170 research outputs found

    Resurgence in the bi-Yang-Baxter model

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    We study the integrable bi-Yang-Baxter deformation of the SU(2) principal chiral model (PCM) and its finite action uniton solutions. Under an adiabatic compactification on an S1 , we obtain a quantum mechanics with an elliptic Lamé-like potential.We perform a perturbative calculation of the ground state energy in this quantum mechanics to large orders obtaining an asymptotic series. Using the Borel-Padé technique, we determine the expected locations of branch cuts in the Borel plane of the perturbative series and show that they match the values of the uniton actions. Therefore, we can match the non-perturbative contributions to the energy with the uniton solutions which fractionate upon adiabatic compactification.An off-shoot of the WKB analysis, is to identify the quadratic differential of this deformed PCM with that of an N=2 Seiberg-Witten theory. This can be done either as an Nf=4 SU(2) theory or as an elliptic quiver SU(2) x SU(2) theory. The mass parameters of the gauge theory are given by the deformation parameters of the PCM

    Robots or frontline employees? Exploring customers’ attributions of responsibility and stability after service failure or success

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    Purpose: Service robots are taking over the organizational frontline. Despite a recent surge in studies on this topic, extant works are predominantly conceptual in nature. The purpose of this paper is to provide valuable empirical insights by building on the attribution theory. Design/methodology/approach: Two vignette-based experimental studies were employed. Data were collected from US respondents who were randomly assigned to scenarios focusing on a hotel’s reception service and restaurant’s waiter service. Findings: Results indicate that respondents make stronger attributions of responsibility for the service performance toward humans than toward robots, especially when a service failure occurs. Customers thus attribute responsibility to the firm rather than the frontline robot. Interestingly, the perceived stability of the performance is greater when the service is conducted by a robot than by an employee. This implies that customers expect employees to shape up after a poor service encounter but expect little improvement in robots’ performance over time. Practical implications: Robots are perceived to be more representative of a firm than employees. To avoid harmful customer attributions, service providers should clearly communicate to customers that frontline robots pack sophisticated analytical, rather than simple mechanical, artificial intelligence technology that explicitly learns from service failures. Originality/value: Customer responses to frontline robots have remained largely unexplored. This paper is the first to explore the attributions that customers make when they experience robots in the frontline

    Evaluation of different methods for determining the angle of attack on wind turbine blades with CFD results under axial inflow conditions

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    This work presents an investigation on different methods for the calculation of the angle of attack and the underlying induced velocity on wind turbine blades using data obtained from three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Several methods are examined and their advantages, as well as shortcomings, are presented. The investigations are performed for two 10MW reference wind turbines under axial inflow conditions, namely the turbines designed in the EU AVATAR and INNWIND.EU projects. The results show that the evaluated methods are in good agreement with each other at the mid-span, though some deviations are observed at the root and tip regions of the blades. This indicates that CFD results can be used for the calibration of induction modeling for Blade Element Momentum (BEM) tools. Moreover, using any of the proposed methods, it is possible to obtain airfoil characteristics for lift and drag coefficients as a function of the angle of attack.Comment: This manuscript is Accepted at at Renewable Energy journal- online 13 March 2018 under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 licens

    Ambulatory human motion tracking by fusion of inertial and magnetic sensing with adaptive actuation

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    Over the last years, inertial sensing has proven to be a suitable ambulatory alternative to traditional human motion tracking based on optical position measurement systems, which are generally restricted to a laboratory environment. Besides many advantages, a major drawback is the inherent drift caused by integration of acceleration and angular velocity to obtain position and orientation. In addition, inertial sensing cannot be used to estimate relative positions and orientations of sensors with respect to each other. In order to overcome these drawbacks, this study presents an Extended Kalman Filter for fusion of inertial and magnetic sensing that is used to estimate relative positions and orientations. In between magnetic updates, change of position and orientation are estimated using inertial sensors. The system decides to perform a magnetic update only if the estimated uncertainty associated with the relative position and orientation exceeds a predefined threshold. The filter is able to provide a stable and accurate estimation of relative position and orientation for several types of movements, as indicated by the average rms error being 0.033 m for the position and 3.6 degrees for the orientation

