, there may be relationships among the different fracture attributes e.g. small fractures dominated by one orientation, larger fractures by another. These relationships are important because the mechanical (e.g. strength, anisotropy) and transport (e.g. fluids, heat) properties of rock depend on these fracture patterns and fracture attributes. This presentation describes an open source toolbox to quantify fracture patterns, including distributions in fracture attributes and their spatial variation. Software has been developed to quantify fracture patterns from 2-D digital images, such as thin section micrographs, geological maps, outcrop or aerial photographs or satellite images. The toolbox comprises a suite of MATLAB™ scripts based on published quantitative methods for the analysis of fracture attributes: orientations, lengths, intensity, density and connectivity. An estimate of permeability in 2-D is made using a parallel plate model. The software provides an objective and consistent methodology for quantifying fracture patterns and their variations in 2-D across a wide range of length scales. Our current focus for the application of the software is on quantifying crack and fracture patterns in and around fault zones. There is a large body of published work on the quantification of relatively simple joint patterns, but fault zones present a bigger, and arguably more important, challenge. The methods presented are inherently scale independent, and a key task will be to analyse and integrate quantitative fracture pattern data from micro- to macro-scales. New features in this release include multi-scale analyses based on a wavelet method to look for scale transitions, support for multi-colour traces in the input file processed as separate fracture sets, and combining fracture traces from multiple 2-D images to derive the statistically equivalent 3-D fracture pattern expressed as a 2nd rank crack tensor.

Diffusion and scaling during early embryonic pattern formation.

PubMed

Gregor, Thomas; Bialek, William; de Ruyter van Steveninck, Rob R; Tank, David W; Wieschaus, Eric F

2005-12-20

Development of spatial patterns in multicellular organisms depends on gradients in the concentration of signaling molecules that control gene expression. In the Drosophila embryo, Bicoid (Bcd) morphogen controls cell fate along 70% of the anteroposterior axis but is translated from mRNA localized at the anterior pole. Gradients of Bcd and other morphogens are thought to arise through diffusion, but this basic assumption has never been rigorously tested in living embryos. Furthermore, because diffusion sets a relationship between length and time scales, it is hard to see how patterns of gene expression established by diffusion would scale proportionately as egg size changes during evolution. Here, we show that the motion of inert molecules through the embryo is well described by the diffusion equation on the relevant length and time scales, and that effective diffusion constants are essentially the same in closely related dipteran species with embryos of very different size. Nonetheless, patterns of gene expression in these different species scale with egg length. We show that this scaling can be traced back to scaling of the Bcd gradient itself. Our results, together with constraints imposed by the time scales of development, suggest that the mechanism for scaling is a species-specific adaptation of the Bcd lifetime.

Permeability from complex conductivity: an evaluation of polarization magnitude versus relaxation time based geophysical length scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slater, L. D.; Robinson, J.; Weller, A.; Keating, K.; Robinson, T.; Parker, B. L.

2017-12-01

Geophysical length scales determined from complex conductivity (CC) measurements can be used to estimate permeability k when the electrical formation factor F describing the ratio between tortuosity and porosity is known. Two geophysical length scales have been proposed: [1] the imaginary conductivity σ" normalized by the specific polarizability cp; [2] the time constant τ multiplied by a diffusion coefficient D+. The parameters cp and D+ account for the control of fluid chemistry and/or varying minerology on the geophysical length scale. We evaluated the predictive capability of two recently presented CC permeability models: [1] an empirical formulation based on σ"; [2] a mechanistic formulation based on τ;. The performance of the CC models was evaluated against measured permeability; this performance was also compared against that of well-established k estimation equations that use geometric length scales to represent the pore scale properties controlling fluid flow. Both CC models predict permeability within one order of magnitude for a database of 58 sandstone samples, with the exception of those samples characterized by high pore volume normalized surface area Spor and more complex mineralogy including significant dolomite. Variations in cp and D+ likely contribute to the poor performance of the models for these high Spor samples. The ultimate value of such geophysical models for permeability prediction lies in their application to field scale geophysical datasets. Two observations favor the implementation of the σ" based model over the τ based model for field-scale estimation: [1] the limited range of variation in cp relative to D+; [2] σ" is readily measured using field geophysical instrumentation (at a single frequency) whereas τ requires broadband spectral measurements that are extremely challenging and time consuming to accurately measure in the field. However, the need for a reliable estimate of F remains a major obstacle to the field-scale implementation of either of the CC permeability models for k estimation.

Tip Characterization Method using Multi-feature Characterizer for CD-AFM

PubMed Central

Orji, Ndubuisi G.; Itoh, Hiroshi; Wang, Chumei; Dixson, Ronald G.; Walecki, Peter S.; Schmidt, Sebastian W.; Irmer, Bernd

2016-01-01

In atomic force microscopy (AFM) metrology, the tip is a key source of uncertainty. Images taken with an AFM show a change in feature width and shape that depends on tip geometry. This geometric dilation is more pronounced when measuring features with high aspect ratios, and makes it difficult to obtain absolute dimensions. In order to accurately measure nanoscale features using an AFM, the tip dimensions should be known with a high degree of precision. We evaluate a new AFM tip characterizer, and apply it to critical dimension AFM (CD-AFM) tips used for high aspect ratio features. The characterizer is made up of comb-shaped lines and spaces, and includes a series of gratings that could be used as an integrated nanoscale length reference. We also demonstrate a simulation method that could be used to specify what range of tip sizes and shapes the characterizer can measure. Our experiments show that for non re-entrant features, the results obtained with this characterizer are consistent to 1 nm with the results obtained by using widely accepted but slower methods that are common practice in CD-AFM metrology. A validation of the integrated length standard using displacement interferometry indicates a uniformity of better than 0.75%, suggesting that the sample could be used as highly accurate and SI traceable lateral scale for the whole evaluation process. PMID:26720439

Computer modelling of cyclic deformation of high-temperature materials. Technical progress report, 1 September-30 November 1993

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Duesbery, M.S.

1993-11-30

This program aims at improving current methods of lifetime assessment by building in the characteristics of the micro-mechanisms known to be responsible for damage and failure. The broad approach entails the integration and, where necessary, augmentation of the micro-scale research results currently available in the literature into a macro-sale model with predictive capability. In more detail, the program will develop a set of hierarchically structured models at different length scales, from atomic to macroscopic, at each level taking as parametric input the results of the model at the next smaller scale. In this way the known microscopic properties can bemore » transported by systematic procedures to the unknown macro-scale region. It may mot be possible to eliminate empiricism completely, because some of the quantities involved cannot yet be estimated to the required degree of precision. In this case the aim will be at least to eliminate functional empiricism. Restriction of empiricism to the choice of parameters to be input to known functional forms permits some confidence in extrapolation procedures and has the advantage that the models can readily be updated as better estimates of the parameters become available.« less

Atomic scale chemical tomography of human bone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Langelier, Brian; Wang, Xiaoyue; Grandfield, Kathryn

2017-01-01

Human bone is a complex hierarchical material. Understanding bone structure and its corresponding composition at the nanometer scale is critical for elucidating mechanisms of biomineralization under healthy and pathological states. However, the three-dimensional structure and chemical nature of bone remains largely unexplored at the nanometer scale due to the challenges associated with characterizing both the structural and chemical integrity of bone simultaneously. Here, we use correlative transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography for the first time, to our knowledge, to reveal structures in human bone at the atomic level. This approach provides an overlaying chemical map of the organic and inorganic constituents of bone on its structure. This first use of atom probe tomography on human bone reveals local gradients, trace element detection of Mg, and the co-localization of Na with the inorganic-organic interface of bone mineral and collagen fibrils, suggesting the important role of Na-rich organics in the structural connection between mineral and collagen. Our findings provide the first insights into the hierarchical organization and chemical heterogeneity in human bone in three-dimensions at its smallest length scale - the atomic level. We demonstrate that atom probe tomography shows potential for new insights in biomineralization research on bone.

