175 research outputs found
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Wet solids flow enhancement
The objective was to visualize the flow of granular materials in the silo using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. This was done by introducing traces. Mustard seeds and poppy seeds were used as trace particles. The region sampled was a cylinder 25 mm in diameter and 40 mm in length. Eight slices containing 128 by 128 to 256 by 256 pixels were generated for each image
Long-lived quantum coherence in photosynthetic complexes at physiological temperature
Photosynthetic antenna complexes capture and concentrate solar radiation by
transferring the excitation to the reaction center which stores energy from the
photon in chemical bonds. This process occurs with near-perfect quantum
efficiency. Recent experiments at cryogenic temperatures have revealed that
coherent energy transfer - a wavelike transfer mechanism - occurs in many
photosynthetic pigment-protein complexes (1-4). Using the Fenna-Matthews-Olson
antenna complex (FMO) as a model system, theoretical studies incorporating both
incoherent and coherent transfer as well as thermal dephasing predict that
environmentally assisted quantum transfer efficiency peaks near physiological
temperature; these studies further show that this process is equivalent to a
quantum random walk algorithm (5-8). This theory requires long-lived quantum
coherence at room temperature, which never has been observed in FMO. Here we
present the first evidence that quantum coherence survives in FMO at
physiological temperature for at least 300 fs, long enough to perform a
rudimentary quantum computational operation. This data proves that the
wave-like energy transfer process discovered at 77 K is directly relevant to
biological function. Microscopically, we attribute this long coherence lifetime
to correlated motions within the protein matrix encapsulating the chromophores,
and we find that the degree of protection afforded by the protein appears
constant between 77 K and 277 K. The protein shapes the energy landscape and
mediates an efficient energy transfer despite thermal fluctuations. The
persistence of quantum coherence in a dynamic, disordered system under these
conditions suggests a new biomimetic strategy for designing dedicated quantum
computational devices that can operate at high temperature.Comment: PDF files, 15 pages, 3 figures (included in the PDF file
Size Segregation of Granular Matter in Silo Discharges
We present an experimental study of segregation of granular matter in a
quasi-two dimensional silo emptying out of an orifice. Size separation is
observed when multi-sized particles are used with the larger particles found in
the center of the silo in the region of fastest flow. We use imaging to study
the flow inside the silo and quantitatively measure the concentration profiles
of bi-disperse beads as a function of position and time. The angle of the
surface is given by the angle of repose of the particles, and the flow occurs
in a few layers only near the top of this inclined surface. The flowing region
becomes deeper near the center of the silo and is confined to a parabolic
region centered at the orifice which is approximately described by the
kinematic model. The experimental evidence suggests that the segregation occurs
on the surface and not in the flow deep inside the silo where velocity
gradients also are present. We report the time development of the
concentrations of the bi-disperse particles as a function of size ratios, flow
rate, and the ratio of initial mixture. The qualitative aspects of the observed
phenomena may be explained by a void filling model of segregation.Comment: 6 pages, 10 figures (gif format), postscript version at
http://physics.clarku.edu/~akudrolli/nls.htm
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Use of Coal Drying to Reduce Water Consumed in Pulverized Coal Power Plants Quarterly Report
This is the fourth Quarterly Report for this project. The background and technical justification for the project are described, including potential benefits of reducing fuel moisture, prior to firing in a pulverized coal boiler. A description is given of the equipment, instrumentation and procedures being used for the fluidized bed drying experiments. Experimental data were obtained during this last quarter on the effects of particle size on drying rate for a North Dakota lignite. Other experiments looked at drying a PRB coal. The tests comparing drying rates with lignite particles of different diameters were carried out with particle top sizes from 2 to 9.5 mm and covered a range of air velocities. The results show that drying rate increased with air velocity, but that, within the accuracy of the data, the data for all four particle size distributions follow the same curve. This suggests the higher drying rates associated with the larger particles are due to higher air velocities and not to any inherently different drying rates due to particle size. The drying data with the PRB coal show qualitatively similar behavior to that observed with lignite. However, quantitative comparisons of the drying rate data obtained so far for the two coals show the PRB dried at rates which were 14 to 20 percent lower than the lignite, for comparable process conditions. The equilibrium relationship between relative humidity and coal moisture was refined using a correction for temperature. This reduced the scatter in the coal moisture versus relative humidity data and improved the predictions made with the first principle drying model
Excitation energy transfer in light-harvesting system: Effect of initial state
The light-harvesting is a problem of long interest. It becomes active again
in recent years stimulated by suggestions of quantum effects in energy
transport. Recent experiments found evidence that BChla 1 and BChla 6 are the
first to be excited in the Fenna-Matthews-Olson(FMO) protein, theoretical
studies, however, are mostly restricted to consider the exciton in BChla 1
initially. In this paper, we study the energy transport in the FMO complex by
taking different initial states into account. Optimizations are performed for
the decoherence rates as to maximal transport efficiency. Dependence of the
energy transfer efficiency on the initial states is given and discussed.
