23,265 research outputs found
An airborne FLIR detection and warning system for low altitude wind shear
It is shown through some preliminary flight measurement research that a forward looking infrared radiometer (FLIR) system can be used to successfully detect the cool downdraft of downbursts (microbusts/macrobursts) and thunderstorm gust front outflows that are responsible for most of the low altitude wind shear (LAWS) events. The FLIR system provides a much greater safety margin for the pilot than that provided by reactive designs such as inertial air speed systems. Preliminary results indicate that an advanced airborne FLIR system could provide the pilot with remote indication of microburst (MB) hazards along the flight path ahead of the aircraft. Results of a flight test of a prototype FLIR system show that a minimum warning time of one to four minutes (5 to 10 km), depending on aircraft speed, is available to the pilot prior to the microburst encounter
Memory texts and memory work: Performances of memory in and with visual media
The online version of this article can be found at: http://mss.sagepub.com/content/early/2010/05/24/175069801037003
Electrical resistivity of the Ti4O7 Magneli phase under high pressure
We have measured resistivity as a function of temperature and pressure of
Ti4O7 twinned crystals using different contact configurations. Pressures over
4kbar depress the localization of bipolarons and allow the study of the
electrical conduction of the bipolaronic phase down to low temperatures. For
pressures P > 40 kbar the bipolaron formation transition is suppressed and a
nearly pressure independent behavior is obtained for the resistivity. We
observed an anisotropic conduction. When current is injected parallel to the
principal axis, a metallic conduction with interacting carrier effects is
predominant. A superconducting state was not obtained down to 1.2 K, although
evidences of the proximity of a quantum critical point were noticed. While when
current is injected non-parallel to the crystal's principal axis, we obtained a
logarithmic divergence of the resistivity at low temperatures. For this case,
our results for the high pressure regime can be interpreted in the framework of
interacting carriers (polarons or bipolarons) scattered by Two Level Systems.Comment: 9 Revtex pages, 12 EPS figures included, submitted to The European
Physical Journal B. Contact author: C. Acha (e-mail address: [email protected]
Universality class of quantum criticality for strongly repulsive spin-1 bosons with antiferromagnetic spin-exchange interaction
Using the thermodynamic Bethe ansatz equations we study the quantum phase
diagram, thermodynamics and criticality of one-dimensional spin-1 bosons with
strongly repulsive density-density and antiferromagnetic spin-exchange
interactions. We analytically derive a high precision equation of state from
which the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid physics and quantum critical behavior of
the system are computed. We obtain explicit forms for the scaling functions
near the critical points yielding the dynamical exponent and correlation
length exponent for the quantum phase transitions driven by either
the chemical potential or the magnetic field. Consequently, we further
demonstrate that quantum criticality of the system can be mapped out from the
finite temperature density and magnetization profiles of the 1D trapped gas.
Our results provide the physical origin of quantum criticality in a 1D
many-body system beyond the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid description.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figure
Contact and sum-rules in a near-uniform Fermi gas at unitarity
We present an experimental study of the high-energy excitation spectra of
unitary Fermi gases. Using focussed beam Bragg spectroscopy, we locally probe
atoms in the central region of a harmonically trapped cloud where the density
is nearly uniform, enabling measurements of the dynamic structure factor for a
range of temperatures both below and above the superfluid transition. Applying
sum-rules to the measured Bragg spectra, we resolve the characteristic
behaviour of the universal contact parameter, , across the superfluid
transition. We also employ a recent theoretical result for the kinetic
(second-moment) sum-rule to obtain the internal energy of gases at unitarity.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Nonproductive Events in Ring-Closing Metathesis Using Ruthenium Catalysts
The relative TONs of productive and nonproductive metathesis reactions of diethyl diallylmalonate are compared for eight different ruthenium-based catalysts. Nonproductive cross metathesis is proposed to involve a chain-carrying ruthenium methylidene. A second more-challenging substrate (dimethyl allylmethylallylmalonate) that forms a trisubstituted olefin product is used to further delineate the effect of catalyst structure on the relative efficiencies of these processes. A steric model is proposed to explain the observed trends
Tight local approximation results for max-min linear programs
In a bipartite max-min LP, we are given a bipartite graph \myG = (V \cup I
\cup K, E), where each agent is adjacent to exactly one constraint
and exactly one objective . Each agent controls a
variable . For each we have a nonnegative linear constraint on
the variables of adjacent agents. For each we have a nonnegative
linear objective function of the variables of adjacent agents. The task is to
maximise the minimum of the objective functions. We study local algorithms
where each agent must choose based on input within its
constant-radius neighbourhood in \myG. We show that for every
there exists a local algorithm achieving the approximation ratio . We also show that this result is the best possible
-- no local algorithm can achieve the approximation ratio . Here is the maximum degree of a vertex , and
is the maximum degree of a vertex . As a methodological
contribution, we introduce the technique of graph unfolding for the design of
local approximation algorithms.Comment: 16 page
Optimizing photon indistinguishability in the emission from incoherently-excited semiconductor quantum dots
Most optical quantum devices require deterministic single-photon emitters.
Schemes so far demonstrated in the solid state imply an energy relaxation which
tends to spoil the coherent nature of the time evolution, and with it the
photon indistinguishability. We focus our theoretical investigation on
semiconductor quantum dots embedded in microcavities. Simple and general
relations are identified between the photon indistinguishability and the
collection efficiency. The identification of the key parameters and of their
interplay provides clear indications for the device optimization
P02-07. High Concentrations of Interleukin-15 and Low Concentrations of CCL5 in Breast Milk are Associated with Protection against Postnatal HIV Transmission
Background: Natural variations in IL-15 concentration have not been investigated for an association with an immune-protection against HIV. Given IL-15's central role in anti-HIV immunity, we hypothesized that higher concentrations of IL-15 in breast milk may protect against postnatal mother-to-child HIV transmission. Methods: In a case-control study nested within a clinical trial in Zambia, we compared IL-15 concentrations in breast milk of 22 HIV-infected women who transmitted HIV to their infants through breastfeeding with those of 72 who did not, as well as 18 HIV-uninfected women. Breast milk HIV RNA quantity, sodium, CXCL12, CCL5, and IL-8 concentrations were measured as well as maternal plasma HIV RNA concentrations and CD4 cell count. We used logistic regression modeling to adjust for potential confounders. Results: Higher concentrations of IL-15 in breast milk (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 0.01 per log10 pg/ml increase, 95% confidence interval [CI]: <0.001 to 0.3) were associated with protection against postnatal HIV transmission in univariate analysis and after adjusting for maternal CD4 cell counts, breast milk HIV RNA, CCL5, CXCL12, and IL-8 concentrations. Breast milk IL-15 concentration correlated with breast milk sodium, the other cytokines and HIV RNA concentration. It was inversely correlated with infant birth weight and tended to be higher in 1 week than in 1 month post-partum samples. Breast milk CCL5 concentrations were associated with increased risk of HIV transmission (AOR: 12.7 95% CI: 1.6 to 102.0) in adjusted analysis. Breast milk CXCL12 and IL-8 concentrations were not independently associated with transmission. Conclusion: High concentration of IL-15 were associated with a protection against breastfeeding HIV transmission after adjusting for other pro-inflammatory cytokines, HIV RNA in breast milk, and maternal CD4 cell count. These results corroborate a protective role of IL-15-mediated cellular immunity against HIV transmission during breastfeeding. They are informative for vaccination studies using IL-15 as an adjuvant
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