16,154 research outputs found
Exhaust jet wake and thrust characteristics of several nozzles designed for VTOL DOWNWASH suppression. Tests in and out of ground effect with 70 deg F and 1200 deg F nozzle discharge temperatures
Jet wake degradation and thrust characteristics of exhaust nozzles designed for VTOL downwash suppression and fuselage and ground effect
Role of oxygen in the electron-doped superconducting cuprates
We report on resistivity and Hall measurements in thin films of the
electron-doped superconducting cuprate PrCeCuO.
Comparisons between x = 0.17 samples subjected to either ion-irradiation or
oxygenation demonstrate that changing the oxygen content has two separable
effects: 1) a doping effect similar to that of cerium, and 2) a disorder
effect. These results are consistent with prior speculations that apical oxygen
removal is necessary to achieve superconductivity in this compound.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Interpretation of the angular dependence of the de Haas-van Alphen effect in MgB_2
We present detailed results for the amplitude and field dependence of the de
Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) signal arising from the electron-like sheet of
Fermi surface in MgB_2. Our data and analysis show that the dip in dHvA
amplitude when the field is close to the basal plane is caused by a beat
between two very similar dHvA frequencies and not a spin-zero effect as
previously assumed. Our results imply that the Stoner enhancement factors in
MgB_2 are small on both the Sigma and Pi sheets.Comment: 4 pages with figures. Submitted to PR
Stick-slip instability for viscous fingering in a gel
The growth dynamics of an air finger injected in a visco-elastic gel (a
PVA/borax aqueous solution) is studied in a linear Hele-Shaw cell. Besides the
standard Saffmann-Taylor instability, we observe - with increasing finger
velocities - the existence of two new regimes: (a) a stick-slip regime for
which the finger tip velocity oscillates between 2 different values, producing
local pinching of the finger at regular intervals, (b) a ``tadpole'' regime
where a fracture-type propagation is observed. A scaling argument is proposed
to interpret the dependence of the stick-slip frequency with the measured
rheological properties of the gel.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to Europhysics Letter
Feature weighting techniques for CBR in software effort estimation studies: A review and empirical evaluation
Context : Software effort estimation is one of the most important activities in the software development process. Unfortunately, estimates are often substantially wrong. Numerous estimation methods have been proposed including Case-based Reasoning (CBR). In order to improve CBR estimation accuracy, many researchers have proposed feature weighting techniques (FWT). Objective: Our purpose is to systematically review the empirical evidence to determine whether FWT leads to improved predictions. In addition we evaluate these techniques from the perspectives of (i) approach (ii) strengths and weaknesses (iii) performance and (iv) experimental evaluation approach including the data sets used. Method: We conducted a systematic literature review of published, refereed primary studies on FWT (2000-2014). Results: We identified 19 relevant primary studies. These reported a range of different techniques. 17 out of 19 make benchmark comparisons with standard CBR and 16 out of 17 studies report improved accuracy. Using a one-sample sign test this positive impact is significant (p = 0:0003). Conclusion: The actionable conclusion from this study is that our review of all relevant empirical evidence supports the use of FWTs and we recommend that researchers and practitioners give serious consideration to their adoption
Phase Separation in Binary Fluid Mixtures with Continuously Ramped Temperature
We consider the demixing of a binary fluid mixture, under gravity, which is
steadily driven into a two phase region by slowly ramping the temperature. We
assume, as a first approximation, that the system remains spatially isothermal,
and examine the interplay of two competing nonlinearities. One of these arises
because the supersaturation is greatest far from the meniscus, creating
inversion of the density which can lead to fluid motion; although isothermal,
this is somewhat like the Benard problem (a single-phase fluid heated from
below). The other is the intrinsic diffusive instability which results either
in nucleation or in spinodal decomposition at large supersaturations.
Experimental results on a simple binary mixture show interesting oscillations
in heat capacity and optical properties for a wide range of ramp parameters. We
argue that these oscillations arise under conditions where both nonlinearities
are important
A simplified picture for Pi electrons in conjugated polymers : from PPP Hamiltonian to an effective molecular crystal approach
An excitonic method proper to study conjugated oligomers and polymers is
described and its applicability tested on the ground state and first excited
states of trans-polyacetylene, taken as a model. From the Pariser-Parr-Pople
Hamiltonian, we derive an effective Hamiltonian based on a local description of
the polymer in term of monomers; the relevant electronic configurations are
build on a small number of pertinent local excitations. The intuitive and
simple microscopic physical picture given by our model supplement recent
results, such as the Rice and Garstein ones. Depending of the parameters, the
linear absorption appears dominated by an intense excitonic peak.Comment: 41 Pages, 6 postscript figure
Superabsorption of light via quantum engineering
Almost 60 years ago Dicke introduced the term superradiance to describe a
signature quantum effect: N atoms can collectively emit light at a rate
proportional to N^2. Even for moderate N this represents a significant increase
over the prediction of classical physics, and the effect has found applications
ranging from probing exciton delocalisation in biological systems, to
developing a new class of laser, and even in astrophysics. Structures that
super-radiate must also have enhanced absorption, but the former always
dominates in natural systems. Here we show that modern quantum control
techniques can overcome this restriction. Our theory establishes that
superabsorption can be achieved and sustained in certain simple nanostructures,
by trapping the system in a highly excited state while extracting energy into a
non-radiative channel. The effect offers the prospect of a new class of quantum
nanotechnology, capable of absorbing light many times faster than is currently
possible; potential applications of this effect include light harvesting and
photon detection. An array of quantum dots or a porphyrin ring could provide an
implementation to demonstrate this effect
Unfolding dynamics of proteins under applied force
Understanding the mechanisms of protein folding is a major challenge that is being addressed effectively by collaboration between researchers in the physical and life sciences. Recently, it has become possible to mechanically unfold proteins by pulling on their two termini using local force probes such as the atomic force microscope. Here, we present data from experiments in which synthetic protein polymers designed to mimic naturally occurring polyproteins have been mechanically unfolded. For many years protein folding dynamics have been studied using chemical denaturation, and we therefore firstly discuss our mechanical unfolding data in the context of such experiments and show that the two unfolding mechanisms are not the same, at least for the proteins studied here. We also report unexpected observations that indicate a history effect in the observed unfolding forces of polymeric proteins and explain this in terms of the changing number of domains remaining to unfold and the increasing compliance of the lengthening unstructured polypeptide chain produced each time a domain unfolds
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