Intermittency and non-Gaussian fluctuations of the global energy transfer in fully developed turbulence

We address the experimentally observed non-Gaussian fluctuations for the energy injected into a closed turbulent flow at fixed Reynolds number. We propose that the power fluctuations mirror the internal kinetic energy fluctuations. Using a stochastic cascade model, we construct the excess kinetic energy as the sum over the energy transfers at different levels of the cascade. We find an asymmetric distribution that strongly resembles the experimental data. The asymmetry is an explicit consequence of intermittency and the global measure is dominated by small scale events correlated over the entire system. Our calculation is consistent with the statistical analogy recently made between a confined turbulent flow and a critical system of finite size.Comment: To appear in Physical Review Letter

A literature-based extension of a basal reading unit

A unit on friendship in the basal reader was extended to include many literature experiences and teacher-directed and student-initiated activities for children in second grade. Quality pieces of literature from different genres served as the unit\u27s basis. Many different expressive activities that extended the literature experiences were offered through learning centers, both sustaining and specific to the unit. Children worked in the centers individually, in pairs, and in small groups. Whole group sharing time at the end of daily center sessions was provided. The print-rich environment with many opportunities for engaging in the language processes led to quality comprehension-composition connections. As children made choices of literature to read and respond to, they took ownership of their learning, thus heightening their thinking-language abilities

Spin ice under pressure: symmetry enhancement and infinite order multicriticality

We study the low-temperature behaviour of spin ice when uniaxial pressure induces a tetragonal distortion. There is a phase transition between a Coulomb liquid and a fully magnetised phase. Unusually, it combines features of discontinuous and continuous transitions: the order parameter exhibits a jump, but this is accompanied by a divergent susceptibility and vanishing domain wall tension. All these aspects can be understood as a consequence of an emergent SU(2) symmetry at the critical point. We map out a possible experimental realisation

A Three Dimensional Kasteleyn Transition: Spin Ice in a [100] Field

We examine the statistical mechanics of spin-ice materials with a [100] magnetic field. We show that the approach to saturated magnetisation is, in the low-temperature limit, an example of a 3D Kasteleyn transition, which is topological in the sense that magnetisation is changed only by excitations that span the entire system. We study the transition analytically and using a Monte Carlo cluster algorithm, and compare our results with recent data from experiments on Dy2Ti2O7.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Every breath you take:new insights into plant and animal oxygen sensing

Responses to hypoxia are regulated by oxygen-dependent degradation of kingdom-specific proteins in animals and plants. Masson et al. (2019) identified and characterized the mammalian counterpart of an oxygen-sensing pathway previously only observed in plants. Alongside other recent findings identifying novel oxygen sensors, this provides new insights into oxygen-sensing origins and mechanisms in eukaryotes.</p

Origin and significance of 'dispersed facies' basal ice: Svínafellsjökull, Iceland

Dispersed facies basal ice - massive (i.e. structureless) ice with dispersed debris aggregates - is present at the margins of many glaciers and, as a product of internal glacial processes, has the potential to provide important information about the mechanisms of glacier flow and the nature of the subglacial environment. The origin of dispersed facies is poorly understood, with several hypotheses having been advanced for its formation, and there is disagreement as to whether it is largely a sedimentary or a tectonic feature. We test these established hypotheses at the temperate glacier Svfnafellsjokull, Iceland, and find that none fully account for dispersed facies characteristics at this location. Instead, dispersed facies physical, sedimentological and stable-isotope (5180, 8D) characteristics favour a predominantly tectonic origin that we suggest comprises the regelation and straininduced metamorphism of debris-rich basal ice that has been entrained into an englacial position by tectonic processes operating at the base of an icefall. Further thickening of the resultant dispersed facies may also occur tectonically as a result of ice flow against the reverse bed slope of a terminal overdeepening. Lack of efficient subglacial drainage in the region of the overdeepening may limit basal melting and thus favour basal ice preservation, including the preservation of dispersed facies. Despite the relatively low sediment content of dispersed facies (~1.6% by volume), its thickness (up to 25 m) and ubiquity at Svfnafellsjokull results in a significant contribution to annual sediment discharge (1635-3270 m3 a"1) that is ~6.5 times that contributed by debris-rich stratified facies basal ice

Reply to Comment on " Universal Fluctuations in Correlated Systems"

Reply to the comment, cond-mat/0209398 by by N.W. Watkins, S.C. Chapman, and G. RowlandsComment: To appear In Physical Review Letter

Ground state and low-lying excitations of the spin-1/2 XXZ model on the kagome lattice at magnetization 1/3

We study the ground state and low-lying excitations of the S=1/2 XXZ antiferromagnet on the kagome lattice at magnetization one third of the saturation. An exponential number of non-magnetic states is found below a magnetic gap. The non-magnetic excitations also have a gap above the ground state, but it is much smaller than the magnetic gap. This ground state corresponds to an ordered pattern with resonances in one third of the hexagons. The spin-spin correlation function is short ranged, but there is long-range order of valence-bond crystal type.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure included, to appear in Physica B (proceedings of SCES'04