1,268 research outputs found
Any Gods Out There? Perceptions of Religion from Star Wars and Star Trek
Hollywood films and religion have an ongoing rocky relationship, especially in the realm of science fiction. A brief comparison study of the two giants of mainstream sci-fi, Star Wars and Star Trek reveals the differing attitudes toward religion expressed in the genre. Star Trek presents an evolving perspective, from critical secular humanism to begrudging personalized faith, while Star Wars presents an ambiguous mythological foundation for mystical experience that is in more ways universal
Distributed Electro-Mechanical Coupling Effects in a Dielectric Elastomer Membrane Array
Background Dielectric elastomer (DE) transducers permit to efectively develop large-deformation, energy-efcient, and
compliant mechatronic devices. By arranging many DE elements in an array-like confguration, a soft actuator/sensor system capable of cooperative features can be obtained. When many DE elements are densely packed onto a common elastic
membrane, spatial coupling efects introduce electro-mechanical interactions among neighbors, which strongly afect the
system actuation and sensing performance. To efectively design cooperative DE systems, those coupling efects must be
systematically characterized and understood frst.
Objective As a frst step towards the development of complex cooperative DE systems, in this work we present a systematic characterization of the spatial electro-mechanical interactions in a 1-by-3 array of silicone DEs. More specifcally, we
investigate how the force and capacitance characteristics of each DE in the array change when its neighbors are subject to
diferent types of mechanical or electrical loads. Force and capacitance are chosen for this investigation, since those quantities are directly tied to the DE actuation and sensing behaviors, respectively.
Methods An electro-mechanical characterization procedure is implemented through a novel experimental setup, which is
specifcally developed for testing soft DE arrays. The setup allows to investigate how the force and capacitance characteristics
of each DE are afected by static deformations and/or electrical voltages applied to its nearby elements. Diferent combinations of electro-mechanical loads and DE neighbors are considered in an extensive experimental campaign.
Results The conducted investigation shows the existence of strong electro-mechanical coupling efects among the diferent
array elements. The interaction intensity depends on multiple parameters, such as the distance between active DEs or the
amount of deformation/voltage applied to the neighbors, and provides essential information for the design of array actuators. In some cases, such coupling efects may lead to changes in force up to 9% compared to the reference confguration.
A further coupling is also observed in the DE capacitive response, and opens up the possibility of implementing advanced
and/or distributed self-sensing strategies in future applications.
Conclusion By means of the conducted experiments, we clearly show that the actuation and sensing characteristics of each
DE in the array are strongly infuenced by the electro-mechanical loading state of its neighbors. The coupling efects may
signifcantly afect the overall cooperative system performance, if not properly accounted for during the design. In future
works, the obtained results will allow developing cooperative DE systems which are robust to, and possibly take advantage
of, such spatial coupling efects
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Validation of The Physical Activity Interview With Third and Fifth Grade Children
This study investigated the validity of the Physical Activity Interview (PAI) for assessing children's self-reported physical activity. Third and fifth graders wore an accelerometer and were interviewed using the PAI to determine 12-hour recall accuracy for activity expressed as energy expenditure (EE). Caltrac estimates of EE for the 12-hour day (12-HEE) and activity EE were the validation criteria. 12-HEE correlations were significant (p<.001) between Caltrac and PAI for third (r=.79) and fifth grade (r=.80). Caltrac and PAI Total Activity were significant for fifth grade (r=.82, p<.001) but not for third grade (r=.36, p<.021). Analysis of tertiles based on the Caltrac demonstrated that the PAI significantly (p<.002) discriminated between activity levels for fifth graders but not for third. The use of PAI may be age-dependent
Ultralong Copper Phthalocyanine Nanowires with New Crystal Structure and Broad Optical Absorption
The development of molecular nanostructures plays a major role in emerging
organic electronic applications, as it leads to improved performance and is
compatible with our increasing need for miniaturisation. In particular,
nanowires have been obtained from solution or vapour phase and have displayed
high conductivity, or large interfacial areas in solar cells. In all cases
however, the crystal structure remains as in films or bulk, and the
exploitation of wires requires extensive post-growth manipulation as their
orientations are random. Here we report copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) nanowires
with diameters of 10-100 nm, high directionality and unprecedented aspect
ratios. We demonstrate that they adopt a new crystal phase, designated
