2,573 research outputs found
Global effects on neoclassical transport in the pedestal with impurities
We present a numerical study of collisional transport in a tokamak pedestal
in the presence of non-trace impurities, using the radially global
neoclassical solver PERFECT [M. Landreman et al. 2014 Plasma Phys. Control.
Fusion 56 045005]. It is known that in a tokamak core with non-trace impurities
present the radial impurity flux opposes the bulk ion flux to provide an
ambipolar particle transport, with the electron transport being negligibly
small. However, in a sharp density pedestal with sub-sonic ion flows the
electron transport can be comparable to the ion and impurity flows.
Furthermore, the neoclassical particle transport is not intrinsically
ambipolar, and the non-ambipolarity of the fluxes extends outside the pedestal
region by the radial coupling of the perturbations. The neoclassical momentum
transport, which is finite in the presence of ion orbit-width scale profile
variations, is significantly enhanced when impurities are present in non-trace
quantities, even if the total parallel mass flow is dominated by the bulk ions
The importance of the classical channel in the impurity transport of optimized stellarators
In toroidal magnetic confinement devices, such as tokamaks and stellarators,
neoclassical transport is usually an order of magnitude larger than its
classical counterpart. However, when a high-collisionality species is present
in a stellarator optimized for low Pfirsch-Schl\"uter current, its classical
transport can be comparable to the neoclassical transport. In this letter, we
compare neoclassical and classical fluxes and transport coefficients calculated
for Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) and Large Helical Device (LHD) cases. In W7-X, we
find that the classical transport of a collisional impurity is comparable to
the neoclassical transport for all radii, while it is negligible in the LHD
cases, except in the vicinity of radii where the neoclassical transport changes
sign. In the LHD case, electrostatic potential variations on the flux-surface
significantly enhance the neoclassical impurity transport, while the classical
transport is largely insensitive to this effect in the cases studied.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure
A Short Wavelength GigaHertz Clocked Fiber-Optic Quantum Key Distribution System
A quantum key distribution system has been developed, using standard
telecommunications optical fiber, which is capable of operating at clock rates
of greater than 1 GHz. The quantum key distribution system implements a
polarization encoded version of the B92 protocol. The system employs
vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with emission wavelengths of 850 nm as
weak coherent light sources, and silicon single photon avalanche diodes as the
single photon detectors. A distributed feedback laser of emission wavelength
1.3 micro-metres, and a linear gain germanium avalanche photodiode was used to
optically synchronize individual photons over the standard telecommunications
fiber. The quantum key distribution system exhibited a quantum bit error rate
of 1.4%, and an estimated net bit rate greater than 100,000 bits-per-second for
a 4.2 km transmission range. For a 10 km fiber range a quantum bit error rate
of 2.1%, and estimated net bit rate of greater than 7,000 bits-per-second was
achieved.Comment: Pre-press versio
Lidar waveform based analysis of depth images constructed using sparse single-photon data
This paper presents a new Bayesian model and algorithm used for depth and
intensity profiling using full waveforms from the time-correlated single photon
counting (TCSPC) measurement in the limit of very low photon counts. The model
proposed represents each Lidar waveform as a combination of a known impulse
response, weighted by the target intensity, and an unknown constant background,
corrupted by Poisson noise. Prior knowledge about the problem is embedded in a
hierarchical model that describes the dependence structure between the model
parameters and their constraints. In particular, a gamma Markov random field
(MRF) is used to model the joint distribution of the target intensity, and a
second MRF is used to model the distribution of the target depth, which are
both expected to exhibit significant spatial correlations. An adaptive Markov
chain Monte Carlo algorithm is then proposed to compute the Bayesian estimates
of interest and perform Bayesian inference. This algorithm is equipped with a
stochastic optimization adaptation mechanism that automatically adjusts the
parameters of the MRFs by maximum marginal likelihood estimation. Finally, the
benefits of the proposed methodology are demonstrated through a serie of
experiments using real data
Robust Bayesian target detection algorithm for depth imaging from sparse single-photon data
This paper presents a new Bayesian model and associated algorithm for depth
and intensity profiling using full waveforms from time-correlated single-photon
counting (TCSPC) measurements in the limit of very low photon counts (i.e.,
typically less than 20 photons per pixel). The model represents each Lidar
waveform as an unknown constant background level, which is combined in the
presence of a target, to a known impulse response weighted by the target
intensity and finally corrupted by Poisson noise. The joint target detection
and depth imaging problem is expressed as a pixel-wise model selection and
estimation problem which is solved using Bayesian inference. Prior knowledge
about the problem is embedded in a hierarchical model that describes the
dependence structure between the model parameters while accounting for their
constraints. In particular, Markov random fields (MRFs) are used to model the
joint distribution of the background levels and of the target presence labels,
which are both expected to exhibit significant spatial correlations. An
adaptive Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm including reversible-jump updates
is then proposed to compute the Bayesian estimates of interest. This algorithm
is equipped with a stochastic optimization adaptation mechanism that
automatically adjusts the parameters of the MRFs by maximum marginal likelihood
estimation. Finally, the benefits of the proposed methodology are demonstrated
through a series of experiments using real data.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1507.0251
Experimental high-dimensional two-photon entanglement and violations of generalised Bell inequalities
Quantum entanglement plays a vital role in many quantum information and
communication tasks. Entangled states of higher dimensional systems are of
great interest due to the extended possibilities they provide. For example,
they allow the realisation of new types of quantum information schemes that can
offer higher information-density coding and greater resilience to errors than
can be achieved with entangled two-dimensional systems. Closing the detection
loophole in Bell test experiments is also more experimentally feasible when
higher dimensional entangled systems are used. We have measured previously
untested correlations between two photons to experimentally demonstrate
high-dimensional entangled states. We obtain violations of Bell-type
inequalities generalised to d-dimensional systems with up to d = 12.
