372 research outputs found
Tunability of wire-grid metamaterial immersed into nematic liquid crystal
We propose electrically tunable hybrid metamaterial consisting of special
wire grid immersed into nematic liquid crystal. The plasma-like permittivity of
the structure can be substantially varied due to switching of the liquid
crystal alignment by external voltages applied to the wires. Depending on the
scale of the structure, the effect is available for both microwave and optical
frequency ranges.Comment: 3 page
Positive representations of finite groups in Riesz spaces
In this paper, which is part of a study of positive representations of
locally compact groups in Banach lattices, we initiate the theory of positive
representations of finite groups in Riesz spaces. If such a representation has
only the zero subspace and possibly the space itself as invariant principal
bands, then the space is Archimedean and finite dimensional. Various notions of
irreducibility of a positive representation are introduced and, for a finite
group acting positively in a space with sufficiently many projections, these
are shown to be equal. We describe the finite dimensional positive Archimedean
representations of a finite group and establish that, up to order equivalence,
these are order direct sums, with unique multiplicities, of the order
indecomposable positive representations naturally associated with transitive
-spaces. Character theory is shown to break down for positive
representations. Induction and systems of imprimitivity are introduced in an
ordered context, where the multiplicity formulation of Frobenius reciprocity
turns out not to hold.Comment: 23 pages. To appear in International Journal of Mathematic
Error characterisation of global active and passive microwave soil moisture data sets
Understanding the error structures of remotely sensed soil moisture products is essential for correctly interpreting observed variations and trends in the data or assimilating them in hydrological or numerical weather prediction models. Nevertheless, a spatially coherent assessment of the quality of the various globally available data sets is often hampered by the limited availability over space and time of reliable in-situ measurements. This study explores the triple collocation error estimation technique for assessing the relative quality of several globally available soil moisture products from active (ASCAT) and passive (AMSR-E and SSM/I) microwave sensors. The triple collocation technique is a powerful tool to estimate the root mean square error while simultaneously solving for systematic differences in the climatologies of a set of three independent data sources. In addition to the scatterometer and radiometer data sets, we used the ERA-Interim and GLDAS-NOAH reanalysis soil moisture data sets as a third, independent reference. The prime objective is to reveal trends in uncertainty related to different observation principles (passive versus active), the use of different frequencies (C-, X-, and Ku-band) for passive microwave observations, and the choice of the independent reference data set (ERA-Interim versus GLDAS-NOAH). <br><br> The results suggest that the triple collocation method provides realistic error estimates. Observed spatial trends agree well with the existing theory and studies on the performance of different observation principles and frequencies with respect to land cover and vegetation density. In addition, if all theoretical prerequisites are fulfilled (e.g. a sufficiently large number of common observations is available and errors of the different data sets are uncorrelated) the errors estimated for the remote sensing products are hardly influenced by the choice of the third independent data set. The results obtained in this study can help us in developing adequate strategies for the combined use of various scatterometer and radiometer-based soil moisture data sets, e.g. for improved flood forecast modelling or the generation of superior multi-mission long-term soil moisture data sets
Pretransitional behavior in a water-DDAB-5CB microemulsion close to the demixing transition. Evidence for intermicellar attraction mediated by paranematic fluctuations
We present a study of a water-in-oil microemulsion in which surfactant coated
water nanodroplets are dispersed in the isotropic phase of the thermotropic
liquid crystal 5CB. As the temperature is lowered below the isotropic to
nematic phase transition of pure 5CB, the system displays a demixing transition
leading to a coexistence of a droplet rich isotropic phase with a droplet poor
nematic. The transition is anticipated, in the high T side, by increasing
pretransitional fluctuations in 5CB molecular orientation and in the
nanodroplet concentration. The observed phase behavior supports the notion that
the nanosized droplets, while large enough for their statistical behavior to be
probed via light scattering, are also small enough to act as impurities,
disturbing the local orientational ordering of the liquid crystal and thus
experiencing pretransitional attractive interaction mediated by paranematic
fluctuations. The pretransitional behavior, together with the topology of the
phase diagram, can be understood on the basis of a diluted Lebwohl-Lasher model
which describes the nanodroplets simply as holes in the liquid crystal.Comment: 64 pages, 16 figures, J. Chem. Phys. in pres
Order parameters of some nematic p, pâČ substituted tolanes as determined by polarized Raman scattering
The order parameters ăP2ă and ăP4ă of three nematic compounds have been determined by polarized Raman scattering. Results obtained with pâpentylâpâČâcyanobiphenyl (5CB) agree well with published data. Next the influence of a strongly polar cyano end group on the order parameters was investigated. This was done by comparing two nematic liquid crystals of the tolane class, namely pâheptylâpâČâcyanotolane and pâheptylâpâČâmethoxytolane, which have an almost identical geometrical shape. In spite of the difference in polarity hardly any difference in the order parameters ăP2ă and ăP4ă of both compounds could be observed. ăP2ă and ăP4ă of both tolanes show approximately mean field behavior in contrast to the low ăP4ă of 5CB
