232,045 research outputs found

    A unified electrostatic and cavitation model for first-principles molecular dynamics in solution

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    The electrostatic continuum solvent model developed by [Fattebert and Gygi J. Comput. Chem. 23, 662 (2002); Int. J. Quantum Chem. 93, 139 (2003)] is combined with a first-principles formulation of the cavitation energy based on a natural quantum-mechanical definition for the surface of a solute. Despite its simplicity, the cavitation contribution calculated by this approach is found to be in remarkable agreement with that obtained by more complex algorithms relying on a large set of parameters. Our model allows for very efficient Car-Parrinello simulations of finite or extended systems in solution and demonstrates a level of accuracy as good as that of established quantum-chemistry continuum solvent methods. We apply this approach to the study of tetracyanoethylene dimers in dichloromethane, providing valuable structural and dynamical insights on the dimerization phenomenon

    Workshop report. Linear-Scaling Ab Initio Calculations: Applications and Future Directions

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    The study of properties and of processes in materials, frequently hinges upon understanding phenomena which originate at the atomic level. In such cases the accurate description of the interactions between large numbers of atoms is critical and in turn requires the accurate description of the electrons which play a crucial role in the bonding of atoms into molecules, surfaces and solids. This can only be achieved by solving the equations of quantum mechanics. These equations are too complicated to solve exactly; however their solutions can be approximated by computational techniques. The most accurate ? but also most computationally demanding ? are the “ab initio” techniques which do not use any empirical adjustable parameters. Amongst them, the Density Functional Theory (DFT) formulation of quantum mechanics stands out as an excellent compromise between accuracy and computational efficiency. However, the applicability of ab initio techniques is severely limited by poor scaling: the computational effort needed to perform an ab initio calculation increases with (at least) the third power of the number of atoms, N. This cubic-scaling bottleneck limits the number of atoms we can study to a few hundred at most, even on parallel supercomputers. To overcome this length-scale limitation, a number of researchers worldwide have been pioneering the development of a novel class of ab initio methods with linear-scaling or “Order N” (O(N)) computational cost which nevertheless retain the same high level of accuracy as the conventional approaches. While physically motivated, such methods have proved particularly hard to develop as they introduce highly non-trivial localisation constraints. Nevertheless, many major obstacles have been overcome and a number of O(N) methods (SIESTA, CONQUEST, ONETEP, etc.) for ground state DFT calculations on systems with a gap (e.g. molecules, semiconductors and insulators) are now available and have reached a state of maturity that allows them to be used to study ”real” materials. The particular focus of this workshop is therefore to look forward to what can be achieved in the next few years. Our aim is twofold: (1) As O(N) methods are currently extending the applicability of DFT calculations to problems involving biomolecules and nanostructures they are leading to completely new levels of understanding of these systems. This CECAM meeting will give us the opportunity to make an appraisal of such large-scale simulations and their potential to connect more directly to experiments. (2) We also want to examine the options for extending linear-scaling to problems that cannot be treated by ground-state DFT but require other, more complex approaches. These include methods for treating metallic systems, excited states and wavefunction-based theories for including electronic correlation. Finding ways to transform these methods to linear-scaling cost, and hence extent their applicability to the nano-scale, is the next big challenge that the community of developers of large-scale electronic structure methods is beginning to face. We hope that this workshop will stimulate these major new O(N) methodological developments by bringing together the leading groups in the development of O(N) DFT methods with the leading groups in the development of metal and excited-state or wavefunction-based methods. Strong emphasis during the workshop will be given to discussion in order to promote the exchange of ideas between different communities (Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science, Biochemistry) which are all interested in large-scale applications with ab initio accuracy but are approaching them from different perspectives

    [Letter from Arthur S. Rosichan to J. L. Zuber - August 11, 1944]

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    Letter from Arthur S. Rosichan to J. L. Zuber: August 11, 1944. Subject of the letter is the author moving to Houston to work for the Jewish Community Council

    Evidence for the decay B0→J/ψω and measurement of the relative branching fractions of meson decays to J/ψη and J/ψη′

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    First evidence of the B 0 → J / ψ ω decay is found and the B s 0 → J / ψ η and B s 0 → J / ψ η ′ decays are studied using a dataset corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb -1 collected by the LHCb experiment in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV. The branching fractions of these decays are measured relative to that of the B 0 → J / ψ ρ 0 decay:frac(B (B 0 → J / ψ ω), B (B 0 → J / ψ ρ 0)) = 0.89 ± 0.19 (stat) - 0.13 + 0.07 (syst),frac(B (B s 0 → J / ψ η), B (B 0 → J / ψ ρ 0)) = 14.0 ± 1.2 (stat) - 1.5 + 1.1 (syst) - 1.0 + 1.1 (frac(f d, f s)),frac(B (B s 0 → J / ψ η ′), B (B 0 → J / ψ ρ 0)) = 12.7 ± 1.1 (stat) - 1.3 + 0.5 (syst) - 0.9 + 1.0 (frac(f d, f s)), where the last uncertainty is due to the knowledge of f d / f s, the ratio of b-quark hadronization factors that accounts for the different production rate of B 0 and B s 0 mesons. The ratio of the branching fractions of B s 0 → J / ψ η ′ and B s 0 → J / ψ η decays is measured to befrac(B (B s 0 → J / ψ η ′), B (B s 0 → J / ψ η)) = 0.90 ± 0.09 (stat) - 0.02 + 0.06 (syst)

