7,984 research outputs found
Test of the fluctuation theorem for stochastic entropy production in a nonequilibrium steady state
We derive a simple closed analytical expression for the total entropy
production along a single stochastic trajectory of a Brownian particle
diffusing on a periodic potential under an external constant force. By
numerical simulations we compute the probability distribution functions of the
entropy and satisfactorily test many of the predictions based on Seifert's
integral fluctuation theorem. The results presented for this simple model
clearly illustrate the practical features and implications derived from such a
result of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics.Comment: Accepted in Phys. Rev.
Development and Evaluation of a Mentorship to Hire Program for Facilitating Nursing Role Development and Transition to Practice
The purpose of this poster is to present an ongoing community engaged research (CER) initiative at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth College of Nursing (CON) examining in what ways a mentorship to hire (MTH) program with community partners may facilitate role development and transition to practice for senior nursing students and retention in health care organizations upon graduation.
New nursing graduates have a difficult time transitioning to practice in part because of unrealistic perceptions about the nursing role. Difficult transitions can be costly to health care organizations (HCO) who often invest time and money in new graduate hires only for them to leave the practice setting after a short period of time. An additional concern is a current and anticipated shortage of nurses in specialty areas such as post-operative, emergency, and psychiatric nursing. As part of the CON curriculum, senior nursing students must complete 120 hours of mentorship in a health care organization during the last semester of their program where students are paired with a professional registered nurse in a one-on-one concentrated practicum. This practicum provides students with clinical experiences and facilitates transitions to practice, however, HCOs often have a limited number of nurses available for precepting our students in part because of an increased demand and competition between nursing schools for clinical placements.
In an effort to find a mutually beneficial solution, a mentorship to hire program was proposed and developed between two health care organizations and the CON. This poster will discuss the development of the CER program and plans for assessing transition to practice, perceptions of readiness for practice, role development, and retention of the new graduates upon completion of the program. Furthermore plans for evaluating health care organization perceptions including evaluation of fit for organizations, costs associated with training, and retention will also be presented
The vicinal difluoro motif : the synthesis and conformation of erythro- and threo-diastereoisomers of 1,2-difluorodiphenylethanes, 2,3-difluorosuccinic acids and their derivatives
Background: It is well established that vicinal fluorines (RCHF-CHFR) prefer to adopt a gauche rather than an anti conformation when placed along aliphatic chains. This has been particularly recognised for 1,2-difluoroethane and extends to 2,3-difluorobutane and longer alkyl chains. It follows in these latter cases that if erythro and threo vicinal difluorinated stereoisomers are compared, they will adopt different overall conformations if the fluorines prefer to be gauche in each case. This concept is explored in this paper with erythro- and threo- diastereoisomers of 2,3-difluorosuccinates. Results: A synthetic route to 2,3-difluorosuccinates has been developed through erythro- and threo- 1,2-difluoro-1,2-diphenylethane which involved the oxidation of the aryl rings to generate the corresponding 2,3- difluorosuccinic acids. Ester and amide derivatives of the erythro- and threo- 2,3-difluorosuccinic acids were then prepared. The solid and solution state conformation of these compounds was assessed by X-ray crystallography and NMR. Ab initio calculations were also carried out to model the conformation of erythro- and threo- 1,2-difluoro-1,2-diphenylethane as these differed from the 2,3-difluorosuccinates. Conclusion: In general the overall chain conformations of the 2,3-difluorosuccinates diastereoisomers were found to be influenced by the fluorine gauche effect. The study highlights the prospects of utilising the vicinal difluorine motif (RCHF-CHFR) as a tool for influencing the conformation of performance organic molecules and particularly tuning conformation by selecting specific diastereoisomers (erythro or threo).Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
Fluorine in a Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor Star
The fluorine abundance of the Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor (CEMP) star HE
1305+0132 has been derived by analysis of the molecular HF (1-0) R9 line at
2.3357 microns in a high-resolution (R = 50,000) spectrum obtained with the
Phoenix spectrometer and Gemini-South telescope. Our abundance analysis makes
use of a CNO-enhanced ATLAS12 model atmosphere characterized by a metallicity
and CNO enhancements determined utilizing medium-resolution (R = 3,000) optical
and near-IR spectra. The effective iron abundance is found to be [Fe/H] = -2.5,
making HE 1305+0132 the most Fe-deficient star, by more than an order of
magnitude, for which the abundance of fluorine has been measured. Using
spectral synthesis, we derive a super-solar fluorine abundance of A(19F) = 4.96
+/- 0.21, corresponding to a relative abundance of [F/Fe] = 2.90. A single line
of the Phillips C_2 system is identified in our Phoenix spectrum, and along
with multiple lines of the first-overtone vibration-rotation CO (3-1) band
head, C and O abundances of A(12C) = 8.57 +/- 0.11 and A(16O) = 7.04 +/- 0.14
are derived. We consider the striking fluorine overabundance in the framework
of the nucleosynthetic processes thought to be responsible for the
C-enhancement of CEMP stars and conclude that the atmosphere of HE 1305+0132
was polluted via mass transfer by a primary companion during its asymptotic
giant branch phase. This is the first study of fluorine in a CEMP star, and it
demonstrates that this rare nuclide can be a key diagnostic of nucleosynthetic
