Estimation of the RF Characteristics of Absorbing Materials in Broad RF Frequency Ranges

Absorbing materials are very often used in RF applications. Their electromagnetic characteristics (relative permittivity εr, loss tangent tan δ and conductivity Ï) are needed in order to obtain a high-quality design of the absorbing pieces in the frequency range of interest. Unfortunately, suppliers often do not provide these quantities. A simple technique to determine them, based on the RF measurement of the disturbance created by the insertion of a piece of absorber in a waveguide, is presented in this note. Results for samples of two different materials, silicon carbide and aluminum nitride are presented. While the former has a negligible conductivity at the working frequencies, the conductivity of the latter has to be taken into account in order to obtain a meaningful estimation of εr and tan δ. The equations of Kramers & Kronig have been applied to the data as a cross check, confirming the results

Tailored Design of Copper Cells and Matching Circuit of a Circular W Iris Structure

The circular accelerating structure used for CLIC studies requires machining tolerances in the dimensions of the irises that are difficult to meet, especially for materials such as Mo or W. A method to estimate the real dimensions of the manufactured irises and a process to compensate for the errors with the dimensions of the standard cells and matching elements is described in this note. Finally, the performance of a W $2/pi/3$ circular structure assembled following this method is presented

High Bandwidth Wall Current Monitor for CTF3

Wall Current Monitors (WCM) are commonly used to observe the time profile and spectra of a particle beam by detecting its image current. Within the framework of the EUROTeV Programme, a WCM for CLIC and ILC having a very large bandwidth (100kHz-20GHz) is required and has been developed. A deep study of the field configuration for the device has been necessary. Consequently, the geometrical parameters crucial for a proper functioning of the structure have been found. Furthermore, the very stringent initial requests (bandwidth from 100kHz to 20GHz) were reviewed in a more critical way showing that the low frequency cutoff can be sensibly increased, thus avoiding any ferrite in the structure

Measurement of S Parameters ofan Accelerating Structure with Double-Feed Couplers

A method for measuring the transmission and reflection coefficients of an accelerating structure with double-feed input and output couplers using a 2 port network analyzer is presented. This method avoids the use of magic Ts and hybrids, whose symmetry is not obvious. The procedure is extended to devices with n symmetrical input and m symmetrical output ports. The method to make bead pull measurements for such devices is described

Status of the design of a Wide Band beam Current Monitor (WBCM) for EUROTeV

In the framework of EUROTeV, the conceptual design of a new wide band wall current monitor is being carried out. The design is based on the wall current monitors presently installed in CTF3. The new design aims to increase the bandwidth up to 20 GHz. The present device has been tested in a dedicated test bench to understand its limitations in terms of bandwidth. The tests with the present device and the results of the conceptual design for the new one are summarized and discussed in this report

High Power Test on an x-Band Slotted-Iris Accelerator Structure at NLCTA

The CLIC study group at CERN has built two X-band HDS (Hybrid Damped Structure) accelerating structures for high-power testing in NLCTA at SLAC. These accelerating structures are novel with respect to their rf-design and their fabrication technique. The eleven-cell constant impedance structures, one made out of copper and one out of molybdenum, are assembled from clamped high-speed milled quadrants. They feature the same heavy higher-order-mode damping as nominal CLIC structures achieved by slotted irises and radial damping waveguides for each cell. The X-band accelerators are exactly scaled versions of structures tested at 30 GHz in the CLIC test facility, CTF3. The results of the X-band tests are presented and compared to those at 30 GHz to determine frequency scaling, and are compared to the extensive copper data from the NLC structure development program to determine material dependence and make a basic validation of the HDS design. INTRODUCTIO

Inflammatory response in mixed viral-bacterial community-acquired pneumonia

Background The role of mixed pneumonia (virus¿+¿bacteria) in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) has been described in recent years. However, it is not known whether the systemic inflammatory profile is different compared to monomicrobial CAP. We wanted to investigate this profile of mixed viral-bacterial infection and to compare it to monomicrobial bacterial or viral CAP. Methods We measured baseline serum procalcitonin (PCT), C reactive protein (CRP), and white blood cell (WBC) count in 171 patients with CAP with definite etiology admitted to a tertiary hospital: 59 (34.5%) bacterial, 66 (39.%) viral and 46 (27%) mixed (viral-bacterial). Results Serum PCT levels were higher in mixed and bacterial CAP compared to viral CAP. CRP levels were higher in mixed CAP compared to the other groups. CRP was independently associated with mixed CAP. CRP levels below 26 mg/dL were indicative of an etiology other than mixed in 83% of cases, but the positive predictive value was 45%. PCT levels over 2.10 ng/mL had a positive predictive value for bacterial-involved CAP versus viral CAP of 78%, but the negative predictive value was 48%. Conclusions Mixed CAP has a different inflammatory pattern compared to bacterial or viral CAP. High CRP levels may be useful for clinicians to suspect mixed CAP

