619 research outputs found
Force and energy dissipation variations in non-contact atomic force spectroscopy on composite carbon nanotube systems
UHV dynamic force and energy dissipation spectroscopy in non-contact atomic
force microscopy were used to probe specific interactions with composite
systems formed by encapsulating inorganic compounds inside single-walled carbon
nanotubes. It is found that forces due to nano-scale van der Waals interaction
can be made to decrease by combining an Ag core and a carbon nanotube shell in
the Ag@SWNT system. This specific behaviour was attributed to a significantly
different effective dielectric function compared to the individual
constituents, evaluated using a simple core-shell optical model. Energy
dissipation measurements showed that by filling dissipation increases,
explained here by softening of C-C bonds resulting in a more deformable
nanotube cage. Thus, filled and unfilled nanotubes can be discriminated based
on force and dissipation measurements. These findings have two different
implications for potential applications: tuning the effective optical
properties and tuning the interaction force for molecular absorption by
appropriately choosing the filling with respect to the nanotube.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figure
A generalization of Snoek's law to ferromagnetic films and composites
The present paper establishes characteristics of the relative magnetic
permeability spectrum (f) of magnetic materials at microwave frequencies.
The integral of the imaginary part of (f) multiplied with the frequency f
gives remarkable properties. A generalisation of Snoek's law consists in this
quantity being bounded by the square of the saturation magnetization multiplied
with a constant. While previous results have been obtained in the case of
non-conductive materials, this work is a generalization to ferromagnetic
materials and ferromagnetic-based composites with significant skin effect. The
influence of truncating the summation to finite upper frequencies is
investigated, and estimates associated to the finite summation are provided. It
is established that, in practice, the integral does not depend on the damping
model under consideration. Numerical experiments are performed in the exactly
solvable case of ferromagnetic thin films with uniform magnetization, and these
numerical experiments are found to confirm our theoretical results. Microwave
permeability measurements on soft amorphous films are reported. The relation
between the integral and the saturation magnetization is verified
experimentally, and some practical applications of the theoretical results are
introduced. The integral can be used to determine the average magnetization
orientation in materials with complex configurations of the magnetization, and
furthermore to demonstrate the accuracy of microwave measurement systems. For
certain applications, such as electromagnetic compatibility or radar absorbing
materials, the relations established herein provide useful indications for the
design of efficient materials, and simple figures of merit to compare the
properties measured on various materials
Is metal theft committed by organized crime groups, and why does it matter?
Using the example of metal theft in the United Kingdom, this study used mixed methods to evaluate the accuracy of police estimates of the involvement of organised crime groups (OCGs) in crime. Police estimate that 20-30% of metal theft is committed by OCGs, but this study found that only 0.5% of metal thieves had previous convictions for offences related to OCGs, that only 1.3% were linked to OCGs by intelligence information, that metal thieves typically offended close to their homes and that almost no metal thefts involved sophisticated offence methods. It appears that police may over-estimate the involvement of OCGs in some types of crime. The reasons for and consequences of this over-estimation are discussed
Suivi archéologique des restaurations du théâtre d'Orange. Présentation du monument et de l'opération
National audienc
Performance of the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration Equation to Estimate Glomerular Filtration Rate in Diabetic Patients
An exploratory randomised controlled trial of a premises-level intervention to reduce alcohol-related harm including violence in the United Kingdom
<b>Background</b><p></p>
To assess the feasibility of a randomised controlled trial of a licensed premises intervention to reduce severe intoxication and disorder; to establish effect sizes and identify appropriate approaches to the development and maintenance of a rigorous research design and intervention implementation.<p></p>
<b>Methods</b><p></p>
An exploratory two-armed parallel randomised controlled trial with a nested process evaluation. An audit of risk factors and a tailored action plan for high risk premises, with three month follow up audit and feedback. Thirty-two premises that had experienced at least one assault in the year prior to the intervention were recruited, match paired and randomly allocated to control or intervention group. Police violence data and data from a street survey of study premises’ customers, including measures of breath alcohol concentration and surveyor rated customer intoxication, were used to assess effect sizes for a future definitive trial. A nested process evaluation explored implementation barriers and the fidelity of the intervention with key stakeholders and senior staff in intervention premises using semi-structured interviews.<p></p>
<b>Results</b><p></p>
The process evaluation indicated implementation barriers and low fidelity, with a reluctance to implement the intervention and to submit to a formal risk audit. Power calculations suggest the intervention effect on violence and subjective intoxication would be raised to significance with a study size of 517 premises.<p></p>
<b>Conclusions</b><p></p>
It is methodologically feasible to conduct randomised controlled trials where licensed premises are the unit of allocation. However, lack of enthusiasm in senior premises staff indicates the need for intervention enforcement, rather than voluntary agreements, and on-going strategies to promote sustainability
Incorporating new approach methodologies into regulatory nonclinical pharmaceutical safety assessment
© 2023 The Author(s). ALTEX. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/New approach methodologies (NAMs) based on human biology enable the assessment of adverse biological effects of pharmaceuticals and other chemicals. Currently, however, it is unclear how NAMs should be used during drug development to improve human safety evaluation. A series of 5 workshops with 13 international experts (regulators, preclinical scientists, and NAMs developers) was conducted to identify feasible NAMs and to discuss how to exploit them in specific safety assessment contexts. Participants generated four “maps” of how NAMs can be exploited in the safety assessment of the liver, respiratory, cardiovascular, and central nervous systems. Each map shows relevant endpoints measured and tools used (e.g., cells, assays, platforms), and highlights gaps where further development and validation of NAMs remains necessary. Each map addresses the fundamental scientific requirements for the safety assessment of that organ system, providing users with guidance on the selection of appropriate NAMs. In addition to generating the maps, participants offered suggestions for encouraging greater NAM adoption within drug development and their inclusion in regulatory guidelines. A specific recommendation was that pharmaceutical companies should be more transparent about how they use NAMs in-house. As well as giving guidance for the four organ systems, the maps provide a template that could be used for additional organ safety testing contexts. Moreover, their conversion to an interactive format would enable users to drill down to the detail necessary to answer specific scientific and regulatory questions.Peer reviewe
Disentangling the Pure Time Effect From Site and Preference Heterogeneity Effects in Benefit Transfer: An Empirical Investigation of Transferability
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