1,690 research outputs found
Confined turbulent swirling recirculating flow predictions
The capability and the accuracy of the STARPIC computer code in predicting confined turbulent swirling recirculating flows is presented. Inlet flow boundary conditions were demonstrated to be extremely important in simulating a flowfield via numerical calculations. The degree of swirl strength and expansion ratio have strong effects on the characteristics of swirling flow. In a nonswirling flow, a large corner recirculation zone exists in the flowfield with an expansion ratio greater than one. However, as the degree of inlet swirl increases, the size of this zone decreases and a central recirculation zone appears near the inlet. Generally, the size of the central zone increased with swirl strength and expansion ratio. Neither the standard k-epsilon turbulence mode nor its previous extensions show effective capability for predicting confined turbulent swirling recirculating flows. However, either reduced optimum values of three parameters in the mode or the empirical C sub mu formulation obtained via careful analysis of available turbulence measurements, can provide more acceptable accuracy in the prediction of these swirling flows
Higher order Schrodinger and Hartree-Fock equations
The domain of validity of the higher-order Schrodinger equations is analyzed
for harmonic-oscillator and Coulomb potentials as typical examples. Then the
Cauchy theory for higher-order Hartree-Fock equations with bounded and Coulomb
potentials is developed. Finally, the existence of associated ground states for
the odd-order equations is proved. This renders these quantum equations
relevant for physics.Comment: 19 pages, to appear in J. Math. Phy
DNA cruciform arms nucleate through a correlated but non-synchronous cooperative mechanism
Inverted repeat (IR) sequences in DNA can form non-canonical cruciform
structures to relieve torsional stress. We use Monte Carlo simulations of a
recently developed coarse-grained model of DNA to demonstrate that the
nucleation of a cruciform can proceed through a cooperative mechanism. Firstly,
a twist-induced denaturation bubble must diffuse so that its midpoint is near
the centre of symmetry of the IR sequence. Secondly, bubble fluctuations must
be large enough to allow one of the arms to form a small number of hairpin
bonds. Once the first arm is partially formed, the second arm can rapidly grow
to a similar size. Because bubbles can twist back on themselves, they need
considerably fewer bases to resolve torsional stress than the final cruciform
state does. The initially stabilised cruciform therefore continues to grow,
which typically proceeds synchronously, reminiscent of the S-type mechanism of
cruciform formation. By using umbrella sampling techniques we calculate, for
different temperatures and superhelical densities, the free energy as a
function of the number of bonds in each cruciform along the correlated but
non-synchronous nucleation pathways we observed in direct simulations.Comment: 12 pages main paper + 11 pages supplementary dat
Design Interventions for Sustainable Behaviour
This chapter brings together research from Loughborough University (UK) design scholars to present a unified framework for designing interventions for sustainable behaviour. This includes: research and design approaches towards formulating an understanding of the user’s actions in context; selecting a behavioural target (where to intervene); selecting (or applying) a behavioural intervention strategy; and evaluating the behavioural interventions are presented. Relevant case study examples, drawn from two UK-research council projects, are provided to elucidate theoretical propositions. The chapter concludes by reflecting on what we have learned and where we see further developments in the field emerging
Cosmological Consequences of Slow-Moving Bubbles in First-Order Phase Transitions
In cosmological first-order phase transitions, the progress of true-vacuum
bubbles is expected to be significantly retarded by the interaction between the
bubble wall and the hot plasma. We examine the evolution and collision of
slow-moving true-vacuum bubbles. Our lattice simulations indicate that phase
oscillations, predicted and observed in systems with a local symmetry and with
a global symmetry where the bubbles move at speeds less than the speed of
light, do not occur inside collisions of slow-moving local-symmetry bubbles. We
observe almost instantaneous phase equilibration which would lead to a decrease
in the expected initial defect density, or possibly prevent defects from
forming at all. We illustrate our findings with an example of defect formation
suppressed in slow-moving bubbles. Slow-moving bubble walls also prevent the
formation of `extra defects', and in the presence of plasma conductivity may
lead to an increase in the magnitude of any primordial magnetic field formed.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, replaced with typos corrected and reference
added. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Dynamics of fluctuations in an optical analog of the Laval nozzle
Using the analogy between the description of coherent light propagation in a
medium with Kerr nonlinearity by means of nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation and
that of a dissipationless liquid we propose an optical analogue of the Laval
nozzle. The optical Laval nozzle will allow one to form a transonic flow in
which one can observe and study a very unusual dynamics of classical and
quantum fluctuations including analogue of the Hawking radiation of real black
holes. Theoretical analysis of this dynamics is supported by numerical
calculations and estimates for a possible experimental setup are presented.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
The poverty of journal publishing
The article opens with a critical analysis of the dominant business model of for-profit, academic publishing, arguing that the extraordinarily high profits of the big publishers are dependent upon a double appropriation that exploits both academic labour and universities’ financial resources. Against this model, we outline four possible responses: the further development of open access repositories, a fair trade model of publishing regulation, a renaissance of the university presses, and, finally, a move away from private, for-profit publishing companies toward autonomous journal publishing by editorial boards and academic associations. </jats:p
Development and formative evaluation of the e-Health implementation toolkit
<b>Background</b> The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) or e-Health is seen as essential for a modern, cost-effective health service. However, there are well documented problems with implementation of e-Health initiatives, despite the existence of a great deal of research into how best to implement e-Health (an example of the gap between research and practice). This paper reports on the development and formative evaluation of an e-Health Implementation Toolkit (e-HIT) which aims to summarise and synthesise new and existing research on implementation of e-Health initiatives, and present it to senior managers in a user-friendly format.<p></p>
<b>Results</b> The content of the e-HIT was derived by combining data from a systematic review of reviews of barriers and facilitators to implementation of e-Health initiatives with qualitative data derived from interviews of "implementers", that is people who had been charged with implementing an e-Health initiative. These data were summarised, synthesised and combined with the constructs from the Normalisation Process Model. The software for the toolkit was developed by a commercial company (RocketScience). Formative evaluation was undertaken by obtaining user feedback. There are three components to the toolkit - a section on background and instructions for use aimed at novice users; the toolkit itself; and the report generated by completing the toolkit. It is available to download from http://www.ucl.ac.uk/pcph/research/ehealth/documents/e-HIT.xls<p></p>
<b>Conclusions</b> The e-HIT shows potential as a tool for enhancing future e-Health implementations. Further work is needed to make it fully web-enabled, and to determine its predictive potential for future implementations
Subsaturating Ribulose-1,5-Bisphosphate Concentration Promotes Inactivation of Ribulose-1,5-Bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase (Rubisco) (Studies Using Continuous Substrate Addition in the Presence and Absence of Rubisco Activase)
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