5,362 research outputs found
Various local global principles for abelian groups
We discuss local global principles for abelian groups by examining the adjoint functor pair obtained by (left adjoint) sending an abelian group to the local diagram \Cal L(A)=\{\Bbb Z_{(p)}\otimes A\rightarrow \Bbb Q\otimes A\} and (right adjoint) applying the inverse limit functor to such diagrams; runs through all integer primes. We show that the natural map A\rightarrow \varprojlim \Cal L(A) is an isomorphism if has torsion at only finitely many primes. If is fixed we answer the genus problem of identifying all those groups for which the local diagrams \Cal L(A) and \Cal L(B) are isomorphic. A similar analysis is carried out for the arithmetic systems \Cal S(A)=\{\Bbb Q\otimes A\rightarrow\Bbb Q\otimes A^{\wedge}\leftarrow A^{\wedge}\} and the local systems . The delicate relationship between the various adjoint functor pairs described above is explained
Does lighting affect pedestrian flows? A pilot study in Lund, Market Harborough and Dublin
A study records pedestrian footfalls in Lund, Dublin and Market Harborough during the day and after dark, either side of the Autumn 2016 clock change, using the change of end of civil twilight time to measure the effect of different lighting levels at the same clock time on footfall rates. Examination of total footfalls on weekdays and at weekends found significant decreases in counts after the clock change, on 5/6 sites on weekdays and half the sites at weekends. Further analysis found that the percentage decrease in the counts in the test period (same time/day of the week, light one week, dark the next) was more than in the control period (same time/day of the week, light both weeks), in 79% of counting sessions. The findings demonstrate higher reduction in footfalls on weekdays in mixed use areas, such as the sites selected in Dublin, and on Sundays in non-central locations
The effect of sampling techniques used in the multiconfigurational Ehrenfest method
In this paper, we compare and contrast basis set sampling techniques recently developed for use in the ab initio multiple cloning method, a direct dynamics extension to the multiconfigurational Ehrenfest approach, used recently for the quantum simulation of ultrafast photochemistry. We demonstrate that simultaneous use of basis set cloning and basis function trains can produce results which are converged to the exact quantum result. To demonstrate this, we employ these sampling methods in simulations of quantum dynamics in the spin boson model with a broad range of parameters and compare the results to accurate benchmarks
Modelling and monitoring tools to evaluate the Urban Heat Island's contribution to the risk of indoor overheating
The growth of cit ies increases urban surface areas and anthropogenic heat generation, causing an Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. In the UK , UHI effects may cause positive (winter) and negative (summer) health , comfort and energy consumption consequences . With the increasing focus on climate change - related heat exposure and consequent increased mortality risk, there is a need to better investigate the UHI during hot seasons. This paper reviews the current literature regarding UHI characterisation using monitoring, modelling, and remote sensing approaches, their limitations, and applications in building simulation and population heat exposure models . Ongoing and future research is briefly introduced in which downscaling techniques are proposed that provide higher temporal and spatial information to assess and locate heat - associated health risk in London
Identifying key experience-related differences in over-ground manual wheelchair propulsion biomechanics
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate technique differences between expert and novice manual wheelchair users during over-ground wheelchair propulsion.
METHOD: Seven experts (spinal cord injury level between T5 and L1) and six novices (non-wheelchair users) pushed a manual wheelchair over level ground, a 2.5% cross slope and up a 6.5% incline (7.2 m length) and 12% incline (1.5 m length). Push rim kinetics, trunk and shoulder kinematics and muscle activity level were measured.
RESULTS: During the level and cross slope tasks, the experts completed the tasks with fewer pushes by applying a similar push rim moment over a greater push arc, demonstrating lower muscle activity. During the incline tasks, the experts required fewer pushes and maintained a greater average velocity, generating greater power by applying a similar push rim moment over a greater push arc with greater angular velocity, demonstrating greater trunk flexion and higher shoulder muscle activity.
