2,685 research outputs found
Characterizing gas film conduction for particle- particle and particle-wall collisions
Heat transfer in granular media is an important mechanism in many industrial applications. For some applications conduction is an important mode of heat transfer. Several models have been proposed to describe particle scale conduction both between particles (particle-particle) and with walls (particle-wall). Within these conduction models are several distinct modes: conduction through physical contact (macro-contact), conduction through surface roughness (micro-contacts), and conduction through the stagnant gas film surrounding each particle (particle-fluid-particle or particle- fluid-wall). While these models have been developed and verified in literature, the relationship between the conduction heat transfer coefficient and key parameters is not immediately obvious. This is especially true for gas film conduction. In this work we investigate gas film conduction for particle- particle and particle-wall collisions via DEM simulations using a
well-established gas film model to determine the behavior of the heat transfer coefficient as a function of the separation distance and particle size. With a better understanding of the gas film heat transfer coefficient, we propose a simplified model that captures the same response but is easier to understand and significantly more computationally efficient
Defect cluster recognition system for fabricated semiconductor wafers
The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) identifies production test data as an essential element in improving design and technology in the manufacturing process feedback loop. One of the observations made from the high-volume production test data is that dies that fail due to a systematic failure have a tendency to form certain unique patterns that manifest as defect clusters at the wafer level. Identifying and categorising such clusters is a crucial step towards manufacturing yield improvement and implementation of real-time statistical process control. Addressing the semiconductor industry's needs, this research proposes an automatic defect cluster recognition system for semiconductor wafers that achieves up to 95% accuracy (depending on the product type)
A brain-derived MeCP2 complex supports a role for MeCP2 in RNA processing
Mutations in MECP2 (methyl-CpG-binding protein 2) are linked to the severe postnatal neurodevelopmental disorder RTT (Rett syndrome). MeCP2 was originally characterized as a transcriptional repressor that preferentially bound methylated DNA; however, recent results indicate MeCP2 is a multifunctional protein. MeCP2 binding is now associated with certain expressed genes and involved in nuclear organization as well, indicating that its gene regulatory function is context-dependent. In addition, MeCP2 is proposed to regulate mRNA splicing and a mouse model for RTT shows aberrant mRNA splicing. To further understand MeCP2 and potential roles in RTT pathogenesis, we have employed a biochemical approach to identify the MeCP2 protein complexes present in the mammalian brain. We show that MeCP2 exists in at least four biochemically distinct pools in the brain and characterize one novel brain-derived MeCP2 complex that contains the splicing factor Prpf3 (pre-mRNA processing factor 3). MeCP2 directly interacts with Prpf3 in vitro and in vivo and many MECP2 RTT truncations disrupt the MeCP2-Prpf3 complex. In addition, MeCP2 and Prpf3 associate in vivo with mRNAs from genes known to be expressed when their promoters are associated with MeCP2. These results support a role for MeCP2 in mRNA biogenesis and suggest an additional mechanism for RTT pathophysiology
Experimental study of anisotropy and non-coaxiality of granular solids
Previous experimental studies of anisotropy and non-coaxiality by using the hollow cylindrical apparatus are mainly focused on granular soils, which feature irregular particle shapes and non-uniform particle size distributions. This paper experimentally investigates these two characteristics on assemblages of particulate materials with regular particle shapes and uniform particle sizes. These assemblages are made from spherical, cylindrical and cubical particles, with an increasing order of particle angularity. Two types of loading paths in the hollow cylindrical apparatus are applied. One is the monotonic loading path with a range of fixed angles of major principal stress with respect to the horizontal bedding plan, used to investigate the anisotropy of materials. The other is the path of pure principal stress rotations, used to study the non-coaxiality. The experimental results indicate that these three materials exhibit a strong anisotropy and non-coaxiality. Their stress–strain responses are dependent on the orientation of major principal stress. The non-coaxiality is a function of stress ratio. In addition, there is a noticeable trend that these two characteristics are dependent on the angularity of particles. The more angular the particles are, the greater anisotropy and non-coaxiality take place
