542 research outputs found
Symmetric wetting heterogeneity suppresses fluid displacement hysteresis in granular piles
No full textWe investigate experimentally the impact of heterogeneity on the capillary pressure hysteresis in fluid invasion of model porous media. We focus on `symmetric' heterogeneity, where the contact angles the fluid interface makes with the oil-wet (θ1) and the water-wet (θ2) beads add up to π. While enhanced heterogeneity is usually known to increase hysteresis phenomena, we find that hysteresis is greatly reduced when heterogeneities in wettability are introduced. On the contrary, geometric heterogeneity (like bi-disperse particle size) does not lead to such effect. We provide a qualitative explanation of this surprising result, resting on rather general geometric arguments
Time evolution of the Luttinger model with nonuniform temperature profile
No full textWe study the time evolution of a one-dimensional interacting fermion system described by the Luttinger model starting from a nonequilibrium state defined by a smooth temperature profile T (x). As a specific example we consider the case when T (x) is equal to T-L (T-R) far to the left (right). Using a series expansion in epsilon = 2(T-R -T-L)/(T-L + T-R), we compute the energy density, the heat current density, and the fermion two-point correlation function for all times t >= 0. For local (delta-function) interactions, the first two are computed to all orders, giving simple exact expressions involving the Schwarzian derivative of the integral of T (x). For nonlocal interactions, breaking scale invariance, we compute the nonequilibrium steady state (NESS) to all orders and the evolution to first order in epsilon. The heat current in the NESS is universal even when conformal invariance is broken by the interactions, and its dependence on T-L,T-R agrees with numerical results for the XXZ spin chain. Moreover, our analytical formulas predict peaks at short times in the transition region between different temperatures and show dispersion effects that, even if nonuniversal, are qualitatively similar to ones observed in numerical simulations for related models, such as spin chains and interacting lattice fermions
Influence of mineralization and injection flow rate on flow patterns in three-dimensional porous media
No full textReactive flows inside porous media play an important role in a number of geophysical and industrial processes. Here, we present three-dimensional experimental measurements on how precipitation and flow patterns change with the flow rate inside a model porous medium consisting of monodisperse glass beads. The sample is initially filled with an aqueous solution of sodium carbonate into which a solution of barium chloride is injected at a constant flow rate. Upon contact and reaction, the two reactants produce water-insoluble barium carbonate which precipitates onto the glass beads. This precipitate then modifies the flow morphology which in turn changes the spatial distribution of the precipitate. We discuss the influence of the flow rate on the morphology of the flow pattern and demonstrate that neither viscous fingering nor the Rayleigh-Taylor instability have any significant influence in our model system
A Fast Scheme for Blind Identification of Channel Codes
No full textWe present a fast mechanism for determining which channel code that was used on a communication link. In the proposed scheme, the receiver does not need to receive the entire data to determine the actual code. Moreover, the proposed scheme can also be used to determine the interleaving/scrambling sequence that was used at the transmitter. We investigate the performance of the scheme for some standard convolutional codes.©2011 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE. Reza Moosavi and Erik G. Larsson, A Fast Scheme for Blind Identification of Channel Codes, 2011, accepted The 54th IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM).</p
Is the existence of a mutualistic relationship between Lobesia botrana and Botrytis cinerea well-founded?
No full textSome studies have highlighted benefits for Lobesia botrana by adding Botrytis cinerea mycelium to an artificial larval diet and have suggested a mutualistic relationship between the two organisms on grapevine, hypothesizing that fungal sterols were the nutritional factor involved. Because the nutritional quality of an artificial diet should be similar to grapes to allow extrapolation of the results to the field conditions, in the current study L. botrana larval performance was compared when larvae were fed on grapes (berries) or two artificial diets either with or without enrichment with B. cinerea. Based on sterol analysis, the two artificial diets had high cholesterol content, but relative to berries showed comparable and low phytosterol contents, respectively (high- and low-phytosterol, HPh, and LPh). While larval fitness on the HPh diet was similar to berries, the LPh diet led to higher mortality and worse larval performance. The addition of the fungus compensated for the shortage in the LPh diet but did not improve the HPh diet. Supplementing the LPh diet with linoleic acid, which is supplied also from B. cinerea, partially improved larval performance. In a field experiment, females did not show any egg-laying preferences towards naturally botrytized bunches. The positive effect of B. cinerea on the moth's next generation that is reported in the literature could be a consequence of fungus developed inside berry tunnels bored by larvae. Therefore, based on our data and previous reports the existence of a mutualistic relationship between L. botrana and B. cinerea is not well-founded
On the Modeling of Flexible-Link Robots: First Experimental Validation of an ERLS-FEM Dynamic Model
No full textQuantification of dyspnoea using descriptors: development and initial testing of the Dyspnoea-12
No full textRationale: Dyspnoea is a debilitating and distressing symptom that is reflected in different verbal descriptors. Evidence suggests that dyspnoea, like pain perception, consists of sensory quality and affective components. The objective of this study was to develop an instrument that measures overall dyspnoea severity using descriptors that reflect its different aspects. Methods: 81 dyspnoea descriptors were administered to 123 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), 129 with interstitial lung disease and 106 with chronic heart failure. These were reduced to 34 items using hierarchical methods. Rasch analysis informed decisions regarding further item removal and fit to the unidimensional model. Principal component analysis (PCA) explored the underlying structure of the final item set. Validity and reliability of the new instrument were further assessed in a separate group of 53 patients with COPD. Results: After removal of items with hierarchical methods (n = 47) and items that failed to fit the Rasch model (n = 22), 12 were retained. The "Dyspnoea-12" had good internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.9) and fit to the Rasch model (χ2 p = 0.08). Items patterned into two groups called "physical"(n = 7) and "affective"(n = 5). In the separate validation study, Dyspnoea-12 correlated with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (anxiety r = 0.51; depression r = 0.44,
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