Entire Range Of Distances Research Articles

Surface Forces Characterization of Concentrated PMMA Brush Layers under Applied Load and Shear.

Concentrated polymer brushes (CPBs) are known to exhibit excellent lubrication properties. However, the frictional behaviors of CPBs vary, depending on their preparation and operating conditions. In order to understand such complicated properties, it is necessary to determine their structures and correlate them with their properties, during shear motion. In this study, we employed surface forces and resonance shear measurement (RSM) as well as refractive index measurement using fringes of equal chromatic order (FECO) for studying the structure of the CPBs of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) in toluene. The obtained elastic (ks) and viscous (bs) parameters based on the RSM for the PMMA-PMMA were higher than those obtained for PMMA-silica over the entire distance range. With the increasing shear amplitude on the PMMA-PMMA under an applied load, the bs value first increased and then decreased while the ks value monotonically decreased. These behaviors were consistent with those of the thicker CPBs reported in a previous paper (Soft Matter, 2019). Thus, the dynamics of the CPBs under the applied load and shear were not dependent on the thickness of the polymer brushes in this case. The density distribution of the swollen PMMA brushes along the distance in the thickness direction of the brush layer was estimated by using the measured refractive index values, showing that the fraction of the PMMA brushes in the outer region from the surface (20% in the thickness) was ca. 10%. This lower density region near the surface of the swollen CPBs enabled them to interpenetrate with each other. Changes in the refractive index value under shear were observed, indicating that the interpenetrated PMMA chains were pulled out with increasing shear amplitude. These results demonstrated that broader applications of CPBs are possible by regulating the friction between them under different operating conditions, even for usually lubricious CPBs.

Correlational Analysis of the ELF – VLF Nighttime Atmospherics Parameters

Tweek-atmospherics (tweeks), along with radio transmission by VLF radio stations, are used to study the lower ionosphere. Electromagnetic pulse radiation, which has been excited by the lightning discharges, has a maximum spectral density at extra low frequencies range (ELF, 300...3000 Hz) and very low frequencies (VLF, 3...30 kHz). The Earth-ionosphere cavity serves as a waveguide for electromagnetic waves in these frequency ranges. On the spectrogram of the tweek, the initial part is a linearly polarized broadband signal, and then a number of individual harmonics are observed. Their instantaneous frequencies decrease, asymptotically approaching approximately multiples of the cutoff frequencies of the waveguide. The single position method for lightning location and estimation of the ELF wave’s reflection heights in the lower ionosphere by tweeks has been implemented into the computational algorithm. The clusters with approximately the same azimuths and distances to sources which have been obtained during the same night have been identified upon the ensemble of tweek-atmospheric records. The data were accumulated at the Ukrainian Antarctic Station "Akademik Vernadsky" in 2019. The location of the receiving complex in the near-polar region makes it possible to register tweek sources in two world thunderstorm centers with geographic azimuths from –60° to 130°. The results of processing these data have been used by studying the correlation matrix and partial correlation coefficients to identify causal relationships between the three main parameters of the tweek, such as (1) the average azimuth of the arrival of tweeks in regard to the magnetic meridian, (2) the average distance to the center of the cluster of tweek sources (lightning discharges), and (3) the average number of tweek harmonics. The same correlation analysis was applied to two groups with distances to sources of 2.2...7.5 Mm and 7.6...9.5 Mm used for study in detail. It is shown that the partial correlation coefficients between the number of tweek harmonics and the difference of the magnetic azimuth from the magnetic east are 0.624 (for the entire range of distances), 0.696 (for far tweek sources) and 0.595 (for main middle range), so, they always exceed the values of 0.1% significance level. The correlation of tweek spectrum with the distance to the tweek source in the range of 2.2…7.5 Mm has been shown to be comparable in magnitude or to exceed the correlation of tweek spectrum with the magnetic azimuth. The elimination of this masking effect by calculating the partial correlation coefficients made it possible to reveal the magnetic azimuth dependences of the tweek spectra if tweek propagates in a region outside the geomagnetic equator. Thus, the effect of non-reciprocity of propagation of ELF – VLF waves in regard to the magnetic meridian in the east – west and west – east directions is found in the spectra of tweek-atmospherics. It results in an increased probability of detecting tweeks with higher harmonics if their directions of arrival are close to the geomagnetic east. It is also shown that this effect, as a result of increased attenuation during the propagation of ELF – VLF radiation from the west and weakened attenuation during propagation from the east, leads to a highly significant correlation (with probability level more than 99.9%) between the magnetic azimuths of tweeks and the lengths of their paths to the receiving station.

