Energy transfer in a beam-framed structure using a modal method and a wave method at mid frequencies

A fully framed system consisting of four beams and a rectangular plate has been investigated in terms of the energy transfer between the beams and the plate when a force is applied to one of the beams. This configuration, which is a mixture of stiff and flexible elements, is a particularly important example in the industrial area, as it is widely used. A modal model based on interface basis functions is used. A wave model, which is an approximate method, has also been developed in which the plate, acting as a wave impedance, is separately attached to each beam. Experimental studies have been carried out for validation. The investigation with respect to power flow and energy shows the validity of both models in the mid-frequency region. The results show that most energy is dissipated by the flexible plate. The physical phenomena and limitations of the wave method for this particular structural configuration are discussed. Even though it is an approximate method, the wave approach can describe the dynamic characteristics of the excited beam and the plate in terms of the ratios of power and energy of each component. The comparison of the two methods shows that the plate rather than the beams plays a crucial role in transferring the energy from the excited beam to the parallel opposite beam in the beam-framed structure when these two beams have identical properties, whereas the energy transfer is reduced when the beams have dissimilar properties

High-precision epsilon expansions of single-mass-scale four-loop vacuum bubbles

In this article we present a high-precision evaluation of the expansions in \e=(4-d)/2 of (up to) four-loop scalar vacuum master integrals, using the method of difference equations developed by S. Laporta. We cover the complete set of `QED-type' master integrals, i.e. those with a single mass scale only (i.e. $m_i\in\{0,m\}$) and an even number of massive lines at each vertex. Furthermore, we collect all that is known analytically about four-loop `QED-type' masters, as well as about {\em all} single-mass-scale vacuum integrals at one-, two- and three-loop order.Comment: 25 pages, uses axodraw.st

The optimum slaughter weight for different ewe mature sizes

Lamb producers have the option to market lambs at a range of slaughter weights. However, there are limited price premiums for heavier carcasses on a per kilogram basis. Any economic advantage of heavy lambs is realised by extra weight and not price. Both genetic and on-farm factors contribute to extra weight gain. Firstly, lamb weight and growth is correlated to its mature size and lambs from larger parents grow faster and reach heavier weights, but also have greater feed requirements. Secondly, stocking and reproductive rate account for the majority of variation in whole-farm profit, but increasing these also increases feed requirements. The production of heavy lambs is therefore a trade-off with maximising stocking and reproductive rate within the pool of available feed resources. We hypothesise that slaughter weight does not increase with mature size, due to the priority to increase stocking and reproductive rate for profit maximisation

Artemisinin-based combination therapy does not measurably reduce human infectiousness to vectors in a setting of intense malaria transmission

<p>Background: Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) for treating malaria has activity against immature gametocytes. In theory, this property may complement the effect of terminating otherwise lengthy malaria infections and reducing the parasite reservoir in the human population that can infect vector mosquitoes. However, this has never been verified at a population level in a setting with intense transmission, where chronically infectious asymptomatic carriers are common and cured patients are rapidly and repeatedly re-infected.</p> <p>Methods: From 2001 to 2004, malaria vector densities were monitored using light traps in three Tanzanian districts. Mosquitoes were dissected to determine parous and oocyst rates. Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite rates were determined by ELISA. Sulphadoxinepyrimethamine(SP) monotherapy was used for treatment of uncomplicated malaria in the contiguous districts of Kilombero and Ulanga throughout this period. In Rufiji district, the standard drug was changed to artesunate co-administered with SP (AS + SP) in March 2003. The effects of this change in case management on malaria parasite infection in the vectors were analysed.</p> <p>Results: Plasmodium falciparum entomological inoculation rates exceeded 300 infective bites per person per year at both sites over the whole period. The introduction of AS + SP in Rufiji was associated with increased oocyst prevalence (OR [95%CI] = 3.9 [2.9-5.3], p < 0.001), but had no consistent effect on sporozoite prevalence (OR [95%CI] = 0.9 [0.7-1.2], p = 0.5). The estimated infectiousness of the human population in Rufiji was very low prior to the change in drug policy. Emergence rates and parous rates of the vectors varied substantially throughout the study period, which affected estimates of infectiousness. The latter consequently cannot be explained by the change in drug policy.</p> <p>Conclusions: In high perennial transmission settings, only a small proportion of infections in humans are symptomatic or treated, so case management with ACT may have little impact on overall infectiousness of the human population. Variations in infection levels in vectors largely depend on the age distribution of the mosquito population. Benefits of ACT in suppressingtransmission are more likely to be evident where transmission is already low or effective vector control is widely implemented.</p&gt

A motif-based approach to network epidemics

Networks have become an indispensable tool in modelling infectious diseases, with the structure of epidemiologically relevant contacts known to affect both the dynamics of the infection process and the efficacy of intervention strategies. One of the key reasons for this is the presence of clustering in contact networks, which is typically analysed in terms of prevalence of triangles in the network. We present a more general approach, based on the prevalence of different four-motifs, in the context of ODE approximations to network dynamics. This is shown to outperform existing models for a range of small world networks

A mechanism for morphogen-controlled domain growth

Many developmental systems are organised via the action of graded distributions of morphogens. In the Drosophila wing disc, for example, recent experimental evidence has shown that graded expression of the morphogen Dpp controls cell proliferation and hence disc growth. Our goal is to explore a simple model for regulation of wing growth via the Dpp gradient: we use a system of reaction-diffusion equations to model the dynamics of Dpp and its receptor Tkv, with advection arising as a result of the flow generated by cell proliferation. We analyse the model both numerically and analytically, showing that uniform domain growth across the disc produces an exponentially growing wing disc