2,230 research outputs found
Kinetics of Phase Separation in Fluids: A Molecular Dynamics Study
We present results from extensive 3-d molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of
phase separation kinetics in fluids. A coarse-graining procedure is used to
obtain state-of-the-art MD results. We observe an extended period of temporally
linear growth in the viscous hydrodynamic regime. The morphological similarity
of coarsening in fluids and solids is also quantified. The velocity field is
characterized by the presence of monopole-like defects, which yield a
generalized Porod tail in the corresponding structure factor.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
The devil is in the third year: a longitudinal study of erosion of empathy in medical school.
PURPOSE: This longitudinal study was designed to examine changes in medical students\u27 empathy during medical school and to determine when the most significant changes occur.
METHOD: Four hundred fifty-six students who entered Jefferson Medical College in 2002 (n = 227) and 2004 (n = 229) completed the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy at five different times: at entry into medical school on orientation day and subsequently at the end of each academic year. Statistical analyses were performed for the entire cohort, as well as for the matched cohort (participants who identified themselves at all five test administrations) and the unmatched cohort (participants who did not identify themselves in all five test administrations).
RESULTS: Statistical analyses showed that empathy scores did not change significantly during the first two years of medical school. However, a significant decline in empathy scores was observed at the end of the third year which persisted until graduation. Findings were similar for the matched cohort (n = 121) and for the rest of the sample (unmatched cohort, n = 335). Patterns of decline in empathy scores were similar for men and women and across specialties.
CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that a significant decline in empathy occurs during the third year of medical school. It is ironic that the erosion of empathy occurs during a time when the curriculum is shifting toward patient-care activities; this is when empathy is most essential. Implications for retaining and enhancing empathy are discussed
Effects of an external drive on the fluctuation-dissipation relation of phase-ordering systems
The relation between the autocorrelation and the integrated linear
response function is studied in the context of the large-N model
for phase-ordering systems subjected to a shear flow. In the high temperature
phase a non-equilibrium stationary state is entered which is
characterized by a non-trivial fluctuation-dissipation relation . For quenches below the splitting of the
order parameter field into two statistically independent components,
responsible for the stationary and aging part
of the autocorrelation function, can be explicitly exhibited in close analogy
with the undriven case. In the regime the same relation is found between the response and
, as for . The aging part of is
negligible for , as without drive, resulting in a flat in the aging regime .Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure
Glassy transition and metastability in four-spin Ising model
Using Monte Carlo simulations we show that the three-dimensional Ising model
with four-spin (plaquette) interactions has some characteristic glassy
features. The model dynamically generates diverging energy barriers, which give
rise to slow dynamics at low temperature. Moreover, in a certain temperature
range the model possesses a metastable (supercooled liquid) phase, which is
presumably supported by certain entropy barriers. Although extremely strong,
metastability in our model is only a finite-size effect and sufficiently large
droplets of stable phase divert evolution of the system toward the stable
phase. Thus, the glassy transitions in this model is a dynamic transition,
preceded by a pronounced peak in the specific heat.Comment: extensively revised, with further simulations of metastability
properties, response to referees tactfully remove
Rheology of Lamellar Liquid Crystals in Two and Three Dimensions: A Simulation Study
We present large scale computer simulations of the nonlinear bulk rheology of
lamellar phases (smectic liquid crystals) at moderate to large values of the
shear rate (Peclet numbers 10-100), in both two and three dimensions. In two
dimensions we find that modest shear rates align the system and stabilise an
almost regular lamellar phase, but high shear rates induce the nucleation and
proliferation of defects, which in steady state is balanced by the annihilation
of defects of opposite sign. The critical shear rate at onset of this second
regime is controlled by thermodynamic and kinetic parameters; we offer a
scaling analysis that relates the critical shear rate to a critical "capillary
number" involving those variables. Within the defect proliferation regime, the
defects may be partially annealed by slowly decreasing the applied shear rate;
this causes marked memory effects, and history-dependent rheology. Simulations
in three dimensions show instead shear-induced ordering even at the highest
shear rates studied here. This suggests that the critical shear rate shifts
markedly upward on increasing dimensionality. This may in part reflect the
reduced constraints on defect motion, allowing them to find and annihilate each
other more easily. Residual edge defects in the 3D aligned state mostly point
along the flow velocity, an orientation impossible in two dimensions.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figure
Anisotropic dynamical scaling in a spin model with competing interactions
Results are presented for the kinetics of domain growth of a two-dimensional
Ising spin model with competing interactions quenched from a disordered to a
striped phase. The domain growth exponent are and for
single-spin-flip and spin-exchange dynamics, as found in previous simulations.
However the correlation functions measured in the direction parallel and
transversal to the stripes are different as suggested by the existence of
different interface energies between the ground states of the model. In the
case of single-spin-flip dynamics an anisotropic version of the
Ohta-Jasnow-Kawasaki theory for the pair scaling function can be used to fit
our data.Comment: 4 pages, REVTeX fil
Folding transitions of the triangular lattice with defects
A recently introduced model describing the folding of the triangular lattice
is generalized allowing for defects in the lattice and written as an Ising
model with nearest-neighbor and plaquette interactions on the honeycomb
lattice. Its phase diagram is determined in the hexagon approximation of the
cluster variation method and the crossover from the pure Ising to the pure
folding model is investigated, obtaining a quite rich structure with several
multicritical points. Our results are in very good agreement with the available
exact ones and extend a previous transfer matrix study.Comment: 16 pages, latex, 5 postscript figure
Two-scale competition in phase separation with shear
The behavior of a phase separating binary mixture in uniform shear flow is
investigated by numerical simulations and in a renormalization group (RG)
approach. Results show the simultaneous existence of domains of two
characteristic scales. Stretching and cooperative ruptures of the network
produce a rich interplay where the recurrent prevalence of thick and thin
domains determines log-time periodic oscillations. A power law growth of the average domain size, with and in the flow and shear direction respectively, is shown to be obeyed.Comment: 5 Revtex pages, 4 figure
Phase separating binary fluids under oscillatory shear
We apply lattice Boltzmann methods to study the segregation of binary fluid
mixtures under oscillatory shear flow in two dimensions. The algorithm allows
to simulate systems whose dynamics is described by the Navier-Stokes and the
convection-diffusion equations. The interplay between several time scales
produces a rich and complex phenomenology. We investigate the effects of
different oscillation frequencies and viscosities on the morphology of the
phase separating domains. We find that at high frequencies the evolution is
almost isotropic with growth exponents 2/3 and 1/3 in the inertial (low
viscosity) and diffusive (high viscosity) regimes, respectively. When the
period of the applied shear flow becomes of the same order of the relaxation
time of the shear velocity profile, anisotropic effects are clearly
observable. In correspondence with non-linear patterns for the velocity
profiles, we find configurations where lamellar order close to the walls
coexists with isotropic domains in the middle of the system. For particular
values of frequency and viscosity it can also happen that the convective
effects induced by the oscillations cause an interruption or a slowing of the
segregation process, as found in some experiments. Finally, at very low
frequencies, the morphology of domains is characterized by lamellar order
everywhere in the system resembling what happens in the case with steady shear.Comment: 1 table and 12 figures in .gif forma
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