A new technique for measuring diffusion coefficients of cations and anions in ionic crystals

A new technique has been developed for measuring the diffusion coefficient in ionic crystals. Based on Einstein's formula expressing the relation between diffusion coefficient and electric mobility, the electrical impedance of a diatomic ionic crystal is derived theoretically as a function of frequency of the applied electric field. In this method, the diffusion coefficients of both cations and anions are determined simultaneously by fitting the measured impedance to the theoretical relation. This method was applied to NaCl single crystals in the temperature range 370–780°C. The impedance was determined over the frequency range 0.01 Hz to 1 kHz, at constant temperature. The diffusion coefficients thus obtained for NaCl agree reasonably well with previous data by means of a radioactive isotope technique. The activation energies for Na⁺ and Cl^? obtained are 1.97±0.03 eV and 2.08±0.06 eV, respectively, in the intrinsic region, and 0.92±0.02 eV and 1.06±0.02 eV in the extrinsic region. It was discovered that there are diffusion blocks of approximately 2 μm width, which obstruct free migration of ions in a single crystal.     

Large-Eddy Simulation of Pollutant Removal from a Three-Dimensional Street Canyon

Large-eddy simulations were conducted to investigate the mechanism of pollutant removal from a three-dimensional street canyon. Five block configurations with aspect ratios (building height to length) of 1, 2, 4, 8 and $\infty $ were used to create an urban-like array. A pollutant was released from a ground-level line source at the centre of the target canyon floor. For smaller aspect ratios, the relative contribution of the turbulent mass flux to net mass flux at the roof level, which was spatially averaged along the roof-level ventilation area, was closer to unity, indicating that turbulent motions mainly affected pollutant removal from the top of the canyon. As aspect ratio increased, the relative contribution became smaller, owing to strong upwind motions. However, the relative contribution again reached near unity for the infinite aspect ratio (i.e. a two-dimensional street canyon) because of lowered lateral flow convergence. At least 75 % of total emissions from the three-dimensional street canyon were attributable to turbulent motions. Pollutant removal by turbulent motions was related to the coherent structures of low-momentum fluid above the canyons. Though the coherent structure size of the low-momentum fluid differed, the positions of low-momentum fluid largely corresponded to instantaneous high concentrations of pollutant above the target canyon, irrespective of canyon geometry.     

What motivates single women to migrate from northern Ghana to Accra?

In recent decades there has been a large migration stream of single women from the north to Accra in Ghana. Existing studies have focused on young migrant women’s livelihood strategies in their place of destination. However, once-married women – divorced and widowed women and neglected wives – also migrate, and their motivations for migration are less known. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative methods, the authors investigate the effects of gender norms, age, marital status, socio-economic status, and position in households on women’s decisions to migrate. The results revealed that migrant women from resource-poor households, regardless of age, marital status and position in households, commonly cited a gain in autonomy as an important motivation for their migration. From a differentiated perspective, young unmarried women aspired to prepare themselves for often expensive religious marriage ceremonies, whereas once-married women invest in their children’s education and build their own housing. By paying attention to the effects of gender norms, age, marital status, socio-economic status, and position in households on women’s decisions to migrate, the study illuminates the contradictory ways in which their migration practices are both shaped by and shape gender ideologies in parts of contemporary northern Ghana.     

Damage process of pile foundation in liquefied ground during strong ground motion

The 1995 Hyogoken–Nambu earthquake caused severe liquefaction over wide areas of reclaimed land. Furthermore, the liquefaction induced large ground displacement in horizontal directions, which caused serious damage to foundations of structures. However, few analyses of steel pipe piles based on field investigation have so far been conducted to identify the causes and process of such damage. The authors conducted a soil–pile-structure interaction analysis by applying a multi-lumped-mass-spring model to a steel pipe pile foundation structure to evaluate the causes and process of its damage. The damage process analyzed in the time domain corresponded well with the results of detailed field investigation. It was found that a large bending moment beyond the ultimate plastic moment of the pile foundation structure was induced mainly by the large ground displacement caused by liquefaction before lateral spreading of the ground and that the displacement appeared during the accumulating process of the excess pore water pressure.     

