Development of an integrated low-power RF partial discharge detector

This paper presents the results from integrating a low-power partial discharge detector with a wireless sensor node designed for operating as part of an IEEE 802.15.4 sensor network, and applying an on-line classifier capable of classifying partial discharges in real-time. Such a system is of benefit to monitoring engineers as it provides a means to exploit the RF technique using a low-cost device while circumventing the need for any additional cabling associated with new condition monitoring systems. The detector uses a frequency-based technique to differentiate between multiple defects, and has been integrated with a SunSPOT wireless sensor node hosting an agent-based monitoring platform, which includes a data capture agent and rule induction agent trained using experimental data. The results of laboratory system verification are discussed, and the requirements for a fully robust and flexible system are outlined

Exact Results And Soft Breaking Masses In Supersymmetric Gauge Theory

We give an explicit formalism connecting softly broken supersymmetric gauge theories (with QCD as one limit) to $N=2$ and $N=1$ supersymmetric theories possessing exact solutions, using spurion fields to embed these models in an enlarged $N=1$ model. The functional forms of effective Lagrangian terms resulting from soft supersymmetry breaking are constrained by the symmetries of the enlarged model, although not well enough to fully determine the vacuum structure of generic softly broken models. Nevertheless by perturbing the exact $N=1$ model results with sufficiently small soft breaking masses, we show that there exist nonsupersymmetric models that exhibit monopole condensation and confinement in the same modes as the $N=1$ case.Comment: Final version to appear in Nucl. Phys. B; LaTex, 19 pgs, no figures. Corrected references and some formulae, with no effect on conclusion

Integrative genomic mining for enzyme function to enable engineering of a non-natural biosynthetic pathway.

The ability to biosynthetically produce chemicals beyond what is commonly found in Nature requires the discovery of novel enzyme function. Here we utilize two approaches to discover enzymes that enable specific production of longer-chain (C5-C8) alcohols from sugar. The first approach combines bioinformatics and molecular modelling to mine sequence databases, resulting in a diverse panel of enzymes capable of catalysing the targeted reaction. The median catalytic efficiency of the computationally selected enzymes is 75-fold greater than a panel of naively selected homologues. This integrative genomic mining approach establishes a unique avenue for enzyme function discovery in the rapidly expanding sequence databases. The second approach uses computational enzyme design to reprogramme specificity. Both approaches result in enzymes with >100-fold increase in specificity for the targeted reaction. When enzymes from either approach are integrated in vivo, longer-chain alcohol production increases over 10-fold and represents >95% of the total alcohol products

The Radio-Optical Correlation in Steep-Spectrum Quasars

Using complete samples of steep-spectrum quasars, we present evidence for a correlation between radio and optical luminosity which is not caused by selection effects, nor caused by an orientation dependence (such as relativistic beaming), nor a byproduct of cosmic evolution. We argue that this rules out models of jet formation in which there are no parameters in common with the production of the optical continuum. This is arguably the most direct evidence to date for a close link between accretion onto a black hole and the fuelling of relativistic jets. The correlation also provides a natural explanation for the presence of aligned optical/radio structures in only the most radio luminous high-redshift galaxies.Comment: MNRAS in press. Uses BoxedEPS (included

Suitability of Native Milkweed (\u3cem\u3eAsclepias\u3c/em\u3e) Species versus Cultivars for Supporting Monarch Butterflies and Bees in Urban Gardens

Public interest in ecological landscaping and gardening is fueling a robust market for native plants. Most plants available to consumers through the horticulture trade are cultivated forms that have been selected for modified flowers or foliage, compactness, or other ornamental characteristics. Depending on their traits, some native plant cultivars seem to support pollinators, specialist insect folivores, and insect-based vertebrate food webs as effectively as native plant species, whereas others do not. There is particular need for information on whether native cultivars can be as effective as true or “wild-type” native species for supporting specialist native insects of conservation concern. Herein we compared the suitability of native milkweed species and their cultivars for attracting and supporting one such insect, the iconic monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus L.), as well as native bees in urban pollinator gardens. Wild-type Asclepias incarnata L. (swamp milkweed) and Asclepias tuberosa L. (butterfly milkweed) and three additional cultivars of each that vary in stature, floral display, and foliage color were grown in a replicated common garden experiment at a public arboretum. We monitored the plants for colonization by wild monarchs, assessed their suitability for supporting monarch larvae in greenhouse trials, measured their defensive characteristics (leaf trichome density, latex, and cardenolide levels), and compared the proportionate abundance and diversity of bee families and genera visiting their blooms. Significantly more monarch eggs and larvae were found on A. incarnata than A. tuberosa in both years, but within each milkweed group, cultivars were colonized to the same extent as wild types. Despite some differences in defense allocation, all cultivars were as suitable as wild-type milkweeds in supporting monarch larval growth. Five bee families and 17 genera were represented amongst the 2,436 total bees sampled from blooms of wild-type milkweeds and their cultivars in the replicated gardens. Bee assemblages of A. incarnata were dominated by Apidae (Bombus, Xylocopa spp., and Apis mellifera), whereas A. tuberosa attracted relatively more Halictidae (especially Lasioglossum spp.) and Megachilidae. Proportionate abundance of bee families and genera was generally similar for cultivars and their respective wild types. This study suggests that, at least in small urban gardens, milkweed cultivars can be as suitable as their parental species for supporting monarch butterflies and native bees

