862 research outputs found
Centrifugation and capillarity integrated into a multiple analyte whole blood analyser
A unique clinical chemistry analyser is described which processes
90 ÎĽl of whole blood (fingerstick or venous) into multiple aliquots of diluted plasma and reports the results of 12 tests in 14 min. To perform a panel of tests, the operator applies the unmetered sample directly into a single use, 8 cm diameter plastic rotor which contains the required liquid diluent and dry reagents. Using centrifugal and capillary forces, the rotor meters the required amount of blood, separates the red cells, meters the plasma, meters the diluent, mixes the fluids, distributes the fluid to the reaction cuvettes and mixes the reagents and the diluted plasma in the cuvettes. The instrument monitors the reagent reactions simultaneously using nine wavelengths, calculates the results from the absorbance data, and reports the results
Conformal Transformation in Gravity
The conformal transformation in the Einstein - Hilbert action leads to a new
frame where an extra scalar degree of freedom is compensated by the local
conformal-like symmetry. We write down a most general action resulting from
such transformation and show that it covers both general relativity and
conformally coupled to gravity scalar field as the particular cases. On quantum
level the equivalence between the different frames is disturbed by the loop
corrections. New conformal-like symmetry in anomalous and, as a result, the
theory is not finite on shell at the one-loop order.Comment: LaTeX, 12 pages, no figure
Chaos in Anisotropic Pre-Inflationary Universes
We study the dynamics of anisotropic Bianchi type-IX models with matter and
cosmological constant. The models can be thought as describing the role of
anisotropy in the early stages of inflation. The concurrence of the
cosmological constant and anisotropy are sufficient to produce a chaotic
dynamics in the gravitational degrees of freedom, connected to the presence of
a critical point of saddle-center type in the phase space of the system. The
invariant character of chaos is guaranteed by the topology of the cylinders
emanating from unstable periodic orbits in the neighborhood of the
saddle-center. We discuss a possible mechanism for amplification of specific
wavelengths of inhomogeneous fluctuations in the models. A geometrical
interpretation is given for Wald's inequality in terms of invariant tori and
their destruction by increasing values of the cosmological constant.Comment: 14 pages, figures available under request. submitted to Physical
Review
Braneworld Dynamics of Inflationary Cosmologies with Exponential Potentials
In this work we consider Randall-Sundrum braneworld type scenarios, in which
the spacetime is described by a five-dimensional manifold with matter fields
confined in a domain wall or three-brane. We present the results of a
systematic analysis, using dynamical systems techniques, of the qualitative
behaviour of Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker type models, whose matter is
described by a scalar field with an exponential potential. We construct the
state spaces for these models and discuss how their structure changes with
respect to the general-relativistic case, in particular, what new critical
points appear and their nature and the occurrence of bifurcation.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, RevTex 4. Submitted to Physical Review
(Non)Invariance of dynamical quantities for orbit equivalent flows
We study how dynamical quantities such as Lyapunov exponents, metric entropy,
topological pressure, recurrence rates, and dimension-like characteristics
change under a time reparameterization of a dynamical system. These quantities
are shown to either remain invariant, transform according to a multiplicative
factor or transform through a convoluted dependence that may take the form of
an integral over the initial local values. We discuss the significance of these
results for the apparent non-invariance of chaos in general relativity and
explore applications to the synchronization of equilibrium states and the
elimination of expansions
Self-similar cosmological solutions with a non-minimally coupled scalar field
We present self-similar cosmological solutions for a barotropic fluid plus
scalar field with Brans-Dicke-type coupling to the spacetime curvature and an
arbitrary power-law potential energy. We identify all the fixed points in the
autonomous phase-plane, including a scaling solution where the fluid density
scales with the scalar field's kinetic and potential energy. This is related by
a conformal transformation to a scaling solution for a scalar field with
exponential potential minimally coupled to the spacetime curvature, but
non-minimally coupled to the barotropic fluid. Radiation is automatically
decoupled from the scalar field, but energy transfer between the field and
non-relativistic dark matter can lead to a change to an accelerated expansion
at late times in the Einstein frame. The scalar field density can mimic a
cosmological constant even for steep potentials in the strong coupling limit.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, revtex version to appear in Phys Rev D,
references adde
One loop renormalization of the four-dimensional theory for quantum dilaton gravity.
We study the one loop renormalization in the most general metric-dilaton
theory with the second derivative terms only. The general theory can be divided
into two classes, models of one are equivalent to conformally coupled with
gravity scalar field and also to general relativity with cosmological term. The
models of second class have one extra degree of freedom which corresponds to
dilaton. We calculate the one loop divergences for the models of second class
and find that the arbitrary functions of dilaton in the starting action can be
fine-tuned in such a manner that all the higher derivative counterterms
disappear on shell. The only structures in both classical action and
counterterms, which survive on shell, are the potential (cosmological) ones.
They can be removed by renormalization of the dilaton field which acquire the
nontrivial anomalous dimension, that leads to the effective running of the
cosmological constant. For some of the renormalizable solutions of the theory
the observable low energy value of the cosmological constant is small as
compared with the Newtonian constant. We also discuss another application of
our result.Comment: 21 pages, latex, no figures
On the Realization of Assisted Inflation
We consider conditions necessary for a successful implementation of so-called
assisted inflation. We generalize the applicability of assisted inflation
beyond exponential potentials as originally proposed to include standard
chaotic (\lambda \phi^4 or m^2 \phi^2) models as well. We also demonstrate that
in a purely 4-dimensional theory, unless the assisted sector is in fact
decoupled, the additional fields of the assisted sector actually impede
inflation. As a specific example of an assisted sector, we consider a
5-dimensional KK model for which the extra dimension may be somewhat or much
larger than the inverse Planck scale. In this case, the assisted sector (coming
from a KK compactification) eliminates the need for a fine-tuned quartic
coupling to drive chaotic inflation. This is a general result of models with
one or more "large" extra dimensions.Comment: 25 pages, LaTeX fil
Ground characterisation for PISA pile testing and analysis
This paper is the first of a set of linked publications on the PISA Joint Industry Research Project, which was concerned with the development of improved design methods for monopile foundations in offshore wind applications. PISA involved large-scale pile tests in overconsolidated glacial till at Cowden, north-east England, and in dense, normally consolidated marine sand at Dunkirk, northern France. The paper presents the characterisation of the two sites, which was crucial to the design of the field experiments and advanced numerical modelling of the pile–soil interactions. The studies described, which had to be completed at an early stage of the PISA project, added new laboratory and field campaigns to historic investigations at both sites. They enabled an accurate description of soil behaviour from small strains to ultimate states to be derived, allowing analyses to be undertaken that captured both the serviceability and limit state behaviour of the test monopiles
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