2,533 research outputs found
The effect of free-stream turbulence on heat transfer to a strongly accelerated turbulent boundary layer
Free-stream turbulence effects on heat transfer to strongly accelerated turbulent boundary laye
Sea-Level Rise Tipping Point Of Delta Survival
The estimated rate of global eustatic sea-level rise (RSLR) associated with the formation of 36 of the world\u27s coastal deltas was calculated for the last 22,000 years. These deltas are located in a variety of environmental settings with respect to tidal range, isostasy, and climate. After correcting the original uncalibrated radiocarbon age estimates to calibrated years, 90% of the deltas appear to have formed at an average age of 8109 +/- 122 before present (BP) and a median age of 7967 BP. This age corresponds to a period of significant deceleration in the RSLR to between 5 mm y(-1) and 10 mm y(-1), and is in agreement with two regional estimates of vegetation growth limits with respect to RSLR. This RSLR tipping point for delta formation can be used to inform forecasts of delta resiliency under conditions of climate change and concomitant SLR. The RSLR is accelerating and will likely be several times higher than the formation tipping point by the end of this century. Hence, the world\u27s deltaic environments are likely to be lost within the same time frame
Distribution of the time at which the deviation of a Brownian motion is maximum before its first-passage time
We calculate analytically the probability density of the time
at which a continuous-time Brownian motion (with and without drift) attains its
maximum before passing through the origin for the first time. We also compute
the joint probability density of the maximum and . In the
driftless case, we find that has power-law tails: for large and for small . In
presence of a drift towards the origin, decays exponentially for large
. The results from numerical simulations are in excellent agreement with
our analytical predictions.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures. Published in Journal of Statistical Mechanics:
Theory and Experiment (J. Stat. Mech. (2007) P10008,
doi:10.1088/1742-5468/2007/10/P10008
Area distribution and the average shape of a L\'evy bridge
We consider a one dimensional L\'evy bridge x_B of length n and index 0 <
\alpha < 2, i.e. a L\'evy random walk constrained to start and end at the
origin after n time steps, x_B(0) = x_B(n)=0. We compute the distribution
P_B(A,n) of the area A = \sum_{m=1}^n x_B(m) under such a L\'evy bridge and
show that, for large n, it has the scaling form P_B(A,n) \sim n^{-1-1/\alpha}
F_\alpha(A/n^{1+1/\alpha}), with the asymptotic behavior F_\alpha(Y) \sim
Y^{-2(1+\alpha)} for large Y. For \alpha=1, we obtain an explicit expression of
F_1(Y) in terms of elementary functions. We also compute the average profile <
\tilde x_B (m) > at time m of a L\'evy bridge with fixed area A. For large n
and large m and A, one finds the scaling form = n^{1/\alpha}
H_\alpha({m}/{n},{A}/{n^{1+1/\alpha}}), where at variance with Brownian bridge,
H_\alpha(X,Y) is a non trivial function of the rescaled time m/n and rescaled
area Y = A/n^{1+1/\alpha}. Our analytical results are verified by numerical
simulations.Comment: 21 pages, 4 Figure
An engineered Tetrahymena tRNA(Gln) for in vivo incorporation of unnatural amino acids into proteins by nonsense suppression
A new tRNA, THG73, has been designed and evaluated as a vehicle for incorporating unnatural amino acids site-specifically into proteins expressed in vivo using the stop codon suppression technique. The construct is a modification of tRNAGln(CUA) from Tetrahymena thermophila, which naturally recognizes the stop codon UAG. Using electrophysiological studies of mutations at several sites of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, it is established that THG73 represents a major improvement over previous nonsense suppressors both in terms of efficiency and fidelity of unnatural amino acid incorporation. Compared with a previous tRNA used for in vivo suppression, THG73 is as much as 100-fold less likely to be acylated by endogenous synthetases of the Xenopus oocyte. This effectively eliminates a major concern of the in vivo suppression methodology, the undesirable incorporation of natural amino acids at the suppression site. In addition, THG73 is 4-10-fold more efficient at incorporating unnatural amino acids in the oocyte system. Taken together, these two advances should greatly expand the range of applicability of the in vivo nonsense suppression methodology
Heat Transport in a Strongly Overdoped Cuprate: Fermi Liquid and Pure d-wave BCS Superconductor
The transport of heat and charge in the overdoped cuprate superconductor
Tl_2Ba_2CuO_(6+delta) was measured down to low temperature. In the normal
state, obtained by applying a magnetic field greater than the upper critical
field, the Wiedemann-Franz law is verified to hold perfectly. In the
superconducting state, a large residual linear term is observed in the thermal
conductivity, in quantitative agreement with BCS theory for a d-wave
superconductor. This is compelling evidence that the electrons in overdoped
cuprates form a Fermi liquid, with no indication of spin-charge separation.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, published version, title changed, Phys. Rev.
