3,052 research outputs found
Surface effects in preparation of cell-size liposomes
AbstractEffects of surface type and area were shown to be important in the yield of cell-size liposomes, but not in determining their size. The liposomes were prepared by dissolving lipids in a chloroform-methanol solution and then evaporating the solvent under nitrogen in the presence of glass beads. After evaporation of the solvent, which was rapid due to the increased surface area, the dried lipids were then swollen in water at high temperatures (higher than the phase transition of the lipids), which led to formation of giant liposomes. The number of liposomes prepared in the presence of pyrex glass beads, which increase more than 100-times the surface area of lipid-glass contact, is more than 5-times larger than in the control experiments without glass beads. The yield of liposomes in the presence of another type of glass bead was almost the same as in the control experiments. These effects may be due to long- and short-range intermolecular interactions in the glass/water/lipid system
Spin-dependent structure functions and for inclusive spin-half baryon production in electron-positron annihilation
Two spin-dependent structure functions and for the
inclusive spin-half baryon production in electron-positron annihilation are
studied in the context of QCD factorization as well as in the naive quark
parton model. As a result, it is found that the sum of and is related to and , two quark fragmentation functions
defined by Jaffe and Ji. In connection with the measurement of quark
fragmentation functions, the possible phenomenological consequences are
discussed.Comment: RevTex, four Ps figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Simplifying the mosaic description of DNA sequences
By using the Jensen-Shannon divergence, genomic DNA can be divided into
compositionally distinct domains through a standard recursive segmentation
procedure. Each domain, while significantly different from its neighbours, may
however share compositional similarity with one or more distant
(non--neighbouring) domains. We thus obtain a coarse--grained description of
the given DNA string in terms of a smaller set of distinct domain labels. This
yields a minimal domain description of a given DNA sequence, significantly
reducing its organizational complexity. This procedure gives a new means of
evaluating genomic complexity as one examines organisms ranging from bacteria
to human. The mosaic organization of DNA sequences could have originated from
the insertion of fragments of one genome (the parasite) inside another (the
host), and we present numerical experiments that are suggestive of this
scenario.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure, Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Low electric field induction in BaTiO3-epoxy nanocomposites
Epoxy is widely used material, but epoxy has limitations in terms of brittleness in failure, and thus researchers
explore toughening and strengthening options such as adding a second phase or using electromagnetic fields
to tailor toughness and strength, on demand and nearly instantaneously. Such approach falls into the category
of active toughening but has not been extensively investigated. In this research, Si-BaTiO3 nanoparticles were
used to modify the electro-mechanical properties of a high-performance aerospace-grade epoxy so as to study
its response to electric fields, specifically low field strengths. To promote uniform dispersion and distribution, the Si-BaTiO3 nanoparticles were functionalised with silane coupling agents and mixed in the epoxy Araldite LY1564
at different content loads (1, 5, 10 wt%), which was then associated with its curing agent Aradur 3487. Real-time
measurements were conducted using Raman spectroscopy while applying electric fields to the nanocomposite
specimens. The Raman data showed a consistent trend of increasing intensity and peak broadening under
the increasing electric field strength and Si-BaTiO3 contents. This was attributed to the BaTiO3 particles’ dipolar displacement in the high-content nanocomposites (i.e., 5 wt% and 10 wt%). The study offers valuable insights on how electric field stimulation can actively enhance the mechanical properties in epoxy composites, specifically in
relatively low fields and thin, high-aspect-ratio composite layers which would require in-situ mechanical testing
equipped with electric field application, an ongoing investigation of the current research
Communication and optimal hierarchical networks
We study a general and simple model for communication processes. In the
model, agents in a network (in particular, an organization) interchange
information packets following simple rules that take into account the limited
capability of the agents to deal with packets and the cost associated to the
existence of open communication channels. Due to the limitation in the
capability, the network collapses under certain conditions. We focus on when
the collapse occurs for hierarchical networks and also on the influence of the
flatness or steepness of the structure. We find that the need for hierarchy is
related to the existence of costly connections.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. NATO ARW on Econophysic
Resolution studies of cosmic-ray tracks in a TPC with GEM readout
A large volume TPC is a leading candidate for the central tracking detector
at a future high energy linear collider. To improve the resolution a new
readout based on micro-pattern gas detectors is being developed. Measurements
of the spatial resolution of cosmic-ray tracks in a GEM TPC are presented. We
find that the resolution suffers if the readout pads are too wide with respect
to the charge distribution at the readout plane due to insufficient charge
sharing. For narrow pads of 2 x 6 mm**2 we measure a resolution of 100
micometer at short drift distances in the absence of an axial magnetic field.
