Use of Cyclic Simple Shear Testing in Evaluation of the Deformation Potential of Liquefiable Soils

In recent years, a significant research effort has been focused on assessing the performance of structures founded on potentially liquefiable materials. While significant progress has been made on predictive tools for cases in which large deformations are likely, the ability to accurately and reliably predict small to moderate lateral deformations (\u3c1m) has proven more elusive. As a result, there is a universal need for high quality, element-level laboratory test data to calibrate and validate constitutive laws and numerical models for predicting the deformation of soil with limited liquefaction potential. To address this increasingly urgent need, a comprehensive cyclic simple shear testing program on liquefiable sands has been undertaken using the UC Berkeley Bi-directional Simple Shear Device. Many of the tests performed have new and innovative aspects that can provide information and insight into the behavior of soils showing limited deformation potential. Descried in this paper are results from a Kα test series, which replicates sloping ground conditions, and a newly developed and innovative “fabric” test series, which examines the influence of previous loading history on soil fabric and behavior

Unconventional motional narrowing in the optical spectrum of a semiconductor quantum dot

Motional narrowing refers to the striking phenomenon where the resonance line of a system coupled to a reservoir becomes narrower when increasing the reservoir fluctuation. A textbook example is found in nuclear magnetic resonance, where the fluctuating local magnetic fields created by randomly oriented nuclear spins are averaged when the motion of the nuclei is thermally activated. The existence of a motional narrowing effect in the optical response of semiconductor quantum dots remains so far unexplored. This effect may be important in this instance since the decoherence dynamics is a central issue for the implementation of quantum information processing based on quantum dots. Here we report on the experimental evidence of motional narrowing in the optical spectrum of a semiconductor quantum dot broadened by the spectral diffusion phenomenon. Surprisingly, motional narrowing is achieved when decreasing incident power or temperature, in contrast with the standard phenomenology observed for nuclear magnetic resonance

Recent Advances in Soil Liquefaction Engineering and Seismic Site Response Evaluation

Over the past decade, major advances have occurred in both understanding and practice with regard to engineering treatment of seismic soil liquefaction and assessment of seismic site response. Seismic soil liquefaction engineering has evolved into a sub-field in its own right, and assessment and treatment of site effects affecting seismic site response has gone from a topic of controversy to a mainstream issue addressed in most modem building codes and addressed in both research and practice. This rapid evolution in the treatment of both liquefaction and site response issues has been pushed by a confluence of lessons and data provided by a series of earthquakes over the past eleven years, as well as by the research and professional/political will engendered by these major seismic events. Although the rate of progress has been laudable, further advances are occurring, and more remains to be done. As we enter a “new millenium”, engineers are increasingly well able to deal with important aspects of these two seismic problem areas. This paper will highlight a few major recent and ongoing developments in each of these two important areas of seismic practice, and will offer insights regarding work/research in progress, as well as suggestions regarding further advances needed. The first part of the paper will address soil liquefaction, and the second portion will (briefly) address engineering assessment of seismic site response

Energy landscape - a key concept for the dynamics of glasses and liquids

There is a growing belief that the mode coupling theory is the proper microscopic theory for the dynamics of the undercooled liquid above a critical temperature T_c. In addition, there is some evidence that the system leaves the saddlepoints of the energy landscape to settle in the valleys at this critical temperature. Finally, there is a microscopic theory for the entropy at the calorimetric glass transition T_g by Mezard and Parisi, which allows to calculate the Kauzmann temperature from the atomic pair potentials. The dynamics of the frozen glass phase is at present limited to phenomenological models. In the spirit of the energy landscape concept, one considers an ensemble of independent asymmetric double-well potentials with a wide distribution of barrier heights and asymmetries (ADWP or Gilroy-Phillips model). The model gives an excellent description of the relaxation of glasses up to about T_g/4. Above this temperature, the interaction between different relaxation centers begins to play a role. One can show that the interaction reduces the number of relaxation centers needed to bring the shear modulus down to zero by a factor of three.Comment: Contribution to the III Workshop on Nonequilibrium Phenomena in Supercooled Fluids, Glasses and Amorphous Materials, 22-27 September 2002, Pisa; 14 pages, 3 figures; Version 3 takes criticque at Pisa into account; final version 4 will be published in J.Phys.: Condens.Matte

