204 research outputs found
Phase space characteristics of fragmenting nuclei described as excited disordered systems
We investigate the thermodynamical content of a cellular model which
describes nuclear fragmentation as a process taking place in an excited
disordered system. The model which reproduces very well the size distribution
of fragments does not show the existence of a first order phase transition.Comment: 14 pages, TeX type, 7 figure
Human or Natural Disturbance: Landscape-Scale Dynamics of the Tropical Forests of Puerto Rico
Equation of state of a strongly magnetized hydrogen plasma
The influence of a constant uniform magnetic field on the thermodynamic
properties of a partially ionized hydrogen plasma is studied. Using the method
of Green' s function various interaction contributions to the thermodynamic
functions are calculated. The equation of state of a quantum magnetized plasma
is presented within the framework of a low density expansion up to the order
e^4 n^2 and, additionally, including ladder type contributions via the bound
states in the case of strong magnetic fields (2.35*10^{5} T << B << 2.35*10^{9}
T). We show that for high densities (n=10^{27-30} m^{-3}) and temperatures
T=10^5 - 10^6 K typical for the surface of neutron stars nonideality effects
as, e.g., Debye screening must be taken into account.Comment: 12 pages, 2 Postscript figures. uses revtex, to appear in Phys. Rev.
A Rapid, Handheld Device to Assess Respiratory Resistance: Clinical and Normative Evidence
Introduction: Following reports of respiratory symptoms among service members returning from deployment to South West Asia (SWA), an expert panel recommended pre-deployment spirometry be used to assess disease burden. Unfortunately, testing with spirometry is high cost and time-consuming. The airflow perturbation device (APD) is a handheld monitor that rapidly measures respiratory resistance (APD-Rr) and has promising but limited clinical data. Its speed and portability make it ideally suited for large volume pre-deployment screening. We conducted a pilot study to assess APD performance characteristics and develop normative values. Materials and Methods: We prospectively enrolled subjects and derived reference equations for the APD from those without respiratory symptoms, pulmonary disease, or tobacco exposure. APD testing was conducted by medical technicians who received a 10-min in-service on its use. A subset of subjects performed spirometry and impulse oscillometry (iOS), administered by trained respiratory therapists. APD measures were compared with spirometry and iOS. Results: The total study population included 199 subjects (55.8% males, body mass index 27.7 ± 6.0 kg/m2, age 49.9 ± 18.7 yr). Across the three APD trials, mean inspiratory (APD-Ri), expiratory (APD-Re), and average (APD-Ravg) resistances were 3.30 ± 1.0, 3.69 ± 1.2, and 3.50 ± 1.1 cm H2O/L/s. Reference equations were derived from 142 clinically normal volunteers. Height, weight, and body mass index were independently associated with APD-Ri, APD-Re, and APD-Ravg and were combined with age and gender in linear regression models. APD-Ri, APD-Re, and APD-Ravg were significantly inversely correlated with FEV1 (r = â0.39 to â0.42), FVC (r = â0.37 to â0.40), and FEF25â75 (r = â0.31 to â0.35) and positively correlated with R5 (r = 0.61â0.62), R20 (r = 0.50â0.52), X5 (r = â0.57 to â0.59), and FRES (r = 0.42â0.43). BlandâAltman plots showed that the APD-Rr closely approximates iOS when resistance is normal. Conclusion: Rapid testing was achieved with minimal training required, and reference equations were constructed. APD-Rr correlated moderately with iOS and weakly with spirometry. More testing is required to determine whether the APD has value for pre- and post-deployment respiratory assessment
Semiclassical cross section correlations
We calculate within a semiclassical approximation the autocorrelation
function of cross sections. The starting point is the semiclassical expression
for the diagonal matrix elements of an operator. For general operators with a
smooth classical limit the autocorrelation function of such matrix elements has
two contributions with relative weights determined by classical dynamics. We
show how the random matrix result can be obtained if the operator approaches a
projector onto a single initial state. The expressions are verified in
calculations for the kicked rotor.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure
Effects of T- and P-odd weak nucleon interaction in nuclei: renormalizations due to residual strong interaction, matrix elements between compound states and their correlations with P-violating matrix elements
Manifestations of P-,T-odd weak interaction between nucleons in nucleus are
considered. Renormalization of this interaction due to residual strong
interaction is studied. Mean squared matrix elements of P-,T-odd weak
interaction between compound states are calculated. Correlators between
P-,T-odd and P-odd, T-even weak interaction matrix elements between compound
states are considered and estimates for these quantities are obtained.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. C; 21 pages, REVTEX 3, no figure
Intercomparing different devices for the investigation of ice nucleating particles using Snomax as test substance
Intercomparing different devices for the investigation of ice nucleating particles using SnomaxÂź as test substance
Seven different instruments and measurement methods were used to examine the immersion freezing of bacterial ice nuclei from SnomaxŸ (hereafter Snomax), a product containing ice-active protein complexes from non-viable Pseudomonas syringae bacteria. The experimental conditions were kept as similar as possible for the different measurements. Of the participating instruments, some examined droplets which had been made from suspensions directly, and the others examined droplets activated on previously generated Snomax particles, with particle diameters of mostly a few hundred nanometers and up to a few micrometers in some cases. Data were obtained in the temperature range from -2 to -38 °C, and it was found that all ice-active protein complexes were already activated above -12 °C. Droplets with different Snomax mass concentrations covering 10 orders of magnitude were examined. Some instruments had very short ice nucleation times down to below 1 s, while others had comparably slow cooling rates around 1 K min-1. Displaying data from the different instruments in terms of numbers of ice-active protein complexes per dry mass of Snomax, nm, showed that within their uncertainty, the data agree well with each other as well as to previously reported literature results. Two parameterizations were taken from literature for a direct comparison to our results, and these were a time-dependent approach based on a contact angle distribution (Niedermeier et al., 2014) and a modification of the parameterization presented in Hartmann et al. (2013) representing a time-independent approach. The agreement between these and the measured data were good; i.e., they agreed within a temperature range of 0.6 K or equivalently a range in nm of a factor of 2. From the results presented herein, we propose that Snomax, at least when carefully shared and prepared, is a suitable material to test and compare different instruments for their accuracy of measuring immersion freezing
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