SSIMS Molecular Selective Imaging: a new diagnostic tool to investigate metal passivators in scrapped transformers

In every high voltage grid, the replacement of assets is a slow but steady process that guarantees long-term reliability of the power distribution networks. The prioritisation of such interventions is based on complex rating criteria specifically designed to highlight potential issues of certain machines (or families of machines) in need of care. Given the tremendous costs of operations such as the replacement of a power transformer it is not surprising to observe constant efforts devoted to finding new and better monitoring and diagnostic tools. These are capable of delivering invaluable information about the conditions of a transformer, in service or after it is either failed or proactively scrapped, allowing a better comprehension of underlying chemical-physical phenomena occurring. Ideally, advanced monitoring and diagnostic tools should ultimately result in improved rating parameters to be applied in the evaluation of future interventions. This feasibility study evaluates the use of static secondary ion mass spectrometry (SSIMS) molecular selective imaging as a diagnostic tool for power transformer. SSIMS is herein demonstrated to be able to assess, without doubts, the presence and integrity of the passivation layer produced by Irgamet®39 on copper surfaces in laboratory tests. The technique has also been tested on real samples collected from one of the phases of a 400/275kV autotransformer proactively scrapped and proved to be applicable without significant sample preparation. The possibility of its use in the study of the distribution of Irgamet®39 across the windings is also demonstrated. Further development of SSIMS as a diagnostic tool would be significantly increasing the grade of detail at which scrapped/failed units could be inspected. A better understanding on how the operating conditions or the design of a transformer can affect the anticorrosion protection layer at the molecular level would open the way to significant ad hoc improvements of both operative guidelines and rating criteria for power transformers

Confirmation of the Double Charm Baryon Xi_cc+ via its Decay to p D+ K-

We observes a signal for the double charm baryon Xi_cc+ in the charged decay mode Xi_cc+ -> p D+ K- to complement the previously reported decay Xi_cc+ -> Lambda_c K- pi+ in data from SELEX, the charm hadro-production experiment (E781) at Fermilab. In this new decay mode we observe an excess of 5.62 events over an expected background estimated by event mixing to be 1.38+/-0.13 events. The Poisson probability that a background fluctuation can produce the apparent signal is less than 6.4E-4. The observed mass of this state is (3518+/-3)MeV/c^2, consistent with the published result. Averaging the two results gives a mass of (3518.7+/-1.7)MeV/c^2. The observation of this new weak decay mode confirms the previous SELEX suggestion that this state is a double charm baryon. The relative branching ratio Gamma(Xi_cc+ -> pD+K-)/Gamma(Xi_cc+ -> Lambda_c K- pi+) = 0.36+/-0.21.Comment: 11 pages, 6 included eps figures. v2 includes improved statistical method to determine significance of observation. Submitted to PL

First Observation of the Cabibbo-suppressed Decays Xi_c+ -> Sigma+ pi- pi+ and Xi_c+ -> Sigma- pi+ pi+ and Measurement of their Branching Ratios

We report the first observation of two Cabibbo-suppressed decay modes, Xi_c+ -> Sigma+ pi- pi+ and Xi_c+ -> Sigma- pi+ pi+. We observe 59+/-14 over a background of 87, and 22+/-8 over a background of 13 events, respectively, for the signals. The data were accumulated using the SELEX spectrometer during the 1996-1997 fixed target run at Fermilab, chiefly from a 600GeV/c Sigma- beam. The branching ratios of the decays relative to the Cabibbo--favored Xi_c+ -> Xi- pi+ pi+ are measured to be B(Xi_c+ -> Sigma+ pi- pi+)/B(Xi_c+ -> Xi- pi+ pi+) = 0.48+/-0.20, and B(Xi_c+ -> Sigma- pi+ pi+)/B(Xi_c+ -> Xi- pi+ pi+) = 0.18+/-0.09, respectively. We also report branching ratios for the same decay modes of the Lambda_c+ relative to Lambda_c+ -> p K- pi+.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, version 2 as accepted in PL

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

Nuclear Dependence Of Charm Production

Using data taken by SELEX during the 1996-1997 fixed target run at Fermilab, we study the production of charmed hadrons on copper and carbon targets with ∑ -, p, π -, and π + beams. Parametrizing the dependence of the inclusive production cross section on the atomic number A as A α, we determine α for D +, D 0, D s +, D +(2010), Λ c +, and their respective anti-particles, as a function of their transverse momentum p t and scaled longitudinal momentum x F . Within our statistics there is no dependence of α on x F for any charm species for the interval 0.1&lt;x F &lt;1.0. The average value of α for charm production by pion beams is α meson=0.850±0.028. This is somewhat larger than the corresponding average α baryon=0.755±0.016 for charm production by baryon beams (∑ -, p). © 2009 Springer-Verlag/Società Italiana di Fisica.644637644Cobbaert, H., (1987) Phys. Lett. B, 191, p. 456. , 10.1016/0370-2693(87)90639-3 1987PhLB.191.456CCobbaert, H., (1988) Phys. Lett. B, 206, p. 546. , 10.1016/0370-2693(88)91627-9Cobbaert, H., (1988) Phys. Lett. B, 213, p. 395. , 10.1016/0370-2693(88)91783-2 1988PhLB.213.395CLeitch, M.J., (2000) Phys. Rev. Lett., 84, p. 3256. , 10.1103/PhysRevLett.84.3256 2000PhRvL.84.3256L arXiv:nucl-ex/9909007Alessandro, B., Alexa, C., Arnaldi, R., Atayan, M., Baglin, C., Baldit, A., Beole, S., Willis, N., Charmonium production and nuclear absorption in p-A interactions at 450 GeV (2004) European Physical Journal C, 33 (1), pp. 31-40. , DOI 10.1140/epjc/s2003-01539-yAbt, I., (2009) Eur. Phys. J. C, 60, p. 525. , 10.1140/epjc/s10052-009-0965-7 2009EPJC.60.525A arXiv:0812.0734 [hep-ex]Heller, K.J., (1977) Phys. Rev. D, 16, p. 2737. , 10.1103/PhysRevD.16.2737 1977PhRvD.16.2737HSkubic, P., (1978) Phys. Rev. D, 18, p. 3115. , 10.1103/PhysRevD.18.3115 1978PhRvD.18.3115SAleev, A.N., (1987) Sov. J. Nucl. Phys., 46, p. 657. , [Yad. Fiz. 46, 1127 (1987)]Vecko, M., (1989) Czech. J. Phys. B, 39, p. 297. , 10.1007/BF01597781 1989CzJPh.39.297VAdamovich, M., (1992) Phys. Lett. B, 284, p. 453. , 10.1016/0370-2693(92)90460-L 1992PhLB.284.453AAlves, G.A., (1993) Phys. Rev. Lett., 70, p. 722. , 10.1103/PhysRevLett.70.722 1993PhRvL.70.722AAlves, G.A., (1994) Phys. Rev. D, 49, p. 4317. , 10.1103/PhysRevD.49.R4317 1994PhRvD.49.4317ALeitch, M.J., (1994) Phys. Rev. Lett., 72, p. 2542. , 10.1103/PhysRevLett.72.2542 1994PhRvL.72.2542LAdamovich, M., (1997) Nucl. Phys. B, 495, p. 3. , 10.1016/S0550-3213(97)00223-X 1997NuPhB.495.3AApanasevich, L., (1997) Phys. Rev. D, 56, p. 1391. , 10.1103/PhysRevD.56.1391 1997PhRvD.56.1391A arXiv:hep-ex/9702014Abt, I., (2007) Eur. Phys. J. C, 52, p. 531. , 10.1140/epjc/s10052-007-0427-z 2007EPJC.52.531A arXiv:0708.1443 [hep-ex]Duffy, M.E., (1985) Phys. Rev. Lett., 55, p. 1816. , 10.1103/PhysRevLett.55.1816 1985PhRvL.55.1816DVogt, R., The A dependence of open charm and bottom production (2003) International Journal of Modern Physics E, 12 (2), pp. 211-269. , DOI 10.1142/S0218301303001272Lourenco, C., Wohri, H.K., Heavy-flavour hadro-production from fixed-target to collider energies (2006) Physics Reports, 433 (3), pp. 127-180. , DOI 10.1016/j.physrep.2006.05.005, PII S0370157306001815Frawley, A.D., Ullrich, T., Vogt, R., (2008) Phys. Rept., 462, p. 125. , 10.1016/j.physrep.2008.04.002 2008PhR.462.125F arXiv:0806.1013 [nucl-ex]Russ, J.S., (1998) Proceedings of the 29th International Conference on High Energy Physics II World Scientific Singapore, 1259. , A. Astbury (eds), et al. arXiv:hep-ex/9812031Russ, J.S., (1998) Proceedings of the 29th International Conference on High Energy Physics, 2, p. 1259. , ed. by A. Astbury, et al. (World Scientific, Singapore) arXiv:hep-ex/9812031Engelfried, J., (1999) Nucl. Instrum. Methods A, 431, p. 53. , 10.1016/S0168-9002(99)00043-1 1999NIMPA.431.53E arXiv:hep-ex/9811001Kushnirenko, A., Alkhazov, G., Atamantchouk, A.G., Balatz, M.Y., Bondar, N.F., Cooper, P.S., Dauwe, L.J., Vishnyakov, V.E., Precision measurements of the ∧c+ and D 0 lifetimes (2001) Physical Review Letters, 86 (23), pp. 5243-5246. , DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.5243Garcia, F.G., (2002) Phys. Lett. B, 528, p. 49. , 10.1016/S0370-2693(01)01484-8 2002PhLB.528.49S arXiv:hep-ex/0109017Kaya, M., (2003) Phys. Lett. B, 558, p. 34. , 10.1016/S0370-2693(03)00246-6 2003PhLB.558.34S arXiv:hep-ex/0302039Brodsky, S.J., Kopeliovich, B., Schmidt, I., Soffer, J., (2006) Phys. Rev. D, 73, p. 113005. , 2006PhRvD.73k3005B arXiv:hep-ph/0603238Adamovich, M.I., (2003) Eur. Phys. J. C, 26, p. 357. , 10.1140/epjc/s2002-01073-6 2003EPJC.26.357WA. Blanco-Covarrubias, et al. (SELEX Collaboration), in preparatio