Principal curvatures and area ratio of propagating surfaces in isotropic turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Tianhang; You, Jiaping; Yang, Yue

2017-10-01

We study the statistics of principal curvatures and the surface area ratio of propagating surfaces with a constant or nonconstant propagating velocity in isotropic turbulence using direct numerical simulation. Propagating surface elements initially constitute a plane to model a planar premixed flame front. When the statistics of evolving propagating surfaces reach the stationary stage, the statistical profiles of principal curvatures scaled by the Kolmogorov length scale versus the constant displacement speed scaled by the Kolmogorov velocity scale collapse at different Reynolds numbers. The magnitude of averaged principal curvatures and the number of surviving surface elements without cusp formation decrease with increasing displacement speed. In addition, the effect of surface stretch on the nonconstant displacement speed inhibits the cusp formation on surface elements at negative Markstein numbers. In order to characterize the wrinkling process of the global propagating surface, we develop a model to demonstrate that the increase of the surface area ratio is primarily due to positive Lagrangian time integrations of the area-weighted averaged tangential strain-rate term and propagation-curvature term. The difference between the negative averaged mean curvature and the positive area-weighted averaged mean curvature characterizes the cellular geometry of the global propagating surface.

Indicators of wetland condition for the Prairie Pothole Region of the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Guntenspergen, Glenn R.; Peterson, S.A.; Leibowitz, S.G.; Cowardin, L.M.

2002-01-01

We describe a study designed to evaluate the performance ofwetland condition indicators of the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR)of the north central United States. Basin and landscape scaleindicators were tested in 1992 and 1993 to determine theirability to discriminate between the influences of grasslanddominated and cropland dominated landscapes in the PPR. Pairedplots were selected from each of the major regions of the PPR.Among the landscape scale indicators tested, those most capableof distinguishing between the two landscapes were: 1) frequencyof drained wetland basins, 2) total length of drainage ditch perplot, 3) amount of exposed soil in the upland subject to erosion,4) indices of change in area of wetland covered by water, and5) number of breeding duck pairs. Basin scale indicators includingsoil phosphorus concentrations and invertebrate taxa richnessshowed some promise; however, plant species richness was the onlystatistically significant basin scale indicator distinguishinggrassland dominated from cropland dominated landscapes. Althoughour study found a number of promising candidate indicators, oneof our conclusions is that basin scale indicators present anumber of implementation problems, including: skill levelrequirements, site access denials, and recession of site accessby landowners. Alternatively, we suggest that the use oflandscape indicators based on remote sensing can be an effectivemeans of assessing wetland integrity.

Electron Profile Stiffness and Critical Gradient Length Studies in the Alcator C-Mod Tokamak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Houshmandyar, Saeid; Hatch, David R.; Liao, Kenneth T.; Zhao, Bingzhe; Phillips, Perry E.; Rowan, William L.; Cao, Norman; Ernst, Darin R.; Rice, John E.

2017-10-01

Electron temperature profile stiffness was investigated at Alcator C-Mod L-mode discharges. Electrons were heated by ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) through minority heating. The intent of the heating mechanism was to vary the heat flux and simultaneously, gradually change the local gradient. The electron temperature gradient scale length (LTe- 1 = | ∇Te |/Te) was accurately measured through a novel technique, using the high-resolution radiometer ECE diagnostic. The TRANSP power balance analysis (Q/QGB) and the measured scale length (a/LTe) result in critical scale length measurements at all major radius locations. These measurements suggest that the profiles are already at the critical values. Furthermore, the dependence of the stiffness on plasma rotation and magnetic shear will be discussed. In order to understand the underlying mechanism of turbulence for these discharges, simulations using the gyrokinetic code, GENE, were carried out. For linear runs at electron scales, it was found that the largest growth rates are very sensitive to a/LTe variation, which suggests the presence of ETG modes, while the sensitivity studies in the ion scales indicate ITG/TEM modes. Supported by USDoE awards DE-FG03-96ER54373 and DE-FC02-99ER54512.

The correlation function for density perturbations in an expanding universe. I - Linear theory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcclelland, J.; Silk, J.

1977-01-01

The evolution of the two-point correlation function for adiabatic density perturbations in the early universe is studied. Analytical solutions are obtained for the evolution of linearized spherically symmetric adiabatic density perturbations and the two-point correlation function for these perturbations in the radiation-dominated portion of the early universe. The results are then extended to the regime after decoupling. It is found that: (1) adiabatic spherically symmetric perturbations comparable in scale with the maximum Jeans length would survive the radiation-dominated regime; (2) irregular fluctuations are smoothed out up to the scale of the maximum Jeans length in the radiation era, but regular fluctuations might survive on smaller scales; (3) in general, the only surviving structures for irregularly shaped adiabatic density perturbations of arbitrary but finite scale in the radiation regime are the size of or larger than the maximum Jeans length in that regime; (4) infinite plane waves with a wavelength smaller than the maximum Jeans length but larger than the critical dissipative damping scale could survive the radiation regime; and (5) black holes would also survive the radiation regime and might accrete sufficient mass after decoupling to nucleate the formation of galaxies.

Brain Network Architecture and Global Intelligence in Children with Focal Epilepsy.

PubMed

Paldino, M J; Golriz, F; Chapieski, M L; Zhang, W; Chu, Z D

2017-02-01

The biologic basis for intelligence rests to a large degree on the capacity for efficient integration of information across the cerebral network. We aimed to measure the relationship between network architecture and intelligence in the pediatric, epileptic brain. Patients were retrospectively identified with the following: 1) focal epilepsy; 2) brain MR imaging at 3T, including resting-state functional MR imaging; and 3) full-scale intelligence quotient measured by a pediatric neuropsychologist. The cerebral cortex was parcellated into approximately 700 gray matter network "nodes." The strength of a connection between 2 nodes was defined by the correlation between their blood oxygen level-dependent time-series. We calculated the following topologic properties: clustering coefficient, transitivity, modularity, path length, and global efficiency. A machine learning algorithm was used to measure the independent contribution of each metric to the intelligence quotient after adjusting for all other metrics. Thirty patients met the criteria (4-18 years of age); 20 patients required anesthesia during MR imaging. After we accounted for age and sex, clustering coefficient and path length were independently associated with full-scale intelligence quotient. Neither motion parameters nor general anesthesia was an important variable with regard to accurate intelligence quotient prediction by the machine learning algorithm. A longer history of epilepsy was associated with shorter path lengths ( P = .008), consistent with reorganization of the network on the basis of seizures. Considering only patients receiving anesthesia during machine learning did not alter the patterns of network architecture contributing to global intelligence. These findings support the physiologic relevance of imaging-based metrics of network architecture in the pathologic, developing brain. © 2017 by American Journal of Neuroradiology.

