1,046 research outputs found
Spin-dependent Scattering by a Potential Barrier on a Nanotube
The electron spin effects on the surface of a nanotube have been considered
through the spin-orbit interaction (SOI), arising from the electron confinement
on the surface of the nanotube. This is of the same nature as the
Rashba-Bychkov SOI at a semiconductor heterojunction. We estimate the effect of
disorder within a potential barrier on the transmission probability. Using a
continuum model, we obtained analytic expressions for the spin-split energy
bands for electrons on the surface of nanotubes in the presence of SOI. First
we calculate analytically the scattering amplitudes from a potential barrier
located around the axis of the nanotube into spin-dependent states. The effect
of disorder on the scattering process is included phenomenologically and
induces a reduction in the transition probability. We analyzed the relative
role of SOI and disorder on the transmission probability which depends on the
angular and linear momentum of the incoming particle, and its spin orientation.
We demonstrated that in the presence of disorder perfect transmission may not
be achieved for finite barrier heights.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figure
The effect of walking speed on the foot inter-segment kinematics, ground reaction forces and lower limb joint moments
Background: Normative foot kinematic and kinetic data with
different walking speeds will benefit rehabilitation programs
and improving gait performance. The purpose of this study was
to analyze foot kinematics and kinetics differences between
slow walking (SW), normal walking (NW) and fast walking (FW)
of healthy subjects. Methods: A total of 10 healthy male
subjects participated in this study; they were asked to carry
out walks at a self-selected speed. After measuring and
averaging the results of NW, the subjects were asked to
perform a 25% slower and 25% faster walk, respectively.
Temporal-spatial parameters, kinematics of the tibia (TB),
hindfoot (HF), forefoot (FF) and hallux (HX), and ground
reaction forces (GRFs) were recorded while the subjects walked
at averaged speeds of 1.01 m/s (SW), 1.34 m/s (NW), and 1.68
m/s (FW). Results: Hindfoot relative to tibia (HF/TB) and
forefoot relative to hindfoot (FF/HF) dorsiflexion (DF)
increased in FW, while hallux relative to forefoot (HX/FF) DF
decreased. Increased peak eversion (EV) and peak external
rotation (ER) in HF/TB were observed in FW with decreased peak
supination (SP) in FF/HF. GRFs were increased significantly
with walking speed. The peak values of the knee and ankle
moments in the sagittal and frontal planes significantly
increased during FW compared with SW and NW. Discussion:
Limited HF/TB and FF/HF motion of SW was likely compensated
for increased HX/FF DF. Although small angle variation in
HF/TB EV and FF/HF SP during FW may have profound effects for
foot kinetics. Higher HF/TB ER contributed to the FF push-
offthe ground while the center of mass (COM) progresses
forward in FW, therefore accompanied by higher FF/HF abduction
in FW. Increased peak vertical GRF in FW may affected by
decreased stance duration time, the biomechanical mechanism
maybe the change in vertical COM height and increase leg
stiffness. Walking speed changes accompanied with modulated
sagittal plane ankle moments to alter the braking GRF during
loading response. The findings of foot kinematics, GRFs, and
lower limb joint moments among healthy males may set a
reference to distinguish abnormal and pathological gait
patterns. © 2018 Sun et al
On the Entropy of a Family of Random Substitutions
The generalised random Fibonacci chain is a stochastic extension of the
classical Fibonacci substitution and is defined as the rule mapping and with probability , where with
, and where the random rule is applied each time it acts on
a 1. We show that the topological entropy of this object is given by the growth
rate of the set of inflated generalised random Fibonacci words.Comment: A more appropriate tile and minor misprints corrected, compared to
the previous versio
Maximizing Maximal Angles for Plane Straight-Line Graphs
Let be a plane straight-line graph on a finite point set
in general position. The incident angles of a vertex
of are the angles between any two edges of that appear consecutively in
the circular order of the edges incident to .