Lett. 89, 147003 (2002
Maximum relative height of one-dimensional interfaces : from Rayleigh to Airy distribution
We introduce an alternative definition of the relative height h^\kappa(x) of
a one-dimensional fluctuating interface indexed by a continuously varying real
paramater 0 \leq \kappa \leq 1. It interpolates between the height relative to
the initial value (i.e. in x=0) when \kappa = 0 and the height relative to the
spatially averaged height for \kappa = 1. We compute exactly the distribution
P^\kappa(h_m,L) of the maximum h_m of these relative heights for systems of
finite size L and periodic boundary conditions. One finds that it takes the
scaling form P^\kappa(h_m,L) = L^{-1/2} f^\kappa (h_m L^{-1/2}) where the
scaling function f^\kappa(x) interpolates between the Rayleigh distribution for
\kappa=0 and the Airy distribution for \kappa=1, the latter being the
probability distribution of the area under a Brownian excursion over the unit
interval. For arbitrary \kappa, one finds that it is related to, albeit
different from, the distribution of the area restricted to the interval [0,
\kappa] under a Brownian excursion over the unit interval.Comment: 25 pages, 4 figure
Phonon-drag effects on thermoelectric power
We carry out a calculation of the phonon-drag contribution to the
thermoelectric power of bulk semiconductors and quantum well structures for the
first time using the balance equation transport theory extended to the weakly
nonuniform systems. Introducing wavevector and phonon-mode dependent relaxation
times due to phonon-phonon interactions, the formula obtained can be used not
only at low temperatures where the phonon mean free path is determined by
boundary scattering, but also at high temperatures. In the linear transport
limit, is equivalent to the result obtained from the Boltzmann equation
with a relaxation time approximation. The theory is applied to experiments and
agreement is found between the theoretical predictions and experimental
results. The role of hot-electron effects in is discussed. The importance
of the contribution of to thermoelectric power in the hot-electron
transport condition is emphasized.Comment: 8 pages, REVTEX 3.0, 7 figures avilable upon reques
Quality management in heavy duty manufacturing industry: TQM vs. Six Sigma
âIs TQM a management fad?â This question has been extensively documented in the quality management literature; and will be tackled in this research though a critical literature review on the area. âTQM versus Six-Sigmaâ debate, which has also been a fundamental challenge in this research filed, is addressed by a thematic and chronological review on the peer papers. To evaluate this challenge in practice, a primary research in heavy duty machinery production industry have been conducted using a case-study on, J C Bamford Excavators Ltd (JCB), the largest European construction machinery producer. The result highlights that TQM is a natural foundation to build up Six-Sigma upon; and not surprisingly the quality yield in a TQM approach complemented by Six-sigma is far higher and more stable than when TQM with no Six-Sigma focus is being put in place; thus presenting the overall finding that TQM and Six Sigma are compliments, not substitutes. The study will be concluded with an overview on quality management approaches in the heavy duty manufacturing industry to highlight the way forward for the industry
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