Synchronized cluster formation in coupled laser networks

We experimentally investigate the phase dynamics of laser networks with homogenous time-delayed mutual coupling and establish the fundamental rules that govern their state of synchronization. We identified a specific substructure that imposes its synchronization state on the entire network and show that for any coupling configuration the network forms at most two synchronized clusters. Our results indicate that the synchronization state of the network is a nonlocal phenomenon and cannot be deduced by decomposing the network into smaller substructures, each with its individual synchronization state.     

Approximation for the mean value performance of locking algorithms for distributed database systems: a partitioned database

Concurrent access to databases must be synchronized for correct execution of transactions and preservation of data consistency. This is usually achieved through use of concurrency control algorithms, amongst which locking algorithms are the most popular both in the literature and in practice. Several analytic methods have been developed for predicting the performance of centralized database systems employing locking algorithms for concurrency control, but very few exist for distributed database systems.This paper proposes a method to approximate the mean value of various performance parameters in distributed database systems using locking for concurrency control. The main contribution of this approach is its ability to model the interaction between resource and data contention and the resulting effect on system performance. System performance is evaluated at a point where the interaction between these two factors is in equilibrium (stable state) and both the data and resource contention equations are simultaneously satisfied.The model involves the solution of a set of simultaneous polynomial equations whose order is dependent on several problem parameters such as the number of nodes and number of locks requested per transaction. These equations are solved by an iterative procedure to evaluate approximate values of relative throughput, utilization of servers and transaction response time. The small computational requirements of the analytical model permit sensitivity analysis on network parameters, and can thus be effectively used by system designers to evaluate choices of communication line speeds, processor capacity, database sizes, etc.The analytic approximations have been extensively verified against simulations for networks with up to 20 nodes. The input traffic was varied from light loads (about 5% utilization of the channels and processors) to heavy loads (about 65% utilization of the processors and channels). The discrepancies between the analytic approximation and the simulation were quite small (2–8%).This work was done while the authors were at Drexel University, Philadelphia.     

Prediction and correlations of some delayed neutron precursor yields for certain actinide nuclides

In this paper some predictions about some delayed neutron precursor yields are presented. The predictions are applied for certain actinides with some special interest in the nuclear energy field. The predictions are based on correlations which might be related to the cluster structure of the nucleus.     

Coating Platinum Nanoparticles with Methyl Radicals: Effects on Properties and Catalytic Implications

It was recently reported that the reaction of methyl radicals with Pt⁰ nanoparticles (NPs), prepared by the reduction of Pt(SO₄)₂ with NaBH₄, is fast and yields as the major product stable (Pt⁰‐NPs)?(CH₃)_n and as side products, in low yields, C₂H₆, C₂H₄, and some oligomers. We decided to study the effect of this coating on the properties of the Pt⁰‐NPs. The results show that the coating can cover up to 75 % of the surface Pt⁰ atoms. The rate constant of the reaction, k( ^. CH₃+Pt⁰‐NPs), decreases with the increase in the surface coverage, leading to competing reaction paths in the solution, which gradually become dominant, affecting the composition of the products. The methyl coating also affects the zeta potential, the UV spectra, and the electrocatalytic reduction of water in the presence of the NPs. Thus, the results suggest that binding alkyl radicals to Pt⁰ surfaces might poison the NPs catalytic activity. When the Pt⁰‐NPs are prepared by the reduction of a different precursor salt, PtCl₆^2?, nearly no C₂H₄ and oligomers are formed and the methyl coating covers a larger percentage of the surface Pt⁰ atoms. The difference is attributed to the morphology of the Pt⁰‐NPs: those prepared from Pt(SO₄)₂ are twinned nanocrystals, whereas those prepared from PtCl₆^2? consist mostly of single crystals. Thus, the results indicate that the side products, or most of them at least, are formed on the twinned Pt⁰ nanocrystal edges created between (111) facets. In addition, the results show that Pt⁰‐NPs react very differently compared with other noble metals, for example, Au⁰ and Ag⁰; this difference is attributed in part to the difference in the bond strength, (M⁰‐NP)?CH₃, and should be considered in heterogeneous catalytic processes involving alkyl radicals as intermediates.     

