5,593 research outputs found
Tornadoes in a Microchannel
In non-dilute colloidal suspensions, gradients in particle volume fraction
result in gradients in electrical conductivity and permittivity. An externally
applied electric field couples with gradients in electrical conductivity and
permittivity and, under some conditions, can result in electric body forces
that drive the flow unstable forming vortices. The experiments are conducted in
square 200 micron PDMS microfluidic channels. Colloidal suspensions consisted
of 0.01 volume fraction of 2 or 3 micron diameter polystyrene particles in 0.1
mM Phosphate buffer and 409 mM sucrose to match particle-solution density. AC
electric fields at 20 Hz and strength of 430 to 600 V/cm were used. We present
a fluid dynamics video that shows the evolution of the particle aggregation and
formation of vortical flow. Upon application of the field particles aggregate
forming particle chains and three dimensional structures. These particles form
rotating bands where the axis of rotation varies with time and can collide with
other rotating bands forming increasingly larger bands. Some groups become
vortices with a stable axis of rotation. Other phenomena showed include counter
rotating vortices, colliding vortices, and non-rotating particle bands with
internal waves
Barbaric Retributivism: New Hampshire and Washington are Two of the Last States to Abolish the Death Penalty. Here is Why Florida Should Follow Suit
B and L at the SUSY Scale, Dark Matter and R-parity Violation
We present a simple theory where baryon and lepton numbers are spontaneously
broken at the supersymmetry scale. In this context R-parity must be
spontaneously broken but the theory still contains a stable field which can
play the role of the cold dark matter of the Universe. We discuss the spectrum
of the theory, the properties of the dark matter candidate and the predictions
for direct detection experiments. This theory provides a concrete example of
exotic supersymmetric signatures associated with having the simultaneous
presence of R-parity violating and missing energy signals at the Large Hadron
Collider
Economic tradeoff between biochar and bio-oil production via pyrolysis
This paper examines some of the economic tradeoffs in the joint production of biochar and bio-oil from cellulosic biomass. The pyrolysis process can be performed with different final temperatures, and with different heating rates. While most carbonization technologies operating at low heating rates result in higher yields of charcoal, fast pyrolysis is the technology of choice to produce bio-oils. Varying operational and design parameters can change the relative quantity and quality of biochar and bio-oil produced for a given feedstock. These changes in quantity and quality of both products affect the potential revenue from their production and sale. We estimate quadratic production functions for biochar and bio-oil. The results are then used to calculate a product transformation curve that characterizes the yields of bio-oil and biochar that can be produced for a given amount of feedstock, movement along the curve corresponds to changes in temperatures, and it can be used to infer optimal pyrolysis temperature settings for a given ratio of biochar and bio-oil prices.biochar, bio-oil, pyrolysis, biomass conversion, economic tradeoff
Leadership Theories and United States Demographic Shifts: Responsiveness in the Workplace
As the United States becomes increasingly more diverse, it is imperative that organizations consider the implications of their leadership pipeline. Given the differences that can exist by social identity groups in experiences, values, interests, and communications, it raises a question about the responsiveness of current leadership theories to the changing demographics. This article explores the responsiveness of transformational leadership, authentic leadership, and leader-member exchange (LMX) theory to the demographic changes as a means of helping organizations consider how existing leadership norms and theories need to be expanded to encompass the future population of leaders across race, sex, and age
CommuniSense: Crowdsourcing Road Hazards in Nairobi
Nairobi is one of the fastest growing metropolitan cities and a major
business and technology powerhouse in Africa. However, Nairobi currently lacks
monitoring technologies to obtain reliable data on traffic and road
infrastructure conditions. In this paper, we investigate the use of mobile
crowdsourcing as means to gather and document Nairobi's road quality
information. We first present the key findings of a city-wide road quality
survey about the perception of existing road quality conditions in Nairobi.
Based on the survey's findings, we then developed a mobile crowdsourcing
application, called CommuniSense, to collect road quality data. The application
serves as a tool for users to locate, describe, and photograph road hazards. We
tested our application through a two-week field study amongst 30 participants
to document various forms of road hazards from different areas in Nairobi. To
verify the authenticity of user-contributed reports from our field study, we
proposed to use online crowdsourcing using Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) to
verify whether submitted reports indeed depict road hazards. We found 92% of
user-submitted reports to match the MTurkers judgements. While our prototype
was designed and tested on a specific city, our methodology is applicable to
other developing cities.Comment: In Proceedings of 17th International Conference on Human-Computer
Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services (MobileHCI 2015
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