Pedestrian Solution of the Two-Dimensional Ising Model

The partition function of the two-dimensional Ising model with zero magnetic field on a square lattice with m x n sites wrapped on a torus is computed within the transfer matrix formalism in an explicit step-by-step approach inspired by Kaufman's work. However, working with two commuting representations of the complex rotation group SO(2n,C) helps us avoid a number of unnecessary complications. We find all eigenvalues of the transfer matrix and therefore the partition function in a straightforward way.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures; eqs. (101) and (102) corrected, files for fig. 2 fixed, minor beautification

Biphasic pattern in the effect of severe measles infection; the difference between additive and multiplicative scale.

BACKGROUND: Infection with measles virus (MeV) causes immunosuppression and increased susceptibility to other infectious diseases. Only few studies reported a duration of immunosuppression, with varying results. We investigated the effect of immunosuppression on the incidence of hospital admissions for infectious diseases in Vietnamese children. METHODS: We used retrospective data (2005 to 2015; N = 4419) from the two pediatric hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. We compared the age-specific incidence of hospital admission for infectious diseases before and after hospitalization for measles. We fitted a Poisson regression model that included gender, current age, and time since measles to obtain a multiplicative effect measure. Estimates were transformed to the additive scale. RESULTS: We observed two phases in the incidence of hospital admission after measles. The first phase started with a fourfold increased rate of admissions during the first month after measles, dropping to a level quite comparable to children of the same age before measles. In the second phase, lasting until at least 6 years after measles, the admission rate decreased further, with values up to 20 times lower than in children of the same age before measles. However, on the additive scale the effect size in the second phase was much smaller than in the first phase. CONCLUSION: The first phase highlights the public health benefits of measles vaccination by preventing measles and immune amnesia. The beneficial second phase is interesting, but its strength strongly depends on the scale. It suggests a complicated interaction between MeV infection and the host immunity

Short-term rhGH increases PIIINP, a biomarker of endothelial dysfunction

Objectives: In arterial hypertension, amino-terminal propeptide of type III procollagen (PIIINP) is elevated in arterial aneurysm tissue and associated with a poor prognosis following acute myocardial infarction (MI). Recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) administration attenuates endothelial dysfunction but increases PIIINP. This study was conducted to establish if short-term rhGH administration affects PIIINP, endothelial function and selected cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, in healthy males. Design: Method: Male subjects (n=48) were randomly assigned into two groups: (1): control group (C) n=24, mean ± SD, age 32 ± 11 years; height 1.8 ± 0.06 metres; (2): rhGH administration group (rhGH) n=24, mean ± SD, age 32 ± 9 years; height 1.8 ± 0.07 metres. Blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), arterial pulse wave velocity (APWV), and biochemical indices were investigated. Results: PIIINP (0.28±0.1 vs. 0.42±0.2, U/ml); Insulin like growth factor-I (159±54 vs. 323±93, ng.mL-1); resting HR (72±14 vs. 78±11, b.p.m.) and rate pressure product (RPP) (90±18 vs. 97±14, bpm x mm.Hg x 10-2) all significantly increased (P<0.05). Total cholesterol (4.7±0.9 vs. 4.4±0.7, mmol.L-1); high sensitivity C-reactive protein (1.77±2.1 vs. 1.29±1.6, mg.L-1); serum homocysteine (13.2±4.0 vs. 11.7±3.1, μmol.L-1) and APWV (9.97±1.38 vs. 9.18±1.6, m.s-1) all significantly decreased (P<0.05). Conclusion: Paradoxically, there was an improvement in CVD inflammatory markers and APWV; but PIIINP and resting RPP increased. Elevated PIIINP may have a confounding adverse effect on the endothelium, but may also provide clinical prognostic information in monitoring arterial hypertension, left ventricular function in the sub-acute phase following MI and endothelial function in aortic aneurysms

Nerve injury induces robust allodynia and ectopic discharges in Na(v)1.3 null mutant mice

Changes in sodium channel activity and neuronal hyperexcitability contribute to neuropathic pain, a major clinical problem. There is strong evidence that the re-expression of the embryonic voltage-gated sodium channel subunit Na(v)1.3 underlies neuronal hyperexcitability and neuropathic pain. Here we show that acute and inflammatory pain behaviour is unchanged in global Na(v)1.3 mutant mice. Surprisingly, neuropathic pain also developed normally in the Na(v)1.3 mutant mouse. To rule out any genetic compensation mechanisms that may have masked the phenotype, we investigated neuropathic pain in two conditional Na(v)1.3 mutant mouse lines. We used Na(v)1.8-Cre mice to delete Nav1.3 in nociceptors at E14 and NFH-Cre mice to delete Na(v)1.3 throughout the nervous system postnatally. Again normal levels of neuropathic pain developed after nerve injury in both lines. Furthermore, ectopic discharges from damaged nerves were unaffected by the absence of Na(v)1.3 in global knock-out mice. Our data demonstrate that Na(v)1.3 is neither necessary nor sufficient for the development of nerve-injury related pain