879 research outputs found
Low-Frequency Optical Conductivity in Inhomogeneous d-wave Superconductors
Motivated by the recent optical conductivity experiments on
Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8+delta} films, we examine the possible origin of
low-frequency dissipation in the superconducting state. In the presence of
spatial inhomogeneity of the local phase stiffness rho_s, it is shown that some
spectral weight is removed from omega=0 to finite frequencies and contribute to
dissipation. A case where both rho_s and the local normal fluid density are
inhomogeneous is also considered. We find an enhanced dissipation at low
frequency if the two variations are anti-correlated.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev.
A Comparison of the Ovulation Method With the CUE Ovulation Predictor in Determining the Fertile Period
The purpose of this study was to compare the CUE Ovulation Predictor with the ovulation method in determining the fertile period. Eleven regularly ovulating women measured their salivary and vaginal electrical resistance (ER) with the CUE, observed their cervical-vaginal mucus, and measured their urine for a luteinizing hormone (LH) surge on a daily basis. Data from 21 menstrual cycles showed no statistical difference (T= 0.33, p= 0.63) between the CUE fertile period, which ranged from 5 to 10 days (mean = 6.7 days, SD = 1.6), and the fertile period of the ovulation method, which ranged from 4 to 9 days (mean = 6.5 days, SD = 2.0). The CUE has potential as an adjunctive device in the learning and use of natural family planning methods
Enhancing dysphonia clinic consultations through a focus on patients' expectations : streamlining and validation of a new tool (ACaPELa-R questionnaire)
ObjectiveThe Assessing and Caring for Patients' Expectations in Laryngology ('ACaPELa') questionnaire was developed to guide laryngology clinic consultations. This study aimed to audit its use, revise it depending on outcomes and validate it.MethodsThe questionnaire was completed by all new patients attending a laryngology clinic over one year. The questionnaire was refined and validated in a new cohort of patients over a six-month period.ResultsThirty-seven of 242 patients (15.3 per cent) incorrectly gave the same ranking to more than one question. Questions with similar content were collapsed to cover broader themes, and an outcome question was added, resulting in the five-item Assessing and Caring for Patients' Expectations in Laryngology - Revised ('ACaPELa-R') questionnaire. Using this revised questionnaire, there was a significant reduction in the number of same-ranked questions (4.4 vs 15.3 per cent; p = 0.003) and high patient satisfaction post-consultation (95.7 per cent).ConclusionThe Assessing and Caring for Patients' Expectations in Laryngology - Revised questionnaire makes patients' rank ordering of questions easier. It can be used to inform how different topics should be approached during the consultation and utilised for clinician self-audit
Thermosolutal convection in an evolving soluble porous medium
We describe a mathematical model of double-diffusive (thermosolutal) convection in a saturated porous layer, when the solubility of the solute depends on temperature, and the porosity and permeability of the porous medium evolve through dissolution and precipitation. We present the results of linear and weakly nonlinear stability analyses and explore the longer-term development of the system numerically. When the solutal concentration gradient is destabilising, the dynamics are somewhat similar to those previously found for single-species convection [Ritchie & Pritch ard, J. Fluid Mech. 673: 286–317, 2011], including the occurrence of subcritical instabilities driven by a reaction– diffusion mechanism. However, when the solutal concentration gradient is stabilising and the thermal gradient is destabilising, novel dynamics emerge. These include a vertical segregation of circulation cells and porosity perturbations near the onset of convection, and over longer timescales the formation of a low-permeability region in the middle of the layer, pierced by occasional high-permeability channels. Under these conditions, convection may die away to nearly zero for extended periods before resuming vigorously in localised regions at later times
Deformation of a nearly hemispherical conducting drop due to an electric field: theory and experiment
We consider, both theoretically and experimentally, the deformation due to an electric field of a pinned nearly-hemispherical static sessile drop of an ionic fluid with a high conductivity resting on the lower substrate of a parallel plate capacitor. Using both numerical and asymptotic approaches we find solutions to the coupled electrostatic and augmented Young–Laplace equations which agree very well with the experimental results. Our asymptotic solution for the drop interface extends previous work in two ways, namely to drops that have zero-field contact angles that are not exactly π/2 and to higher order in the applied electric field, and provides useful predictive equations for the changes in the height, contact angle and pressure as functions of the zero-field contact angle, drop radius, surface tension and applied electric field. The asymptotic solution requires some numerical computations, and so a surprisingly accurate approximate analytical asymptotic solution is also obtained
