19,442 research outputs found
A fast and robust numerical scheme for solving models of charge carrier transport and ion vacancy motion in perovskite solar cells
Drift-diffusion models that account for the motion of both electronic and
ionic charges are important tools for explaining the hysteretic behaviour and
guiding the development of metal halide perovskite solar cells. Furnishing
numerical solutions to such models for realistic operating conditions is
challenging owing to the extreme values of some of the parameters. In
particular, those characterising (i) the short Debye lengths (giving rise to
rapid changes in the solutions across narrow layers), (ii) the relatively large
potential differences across devices and (iii) the disparity in timescales
between the motion of the electronic and ionic species give rise to significant
stiffness. We present a finite difference scheme with an adaptive time step
that is posed on a non-uniform staggered grid that provides second order
accuracy in the mesh spacing. The method is able to cope with the stiffness of
the system for realistic parameters values whilst providing high accuracy and
maintaining modest computational costs. For example, a transient sweep of a
current-voltage curve can be computed in only a few minutes on a standard
desktop computer.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figure
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The HERE project toolkit: a resource for programme teams interested in improving student engagement and retention
Conductivity of Paired Composite Fermions
We develop a phenomenological description of the nu=5/2 quantum Hall state in
which the Halperin-Lee-Read theory of the half-filled Landau level is combined
with a p-wave pairing interaction between composite fermions (CFs). The
electromagnetic response functions for the resulting mean-field superconducting
state of the CFs are calculated and used in an RPA calculation of the q and
omega dependent longitudinal conductivity of the physical electrons, a quantity
which can be measured experimentally
Systematic derivation of a surface polarization model for planar perovskite solar cells
Increasing evidence suggests that the presence of mobile ions in perovskite
solar cells can cause a current-voltage curve hysteresis. Steady state and
transient current-voltage characteristics of a planar metal halide
CHNHPbI perovskite solar cell are analysed with a drift-diffusion
model that accounts for both charge transport and ion vacancy motion. The high
ion vacancy density within the perovskite layer gives rise to narrow Debye
layers (typical width 2nm), adjacent to the interfaces with the transport
layers, over which large drops in the electric potential occur and in which
significant charge is stored. Large disparities between (I) the width of the
Debye layers and that of the perovskite layer (600nm) and (II) the ion
vacancy density and the charge carrier densities motivate an asymptotic
approach to solving the model, while the stiffness of the equations renders
standard solution methods unreliable. We derive a simplified surface
polarisation model in which the slow ion dynamic are replaced by interfacial
(nonlinear) capacitances at the perovskite interfaces. Favourable comparison is
made between the results of the asymptotic approach and numerical solutions for
a realistic cell over a wide range of operating conditions of practical
interest.Comment: 32 pages, 7 figure
A Multilevel Approach to Topology-Aware Collective Operations in Computational Grids
The efficient implementation of collective communiction operations has
received much attention. Initial efforts produced "optimal" trees based on
network communication models that assumed equal point-to-point latencies
between any two processes. This assumption is violated in most practical
settings, however, particularly in heterogeneous systems such as clusters of
SMPs and wide-area "computational Grids," with the result that collective
operations perform suboptimally. In response, more recent work has focused on
creating topology-aware trees for collective operations that minimize
communication across slower channels (e.g., a wide-area network). While these
efforts have significant communication benefits, they all limit their view of
the network to only two layers. We present a strategy based upon a multilayer
view of the network. By creating multilevel topology-aware trees we take
advantage of communication cost differences at every level in the network. We
used this strategy to implement topology-aware versions of several MPI
collective operations in MPICH-G2, the Globus Toolkit[tm]-enabled version of
the popular MPICH implementation of the MPI standard. Using information about
topology provided by MPICH-G2, we construct these multilevel topology-aware
trees automatically during execution. We present results demonstrating the
advantages of our multilevel approach by comparing it to the default
(topology-unaware) implementation provided by MPICH and a topology-aware
two-layer implementation.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figure
Network growth models and genetic regulatory networks
We study a class of growth algorithms for directed graphs that are candidate
models for the evolution of genetic regulatory networks. The algorithms involve
partial duplication of nodes and their links, together with innovation of new
links, allowing for the possibility that input and output links from a newly
created node may have different probabilities of survival. We find some
counterintuitive trends as parameters are varied, including the broadening of
indegree distribution when the probability for retaining input links is
decreased. We also find that both the scaling of transcription factors with
genome size and the measured degree distributions for genes in yeast can be
reproduced by the growth algorithm if and only if a special seed is used to
initiate the process.Comment: 8 pages with 7 eps figures; uses revtex4. Added references, cleaner
figure
Drugs for neglected diseases: a failure of the market and a public health failure?
