2,458 research outputs found
Dimensional effects on the tunneling conductivity of gold-implanted nanocomposite films
We study the dependence of the electrical conductivity on the gold
concentration of Au-implanted polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and alumina
nanocomposite thin films. For Au contents larger than a critical concentration,
the conductivity of Au-PMMA and Au-alumina is well described by percolation in
two dimensions, indicating that the critical correlation length for percolation
is larger than the thickness of the films. Below the critical loading, the
conductivity is dominated by tunneling processes between isolated Au particles
dispersed in PMMA or alumina continuous matrices. Using an effective medium
analysis of the tunneling conductivity, we show that Au-PMMA behaves as a
tunneling system in two dimensions, as the film thickness is comparable to the
mean Au particle size. On the contrary, the conductivity of Au-alumina films is
best described by tunneling in three dimensions, although the film thickness is
only a few times larger than the particle size. We interpret the enhancement of
the effective dimensionality of Au-alumina films in the tunneling regime as due
to the larger film thickness as compared to the mean interparticle distances.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure
Effects of total replacement of corn silage with sorghum silage on milk yield, composition, and quality
BACKGROUND: In the last years, difficulties occurring in corn cultivation (i.e., groundwater shortages, mycotoxin contamination) have been forcing dairy farmers to consider alternative silages. Some experiments conducted on lactating cows have proven that the total replacement of corn silage with sorghum silage did not reduce milk yield. However, this kind of substitution involves supplementing sorghum-based diets with grains, to compensate for the lower starch content of sorghum silage compared to corn silage. Change of silage type and inclusion of starch sources in the diet would influence rumen fermentations, with possible effects on milk composition (i.e., fatty acid profile) and coagulation properties. A worsening of milk coagulation properties would have a negative economic impact in Italy, where most of the milk produced is processed into cheese. This study was designed to compare milk composition and quality, with emphasis on fatty acid profile and coagulation properties, in dairy cows fed two diets based on corn or sorghum silage. RESULTS: The sorghum diet reduced milk yield (P = 0.043) but not 4% fat corrected milk (P = 0.85). Feeding sorghum silage did not influence milk contents of protein (P = 0.07) and lactose (P = 0.65), and increased fat content (P = 0.024). No differences emerged for milk concentrations of saturated (P = 0.61) and monounsaturated fatty acids (P = 0.50), whereas polyunsaturated fatty acids were lower (P < 0.001) for the sorghum diet. Concentrations of n-6 (P < 0.001) and n-3 fatty acids (P = 0.017) were lower in milk of cows fed the sorghum diet. Milk coagulation properties did not differ between the two diets, except the “a30” (the curd firmness, expressed in mm, 30 min after rennet addition), that was lower (P = 0.042) for the sorghum diet. CONCLUSIONS: Feeding a forage sorghum silage, properly supplemented with corn meal, as total replacement of corn silage maintained milk composition and did not influence negatively milk coagulation properties, which have a great economic relevance for the Italian dairy industry. Thus, silages obtained from forage sorghums could have a potential as substitute of corn silages in dairy cow diets
Multi--hump soliton--like structures in interactions of lasers and Bose--Einstein condensates
An investigation is made of multi-hump and periodic solutions of the
semi-classical coupled equations describing laser radiation copropagating with
a Bose-Einstein condensate. Solutions reminiscent of optical vector solitons
have been found and have been used to gain understanding of the dynamics
observed in the numerical simulations, in particular to shed light on the
phenomenon of jet emission from a condensate interacting with a laser.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures; submitted to European Physics Letter
A construction of Frobenius manifolds with logarithmic poles and applications
A construction theorem for Frobenius manifolds with logarithmic poles is
established. This is a generalization of a theorem of Hertling and Manin. As an
application we prove a generalization of the reconstruction theorem of
Kontsevich and Manin for projective smooth varieties with convergent
Gromov-Witten potential. A second application is a construction of Frobenius
manifolds out of a variation of polarized Hodge structures which degenerates
along a normal crossing divisor when certain generation conditions are
fulfilled.Comment: 46 page
Two-surface wave decay: improved analytical theory and effects on electron acceleration
Two-surface wave decay (TSWD), i.e. the parametric excitation of electron
surface waves, was recently proposed as an absorption mechanism in the
interaction of ultrashort, intense laser pulses with solid targets. We present
an extension of the fluid theory of TSWD to a warm plasma which treats boundary
effects consistently. We also present test-particle simulations showing
localized enhancement of electron acceleration by TSWD fields; this effect
leads to a modulation of the current density entering into the target and may
seed current filamentation instabilities.Comment: 4 figures, submitted to Appl.Phys.B (special issue from HFSW X
conference, Biarritz, France, Oct 12-15 2003); slightly revised tex
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