43 research outputs found
Compaction dynamics in ductile granular media
Ductile compaction is common in many natural systems, but the temporal
evolution of such systems is rarely studied. We observe surprising oscillations
in the weight measured at the bottom of a self-compacting ensemble of ductile
grains. The oscillations develop during the first ten hours of the experiment,
and usually persist through the length of an experiment (one week). The weight
oscillations are connected to the grain--wall contacts, and are directly
correlated with the observed strain evolution and the dynamics of grain--wall
contacts during the compaction. Here, we present the experimental results and
characteristic time constants of the system, and discuss possible reasons for
the measured weight oscillations.Comment: 11 pages, 14 figure
Dynamic scaling in stick-slip friction
We introduce a generalized homogeneous function to describe the joint probability density for magnitude and duration of events in self-organized critical systems (SOC). It follows that the cumulative distributions of magnitude and of duration are power-laws with exponents α and τ respectively. A power-law relates duration and magnitude (exponent γ) on the average. The exponents satisfy the dynamic scaling relation α=γτ. The exponents classify SOC systems into universality classes that do not depend on microscopic details provided that both α
The Minimum of the Maximum Rectilinear Crossing Numbers of Small Cubic Graphs
Here we consider the minimum of the maximum rectilinear crossing numbers for all d-regular graphs of order n. The case of connected graphs only is investigated also. For d = 3 exact values are determined for n are less than or equal to 12 and some estimations are given in general
spectra in elementary cellular automata and fractal signals
We systematically compute the power spectra of the one-dimensional elementary
cellular automata introduced by Wolfram. On the one hand our analysis reveals
that one automaton displays spectra though considered as trivial, and on
the other hand that various automata classified as chaotic/complex display no
spectra. We model the results generalizing the recently investigated
Sierpinski signal to a class of fractal signals that are tailored to produce
spectra. From the widespread occurrence of (elementary) cellular
automata patterns in chemistry, physics and computer sciences, there are
various candidates to show spectra similar to our results.Comment: 4 pages (3 figs included
Structure of plastically compacting granular packings
The developing structure in systems of compacting ductile grains were studied
experimentally in two and three dimensions. In both dimensions, the peaks of
the radial distribution function were reduced, broadened, and shifted compared
with those observed in hard disk- and sphere systems. The geometrical
three--grain configurations contributing to the second peak in the radial
distribution function showed few but interesting differences between the
initial and final stages of the two dimensional compaction. The evolution of
the average coordination number as function of packing fraction is compared
with other experimental and numerical results from the literature. We conclude
that compaction history is important for the evolution of the structure of
compacting granular systems.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figure
Tracer Dispersion in a Self-Organized Critical System
We have studied experimentally transport properties in a slowly driven
granular system which recently was shown to display self-organized criticality
[Frette {\em et al., Nature} {\bf 379}, 49 (1996)]. Tracer particles were added
to a pile and their transit times measured. The distribution of transit times
is a constant with a crossover to a decaying power law. The average transport
velocity decreases with system size. This is due to an increase in the active
zone depth with system size. The relaxation processes generate coherently
moving regions of grains mixed with convection. This picture is supported by
considering transport in a cellular automaton modeling the experiment.Comment: 4 pages, RevTex, 1 Encapsulated PostScript and 4 PostScript available
upon request, Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Hematological adaptations to prolonged heat acclimation in endurance-trained males
Frontiers is fully compliant with open access mandates, by publishing its articles under the Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC-BY). Authors retain copyright of their work and can deposit their publication in any repository. The work can be freely shared and adapted provided that appropriate credit is given and any changes specified.Heat acclimation is associated with plasma volume (PV) expansion that occurs within the first week of exposure. However, prolonged effects on hemoglobin mass (Hbmass) are unclear as intervention periods in previous studies have not allowed sufficient time for erythropoiesis to manifest. Therefore, Hbmass, intravascular volumes, and blood volume (BV)-regulating hormones were assessed with 5½ weeks of exercise-heat acclimation (HEAT) or matched training in cold conditions (CON) in 21 male cyclists [(mean ± SD) age: 38 ± 9 years, body weight: 80.4 ± 7.9 kg, VO2peak: 59.1 ± 5.2 ml/min/kg]. HEAT (n = 12) consisted of 1 h cycling at 60% VO2peak in 40°C for 5 days/week in addition to regular training, whereas CON (n = 9) trained exclusively in cold conditions (<15°C). Before and after the intervention, Hbmass and intravascular volumes were assessed by carbon monoxide rebreathing, while reticulocyte count and BV-regulating hormones were measured before, after 2 weeks and post intervention. Total training volume during the intervention was similar (p = 0.282) between HEAT (509 ± 173 min/week) and CON (576 ± 143 min/week). PV increased (p = 0.004) in both groups, by 303 ± 345 ml in HEAT and 188 ± 286 ml in CON. There was also a main effect of time (p = 0.038) for Hbmass with +34 ± 36 g in HEAT and +2 ± 33 g in CON and a tendency toward a higher increase in Hbmass in HEAT compared to CON (time × group interaction: p = 0.061). The Hbmass changes were weakly correlated to alterations in PV (r = 0.493, p = 0.023). Reticulocyte count and BV-regulating hormones remained unchanged for both groups. In conclusion, Hbmass was slightly increased following prolonged training in the heat and although the mechanistic link remains to be revealed, the increase could represent a compensatory response in erythropoiesis secondary to PV expansion.publishedVersio