14,187 research outputs found
Simulation of cell movement through evolving environment: a fictitious domain approach
A numerical method for simulating the movement of unicellular organisms which respond to chemical signals is presented. Cells are modelled as objects of finite size while the extracellular space is described by reaction-diffusion partial differential equations. This modular simulation allows the implementation of different models at the different scales encountered in cell biology and couples them in one single framework. The global computational cost is contained thanks to the use of the fictitious domain method for finite elements, allowing the efficient solve of partial differential equations in moving domains. Finally, a mixed formulation is adopted in order to better monitor the flux of chemicals, specifically at the interface between the cells and the extracellular domain
Regionalisation of climate impacts on flood flows to support the development of climate change guidance for Flood Management
Current Defra / Environment Agency guidance (FCDPAG3 supplementary note: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environ/fcd/pubs/pagn/climatechangeupdate.pdf) requires all flood management plans to allow for climate change by incorporating, within a sensitivity analysis, an increase in river flows of up 20% over the next 50 years, and beyond. This guidance is the same for all of England and Wales, making no allowance for regional variation in climate change or catchment type. This reflects the lack of scientific evidence to resolve the spatial distribution of potential impacts on flood flows with enough confidence to set such policy regionally. The 20% allowance was first raised in 1999 for MAFF and subsequently reviewed following the release of the UKCIP02 scenarios. Although the 20% figure is a memorable precautionary target, there is the risk that it leads to a significant under- or over-estimation of future flood risk in individual catchments.
Defra and the Environment Agency procured project FD2020 (Regionalisation of climate change impacts on flood flows) to provide a more rigorous science base for refreshing the FCDPAG3: supplementary note guidance. The FD2020 approach is exploring the relationships between catchment characteristics and climate change impacts on peak flows in a “scenario neutral” way. This is done by defining a regular set of changes in climate that encompass all the current knowledge from the new scenarios available from the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report. For each of the 155 catchments included in the research, this broad approach will provide multiple scenarios to produce a “vulnerability surface” for change in the metrics of peak flows (e.g. the 20-year flood flow). Some of the UKCP09 products have also been used to understand what these projections may mean for changes to peak flow. The catchment-based analysis will be used to generalise to other gauged sites across Britain, using relationships with catchment characteristics, providing the scientific evidence for the development of regional guidance on climate change allowances.
Specifically the project is:
Investigating the impact of climate change on peak river flows in over 150 catchments across Britain to assess the suitability of the FCDPAG3 20% climate change allowance.
Investigating catchment response to climate change to identify potential similarities such that the FCDPAG3 nationwide allowance could be regionalised.
Investigating the uncertainty in changes to future peak river flows from climate change.
Developing an approach that has longevity beyond the project timeframe and the lifetime of the latest generation of climate model results
Why Not the Best? Results From the National Scorecard on U.S. Health System Performance, 2011
Assesses the U.S. healthcare system's average performance in 2007-09 as measured by forty-two indicators of health outcomes, quality, access, efficiency, and equity compared with the 2006 and 2008 scorecards and with domestic and international benchmarks
Semiclassical initial value calculations of collinear helium atom
Semiclassical calculations using the Herman-Kluk initial value treatment are
performed to determine energy eigenvalues of bound and resonance states of the
collinear helium atom. Both the configuration (where the classical motion
is fully chaotic) and the configuration (where the classical dynamics is
nearly integrable) are treated. The classical motion is regularized to remove
singularities that occur when the electrons collide with the nucleus. Very good
agreement is obtained with quantum energies for bound and resonance states
calculated by the complex rotation method.Comment: 24 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to J. Phys.
Deflection and Rotation of CMEs from Active Region 11158
Between the 13 and 16 of February 2011 a series of coronal mass ejections
(CMEs) erupted from multiple polarity inversion lines within active region
11158. For seven of these CMEs we use the Graduated Cylindrical Shell (GCS)
flux rope model to determine the CME trajectory using both Solar Terrestrial
Relations Observatory (STEREO) extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and coronagraph
images. We then use the Forecasting a CME's Altered Trajectory (ForeCAT) model
for nonradial CME dynamics driven by magnetic forces, to simulate the
deflection and rotation of the seven CMEs. We find good agreement between the
ForeCAT results and the reconstructed CME positions and orientations. The CME
deflections range in magnitude between 10 degrees and 30 degrees. All CMEs
deflect to the north but we find variations in the direction of the
longitudinal deflection. The rotations range between 5\mydeg and 50\mydeg with
both clockwise and counterclockwise rotations occurring. Three of the CMEs
begin with initial positions within 2 degrees of one another. These three CMEs
all deflect primarily northward, with some minor eastward deflection, and
rotate counterclockwise. Their final positions and orientations, however,
respectively differ by 20 degrees and 30 degrees. This variation in deflection
and rotation results from differences in the CME expansion and radial
propagation close to the Sun, as well as the CME mass. Ultimately, only one of
these seven CMEs yielded discernible in situ signatures near Earth, despite the
active region facing near Earth throughout the eruptions. We suggest that the
differences in the deflection and rotation of the CMEs can explain whether each
CME impacted or missed the Earth.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, accepted in Solar Physic
Reactive oxygen species generation from photoexcited quantum dot nanoparticles: Type I versus Type II photochemical mechanism
Quantum computation in optical lattices via global laser addressing
A scheme for globally addressing a quantum computer is presented along with
its realisation in an optical lattice setup of one, two or three dimensions.