Dissecting entropic coiling and poor solvent effects in protein collapse

The early events in protein collapse and folding are guided by the protein's elasticity. The contributions of entropic coiling and poor solvent effects like hydrophobic forces to the elastic response of proteins are currently unknown. Using molecular simulations of stretched ubiquitin in comparison with models of proteins as entropic chains, we find a surprisingly high stiffness of the protein backbone, reflected by a persistence length of 1.2 nm, which is significantly reduced by hydrophobic forces acting between protein side chains to an apparent persistence length of 0.3-0.6 nm frequently observed in single-molecule stretching experiments. Thus, the poor solvent conditions of a protein in water lead to a protein compaction much beyond the coiling of an entropic chain and thereby allow a protein to appear softer than when using good solvents.     

How does a dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate collapse?

We emphasize that the macroscopic collapse of a dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate in a pancake-shaped trap occurs through local density fluctuations, rather than through a global collapse to the trap center. This hypothesis is supported by a recent experiment in a chromium condensate.     

Analysis of the distribution of diffusion coefficients in cat brain at 9.4 T using the inverse Laplace transformation

In this work, the usefulness of the inverse Laplace transformation (ILT) in the characterization of diffusion processes in the brain has been investigated. The method has been implemented on both phantom and in vivo cat brain data acquired at high resolution at 9.4 T. The results were compared with monoexponential and biexponential analyses of the same data. It is shown that in the case of diffusion restricted by white matter axonal tracts, the resulting diffusograms are in good agreement with the biexponential model. In gray matter, however, the non-monoexponential decay does not lead to a bimodal distribution in the ILT, even though the data can be fitted to a biexponential. This finding suggests the possibility of a distribution of diffusion coefficients rather than a discrete biexponential behavior. It is shown that this distribution is sensitive, for example, to experimental parameters such as the diffusion time. Thus, the ILT offers the possibility of implementing a unique tool for the analysis of heterogeneous diffusion, that is, the analysis of the diffusion coefficient distribution, which has the yet unexplored potential of being a valuable parameter in the characterization of tissue structure.     

On the lifetime of the transients (NP)-(CH3)n (NP = Ag0, Au0, TiO2 nanoparticles) formed in the reactions between methyl radicals and nanoparticles suspended in aqueous solutions

Methyl radicals react in fast reactions, with rate constants k>1×10(8) M(-1) s(-1), with Au(0), Ag(0) and TiO(2) nanoparticles (NPs) dispersed in aqueous solutions to form intermediates, (NP)-(CH(3))(n), in which the methyl groups are covalently bound to the NPs. These intermediates decompose to form ethane. As n≥2 is required for the formation of C(2)H(6), the minimal lifetime (τ) of the methyls bound to the NPs, (NP)-CH(3), can be estimated from the rate of production of the CH(3)(·) radicals and the NPs concentration. The results obtained in this study, using a very low dose rate γ-source for NP = Ag(0), Au(0), and TiO(2) point out that τ of these intermediates is surprisingly long, for example, ≥8 and ≥188?sec for silver and gold, respectively. These data point out that the NP-C bond dissociation energies are ≥70?kJ mol(-1). Under low rates of production of CH(3)(·), that is, when the rate of formation of ethane is very low, other reactions may occur, consequently the mechanism proposed is "broken". This is observed in the present study only for TiO(2) NPs. These results have to be considered whenever alkyl radicals are formed near surfaces. Furthermore, the results point out that the rate of reaction of methyl radicals with (NP)-(CH(3))(n) depends on n, that is, the number of methyl radicals bound to the NPs affect the properties of the NPs.     

