244 research outputs found
Finite element analysis of laminated plates and shells, volume 1
The finite element method is used to investigate the static behavior of laminated composite flat plates and cylindrical shells. The analysis incorporates the effects of transverse shear deformation in each layer through the assumption that the normals to the undeformed layer midsurface remain straight but need not be normal to the mid-surface after deformation. A digital computer program was developed to perform the required computations. The program includes a very efficient equation solution code which permits the analysis of large size problems. The method is applied to the problem of stretching and bending of a perforated curved plate
Modeling the elastic deformation of polymer crusts formed by sessile droplet evaporation
Evaporating droplets of polymer or colloid solution may produce a glassy
crust at the liquid-vapour interface, which subsequently deforms as an elastic
shell. For sessile droplets, the known radial outward flow of solvent is
expected to generate crusts that are thicker near the pinned contact line than
the apex. Here we investigate, by non-linear quasi-static simulation and
scaling analysis, the deformation mode and stability properties of elastic caps
with a non-uniform thickness profile. By suitably scaling the mean thickness
and the contact angle between crust and substrate, we find data collapse onto a
master curve for both buckling pressure and deformation mode, thus allowing us
to predict when the deformed shape is a dimple, mexican hat, and so on. This
master curve is parameterised by a dimensionless measure of the non-uniformity
of the shell. We also speculate on how overlapping timescales for gelation and
deformation may alter our findings.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figs. Some extra clarification of a few points, and minor
corrections. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Volume-controlled buckling of thin elastic shells: Application to crusts formed on evaporating partially-wetted droplets
Motivated by the buckling of glassy crusts formed on evaporating droplets of
polymer and colloid solutions, we numerically model the deformation and
buckling of spherical elastic caps controlled by varying the volume between the
shell and the substrate. This volume constraint mimics the incompressibility of
the unevaporated solvent. Discontinuous buckling is found to occur for
sufficiently thin and/or large contact angle shells, and robustly takes the
form of a single circular region near the boundary that `snaps' to an inverted
shape, in contrast to externally pressurised shells. Scaling theory for shallow
shells is shown to well approximate the critical buckling volume, the
subsequent enlargement of the inverted region and the contact line force.Comment: 7 pages in J. Phys. Cond. Mat. spec; 4 figs (2 low-quality to reach
LANL's over-restrictive size limits; ask for high-detailed versions if
required
Adverse drug reactions associated with amitriptyline - protocol for a systematic multiple-indication review and meta-analysis
Background: Unwanted anticholinergic effects are both underestimated and frequently overlooked. Failure to identify adverse drug reactions (ADRs) can lead to prescribing cascades and the unnecessary use of over-thecounter products. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to explore and quantify the frequency and severity of ADRs associated with amitriptyline vs. placebo in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving adults with any indication, as well as healthy individuals. Methods: A systematic search in six electronic databases, forward/backward searches, manual searches, and searches for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) approval studies, will be performed. Placebo-controlled RCTs evaluating amitriptyline in any dosage, regardless of indication and without restrictions on the time and language of publication, will be included, as will healthy individuals. Studies of topical amitriptyline, combination therapies, or including <100 participants, will be excluded. Two investigators will screen the studies independently, assess methodological quality, and extract data on design, population, intervention, and outcomes ((non-)anticholinergic ADRs, e.g., symptoms, test results, and adverse drug events (ADEs) such as falls). The primary outcome will be the frequency of anticholinergic ADRs as a binary outcome (absolute number of patients with/without anticholinergic ADRs) in amitriptyline vs. placebo groups. Anticholinergic ADRs will be defined by an experienced clinical pharmacologist, based on literature and data from Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference. Secondary outcomes will be frequency and severity of (non-)anticholinergic ADRs and ADEs. The information will be synthesized in meta-analyses and narratives. We intend to assess heterogeneity using metaregression (for indication, outcome, and time points) and I2 statistics. Binary outcomes will be expressed as odds ratios, and continuous outcomes as standardized mean differences. Effect measures will be provided using 95% confidence intervals. We plan sensitivity analyses to assess methodological quality, outcome reporting etc., and subgroup analyses on age, dosage, and duration of treatment. Discussion: We will quantify the frequency of anticholinergic and other ADRs/ADEs in adults taking amitriptyline for any indication by comparing rates for amitriptyline vs. placebo, hence, preventing bias from disease symptoms and nocebo effects. As no standardized instrument exists to measure it, our overall estimate of anticholinergic ADRs may have limitations
Stress Concentration in a Stretched Cylindrical Shell With Two Equal Circular Holes 1
In this investigation, the stress distribution due to uniaxial tension of an infinitely lon
The Amplitude of Non-Equilibrium Quantum Interference in Metallic Mesoscopic Systems
We study the influence of a DC bias voltage V on quantum interference
corrections to the measured differential conductance in metallic mesoscopic
wires and rings. The amplitude of both universal conductance fluctuations (UCF)
and Aharonov-Bohm effect (ABE) is enhanced several times for voltages larger
than the Thouless energy. The enhancement persists even in the presence of
inelastic electron-electron scattering up to V ~ 1 mV. For larger voltages
electron-phonon collisions lead to the amplitude decaying as a power law for
the UCF and exponentially for the ABE. We obtain good agreement of the
experimental data with a model which takes into account the decrease of the
electron phase-coherence length due to electron-electron and electron-phonon
scattering.Comment: New title, refined analysis. 7 pages, 3 figures, to be published in
Europhysics Letter
Optimization of the derivative expansion in the nonperturbative renormalization group
We study the optimization of nonperturbative renormalization group equations
truncated both in fields and derivatives. On the example of the Ising model in
three dimensions, we show that the Principle of Minimal Sensitivity can be
unambiguously implemented at order of the derivative expansion.
