3,389 research outputs found
Influence of Vertical Ground Motions on the Seismic Fragility Modeling of a Bridge-Soil-Foundation System
This paper explores the effects of vertical ground motions (VGMs) on the
component fragility of a coupled bridged-soil-foundation (CBSF) system with
liquefaction potential, and highlights the unique considerations on the demand
and capacity model required for fragility analysis under VGMs. Optimal intensity
measures (IMs) that account for VGMs are identified. Moreover, fragility curves
that consider capacity change with fluctuating axial force are derived. Results
show that the presence of VGMs has a minor effect on the failure probabilities
of piles and expansion bearings, while it has a great influence on fixed bearings.
Whether VGMs have an impact on column fragilities depends on the design axial
load ratio. Finally, more accurate fragility surfaces are derived, which are compared
with results of conventional fragility curves. This study highlights the
important role that VGMs play in the selection of optimal IMs, and the capacity
and fragility representation of certain components of CBSF systems
Superposition of macroscopic numbers of atoms and molecules
We theoretically examine photoassociation of a non-ideal Bose-Einstein
condensate, focusing on evidence for a macroscopic superposition of atoms and
molecules. This problem raises an interest because, rather than two states of a
given object, an atom-molecule system is a seemingly impossible macroscopic
superposition of different objects. Nevertheless, photoassociation enables
coherent intraparticle conversion, and we thereby propose a viable scheme for
creating a superposition of a macroscopic number of atoms with a macroscopic
number of molecules.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figs, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Dissipative Particle Dynamics with Energy Conservation
The stochastic differential equations for a model of dissipative particle
dynamics with both total energy and total momentum conservation in the
particle-particle interactions are presented. The corresponding Fokker-Planck
equation for the evolution of the probability distribution for the system is
deduced together with the corresponding fluctuation-dissipation theorems
ensuring that the ab initio chosen equilibrium probability distribution for the
relevant variables is a stationary solution. When energy conservation is
included, the system can sustain temperature gradients and heat flow can be
modeled.Comment: 7 pages, submitted to Europhys. Let
Dermatological cancer screening: Evaluation of a new community pharmacy service
Background: Skin cancer accounts for one third of all cancers. Prognosis is inversely related to identification stage. Objectives: To describe a novel service, mole scans, performed in community pharmacy, the findings from the first 3.5 years it was in place, and to explore patient acceptability of the service. Methods: Norwegian Boots' pharmacies offer a mole scanning service in cooperation with ScreenCancer. Scans are undertaken within pharmacy consultation rooms. Image interpretation is undertaken remotely by a specialist. Number and result of scans performed from 2010 to 2014 are reported. A satisfaction questionnaire was returned by 10% of participants. Results: A total of 25836 scans were performed on 15777 individuals. Of these, 83.6% had normal scans, 1% had melanoma, and 15.4% had another skin condition. In 2014 the service identified 4.1% of melanoma cases registered in the Norwegian Cancer Registry. Most responders (88%) would use a similar service again. Nearly all (99%) felt the pharmacy was a suitable venue, and 95% would recommend the service to others. In total, 99% of respondents scored their overall satisfaction as “good” or higher. Conclusions: This approach was acceptable among participants who provided feedback. Providing mole scanning through pharmacies enables individuals to obtain a rapid check of moles causing concern, in an acceptable environment with a high level of satisfaction
The globular cluster system of NGC 1316. II - The extraordinary object SH2
SH2 has been described as an isolated HII-region, located about 6.5 arcmin
south of the nucleus of NGC 1316 (Fornax A), a merger remnant in the the
outskirts of the Fornax cluster of galaxies. We give a first, preliminary
description of the stellar content and environment of this remarkable object.
We used photometric data in the Washington system and HST photometry from the
Hubble Legacy Archive for a morphological description and preliminary aperture
photometry. Low-resolution spectroscopy provides radial velocities of the
brightest star cluster in SH2 and a nearby intermediate-age cluster. SH2 is not
a normal HII-region, ionized by very young stars. It contains a multitude of
star clusters with ages of approximately 0.1 Gyr. A ring-like morphology is
striking. SH2 seems to be connected to an intermediate-age massive globular
cluster with a similar radial velocity, which itself is the main object of a
group of fainter clusters. Metallicity estimates from emission lines remain
ambiguous. The present data do not yet allow firm conclusions about the nature
or origin of SH2. It might be a dwarf galaxy that has experienced a burst of
extremely clustered star formation. We may witness how globular clusters are
donated to a parent galaxy.Comment: 5 pages, to appear in A&A, format slightly different from the printed
versio
Feshbach-Stimulated Photoproduction of a Stable Molecular Condensate
Photoassociation and the Feshbach resonance are, in principle, feasible means
for creating a molecular Bose-Einstein condensate from an
already-quantum-degenerate gas of atoms; however, mean-field shifts and
irreversible decay place practical constraints on the efficient delivery of
stable molecules using either mechanism alone. We therefore propose
Feshbach-stimulated Raman photoproduction, i.e., a combination of magnetic and
optical methods, as a viable means to collectively convert degenerate atoms
into a stable molecular condensate with near-unit efficiency.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 1 table; v3 includes few-level diagram of scheme,
and added discussion; transferred to PR
Model study on the photoassociation of a pair of trapped atoms into an ultralong-range molecule
Using the method of quantum-defect theory, we calculate the ultralong-range
molecular vibrational states near the dissociation threshold of a diatomic
molecular potential which asymptotically varies as . The properties of
these states are of considerable interest as they can be formed by
photoassociation (PA) of two ground state atoms. The Franck-Condon overlap
integrals between the harmonically trapped atom-pair states and the
ultralong-range molecular vibrational states are estimated and compared with
their values for a pair of untrapped free atoms in the low-energy scattering
state. We find that the binding between a pair of ground-state atoms by a
harmonic trap has significant effect on the Franck-Condon integrals and thus
can be used to influence PA. Trap-induced binding between two ground-state
atoms may facilitate coherent PA dynamics between the two atoms and the
photoassociated diatomic molecule.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. A (September, 2003
The roles of motivation and ability in controlling the consequences of stereotype suppression
Two experiments investigated the conditions under which previously suppressed stereotypes are applied in impression formation. In Experiment 1, the extent to which a previously suppressed racial stereotype influenced subsequent impressions depended on the race of the target who was subsequently encountered. Whereas impressions of race-unspecified targets were assimilated to the stereotype following its suppression, no such effects were observed when the target belonged to the racial group whose stereotype had been initially suppressed. These results demonstrate that when perceivers are motivated to avoid stereo-typing individuals, the influence of a stereotype that has been previously activated through suppression is minimized. Experiment 2 demonstrated that these processing goals effectively reduce the impact of suppression-activated stereotypes only when perceivers have sufficient capacity to enact the goals. These results suggest that both sufficient motivation and capacity are necessary to prevent heightened stereotyping following stereotype suppression
Manipulating the critical temperature for the superfluid phase transition in trapped atomic Fermi gases
We examine the effect of the trapping potential on the critical temperature,
, for the BCS transition to a superfluid state in trapped atomic gases of
fermions. for an arbitrary power law trap is calculated in the
Thomas-Fermi approximation. For anharmonic traps, can be increased by
several orders of magnitude in comparison to a harmonic trap. Our theoretical
results indicate that, in practice, one could manipulate the critical
temperature for the BCS phase transition by shaping the traps confining the
atomic Fermi gases.Comment: 4 page
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