7,321 research outputs found
Regional variation in digital cushion pressure in the forefeet of horses and elephants
In this study, we seek to understand how the digital cushion morphologies evident in horse and elephant feet influence internal and external foot pressures. Our novel use of invasive blood pressure monitoring equipment, combined with a pressure pad and force plate, enabled measurements of (ex vivo) digital cushion pressure under increasing axial loads in seven horse and six elephant forefeet. Linear mixed effects models (LMER) revealed that internal digital cushion pressures increase under load and differ depending on region; elephant feet experienced higher magnitudes of medial digital cushion pressure, whereas horse feet experienced higher magnitudes of centralised digital cushion pressure. Direct comparison of digital cushion pressure magnitudes in both species, at equivalent loads relative to body weight, revealed that medial and lateral pressures increased more rapidly with load in elephant limbs. Within the same approximate region, internal pressures exceeded external, palmar pressures (on the sole of the foot), supporting previous Finite Element (FE) predictions. High pressures and large variations in pressure may relate to the development of foot pathology, which is a major concern in horses and elephants in a captive/domestic environment
The Biot-Savart operator and electrodynamics on subdomains of the three-sphere
We study steady-state magnetic fields in the geometric setting of positive
curvature on subdomains of the three-dimensional sphere. By generalizing the
Biot-Savart law to an integral operator BS acting on all vector fields, we show
that electrodynamics in such a setting behaves rather similarly to Euclidean
electrodynamics. For instance, for current J and magnetic field BS(J), we show
that Maxwell's equations naturally hold. In all instances, the formulas we give
are geometrically meaningful: they are preserved by orientation-preserving
isometries of the three-sphere.
This article describes several properties of BS: we show it is self-adjoint,
bounded, and extends to a compact operator on a Hilbert space. For vector
fields that act like currents, we prove the curl operator is a left inverse to
BS; thus the Biot-Savart operator is important in the study of curl
eigenvalues, with applications to energy-minimization problems in geometry and
physics. We conclude with two examples, which indicate our bounds are typically
within an order of magnitude of being sharp.Comment: 24 pages (was 28 pages) Revised to include a new introduction, a
detailed example, and results about helicity; other changes for readabilit
Millimeter wave transmission studies of YBa2Cu3O7-delta thin films in the 26.5 to 40.0 GHz frequency range
Millimeter wave transmission measurements through YBa2Cu3O(7-delta) thin films on MgO, ZrO2 and LaAlO3 substrates, are reported. The films (approx. 1 micron) were deposited by sequential evaporation and laser ablation techniques. Transition temperatures T sub c, ranging from 89.7 K for the Laser Ablated film on LaAlO3 to approximately 72 K for the sequentially evaporated film on MgO, were obtained. The values of the real and imaginary parts of the complex conductivity, sigma 1 and sigma 2, are obtained from the transmission data, assuming a two fluid model. The BCS approach is used to calculate values for an effective energy gap from the obtained values of sigma sub 1. A range of gap values from 2 DELTA o/K sub B T sub c = 4.19 to 4.35 was obtained. The magnetic penetration depth is evaluated from the deduced values of sigma 2. These results are discussed together with the frequency dependence of the normalized transmission amplitude, P/P sub c, below and above T sub c
High temperature superconducting thin film microwave circuits: Fabrication, characterization, and applications
Epitaxial YBa2Cu3O7 films were grown on several microwave substrates. Surface resistance and penetration depth measurements were performed to determine the quality of these films. Here the properties of these films on key microwave substrates are described. The fabrication and characterization of a microwave ring resonator circuit to determine transmission line losses are presented. Lower losses than those observed in gold resonator circuits were observed at temperatures lower than critical transition temperature. Based on these results, potential applications of microwave superconducting circuits such as filters, resonators, oscillators, phase shifters, and antenna elements in space communication systems are identified
On Fermat's principle for causal curves in time oriented Finsler spacetimes
In this work, a version of Fermat's principle for causal curves with the same
energy in time orientable Finsler spacetimes is proved. We calculate the
secondvariation of the {\it time arrival functional} along a geodesic in terms
of the index form associated with the Finsler spacetime Lagrangian. Then the
character of the critical points of the time arrival functional is investigated
and a Morse index theorem in the context of Finsler spacetime is presented.Comment: 20 pages, minor corrections, references adde
QUANTITATIVE FEATURES OF A SANDWICH RADIOIMMUNOLABELING TECHNIQUE FOR LYMPHOCYTE SURFACE RECEPTORS
The present study was designed to devise and characterize an indirect or sandwich radioimmunolabeling technique for the study of lymphocyte surface receptors of immunoglobulin nature. Mouse lymphocytes from various sources were treated by the method of Shortman et al. to remove debris and damaged cells. This was an important preliminary step, as without it, little meaning could be attached to bulk scintillation counting of labeled cell suspensions, in view of the marked tendency of dead or damaged cells to adsorb protein nonspecifically. Next, cells were reacted at 0°C for 30 min with graded dilutions of unlabeled rabbit antisera against defined mouse Ig chains. After washing, the cells were reacted with a sheep anti-rabbit globulin reagent labeled with 125I, again at graded concentrations. After further washing, lymphocyte labeling was quantitated by both bulk scintillation counting and radioautography. Conditions were defined in which nonthymus-derived cells (B cells) but not thymus-derived cells (T cells) could be labeled. Most B cells displayed κ- and µ-chains on their surface, but some also displayed α- and γ2-chains, though in smaller amounts. When the concentration of both the first and the second reagents were raised considerably, conditions were defined under which virtually all T cells could be labeled by polyvalent antiglobulin sera, anti-κ sera, or, with more difficulty, by anti-µ sera. A large series of control experiments confirmed the serologic specificity of this labeling. It was shown that under equivalent conditions, B cells bind 100–400 times more antiglobulin than do T cells. The theoretical implications of the results are briefly discussed. It is argued that the sandwich approach offers certain technical advantages over direct labeling procedures for further analyses of T cell receptors and for studies of receptor metabolism
Lattice Models
In this paper I construct lattice models with an underlying
superalgebra symmetry. I find new solutions to the graded Yang-Baxter equation.
