424 research outputs found

    Resistivity of a Metal between the Boltzmann Transport Regime and the Anderson Transition

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    We study the transport properties of a finite three dimensional disordered conductor, for both weak and strong scattering on impurities, employing the real-space Green function technique and related Landauer-type formula. The dirty metal is described by a nearest neighbor tight-binding Hamiltonian with a single s-orbital per site and random on-site potential (Anderson model). We compute exactly the zero-temperature conductance of a finite size sample placed between two semi-infinite disorder-free leads. The resistivity is found from the coefficient of linear scaling of the disorder averaged resistance with sample length. This ``quantum'' resistivity is compared to the semiclassical Boltzmann expression computed in both Born approximation and multiple scattering approximation.Comment: 5 pages, 3 embedded EPS figure

    Dynamics of aerosol size during inhalation : Hygroscopic growth of commercial nebulizer formulations

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    We thank the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute (EBI) for financial support through the EBI Early Career Research Fellowship awarded to AEH, and the EPSRC for financial support through a Leadership Fellowship awarded to JPR (grant reference EP/G007713/1). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are creditedThe size of aerosol particles prior to, and during, inhalation influences the site of deposition within the lung. As such, a detailed understanding of the hygroscopic growth of an aerosol during inhalation is necessary to accurately model the deposited dose. In the first part of this study, it is demonstrated that the aerosol produced by a nebulizer, depending on the airflows rates, may experience a (predictable) wide range of relative humidity prior to inhalation and undergo dramatic changes in both size and solute concentration. A series of sensitive single aerosol analysis techniques are then used to make measurements of the relative humidity dependent thermodynamic equilibrium properties of aerosol generated from four common nebulizer formulations. Measurements are also reported of the kinetics of mass transport during the evaporation or condensation of water from the aerosol. Combined, these measurements allow accurate prediction of the temporal response of the aerosol size prior to and during inhalation. Specifically, we compare aerosol composed of pure saline (150 mM sodium chloride solution in ultrapure water) with two commercially available nebulizer products containing relatively low compound doses: Breath, consisting of a simple salbutamol sulfate solution (5 mg/2.5 mL; 1.7 mM) in saline, and Flixotide Nebules, consisting of a more complex stabilized fluticasone propionate suspension (0.25 mg/mL; 0.5 mM in saline. A mimic of the commercial product Tobi (60 mg/mL tobramycin and 2.25 mg/mL NaC1, pH 5.5-6.5) is also studied, which was prepared in house. In all cases, the presence of the pharmaceutical was shown to have a profound effect on the magnitude, and in some cases the rate, of the mass flux of water to and from the aerosol as compared to saline. These findings provide physical chemical evidence supporting observations from human inhalation studies, and suggest that using the growth dynamics of a pure saline aerosol in a lung inhalation model to represent nebulizer formulations may not be representative of the actual behavior of the aerosolized drug solutions. (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

    Loop Distribution and Fusion with Timing and Code Size Optimization for Embedded DSPs

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    International Conference on Embedded and Ubiquitous Computing (EUC 2005), Nagasaki, Japan,6-9 Dec 2005Loop distribution and loop fusion are two e.ective loop transformation techniques to optimize the execution of the programs in DSP applications. In this paper, we propose a new technique combining loop distribution with direct loop fusion, which will improve the timing performance without jeopardizing the code size. We .rst develop the loop distribution theorems that state the legality conditions of loop distribution for multi-level nested loops. We show that if the summation of the edge weights of the dependence cycle satis.es a certain condition, then the statements involved in the dependence cycle can be distributed; otherwise, they should be put in the same loop after loop distribution. Then, we propose the technique of maximum loop distribution with direct loop fusion. The experimental results show that the execution time of the transformed loops by our technique is reduced 21.0compared to the original loops and the code size of the transformed loops is reduced 7.0% on average compared to the original loops.Department of Computin

    Phase diagrams of spin ladders with ferromagnetic legs

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    The low-temperature properties of the spin S=1/2 ladder with anisotropic ferromagnetic legs are studied using the continuum limit bosonization approach. The weak-coupling ground state phase diagram of the model is obtained for a wide range of coupling constants and several unconventional gapless ''spin-liquid'' phases are shown to exist for ferromagnetic coupling. The behavior of the ladder system in the vicinity of the ferromagnetic instability point is discussed in detail.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