SPCM: Efficient semi-possibilistic c-means clustering algorithm

The required division and exponentiation operations needed per iteration for the possibilistic c-means (PCM) clustering algorithm complicate its implementation, especially on homomorphically-encrypted data. This paper presents a novel efficient soft clustering algorithm based on the possibilistic paradigm, termed SPCM. It aims at easing future applications of PCM to encrypted data. It reduces the required exponentiation and division operations at each iteration by restricting the membership values to an ordered set of discrete values in [0,1], resulting in a better performance in terms of runtime and several other performance indices. At each iteration, distances to the new clusters’ centers are determined, then the distances are compared to the initially computed and dynamically updated range of values, that divide the entire range of distances associated with each cluster center into intervals (bins), to assign appropriate soft memberships to objects. The required number of comparisons is O(log the number of discretization levels). Thus, the computation of centers and memberships is greatly simplified during execution. Also, the use of discrete values for memberships allows soft modification (increment or decrement) of the soft memberships of identified outliers and core objects instead of rough modification (setting to zero or one) in related algorithms. Experimental results on synthetic and standard test data sets verified the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The average percent of the achieved reduction in runtime is 35% and the average percent of the achieved increase in v-measure, adjusted mutual information, and adjusted rand index is 6% on five datasets compared to PCM. The larger the dataset, the higher the reduction in runtime. Also, SPCM achieved a comparable performance with less computational complexity compared to variants of related algorithms.

Ion microfield in ultracold strongly coupled plasma

The ion microfield distribution in neutral and positively charged points is studied for two-component ultracold plasma using molecular dynamics simulation. The calculations are made in a wide range of the strongly coupled parameter. The particles are treated within classical statistical mechanics using an electron–ion Coulomb potential in the entire range of distances between the particles, without any restrictions. The results can be used for any plasma in which quantum effects are not significant. Comparison with results of other authors is made.

A study of separated flows at inlets of flanged slotted hoods

Slotted hoods are used for capturing contaminants released by extended sources. As a means of improving of its efficiency, the capture velocity can be increased by using flange and the aerodynamic drag can be reduced by shaping the hood after discovered vortex zone boundaries. The goal of study is to identify regularities in the behavior of outlines of the two vortex zones formed at the inlet of a flanged slotted hood and the velocity distribution near the exhaust hood given different flange lengths and tilt angles. Study relied on a natural experiment and numeric simulations in the ANSYS® Fluent software and using our improved version of the discrete vortex method. Vortex zones have never been studied in such detail so far. For the first time ever, the outline of the second vortex zone has been successfully identified. Coefficients of similarity for the first vortex zone outlines have been determined. New airflow velocity distribution patterns have been identified. We have demonstrated that failure to account for flow separation led to wrong conclusions in the past concerning maximum axial velocities with a flange opening angle of 90° within the entire range of distances away from the exhaust hood. At distances 0.7 times gauge and less, axial velocity reaches its maximum near the flangeless slotted hood. Furthermore, we were able to determine velocity distributions further away from the exhaust hood centerline where relations involving tilt angle get even more complex. We believe our findings are relevant for the design of efficient, energy-saving exhaust hoods.

Estimation of the Error of Lidar Measurements of the Concentration of Hydrogen Sulfide in the Atmosphere

The error of measurement of hydrogen sulfide concentration ranging from 1010–1014 cm–3 in the atmosphere by Raman lidar as well as differential absorption and scattering lidar at distances up to 2 km was estimated. It was shown that Raman lidar over measurement time of 100 sec can record such concentration of the studied molecules in atmosphere with a relative error of no more than 20% for the entire range of distances, and for differential absorption and scattering lidar at the wavelength of 3.83 μm the relative measurement error lies in the range of 20–26%.

