4,906 research outputs found
Stochastic transport in the presence of spatial disorder: fluctuation-induced corrections to homogenization
Motivated by uncertainty quantification in natural transport systems, we
investigate an individual-based transport process involving particles
undergoing a random walk along a line of point sinks whose strengths are
themselves independent random variables. We assume particles are removed from
the system via first-order kinetics. We analyse the system using a hierarchy of
approaches when the sinks are sparsely distributed, including a stochastic
homogenization approximation that yields explicit predictions for the extrinsic
disorder in the stationary state due to sink strength fluctuations. The
extrinsic noise induces long-range spatial correlations in the particle
concentration, unlike fluctuations due to the intrinsic noise alone.
Additionally, the mean concentration profile, averaged over both intrinsic and
extrinsic noise, is elevated compared with the corresponding profile from a
uniform sink distribution, showing that the classical homogenization
approximation can be a biased estimator of the true mean.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figure
Detecting the Rise and Fall of 21 cm Fluctuations with the Murchison Widefield Array
We forecast the sensitivity with which the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA)
can measure the 21 cm power spectrum of cosmic hydrogen, using radiative
transfer simulations to model reionization and the 21 cm signal. The MWA is
sensitive to roughly a decade in scale (wavenumbers of k ~ 0.1 - 1 h Mpc^{-1}),
with foreground contamination precluding measurements on larger scales, and
thermal detector noise limiting the small scale sensitivity. This amounts
primarily to constraints on two numbers: the amplitude and slope of the 21 cm
power spectrum on the scales probed. We find, however, that the redshift
evolution in these quantities can yield important information about
reionization. Although the power spectrum differs substantially across
plausible models, a generic prediction is that the amplitude of the 21 cm power
spectrum on MWA scales peaks near the epoch when the intergalactic medium (IGM)
is ~ 50% ionized. Moreover, the slope of the 21 cm power spectrum on MWA scales
flattens as the ionization fraction increases and the sizes of the HII regions
grow. Considering detection sensitivity, we show that the optimal MWA antenna
configuration for power spectrum measurements would pack all 500 antenna tiles
as close as possible in a compact core. The MWA is sensitive enough in its
optimal configuration to measure redshift evolution in the slope and amplitude
of the 21 cm power spectrum. Detecting the characteristic redshift evolution of
our models will confirm that observed 21 cm fluctuations originate from the
IGM, and not from foregrounds, and provide an indirect constraint on the
volume-filling factor of HII regions during reionization. After two years of
observations under favorable conditions, the MWA can constrain the filling
factor at an epoch when ~ 0.5 to within roughly +/- 0.1 at 2-sigma.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Ap
The CSTR/Cereproc Blizzard Entry 2008: The Inconvenient Data
In a commercial system data used for unit selection systems is collected with a heavy emphasis on homogeneous neutral data that has sufficient coverage for the units that will be used in the system. In this years Blizzard entry CSTR and CereProc present a joint entry where the emphasis has been to explore techniques to deal with data which is not homogeneous (the English entry) and did not have appropriate coverage for a diphone based system (the Mandarin entry where tone/phone combinations were treated as distinct phone categories). In addition, two further problems were addressed, 1) Making use of non-homogeneous data for creating a voice that can realise both expressive and neutral speaking styles (the English entry) 2) Building a unit selection system with no native understanding of the language but depending instead on external native evaluation (the Mandarin Entry)
Gallus GBrowse: a unified genomic database for the chicken
Gallus GBrowse (http://birdbase.net/cgi-bin/gbrowse/gallus/) provides online access to genomic and other information about the chicken, Gallus gallus. The information provided by this resource includes predicted genes and Gene Ontology (GO) terms, links to Gallus In Situ Hybridization Analysis (GEISHA), Unigene and Reactome, the genomic positions of chicken genetic markers, SNPs and microarray probes, and mappings from turkey, condor and zebra finch DNA and EST sequences to the chicken genome. We also provide a BLAT server (http://birdbase.net/cgi-bin/webBlat) for matching user-provided sequences to the chicken genome. These tools make the Gallus GBrowse server a valuable resource for researchers seeking genomic information regarding the chicken and other avian species
Synthesis of High ÏâLow N Diblock Copolymers by Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly
Polymerizationâinduced selfâassembly (PISA) enables the scalable synthesis of functional block copolymer nanoparticles with various morphologies. Herein we exploit this versatile technique to produce soâcalled âhigh Ï âlow N â diblock copolymers that undergo nanoscale phase separation in the solid state to produce subâ10 nm surface features. By varying the degree of polymerization of the stabilizer and coreâforming blocks, PISA provides rapid access to a wide range of diblock copolymers, and enables fundamental thermodynamic parameters to be determined. In addition, the preâorganization of copolymer chains within stericallyâstabilized nanoparticles that occurs during PISA leads to enhanced phase separation relative to that achieved using solutionâcast molecularlyâdissolved copolymer chains
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