    Herbicide Loading to Shallow Ground Water beneath Nebraska’s Management Systems Evaluation Area

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    Better management practices can counter deterioration of ground water quality. From 1991 through 1996 the influence of improved irrigation practices on ground water pesticide contamination was assessed at the Nebraska Management SystemsEvaluation Area. Three 13.4-ha corn (Zea mays L.) fields were studied: a conventional furrow-irrigated field, a surge-irrigated field and a center pivot–irrigated field, and a center pivot–irrigated alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) field. The corn fields received one identical banded application of Bicep (atrazine [6-chloro-N-ethyl-N’-(1-methylethyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4,-diamine] _ metolachlor [2-chloro-N-(2-ethyl-6-methylphenyl)-N-(2-methoxy-1-methylethyl) acetamide]) annually; the alfalfa field was untreated. Ground water samples were collected three times annually from 16 depths of 31 multi-level samplers. Six years of sample data indicated that a greater than 50% reduction in irrigation water on the corn management fields lowered average atrazine concentrations in the upper 1.5 m of the aquifer downgradient of the corn fields from approximately 5.5 to –1. Increases in deethylatrazine (DEA; 2-chloro-4-amino-6-isopropyl- amino-s-triazine) to atrazine molar ratios indicated that reducing water applications enhanced microbial degradation of atrazine in soil zones. The occurrence of peak herbicide loading in ground water was unpredictable but usually was associated with heavy precipitation within days of herbicide application. Focused recharge of storm runoff that ponded in the surge-irrigated field drainage ditch, in the upgradient road ditch, and at the downgradient end of the conventionally irrigated field was a major mechanism for vertical transport. Sprinkler irrigation technology limited areas for focused recharge and promoted significantly more soil microbial degradation of atrazine than furrow irrigation techniques and, thereby, improved ground water quality

    CFD modelling of wind farms in complex terrain

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    Modelling of entire wind farms in flat and complex terrain using a full 3D Navier–Stokes solver for incompressible flow is presented in this paper. Numerical integration of the governing equations is performed using an implicit pressure correction scheme, where the wind turbines (W/Ts) are modelled as momentum absorbers through their thrust coefficient. The k–ω turbulence model, suitably modified for atmospheric flows, is employed for closure. A correction is introduced to account for the underestimation of the near wake deficit, in which the turbulence time scale is bounded using a general “realizability” constraint for the fluctuating velocities. The second modelling issue that is discussed in this paper is related to the determination of the reference wind speed for the thrust calculation of the machines. Dealing with large wind farms and wind farms in complex terrain, determining the reference wind speed is not obvious when a W/T operates in the wake of another WT and/or in complex terrain. Two alternatives are compared: using the wind speed value at hub height one diameter upstream of the W/T and adopting an induction factor-based concept to overcome the utilization of a wind speed at a certain distance upwind of the rotor. Application is made in two wind farms, a five-machine one located in flat terrain and a 43-machine one located in complex terrain

    Dual Targeting of Antioxidant and Metabolic Enzymes to the Mitochondrion and the Apicoplast of Toxoplasma gondii

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    Toxoplasma gondii is an aerobic protozoan parasite that possesses mitochondrial antioxidant enzymes to safely dispose of oxygen radicals generated by cellular respiration and metabolism. As with most Apicomplexans, it also harbors a chloroplast-like organelle, the apicoplast, which hosts various biosynthetic pathways and requires antioxidant protection. Most apicoplast-resident proteins are encoded in the nuclear genome and are targeted to the organelle via a bipartite N-terminal targeting sequence. We show here that two antioxidant enzymes—a superoxide dismutase (TgSOD2) and a thioredoxin-dependent peroxidase (TgTPX1/2)—and an aconitase are dually targeted to both the apicoplast and the mitochondrion of T. gondii. In the case of TgSOD2, our results indicate that a single gene product is bimodally targeted due to an inconspicuous variation within the putative signal peptide of the organellar protein, which significantly alters its subcellular localization. Dual organellar targeting of proteins might occur frequently in Apicomplexans to serve important biological functions such as antioxidant protection and carbon metabolism
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