Selection of Ground Motion Prediction Equations for Seismic Hazard Analysis of Peninsular India

Seismic hazard analysis provides an estimation of seismic hazard parameters like peak ground acceleration (PGA) or spectral acceleration (SA) for different periods. The extent of ground shaking and the hazard values at a particular region are estimated using ground-motion prediction equations (GMPEs)/attenuation equations. There are several GMPEs applicable for the region to estimate the PGA and SA values. These equations may result in higher or lower PGA and SA values than the region specific reported values, which are based on the parameters involved in the development of GMPEs. In this study, an attempt has been made to identify the best GMPEs for various parts of Peninsular India (PI) by performing an “efficacy test,” which make use of the average log likelihood value (LLH). Various intraplate earthquakes such as Coimbatore earthquake, Satpura earthquake, Anjar earthquake, Koyna earthquake, Bhadrachalam earthquake, Broach earthquake, Shimoga earthquake, Killari earthquake, Jabalpur earthquake, Pala earthquake, Kottayam earthquake, and Bhuj earthquake have been considered for the same. Macroseismic intensity maps of these earthquakes have been digitalized and European Macroseismic Scale (EMS) values at the surface have been synthesized. PGA value determined from each GMPE for known magnitude and hypocentral distances are then converted to EMS values. These calculated EMS values have been used to estimate LLH values which are further used to compute Data Support Index (DSI), rank and weights corresponding to a particular GMPE. Conventionally, LLH values are estimated for the entire distance range and GMPEs are ranked accordingly, but in this study, the LLH is calculated for the distance segments of 0-200 km and 200 km to maximum damaged distance in the region based on Isoseismal maps. If the maximum damaged distance is less than 200 km, a distance segment up to 200 km is adopted. Comparison between the rankings of the GMPEs in segments 0–200 km and 200–maximum damage distance is presented here. Segment-based GMPEs ranking shows different ranks, DSI and weights for each GMPE as compared to ranking considering entire distance. Finally, this study provides a list of GMPEs that perform best for the estimation of ground motion parameters in different parts of PI. This study shows that the GMPEs of HAHO-97, ATK-08, CAM-06, TOR-02, NDMA-10, and PEZA-11 perform better for the estimation of ground motion in most part of PI in the distance segment 0–200 km. The GMPEs of TOR-02, RAIY-07, and RAIY-07 (PI) perform best in the 200-maximum damage distance segment.

Nanorheology of adsorbed polymer chains immersed in pure solvent.

Long linear chains of polybutadiene are adsorbed on the two surfaces of a surface force apparatus and immersed in pure tetradecane. The hydrodynamic force was measured by drainage experiments and by frequency sweeps at constant distances. We related the hydrodynamic thickness to the chain dimension. The complex modulus encompasses the shear modulus and, at distances lower than the hydrodynamic thickness, a compression modulus. The compression term was related to the static force which appears when the two adsorbed layers are overlapped. The complex shear modulus was interpreted by a two-components hydrodynamic model proposed by P. Sens et al. We first complemented the theoretical model. Then, our experimental data fit the proposed viscoelastic expressions in the entire range of distances. The storage modulus is supposed to be affected by a residue of free chains and by the dispersion of the loop lengths.

Approximate expression for the electric potential around an absorbing particle in isotropic collisionless plasma

A new approximate expression for the potential distribution around an absorbing particle in isotropic collisionless plasma is proposed. The approximate expression is given by the sum of the Debye-Huckel potential with an effective screening length and the far-field asymptote obtained from the solution of the linearized Poisson equation. In contrast to analogous models, the effective screening length is not fixed but depends on the distance from the particle. This allows us to obtain a more accurate approximation for the potential distribution in the entire range of distances. The dependence of the screening length on the distance is predicted from the analysis of the charge density distribution function. This dependence contains two adjustable parameters, which are calculated by applying the procedure based on charge balance considerations. Using the obtained results, simple expressions for the parameters of the model are proposed. In addition, a simple expression for the characteristic screening length, which can be used to approximate the potential distribution near the particle, is obtained. The developed model potential is shown to be in excellent agreement with the solution of the nonlinear Poisson equation for typical conditions used in experiments with complex plasmas.

