8,097 research outputs found
Kramers-Kronig, Bode, and the meaning of zero
The implications of causality, as captured by the Kramers-Kronig relations
between the real and imaginary parts of a linear response function, are
familiar parts of the physics curriculum. In 1937, Bode derived a similar
relation between the magnitude (response gain) and phase. Although the
Kramers-Kronig relations are an equality, Bode's relation is effectively an
inequality. This perhaps-surprising difference is explained using elementary
examples and ultimately traces back to delays in the flow of information within
the system formed by the physical object and measurement apparatus.Comment: 8 pages; American Journal of Physics, to appea
Developing Interventions for Children's Exercise (DICE): a pilot evaluation of school-based exercise interventions for primary school children aged 7 to 8 years.
BACKGROUND: Developing Interventions for Children's Exercise (DICE) is an initiative aimed at determining effective school-based exercise programs. To assess feasibility, we conducted a pilot study of exercise sessions which varied in duration and frequency. METHODS: Exercise interventions were delivered to Year 3 pupils (age 7-8 years; n = 73) in primary schools within Yorkshire, UK. Evaluations were conducted using focus group sessions, questionnaires and observations. RESULTS: The study revealed positive aspects of all interventions, including favorable effects on children's concentration during lessons and identified the value of incorporation of the DICE concept into curriculum lessons. Children appeared enthused and reported well-being and enjoyment. Areas requiring attention were the need for appropriate timetabling of sessions and ensuring the availability of space. CONCLUSION: The concept and sessions were well-accepted by teachers who confirmed their full support of any future implementation There appears to be potential for the encouragement and empowerment of teachers to support physical activity and healthy school environments, and to take an interest in the health of their pupils. Ultimately, these findings should assist in the design of successful exercise interventions in the school setting
Towards gravitationally assisted negative refraction of light by vacuum
Propagation of electromagnetic plane waves in some directions in
gravitationally affected vacuum over limited ranges of spacetime can be such
that the phase velocity vector casts a negative projection on the time-averaged
Poynting vector. This conclusion suggests, inter alia, gravitationally assisted
negative refraction by vacuum.Comment: 6 page
Electronic structure of periodic curved surfaces -- topological band structure
Electronic band structure for electrons bound on periodic minimal surfaces is
differential-geometrically formulated and numerically calculated. We focus on
minimal surfaces because they are not only mathematically elegant (with the
surface characterized completely in terms of "navels") but represent the
topology of real systems such as zeolites and negative-curvature fullerene. The
band structure turns out to be primarily determined by the topology of the
surface, i.e., how the wavefunction interferes on a multiply-connected surface,
so that the bands are little affected by the way in which we confine the
electrons on the surface (thin-slab limit or zero thickness from the outset).
Another curiosity is that different minimal surfaces connected by the Bonnet
transformation (such as Schwarz's P- and D-surfaces) possess one-to-one
correspondence in their band energies at Brillouin zone boundaries.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures, eps files will be sent on request to
[email protected]
The Use of Self-Expanding Plastic Stents in the Management of Oesophageal Leaks and Spontaneous Oesophageal Perforations
Leakage after oesophageal anastomosis or perforation remains a challenge for the surgeon. Traditional management has been operative repair or intensive conservative management. Both treatments are associated with prolonged hospitalisation and high morbidity and mortality rates. Self-expanding metallic stents have played an important role in the palliation of malignant oesophageal strictures and the treatment of tracheoesophageal fistulae. However, self-expanding metal stents in benign oesophageal disease are associated with complications such as bleeding, food bolus impaction, stent migration, and difficulty in retrieval. The Polyflex stent is the only commercially available self-expanding plastic stent which has been used in the management of malignant oesophageal strictures with good results. This review will consider the literature concerning the use of self-expanding plastic stents in the treatment of oesophageal anastomotic leakage and spontaneous perforations of the oesophagus
Multi-State Image Restoration by Transmission of Bit-Decomposed Data
We report on the restoration of gray-scale image when it is decomposed into a
binary form before transmission. We assume that a gray-scale image expressed by
a set of Q-Ising spins is first decomposed into an expression using Ising
(binary) spins by means of the threshold division, namely, we produce (Q-1)
binary Ising spins from a Q-Ising spin by the function F(\sigma_i - m) = 1 if
the input data \sigma_i \in {0,.....,Q-1} is \sigma_i \geq m and 0 otherwise,
where m \in {1,....,Q-1} is the threshold value. The effects of noise are
different from the case where the raw Q-Ising values are sent. We investigate
which is more effective to use the binary data for transmission or to send the
raw Q-Ising values. By using the mean-field model, we first analyze the
performance of our method quantitatively. Then we obtain the static and
dynamical properties of restoration using the bit-decomposed data. In order to
investigate what kind of original picture is efficiently restored by our
method, the standard image in two dimensions is simulated by the mean-field
annealing, and we compare the performance of our method with that using the
Q-Ising form. We show that our method is more efficient than the one using the
Q-Ising form when the original picture has large parts in which the nearest
neighboring pixels take close values.Comment: latex 24 pages using REVTEX, 10 figures, 4 table
Ground states and formal duality relations in the Gaussian core model
We study dimensional trends in ground states for soft-matter systems.
Specifically, using a high-dimensional version of Parrinello-Rahman dynamics,
we investigate the behavior of the Gaussian core model in up to eight
dimensions. The results include unexpected geometric structures, with
surprising anisotropy as well as formal duality relations. These duality
relations suggest that the Gaussian core model possesses unexplored symmetries,
and they have implications for a broad range of soft-core potentials.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, appeared in Physical Review E (http://pre.aps.org
The preparation and characterisation of monomeric and linked metal carbonyl clusters containing the closo-Si2Co4 pseudo-octahedral core
PhSiH3 reacts with [Co₄(CO)₁₂] at 50 °C in hydrocarbon solvents to give [(µ₄-SiPh)₂Co₄(CO)₁₁], 2c, shown by an X-ray crystal structure determination to have a pseudo-octahedral Si₂Co₄ core. Substituted aryl-silanes behaved similarly. Mixtures of PhSiH₃, H₃SiC₆H₄SiH₃ and [Co₄(CO)₁₂] in a ca. 2 1 2 ratio gave the dimeric cluster [{Co₄(µ₄-SiPh)(CO)₁₁Si}₂C₆H₄], 3a, which has the two Si₂Co₄ cores linked by a C₆H₄ group to give a rigid molecule which an X-ray structure analysis shows to be over 23 Å long. Related dimers linked by –(CH₂)₈– groups were isolated from mixtures of PhSiH₃, α ,ω-(H₃Si)₂(CH₂)₈ and [Co₄(CO)₁₂]. Electrochemical studies show the two cluster units in 3a do not interact electronically
Testing Error Correcting Codes by Multicanonical Sampling of Rare Events
The idea of rare event sampling is applied to the estimation of the
performance of error-correcting codes. The essence of the idea is importance
sampling of the pattern of noises in the channel by Multicanonical Monte Carlo,
which enables efficient estimation of tails of the distribution of bit error
rate. The idea is successfully tested with a convolutional code
Equilibration through local information exchange in networks
We study the equilibrium states of energy functions involving a large set of
real variables, defined on the links of sparsely connected networks, and
interacting at the network nodes, using the cavity and replica methods. When
applied to the representative problem of network resource allocation, an
efficient distributed algorithm is devised, with simulations showing full
agreement with theory. Scaling properties with the network connectivity and the
resource availability are found.Comment: v1: 7 pages, 1 figure, v2: 4 pages, 2 figures, simplified analysis
and more organized results, v3: minor change
- …