Developing an improved soil moisture dataset by blending passive and active microwave satellite-based retrievals
Combining information derived from satellitebased passive and active microwave sensors has the potential to offer improved estimates of surface soil moisture at global scale. We develop and evaluate a methodology that takes advantage of the retrieval characteristics of passive (AMSR-E) and active (ASCAT) microwave satellite estimates to produce an improved soil moisture product. First, volumetric soil water content (m3 mâ3) from AMSR-E and degree of saturation (%) from ASCAT are rescaled against a reference land surface model data set using a cumulative distribution function matching approach. While this imposes any bias of the reference on the rescaled satellite products, it adjusts them to the same range and preserves the dynamics of original satellite-based products. Comparison with in situ measurements demonstrates that where the correlation coefficient between rescaled AMSR-E and ASCAT is greater than 0.65 (âtransitional regionsâ), merging the different satellite products increases the number of observations while minimally changing the accuracy of soil moisture retrievals. These transitional regions also delineate the boundary between sparsely and moderately vegetated regions where rescaled AMSR-E and ASCAT, respectively, are used for the merged product. Therefore the merged product carries the advantages of better spatial coverage overall and increased number of observations, particularly for the transitional regions. The combination method developed has the potential to be applied Correspondence to: Y. Y. Liu ([email protected]) to existing microwave satellites as well as to new missions. Accordingly, a long-term global soil moisture dataset can be developed and extended, enhancing basic understanding of the role of soil moisture in the water, energy and carbon cycles
Adaptation of transferrin protein and glycan synthesis
We report the patterns of variability in transferrin structure in pregnancy, iron deficiency anemia, women using oral contraceptives, nonanaemic rheumatoid arthritis, iron deficient rheumatoid arthritis and anemia of the chronic diseases. Changes in microheterogeneity were assessed by crossed immuno isoelectric focusing of serum transferrin. Intra-individual variation in the control group was minimal. Equally, inter-individual variation in controls and groups with established stable disease was very limited. In pregnancy an increase in transferrin concentration was accompanied by redirection of glycan synthesis to the highly sialylated and highly branched glycans, an effect also shown in women using oral contraceptives. Iron deficiency anemia was accompanied by increased protein core synthesis without the large shifts in the microheterogeneity pattern as seen in pregnancy at similar transferrin concentration. In contrast to this, rheumatoid arthritis was accompanied by decreased protein synthesis while the microheterogeneity pattern shifted significantly towards the highly branched glycans. Interpreted in the respective pathophysiological contexts results show that: (1) N-linked glycosylation of transferrin is a strictly controlled process, both in the physiological states and in disease. (2) Microheterogeneity is determined independently from transferrin protein synthetic rate. (3) Provisionally observed changes in the glycosylation can modulate the biological activity of the glycoprotein and as a result redirect internal iron fluxes. This proposition can be applied to altered iron metabolism in both pregnancy, oral contraceptives and rheumatoid arthritis. Changes are not operative in iron deficiency because qualitatively iron metabolism is not altered in this state
Viscosities of the Gay-Berne nematic liquid crystal
We present molecular dynamics simulation measurements of the viscosities of
the Gay-Berne phenomenological model of liquid crystals in the nematic and
isotropic phases. The temperature dependence of the rotational and shear
viscosities, including the nonmonotonic behavior of one shear viscosity are in
good agreement with experimental data. The bulk viscosities are significantly
larger than the shear viscosities, again in agreement with experiment.Comment: 11 pages, 4 Postscript figures, Revte
Effect of a rigid nonpolar solute on the splay, bend elastic constants and on rotational viscosity coefficient of 4-4^\prime -n-octyl-cyanobiphenyl
The effect of a rigid nonpolar non-mesogenic solute, ``biphenyl'' which is
(C_{6}H_{5}-C_{6}H_{5}), on the splay and bend elastic constants and on the
rotational viscosity coefficient of (4,4^{\prime})-n-octyl-cyano biphenyl (8CB)
is reported. The experiments involve the measurement of voltage dependence of
capacitance of a cell filled with the mixture. Anomalous behavior of both
(K_{11}) and (\Delta \epsilon) near the (N-S_{A}) transition have been
observed.Comment: RevTeX - 8 figures. Accepted to be published in Physical Review
Evolution of interfaces and expansion in width
Interfaces in a model with a single, real nonconserved order parameter and
purely dissipative evolution equation are considered. We show that a systematic
perturbative approach, called the expansion in width and developed for curved
domain walls, can be generalized to the interfaces. Procedure for calculating
curvature corrections is described. We also derive formulas for local velocity
and local surface tension of the interface. As an example, evolution of
spherical interfaces is discussed, including an estimate of critical size of
small droplets.Comment: Discussion of stability of the interface is added, and the numerical
estimates of width and velocity of the interface in the liquid crystal
example are corrected. 25 pages, Latex2
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