CONCLUSIONS: This study identifies experience-related differences during over-ground manual wheelchair propulsion. These differences are particularly evident during incline propulsion, with the experts generating significantly greater power to maintain a higher velocity
Wave-driven flow over shallow reefs
Long-term (1 month) observations of waves and currents over a natural reef are presented which show a strong correlation between offshore rms incident wave height and cross-reef currents at subtidal frequencies. The energy spectrum of the cross-reef currents shows a significant peak at twice the semidiurnal tidal frequency, while the spectrum of sea surface elevation over the reef flat shows no corresponding
peak. Furthermore, experimental results reported by Gourlay (1993) show setup over the reef occurs in the absence of a beach, and the cross-reef transport decreases with an increase in the sea surface slope across the reef flat due to an increase in setup at the top of the reef face. Analytic solutions for flow forced by wave breaking over an idealized reef explain the above features of cross-reef flows in the absence of a beach. Through the surf zone on the reef face the cross-reef gradient in the radiation stress
due to wave breaking is partitioned between balancing an offshore pressure gradient associated with setup over the reef and forcing a mean flow across the reef. Over the reef flat, where the depth is constant, there is no forcing due to wave breaking and the flow is driven by a pressure gradient which results from the setup through the surf zone. The magnitude of the setup through the surf zone is such that the transport across the reef flat matches the transport through the surf zone which is forced by the gradient in the radiation stress. Solutions are presented for general reef geometry, defined by the reef width and slope of the seaward reef face, and incident wave forcing, defined by the depth at the breakpoint and the depth of water over the reef. As the depth over the reef goes to zero, the solutions converge to the plane beach solutions described by Longuet-Higgins and Stewart (1964), wave setup is maximized, and the cross-reef transport is zero. In other cases the relative magnitudes of the setup and the cross-reef transport depend on the geometry of the reef and the incident wave forcing
Modelling population exposure to high indoor temperatures under changing climates, housing conditions, and urban environments in England
: The exposure of an individual to heat during hot weather depends on several factors including
local outdoor temperatures and possible Urban Heat Island (UHI) effects, the thermal performance of the
building they inhabit, and any actions that they are able to take in order to modify the indoor thermal
conditions. There is an increasing body of research that seeks to understand how housing, UHI, and
occupant profiles may alter the risk of mortality during hot weather. Housing overheating models have
been of particular interest due to the amount of time spent indoors and the need to improve the energy
efficiency of the UK housing stock. A number of housing overheating models have been created in order to
understand how changes to the building stock and climate may alter heat exposure and risks of heatrelated
mortality. We briefly describe the development of a metamodel – a model derived from the
outputs of EnergyPlus dynamic thermal simulation models of building variants – and its application to a
housing stock model representative of the West Midlands, UK. We model the stock under a ‘current’
scenario, as described by the 2010-2011 English Housing Survey, and then following a full energy-efficient
building fabric retrofit or the installation of external window shutters. Initial results indicate a wide range of
overheating risks inside dwelling variants in Birmingham, with flats and bungalows most vulnerable to
overheating, and detached dwellings least vulnerable. Modelling of the full retrofit of buildings indicated
that the stock would experience an overall increase in overheating, while external shutters were able to
decrease overheating significantly
Investment in sensory structures, testis size, and wing coloration in males of a diurnal moth species: trade-offs or correlated growth?
For dioecious animals, reproductive success typically involves an exchange between the sexes of signals that provide information about mate location and quality. Typically, the elaborate, secondary sexual ornaments of males signal their quality, while females may signal their location and receptivity. In theory, the receptor structures that receive the latter signals may also become elaborate or enlarged in a way that ultimately functions to enhance mating success through improved mate location. The large, elaborate antennae of many male moths are one such sensory structure, and eye size may also be important in diurnal moths. Investment in these traits may be costly, resulting in trade-offs among different traits associated with mate location. For polyandrous species, such trade-offs may also include traits associated with paternity success, such as larger testes. Conversely, we would not expect this to be the case for monandrous species, where sperm competition is unlikely. We investigated these ideas by evaluating the relationship between investment in sensory structures (antennae, eye), testis, and a putative warning signal (orange hindwing patch) in field-caught males of the monandrous diurnal painted apple moth Teia anartoides (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) in southeastern Australia. As predicted for a monandrous species, we found no evidence that male moths with larger sensory structures had reduced investment in testis size. However, contrary to expectation, investment in sensory structures was correlated: males with relatively larger antennae also had relatively larger eyes. Intriguingly, also, the size of male orange hindwing patches was positively correlated with testis size
Sex differences in metabolic and adipose tissue responses to juvenile-onset obesity in sheep
Sex is a major factor determining adipose tissue distribution and the subsequent adverse effects of obesity-related disease including type 2 diabetes. The role of gender on juvenile obesity and the accompanying metabolic and inflammatory responses is not well established. Using an ovine model of juvenile onset obesity induced by reduced physical activity, we examined the effect of gender on metabolic, circulatory, and related inflammatory and energy-sensing profiles of the major adipose tissue depots. Despite a similar increase in fat mass with obesity between genders, males demonstrated a higher storage capacity of lipids within perirenal-abdominal adipocytes and exhibited raised insulin. In contrast, obese females became hypercortisolemic, a response that was positively correlated with central fat mass. Analysis of gene expression in perirenal-abdominal adipose tissue demonstrated the stimulation of inflammatory markers in males, but not females, with obesity. Obese females displayed increased expression of genes involved in the glucocorticoid axis and energy sensing in perirenal-abdominal, but not omental, adipose tissue, indicating a depot-specific mechanism that may be protective from the adverse effects of metabolic dysfunction and inflammation. In conclusion, young males are at a greater risk than females to the onset of comorbidities associated with juvenile-onset obesity. These sex-specific differences in cortisol and adipose tissue could explain the earlier onset of the metabolic-related diseases in males compared with females after obesity
Enhanced light extraction from InGaN/GaN quantum wells with silver gratings
We demonstrate that an extraction enhancement by a factor of 2.8 can be obtained for a GaN quantum well structure using metallic nanostructures, compared to a flat semiconductor. The InGaN/GaN quantum well is inserted into a dielectric waveguide, naturally formed in the structure, and a silver grating is deposited on the surface and covered with a polymer film. The polymer layer greatly improves the extraction compared to a single metallic grating. The comparison of the experiments with simulations gives strong indications on the key role of weakly guided modes in the polymer layer diffracted by the grating.Peer reviewe
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