1,253 research outputs found
Modelling granular soil behaviour using a physics engine
A physics engine is a software library used in the film and computer games industries to realistically animate a physical system. In this paper it is shown that particulate media can be faithfully modelled using a rigid body physics engine, thereby providing a viable alternative to the discrete element method codes currently used in the field of geomechanics. An overview of the simulation method implemented in the widely used Box2D physics engine is provided, and it is shown that this tool can successfully capture the critical state response of granular media, using particles modelled as randomly shaped polygons
Energetic Consistency and Momentum Conservation in the Gyrokinetic Description of Tokamak Plasmas
Gyrokinetic field theory is addressed in the context of a general
Hamiltonian. The background magnetic geometry is static and axisymmetric, and
all dependence of the Lagrangian upon dynamical variables is in the Hamiltonian
or in free field terms. Equations for the fields are given by functional
derivatives. The symmetry through the Hamiltonian with time and toroidal angle
invariance of the geometry lead to energy and toroidal momentum conservation.
In various levels of ordering against fluctuation amplitude, energetic
consistency is exact. The role of this in underpinning of conservation laws is
emphasised. Local transport equations for the vorticity, toroidal momentum, and
energy are derived. In particular, the momentum equation is shown for any form
of Hamiltonian to be well behaved and to relax to its magnetohydrodynamic (MHD)
form when long wavelength approximations are taken in the Hamiltonian. Several
currently used forms, those which form the basis of most global simulations,
are shown to be well defined within the gyrokinetic field theory and energetic
consistency.Comment: RevTeX 4, 47 pages, no figures, revised version updated following
referee comments (discussion more strictly correct/consistent, 4 references
added, results unchanged as they depend on consistency of the theory),
resubmitted to Physics of Plasma
Enhanced binding revisited for a spinless particle in non-relativistic QED
We consider a spinless particle coupled to a quantized Bose field and show
that such a system has a ground state for two classes of short-range potentials
which are alone too weak to have a zero-energy resonance
High-m Kink/Tearing Modes in Cylindrical Geometry
The global ideal kink equation, for cylindrical geometry and zero beta, is
simplified in the high poloidal mode number limit and used to determine the
tearing stability parameter, . In the presence of a steep
monotonic current gradient, becomes a function of a parameter,
, characterising the ratio of the maximum current gradient to
magnetic shear, and , characterising the separation of the resonant
surface from the maximum of the current gradient. In equilibria containing a
current "spike", so that there is a non-monotonic current profile,
also depends on two parameters: , related to the ratio
of the curvature of the current density at its maximum to the magnetic shear,
and , which now represents the separation of the resonance from the point
of maximum current density. The relation of our results to earlier studies of
tearing modes and to recent gyro-kinetic calculations of current driven
instabilities, is discussed, together with potential implications for the
stability of the tokamak pedestal.Comment: To appear in Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusio
A New Fuzzy Modeling Framework for Integrated Risk Prognosis and Therapy of Bladder Cancer Patients
This paper presents a new fuzzy modelling approach for analysing censored survival data and finding risk groups of patients diagnosed with bladder cancer. The proposed framework involves a new procedure for integrating the frameworks of interval type-2 fuzzy logic and Cox modelling intrinsically. The output of this synergistic framework is a risk score/prognostics index which is indicative of the patient's level of mortality risk. A threshold value is selected whereby patients with risk scores that are greater than this threshold are classed as high risk patients and vice versa. Unlike in the case of black-box type modelling approaches, the paper shows that interpretability and transparency are maintained using the proposed fuzzy modelling framework
Design, Synthesis and 5-HT1A Binding Affinity of N-(3-(4-(2-Methoxyphenyl)piperazin-1-yl)propyl)tricyclo[3.3.1.13,7 ]decan-1-amine and N-(3-(4-(2-Methoxyphenyl) piperazin-1-yl)propyl)-3,5-dimethyl-tricylo[3.3.1.13,7 ]decan-1-amine
Based on previously highlighted structural features, the development of highly selective 5-HT1A receptor inhibitors is closely linked to the incorporation of a 4-alkyl-1-arylpiperazine scaffold on them. In this paper, we present the synthesis of two new compounds bearing the 2-MeO-Ph-piperazine moiety linked via a three carbon atom linker to the amine group of 1-adamantanamine and memantine, respectively. Both were tested for their binding affinity against 5-HT1A receptor. N-(3-(4-(2-methoxyphenyl)piperazin-1-yl)propyl)tricyclo[3.3.1.13,7 ]decan-1-amine fumarate (8) and N-(3-(4-(2-methoxyphenyl)piperazin-1-yl)propyl)-3,5-dimethyl-tricylo[3.3.1.13,7 ]decan-1-amine fumarate (10) proved to be highly selective ligands towards 5-HT1A receptor with a binding constant of 1.2 nM and 21.3 nM, respectively, while 5-carboxamidotriptamine (5-CT) (2) was used as an internal standard for this assay with a measured Ki = 0.5 nM
Reduction and approximation in gyrokinetics
The gyrokinetics formulation of plasmas in strong magnetic fields aims at the
elimination of the angle associated with the Larmor rotation of charged
particles around the magnetic field lines. In a perturbative treatment or as a
time-averaging procedure, gyrokinetics is in general an approximation to the
true dynamics. Here we discuss the conditions under which gyrokinetics is
either an approximation or an exact operation in the framework of reduction of
dynamical systems with symmetryComment: 15 pages late
Efeito acaricida in vitro de extratos de plantas do Pantanal no carrapato de bovinos, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus.
Estudou-se a ação acaricida dos extratos brutos etanólicos de 14 plantas do Pantanal sobre fêmeas ingurgitadas do carrapato-do-boi. Os bioensaios foram realizados em triplicatas pelo método de imersão das teleóginas e estimadas a produção de ovos, a eclodibilidade e a eficácia dos extratos. Extratos do lenho da raiz e da casca da raiz de Annona dioica, da raiz e da casca do caule de Simarouba versicolor, da raiz de Annona cornifolia e de Duguetia furfuracea tiveram atividade acaricida entre 50% e 100% e resposta dose-dependente. Extratos de Dimorphandra mollis, Magonia pubescens, Protium heptaphyllum, Hyptis crenata, Sebastiana hispida, Aspidosperma australe, Senna occidentalis e de Elyonurus muticus mostraram atividade acaricida baixa ou ausente (0% a 10%). Extratos da parte aérea de A. cornifolia, da planta inteira de Croton glandulosus e da casca do caule de Stryphnodendron obovatum mostraram atividade acaricida intermediária (10% a 20%). A alta atividade acaricida observada nos extratos de A. dioica, A. cornifolia e D. furfuracea indica ação de acetogeninas, moléculas naturais com várias atividades farmacológicas já descritas e presentes, principalmente, nas plantas da família Annonaceae.bitstream/CNPGC-2010/13215/1/BP26.pd
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