4,147 research outputs found
What Brown saw and you can too
A discussion is given of Robert Brown's original observations of particles
ejected by pollen of the plant \textit{Clarkia pulchella} undergoing what is
now called Brownian motion. We consider the nature of those particles, and how
he misinterpreted the Airy disc of the smallest particles to be universal
organic building blocks. Relevant qualitative and quantitative investigations
with a modern microscope and with a "homemade" single lens microscope similar
to Brown's, are presented.Comment: 14.1 pages, 11 figures, to be published in the American Journal of
Physics. This differs from the previous version only in the web site referred
to in reference 3. Today, this Brownian motion web site was launched, and
http://physerver.hamilton.edu/Research/Brownian/index.html, is now correc
Cardiovascular disease risk profile and microvascular complications of diabetes: comparison of Indigenous cohorts with diabetes in Australia and Canada
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Indigenous populations of Australia and Canada experience disproportionately high rates of chronic disease. Our goal was to compare cardiovascular (CVD) risk profile and diabetes complications from three recent comprehensive studies of diabetes complications in different Indigenous populations in Australia and Canada.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We compared participants from three recent studies: remote Indigenous Australians (2002-2003, n = 37 known diabetes), urban Indigenous Australians (2003-2005, n = 99 known diabetes), and remote Aboriginal Canadians (2001-2002, n = 188 known diabetes).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The three groups were similar for HbA1c, systolic BP, diabetes duration. Although leaner by body-mass-index criteria, remote Indigenous Australians displayed a more adverse CVD risk profile with respect to: waist-hip-ratio (1.03, 0.99, 0.94, remote Indigenous Australians, urban Indigenous Australians, remote Canadians, p < 0.001); HDL-cholesterol (0.82, 0.96, 1.17 mmol/L, p < 0.001); urine albumin-creatinine-ratio (10.3, 2.4, 4.5 mg/mmol); and C-reactive protein. With respect to diabetes complications, microalbuminuria (50%, 25%, 41%, p = 0.001) was more common among both remote groups than urban Indigenous Australians, but there were no differences for peripheral neuropathy, retinopathy or peripheral vascular disease.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Although there are many similarities in diabetes phenotype in Indigenous populations, this comparison demonstrates that CVD risk profiles and diabetes complications may differ among groups. Irrespective, management and intervention strategies are required from a young age in Indigenous populations and need to be designed in consultation with communities and tailored to community and individual needs.</p
Inverse modelling for predicting both water and nitrate movement in a structured-clay soil (Red Ferrosol)
Soil physical parameter calculation by inverse modelling provides an indirect way of estimating the unsaturated hydraulic properties of soils. However many measurements are needed to provide sufficient data to determine unknown parameters. The objective of this research was to assess the use of unsaturated water flow and solute transport experiments, in horizontal packed soil columns, to estimate the parameters that govern water flow and solute transport. The derived parameters are then used to predict water infiltration and solute migration in a repacked soil wedge. Horizontal columns packed with Red Ferrosol were used in a nitrate diffusion experiment to estimate either three or six parameters of the van Genuchten–Mualem equation while keeping residual and saturated water content, and saturated hydraulic conductivity fixed to independently measured values. These parameters were calculated using the inverse optimisation routines in Hydrus 1D. Nitrate concentrations measured along the horizontal soil columns were used to independently determine the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The soil hydraulic properties described by the van Genuchten–Mualem equation, and the NO3– adsorption isotherm, were then used to predict water and NO3– distributions from a point-source in two 3D flow scenarios. The use of horizontal columns of repacked soil and inverse modelling to quantify the soil water retention curve was found to be a simple and effective method for determining soil hydraulic properties of Red Ferrosols. These generated parameters supported subsequent testing of interactive flow and reactive transport processes under dynamic flow conditions
Computing the first eigenpair of the p-Laplacian via inverse iteration of sublinear supersolutions
We introduce an iterative method for computing the first eigenpair
for the -Laplacian operator with homogeneous Dirichlet
data as the limit of as , where
is the positive solution of the sublinear Lane-Emden equation
with same boundary data. The method is