eta-CuPc, where the molecules stack along the long axis. The resulting high
electronic overlap along the centimetre length stacks achieved in our wires
mediates antiferromagnetic couplings and broadens the optical absorption
spectrum. The ability to fabricate ultralong, flexible metal phthalocyanine
nanowires opens new possibilities for applications of these simple molecules
The solute transport and binding profile of a novel nucleobase cation symporter 2 from the honeybee pathogen Paenibacillus larvae
Here, we report that a novel nucleobase cation symporter 2 encoded in the genome of the honeybee bacterial pathogen Paenibacillus larvae reveals high levels of amino acid sequence similarity to the Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis uric acid and xanthine transporters. This transporter is named P. larvae uric acid permease-like protein (PlUacP). Even though PlUacP displays overall amino acid sequence similarities, has common secondary structures, and shares functional motifs and functionally important amino acids with E. coli xanthine and uric acid transporters, these commonalities are insufficient to assign transport function to PlUacP. The solute transport and binding profile of PlUacP was determined by radiolabeled uptake experiments via heterologous expression in nucleobase transporter-deficient Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains. PlUacP transports the purines adenine and guanine and the pyrimidine uracil. Hypoxanthine, xanthine, and cytosine are not transported by PlUacP, but, along with uric acid, bind in a competitive manner. PlUacP has strong affinity for adenine Km 7.04 ± 0.18 μm, and as with other bacterial and plant NCS2 proteins, PlUacP function is inhibited by the proton disruptor carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone. The solute transport and binding profile identifies PlUacP as a novel nucleobase transporter
System Tests of the ATLAS Pixel Detector
The innermost part of the ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS) experiment at the
LHC (Large Hadron Collider) will be a pixel detector, which is presently under
construction. Once installed into the experimental area, access will be
extremely limited. To ensure that the integrated detector assembly operates as
expected, a fraction of the detector which includes the power supplies and
monitoring system, the optical readout, and the pixel modules themselves, has
been assembled and operated in a laboratory setting for what we refer to as
system tests. Results from these tests are presented.Comment: 5 Pages, 9 Figures, to appear in Proceedings of the Eleventh Workshop
on Electronics for LHC and Future Experiment
Large phenotype jumps in biomolecular evolution
By defining the phenotype of a biopolymer by its active three-dimensional
shape, and its genotype by its primary sequence, we propose a model that
predicts and characterizes the statistical distribution of a population of
biopolymers with a specific phenotype, that originated from a given genotypic
sequence by a single mutational event. Depending on the ratio g0 that
characterizes the spread of potential energies of the mutated population with
respect to temperature, three different statistical regimes have been
identified. We suggest that biopolymers found in nature are in a critical
regime with g0 in the range 1-6, corresponding to a broad, but not too broad,
phenotypic distribution resembling a truncated Levy flight. Thus the biopolymer
phenotype can be considerably modified in just a few mutations. The proposed
model is in good agreement with the experimental distribution of activities
determined for a population of single mutants of a group I ribozyme.Comment: to appear in Phys. Rev. E; 7 pages, 6 figures; longer discussion in
VII, new fig.
Sonoluminescing air bubbles rectify argon
The dynamics of single bubble sonoluminescence (SBSL) strongly depends on the
percentage of inert gas within the bubble. We propose a theory for this
dependence, based on a combination of principles from sonochemistry and
hydrodynamic stability. The nitrogen and oxygen dissociation and subsequent
reaction to water soluble gases implies that strongly forced air bubbles
eventually consist of pure argon. Thus it is the partial argon (or any other
inert gas) pressure which is relevant for stability. The theory provides
quantitative explanations for many aspects of SBSL.Comment: 4 page
Decomposition of 1,1-Dichloroethane and 1,1-Dichloroethene in an electron beam generated plasma reactor
An electron beam generated plasma reactor is used to decompose low concentrations (100–3000 ppm) of 1,1-dichloroethane and 1,1-dichloroethene in atmospheric pressure air streams. The energy requirements for 90% and 99% decomposition of each compound are reported as a function of inlet concentration. Dichloroethene decomposition is enhanced by a chlorine radical propagated chain reaction. The chain length of the dichloroethene reaction is estimated to increase with dichloroethene concentration from 10 at 100 ppm initial dichloroethene concentration to 30 at 3000 ppm. Both the dichloroethane and dichloroethene reactions seem to be inhibited by electron scavenging decomposition products. A simple analytic expression is proposed for fitting decomposition data where inhibition effects are important and simple first order kinetics are not observed
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