16,052 research outputs found
Micrometre-scale refrigerators
A superconductor with a gap in the density of states or a quantum dot with
discrete energy levels is a central building block in realizing an electronic
on-chip cooler. They can work as energy filters, allowing only hot
quasiparticles to tunnel out from the electrode to be cooled. This principle
has been employed experimentally since the early 1990s in investigations and
demonstrations of micrometre-scale coolers at sub-kelvin temperatures. In this
paper, we review the basic experimental conditions in realizing the coolers and
the main practical issues that are known to limit their performance. We give an
update of experiments performed on cryogenic micrometre-scale coolers in the
past five years
Clustering of the Diffuse Infrared Light from the COBE DIRBE maps. III. Power spectrum analysis and excess isotropic component of fluctuations
The cosmic infrared background (CIB) radiation is the cosmic repository for
energy release throughout the history of the universe. Using the all-sky data
from the COBE DIRBE instrument at wavelengths 1.25 - 100 mic we attempt to
measure the CIB fluctuations. In the near-IR, foreground emission is dominated
by small scale structure due to stars in the Galaxy. There we find a strong
correlation between the amplitude of the fluctuations and Galactic latitude
after removing bright foreground stars. Using data outside the Galactic plane
() and away from the center () we extrapolate
the amplitude of the fluctuations to cosec. We find a positive intercept
of nW/m2/sr at 1.25, 2.2,3.5 and 4.9 mic
respectively, where the errors are the range of 92% confidence limits. For
color subtracted maps between band 1 and 2 we find the isotropic part of the
fluctuations at nW/m2/sr. Based on detailed numerical and
analytic models, this residual is not likely to originate from the Galaxy, our
clipping algorithm, or instrumental noise. We demonstrate that the residuals
from the fit used in the extrapolation are distributed isotropically and
suggest that this extra variance may result from structure in the CIB. For
2\deg< \theta < 15^\deg, a power-spectrum analysis yields firm upper limits
of (\theta/5^\deg) \times\delta F_{\rm rms} (\theta) < 6, 2.5, 0.8, 0.5
nW/m2/sr at 1.25, 2.2, 3.5 and 4.9 mic respectively. From 10-100 mic, the upper
limits <1 nW/m2/sr.Comment: Ap.J., in press. 69 pages including 24 fig
A physics-based life prediction methodology for thermal barrier coating systems
A novel mechanistic approach is proposed for the prediction of the life of
thermal barrier coating (TBC) systems. The life prediction methodology is based
on a criterion linked directly to the dominant failure mechanism. It relies on
a statistical treatment of the TBC's morphological characteristics,
non-destructive stress measurements and on a continuum mechanics framework to
quantify the stresses that promote the nucleation and growth of microcracks
within the TBC. The last of these accounts for the effects of TBC constituents'
elasto-visco-plastic properties, the stiffening of the ceramic due to sintering
and the oxidation at the interface between the thermally insulating yttria
stabilized zirconia (YSZ) layer and the metallic bond coat. The mechanistic
approach is used to investigate the effects on TBC life of the properties and
morphology of the top YSZ coating, metallic low-pressure plasma sprayed bond
coat and the thermally grown oxide. Its calibration is based on TBC damage
inferred from non-destructive fluorescence measurements using
piezo-spectroscopy and on the numerically predicted local TBC stresses
responsible for the initiation of such damage. The potential applicability of
the methodology to other types of TBC coatings and thermal loading conditions
is also discussed
A simple, efficient, and general treatment of the singularities in Hartree-Fock and exact-exchange Kohn-Sham methods for solids
We present a general scheme for treating the integrable singular terms within
exact exchange (EXX) Kohn-Sham or Hartree-Fock (HF) methods for periodic
solids. We show that the singularity corrections for treating these
divergencies depend only on the total number and the positions of k-points and
on the lattice vectors, in particular the unit cell volume, but not on the
particular positions of atoms within the unit cell. The method proposed here to
treat the singularities constitutes a stable, simple to implement, and general
scheme that can be applied to systems with arbitrary lattice parameters within
either the EXX Kohn-Sham or the HF formalism. We apply the singularity
correction to a typical symmetric structure, diamond, and to a more general
structure, trans-polyacetylene. We consider the effect of the singularity
corrections on volume optimisations and k-point convergence. While the
singularity corrections clearly depends on the total number of k-points, it
exhibits a remarkably small dependence upon the choice of the specific
arrangement of the k-points.Comment: 24 pages, 5 Figures, re-submitted to Phys. Rev. B after revision
Magellan stereo images and Venusian geology
Areas of Venus imaged by Magellan radar with multiple viewing conditions provide unique data that will contribute to the solution of venusian geologic problems and provide a basis for quantitative comparison of venusian landforms with those on other planetary bodies. Three sets of images with different viewing conditions have been acquired: (1) left-looking with variable incidence angles (cycle 1 profile), (2) right-looking with nearly constant incidence angles (cycle 2 profile), and (3) left-looking with variable incidence angles that are almost always smaller than those in (1) (cycle 3 profiles). The unique data provided by paired images of the same scene with different incidence angles arises from image displacements caused by the relief of individual landforms at scales comparable to the ground-range and azimuth resolutions of the images. There are two aspects of the data: (1) Stereopsis achieved by simultaneous viewing of paired left-looking images of the same scene permits three-dimensional perception and interpretation of the morphologies of landforms at resolutions much finer than the altimetry footprints. (2) Measurements of differences of image displacements (parallax) on paired images with known imaging geometries provide quantitative estimates of the relief and shapes of landforms. The potential scientific contributions of the data can be grouped into two interrelated classes: (A) geologic mapping, analysis, and interpretation and (B) topical studies that involve topographic