1,187 research outputs found
Electric Field Enhanced Hydrogen Storage on BN Sheet
Using density functional theory we show that an applied electric field
substantially improves the hydrogen storage properties of a BN sheet by
polarizing the hydrogen molecules as well as the substrate. The adsorption
energy of a single H2 molecule in the presence of an electric field of 0.05
a.u. is 0.48 eV compared to 0.07 eV in its absence. When one layer of H2
molecules is adsorbed, the binding energy per H2 molecule increases from 0.03
eV in the field-free case to 0.14 eV/H2 in the presence of an electric field of
0.045 a.u. The corresponding gravimetric density of 7.5 wt % is consistent with
the 6 wt % system target set by DOE for 2010. Once the applied electric field
is removed, the stored H2 molecules can be easily released, thus making the
storage reversible.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. 15 pages with 6 figure
Validity of the second law in nonextensive quantum thermodynamics
The second law of thermodynamics in nonextensive statistical mechanics is
discussed in the quantum regime. Making use of the convexity property of the
generalized relative entropy associated with the Tsallis entropy indexed by q,
Clausius' inequality is shown to hold in the range of q between zero and two.
This restriction on the range of the entropic index, q, is purely quantum
mechanical and there exists no upper bound of q for validity of the second law
in classical theory.Comment: 12 pages, no figure
DFT Study of Planar Boron Sheets: A New Template for Hydrogen Storage
We study the hydrogen storage properties of planar boron sheets and compare
them to those of graphene. The binding of molecular hydrogen to the boron sheet
(0.05 eV) is stronger than that to graphene. We find that dispersion of alkali
metal (AM = Li, Na, and K) atoms onto the boron sheet markedly increases
hydrogen binding energies and storage capacities. The unique structure of the
boron sheet presents a template for creating a stable lattice of strongly
bonded metal atoms with a large nearest neighbor distance. In contrast, AM
atoms dispersed on graphene tend to cluster to form a bulk metal. In particular
the boron-Li system is found to be a good candidate for hydrogen storage
purposes. In the fully loaded case this compound can contain up to 10.7 wt. %
molecular hydrogen with an average binding energy of 0.15 eV/H2.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, and 3 table
Experiences of refugees and asylum seekers in general practice: a qualitative study
Background: There has been much debate regarding the refugee health situation in the UK. However most of the existing literature fails to take account of the opinions of refugees themselves. This study was established to determine the views of asylum seekers and refugees on their overall experiences in primary care and to suggest improvements to their care. Methods: Qualitative study of adult asylum seekers and refugees who had entered the UK in the last 10 years. The study was set in Barnet Refugee Walk in Service, London. 11 Semi structured interviews were conducted and analysed using framework analysis. Results: Access to GPs may be more difficult for failed asylum seekers and those without support from refugee agencies or family. There may be concerns amongst some in the refugee community regarding the access to and confidentiality of professional interpreters. Most participants stated their preference for GPs who offered advice rather than prescriptions. The stigma associated with refugee status in the UK may have led to some refugees altering their help seeking behaviour. Conclusion: The problem of poor access for those with inadequate support may be improved by better education and support for GPs in how to provide for refugees. Primary Care Trusts could also supply information to newly arrived refugees on how to access services. GPs should be aware that, in some situations, professional interpreters may not always be desired and that instead, it may be advisable to reach a consensus as to who should be used as an interpreter. A better doctor-patient experience resulting from improvements in access and communication may help to reduce the stigma associated with refugee status and lead to more appropriate help seeking behaviour. Given the small nature of our investigation, larger studies need to be conducted to confirm and to quantify these results
Effective Soft-Core Potentials and Mesoscopic Simulations of Binary Polymer Mixtures
Mesoscopic molecular dynamics simulations are used to determine the large
scale structure of several binary polymer mixtures of various chemical
architecture, concentration, and thermodynamic conditions. By implementing an
analytical formalism, which is based on the solution to the Ornstein-Zernike
equation, each polymer chain is mapped onto the level of a single soft colloid.