    [Report to Chief J. E. Curry, by an unknown author #1]

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    Report to Chief J. E. Curry, by an unknown author. The report contains a list of officers who gave depositions to the United States Attorney

    [Report to Chief J. E. Curry, by an unknown author #2]

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    Report to Chief J. E. Curry, by an unknown author. The report contains a list of officers who gave depositions to the United States Attorney

    Trading fear for food in the Anthropocene: How ungulates cope with human disturbance in a multi-use, suburban ecosystem

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    Resource distribution, predation risk and disturbance in space and time can affect how animals use their environment. To date few studies have assessed the spatiotemporal trade-off between resource acquisition and avoidance of risks and human disturbance in small protected areas embedded in an urban matrix. A better understanding of the forage-safety trade-off in urban protected areas (UPA) is key to the design of evidence based approaches to deal with the ever-increasing human-wildlife impacts typical of UPA. Herein, we analyzed camera trap data to evaluate how two ungulate species trade fear for food in a 60 km(2) human-dominated UPA without natural predators. We found that wild boar (Sus scrofa) were predominantly active at night, while roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) showed a typical bimodal crepuscular activity pattern. Occupancy analysis indicated that deciduous forest and the presence of high seats for hunting played an important role in determining the space use of wild boar. For roe deer, we found indications that the presence of forest influenced space use, although the null model was retained among the top ranked models. Our results confirm that wild boar and roe deer are able to thrive in heavily human dominated landscapes characterized by intensive recreational use and hunting, such as protected areas embedded in an urban matrix. (c) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.This work makes use of data and/or infrastructure provided by INBO and funded by Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO) as part of the Belgian contribution to LifeWatch. JW is funded by a BOF-mandate at Hasselt University. We are grateful to ANB, Regionaal Landschap Kempen & Maasland, the municipalities of As, Dilsen-Stokkem, Lanaken, Maasmechelen and Zutendaal, the tourist offices of NPHK, hunters and residents to allow us to place camera traps on their property. Further, we thank all students and volunteers that aided in the field or processed and annotated pictures. Finally, we appreciate the insightful feedback we received from the two reviewers that commented on this manuscript.Wevers, J (corresponding author), Hasselt Univ, Ctr Environm Sci, B-3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium. [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

    A unified electrostatic and cavitation model for first-principles molecular dynamics in solution

    No full text
    The electrostatic continuum solvent model developed by [Fattebert and Gygi J. Comput. Chem. 23, 662 (2002); Int. J. Quantum Chem. 93, 139 (2003)] is combined with a first-principles formulation of the cavitation energy based on a natural quantum-mechanical definition for the surface of a solute. Despite its simplicity, the cavitation contribution calculated by this approach is found to be in remarkable agreement with that obtained by more complex algorithms relying on a large set of parameters. Our model allows for very efficient Car-Parrinello simulations of finite or extended systems in solution and demonstrates a level of accuracy as good as that of established quantum-chemistry continuum solvent methods. We apply this approach to the study of tetracyanoethylene dimers in dichloromethane, providing valuable structural and dynamical insights on the dimerization phenomenon. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.THEO

    Precision measurements of B[psi(3686) -> pi(+)pi(-)J/psi] and B[J/psi -> l(+)l(-)]

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    <p>Based on (106.41 +/- 0.86) x 10(6) psi(3686) events collected with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII collider, the branching fractions of psi(3686) -> pi(+)pi(-)J/psi, J/psi -> e(+)e(-), and J/psi -> mu(+)mu(-) are measured. We obtain B[psi(3686) -> pi(+)pi(-)J/psi] = (34.98 +/- 0.02 +/- 0.45)%, B[J/psi -> e(+)e(-)] = (5.983 +/- 0.007 +/- 0.037)%, and B[J/psi -> mu(+)mu(-)] = (5.973 +/- 0.0007 +/- 0.038)%. The measurement of B[psi(3686) -> pi(+)pi(-)J/psi] confirms the CLEO-c measurement, and is apparently larger than the others. The measured J/psi leptonic decay branching fractions agree with previous experiments within one standard deviation. These results lead to B[J/psi -> l(+)l(-)] = (5.978 +/- 0.005 +/- 0.040)% by averaging over the e(+)e(-) and mu(+)mu(-) channels and a ratio of B[J/psi -> e(+)e(-)]/B[J/psi -> mu(+)mu(-)] = 1.0017 +/- 0.0017 +/- 0.0033, which tests e- mu universality at the four tenths of a percent level. All the measurements presented in this paper are the most precise in the world to date.</p>
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