3,890 research outputs found
Convective Fingering of an Autocatalytic Reaction Front
We report experimental observations of the convection-driven fingering
instability of an iodate-arsenous acid chemical reaction front. The front
propagated upward in a vertical slab; the thickness of the slab was varied to
control the degree of instability. We observed the onset and subsequent
nonlinear evolution of the fingers, which were made visible by a {\it p}H
indicator. We measured the spacing of the fingers during their initial stages
and compared this to the wavelength of the fastest growing linear mode
predicted by the stability analysis of Huang {\it et. al.} [{\it Phys. Rev. E},
{\bf 48}, 4378 (1993), and unpublished]. We find agreement with the thickness
dependence predicted by the theory.Comment: 11 pages, RevTex with 3 eps figures. To be published in Phys Rev E,
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Development and analytical performance of an automated screening method for cannabinoids on the Dimension clinical chemistry system
A fully automated, random access method for the determination of
cannabinoids (UTHC) was developed for the Dimension AR and XL clinical chemistry systems. The method utilizes Abuscreen ONLINE reagents and a multianalyte liquid calibrator containing 11-nor-Δ9-THC-9-carboxylic acid. Within-run and
total reproducibility, determined using NCCLS protocol EP5-
T2, was less than 0.6% and 1.6% CV, respectively, at all concentrations. Calibration stability was retained for at least 30 days. An extensive evaluation of non-structurally related drugs and various physiological substances indicated lack of interference in the method. No sample carry-over was observed following a
specimen containing 1886 ng/ml 11-nor-Δ9-THC-9-carboxylic
acid. A 99.1% agreement (N = 445 samples) was found between an EMIT based method on the aca discrete clinical analyser and the Dimension UTHC method
Low Cost and Compact Quantum Cryptography
We present the design of a novel free-space quantum cryptography system,
complete with purpose-built software, that can operate in daylight conditions.
The transmitter and receiver modules are built using inexpensive off-the-shelf
components. Both modules are compact allowing the generation of renewed shared
secrets on demand over a short range of a few metres. An analysis of the
software is shown as well as results of error rates and therefore shared secret
yields at varying background light levels. As the system is designed to
eventually work in short-range consumer applications, we also present a use
scenario where the consumer can regularly 'top up' a store of secrets for use
in a variety of one-time-pad and authentication protocols.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, to be published in New Journal of Physic
Political brand image: an investigation into the operationalisation of the external orientation of David Cameron’s Conservative brand
This paper seeks to address the limited understanding of how to operationalise the external brand image of a political brand. More specifically, this research critically assesses the transfer potential of the six variables of brand image by Bosch, Venter, Han and Boshoff to deconstruct the UK Conservative Party brand from the perspective of young people aged 18–24 years during the 2010 UK General Election campaign. This research demonstrates the applicability of the six variables otherwise known as the ‘brand image framework’ to the political environment. However, the application of the brand image framework in its original conceptualisation proved problematic. Many of the brand image variables were clarified, rearticulated and simplified to address the political context. This refined conceptualisation provided an in-depth understanding of how to investigate the political brand image of David Cameron’s Conservative Party. This study addresses the paucity of research that operationalises external brand image and provides practitioners and academics within and beyond the context of political branding a mechanism to understand the external orientation of brands. This research may also be used by political and non-political brands as a basis to explore external brand image and compare its consistency with internal brand identity
Extremal-point Densities of Interface Fluctuations
We introduce and investigate the stochastic dynamics of the density of local
extrema (minima and maxima) of non-equilibrium surface fluctuations. We give a
number of exact, analytic results for interface fluctuations described by
linear Langevin equations, and for on-lattice, solid-on-solid surface growth
models. We show that in spite of the non-universal character of the quantities
studied, their behavior against the variation of the microscopic length scales
can present generic features, characteristic to the macroscopic observables of
the system. The quantities investigated here present us with tools that give an
entirely un-orthodox approach to the dynamics of surface morphologies: a
statistical analysis from the short wavelength end of the Fourier decomposition
spectrum. In addition to surface growth applications, our results can be used
to solve the asymptotic scalability problem of massively parallel algorithms
for discrete event simulations, which are extensively used in Monte-Carlo type
simulations on parallel architectures.Comment: 30 pages, 5 ps figure
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Mitigation of Moral Hazard and Adverse Selection in Venture Capital Financing: The Influence of the Country’s Institutional Setting
A venture capitalist (VC) needs to trade off benefits and costs when attempting to mitigate agency problems in their investor-investee relationship. We argue that signals of ventures complement the VC’s capacity to screen and conduct a due diligence during the pre-investment phase, but its attractiveness may diminish in institutional settings supporting greater transparency. Similarly, whereas a VC may opt for contractual covenants to curb potential opportunism by ventures in the post-investment phase, this may only be effective in settings supportive of shareholder rights enforcement. Using an international sample of VC contracts, our study finds broad support for these conjectures. It delineates theoretical and practical implications for how investors can best deploy their capital in different institutional settings whilst nurturing their relationships with entrepreneurs
High-fidelity single-shot singlet-triplet readout of precision-placed donors in silicon
In this work we perform direct single-shot readout of the singlet-triplet states in exchange coupled electrons confined to precision-placed donor atoms in silicon. Our method takes advantage of the large energy splitting given by the Pauli-spin blockaded (2,0) triplet states, from which we can achieve a single-shot readout fidelity of 98.4 ± 0.2%. We measure the triplet-minus relaxation time to be of the order 3 s at 2.5 T and observe its predicted decrease as a function of magnetic field, reaching 0.5 s at 1 T
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