Relationship Between Fiber Cell-Wall Deformations and Longitudinal Growth Strain: A Research Note

The relationship between fiber cell-wall deformations and longitudinal growth strain is investigated in trees of Eucalyptus pilularis Sm. (blackbutt) and Eucalyptus grandis W. Hill ex Maiden (rose gum).In E. pilularis a weak correlation (r = 0.39) was observed between the number of cell-wall deformations in fiber walls adjacent to the second marginal ray cell and field measurements of longitudinal growth strain. However, a similar relationship could not be found in E. grandis

Experimental investigation of some aspects of insect-like flapping flight aerodynamics for application to micro air vehicles

Insect-like flapping flight offers a power-efficient and highly manoeuvrable basis for micro air vehicles for indoor applications. Some aspects of the aerodynamics associated with the sweeping phase of insect wing kinematics are examined by making particle image velocimetry measurements on a rotating wing immersed in a tank of seeded water. The work is motivated by the paucity of data with quantified error on insect-like flapping flight, and aims to fill this gap by providing a detailed description of the experimental setup, quantifying the uncertainties in the measurements and explaining the results. The experiments are carried out at two Reynolds numbers-500 and 15,000-accounting for scales pertaining to many insects and future flapping-wing micro air vehicles, respectively. The results from the experiments are used to describe prominent flow features, and Reynolds number-related differences are highlighted. In particular, the behaviour of the leading-edge vortex at these Reynolds numbers is studied and the presence of Kelvin-Helmholtz instability observed at the higher Reynolds number in computational fluid dynamics calculations is also verified

Phase transformation in Si from semiconducting diamond to metallic beta-Sn phase in QMC and DFT under hydrostatic and anisotropic stress

Silicon undergoes a phase transition from the semiconducting diamond phase to the metallic beta-Sn phase under pressure. We use quantum Monte Carlo calculations to predict the transformation pressure and compare the results to density functional calculations employing the LDA, PBE, PW91, WC, AM05, PBEsol and HSE06 exchange-correlation functionals. Diffusion Monte Carlo predicts a transition pressure of 14.0 +- 1.0 GPa slightly above the experimentally observed transition pressure range of 11.3 to 12.6 GPa. The HSE06 hybrid functional predicts a transition pressure of 12.4 GPa in excellent agreement with experiments. Exchange-correlation functionals using the local-density approximation and generalized-gradient approximations result in transition pressures ranging from 3.5 to 10.0 GPa, well below the experimental values. The transition pressure is sensitive to stress anisotropy. Anisotropy in the stress along any of the cubic axes of the diamond phase of silicon lowers the equilibrium transition pressure and may explain the discrepancy between the various experimental values as well as the small overestimate of the quantum Monte Carlo transition pressure

Visual Discomfort Health Concerns in the Future Cities of the Arabian Gulf: Case of Bahrain

Like the rest of the world, the landscape of architecture has changed in many of the Arabian Gulf cities with the introduction of new design technologies and parameterisation methods. Some of the contemporary designs of building facades comprise of perforated walls generated by computer software. Such perforations are similar in their shapes and nature to the Lotus Seed Pod. An image with specific spatial properties that have been found to negatively affect its viewers and cause a state of visual discomfort termed trypophobia. The new condition, recently studied by a limited number of researchers triggers physiological and psychological reactionsthat range from headaches, sickness to even vomiting in some extreme cases. Using on-site surveys as the primary method for investigation, this research measures the baseline of the trypophobic population in Bahrain to be between 26.50% and 39.32%, a number that is much larger than the UK’s estimated baseline of 13–17%. The results also showed that reactions to natural stimuli are much more severe than manmadeones. Nevertheless, reactions to manmade stimuli are still significant. The study highlights the need to further investigate the effects of parameterisation methods on building designs in relation to visual discomfort. Keywords: Trypophobia, visual discomfort, Architecture, Bahrai

Rotated stripe order and its competition with superconductivity in La1.88_{1.88}Sr0.12_{0.12}CuO4_4

We report the observation of a bulk charge modulation in La$_{1.88}$Sr$_{0.12}$CuO$_4$ (LSCO) with a characteristic in-plane wave-vector of (0.236, $\pm \delta$), with $\delta$=0.011 r.l.u. The transverse shift of the ordering wave-vector indicates the presence of rotated charge-stripe ordering, demonstrating that the charge ordering is not pinned to the Cu-O bond direction. On cooling through the superconducting transition, we find an abrupt change in the growth of the charge correlations and a suppression of the charge order parameter indicating competition between the two orderings. Orthorhombic LSCO thus helps bridge the apparent disparities between the behavior previously observed in the tetragonal "214" cuprates and the orthorhombic yttrium and bismuth-based cuprates and thus lends strong support to the idea that there is a common motif to charge order in all cuprate families.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figue