Semiclassical approximations for Hamiltonians with operator-valued symbols

We consider the semiclassical limit of quantum systems with a Hamiltonian given by the Weyl quantization of an operator valued symbol. Systems composed of slow and fast degrees of freedom are of this form. Typically a small dimensionless parameter $\varepsilon\ll 1$ controls the separation of time scales and the limit $\varepsilon\to 0$ corresponds to an adiabatic limit, in which the slow and fast degrees of freedom decouple. At the same time $\varepsilon\to 0$ is the semiclassical limit for the slow degrees of freedom. In this paper we show that the $\varepsilon$-dependent classical flow for the slow degrees of freedom first discovered by Littlejohn and Flynn, coming from an \epsi-dependent classical Hamilton function and an $\varepsilon$-dependent symplectic form, has a concrete mathematical and physical meaning: Based on this flow we prove a formula for equilibrium expectations, an Egorov theorem and transport of Wigner functions, thereby approximating properties of the quantum system up to errors of order $\varepsilon^2$. In the context of Bloch electrons formal use of this classical system has triggered considerable progress in solid state physics. Hence we discuss in some detail the application of the general results to the Hofstadter model, which describes a two-dimensional gas of non-interacting electrons in a constant magnetic field in the tight-binding approximation.Comment: Final version to appear in Commun. Math. Phys. Results have been strengthened with only minor changes to the proofs. A section on the Hofstadter model as an application of the general theory was added and the previous section on other applications was remove

Time-temperature superposition in viscous liquids

Dielectric relaxation measurements on supercooled triphenyl phosphite show that at low temperatures time-temperature superposition (TTS) is accurately obeyed for the primary (alpha) relaxation process. Measurements on 6 other molecular liquids close to the calorimetric glass transition indicate that TTS is linked to an $\omega^{-1/2}$ high-frequency decay of the alpha loss, while the loss peak width is nonuniversal.Comment: 4 page

Large Interferometer For Exoplanets (LIFE): VIII. Where is the phosphine? Observing exoplanetary PH3 with a space based MIR nulling interferometer

Phosphine could be a key molecule in the understanding of exotic chemistry happening in (exo)planetary atmospheres. While it has been detected in the Solar System's giant planets, it has not been observed in exoplanets yet. In the exoplanetary context however it has been theorized as a potential biosignature molecule. The goal of our study is to identify which illustrative science cases for PH3 chemistry are observable with a space-based mid-infrared nulling interferometric observatory like the LIFE (Large Interferometer For Exoplanets) concept. We identified a representative set of scenarios for PH3 detections in exoplanetary atmospheres varying over the whole dynamic range of the LIFE mission. We used chemical kinetics and radiative transfer calculations to produce forward models of these informative, prototypical observational cases for LIFEsim, our observation simulator software for LIFE. In a detailed, yet first order approximation it takes a mission like LIFE: (i) about 1h to find phosphine in a warm giant around a G star at 10 pc, (ii) about 10 h in H2 or CO2 dominated temperate super-Earths around M star hosts at 5 pc, (iii) and even in 100h it seems very unlikely that phosphine would be detectable in a Venus-Twin with extreme PH3 concentrations at 5 pc. Phosphine in concentrations previously discussed in the literature is detectable in 2 out of the 3 cases and about an order of magnitude faster than comparable cases with JWST. We show that there is a significant number of objects accessible for these classes of observations. These results will be used to prioritize the parameter range for the next steps with more detailed retrieval simulations. They will also inform timely questions in the early design phase of a mission like LIFE and guide the community by providing easy-to-scale first estimates for a large part of detection space of such a mission.Comment: In press. Accepted for publication in Astrobiology on 02 November 2022. 26 pages, 5 figures and 8 table

