100,965 research outputs found
A semi-staggered dilation-free finite volume method for the numerical solution of viscoelastic fluid flows on all-hexahedral elements
The dilation-free semi-staggered finite volume method presented in Sabin [M. Sahin, A preconditioned semi-staggered dilation-free finite volume method for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations on all-hexahedral elements, Int. J. Numer. Methods Fluids 49 (2005) 959-974] has been extended for the numerical solution of viscoelastic fluid flows on all-quadrilateral (2D) / hexahedral (3D) meshes. The velocity components are defined at element node points, while the pressure term and the extra stress tensor are defined at element centroids. The continuity equation is satisfied exactly within each element. An upwind least square method is employed for the calculation of the extra stresses at control volume faces in order to maintain stability for hyperbolic constitutive equations. The time stepping algorithm used decouples the calculation of the extra stresses from the evaluation of the velocity and pressure fields by solving a generalised Stokes problem. The resulting linear systems are solved using the GMRES method provided by the PETSc library with an ILU(k) preconditioner obtained from the HYPRE library. We apply the method to both two- and three-dimensional flow of an Oldroyd-B fluid past a confined circular cylinder in a channel with blockage ratio 0.5. Crown Copyright (C) 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
String Driven Cosmology and its Predictions
We present a minimal model for the Universe evolution fully extracted from
effective String Theory. This model is by its construction close to the
standard cosmological evolution, and it is driven selfconsistently by the
evolution of the string equation of state itself. The inflationary String
Driven stage is able to reach enough inflation, describing a Big Bang like
evolution for the metric. By linking this model to a minimal but well
established observational information, (the transition times of the different
cosmological epochs), we prove that it gives realistic predictions on early and
current energy density and its results are compatible with General Relativity.
Interestingly enough, the predicted current energy density is found Omega = 1
and a lower limit Omega \geq 4/9 is also found. The energy density at the exit
of the inflationary stage also gives | Omega |_{inf}=1. This result shows an
agreement with General Relativity (spatially flat metric gives critical energy
density) within an inequivalent Non-Einstenian context (string low energy
effective equations). The order of magnitude of the energy density-dilaton
coupled term at the beginning of the radiation dominated stage agrees with the
GUT scale. The predicted graviton spectrum is computed and analyzed without any
free parameters. Peaks and asymptotic behaviours of the spectrum are a direct
consequence of the dilaton involved and not only of the scale factor evolution.
Drastic changes are found at high frequencies: the dilaton produces an
increasing spectrum (in no string cosmologies the spectrum is decreasing).
Without solving the known problems about higher order corrections and graceful
exit of inflation, we find this model closer to the observational Universe than
the current available string cosmology scenarii.Comment: LaTex, 22 pages, Lectures delivered at the Chalonge School, Nato ASI:
Phase Transitions in the Early Universe: Theory and Observations. To appear
in the Proceedings, Editors H. J. de Vega, I. Khalatnikov, N. Sanchez.
(Kluwer Pub
Finished Genome Sequences of Xanthomonas fragariae, the Cause of Bacterial Angular Leaf Spot of Strawberry.
Xanthomonas fragariae is a foliar pathogen of strawberry that is of significant concern to nursery production of strawberry transplants and field production of strawberry fruit. Long-read sequencing was employed to generate finished genomes for two isolates (each with one chromosome and two plasmids) from symptomatic plants in northern California
Classical-quantum correspondence in bosonic two-mode conversion systems: polynomial algebras and Kummer shapes
Bosonic quantum conversion systems can be modeled by many-particle
single-mode Hamiltonians describing a conversion of molecules of type A
into molecules of type B and vice versa. These Hamiltonians are analyzed in
terms of generators of a polynomially deformed algebra. In the
mean-field limit of large particle numbers, these systems become classical and
their Hamiltonian dynamics can again be described by polynomial deformations of
a Lie algebra, where quantum commutators are replaced by Poisson brackets. The
Casimir operator restricts the motion to Kummer shapes, deformed Bloch spheres
with cusp singularities depending on and . It is demonstrated that the
many-particle eigenvalues can be recovered from the mean-field dynamics using a
WKB type quantization condition. The many-particle state densities can be
semiclassically approximated by the time-periods of periodic orbits, which show
characteristic steps and singularities related to the fixed points, whose
bifurcation properties are analyzed.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figure
3D modeling of 1612 MHz OH masers: Monte Carlo modeling of the maser shells and the amplified stellar image
We present the first results of our 3D Monte Carlo maser radiative transfer
code, used to model the 1612 MHz OH maser shell and the amplification of
emission from the stellar radio-photosphere.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure; to be published in: Proceeding of WS on
Mass-Losing Pulsating Stars and their Circumstellar Matter, Sendai, Japan,
Y.Nakada & M.Honma (eds), Kluwer ASSL serie
Spatial scales of interactions among bacteria and between bacteria and the leaf surface.
