Nested Helmholtz coil design for producing homogeneous transient rotating magnetic fields

Citation: Podaru, G., Moore, J., Dani, R. K., Prakash, P., & Chikan, V. (2015). Nested Helmholtz coil design for producing homogeneous transient rotating magnetic fields. Review of Scientific Instruments, 86(3), 6. doi:10.1063/1.4908173Electromagnets that can produce strong rotating magnetic fields at kHz frequencies are potentially very useful to exert rotating force on magnetic nanoparticles as small as few nanometers in size. In this article, the construction of a pulsed high-voltage rotating electromagnet is demonstrated based on a nested Helmholtz coil design. The energy for the coils is provided by two high-voltage discharge capacitors. The triggered spark gaps used in the experiments show sufficient accuracy to achieve the high frequency rotating magnetic field. The measured strength of the rotating magnetic field is 200 mT. This magnetic field is scalable by increasing the number of turns on the coils, by reducing the dimensions of the coils and by increasing the discharge current/voltage of the capacitors. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC

Regional variation in trajectories of long-term readmission rates among patients in England with heart failure

Background We aimed to compare the characteristics and types of heart failure (HF) patients termed “high-impact users”, with high long-term readmission rates, in different regions in England. This will allow clinical factors to be identified in areas with potentially poor quality of care. Methods Patients with a primary diagnosis of heart failure (HF) in the period 2008–2009 were identified using nationally representative primary care data linked to national hospital data and followed up for 5 years. Group-based trajectory models and sequence analysis were applied to their readmissions. Results In each of the 8 NHS England regions, multiple discrete groups were identified. All the regions had high-impact users. The group with an initially high readmission rate followed by a rapid decline in the rate ranged from 2.5 to 11.3% across the regions. The group with constantly high readmission rate compared with other groups ranged from 1.9 to 12.1%. Covariates that were commonly found to have an association with high-impact users among most of the regions were chronic respiratory disease, chronic renal disease, stroke, anaemia, mood disorder, and cardiac arrhythmia. Respiratory tract infection, urinary infection, cardiopulmonary signs and symptoms and exacerbation of heart failure were common causes in the sequences of readmissions among high-impact users in all regions. Conclusion There is regional variation in England in readmission and mortality rates and in the proportions of HF patients who are high-impact users

NADH and NADPH peroxidases as antioxidant defense mechanisms in intestinal sulfate-reducing bacteria

Animal and human feces typically include intestinal sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). Hydrogen sulfide and acetate are the end products of their dissimilatory sulfate reduction and may create a synergistic effect. Here, we report NADH and NADPH peroxidase activities from intestinal SRB Desulfomicrobium orale and Desulfovibrio piger . We sought to compare enzymatic activities under the influence of various temperature and pH regimes, as well as to carry out kinetic analyses of enzymatic reaction rates, maximum amounts of the reaction product, reaction times, maximum rates of the enzyme reactions, and Michaelis constants in cell-free extracts of intestinal SRB, D. piger Vib-7, and D. orale Rod-9, collected from exponential and stationary growth phases. The optimal temperature (35 °C) and pH (7.0) for both enzyme’s activity were determined. The difference in trends of Michaelis constants ( K m ) during exponential and stationary phases are noticeable between D. piger Vib-7 and D. orale Rod-9; D. orale Rod-9 showed much higher K m (the exception is NADH peroxidase of D. piger Vib-7: 1.42 ± 0.11 mM) during the both monitored phases. Studies of the NADH and NADPH peroxidases—as putative antioxidant defense systems of intestinal SRB and detailed data on the kinetic properties of this enzyme, as expressed by the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide—could be important for clarifying evolutionary mechanisms of antioxidant defense systems, their etiological role in the process of dissimilatory sulfate reduction, and their possible role in the development of bowel diseases

Genetic Diversity Analysis and F2 Population Development for Breeding of Long Juvenile Trait in Soybean