From the appropriate closure relation, the effective, soft-core potential
between coarse-grained units is obtained and used as input to our mesoscale
simulations. The potential derived in this manner is analytical and explicitly
parameter dependent, making it general and transferable to numerous systems of
interest. From computer simulations performed under various thermodynamic
conditions the structure of the polymer mixture, through pair correlation
functions, is determined over the entire miscible region of the phase diagram.
In the athermal regime mesoscale simulations exhibit quantitative agreement
with united atom simulations. Furthermore, they also provide information at
larger scales than can be attained by united atom simulations and in the
thermal regime approaching the phase transition.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures, 3 table
Knowledge Questions from Knowledge Graphs
We address the novel problem of automatically generating quiz-style knowledge questions from a knowledge graph such as DBpedia. Questions of this kind have ample applications, for instance, to educate users about or to evaluate their knowledge in a specific domain. To solve the problem, we propose an end-to-end approach. The approach first selects a named entity from the knowledge graph as an answer. It then generates a structured triple-pattern query, which yields the answer as its sole result. If a multiple-choice question is desired, the approach selects alternative answer options. Finally, our approach uses a template-based method to verbalize the structured query and yield a natural language question. A key challenge is estimating how difficult the generated question is to human users. To do this, we make use of historical data from the Jeopardy! quiz show and a semantically annotated Web-scale document collection, engineer suitable features, and train a logistic regression classifier to predict question difficulty. Experiments demonstrate the viability of our overall approach
Bioresponsive Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for Triggered Drug Release
Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNPs) have garnered a great deal of attention as potential carriers for therapeutic payloads. However, achieving triggered drug release from MSNPs in vivo has been challenging. Here, we describe the synthesis of stimulus-responsive polymer-coated MSNPs and the loading of therapeutics into both the core and shell domains. We characterize MSNP drug-eluting properties in vitro and demonstrate that the polymer-coated MSNPs release doxorubicin in response to proteases present at a tumor site in vivo, resulting in cellular apoptosis. These results demonstrate the utility of polymer-coated nanoparticles in specifically delivering an antitumor payload.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (grant R01-CA124427)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (grant U54-CA119349)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (grant U54-CA119335
Convex optimization of programmable quantum computers
A fundamental model of quantum computation is the programmable quantum gate array. This is a quantum processor that is fed by a program state that induces a corresponding quantum operation on input states. While being programmable, any finite-dimensional design of this model is known to be non-universal, meaning that the processor cannot perfectly simulate an arbitrary quantum channel over the input. Characterizing how close the simulation is and finding the optimal program state have been open questions for the past 20 years. Here, we answer these questions by showing that the search for the optimal program state is a convex optimization problem that can be solved via semi-definite programming and gradient-based methods commonly employed for machine learning. We apply this general result to different types of processors, from a shallow design based on quantum teleportation, to deeper schemes relying on port-based teleportation and parametric quantum circuits
Pion interferometry in Au+Au collisions at = 200 GeV
We present a systematic analysis of two-pion interferometry in Au+Au
collisions at = 200 GeV using the STAR detector at RHIC. We
extract the HBT radii and study their multiplicity, transverse momentum, and
azimuthal angle dependence. The Gaussianess of the correlation function is
studied. Estimates of the geometrical and dynamical structure of the freeze-out
source are extracted by fits with blast wave parameterizations. The expansion
of the source and its relation with the initial energy density distribution is
studied.Comment: 21 pages, 30 figures. As published in Physics Review
Transverse-momentum dependent modification of dynamic texture in central Au+Au collisions at sqrt(S_NN)=200 GeV
Correlations in the hadron distributions produced in relativistic Au+Au
collisions are studied in the discrete wavelet expansion method. The analysis
is performed in the space of pseudorapidity (|eta| < 1) and azimuth (full 2 pi)
in bins of transverse momentum (p_t) from 0.14 < p_t < 2.1 GeV/c. In peripheral
Au+Au collisions a correlation structure ascribed to mini-jet fragmentation is
observed. It evolves with collision centrality and p_t in a way not seen before
which suggests strong dissipation of minijet fragmentation in the
longitudinally-expanding medium.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure, accepted as Phys.Rev.C Rapid Communication. This
version fixes journal style issue
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