Novel structure formation of a phase separating colloidal fluid in a ratchet potential

Based on Dynamical Density Functional Theory (DDFT) we investigate a binary mixture of interacting Brownian particles driven over a substrate via a one-dimensional ratchet potential. The particles are modeled as soft spheres where one component carries a classical Heisenberg spin. In the absence of a substrate field, the system undergoes a first-order fluid-fluid demixing transition driven by the spin-spin interaction. We demonstrate that the interplay between the intrinsic spinodal decomposition and time-dependent external forces leads to a novel dynamical instability where stripes against the symmetry of the external potential form. This structural transition is observed for a broad range of parameters related to the ratchet potential. Moreover, we find intriguing effects for the particle transport.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

A pragmatics' view of patient identification

Patient identification is a central safety critical aspect of healthcare work. Most healthcare activities require identification of patients by healthcare staff, often in connection with the use of patient records. Indeed, the increasing reliance on electronic systems makes the correct matching of patients with their records a keystone for patient safety. Most research on patient identification has been carried out in hospital settings. The aim was to investigate the process of identification of patients and their records in the context of a primary healthcare clinic

Variable masses in fission and heavy-ion collisions

With the use of the cranking formula, the coordinate-dependent mass parameters of the kinetic-energy operator in fission processes and heavy-ion collisions are calculated in the two-center oscillator model. It is shown that the reduced mass and also the classical moment of inertia are obtained for large separations of the fragments. For small separations, however, the mass parameter for the motion of the centers of mass of the fragments is larger than the reduced mass by an order of magnitude

‘the little liar’ – patient information about medicines

There is an Italian expression used especially in Tuscany that refers to the Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) as ‘il bugiardino’. It translates as ‘the little liar’

C Compiler in Python

Tato bakalařská práce se věnuje návrhu a implementaci překladače jazyka C pro mikrokontrolér PicoBlaze. V současnosti je vývoj aplikací pro tento mikrokontrolér limitován na použití asembleru. Cílem této práce je tedy vytvořit překladač, který bude snadno upravitelný a rozširitelný. Návrh a implementace jsou rozděleny do modulů, z kterých každý vykonává jinou fázi překladu. Moduly takhle mohou být jednoduše vyměněny nebo rozšířeny.This paper describes the design and implementation of a C compiler in Python for the PicoBlaze microcontroler. Currently developement of applications for this microcontroller is limited to using assembler. Therefore the goal is to create a compiler that can be easily modified or extended. Design and implementation is separated into modules. These can be easily replaced or expanded.

The everyday ethics of field work research with vulnerable patients.

Patients are increasingly involved in health informatics research. Researchers are always aware of the ethical dimensions of their research, but studies in the field with patients--especially among the frail, elderly, cognitively impaired--present specific additional 'everyday moral dilemmas'. Reflecting on experiences of a hospital study of patients with dementia, this paper draws attention on the type and constant presence of this situated ethics, the immediacy of decision-making, and the importance of everyday ethics for health informatics

Italian cinema and the contested memories of fascism: Notes towards a historical reconsideration

Questo articolo analizza la rappresentazione del periodo fascista nella cinematografia italiana e dimostra la necessità di una sua riconsiderazione in chiave storica. Il pezzo parte da recenti film cosiddetti revisionisti e li pone nel contesto dell’uso politico del film storico nell’Italia del dopoguerra. Interrogando i punti di contatto di rappresentazioni del ventennio di opposta matrice ideologica, e in particolare il comune debito verso il mito degli italiani brava gente, l’articolo sostiene la necessità di superare un dibattito incentrato sullo sterile dualismo tra ortodossia e revisionismo per raggiungere una più completa visione delle memorie del periodo fascista e della loro trasmissione attraverso il mezzo cinematografico

Tunable structures of mixtures of magnetic particles in liquid-crystalline matrices

We investigate the self-organization of a binary mixture of similar sized rods and dipolar soft spheres by means of Monte-Carlo simulations. We model the interparticle interactions by employing anisotropic Gay-Berne, dipolar and soft-sphere interactions. In the limit of vanishing magnetic moments we obtain a variety of fully miscible liquid crystalline phases including nematic, smectic and lamellar phases. For the magnetic mixture, we find that the liquid crystalline matrix supports the formation of orientationally ordered ferromagnetic chains. Depending on the relative size of the species the chains align parallel or perpendicular to the director of the rods forming uniaxial or biaxial nematic, smectic and lamellar phases. As an exemplary external perturbation we apply a homogeneous magnetic field causing uniaxial or biaxial ordering to an otherwise isotropic state.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figure

Development of a fully coupled biogeochemical reactive transport model to simulate microbial oxidation of organic carbon and pyrite under nitrate‐reducing conditions

©2018. American Geophysical UnionIn regions with intensive agriculture nitrate is one of the most relevant contaminants in groundwater. Denitrification reduces elevated nitrate concentrations in many aquifers, yet the denitrification potential is limited by the concentration of available electron donors. The aim of this work was to study the denitrification potential and its limitation in natural sediments. A column experiment was conducted using sediments with elevated concentrations of organic carbon (total organic carbon 3,247 mg C/kg) and pyrite (chromium reducible sulfur 150 mg/kg). Groundwater with high nitrate concentration (100 mg/L) was injected. Measurements were taken over 160 days at five different depths including N‐ and S‐isotope analysis for selected samples. A reactive transport model was developed, which couples nitrate reduction with the oxidation of organic carbon (heterotrophic denitrification) and pyrite (autolithotrophic denitrification), and considers also transport and growth of denitrifying microbes. The denitrification pathway showed a temporal sequence from initially heterotrophic to autolithotrophic. However, maximum rates were lower for heterotrophic (11 mmol N/(L*a)) than for autolithotrophic denitrification (48 mmol N/(L*a)). The modeling showed that denitrifying microbes initially preferred highly reactive organic carbon as the electron donor for denitrification but were also able to utilize pyrite. The results show that after 160 days nitrate increased again to 50 mg/L. At this time only 0.5% of the total organic carbon and 46% of the available pyrite was oxidized. This indicates that denitrification rates strongly decrease before the electron donors are depleted either by a low reactivity (total organic carbon) or a diminishing reactive surface possibly due to the presence of coatings (pyrite)