1,206 research outputs found
Dynamics and interactions of active rotors
We consider a simple model of an internally driven self-rotating object; a
rotor, confined to two dimensions by a thin film of low Reynolds number fluid.
We undertake a detailed study of the hydrodynamic interactions between a pair
of rotors and find that their effect on the resulting dynamics is a combination
of fast and slow motions. We analyse the slow dynamics using an averaging
procedure to take account of the fast degrees of freedom. Analytical results
are compared with numerical simulations. Hydrodynamic interactions mean that
while isolated rotors do not translate, bringing together a pair of rotors
leads to motion of their centres. Two rotors spinning in the same sense rotate
with an approximately constant angular velocity around each other, while two
rotors of opposite sense, both translate with the same constant velocity, which
depends on the separation of the pair. As a result a pair of counter-rotating
rotors are a promising model for controlled self-propulsion.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
Violation and persistence of the K-quantum number in warm rotating nuclei
The validity of the K-quantum number in rapidly rotating warm nuclei is
investigated as a function of thermal excitation energy U and angular momentum
I, for the rare-earth nucleus 163Er. The quantal eigenstates are described with
a shell model which combines a cranked Nilsson mean-field and a residual
two-body interaction, together with a term which takes into account the angular
momentum carried by the K-quantum number in an approximate way. K-mixing is
produced by the interplay of the Coriolis interaction and the residual
interaction; it is weak in the region of the discrete rotational bands (U
\lesim 1MeV), but it gradually increases until the limit of complete violation
of the K-quantum number is approached around U \sim 2 - 2.5 MeV. The calculated
matrix elements between bands having different K-quantum numbers decrease
exponentially as a function of , in qualitative agreement with recent
data.Comment: 29 pages, 7 figure
Improving the optimization in model predictive controllers:Scheduling large groups of electric vehicles
In parking lots with large groups of electric vehicles (EVs), charging has to happen in a coordinated manner, among others, due to the high load per vehicle and the limited capacity of the electricity grid. To achieve such coordination, model predictive control can be applied, thereby repeatedly solving an optimization problem. Due to its repetitive nature and its dependency on the time granularity, optimization has to be(computationally) efficient.The work presented here focuses on that optimization sub-routine, its computational efficiency and how to speed up the optimization for large groups of EVs. In particular, we adapt FOCS, an algorithm that can solve the underlying optimization problem, to better suit the repetitive set-up of model predictive control by adding a pre-mature stop feature. Based on real-world data, we empirically show that the added feature speeds up the median computation time for 1-minute granularity by up to 44%.Furthermore, since FOCS is an algorithm that uses maximum flow methods as a subroutine, the impact of choosing various maximum flow methods on the runtime is investigated. Finally, we compare FOCS to a commercially available solver, concluding that FOCS outperforms the state-of-the-art when making a full-day schedule for large groups of EVs
Relating Electric Vehicle Charging to Speed Scaling with Job-Specific Speed Limits
Due to the ongoing electrification of transport in combination with limited power grid capacities, efficient ways to schedule the charging of electric vehicles (EVs) are needed for the operation of, for example, large parking lots. Common approaches such as model predictive control repeatedly solve a corresponding offline problem. In this work, we first present and analyze the Flow-based Offline Charging Scheduler (FOCS), an offline algorithm to derive an optimal EV charging schedule for a fleet of EVs that minimizes an increasing, convex and differentiable function of the corresponding aggregated power profile. To this end, we relate EV charging to processor speed scaling models with job-specific speed limits. We prove our algorithm to be optimal and derive necessary and sufficient conditions for any EV charging profile to be optimal. Furthermore, we discuss two online algorithms and their competitive ratios for a specific class objective functions. In particular, we show that if those algorithms are applied and adapted to the presented EV scheduling problem, the competitive ratios for Average Rate and Optimal Available match those of the classical speed scaling problem. Finally, we present numerical results using real-world EV charging data to put the theoretical competitive ratios into a practical perspective
Long-Term Safety of Anti-TNF Adalimumab in HBc Antibody-Positive Psoriatic Arthritis Patients: A Retrospective Case Series of 8 Patients
Immunosuppressive drugs commonly used in the treatment of psoriatic arthritis make patients more susceptible to viral, bacterial, and fungal infections because of their mechanism of action. They not only increase the risk of new infections but also act altering the natural course of preexisting infections. While numerous data regarding the reactivation of tuberculosis infection are available in the literature, poor information about the risk of reactivation or exacerbation of hepatitis viruses B and C infections during treatment with biologics has been reported. Furthermore, reported series with biological therapy included short periods of followup, and therefore, they are not adequate to verify the risk of reactivation in the long-term treatment. Our study evaluated patients with a history of hepatitis B and psoriatic arthritis treated with adalimumab and monitored up to six years. During the observation period, treatment was effective and well tolerated in all patients, and liver function tests and viral load levels remained unchanged
