290 research outputs found
Energy access for sustainable development
It is abundantly clear that adequate, reliable and clean energy services are vital for the achievement of many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In essence, energy access has come to represent one of the intractable challenges in development, and therefore emblematic of the call for poverty eradication, and economic and social transformation. This focus issue on 'Energy Access for Sustainable Development' is initiated to draw broadly from the ideas and emerging experiences with energy activities and solutions that sought to enhance sustainable development through expansion of energy access. The focus issue includes several contributions from authors on some of the knowledge gaps this field, including: (i) the role of off-grid and mini-grid energy systems to meet multiple SDGs; (ii) the impacts of the evolving suite of off-grid and distributed energy services on inequalities across gender, and on minority and disadvantaged communities; (iii) the opportunities that the evolving technology base (both of energy services and information systems) plays in expanding the role of off-grid and mini-grid energy systems; (iv) energy options for cooking; (v) new insights into energy planning as well as the political economy, institutional and decision challenges across the energy system. Drawing from papers in this focus issue and other literature, this paper provides a sketch of the key issues in energy access
A multinational, multi-institutional study of assessment of programming skills of first-year CS students
In computer science, an expected outcome of a student's education is programming skill. This working group investigated the programming competency students have as they complete their first one or two courses in computer science. In order to explore options for assessing students, the working group developed a trial assessment of whether students can program. The underlying goal of this work was to initiate dialog in the Computer Science community on how to develop these types of assessments. Several universities participated in our trial assessment and the disappointing results suggest that many students do not know how to program at the conclusion of their introductory courses. For a combined sample of 216 students from four universities, the average score was 22.89 out of 110 points on the general evaluation criteria developed for this study. From this trial assessment we developed a framework of expectations for first-year courses and suggestions for further work to develop more comprehensive assessments
Life and Death at the Edge of a Windy Cliff
The survival probability of a particle diffusing in the two dimensional
domain near a ``windy cliff'' at is investigated. The particle dies
upon reaching the edge of the cliff. In addition to diffusion, the particle is
influenced by a steady ``wind shear'' with velocity , \ie, no average bias either toward or away from the cliff.
For this semi-infinite system, the particle survival probability decays with
time as , compared to in the absence of wind. Scaling
descriptions are developed to elucidate this behavior, as well as the survival
probability within a semi-infinite strip of finite width with particle
absorption at . The behavior in the strip geometry can be described in
terms of Taylor diffusion, an approach which accounts for the crossover to the
decay when the width of the strip diverges. Supporting numerical
simulations of our analytical results are presented.Comment: 13 pages, plain TeX, 5 figures available upon request to SR
(submitted to J. Stat. Phys.
Recommended from our members
Refrigerator Efficiency in Ghana: Tailoring an appliance markettransformation program design for Africa
A simple replication of developed country applianceefficiency labels and standards is unlikely to be feasible in Ghana andmany other countries in Africa. Yet by creatively modifying the developedcountry appliance efficiency market transformation model, it should bepossible to achieve dramatic energy use reductions. As was true indeveloped countries in the previous two decades, refrigeration efficiencyimprovements provide the greatest energy savings potential in theresidential electricity sector in Ghana. Although Ghana, like manyAfrican countries may impose standards on imports since Ghana does nothave manufacturing facilities for appliances in country. This approachmay hurt some consumers who patronize a very diverse market of usedappliances imported from Europe. We discuss how meeting the challenges ofthe Ghanaian market will require modification of the usual energyefficiency labeling and standards paradigm. But once a refrigeratormarket transformation is accomplished in Ghana, we estimate an averageenergy savings potential of 550 kWh/refrigerator/year, and a monetarysavings of more than $35/refrigerator/year. We discuss how this modifiedrefrigerator efficiency market transformation may occur in the Ghanaiancontext. If successful, this market transformation is likely to be anexample for many other African countries
Vortex Dynamics in Dissipative Systems
We derive the exact equation of motion for a vortex in two- and three-
dimensional non-relativistic systems governed by the Ginzburg-Landau equation
with complex coefficients. The velocity is given in terms of local gradients of
the magnitude and phase of the complex field and is exact also for arbitrarily
small inter-vortex distances. The results for vortices in a superfluid or a
superconductor are recovered.Comment: revtex, 5 pages, 1 encapsulated postscript figure (included), uses
aps.sty, epsf.te
Dynamic Pathways for Viral Capsid Assembly
We develop a class of models with which we simulate the assembly of particles
into T1 capsid-like objects using Newtonian dynamics. By simulating assembly
for many different values of system parameters, we vary the forces that drive
assembly. For some ranges of parameters, assembly is facile, while for others,
assembly is dynamically frustrated by kinetic traps corresponding to malformed
or incompletely formed capsids. Our simulations sample many independent
trajectories at various capsomer concentrations, allowing for statistically
meaningful conclusions. Depending on subunit (i.e., capsomer) geometries,
successful assembly proceeds by several mechanisms involving binding of
intermediates of various sizes. We discuss the relationship between these
mechanisms and experimental evaluations of capsid assembly processes.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures. Submitted to Biophys.
Lattice Gas Automata for Reactive Systems
Reactive lattice gas automata provide a microscopic approachto the dynamics
of spatially-distributed reacting systems. After introducing the subject within
the wider framework of lattice gas automata (LGA) as a microscopic approach to
the phenomenology of macroscopic systems, we describe the reactive LGA in terms
of a simple physical picture to show how an automaton can be constructed to
capture the essentials of a reactive molecular dynamics scheme. The statistical
mechanical theory of the automaton is then developed for diffusive transport
and for reactive processes, and a general algorithm is presented for reactive
LGA. The method is illustrated by considering applications to bistable and
excitable media, oscillatory behavior in reactive systems, chemical chaos and
pattern formation triggered by Turing bifurcations. The reactive lattice gas
scheme is contrasted with related cellular automaton methods and the paper
concludes with a discussion of future perspectives.Comment: to appear in PHYSICS REPORTS, 81 revtex pages; uuencoded gziped
postscript file; figures available from [email protected] or
[email protected]
Search for Light Gluinos via the Spontaneous Appearance of pi+pi- Pairs with an 800 GeV/c Proton Beam at Fermilab
We searched for the appearance of pi+pi- pairs with invariant mass greater
than 648 MeV in a neutral beam. Such an observation could signify the decay of
a long-lived light neutral particle. We find no evidence for this decay. Our
null result severely constrains the existence of an R0 hadron, which is the
lightest bound state of a gluon and a light gluino, and thereby also the
possibility of a light gluino. Depending on the photino mass, we exclude the R0
in the mass and lifetime ranges of 1.2 -- 4.6 GeV and 2E-10 -- 7E-4 seconds,
respectively. (To Appear in Phys. Rev. Lett.)Comment: Documentstyle aps,epsfig,prl (revtex), 6 pages, 7 figure
Search for the Decay K_L -> pi^0 nu nubar using pi^0 -> e^+ e^- gamma
We report on a search for the decay K_L -> pi^0 nu nubar, carried out as a
part of E799-II, a rare K_L decay experiment at Fermilab. Within the Standard
Model, the K_L -> pi^0 nu nubar decay is dominated by direct CP violating
processes, and thus an observation of the decay implies confirmation of direct
CP violation. Due to theoretically clean calculations, a measurement of B(K_L
-> pi^0 nu nubar) is one of the best ways to determine the CKM parameter eta.
No events were observed, and we set an upper limit B(K_L -> pi^0 nu nubar) <
5.9 times 10^-7 at the 90% confidence level.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
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