Investigation of geometric design in piezoelectric microelectromechanical systems diaphragms for ultrasonic energy harvesting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Qiongfeng; Wang, Tao; Kobayashi, Takeshi; Lee, Chengkuo

2016-05-01

Acoustic energy transfer (AET) has been widely used for contactless energy delivery to implantable devices. However, most of the energy harvesters (ultrasonic receivers) for AET are macro-scale transducers with large volume and limited operation bandwidth. Here, we propose and investigate two microelectromechanical systems diaphragm based piezoelectric ultrasonic energy harvesters (PUEHs) as an alternative for AET. The proposed PUEHs consist of micro-scale diaphragm array with different geometric parameter design. Diaphragms in PUEH-1 have large length to width ratio to achieve broadband property, while its energy harvesting performance is compromised. Diaphragms in PUEH-2 have smaller length to width ratio and thinner thickness to achieve both broadband property and good energy harvesting performance. Both PUEHs have miniaturized size and wide operation bandwidth that are ideally suitable to be integrated as power source for implantable biomedical devices. PUEH-1 has a merged -6 dB bandwidth of 74.5% with a central frequency of 350 kHz. PUEH-2 has two separate -6 dB bandwidth of 73.7%/30.8% with central frequencies of 285 kHz/650 kHz. They can adapt to various ultrasonic sources with different working frequency spectrum. Maximum output power is 34.3 nW and 84.3 nW for PUEH-1 and PUEH-2 at 1 mW/cm2 ultrasound intensity input, respectively. The associated power density is 0.734 μW/cm2 and 4.1 μW/cm2, respectively. Better energy harvesting performance is achieved for PUEH-2 because of the optimized length to width ratio and thickness design. Both PUEHs offer more alignment flexibility with more than 40% power when they are in the range of the ultrasound transmitter.

Simulating mesoscale coastal evolution for decadal coastal management: A new framework integrating multiple, complementary modelling approaches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Maanen, Barend; Nicholls, Robert J.; French, Jon R.; Barkwith, Andrew; Bonaldo, Davide; Burningham, Helene; Brad Murray, A.; Payo, Andres; Sutherland, James; Thornhill, Gillian; Townend, Ian H.; van der Wegen, Mick; Walkden, Mike J. A.

2016-03-01

Coastal and shoreline management increasingly needs to consider morphological change occurring at decadal to centennial timescales, especially that related to climate change and sea-level rise. This requires the development of morphological models operating at a mesoscale, defined by time and length scales of the order 101 to 102 years and 101 to 102 km. So-called 'reduced complexity' models that represent critical processes at scales not much smaller than the primary scale of interest, and are regulated by capturing the critical feedbacks that govern landform behaviour, are proving effective as a means of exploring emergent coastal behaviour at a landscape scale. Such models tend to be computationally efficient and are thus easily applied within a probabilistic framework. At the same time, reductionist models, built upon a more detailed description of hydrodynamic and sediment transport processes, are capable of application at increasingly broad spatial and temporal scales. More qualitative modelling approaches are also emerging that can guide the development and deployment of quantitative models, and these can be supplemented by varied data-driven modelling approaches that can achieve new explanatory insights from observational datasets. Such disparate approaches have hitherto been pursued largely in isolation by mutually exclusive modelling communities. Brought together, they have the potential to facilitate a step change in our ability to simulate the evolution of coastal morphology at scales that are most relevant to managing erosion and flood risk. Here, we advocate and outline a new integrated modelling framework that deploys coupled mesoscale reduced complexity models, reductionist coastal area models, data-driven approaches, and qualitative conceptual models. Integration of these heterogeneous approaches gives rise to model compositions that can potentially resolve decadal- to centennial-scale behaviour of diverse coupled open coast, estuary and inner shelf settings. This vision is illustrated through an idealised composition of models for a ~ 70 km stretch of the Suffolk coast, eastern England. A key advantage of model linking is that it allows a wide range of real-world situations to be simulated from a small set of model components. However, this process involves more than just the development of software that allows for flexible model coupling. The compatibility of radically different modelling assumptions remains to be carefully assessed and testing as well as evaluating uncertainties of models in composition are areas that require further attention.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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 processes. Also, we explore the variability in hillslope length scales as a function of hillslope diffusivity coefficients and critical shear stress in natural landscapes and show that we can infer signatures of dominant geomorphic processes by analyzing characteristic topographic length scales present in topography. References: Beven, K. and Kirkby, M. J.: A physically based variable contributing area model of basin hydrology, Hydrol. Sci. Bull., 24, 43-69, 1979 Howard, A. D. (1994). A detachment-limited model of drainage basin evolution.Water resources research, 30(7), 2261-2285. Passalacqua, P., Do Trung, T., Foufoula Georgiou, E., Sapiro, G., & Dietrich, W. E. (2010). A geometric framework for channel network extraction from lidar: Nonlinear diffusion and geodesic paths. Journal of Geophysical. Research: Earth Surface (2003-2012), 115(F1). Sangireddy, H., Passalacqua, P., Stark, C.P.(2012). Multi-resolution estimation of lidar-DTM surface flow metrics to identify characteristic topographic length scales, EP13C-0859: AGU Fall meeting 2012. Stark, C. P., & Stark, G. J. (2001). A channelization model of landscape evolution. American Journal of Science, 301(4-5), 486-512. Tucker, G. E., Catani, F., Rinaldo, A., & Bras, R. L. (2001). Statistical analysis of drainage density from digital terrain data. Geomorphology, 36(3), 187-202.

Detection of submicron scale cracks and other surface anomalies using positron emission tomography

DOEpatents

Cowan, Thomas E.; Howell, Richard H.; Colmenares, Carlos A.

2004-02-17

Detection of submicron scale cracks and other mechanical and chemical surface anomalies using PET. This surface technique has sufficient sensitivity to detect single voids or pits of sub-millimeter size and single cracks or fissures of millimeter size; and single cracks or fissures of millimeter-scale length, micrometer-scale depth, and nanometer-scale length, micrometer-scale depth, and nanometer-scale width. This technique can also be applied to detect surface regions of differing chemical reactivity. It may be utilized in a scanning or survey mode to simultaneously detect such mechanical or chemical features over large interior or exterior surface areas of parts as large as about 50 cm in diameter. The technique involves exposing a surface to short-lived radioactive gas for a time period, removing the excess gas to leave a partial monolayer, determining the location and shape of the cracks, voids, porous regions, etc., and calculating the width, depth, and length thereof. Detection of 0.01 mm deep cracks using a 3 mm detector resolution has been accomplished using this technique.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

Fire Hazards from Combustible Ammunition, Methodology Development. Phase I

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-06-01

5.3 Flame Length , Flame Diameter and Mass Burning Rate 37 5.4 Flame Emissive Power 41 5.5 Fire Plume Axial Gas Velocity 41 5.6 Flame Temperature...B.2 Exit Velocity 93 B.3 Rate of Energy Flow 93 B.4 Chamber Characteristics 94 B.5 Flame Length 95 B.6 Flame Lift Angle 95 B.7 Summary 97...Viewing Flame in Test Series 5 17. Flame Length Scaling 18. Scaling Trends for Mass Burning Rate 19. Effective Flame Emissive Power versus Flame

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

PubMed

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.

Analysis of the Yukawa gravitational potential in f (R ) gravity. II. Relativistic periastron advance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Laurentis, Mariafelicia; De Martino, Ivan; Lazkoz, Ruth

2018-05-01

Alternative theories of gravity may serve to overcome several shortcomings of the standard cosmological model but, in their weak field limit, general relativity must be recovered so as to match the tight constraints at the Solar System scale. Therefore, testing such alternative models at scales of stellar systems could give a unique opportunity to confirm or rule them out. One of the most straightforward modifications is represented by analytical f (R )-gravity models that introduce a Yukawa-like modification to the Newtonian potential thus modifying the dynamics of particles. Using the geodesics equations, we have illustrated the amplitude of these modifications. First, we have integrated numerically the equations of motion showing the orbital precession of a particle around a massive object. Second, we have computed an analytic expression for the periastron advance of systems having their semimajor axis much shorter than the Yukawa-scale length. Finally, we have extended our results to the case of a binary system composed of two massive objects. Our analysis provides a powerful tool to obtain constraints on the underlying theory of gravity using current and forthcoming data sets.