Close encounters involving free-floating planets in star clusters

Instabilities in planetary systems can result in the ejection of planets from their host system, resulting in free-floating planets (FFPs). If this occurs in a star cluster, the FFP may remain bound to the star cluster for some time and interact with the other cluster members until it is ejected. Here, we use $N$-body simulations to characterise close star-planet and planet-planet encounters and the dynamical fate of the FFP population in star clusters containing $500-2000$ single or binary star members. We find that FFPs ejected from their planetary system at low velocities typically leave the star cluster 40% earlier than their host stars, and experience tens of close ($<1000$ AU) encounters with other stars and planets before they escape. The fraction of FFPs that experiences a close encounter depends on both the stellar density and the initial velocity distribution of the FFPs. Approximately half of the close encounters occur within the first 30 Myr, and only 10% occur after 100 Myr. The periastron velocity distribution for all encounters is well-described by a modified Maxwell-Bolzmann distribution, and the periastron distance distribution is linear over almost the entire range of distances considered, and flattens off for very close encounters due to strong gravitational focusing. Close encounters with FFPs can perturb existing planetary systems and their debris structures, and they can result in re-capture of FFPs. In addition, these FFP populations may be observed in young star clusters in imaging surveys; a comparison between observations and dynamical predictions may provide clues to the early phases of stellar and planetary dynamics in star clusters.

Double-strand break repair and genetic recombination in topoisomerase and primase mutants of bacteriophage T4.

The effects of primase and topoisomerase II deficiency on the double-strand break (DSB) repair and genetic recombination in bacteriophage T4 were studied in vivo using focused recombination. Site-specific DSBs were induced by SegC endonuclease in the rIIB gene of one of the parents. The frequency/distance relationship was determined in crosses of the wild-type phage, topoisomerase II mutant amN116 (gene 39), and primase mutant E219 (gene 61). Ordinary two-factor (i×j) and three-factor (i k×j) crosses between point rII mutations were also performed. These data provide information about the frequency and distance distribution of the single-exchange (splice) and double-exchange (patch) events. In two-factor crosses ets1×i, the topoisomerase and primase mutants had similar recombinant frequencies in crosses at ets1-i distances longer than 1000 bp, comprising about 80% of the corresponding wild-type values. They, however, differ remarkably in crosses at shorter distances. In the primase mutant, the recombinant frequencies are similar to those in the wild-type crosses at distances less than 100 bp, being a bit diminished at longer distances. In two-factor crosses ets1×i of the topoisomerase mutant, the recombinant frequencies were reduced ten-fold at the shortest distances. In three-factor crosses a6 ets1×i, where we measure patch-related recombination, the primase mutant was quite proficient across the entire range of distances. The topoisomerase mutant crosses demonstrated virtually complete absence of rII(+) recombinants at distances up to 33 bp, with the frequencies increasing steadily at longer distances. The data were interpreted as follows. The primase mutant is fully recombination-proficient. An obvious difference from the wild-type state is some shortage of EndoVII function leading to prolonged existence of HJs and thus stretched out ds-branch migration. This is also true for the topoisomerase mutant. However, the latter is deficient in the ss-branch migration step of the DSB repair pathway and partially deficient in HJ initiation. In apparent contradiction to their effects on the DSB-induced site-specific recombination, the topoisomerase and primase mutants demonstrated about 3-8-fold increase in the recombinant frequencies in the ordinary crosses, with the recombination running exclusively via patches. This implies that most of the spontaneous recombination events are not initiated by dsDNA ends in these mutants.

Combining CMORPH and Rain Gauges Observations over the Rio Negro Basin

Abstract Several algorithms that combine daily precipitation surface data and satellite Climate Prediction Center Morphing Technique (CMORPH) estimations were implemented and tested for the Rio Negro basin in northeastern Uruguay. Bias removal of satellite data through quantile matching—which requires historical data on nearby rain gauges—produces an unbiased estimate whose skill, as measured by the probability of detection (POD), is better than that obtained from surface observations for distances larger than approximately 50 km, which is twice the network characteristic distance between gauges of 23 km. Adjustment of satellite estimate using spatial interpolation of CMORPH deviations evaluated at nearby points—which requires simultaneous neighboring surface observations—eliminates biases to a large degree. Moreover, it shows higher POD skill than using only surface data for the entire range of distances and daily precipitation thresholds and for both seasons (cold and warm). The skill improvement attained, though, is small when the network density is as high as in the present study. However, these results suggest a promising scenario for the combined use of surface data and satellite retrievals as the latter continues to improve over time, both in resolution—spatial and temporal—and skill.

