Stochastic modelling of intermittent scrape-off layer plasma fluctuations

Single-point measurements of fluctuations in the scrape-off layer of magnetized plasmas are generally found to be dominated by large-amplitude bursts which are associated with radial motion of blob-like structures. A stochastic model for these fluctuations is presented, with the plasma density given by a random sequence of bursts with a fixed wave form. Under very general conditions, this model predicts a parabolic relation between the skewness and kurtosis moments of the plasma fluctuations. In the case of exponentially distributed burst amplitudes and waiting times, the probability density function for the fluctuation amplitudes is shown to be a Gamma distribution with the scale parameter given by the average burst amplitude and the shape parameter given by the ratio of the burst duration and waiting times.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figur

Histidine nutrition and genotype affect cataract development in Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L.

The aim of this study was to investigate effects of dietary levels of histidine (His) and iron (Fe) on cataract development in two strains of Atlantic salmon monitored through parr-smolt transformation. Three experimental diets were fed: (i) a control diet (CD) with 110 mg kg-1 Fe and 11.7 g kg-1 His; (ii) CD supplemented with crystalline His to a level of 18 g kg-1 (HD); and (iii) HD with added iron up to 220 mg kg-1 (HID). A cross-over design, with two feeding periods was used. A 6-week freshwater (FW) period was followed by a 20-week period, of which the first three were in FW and the following 17 weeks in sea water (SW). Fish were sampled for weighing, cataract assessment and tissue analysis at five time points. Cataracts developed in all groups in SW, but scores were lower in those fed high His diets (P < 0.05). This effect was most pronounced when HD or HID was given in SW, but was also observed when these diets were given in FW only. Histidine supplementation had a positive effect on growth performance and feed conversion ratio (P < 0.05), whereas this did not occur when iron was added. Groups fed HD or HID had higher lens levels of His and N-acetyl histidine (NAH), the latter showing a marked increase post-smoltification (P < 0.05). The HD or HID groups also showed higher muscle concentrations of the His dipeptide anserine (P < 0.05). There was a strong genetic influence on cataract development in the CD groups (P < 0.001), not associated with tissue levels of His or NAH. The role of His and His-related compounds in cataractogenesis is discussed in relation to tissue buffering, osmoregulation and antioxidation

Frustrated Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the honeycomb lattice: Spin gap and low-energy parameters

We use the coupled cluster method implemented to high orders of approximation to investigate the frustrated spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ $J_{1}$--$J_{2}$--$J_{3}$ antiferromagnet on the honeycomb lattice with isotropic Heisenberg interactions of strength $J_{1} > 0$ between nearest-neighbor pairs, $J_{2}>0$ between next-nearest-neighbor pairs, and $J_{3}>0$ between next-next-neareast-neighbor pairs of spins. In particular, we study both the ground-state (GS) and lowest-lying triplet excited-state properties in the case $J_{3}=J_{2} \equiv \kappa J_{1}$, in the window $0 \leq \kappa \leq 1$ of the frustration parameter, which includes the (tricritical) point of maximum classical frustration at $\kappa_{{\rm cl}} = \frac{1}{2}$. We present GS results for the spin stiffness, $\rho_{s}$, and the zero-field uniform magnetic susceptibility, $\chi$, which complement our earlier results for the GS energy per spin, $E/N$, and staggered magnetization, $M$, to yield a complete set of accurate low-energy parameters for the model. Our results all point towards a phase diagram containing two quasiclassical antiferromagnetic phases, one with N\'eel order for $\kappa < \kappa_{c_{1}}$, and the other with collinear striped order for $\kappa > \kappa_{c_{2}}$. The results for both $\chi$ and the spin gap $\Delta$ provide compelling evidence for a quantum paramagnetic phase that is gapped over a considerable portion of the intermediate region $\kappa_{c_{1}} < \kappa < \kappa_{c_{2}}$, especially close to the two quantum critical points at $\kappa_{c_{1}}$ and $\kappa_{c_{2}}$. Each of our fully independent sets of results for the low-energy parameters is consistent with the values $\kappa_{c_{1}} = 0.45 \pm 0.02$ and $\kappa_{c_{2}} = 0.60 \pm 0.02$, and with the transition at $\kappa_{c_{1}}$ being of continuous (and probably of the deconfined) type and that at $\kappa_{c_{2}}$ being of first-order type

The negative acute phase response of serum transthyretin following Streptococcus suis infection in the pig

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Configurable unitary transformations and linear logic gates using quantum memories

We show that a set of optical memories can act as a configurable linear optical network operating on frequency-multiplexed optical states. Our protocol is applicable to any quantum memories that employ off-resonant Raman transitions to store optical information in atomic spins. In addition to the configurability, the protocol also offers favourable scaling with an increasing number of modes where N memories can be configured to implement an arbitrary N-mode unitary operations during storage and readout. We demonstrate the versatility of this protocol by showing an example where cascaded memories are used to implement a conditional CZ gate.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on an anisotropic kagome lattice

We use the coupled cluster method to study the zero-temperature properties of an extended two-dimensional Heisenberg antiferromagnet formed from spin-1/2 moments on an infinite spatially anisotropic kagome lattice of corner-sharing isosceles triangles, with nearest-neighbor bonds only. The bonds have exchange constants $J_{1}>0$ along two of the three lattice directions and $J_{2} \equiv \kappa J_{1} > 0$ along the third. In the classical limit the ground-state (GS) phase for $\kappa < 1/2$ has collinear ferrimagnetic (N\'{e}el$'$) order where the $J_2$-coupled chain spins are ferromagnetically ordered in one direction with the remaining spins aligned in the opposite direction, while for $\kappa > 1/2$ there exists an infinite GS family of canted ferrimagnetic spin states, which are energetically degenerate. For the spin-1/2 case we find that quantum analogs of both these classical states continue to exist as stable GS phases in some regions of the anisotropy parameter $\kappa$, namely for $0<\kappa<\kappa_{c_1}$ for the N\'{e}el$'$ state and for (at least part of) the region $\kappa>\kappa_{c_2}$ for the canted phase. However, they are now separated by a paramagnetic phase without either sort of magnetic order in the region $\kappa_{c_1} < \kappa < \kappa_{c_2}$, which includes the isotropic kagome point $\kappa = 1$ where the stable GS phase is now believed to be a topological ($\mathbb{Z}_2$) spin liquid. Our best numerical estimates are $\kappa_{c_1} = 0.515 \pm 0.015$ and $\kappa_{c_2} = 1.82 \pm 0.03$

Antarctic Sea Ice variations 1973 - 1975

Variations in the extent and concentration of sea ice cover on the Southern Ocean are described for the three-year period 1973-75 using information derived from the Nimbus-5 passive microwave imager

Summary of methods for calculating dynamic lateral stability and response and for estimating aerodynamic stability derivatives

A summary of methods for making dynamic lateral stability and response calculations and for estimating the aerodynamic stability derivatives required for use in these calculations is presented. The processes of performing calculations of the time histories of lateral motions, of the period and damping of these motions, and of the lateral stability boundaries are presented as a series of simple straightforward steps. Existing methods for estimating the stability derivatives are summarized and, in some cases, simple new empirical formulas are presented. Detailed estimation methods are presented for low-subsonic-speed conditions but only a brief discussion and a list of references are given for transonic and supersonic speed conditions