378 research outputs found
Measurements of mixed-mode crack surface displacements and comparison with theory
A theoretical and an experimental technique is used to determine crack surface displacements under mixed-mode conditions. Crack surface displacements proved to be quite useful in mode 1 fracture analysis in that they are directly related to strain energy release rate and stress intensity factor. It is felt that similar relationships can be developed for the mixed-mode case. A boundary-integral method was developed for application to two-dimensional fracture mechanics problems. This technique was applied to the mixed-mode problem. A laser interferometry technique, for measurement of crack surface displacements under mixed-mode conditions, is presented. The experimental measurements are reported and the results of the two approaches are compared and discussed
Development and application of an interferometric system for measuring crack displacements
The development of the first version of a minicomputer controlled system that converts the fringe pattern motion into a voltage output proportional to displacement is presented. Details of the instrument and the calibration tests are included
Short fatigue crack behavior in notched 2024-T3 aluminum specimens
Single-edge, semi-circular notched specimens of Al 2024-T3, 2.3 mm thick, were cyclicly loaded at R-ratios of 0.5, 0.0, -1.0, and -2.0. The notch roots were periodically inspected using a replica technique which duplicates the bore surface. The replicas were examined under an optical microscope to determine the initiation of very short cracks and to monitor the growth of short cracks ranging in length from a few tens of microns to the specimen thickness. In addition to short crack growth measurements, the crack opening displacement (COD) was measured for surface cracks as short as 0.035 mm and for through-thickness cracks using the Interferometric Strain/Displacement Gage (ISDG), a laser-based optical technique. The growth rates of short cracks were faster than the long crack growth rates for R-ratios of -1.0 and -2.0. No significant difference between short and long crack growth rates was observed for R = 0.0. Short cracks had slower growth rates than long cracks for R = 0.5. The crack opening stresses measured for short cracks were smaller than those predicted for large cracks, with little difference appearing for positive R-ratios and large differences noted for negative R-ratios
Parity Conservation in Supersymmetric Vector-Like Theories
We show that parity is conserved in vector-like supersymmetric theories, such
as supersymmetric QCD with massive quarks with no cubic couplings among chiral
multiplets, based on fermionic path-integrals, originally developed by Vafa and
Witten. We also look into the effect of supersymmetric breaking through gluino
masses, and see that the parity-conservation is intact also in this case. Our
conclusion is valid, when only bosonic parity-breaking observable terms are
considered in path-integrals like the original Vafa-Witten formulation.Comment: 14 pages, latex, no figures; replaced with corrections of exponent in
old eq.(2.8), misleading expressions in (3.19), comments on fermionic
parity-breaking terms, and some references adde
Rigidly Supersymmetric Gauge Theories on Curved Superspace
In this note we construct rigidly supersymmetric gauged sigma models and
gauge theories on certain Einstein four-manifolds, and discuss constraints on
these theories. In work elsewhere, it was recently shown that on some
nontrivial Einstein four-manifolds such as AdS, N=1 rigidly supersymmetric
sigma models are constrained to have target spaces with exact K\"ahler forms.
Similarly, in gauged sigma models and gauge theories, we find that
supersymmetry imposes constraints on Fayet-Iliopoulos parameters, which have
the effect of enforcing that K\"ahler forms on quotient spaces be exact. We
also discuss general aspects of universality classes of gauged sigma models, as
encoded by stacks, and also discuss affine bundle structures implicit in these
constructions.Comment: 23 pages; references added; more discussion added; v4: typos fixe
Combustion in thermonuclear supernova explosions
Type Ia supernovae are associated with thermonuclear explosions of white
dwarf stars. Combustion processes convert material in nuclear reactions and
release the energy required to explode the stars. At the same time, they
produce the radioactive species that power radiation and give rise to the
formation of the observables. Therefore, the physical mechanism of the
combustion processes, as reviewed here, is the key to understand these
astrophysical events. Theory establishes two distinct modes of propagation for
combustion fronts: subsonic deflagrations and supersonic detonations. Both are
assumed to play an important role in thermonuclear supernovae. The physical
nature and theoretical models of deflagrations and detonations are discussed
together with numerical implementations. A particular challenge arises due to
the wide range of spatial scales involved in these phenomena. Neither the
combustion waves nor their interaction with fluid flow and instabilities can be
directly resolved in simulations. Substantial modeling effort is required to
consistently capture such effects and the corresponding techniques are
discussed in detail. They form the basis of modern multidimensional
hydrodynamical simulations of thermonuclear supernova explosions. The problem
of deflagration-to-detonation transitions in thermonuclear supernova explosions
is briefly mentioned.Comment: Author version of chapter for 'Handbook of Supernovae,' edited by A.