Microcantilever Studies of Angular Field Dependence of Vortex Dynamics in BSCCO
Using a nanogram-sized single crystal of BSCCO attached to a microcantilever
we demonstrate in a direct way that in magnetic fields nearly parallel to the
{\it ab} plane the magnetic field penetrates the sample in the form of
Josephson vortices rather than in the form of a tilted vortex lattice. We
further investigate the relation between the Josephson vortices and the pancake
vortices generated by the perpendicular field component.Comment: 5 pages, 8 figure
Development of Taenia saginata asiatica metacestodes in SCID mice and its infectivity in human and alternative definitive hosts
Development of Taenia saginata asiatica metacestodes in SCID mice, and its infectivity in humans, golden hamsters, and Mongolian gerbils as alternative definitive hosts, were investigated. Cysticerci were recovered from SCID mice that were subcutaneously injected with hatched oncospheres of T. s. asiatica. The morphological changes of metacestodes were observed. The recovered cysticerci were fed to gerbils, hamsters and humans, to check for their infectivity. Tapeworms were recovered from gerbils and hamsters fed with 20 to 45 week-old cysticerci, and proglottids excretions were observed in human volunteers fed with 45 week-old cysticerci. However, no tapeworms were recovered from gerbils fed with 10 week-old cysticerci. Our results suggest that T. s. asiatica oncospheres needed more than 20 weeks to develop to maturity in SCID mice to be infective to both their natural and alternative definitive hosts
Controlling laser spectra in a phaseonium photonic crystal using maser
We study the control of quantum resonances in photonic crystals with
electromagnetically induced transparency driven by microwave field. In addition
to the control laser, the intensity and phase of the maser can alter the
transmission and reflection spectra in interesting ways, producing hyperfine
resonances through the combined effects of multiple scattering in the
superstructure.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Investigating The Vortex Melting Phenomenon In BSCCO Crystals Using Magneto-Optical Imaging Technique
Using a novel differential magneto-optical imaging technique we investigate
the phenomenon of vortex lattice melting in crystals of Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_8
(BSCCO). The images of melting reveal complex patterns in the formation and
evolution of the vortex solid-liquid interface with varying field (H) or
temperature (T). We believe that the complex melting patterns are due to a
random distribution of material disorder or inhomogeneities across the sample,
which create fluctuations in the local melting temperature or field value. To
study the fluctuations in the local melting temperature / field, we have
constructed maps of the melting landscape T_m(H,r), viz., the melting
temperature (T_m) at a given location (r) in the sample at a given field (H). A
study of these melting landscapes reveals an unexpected feature: the melting
landscape is not fixed, but changes rather dramatically with varying field and
temperature along the melting line. It is concluded that the changes in both
the scale and shape of the landscape result from the competing contributions of
different types of quenched disorder which have opposite effects on the local
melting transition.Comment: Paper presented at the International Symposium on Advances in
Superconductivity & Magnetism: Materials, Mechanisms & Devices September
25-28, 2001, Mangalore, India. Symposium proceedings will be published in a
special issue of Pramana - Journal of Physic
Josephson Plasma Resonance in with Spatially Dependent Interlayer-Phase Coherence
We study the Josephson plasma resonance (JPR) in
BiSrCaCuO (BSCCO) with spatially dependent interlayer-phase
coherence (IPC). The half-irradiated BSCCO (HI-BSCCO), in which columnar
defects are introduced only in a half of the sample, shows several resonance
peaks, which are not simple superposition of the peaks in irradiated- and
pristine-parts. JPR in HI-BSCCO changes its character from irradiated- to
pristine-type at a crossover frequency (). We demonstrate that the
one-dimensional \LSGE, which takes into account the spatial dependence of IPC,
can reproduce most of the experimental findings including the presence of
.Comment: 4 figure
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