Study of the optimal conditions for NV- center formation in type 1b diamond, using photoluminescence and positron annihilation spectroscopies
We studied the parameters to optimize the production of negatively-charged
nitrogen-vacancy color centers (NV-) in type~1b single crystal diamond using
proton irradiation followed by thermal annealing under vacuum. Several samples
were treated under different irradiation and annealing conditions and
characterized by slow positron beam Doppler-broadening and photoluminescence
(PL) spectroscopies. At high proton fluences another complex vacancy defect
appears limiting the formation of NV-. Concentrations as high as 2.3 x 10^18
cm^-3 of NV- have been estimated from PL measurements. Furthermore, we inferred
the trapping coefficient of positrons by NV-. This study brings insight into
the production of a high concentration of NV- in diamond, which is of utmost
importance in ultra-sensitive magnetometry and quantum hybrid systems
applications
Rotational Damping and Compound Formation in Warm Rotating Nuclei
The rotational damping width \Gamma_{rot} and the compound damping width
\Gamma_{comp} are two fundamental quantities that characterize rapidly rotating
compound nuclei having finite thermal excitation energy. A two-component
structure in the strength function of consecutive E2 transitions reflects the
two widths, and it causes characteristic features in the double and triple
gamma-ray spectra. We discuss a new method to extract experimentally values of
\Gamma_{rot} and \Gamma_{comp}. The first preliminary result of this method is
presented.Comment: PDF, 8 pages, invited talk at the Conference on Frontiers of Nuclear
Structure (FNS2002), August 2002, Berkele
Discovering Business Area Effects to Process Mining Analysis Using Clustering and Influence Analysis
A common challenge for improving business processes in large organizations is
that business people in charge of the operations are lacking a fact-based
understanding of the execution details, process variants, and exceptions taking
place in business operations. While existing process mining methodologies can
discover these details based on event logs, it is challenging to communicate
the process mining findings to business people. In this paper, we present a
novel methodology for discovering business areas that have a significant effect
on the process execution details. Our method uses clustering to group similar
cases based on process flow characteristics and then influence analysis for
detecting those business areas that correlate most with the discovered
clusters. Our analysis serves as a bridge between BPM people and business,
people facilitating the knowledge sharing between these groups. We also present
an example analysis based on publicly available real-life purchase order
process data.Comment: 12 pages. Paper accepted in 23rd International Conference on Business
Information Systems (BIS 2020) to be published in a proceedings edition of
the Lecture Notes in Business Information Processin
Measuring close proximity interactions in summer camps during the COVID-19 pandemic
Policy makers have implemented multiple non-pharmaceutical strategies to mitigate the COVID-19 worldwide crisis. Interventions had the aim of reducing close proximity interactions, which drive the spread of the disease. A deeper knowledge of human physical interactions has revealed necessary, especially in all settings involving children, whose education and gathering activities should be preserved. Despite their relevance, almost no data are available on close proximity contacts among children in schools or other educational settings during the pandemic. Contact data are usually gathered via Bluetooth, which nonetheless offers a low temporal and spatial resolution. Recently, ultra-wideband (UWB) radios emerged as a more accurate alternative that nonetheless exhibits a significantly higher energy consumption, limiting in-field studies. In this paper, we leverage a novel approach, embodied by the Janus system that combines these radios by exploiting their complementary benefits. The very accurate proximity data gathered in-field by Janus, once augmented with several metadata, unlocks unprecedented levels of information, enabling the development of novel multi-level risk analyses. By means of this technology, we have collected real contact data of children and educators in three summer camps during summer 2020 in the province of Trento, Italy. The wide variety of performed daily activities induced multiple individual behaviors, allowing a rich investigation of social environments from the contagion risk perspective. We consider risk based on duration and proximity of contacts and classify interactions according to different risk levels. We can then evaluate the summer camps’ organization, observe the effect of partition in small groups, or social bubbles, and identify the organized activities that mitigate the riskier behaviors. Overall, we offer an insight into the educator-child and child-child social interactions during the pandemic, thus providing a valuable tool for schools, summer camps, and policy makers to (re)structure educational activities safely
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