8,679 research outputs found
Understanding fragility in supercooled Lennard-Jones mixtures. I. Locally preferred structures
We reveal the existence of systematic variations of isobaric fragility in
different supercooled Lennard-Jones binary mixtures by performing molecular
dynamics simulations. The connection between fragility and local structures in
the bulk is analyzed by means of a Voronoi construction. We find that clusters
of particles belonging to locally preferred structures form slow, long-lived
domains, whose spatial extension increases by decreasing temperature. As a
general rule, a more rapid growth, upon supercooling, of such domains is
associated to a more pronounced super-Arrhenius behavior, hence to a larger
fragility.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, minor revisions, one figure adde
Understanding fragility in supercooled Lennard-Jones mixtures. II. Potential energy surface
We numerically investigated the connection between isobaric fragility and the
properties of high-order stationary points of the potential energy surface in
different supercooled Lennard-Jones mixtures. The increase of effective
activation energies upon supercooling appears to be driven by the increase of
average potential energy barriers measured by the energy dependence of the
fraction of unstable modes. Such an increase is sharper, the more fragile is
the mixture. Correlations between fragility and other properties of high-order
stationary points, including the vibrational density of states and the
localization features of unstable modes, are also discussed.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, minor revisions, one figure adde
Near-infrared spectroscopy study of tourniquet-induced forearm ischaemia in patients with coronary artery disease
Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIR) can be employed to monitor local changes in haemodynamics and oxygenation of human tissues. A preliminary study has been performed in order to evaluate the NIRS transmittance response to induced forearm ischaemia in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). The population consists in 40 patients with cardiovascular risk factors and angiographically documented CAD, compared to a group of 13 normal subjects. By inflating and subsequently deflating a cuff placed around the patient arm, an ischaemia has been induced and released, and the patients have been observed until recovery of the basal conditions. A custom LAIRS spectrometer (IRIS) has been used to collect the backscattered light intensities from the patient forearm throughout the ischaemic and the recovery phase. The time dependence of the near-infrared transmittance on the control group is consistent with the available literature. On the contrary, the magnitude and dynamics of the NIRS signal on the CAD patients show deviations from the documented normal behavior, which can be tentatively attributed to abnormal vessel stiffness. These preliminary results, while validating the performance of the IRIS spectrometer, are strongly conducive towards the applicability of the NIRS technique to ischaemia analysis and to endothelial dysfunction characterization in CAD patients with cardiovascular risk factors.Publisher PD
Advanced radar absorbing ceramic-based materials for multifunctional applications in space environment
In this review, some results of the experimental activity carried out by the authors on advanced composite materials for space applications are reported. Composites are widely employed in the aerospace industry thanks to their lightweight and advanced thermo-mechanical and electrical properties. A critical issue to tackle using engineered materials for space activities is providing two or more specific functionalities by means of single items/components. In this scenario, carbon-based composites are believed to be ideal candidates for the forthcoming development of aerospace research and space missions, since a widespread variety of multi-functional structures are allowed by employing these materials. The research results described here suggest that hybrid ceramic/polymeric structures could be employed as spacecraft-specific subsystems in order to ensure extreme temperature withstanding and electromagnetic shielding behavior simultaneously. The morphological and thermo-mechanical analysis of carbon/carbon (C/C) three-dimensional (3D) shell prototypes is reported; then, the microwave characterization of multilayered carbon-filled micro-/nano-composite panels is described. Finally, the possibility of combining the C/C bulk with a carbon-reinforced skin in a synergic arrangement is discussed, with the aid of numerical and experimental analyses
The application of GMOs in agriculture and in food production for a better nutrition: two different scientific points of view
This commentary is a face-to-face debate between two almost opposite positions regarding the application of genetic engineering in agriculture and food production. Seven questions on the potential benefits of the application of genetic engineering in agriculture and on the potentially adverse impacts on the environment and human health were posed to two scientists: one who is sceptical about the use of GMOs in Agriculture, and one who views GMOs as an important tool for quantitatively and qualitatively improving food production.Research at the Universitat de Lleida is supported
by MICINN, Spain (BFU2007-61413); European Union
Framework 7 Program-SmartCell Integrated Project 222716; European
Union Framework 7 European Research Council IDEAS
Advanced Grant Program-BIOFORCE; COST Action FA0804: Molecular farming: plants as a production platform for high value
proteins; Centre CONSOLIDER on Agrigenomics funded by MICINN, Spain
Ab initio simulations of liquid systems: Concentration dependence of the electric conductivity of NaSn alloys
Liquid NaSn alloys in five different compositions (20, 40, 50, 57 and 80%
sodium) are studied using density functional calculations combined with
molecular dynamics(Car-Parrinello method). The frequency-dependent electric
conductivities for the systems are calculated by means of the Kubo-Greenwood
formula.
The extrapolated DC conductivities are in good agreement with the
experimental data and reproduce the strong variation with the concentration.
The maximum of conductivity is obtained, in agreement with experiment, near the
equimolar composition.