Resonant X-Ray Scattering on the M-Edge Spectra from Triple-k Structure Phase in U_{0.75}Np_{0.25}O_{2} and UO_{2}

We derive an expression for the scattering amplitude of resonant x-ray scattering under the assumption that the Hamiltonian describing the intermediate state preserves spherical symmetry. On the basis of this expression, we demonstrate that the energy profile of the RXS spectra expected near U and Np M_4 edges from the triple-k antiferromagnetic ordering phase in UO_{2} and U_{0.75}Np_{0.25}O_{2} agree well with those from the experiments. We demonstrate that the spectra in the \sigma-\sigma' and \sigma-\pi' channels exhibit quadrupole and dipole natures, respectively.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. Supp

A Comparison of Stripe Modulations in La1.875_{1.875}Ba0.125_{0.125}CuO4_4 and La1.48_{1.48}Nd0.4_{0.4}Sr0.12_{0.12}CuO4_4

We report combined soft and hard x-ray scattering studies of the electronic and lattice modulations associated with stripe order in La$_{1.875}$Ba$_{0.125}$CuO$_4$ and La$_{1.48}$Nd$_{0.4}$Sr$_{0.12}$CuO$_4$. We find that the amplitude of both the electronic modulation of the hole density and the strain modulation of the lattice is significantly larger in La$_{1.875}$Ba$_{0.125}$CuO$_4$ than in La$_{1.48}$Nd$_{0.4}$Sr$_{0.12}$CuO$_4$ and is also better correlated. The in-plane correlation lengths are isotropic in each case; for La$_{1.875}$Ba$_{0.125}$CuO$_4$, $\xi^{hole}=255\pm 5$ \AA\ whereas for La$_{1.48}$Nd$_{0.4}$Sr$_{0.12}$CuO$_4$F, $\xi^{hole}=111\pm 7$ \AA. We find that the modulations are temperature independent in La$_{1.875}$Ba$_{0.125}$CuO$_4$ in the low temperature tetragonal phase. In contrast, in La$_{1.48}$Nd$_{0.4}$Sr$_{0.12}$CuO$_4$, the amplitude grows smoothly from zero, beginning 13 K below the LTT phase transition. We speculate that the reduced average tilt angle in La$_{1.875}$Ba$_{0.125}$CuO$_4$ results in reduced charge localization and incoherent pinning, leading to the longer correlation length and enhanced periodic modulation amplitude.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Keldysh study of point-contact tunneling between superconductors

We revisit the problem of point-contact tunnel junctions involving one-dimensional superconductors and present a simple scheme for computing the full current-voltage characteristics within the framework of the non-equilibrium Keldysh Green function formalism. We address the effects of different pairing symmetries combined with magnetic fields and finite temperatures at arbitrary bias voltages. We discuss extensively the importance of these results for present-day experiments. In particular, we propose ways of measuring the effects found when the two sides of the junction have dissimilar superconducting gaps and when the symmetry of the superconducting states is not the one of spin-singlet pairing. This last point is of relevance for the study of the superconducting state of certain organic materials like the Bechgaard salts and, to some extent, for ruthenium compounds.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Covariant Calculation of General Relativistic Effects in an Orbiting Gyroscope Experiment

We carry out a covariant calculation of the measurable relativistic effects in an orbiting gyroscope experiment. The experiment, currently known as Gravity Probe B, compares the spin directions of an array of spinning gyroscopes with the optical axis of a telescope, all housed in a spacecraft that rolls about the optical axis. The spacecraft is steered so that the telescope always points toward a known guide star. We calculate the variation in the spin directions relative to readout loops rigidly fixed in the spacecraft, and express the variations in terms of quantities that can be measured, to sufficient accuracy, using an Earth-centered coordinate system. The measurable effects include the aberration of starlight, the geodetic precession caused by space curvature, the frame-dragging effect caused by the rotation of the Earth and the deflection of light by the Sun.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, to be submitted to Phys. Rev.

Magnetic excitations in stripe-ordered La1.875_{1.875}Ba0.125_{0.125}CuO4_4 studied using resonant inelastic x-ray scattering

The charge and spin correlations in La$_{1.875}$Ba$_{0.125}$CuO$_4$ (LBCO 1/8) are studied using Cu $L_3$ edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS). The static charge order (CO) is observed at a wavevector of $(0.24,0)$ and its charge nature confirmed by measuring the dependence of this peak on the incident x-ray polarization. The paramagnon excitation in LBCO 1/8 is then measured as it disperses through the CO wavevector. Within the experimental uncertainty no changes are observed in the paramagnon due to the static CO, and the paramagnon seems to be similar to that measured in other cuprates, which have no static CO. Given that the stripe correlation modulates both the charge and spin degrees of freedom, it is likely that subtle changes do occur in the paramagnon due to CO. Consequently, we propose that future RIXS measurements, realized with higher energy resolution and sensitivity, should be performed to test for these effects.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure