452 research outputs found
Spin-dependent Quantum Interference in Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes with Ferromagnetic Contacts
We report the experimental observation of spin-induced magnetoresistance in
single-wall carbon nanotubes contacted with high-transparency ferromagnetic
electrodes. In the linear regime the spin-induced magnetoresistance oscillates
with gate voltage in quantitative agreement with calculations based on a
Landauer-Buttiker model for independent electrons. Consistent with this
interpretation, we find evidence for bias-induced oscillation in the
spin-induced magnetoresistance signal on the scale of the level spacing in the
nanotube. At higher bias, the spin-induced magnetoresistance disappears because
of a sharp decrease in the effective spin-polarization injected from the
ferromagnetic electrodes.Comment: Replaced with published versio
Atomic Hydrogen and Star Formation in the Bridge/Ring Interacting Galaxy Pair NGC 7714/7715 (Arp 284)
We present high spatial resolution 21 cm HI maps of the interacting galaxy
pair NGC 7714/7715. We detect a massive (2 x 10**9 M(sun)) HI bridge connecting
the galaxies that is parallel to but offset from the stellar bridge. A chain of
HII regions traces the gaseous bridge, with H-alpha peaks near but not on the
HI maxima. An HI tidal tail is also detected to the east of the smaller galaxy
NGC 7715, similarly offset from a stellar tail. The strong partial stellar ring
on the eastern side of NGC 7714 has no HI counterpart, but on the opposite side
of NGC 7714 there is a 10**9 M(sun) HI loop 11 kpc in radius. Within the NGC
7714 disk, clumpy HI gas is observed associated with star formation regions.
Redshifted HI absorption is detected towards the starburst nucleus. We compare
the observed morphology and gas kinematics with gas dynamical models in which a
low-mass companion has an off-center prograde collision with the outer disk of
a larger galaxy. These simulations suggest that the bridge in NGC 7714/7715 is
a hybrid between bridges seen in systems like M51 and the purely gaseous
`splash' bridges found in ring galaxies like the Cartwheel. The offset between
the stars and gas in the bridge may be due to dissipative cloud-cloud
collisions occuring during the impact of the two gaseous disks.Comment: 31 pages, Latex, 11 figures, to be published in the July 10, 1997
issue of the Astrophysical Journa
Microstructure and wear behaviour of high alloyed hot-work tool steels 1.2343 and 1.2367 under thermo-mechanical loading
Tools and their maintenance costs in hot forging processes account for a considerable proportion of the total components' costs. Forging tools undergo extreme heating and subsequent cooling during the forging process and between the forging cycles, respectively. This cyclic heating and cooling of the tool surfaces leads to local changes in the tool microstructure which result in hardening or softening of the material in different regions of the tool and consequently influence the tool strength. Temperature in the tool areas experiencing high thermo-mechanical loadings can exceed the austenitic temperature. Hence, a strong cooling, for example by spraying or lubrication, can lead to formation of a martensitic layer in the boundary zone of the tool. Due to its higher hardness, martensitic layer has greater resistance to wear as compared to the basic or tempered materials. In the scope of this paper, the austenitisation behaviours of two high alloyed hot-work tool steels, 1.2343 and 1.2367, have been characterized by means of dilatometer tests to obtain time-temperature-austenitisation (TTA) diagrams for specimen under thermo-mechanical loads. Moreover, continuous-cooling-transformation (CCT) diagrams were recorded. Metallographic investigations were carried out to gather a detailed understanding of the microstructure behaviour and its resulting hardness. With the results of this works, it is aimed to gather a detailed and accurate insight into the arising hardening and softening effects. This would eventually lead to an optimisation of the numerical modelling for tool wear prediction
Analyzing collaborative learning processes automatically
In this article we describe the emerging area of text classification research focused on the problem of collaborative learning process analysis both from a broad perspective and more specifically in terms of a publicly available tool set called TagHelper tools. Analyzing the variety of pedagogically valuable facets of learners’ interactions is a time consuming and effortful process. Improving automated analyses of such highly valued processes of collaborative learning by adapting and applying recent text classification technologies would make it a less arduous task to obtain insights from corpus data. This endeavor also holds the potential for enabling substantially improved on-line instruction both by providing teachers and facilitators with reports about the groups they are moderating and by triggering context sensitive collaborative learning support on an as-needed basis. In this article, we report on an interdisciplinary research project, which has been investigating the effectiveness of applying text classification technology to a large CSCL corpus that has been analyzed by human coders using a theory-based multidimensional coding scheme. We report promising results and include an in-depth discussion of important issues such as reliability, validity, and efficiency that should be considered when deciding on the appropriateness of adopting a new technology such as TagHelper tools. One major technical contribution of this work is a demonstration that an important piece of the work towards making text classification technology effective for this purpose is designing and building linguistic pattern detectors, otherwise known as features, that can be extracted reliably from texts and that have high predictive power for the categories of discourse actions that the CSCL community is interested in