Active mechanics in living oocytes reveal molecular-scale force kinetics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmed, Wylie; Fodor, Etienne; Almonacid, Maria; Bussonnier, Matthias; Verlhac, Marie-Helene; Gov, Nir; Visco, Paolo; van Wijland, Frederic; Betz, Timo

Unlike traditional materials, living cells actively generate forces at the molecular scale that change their structure and mechanical properties. This nonequilibrium activity is essential for cellular function, and drives processes such as cell division. Single molecule studies have uncovered the detailed force kinetics of isolated motor proteins in-vitro, however their behavior in-vivo has been elusive due to the complex environment inside the cell. Here, we quantify active forces and intracellular mechanics in living oocytes using in-vivo optical trapping and laser interferometry of endogenous vesicles. We integrate an experimental and theoretical framework to connect mesoscopic measurements of nonequilibrium properties to the underlying molecular- scale force kinetics. Our results show that force generation by myosin-V drives the cytoplasmic-skeleton out-of-equilibrium (at frequencies below 300 Hz) and actively softens the environment. In vivo myosin-V activity generates a force of F ~ 0 . 4 pN, with a power-stroke of length Δx ~ 20 nm and duration τ ~ 300 μs, that drives vesicle motion at vv ~ 320 nm/s. This framework is widely applicable to characterize living cells and other soft active materials.

Uranium Bioreduction Rates across Scales: Biogeochemical Hot Moments and Hot Spots during a Biostimulation Experiment at Rifle, Colorado

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bao, Chen; Wu, Hongfei; Li, Li

2014-09-02

We aim to understand the scale-dependent evolution of uranium bioreduction during a field experiment at a former uranium mill site near Rifle, Colorado. Acetate was injected to stimulate Fe-reducing bacteria (FeRB) and to immobilize aqueous U(VI) to insoluble U(IV). Bicarbonate was coinjected in half of the domain to mobilize sorbed U(VI). We used reactive transport modeling to integrate hydraulic and geochemical data and to quantify rates at the grid block (0.25 m) and experimental field scale (tens of meters). Although local rates varied by orders of magnitude in conjunction with biostimulation fronts propagating downstream, field-scale rates were dominated by thosemore » orders of magnitude higher rates at a few selected hot spots where Fe(III), U(VI), and FeRB were at their maxima in the vicinity of the injection wells. At particular locations, the hot moments with maximum rates negatively corresponded to their distance from the injection wells. Although bicarbonate injection enhanced local rates near the injection wells by a maximum of 39.4%, its effect at the field scale was limited to a maximum of 10.0%. We propose a rate-versus-measurement-length relationship (log R' = -0.63« less

VizieR Online Data Catalog: CALIFA galaxies observational hints (Ruiz-Lara+, 2017)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruiz-Lara, T.; Perez, I.; Florido, E.; Sanchez-Blazquez, P.; Mendez-Abreu, J.; Sanchez-Menguiano, L.; Sanchez, S. F.; Lyubenova, M.; Falcon-Barroso, J.; van de Ven, G.; Marino, R. A.; de Lorenzo-Caceres, A.; Catalan-Torrecilla, C.; Costantin, L.; Bland-Hawthorn, J.; Galbany, L.; Garcia-Benito, R.; Husemann, B.; Kehrig, C.; Marquez, I.; Mast, D.; Walcher, C. J.; Zibetti, S.; Ziegle, B.; Califa Team

2017-05-01

Characterisation of the sample of galaxies under analysis in the paper. The sample comprises 214 galaxies from the CALIFA survey. For each galaxy the name, equatorial coordinates, morphological type, presence of a bar, surface brightness profile type, inner disc scale length (kpc), outer disc scale length (kpc), and break radius in units of the inner disc scale length are given. Columns (1), (2), (3), and (4) from the CALIFA general sample characterisation (Walcher et al., 2014A&A...569A...1W). Columns (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), and (10) from the 2D decomposition performed in Mendez-Abreu et al. (2017, Cat. J/A+A/598/A32). (1 data file).

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

Infrared length scale and extrapolations for the no-core shell model

DOE PAGES

Wendt, K. A.; Forssén, C.; Papenbrock, T.; ...

2015-06-03

In this paper, we precisely determine the infrared (IR) length scale of the no-core shell model (NCSM). In the NCSM, the A-body Hilbert space is truncated by the total energy, and the IR length can be determined by equating the intrinsic kinetic energy of A nucleons in the NCSM space to that of A nucleons in a 3(A-1)-dimensional hyper-radial well with a Dirichlet boundary condition for the hyper radius. We demonstrate that this procedure indeed yields a very precise IR length by performing large-scale NCSM calculations for 6Li. We apply our result and perform accurate IR extrapolations for bound statesmore » of 4He, 6He, 6Li, and 7Li. Finally, we also attempt to extrapolate NCSM results for 10B and 16O with bare interactions from chiral effective field theory over tens of MeV.« less

Combined single crystal polarized XAFS and XRD at high pressure: probing the interplay between lattice distortions and electronic order at multiple length scales in high T c cuprates

DOE PAGES

Fabbris, G.; Hücker, M.; Gu, G. D.; ...

2016-07-14

Some of the most exotic material properties derive from electronic states with short correlation length (~10-500 Å), suggesting that the local structural symmetry may play a relevant role in their behavior. In this study, we discuss the combined use of polarized x-ray absorption fine structure and x-ray diffraction at high pressure as a powerful method to tune and probe structural and electronic orders at multiple length scales. Besides addressing some of the technical challenges associated with such experiments, we illustrate this approach with results obtained in the cuprate La 1.875Ba 0.125CuO 4, in which the response of electronic order tomore » pressure can only be understood by probing the structure at the relevant length scales.« less

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

DOEpatents

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.

From individual spiking neurons to population behavior: Systematic elimination of short-wavelength spatial modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steyn-Ross, Moira L.; Steyn-Ross, D. A.

2016-02-01

Mean-field models of the brain approximate spiking dynamics by assuming that each neuron responds to its neighbors via a naive spatial average that neglects local fluctuations and correlations in firing activity. In this paper we address this issue by introducing a rigorous formalism to enable spatial coarse-graining of spiking dynamics, scaling from the microscopic level of a single type 1 (integrator) neuron to a macroscopic assembly of spiking neurons that are interconnected by chemical synapses and nearest-neighbor gap junctions. Spiking behavior at the single-neuron scale ℓ ≈10 μ m is described by Wilson's two-variable conductance-based equations [H. R. Wilson, J. Theor. Biol. 200, 375 (1999), 10.1006/jtbi.1999.1002], driven by fields of incoming neural activity from neighboring neurons. We map these equations to a coarser spatial resolution of grid length B ℓ , with B ≫1 being the blocking ratio linking micro and macro scales. Our method systematically eliminates high-frequency (short-wavelength) spatial modes q ⃗ in favor of low-frequency spatial modes Q ⃗ using an adiabatic elimination procedure that has been shown to be equivalent to the path-integral coarse graining applied to renormalization group theory of critical phenomena. This bottom-up neural regridding allows us to track the percolation of synaptic and ion-channel noise from the single neuron up to the scale of macroscopic population-average variables. Anticipated applications of neural regridding include extraction of the current-to-firing-rate transfer function, investigation of fluctuation criticality near phase-transition tipping points, determination of spatial scaling laws for avalanche events, and prediction of the spatial extent of self-organized macrocolumnar structures. As a first-order exemplar of the method, we recover nonlinear corrections for a coarse-grained Wilson spiking neuron embedded in a network of identical diffusively coupled neurons whose chemical synapses have been disabled. Intriguingly, we find that reblocking transforms the original type 1 Wilson integrator into a type 2 resonator whose spike-rate transfer function exhibits abrupt spiking onset with near-vertical takeoff and chaotic dynamics just above threshold.

