Phase locking control in the Circle Map

The phase-locking between two oscillators occurs when the ratio of their frequencies becomes locked in a ratio p/q of integer numbers over some finite domain of parameters values. Due to it, oscillators with some kind of nonlinear coupling may synchronize for certain set of parameters. This phenomenon can be better understood and studied with the use of a well-known paradigm, the Circle Map, and the definition of the winding number. Two diagrams related to this map are especially useful: the ‘Arnold tongues’ and the ‘devil’s staircase’. The synchronization that occurs in this map is described by the ‘Farey Series’. This property is the starting point for the development of control algorithms capable of locking the system under the action of an external excitation into a desired winding number. In this work, we discuss the main characteristics of the phase-locking phenomenon and consider three control algorithms designed to drive and keep the Circle Map into a desired winding number.     

Multiscale modelling of skeletal muscle tissue by incorporating microstructural effects

The macroscopic mechanical response of skeletal muscle tissue is mainly influenced by the properties and arrangement of microstructural elements, such as, for example, sarcomeres and connective tissue. Like for many biological materials, the mechanical properties of skeletal muscle tissue can vary quite significantly between different specimens like, for example, different persons or muscle types. Current state-of-the-art continuum-mechanical muscle models often lack the ability to take into account such variations in a natural way. Further, phenomenological constitutive laws face the challenge that appropriate material parameter sets need to be found for each tissue variation. Thus, the present work aims to identify the microstructural features and parameters governing the overall mechanical response and to incorporate them into a macroscopic material model by applying suitable homogenisation methods. The motivation hereby is that the estimation of material parameters for microstructures, such as collagen fibres, can be done in a more reliable and general way and that fluctuations between specimens are included by, for example, adapting the alignment of the collagen fibres inside the muscle. Moreover, instead of computationally expensive homogenisation methods like FE², this work proceeds from well-founded analytical homogenisation techniques in order to keep the model as simple as possible. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Second-order estimates for the large-deformation response of particle-reinforced rubbersEstimations homogénéisées pour le comportement mécanique des caoutchoucs renforcés en grandes déformations

This paper presents the application of a recently proposed ‘second-order’ homogenization method (J. Mech. Phys. Solids 50 (2002) 737–757) to the estimation of the effective behavior of hyperelastic composites subjected to finite deformations. The main feature of the method is the use of ‘generalized’ secant moduli that depend not only on the phases averages of the fields, but also on the phase covariance tensors. The use of the method is illustrated in the context of particle-, or fiber-reinforced elastomers and estimates analogous to the well-known Hashin–Shtrikman estimates for linear-elastic composites are generated. The new estimates improve on earlier estimates (J. Mech. Phys. Solids 48 (2000) 1389–1411) neglecting the use of fluctuations. In particular, the new estimates, unlike the earlier ones, are capable of recovering the exact incompressibility constraint when the matrix is also taken to be incompressible. To cite this article: O. Lopez-Pamies, P. Ponte Castañeda, C. R. Mecanique 331 (2003).     

SET-VALUED EXTENSION OF OPERATORS VIA STEINER SELECTIONS (Ⅰ)-THEORETICAL RESULTS

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Effect of pH and added electrolyte on the thermal-induced transitions of egg yolk

Thermally-induced transitions of egg yolk were studied using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and temperature-controlled Small Amplitude Oscillatory Shear (SAOS). The influence of composition (pH and electrolyte content and type) was analysed. The results obtained under DSC measurements suggest a continuous evolution in protein denaturation that depends on pH and salt content. Cure experiments performed using SAOS show dramatic increases in viscoelasticity functions. Protein gelation is affected by the pH, ionic strength and salt type. SAOS was also used to obtain the mechanical spectra of egg yolk dispersions and gels as a function of composition. The microstructures of gels were also evaluated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). SEM results reveal an increase in microstructure homogeneity and a decrease in the size of aggregates at lowered pH. The influence of pH and ionic strength on linear viscoelastic properties and microstructure may be explained in terms of the model for the formation of gel networks of globular proteins. However, the characteristic structure of native yolk must also be considered.This paper was presented at the first Annual European Rheology Conference (AERC) held in Guimarães, Portugal, September 11-13, 2003.     

