28,720 research outputs found
Partitioning of carbon dioxide between the atmosphere and lithosphere on early Mars
It is pointed out that in addition to the 1 to 5 bar CO2 total inventory, a high level of global volcanism was needed to keep the CO2 from being drawn away permanently by weathering of igneous rocks; the volcanism would continually decompose the carbonate resulting in steady efficient recycling
Comparative Effectiveness of Step-up Therapies in Children with Asthma Prescribed Inhaled Corticosteroids : A Historical Cohort Study
This work was supported by the Respiratory Effectiveness Group. Acknowledgments We thank the Respiratory Effectiveness Group for funding this work, Annie Burden for assistance with statistics, and Simon Van Rysewyk and Lisa Law for assistance with medical writing.Peer reviewedPostprin
Perturbation theorems for Hele-Shaw flows and their applications
In this work, we give a perturbation theorem for strong polynomial solutions
to the zero surface tension Hele-Shaw equation driven by injection or suction,
so called the Polubarinova-Galin equation. This theorem enables us to explore
properties of solutions with initial functions close to but are not polynomial.
Applications of this theorem are given in the suction or injection case. In the
former case, we show that if the initial domain is close to a disk, most of
fluid will be sucked before the strong solution blows up. In the later case, we
obtain precise large-time rescaling behaviors for large data to Hele-Shaw flows
in terms of invariant Richardson complex moments. This rescaling behavior
result generalizes a recent result regarding large-time rescaling behavior for
small data in terms of moments. As a byproduct of a theorem in this paper, a
short proof of existence and uniqueness of strong solutions to the
Polubarinova-Galin equation is given.Comment: 25 page
Radiation and mortality of workers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory: positive associations for doses received at older ages.
We examined associations between low-level exposure to ionizing radiation and mortality among 14,095 workers hired at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory between 1943 and 1972. Workers at the facility were individually monitored for external exposure to ionizing radiation and have been followed through 1990 to ascertain cause of death information. Positive associations were observed between low-level exposure to external ionizing radiation and mortality. These associations were larger for doses received after 45 years of age, larger under longer lag assumptions, and primarily due to cancer causes of death. All cancer mortality was estimated to increase 4.98% [standard error (SE) = 1.5] per 10-mSv cumulative dose received after age 45 under a 10-year lag, and 7.31% (SE = 2.2) per 10-mSv cumulative dose received after age 45 under a 20-year lag. Associations between radiation dose and lung cancer were of similar magnitude to associations between radiation dose and all cancers except lung cancer. Nonmalignant respiratory disease exhibited a positive association with cumulative radiation dose received after age 45, whereas ischemic heart disease exhibited no association with radiation dose. These findings suggest increases in cancer mortality associated with low-level external exposure to ionizing radiation and potentially greater sensitivity to the carcinogenic effects of ionizing radiation with older ages at exposure
The case for a wet, warm climate on early Mars
Arguments are presented in support of the idea that Mars possessed a dense CO2 atmosphere and a wet, warm climate early in its history. The plausibility of a CO2 greenhouse is tested by formulating a simple model of the CO2 geochemical cycle on early Mars. By scaling the rate of silicate weathering on Earth, researchers estimated a weathering time constant of the order of several times 10 to the 7th power years for early Mars. Thus, a dense atmosphere could have existed for a geologically significant time period (approx. 10 to the 9th power years) only if atmospheric CO2 was being continuously resupplied. The most likely mechanism by which this could have been accomplished is the thermal decomposition of carbonate rocks induced directly or indirectly by intense, global scale volcanism
The phase-dependent Infrared brightness of the extrasolar planet upsilon Andromedae b
The star upsilon Andromeda is orbited by three known planets, the innermost
of which has an orbital period of 4.617 days and a mass at least 0.69 that of
Jupiter. This planet is close enough to its host star that the radiation it
absorbs overwhelms its internal heat losses. Here we present the 24 micron
light curve of this system, obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope. It shows
a clear variation in phase with the orbital motion of the innermost planet.
This is the first demonstration that such planets possess distinct hot
substellar (day) and cold antistellar (night) faces.Comment: "Director's cut" of paper to appear in Science, 27 October, 200
Fast nonadiabatic dynamics of many-body quantum systems
Modeling many-body quantum systems with strong interactions is one of the core challenges of modern physics. A range of methods has been developed to approach this task, each with its own idiosyncrasies, approximations, and realm of applicability. However, there remain many problems that are intractable for existing methods. In particular, many approaches face a huge computational barrier when modeling large numbers of coupled electrons and ions at finite temperature. Here, we address this shortfall with a new approach to modeling many-body quantum systems. On the basis of the Bohmian trajectory formalism, our new method treats the full particle dynamics with a considerable increase in computational speed. As a result, we are able to perform large-scale simulations of coupled electron-ion systems without using the adiabatic Born-Oppenheimer approximation
Duality, thermodynamics, and the linear programming problem in constraint-based models of metabolism
It is shown that the dual to the linear programming problem that arises in
constraint-based models of metabolism can be given a thermodynamic
interpretation in which the shadow prices are chemical potential analogues, and
the objective is to minimise free energy consumption given a free energy drain
corresponding to growth. The interpretation is distinct from conventional
non-equilibrium thermodynamics, although it does satisfy a minimum entropy
production principle. It can be used to motivate extensions of constraint-based
modelling, for example to microbial ecosystems.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, RevTeX 4, final accepted versio
Systematic derivation of a surface polarization model for planar perovskite solar cells
Increasing evidence suggests that the presence of mobile ions in perovskite
solar cells can cause a current-voltage curve hysteresis. Steady state and
transient current-voltage characteristics of a planar metal halide
CHNHPbI perovskite solar cell are analysed with a drift-diffusion
model that accounts for both charge transport and ion vacancy motion. The high
ion vacancy density within the perovskite layer gives rise to narrow Debye
layers (typical width 2nm), adjacent to the interfaces with the transport
layers, over which large drops in the electric potential occur and in which
significant charge is stored. Large disparities between (I) the width of the
Debye layers and that of the perovskite layer (600nm) and (II) the ion
vacancy density and the charge carrier densities motivate an asymptotic
approach to solving the model, while the stiffness of the equations renders
standard solution methods unreliable. We derive a simplified surface
polarisation model in which the slow ion dynamic are replaced by interfacial
(nonlinear) capacitances at the perovskite interfaces. Favourable comparison is
made between the results of the asymptotic approach and numerical solutions for
a realistic cell over a wide range of operating conditions of practical
interest.Comment: 32 pages, 7 figure
Multidimensional Pattern Formation Has an Infinite Number of Constants of Motion
Extending our previous work on 2D growth for the Laplace equation we study
here {\it multidimensional} growth for {\it arbitrary elliptic} equations,
describing inhomogeneous and anisotropic pattern formations processes. We find
that these nonlinear processes are governed by an infinite number of
conservation laws. Moreover, in many cases {\it all dynamics of the interface
can be reduced to the linear time--dependence of only one ``moment" }
which corresponds to the changing volume while {\it all higher moments, ,
are constant in time. These moments have a purely geometrical nature}, and thus
carry information about the moving shape. These conserved quantities (eqs.~(7)
and (8) of this article) are interpreted as coefficients of the multipole
expansion of the Newtonian potential created by the mass uniformly occupying
the domain enclosing the moving interface. Thus the question of how to recover
the moving shape using these conserved quantities is reduced to the classical
inverse potential problem of reconstructing the shape of a body from its
exterior gravitational potential. Our results also suggest the possibility of
controlling a moving interface by appropriate varying the location and strength
of sources and sinks.Comment: CYCLER Paper 93feb00
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