Construction and comparison of parallel implicit kinetic solvers in three spatial dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Titarev, Vladimir; Dumbser, Michael; Utyuzhnikov, Sergey

2014-01-01

The paper is devoted to the further development and systematic performance evaluation of a recent deterministic framework Nesvetay-3D for modelling three-dimensional rarefied gas flows. Firstly, a review of the existing discretization and parallelization strategies for solving numerically the Boltzmann kinetic equation with various model collision integrals is carried out. Secondly, a new parallelization strategy for the implicit time evolution method is implemented which improves scaling on large CPU clusters. Accuracy and scalability of the methods are demonstrated on a pressure-driven rarefied gas flow through a finite-length circular pipe as well as an external supersonic flow over a three-dimensional re-entry geometry of complicated aerodynamic shape.

Enabling Predictive Simulation and UQ of Complex Multiphysics PDE Systems by the Development of Goal-Oriented Variational Sensitivity Analysis and a-Posteriori Error Estimation Methods

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Estep, Donald

2015-11-30

This project addressed the challenge of predictive computational analysis of strongly coupled, highly nonlinear multiphysics systems characterized by multiple physical phenomena that span a large range of length- and time-scales. Specifically, the project was focused on computational estimation of numerical error and sensitivity analysis of computational solutions with respect to variations in parameters and data. In addition, the project investigated the use of accurate computational estimates to guide efficient adaptive discretization. The project developed, analyzed and evaluated new variational adjoint-based techniques for integration, model, and data error estimation/control and sensitivity analysis, in evolutionary multiphysics multiscale simulations.

Multiresolution analysis of characteristic length scales with high-resolution topographic data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sangireddy, Harish; Stark, Colin P.; Passalacqua, Paola

2017-07-01

Characteristic length scales (CLS) define landscape structure and delimit geomorphic processes. Here we use multiresolution analysis (MRA) to estimate such scales from high-resolution topographic data. MRA employs progressive terrain defocusing, via convolution of the terrain data with Gaussian kernels of increasing standard deviation, and calculation at each smoothing resolution of (i) the probability distributions of curvature and topographic index (defined as the ratio of slope to area in log scale) and (ii) characteristic spatial patterns of divergent and convergent topography identified by analyzing the curvature of the terrain. The MRA is first explored using synthetic 1-D and 2-D signals whose CLS are known. It is then validated against a set of MARSSIM (a landscape evolution model) steady state landscapes whose CLS were tuned by varying hillslope diffusivity and simulated noise amplitude. The known CLS match the scales at which the distributions of topographic index and curvature show scaling breaks, indicating that the MRA can identify CLS in landscapes based on the scaling behavior of topographic attributes. Finally, the MRA is deployed to measure the CLS of five natural landscapes using meter resolution digital terrain model data. CLS are inferred from the scaling breaks of the topographic index and curvature distributions and equated with (i) small-scale roughness features and (ii) the hillslope length scale.

Length scales involved in decoherence of trapped bosons by buffer-gas scattering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gilz, Lukas; Rico-Pérez, Luis; Anglin, James R.

2014-05-01

We ask and answer a basic question about the length scales involved in quantum decoherence: how far apart in space do two parts of a quantum system have to be before a common quantum environment decoheres them as if they were entirely separate? We frame this question specifically in a cold atom context. How far apart do two populations of bosons have to be before an environment of thermal atoms of a different species ("buffer gas") responds to their two particle numbers separately? An initial guess for this length scale is the thermal coherence length of the buffer gas; we show that a standard Born-Markov treatment partially supports this guess, but predicts only inverse-square saturation of decoherence rates with distance, and not the much more abrupt Gaussian behavior of the buffer gas's first-order coherence. We confirm this Born-Markov result with a more rigorous theory, based on an exact solution of a two-scatterer scattering problem, which also extends the result beyond weak scattering. Finally, however, we show that when interactions within the buffer-gas reservoir are taken into account, an abrupt saturation of the decoherence rate does occur, exponentially on the length scale of the buffer gas's mean free path.

The scaling structure of the global road network

PubMed Central

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

2017-01-01

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. PMID:29134071

The scaling structure of the global road network.

PubMed

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.

Diffusion-limited mixing by incompressible flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miles, Christopher J.; Doering, Charles R.

2018-05-01

Incompressible flows can be effective mixers by appropriately advecting a passive tracer to produce small filamentation length scales. In addition, diffusion is generally perceived as beneficial to mixing due to its ability to homogenize a passive tracer. However we provide numerical evidence that, in cases where advection and diffusion are both actively present, diffusion may produce negative effects by limiting the mixing effectiveness of incompressible optimal flows. This limitation appears to be due to the presence of a limiting length scale given by a generalised Batchelor length (Batchelor 1959 J. Fluid Mech. 5 113–33). This length scale limitation may in turn affect long-term mixing rates. More specifically, we consider local-in-time flow optimisation under energy and enstrophy flow constraints with the objective of maximising the mixing rate. We observe that, for enstrophy-bounded optimal flows, the strength of diffusion may not impact the long-term mixing rate. For energy-constrained optimal flows, however, an increase in the strength of diffusion can decrease the mixing rate. We provide analytical lower bounds on mixing rates and length scales achievable under related constraints (point-wise bounded speed and rate-of-strain) by extending the work of Lin et al (2011 J. Fluid Mech. 675 465–76) and Poon (1996 Commun. PDE 21 521–39).

Multi-window PIV measurements around a breathing manikin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marr, David

2005-11-01

The presented work includes multi-scale measurements via a stereo article Image Velocimetry (PIV) system to view a pair of two-component windows of dissimilar scale using a varied focal length. These measurements are taken in the breathing zone of an isothermal breathing manikin (from mouth) in an environmental chamber of average office cubicle dimensions without ventilation and are analogous to an oscillatory jet. From these phase-averaged measurements, we can extract information concerning length scales, turbulence quantities and low dimensional information in order to both determine correlation between data at different length scales as well as continuing research in exposure assessment for the indoor environment. In this talk we will present these turbulence quantities and interpret their influence on the breathing zone. While the largest scale is that of the room itself, we find that the relevant spatial scales associated with the breathing zone are much lower in magnitude. In future experiments, we will expand the multi window PIV technique to include PIV window configured to obtain scales of order the cubicle simultaneously with those of the breathing zone. This will aid in our understanding of the combined impact of these multiple scales on occupant exposure in the indoor environment.

Bridging the Gap Between Large-scale Data Sets and Analyses: Semi-automated Methods to Facilitate Length Polymorphism Scoring and Data Analyses.

EPA Science Inventory

Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers can be developed more quickly and at a lower cost than microsatellite and single nucleotide polymorphism markers, which makes them ideal markers for large-scale studies of understudied taxa — such as species at risk. However,...

Temporal length-scale cascade and expansion rate on planar liquid jet instability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sirignano, William; Zandian, Arash; Hussain, Fazle

2016-11-01

Using the local radius of curvature of the surface and the local transverse dimension of the two-phase (i.e., spray) domain as length scales, we obtained two PDFs over a wide range of length-scales at different times and for different Reynolds and Weber (We) numbers. The PDFs were developed via post-processing of DNS Navier-Stokes results for a 3D planar liquid sheet segment with level-set and Volume-of-Fluid surface tracking, giving better statistical data for the length scales compared to the former methods. The radius PDF shows that, with increasing We , the average radius of curvature decreases, number of small droplets increases, and cascade occurs at a faster rate. In time, the mean of the radius PDF decreases while the rms increases. The other PDF represents the spray expansion in a more realistic and meaningful form, showing that the spray angle is larger at higher We and density-ratios. Both the mean and the rms of the spray-size PDF increase with time. The PDFs also track the transitions between symmetric and anti-symmetric modes.

