10,728 research outputs found
Enhanced hydrogen storage in Ni/Ce composite oxides
The properties of dried (but not calcined) coprecipitated nickel ceria systems have been investigated in terms of their hydrogen emission characteristics following activation in hydrogen. XRD and BET data obtained on the powders show similarities to calcined ceria but it is likely that the majority of the material produced by the coprecipitation process is largely of an amorphous nature. XPS data indicate very little nickel is present on the outermost surface of the particles. Nevertheless, the thermal analytical techniques (TGA, DSC and TPD-MS) indicate that the hydrogen has access to the catalyst present and the nickel is able to generate hydrogen species capable of interacting with the support. Both unactivated and activated materials show two hydrogen emission features, viz. low temperature and high temperature emissions (LTE and HTE, respectively) over the temperature range 50 and 500 °C. A clear effect of hydrogen interaction with the material is that the activated sample not only emits much more hydrogen than the corresponding unactivated one but also at lower temperatures. H2 dissociation occurs on the reduced catalyst surface and the spillover mechanism transfers this active hydrogen into the ceria, possibly via the formation and migration of OH− species. The amount of hydrogen obtained (0.24 wt%) is 10× higher than those observed for calcined materials and would suggest that the amorphous phase plays a critical role in this process. The affiliated emissions of CO and CO2 with that of the HTE hydrogen (and consumption of water) strongly suggests a proportion of the hydrogen emission at this point arises from the water gas shift type reaction. It has not been possible from the present data to delineate between the various hydrogen storage mechanisms reported for ceria
Specific heat measurements and structural investigation of CeCu6 - xSnx compounds
International audienceThe evolution of the crystal structure and some magnetic properties of the heavy-fermion material CeCu6 - xSnx (x = 0, 0.25, 0.65, 0.75, 0.85 and 1.0) has been studied by powder neutron diffraction and by specific heat measurements. The substitution of Cu by Sn suppresses the temperature induced orthorhombic to monoclinic transition, known to occur in the pure CeCu6 phase. No structural phase transition has been observed in these samples as a function of x but the cell volume increases considerably in an anisotropic way. Sn occupies preferentially the special Cu crystallographic site which is next to each of the four Ce atoms in the unit cell. The transition to antiferromagnetic order, characterizing the samples with higher x, is sensitive to both x and magnetic field. The results are discussed in the context of the competition between Kondo and RKKY interactions in disordered or not heavy-fermion systems and reveal an interesting interplay between composition, structure and magnetism in CeCu6 - xSnx
Chaos in computer performance
Modern computer microprocessors are composed of hundreds of millions of
transistors that interact through intricate protocols. Their performance during
program execution may be highly variable and present aperiodic oscillations. In
this paper, we apply current nonlinear time series analysis techniques to the
performances of modern microprocessors during the execution of prototypical
programs. Our results present pieces of evidence strongly supporting that the
high variability of the performance dynamics during the execution of several
programs display low-dimensional deterministic chaos, with sensitivity to
initial conditions comparable to textbook models. Taken together, these results
show that the instantaneous performances of modern microprocessors constitute a
complex (or at least complicated) system and would benefit from analysis with
modern tools of nonlinear and complexity science
The History of entomology in Ecuador
This work is not intended to be a complete review of all publications about entomology in Ecuador. It compiles the history of entomology in Ecuador in a chronological order. It first provides observations about the influence of pre-Columbian cultures and the cultural heritage of indigenous populations. It then presents the contribution of the Spanish conquest and colonization chroniclers, the specialists that described American species during the Renaissance period and the great scientific expeditions. Finally the birth of Ecuadorian entomology as a science is described with the creation of institutes for applied research and the Ecuadorian museums of entomology
Transition from overscreening to underscreening in the multichannel Kondo model: exact solution at large N
A novel large-N limit of the multichannel Kondo model is introduced, for
representations of the impurity spin described by Schwinger bosons. Three cases
are found, associated with underscreening, overscreening and exact Kondo
screening of the impurity. The saddle-point equations derived in this limit are
reminiscent of the ``non-crossing approximation'', but preserve the
Fermi-liquid nature of the model in the exactly screened case. Several physical
quantities are computed, both numerically, and analytically in the low-\omega,T
limit, and compared to other approaches.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX3.0, 2 EPS figures. Published versio
Optical spectrum of the post-AGB star HD56126 in the region 4010-8790 AA
