4,152 research outputs found
Links between topography, wind, deflation, lakes and dust: The case of the Bodélé Depression, Chad
The Bodélé Depression, Chad is the planet's largest single source of dust. Deflation from the Bodélé could be seen as a simple coincidence of two key prerequisites: strong surface winds and a large source of suitable sediment. But here we hypothesise that long term links between topography, winds, deflation and dust ensure the maintenance of the dust source such that these two apparently coincidental key ingredients are connected by land-atmosphere processes with topography acting as the overall controlling agent. We use a variety of observational and numerical techniques, including a regional climate model, to show that: 1) contemporary deflation from the Bodélé is delineated by topography and a surface wind stress maximum; 2) the Tibesti and Ennedi mountains play a key role in the generation of the erosive winds in the form of the Bodélé Low Level Jet (LLJ); 3) enhanced deflation from a stronger Bodélé LLJ during drier phases, for example, the Last Glacial Maximum, was probably sufficient to create the shallow lake in which diatoms lived during wetter phases, such as the Holocene pluvial. Winds may therefore have helped to create the depression in which erodible diatom material accumulated. Instead of a simple coincidence of nature, dust from the world's largest source may result from the operation of long term processes on paleo timescales which have led to ideal conditions for dust generation in the world's largest dust source. Similar processes plausibly operate in other dust hotspots in topographic depressions
Electronic structure and optical properties of ZnX (X=O, S, Se, Te)
Electronic band structure and optical properties of zinc monochalcogenides
with zinc-blende- and wurtzite-type structures were studied using the ab initio
density functional method within the LDA, GGA, and LDA+U approaches.
Calculations of the optical spectra have been performed for the energy range
0-20 eV, with and without including spin-orbit coupling. Reflectivity,
absorption and extinction coefficients, and refractive index have been computed
from the imaginary part of the dielectric function using the Kramers--Kronig
transformations. A rigid shift of the calculated optical spectra is found to
provide a good first approximation to reproduce experimental observations for
almost all the zinc monochalcogenide phases considered. By inspection of the
calculated and experimentally determined band-gap values for the zinc
monochalcogenide series, the band gap of ZnO with zinc-blende structure has
been estimated.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figure
Coherent Radiation from Extensive Air Showers in the Ultra-High Frequency Band
Using detailed Monte Carlo simulations we have characterized the features of
the radio emission of inclined air showers in the Ultra-High Frequency band
(300 MHz - 3 GHz). The Fourier-spectrum of the radiation is shown to have a
sizable intensity well into the GHz frequency range. The emission is mainly due
to transverse currents induced by the geomagnetic field and to the excess
charge produced by the Askaryan effect. At these frequencies only a
significantly reduced volume of the shower around the axis contributes
coherently to the signal observed on the ground. The size of the coherently
emitting volume depends on frequency, shower geometry and observer position,
and is interpreted in terms of the relative time delays. At ground level, the
maximum emission at high frequencies is concentrated in an elliptical ring-like
region around the intersection of a Cherenkov cone with its vertex at shower
maximum and the ground. The frequency spectrum of inclined showers when
observed at positions that view shower maximum in the Cherenkov direction, is
shown to be in broad agreement with the pulses detected by the Antarctic
Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) experiment, making the interpretation that
they are due to Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray atmospheric showers consistent
with our simulations. These results are also of great importance for
experiments aiming to detect molecular bremsstrahlung radiation in the GHz
range as they present an important background for its detection.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure
Two-qubit parametric amplifier: large amplification of weak signals
Using numerical simulations, we show that two coupled qubits can amplify a
weak signal about hundredfold. This can be achieved if the two qubits are
biased simultaneously by this weak signal and a strong pump signal, both of
which having frequencies close to the inter-level transitions in the system.
The weak signal strongly affects the spectrum generated by the strong pumping
drive by producing and controlling mixed harmonics with amplitudes of the order
of the main harmonic of the strong drive. We show that the amplification is
robust with respect to noise, with an intensity of the order of the weak
signal. When deviating from the optimal regime (corresponding to strong qubit
coupling and a weak-signal frequency equal to the inter-level transition
frequency) the proposed amplifier becomes less efficient, but it can still
considerably enhance a weak signal (by several tens). We therefore propose to
use coupled qubits as a combined parametric amplifier and frequency shifter.Comment: 6 figure
The structures of Hausdorff metric in non-Archimedean spaces
For non-Archimedean spaces and let and be the
ballean of (the family of the balls in ), the space of mappings from
to and the space of mappings from the ballen of to
respectively. By studying explicitly the Hausdorff metric structures related to
these spaces, we construct several families of new metric structures (e.g., ) on the corresponding spaces, and study their convergence,
structural relation, law of variation in the variable including
some normed algebra structure. To some extent, the class is a counterpart of the usual Levy-Prohorov metric in the
probability measure spaces, but it behaves very differently, and is interesting
in itself. Moreover, when is compact and is a complete
non-Archimedean field, we construct and study a Dudly type metric of the space
of valued measures on Comment: 43 pages; this is the final version. Thanks to the anonymous
referee's helpful comments, the original Theorem 2.10 is removed, Proposition
2.10 is stated now in a stronger form, the abstact is rewritten, the
Monna-Springer is used in Section 5, and Theorem 5.2 is written in a more
general for
Ultrasonic Wave Propagation Assessment of Native Cartilage Explants and Hydrogel Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering
Non-destructive techniques characterising the mechanical properties of cells, tissues, and biomaterials provide baseline metrics for tissue engineering design. Ultrasonic wave propagation and attenuation has previously demonstrated the dynamics of extracellular matrix synthesis in chondrocyte-seeded hydrogel constructs. In this paper, we describe an ultrasonic method to analyse two of the construct elements used to engineer articular cartilage in real-time, native cartilage explants and an agarose biomaterial. Results indicated a similarity in wave propagation velocity ranges for both longitudinal (1500-1745 m/s) and transverse (350-950 m/s) waveforms. Future work will apply an acoustoelastic analysis to distinguish between the fluid and solid properties including the cell and matrix biokinetics as a validation of previous mathematical models
Double differentiation in a cross-national comparison of populist political movements and online media uses in the United States and the Netherlands
In a context of highly visible and politically influential populist movements, this study considers the online self-representation of the Tea Party Patriots (TPP) in the United States and the Party for Freedom (PVV) in the Netherlands. A multi-methodological approach was adopted to compare the discursive manifestation of key populism concepts: leadership characteristics, adversary definition and mobilizing information. Analyses reconstruct and account for similarities and differences in discursive framing strategies of 'double differentiation' through which both movements attempt inclusion in and exclusion from the political establishment, and, in doing so, mobilize communities of support. Altogether, this study advances the understanding of what constitutes 'unmediated' content that is presented through user-generated media production, and how self-determined media spaces have facilitated shifts in populist media legitimation and political representation in two politically unique countries
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