1,767 research outputs found
Transport and Helfand moments in the Lennard-Jones fluid. I. Shear viscosity
We propose a new method, the Helfand-moment method, to compute the shear
viscosity by equilibrium molecular dynamics in periodic systems. In this
method, the shear viscosity is written as an Einstein-like relation in terms of
the variance of the so-called Helfand moment. This quantity, is modified in
order to satisfy systems with periodic boundary conditions usually considered
in molecular dynamics. We calculate the shear viscosity in the Lennard-Jones
fluid near the triple point thanks to this new technique. We show that the
results of the Helfand-moment method are in excellent agreement with the
results of the standard Green-Kubo method.Comment: Submitted to the Journal of Chemical Physic
Profile blunting and flow blockage in a yield stress fluid: A molecular dynamics study
The flow of a simple glass forming system (a 80:20 binary Lennard-Jones
mixture) through a planar channel is studied via molecular dynamics
simulations. The flow is driven by an external body force similar to gravity.
Previous studies show that the model exhibits both a static [Varnik et al. J.
Chem. Phys. 120, 2788 (2004)] and a dynamic [F. Varnik and O. Henrich Phys.
Rev. B 73, 174209 (2006)] yield stress in the glassy phase. \blue{These
observations are corroborated by the present work, where we investigate how the
presence of a yield stress may affect the system behavior in a Poiseuille-type
flow geometry.} In particular, we observe a blunted velocity profile across the
channel: A relatively wide region in the channel center flows with a constant
velocity (zero shear rate) followed by a non linear change of the shear rate as
the walls are approached. The observed velocity gradients are compared to those
obtained from the knowledge of the shear stress across the channel and the
flow-curves (stress versus shear rate), the latter being determined in our
previous simulations of homogeneous shear flow. Furthermore, using the value of
the (dynamic) yield stress known from previous simulations, we estimate the
threshold body force for a complete arrest of the flow. Indeed, a blockage is
observed as the imposed force falls below this threshold value. Small but
finite shear rates are observed at stresses above the dynamic but below the
static yield stress. We discuss the possible role of the \blue{stick-slip like
motion} for this observation.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figure
Water harvesting and sediment trapping in exclosures: a gully diversion experiment in the Tigray Highlands, Ethiopia
Irreversibility in response to forces acting on graphene sheets
The amount of rippling in graphene sheets is related to the interactions with
the substrate or with the suspending structure. Here, we report on an
irreversibility in the response to forces that act on suspended graphene
sheets. This may explain why one always observes a ripple structure on
suspended graphene. We show that a compression-relaxation mechanism produces
static ripples on graphene sheets and determine a peculiar temperature ,
such that for the free-energy of the rippled graphene is smaller than
that of roughened graphene. We also show that depends on the structural
parameters and increases with increasing sample size.Comment: 4 pages, 4 Figure
Interdisciplinary on-site evaluation of stone bunds to control soil erosion on cropland in Northern Ethiopia
Effect of boundary conditions on diffusion in two-dimensional granular gases
We analyze the influence of boundary conditions on numerical simulations of
the diffusive properties of a two dimensional granular gas. We show in
particular that periodic boundary conditions introduce unphysical correlations
in time which cause the coefficient of diffusion to be strongly dependent on
the system size. On the other hand, in large enough systems with hard walls at
the boundaries, diffusion is found to be independent of the system size. We
compare the results obtained in this case with Langevin theory for an elastic
gas. Good agreement is found. We then calculate the relaxation time and the
influence of the mass for a particle of radius in a sea of particles of
radius . As granular gases are dissipative, we also study the influence of
an external random force on the diffusion process in a forced dissipative
system. In particular, we analyze differences in the mean square velocity and
displacement between the elastic and inelastic cases.Comment: 15 figures eps figures, include
Building resilience against drought and soil erosion: impact of field water conservation in northern Ethiopia
Linear growth in preschool children treated with mass azithromycin distributions for trachoma: A cluster-randomized trial.
BackgroundMass azithromycin distributions have been shown to reduce mortality among pre-school children in sub-Saharan Africa. It is unclear what mediates this mortality reduction, but one possibility is that antibiotics function as growth promoters for young children.Methods and findings24 rural Ethiopian communities that had received biannual mass azithromycin distributions over the previous four years were enrolled in a parallel-group, cluster-randomized trial. Communities were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to either continuation of biannual oral azithromycin (20mg/kg for children, 1 g for adults) or to no programmatic antibiotics over the 36 months of the study period. All community members 6 months and older were eligible for the intervention. The primary outcome was ocular chlamydia; height and weight were measured as secondary outcomes on children less than 60 months of age at months 12 and 36. Study participants were not masked; anthropometrists were not informed of the treatment allocation. Anthropometric measurements were collected for 282 children aged 0-36 months at the month 12 assessment and 455 children aged 0-59 months at the month 36 assessment, including 207 children who had measurements at both time points. After adjusting for age and sex, children were slightly but not significantly taller in the biannually treated communities (84.0 cm, 95%CI 83.2-84.8, in the azithromycin-treated communities vs. 83.7 cm, 95%CI 82.9-84.5, in the untreated communities; mean difference 0.31 cm, 95%CI -0.85 to 1.47, P = 0.60). No adverse events were reported.ConclusionsPeriodic mass azithromycin distributions for trachoma did not demonstrate a strong impact on childhood growth.Trial registrationThe TANA II trial was registered on clinicaltrials.gov #NCT01202331
Retrospective, matched case-control analysis of tickborne encephalitis vaccine effectiveness by booster interval, Switzerland 2006-2020
Objective: To estimate effectiveness of tickborne encephalitis (TBE) vaccination by time interval (<5, 5-10 and 10+years) postvaccination.
Design: A retrospective, matched case-control study PARTICIPANTS: Cases-all adult (age 18-79) TBE cases in Switzerland reported via the national mandatory disease reporting surveillance system from 2006 to 2020 (final n=1868). Controls-community controls from a database of randomly selected adults (age 18-79) participating in a 2018 cross-sectional study of TBE vaccination in Switzerland (final n=4625).
Primary outcome measures: For cases and controls, the number of TBE vaccine doses received and the time since last vaccination were determined. Individuals were classified as being 'unvaccinated' (0 doses), 'incomplete' (1-2 doses) or 'complete' (3+ doses). Individuals with 'complete' vaccination were further classified by time since the last dose was received (<5 years, 5-10 years or 10+ years). A conditional logistic regression model was used to calculate vaccine effectiveness (VE: 100 Ă— [1-OR]) for each vaccination status category.
Results: VE for incomplete vaccination was 76.8% (95% CI 69.0% to 82.6%). For complete vaccination, overall VE was 95.0% (95% CI 93.5% to 96.1%). When the most recent dose was received <5 years prior VE was 91.6% (95% CI 88.4% to 94.0%), 95.2% (95% CI 92.4% to 97.0%) when the most recent dose was received 5-10 years prior, and 98.5% (95% CI 96.8% to 99.2%) when the most recent dose was received 10+ years prior.
Conclusions: That VE does not decrease among completely vaccinated individuals over 10+ years since last vaccination supports the longevity of the protective response following complete TBE vaccination. Our findings support the effectiveness of 10-year TBE booster intervals currently used in Switzerland.
Keywords: Breakthrough Infection; Duration; Prevention; Protection; TBE
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