Coevolution of activating and inhibitory receptors within mammalian carcinoembryonic antigen families

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Most rapidly evolving gene families are involved in immune responses and reproduction, two biological functions which have been assigned to the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) gene family. To gain insights into evolutionary forces shaping the CEA gene family we have analysed this gene family in 27 mammalian species including monotreme and marsupial lineages.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Phylogenetic analysis provided convincing evidence that the primordial CEA gene family in mammals consisted of five genes, including the immune inhibitory receptor-encoding <it>CEACAM1 </it>(CEA-related cell adhesion molecule) ancestor. Our analysis of the substitution rates within the nucleotide sequence which codes for the ligand binding domain of CEACAM1 indicates that the selection for diversification is, perhaps, a consequence of the exploitation of CEACAM1 by a variety of viral and bacterial pathogens as their cellular receptor. Depending on the extent of the amplification of an ancestral <it>CEACAM1</it>, the number of <it>CEACAM1</it>-related genes varies considerably between mammalian species from less than five in lagomorphs to more than 100 in bats. In most analysed species, ITAM (immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motifs) or ITAM-like motif-containing proteins exist which contain Ig-V-like, ligand binding domains closely related to that of CEACAM1. Human CEACAM3 is one such protein which can function as a CEACAM1 decoy receptor in granulocytes by mediating the uptake and destruction of specific bacterial pathogens via its ITAM-like motif. The close relationship between <it>CEACAM1 </it>and its ITAM-encoding relatives appears to be maintained by gene conversion and reciprocal recombination. Surprisingly, secreted CEACAMs resembling immunomodulatory CEACAM1-related trophoblast-specific pregnancy-specific glycoproteins (PSGs) found in humans and rodents evolved only in a limited set of mammals. The appearance of <it>PSG</it>-like genes correlates with invasive trophoblast growth in these species.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These phylogenetic studies provide evidence that pathogen/host coevolution and a possible participation in fetal-maternal conflict processes led to a highly species-specific diversity of mammalian CEA gene families.</p

From Teamchef Arminius to Hermann Junior: glocalised discourse about a national foundation myth

If for much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the ‘Battle of the Teutoburg Forest’, fought in 9 CE between Roman armies and Germanic tribes, was predominantly a reference point for nationalist and chauvinist discourses in Germany, the first decade of the twenty-first century has seen attempts to link public remembrance with local/regional identities on the one hand and international/intercultural contact on the other. In the run up to and during the ‘anniversary year’ of 2009, German media, sports institutions and various other official institutions articulating tourist, economic and political interests attempted to create a new ‘glocalised’ version of the public memory of the Teutoburg battle. Combining methods of Cognitive Linguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis, the paper analyses the narrative and argumentative topoi employed in this re-orientation of public memory, with a special emphasis on hybrid, post-national identity-construction. Das zweitausendjährige Gedenkjahr der „Schlacht im Teutoburger Wald“ im Jahr 2009 bot eine günstige Gelegenheit, die bis in die zweite Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts dominante Tradition nationalistisch–chauvinistischer Deutungen des Sieges von germanischen Stämmen über drei römische Legionen zu korrigieren und zu überwinden. Der Aufsatz analysiert mit Hilfe diskurslinguistischer Methoden die Anstrengungen regionaler Institutionen und Medien, die nationale Vereinnahmung des historischen Gedenkens kritisch zu thematisieren sowie neue, zum eine lokal situierte, zum andern international orientierte Identifikationsangebote anzubieten. Die Analyse zeigt, dass solche „de-nationalisierten“ Identifikationsangebote zwar teilweise auch früher verwendet wurden, aber heutzutage rekontextualisiert und auf innovative Weise in den Vordergrund gestellt werden