37,755 research outputs found
Dynamics of urban sprawl
This paper introduces a framework for understanding the dynamics of urban growth,particularly the continuing problem of urban sprawl. The models we present are based on transitions from vacant land to established development. We propose that the essential mechanism of transition is analogous to the way an epidemic is generated within a susceptible population, with waves of development being generated from the conversion of available land to new development and redevelopment through the aging process. We first outline the standard aggregate model in differential equation form, showing how different variants (including logistic, exponential, predator-prey models) can be derived for various urban growth situations. We then generalize the model to a spatial system and show how sprawl can be conceived as a process of both interaction/reaction and diffusion. We operationalize the model as a cellular automata (CA) which implies that diffusion is entirely local, and we then illustrate how waves of development and redevelopment characterizing both sprawl and aging of the existing urban stock, can be simulated.Finally we show how the model can be adapted to a real urban situation - the AnnArbor area in Eastern Michigan - where we demonstrate how waves of development are absorbed and modified by particular historical contingencies associated with the re-existing urban structure
Escherichia coli of sequence type 3835 carrying blaNDM-1, blaCTX-M-15, blaCMY-42 and blaSHV-12
New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM) represents a serious challenge for treatment and public health. A carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli clinical strain WCHEC13-8 was subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility tests, whole genome sequencing and conjugation experiments. It was resistant to imipenem (MIC, >256 μg/ml) and meropenem (MIC, 128 μg/ml) and belonged to ST3835. blaNDM-1 was the only carbapenemase gene detected. Strain WCHEC13-8 also had a plasmid-borne AmpC gene (blaCMY-42) and two extended-spectrum β-lactamase genes (blaCTX-M-15 and blaSHV-12). blaNDM-1 and blaSHV-12 were carried by a 54-kb IncX3 self-transmissible plasmid, which is identical to plasmid pNDM-HF727 from Enterobacter cloacae. blaCMY-42 was carried by a 64-kb IncI1 plasmid and blaCTX-M-15 was located on a 141-kb plasmid with multiple F replicons (replicon type: F36:A4:B1). blaCMY-42 was in a complicated context and the mobilisation of blaCMY-42 was due to the transposition of IS Ecp1 by misidentifying its right-end boundary. Genetic context of blaNDM-1 in strain WCHEC13-8 was closely related to those on IncX3 plasmids in various Enterobacteriaceae species in China. In conclusion, a multidrug-resistant ST3835 E. coli clinical strain carrying blaNDM-1, blaCTX-M-15, blaCMY-42 and blaSHV-12 was identified. IncX3 plasmids may be making a significant contribution to the dissemination of blaNDM among Enterobacteriaceae in China
A statistical model approximation for perovskite solid-solutions: a Raman study of lead-zirconate-titanate single crystal
Lead titanate (PbTiO3) is a classical example of a ferroelectric perovskite
oxide illustrating a displacive phase transition accompanied by a softening of
a symmetry-breaking mode. The underlying assumption justifying the soft-mode
theory is that the crystal is macroscopically sufficiently uniform so that a
meaningful free energy function can be formed. In contrast to PbTiO3,
experimental studies show that the phase transition behaviour of
lead-zirconate-titanate solid solution (PZT) is far more subtle. Most of the
studies on the PZT system have been dedicated to ceramic or powder samples, in
which case an unambiguous soft-mode study is not possible, as modes with
different symmetries appear together. Our Raman scattering study on
titanium-rich PZT single crystal shows that the phase transitions in PZT cannot
be described by a simple soft-mode theory. In strong contrast to PbTiO3,
splitting of transverse E-symmetry modes reveals that there are different
locally-ordered regions. The role of crystal defects, random distribution of Ti
and Zr at the B-cation site and Pb ions shifted away from their ideal
positions, dictates the phase transition mechanism. A statistical model
explaining the observed peak splitting and phase transformation to a complex
state with spatially varying local order in the vicinity of the morphotropic
phase boundary is given.Comment: Article contains four black-and-white figures, one colour figure and
one Table. Symmetry analysis and details of the model are given in Appendices
I and II, respectivel
Comparisons and Applications of Four Independent Numerical Approaches for Linear Gyrokinetic Drift Modes
To help reveal the complete picture of linear kinetic drift modes, four
independent numerical approaches, based on integral equation, Euler initial
value simulation, Euler matrix eigenvalue solution and Lagrangian particle
simulation, respectively, are used to solve the linear gyrokinetic
electrostatic drift modes equation in Z-pinch with slab simplification and in
tokamak with ballooning space coordinate. We identify that these approaches can
yield the same solution with the difference smaller than 1\%, and the
discrepancies mainly come from the numerical convergence, which is the first
detailed benchmark of four independent numerical approaches for gyrokinetic
linear drift modes. Using these approaches, we find that the entropy mode and
interchange mode are on the same branch in Z-pinch, and the entropy mode can
have both electron and ion branches. And, at strong gradient, more than one
eigenstate of the ion temperature gradient mode (ITG) can be unstable and the
most unstable one can be on non-ground eigenstates. The propagation of ITGs
from ion to electron diamagnetic direction at strong gradient is also observed,
which implies that the propagation direction is not a decisive criterion for
the experimental diagnosis of turbulent mode at the edge plasmas.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, accept by Physics of Plasma
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