25,423 research outputs found
The social geography of childcare: 'making up' the middle class child
Childcare is a condensate of disparate social forces and social processes. It is gendered and classed. It is subject to an excess of policy and political discourse. It is increasingly a focus for commercial exploitation. This is a paper reporting on work in progress in an ESRC funded research project (R000239232) on the choice and provision of pre-school childcare by middle class (service class) families in two contrasting London locations. Drawing on recent work in class analysis the paper examines the relationships between childcare choice, middle class fractions and locality. It suggests that on the evidence of the findings to date, there is some evidence of systematic differences between fractions in terms of values, perspectives and preferences for childcare, but a more powerful case for intra-class similarities, particularly when it comes to putting preferences into practice in the 'making up of a middle class child' through care and education
Chemical modification of poly(p-phenylene) for use in ablative compositions
Development of ablative materials based on modification of polyphenylene compounds is discussed. Chemical and physical properties are analyzed for application as heat resistant materials. Synthesis of linear polyphenylenes is described. Effects of exposure to oxyacetylene flame and composition of resultant char layer are presented
Error analysis for Mariner Venus/Mercury 1973 conducted at the JPL Mesa west antenna range
Theoretical analysis and experimental data are combined to yield the errors to be used with antenna gain, antenna patterns, and RF cable insertion loss measurements for the Mariner Venus-Mercury 1973 Flight Project. These errors apply to measurements conducted at the JPL Mesa, West Antenna Range, on the high gain antenna, low gain antenna, and RF coaxial cables
Response of non-equilibrium systems at criticality: Exact results for the Glauber-Ising chain
We investigate the non-equilibrium two-time correlation and response
functions and the associated fluctuation-dissipation ratio for the
ferromagnetic Ising chain with Glauber dynamics. The scaling behavior of these
quantities at low temperature and large times is studied in detail. This
analysis encompasses the self-similar domain-growth (aging) regime, the spatial
and temporal Porod regimes, and the convergence toward equilibrium. The
fluctuation-dissipation ratio admits a non-trivial limit value
at zero temperature, and more generally in the aging regime.Comment: 27 pages. 3 figures. To appear in Journal of Physics
A microscopic description of the aging dynamics: fluctuation-dissipation relations, effective temperature and heterogeneities
We consider the dynamics of a diluted mean-field spin glass model in the
aging regime. The model presents a particularly rich heterogeneous behavior. In
order to catch this behavior, we perform a **spin-by-spin analysis** for a
**given disorder realization**. The results compare well with the outcome of a
static calculation which uses the ``survey propagation'' algorithm of Mezard,
Parisi, and Zecchina [Sciencexpress 10.1126/science.1073287 (2002)]. We thus
confirm the connection between statics and dynamics at the level of single
degrees of freedom. Moreover, working with single-site quantities, we can
introduce a new response-vs-correlation plot, which clearly shows how
heterogeneous degrees of freedom undergo coherent structural rearrangements.
Finally we discuss the general scenario which emerges from our work and
(possibly) applies to more realistic glassy models. Interestingly enough, some
features of this scenario can be understood recurring to thermometric
considerations.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures (7 eps files
Subtropical Real Root Finding
We describe a new incomplete but terminating method for real root finding for
large multivariate polynomials. We take an abstract view of the polynomial as
the set of exponent vectors associated with sign information on the
coefficients. Then we employ linear programming to heuristically find roots.
There is a specialized variant for roots with exclusively positive coordinates,
which is of considerable interest for applications in chemistry and systems
biology. An implementation of our method combining the computer algebra system
Reduce with the linear programming solver Gurobi has been successfully applied
to input data originating from established mathematical models used in these
areas. We have solved several hundred problems with up to more than 800000
monomials in up to 10 variables with degrees up to 12. Our method has failed
due to its incompleteness in less than 8 percent of the cases
On the properties of steady states in turbulent axisymmetric flows
We experimentally study the properties of mean and most probable velocity
fields in a turbulent von K\'arm\'an flow. These fields are found to be
described by two families of functions, as predicted by a recent statistical
mechanics study of 3D axisymmetric flows. We show that these functions depend
on the viscosity and on the forcing. Furthermore, when the Reynolds number is
increased, we exhibit a tendency for Beltramization of the flow, i.e. a
velocity-vorticity alignment. This result provides a first experimental
evidence of nonlinearity depletion in non-homogeneous non-isotropic turbulent
flow.Comment: latex prl-stationary-051215arxiv.tex, 9 files, 6 figures, 4 pages
(http://www-drecam.cea.fr/spec/articles/S06/008/
The relative influences of disorder and of frustration on the glassy dynamics in magnetic systems
The magnetisation relaxations of three different types of geometrically
frustrated magnetic systems have been studied with the same experimental
procedures as previously used in spin glasses. The materials investigated are
YMoO (pyrochlore system), SrCrGaO (piled
pairs of Kagom\'e layers) and (HO)Fe(SO)(OH) (jarosite
compound). Despite a very small amount of disorder, all the samples exhibit
many characteristic features of spin glass dynamics below a freezing
temperature , much smaller than their Curie-Weiss temperature .
The ageing properties of their thermoremanent magnetization can be well
accounted for by the same scaling law as in spin glasses, and the values of the
scaling exponents are very close. The effects of temperature variations during
ageing have been specifically investigated. In the pyrochlore and the
bi-Kagom\'e compounds, a decrease of temperature after some waiting period at a
certain temperature re-initializes ageing and the evolution at the new
temperature is the same as if the system were just quenched from above .
However, as the temperature is raised back to , the sample recovers the
state it had previously reached at that temperature. These features are known
in spin glasses as rejuvenation and memory effects. They are clear signatures
of the spin glass dynamics. In the Kagom\'e compound, there is also some
rejuvenation and memory, but much larger temperature changes are needed to
observe the effects. In that sense, the behaviour of this compound is
quantitatively different from that of spin glasses.Comment: latex VersionCorrigee4.tex, 4 files, 3 figures, 5 pages (Proceedings
of the International Conference on Highly Frustrated Magnetism (HFM2003),
August 26-30, 2003, Institut Laue Langevin (ILL), Grenoble, France
Sludge drying reed beds for septage treatment: towards design and operation recommendations
International audienceWith decentralized treatment system development, a new concern emerges: the future of the septage. The aim of this paper is to assess the feasibility of septage treatment by SDRB, and to compare its efficiencies to those of activated sludge treatment in same conditions. The study took place on ten 2m² pilot-scales SDRB. Different designs and operation conditions have been tested on sludge treatment efficiency and will be presented as: (i) the top filtration layer (sand or compost), (ii) the load (from 30 to 50 kgSS/m-2/y). After one year and half commissioning period, we focus on the results obtained at nominal loads presenting: sludge characteristic, filtration efficiency, percolate quality and sludge deposit behaviour. Although results show better filtration efficiency for activated sludge (98.4%) than for septage (87.5%), the feasibility of septage treatment with drying reed bed has been demonstrated. Sludge accumulation is about 7.9 cm/y, when fed at 50 kgSS/m-2/y, and dry matter content of the sludge can reach 70% in summer period. The paper will present sludge characteristics, system efficiency, to finish on design and operation condition recommendations for SDRB treating septage
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