    Decoupling of the S=1/2 antiferromagnetic zig-zag ladder with anisotropy

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    The spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic zig-zag ladder is studied by exact diagonalization of small systems in the regime of weak inter-chain coupling. A gapless phase with quasi long-range spiral correlations has been predicted to occur in this regime if easy-plane (XY) anisotropy is present. We find in general that the finite zig-zag ladder shows three phases: a gapless collinear phase, a dimer phase and a spiral phase. We study the level crossings of the spectrum,the dimer correlation function, the structure factor and the spin stiffness within these phases, as well as at the transition points. As the inter-chain coupling decreases we observe a transition in the anisotropic XY case from a phase with a gap to a gapless phase that is best described by two decoupled antiferromagnetic chains. The isotropic and the anisotropic XY cases are found to be qualitatively the same, however, in the regime of weak inter-chain coupling for the small systems studied here. We attribute this to a finite-size effect in the isotropic zig-zag case that results from exponentially diverging antiferromagnetic correlations in the weak-coupling limit.Comment: to appear in Physical Review

    Personal identity (de)formation among lifestyle travellers: A double-edged sword?

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    This article explores the personal identity work of lifestyle travellers – individuals for whom extended leisure travel is a preferred lifestyle that they return to repeatedly. Qualitative findings from in-depth semi-structured interviews with lifestyle travellers in northern India and southern Thailand are interpreted in light of theories on identity formation in late modernity that position identity as problematic. It is suggested that extended leisure travel can provide exposure to varied cultural praxes that may contribute to a sense of social saturation. Whilst a minority of the respondents embraced a saturation of personal identity in the subjective formation of a cosmopolitan cultural identity, several of the respondents were paradoxically left with more identity questions than answers as the result of their travels

    Spin-1/2 frustrated antiferromagnet on a spatially anisotopic square lattice: contribution of exact diagonalizations

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    The phase diagram of a spin-1/2 JJJ2J-J'-J_2 model is investigated by means of exact diagonalizations on finite samples. This model is a generalization of the J1J2J_1-J_2 model on the square lattice with two different nearest-neighbor couplings J,JJ,J' and may be also viewed as an array of coupled Heisenberg chains. The results suggest that the resonnating valence bond state predicted by Nersesyan and Tsvelik [Phys. Rev. B {\bf 67}, 024422 (2003)] for J2=0.5JJJ_2=0.5J' \ll J is realized and extends beyond the limit of small interchain coupling along a curve nearly coincident with the line where the energy per spin is maximum. This line is likely bordered on both side by a columnar dimer long range order. This columnar order could extends for JJJ'\to J which correspond to the J1J2J_1-J_2 model.Comment: 14 pages, 21 figures, final versio

    Sedimentation record in the Konkan-Kerala Basin: implications for the evolution of the Western Ghats and the Western Indian passive margin

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    The Konkan and Kerala Basins constitute a major depocentre for sediment from the onshore hinterland of Western India and as such provide a valuable record of the timing and magnitude of Cenozoic denudation along the continental margin. This paper presents an analysis of sedimentation in the Konkan-Kerala Basin, coupledwith a mass balance study, and numerical modelling of flexural responses to onshore denudational unloading and o¡shore sediment loading in order to test competing conceptual models for the development of high-elevation passive margins. The Konkan-Kerala Basin contains an estimated 109,000 km<sup>3</sup>; of Cenozoic clastic sediment, a volume difficult to reconcile with the denudation of a downwarped rift flank onshore, and more consistent with denudation of an elevated rift flank. We infer from modelling of the isostatic response of the lithosphere to sediment loading offshore and denudation onshore that flexure is an important component in the development of the Western Indian Margin.There is evidence for two major pulses in sedimentation: an early phase in the Palaeocene, and a second beginning in the Pliocene. The Palaeocene increase in sedimentation can be interpreted in terms of a denudational response to the rifting between India and the Seychelles, whereas the mechanism responsible for the Pliocene pulse is more enigmatic

    Optical sum rule violation, superfluid weight and condensation energy in the cuprates

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    The model of hole superconductivity predicts that the superfluid weight in the zero-frequency δ\delta-function in the optical conductivity has an anomalous contribution from high frequencies, due to lowering of the system's kinetic energy upon entering the superconducting state. The lowering of kinetic energy, mainly in-plane in origin, accounts for both the condensation energy of the superconductor as well as an increased potential energy due to larger Coulomb repulsion in the paired state. It leads to an apparent violation of the conductivity sum rule, which in the clean limit we predict to be substantially larger for in-plane than for c-axis conductivity. However, because cuprates are in the dirty limit for c-axis transport, the sum rule violation is found to be greatly enhanced in the c-direction. The model predicts the sum rule violation to be largest in the underdoped regime and to decrease with doping, more rapidly in the c-direction that in the plane. So far, experiments have detected sum rule violation in c-axis transport in several cuprates, as well as a decrease and disappearance of this violation for increasing doping, but no violation in-plane. We explore the predictions of the model for a wide range of parameters, both in the absence and in the presence of disorder, and the relation with current experimental knowledge.Comment: submitted to Phys.Rev.
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