We studied in detail the optical spectrum of the post-AGB star HD56126
(IRAS07134+1005). We use high resolution spectra (R=25000 and 60000) obtained
with the echelle spectrographs of the 6-m telescope. About one and a half
thousand absorptions of neutral atoms and ions, absorption bands of C_2, CN,
and CH molecules, and interstellar bands (DIBs) are identified in the 4010 to
8790 AA wavelength region, and the depths and radial velocities of these
spectral features are measured. Differences are revealed between the variations
of the radial velocities measured from spectral features of different
excitation. In addition to the well-known variability of the Halpha profile, we
found variations in the profiles of a number of FeII, YII, and BaII lines. We
also produce an atlas of the spectrum of HD56126 and its comparison staralpha
Per. The full version of the atlas is available in electronic form from
Web-address: http://www.sao.ru/hq/ssl/Atlas/Atlas.htmlComment: 42 pages, 6 figure
Entomology in Ecuador : recent developments and future challenges
We review and analyze the recent development and future challenges facing entomology as a science in Ecuador, a country with limited financial and human resources and numerous environmental problems. Taxonomic studies of the Ecuadorian insect fauna have been well developed for only a few groups (e.g. Papilionoidea, Carabidae) and remains in its infancy for most insect orders. This is due to the huge diversity of species living in a great diversity of habitats and the difficulty to identify most species. There is a lack of published basic biological information and to a high rate of endemism of many groups, especially in the Andes. The development of ecological entomology as a formal discipline in Ecuador is a very recent phenomenon, and has been mostly limited to descriptive studies of the environmental factors that govern insect diversity and abundance. We outline a set of research challenges regarding the impact of global environmental changes on insect communities and habitats they live in and propose potential strategies for the development of entomology in Ecuador. Both basic and applied research will be important in this context as well as international collaboration to strengthen the role of entomological science in decision making processes in the country
Intermediate statistics in quantum maps
We present a one-parameter family of quantum maps whose spectral statistics
are of the same intermediate type as observed in polygonal quantum billiards.
Our central result is the evaluation of the spectral two-point correlation form
factor at small argument, which in turn yields the asymptotic level
compressibility for macroscopic correlation lengths
Statistical mechanics of error exponents for error-correcting codes
Error exponents characterize the exponential decay, when increasing message
length, of the probability of error of many error-correcting codes. To tackle
the long standing problem of computing them exactly, we introduce a general,
thermodynamic, formalism that we illustrate with maximum-likelihood decoding of
low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes on the binary erasure channel (BEC) and
the binary symmetric channel (BSC). In this formalism, we apply the cavity
method for large deviations to derive expressions for both the average and
typical error exponents, which differ by the procedure used to select the codes
from specified ensembles. When decreasing the noise intensity, we find that two
phase transitions take place, at two different levels: a glass to ferromagnetic
transition in the space of codewords, and a paramagnetic to glass transition in
the space of codes.Comment: 32 pages, 13 figure
Directing diarrhoeal disease research towards disease-burden reduction
Despite gains in controlling mortality relating to diarrhoeal disease, the burden of disease remains unacceptably high. To refocus health research to target disease-burden reduction as the goal of research in child health, the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative developed a systematic strategy to rank health research options. This priority-setting exercise included listing of 46 competitive research options in diarrhoeal disease and their critical and quantitative appraisal by 10 experts based on five criteria for research that reflect the ability of the research to be translated into interventions and achieved disease-burden reduction. These criteria included the answerability of the research questions, the efficacy and effectiveness of the intervention resulting from the research, the maximal potential for disease-burden reduction of the interventions derived from the research, the affordability, deliverability, and sustainability of the intervention supported by the research, and the overall effect of the research-derived intervention on equity. Experts scored each research option independently to delineate the best investments for diarrhoeal disease control in the developing world to reduce the burden of disease by 2015. Priority scores obtained for health policy and systems research obtained eight of the top 10 rankings in overall scores, indicating that current investments in health research are significantly different from those estimated to be the most effective in reducing the global burden of diarrhoeal disease by 2015
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