Entropically Stabilized Colloidal Crystals Hold Entropy in Collective Modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Antonaglia, James; van Anders, Greg; Glotzer, Sharon

Ordered structures can be stabilized by entropy if the system has more ordered microstates available than disordered ones. However, ``locating'' the entropy in an ordered system is challenging because entropic ordering is necessarily a collective effort emerging from the interactions of large numbers of particles. Yet, we can characterize these crystals using simple traditional tools, because entropically stabilized crystals exhibit collective motion and effective stiffness. For a two-dimensional system of hard hexagons, we calculate the dispersion relations of both vibrational and librational collective modes. We find the librational mode is gapped, and the gap provides an emergent, macroscopic, and density-dependent length scale. We quantify the entropic contribution of each collective mode and find that below this length scale, the dominant entropic contributions are librational, and above this length scale, vibrations dominate. This length scale diverges in the high-density limit, so entropy is found predominantly in libration near dense packing. National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program Grant No. DGE 1256260, Advanced Research Computing at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and the Simons Foundation.

Flow field topology of transient mixing driven by buoyancy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duval, Walter M B.

2004-01-01

Transient mixing driven by buoyancy occurs through the birth of a symmetric Rayleigh-Taylor morphology (RTM) structure for large length scales. Beyond its critical bifurcation the RTM structure exhibits self-similarity and occurs on smaller and smaller length scales. The dynamics of the RTM structure, its nonlinear growth and internal collision, show that its genesis occurs from an explosive bifurcation which leads to the overlap of resonance regions in phase space. This event shows the coexistence of regular and chaotic regions in phase space which is corroborated with the existence of horseshoe maps. A measure of local chaos given by the topological entropy indicates that as the system evolves there is growth of uncertainty. Breakdown of the dissipative RTM structure occurs during the transition from explosive to catastrophic bifurcation; this event gives rise to annihilation of the separatrices which drives overlap of resonance regions. The global bifurcation of explosive and catastrophic events in phase space for the large length scale of the RTM structure serves as a template for which mixing occurs on smaller and smaller length scales. Copyright 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Critical behavior of the order-disorder phase transition in β -brass investigated by x-ray scattering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madsen, A.; Als-Nielsen, J.; Hallmann, J.; Roth, T.; Lu, W.

2016-07-01

β -brass exhibits an archetypical example of an order-disorder transition with a critical behavior that was previously investigated by neutron scattering. The data were well described by the three-dimensional (3d) Ising model but the relatively crude experimental resolution prevented an in-depth examination of the single-length scaling hypothesis, a cornerstone in the theory of critical phenomena. With the development of synchrotron x-ray experiments, high-resolution data could be recorded and surprisingly it was found that the single-length scaling did not hold in most critical systems, possibly due to strain originating from surface defects and/or impurities. In this paper we demonstrate single-length critical behavior using high-resolution x-ray scattering in β -brass. The investigations confirm that β -brass behaves like a 3d Ising system over a wide range of length scales comprising correlated clusters of millions of atoms. To vary the surface sensitivity, experiments have been performed both in Bragg reflection and Laue transmission geometries but without any substantial differences observed in the scaling and critical behavior.

Statistic inversion of multi-zone transition probability models for aquifer characterization in alluvial fans

DOE PAGES

Zhu, Lin; Dai, Zhenxue; Gong, Huili; ...

2015-06-12

Understanding the heterogeneity arising from the complex architecture of sedimentary sequences in alluvial fans is challenging. This study develops a statistical inverse framework in a multi-zone transition probability approach for characterizing the heterogeneity in alluvial fans. An analytical solution of the transition probability matrix is used to define the statistical relationships among different hydrofacies and their mean lengths, integral scales, and volumetric proportions. A statistical inversion is conducted to identify the multi-zone transition probability models and estimate the optimal statistical parameters using the modified Gauss–Newton–Levenberg–Marquardt method. The Jacobian matrix is computed by the sensitivity equation method, which results in anmore » accurate inverse solution with quantification of parameter uncertainty. We use the Chaobai River alluvial fan in the Beijing Plain, China, as an example for elucidating the methodology of alluvial fan characterization. The alluvial fan is divided into three sediment zones. In each zone, the explicit mathematical formulations of the transition probability models are constructed with optimized different integral scales and volumetric proportions. The hydrofacies distributions in the three zones are simulated sequentially by the multi-zone transition probability-based indicator simulations. Finally, the result of this study provides the heterogeneous structure of the alluvial fan for further study of flow and transport simulations.« less

A rational approach to the use of Prandtl's mixing length model in free turbulent shear flow calculations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rudy, D. H.; Bushnell, D. M.

1973-01-01

Prandtl's basic mixing length model was used to compute 22 test cases on free turbulent shear flows. The calculations employed appropriate algebraic length scale equations and single values of mixing length constant for planar and axisymmetric flows, respectively. Good agreement with data was obtained except for flows, such as supersonic free shear layers, where large sustained sensitivity changes occur. The inability to predict the more gradual mixing in these flows is tentatively ascribed to the presence of a significant turbulence-induced transverse static pressure gradient which is neglected in conventional solution procedures. Some type of an equation for length scale development was found to be necessary for successful computation of highly nonsimilar flow regions such as jet or wake development from thick wall flows.

The Electrostatic Screening Length in Concentrated Electrolytes Increases with Concentration.

PubMed

Smith, Alexander M; Lee, Alpha A; Perkin, Susan

2016-06-16

According to classical electrolyte theories interactions in dilute (low ion density) electrolytes decay exponentially with distance, with the Debye screening length the characteristic length scale. This decay length decreases monotonically with increasing ion concentration due to effective screening of charges over short distances. Thus, within the Debye model no long-range forces are expected in concentrated electrolytes. Here we reveal, using experimental detection of the interaction between two planar charged surfaces across a wide range of electrolytes, that beyond the dilute (Debye-Hückel) regime the screening length increases with increasing concentration. The screening lengths for all electrolytes studied-including aqueous NaCl solutions, ionic liquids diluted with propylene carbonate, and pure ionic liquids-collapse onto a single curve when scaled by the dielectric constant. This nonmonotonic variation of the screening length with concentration, and its generality across ionic liquids and aqueous salt solutions, demonstrates an important characteristic of concentrated electrolytes of substantial relevance from biology to energy storage.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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 estimate slope, shear velocity and sediment flux within this depositional system. The findings from this research can be applied to evaluate spatially and temporally varying morphodynamic conditions, based on structures measured from both modern systems and ancient sedimentary records.

Measurement of Two-Plasmon-Decay Dependence on Plasma Density Scale Length

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haberberger, D.

