1,693 research outputs found
Biocompatibility of a lab-on-a-pill sensor in artificial gastrointestinal environments
n this paper, we present a radiotelemetry sensor, designed as a lab-in-a-pill, which incorporates a two-channel microfabricated sensor platform for real-time measurements of temperature and pH. These two parameters have potential application for use in remote biological sensing (for example they may be used as markers that reflect the physiological environment or as indicators for disease, within the gastrointestinal tract). We have investigated the effects of biofouling on these sensors, by exploring their response time and sensitivity in a model in vitro gastrointestinal system. The artificial gastric and intestinal solutions used represent a model both for fasting, as well as for the ingestion of food and subsequent digestion to gastrointestinal chyme. The results showed a decrease in pH sensitivity after exposure of the sensors for 3 h. The response time also increased from an initial measurement time of 10 s in pure GI juice, to ca. 25 s following the ingestion of food and 80 s in simulated chyme. These in vitro results indicate that changes in viscosity in our model gastrointestinal system had a pronounced effect on the unmodified sensor
A programmable microsystem using system-on-chip for real-time biotelemetry
A telemetry microsystem, including multiple sensors, integrated instrumentation and a wireless interface has been implemented. We have employed a methodology akin to that for System-on-Chip microelectronics to design an integrated circuit instrument containing several "intellectual property" blocks that will enable convenient reuse of modules in future projects. The present system was optimized for low-power and included mixed-signal sensor circuits, a programmable digital system, a feedback clock control loop and RF circuits integrated on a 5 mm × 5 mm silicon chip using a 0.6 μm, 3.3 V CMOS process. Undesirable signal coupling between circuit components has been investigated and current injection into sensitive instrumentation nodes was minimized by careful floor-planning. The chip, the sensors, a magnetic induction-based transmitter and two silver oxide cells were packaged into a 36 mm × 12 mm capsule format. A base station was built in order to retrieve the data from the microsystem in real-time. The base station was designed to be adaptive and timing tolerant since the microsystem design was simplified to reduce power consumption and size. The telemetry system was found to have a packet error rate of 10<sup>-</sup><sup>3</sup> using an asynchronous simplex link. Trials in animal carcasses were carried out to show that the transmitter was as effective as a conventional RF device whilst consuming less power
Schwinger-Dyson approach to non-equilibrium classical field theory
In this paper we discuss a Schwinger-Dyson [SD] approach for determining the
time evolution of the unequal time correlation functions of a non-equilibrium
classical field theory, where the classical system is described by an initial
density matrix at time . We focus on field theory in 1+1
space time dimensions where we can perform exact numerical simulations by
sampling an ensemble of initial conditions specified by the initial density
matrix. We discuss two approaches. The first, the bare vertex approximation
[BVA], is based on ignoring vertex corrections to the SD equations in the
auxiliary field formalism relevant for 1/N expansions. The second approximation
is a related approximation made to the SD equations of the original formulation
in terms of alone. We compare these SD approximations as well as a
Hartree approximation with exact numerical simulations. We find that both
approximations based on the SD equations yield good agreement with exact
numerical simulations and cure the late time oscillation problem of the Hartree
approximation. We also discuss the relationship between the quantum and
classical SD equations.Comment: 36 pages, 5 figure
Shear Viscosity in the O(N) Model
We compute the shear viscosity in the O(N) model at first nontrivial order in
the large N expansion. The calculation is organized using the 1/N expansion of
the 2PI effective action (2PI-1/N expansion) to next-to-leading order, which
leads to an integral equation summing ladder and bubble diagrams. We also
consider the weakly coupled theory for arbitrary N, using the three-loop
expansion of the 2PI effective action. In the limit of weak coupling and
vanishing mass, we find an approximate analytical solution of the integral
equation. For general coupling and mass, the integral equation is solved
numerically using a variational approach. The shear viscosity turns out to be
close to the result obtained in the weak-coupling analysis.Comment: 37 pages, few typos corrected; to appear in JHE
Predictions for high energy neutrino cross-sections from the ZEUS global PDF fits
We have updated predictions for high energy neutrino and antineutrino charged
