6,779 research outputs found
Double-diffusive erosion of the core of Jupiter
We present Direct Numerical Simulations of the transport of heat and heavy
elements across a double-diffusive interface or a double-diffusive staircase,
in conditions that are close to those one may expect to find near the boundary
between the heavy-element rich core and the hydrogen-helium envelope of giant
planets such as Jupiter. We find that the non-dimensional ratio of the buoyancy
flux associated with heavy element transport to the buoyancy flux associated
with heat transport lies roughly between 0.5 and 1, which is much larger than
previous estimates derived by analogy with geophysical double-diffusive
convection. Using these results in combination with a core-erosion model
proposed by Guillot et al. (2004), we find that the entire core of Jupiter
would be eroded within less than 1Myr assuming that the core-envelope boundary
is composed of a single interface. We also propose an alternative model that is
more appropriate in the presence of a well-established double-diffusive
staircase, and find that in this limit a large fraction of the core could be
preserved. These findings are interesting in the context of Juno's recent
results, but call for further modeling efforts to better understand the process
of core erosion from first principles.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
Local Calibration of the Highway Safety Manual for Four-Leg Stop-Controlled Intersections in Alaska
A Project Report Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of
MASTER OF SCIENCE
in
Civil EngineeringThe Highway Safety Manual developed methodologies for consistently predicting
accident rates that are useful in any location. These predictive accident rates can be
adjusted to more closely match the reported accident rates in local areas by calculation
of a calibration factor.
In order to develop a calibration factor for four-leg stop-controlled intersections in
Alaska, a sample of over 200 intersections was selected for analysis. From this sample,
two groups of intersections meeting the criteria of four-leg stop-controlled intersections
were selected. Information regarding site conditions, reported accident rates and
physical characteristics was collected for each of the intersections included in the two
study groups. A calibration factor for each group was calculated in accordance with
Chapter 12 of the Highway Safety Manual.
The findings of this report were calibration factors of 2.60 for the group of 22
intersections, and 2.34 for the group of 48 intersections. These values are far above
the assumed calibration factor of 1.0 proving that calibration is necessary for accurate
accident prediction rates when using the Highway Safety Manual.
This report investigated the calibration factor for a single type of roadway facility
in Alaska. However it can be inferred from the wide disparity between the assumed
Highway Safety Manual calibration factor and the calculated calibration factors in this
report that calibration factors should be calculated for each type of intersection and
roadway element when using the Highway Safety Manualâs predictive methods.Title Page / Abstract / Table of Contents / List of Appendices / Introduction / Literature Review / Methodology / Results / Conclusions / Recommendations / References / Appendice
Telluric correction in the near-infrared: Standard star or synthetic transmission?
Context. The atmospheric absorption of the Earth is an important limiting
factor for ground-based spectroscopic observations and the near-infrared and
infrared regions are the most affected. Several software packages that produce
a synthetic atmospheric transmission spectrum have been developed to correct
for the telluric absorption; these are Molecfit, TelFit, and TAPAS. Aims. Our
goal is to compare the correction achieved using these three telluric
correction packages and the division by a telluric standard star. We want to
evaluate the best method to correct near-infrared high-resolution spectra as
well as the limitations of each software package and methodology. Methods. We
applied the telluric correction methods to CRIRES archival data taken in the J
and K bands. We explored how the achieved correction level varies depending on
the atmospheric T-P profile used in the modelling, the depth of the atmospheric
lines, and the molecules creating the absorption. Results. We found that the
Molecfit and TelFit corrections lead to smaller residuals for the water lines.
The standard star method corrects best the oxygen lines. The Molecfit package
and the standard star method corrections result in global offsets always below
0.5% for all lines; the offset is similar with TelFit and TAPAS for the H2O
lines and around 1% for the O2 lines. All methods and software packages result
in a scatter between 3% and 7% inside the telluric lines. The use of a tailored
atmospheric profile for the observatory leads to a scatter two times smaller,
and the correction level improves with lower values of precipitable water
vapour. Conclusions. The synthetic transmission methods lead to an improved
correction compared to the standard star method for the water lines in the J
band with no loss of telescope time, but the oxygen lines were better corrected
by the standard star method.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures, Accepted to A&
Total variation denoising in anisotropy
We aim at constructing solutions to the minimizing problem for the variant of
Rudin-Osher-Fatemi denoising model with rectilinear anisotropy and to the
gradient flow of its underlying anisotropic total variation functional. We
consider a naturally defined class of functions piecewise constant on
rectangles (PCR). This class forms a strictly dense subset of the space of
functions of bounded variation with an anisotropic norm. The main result shows
that if the given noisy image is a PCR function, then solutions to both
considered problems also have this property. For PCR data the problem of
finding the solution is reduced to a finite algorithm. We discuss some
implications of this result, for instance we use it to prove that continuity is
preserved by both considered problems.Comment: 34 pages, 9 figure
Integrating Community-Based Interventions to Reverse the Convergent TB/HIV Epidemics in Rural South Africa.
