1,782 research outputs found
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Forecasting near-surface weather conditions and precipitation in Alaska’s Prince William Sound with the PWS-WRF modeling system
In the summer of 2009, several scientific teams engaged in a field program in Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska to test an end-to-end atmosphere/ocean prediction system specially designed for this region. The “Sound Predictions Field Experiment” (FE) was a test of the PWS-Observing System (PWS-OS) and the culmination of a five-year program to develop an observational and prediction system for the Sound. This manuscript reports on results of an 18-day high-resolution atmospheric forecasting field project using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model.
Special attention was paid to surface meteorological properties and precipitation. Upon reviewing the results of the real-time forecasts, modifications were incorporated in the PWS-WRF modeling system in an effort to improve objective forecast skill. Changes were both geometric (model grid structure) and physical (different physics parameterizations).
The weather during the summer-time FE was typical of the PWS in that it was characterized by a number of minor disturbances rotating around an anchored low, but with no major storms in the Gulf of Alaska. The basic PWS-WRF modeling system as implemented operationally for the FE performed well, especially considering the extremely complex terrain comprising the greater PWS region.
Modifications to the initial PWS-WRF modeling system showed improvement in predicting surface variables, especially where the ambient flow interacted strongly with the terrain. Prediction of precipitation on an accumulated basis was more accurate than prediction on a day-to-day basis. The 18-day period was too short to provide reliable assessment and intercomparison of the quantitative precipitation forecasting (QPF) skill of the PWS-WRF model variants
Highly tunable hybrid metamaterials employing split-ring resonators strongly coupled to graphene surface plasmons
Metamaterials and plasmonics are powerful tools for unconventional
manipulation and harnessing of light. Metamaterials can be engineered to
possess intriguing properties lacking in natural materials, such as negative
refractive index. Plasmonics offers capabilities to confine light in
subwavelength dimensions and to enhance light-matter interactions.
Recently,graphene-based plasmonics has revealed emerging technological
potential as it features large tunability, higher field-confinement and lower
loss compared to metal-based plasmonics. Here,we introduce hybrid structures
comprising graphene plasmonic resonators efficiently coupled to conventional
split-ring resonators, thus demonstrating a type of highly tunable
metamaterial, where the interaction between the two resonances reaches the
strong-coupling regime. Such hybrid metamaterials are employed as high-speed
THz modulators, exhibiting over 60% transmission modulation and operating speed
in excess of 40 MHz. This device concept also provides a platform for exploring
cavity-enhanced light-matter interactions and optical processes in graphene
plasmonic structures for applications including sensing, photo-detection and
nonlinear frequency generation
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Individuals with autism spectrum disorder are impaired in absolute but not relative pitch and duration matching in speech and song imitation
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often exhibit atypical imitation. However, few studies have identified clear quantitative characteristics of vocal imitation in ASD. This study investigated imitation of speech and song in English-speaking individuals with and without ASD and its modulation by age. Participants consisted of 25 autistic children and 19 autistic adults, who were compared to 25 children and 19 adults with typical development matched on age, gender, musical training, and cognitive abilities. The task required participants to imitate speech and song stimuli with varying pitch and duration patterns. Acoustic analyses of the imitation performance suggested that individuals with ASD were worse than controls on absolute pitch and duration matching for both speech and song imitation, although they performed as well as controls on relative pitch and duration matching. Furthermore, the two groups produced similar numbers of pitch contour errors, pitch interval errors and time errors. Across both groups, sung pitch was imitated more accurately than spoken pitch, whereas spoken duration was imitated more accurately than sung duration. Whereas children imitated spoken pitch more accurately than adults when it came to speech stimuli, age showed no significant relationship to song imitation. These results reveal a vocal imitation deficit across speech and music domains in ASD that is specific to absolute pitch and duration matching. This finding provides evidence for shared mechanisms between speech and song imitation, which involves independent implementation of relative versus absolute features
Analysis of the Type IIn Supernova 1998S: Effects of Circumstellar Interaction on Observed Spectra
We present spectral analysis of early observations of the Type IIn supernova
1998S using the general non-local thermodynamic equilibrium atmosphere code \tt
PHOENIX}. We model both the underlying supernova spectrum and the overlying
circumstellar interaction region and produce spectra in good agreement with
observations. The early spectra are well fit by lines produced primarily in the
circumstellar region itself, and later spectra are due primarily to the
supernova ejecta. Intermediate spectra are affected by both regions. A
mass-loss rate of order \msol yr is inferred
for a wind speed of 100-1000 \kmps. We discuss how future self-consistent
models will better clarify the underlying progenitor structure.Comment: to appear in ApJ, 2001, 54
Enhancing Osteogenic Differentiation of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells by Nanofibers
Controlled differentiation of embryonic stem cells (ESC) is necessary to their use as a cell source for tissue engineering or regeneration. To date, most studies have concentrated on chemical cues to direct ESC differentiation. However, during normal embryonic development, multiple factors beyond chemical cues play a role, including the extracellular matrix (ECM) in bone development. In this study, we use nanofibrous (NF) matrices to mimic the morphology of the ECM to examine the contribution of the ECM morphology to the differentiation of mouse ESC. After 12h of differentiation culture, mouse ESC form protrusions interacting with NF matrices, while they appear not to interact with flat films. Immunofluorescence staining after 26 days of differentiation culture indicates a greater degree of differentiation for mouse ESC on NF matrices compared to flat films. Polymerase chain reaction results, also, show greater degree of osteogenic differentiation on NF matrices compared to flat films when osteogenic supplements are added to the culture. Overall, these results demonstrate that NF morphology contributes to the controlled differentiation of mouse ESC.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78135/1/ten.tea.2008.0227.pd