Early-transition-metal ketenimine complexes:Synthesis, reactivity, and structure of ketenimine-containing titanocene and zirconocene complexes

Reaction of Cp2M(PMe3)(2) complexes (M = Ti, Zr; Cp = eta(5)-C5H5) with the N-(p-tolyl)-diphenylketenimine Ph'N=C=CPh2 (Ph' = p-MeC6H4) in a 1:1 molar ratio affords the ketenimine-containing metallocene derivatives Cp2M(eta(2)-(C,N)-Ph'N=C=CPh2)(PMe3) (M = Ti (1); Zr (2)). The ketenimine ligand reacts in the same way with the ''Cp*M-2'' species (Cp* = eta(5)-C5Me5) generated from the reduction of the corresponding Cp*2MCl2 complexes with (LiBu)-Bu-t (1:2 molar ratio) to give the related complexes Cp*M-2(eta(2)-(C,N)-Ph'N=C=CPh2) (M = Ti (3); Zr (4)). The molecular structure of 3 shows a titanium atom bonded to two eta(5)-cyclopentadienyl rings and a eta(2)-(C,N)-bonded ketenimine ligand. Reaction of ''Cp*Ti-2'' with the ketenimine ligand in a 1:2 molar ratio gives 1,1,5,5-tetraphenyl-3-(p-tolyl)-2-(p-toluidino)-3-aza-1,4-pentadiene, which probably results from the coupling, followed by hydrolysis, of two ketenimine molecules coordinated to one titanocene moiety. Protonation of 3 with Et3NHCl or H2O (1:1 molar ratio) affords the intermediate species Cp*Ti-2(X)(eta(2)-(C,N)-Ph'N=C(H)=CPh2) (X = Cl (5); OH (6)), which on hydrolysis evolves to give the enamine Ph'N(H)-CH=CPh2 as the final product. Finally, 3 reacts reversibly with H-2 to give the hydride enamidate complex Cp*Ti-2(H)(eta(1)-Ph'N-CH=CPh2) (7). The structures of the different compounds have been determined by IR and NMR spectroscopic methods

How sensitive and specific is the visual diagnosis of sarcoptic mange in free-ranging Iberian ibexes?

Background: Sarcoptic mange is a broadly distributed parasitic disease caused by Sarcoptes scabiei that affects wild mammals from all over the world, including the Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica). Selective culling of the scabietic individuals is the main management measure for disease control in Iberian ibex populations. Although visual identification of mange-compatible lesions is the reference method to decide the target individual, both false negative and positive cases are common in the wild. The aim of this work is to determine the sensitivity (SE), and the specificity (SP) of selective culling after evaluating 403 ibexes hunted in the Sierra Nevada Nature Space for sarcoptic mange control between 2002 and 2015. Methods: A combination of skin scrapings and potassium hidroxide (KOH) skin digestion was used for sarcoptic mange diagnosis. Generalized linear models (GLM) were used to assess the effects of sex, age (juveniles and adults) and period of the year (wet and dry periods) on the SE and SP of the visual diagnosis method. Results: The SE obtained for the visual determination of scabietic ibexes was 87.14%, whereas the SP was 60.71%. According to our model selection, SE of the visual diagnosis was explained by the additive effects of age and the period of the year. In fact, SE was lower in juveniles (64.76%) than in adults (94.26%) and during the dry period (73.44%) as compared to the wet period (92.09%). On the other hand, SP was best explained by the GLM including the additive effects of sex and the period of the year. The visual diagnosis of sarcoptic mange resulted less specific in females (22.73%) than in males (74.19%) and during the wet (55.22%) than in the dry period (82.35%). Conclusions: Maximizing SE and SP is essential to achieving a high rate of removal of affected individuals from the environment without eliminating potentially resistant individuals. Selective culling must be conservative during the wet period and with females due to the lower SP. Conversely, visual diagnosis of scabietic juveniles and during the dry period has to be improved, due to the lower SE.This project was funded by the Consejería de Medio Ambiente de la Junta de Andalucía (project 173/2009/M/00; 03/15/M/00; 861_11_M_00 and 2016/00014/M), and by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (projects CGL2012-40043-C02-01, CGL2012-40043-C02-02 and CGL2016-80543-P). The authors’ research activities are partially supported by the Plan Andaluz de Investigación (RNM-118 group). MV is supported by a FI-GENCAT Fellowship (2018FI_B_00978, co-financed by Agència de Gestió dʼAjuts Universitaris i de Recerca and European Social Fund) and ES by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia Innovación y Universidades (MICINN) through a Ramon y Cajal agreement (RYC-2016-21120)