shown to work for any smooth, bounded domain. Solutions to the Lane-Emden
problem are obtained through inverse iteration of a super-solution which is
derived from the solution to the torsional creep problem. Convergence of
to is in the -norm and the rate of convergence of
to is at least . Numerical evidence is
presented.Comment: Section 5 was rewritten. Jed Brown was added as autho
Copper complexes with dissymmetrically substituted bis(thiosemicarbazone) ligands as a basis for PET radiopharmaceuticals: control of redox potential and lipophilicity
Copper (II) bis(thiosemicarbazone) derivatives have been used extensively in positron emission tomography (PET) to image hypoxia and blood flow and to radiolabel cells for cell tracking. These applications depend on control of redox potentials and lipophilicity of the bis(thiosemicarbazone) complexes, which can be adjusted by altering peripheral ligand substituents. This paper reports the synthesis of a library of new dissymmetrically substituted bis(thiosemicarbazone) ligands by controlling the condensation reactions between dicarbonyl compounds and 4-substituted-3-thiosemicarbazides or using acetal protection. Copper complexes of the new ligands have been prepared by reaction with copper acetate or via transmetallation of the corresponding zinc complexes, which are convenient precursors for the rapid synthesis of radio-copper complexes. Well-defined structure-activity relationships linking ligand alkylation patterns with redox potential and lipophilicity of the complexes are reported
Bostonia
Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs
Spin gap in the Quasi-One-Dimensional S=1/2 Antiferromagnet: Cu2(1,4-diazacycloheptane)2Cl4
Cu_{2}(1,4-diazacycloheptane)_{2}Cl_{4} contains double chains of spin 1/2
Cu^{2+} ions. We report ac susceptibility, specific heat, and inelastic neutron
scattering measurements on this material. The magnetic susceptibility,
, shows a rounded maximum at T = 8 K indicative of a low dimensional
antiferromagnet with no zero field magnetic phase transition. We compare the
data to exact diagonalization results for various one dimensional
spin Hamiltonians and find excellent agreement for a spin ladder with
intra-rung coupling meV and two mutually frustrating
inter-rung interactions: meV and meV. The
specific heat in zero field is exponentially activated with an activation
energy meV. A spin gap is also found through inelastic
neutron scattering on powder samples which identify a band of magnetic
excitations for meV. Using sum-rules we derive an
expression for the dynamic spin correlation function associated with
non-interacting propagating triplets in a spin ladder. The van-Hove
singularities of such a model are not observed in our scattering data
indicating that magnetic excitations in Cu_{2}(1,4-diazacycloheptane)_{2}Cl_{4}
are more complicated. For magnetic fields above T specific
heat data versus temperature show anomalies indicating a phase transition to an
ordered state below T = 1 K.Comment: 9 pages, 8 postscript figures, LaTeX, Submitted to PRB 8/4/97, e-mail
Comments to [email protected]
Analysis of Granular Packing Structure by Scattering of THz Radiation
Scattering methods are widespread used to characterize the structure and
constituents of matter on small length scales. This motivates this introductory
text on identifying prospective approaches to scattering-based methods for
granular media. A survey to light scattering by particles and particle
ensembles is given. It is elaborated why the established scattering methods
using X-rays and visible light cannot in general be transferred to granular
media. Spectroscopic measurements using Terahertz radiation are highlighted as
they to probe the scattering properties of granular media, which are sensitive
to the packing structure. Experimental details to optimize spectrometer for
measurements on granular media are discussed. We perform transmission
measurements on static and agitated granular media using Fourier-transform
spectroscopy at the THz beamline of the BessyII storage ring. The measurements
demonstrate the potential to evaluate degrees of order in the media and to
track transient structural states in agitated bulk granular media.Comment: 12 Pages, 9 Figures, 56 Reference
A Friendly Introduction to "Knowledge in Pieces": Modeling Types of Knowledge and Their Roles in Learning
Measuring velocity of sound with nuclear resonant inelastic x-ray scattering
Nuclear resonant inelastic x-ray scattering is used to measure the projected
partial phonon density of states of materials. A relationship is derived
between the low-energy part of this frequency distribution function and the
sound velocity of materials. Our derivation is valid for harmonic solids with
Debye-like low-frequency dynamics. This method of sound velocity determination
is applied to elemental, composite, and impurity samples which are
representative of a wide variety of both crystalline and noncrystalline
materials. Advantages and limitations of this method are elucidated
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