Increasing the output length of zero‐error dispersers

Let $\cal{C}$ be a class of probability distributions over a finite set Ω. A function $D : \Omega \mapsto\{0,1\}^{m}$ is a disperser for $\cal{C}$ with entropy threshold $k$ and error $\epsilon$ if for any distribution X in $\cal{C}$ such that X gives positive probability to at least $2^{k}$ elements we have that the distribution $D(X)$ gives positive probability to at least $(1-\epsilon)2^{m}$ elements. A long line of research is devoted to giving explicit (that is polynomial time computable) dispersers (and related objects called “extractors”) for various classes of distributions while trying to maximize m as a function of k. For several interesting classes of distributions there are explicit constructions in the literature of zero‐error dispersers with “small” output length m. In this paper we develop a general technique to improve the output length of zero‐error dispersers. This strategy works for several classes of sources and is inspired by a transformation that improves the output length of extractors (which was given by Shaltiel (CCC'06; Proceedings of the 21st Annual IEEE Conference on Computational Complexity, (2006) 46–60.) building on earlier work by Gabizon, Raz and Shaltiel (SIAM J Comput 36 (2006) 1072–1094). Our techniques are different than those of Shaltiel (CCC'06; Proceedings of the 21st Annual IEEE Conference on Computational Complexity (2006) 46–60) and in particular give non‐trivial results in the errorless case. Using our approach we construct improved zero‐error 2‐source dispersers. More precisely, we show that for any constant $\delta >0$ there is a constant $\eta >0$ such that for sufficiently large n there is a poly‐time computable function $D :\{0,1\}^{n}\times\{0,1\}^{n}\mapsto\{0,1\}^{\eta n}$ such that for every two independent distributions $X_1,X_2$ over $\{0,1\}^{n}$ each with support size at least $2^{\delta n}$ , the output distribution $D(X_1,X_2)$ has full support. This improves the output length of previous constructions by Barak, Kindler, Shaltiel, Sudakov and Wigderson (Proceedings of the 37th Annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing (2005) 1–10) and has applications in Ramsey theory and in improved constructions of certain data structures from the work of Fiat and Naor [SIAM J Comput 22 (1993)]. We also use our techniques to give explicit constructions of zero‐error dispersers for bit‐fixing sources and affine sources over polynomially large fields. These constructions improve the best known explicit constructions due to Rao (unpublished data) and Gabizon and Raz [Combinatorica 28 (2008)] and achieve $m=\Omega(k)$ for bit‐fixing sources and $m=k-o(k)$ for affine sources over polynomial size fields. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2011     

Scale-dependent Macroscopic Balance Equations Governing Transport Through Porous Media: Theory and Observations

A theory is developed providing a rational framework for spatial scale- dependent fluid’s flow and heat transfer, and mass of a component migrating with it through porous media. Introducing the assumption of a non-Brownian type motion and referring to asymptotic expansion in powers of a small defined parameter, we develop a novel approach associated with macroscopic balance equations obtained by averaging over a Representative Elementary Volume (REV). We prove that these equations can be decomposed into a primary part that refers to the REV length scale and a secondary part valid at a length scale smaller than that of the corresponding REV length. Further to our previous development, we obtain two general forms of the primary and secondary macroscopic balance equations. One is based on the assumption that the advective flux of the extensive quantity is dominant over that of the dispersive flux, whereas the other disregards this assumption. Moreover we also introduce the primary and secondary macroscopic forms for the fluid heat- transfer equation. Considering a Newtonian fluid, the resulting primary Navier–Stokes equation can vary from a nonlinear wave equation to a drag-dominant equation at the fluid–solid interface (Darcy’s law). The secondary momentum balance equation describes a wave equation governing the concurrent propagation of the intensive momentum and the dispersive momentum flux, deviating from their corresponding average terms. The primary macroscopic fluid heat-transfer equation accounts for advective and dispersive heat fluxes and the secondary macroscopic heat-transfer equation involves the simultaneous advection of heat deviating from its corresponding intensive average quantity. The primary macroscopic solute mass balance equation accounts for advection and hydrodynamic dispersion. The secondary macroscopic component mass balance equation is in the form of pure advection governing migration of the deviation from the average component concentration. At this stage, we focus on establishing the viability of the developed theory. We do this by arguing that field observations of motion at small spatial scales are coherent with the hyperbolic characteristics of the secondary balance equations. Field observations under natural gradient flow conditions show excessive high concentration (average of 50 mg/L) of colloids under land irrigated by sewage effluents. We argue that this displacement of condensed colloidal parcels manifests the theoretical findings for the smaller spatial scale. Further evidence show the accumulation of particles moving behind the front of an emitted shockwave. We consider this as an experimental proof reinforcing the argument that colloidal migration is subject to the action of a shockwave in the fluid and pure advection transport, governed by the respective suggested hyperbolic macroscopic balance equations of fluid momentum and component mass at the smaller spatial scale.