890 research outputs found
THE CHOICE OF OPERATION FOR STONE IN THE BLADDER.: Read in the Section of Surgery and Anatomy, at the Fortieth Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association, June, 1889.
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A Lagrangian dynamic subgrid-scale model turbulence
A new formulation of the dynamic subgrid-scale model is tested in which the error associated with the Germano identity is minimized over flow pathlines rather than over directions of statistical homogeneity. This procedure allows the application of the dynamic model with averaging to flows in complex geometries that do not possess homogeneous directions. The characteristic Lagrangian time scale over which the averaging is performed is chosen such that the model is purely dissipative, guaranteeing numerical stability when coupled with the Smagorinsky model. The formulation is tested successfully in forced and decaying isotropic turbulence and in fully developed and transitional channel flow. In homogeneous flows, the results are similar to those of the volume-averaged dynamic model, while in channel flow, the predictions are superior to those of the plane-averaged dynamic model. The relationship between the averaged terms in the model and vortical structures (worms) that appear in the LES is investigated. Computational overhead is kept small (about 10 percent above the CPU requirements of the volume or plane-averaged dynamic model) by using an approximate scheme to advance the Lagrangian tracking through first-order Euler time integration and linear interpolation in space
Assessing telluric correction methods for Na detections with high-resolution exoplanet transmission spectroscopy.
Using high-resolution ground-based transmission spectroscopy to probe
exoplanetary atmospheres is difficult due to the inherent telluric
contamination from absorption in Earth's atmosphere. A variety of methods have
previously been used to remove telluric features in the optical regime and
calculate the planetary transmission spectrum. In this paper we present and
compare two such methods, specifically focusing on Na detections using
high-resolution optical transmission spectra: (a) calculating the telluric
absorption empirically based on the airmass, and (b) using a model of the
Earth's transmission spectrum. We test these methods on the transmission
spectrum of the hot Jupiter HD 189733 b using archival data obtained with the
HARPS spectrograph during three transits. Using models for Centre-to-Limb
Variation and the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect, spurious signals which are
imprinted within the transmission spectrum are reduced. We find that correcting
tellurics with an atmospheric model of the Earth is more robust and produces
consistent results when applied to data from different nights with changing
atmospheric conditions. We confirm the detection of sodium in the atmosphere of
HD 189733 b, with doublet line contrasts of -0.64 0.07 % (D2) and -0.53
0.07 % (D1). The average line contrast corresponds to an effective
photosphere in the Na line located around 1.13 . We also confirm an
overall blueshift of the line centroids corresponding to net atmospheric
eastward winds with a speed of 1.8 1.2 km/s. Our study highlights the
importance of accurate telluric removal for consistent and reliable
characterisation of exoplanetary atmospheres using high-resolution transmission
spectroscopy
Measurements of UV aerosol optical depth in the French Southern Alps
Routine measurements of global and diffuse UV irradiances at Briançon station (1310 m a.s.l.) are used to retrieve the direct solar irradiance and the aerosol optical depth (AOD), for cloudless days. Data of three years (2003, 2004, 2005) are analyzed; the results confirm those of a preliminary analysis for 2001, 2002. <br><br> The atmosphere is very clear in winter, with AODs between 0.05 and 0.1. The turbidity increases slowly in spring, starting end of February, with AODs around 0.2–0.3 in mid summer, some values reaching 0.4. A similar behaviour is observed for all years, with somewhat higher values in late summer for the year 2003
Kolmogorov scaling and intermittency in Rayleigh-Taylor turbulence
The Rayleigh--Taylor (RT) turbulence is investigated by means of high
resolution numerical simulations. The main question addressed here is on
whether RT phenomenology can be considered as a manifestation of universality
of Navier--Stokes equations with respect to forcing mechanisms. At a
theoretical level the situation is far from being firmly established and,
indeed, contrasting predictions have been formulated. Our first aim here is to
clarify the above controversy through a deep analysis of scaling behavior of
relevant statistical observables. The effects of intermittency on the mean
field scaling predictions is also discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Using Comparative Genomics for Inquiry-Based Learning to Dissect Virulence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Yersinia pestis
Genomics and bioinformatics are topics of increasing interest in undergraduate biological science curricula. Many existing exercises focus on gene annotation and analysis of a single genome. In this paper, we present two educational modules designed to enable students to learn and apply fundamental concepts in comparative genomics using examples related to bacterial pathogenesis. Students first examine alignments of genomes of Escherichia coli O157:H7 strains isolated from three food-poisoning outbreaks using the multiple-genome alignment tool Mauve. Students investigate conservation of virulence factors using the Mauve viewer and by browsing annotations available at the A Systematic Annotation Package for Community Analysis of Genomes database. In the second module, students use an alignment of five Yersinia pestis genomes to analyze single-nucleotide polymorphisms of three genes to classify strains into biovar groups. Students are then given sequences of bacterial DNA amplified from the teeth of corpses from the first and second pandemics of the bubonic plague and asked to classify these new samples. Learning-assessment results reveal student improvement in self-efficacy and content knowledge, as well as students’ ability to use BLAST to identify genomic islands and conduct analyses of virulence factors from E. coli O157:H7 or Y. pestis. Each of these educational modules offers educators new ready-to-implement resources for integrating comparative genomic topics into their curricula
Effective surface albedo due to snow cover of the surrounding area
Albedo inversion techniques are investigated in this work. Several methods are applied to spectral irradiance data from a measurement campaign held in the German Alps during the spring of 1999. One first method is based on the comparison of measurements of absolute levels of UV irradiance with model calculations. The second method takes advantage of changes in the spectral slope of spectral UV irradiance, which is a function of the surface albedo. In the third method, the surrounding area is partitioned into snow-covered and snow-free regions, and the effective albedo estimated by applying a higher or lower reflectivity to each facet before integrating over the surroundings. We present sensitivity analysis, the differences and the correlations between the various methods as well as the results for the different locations
ASAP: a resource for annotating, curating, comparing, and disseminating genomic data
ASAP is a comprehensive web-based system for community genome annotation and analysis. ASAP is being used for a large-scale effort to augment and curate annotations for genomes of enterobacterial pathogens and for additional genome sequences. New tools, such as the genome alignment program Mauve, have been incorporated into ASAP in order to improve display and analysis of related genomes. Recent improvements to the database and challenges for future development of the system are discussed. ASAP is available on the web at
Efficient and reliable nonlocal damage models
We present an efficient and reliable approach for the numerical modelling of failure with nonlocal damage models. The two major numerical challenges––the strongly nonlinear, highly localized and parameter-dependent structural response of quasi-brittle materials, and the interaction between nonadjacent finite elements associated to nonlocality––are addressed in detail. Reliability of the numerical results is ensured by an h-adaptive strategy based on error estimation. We use a residual-type error estimator for nonlinear FE analysis based on local computations, which, at the same time, accounts for the nonlocality of the damage model. Efficiency is achieved by a proper combination of load-stepping control technique and iterative solver for the nonlinear equilibrium equations. A major issue is the computation of the consistent tangent matrix, which is nontrivial due to nonlocal interaction between Gauss points. With computational efficiency in mind, we also present a new nonlocal damage model based on the nonlocal average of displacements. For this new model, the consistent tangent matrix is considerably simpler to compute than for current models. The various ideas discussed in the paper are illustrated by means of three application examples: the uniaxial tension test, the three-point bending test and the single-edge notched beam test.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author’s final draft
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