Probing Pseudogap by Josephson Tunneling
We propose here an experiment aimed to determine whether there are
superconducting pairing fluctuations in the pseudogap regime of the high-
materials. In the experimental setup, two samples above are brought into
contact at a single point and the differential AC conductivity in the presence
of a constant applied bias voltage between the samples, , should be
measured. We argue the the pairing fluctuations will produce randomly
fluctuating Josephson current with zero mean, however the current-current
correlator will have a characteristic frequency given by Josephson frequency
. We predict that the differential AC conductivity
should have a peak at the Josephson frequency with the width determined by the
phase fluctuations time.Comment: 4 pages, 2 eps figure
Primary reading exercises for use with the Durrell Analysis of Reading Difficulty
Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit
The Cenozoic Climatic and Topographic Evolution of the Western North American Cordillera
Herein we present oxygen isotope records from Cretaceous to Recent terrestrial sediments in the western North American Cordillera. The purpose of this analysis is to use oxygen isotope records to understand the coupled surface elevation and climate histories of this region through the Cenozoic. To do this we constructed δ¹⁸(O) maps of surface waters for time intervals that trace the development of topography of western North America. These maps are based on 4861 oxygen isotope analyses from both published (4478) and new (383) data. We determined the δ¹⁸(O) values of surface waters using paleotemperatures derived previously from floral assemblages and the appropriate isotope fractionation factors. These data suggest that in the late Cretaceous to early Eocene the Sevier hinterland formed a plateau of unknown height. Around 50 Ma, a topographic wave developed in British Columbia and eastern Washington that swept southward reaching northeastern Nevada at ~40 to 38 Ma, and southern Nevada ~23 Ma. This southward encroachment of an Eocene Plateau (SWEEP) caused reorganization of drainage patterns such that the intraforeland basins of Wyoming and Utah drainages extended deep within the Sevier hinterland as the wave swept southward. The landscape within the Sevier hinterland developed into a rugged and high mountain range with the hypsometric mean elevation of ~4 km and relief of ~1.5 km. This Eocene highland was bordered on the west by a high Sierra Nevada ramp and on the east by the intraforeland basins that captured water draining these growing highlands. The spatial and temporal evolution of this highland correlates with the timing of volcanism and extension. These observations support tectonic models that call for north to south removal of the Farallon slab or piecemeal removal of mantle lithosphere. The isotopic data show that prior to growth of this highland the North American Monsoon (NAM) penetrated much farther north in the Paleocene/Eocene than today. The combined effects of global cooling, increasing latitudinal temperature gradients, and the generation of the orographic barrier created by the growing north to south highland produced a southward migration of the NAM front. By the Oligocene the hydrologic regime that we observe today was in place. It has been modified since then as a result of Basin and Range extension and collapse of the highlands in the mid-Miocene. This collapse allowed the NAM to penetrate farther north into the Great Basin of Nevada and Utah
Transport properties of heterogeneous materials derived from Gaussian random fields: Bounds and Simulation
We investigate the effective conductivity () of a class of
amorphous media defined by the level-cut of a Gaussian random field. The three
point solid-solid correlation function is derived and utilised in the
evaluation of the Beran-Milton bounds. Simulations are used to calculate
for a variety of fields and volume fractions at several different
conductivity contrasts. Relatively large differences in are observed
between the Gaussian media and the identical overlapping sphere model used
previously as a `model' amorphous medium. In contrast shows little
variability between different Gaussian media.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figure
Antiferromagnetism from phase disordering of a d-wave superconductor
The unbinding of vortex defects in the superconducting condensate with d-wave
symmetry at T=0 is shown to lead to the insulator with incommensurate
spin-density-wave order. The transition is similar to the spontaneous
generation of the "chiral" mass in the three dimensional quantum
electrodynamics, at which the global chiral symmetry one can define in the
superconducting state is spontaneously broken. Other symmetry related states
and possible relations to recent experiments on uderdoped cuprates are briefly
discussed.Comment: RevTex, 4 pages, one ps figure; comments on confinement in the SDW
added, references updated; final versio
- …