New, efficient, and accurate high order derivative and dissipation operators satisfying summation by parts, and applications in three-dimensional multi-block evolutions

We construct new, efficient, and accurate high-order finite differencing operators which satisfy summation by parts. Since these operators are not uniquely defined, we consider several optimization criteria: minimizing the bandwidth, the truncation error on the boundary points, the spectral radius, or a combination of these. We examine in detail a set of operators that are up to tenth order accurate in the interior, and we surprisingly find that a combination of these optimizations can improve the operators' spectral radius and accuracy by orders of magnitude in certain cases. We also construct high-order dissipation operators that are compatible with these new finite difference operators and which are semi-definite with respect to the appropriate summation by parts scalar product. We test the stability and accuracy of these new difference and dissipation operators by evolving a three-dimensional scalar wave equation on a spherical domain consisting of seven blocks, each discretized with a structured grid, and connected through penalty boundary conditions.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures. The files with the coefficients for the derivative and dissipation operators can be accessed by downloading the source code for the document. The files are located in the "coeffs" subdirector

Contribution of sea ice in the Southern Ocean to the cycling of volatile halogenated organic compounds

The contribution of sea ice to the flux of biogenic volatile halogenated organic compounds to the atmosphere in the Southern Ocean is currently not known. To approach this question, we measured halocarbons in sea ice, sea ice brine, and surface water of the Amundsen and Ross Seas. Concentrations in sea ice of these compounds, normalized to seawater salinity, ranged from 0.2 to 810 pmol L-1. Salinity-normalized chlorophyll a concentrations in the ice ranged from 3.5 to 190 mu gL(-1). Our results suggest biological production of halocarbons in sea ice, with maxima of halogenated organics and chlorophyll a commonly found in the interior of the ice cores. Iodinated VHOCs were found to be more enriched in sea ice than brominated ones. Furthermore, depth distributions indicated a transport of halocarbons from sea ice to air and underlying water

Utility of plasma neurofilament light and total tau for clinical trials in Alzheimer's disease

INTRODUCTION: Several blood‐based biomarkers are associated with neuronal injury, but their utility in interventional clinical trials is unclear. This study retrospectively evaluated the utility of plasma neurofilament light (NfL) and total tau (t‐tau) in an 18‐month trial in mild Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS: Correlation and conditional independence analyses and Gaussian graphical models were used to investigate cross‐sectional and longitudinal relations between NfL, t‐tau, and clinical scales. RESULTS: NfL had a stronger association than t‐tau with clinical scales; t‐tau did not hold additional information to that given by NfL (P > 0.05 at all time points). NfL held independent information about shorter‐term (3‐ to 6‐month) progression beyond patient age and clinical scores. However, no meaningful gain in power was found when adjusting a longitudinal analysis of cognitive scores for baseline NfL. DISCUSSION: Plasma NfL is superior to t‐tau in mild AD. The ability of NfL to detect changes before clinical manifestations makes it a promising biomarker of drug response in trials of disease‐modifying drugs

Existence of a phase transition under finite magnetic field in the long-range RKKY Ising spin glass Dyx_{x}Y1−x_{1-x}Ru2_{2}Si2_{2}

A phase transition of a model compound of the long-range Ising spin glass (SG) Dy$_{x}$Y$_{1-x}$Ru$_{2}$Si$_{2}$, where spins interact via the RKKY interaction, has been investigated. The static and the dynamic scaling analyses reveal that the SG phase transition in the model magnet belongs to the mean-field universality class. Moreover, the characteristic relaxation time in finite magnetic fields exhibits a critical divergent behavior as well as in zero field, indicating a stability of the SG phase in finite fields. The presence of the SG phase transition in field in the model magnet strongly syggests that the replica symmetry is broken in the long-range Ising SG.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to be published in JPSJ (2010

Would You Choose to be Happy? Tradeoffs Between Happiness and the Other Dimensions of Life in a Large Population Survey