Alsabti and P. Murdin, Springer. 24 pages, 4 figure
Weak Decays Beyond Leading Logarithms
We review the present status of QCD corrections to weak decays beyond the
leading logarithmic approximation including particle-antiparticle mixing and
rare and CP violating decays. After presenting the basic formalism for these
calculations we discuss in detail the effective hamiltonians for all decays for
which the next-to-leading corrections are known. Subsequently, we present the
phenomenological implications of these calculations. In particular we update
the values of various parameters and we incorporate new information on m_t in
view of the recent top quark discovery. One of the central issues in our review
are the theoretical uncertainties related to renormalization scale ambiguities
which are substantially reduced by including next-to-leading order corrections.
The impact of this theoretical improvement on the determination of the
Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix is then illustrated in various cases.Comment: 229 pages, 32 PostScript figures (included); uses RevTeX, epsf.sty,
rotate.sty, rmpbib.sty (included), times.sty (included; requires LaTeX 2e);
complete PostScript version available at
ftp://feynman.t30.physik.tu-muenchen.de/pub/preprints/tum-100-95.ps.gz or
ftp://feynman.t30.physik.tu-muenchen.de/pub/preprints/tum-100-95.ps2.gz
(scaled down and rotated version to print two pages on one sheet of paper
Estimating the NIH Efficient Frontier
Background:
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is among the worldâs largest investors in biomedical research, with a mandate to: ââŠlengthen life, and reduce the burdens of illness and disability.â Its funding decisions have been criticized as insufficiently focused on disease burden. We hypothesize that modern portfolio theory can create a closer link between basic research and outcome, and offer insight into basic-science related improvements in public health. We propose portfolio theory as a systematic framework for making biomedical funding allocation decisionsâone that is directly tied to the risk/reward trade-off of burden-of-disease outcomes.
Methods and Findings:
Using data from 1965 to 2007, we provide estimates of the NIH âefficient frontierâ, the set of funding allocations across 7 groups of disease-oriented NIH institutes that yield the greatest expected return on investment for a given level of risk, where return on investment is measured by subsequent impact on U.S. years of life lost (YLL). The results suggest that NIH may be actively managing its research risk, given that the volatility of its current allocation is 17% less than that of an equal-allocation portfolio with similar expected returns. The estimated efficient frontier suggests that further improvements in expected return (89% to 119% vs. current) or reduction in risk (22% to 35% vs. current) are available holding risk or expected return, respectively, constant, and that 28% to 89% greater decrease in average years-of-life-lost per unit risk may be achievable. However, these results also reflect the imprecision of YLL as a measure of disease burden, the noisy statistical link between basic research and YLL, and other known limitations of portfolio theory itself.
Conclusions:
Our analysis is intended to serve as a proof-of-concept and starting point for applying quantitative methods to allocating biomedical research funding that are objective, systematic, transparent, repeatable, and expressly designed to reduce the burden of disease. By approaching funding decisions in a more analytical fashion, it may be possible to improve their ultimate outcomes while reducing unintended consequences
The Role of Spatially Controlled Cell Proliferation in Limb Bud Morphogenesis
Oriented cell behaviors likely have a more important role in limb bud elongation during development than previously suggested by the âgrowth-based morphogenesisâ hypothesis
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