The strong variation of conductivity, ranging from almost semiconducting up
to metallic behaviour, can be understood by an analysis of the
densities-of-states.Comment: LaTex 6 pages and 2 figures, to appear in J.Phys. Cond. Ma
Partial muon capture rates in and nuclei with chiral effective field theory
Searches for neutrinoless-double beta decay rates are crucial in addressing
questions within fundamental symmetries and neutrino physics. The rates of
these decays depend not only on unknown parameters associated with neutrinos,
but also on nuclear properties. In order to reliably extract information about
the neutrino, one needs an accurate treatment of the complex many-body dynamics
of the nucleus. Neutrinoless-double beta decays take place at momentum
transfers on the order of 100 MeV/ and require both nuclear electroweak
vector and axial current matrix elements. Muon capture, a process in the same
momentum transfer regime, has readily available experimental data to validate
these currents. In this work, we present results of {\it ab initio}
calculations of partial muon capture rates for He and Li nuclei using
variational and Green's Function Monte Carlo computational methods. We estimate
the impact of the three-nucleon interactions, the cutoffs used to regularize
two-nucleon () interactions, and the energy range of scattering data
used to fit these interactions.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures including supplemental material; Re-analyzed GFMC
He muon capture with updated wave functions, conclusions unchange
How national decarbonisation scenarios can affect building refurbishment strategies
Energy transition is radically changing national energy systems. Nevertheless, the dynamics of this transformation are not considered by end-users in the design of building systems. The present work aims at assessing how the renewable share increase, in both electricity and gas grids, can affect building energy performance. To do this, building energy performance indicators, taking into account growing renewable shares, have been proposed. Four national decarbonisation scenarios have been considered. In a case-study in Italy, conventional boilers, heat pumps, combined heat and power plants and hybrid systems have been analysed. Heat pumps turn out to be the best option if the renewable penetration in the power grid is higher than 40%. The substitute natural gas deployment can increase the competitiveness of cogeneration systems, but not enough to represent the best configuration. National decarbonisation scenarios significantly affect the primary energy and emissions savings of building refurbishment strategies. Conventional indicators, taking primary energy factors as fixed, lead to correct assessment for the reference year, but are unable to describe the actual building energy performance over the system lifetime. Depending on the scenario, the average specific primary energy consumption ranges in 17% and 55% lower than the one assessed with conventional analyses
Partial Muon Capture Rates in A = 3 and A = 6 Nuclei with Chiral Effective Field Theory
Searches for neutrinoless double-β decay rates are crucial in addressing questions within fundamental symmetries and neutrino physics. The rates of these decays depend not only on unknown parameters associated with neutrinos, but also on nuclear properties. In order to reliably extract information about the neutrino, one needs an accurate treatment of the complex many-body dynamics of the nucleus. Neutrinoless double-β decays take place at momentum transfers on the order of 100MeV /c and require both nuclear electroweak vector and axial current matrix elements. Muon capture, a process in the same momentum transfer regime, has readily available experimental data to validate these currents. In this Letter, we present results of ab initio calculations of partial muon capture rates for 3He and 6Li nuclei using variational and Green\u27s function Monte Carlo computational methods. We estimate the impact of the three-nucleon interactions, the cutoffs used to regularize two-nucleon (2N) interactions, and the energy range of 2N scattering data used to fit these interactions
Nuclear energy density optimization: Shell structure
Nuclear density functional theory is the only microscopical theory that can
be applied throughout the entire nuclear landscape. Its key ingredient is the
energy density functional. In this work, we propose a new parameterization
UNEDF2 of the Skyrme energy density functional. The functional optimization is
carried out using the POUNDerS optimization algorithm within the framework of
the Skyrme Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov theory. Compared to the previous
parameterization UNEDF1, restrictions on the tensor term of the energy density
have been lifted, yielding a very general form of the energy density functional
up to second order in derivatives of the one-body density matrix. In order to
impose constraints on all the parameters of the functional, selected data on
single-particle splittings in spherical doubly-magic nuclei have been included
into the experimental dataset. The agreement with both bulk and spectroscopic
nuclear properties achieved by the resulting UNEDF2 parameterization is
comparable with UNEDF1. While there is a small improvement on single-particle
spectra and binding energies of closed shell nuclei, the reproduction of
fission barriers and fission isomer excitation energies has degraded. As
compared to previous UNEDF parameterizations, the parameter confidence interval
for UNEDF2 is narrower. In particular, our results overlap well with those
obtained in previous systematic studies of the spin-orbit and tensor terms.
UNEDF2 can be viewed as an all-around Skyrme EDF that performs reasonably well
for both global nuclear properties and shell structure. However, after adding
new data aiming to better constrain the nuclear functional, its quality has
improved only marginally. These results suggest that the standard Skyrme energy
density has reached its limits and significant changes to the form of the
functional are needed.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures, 12 tables; resubmitted for publication to Phys.
Rev. C after second review by refere
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