507 research outputs found
Shakedown analysis for rolling and sliding contact problems
There is a range of problems where repeated rolling or sliding contact occurs. For such problems shakedown and limit analyses provides significant advantages over other forms of analysis when a global understanding of deformation behaviour is required. In this paper, a recently developed numerical method. Ponter and Engelhardt (2000) and Chen and Ponter (2001), for 3-D shakedown analyses is used to solve the rolling and sliding point contact problem previously considered by Ponter, Hearle and Johnson (1985) for a moving Herzian contact, with friction, over a half space. The method is an upper bound programming method, the Linear Matching Method, which provides a sequence of reducing upper bounds that converges to the least upper bound associated with a finite element mesh and may be implemented within a standard commercial finite element code. The solutions given in Ponter, Hearle and Johnson (1985) for circular contacts are reproduced and extended to the case when the frictional contact stresses are at an angle to the direction of travel. Solutions for the case where the contact region is elliptic are also given
Ridge Formation and De-Spinning of Iapetus via an Impact-Generated Satellite
We present a scenario for building the equatorial ridge and de-spinning
Iapetus through an impact-generated disk and satellite. This impact puts debris
into orbit, forming a ring inside the Roche limit and a satellite outside. This
satellite rapidly pushes the ring material down to the surface of Iapetus, and
then itself tidally evolves outward, thereby helping to de-spin Iapetus. This
scenario can de-spin Iapetus an order of magnitude faster than when tides due
to Saturn act alone, almost independently of its interior geophysical
evolution. Eventually, the satellite is stripped from its orbit by Saturn. The
range of satellite and impactor masses required is compatible with the
estimated impact history of Iapetus.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures; Icarus, in pres
Mutual Events in the Cold Classical Transneptunian Binary System Sila and Nunam
Hubble Space Telescope observations between 2001 and 2010 resolved the binary
components of the Cold Classical transneptunian object (79360) Sila-Nunam
(provisionally designated 1997 CS29). From these observations we have
determined the circular, retrograde mutual orbit of Nunam relative to Sila with
a period of 12.50995 \pm 0.00036 days and a semimajor axis of 2777 \pm 19 km. A
multi-year season of mutual events, in which the two near-equal brightness
bodies alternate in passing in front of one another as seen from Earth, is in
progress right now, and on 2011 Feb. 1 UT, one such event was observed from two
different telescopes. The mutual event season offers a rich opportunity to
learn much more about this barely-resolvable binary system, potentially
including component sizes, colors, shapes, and albedo patterns. The low
eccentricity of the orbit and a photometric lightcurve that appears to coincide
with the orbital period are consistent with a system that is tidally locked and
synchronized, like the Pluto-Charon system. The orbital period and semimajor
axis imply a system mass of (10.84 \pm 0.22) \times 10^18 kg, which can be
combined with a size estimate based on Spitzer and Herschel thermal infrared
observations to infer an average bulk density of 0.72 +0.37 -0.23 g cm^-3,
comparable to the very low bulk densities estimated for small transneptunian
binaries of other dynamical classes.Comment: In press in Icaru
Stuck in the slow lane: reconceptualising the links between gender, transport and social exclusion
This article draws upon primary research undertaken with over 3,000 women in the North East of England to explore the links between women, transport and the labour market. The research, funded by the ESF, advances the idea of spatiality as a social construction and builds on seminal studies relating to women and poverty to consider the way in which a gender division of transport constrains women's mobility and restricts their employment opportunities. It is likely to contribute to important debates, concerning strategies to tackle worklessness and the most effective spatial level at which to configure public transport networks
The Deformable Universe
The concept of smooth deformations of a Riemannian manifolds, recently
evidenced by the solution of the Poincar\'e conjecture, is applied to
Einstein's gravitational theory and in particular to the standard FLRW
cosmology. We present a brief review of the deformation of Riemannian geometry,
showing how such deformations can be derived from the Einstein-Hilbert
dynamical principle. We show that such deformations of space-times of general
relativity produce observable effects that can be measured by four-dimensional
observers. In the case of the FLRW cosmology, one such observable effect is
shown to be consistent with the accelerated expansion of the universe.Comment: 20 pages, LaTeX, 3 figure
Virus infection and grazing exert counteracting influences on survivorship of native bunchgrass seedlings competing with invasive exotics
1. âInvasive annual grasses introduced by European settlers have largely displaced native grassland vegetation in California and now form dense stands that constrain the establishment of native perennial bunchgrass seedlings. Bunchgrass seedlings face additional pressures from both livestock grazing and barley and cereal yellow dwarf viruses (B/CYDVs), which infect both young and established grasses throughout the state. 2. âPrevious work suggested that B/CYDVs could mediate apparent competition between invasive exotic grasses and native bunchgrasses in California. 3. âTo investigate the potential significance of virus-mediated mortality for early survivorship of bunchgrass seedlings, we compared the separate and combined effects of virus infection, competition and simulated grazing in a field experiment. We infected two species of young bunchgrasses that show different sensitivity to B/CYDV infection, subjected them to competition with three different densities of exotic annuals crossed with two clipping treatments, and monitored their growth and first-year survivorship. 4. âAlthough virus infection alone did not reduce first-year survivorship, it halved the survivorship of bunchgrasses competing with exotics. Within an environment in which competition strongly reduces seedling survivorship (as in natural grasslands), virus infection therefore has the power to cause additional seedling mortality and alter patterns of establishment. 5. âSurprisingly, clipping did not reduce bunchgrass survivorship further, but rather doubled it and disproportionately increased survivorship of infected bunchgrasses. 6. âTogether with previous work, these findings show that B/CYDVs can be potentially powerful elements influencing species interactions in natural grasslands. 7. âMore generally, our findings demonstrate the potential significance of multitrophic interactions in virus ecology. Although sometimes treated collectively as plant âpredatorsâ, viruses and herbivores may exert influences that are distinctly different, even counteracting
Origin and Evolution of Saturn's Ring System
The origin and long-term evolution of Saturn's rings is still an unsolved
problem in modern planetary science. In this chapter we review the current
state of our knowledge on this long-standing question for the main rings (A,
Cassini Division, B, C), the F Ring, and the diffuse rings (E and G). During
the Voyager era, models of evolutionary processes affecting the rings on long
time scales (erosion, viscous spreading, accretion, ballistic transport, etc.)
