4,334 research outputs found
An Investigation of Void Fraction in the Stratified/Annular Flow Regions in Smooth, Horizontal Tubes
Refrigerants R134a and R410A have been used for void fraction measurements in smooth
horizontal tubes with diameters between 4mm and 7mm. Quality and mass flux were varied from
5% to 90% and 75 kglm2-s to 700 kglm2-s, respectively. Two test loops, one for condensing
flows at 35C and the other for evaporating flows at 5C, were used in the investigation. Results
show that near the transition from annular to stratified flow void fraction changed from viscousinertial
dependence to gravitational-inertial dominated dependence. An important feature
observed is the annular flow region's relative insensitivity to mass flux while the border region
between annular and stratified flows is characterized by strong mass flux dependence.Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Project 7
Was atmospheric CO2 capped at 1000ppm over the past 300 million years?
AbstractAtmospheric carbon dioxide concentration has shifted dynamically over the Phanerozoic according to mass balance models and the majority of proxy estimates. A new paleo-CO2 proxy method underpinned by mechanistic understanding of plant stomatal, isotopic and photosynthetic responses to CO2 has provocatively claimed that maximum paleoatmospheric CO2 was capped at 1000ppm for the majority of the past 300 million years. Here we evaluate the robustness of the new paleo-proxy CO2 model by testing its sensitivity to initial parameterization and to scaling factors employed to estimate paleophysiological function from anatomical and morphological traits. A series of sensitivity analyses find that the model is robust to modification in some of the constants employed, such as CO2 compensation point and mesophyll conductance, resulting in variability in paleo-CO2 estimates which are already accounted for in the error propagation of the model. We demonstrate high sensitivity in the model to key input parameters such as initial fossil plant assimilation rate, termed A0 and scaling factors used to estimate stomatal conductance from measurements of fossil stomata. Incorrect parameterization of A0 has resulted in under estimation of pCO2 by as much as 600ppm. Despite these uncertainties, our analysis highlights that the new mechanistic paleo-CO2 proxy of Franks et al. (2014) has significant potential to derive robust and more accurate CO2 estimates from fossil plant stomata, as long as parameterization of A0 is strongly justified with species appropriate morphological and anatomical data. We highlight methods that can be used to improve current estimates of fossil plant assimilation rates, reduce uncertainty associated with implementation of the Franks et al. (2014) model and importantly add to understanding of patterns of plant productivity over the Phanerozoic, for which there currently is no consensus
Lack of Mutual Respect in Relationship The Endangered Partner
Violence in a relationship and in a family setting has been
an issue of concern to various interest groups and professional organizations.
Of particular interest in this article is violence against women
in a relationship. While there is an abundance of knowledge on violence
against women in general, intimate or partner femicide seems to have
received less attention. Unfortunately, the incidence of violence against
women, and intimate femicide in particular, has been an issue of concern
in the African setting.
This article examines the trends of intimate femicide in an African setting
in general, and in Botswana in particular. The increase in intimate
femicide is an issue of concern, which calls for collective effort to address.
This article also examines trends offemicide in Botswana, and the
antecedents and the precipitating factors. Some studies have implicated
societal and cultural dynamics as playing significant roles in intimate
femicide in the African setting. It is believed that the patriarchal nature
of most African settings and the ideology of male supremacy have relegated
women to a subordinate role. Consequently, respect for women
in any relationship with men is lopsided in favor of men and has led to
abuse of women, including intimate femicide. Other militating factors in
intimate femicide ,are examined and the implications for counseling to
assist the endangered female partner are discussed
Majorana solutions to the two-electron problem
A review of the known different methods and results devised to study the
two-electron atom problem, appeared in the early years of quantum mechanics, is
given, with particular reference to the calculations of the ground state energy
of helium. This is supplemented by several, unpublished results obtained around
the same years by Ettore Majorana, which results did not convey in his
published papers on the argument, and thus remained unknown until now.