A plane straight-line graph is called -open if each vertex has an
incident angle of size at least . In this paper we study the following
type of question: What is the maximum angle such that for any finite set
of points in general position we can find a graph from a certain
class of graphs on that is -open? In particular, we consider the
classes of triangulations, spanning trees, and paths on and give tight
bounds in most cases.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figures. Apart of minor corrections, some proofs that
were omitted in the previous version are now include
How network-based and set-based visualizations aid consistency checking in ontologies
© 2017 ACM. Ontologies describe complex world knowledge in that they consist of hierarchical relations, such as is-a, which can be expressed by quantifiers or sets, and various binary relations, which can be expressed by links or networks. Should hierarchical relations be distinguished from other binary relations as essentially different ones in building cognitively accessible systems of ontologies? In this study, two kinds of ontology visualizations, a network-based visualization (SOVA) and a set-based visualization (concept diagrams), are empirically compared in the case of consistency checking. Participants were presented with one diagram and then asked to answer the question of whether the meaning of the diagram was contradictory. Our results showed that SOVA is more effective than concept diagrams, suggesting that to represent hierarchical and binary relations of ontologies in a way based on networks suits human cognition when checking ontologies' consistencies
Role of relativistic kinematics in describing two-quark systems
An attempt to incorporate relativistic kinematics in the description of light quark systems is made. It seems that the way of such incorporation along the suggestion expressed by R. Gaida and his collaborators is very promising. Comparison of these results with the experimental data concerning boson mass spectrum shows that this approach is among the best theoretical interpretation of the data
Pareto optimality in house allocation problems
We study Pareto optimal matchings in the context of house allocation problems. We present an O(\sqrt{n}m) algorithm, based on Gales Top Trading Cycles Method, for finding a maximum cardinality Pareto optimal matching, where n is the number of agents and m is the total length of the preference lists. By contrast, we show that the problem of finding a minimum cardinality Pareto optimal matching is NP-hard, though approximable within a factor of 2. We then show that there exist Pareto optimal matchings of all sizes between a minimum and maximum cardinality Pareto optimal matching. Finally, we introduce the concept of a signature, which allows us to give a characterization, checkable in linear time, of instances that admit a unique Pareto optimal matching
Are climate model simulations useful for forecasting precipitation trends? Hindcast and synthetic-data experiments
Water scientists and managers currently face the question of whether trends in climate variables that affect water supplies and hazards can be anticipated. We investigate to what extent climate model simulations may provide accurate forecasts of future hydrologic nonstationarity in the form of changes in precipitation amount. We compare gridded station observations (GPCC Full Data Product, 1901–2010) and climate model outputs (CMIP5 Historical and RCP8.5 simulations, 1901–2100) in real and syntheticdata hindcast experiments. The hindcast experiments show that imputing precipitation trends based on the climate model mean reduced the root mean square error of precipitation trend estimates for 1961–2010 by 9% compared to making the assumption (implied by hydrologic stationarity) of no trend in precipitation. Given the accelerating pace of climate change, the benefits of incorporating climate model assessments of precipitation trends in water resource planning are projected to increase for future decades. The distribution of climate models’ simulated precipitation trends shows substantial spatially coherent biases, suggesting that there may be room for further improvement in how climate models are parametrized and used for precipitation estimation. Linear extrapolation of observed trends in long precipitation records may also be useful, particularly for lead times shorter than about 25 years. Overall, our findings suggest that simulations by current global climate models, combined with the continued maintenance of in situ hydrologic observations, can provide useful information on future changes in the hydrologic cycle
Sitting to standing postural changes: Energy expenditure and a possible mechanism to alleviate sedentary behavior
Background and aims Sedentary lifestyles have recently been identified as potential mechanism for obesity and associated metabolic diseases linked to ill health. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of standing and sitting–standing positional changes on energy cost and consequently interrupting sedentary sitting time while working. Methods A total of 26 healthy male volunteers performed normal typing and editing work for 100 min under three conditions. The conditions included sustained sitting, sustained standing, and sitting–standing alternation every 20 min using a sit–stand desk. Respiratory parameters measured included minute ventilation (VE), oxygen consumption (VO2), and energy expenditure (EE). Measurements were recorded using a calibrated Cosmed K4b2 portable gas analysis system. Results The mean value for VE was the highest in the standing position (VE = 13.33 ± 0.71), followed by sitting–standing alternation (VE = 12.04 ± 0.62). Both were significantly different from sitting (VE = 10.59 ± 0.69). The maximum VE and EE for standing (VE = 14.81 ± 0.43 and EE = 1.84 ± 0.10) and sitting–standing alternation (VE = 14.80 ± 0.40 and EE = 1.93 ± 0.08) were significantly higher than that of sitting (VE = 12.15 ± 0.42 and EE = 1.67 ± 0.07). No significant differences were observed in the mean VO2 among the three conditions. However, the maximum VO2 for both standing (VO2 = 5.40 ± 0.20) and sitting–standing alternation (VO2 = 5.14 ± 0.17) had shown to be significantly higher than sitting (VO2 = 4.50 ± 0.18). There were no significant differences observed in the mean EE levels between sitting (EE = 1.43 ± 0.07) and sitting–standing alternation (EE = 1.55 ± 0.08). However, the mean EE while standing (EE = 1.62 ± 0.09) significantly increased compared to sitting. Conclusions The findings of this study indicate that sitting–standing alternations may be implemented as an effective intervention to interrupt prolonged sitting while working
Secrecy Results for Compound Wiretap Channels
We derive a lower bound on the secrecy capacity of the compound wiretap
channel with channel state information at the transmitter which matches the
general upper bound on the secrecy capacity of general compound wiretap
channels given by Liang et al. and thus establishing a full coding theorem in
this case. We achieve this with a stronger secrecy criterion and the maximum
error probability criterion, and with a decoder that is robust against the
effect of randomisation in the encoding. This relieves us from the need of
decoding the randomisation parameter which is in general not possible within
this model. Moreover we prove a lower bound on the secrecy capacity of the
compound wiretap channel without channel state information and derive a
multi-letter expression for the capacity in this communication scenario.Comment: 25 pages, 1 figure. Accepted for publication in the journal "Problems
of Information Transmission". Some of the results were presented at the ITW
2011 Paraty [arXiv:1103.0135] and published in the conference paper available
at the IEEE Xplor
- …