Infectious diseases cause the suffering of hundreds of millions of people, especially in tropical and subtropical areas. Effective, affordable and easy-to-use medicines to fight these diseases are nearly absent. Although science and technology are sufficiently advanced to provide the necessary medicines, very few new drugs are being developed. However, drug discovery is not the major bottleneck. Today's R&D-based pharmaceutical industry is reluctant to invest in the development of drugs to treat the major diseases of the poor, because return on investment cannot be guaranteed. With national and international politics supporting a free market-based world order, financial opportunities rather than global health needs guide the direction of new drug development. Can we accept that the dearth of effective drugs for diseases that mainly affect the poor is simply the sad but inevitable consequence of a global market economy? Or is it a massive public health failure, and a failure to direct economic development for the benefit of society? An urgent reorientation of priorities in drug development and health policy is needed. The pharmaceutical industry must contribute to this effort, but national and international policies need to direct the global economy to address the true health needs of society. This requires political will, a strong commitment to prioritize health considerations over economic interests, and the enforcement of regulations and other mechanisms to stimulate essential drug development. New and creative strategies involving both the public and the private sector are needed to ensure that affordable medicines for today's neglected diseases are developed. Priority action areas include advocating an essential medicines R&D agenda, capacity-building in and technology transfer to developing countries, elaborating an adapted legal and regulatory framework, prioritizing funding for essential drug development and securing availability, accessibility, distribution and rational use of these drugs
Prompt energization of relativistic and highly relativistic electrons during a substorm interval: Van Allen Probes observations
Abstract On 17 March 2013, a large magnetic storm significantly depleted the multi-MeV radiation belt. We present multi-instrument observations from the Van Allen Probes spacecraft Radiation Belt Storm Probe A and Radiation Belt Storm Probe B at ~6 Re in the midnight sector magnetosphere and from ground-based ionospheric sensors during a substorm dipolarization followed by rapid reenergization of multi-MeV electrons. A 50% increase in magnetic field magnitude occurred simultaneously with dramatic increases in 100 keV electron fluxes and a 100 times increase in VLF wave intensity. The 100 keV electrons and intense VLF waves provide a seed population and energy source for subsequent radiation belt enhancements. Highly relativistic (\u3e2 MeV) electron fluxes increased immediately at L* ~ 4.5 and 4.5 MeV flux increased \u3e90 times at L* = 4 over 5 h. Although plasmasphere expansion brings the enhanced radiation belt multi-MeV fluxes inside the plasmasphere several hours postsubstorm, we localize their prompt reenergization during the event to regions outside the plasmasphere. Key Points Substorm dynamics are important for highly relativistic electron energization Cold plasma preconditioning is significant for rapid relativistic energization Relativistic / highly relativistic electron energization can occur in \u3c 5 hrs
Rehabilitation following rotator cuff repair: A nested qualitative study exploring the perceptions and experiences of participants in a randomised controlled trial
Objective:
To investigate acceptability, barriers to adherence with the interventions, and which outcome measures best reflect the participants’ rehabilitation goals in a pilot and feasibility randomised controlled trial evaluating early patient-directed rehabilitation and standard rehabilitation, including sling immobilisation for four weeks, following surgical repair of the rotator cuff of the shoulder.
Design:
Nested qualitative study.
Setting:
Five English National Health Service Hospitals.
Subjects:
Nineteen patient participants who had undergone surgical repair of the rotator cuff and 10 healthcare practitioners involved in the trial.
Method:
Individual semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed thematically.
Results:
Four themes: (1) Preconceptions of early mobilisation; many participants were motivated to enter the trial for the opportunity of removing their sling and getting moving early. (2) Sling use and movement restrictions; for some, sling use for four weeks was unacceptable and contributed to their pain, rather than relieving it. (3) Tensions associated with early mobilisation; clinical tensions regarding early mobilisation and the perceived risk to the surgical repair were apparent. (4) Processes of running the trial; participants found the trial processes to be largely appropriate and acceptable, but withholding the results of the post-operative research ultrasound scan was contentious.
Conclusion:
Trial processes were largely acceptable, except for withholding results of the ultrasound scan. For some participants, use of the shoulder sling for a prolonged period after surgery was a reported barrier to standard rehabilitation whereas the concept of early mobilisation contributed tension for some healthcare practitioners due to concern about the effect on the surgical repair
Implicit Simulations using Messaging Protocols
A novel algorithm for performing parallel, distributed computer simulations
on the Internet using IP control messages is introduced. The algorithm employs
carefully constructed ICMP packets which enable the required computations to be
completed as part of the standard IP communication protocol. After providing a
detailed description of the algorithm, experimental applications in the areas
of stochastic neural networks and deterministic cellular automata are
discussed. As an example of the algorithms potential power, a simulation of a
deterministic cellular automaton involving 10^5 Internet connected devices was
performed.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure
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