47,198 research outputs found
UK regional scale modelling of natural geohazards and climate change
For over 10 years, the British Geological Survey (BGS) has been investigating geotechnical and
mineralogical factors controlling volume change behaviour of UK clay soils and mudrocks. A
strong understanding of the relationship between these parameters and the clays' shrink-swell
properties has been developed. More recently, partly resulting from concerns of users of this
knowledge, a study of the relationships between climate change and shrink-swell behaviour
over the last 30 years has been carried out. Information on subsidence insurance claims has been
provided by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and the UK Meteorological Office (UKMO)
historical climate station data has also been utilised. This is being combined with the
BGS's GeoSure national geohazard data, to build a preliminary GIS model to provide an understanding
of the susceptibility of the Tertiary London Clay to climate change. This paper summarises
the data analysis and identifies future work for model construction and refinement
The measurement of surface gravity
LaCoste and Romberg G and D gravity meters are normally employed when attempting high precision measurement of gravity differences on land. The capabilities and limitations of these instruments are discussed
Drift rate control of a Brownian processing system
A system manager dynamically controls a diffusion process Z that lives in a
finite interval [0,b]. Control takes the form of a negative drift rate \theta
that is chosen from a fixed set A of available values. The controlled process
evolves according to the differential relationship dZ=dX-\theta(Z) dt+dL-dU,
where X is a (0,\sigma) Brownian motion, and L and U are increasing processes
that enforce a lower reflecting barrier at Z=0 and an upper reflecting barrier
at Z=b, respectively. The cumulative cost process increases according to the
differential relationship d\xi =c(\theta(Z)) dt+p dU, where c(\cdot) is a
nondecreasing cost of control and p>0 is a penalty rate associated with
displacement at the upper boundary. The objective is to minimize long-run
average cost. This problem is solved explicitly, which allows one to also solve
the following, essentially equivalent formulation: minimize the long-run
average cost of control subject to an upper bound constraint on the average
rate at which U increases. The two special problem features that allow an
explicit solution are the use of a long-run average cost criterion, as opposed
to a discounted cost criterion, and the lack of state-related costs other than
boundary displacement penalties. The application of this theory to power
control in wireless communication is discussed.Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/105051604000000855 in the
Annals of Applied Probability (http://www.imstat.org/aap/) by the Institute
of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org
A NuSTAR observation of the fast symbiotic nova V745 Sco in outburst
The fast recurrent nova V745 Sco was observed in the 3-79 keV X-rays band
with NuSTAR 10 days after the optical discovery. The measured X-ray emission is
consistent with a collisionally ionized optically thin plasma at temperature of
about 2.7 keV. A prominent iron line observed at 6.7 keV does not require
enhanced iron in the ejecta. We attribute the X-ray flux to shocked
circumstellar material. No X-ray emission was observed at energies above 20
keV, and the flux in the 3-20 keV range was about 1.6 10 erg
cm s. The emission measure indicates an average electron density
of order of 10 cm.
The X-ray flux in the 0.3-10 keV band almost simultaneously measured with
Swift was about 40 times larger, mainly due to the luminous central supersoft
source emitting at energy below 1 keV. The fact that the NuSTAR spectrum cannot
be fitted with a power law, and the lack of hard X-ray emission, allow us to
rule out Comptonized gamma rays, and to place an upper limit of the order of
10 erg cm s on the gamma-ray flux of the nova on the
tenth day of the outburst.Comment: in press in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 201
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Using aircraft measurements to determine the refractive index of Saharan dust during the DODO Experiments
Much uncertainty in the value of the imaginary part of the refractive index of mineral dust contributes to uncertainty in the radiative effect of mineral dust in the atmosphere. A synthesis of optical, chemical and physical in-situ aircraft measurements from the DODO experiments during February and August 2006 are used to calculate the refractive index mineral dust encountered over West Africa. Radiative transfer modeling and measurements of broadband shortwave irradiance at a range of altitudes are used to test and validate these calculations for a specific dust event on 23 August 2006 over Mauritania. Two techniques are used to determine the refractive index: firstly a method combining measurements of scattering, absorption, size distributions and Mie code simulations, and secondly a method using composition measured on filter samples to apportion the content of internally mixed quartz, calcite and iron oxide-clay aggregates, where the iron oxide is represented by either hematite or goethite and clay by either illite or kaolinite. The imaginary part of the refractive index at 550 nm (ni550) is found to range between 0.0001 i to 0.0046 