19,873 research outputs found
Modelling optical fibre cable
Optical fibre cables are made by placing optical fibres inside a loose tube packed with a water based gel, and then winding these loose tubes on to a central strength member in helically wound sections of alternating twist separated by reversing sections. The length of the loose tubes and their position on the strength member was modelled along with an analysis of where the optical fibres lie in the loose tubes
A note on the 1-prevalence of continuous images with full Hausdorff dimension
We consider the Banach space consisting of real-valued continuous functions
on an arbitrary compact metric space. It is known that for a prevalent (in the
sense of Hunt, Sauer and Yorke) set of functions the Hausdorff dimension of the
image is as large as possible, namely 1. We extend this result by showing that
`prevalent' can be replaced by `1-prevalent', i.e. it is possible to
\emph{witness} this prevalence using a measure supported on a one dimensional
subspace. Such one dimensional measures are called \emph{probes} and their
existence indicates that the structure and nature of the prevalence is simpler
than if a more complicated `infinite dimensional' witnessing measure has to be
used.Comment: 8 page
The Hausdorff dimension of graphs of prevalent continuous functions
We prove that the Hausdorff dimension of the graph of a prevalent continuous
function is 2. We also indicate how our results can be extended to the space of
continuous functions on for and use this to obtain
results on the `horizon problem' for fractal surfaces. We begin with a survey
of previous results on the dimension of a generic continuous function
Biological Systems from an Engineerâs Point of View
Mathematical modeling of the processes that pattern embryonic development (often called biological pattern formation) has a long and rich history [1,2]. These models proposed sets of hypothetical interactions, which, upon analysis, were shown to be capable of generating patterns reminiscent of those seen in the biological world, such as stripes, spots, or graded properties. Pattern formation models typically demonstrated the sufficiency of given classes of mechanisms to create patterns that mimicked a particular biological pattern or interaction. In the best cases, the models were able to make testable predictions [3], permitting them to be experimentally challenged, to be revised, and to stimulate yet more experimental tests (see review in [4]). In many other cases, however, the impact of the modeling efforts was mitigated by limitations in computer power and biochemical data. In addition, perhaps the most limiting factor was the mindset of many modelers, using Occamâs razor arguments to make the proposed models
as simple as possible, which often generated intriguing
patterns, but those patterns lacked the robustness exhibited
by the biological system. In hindsight, one could argue
that a greater attention to engineering principles would
have focused attention on these shortcomings, including
potential failure modes, and would have led to more
complex, but more robust, models. Thus, despite a few
successful cases in which modeling and experimentation
worked in concert, modeling fell out of vogue as a means to
motivate decisive test experiments. The recent explosion of molecular genetic, genomic, and proteomic dataâas well as of quantitative imaging studies of biological tissuesâhas changed matters dramatically, replacing a previous dearth of molecular details with a wealth of data that are difficult to fully comprehend. This flood of new data has been accompanied by a new influx of physical scientists into biology, including engineers, physicists, and applied mathematicians [5â7]. These individuals bring with them the mindset, methodologies, and mathematical toolboxes common to their own fields, which are proving to be appropriate for analysis of biological systems. However, due to inherent complexity, biological systems seem to be like nothing previously encountered in the physical sciences. Thus, biological systems offer cutting edge problems for most scientific and engineering-related disciplines. It is therefore no wonder that there might seem to be a âbandwagonâ of new biology-related research programs in departments that have traditionally focused on
nonliving systems. Modeling biological interactions as dynamical systems (i.e., systems of variables changing in time) allows investigation of systems-level topics such as the robustness of patterning mechanisms, the role of feedback, and the self-regulation of size. The use of tools from engineering and applied mathematics, such as sensitivity analysis and control theory, is becoming more commonplace in biology. In addition to giving biologists some new terminology for describing their systems, such analyses are extremely useful in pointing to missing data and in testing the validity of a proposed mechanism. A paper in this issue of PLoS Biology clearly and
honestly applies analytical tools to the authorsâ research
and obtains insights that would have been difficult if not
impossible by other means [8]
Infrared spectra of van de Waals complexes of importance in planetary atmospheres
It has been suggested that (CO2)2 and Ar-CO2 are important constituents of the planetary atmospheres of Venus and Mars. Recent results on the laboratory spectroscopy of CO2 containing van der Waals complexes which may be of use in the modeling of the spectra of planetary atmospheres are presented. Sub-Doppler infrared spectra were obtained for (CO2)2, (CO2)3, and rare-gas-CO2 complexes in the vicinity of the CO2 Fermi diad at 2.7 micrometers using a color-center-laser optothermal spectrometer. From the spectroscopic constants the geometries of the complexes have been determined and van der Waals vibrational frequencies have been estimated. The equilibrium configurations are C2h, C3h, and C2v, for (CO2)2, (CO2)3, and the rare-gas-CO2 complexes, respectively. Most of the homogeneous linewidths for the revibrational transitions range from 0.5 to 22 MHz, indicating that predissociation is as much as four orders of magnitude faster than radiative processes for vibrational relaxation in these complexes
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