31,488 research outputs found
Impact of edge-removal on the centrality betweenness of the best spreaders
The control of epidemic spreading is essential to avoid potential fatal
consequences and also, to lessen unforeseen socio-economic impact. The need for
effective control is exemplified during the severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SARS) in 2003, which has inflicted near to a thousand deaths as well as
bankruptcies of airlines and related businesses. In this article, we examine
the efficacy of control strategies on the propagation of infectious diseases
based on removing connections within real world airline network with the
associated economic and social costs taken into account through defining
appropriate quantitative measures. We uncover the surprising results that
removing less busy connections can be far more effective in hindering the
spread of the disease than removing the more popular connections. Since
disconnecting the less popular routes tend to incur less socio-economic cost,
our finding suggests the possibility of trading minimal reduction in
connectivity of an important hub with efficiencies in epidemic control. In
particular, we demonstrate the performance of various local epidemic control
strategies, and show how our approach can predict their cost effectiveness
through the spreading control characteristics.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure
Fluctuations of Entropy Production in Partially Masked Electric Circuits: Theoretical Analysis
In this work we perform theoretical analysis about a coupled RC circuit with
constant driven currents. Starting from stochastic differential equations,
where voltages are subject to thermal noises, we derive time-correlation
functions, steady-state distributions and transition probabilities of the
system. The validity of the fluctuation theorem (FT) is examined for scenarios
with complete and incomplete descriptions.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
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A low-bandgap dimeric porphyrin molecule for 10% efficiency solar cells with small photon energy loss
Dimeric porphyrin molecules have great potential as donor materials for high performance bulk heterojunction organic solar cells (OSCs). Recently reported dimeric porphyrins bridged by ethynylenes showed power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of more than 8%. In this study, we design and synthesize a new conjugated dimeric D-A porphyrin ZnP2BT-RH, in which the two porphyrin units are linked by an electron accepting benzothiadiazole (BT) unit. The introduction of the BT unit enhances the electron delocalization, resulting in a lower highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level and an increased molar extinction coefficient in the near-infrared (NIR) region. The bulk heterojunction solar cells with ZnP2BT-RH as the donor material exhibit a high PCE of up to 10% with a low energy loss (Eloss) of only 0.56 eV. The 10% PCE is the highest for porphyrin-based OSCs with a conventional structure, and this Eloss is also the smallest among those reported for small molecule-based OSCs with a PCE higher than 10% to date
Characterization of volatile organic compounds at a roadside environment in Hong Kong: An investigation of influences after air pollution control strategies
Vehicular emission is one of the important anthropogenic pollution sources for volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Four characterization campaigns were conducted at a representative urban roadside environment in Hong Kong between May 2011 and February 2012. Carbon monoxide (CO) and VOCs including methane (CH4), non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs), halocarbons, and alkyl nitrates were quantified. Both mixing ratios and compositions of the target VOCs show ignorable seasonal variations. Except CO, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tracers of propane, i-butane and n-butane are the three most abundant VOCs, which increased significantly as compared with the data measured at the same location in 2003. Meanwhile, the mixing ratios of diesel- and gasoline tracers such as ethyne, alkenes, aromatics, halogenated, and nitrated hydrocarbons decreased by at least of 37%. The application of advanced multivariate receptor modeling technique of positive matrix factorization (PMF) evidenced that the LPG fuel consumption is the largest pollution source, accounting for 60 ± 5% of the total quantified VOCs at the roadside location. The sum of ozone formation potential (OFP) for the target VOCs was 300.9 μg-O3 m-3, which was 47% lower than the value of 567.3 μg-O3 m-3 measured in 2003. The utilization of LPG as fuel in public transport (i.e., taxis and mini-buses) contributed 51% of the sum of OFP, significantly higher than the contributions from gasoline- (16%) and diesel-fueled (12%) engine emissions. Our results demonstrated the effectiveness of the switch from diesel to LPG-fueled engine for taxis and mini-buses implemented by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government between the recent ten years, in additional to the execution of substitution to LPG-fueled engine and restrictions of the vehicular emissions in compliance with the updated European emission standards
The Stellar Population of Lyman-alpha Emitting Galaxies at z ~ 5.7
We present a study of three Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies (LAEs), selected
via a narrow-band survey in the GOODS northern field, and spectroscopically
confirmed to have redshifts of z ~ 5.65. Using HST ACS and Spitzer IRAC data,
we constrain the rest-frame UV-to-optical spectral energy distributions (SEDs)
of the galaxies. Fitting stellar population synthesis models to the observed
SEDs, we find best-fit stellar populations with masses between ~ 10^9 - 10^10
M_sun and ages between ~ 5 - 100 Myr, assuming a simple starburst star
formation history. However, stellar populations as old as 700 Myr are
admissible if a constant star formation rate model is considered. Very deep
near-IR observations may help to narrow the range of allowed models by
providing extra constraints on the rest-frame UV spectral slope. Our
narrow-band selected objects and other IRAC-detected z ~ 6 i'-dropout galaxies
have similar 3.6 um magnitudes and z' - [3.6] colors, suggesting that they
posses stellar populations of similar masses and ages. This similarity may be
the result of a selection bias, since the IRAC-detected LAEs and i'-dropouts
probably only sample the bright end of the luminosity function. On the other
hand, our LAEs have blue i' - z' colors compared to the i'-dropouts, and would
have been missed by the i'-dropout selection criterion. A better understanding
of the overlap between the LAE and the i'-dropout populations is necessary in
order to constrain the properties of the overall high-redshift galaxy
population, such as the total stellar mass density at z ~ 6.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
Effects of oxidation temperature on Ga 2O3 film thermally grown on GaN
The effects of oxidation temperature on thermally oxidized GaN film were investigated. The GaN wafers were oxidzied at 750 °C, 800 °C and 850 °C respectively. The electrical characteristics and interface quality of MOS capacitors were compared among different oxidation temperatures. The sample oxidized at 800 °C presented best current-voltage, capacitance-voltage characteristics and smoothest surface morphology, while the higher oxidation temperature of 850 °C gave best interface quality. The electrical breakdown field was increased by one order of magnitude when the sample was oxidized at 800 °C as compared with 750 °C and 850 °C. Lastly, after the sample oxidized at 800 °C was annealed at 850 °C for 10 min, the quality of its oxide was significantly degraded. © 2005 IEEE.published_or_final_versio
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