2013-10-01

An accurate understanding of the plasma scale-length (Lq) conditions near quarter-critical density is important in quantifying the hot electrons generated by the two-plasmon-decay (TPD) instability in long-scale-length plasmas. A novel target platform was developed to vary the density scale length and an innovative diagnostic was implemented to measure the density profiles above 1021 cm-3 where TPD is expected to have the largest growth. A series of experiments was performed using the four UV (351-nm) beams on OMEGA EP that varied the Lq by changing the radius of curvature of the target while maintaining a constant Iq/Tq. The fraction of laser energy converted to hot electrons (fhot) was observed to increase rapidly from 0.005% to 1% by increasing the plasma scale length from 130 μm to 300 μm, corresponding to target diameters of 0.4 mm to 8 mm. A new diagnostic was developed based on refractometry using angular spectral filters to overcome the large phase accumulation in standard interferometric techniques. The angular filter refractometer measures the refraction angles of a 10-ps, 263-nm probe laser after propagating through the plasma. An angular spectral filter is used in the Fourier plane of the probe beam, where the refractive angles of the rays are mapped to space. The edges of the filter are present in the image plane and represent contours of constant refraction angle. These contours are used to infer the phase of the probe beam, which are used to calculate the plasma density profile. In long-scale-length plasmas, the diagnostic currently measures plasma densities from ~1019 cm-3 to ~2 × 1021 cm-3. This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration under Award Number DE-NA0001944. In collaboration with D. H. Edgell, S. X. Hu, S. Ivancic, R. Boni, C. Dorrer, and D. H. Froula (Laboratory for Laser Energetics, U. of Rochester).

The accuracy of climate models' simulated season lengths and the effectiveness of grid scale correction factors

DOE PAGES

Winterhalter, Wade E.

2011-09-01

Global climate change is expected to impact biological populations through a variety of mechanisms including increases in the length of their growing season. Climate models are useful tools for predicting how season length might change in the future. However, the accuracy of these models tends to be rather low at regional geographic scales. Here, I determined the ability of several atmosphere and ocean general circulating models (AOGCMs) to accurately simulate historical season lengths for a temperate ectotherm across the continental United States. I also evaluated the effectiveness of regional-scale correction factors to improve the accuracy of these models. I foundmore » that both the accuracy of simulated season lengths and the effectiveness of the correction factors to improve the model's accuracy varied geographically and across models. These results suggest that regional specific correction factors do not always adequately remove potential discrepancies between simulated and historically observed environmental parameters. As such, an explicit evaluation of the correction factors' effectiveness should be included in future studies of global climate change's impact on biological populations.« less

Optimal cue integration in ants.

PubMed

Wystrach, Antoine; Mangan, Michael; Webb, Barbara

2015-10-07

In situations with redundant or competing sensory information, humans have been shown to perform cue integration, weighting different cues according to their certainty in a quantifiably optimal manner. Ants have been shown to merge the directional information available from their path integration (PI) and visual memory, but as yet it is not clear that they do so in a way that reflects the relative certainty of the cues. In this study, we manipulate the variance of the PI home vector by allowing ants (Cataglyphis velox) to run different distances and testing their directional choice when the PI vector direction is put in competition with visual memory. Ants show progressively stronger weighting of their PI direction as PI length increases. The weighting is quantitatively predicted by modelling the expected directional variance of home vectors of different lengths and assuming optimal cue integration. However, a subsequent experiment suggests ants may not actually compute an internal estimate of the PI certainty, but are using the PI home vector length as a proxy. © 2015 The Author(s).

Modeling Near-Crack-Tip Plasticity from Nano- to Micro-Scales

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Glaessgen, Edward H.; Saether, Erik; Hochhalter, Jake D.; Yamakov, Vesselin I.

2010-01-01

Several efforts that are aimed at understanding the plastic deformation mechanisms related to crack propagation at the nano-, meso- and micro-length scales including atomistic simulation, discrete dislocation plasticity, strain gradient plasticity and crystal plasticity are discussed. The paper focuses on discussion of newly developed methodologies and their application to understanding damage processes in aluminum and its alloys. Examination of plastic mechanisms as a function of increasing length scale illustrates increasingly complex phenomena governing plasticity

Uranium bioreduction rates across scales: biogeochemical hot moments and hot spots during a biostimulation experiment at Rifle, Colorado.

PubMed

Bao, Chen; Wu, Hongfei; Li, Li; Newcomer, Darrell; Long, Philip E; Williams, Kenneth H

2014-09-02

We aim to understand the scale-dependent evolution of uranium bioreduction during a field experiment at a former uranium mill site near Rifle, Colorado. Acetate was injected to stimulate Fe-reducing bacteria (FeRB) and to immobilize aqueous U(VI) to insoluble U(IV). Bicarbonate was coinjected in half of the domain to mobilize sorbed U(VI). We used reactive transport modeling to integrate hydraulic and geochemical data and to quantify rates at the grid block (0.25 m) and experimental field scale (tens of meters). Although local rates varied by orders of magnitude in conjunction with biostimulation fronts propagating downstream, field-scale rates were dominated by those orders of magnitude higher rates at a few selected hot spots where Fe(III), U(VI), and FeRB were at their maxima in the vicinity of the injection wells. At particular locations, the hot moments with maximum rates negatively corresponded to their distance from the injection wells. Although bicarbonate injection enhanced local rates near the injection wells by a maximum of 39.4%, its effect at the field scale was limited to a maximum of 10.0%. We propose a rate-versus-measurement-length relationship (log R' = -0.63 log L - 2.20, with R' in μmol/mg cell protein/day and L in meters) for orders-of-magnitude estimation of uranium bioreduction rates across scales.

Efficient and Extensible Quasi-Explicit Modular Nonlinear Multiscale Battery Model: GH-MSMD

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kim, Gi-Heon; Smith, Kandler; Lawrence-Simon, Jake

Complex physics and long computation time hinder the adoption of computer aided engineering models in the design of large-format battery cells and systems. A modular, efficient battery simulation model -- the multiscale multidomain (MSMD) model -- was previously introduced to aid the scale-up of Li-ion material and electrode designs to complete cell and pack designs, capturing electrochemical interplay with 3-D electronic current pathways and thermal response. Here, this paper enhances the computational efficiency of the MSMD model using a separation of time-scales principle to decompose model field variables. The decomposition provides a quasi-explicit linkage between the multiple length-scale domains andmore » thus reduces time-consuming nested iteration when solving model equations across multiple domains. In addition to particle-, electrode- and cell-length scales treated in the previous work, the present formulation extends to bus bar- and multi-cell module-length scales. We provide example simulations for several variants of GH electrode-domain models.« less

Efficient and Extensible Quasi-Explicit Modular Nonlinear Multiscale Battery Model: GH-MSMD

DOE PAGES

Kim, Gi-Heon; Smith, Kandler; Lawrence-Simon, Jake; ...

2017-03-24

Complex physics and long computation time hinder the adoption of computer aided engineering models in the design of large-format battery cells and systems. A modular, efficient battery simulation model -- the multiscale multidomain (MSMD) model -- was previously introduced to aid the scale-up of Li-ion material and electrode designs to complete cell and pack designs, capturing electrochemical interplay with 3-D electronic current pathways and thermal response. Here, this paper enhances the computational efficiency of the MSMD model using a separation of time-scales principle to decompose model field variables. The decomposition provides a quasi-explicit linkage between the multiple length-scale domains andmore » thus reduces time-consuming nested iteration when solving model equations across multiple domains. In addition to particle-, electrode- and cell-length scales treated in the previous work, the present formulation extends to bus bar- and multi-cell module-length scales. We provide example simulations for several variants of GH electrode-domain models.« less

The dynamics of oceanic fronts. I - The Gulf Stream

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kao, T. W.

1980-01-01

The establishment and maintenance of the mean hydrographic properties of large-scale density fronts in the upper ocean is considered. The dynamics is studied by posing an initial value problem starting with a near-surface discharge of buoyant water with a prescribed density deficit into an ambient stationary fluid of uniform density; full time dependent diffusion and Navier-Stokes equations are then used with constant eddy diffusion and viscosity coefficients, together with a constant Coriolis parameter. Scaling analysis reveals three independent scales of the problem including the radius of deformation of the inertial length, buoyancy length, and diffusive length scales. The governing equations are then suitably scaled and the resulting normalized equations are shown to depend on the Ekman number alone for problems of oceanic interest. It is concluded that the mean Gulf Stream dynamics can be interpreted in terms of a solution of the Navier-Stokes and diffusion equations, with the cross-stream circulation responsible for the maintenance of the front; this mechanism is suggested for the maintenance of the Gulf Stream dynamics.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

Diffusion and scaling during early embryonic pattern formation

PubMed Central

Gregor, Thomas; Bialek, William; van Steveninck, Rob R. de Ruyter; Tank, David W.; Wieschaus, Eric F.