Sigma-phase in Fe-Cr and Fe-V alloy systems and its physical properties
A review is presented on physical properties of the sigma-phase in Fe-Cr and
Fe-V alloy systems as revealed both with experimental -- mostly with the
Mossbauer spectroscopy -- and theoretical methods. In particular, the following
questions relevant to the issue have been addressed: identification of sigma
and determination of its structural properties, kinetics of alpha-to-sigma and
sigma-to-alpha phase transformations, Debye temperature and Fe-partial phonon
density of states, Curie temperature and magnetization, hyperfine fields,
isomer shifts and electric field gradients.Comment: 26 pages, 23 figures and 83 reference
Affordances, constraints and information flows as ‘leverage points’ in design for sustainable behaviour
Copyright @ 2012 Social Science Electronic PublishingTwo of Donella Meadows' 'leverage points' for intervening in systems (1999) seem particularly pertinent to design for sustainable behaviour, in the sense that designers may have the scope to implement them in (re-)designing everyday products and services. The 'rules of the system' -- interpreted here to refer to affordances and constraints -- and the structure of information flows both offer a range of opportunities for design interventions to in fluence behaviour change, and in this paper, some of the implications and possibilities are discussed with reference to parallel concepts from within design, HCI and relevant areas of psychology
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Development of a wind gust model to estimate gust speeds and their return periods
Spatially dense observations of gust speeds are necessary for various applications, but their availability is limited in space and time. This work presents an approach to help to overcome this problem. The main objective is the generation of synthetic wind gust velocities. With this aim, theoretical wind and gust distributions are estimated from 10 yr of hourly observations collected at 123 synoptic weather stations provided by the German Weather Service. As pre-processing, an exposure correction is applied on measurements of the mean wind velocity to reduce the influence of local urban and topographic effects. The wind gust model is built as a transfer function between distribution parameters of wind and gust velocities. The aim of this procedure is to estimate the parameters of gusts at stations where only wind speed data is available. These parameters can be used to generate synthetic gusts, which can improve the accuracy of return periods at test sites with a lack of observations. The second objective is to determine return periods much longer than the nominal length of the original time series by considering extreme value statistics. Estimates for both local maximum return periods and average return periods for single historical events are provided. The comparison of maximum and average return periods shows that even storms with short average return periods may lead to local wind gusts with return periods of several decades. Despite uncertainties caused by the short length of the observational records, the method leads to consistent results, enabling a wide range of possible applications
NOX4-dependent ROS production by stromal mammary cells modulates epithelial MCF-7 cell migration
BACKGROUND: The influence of the stromal microenvironment on the progression of epithelial cancers has been demonstrated.
Unravelling the mechanisms by which stromal cells affect epithelial behaviour will contribute in understanding cellular malignancy.
It has been proposed that redox environment has a role in the acquisition of malignancy. In this work, we studied the influence
of epithelial cells on the stromal redox status and the consequence of this phenomenon on MCF-7 cell motility.
METHODS: We analysed in a co-culture system, the effect of RMF-EG mammary stromal cells on the migratory capacity of MCF-7 cell
line. To test whether the NOX-dependent stromal redox environment influences the epithelial migratory behaviour, we knocked
down the expression of NOX4 using siRNA strategy. The effect of TGF-b1 on NOX4 expression and activity was analysed by qPCR,
and intracellular ROS production was measured by a fluorescent method.
RESULTS: Migration of MCF-7 breast epithelial cells was stimulated when co-cultured with RMF-EG cells. This effect depends on
stromal NOX4 expression that, in turn, is enhanced by epithelial soluble factors. Pre-treatment of stromal cells with TGF-b1
enhanced this migratory stimulus by elevating NOX4 expression and intracellular ROS production. TGF-b1 seems to be a major
component of the epithelial soluble factors that stimulate NOX4 expression.
CONCLUSIONS: Our results have identified that an increased stromal oxidative status, mainly provided by an elevated NOX4
expression, is a permissive element in the acquisition of epithelial migratory properties. The capacity of stromal cells to modify their
intracellular ROS production, and accordingly, to increase epithelial motility, seems to depend on epithelial soluble factors among
which TGF-b1 have a decisive role.This work was supported by the grant (1080196 to JM) from the
Fondo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologı´a (FONDECYT) of Chile
Rapid assessment of regional SARS-CoV-2 community transmission through a convenience sample of healthcare workers, the Netherlands, March 2020
To rapidly assess possible community transmission in Noord-Brabant, the Netherlands, healthcare workers (HCW) with mild respiratory complaints and without epidemiological link (contact with confirmed case or visited areas with active
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