Non Linearity of the Ball/Rubber Impact in Table Tennis: Experiments and Modeling

AbstractAlong with comfort, the speed is a key metric used to qualify the performance of a table tennis racket. The restitution coefficient which corresponds to the ratio between the velocities of the ball right before and after normally impacting the racket relates to the speed performance: the higher the restitution coefficient, the greater the speed. Thus, understanding the normal impact problem is key and suggests investigating the effects of the intrinsic properties and architectures of the constituents of the racket. In this work, both experimental and numerical studies were pursued. Experimentally, normal impact tests were performed for varying launching velocities on samples made of isolated or associated constituents of a table tennis racket and the restitution coefficients calculated. Numerically, 3D finite elements simulations were conducted to replicate the normal impact conditions while incorporating the time-dependent constitutive behavior of the polymeric elements contributing during the impact: the racket constituents (the foam and the compact) and the ball. The restitution coefficients are seen to decrease with increasing launching velocity, while being minimum when the two racket polymeric constituents are associated. A fair agreement is obtained with the FE simulations in which the sample/ball contact zone is identified as a ring with its mean radius increasing till the maximum crushing. Ultimately, additional FE calculations confirm that the friction plays a key role in the energy dissipation process, alongside with the rate-dependent behavior and architecture of the polymeric constituents

Multi-plateau magnetization curves of one-dimensional Heisenberg ferrimagnets

Ground-state magnetization curves of ferrimagnetic Heisenberg chains of alternating spins $S$ and $s$ are numerically investigated. Calculating several cases of $(S,s)$, we conclude that the spin-$(S,s)$ chain generally exhibits $2s$ magnetization plateaux even at the most symmetric point. In the double- or more-plateau structure, the initial plateau is generated on a classical basis, whereas the higher ones are based on a quantum mechanism.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures embedded, to appear in Phys. Rev. B 01 August 200

Simulated nuclear spin-lattice relaxation in Heisenberg ferrimagnets: Indirect observation of quadratic dispersion relations

In response to recent proton spin relaxation-time measurements on NiCu(pba)(H$_2$O)$_3$$\cdot$2H$_2$O with ${pba}=1,3{-propylenebis(oxamato)}$, which is an excellent one-dimensional ferrimagnetic Heisenberg model system of spin-$(1,{1/2})$, we study the Raman relaxation process in spin-$(S,s)$ quantum ferrimagnets on the assumption of predominantly dipolar hyperfine interactions between protons and magnetic ions. The relaxation time $T_1$ is formulated within the spin-wave theory and is estimated as a function of temperature and an applied field $H$ by a quantum Monte Carlo method. The low-temperature behavior of the relaxation rate $T_1^{-1}$ qualitatively varies with $(S,s)$, while $T_1^{-1}$ is almost proportional to $H^{-1/2}$ due to the characteristic dispersion relations.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures embedded, to appear in Phys. Rev. B Rapid Commu

Reaching the edge of the speciation continuum: hybridization between three sympatric species of Hyla tree frogs

Alloparapatric species meeting in secondary contact zones are evolutionary witnesses to how reproductive isolation progresses over time and space. Western Palearctic tree frogs (Hyla) are phenotypically similar and all the species pairs tested can hybridize and eventually admix at range margins. All except one. The early-diverged Hyla meridionalis exhibits sharp phenotypic differences: a “long” breeding call and the absence of a lateral stripe. In southwestern Europe, this species co-occurs with the “short-call” striped tree frogs H. arborea and H. molleri, two expanding lineages that admix at their parapatric margins. We estimated local gene flow between these three taxa at several syntopic breeding sites in western France. We congruently matched genotypes to phenotypes: the “short-call” striped individuals were a nuclear mixture of H. arborea and H. molleri; the “long-call” stripeless individuals all featured pure H. meridionalis nuclear ancestry and mtDNA, confirming complete genetic isolation from H. arborea/molleri. Yet, we documented an F1 hybrid between a female H. arborea/molleri and a male H. meridionalis: an incompletely-striped male with an intermediate breeding call. These findings suggest H. meridionalis is still able to reproduce with parapatric congeneric species despite 20My of divergence and strong phenotypic differentiation, but that intrinsic incompatibilities (sterility) prevent genetic introgression

Structural organization of human replication timing domains

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Low-Field Dedicated and Desktop Magnetic Resonance Imaging Systems for Agricultural and Food Applications.

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Comparison of the Structure and Magnetic Order in a Series of Layered Ni(II) Organophosphonates, Ni[(RPO3)(H2O)] (R = C6H5, CH3, C18H37)

The reaction of nickel chloride with phenyl phosphonic acid under hydrothermal conditions resulted in the isolation of yellow-green single crystals of Ni[(C(6)H(5)PO(3))(H(2)O)]. The structure of the compound has been solved by X-ray single-crystal diffraction studies. Ni[(C(6)H(5)PO(3))(H(2)O)] crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pmn2(1) and is isostructural with the Mn(II), Fe(II), and Co(II) analogues. It presents the typical features of the hybrid 2D structures, consisting of alternating inorganic and organic layers. The former are formed by six-coordinated nickel(II) ions bridged by oxygen atoms into the layers. The inorganic layers are capped by the phenyl phosphonate groups, with phenyl groups of two adjacent ligands forming a hydrophobic bilayer region, and van der Waals contacts are established between them. The magnetic properties investigated by means of dc and ac susceptibility measurements point to an AF exchange coupling between nearest neighboring Ni(II) ions. Below 5 K, the compound orders magnetically showing the typical features of a canted antiferromagnet. The magnetic behavior and magnetic dimensionality of Ni[(C(6)H(5)PO(3))(H(2)O)] have been fully analyzed and compared to those of the Ni(II) parent compounds Ni[(RPO(3))(H(2)O)] (where R = CH(3), C(18)H(37)), which exhibit different symmetries of the inorganic layers and lengths of the R groups