A refined gravity model from Lageos (GEM-L2)

For abstract for A83-1354

The order disorder transition in Cu2ZnSnS4 A neutron scattering investigation

In this work a series of stoichiometric Cu2ZnSnS4 CZTS samples annealed at different temperatures in the range of 473 623 K were investigated.The temperature dependence of the Cu Zn order disorder behavior was analyzed by neutron powde rdiffraction measurements.Cu fully occupies the 2a and Sn the 2b position within the whole temperature range. For Zn and the remaining Cu on sites 2d and 2c,a clear change from ordered to disordered kesterite structure is found.The critical temperature Tc for this Landau type second order transition was determined as 552 2 K.It was found that in Cu2ZnSnS4 very long annealing times are necessary to reach equilibrium at low temperature

Absence of fermionic quasi-particles in the superfluid state of the attractive Fermi gas

We calculate the effect of order parameter fluctuations on the fermionic single-particle excitations in the superfluid state of neutral fermions interacting with short range attractive forces. We show that in dimensions D \leq 3 the singular effective interaction between the fermions mediated by the gapless Bogoliubov-Anderson mode prohibits the existence of well-defined quasi-particles. We explicitly calculate the single-particle spectral function in the BEC regime in D=3 and show that in this case the quasi-particle residue and the density of states are logarithmically suppressed.Comment: 4 RevTex pages, 3 figures; title changed, new Figure 1, added references. We argue that in the entire regime of the BCS-BEC crossover the quasi-particle picture breaks down in D <=3 for neutral fermions (but NOT for charged fermions

Natural History and Management of Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms: Current Evidence

Background: With the use of modern cross-sectional abdominal imaging modalities, an increasing number of cystic pancreatic lesions are identified incidentally. Although there is no pathological diagnosis available in most cases, it is believed that the majority of these lesions display small branch-duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (BD-IPMNs) of the pancreas. Even though a number of large clinical series have been published, many uncertainties remain with regard to this entity of mucinous cystic neoplasms. Methods: Systematic literature review. Results: Main-duct (MD) and mixed-type IPMNs harbor a high risk of malignant transformation. It is conceivable that most IPMNs with involvement of the main duct tend to progress to invasive carcinoma over time. Thus, formal oncologic resection is the treatment of choice in surgically fit patients. In contrast, the data regarding BD-IPMN remain equivocal, resulting in conflicting concepts. To date, it is not clear whether and which BD-IPMNs progress to carcinoma and how long this progression takes. Conclusion: While patients with MD-IPMNs should undergo surgical resection if comorbidities and life expectancy permit this, the management of small BD-IPMNs remains controversial. Population-based studies with long-term follow-up are needed to define which cohort of patients can be observed safely without immediate resection

Gravity model improvement using GEOS-3 (GEM 9 and 10)

The use of collocation permitted GEM 9 to be a larger field than previous derived satellite models, GEM 9 having harmonics complete to 20 x 20 with selected higher degree terms. The satellite data set has approximately 840,000 observations, of which 200,000 are laser ranges taken on 9 satellites equipped with retroreflectors. GEM 10 is complete to 22 x 22 with selected higher degree terms out to degree and order 30 amounting to a total of 592 coefficients. Comparisons with surface gravity and altimeter data indicate a substantial improvement in GEM 9 over previous satellite solutions; GEM 9 is in even closer agreement with surface data than the previously published GEM 6 solution which contained surface gravity. In particular the free air gravity anomalies calculated from GEM 9 and a surface gravity solution are in excellent agreement for the high degree terms

GEOS I tracking station positions on the SAO standard earth /C-5/

GEOS 1 tracking station positions on SAO standard earth C-5 mode

A Framework for Computer Support in Managerial Decision Making

As with many growing computer areas, the first attempts at developing a framework for the field were based on the software tools being built and the specific tasks undertaken. This paper attempts to draw decision support systems out of these early stages by proposing a more generally applicable framework for computer decision support. To build this framework the paper first examines existing dimensions in decision support system frameworks and evaluates them both in their ability to facilitate communication among researchers and designers The dimension degree of decisionstructure (unstructured vs structured) is borrowed from existing frameworks and incorporated into a new framework along with the dimension phase of decision mal ng process (intelligence, design, and choice). The proposed framework is then evaluated by the same two criteria used earlier in the paper

Thermal Expansion of Polyurethane Foam

Closed cell foams are often used for thermal insulation. In the case of the Space Shuttle, the External Tank uses several thermal protection systems to maintain the temperature of the cryogenic fuels. A few of these systems are polyurethane, closed cell foams. In an attempt to better understand the foam behavior on the tank, we are in the process of developing and improving thermal-mechanical models for the foams. These models will start at the microstructural level and progress to the overall structural behavior of the foams on the tank. One of the key properties for model characterization and verification is thermal expansion. Since the foam is not a material, but a structure, the modeling of the expansion is complex. It is also exacerbated by the anisoptropy of the material. During the spraying and foaming process, the cells become elongated in the rise direction and this imparts different properties in the rise direction than in the transverse directions. Our approach is to treat the foam as a two part structure consisting of the polymeric cell structure and the gas inside the cells. The polymeric skeleton has a thermal expansion of its own which is derived from the basic polymer chemistry. However, a major contributor to the thermal expansion is the volume change associated with the gas inside of the closed cells. As this gas expands it exerts pressure on the cell walls and changes the shape and size of the cells. The amount that this occurs depends on the elastic and viscoplastic properties of the polymer skeleton. The more compliant the polymeric skeleton, the more influence the gas pressure has on the expansion. An additional influence on the expansion process is that the polymeric skeleton begins to breakdown at elevated temperatures and releases additional gas species into the cell interiors, adding to the gas pressure. The fact that this is such a complex process makes thermal expansion ideal for testing the models. This report focuses on the thermal expansion tests and the response of the microstructure. A novel optical method is described which is appropriate for measuring thermal expansion at high temperatures without influencing the thermal expansion measurement. Detailed microstructural investigations will also be described which show cell expansion as a function of temperature. Finally, a phenomenological model on thermal expansion will be described