Why do atomic force microscopy force curves still exhibit jump to contact?

The force between two particles as a function of distance is one of the most fundamental curves in physics. Here, we describe how the force feedback microscope can routinely measure the tip-surface interaction in the entire range of distances with a sensitivity of 1 pN and in different media. The method allows to measure simultaneously the force, force gradient, and damping from solely the knowledge of the lever spring constant. The jump to contact is avoided and thus it is possible to follow the brutal nucleation of a water bridge between the tip and the surface.

Robust and efficient method for evaluation of the non-symmetrical components of the Green's functions for microstrip structures

This study presents a robust and efficient approach for derivation of non-symmetrical closed-form Green's functions for microstrip structures. In this method, the discrete complex image technique is used to extract the closed-form expressions for stratified Green's functions. The surface-wave poles in these expressions are first extracted using a recursive contour integration method. The remainder is then approximated by a series of complex exponentials using either the Prony's method or the generalised pencil-of-function (GPOF) along the extended rooftop-shaped path in kρ-plane. An analytical identity is subsequently employed to obtain the new spatial-domain Green's functions. For calculation of the integral of GzxA with respect to x, it is observed that only a single approximate Green's function can accurately represent both the near and far fields. Moreover, the method generates accurate results in the near-field region when z′≠z and ρ→0. A two-part expression for the non-symmetrical potential GzxA is introduced as well. This two-part approximation is very accurate and computationally fast for the entire range of distances, especially when z=z′≠0 or z′≠z.

Near-Roadway Air Quality: Synthesizing the Findings from Real-World Data

Despite increasing regulatory attention and literature linking roadside air pollution to health outcomes, studies on near roadway air quality have not yet been well synthesized. We employ data collected from 1978 as reported in 41 roadside monitoring studies, encompassing more than 700 air pollutant concentration measurements, published as of June 2008. Two types of normalization, background and edge-of-road, were applied to the observed concentrations. Local regression models were specified to the concentration-distance relationship and analysis of variance was used to determine the statistical significance of trends. Using an edge-of-road normalization, almost all pollutants decay to background by 115-570 m from the edge of road; using the more standard background normalization, almost all pollutants decay to background by 160-570 m from the edge of road. Differences between the normalization methods arose due to the likely bias inherent in background normalization, since some reported background values tend to underpredict (be lower than) actual background. Changes in pollutant concentrations with increasing distance from the road fell into one of three groups: at least a 50% decrease in peak/edge-of-road concentration by 150 m, followed by consistent but gradual decay toward background (e.g., carbon monoxide, some ultrafine particulate matter number concentrations); consistent decay or change over the entire distance range (e.g., benzene, nitrogen dioxide); or no trend with distance (e.g., particulate matter mass concentrations).

Extended orientational correlation study for molecular liquids containing distorted tetrahedral molecules: Application to methylene halides

The method of Rey [Rey, J. Chem. Phys. 126, 164506 (2007)] for describing how molecules orient toward each other in systems with perfect tetrahedral molecules is extended to the case of distorted tetrahedral molecules of c(2v) symmetry by means of introducing 28 subgroups. Additionally, the original analysis developed for perfect tetrahedral molecules, based on six groups, is adapted for molecules with imperfect tetrahedral shape. Deriving orientational correlation functions have been complemented with detailed analyses of dipole-dipole correlations. This way, (up to now) the most complete structure determination can be carried out for such molecular systems. In the present work, these calculations have been applied for particle configurations resulting from reverse Monte Carlo computer modeling. These particle arrangements are fully consistent with structure factors from neutron and x-ray diffraction measurements. Here we present a complex structural study for methylene halide (chloride, bromide, and iodide) molecular liquids, as possibly the best representative examples. It has been found that the most frequent orientations of molecules are of the 2:2 type over the entire distance range in these liquids. Focusing on the short range orientation, neighboring molecules turn toward each other with there "H,Y"-"H,Y" (Y: Cl, Br, I) edges, apart from CH(2)Cl(2) where the H,H-H,Cl arrangement is the most frequent. In general, the structure of methylene chloride appears to be different from the structure of the other two liquids.