Genetic diversity analysis using molecular markers is an important step for selecting appropriate parents in a soybean breeding program. The aims of this study were to (1) analyze genetic diversity of 29 soybean genotypes assessed with 27 SSR markers for selecting appropriate parents and (2) develop F2 populations to be used for breeding long juvenile (LJ) trait in soybean tobe cultivated in short photoperiod condition. The soybean genotypes used consisted of 11 Indonesian soybean genotypes and 18 genotypes introduced from the USA. F2 populations were developed by crossing Grobogan with three introduced genotypes carrying LJ character. The PIC values of the 27 SSR markers ranged from 0.87 to 0.96. Cluster analysis resulted in three mainclusters at coefficient similarity of 0.76. The five LJ introduced accessions and the nine Indonesian genotypes showed high genetic distances and are useful as parent pairs for developing breeding populations. The F1 progeny phenotypicperformances of the cross far exceeded the performaces of both parents. Three F2 populations were developed by crossing the distantly related soybean genotypes. The F2 populations were verified by using SSR markers and it was found that they segregated in a 1:2:1 ratio confirming the segregation ratio of codominant SSR markers. The F2 populations should be useful for breeding LJ characters to improve soybean productivity in low latitude tropical countries such as Indonesia, which has day length of approximately 12 h all year round

Determinisitic Optical Fock State Generation

We present a scheme for the deterministic generation of N-photon Fock states from N three-level atoms in a high-finesse optical cavity. The method applies an external laser pulsethat generates an $N$-photon output state while adiabatically keeping the atom-cavity system within a subspace of optically dark states. We present analytical estimates of the error due to amplitude leakage from these dark states for general N, and compare it with explicit results of numerical simulations for N \leq 5. The method is shown to provide a robust source of N-photon states under a variety of experimental conditions and is suitable for experimental implementation using a cloud of cold atoms magnetically trapped in a cavity. The resulting N-photon states have potential applications in fundamental studies of non-classical states and in quantum information processing.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figure

Equidistribution Rates, Closed String Amplitudes, and the Riemann Hypothesis

We study asymptotic relations connecting unipotent averages of $Sp(2g,\mathbb{Z})$ automorphic forms to their integrals over the moduli space of principally polarized abelian varieties. We obtain reformulations of the Riemann hypothesis as a class of problems concerning the computation of the equidistribution convergence rate in those asymptotic relations. We discuss applications of our results to closed string amplitudes. Remarkably, the Riemann hypothesis can be rephrased in terms of ultraviolet relations occurring in perturbative closed string theory.Comment: 15 page

A review of community electrical energy systems

This paper is aimed at new entrants into the field of electrical community energy. It reviews some of the work that is underway into community electrical energy projects. This review includes a summary of key issues and components which need consideration including some or all of the following; demand side management, energy storage (including vehicle to grid) and renewable generation. The paper looks further into the energy management schemes of these projects and summarises previously published methodology in the area

The Cloud Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation Enhancement Experiment (CAIPEEX): overview and preliminary results

While the demand for enhancing rainfall through cloud seeding is strong and persistent in the country, considerable uncertainty exists on the success of such an endeavour at a given location. To understand the pathways of aerosol-cloud interaction through which this might be achieved, a national experiment named Cloud Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation Enhancement EXperiment (CAIPEEX) in two phases, was carried out. The rationale of CAIPEEX, the strategy for conducting the experiment, data quality and potential for path-breaking science are described in this article. Pending completion of quality control and calibration of the CAIPEEX phase-II data, here we present some initial results of CAIPEEX phase-I aimed at documenting the prevailing microphysical characteristics of aerosols and clouds and associated environmental conditions over different regions of the country and under different monsoon conditions with the help of an instrumented research aircraft. First-time simultaneous observations of aerosol, cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC) over the Ganges Valley during monsoon season show very high concentrations (> 1000 cm-3) of CCN at elevated layers. Observations of elevated layers with high aerosol concentration over the Gangetic valley extending up to 6 km and relatively less aerosol concentration in the boundary layer are also documented. We also present evidence of strong cloud- aerosol interaction in the moist environments with an increase in the cloud droplet effective radius. Our observations also show that pollution increases CDNC and the warm rain depth, and delays its initiation. The critical effective radius for warm rain initiation is found to be between 10 and 12 µm in the polluted clouds and it is between 12 and 14 µm in cleaner monsoon clouds