Microbial life on plant leaves is characterized by a multitude of interactions between leaf colonizers and their environment. While the existence of many of these interactions has been confirmed, their spatial scale or reach often remained unknown. In this study, we applied spatial point pattern analysis to 244 distribution patterns of Pantoea agglomerans and Pseudomonas syringae on bean leaves. The results showed that bacterial colonizers of leaves interact with their environment at different spatial scales. Interactions among bacteria were often confined to small spatial scales up to 5-20 μm, compared to interactions between bacteria and leaf surface structures such as trichomes which could be observed in excess of 100 μm. Spatial point-pattern analyses prove a comprehensive tool to determine the different spatial scales of bacterial interactions on plant leaves and will help microbiologists to better understand the interplay between these interactions
Quantitative infrared thermography resolved leakage current problem in cathodic protection system
Leakage current problem can happen in Cathodic Protection
(CP) system installation. It could affect the performance of
underground facilities such as piping, building structure, and
earthing system. Worse can happen is rapid corrosion where
disturbance to plant operation plus expensive maintenance
cost. Occasionally, if it seems, tracing its root cause could be
tedious. The traditional method called line current
measurement is still valid effective. It involves isolating one
by one of the affected underground structures. The recent
methods are Close Interval Potential Survey and Pipeline
Current Mapper were better and faster. On top of the
mentioned method, there is a need to enhance further by
synthesizing with the latest visual methods. Therefore, this
paper describes research works on Infrared Thermography
Quantitative (IRTQ) method as resolution of leakage current
problem in CP system. The scope of study merely focuses on
tracing the root cause of leakage current occurring at the CP
system lube base oil plant. The results of experiment
adherence to the hypothesis drawn. Consequently, res
Religion and mental health among Hindu young people in England
The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between mental health and attitude toward their religious tradition among a sample of 330 young people attending the Hindu Youth Festival in London. The participants completed the Santosh-Francis Scale of Attitude toward Hinduism together with the abbreviated form of the Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire which provides measures of neuroticism and psychoticism. The data indicated that a more positive attitude toward Hinduism was associated with lower psychoticism scores but unrelated to neuroticism scores. There is no evidence, therefore, to associate higher levels of religiosity with poorer mental health among young people within the Hindu community
Maternal short stature does not predict their children's fatness indicators in a nutritional dual-burden sample of urban Mexican Maya.
The co-existence of very short stature due to poor chronic environment in early life and obesity is becoming a public health concern in rapidly transitioning populations with high levels of poverty. Individuals who have very short stature seem to be at an increased risk of obesity in times of relative caloric abundance. Increasing evidence shows that an individual is influenced by exposures in previous generations. This study assesses whether maternal poor early life environment predicts her child's adiposity using cross sectional design on Maya schoolchildren aged 7-9 and their mothers (n = 57 pairs). We compared maternal chronic early life environment (stature) with her child's adiposity (body mass index [BMI] z-score, waist circumference z-score, and percentage body fat) using multiple linear regression, controlling for the child's own environmental exposures (household sanitation and maternal parity). The research was performed in the south of Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, a low socioeconomic urban area in an upper middle income country. The Maya mothers were very short, with a mean stature of 147 cm. The children had fairly high adiposity levels, with BMI and waist circumference z-scores above the reference median. Maternal stature did not significantly predict any child adiposity indicator. There does not appear to be an intergenerational component of maternal early life chronic under-nutrition on her child's obesity risk within this free living population living in poverty. These results suggest that the co-existence of very short stature and obesity appears to be primarily due to exposures and experiences within a generation rather than across generations
The effect of genomic information on optimal contribution selection in livestock breeding programs
BACKGROUND: Long-term benefits in animal breeding programs require that increases in genetic merit be balanced with the need to maintain diversity (lost due to inbreeding). This can be achieved by using optimal contribution selection. The availability of high-density DNA marker information enables the incorporation of genomic data into optimal contribution selection but this raises the question about how this information affects the balance between genetic merit and diversity. METHODS: The effect of using genomic information in optimal contribution selection was examined based on simulated and real data on dairy bulls. We compared the genetic merit of selected animals at various levels of co-ancestry restrictions when using estimated breeding values based on parent average, genomic or progeny test information. Furthermore, we estimated the proportion of variation in estimated breeding values that is due to within-family differences. RESULTS: Optimal selection on genomic estimated breeding values increased genetic gain. Genetic merit was further increased using genomic rather than pedigree-based measures of co-ancestry under an inbreeding restriction policy. Using genomic instead of pedigree relationships to restrict inbreeding had a significant effect only when the population consisted of many large full-sib families; with a half-sib family structure, no difference was observed. In real data from dairy bulls, optimal contribution selection based on genomic estimated breeding values allowed for additional improvements in genetic merit at low to moderate inbreeding levels. Genomic estimated breeding values were more accurate and showed more within-family variation than parent average breeding values; for genomic estimated breeding values, 30 to 40% of the variation was due to within-family differences. Finally, there was no difference between constraining inbreeding via pedigree or genomic relationships in the real data. CONCLUSIONS: The use of genomic estimated breeding values increased genetic gain in optimal contribution selection. Genomic estimated breeding values were more accurate and showed more within-family variation, which led to higher genetic gains for the same restriction on inbreeding. Using genomic relationships to restrict inbreeding provided no additional gain, except in the case of very large full-sib families
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