Protein-based bioplastics: effect of thermo-mechanical processing

Bioplastics based on glycerol and different proteins (wheat gluten, albumen, rice and albumen/gluten blends) have been manufactured to determine the effect that processing and further thermal treatments exert on different thermo-mechanical properties of the bioplastics obtained. Oscillatory shear, modulated differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, thermo-gravimetric analysis and water absorption tests were carried out to study the effect of processing on the physical characteristics of the bioplastics. The protein-based bioplastics studied in this work present a high capacity for thermosetting modification because of protein denaturation that may favour the development of a wide variety of materials. The use of albumen or rice protein allows the reduction in both protein concentration and thermosetting temperature, leading to linear viscoelastic moduli values similar to those of synthetic polymers such as LDPE and HDPE. The hygroscopic characteristics of protein-glycerol bioplastics may lead to a decrease in the values of the linear viscoelasticity functions. However, hygroscopic properties depend on the protein nature and may be used for industrial applications where water absorption is required. This paper was presented at Annual European Rheology Conference (AERC) held in Hersonisos, Crete, Greece, April 27–29, 2006.     

Complementary use of X‐ray methods to study ancient production remains and metals from Northern Portugal

Archaeological artefacts recovered at Castanheiro do Vento (Northern Portugal) were characterised by integrating macro and micro‐energy dispersive X‐ray fluorescence spectrometry (EDXRF) and scanning electron microscopy with X‐ray microanalysis. The collection includes metallurgical remains (ceramic crucibles, a metallic nodule and a vitrified fragment) and metals (tools and ornaments) whose chronology spans from the Chalcolithic to the Roman Age. The study of production remains was able to identify distinct copper‐based metallurgical operations including the smelting of copper ores, the melting of copper and tin and/or the melting of bronze scrap. Micro‐EDXRF identified copper and arsenical copper tools as well as bronze and leaded bronze ornaments. The composition of tools (Cu with varying As contents: 0.46–3.6%) reveals an incipient technology, typical of the Chalcolithic till the Middle Bronze Age. On the contrary, ornaments are composed by different alloys – low tin bronze (4.8% Sn), high tin bronze (14.9% Sn) and high tin‐leaded bronze (16.5% Sn and 2.4% Pb) ? evidencing technological and economic choices that clearly indicate a late period such as the Roman Age. In conclusion, this multiproxy approach was able to study those ancient artefacts with a minimum impact on their archaeological and museological significance while providing important answers to the interpretation of the archaeological settlement and to better understand the metallurgical evolution in the Portuguese territory. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Emergent nesting of the Fermi surface from local-moment description of iron-pnictide high-T<Subscript>c</Subscript> superconductors

We uncover the low-energy spectrum of a t-J model for electrons on a square lattice of spin-1 iron atoms with 3d _xz and 3d _yz orbital character by applying Schwinger-boson-slave-fermion mean-field theory and by exact diagonalization of one hole roaming over a 4 × 4 × 2 lattice. Hopping matrix elements are set to produce hole bands centered at zero two-dimensional (2D) momentum in the free-electron limit. Holes can propagate coherently in the t-J model below a threshold Hund coupling when long-range antiferromagnetic order across the d + = 3d _{(x + iy)z} and d ? = 3d _{(x ? iy)z} orbitals is established by magnetic frustration that is off-diagonal in the orbital indices. This leads to two hole-pocket Fermi surfaces centered at zero 2D momentum. Proximity to a commensurate spin-density wave (cSDW) that exists above the threshold Hund coupling results in emergent Fermi surface pockets about cSDW momenta at a quantum critical point (QCP). This motivates the introduction of a new Gutzwiller wavefunction for a cSDW metal state. Study of the spin-fluctuation spectrum at cSDW momenta indicates that the dispersion of the nested band of one-particle states that emerges is electron-type. Increasing Hund coupling past the QCP can push the hole-pocket Fermi surfaces centered at zero 2D momentum below the Fermi energy level, in agreement with recent determinations of the electronic structure of mono-layer iron-selenide superconductors.     

Turbulent Entrainment in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer

Turbulent entrainment – the process by which turbulence inside of the atmospheric boundary layer entrains air from the free troposphere above it – has been investigated using direct numerical simulations in two configurations, one without a cloud and one with a cloud. With the first configuration, we have learned that the entrainment zone in a convective boundary layer growing into a linearly stratified troposphere is better described in terms of a two-layer structure, with different characteristic scales associated with each of the two sub-layers. With the second configuration, we have explained how wind shear across the entrainment zone capping a stratocumulus cloud can render evaporative cooling as important as radiative cooling in driving convective motions. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)