Corrosive sulphur in large transformers: impact, quantification and detection

Several power apparatus use some type of oil insulation system. Transmission level transformers, one of the most expensive components in power networks, use mineral oil as both electrical insulation and cooling. Due to the financial risk posed, if this equipment fails unexpectedly, several quality and condition monitoring techniques are used to test the insulation system. Nevertheless, in 1990 approximately 50 % of the mineral oils used in transformers was contaminated with corrosive sulphur species [1], which passed undetected by the standard corrosion tests at the time, resulting in transformers failures worldwide. CIGRE estimates that between 2000 and 2009 there were approximately 100 related failures, not considering small distribution transformers too small for any investigation to be carried out.The work presented investigates how CuxS faults develop, examines possible techniques to monitor the corrosion process and the failure scenarios caused by sulphur corrosion. A sample production method capable of generating 90 mm square Kraft paper samples with homogeneous CuxS deposition, with a less than 1 % variation, and a reproducibility of 3:5% is detailed. Empirical data demonstrate how the generation of CuxS deposits to DBDS concentration, temperature, ageing atmosphere, paper-copper interfaces and location of deposits. Based on the empirical data obtained, a copper sulphide deposition model using multiple parallel CuxS formation mechanisms was developed.The development of condition monitoring techniques and laboratory-scale validation experiments have been completed successfully, with the use of both field and laboratory samples. It has been shown that x-ray fluorescence (XRF) is technically capable of quantifying very accurately sulphur and copper in oil, with a limit of quantization at 4.05 and 1.95 ppm respectively. In addition, XRF measurements demonstrated that through historical sulphur trends, sulphur depletion rates can be calculated to extrapolate if there is an onset sulphur corrosion. Frequency dielectric spectroscopic analysis of CuxS contaminated Kraft paper demonstrated empirically that CuxS deposits have resonance frequency, at approximately 1 mHz, and that the magnitude of the resonance relates to the quantity of CuxS. Furthermore, laboratory samples accurately replicate field samples containing CuxS deposits and other impurities in terms of dielectric data analysis.The effect of sulphur corrosion and possible failure scenarios are investigated. The electrical breakdown experiments demonstrate that the CuxS deposits reduced the electrical breakdown strength of each Kraft paper layer by 79.5 %. By applying DP life expectancy models to empirical data it is demonstrated that the corrosion process reduces 25 % of the transformer life expectancy at normal working conditions. The excess dielectric loss, generated from a CuxS contaminated insulation paper system, has increased by a factor of approximately 27.5. The thermal conductivity also increased 75%. It is demonstrated the generation of a hotspot is very likely, which then generates a snowball effect of generating further CuxS deposits and further increasing the local temperature.<br/

X-ray fluorescence as a condition monitoring tool for copper and corrosive sulphur species in insulating oil

Currently there are no standard techniques to detect copper sulphide deposits in transformers to act as an early warning system. This paper develops and tests a procedure using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy to tackle this problem and to monitor dissolved copper in oil, which can have a major impact on the dielectric properties of insulating oil. Initially calibration curves for sulphur and copper demonstrate the XRF’s limits of quantitation. Subsequently, a laboratory scale sample preparation procedure is developed to demonstrate that corrosive sulphur depletion trends may indirectly monitor copper sulphide formation. To confirm depleting sulphur species are corroding copper samples are analysed with Energy Dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy. Finally XRF demonstrates that corrosive oil has a low impact on the long term concentration of copper in oil. An XRF condition monitoring technique feasibility study is conducted and recommendations are given in how to implement it in the field

A molecular toolkit of cross-feeding strains for engineering synthetic yeast communities

Engineered microbial consortia often have enhanced system performance and robustness compared with single-strain biomanufacturing production platforms. However, few tools are available for generating co-cultures of the model and key industrial host Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here we engineer auxotrophic and overexpression yeast strains that can be used to create co-cultures through exchange of essential metabolites. Using these strains as modules, we engineered two- and three-member consortia using different cross-feeding architectures. Through a combination of ensemble modelling and experimentation, we explored how cellular (for example, metabolite production strength) and environmental (for example, initial population ratio, population density and extracellular supplementation) factors govern population dynamics in these systems. We tested the use of the toolkit in a division of labour biomanufacturing case study and show that it enables enhanced and tuneable antioxidant resveratrol production. We expect this toolkit to become a useful resource for a variety of applications in synthetic ecology and biomanufacturing.</p