1,291 research outputs found
Flow characteristics of carbon fibre moulding compounds
This paper presents the development of a low-cost carbon fibre moulding compound using an automated spray deposition process. Directed Fibre Compounding (DFC) is used to produce charge packs directly from low cost carbon fibre tows and liquid epoxy resin. A range of material and process related parameters have been studied to understand their influence on the level of macroscopic charge flow, in an attempt to produce a carbon fibre moulding compound with similar flow characteristics to conventional glass fibre SMCs.
Charge packs covering just 40% of the mould can be effectively used to process DFC, without detrimentally affecting void content, fibre distribution and mechanical properties. Tensile stiffness and strength values of 36GPa and 320MPa are reported for isotropic materials (100% charge coverage), which increase to 46GPa and 408MPa with flow induced alignment (50% charge coverage) at 50% fibre volume fraction
Depression and mortality: Artifact of measurement and analysis?
Background Previous research demonstrates various associations between depression, cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence and mortality, possibly as a result of the different methodologies used to measure depression and analyse relationships. This analysis investigated the association between depression, CVD incidence (CVDI) and mortality from CVD (MCVD), smoking related conditions (MSRC), and all causes (MALL), in a sample data set, where depression was measured using items from a validated questionnaire and using items derived from the factor analysis of a larger questionnaire, and analyses were conducted based on continuous data and grouped data. Methods Data from the PRIME Study (N=9798 men) on depression and 10-year CVD incidence and mortality were analysed using Cox proportional hazards models. Results Using continuous data, both measures of depression resulted in the emergence of positive associations between depression and mortality (MCVD, MSRC, MALL). Using grouped data, however, associations between a validated measure of depression and MCVD, and between a measure of depression derived from factor analysis and all measures of mortality were lost. Limitations Low levels of depression, low numbers of individuals with high depression and low numbers of outcome events may limit these analyses, but levels are usual for the population studied. Conclusions These data demonstrate a possible association between depression and mortality but detecting this association is dependent on the measurement used and method of analysis. Different findings based on methodology present clear problems for the elucidation and determination of relationships. The differences here argue for the use of validated scales where possible and suggest against over-reduction via factor analysis and grouping. CrownCopyright © 2013PublishedbyElsevierB.V.Allrightsreserved
Roadside vegetation management guidelines
Integrated Roadside Vegetation Management (IRVM) i s a collective process that uses the most appropriate scientifically-based vegetation management techniques to meet the department' s goals in both an environmentally and economically sound manner. IRVM recognizes that every component of a program can be greatly dependent upon the other components. Whether cultural, chemical or biological, all components are used to manipulate the roadside plant community during a short period of time but with longterm goals. If the guidelines in this manual are followed, they will help ensure that the department is accountable and that goals are met as efficiently and economically as possible.N
Evaluation of the CABLEv2.3.4 land surface model coupled to NUâWRFv3.9.1.1 in simulating temperature and precipitation means and extremes over CORDEX AustralAsia within a WRF physics ensemble
The Community Atmosphere Biosphere Land Exchange (CABLE) model is a thirdâgeneration land surface model (LSM). CABLE is commonly used as a standâalone LSM, coupled to the Australian Community Climate and Earth Systems Simulator global climate model and coupled to the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model for regional applications. Here, we evaluate an updated version of CABLE within a WRF physics ensemble over the COordinated Regional Downscaling EXperiment (CORDEX) AustralAsia domain. The ensemble consists of different cumulus, radiation and planetary boundary layer (PBL) schemes. Simulations are carried out within the NASA Unified WRF modeling framework, NUâWRF. Our analysis did not identify one configuration that consistently performed the best for all diagnostics and regions. Of the cumulus parameterizations the GrellâFreitas cumulus scheme consistently overpredicted precipitation, while the new Tiedtke scheme was the best in simulating the timing of precipitation events. For the radiation schemes, the RRTMG radiation scheme had a general warm bias. For the PBL schemes, the YSU scheme had a warm bias, and the MYJ PBL scheme a cool bias. Results are strongly dependent on the region of interest, with the northern tropics and southwest Western Australia being more sensitive to the choice of physics options compared to southeastern Australia which showed less overall variation and overall better performance across the ensemble. Comparisons with simulations using the Unified Noah LSM showed that CABLE in NUâWRF has a more realistic simulation of evapotranspiration when compared to GLEAM estimates
Existence and stability of viscoelastic shock profiles
We investigate existence and stability of viscoelastic shock profiles for a
class of planar models including the incompressible shear case studied by
Antman and Malek-Madani. We establish that the resulting equations fall into
the class of symmetrizable hyperbolic--parabolic systems, hence spectral
stability implies linearized and nonlinear stability with sharp rates of decay.
The new contributions are treatment of the compressible case, formulation of a
rigorous nonlinear stability theory, including verification of stability of
small-amplitude Lax shocks, and the systematic incorporation in our
investigations of numerical Evans function computations determining stability
of large-amplitude and or nonclassical type shock profiles.Comment: 43 pages, 12 figure
Magnetic Charge in a Nonassociative Field Theory
The violation of the Jacobi identity by the presence of magnetic charge is
accomodated by using an explicitly nonassociative theory of octonionic fields.
It is found that the dynamics of this theory is simplified if the Lagrangian
contains only dyonic charges, but certain problems in the constrained
quantisation remain. The extension of these concepts to string theory may
however resolve these difficulties.Comment: 10 pages, REVTeX, no figure
Number--conserving model for boson pairing
An independent pair ansatz is developed for the many body wavefunction of
dilute Bose systems. The pair correlation is optimized by minimizing the
expectation value of the full hamiltonian (rather than the truncated Bogoliubov
one) providing a rigorous energy upper bound. In contrast with the Jastrow
model, hypernetted chain theory provides closed-form exactly solvable equations
for the optimized pair correlation. The model involves both condensate and
coherent pairing with number conservation and kinetic energy sum rules
satisfied exactly and the compressibility sum rule obeyed at low density. We
compute, for bulk boson matter at a given density and zero temperature, (i) the
two--body distribution function, (ii) the energy per particle, (iii) the sound
velocity, (iv) the chemical potential, (v) the momentum distribution and its
condensate fraction and (vi) the pairing function, which quantifies the ODLRO
resulting from the structural properties of the two--particle density matrix.
The connections with the low--density expansion and Bogoliubov theory are
analyzed at different density values, including the density and scattering
length regime of interest of trapped-atoms Bose--Einstein condensates.
Comparison with the available Diffusion Monte Carlo results is also made.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figure
Twenty five years after KLS: A celebration of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics
When Lenz proposed a simple model for phase transitions in magnetism, he
couldn't have imagined that the "Ising model" was to become a jewel in field of
equilibrium statistical mechanics. Its role spans the spectrum, from a good
pedagogical example to a universality class in critical phenomena. A quarter
century ago, Katz, Lebowitz and Spohn found a similar treasure. By introducing
a seemingly trivial modification to the Ising lattice gas, they took it into
the vast realms of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. An abundant variety
of unexpected behavior emerged and caught many of us by surprise. We present a
brief review of some of the new insights garnered and some of the outstanding
puzzles, as well as speculate on the model's role in the future of
non-equilibrium statistical physics.Comment: 3 figures. Proceedings of 100th Statistical Mechanics Meeting,
Rutgers, NJ (December, 2008
Large-scale pharmacogenomic study of sulfonylureas and the QT, JT and QRS intervals: CHARGE Pharmacogenomics Working Group
Sulfonylureas, a commonly used class of medication used to treat type 2 diabetes, have been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Their effects on QT interval duration and related electrocardiographic phenotypes are potential mechanisms for this adverse effect. In 11 ethnically diverse cohorts that included 71â857 European, African-American and Hispanic/Latino ancestry individuals with repeated measures of medication use and electrocardiogram (ECG) measurements, we conducted a pharmacogenomic genome-wide association study of sulfonylurea use and three ECG phenotypes: QT, JT and QRS intervals. In ancestry-specific meta-analyses, eight novel pharmacogenomic loci met the threshold for genome-wide significance (P<5 Ă 10â8), and a pharmacokinetic variant in CYP2C9 (rs1057910) that has been associated with sulfonylurea-related treatment effects and other adverse drug reactions in previous studies was replicated. Additional research is needed to replicate the novel findings and to understand their biological basis
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