7,624 research outputs found
Research on optimization-based design
Research on optimization-based design is discussed. Illustrative examples are given for cases involving continuous optimization with discrete variables and optimization with tolerances. Approximation of computationally expensive and noisy functions, electromechanical actuator/control system design using decomposition and application of knowledge-based systems and optimization for the design of a valve anti-cavitation device are among the topics covered
New directions in EEG measurement: an investigation into the fidelity of electrical potential sensor signals
Low frequency noise performance is the key indicator in determining the signal to noise ratio of a capacitively coupled sensor when used to acquire electroencephalogram signals. For this reason, a prototype Electric Potential Sensor device based on an auto-zero operational amplifier has been developed and evaluated. The absence of 1/f noise in these devices makes them ideal for use with signal frequencies ~10 Hz or less. The active electrodes are designed to be physically and electrically robust and chemically and biochemically inert. They are electrically insulated (anodized) and have diameters of 12 mm or 18 mm. In both cases, the sensors are housed in inert stainless steel machined housings with the electronics fabricated in surface mount components on a printed circuit board compatible with epoxy potting compounds. Potted sensors are designed to be immersed in alcohol for sterilization purposes. A comparative study was conducted with a commercial wet gel electrode system. These studies comprised measurements of both free running electroencephalogram and Event Related Potentials. Quality of the recorded electroencephalogram was assessed using three methods of inspection of raw signal, comparing signal to noise ratios, and Event Related Potentials noise analysis. A strictly comparable signal to noise ratio was observed and the overall conclusion from these comparative studies is that the noise performance of the new sensor is appropriate
Quantum spin chains of Temperley-Lieb type: periodic boundary conditions, spectral multiplicities and finite temperature
We determine the spectra of a class of quantum spin chains of Temperley-Lieb
type by utilizing the concept of Temperley-Lieb equivalence with the S=1/2 XXZ
chain as a reference system. We consider open boundary conditions and in
particular periodic boundary conditions. For both types of boundaries the
identification with XXZ spectra is performed within isomorphic representations
of the underlying Temperley-Lieb algebra. For open boundaries the spectra of
these models differ from the spectrum of the associated XXZ chain only in the
multiplicities of the eigenvalues. The periodic case is rather different. Here
we show how the spectrum is obtained sector-wise from the spectra of globally
twisted XXZ chains. As a spin-off, we obtain a compact formula for the
degeneracy of the momentum operator eigenvalues. Our representation theoretical
results allow for the study of the thermodynamics by establishing a
TL-equivalence at finite temperature and finite field.Comment: 29 pages, LaTeX, two references added, redundant figures remove
Antarctic Sea Ice variations 1973 - 1975
Variations in the extent and concentration of sea ice cover on the Southern Ocean are described for the three-year period 1973-75 using information derived from the Nimbus-5 passive microwave imager
Complete phase diagram of the spin-1/2 -- model (with ) on the honeycomb lattice
We use the coupled cluster method to investigate the ground-state (GS)
properties of the frustrated spin-1/2 -- model on the
honeycomb lattice, with nearest-neighbor exchange coupling plus
next-nearest-neighbor () and next-next-nearest-neighbor () exchanges
of equal strength. In particular we find a direct first-order phase transition
between the N\'eel-ordered antiferromagnetic phase and the ferromagnetic phase
at a value when , compared to the
corresponding classical value of -1. We find no evidence for any intermediate
phase. From this and our previous CCM studies of the model we present its full
zero-temperature GS phase diagram.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Bayesian analysis of Friedmannless cosmologies
Assuming only a homogeneous and isotropic universe and using both the 'Gold'
Supernova Type Ia sample of Riess et al. and the results from the Supernova
Legacy Survey, we calculate the Bayesian evidence of a range of different
parameterizations of the deceleration parameter. We consider both spatially
flat and curved models. Our results show that although there is strong evidence
in the data for an accelerating universe, there is little evidence that the
deceleration parameter varies with redshift.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta) mediates schwann cell death in vitro and in vivo: Examination of c-jun activation, interactions with survival signals, and the relationship of TGF beta-mediated death to schwann cell differentiation
In some situations, cell death in the nervous system is controlled by an interplay between survival factors and negative survival signals that actively induce apoptosis. The present work indicates that the survival of Schwann cells is regulated by such a dual mechanism involving the negative survival signal transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta), a family of growth factors that is present in the Schwann cells themselves. We analyze the interactions between this putative autocrine death signal and previously defined paracrine and autocrine survival signals and show that expression of a dominant negative c-Jun inhibits TGF beta -induced apoptosis. This and other findings pinpoint activation of c-Jun as a key downstream event in TGF beta -induced Schwann cell death. The ability of TGF beta to kill Schwann cells, like normal Schwann cell death in vivo, is under a strong developmental regulation, and we show that the decreasing ability of TGF beta to kill older cells is attributable to a decreasing ability of TGF beta to phosphorylate c-Jun in more differentiated cells