had suggested that Saturn's rings are not older than 100 My. In addition,
Saturn's large system of diffuse rings has been thought to be the result of
material loss from one or more of Saturn's satellites. In the Cassini era, high
spatial and spectral resolution data have allowed progress to be made on some
of these questions. Discoveries such as the ''propellers'' in the A ring, the
shape of ring-embedded moonlets, the clumps in the F Ring, and Enceladus' plume
provide new constraints on evolutionary processes in Saturn's rings. At the
same time, advances in numerical simulations over the last 20 years have opened
the way to realistic models of the rings's fine scale structure, and progress
in our understanding of the formation of the Solar System provides a
better-defined historical context in which to understand ring formation. All
these elements have important implications for the origin and long-term
evolution of Saturn's rings. They strengthen the idea that Saturn's rings are
very dynamical and rapidly evolving, while new arguments suggest that the rings
could be older than previously believed, provided that they are regularly
renewed. Key evolutionary processes, timescales and possible scenarios for the
rings's origin are reviewed in the light of tComment: Chapter 17 of the book ''Saturn After Cassini-Huygens'' Saturn from
Cassini-Huygens, Dougherty, M.K.; Esposito, L.W.; Krimigis, S.M. (Ed.) (2009)
537-57
Fruit production, migrant bird visitation, and seed dispersal of Guarea glabra in Panama
The relationship between bird visitation and the size of the available fruit crop was studied at an understory tree ( Guarea glabra Vahl, Meliaceae) in the tropical wet forest of Barro Colorado Island, Panama Canal Zone. Twelve resident species and seven North American migrant species fed on the Bright orange arilloids (seeds with arils), which were not depleted during the normal fruiting period. The number of individual visitors, the number of visiting species, and the number of seeds removed increased linearly with the size of the available fruit crop. The proportion of seeds removed did not increase with the size of the available fruit crop, indicating that dispersal is a function of the number of fruit available and not a disproportionate function of large fruit displays. Four species of North American migrants ( Myiarchus crinitus, Catharus ustulatus, Vireo olivaceus , and Vermivora peregrina ) accounted for 70% of the visits and 60% of the seeds removed from the trees. No resident species visited Guarea as frequently as any one of these migrants. There was no indication that any single visitor was dependent on this tree for nutrition, nor that the tree was dependent upon any single species for dispersal. We hypothesize that the fruiting season of G. glabra is adaptively synchronized with northward migration of opportunistically frugivorous North American birds.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47724/1/442_2004_Article_BF00348067.pd
Translation and validation of the Cardiac Depression Scale to Arabic
Background The Cardiac Depression Scale (CDS) has been designed to measure depressive symptoms in patients with heart disease. There is no Arabic version of the CDS. We translated and validated the CDS in an Arabic sample of patients with heart disease. Methods Forward and back translation of the CDS was followed by assessment of cultural relevance and content validity. The Arabic version of the CDS (A-CDS) and the Arabic version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (A-HADS) were then administered to 260 Arab in-patients with heart disease from 18 Arabic countries. Construct validity was assessed using exploratory factor analysis with polychoric correlations. Internal consistency was assessed using ordinal reliability alpha and item-to-factor polychoric correlations. Concurrent validity was assessed using Pearson's correlation coefficient between the A-CDS and the depression subscale of the A-HADS (A-HADS-D). Results Cultural relevance and content validity of the A-CDS were satisfactory. Exploratory factor analysis revealed three robust factors, without cross-loadings, that formed a single dimension. Internal consistency was high (ordinal reliability alpha for the total scale and the three factors were .94, .91, .86, and .87, respectively; item-to-factor correlations ranged from .77 to .91). Concurrent validity was high (r?=?.72). The A-CDS demonstrated a closer to normal distribution of scores than the A-HADS-D. Limitations Sensitivity and specificity of the A-CDS were not objectively assessed. Conclusions The A-CDS appears to be a valid and reliable instrument to measure depressive symptoms in a representative sample of Arab in-patients with heart disease
Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment
This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and
W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with
the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and
the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto
the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions
f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV
and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw
> 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour,
are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017
+/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second
include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables,
revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio
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