Cell adhesion to agrin presented as a nanopatterned substrate is consistent with an interaction with the extracellular matrix and not transmembrane adhesion molecules.

BackgroundMolecular spacing is important for cell adhesion in a number of ways, ranging from the ordered arrangement of matrix polymers extracellularly, to steric hindrance of adhesion/signaling complexes intracellularly. This has been demonstrated using nanopatterned RGD peptides, a canonical extracellular matrix ligand for integrin interactions. Cell adhesion was greatly reduced when the RGD-coated nanoparticles were separated by more than 60 nm, indicating a sharp spacing-dependent threshold for this form of cell adhesion.ResultsHere we show a similar dependence of cell adhesion on the spacing of agrin, a protein that exists as both a secreted, matrix-bound form and a type-2 transmembrane form in vivo. Agrin was presented as a substrate for cell adhesion assays by anchoring recombinant protein to gold nanoparticles that were arrayed at tunable distances onto glass coverslips. Cells adhered well to nanopatterned agrin, and when presented as uniformly coated substrates, adhesion to agrin was comparable to other well-studied adhesion molecules, including N-Cadherin. Adhesion of both mouse primary cortical neurons and rat B35 neuroblastoma cells showed a spacing-dependent threshold, with a sharp drop in adhesion when the space between agrin-coated nanoparticles increased from 60 to 90 nm. In contrast, adhesion to N-Cadherin decreased gradually over the entire range of distances tested (uniform, 30, 60, 90, and 160 nm). The spacing of the agrin nanopattern also influenced cell motility, and peptide competition suggested adhesion was partially integrin dependent. Finally, differences in cell adhesion to C-terminal agrin fragments of different lengths were detected using nanopatterned substrates, and these differences were not evident using uniformly coated substrates.ConclusionThese results suggest nanopatterned substrates may provide a physiological presentation of adhesive substrates, and are consistent with cells adhering to agrin through a mechanism that more closely resembles an interaction with the extracellular matrix than a transmembrane adhesion molecule.

Electromagnetic Fields of Hertzian Dipoles in Layered Media of Moderate Thickness Including the Effects of All Modes

Fast numerical methods are developed to compute the electromagnetic fields of Hertzian dipole of layered media (layered medium Green's function) of moderate thickness for the entire distance range. The method consists of using a fast all modes (FAM) method of determining all mode locations in the complex plane. The modes include surface wave modes, leaky wave modes, and improper modes. For the case of layer thickness of one wavelength, it requires only 0.12 CPU seconds as preprocessing to determine 400 mode locations accurately in the complex plane using a Pentium IV 3.2 GHz PC with Matlab. The mode locations are required only to be computed once. The numerical modified steepest descent method (NMSP) is then used to compute the steepest descent integral with all the pole proximities extracted and accounted for by using incomplete error functions. With the extraction of the poles, the NMSP requires no more than six quadrature points to compute fields at distances larger than 0.02 wavelength. The CPU per distance point based on the FAM/NMSP method is less than 3 ms for all distance ranges. The accuracy of the method has been confirmed to within 0.2% from the benchmark calculations of the half-space extraction method.

A bound on Grassmannian codes

We derive a new upper bound on the size of a code in the Grassmannian space equipped with a chordal distance. The bound is asymptotically better than the upper bounds known previously in the entire range of distances except very large values.

Electromagnetic Fields of Hertzian Dipoles in Thin-Layered Media

Fast numerical methods are developed to compute the electromagnetic (EM) fields for thin-layered media for the entire distance range. Thin-layered media are defined to be the case when there are only surface wave modes but no leaky modes between the Sommerfeld integration path (SIP) and the vertical branch cut. Fields for distances larger than twice the layer thickness are computed by the numerical modified steepest-descent path (NMSP) method. The NMSP consists of integration along the branch cut with the pole proximity accounted for by using incomplete error functions. The fields for distances less than twice the layer thickness are computed by the first two orders of low-frequency approximation up to frequency squared. These two methods are used to compute the electromagnetic fields for all distance ranges. The CPU per point is of the order of milliseconds using a Pentium IV 3.2 GHz CPU and Matlab. The CPU for each point as a function of distance range is tabulated