The dependence of the spatial resolution as a function of drift distance allows
the determination of the underlying electron statistics. Our results show that
the present technique uses about half the statistical power available from the
number of primary electrons. The track angle effect is observed as expected.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, version as published in Nucl. Inst. Met
Rapidity distribution as a probe for elliptical flow at intermediate energies
Interplay between the spectator and participant matter in heavy-ion
collisions is investigated within isospin dependent quantum molecular dynamics
(IQMD) model in term of rapidity distribution of light charged particles. The
effect of different types and size rapidity distributions is studied in
elliptical flow. The elliptical flow patterns show important role of the nearby
spectator matter on the participant zone. This role is further explained on the
basis of passing time of the spectator and expansion time of the participant
zone. The transition from the in-plane to out-of-plane is observed only when
the mid-rapidity region is included in the rapidity bin, otherwise no
transition occurs. The transition energy is found to be highly sensitive
towards the size of the rapidity bin, while weakly on the type of the rapidity
distribution. The theoretical results are also compared with the experimental
findings and are found in good agreement.Comment: 8 figure
Profiling Occupant Behaviour in Danish Dwellings using Time Use Survey Data - Part I: Data Description and Activity Profiling
The human interaction with the building is a key cause of uncertainty when predicting energy consump- tion of buildings. Building occupants affect building energy use directly and indirectly by interacting with building energy systems, for example, by adjusting thermostats, switching lights on/off, using electri- cal devices and opening/closing windows. The occupants’ daily activity profiles and occupancy patterns clearly shape the timing and magnitude of energy demand in households. Modelling energy-related hu- man activities throughout the day, therefore, is a crucial task for prediction of energy use and, conse- quently, to reduce the gap between real and predicted building energy use. This study modelled data gathered in the diary-based Danish Time Use Survey (TUS) 2008/09 of 9640 individuals from 4679 households. Individuals’ daily activities were logged in 10-min time increments for 24 h, starting and ending at 04:00, during both weekdays and weekends. The aims of this study were to (i) profile energy-related daily activities of occupants during different seasons and weekdays/weekends (ii) investigate time-related characteristics of activities such as starting and ending times and durations, and (iii) profile occupancy patterns for weekdays/weekends for different household types. The outcomes provide valuable input for building energy simulation for bridging the gap between simulated and real energy consumption in the Danish residential sector; typical occupancy profiles for different household types for different days of the week are freely available online[1]
Depth Evaluation of Soft Tissue Mimicking Phantoms Using Surface Acoustic Waves
AbstractSurface acoustic wave (SAW) shows advantages in revealing skin mechanical properties. In this paper, we evaluates the elasticity of tissue mimicking phantoms by inversion of SAWs phase velocity to Young's Modulus, the estimated SAWs evaluating depth is determined based on the assumption of that SAWs penetration approximately equals one wavelength. The tissue mimicking phantoms are made of agar with concentration of 1%, 2% and 3%. Their elasticity tested from our system is 13.3kPa, 53.4kPa and 257.9kPa respectively, with expected gradient. The evaluation depth is then estimated as 0.542mm to 3.403mm underneath the phantom surface, which indicates that this method is suitable to measure elasticity in dermis layer of skin
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