928 research outputs found
Development of Uniform Microstructures in Immiscible Alloys by Processing in a Low-Gravity Environment
Highly segregated macrostructures tend to develop during processing of hypermonotectic alloys because of the density difference existing between the two liquid phases. The approximately 4.6 seconds of low-gravity provided by Marshall Space Flight Center's 105 meter drop tube was utilized to minimize density-driven separation and promote uniform microstructures in hypermonotectic Ag-Ni and Ag-Mn alloys. For the Ag-Ni alloys a numerical model was developed to track heat flow and solidification of the bi-metal drop configuration. Results, potential applications, and future work are presented
Class of dilute granular Couette flows with uniform heat flux
In a recent paper [F. Vega Reyes et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 028001 (2010)]
we presented a preliminary description of a special class of steady Couette
flows in dilute granular gases. In all flows of this class the viscous heating
is exactly balanced by inelastic cooling. This yields a uniform heat flux and a
linear relationship between the local temperature and flow velocity. The class
(referred to as the LTu class) includes the Fourier flow of ordinary gases and
the simple shear flow of granular gases as special cases. In the present paper
we provide further support for this class of Couette flows by following four
different routes, two of them being theoretical (Grad's moment method of the
Boltzmann equation and exact solution of a kinetic model) and the other two
being computational (molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations of the
Boltzmann equation). Comparison between theory and simulations shows a very
good agreement for the non-Newtonian rheological properties, even for quite
strong inelasticity, and a good agreement for the heat flux coefficients in the
case of Grad's method, the agreement being only qualitative in the case of the
kinetic model.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures; v2: change of title plus some other minor
change
Quasi-chemical Theories of Associated Liquids
It is shown how traditional development of theories of fluids based upon the
concept of physical clustering can be adapted to an alternative local
clustering definition. The alternative definition can preserve a detailed
valence description of the interactions between a solution species and its
near-neighbors, i.e., cooperativity and saturation of coordination for strong
association. These clusters remain finite even for condensed phases. The
simplest theory to which these developments lead is analogous to quasi-chemical
theories of cooperative phenomena. The present quasi-chemical theories require
additional consideration of packing issues because they don't impose lattice
discretizations on the continuous problem. These quasi-chemical theories do not
require pair decomposable interaction potential energy models. Since
calculations may be required only for moderately sized clusters, we suggest
that these quasi-chemical theories could be implemented with computational
tools of current electronic structure theory. This can avoid an intermediate
step of approximate force field generation.Comment: 20 pages, no figures replacement: minor typographical corrections,
four references added, in press Molec. Physics 199
A measure of individual role in collective dynamics
Identifying key players in collective dynamics remains a challenge in several
research fields, from the efficient dissemination of ideas to drug target
discovery in biomedical problems. The difficulty lies at several levels: how to
single out the role of individual elements in such intermingled systems, or
which is the best way to quantify their importance. Centrality measures
describe a node's importance by its position in a network. The key issue
obviated is that the contribution of a node to the collective behavior is not
uniquely determined by the structure of the system but it is a result of the
interplay between dynamics and network structure. We show that dynamical
influence measures explicitly how strongly a node's dynamical state affects
collective behavior. For critical spreading, dynamical influence targets nodes
according to their spreading capabilities. For diffusive processes it
quantifies how efficiently real systems may be controlled by manipulating a
single node.Comment: accepted for publication in Scientific Report
On the nonequilibrium entropy of large and small systems
Thermodynamics makes definite predictions about the thermal behavior of
macroscopic systems in and out of equilibrium. Statistical mechanics aims to
derive this behavior from the dynamics and statistics of the atoms and
molecules making up these systems. A key element in this derivation is the
large number of microscopic degrees of freedom of macroscopic systems.
Therefore, the extension of thermodynamic concepts, such as entropy, to small
(nano) systems raises many questions. Here we shall reexamine various
definitions of entropy for nonequilibrium systems, large and small. These
include thermodynamic (hydrodynamic), Boltzmann, and Gibbs-Shannon entropies.
We shall argue that, despite its common use, the last is not an appropriate
physical entropy for such systems, either isolated or in contact with thermal
reservoirs: physical entropies should depend on the microstate of the system,
not on a subjective probability distribution. To square this point of view with
experimental results of Bechhoefer we shall argue that the Gibbs-Shannon
entropy of a nano particle in a thermal fluid should be interpreted as the
Boltzmann entropy of a dilute gas of Brownian particles in the fluid
The arrow of time: from universe time-asymmetry to local irreversible processes
In several previous papers we have argued for a global and non-entropic
approach to the problem of the arrow of time, according to which the ''arrow''
is only a metaphorical way of expressing the geometrical time-asymmetry of the
universe. We have also shown that, under definite conditions, this global
time-asymmetry can be transferred to local contexts as an energy flow that
points to the same temporal direction all over the spacetime. The aim of this
paper is to complete the global and non-entropic program by showing that our
approach is able to account for irreversible local phenomena, which have been
traditionally considered as the physical origin of the arrow of time.Comment: 48 pages, 8 figures, revtex4. Accepted for publication in Foundations
of Physic
Dynamical Properties and Plasmon Dispersion of a Weakly Degenerate Correlated One-Component Plasma
Classical Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations for a one-component plasma
(OCP) are presented. Quantum effects are included in the form of the Kelbg
potential. Results for the dynamical structure factor are compared with the
Vlasov and RPA (random phase approximation) theories. The influence of the
coupling parameter , degeneracy parameter and the form
of the pair interaction on the optical plasmon dispersion is investigated. An
improved analytical approximation for the dispersion of Langmuir waves is
presented.Comment: 23 pages, includes 7 ps/eps-figures and 2 table
Designing electronic collaborative learning environments
Electronic collaborative learning environments for learning and working are in vogue. Designers design them according to their own constructivist interpretations of what collaborative learning is and what it should achieve. Educators employ them with different educational approaches and in diverse situations to achieve different ends. Students use them, sometimes very enthusiastically, but often in a perfunctory way. Finally, researchers study them and—as is usually the case when apples and oranges are compared—find no conclusive evidence as to whether or not they work, where they do or do not work, when they do or do not work and, most importantly, why, they do or do not work. This contribution presents an affordance framework for such collaborative learning environments; an interaction design procedure for designing, developing, and implementing them; and an educational affordance approach to the use of tasks in those environments. It also presents the results of three projects dealing with these three issues
The Monarch Initiative in 2019: an integrative data and analytic platform connecting phenotypes to genotypes across species.
In biology and biomedicine, relating phenotypic outcomes with genetic variation and environmental factors remains a challenge: patient phenotypes may not match known diseases, candidate variants may be in genes that haven’t been characterized, research organisms may not recapitulate human or veterinary diseases, environmental factors affecting disease outcomes are unknown or undocumented, and many resources must be queried to find potentially significant phenotypic associations. The Monarch Initiative (https://monarchinitiative.org) integrates information on genes, variants, genotypes, phenotypes and diseases in a variety of species, and allows powerful ontology-based search. We develop many widely adopted ontologies that together enable sophisticated computational analysis, mechanistic discovery and diagnostics of Mendelian diseases. Our algorithms and tools are widely used to identify animal models of human disease through phenotypic similarity, for differential diagnostics and to facilitate translational research. Launched in 2015, Monarch has grown with regards to data (new organisms, more sources, better modeling); new API and standards; ontologies (new Mondo unified disease ontology, improvements to ontologies such as HPO and uPheno); user interface (a redesigned website); and community development. Monarch data, algorithms and tools are being used and extended by resources such as GA4GH and NCATS Translator, among others, to aid mechanistic discovery and diagnostics
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