The required resources are mainly those necessary for performing quantum
simulations of spin systems with optical lattices, circumventing the necessity
for single qubit addressing. We present the control procedures, in terms of
laser manipulations, required to realise universal quantum computation. Error
avoidance with the help of the quantum Zeno effect is presented and a scheme
for globally addressed error correction is given. The latter does not require
measurements during the computation, facilitating its experimental
implementation. As an illustrative example, the pulse sequence for the
factorisation of the number fifteen is given.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, REVTEX. Initialisation and measurement
procedures are adde
CAutoCSD-evolutionary search and optimisation enabled computer automated control system design
This paper attempts to set a unified scene for various linear time-invariant (LTI) control system design schemes, by transforming the existing concept of 'Computer-Aided Control System Design' (CACSD) to the novel 'Computer-Automated Control System Design' (CAutoCSD). The first step towards this goal is to accommodate, under practical constraints, various design objectives that are desirable in both time and frequency-domains. Such performance-prioritised unification is aimed to relieve practising engineers from having to select a particular control scheme and from sacrificing certain performance goals resulting from pre-committing to the adopted scheme. With the recent progress in evolutionary computing based extra-numeric, multi-criterion search and optimisation techniques, such unification of LTI control schemes becomes feasible, analytically and practically, and the resultant designs can be creative. The techniques developed are applied to, and illustrated by, three design problems. The unified approach automatically provides an integrator for zero-steady state error in velocity control of a DC motor, meets multiple objectives in designing an LTI controller for a non-minimum phase plant and offers a high-performing LTI controller network for a nonlinear chemical process
Optimal purification of thermal graph states
In this paper, a purification protocol is presented and its performance is
proven to be optimal when applied to a particular subset of graph states that
are subject to local Z-noise. Such mixed states can be produced by bringing a
system into thermal equilibrium, when it is described by a Hamiltonian which
has a particular graph state as its unique ground state. From this protocol, we
derive the exact value of the critical temperature above which purification is
impossible, as well as the related optimal purification rates. A possible
simulation of graph Hamiltonians is proposed, which requires only bipartite
interactions and local magnetic fields, enabling the tuning of the system
temperature.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures v2: published versio
Iron-mineral accretion from acid mine drainage and its application in passive treatment
This study demonstrates substantial removal of iron (Fe) from acid mine drainage (pH ≈3) in a passive vertical flow reactor (VFR) with an equivalent footprint of 154 m2 per L/s mine water and residence times of >23 h. Average Fe removal rate was 67% with a high of 85% over the 10-month trial. The fraction of Fe passing a 0.22 µm filter (referred to here as Fe-filt) was seen to be removed in the VFR even when Fe(II) was absent, indicating that the contribution of microbial Fe(II) oxidation and precipitation was not the dominant removal mechanism in the VFR. Removal rates of Fe-filt in the VFR were up to 70% in residence times as low as 8 h compared with laboratory experiments where much smaller changes in Fe-filt were observed over 60 h. Centrifugation indicated that 80–90% of the influent Fe had particle sizes <35 nm. Together with analyses and geochemical modelling, this suggests that the Fe-filt fraction exists as either truly aqueous (but oversaturated) Fe(III) or nanoparticulate Fe(III) and that this metastability persists. When the water was contacted with VFR sludge, the Fe-filt fraction was destabilized, leading to an appreciably higher removal of this fraction. Heterogeneous precipitation and/or aggregation of nanoparticulate Fe(III) precipitates are considered predominant removal mechanisms. Microbial analyses of the mine water revealed the abundance of extracellular polymeric substance-generating Fe-oxidizing bacterium ‘Ferrovum myxofaciens’, which may aid the removal of iron and explain the unusual appearance and physical properties of the sludge
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