34,421 research outputs found
Tip Splittings and Phase Transitions in the Dielectric Breakdown Model: Mapping to the DLA Model
We show that the fractal growth described by the dielectric breakdown model
exhibits a phase transition in the multifractal spectrum of the growth measure.
The transition takes place because the tip-splitting of branches forms a fixed
angle. This angle is eta dependent but it can be rescaled onto an
``effectively'' universal angle of the DLA branching process. We derive an
analytic rescaling relation which is in agreement with numerical simulations.
The dimension of the clusters decreases linearly with the angle and the growth
becomes non-fractal at an angle close to 74 degrees (which corresponds to eta=
4.0 +- 0.3).Comment: 4 pages, REVTex, 3 figure
The life and health challenges of young Malaysian couples: results from a stakeholder consensus and engagement study to support non-communicable disease prevention
BACKGROUND: Malaysia faces burgeoning obesity and diabetes epidemics with a 250% and 88% increase respectively between 1996 and 2006. Identifying the health challenges of young adults in Malaysia, who constitute 27.5 % of the population, is critical for NCD prevention. The aim of the study was two-fold: (1) to achieve consensus amongst stakeholders on the most important challenge impacting the health of young adults, and (2) to engage with stakeholders to formulate a NCD prevention framework.METHODS: The Delphi Technique was utilised to achieve group consensus around the most important life and health challenges that young adults face in Malaysia. Subsequently, the results of the consensus component were shared with the stakeholders in an engagement workshop to obtain input on a NCD prevention framework.RESULTS: We found that life stress was a significant concern. It would seem that the apathy towards pursuing or maintaining a healthy lifestyle among young adults may be significantly influenced by the broader distal determinant of life stress. The high cost of living is suggested to be the main push factor for young working adults towards attaining better financial security to improve their livelihood. In turn, this leads to a more stressful lifestyle with less time to focus on healthier lifestyle choices.CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight a pivotal barrier to healthier lifestyles. By assisting young adults to cope with daily living coupled with realistic opportunities to make healthier dietary choices, be more active, and less sedentary could assist in the development of NCD health promotion strategies<br/
Phonon-induced quadrupolar ordering of the magnetic superconductor TmNiBC
We present synchrotron x-ray diffraction studies revealing that the lattice
of thulium borocarbide is distorted below T_Q = 13.5 K at zero field. T_Q
increases and the amplitude of the displacements is drastically enhanced, by a
factor of 10 at 60 kOe, when a magnetic field is applied along [100]. The
distortion occurs at the same wave vector as the antiferromagnetic ordering
induced by the a-axis field. A model is presented that accounts for the
properties of the quadrupolar phase and explains the peculiar behavior of the
antiferromagnetic ordering previously observed in this compound.Comment: submitted to PR
Onset of criticality and transport in a driven diffusive system
We study transport properties in a slowly driven diffusive system where the
transport is externally controlled by a parameter . Three types of behavior
are found: For the system is not conducting at all. For intermediate
a finite fraction of the external excitations propagate through the system.
Third, in the regime the system becomes completely conducting. For all
the system exhibits self-organized critical behavior. In the middle of
this regime, at , the system undergoes a continuous phase transition
described by critical exponents.Comment: 4 latex/revtex pages; 4 figure
Braided Rivers and Superconducting Vortex Avalanches
Magnetic vortices intermittently flow through preferred channels when they
are forced in or out of a superconductor. We study this behavior using a
cellular model, and find that the vortex flow can make braided rivers
strikingly similar to aerial photographs of braided fluvial rivers, such as the
Brahmaputra. By developing an analysis technique suitable for characterizing a
self-affine (multi)fractal, the scaling properties of the braided vortex rivers
in the model are compared with those of braided fluvial rivers. We suggest that
avalanche dynamics leads to braiding in both cases.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. To appear in PR
Directed Percolation with long-range interactions: modeling non-equilibrium wetting
It is argued that some phase--transitions observed in models of
non-equilibrium wetting phenomena are related to contact processes with
long-range interactions. This is investigated by introducing a model where the
activation rate of a site at the edge of an inactive island of length is
. Mean--field analysis and numerical simulations indicate
that for the transition is continuous and belongs to the
universality class of directed percolation, while for , the
transition becomes first order. This criterion is then applied to discuss
critical properties of various models of non--equilibrium wetting.Comment: 12 Figures. V Version resubmitted to Phys. Rev. E after referees
repor
Tuning in magnetic modes in Tb(Co_{x}Ni_{1-x})_{2}B_{2}C: from longitudinal spin-density waves to simple ferromagnetism
Neutron diffraction and thermodynamics techniques were used to probe the
evolution of the magnetic properties of Tb(Co_{x}Ni_{1-x})_{2}B_{2}C. A
succession of magnetic modes was observed as x is varied: the longitudinal
modulated k=(0.55,0,0) state at x=0 is transformed into a collinear
k=([nicefrac]\nicefrac{1}{2},0,[nicefrac]\nicefrac{1}{2})
antiferromagnetic state at x= 0.2, 0.4; then into a transverse c-axis modulated
k=(0,0,[nicefrac]\nicefrac{1}{3}) mode at x= 0.6, and finally
into a simple ferromagnetic structure at x= 0.8 and 1. Concomitantly, the
low-temperature orthorhombic distortion of the tetragonal unit cell at x=0 is
reduced smoothly such that for x >= 0.4 only a tetragonal unit cell is
manifested. Though predicted theoretically earlier, this is the first
observation of the k=(0,0,[nicefrac]\nicefrac{1}{3}) mode in
borocarbides; our findings of a succession of magnetic modes upon increasing x
also find support from a recently proposed theoretical model. The implication
of these findings and their interpretation on the magnetic structure of the
RM_{2}B_{2}C series are also discussed
Kinetic description of avalanching systems
Avalanching systems are treated analytically using the renormalization group
(in the self-organized-criticality regime) or mean-field approximation,
respectively. The latter describes the state in terms of the mean number of
active and passive sites, without addressing the inhomogeneity in their
distribution. This paper goes one step further by proposing a kinetic
description of avalanching systems making use of the distribution function for
clusters of active sites. We illustrate application of the kinetic formalism to
a model proposed for the description of the avalanching processes in the
reconnecting current sheet of the Earth magnetosphere.Comment: 9 page
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