116,519 research outputs found
Unified life detection system: A concept
Systematic investigation of techniques and hardware which could be utilized in life detection system has resulted in identification of group of candidate concepts and selection of "unified system". Theme of concept permits greatest flexibility in procedural details for experiments which can be performed in individual ampules
VSAERO analysis of tip planforms for the free-tip rotor
The results of a numerical analysis of two interacting lifting surfaces separated in the spanwise direction by a narrow gap are presented. The configuration consists of a semispan wing with the last 32 percent of the span structurally separated from the inboard section. The angle of attack of the outboard section is set independently from that of the inboard section. In the present study, the three-dimensional panel code VSAERO is used to perform the analysis. Computed values of tip surface lift and pitching moment coefficients are correlated with experimental data to determine the proper approach to model the gap region between the surfaces. Pitching moment data for various tip planforms are also presented to show how the variation of tip pitching moment with angle of attack may be increased easily in incompressible flow. Calculated three-dimensional characteristics in compressible flow at Mach numbers of 0.5 and 0.7 are presented for new tip planform designs. An analysis of sectional aerodynamic center shift as a function of Mach number is also included for a representative tip planform. It is also shown that the induced drag of the tip surface is reduced for negative incidence angles relative to the inboard section. The results indicate that this local drag reduction overcomes the associated increase in wing induced drag at high wing lift coefficients
Fertility and early pregnancy outcomes after treatment for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia: systematic review and meta-analysis
OBJECTIVE:
To determine the impact of cervical excision for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia on fertility and early pregnancy outcomes.
DESIGN:
Systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.
DATA SOURCES:
Medline and Embase.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:
Studies assessing fertility and early pregnancy outcomes in women with a history of treatment for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia versus untreated women. We classified the included studies according to treatment type and fertility or early pregnancy endpoint.
ANALYSIS:
Pooled relative risks and 95% confidence intervals using a random effect model, and interstudy heterogeneity with I(2) statistics.
RESULTS:
15 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included. The meta-analysis did not provide any evidence that treatment for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia adversely affected the chances of conception. The overall pregnancy rate was higher for treated women than for untreated women (four studies; 43% v 38%, pooled relative risk 1.29, 95% confidence interval 1.02 to 1.64), although the heterogeneity between studies was high (P<0.0001). Pregnancy rates did not differ between women with an intention to conceive (two studies; 88% v 95%, 0.93, 0.80 to 1.08) and the number requiring more than 12 months to conceive (three studies, 15% v 9%, 1.45, 0.89 to 2.37). Although the rates for total miscarriages (10 studies; 4.6% v 2.8%, 1.04, 0.90 to 1.21) and miscarriage in the first trimester (four studies; 9.8% v 8.4%, 1.16, 0.80 to 1.69) was similar for treated and untreated women, cervical treatment was associated with a significantly increased risk of miscarriage in the second trimester. The rate was higher for treated women than for untreated women (eight studies; 1.6% v 0.4%, 16,558 women; 2.60, 1.45 to 4.67). The number of ectopic pregnancies (1.6% v 0.8%; 1.89, 1.50 to 2.39) and terminations (12.2% v 7.4%; 1.71, 1.31 to 2.22) was also higher for treated women.
CONCLUSION:
There is no evidence suggesting that treatment for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia adversely affects fertility, although treatment was associated with a significantly increased risk of miscarriages in the second trimester. Research should explore mechanisms that may explain this increase in risk and stratify the impact that treatment may have on fertility and early pregnancy outcomes by the size of excision and treatment method used
Fisher Zeroes and Singular Behaviour of the Two Dimensional Potts Model in the Thermodynamic Limit
The duality transformation is applied to the Fisher zeroes near the
ferromagnetic critical point in the q>4 state two dimensional Potts model. A
requirement that the locus of the duals of the zeroes be identical to the dual
of the locus of zeroes in the thermodynamic limit (i) recovers the ratio of
specific heat to internal energy discontinuity at criticality and the
relationships between the discontinuities of higher cumulants and (ii)
identifies duality with complex conjugation. Conjecturing that all zeroes
governing ferromagnetic singular behaviour satisfy the latter requirement gives
the full locus of such Fisher zeroes to be a circle. This locus, together with
the density of zeroes is then shown to be sufficient to recover the singular
form of the thermodynamic functions in the thermodynamic limit.Comment: 10 pages, 0 figures, LaTeX. Paper expanded and 2 references added
clarifying duality relationships between discontinuities in higher cumulant
Dynamical signatures of the vulcanization transition
Dynamical properties of vulcanized polymer networks are addressed via a
Rouse-type model that incorporates the effect of permanent random crosslinks.