Effects of fluctuations in the site energies and couplings are also examined.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, J Phys B accepte
Traffic Equations and Granular Convection
We investigate both numerically and analytically the convective instability
of granular materials by two dimensional traffic equations. In the absence of
vibrations the traffic equations assume two distinctive classes of fixed bed
solutions with either a spatially uniform or nonuniform density profile. The
former one exists only when the function V(\rho) that monitors the relaxation
of grains assumes a cut off at the closed packed density, \rho_c, with
V(\rho_c)=0, while the latter one exists for any form of V. Since there is
little difference between the uniform and nonuniform solution deep inside the
bed, the convective instability of the bulk may be studied by focusing on the
stability of the uniform solution. In the presence of vibrations, we find that
the uniform solution bifurcates into a bouncing solution, which then undergoes
a supercritical bifurcation to the convective instability. We determine the
onset of convection as a function of control parameters and confirm this
picture by solving the traffic equations numerically, which reveals bouncing
solutions, two convective rolls, and four convective rolls. Further, convective
patterns change as the aspect ratio changes: in a vertically long container,
the rolls move toward the surface, and in a horizontally long container, the
rolls move toward the walls. We compare these results with those reported
previously with a different continuum model by Hayakawa, Yue and Hong[Phys.
Rev. Lett. 75,2328, 1995]. Finally, we also present a derivation of the traffic
equations from Enskoq equation.Comment: 34 pages, 10 figure
Distribution of entanglement in light-harvesting complexes and their quantum efficiency
Recent evidence of electronic coherence during energy transfer in
photosynthetic antenna complexes has reinvigorated the discussion of whether
coherence and/or entanglement has any practical functionality for these
molecular systems. Here we investigate quantitative relationships between the
quantum yield of a light-harvesting complex and the distribution of
entanglement among its components. Our study focusses on the entanglement yield
or average entanglement surviving a time scale comparable to the average
excitation trapping time. As a prototype system we consider the
Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) protein of green sulphur bacteria and show that
there is an inverse relationship between the quantum efficiency and the average
entanglement between distant donor sites. Our results suggest that longlasting
electronic coherence among distant donors might help modulation of the
lightharvesting function.Comment: Version accepted for publication in NJ
Castration remains despite decreasing definitive treatment of localized prostate cancer in the elderly: A case for de‐implementation
Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146605/1/cncr31665_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146605/2/cncr31665.pd
A model of ideological struggle
A general model for opinion formation and competition, like in ideological
struggles is formulated. The underlying set is a closed one, like a country but
in which the population size is variable in time. Several ideologies compete to
increase their number of adepts. Such followers can be either converted from
one ideology to another or become followers of an ideology though being
previously ideologically-free. A reverse process is also allowed. We consider
two kinds of conversion: unitary conversion, e.g. by means of mass
communication tools, or binary conversion, e.g. by means of interactions
between people. It is found that the steady state,when it exists, depends on
the number of ideologies. Moreover when the number of ideologies increases some
tension arises between them. This tension can change in the course of time. We
propose to measure the ideology tensions through an appropriately defined scale
index.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, 46 references, working pape
Density waves and density fluctuations in granular flow
We simulate the granular flow in a narrow pipe with a lattice-gas automaton
model. We find that the density in the system is characterized by two features.
One is that spontaneous density waves propagate through the system with
well-defined shapes and velocities. The other is that density waves are so
distributed to make the power spectra of density fluctuations as
noise. Three important parameters make these features observable and they are
energy dissipation, average density and the rougness of the pipe walls.Comment: Latex (with ps files appended
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