Furthermore, the violations are strong enough to indicate genuine
11-dimensional entanglement. Our experiments use photons entangled in orbital
angular momentum (OAM), generated through spontaneous parametric
down-conversion (SPDC), and manipulated using computer controlled holograms
Optimizing the use of detector arrays for measuring intensity correlations of photon pairs
Intensity correlation measurements form the basis of many experiments based on spontaneous parametric down-conversion. In the most common situation, two single-photon avalanche diodes and coincidence electronics are used in the detection of the photon pairs, and the coincidence count distributions are measured by making use of some scanning procedure. Here we analyze the measurement of intensity correlations using multielement detector arrays. By considering the detector parameters such as the detection and noise probabilities, we found that the mean number of detected photons that maximizes the visibility of the two-photon correlations is approximately equal to the mean number of noise events in the detector array. We provide expressions predicting the strength of the measured intensity correlations as a function of the detector parameters and on the mean number of detected photons. We experimentally test our predictions by measuring far-field intensity correlations of spontaneous parametric down-conversion with an electron multiplying charge-coupled device camera, finding excellent agreement with the theoretical analysis
Multicenter clinical evaluation of the Luminex Aries Flu A/B & RSV assay for pediatric and adult respiratory tract specimens
ABSTRACT
Influenza A and B viruses and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are three common viruses implicated in seasonal respiratory tract infections and are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in adults and children worldwide. In recent years, an increasing number of commercial molecular tests have become available to diagnose respiratory viral infections. The Luminex Aries Flu A/B & RSV assay is a fully automated sample-to-answer molecular diagnostic assay for the detection of influenza A, influenza B, and RSV. The clinical performance of the Aries Flu A/B & RSV assay was prospectively evaluated in comparison to that of the Luminex xTAG respiratory viral panel (RVP) at four North American clinical institutions over a 2-year period. Of the 2,479 eligible nasopharyngeal swab specimens included in the prospective study, 2,371 gave concordant results between the assays. One hundred eight specimens generated results that were discordant with those from the xTAG RVP and were further analyzed by bidirectional sequencing. Final clinical sensitivity values of the Aries Flu A/B & RSV assay were 98.1% for influenza A virus, 98.0% for influenza B virus, and 97.7% for RSV. Final clinical specificities for all three pathogens ranged from 98.6% to 99.8%. Due to the low prevalence of influenza B, an additional 40 banked influenza B-positive specimens were tested at the participating clinical laboratories and were all accurately detected by the Aries Flu A/B & RSV assay. This study demonstrates that the Aries Flu A/B & RSV assay is a suitable method for rapid and accurate identification of these causative pathogens in respiratory infections.</jats:p
Subcentimeter depth resolution using a single-photon counting time-of-flight laser ranging system at 1550 nm wavelength
We demonstrate subcentimeter depth profiling at a stand off distance of 330m using a time-of-flight approach based on time-correlated single-photon counting. For the first time to our knowledge, the photon-counting time-of-flight technique was demonstrated at a wavelength of 1550nm using a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector. The performance achieved suggests that a system using superconducting detectors has the potential for low-light-level and eye-safe operation. The system’s instrumental response was 70ps full width at half-maximum, which meant that 1cm surface-to-surface resolution could be achieved by locating the centroids of each return signal. A depth resolution of 4mm was achieved by employing an optimized signal-processing algorithm based on a reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo method
Farmer attitudes to injurious pecking in laying hens and to potential control strategies
PublishedFarmers' recognition of health and welfare problems, and their responses to related intervention programmes, such as those to reduce injurious pecking in hens, directly influence the welfare of animals in their care. Changing those responses can be achieved through a re-positioning of social drivers as well as from individual behaviour. This study begins by considering how certain levels of plumage damage become normalised while others might be considered unacceptable. Drawing upon in-depth farmer interviews, the study investigates how management practices for addressing the issue of injurious pecking are developed and enacted, looking at the relative influence of intrinsic and extrinsic individual behavioural factors. Twelve farmers with varied uptake of evidence-based management strategies designed to reduce levels of injurious pecking were interviewed. Although farmers ranked images of flocks with various levels of plumage damage in a similar order to scientists, their perception of levels of injurious pecking in their own flocks varied, and was not consistently associated with the actual levels measured. Most farmers recognised both financial and welfare implications of injurious pecking and expressed pride in having a good-looking flock. The popular management strategies were those designed to redirect pecking to other objects, whereas a substantial barrier to uptake was the perception of creating other problems: for example, mislaid eggs if early access to litter and range were adopted. To achieve uptake of knowledge that improves animal welfare on-farm, it may be necessary both to shift the norms perceived as acceptable, and to overcome barriers to change that include lack of time and understanding, by providing impartial advice and facilitation of ownership of the issues.Tubney Charitable Trus
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