20,445 research outputs found
Dealiasing techniques for high-order spectral element methods on regular and irregular grids
High-order methods are becoming increasingly attractive in both academia and industry, especially in the context of computational fluid dynamics. However, before they can be more widely adopted, issues such as lack of robustness in terms of numerical stability need to be addressed, particularly when treating industrial-type problems where challenging geometries and a wide range of physical scales, typically due to high Reynolds numbers, need to be taken into account. One source of instability is aliasing effects which arise from the nonlinearity of the underlying problem. In this work we detail two dealiasing strategies based on the concept of consistent integration. The first uses a localised approach, which is useful when the nonlinearities only arise in parts of the problem. The second is based on the more traditional approach of using a higher quadrature. The main goal of both dealiasing techniques is to improve the robustness of high order spectral element methods, thereby reducing aliasing-driven instabilities. We demonstrate how these two strategies can be effectively applied to both continuous and discontinuous discretisations, where, in the latter, both volumetric and interface approximations must be considered. We show the key features of each dealiasing technique applied to the scalar conservation law with numerical examples and we highlight the main differences in terms of implementation between continuous and discontinuous spatial discretisations
Self-oscillations in field emission nanowire mechanical resonators: a nanometric DC-AC conversion
We report the observation of self-oscillations in a bottom-up
nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) during field emission driven by a constant
applied voltage. An electromechanical model is explored that explains the
phenomenon and that can be directly used to develop integrated devices. In this
first study we have already achieved ~50% DC/AC (direct to alternative current)
conversion. Electrical self-oscillations in NEMS open up a new path for the
development of high speed, autonomous nanoresonators, and signal generators and
show that field emission (FE) is a powerful tool for building new
nano-components
A ring trap for ultracold atoms
We propose a new kind of toroidal trap, designed for ultracold atoms. It
relies on a combination of a magnetic trap for rf-dressed atoms, which creates
a bubble-like trap, and a standing wave of light. This new trap is well suited
for investigating questions of low dimensionality in a ring potential. We study
the trap characteristics for a set of experimentally accessible parameters. A
loading procedure from a conventional magnetic trap is also proposed. The
flexible nature of this new ring trap, including an adjustable radius and
adjustable transverse oscillation frequencies, will allow the study of
superfluidity in variable geometries and dimensionalities.Comment: 4 figures, 10 pages ; the order of the sections has been changed ; to
appear in Phys. Rev.
Public contracts as accountability mechanisms: assuring quality in public healthcare in England and Wales
Contracting in the public sector is designed to enhance the accountability of service providers to their funders. The idea is that quality is improved by the use of service specifications, monitoring of performance and imposition of contractual sanctions. Socio-legal and economic theories of contract indicate that it will be difficult to make and enforce contracts to achieve this. The results of a study of National Health Services contracting in England and Wales are reported. We conclude that contracts alone are not sufficient to improve accountability – collibration of various regulatory measures (including more hierarchical mechanisms such as performance targets) is required
Antigenic and genetic evolution of contemporary swine H1 influenza viruses in the United States
Several lineages of influenza A viruses (IAV) currently circulate in North American pigs. Genetic diversity is further increased by transmission of IAV between swine and humans and subsequent evolution. Here, we characterized the genetic and antigenic evolution of contemporary swine H1N1 and H1N2 viruses representing clusters H1-α (1A.1), H1-β (1A.2), H1pdm (1A.3.3.2), H1-γ (1A.3.3.3), H1-δ1 (1B.2.2), and H1-δ2 (1B.2.1) currently circulating in pigs in the United States. The δ1-viruses diversified into two new genetic clades, H1-δ1a (1B.2.2.1) and H1-δ1b (1B.2.2.2), which were also antigenically distinct from the earlier H1-δ1-viruses. Further characterization revealed that a few key amino acid changes were associated with antigenic divergence in these groups. The continued genetic and antigenic evolution of contemporary H1 viruses might lead to loss of vaccine cross-protection that could lead to significant economic impact to the swine industry, and represents a challenge to public health initiatives that attempt to minimize swine-to-human IAV transmission
Verbal estimation of distance in a simulated space environment
Human performance in estimating distances in simulated space environmen
Antibodies to acetylcholine receptor in parous women with myasthenia: evidence for immunization by fetal antigen
The weakness in myasthenia gravis (MG) is mediated by autoantibodies against adult muscle acetylcholine receptors (AChR) at the neuromuscular junction; most of these antibodies also bind to fetal AChR, which is present in the thymus. In rare cases, babies of mothers with MG, or even of asymptomatic mothers, develop a severe developmental condition, arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, caused by antibodies that inhibit the ion channel function of the fetal AChR while not affecting the adult AChR. Here we show that these fetal AChR inhibitory antibodies are significantly more common in females sampled after pregnancy than in those who present before pregnancy, suggesting that they may be induced by the fetus. Moreover, we were able to clone high-affinity combinatorial Fab antibodies from thymic cells of two mothers with MG who had babies with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita. These Fabs were highly specific for fetal AChR and did not bind the main immunogenic region that is common to fetal and adult AChR. The Fabs show strong biases to VH3 heavy chains and to a single Vk1 light chain in one mother. Nevertheless, they each show extensive intraclonal diversification from a highly mutated consensus sequence, consistent with antigen-driven selection in successive steps. Collectively, our results suggest that, in some cases of MG, initial immunization against fetal AChR is followed by diversification and expansion of B cells in the thymus; maternal autoimmunity will result if the immune response spreads to the main immunogenic region and other epitopes common to fetal and adult AChR
The Atmospheric Monitoring Strategy for the Cherenkov Telescope Array
The Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique (IACT) is unusual in astronomy as
the atmosphere actually forms an intrinsic part of the detector system, with
telescopes indirectly detecting very high energy particles by the generation
and transport of Cherenkov photons deep within the atmosphere. This means that
accurate measurement, characterisation and monitoring of the atmosphere is at
the very heart of successfully operating an IACT system. The Cherenkov
Telescope Array (CTA) will be the next generation IACT observatory with an
ambitious aim to improve the sensitivity of an order of magnitude over current
facilities, along with corresponding improvements in angular and energy
resolution and extended energy coverage, through an array of Large (23m),
Medium (12m) and Small (4m) sized telescopes spread over an area of order
~km. Whole sky coverage will be achieved by operating at two sites: one in
the northern hemisphere and one in the southern hemisphere. This proceedings
will cover the characterisation of the candidate sites and the atmospheric
calibration strategy. CTA will utilise a suite of instrumentation and analysis
techniques for atmospheric modelling and monitoring regarding pointing
forecasts, intelligent pointing selection for the observatory operations and
for offline data correction.Comment: 6 pages. To appear in the proceedings of the Adapting to the
Atmosphere conference 201
Evidence for Quadratic Tidal Tensor Bias from the Halo Bispectrum
The relation between the clustering properties of luminous matter in the form
of galaxies and the underlying dark matter distribution is of fundamental
importance for the interpretation of ongoing and upcoming galaxy surveys. The
so called local bias model, where galaxy density is a function of local matter
density, is frequently discussed as a means to infer the matter power spectrum
or correlation function from the measured galaxy correlation. However,
gravitational evolution generates a term quadratic in the tidal tensor and thus
non-local in the density field, even if this term is absent in the initial
conditions (Lagrangian space). Because the term is quadratic, it contributes as
a loop correction to the power spectrum, so the standard linear bias picture
still applies on large scales, however, it contributes at leading order to the
bispectrum for which it is significant on all scales. Such a term could also be
present in Lagrangian space if halo formation were influenced by the tidal
field. We measure the corresponding coupling strengths from the
matter-matter-halo bispectrum in numerical simulations and find a non-vanishing
coefficient for the tidal tensor term. We find no scale dependence of the bias
parameters up to k=0.1 h/Mpc and that the tidal effect is increasing with halo
mass. While the Lagrangian bias picture is a better description of our results
than the Eulerian bias picture, our results suggest that there might be a tidal
tensor bias already in the initial conditions. We also find that the
coefficients of the quadratic density term deviate quite strongly from the
theoretical predictions based on the spherical collapse model and a universal
mass function. Both quadratic density and tidal tensor bias terms must be
included in the modeling of galaxy clustering of current and future surveys if
one wants to achieve the high precision cosmology promise of these datasets.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl
- …