The subtropical global plume in the Pacific Exploratory Mission-Tropics A (PEM-Tropics A), PEM-Tropics B, and the Global Atmospheric Sampling Program (GASP): How tropical emissions affect the remote Pacific

[1] An extended southern subtropical plume of CO meanders>15,000 km around the world, gradually spreading around 20 S. This southern pollution plume is most noticeable in the burning season, southern spring; a similar subtropical plume appears in the northern spring. We use tracer maps to guide the use of trajectories to trace observations of the plume to their origins. The MM5 mesoscale model provides high-resolution, near-global synoptic reconstructions of the weather. Two situations are analyzed: NASA’s airborne Pacific Exploratory Mission-Tropics A (PEM-Tropics A) period, September–October 1996 and the PEM-Tropics B period, March–April 1999. Similar features are noted for a much earlier mission in 1977, which apparently captured the first, but never-recognized, samples of the global pollution of the Southern Hemisphere. For PEM-Tropics A, near-source pieces of the plume are clearly seen in the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) absorbing aerosol product and are well simulated. Downwind, the aircraft sampling of several strands deriving from a single plume seems representative and well simulated. A general mechanism of the plume emerges: The southern plume arises in surface accumulation regions in Africa and Sout

Direct calculation of interfacial tensions from computer simulation: Results for freely jointed tangent hard sphere chains

We develop a methodology for the calculation of surface free energies based on the probability distribution of a wandering interface. Using a simple extension of the NpT sampling, we allow the interface area to randomly probe the available space and evaluate the surface free energy from histogram analysis and the corresponding average. The method is suitable for studying systems with either continuous or discontinuous potentials, as it does not require explicit evaluation of the virial. The proposed algorithm is compared with known results for the surface tension of Lennard--Jones and Square Well fluid, as well as for the interface tension of a bead--spring polymer model and good agreement is found. We also calculate interfacial tensions of freely jointed tangent hard sphere chains on athermal walls for a wide range of chain lengths and densities. The results are compared with three different theoretical approaches, Scaled Particle Theory, the Yu and Wu density functional theory and an analytical approximation based on the latter approach. Whereas SPT only yields qualitative results, the last two approaches are found to yield very good agreement with simulations.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, Phys. Rev. E in press

Multi-resolution dimer models in heat baths with short-range and long-range interactions

This work investigates multi-resolution methodologies for simulating dimer models. The solvent particles which make up the heat bath interact with the monomers of the dimer either through direct collisions (short-range) or through harmonic springs (long-range). Two types of multi-resolution methodologies are considered in detail: (a) describing parts of the solvent far away from the dimer by a coarser approach; (b) describing each monomer of the dimer by using a model with different level of resolution. These methodologies are then utilised to investigate the effect of a shared heat bath versus two uncoupled heat baths, one for each monomer. Furthermore the validity of the multi-resolution methods is discussed by comparison to dynamics of macroscopic Langevin equations.Comment: Submitted to Interface Focu

Identifying rare chaotic and regular trajectories in dynamical systems with Lyapunov weighted path sampling

Depending on initial conditions, individual finite time trajectories of dynamical systems can have very different chaotic properties. Here we present a numerical method to identify trajectories with atypical chaoticity, pathways that are either more regular or more chaotic than average. The method is based on the definition of an ensemble of trajectories weighted according to their chaoticity, the Lyapunov weighted path ensemble. This ensemble of trajectories is sampled using algorithms borrowed from transition path sampling, a method originally developed to study rare transitions between long-lived states. We demonstrate our approach by applying it to several systems with numbers of degrees of freedom ranging from one to several hundred and in all cases the algorithm found rare pathways with atypical chaoticity. For a double-well dimer embedded in a solvent, which can be viewed as simple model for an isomerizing molecule, rare reactive pathways were found for parameters strongly favoring chaotic dynamics.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Longitudinal stability augmentation of seaplanes in planing

The towing tank experiments conducted at Yokohama National University from November 30 to December 9 in 2005 suggested a new way of suppressing a dangerous coupled motion between heave and pitch called porpoising. The research in this paper was developed on the observations made in the experiments and conducted numerical simulations to further investigate the parametric design space. Two linear-time-invariant models were developed: rigid-body planing craft (conventional float planes or flying boats), and flexibly supported planing craft. The latter could simulate the new method found in the experiments for suppressing porpoising. In this study, the stability of the oscillatory motions was analyzed to see the effect of design variables on the inception of porpoising. The parametric study of flexibly supported float planes in the context of porpoising was a new contribution in the conceptual design of seaplanes

Virtual reality training and assessment in laparoscopic rectum surgery

Background: Virtual-reality (VR) based simulation techniques offer an efficient and low cost alternative to conventional surgery training. This article describes a VR training and assessment system in laparoscopic rectum surgery. Methods: To give a realistic visual performance of interaction between membrane tissue and surgery tools, a generalized cylinder based collision detection and a multi-layer mass-spring model are presented. A dynamic assessment model is also designed for hierarchy training evaluation. Results: With this simulator, trainees can operate on the virtual rectum with both visual and haptic sensation feedback simultaneously. The system also offers surgeons instructions in real time when improper manipulation happens. The simulator has been tested and evaluated by ten subjects. Conclusions: This prototype system has been verified by colorectal surgeons through a pilot study. They believe the visual performance and the tactile feedback are realistic. It exhibits the potential to effectively improve the surgical skills of trainee surgeons and significantly shorten their learning curve. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd