1,957 research outputs found
Macroscopic Discontinuous Shear Thickening vs Local Shear Jamming in Cornstarch
We study the emergence of discontinuous shear-thickening (DST) in cornstarch,
by combining macroscopic rheometry with local Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
measurements. We bring evidence that macroscopic DST is observed only when the
flow separates into a low-density flowing and a high-density jammed region. In
the shear-thickened steady state, the local rheology in the flowing region, is
not DST but, strikingly, is often shear-thinning. Our data thus show that the
stress jump measured during DST, in cornstach, does not capture a secondary,
high-viscosity branch of the local steady rheology, but results from the
existence of a shear jamming limit at volume fractions quite significantly
below random close packing.Comment: To be published in PR
Tidal Torques and the Orientation of Nearby Disk Galaxies
We use numerical simulations to investigate the orientation of the angular
momentum axis of disk galaxies relative to their surrounding large scale
structure. We find that this is closely related to the spatial configuration at
turnaround of the material destined to form the galaxy, which is often part of
a coherent two-dimensional slab criss-crossed by filaments. The rotation axis
is found to align very well with the intermediate principal axis of the inertia
momentum tensor at this time. This orientation is approximately preserved
during the ensuing collapse, so that the rotation axis of the resulting disk
ends up lying on the plane traced by the protogalactic material at turnaround.
This suggests a tendency for disks to align themselves so that their rotation
axis is perpendicular to the minor axis of the structure defined by surrounding
matter. One example of this trend is provided by our own Galaxy, where the
Galactic plane is almost at right angles with the supergalactic plane (SGP)
drawn by nearby galaxies; indeed, the SGP latitude of the North Galactic Pole
is just 6 degrees. We have searched for a similar signature in catalogs of
nearby disk galaxies, and find a significant excess of edge-on spirals (for
which the orientation of the disk rotation axis may be determined
unambiguously) highly inclined relative to the SGP. This result supports the
view that disk galaxies acquire their angular momentum as a consequence of
early tidal torques acting during the expansion phase of the protogalactic
material.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ
Shear thickening of cornstarch suspensions as a re-entrant jamming transition
We study the rheology of cornstarch suspensions, a dense system of
non-Brownian particles that exhibits shear thickening, i.e. a viscosity that
increases with increasing shear rate. Using MRI velocimetry we show that the
suspension has a yield stress. From classical rheology it follows that as a
function of the applied stress the suspension is first solid (yield stress),
then liquid and then solid again when it shear thickens. The onset shear rate
for thickening is found to depend on the measurement geometry: the smaller the
gap of the shear cell, the lower the shear rate at which thickening occurs.
Shear thickening can then be interpreted as the consequence of the Reynolds
dilatancy: the system under flow wants to dilate but instead undergoes a
jamming transition because it is confined, as confirmed by measurement of the
dilation of the suspension as a function of the shear rate
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Risk of prostate cancer in a population-based cohort of men with coeliac disease
Background: Prostate cancer (PC) is a leading cause of fatal cancer in men in developed countries. Coeliac disease (CD) has previously been linked to a raised cancer risk, and changes in some exposures following a CD diagnosis might hypothetically raise PC risk. Methods: We identified 10 995 patients with CD who had undergone a small intestinal biopsy in 1969–2007. Statistics Sweden then identified 54 233 age-matched male reference individuals from the general population. PC data were obtained from the Swedish Cancer Register. Hazard ratios (HRs) for PC were estimated using Cox regression analysis. Results: During follow-up, 185 individuals with CD (expected n=200) had an incident diagnosis of PC. This corresponds to a HR of 0.92 (0.79–1.08) (with 95% confidence interval) and an absolute risk reduction of 15/100 000 person-years among those with CD. An increased risk was not observed even when identification of PC began 5 years after biopsy. Conclusion: Our conclusion is that a CD diagnosis does not represent an increased risk for PC
Effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal inoculation on growth, and nutrient uptake of the two grass species, Leptochloa fusca (L.) Stapf and Sporobolus robustus Kunth, under greenhouse conditions
The aim of our work was to assess the effect of inoculation with three arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) (Rhizoglomus aggregatum (N.C. Schenck and G.S. Sm.) Sieverd., G.A. Silva and Oeh., Funneliformis mosseae (T.H. Nicolson and Gerd.) C. Walker and A. Schüssler. and Rhizoglomus intraradices (N.C. Schenck and G.S. Sm.) Sieverd., G.A. Silva and Oehl.), and a mixed inoculum of these AMF on root colonization, biomass production, mycorrhizal dependency (MD) and shoot mineral contents of two salt tolerant grasses Leptochloa fusca L. Stapf and Sporobolus robusts Kunth. After four months of growth in a sterilized soil and greenhouse conditions, grasses inoculated with AMF showed significantly higher total biomass production than non-inoculated seedlings. MD and shoot mineral contents (especially P) varied with AMF host plants. Maximum values of MD (13%) were observed in L. fusca and S. robustus seedlings when inoculated with R. intraradices and F. mosseae, respectively. Only P contents were higher in the S. robustus/mixed-AMF combinations than the other treatments. These results demonstrate the potential benefits in our experimental conditions of AM inoculation for improving growth and P acquisition particularly in the L. fusca/ F. mosseae and S. robustus/mixed-AMF combinations.Key words: Grass species, symbiosis, mycorrhizal dependency, mineral nutrition
The Angular Momentum Distribution of Gas and Dark Matter in Galactic Halos
(Abridged) We report results of a series of non radiative N-body/SPH
simulations in a LCDM cosmology. We find that the spin of the baryonic
component is on average larger than that of the dark matter (DM) component and
we find this effect to be more pronounced at lower redshifts. A significant
fraction f of gas has negative angular momentum and this fraction is found to
increase with redshift. We describe a toy model in which the tangential
velocities of particles are smeared by Gaussian random motions. This model is
successful in explaining some of the angular momentum properties. We compare
and contrast various techniques to determine the angular momentum distributions
(AMDs). We show that broadening of velocity dispersions is unsuitable for
making comparisons between gas and DM. We smooth the angular momentum of the
particles over a fixed number of neighbors. We find that an analytical function
based on gamma distribution can be used to describe a wide variety of profiles,
with just one parameter \alpha. The distribution of the shape parameter
for both gas and DM follows roughly a log-normal distribution. The
mean and standard deviation of log(\alpha) for gas is -0.04 and 0.11
respectively. About 90-95% of halos have \alpha<1.3, while exponential disks in
NFW halos would require 1.3<\alpha<1.6. This implies that a typical halo in
simulations has an excess of low angular momentum material as compared to that
of observed exponential disks, a result which is consistent with the findings
of earlier works. \alpha for gas is correlated with that of DM but they have a
significant scatter =1.09 \pm 0.2. \alpha_Gas is also
biased towards slightly higher values compared to \alpha_DM.Comment: 19 pages, 32 figures (replaced to correct a typo in the authors field
in the above line, paper unchanged
Gemini Spectroscopic Survey of Young Star Clusters in Merging/Interacting Galaxies. II. NGC 3256 Clusters
We present Gemini optical spectroscopy of 23 young star clusters in NGC3256.
We find that the cluster ages range are from few Myr to ~150 Myr. All these
clusters are relatively massive (2--40)x 10^{5} \msun$ and appear to be of
roughly 1.5 \zo metallicity. The majority of the clusters in our sample follow
the same rotation curve as the gas and hence were presumably formed in the
molecular-gas disk. However, a western subsample of five clusters has
velocities that deviate significantly from the gas rotation curve. These
clusters may either belong to the second spiral galaxy of the merger or may
have formed in tidal-tail gas falling back into the system. We discuss our
observations in light of other known cluster populations in merging galaxies,
and suggest that NGC 3256 is similar to Arp 220, and hence may become an
Ultra-luminous Infrared Galaxy as the merger progresses and the star-formation
rate increases.
Some of the clusters which appeared as isolated in our ground-based images
are clearly resolved into multiple sub-components in the HST-ACS images. The
same effect has been observed in the Antennae galaxies, showing that clusters
are often not formed in isolation, but instead tend to form in larger groups or
cluster complexes.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables; Accepted Ap
Assessment and Instruction of Oral Reading Fluency Among Adults with Low Literacy
We statistically examined 295 low-literacy adults’ oral reading fluency measured by total word and word error rates with connected prose. Based on four fluency ability groupings in relation to standardized assessments of reading-related skills (e.g., phonemic awareness, word recognition, vocabulary, comprehension, and general ability) the results suggest that adults that read at comparable correct word rates vary significantly in the number of total words and word errors. These differences were independent of assessed general ability level. Total word and word error rates, thus, offer a picture of learner reading ability that can help instructors emphasize instruction in deficit reading components
A path analysis of reading comprehension for adults with low literacy
Adult literacy interventions often rely on models of reading validated with children or adult
populations with a broad range of reading. Such models do not fully satisfy the need for
intervention research and development for adults with low literacy. Thus, the authors
hypothesized that a model representing the relationship between reading component skills would
be predictive of reading comprehension for an adult population with low literacy and beneficial
to adult literacy researchers. Using data from 174 adults participating in adult basic education
and secondary education programs, the authors performed a path analysis of component skills’
contribution to reading comprehension. The findings are clear that existing reading models do
not describe this population. The implications are discussed in terms of instructional and
curricular interventions.National Institute of Child Health and
Human Development; National Institute for Literacy; and U.S. Department of Education
Office of Vocational and Adult Education (Award #RO 1 HD 43775
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