4,524 research outputs found
The jamming transition and new percolation universality classes in particulate systems with attraction
We numerically study the jamming transition in particulate systems with
attraction by investigating their mechanical response at zero temperature. We
find three regimes of mechanical behavior separated by two critical
transitions--connectivity and rigidity percolation. The transitions belong to
different universality classes than their lattice counterparts, due to force
balance constraints. We also find that these transitions are unchanged at low
temperatures and resemble gelation transitions in experiments on colloidal and
silica gels.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, 2 table
Morphometric Variation during Chick Development in Interior Double-crested Cormorants (\u3ci\u3ePhalacrocorax auritus\u3c/i\u3e)
In numerous avian species, egg size is correlated to female body condition, hatchling size and nestling growth. Recent demography studies of Interior Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) suggest a migratory divide across the Great Lakes; western populations winter in the Gulf of Mexico region of the southeastern United States (Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi) with extensive catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) aquaculture, and eastern populations winter in Florida, where catfish aquaculture is not pervasive. If Double-crested Cormorants have improved their overall body condition through catfish exploitation, then egg and chick sizes should also be affected. Three breeding areas in Ontario (east, central, and west) were selected for empirical measures of size variation. During the breeding seasons of 2006 and 2007, egg, naked young, fledgling, and adult morphometric data were collected. Eggs in eastern areas (volume = 465.8 ± 3.9 cm³) were on average larger than eggs in central (volume = 458.1 ± 3.5 cm³) and western (volume = 451.7 ± 3.5 cm³) areas. However, chicks in eastern areas (culmen = 54.9 ± 0.6 mm) were smaller than chicks in central (culmen = 57.6 ± 0.4 mm) and western (culmen = 59.3 ± 0.3 mm) areas, not only at hatching, but throughout development and fledging. A comprehensive Double-crested Cormorant morphometric gradient that may suggest a potential reproductive advantage for birds exploiting aquaculture facilities is presented
Morphometric Variation during Chick Development in Interior Double-crested Cormorants (\u3ci\u3ePhalacrocorax auritus\u3c/i\u3e)
In numerous avian species, egg size is correlated to female body condition, hatchling size and nestling growth. Recent demography studies of Interior Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) suggest a migratory divide across the Great Lakes; western populations winter in the Gulf of Mexico region of the southeastern United States (Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi) with extensive catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) aquaculture, and eastern populations winter in Florida, where catfish aquaculture is not pervasive. If Double-crested Cormorants have improved their overall body condition through catfish exploitation, then egg and chick sizes should also be affected. Three breeding areas in Ontario (east, central, and west) were selected for empirical measures of size variation. During the breeding seasons of 2006 and 2007, egg, naked young, fledgling, and adult morphometric data were collected. Eggs in eastern areas (volume = 465.8 ± 3.9 cm³) were on average larger than eggs in central (volume = 458.1 ± 3.5 cm³) and western (volume = 451.7 ± 3.5 cm³) areas. However, chicks in eastern areas (culmen = 54.9 ± 0.6 mm) were smaller than chicks in central (culmen = 57.6 ± 0.4 mm) and western (culmen = 59.3 ± 0.3 mm) areas, not only at hatching, but throughout development and fledging. A comprehensive Double-crested Cormorant morphometric gradient that may suggest a potential reproductive advantage for birds exploiting aquaculture facilities is presented
The connection between polymer collapse and the onset of jamming
Previous studies have shown that the interiors of proteins are densely
packed, reaching packing fractions that are as large as those found for static
packings of individual amino-acid-shaped particles. How can the interiors of
proteins take on such high packing fractions given that amino acids are
connected by peptide bonds and many amino acids are hydrophobic with attractive
interactions? We investigate this question by comparing the structural and
mechanical properties of collapsed attractive disk-shaped bead-spring polymers
to those of three reference systems: static packings of repulsive disks, of
attractive disks, and of repulsive disk-shaped bead-spring polymers. We show
that attractive systems quenched to temperatures below the glass transition and static packings of both repulsive disks and bead-spring polymers
possess similar interior packing fractions. Previous studies have shown that
static packings of repulsive disks are isostatic at jamming onset, i.e. the
number of contacts matches the number of degrees of freedom, which
strongly influences their mechanical properties. We find that repulsive
polymers are hypostatic at jamming onset, but effectively isostatic when
including quartic modes. While attractive disk and polymer packings are
hyperstatic, we identify a definition for interparticle contacts for which they
can also be considered as effectively isostatic. As a result, we show that the
mechanical properties (e.g. scaling of the potential energy with excess contact
number and low-frequency contribution to the density of vibrational modes) of
weakly attractive disk and polymer packings are similar to those of repulsive disk and polymer packings. Our results demonstrate that
static packings generated via attractive collapse or compression of repulsive
particles possess similar structural and mechanical properties.Comment: 17 pages, 16 figures, 2 appendice
Dissociative electron attachment to the H2O molecule. II. Nuclear dynamics on coupled electronic surfaces within the local complex potential model
We report the results of a first-principles study of dissociative electron
attachment to H2O. The cross sections are obtained from nuclear dynamics
calculations carried out in full dimensionality within the local complex
potential model by using the multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree method.
The calculations employ our previously obtained global, complex-valued,
potential-energy surfaces for the three (doublet B1, doublet A1, and doublet
B2) electronic Feshbach resonances involved in this process. These three
metastable states of H2O- undergo several degeneracies, and we incorporate both
the Renner-Teller coupling between the B1 and A1 states as well as the conical
intersection between the A1 and B2 states into our treatment. The nuclear
dynamics are inherently multidimensional and involve branching between
different final product arrangements as well as extensive excitation of the
diatomic fragment. Our results successfully mirror the qualitative features of
the major fragment channels observed, but are less successful in reproducing
the available results for some of the minor channels. We comment on the
applicability of the local complex potential model to such a complicated
resonant system.Comment: Corrected version of Phys Rev A 75, 012711 (2007
Precision surveying using very long baseline interferometry
Radio interferometry measurements were used to measure the vector baselines between large microwave radio antennas. A 1.24 km baseline in Massachusetts between the 36 meter Haystack Observatory antenna and the 18 meter Westford antenna of Lincoln Laboratory was measured with 5 mm repeatability in 12 separate experiments. Preliminary results from measurements of the 3,928 km baseline between the Haystack antenna and the 40 meter antenna at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory in California are presented
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