On a nonlocal degenerate parabolic problem

Conditions for the existence and uniqueness of weak solutions for a class of nonlinear nonlocal degenerate parabolic equations are established. The asymptotic behaviour of the solutions as time tends to infinity are also studied. In particular, the finite time extinction and polynomial decay properties are proved

Response of a particle in a one-dimensional lattice to an applied force: Dynamics of the effective mass

We study the behaviour of the expectation value of the acceleration of a particle in a one-dimensional periodic potential when an external homogeneous force is suddenly applied. The theory is formulated in terms of modified Bloch states that include the interband mixing induced by the force. This approach allows us to understand the behaviour of the wavepacket, which responds with a mass that is initially the bare mass, and subsequently oscillates around the value predicted by the effective mass. If Zener tunneling can be neglected, the expression obtained for the acceleration of the particle is valid over timescales of the order of a Bloch oscillation, which are of interest for experiments with cold atoms in optical lattices. We discuss how these oscillations can be tuned in an optical lattice for experimental detection.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figure

Contracts in Practice

Contracts are a form of lightweight formal specification embedded in the program text. Being executable parts of the code, they encourage programmers to devote proper attention to specifications, and help maintain consistency between specification and implementation as the program evolves. The present study investigates how contracts are used in the practice of software development. Based on an extensive empirical analysis of 21 contract-equipped Eiffel, C#, and Java projects totaling more than 260 million lines of code over 7700 revisions, it explores, among other questions: 1) which kinds of contract elements (preconditions, postconditions, class invariants) are used more often; 2) how contracts evolve over time; 3) the relationship between implementation changes and contract changes; and 4) the role of inheritance in the process. It has found, among other results, that: the percentage of program elements that include contracts is above 33% for most projects and tends to be stable over time; there is no strong preference for a certain type of contract element; contracts are quite stable compared to implementations; and inheritance does not significantly affect qualitative trends of contract usage

Palenque de San Basilio in Colombia: genetic data support an oral history of a paternal ancestry in Congo

The Palenque, a black community in rural Colombia, have an oral history of fugitive African slaves founding a free village near Cartagena in the seventeenth century. Recently, linguists have identified some 200 words in regular use that originate in a Kikongo language, with Yombe, mainly spoken in the Congo region, being the most likely source. The non-recombining portion of the Y chromosome (NRY) and mitochondrial DNA were analysed to establish whether there was greater similarity between present-day members of the Palenque and Yombe than between the Palenque and 42 other African groups (for all individuals,n= 2799) from which forced slaves might have been taken. NRY data are consistent with the linguistic evidence that Yombe is the most likely group from which the original male settlers of Palenque came. Mitochondrial DNA data suggested substantial maternal sub-Saharan African ancestry and a strong founder effect but did not associate Palenque with any particular African group. In addition, based on cultural data including inhabitants' claims of linguistic differences, it has been hypothesized that the two districts of the village (Abajo and Arriba) have different origins, with Arriba founded by men originating in Congo and Abajo by those born in Colombia. Although significant genetic structuring distinguished the two from each other, no supporting evidence for this hypothesis was found

Social and medical aspects longevity

The article deals with the demographical problem's population aging, life expectancy, premature aging, are shown results on quality of life in countries in relation to different indexes, that form itye

Three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics Investigation of a Spinning Helicopter Slung Load

After performing steady-state Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) calculations using OVERFLOW to validate the CFD method against static wind-tunnel data of a box-shaped cargo container, the same setup was used to investigate unsteady flow with a moving body. Results were compared to flight test data previously collected in which the container is spinning