A large literature documents the correlates and causes of subjective well-being, or happiness. But few studies have investigated whether people choose happiness. Is happiness all that people want from life, or are they willing to sacrifice it for other attributes, such as income and health? Tackling this question has largely been the preserve of philosophers. In this article, we find out just how much happiness matters to ordinary citizens. Our sample consists of nearly 13,000 members of the UK and US general populations. We ask them to choose between, and make judgments over, lives that are high (or low) in different types of happiness and low (or high) in income, physical health, family, career success, or education. We find that people by and large choose the life that is highest in happiness but health is by far the most important other concern, with considerable numbers of people choosing to be healthy rather than happy. We discuss some possible reasons for this preference

Relaxation of the field-cooled magnetization of an Ising spin glass

The time and temperature dependence of the field-cooled magnetization of a three dimensional Ising spin glass, Fe_{0.5}Mn_{0.5}TiO_{3}, has been investigated. The temperature and cooling rate dependence is found to exhibit memory phenomena that can be related to the memory behavior of the low frequency ac-susceptibility. The results add some further understanding on how to model the three dimensional Ising spin glass in real space.Comment: 8 pages RevTEX, 5 figure

SURFATM-NH3: a model combining the surface energy balance and bi-directional exchanges of ammonia applied at the field scale

A new biophysical model SURFATM-NH3, simulating the ammonia (NH<sub>3</sub>) exchange between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere is presented. SURFATM-NH3 consists of two coupled models: (i) an energy budget model and (ii) a pollutant exchange model, which distinguish the soil and plant exchange processes. The model describes the exchanges in terms of adsorption to leaf cuticles and bi-directional transport through leaf stomata and soil. The results of the model are compared with the flux measurements over grassland during the GRAMINAE Integrated Experiment at Braunschweig, Germany. The dataset of GRAMINAE allows the model to be tested in various meteorological and agronomic conditions: prior to cutting, after cutting and then after the application of mineral fertilizer. The whole comparison shows close agreement between model and measurements for energy budget and ammonia fluxes. The major controls on the ground and plant emission potential are the physicochemical parameters for liquid-gas exchanges which are integrated in the compensation points for live leaves, litter and the soil surface. Modelled fluxes are highly sensitive to soil and plant surface temperatures, highlighting the importance of accurate estimates of these terms. The model suggests that the net flux depends not only on the foliar (stomatal) compensation point but also that of leaf litter. SURFATM-NH3 represents a comprehensive approach to studying pollutant exchanges and its link with plant and soil functioning. It also provides a simplified generalised approach (SVAT model) applicable for atmospheric transport models

Back-reaction and effective acceleration in generic LTB dust models

We provide a thorough examination of the conditions for the existence of back-reaction and an "effective" acceleration (in the context of Buchert's averaging formalism) in regular generic spherically symmetric Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi (LTB) dust models. By considering arbitrary spherical comoving domains, we verify rigorously the fulfillment of these conditions expressed in terms of suitable scalar variables that are evaluated at the boundary of every domain. Effective deceleration necessarily occurs in all domains in: (a) the asymptotic radial range of models converging to a FLRW background, (b) the asymptotic time range of non-vacuum hyperbolic models, (c) LTB self-similar solutions and (d) near a simultaneous big bang. Accelerating domains are proven to exist in the following scenarios: (i) central vacuum regions, (ii) central (non-vacuum) density voids, (iii) the intermediate radial range of models converging to a FLRW background, (iv) the asymptotic radial range of models converging to a Minkowski vacuum and (v) domains near and/or intersecting a non-simultaneous big bang. All these scenarios occur in hyperbolic models with negative averaged and local spatial curvature, though scenarios (iv) and (v) are also possible in low density regions of a class of elliptic models in which local spatial curvature is negative but its average is positive. Rough numerical estimates between -0.003 and -0.5 were found for the effective deceleration parameter. While the existence of accelerating domains cannot be ruled out in models converging to an Einstein de Sitter background and in domains undergoing gravitational collapse, the conditions for this are very restrictive. The results obtained may provide important theoretical clues on the effects of back-reaction and averaging in more general non-spherical models.Comment: Final version accepted for publication in Classical and Quantum Gravity. 47 pages in IOP LaTeX macros, 12 pdf figure