This approach allows us to select optimized cut-off functions and to improve
the accuracy of the critical exponents and . The convergence of the
field expansion is also analyzed. We show in particular that its optimization
does not coincide with optimization of the accuracy of the critical exponents.Comment: 13 pages, 9 PS figures, published versio
Testing Claims about Large Land Deals in Africa: Findings from a Multi-Country Study
Despite much research on large land deals for plantation agriculture in Africa, reliable data remain elusive, partly because of limited access to information and practical and methodological challenges. International debates are still shaped by misperceptions about how much land is being acquired, where, by whom, how and with what consequences. This article aims empirically to test some common perceptions through an analysis of findings from research conducted in three African countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, and Tanzania. The article presents new evidence on the scale, geography, drivers and features of land deals, relates findings to data from earlier research and international efforts to monitor land deals, and outlines possible ways forward for ongoing monitoring of the deals
Nonperturbative renormalization group approach to frustrated magnets
This article is devoted to the study of the critical properties of classical
XY and Heisenberg frustrated magnets in three dimensions. We first analyze the
experimental and numerical situations. We show that the unusual behaviors
encountered in these systems, typically nonuniversal scaling, are hardly
compatible with the hypothesis of a second order phase transition. We then
review the various perturbative and early nonperturbative approaches used to
investigate these systems. We argue that none of them provides a completely
satisfactory description of the three-dimensional critical behavior. We then
recall the principles of the nonperturbative approach - the effective average
action method - that we have used to investigate the physics of frustrated
magnets. First, we recall the treatment of the unfrustrated - O(N) - case with
this method. This allows to introduce its technical aspects. Then, we show how
this method unables to clarify most of the problems encountered in the previous
theoretical descriptions of frustrated magnets. Firstly, we get an explanation
of the long-standing mismatch between different perturbative approaches which
consists in a nonperturbative mechanism of annihilation of fixed points between
two and three dimensions. Secondly, we get a coherent picture of the physics of
frustrated magnets in qualitative and (semi-) quantitative agreement with the
numerical and experimental results. The central feature that emerges from our
approach is the existence of scaling behaviors without fixed or pseudo-fixed
point and that relies on a slowing-down of the renormalization group flow in a
whole region in the coupling constants space. This phenomenon allows to explain
the occurence of generic weak first order behaviors and to understand the
absence of universality in the critical behavior of frustrated magnets.Comment: 58 pages, 15 PS figure
Lectures on the functional renormalization group method
These introductory notes are about functional renormalization group equations
and some of their applications. It is emphasised that the applicability of this
method extends well beyond critical systems, it actually provides us a general
purpose algorithm to solve strongly coupled quantum field theories. The
renormalization group equation of F. Wegner and A. Houghton is shown to resum
the loop-expansion. Another version, due to J. Polchinski, is obtained by the
method of collective coordinates and can be used for the resummation of the
perturbation series. The genuinely non-perturbative evolution equation is
obtained in a manner reminiscent of the Schwinger-Dyson equations. Two variants
of this scheme are presented where the scale which determines the order of the
successive elimination of the modes is extracted from external and internal
spaces. The renormalization of composite operators is discussed briefly as an
alternative way to arrive at the renormalization group equation. The scaling
laws and fixed points are considered from local and global points of view.
Instability induced renormalization and new scaling laws are shown to occur in
the symmetry broken phase of the scalar theory. The flattening of the effective
potential of a compact variable is demonstrated in case of the sine-Gordon
model. Finally, a manifestly gauge invariant evolution equation is given for
QED.Comment: 47 pages, 11 figures, final versio
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