These {\it trigonometric} -matrices depend on {\it three} continuous
parameters, the spectral parameter, the deformation parameter and the
parameter, , of the superalgebra. It must be emphasized that the
parameter is generic and the parameter does not correspond to the
`nilpotency' parameter of \cite{gs}. The rational limits are given; they also
depend on the parameter and this dependence cannot be rescaled away. I
give the Bethe ansatz solution of the lattice models built from some of these
-matrices, while for other matrices, due to the particular nature of the
representation theory of , I conjecture the result. The parameter
appears as a continuous generalized spin. Finally I briefly discuss the problem
of finding the ground state of these models.Comment: 19 pages, plain LaTeX, no figures. Minor changes (version accepted
for publication
Three-dimensional Simulations of Accretion to Stars with Complex Magnetic Fields
Disk accretion to rotating stars with complex magnetic fields is investigated
using full three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations. The studied
magnetic configurations include superpositions of misaligned dipole and
quadrupole fields and off-centre dipoles. The simulations show that when the
quadrupole component is comparable to the dipole component, the magnetic field
has a complex structure with three major magnetic poles on the surface of the
star and three sets of loops of field lines connecting them. A significant
amount of matter flows to the quadrupole "belt", forming a ring-like hot spot
on the star. If the maximum strength of the magnetic field on the star is
fixed, then we observe that the mass accretion rate, the torque on the star,
and the area covered by hot spots are several times smaller in the
quadrupole-dominant cases than in the pure dipole cases. The influence of the
quadrupole component on the shape of the hot spots becomes noticeable when the
ratio of the quadrupole and dipole field strengths , and
becomes dominant when . In the case of an off-centre dipole
field, most of the matter flows through a one-armed accretion stream, forming a
large hot spot on the surface, with a second much smaller secondary spot. The
light curves may have simple, sinusoidal shapes, thus mimicking stars with pure
dipole fields. Or, they may be complex and unusual. In some cases the light
curves may be indicators of a complex field, in particular if the inclination
angle is known independently. We also note that in the case of complex fields,
magnetospheric gaps are often not empty, and this may be important for the
survival of close-in exosolar planets.Comment: 13 pages, 21 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Near-Earth asteroid (3200) Phaethon. Characterization of its orbit, spin state, and thermophysical parameters
The near-Earth asteroid (3200) Phaethon is an intriguing object: its
perihelion is at only 0.14 au and is associated with the Geminid meteor stream.
We aim to use all available disk-integrated optical data to derive a reliable
convex shape model of Phaethon. By interpreting the available space- and
ground-based thermal infrared data and Spitzer spectra using a thermophysical
model, we also aim to further constrain its size, thermal inertia, and visible
geometric albedo. We applied the convex inversion method to the new optical
data obtained by six instruments and to previous observations. The convex shape
model was then used as input for the thermophysical modeling. We also studied
the long-term stability of Phaethon's orbit and spin axis with a numerical
orbital and rotation-state integrator. We present a new convex shape model and
rotational state of Phaethon: a sidereal rotation period of 3.603958(2) h and
ecliptic coordinates of the preferred pole orientation of (319,
39) with a 5 uncertainty. Moreover, we derive its size
(=5.10.2 km), thermal inertia (=600200 J m
s K), geometric visible albedo
(=0.1220.008), and estimate the macroscopic surface
roughness. We also find that the Sun illumination at the perihelion passage
during the past several thousand years is not connected to a specific area on
the surface, which implies non-preferential heating.Comment: Astronomy and Astrophysics. In pres
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