24,843 research outputs found
Ice formation on a smooth or rough cold surface due to the impact of a supercooled water droplet
Ice accretion is considered in the impact of a supercooled water droplet on a smooth or rough solid surface, the roughness accounting for earlier icing. In this theoretical investigation the emphasis and novelty lie in the full nonlinear interplay of the droplet motion and the growth of the ice surface being addressed for relatively small times, over a realistic range of Reynolds numbers, Froude numbers, Weber numbers, Stefan numbers and capillary underheating parameters. The Prandtl number and the kinetic under-heating parameter are taken to be order unity. The ice accretion brings inner layers into play forcibly, affecting the outer flow. (The work includes viscous effects in an isothermal impact without phase change, as a special case, and the differences between impact with and without freezing.) There are four main findings. First, the icing dynamically can accelerate or decelerate the spreading of the droplet whereas roughness on its own tends to decelerate spreading. The interaction between the two and the implications for successive freezings are found to be subtle. Second, a focus on the dominant physical effects reveals a multi-structure within which restricted regions of turbulence are implied. The third main finding is an essentially parabolic shape for a single droplet freezing under certain conditions. Fourth is a connection with a body of experimental and engineering work and with practical findings to the extent that the explicit predictions here for ice-accretion rates are found to agree with the experimental range.
Virtual audio reproduced in a headrest
When virtual audio reproduction is simultaneously required in many seats, such as in aircraft or
cinemas, it may be convenient to use loudspeakers mounted inside each seat's headrest. In
this preliminary study, the feasibility of virtual audio reproduction in the headrest of a single seat
is explored using an inversion technique to compensate for crosstalk and the synthesis of head
related transfer functions. Although large changes in the magnitude of the signals reproduced
at the listener's ears are observed as the listener moves their head within the headrest, informal
listening tests indicate that the reproduced acoustic images are surprisingly stable in about an
eighth of an arc either side of the loudspeaker positions. Not surprisingly, frontal images are
more difficult to reproduce with headrest loudspeakers
Synthesis of an integrated cockpit management system
The process used in the synthesis of an integrated cockpit management system was discussed. Areas covered included flight displays, subsystem management, checklists, and procedures (both normal and emergency). The process of evolving from the unintegrated conventional system to the integrated system is examined and a brief description of the results presented
The generalized gradient approximation kernel in time-dependent density functional theory
A complete understanding of a material requires both knowledge of the excited
states as well as of the ground state. In particular, the low energy
excitations are of utmost importance while studying the electronic, magnetic,
dynamical, and thermodynamical properties of the material. Time-Dependent
Density Functional Theory (TDDFT), within the linear regime, is a successful
\textit{ab-initio} method to access the electronic charge and spin excitations.
However, it requires an approximation to the exchange-correlation (XC) kernel
which encapsulates the effect of electron-electron interactions in the
many-body system. In this work we derive and implement the spin-polarized XC
kernel for semi-local approximations such as the adiabatic Generalized Gradient
Approximation (AGGA). This kernel has a quadratic dependence on the wavevector,
{\bf q}, of the perturbation, however the impact of this on the electron energy
loss spectra (EELS) is small. Although the GGA functional is good in predicting
structural properties, it generality overestimates the exchange spin-splitting.
This leads to higher magnon energies, as compared to both ALDA and experiment.
In addition, interaction with the Stoner spin-flip continuum is enhanced by
AGGA, which strongly suppresses the intensity of spin-waves.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
Reducing inappropriate antibiotics prescribing: The role of online commentary on physical examination findings
Objective: This study investigates the relationship of ‘online commentary’(contemporaneous physician comments about physical examination [PE] findings) with (i) parent questioning of the treatment recommendation and (ii) inappropriate antibiotic prescribing. Methods: A nested cross-sectional study of 522 encounters motivated by upper respiratory symptoms in 27 California pediatric practices (38 pediatricians). Physicians completed a post-visit survey regarding physical examination findings, diagnosis, treatment, and whether they perceived the parent as expecting an antibiotic. Taped encounters were coded for ‘problem’ online commentary (PE findings discussed as significant or clearly abnormal) and ‘no problem’ online commentary (PE findings discussed reassuringly as normal or insignificant). Results: Online commentary during the PE occurred in 73% of visits with viral diagnoses (n = 261). Compared to similar cases with ‘no problem’ online commentary, ‘problem’ comments were associated with a 13% greater probability of parents uestioning a non-antibiotic treatment plan (95% CI 0-26%, p = .05,) and a 27% (95% CI: 2-52%, p < .05) greater probability of an inappropriate antibiotic prescription. Conclusion: With viral illnesses, problematic online comments are associated with more pediatrician-parent conflict over non-antibiotic treatment recommendations. This may increase inappropriate antibiotic prescribing. Practice implications: In viral cases, physicians should consider avoiding the use of problematic online commentary
Collisional stripping of planetary crusts
Geochemical studies of planetary accretion and evolution have invoked various
degrees of collisional erosion to explain differences in bulk composition
between planets and chondrites. Here we undertake a full, dynamical evaluation
of 'crustal stripping' during accretion and its key geochemical consequences.
We present smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations of collisions between
differentiated rocky planetesimals and planetary embryos. We find that the
crust is preferentially lost relative to the mantle during impacts, and we have
developed a scaling law that approximates the mass of crust that remains in the
largest remnant. Using this scaling law and a recent set of N-body simulations,
we have estimated the maximum effect of crustal stripping on incompatible
element abundances during the accretion of planetary embryos. We find that on
average one third of the initial crust is stripped from embryos as they
accrete, which leads to a reduction of ~20% in the budgets of the heat
producing elements if the stripped crust does not reaccrete. Erosion of crusts
can lead to non-chondritic ratios of incompatible elements, but the magnitude
of this effect depends sensitively on the details of the crust-forming melting
process. The Lu/Hf system is fractionated for a wide range of crustal formation
scenarios. Using eucrites (the products of planetesimal silicate melting,
thought to represent the crust of Vesta) as a guide to the Lu/Hf of
planetesimal crust partially lost during accretion, we predict the Earth could
evolve to a superchondritic 176-Hf/177-Hf (3-5 parts per ten thousand) at
present day. Such values are in keeping with compositional estimates of the
bulk Earth. Stripping of planetary crusts during accretion can lead to
detectable changes in bulk composition of lithophile elements, but the
fractionation is relatively subtle, and sensitive to the efficiency of
reaccretion.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in EPSL. Abstract
shortened. Accompanying animations can be found at
http://www.star.bris.ac.uk/pcarter/crust_strip
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