21,711 research outputs found
Mechanics and force transmission in soft composites of rods in elastic gels
We report detailed theoretical investigations of the micro-mechanics and bulk
elastic properties of composites consisting of randomly distributed stiff
fibers embedded in an elastic matrix in two and three dimensions. Recent
experiments published in Physical Review Letters [102, 188303 (2009)] have
suggested that the inclusion of stiff microtubules in a softer, nearly
incompressible biopolymer matrix can lead to emergent compressibility. This can
be understood in terms of the enhancement of the compressibility of the
composite relative to its shear compliance as a result of the addition of stiff
rod-like inclusions. We show that the Poisson's ratio of such a composite
evolves with increasing rod density towards a particular value, or {\em fixed
point}, independent of the material properties of the matrix, so long as it has
a finite initial compressibility. This fixed point is in three
dimensions and in two dimensions. Our results suggest an important
role for stiff filaments such as microtubules and stress fibers in cell
mechanics. At the same time, our work has a wider elasticity context, with
potential applications to composite elastic media with a wide separation of
scales in stiffness of its constituents such as carbon nanotube-polymer
composites, which have been shown to have highly tunable mechanics.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure
Human Interaction in Teaching and Learning: A University Approach to Improvement
Public education, although beset with criticism from its inception, is in the midst of weathering its most severe storm. One need only note the newspaper headlines for a week to see the myriad of demands being placed upon the schools. On one hand, there is increased demand for productivity--what Talcott Parsons, in his book, The Social System, would call instrumental education (education for usefulness)--and on the other, there is the insistence upon strengthening humanism in teaching and learning--again drawing on Talcott Parsons--called expressive education (education for self-fulfillment) (1). It seems clear from the volumes being published that expressive education is receiving prime attention at the moment
The significance and technique of dry matter determinations in yield tests of Alfalfa and red clover
In comparative yield tests of species, varieties, strains, sources or lots\u27, or of cultural treatments of forage crops, the objective of the investigator is to obtain the most accurate results possible with funds available. The methods employed must be capable of distinguishing differences in yields of dry matter of individual plots attributable not only to the lot but also to soil heterogeneity and other environmental conditions.
Accurate dry matter determination of forage on the plots of an experiment is of major importance to the experimenter. Under humid conditions reliable comparisons cannot be made from the weights of field cured forage, except on rare occasions that cannot be predicted. Some investigators believe that with fairly homogeneous forages the error introduced from the use of green weights without dry matter determinations is not great
Understanding the Clean Interface between Covalent Si and Ionic Al2O3
The atomic and electronic structures of the (001)-Si/(001)-gamma-Al2O3
heterointerface are investigated by first principles total energy calculations
combined with a newly developed "modified basin-hopping" method. It is found
that all interface Si atoms are fourfold coordinated due to the formation of
Si-O and unexpected covalent Si-Al bonds in the new abrupt interface model. And
the interface has perfect electronic properties in that the unpassivated
interface has a large LDA band gap and no gap levels. These results show that
it is possible to have clean semiconductor-oxide interfaces
Interaction of Phonons and Dirac Fermions on the Surface of Bi2Se3: A Strong Kohn Anomaly
We report the first measurements of phonon dispersion curves on the (001)
surface of the strong three-dimensional topological insulator Bi2Se3. The
surface phonon measurements were carried out with the aid of coherent helium
beam surface scattering techniques. The results reveal a prominent signature of
the exotic metallic Dirac fermion quasi-particles, including a strong Kohn
anomaly. The signature is manifest in a low energy isotropic convex dispersive
surface phonon branch with a frequency maximum of 1.8 THz, and having a
V-shaped minimum at approximately 2kF that defines the Kohn anomaly.
Theoretical analysis attributes this dispersive profile to the renormalization
of the surface phonon excitations by the surface Dirac fermions. The
contribution of the Dirac fermions to this renormalization is derived in terms
of a Coulomb-type perturbation model
Efficient solvability of Hamiltonians and limits on the power of some quantum computational models
We consider quantum computational models defined via a Lie-algebraic theory.
In these models, specified initial states are acted on by Lie-algebraic quantum
gates and the expectation values of Lie algebra elements are measured at the
end. We show that these models can be efficiently simulated on a classical
computer in time polynomial in the dimension of the algebra, regardless of the
dimension of the Hilbert space where the algebra acts. Similar results hold for
the computation of the expectation value of operators implemented by a
gate-sequence. We introduce a Lie-algebraic notion of generalized mean-field
Hamiltonians and show that they are efficiently ("exactly") solvable by means
of a Jacobi-like diagonalization method. Our results generalize earlier ones on
fermionic linear optics computation and provide insight into the source of the
power of the conventional model of quantum computation.Comment: 6 pages; no figure
The effect of caffeine mouth rinse on self-paced cycling performance
The aim of the study was to determine whether caffeine mouth rinse would improve 30 min self-paced cycling trial. Twelve healthy active males (age 20.5±0.7 years, mass 87.4±18.3 kg) volunteered for the study. They attended the laboratory on 3 separate occasions performing a 30 min self-paced cycling trial. On one occasion water was given as a mouth rinse for 5 s (PLA), on another occasion a 6.4% maltodextrin (CHO) solution was given for 5 s and finally a caffeine solution (containing 32 mg of caffeine dissolved in 125 ml water; CAF) was given for 5 s. Distance cycled, heart rate, ratings of perceived exertion, cadence, speed and power output were recorded throughout all trials. Distance cycled during the CAF mouth rinse trial (16.2±2.8 km) was significantly greater compared to PLA trial (14.9±2.6 km). There was no difference between CHO and CAF trials (P=0.89). Cadence, power and velocity were significantly greater during the CAF trial compared to both PLA and CHO (P0.05). Caffeine mouth rinse improves 30 min cycling performance by allowing the participant to increase cadence, power and velocity without a concurrent increase in perceived exertion and heart rate
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