4,752 research outputs found
Entropic and gradient flow formulations for nonlinear diffusion
Nonlinear diffusion is considered for
a class of nonlinearities . It is shown that for suitable choices of
, an associated Lyapunov functional can be interpreted as thermodynamics
entropy. This information is used to derive an associated metric, here called
thermodynamic metric. The analysis is confined to nonlinear diffusion
obtainable as hydrodynamic limit of a zero range process. The thermodynamic
setting is linked to a large deviation principle for the underlying zero range
process and the corresponding equation of fluctuating hydrodynamics. For the
latter connections, the thermodynamic metric plays a central role
The development of structural adhesive systems suitable for use with liquid oxygen Annual summary report, 1 Jul. 1964 - 30 Jun. 1965
Preparation and testing of adhesive polyurethanes, polycarbonates, and other highy halogenated polymers for liquid oxygen compatibilit
Efficacy and tolerability of bimatoprost versus travoprost in patients previously on latanoprost: a 3-month, randomised, masked-evaluator, multicentre study
Entropy production and fluctuation relations for a KPZ interface
We study entropy production and fluctuation relations in the restricted
solid-on-solid growth model, which is a microscopic realization of the KPZ
equation. Solving the one dimensional model exactly on a particular line of the
phase diagram we demonstrate that entropy production quantifies the distance
from equilibrium. Moreover, as an example of a physically relevant current
different from the entropy, we study the symmetry of the large deviation
function associated with the interface height. In a special case of a system of
length L=4 we find that the probability distribution of the variation of height
has a symmetric large deviation function, displaying a symmetry different from
the Gallavotti-Cohen symmetry.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figure
Relaxation Height in Energy Landscapes: an Application to Multiple Metastable States
The study of systems with multiple (not necessarily degenerate) metastable
states presents subtle difficulties from the mathematical point of view related
to the variational problem that has to be solved in these cases. We introduce
the notion of relaxation height in a general energy landscape and we prove
sufficient conditions which are valid even in presence of multiple metastable
states. We show how these results can be used to approach the problem of
multiple metastable states via the use of the modern theories of metastability.
We finally apply these general results to the Blume--Capel model for a
particular choice of the parameters ensuring the existence of two multiple, and
not degenerate in energy, metastable states
Manifesto for a European research network into Problematic Usage of the Internet
Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.The Internet is now all-pervasive across much of the globe. While it has positive uses (e.g. prompt access to information, rapid news dissemination), many individuals develop Problematic Use of the Internet (PUI), an umbrella term incorporating a range of repetitive impairing behaviours. The Internet can act as a conduit for, and may contribute to, functionally impairing behaviours including excessive and compulsive video gaming, compulsive sexual behaviour, buying, gambling, streaming or social networks use. There is growing public and National health authority concern about the health and societal costs of PUI across the lifespan. Gaming Disorder is being considered for inclusion as a mental disorder in diagnostic classification systems, and was listed in the ICD-11 version released for consideration by Member States (http://www.who.int/classifications/icd/revision/timeline/en/). More research is needed into disorder definitions, validation of clinical tools, prevalence, clinical parameters, brain-based biology, socio-health-economic impact, and empirically validated intervention and policy approaches. Potential cultural differences in the magnitudes and natures of types and patterns of PUI need to be better understood, to inform optimal health policy and service development. To this end, the EU under Horizon 2020 has launched a new four-year European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action Programme (CA 16207), bringing together scientists and clinicians from across the fields of impulsive, compulsive, and addictive disorders, to advance networked interdisciplinary research into PUI across Europe and beyond, ultimately seeking to inform regulatory policies and clinical practice. This paper describes nine critical and achievable research priorities identified by the Network, needed in order to advance understanding of PUI, with a view towards identifying vulnerable individuals for early intervention. The network shall enable collaborative research networks, shared multinational databases, multicentre studies and joint publications.Peer reviewe
Do oral decongestants have a clinically significant effect on BP in patients with hypertension?
