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Magnitude Slower (magnitude + slower)
Selected AbstractsReal-time optimization of dynamic systems using multiple unitsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ROBUST AND NONLINEAR CONTROL, Issue 13 2007B. Srinivasan Abstract Model-free, unconstrained, real-time optimization of the operating point of a dynamic system involves forcing the gradient of the cost function to zero. In these methods, gradient estimation is a key issue, for which methods that perturb the input over time are used. The main limitation of these methods is that they require the dynamics of the adaptation to be two orders of magnitude slower than the system dynamics. To circumvent this limitation, a novel, simple, yet effective way of estimating the gradient is presented in this paper. Multiple identical units with non-identical inputs are used and the gradient is computed via finite difference. Thus, the perturbation is along the ,unit dimension', thereby allowing a faster adaptation. The convergence of the scheme is rigorously established via Lyapunov analysis. An illustrative example is provided where the proposed scheme resulted in an 100-fold improvement in the time needed for convergence. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Dependence of reaction kinetics on H2O activity as inferred from rates of intergranular diffusion of aluminiumJOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 7 2010W. D. CARLSON Abstract Quantitative constraints on the accelerative effects of H2O on the kinetics of metamorphic reactions arise from a comparison of rates of intergranular diffusion of Al in natural systems that are fluid-saturated, hydrous but fluid-undersaturated, and nearly anhydrous. Widths of symplectitic reaction coronas around partially resorbed garnet crystals in the contact aureole of the Makhavinekh Lake Pluton, northern Labrador, combined with time,temperature histories from conductive thermal models, yield intergranular diffusivities for Al from ,700,900 °C under nearly anhydrous conditions. Those rates, when extrapolated down temperature, are approximately three orders of magnitude slower than rates derived from re-analysis of garnet resorption coronas formed under hydrous but fluid-undersaturated conditions near 575 °C in rocks of the Llano Uplift of central Texas, which are in turn approximately four orders of magnitude slower than rates at comparable temperatures derived from numerical simulations of prograde garnet growth in fluid-saturated conditions in rocks from the Picuris Range of north-central New Mexico. Thus, even at constant temperature, rates of intergranular diffusion of Al , and corresponding length scales and timescales of metamorphic reaction and equilibration , may vary by as much as seven orders of magnitude across the range of H2O activities found in nature. [source] Flow Kinetics in Porous Ceramics: Understanding with Non-Uniform Capillary ModelsJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY, Issue 10 2007Debdutt Patro The present work describes the development of a two-parameter non-uniform capillary model to describe kinetics of flow in porous solids with complex tortuous varying paths. Experimentally, the rate of fluid flow in such a non-uniform capillary is found to be orders of magnitude slower compared with a corresponding average uniform capillary. This slow rate is explained in terms of an extremely small ,effective' hydrodynamic radius. The origin of such an ,unphysical' radius is rationalized based on geometrical considerations and effective driving forces for flow through a stepped capillary. Infiltration rate parameters are derived from the geometry of the porous medium for both wetting and non-wetting conditions. [source] Effect of Intramolecular Transfer to Polymer on Stationary Free Radical Polymerization of Alkyl Acrylates, 2,MACROMOLECULAR THEORY AND SIMULATIONS, Issue 2 2006Improved Consideration of Termination Abstract Summary: Procedures are developed to estimate kinetic rate coefficients from available rate data for the free radical solution polymerization of butyl acrylate at 50,°C. The analysis is based upon a complete mechanistic set that includes the formation of mid-chain radicals through backbiting and their subsequent reaction, and contains no assumptions on how the rate coefficient for cross-termination of mid-chain and end-chain radicals is related to the two homo-termination rate coefficients. After a thorough statistical analysis, the results of the fitting are combined with other recent literature data to provide a complete set of individual rate coefficients for the butyl acrylate system. Monomer addition to a mid-chain radical is estimated to be slower than addition to a chain-end radical by a factor of more than 400. The termination of two mid-chain radicals is estimated to be two orders of magnitude slower than termination of two end-chain radicals, with the cross-termination rate coefficient close to the geometric mean. Formation of a mid-chain radical by intramolecular chain transfer to polymer by a chain-end radical. [source] Water diffusion in the different microenvironments of breast cancerNMR IN BIOMEDICINE, Issue 4 2004Yael Paran Abstract The parameters that characterize the intricate water diffusion in tumors may serve to reveal their distinct pathology. Specifically, the application of diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can aid in characterizing breast cancer, as well as monitoring response to therapy. We present here a non-invasive, quantitative MRI investigation, at high spatial resolution, of water diffusion in hormonal dependent MCF7 breast tumors implanted orthotopically in immunodeficient mice. Distinctive MRI protocols were designed in this study, utilizing a broad range of diffusion times and diffusion gradient strengths. Application of these protocols allowed water diffusion in the tissue extracellular and intracellular compartments to be distinguished, and the effect of restricted diffusion and water exchange on the water diffusion in these compartments to be evaluated. Pixel-by-pixel analysis yielded parametric maps of the estimated volume fraction and apparent diffusion coefficient of each compartment. The diffusion of the water in the extracellular microenvironment was approximately two fold slower than that of free water, and in the intracellular compartment was about one order of magnitude slower than that of free water and demonstrated restriction of water diffusion at long diffusion times. Mapping of the water fraction in each compartment was further employed to monitor changes during tumor progression and to assess tumor response to hormonal manipulation with a new antiestrogenic drug, tamoxifen methiodide (TMI). It was found that, in parallel to the growth arrest by this drug, the volume fraction of the slowly diffusing water increased, suggesting a TMI-induced cell swelling. This study can serve as a basis for extending diffusion breast MRI in the clinical setting. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Osmolyte controlled fibrillation kinetics of insulin: New insight into fibrillation using the preferential exclusion principleBIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS, Issue 5 2009Arpan Nayak Abstract Amyloid proteins are converted from their native-fold to long ,-sheet-rich fibrils in a typical sigmoidal time-dependent protein aggregation curve. This reaction process from monomer or dimer to oligomer to nuclei and then to fibrils is the subject of intense study. The main results of this work are based on the use of a well-studied model amyloid protein, insulin, which has been used in vitro by others. Nine osmolyte molecules, added during the protein aggregation process for the production of amyloid fibrils, slow-down or speed up the process depending on the molecular structure of each osmolyte. Of these, all stabilizing osmolytes (sugars) slow down the aggregation process in the following order: tri > di > monosaccharides, whereas destabilizing osmolytes (urea, guanidium hydrochloride) speed up the aggregation process in a predictable way that fits the trend of all osmolytes. With respect to kinetics, we illustrate, by adapting our earlier reaction model to the insulin system, that the intermediates (trimers, tetramers, pentamers, etc.) are at very low concentrations and that nucleation is orders of magnitude slower than fibril growth. The results are then collated into a cogent explanation using the preferential exclusion and accumulation of osmolytes away from and at the protein surface during nucleation, respectively. Both the heat of solution and the neutral molecular surface area of the osmolytes correlate linearly with two fitting parameters of the kinetic rate model, that is, the lag time and the nucleation rate prior to fibril formation. These kinetic and thermodynamic results support the preferential exclusion model and the existence of oligomers including nuclei and larger structures that could induce toxicity. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2009 [source] | ||||||||||