current cross-sections within the conventional DGLAP formalism of NLO QCD using
a modern PDF fit to HERA data, which also accounts in a systematic way for PDF
uncertainties deriving from both model uncertainties and from the experimental
uncertainties of the input data sets. Furthermore the PDFs are determined using
an improved treatment of heavy quark thresholds. A measurement of the neutrino
cross-section much below these predictions would signal the need for extension
of the conventional formalism as in BFKL resummation, or even gluon
recombination effects as in the colour glass condensate model.Comment: 10 pages (RevTeX4), 6 figures; expanded discussion of additional
theoretical uncertainties at low x; accepted for publication in JHE
Strong interactions in air showers
We study the role new gauge interactions in extensions of the standard model
play in air showers initiated by ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays. Hadron-hadron
events remain dominated by quantum chromodynamics, while projectiles and/or
targets from beyond the standard model permit us to see qualitative differences
arising due to the new interactions.Comment: 35 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in JCA
de Haas-van Alphen effect investigations of the electronic structure of pure and aluminum-doped MgB_2
Understanding the superconducting properties of MgB_2 is based strongly on
knowledge of its electronic structure. In this paper we review experimental
measurements of the Fermi surface parameters of pure and Al-doped MgB_2 using
the de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) effect. In general, the measurements are in
excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions of the electronic
structure, including the strength of the electron-phonon coupling on each Fermi
surface sheet. For the Al doped samples, we are able to measure how the band
structure changes with doping and again these are in excellent agreement with
calculations based on the virtual crystal approximation. We also review work on
the dHvA effect in the superconducting state.Comment: Contribution to the special issue of Physica C "Superconductivity in
MgB2: Physics and Applications" (10 Pages with figures
Racial differences in blood pressure response to calcium channel blocker monotherapy: A meta-analysis
Background A systematic literature review was conducted to determine whether US blacks and whites have differential blood pressure (BP) response to calcium channel blocker (CCB) monotherapy.MethodsSix published studies made up the final cohort of eligible articles. Multiple treatment groups within some studies led to a total of eight sets of estimates for BP reduction with a total of 6,851 white or nonblack participants and 3,371 black participants.ResultsThe pooled difference in systolic blood pressure (SBP) change between blacks and whites was 2.7 mm Hg (95% confidence interval (CI): 4.0, 1.3) with blacks having greater response. The difference in diastolic blood pressure (DBP) between blacks and whites was 0.4 mm Hg (95% CI: 1.0, 0.3) with blacks having greater response. Using a dichotomous outcome measure, whites were found to be just as likely as blacks to attain the DBP goal of 90 mm Hg or a 10 mm Hg or greater change (relative risk: 1.00 95% CI: 0.91, 1.11). In addition, examination of the continuous distribution of BP responses of whites and blacks showed over 90% overlap in treatment response.ConclusionAssessment of differential response to CCB monotherapy by race in published data depends on choice of outcome metric. Nonetheless, the results of this systematic review indicate that BP response is qualitatively similar in US blacks and whites, suggesting that patient race is not likely to offer any clinical utility for decisions about the likely effect of this antihypertensive therapy
Oxygen impurities in NiAl: Relaxation effects
We have used a full-potential linear muffin-tin orbital method to calculate
the effects of oxygen impurities on the electronic structure of NiAl. Using the
supercell method with a 16-atom supercell we have investigated the cases where
an oxygen atom is substitutionally placed at either a nickel or an aluminum
site. Full relaxation of the atoms within the supercell was allowed. We found
that oxygen prefers to occupy a nickel site over an aluminum site with a site
selection energy of 138 mRy (21,370 K). An oxygen atom placed at an aluminum
site is found to cause a substantial relaxation of its nickel neighbors away
from it. In contrast, this steric repulsion is hardly present when the oxygen
atom occupies the nickel site and is surrounded by aluminum neighbors. We
comment on the possible relation of this effect to the pesting degradation
phenomenon (essentially spontaneous disintegration in air) in nickel
aluminides.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. B (Aug. 15, 2001
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