735 research outputs found
National scale modelling to test UK population growth and infrastructure scenarios
This paper describes an exploratory methodology used to study the national scale issues of
population growth and infrastructure implementation across the UK. The project was carried
out for the Government Office for Science in 2015, focussing on two key questions: how could
a “spatially driven” scenario provoke new thinking on accommodating forecast growth, and;
what would be the impact of transport infrastructure investments within this context.
Addressing these questions required the construction of a national scale spatial model that
also needed to integrate datasets on population and employment. Models were analysed
and profiled initially to identify existing relationships between the distribution of population
and employment against the spatial network. Based on these profiles, an experimental
methodology was used to firstly identify cities with the potential to accommodate growth,
then secondly to allocate additional population proportionally. This raises important questions
for discussion around which cities provide the benchmark for growth and why, as well as what
the optimal spatial conditions for population growth may be, and how this growth should be
accommodated locally.
Later the model was used to study the impact of High Speed Rail. As these proposed
infrastructure changes improve service (capacity, frequency, journey time), rather than
creating new topological connections, the model was adapted to be able to produce time based
catchments as an output. These catchments could then be expressed in terms of the workforce
population within an hour of every city (a potential travel to work area), as well as the number
of employment opportunities within an hour of every household
Apparatus to control and visualize the impact of a high-energy laser pulse on a liquid target
We present an experimental apparatus to control and visualize the response of
a liquid target to a laser-induced vaporization. We use a millimeter-sized drop
as target and present two liquid-dye solutions that allow a variation of the
absorption coefficient of the laser light in the drop by seven orders of
magnitude. The excitation source is a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at its
frequency-doubled wavelength emitting nanosecond pulses with energy densities
above the local vaporization threshold. The absorption of the laser energy
leads to a large-scale liquid motion at timescales that are separated by
several orders of magnitude, which we spatiotemporally resolve by a combination
of ultra-high-speed and stroboscopic high-resolution imaging in two orthogonal
views. Surprisingly, the large-scale liquid motion at upon laser impact is
completely controlled by the spatial energy distribution obtained by a precise
beam-shaping technique. The apparatus demonstrates the potential for accurate
and quantitative studies of laser-matter interactions.Comment: Submitted to Review of Scientific Instrument
Microbubble shape oscillations excited through ultrasonic parametric driving\ud
An air bubble driven by ultrasound can become shape-unstable through a parametric instability. We report time-resolved optical observations of shape oscillations (mode n=2 to 6) of micron-sized single air bubbles. The observed mode number n was found to be linearly related to the ambient radius of the bubble. Above the critical driving pressure threshold for shape oscillations, which is minimal at the resonance of the volumetric radial mode, the observed mode number n is independent of the forcing pressure amplitude. The microbubble shape oscillations were also analyzed numerically by introducing a small nonspherical linear perturbation to a Rayleigh-Plesset-type equation, capturing the experimental observations in detail.\ud
\u
Ion distribution and ablation depth measurements of a fs-ps laser-irradiated solid tin target
The ablation of solid tin surfaces by an 800-nanometer-wavelength laser is
studied for a pulse length range from 500 fs to 4.5 ps and a fluence range
spanning 0.9 to 22 J/cm^2. The ablation depth and volume are obtained employing
a high-numerical-aperture optical microscope, while the ion yield and energy
distributions are obtained from a set of Faraday cups set up under various
angles. We found a slight increase of the ion yield for an increasing pulse
length, while the ablation depth is slightly decreasing. The ablation volume
remained constant as a function of pulse length. The ablation depth follows a
two-region logarithmic dependence on the fluence, in agreement with the
available literature and theory. In the examined fluence range, the ion yield
angular distribution is sharply peaked along the target normal at low fluences
but rapidly broadens with increasing fluence. The total ionization fraction
increases monotonically with fluence to a 5-6% maximum, which is substantially
lower than the typical ionization fractions obtained with nanosecond-pulse
ablation. The angular distribution of the ions does not depend on the laser
pulse length within the measurement uncertainty. These results are of
particular interest for the possible utilization of fs-ps laser systems in
plasma sources of extreme ultraviolet light for nanolithography.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure
Lesion Eccentricity Plays a Key Role in Determining the Pressure Gradient of Serial Stenotic Lesions:Results from a Computational Hemodynamics Study
Purpose: In arterial disease, the presence of two or more serial stenotic lesions is common. For mild lesions, it is difficult to predict whether their combined effect is hemodynamically significant. This study assessed the hemodynamic significance of idealized serial stenotic lesions by simulating their hemodynamic interaction in a computational flow model. Materials and Methods: Flow was simulated with SimVascular software in 34 serial lesions, using moderate (15 mL/s) and high (30 mL/s) flow rates. Combinations of one concentric and two eccentric lesions, all 50% area reduction, were designed with variations in interstenotic distance and in relative direction of eccentricity. Fluid and fluid–structure simulations were performed to quantify the combined pressure gradient. Results: At a moderate flow rate, the combined pressure gradient of two lesions ranged from 3.8 to 7.7 mmHg, which increased to a range of 12.5–24.3 mmHg for a high flow rate. Eccentricity caused an up to two-fold increase in pressure gradient relative to concentric lesions. At a high flow rate, the combined pressure gradient for serial eccentric lesions often exceeded the sum of the individual lesions. The relative direction of eccentricity altered the pressure gradient by 15–25%. The impact of flow pulsatility and wall deformability was minor. Conclusion: This flow simulation study revealed that lesion eccentricity is an adverse factor in the hemodynamic significance of isolated stenotic lesions and in serial stenotic lesions. Two 50% lesions that are individually non-significant can combine more often than thought to hemodynamic significance in hyperemic conditions. Graphical Abstract: (Figure presented.).</p
The Supera Interwoven Nitinol Stent as a Flow Diverting Device in Popliteal Aneurysms
PURPOSE: The feasibility of using a compressed interwoven Supera stent as a flow diverting device for popliteal aneurysms was recently demonstrated in patients. It is unclear, however, what the optimal flow diverting strategy is, because of the fusiform shape of popliteal aneurysms and their exposure to triphasic flow. To assess this flow diverting strategy for popliteal aneurysms, flow profiles and thrombus formation likelihood were investigated in popliteal aneurysm models. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Six popliteal aneurysm models were created and integrated into a pulsatile flow set-up. These models covered a bent and a straight anatomy in three configurations: control, single-lined and dual-lined Supera stents. Two-dimensional flow velocities were visualized by laser particle image velocimetry. In addition, the efficacy of the stent configurations for promoting aneurysm thrombosis was assessed by simulations of residence time and platelet activation. RESULTS: On average for the two anatomies, the Supera stent led to a twofold reduction of velocities in the aneurysm for single-lined stents, and a fourfold reduction for dual-lined stents. Forward flow was optimally diverted, whereas backward flow was generally deflected into the aneurysm. The dual-lined configuration led to residence times of 15–20 s, compared to 5–15 s for the single stent configurations. Platelet activation potential was not increased by the flow diverting stents. CONCLUSION: A compressed Supera stent was successfully able to divert flow in a popliteal aneurysm phantom. A dual-lined configuration demonstrated superior hemodynamic characteristics compared to its single-lined counterpart. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00270-022-03118-x
- …