The WHO recommends integrating interventions to address the devastating TB/HIV co-epidemics in South Africa, yet integration has been poorly implemented and TB/HIV control efforts need strengthening. Identifying infected individuals is particularly difficult in rural settings. We used mathematical modeling to predict the impact of community-based, integrated TB/HIV case finding and additional control strategies on South Africa's TB/HIV epidemics. We developed a model incorporating TB and HIV transmission to evaluate the effectiveness of integrating TB and HIV interventions in rural South Africa over 10 years. We modeled the impact of a novel screening program that integrates case finding for TB and HIV in the community, comparing it to status quo and recommended TB/HIV control strategies, including GeneXpert, MDR-TB treatment decentralization, improved first-line TB treatment cure rate, isoniazid preventive therapy, and expanded ART. Combining recommended interventions averted 27% of expected TB cases (95% CI 18-40%) 18% HIV (95% CI 13-24%), 60% MDR-TB (95% CI 34-83%), 69% XDR-TB (95% CI 34-90%), and 16% TB/HIV deaths (95% CI 12-29). Supplementing these interventions with annual community-based TB/HIV case finding averted a further 17% of TB cases (44% total; 95% CI 31-56%), 5% HIV (23% total; 95% CI 17-29%), 8% MDR-TB (68% total; 95% CI 40-88%), 4% XDR-TB (73% total; 95% CI 38-91%), and 8% TB/HIV deaths (24% total; 95% CI 16-39%). In addition to increasing screening frequency, we found that improving TB symptom questionnaire sensitivity, second-line TB treatment delays, default before initiating TB treatment or ART, and second-line TB drug efficacy were significantly associated with even greater reductions in TB and HIV cases. TB/HIV epidemics in South Africa were most effectively curtailed by simultaneously implementing interventions that integrated community-based TB/HIV control strategies and targeted drug-resistant TB. Strengthening existing TB and HIV treatment programs is needed to further reduce disease incidence
Weak formulation for singular diffusion equation with dynamic boundary condition
In this paper, we propose a weak formulation of the singular diffusion
equation subject to the dynamic boundary condition. The weak formulation is
based on a reformulation method by an evolution equation including the
subdifferential of a governing convex energy. Under suitable assumptions, the
principal results of this study are stated in forms of Main Theorems A and B,
which are respectively to verify: the adequacy of the weak formulation; the
common property between the weak solutions and those in regular problems of
standard PDEs.Comment: 23 page
Cluster and nebular properties of the central star-forming region of NGC 1140
We present new high spatial resolution HST/ACS imaging of NGC 1140 and high
spectral resolution VLT/UVES spectroscopy of its central star-forming region.
The central region contains several clusters, the two brightest of which are
clusters 1 and 6 from Hunter, O'Connell & Gallagher, located within
star-forming knots A and B, respectively. Nebular analysis indicates that the
knots have an LMC-like metallicity of 12 + log(O/H) = 8.29 +/- 0.09. According
to continuum subtracted H alpha ACS imaging, cluster 1 dominates the nebular
emission of the brighter knot A. Conversely, negligible nebular emission in
knot B originates from cluster 6. Evolutionary synthesis modelling implies an
age of 5 +/- 1 Myr for cluster 1, from which a photometric mass of (1.1 +/-
0.3) x 10^6 Msun is obtained. For this age and photometric mass, the modelling
predicts the presence of ~5900 late O stars within cluster 1. Wolf-Rayet
features are observed in knot A, suggesting 550 late-type WN and 200 early-type
WC stars. Therefore, N(WR)/N(O) ~ 0.1, assuming that all the WR stars are
located within cluster 1. The velocity dispersions of the clusters were
measured from constituent red supergiants as sigma ~ 23 +/- 1 km/s for cluster
1 and sigma ~ 26 +/- 1 km/s for cluster 6. Combining sigma with half-light
radii of 8 +/- 2 pc and 6.0 +/- 0.2 pc measured from the F625W ACS image
implies virial masses of (10 +/- 3) x 10^6 Msun and (9.1 +/- 0.8) x 10^6 Msun
for clusters 1 and 6, respectively. The most likely reason for the difference
between the dynamical and photometric masses of cluster 1 is that the velocity
dispersion of knot A is not due solely to cluster 1, as assumed, but has an
additional component associated with cluster 2.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure
Enacted support and golf-putting performance: The role of support type and support visibility
Objectives
This study examined whether the impact of enacted support on performance differed across type (esteem and informational) and visibility (visible and invisible) of support. It further tested whether self-efficacy mediated the enacted support-performance relationship.
Design
A one-factor (support manipulation) between subjects experiment.
Method
A fellow novice golfer â in reality a confederate â was scripted to randomly provide one of five support manipulations (visible informational support, invisible informational support, visible esteem support, invisible esteem support, and no support) to participants (n = 105). Immediately after, participants completed a self-efficacy measure and then performed a golf-putting task.
Results
The results demonstrated that participants given visible esteem support significantly outperformed those given no support and those given invisible esteem support. Participants given invisible informational support significantly outperformed those given no support. Although non-significant, the observed mean difference and moderate effect size provided weak evidence that those in the invisible informational support condition may have performed at a higher level than those in the visible informational support condition. There was no evidence that self-efficacy could explain any of these effects.
Conclusion
The results suggest that enacted support can benefit novicesâ performance and that it is crucial to consider both the type and the visibility of the support. Esteem support is particularly effective when communicated in an explicit and direct manner but informational support appears more effective when communicated in a more subtle, indirect manner
- âŠ