2005-01-01

Development of spatial patterns in multicellular organisms depends on gradients in the concentration of signaling molecules that control gene expression. In the Drosophila embryo, Bicoid (Bcd) morphogen controls cell fate along 70% of the anteroposterior axis but is translated from mRNA localized at the anterior pole. Gradients of Bcd and other morphogens are thought to arise through diffusion, but this basic assumption has never been rigorously tested in living embryos. Furthermore, because diffusion sets a relationship between length and time scales, it is hard to see how patterns of gene expression established by diffusion would scale proportionately as egg size changes during evolution. Here, we show that the motion of inert molecules through the embryo is well described by the diffusion equation on the relevant length and time scales, and that effective diffusion constants are essentially the same in closely related dipteran species with embryos of very different size. Nonetheless, patterns of gene expression in these different species scale with egg length. We show that this scaling can be traced back to scaling of the Bcd gradient itself. Our results, together with constraints imposed by the time scales of development, suggest that the mechanism for scaling is a species-specific adaptation of the Bcd lifetime. PMID:16352710

Parameter Sweep and Optimization of Loosely Coupled Simulations Using the DAKOTA Toolkit

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Elwasif, Wael R; Bernholdt, David E; Pannala, Sreekanth

2012-01-01

The increasing availability of large scale computing capabilities has accelerated the development of high-fidelity coupled simulations. Such simulations typically involve the integration of models that implement various aspects of the complex phenomena under investigation. Coupled simulations are playing an integral role in fields such as climate modeling, earth systems modeling, rocket simulations, computational chemistry, fusion research, and many other computational fields. Model coupling provides scientists with systematic ways to virtually explore the physical, mathematical, and computational aspects of the problem. Such exploration is rarely done using a single execution of a simulation, but rather by aggregating the results from manymore » simulation runs that, together, serve to bring to light novel knowledge about the system under investigation. Furthermore, it is often the case (particularly in engineering disciplines) that the study of the underlying system takes the form of an optimization regime, where the control parameter space is explored to optimize an objective functions that captures system realizability, cost, performance, or a combination thereof. Novel and flexible frameworks that facilitate the integration of the disparate models into a holistic simulation are used to perform this research, while making efficient use of the available computational resources. In this paper, we describe the integration of the DAKOTA optimization and parameter sweep toolkit with the Integrated Plasma Simulator (IPS), a component-based framework for loosely coupled simulations. The integration allows DAKOTA to exploit the internal task and resource management of the IPS to dynamically instantiate simulation instances within a single IPS instance, allowing for greater control over the trade-off between efficiency of resource utilization and time to completion. We present a case study showing the use of the combined DAKOTA-IPS system to aid in the design of a lithium ion battery (LIB) cell, by studying a coupled system involving the electrochemistry and ion transport at the lower length scales and thermal energy transport at the device scales. The DAKOTA-IPS system provides a flexible tool for use in optimization and parameter sweep studies involving loosely coupled simulations that is suitable for use in situations where changes to the constituent components in the coupled simulation are impractical due to intellectual property or code heritage issues.« less

Double-exponential decay of orientational correlations in semiflexible polyelectrolytes.

PubMed

Bačová, P; Košovan, P; Uhlík, F; Kuldová, J; Limpouchová, Z; Procházka, K

2012-06-01

In this paper we revisited the problem of persistence length of polyelectrolytes. We performed a series of Molecular Dynamics simulations using the Debye-Hückel approximation for electrostatics to test several equations which go beyond the classical description of Odijk, Skolnick and Fixman (OSF). The data confirm earlier observations that in the limit of large contour separations the decay of orientational correlations can be described by a single-exponential function and the decay length can be described by the OSF relation. However, at short countour separations the behaviour is more complex. Recent equations which introduce more complicated expressions and an additional length scale could describe the results very well on both the short and the long length scale. The equation of Manghi and Netz when used without adjustable parameters could capture the qualitative trend but deviated in a quantitative comparison. Better quantitative agreement within the estimated error could be obtained using three equations with one adjustable parameter: 1) the equation of Manghi and Netz; 2) the equation proposed by us in this paper; 3) the equation proposed by Cannavacciuolo and Pedersen. Two characteristic length scales can be identified in the data: the intrinsic or bare persistence length and the electrostatic persistence length. All three equations use a single parameter to describe a smooth crossover from the short-range behaviour dominated by the intrinsic stiffness of the chain to the long-range OSF-like behaviour.

Integration across Time Determines Path Deviation Discrimination for Moving Objects

PubMed Central

Whitaker, David; Levi, Dennis M.; Kennedy, Graeme J.

2008-01-01

Background Human vision is vital in determining our interaction with the outside world. In this study we characterize our ability to judge changes in the direction of motion of objects–a common task which can allow us either to intercept moving objects, or else avoid them if they pose a threat. Methodology/Principal Findings Observers were presented with objects which moved across a computer monitor on a linear path until the midline, at which point they changed their direction of motion, and observers were required to judge the direction of change. In keeping with the variety of objects we encounter in the real world, we varied characteristics of the moving stimuli such as velocity, extent of motion path and the object size. Furthermore, we compared performance for moving objects with the ability of observers to detect a deviation in a line which formed the static trace of the motion path, since it has been suggested that a form of static memory trace may form the basis for these types of judgment. The static line judgments were well described by a ‘scale invariant’ model in which any two stimuli which possess the same two-dimensional geometry (length/width) result in the same level of performance. Performance for the moving objects was entirely different. Irrespective of the path length, object size or velocity of motion, path deviation thresholds depended simply upon the duration of the motion path in seconds. Conclusions/Significance Human vision has long been known to integrate information across space in order to solve spatial tasks such as judgment of orientation or position. Here we demonstrate an intriguing mechanism which integrates direction information across time in order to optimize the judgment of path deviation for moving objects. PMID:18414653

Multi-scale Modeling of Chromosomal DNA in Living Cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spakowitz, Andrew

The organization and dynamics of chromosomal DNA play a pivotal role in a range of biological processes, including gene regulation, homologous recombination, replication, and segregation. Establishing a quantitative theoretical model of DNA organization and dynamics would be valuable in bridging the gap between the molecular-level packaging of DNA and genome-scale chromosomal processes. Our research group utilizes analytical theory and computational modeling to establish a predictive theoretical model of chromosomal organization and dynamics. In this talk, I will discuss our efforts to develop multi-scale polymer models of chromosomal DNA that are both sufficiently detailed to address specific protein-DNA interactions while capturing experimentally relevant time and length scales. I will demonstrate how these modeling efforts are capable of quantitatively capturing aspects of behavior of chromosomal DNA in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. This talk will illustrate that capturing dynamical behavior of chromosomal DNA at various length scales necessitates a range of theoretical treatments that accommodate the critical physical contributions that are relevant to in vivo behavior at these disparate length and time scales. National Science Foundation, Physics of Living Systems Program (PHY-1305516).

42 CFR 1001.102 - Length of exclusion.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

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42 CFR 1001.102 - Length of exclusion.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

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42 CFR 1001.102 - Length of exclusion.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

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42 CFR 1001.102 - Length of exclusion.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

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42 CFR 1001.102 - Length of exclusion.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.