Metal flux as an alternative parameter in evaluating the resource potential for co-rich ferromanganese crusts

We propose a geochemical parameter, “metal flux” in evaluating hydrogenetic Co-rich ferromanganese crust deposits in the Pacific seamount area, that is based on physical, chemical, and geological characterization of the integrated growth piles of crusts. We calculated the metal flux for fifteen sites from different depths ranging between 900-6000m from different seamounts. The secular and areal variations of metal flux indicate a strong geological controls, and also can be a reliable tool for estimating an economic potential of the crusts. The Co flux decreases with increasing water depth, followed by almost constant flux of Ni and Mn. The Al and Fe fluxes vary with regions, indicating higher values in the western regions near the island arc probably related to a supply from the Asian continents. The results imply that Co, a redox sensitive metal element, is controlled by redox conditions of seawater, while Fe and Al are by terrigenous input. The metal flux reflects global and regional conditions and controls the compositional diversity of metals, thus consequently, the parameter can be a reliable powerful tool to estimate or single out more potential areas.     

Long-term evolution of the aerosol debris cloud produced by the 2009 impact on Jupiter

We present a study of the long-term evolution of the cloud of aerosols produced in the atmosphere of Jupiter by the impact of an object on 19 July 2009 (Sánchez-Lavega, A. et al. [2010]. Astrophys. J. 715, L155-L159). The work is based on images obtained during 5 months from the impact to 31 December 2009 taken in visible continuum wavelengths and from 20 July 2009 to 28 May 2010 taken in near-infrared deep hydrogen-methane absorption bands at 2.1-2.3 μm. The impact cloud expanded zonally from ∼5000 km (July 19) to 225,000 km (29 October, about 180° in longitude), remaining meridionally localized within a latitude band from 53.5°S to 61.5°S planetographic latitude. During the first two months after its formation the site showed heterogeneous structure with 500-1000 km sized embedded spots. Later the reflectivity of the debris field became more homogeneous due to clump mergers. The cloud was mainly dispersed in longitude by the dominant zonal winds and their meridional shear, during the initial stages, localized motions may have been induced by thermal perturbation caused by the impact’s energy deposition. The tracking of individual spots within the impact cloud shows that the westward jet at 56.5°S latitude increases its eastward velocity with altitude above the tropopause by 5-10 m s⁻¹. The corresponding vertical wind shear is low, about 1 m s⁻¹ per scale height in agreement with previous thermal wind estimations. We found evidence for discrete localized meridional motions with speeds of 1-2 m s⁻¹. Two numerical models are used to simulate the observed cloud dispersion. One is a pure advection of the aerosols by the winds and their shears. The other uses the EPIC code, a nonlinear calculation of the evolution of the potential vorticity field generated by a heat pulse that simulates the impact. Both models reproduce the observed global structure of the cloud and the dominant zonal dispersion of the aerosols, but not the details of the cloud morphology. The reflectivity of the impact cloud decreased exponentially with a characteristic timescale of 15 days; we can explain this behavior with a radiative transfer model of the cloud optical depth coupled to an advection model of the cloud dispersion by the wind shears. The expected sedimentation time in the stratosphere (altitude levels 5-100 mbar) for the small aerosol particles forming the cloud is 45-200 days, thus aerosols were removed vertically over the long term following their zonal dispersion. No evidence of the cloud was detected 10 months after the impact.     

Is the periodicity in the distribution of quasar redshifts evidence for the universe being multiply-connected ?

If the cosmological space is a topolegically compactified manifold, e.g. a three-dimensional torus, then the periodicity in the distribution of quasar redshifts can be explained. The present scale of such a compactified space is estimated to be on the order of 600 Mpc.