Q: Do oral decongestants have a clinically significant effect on BP in patients with hypertension? Evidence-based answer: It is unclear. Pseudoephedrine causes an average increase of 1.2 mm Hg in systolic blood pressure (BP) in patients with controlled hypertension. However, the studies are not adequately powered to provide evidence about whether this rise in systolic BP is linked to patient-oriented outcomes (strength of recommendation [SOR]: C, multiple randomized controlled trials [RCTs] supporting disease-oriented evidence). Significant variations in BP are defined differently among studies (TABLE1-7). In addition, we do not have data on chronic use of oral decongestants; the longest time on medication in these trials was 4 weeks
Simulations for trapping reactions with subdiffusive traps and subdiffusive particles
While there are many well-known and extensively tested results involving
diffusion-limited binary reactions, reactions involving subdiffusive reactant
species are far less understood. Subdiffusive motion is characterized by a mean
square displacement with . Recently we
calculated the asymptotic survival probability of a (sub)diffusive
particle () surrounded by (sub)diffusive traps () in one
dimension. These are among the few known results for reactions involving
species characterized by different anomalous exponents. Our results were
obtained by bounding, above and below, the exact survival probability by two
other probabilities that are asymptotically identical (except when
and ). Using this approach, we were not able to
estimate the time of validity of the asymptotic result, nor the way in which
the survival probability approaches this regime. Toward this goal, here we
present a detailed comparison of the asymptotic results with numerical
simulations. In some parameter ranges the asymptotic theory describes the
simulation results very well even for relatively short times. However, in other
regimes more time is required for the simulation results to approach asymptotic
behavior, and we arrive at situations where we are not able to reach asymptotia
within our computational means. This is regrettably the case for
and , where we are therefore not able to prove
or disprove even conjectures about the asymptotic survival probability of the
particle.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Journal of Physics: Condensed
Matter; special issue on Chemical Kinetics Beyond the Textbook: Fluctuations,
Many-Particle Effects and Anomalous Dynamics, eds. K.Lindenberg, G.Oshanin
and M.Tachiy
The World-Trade Web: Topological Properties, Dynamics, and Evolution
This paper studies the statistical properties of the web of import-export
relationships among world countries using a weighted-network approach. We
analyze how the distributions of the most important network statistics
measuring connectivity, assortativity, clustering and centrality have
co-evolved over time. We show that all node-statistic distributions and their
correlation structure have remained surprisingly stable in the last 20 years --
and are likely to do so in the future. Conversely, the distribution of
(positive) link weights is slowly moving from a log-normal density towards a
power law. We also characterize the autoregressive properties of
network-statistics dynamics. We find that network-statistics growth rates are
well-proxied by fat-tailed densities like the Laplace or the asymmetric
exponential-power. Finally, we find that all our results are reasonably robust
to a few alternative, economically-meaningful, weighting schemes.Comment: 44 pages, 39 eps figure
Heat flow in chains driven by thermal noise
We consider the large deviation function for a classical harmonic chain
composed of N particles driven at the end points by heat reservoirs, first
derived in the quantum regime by Saito and Dhar and in the classical regime by
Saito and Dhar and Kundu et al. Within a Langevin description we perform this
calculation on the basis of a standard path integral calculation in Fourier
space. The cumulant generating function yielding the large deviation function
is given in terms of a transmission Green's function and is consistent with the
fluctuation theorem. We find a simple expression for the tails of the heat
distribution which turn out to decay exponentially. We, moreover, consider an
extension of a single particle model suggested by Derrida and Brunet and
discuss the two-particle case. We also discuss the limit for large N and
present a closed expression for the cumulant generating function. Finally, we
present a derivation of the fluctuation theorem on the basis of a Fokker-Planck
description. This result is not restricted to the harmonic case but is valid
for a general interaction potential between the particles.Comment: Latex: 26 pages and 9 figures, appeared in J. Stat. Mech. P04005
(2012
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