i, and where filter samples are available, agreement between methods is found depending on mineral combination assumed. The refractive indices are also found to agree well with AERONET data where comparisons are possible. ni550 is found to vary with dust source, which is investigated with the NAME model for each case. The relationship between both size distribution and ni550 on the accumulation mode single scattering albedo at 550 nm (ω0550) are examined and size distribution is found to have no correlation to ω0550, while ni550 shows a strong linear relationship with ω0550. Radiative transfer modeling was performed with different models (Mie-derived refractive indices, but also filter sampling composition assuming both internal and external mixing). Our calculations indicate that Mie-derived values of ni550 and the externally mixed dust where the iron oxide-clay aggregate corresponds to the goethite-kaolinite combination result in the best agreement with irradiance measurements. The radiative effect of the dust is found to be very sensitive to the mineral combination (and hence refractive index) assumed, and to whether the dust is assumed to be internally or externally mixed
A Graphical Language for Proof Strategies
Complex automated proof strategies are often difficult to extract, visualise,
modify, and debug. Traditional tactic languages, often based on stack-based
goal propagation, make it easy to write proofs that obscure the flow of goals
between tactics and are fragile to minor changes in input, proof structure or
changes to tactics themselves. Here, we address this by introducing a graphical
language called PSGraph for writing proof strategies. Strategies are
constructed visually by "wiring together" collections of tactics and evaluated
by propagating goal nodes through the diagram via graph rewriting. Tactic nodes
can have many output wires, and use a filtering procedure based on goal-types
(predicates describing the features of a goal) to decide where best to send
newly-generated sub-goals.
In addition to making the flow of goal information explicit, the graphical
language can fulfil the role of many tacticals using visual idioms like
branching, merging, and feedback loops. We argue that this language enables
development of more robust proof strategies and provide several examples, along
with a prototype implementation in Isabelle
A new quantum fluid at high magnetic fields in the marginal charge-density-wave system -(BEDT-TTF)Hg(SCN) (where ~K and Rb)
Single crystals of the organic charge-transfer salts
-(BEDT-TTF)Hg(SCN) have been studied using Hall-potential
measurements (K) and magnetization experiments ( = K, Rb). The data show
that two types of screening currents occur within the high-field,
low-temperature CDW phases of these salts in response to time-dependent
magnetic fields. The first, which gives rise to the induced Hall potential, is
a free current (), present at the surface of the sample.
The time constant for the decay of these currents is much longer than that
expected from the sample resistivity. The second component of the current
appears to be magnetic (), in that it is a microscopic,
quasi-orbital effect; it is evenly distributed within the bulk of the sample
upon saturation. To explain these data, we propose a simple model invoking a
new type of quantum fluid comprising a CDW coexisting with a two-dimensional
Fermi-surface pocket which describes the two types of current. The model and
data are able to account for the body of previous experimental data which had
generated apparently contradictory interpretations in terms of the quantum Hall
effect or superconductivity.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figure
Life raft stabilizer
An improved life raft stabilizer for reducing rocking and substantially precluding capsizing is discussed. The stabilizer may be removably attached to the raft and is defined by flexible side walls which extend a considerable depth downwardly to one another in the water. The side walls, in conjunction with the floor of the raft, form a ballast enclosure. A weight is placed in the bottom of the enclosure and water port means are provided in the walls. Placement of the stabilizer in the water allows the weighted bottom to sink, producing submerged deployment thereof and permitting water to enter the enclosure through the port means, thus forming a ballast for the raft
Effect of strain on the orbital and magnetic ordering of manganite thin films and their interface with an insulator
We study the effect of uniform uniaxial strain on the ground state electronic
configuration of a thin film manganite. Our model Hamiltonian includes the
double-exchange, the Jahn-Teller electron-lattice coupling, and the
antiferromagnetic superexchange. The strain arises due to the lattice mismatch
between an insulating substrate and a manganite which produces a tetragonal
distortion. This is included in the model via a modification of the hopping
amplitude and the introduction of an energy splitting between the Mn e_g
levels. We analyze the bulk properties of half-doped manganites and the
electronic reconstruction at the interface between a ferromagnetic and metallic
manganite and the insulating substrate. The strain drives an orbital selection
modifying the electronic properties and the magnetic ordering of manganites and
their interfaces.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure
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