The spin-half Heisenberg antiferromagnet on two Archimedian lattices: From the bounce lattice to the maple-leaf lattice and beyond
We investigate the ground state of the two-dimensional Heisenberg
antiferromagnet on two Archimedean lattices, namely, the maple-leaf and bounce
lattices as well as a generalized - model interpolating between both
systems by varying from (bounce limit) to (maple-leaf
limit) and beyond. We use the coupled cluster method to high orders of
approximation and also exact diagonalization of finite-sized lattices to
discuss the ground-state magnetic long-range order based on data for the
ground-state energy, the magnetic order parameter, the spin-spin correlation
functions as well as the pitch angle between neighboring spins. Our results
indicate that the "pure" bounce () and maple-leaf () Heisenberg
antiferromagnets are magnetically ordered, however, with a sublattice
magnetization drastically reduced by frustration and quantum fluctuations. We
found that magnetic long-range order is present in a wide parameter range and that the magnetic order parameter varies only
weakly with . At a direct first-order transition to
a quantum orthogonal-dimer singlet ground state without magnetic long-range
order takes place. The orthogonal-dimer state is the exact ground state in this
large- regime, and so our model has similarities to the Shastry-Sutherland
model. Finally, we use the exact diagonalization to investigate the
magnetization curve. We a find a 1/3 magnetization plateau for and another one at 2/3 of saturation emerging only at large .Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure
Boninite and Harzburgite from Leg 125 (Bonin-Mariana Forearc): A Case Study of Magma Genesis during the Initial Stages of Subduction
Holes drilled into the volcanic and ultrabasic basement of the Izu-Ogasawara and Mariana forearc terranes during Leg 125 provide data on some of the earliest lithosphere created after the start of Eocene subduction in the Western Pacific. The volcanic basement contains three boninite series and one tholeiite series. (1) Eocene low-Ca boninite and low-Ca bronzite andesite pillow lavas and dikes dominate the lowermost part of the deep crustal section through the outer-arc high at Site 786. (2) Eocene intermediate-Ca boninite and its fractionation products (bronzite andesite, andesite, dacite, and rhyolite) make up the main part of the boninitic edifice at Site 786. (3) Early Oligocene intermediate-Ca to high-Ca boninite sills or dikes intrude the edifice and perhaps feed an uppermost breccia unit at Site 786. (4) Eocene or Early Oligocene tholeiitic andesite, dacite, and rhyolite form the uppermost part of the outer-arc high at Site 782. All four groups can be explained by remelting above a subduction zone of oceanic mantle lithosphere that has been depleted by its previous episode of partial melting at an ocean ridge. We estimate that the average boninite source had lost 10-15 wt% of melt at the ridge before undergoing further melting (5-10%) shortly after subduction started. The composition of the harzburgite (<2% clinopyroxene, Fo content of about 92%) indicates that it underwent a total of about 25% melting with respect to a fertile MORB mantle. The low concentration of Nb in the boninite indicates that the oceanic lithosphere prior to subduction was not enriched by any asthenospheric (OIB) component.
The subduction component is characterized by (1) high Zr and Hf contents relative to Sm, Ti, Y, and middle-heavy REE, (2) light REE-enrichment, (3) low contents of Nb and Ta relative to Th, Rb, or La, (4) high contents of Na and Al, and (5) Pb isotopes on the Northern Hemisphere Reference Line. This component is unlike any subduction component from active arc volcanoes in the Izu-Mariana region or elsewhere. Modeling suggests that these characteristics fit a trondhjemitic melt from slab fusion in amphibolite facies. The resulting metasomatized mantle may have contained about 0.15 wt% water. The overall melting regime is constrained by experimental data to shallow depths and high temperatures (1250°C and 1.5 kb for an average boninite) of boninite segregation. We thus envisage that boninites were generated by decompression melting of a diapir of metasomatized residual MORB mantle leaving the harzburgites as the uppermost, most depleted residue from this second stage of melting. Thermal constraints require that both subducted lithosphere and overlying oceanic lithosphere of the mantle wedge be very young at the time of boninite genesis. This conclusion is consistent with models in which an active transform fault offsetting two ridge axes is placed under compression or transpression following the Eocene plate reorganization in the Pacific. Comparison between Leg 125 boninites and boninites and related rocks elsewhere in the Western Pacific highlights large regional differences in petrogenesis in terms of mantle mineralogy, degree of partial melting, composition of subduction components, and the nature of pre-subduction lithosphere. It is likely that, on a regional scale, the initiation of subduction involved subducted crust and lithospheric mantle wedge of a range of ages and compositions, as might be expected in this type of tectonic setting
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