3,447 research outputs found
Scaling of impact fragmentation near the critical point
We investigated two-dimensional brittle fragmentation with a flat impact
experimentally, focusing on the low impact energy region near the
fragmentation-critical point. We found that the universality class of
fragmentation transition disagreed with that of percolation. However, the
weighted mean mass of the fragments could be scaled using the pseudo-control
parameter multiplicity. The data for highly fragmented samples included a
cumulative fragment mass distribution that clearly obeyed a power-law. The
exponent of this power-law was 0.5 and it was independent of sample size. The
fragment mass distributions in this regime seemed to collapse into a unified
scaling function using weighted mean fragment mass scaling. We also examined
the behavior of higher order moments of the fragment mass distributions, and
obtained multi-scaling exponents that agreed with those of the simple biased
cascade model.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
Melting of hexagonal skyrmion states in chiral magnets
Skyrmions are spiral structures observed in thin films of certain magnetic materials (Uchida et al 2006 Science 311 359–61). Of the phases allowed by the crystalline symmetries of these materials (Yi et al 2009 Phys. Rev. B 80 054416), only the hexagonally packed phases (SCh) have been observed. Here the melting of the SCh phase is investigated using Monte Carlo simulations. In addition to the usual measure of skyrmion density, chiral charge, a morphological measure is considered. In doing so it is shown that the low-temperature reduction in chiral charge is associated with a change in skyrmion profiles rather than skyrmion destruction. At higher temperatures, the loss of six-fold symmetry is associated with the appearance of elongated skyrmions that disrupt the hexagonal packing
Crossover from Percolation to Self-Organized Criticality
We include immunity against fire as a new parameter into the self-organized
critical forest-fire model. When the immunity assumes a critical value,
clusters of burnt trees are identical to percolation clusters of random bond
percolation. As long as the immunity is below its critical value, the
asymptotic critical exponents are those of the original self-organized critical
model, i.e. the system performs a crossover from percolation to self-organized
criticality. We present a scaling theory and computer simulation results.Comment: 4 pages Revtex, two figures included, to be published in PR
The origin of power-law distributions in self-organized criticality
The origin of power-law distributions in self-organized criticality is
investigated by treating the variation of the number of active sites in the
system as a stochastic process. An avalanche is then regarded as a first-return
random walk process in a one-dimensional lattice. Power law distributions of
the lifetime and spatial size are found when the random walk is unbiased with
equal probability to move in opposite directions. This shows that power-law
distributions in self-organized criticality may be caused by the balance of
competitive interactions. At the mean time, the mean spatial size for
avalanches with the same lifetime is found to increase in a power law with the
lifetime.Comment: 4 pages in RevTeX, 3 eps figures. To appear in J.Phys.G. To appear in
J. Phys.
Avalanche Merging and Continuous Flow in a Sandpile Model
A dynamical transition separating intermittent and continuous flow is
observed in a sandpile model, with scaling functions relating the transport
behaviors between both regimes. The width of the active zone diverges with
system size in the avalanche regime but becomes very narrow for continuous
flow. The change of the mean slope, Delta z, on increasing the driving rate, r,
obeys Delta z ~ r^{1/theta}. It has nontrivial scaling behavior in the
continuous flow phase with an exponent theta given, paradoxically, only in
terms of exponents characterizing the avalanches theta = (1+z-D)/(3-D).Comment: Explanations added; relation to other model
Secondary prevention of stroke: Using the experiences of patients and carers to inform the development of an educational resource
Copyright @ The Author 2008. This article is available open access through the publisher’s website at the link below.Background. Patients who have had one stroke are at increased risk of another. Secondary prevention strategies that address medical risk factors and promote healthy lifestyles can reduce the risk. However, concordance with secondary prevention strategies is poor and there has been little research into patient and carer views.
Objectives. To explore the experiences of patients and carers of receiving secondary prevention advice and use these to inform the development of an educational resource.
Methods. A total of 38 participants (25 patients and 13 carers) took part in the study which used an action research approach. Focus groups and interviews were undertaken with patients and carers who had been discharged from hospital after stroke (between 3 and 24 months previously). Framework analysis was used to examine the data and elicit action points to develop an educational resource.
Results. Participants’ main concern was their desire for early access to information. They commented on their priorities for what information or support they needed, the difficulty of absorbing complex information whilst still an in-patient and how health professionals’ use of language was often a barrier to understanding. They discussed the facilitators and barriers to making lifestyle changes. The educational resource was developed to include specific advice for medical and lifestyle risk factors and an individual action plan.
Conclusion. An educational resource for secondary prevention of stroke was developed using a participatory methodology. Our findings suggest that this resource is best delivered in a one-to-one manner, but further work is needed to identify its potential utility.Peninsula Primary Care Research Networ
Crystalline phases in chiral ferromagnets: Destabilization of helical order
In chiral ferromagnets, weak spin-orbit interactions twist the ferromagnetic
order into spirals, leading to helical order. We investigate an extended
Ginzburg-Landau theory of such systems where the helical order is destabilized
in favor of crystalline phases. These crystalline phases are based on periodic
arrangements of double-twist cylinders and are strongly reminiscent of blue
phases in liquid crystals. We discuss the relevance of such blue phases for the
phase diagram of the chiral ferromagnet MnSi.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures (published version
Diffusion-Reorganized Aggregates: Attractors in Diffusion Processes?
A process based on particle evaporation, diffusion and redeposition is
applied iteratively to a two-dimensional object of arbitrary shape. The
evolution spontaneously transforms the object morphology, converging to
branched structures. Independently of initial geometry, the structures found
after long time present fractal geometry with a fractal dimension around 1.75.
The final morphology, which constantly evolves in time, can be considered as
the dynamic attractor of this evaporation-diffusion-redeposition operator. The
ensemble of these fractal shapes can be considered to be the {\em dynamical
equilibrium} geometry of a diffusion controlled self-transformation process.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Self-organized critical neural networks
A mechanism for self-organization of the degree of connectivity in model
neural networks is studied. Network connectivity is regulated locally on the
basis of an order parameter of the global dynamics which is estimated from an
observable at the single synapse level. This principle is studied in a
two-dimensional neural network with randomly wired asymmetric weights. In this
class of networks, network connectivity is closely related to a phase
transition between ordered and disordered dynamics. A slow topology change is
imposed on the network through a local rewiring rule motivated by
activity-dependent synaptic development: Neighbor neurons whose activity is
correlated, on average develop a new connection while uncorrelated neighbors
tend to disconnect. As a result, robust self-organization of the network
towards the order disorder transition occurs. Convergence is independent of
initial conditions, robust against thermal noise, and does not require fine
tuning of parameters.Comment: 5 pages RevTeX, 7 figures PostScrip
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