Particularly interesting, even for current research in atomic and nuclear
physics, is a general variant of the variational method, developed by Majorana
in order to take directly into account, already in the trial wavefunction, the
action of the full Hamiltonian operator of a given quantum system. Moreover,
notable calculations specialized to the study of the two-electron problem show
the introduction of the remarkable concept of an effective nuclear charge
different for the two electrons (thus generalizing previous known results), and
an application of the perturbative method, where the atomic number Z was
treated effectively as a continuous variable, contributions to the ground state
energy of an atom with given Z coming also from any other Z. Instead,
contributions relevant mainly for pedagogical reasons count simple broad range
estimates of the helium ionization potential, obtained by suitable choices for
the wavefunction, as well as a simple alternative to Hylleraas' method, which
led Majorana to first order calculations comparable in accuracy with well-known
order 11 results derived, in turn, by Hylleraas.Comment: amsart, 20 pages, no figure
Role of inertia in two-dimensional deformation and breakup of a droplet
We investigate by Lattice Boltzmann methods the effect of inertia on the
deformation and break-up of a two-dimensional fluid droplet surrounded by fluid
of equal viscosity (in a confined geometry) whose shear rate is increased very
slowly. We give evidence that in two dimensions inertia is {\em necessary} for
break-up, so that at zero Reynolds number the droplet deforms indefinitely
without breaking. We identify two different routes to breakup via two-lobed and
three-lobed structures respectively, and give evidence for a sharp transition
between these routes as parameters are varied.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Spinal cord injury in the emergency context: Review of program outcomes of a spinal cord injury rehabilitation program in Sri Lanka
Background: The final months of the conflict in Sri Lanka in 2009 resulted in massive displacement of the civilian population and a high volume of orthopedic trauma including spinal cord injury. In response to this need, Médecins Sans Frontières implemented a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program. Methods. Patients were admitted to the program if they had a spinal cord injury
Glueball spectrum based on a rigorous three-dimensional relativistic equation for two-gluon bound states II: calculation of the glueball spectrum
In the preceding paper, a rigorous three-dimensional relativistic equation
for two-gluon bound states was derived from the QCD with massive gluons and
represented in the angular momentum representation. In order to apply this
equation to calculate the glueball spectrum, in this paper, the equation is
recast in an equivalent three-dimensional relativistic equation satisfied by
the two-gluon positive energy state amplitude. The interaction Hamiltonian in
the equation is exactly derived and expressed as a perturbative series. The
first term in the series describes the one-gluon exchange interaction which
includes fully the retardation effect in it. This term plus the linear
confining potential are chosen to be the interaction Hamiltonian and employed
in the practical calculation. With the integrals containing three and four
spherical Bessel functions in the QCD vertices being analytically calculated,
the interaction Hamiltonian is given an explicit expression in the angular
momentum representation. Numerically solving the relativistic equation with
taking the contributions arising from the retardation effect and the
longitudinal mode of gluon fields into account, a set of masses for the
and glueball states are
obtained and are in fairly good agreement with the predictions given by the
lattice simulatio
A Gravitational Aharonov-Bohm Effect, and its Connection to Parametric Oscillators and Gravitational Radiation
A thought experiment is proposed to demonstrate the existence of a
gravitational, vector Aharonov-Bohm effect. A connection is made between the
gravitational, vector Aharonov-Bohm effect and the principle of local gauge
invariance for nonrelativistic quantum matter interacting with weak
gravitational fields. The compensating vector fields that are necessitated by
this local gauge principle are shown to be incorporated by the DeWitt minimal
coupling rule. The nonrelativistic Hamiltonian for weak, time-independent
fields interacting with quantum matter is then extended to time-dependent
fields, and applied to problem of the interaction of radiation with
macroscopically coherent quantum systems, including the problem of
gravitational radiation interacting with superconductors. But first we examine
the interaction of EM radiation with superconductors in a parametric oscillator
consisting of a superconducting wire placed at the center of a high Q
superconducting cavity driven by pump microwaves. We find that the threshold
for parametric oscillation for EM microwave generation is much lower for the
separated configuration than the unseparated one, which then leads to an
observable dynamical Casimir effect. We speculate that a separated parametric
oscillator for generating coherent GR microwaves could also be built.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figures, YA80 conference (Chapman University, 2012
Self-consistent modelling of hot plasmas within non-extensive Tsallis' thermostatistics
A study of the effects of non-extensivity on the modelling of atomic physics
in hot dense plasmas is proposed within Tsallis' statistics. The electronic
structure of the plasma is calculated through an average-atom model based on
the minimization of the non-extensive free energy.Comment: submitted to "Eur. Phys. J. D
Separate and combined effects of oligofructose and inulin on post-weaning coli bacillosis and weight gain: a preliminary study
Trends for a reduction in the use of dietary antibiotic growth promoters have caused increased interest in the use of alternative feed additives to maintain 'gut health' after weaning. Oligofructose and inulin are 'prebiotic' fructan-containing carbohydrates purported to enhance 'gut health' in newly-weaned pigs by altering microbial diversity (Konstantinov, et al., 2003). However, their effects using a challenge model of post-weaning colibacillosis (PWC) have never been examined. The aim of the present study was to compare the separate and combined effects of oligofructose and inulin supplementation on the occurrence of diarrhoea and the weight performance in piglets experimentally challenged with enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC)
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