measurements. Stereopsis, without quantitative measurements, enhances geologic mapping, analysis, and interpretation of the rock units of Venus to a degree that cannot be overestimated. In geologic mapping, assemblages of landforms, assessments of backscatter and variations in backscatter, and fine-scale topography are used to define and characterize geologic map units that represent laterally continuous deposits or rock units. Stereopsis adds the important dimension of local relief for characterization of geologic units at a scale that is not possible with Magellan altimetry or products derived from the altimetry. Relative ages of the geologic units are determined using the well-known principles of superposition and intersection. Here, the perception of relief is invaluable because superposition relations among the geological units are more readily and clearly established. The recognition of folds, faults, and fault systems, regardless of their orientations, is facilitated with stereopsis so that sequences of deformation of the geologic units can be determined and structural analyses vastly improved. Shapes of landforms are readily perceived so that they can be properly interpreted. The end result of the mapping, analyses, and interpretations is a geologic history of Venus that includes the sequences of formation and deformation of various geologic units. Measurements of relief at the finest scale possible are necessary for numerous topical studies. Standard altimetry will provide the necessary information on the relief of most large landforms, but it tends to underestimate the relief of small landforms and distorts their shapes. Although special processing of the altimeter echoes improves the estimates of the relief and shapes of some landforms, there are uncertainties in the interpretations of the echoes. Examples of topical studies requiring measurements of relief are given
Band structures of rare gas solids within the GW approximation
Band structures for solid rare gases (Ne, Ar) have been calculated using the
GW approximation. All electron and pseudopotential ab initio calculations were
performed using Gaussian orbital basis sets and the dependence of particle-hole
gaps and electron affinities on basis set and treatment of core electrons is
investigated. All electron GW calculations have a smaller particle-hole gap
than pseudopotential GW calculations by up to 0.2 eV. Quasiparticle electron
and hole excitation energies, valence band widths and electron affinities are
generally in very good agreement with those derived from optical absorption and
photoemission measurements.Comment: 7 pages 1 figur
The Power Spectrum of the PSC Redshift Survey
We measure the redshift-space power spectrum P(k) for the recently completed
IRAS Point Source Catalogue (PSC) redshift survey, which contains 14500
galaxies over 84% of the sky with 60 micron flux >= 0.6 Jansky. Comparison with
simulations shows that our estimated errors on P(k) are realistic, and that
systematic errors due to the finite survey volume are small for wavenumbers k
>~ 0.03 h Mpc^-1. At large scales our power spectrum is intermediate between
those of the earlier QDOT and 1.2 Jansky surveys, but with considerably smaller
error bars; it falls slightly more steeply to smaller scales. We have fitted
families of CDM-like models using the Peacock-Dodds formula for non-linear
evolution; the results are somewhat sensitive to the assumed small-scale
velocity dispersion \sigma_V. Assuming a realistic \sigma_V \approx 300 km/s
yields a shape parameter \Gamma ~ 0.25 and normalisation b \sigma_8 ~ 0.75; if
\sigma_V is as high as 600 km/s then \Gamma = 0.5 is only marginally excluded.
There is little evidence for any `preferred scale' in the power spectrum or
non-Gaussian behaviour in the distribution of large-scale power.Comment: Latex, uses mn.sty, 14 pages including 11 Postscript figures.
Accepted by MNRA
Examining the potential public health benefit of offering STI testing to men in amateur football clubs: evidence from cross-sectional surveys
Background: In Britain, young people continue to bear the burden of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) so efforts are required, especially among men, to encourage STI testing. The SPORTSMART study trialled an intervention that sought to achieve this by offering chlamydia and gonorrhoea test-kits to men attending amateur football clubs between October and December 2012. With football the highest participation team sport among men in England, this paper examines the potential public health benefit of offering STI testing to men in this setting by assessing their sociodemographic characteristics, sexual behaviours, and healthcare behaviour and comparing them to men in the general population. Methods: Data were collected from 192 (male) members of 6 football clubs in London, United Kingdom, aged 18–44 years via a 20-item pen-and-paper self-completion questionnaire administered 2 weeks after the intervention. These were compared to data collected from 409 men of a similar age who were resident in London when interviewed during 2010–2012 for the third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3), a national probability survey that used computer-assisted-personal-interviewing with computer-assisted-self-interview. Age standardisation and multivariable regression were used to account for sociodemographic differences between the surveys. Results: Relative to men in the general population, SPORTSMART men were younger (32.8 % vs. 21.7 % aged under 25 y), and more likely to report (all past year) at least 2 sexual partners (adjusted odds ratio, AOR: 3.25, 95 % CI: 2.15–4.92), concurrent partners (AOR: 2.05, 95 % CI: 1.39–3.02), and non-use of condoms (AOR: 2.17, 95 % CI: 1.39–3.41). No difference was observed in STI/HIV risk perception (AOR for reporting “not at all at risk” of STIs: 1.25, 95 % CI: 0.76–2.04; of HIV: AOR: 1.54, 95 % CI: 0.93–2.55), nor in reporting STI testing in the past year (AOR: 0.83, 95 % CI: 0.44–1.54), which was reported by only one in six men. Conclusions: Relative to young men in the general population, football club members who completed the SPORTSMART survey reported greater sexual risk behaviour but similar STI/HIV risk perception and STI testing history. Offering STI testing in amateur football clubs may therefore widen access to STI testing and health promotion messages for men at higher STI risk, which, given the minority currently testing and the popularity of football in England, should yield both individual and public health benefit
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