The incoherent intermediate scattering function is computed in the sol and gel
phases, and at the vulcanization transition between them. At any nonzero
crosslink density within the sol phase Kohlrausch relaxation is found. The
critical point is signalled by divergence of the longest time-scale, and at
this point the scattering function decays algebraically, whereas within the gel
phase it acquires a time-persistent part identified with the gel fraction.Comment: 4 page
The dynamical equation of the spinning electron
We obtain by invariance arguments the relativistic and non-relativistic
invariant dynamical equations of a classical model of a spinning electron. We
apply the formalism to a particular classical model which satisfies Dirac's
equation when quantised. It is shown that the dynamics can be described in
terms of the evolution of the point charge which satisfies a fourth order
differential equation or, alternatively, as a system of second order
differential equations by describing the evolution of both the center of mass
and center of charge of the particle. As an application of the found dynamical
equations, the Coulomb interaction between two spinning electrons is
considered. We find from the classical viewpoint that these spinning electrons
can form bound states under suitable initial conditions. Since the classical
Coulomb interaction of two spinless point electrons does not allow for the
existence of bound states, it is the spin structure that gives rise to new
physical phenomena not described in the spinless case. Perhaps the paper may be
interesting from the mathematical point of view but not from the point of view
of physics.Comment: Latex2e, 14 pages, 5 figure
An electronic Mach-Zehnder interferometer in the Fractional Quantum Hall effect
We compute the interference pattern of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer
operating in the fractional quantum Hall effect. Our theoretical proposal is
inspired by a remarkable experiment on edge states in the Integer Quantum Hall
effect (IQHE). The Luttinger liquid model is solved via two independent
methods: refermionization at nu=1/2 and the Bethe Ansatz solution available for
Laughlin fractions. The current differs strongly from that of single electrons
in the strong backscattering regime. The Fano factor is periodic in the flux,
and it exhibits a sharp transition from sub-Poissonian (charge e/2) to
Poissonian (charge e) in the neighborhood of destructive interferences
Viscoelasticity near the gel-point: a molecular dynamics study
We report on extensive molecular dynamics simulations on systems of soft
spheres of functionality f, i.e. particles that are capable of bonding
irreversibly with a maximum of f other particles. These bonds are randomly
distributed throughout the system and imposed with probability p. At a critical
concentration of bonds, p_c approximately equal to 0.2488 for f=6, a gel is
formed and the shear viscosity \eta diverges according to \eta ~ (p_c-p)^{-s}.
We find s is approximately 0.7 in agreement with some experiments and with a
recent theoretical prediction based on Rouse dynamics of phantom chains. The
diffusion constant decreases as the gel point is approached but does not
display a well-defined power law.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Coerced Mechanical Coarsening of Nanoparticle Assemblies
Coarsening is a ubiquitous phenomenon [1-3] that underpins countless processes in nature, including epitaxial growth [1,3,4], the phase separation of alloys, polymers and binary fluids [2], the growth of bubbles in foams5, and pattern formation in biomembranes6. Here we show, in the first real-time experimental study of the evolution of an adsorbed colloidal nanoparticle array, that tapping-mode atomic force microscopy (TM-AFM) can drive the coarsening of Au nanoparticle assemblies on silicon surfaces. Although the growth exponent has a strong dependence on the initial sample morphology, our observations are largely consistent with modified Ostwald ripening processes [7-9]. To date, ripening processes have been exclusively considered to be thermally activated, but we show that nanoparticle assemblies can be mechanically coerced towards equilibrium, representing a new approach to directed coarsening. This strategy enables precise control over the evolution of micro- and nanostructures
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