processes in the early Galaxy.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures; Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Comparison of Josephson vortex flow transistors with different gate line configurations
We performed numerical simulations and experiments on Josephson vortex flow
transistors based on parallel arrays of YBa2Cu3O(7-x) grain boundary junctions
with a cross gate-line allowing to operate the same devices in two different
modes named Josephson fluxon transistor (JFT) and Josephson fluxon-antifluxon
transistor (JFAT). The simulations yield a general expression for the current
gain vs. number of junctions and normalized loop inductance and predict higher
current gain for the JFAT. The experiments are in good agreement with
simulations and show improved coupling between gate line and junctions for the
JFAT as compared to the JFT.Comment: 3 pages, 6 figures, accept. for publication in Appl. Phys. Let
Li I and K I Scatter in Cool Pleiades Dwarfs
We utilize high-resolution (R~60,000), high S/N (~100) spectroscopy of 17
cool Pleiades dwarfs to examine the confounding star-to-star scatter in the
6707 Li I line strengths in this young cluster. Our Pleiads, selected for their
small projected rotational velocity and modest chromospheric emission, evince
substantial scatter in the linestrengths of 6707 Li I feature that is absent in
the 7699 K I resonance line. The Li I scatter is not correlated with that in
the high-excitation 7774 O I feature, and the magnitude of the former is
greater than the latter despite the larger temperature sensitivity of the O I
feature. These results suggest that systematic errors in linestrength
measurements due to blending, color (or color-based T_eff) errors, or line
formation effects related to an overlying chromosphere are not the principal
source of Li I scatter in our stars. There do exist analytic spot models that
can produce the observed Li scatter without introducing scatter in the K I line
strengths or the color-magnitude diagram. However, these models predict factor
of >3 differences in abundances derived from the subordinate 6104 and resonance
6707 Li I features; we find no difference in the abundances determined from
these two features. These analytic spot models also predict CN line strengths
significantly larger than we observe in our spectra. The simplest explanation
of the Li, K, CN, and photometric data is that there must be a real abundance
component to the Pleiades Li dispersion. We suggest that this real abundance
component is the manifestation of relic differences in erstwhile
pre-main-sequence Li burning caused by effects of surface activity on stellar
structure. We discuss observational predictions of these effects.Comment: 35 pages, 7 figures; accepted by Ap
PEPSI deep spectra. III. A chemical analysis of the ancient planet-host star Kepler-444
We obtained an LBT/PEPSI spectrum with very high resolution and high
signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of the K0V host Kepler-444, which is known to host
5 sub-Earth size rocky planets. The spectrum has a resolution of R=250,000, a
continuous wavelength coverage from 4230 to 9120A, and S/N between 150 and
550:1 (blue to red). We performed a detailed chemical analysis to determine the
photospheric abundances of 18 chemical elements, in order to use the abundances
to place constraints on the bulk composition of the five rocky planets. Our
spectral analysis employs the equivalent width method for most of our spectral
lines, but we used spectral synthesis to fit a small number of lines that
require special care. In both cases, we derived our abundances using the MOOG
spectral analysis package and Kurucz model atmospheres. We find no correlation
between elemental abundance and condensation temperature among the refractory
elements. In addition, using our spectroscopic stellar parameters and isochrone
fitting, we find an age of 10+/-1.5 Gyr, which is consistent with the
asteroseismic age of 11+/-1 Gyr. Finally, from the photospheric abundances of
Mg, Si, and Fe, we estimate that the typical Fe-core mass fraction for the
rocky planets in the Kepler-444 system is approximately 24 per cent. If our
estimate of the Fe-core mass fraction is confirmed by more detailed modeling of
the disk chemistry and simulations of planet formation and evolution in the
Kepler-444 system, then this would suggest that rocky planets in more
metal-poor and alpha-enhanced systems may tend to be less dense than their
counterparts of comparable size in more metal-rich systems.Comment: in press, 11 pages, 3 figures, data available from pepsi.aip.d
Measurement of Stochastic Entropy Production
Using fluorescence spectroscopy we directly measure entropy production of a
single two-level system realized experimentally as an optically driven defect
center in diamond. We exploit a recent suggestion to define entropy on the
level of a single stochastic trajectory (Seifert, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 95},
040602 (2005)). Entropy production can then be split into one of the system
itself and one of the surrounding medium. We demonstrate that the total entropy
production obeys various exact relations for finite time trajectories.Comment: Phys. Rev. Lett., in pres
Innovative Design Concept for the New Bangkok International Airport, NBIA
Thermal and visual comfort for the occupants of a
room are not defined by air temperature only, but also
radiation with its three components solar radiation,
daylight and heat radiation has to be taken into account
(among other factors such as humidity, air speed and
occupant activity and clothing levels). In hot climates the
optimization of room comfort is a challenging task due
to the high solar radiation over the whole year.
In intelligent buildings new material developments
are applied optimizing the building envelope in an
integral building design process. New solutions for
weather, noise and heat protection are developed, where
building envelope and installed mechanical equipment
work together creating optimal comfort at minimum
energy consumption.
This approach was used in the design of the New
Bangkok International Airport, NBIA to develop an
optimized building concept in a design team comprising
the architects, structural and mechanical engineers,
HVAC, acoustic and climate engineers
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