Electro-optically tunable microring resonators in lithium niobate
Optical microresonators have recently attracted a growing attention in the
photonics community. Their applications range from quantum electro-dynamics to
sensors and filtering devices for optical telecommunication systems, where they
are likely to become an essential building block. The integration of nonlinear
and electro-optical properties in the resonators represents a very stimulating
challenge, as it would incorporate new and more advanced functionality. Lithium
niobate is an excellent candidate material, being an established choice for
electro-optic and nonlinear optical applications. Here we report on the first
realization of optical microring resonators in submicrometric thin films of
lithium niobate. The high index contrast films are produced by an improved
crystal ion slicing and bonding technique using benzocyclobutene. The rings
have radius R=100 um and their transmission spectrum has been tuned using the
electro-optic effect. These results open new perspectives for the use of
lithium niobate in chip-scale integrated optical devices and nonlinear optical
microcavities.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure
Immunohistochemical detection of somatostatin receptor subtypes sst1 and sst2A in human somatostatin receptor positive tumors
Although in situ hybridization has been used to examine the distribution
of messenger RNA for somatostatin receptor subtypes (sst) in human tumors,
the cellular localization of sst1 and sst2A receptors has not been
reported. In this study, we describe the cellular localization of human
sst1 and sst2A receptor proteins in both cryostat- and paraffin-embedded
sections of 25 human tumor tissues using two recently developed polyclonal
antibodies. Six somatostatin (SS) receptor (SSR) positive tumors (two
gastrinomas, three carcinoids, one pheochromocytoma) and one SSR negative
tumor (renal cell carcinoma), selected by positive and negative SSR
autoradiography, respectively, were studied by both immunohistochemistry
and Western blot analysis. The six SSR positive tumors expressed sst2A,
while 4 of 5 expressed sst1 as well. The SSR negative tumor did not
express either sst1 or sst2A. Western blot analysis of wheat germ
agglutinin purified membrane proteins confirmed the presence of the sst1
and sst2A glycosylated receptors. The paraffin-embedded sections gave best
information with respect to the subcellular localization. Sst1
immunoreactivity was observed both on the membrane and in the cytoplasm,
while sst2A showed predominantly membrane-associated immunoreactivity.
This subcellular distribution of sst1 or sst2A receptors was confirmed in
paraffin-embedded sections of 8 additional intestinal carcinoids, 5
gastrinomas and 5 pheochromocytomas. Sst1 receptors were detected in 7 out
of 8 carcinoids, in all gastrinomas, and in 4 out of 5 pheochromocytomas,
while 6 out of 8 carcinoids, all gastrinomas, and 3 out of 5
pheochromocytomas expressed sst2A receptors. In conclusion, sst1 and sst2A
receptors show a differential subcellular localization in human SSR
positive tumors. The use of SSR subtype selective antibodies to detect the
subcellular distribution of SSR subtypes in individual tumor cells is an
important step forward to understand more about the pathophysiological
role of the different SSR subtypes in human tumors
An interactive meshless cutting model for nonlinear viscoelastic soft tissue in surgical simulators
In this paper, we present a novel interactive cutting simulation model for soft tissue based on the meshless framework. Unlike most existing methods that consider the cutting process of soft tissue in an over simplified manner, the presented model is able to simulate the complete cutting process that includes three stages: deformation before cutting open (DBCO), cutting open (CO), and deformation after cutting open (DACO). To characterize the complicated physical and mechanical properties of soft tissue, both nonlinearity and viscoelasticity were incorporated into the equations governing the motion of soft tissue. A line contact model was used for simulating the cutting process after analyzing the two major types of surgical instruments, i.e., scalpel and electrostick. The cutting speed and angle were taken into account in order to improve haptic rendering. Biomechanical tests and simulation experiments verified the validity of the introduced model. Specifically, the displacement vs. cutting force curves can be divided into three segments corresponding to the three stages of the cutting process. The results were also applied in a liver cutting simulating system and satisfactory visual effect and haptic feedback were achieved
Controlled release from zein matrices: Interplay of drug hydrophobicity and pH
Purpose: In earlier studies, the corn protein zein is found to be suitable as a sustained release agent, yet the range of drugs for which zein has been studied remains small. Here, zein is used as a sole excipient for drugs differing in hydrophobicity and isoelectric point: indomethacin, paracetamol and ranitidine. Methods: Caplets were prepared by hot-melt extrusion (HME) and injection moulding (IM). Each of the three model drugs were tested on two drug loadings in various dissolution media. The physical state of the drug, microstructure and hydration behaviour were investigated to build up understanding for the release behaviour from zein based matrix for drug delivery. Results: Drug crystallinity of the caplets increases with drug hydrophobicity. For ranitidine and indomethacin, swelling rates, swelling capacity and release rates were pH dependent as a consequence of the presence of charged groups on the drug molecules. Both hydration rates and release rates could be approached by existing models. Conclusion: Both the drug state as pH dependant electrostatic interactions are hypothesised to influence release kinetics. Both factors can potentially be used factors influencing release kinetics release, thereby broadening the horizon for zein as a tuneable release agent
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