6,835 research outputs found
Comment on "White-Noise-Induced Transport in Periodic Structures"
In the paper by J.\L uczka {\em et al.} ({\em Europhys. Lett.}, {\bf 31}
(1995) 431), the authors reported by rigorous calculation that an additive
Poissonian white shot noise can induce a macroscopic current of a dissipative
particle in a periodic potential -- even {\em in the absence} of spatial
asymmetry of the potential. We argue that their main result is an obvious one
caused by the spatially broken symmetry of a probability distribution of the
additive noise, unlike the similar result caused by chaotic noise which has a
symmetric probability distribution ({\em J.Phys.Soc.Jpn.}, {\bf 63} (1994)
2014).Comment: 2 pages (Latex); submitted to Europhys.Let
Dobutamine Echocardiography for Assessment of Viability in the Current Era
Purpose of review
Studies from the 1990s and early 2000s documented the utility of dobutamine echocardiography for the prediction of functional recovery and prognosis with revascularization. The results of The Surgical Treatment of Ischemic Heart Failure (STICH) trial called into question the value of viability assessment using dobutamine echocardiography. The purpose of this review is to re-examine the literature on dobutamine echocardiography, put into context the STICH results, and provide insight into the current role of dobutamine echocardiography viability testing.
Recent findings
In contrast to the results of previous nonrandomized trials, the STICH trial showed that patients with viability defined by nuclear perfusion imaging or dobutamine echocardiography did not have improved survival with CABG compared with optimal medical therapy. Viability by dobutamine echocardiography was defined as the presence of contractile reserve in at least five segments with baseline dysfunction. The results of dobutamine echocardiography studies published before and after initiation of the STICH trial suggest that the definition of viability utilized in that trial may be suboptimal for assessment of improvement in global function and prognosis in patients undergoing revascularization. Assessment of global contractile reserve using wall motion score (WMS) or ejection fraction may be superior to utilization of a binary definition of viability confined to assessment of contractile reserve in a fixed number of segments because these indices provide information on both the magnitude and extent of contractile reserve of the entire left ventricle (LV).
Summary
Assessment of WMS or ejection fraction with dobutamine echocardiography may be the optimal means of evaluating the impact of viability on prognosis.
Video abstract http://links.lww.com/HCO/A5
Microscopic Theory of Skyrmions in Quantum Hall Ferromagnets
We present a microscopic theory of skyrmions in the monolayer quantum Hall
ferromagnet. It is a peculiar feature of the system that the number density and
the spin density are entangled intrinsically as dictated by the W
algebra. The skyrmion and antiskyrmion states are constructed as W-rotated states of the hole-excited and electron-excited states,
respectively. They are spin textures accompanied with density modulation that
decreases the Coulomb energy. We calculate their excitation energy as a
function of the Zeeman gap and compared the result with experimental data.Comment: 15 pages (to be published in PRB
Cross-linker effect in ETFE-based radiation-grafted proton-conducting membranes II. Extended fuel cell operation and degradation analysis
In this study the effect of crosslinker (divinylbenzene (DVB)) content on the chemical stability of poly(ethylene-alt-tetrafluoroethylene) (ETFE) based membranes using an H2O2 solution was carried out. Furthermore, the first long term-testing of single H2/O2 cell over 2180h of an MEA assembled using an optimized ETFE-based membrane prepared by radiation-induced grafting of styrene / DVB and subsequent sulfonation with a graft level of 25 % was carried out. The in situ MEA properties were characterized over the testing period using auxiliary current-pulse resistance, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, polarization and H2 permeation. It is shown that the crosslinking dramatically improves the ex situ chemical stability, while no significant trend with the crosslinker content was observed. The performance of the tested MEA exhibits a decay rate of 13 μV.h-1 in voltage over the testing time at 500 mA.cm-2 at 80°C, while the hydrogen permeation shows a steady increase over time. This indicates clearly that to some extent changes in the membrane morphology occur over the operating time. The local post mortem analysis of the tested membrane reveals that high degradation was observed in areas adjacent to the O2 inlet and in other areas nearb
Fuel-cell performance of multiply-crosslinked polymer electrolyte membranes prepared by two-step radiation technique
A multiply-crosslinked polymer electrolyte membrane was
prepared by the radiation-induced co-grafting of styrene and a
bis(vinyl phenyl)ethane (BVPE) crosslinker into a
radiation-crosslinked polytetrafluoroethylene (cPTFE) film. We
then investigated its H2/O2 fuel-cell performance at 60 and 80ºC in
terms of the effect of radiation and chemical crosslinking. At 60ºC,
all the membranes initially exhibited similar performance, but only
the cPTFE-based membranes were durable at 80ºC, indicating the
necessity of radiation crosslinking in the PTFE main chains.
Importantly, cell performance of the multiply-crosslinked
membrane was found high enough to reach that of a Nafion112
membrane. This is probably because the BVPE crosslinks in the
graft component improved the membrane-electrode interface in
addition to membrane durability. After severe OCV hold tests at 80
and 95ºC, the performance deteriorated, while no significant
change was observed in ohmic resistivity. Accordingly, our
membranes seemed so chemically stable that an influence on
overall performance loss could be negligible
Interpretation of observations of the circumbinary disk of SS 433
Context. The Galactic microquasar SS 433 is possessed of a circumbinary disk
most clearly seen in the brilliant Balmer H alpha emission line. The orbital
speed of the glowing material is an important determinant of the mass of the
binary system. The circumbinary disk may be fed through the L2 point and in
turn may feed a very extended radio feature known as the ruff. Aims. To present
an analysis of spectroscopic optical data from H alpha and He I spectral lines
which reveal the circumbinary disk. To use comparisons of the rather different
signals to better understand the disk and improve estimates of the rotational
speed of the inner rim. To present a simple model which naturally explains some
apparently bizarre spectral variations with orbital phase. Methods. Published
spectra, taken almost nightly over two orbital periods of the binary system,
are analysed. H alpha and He I lines are analysed as superpositions of Gaussian
components and a simple model constructed. Results. The data are understood in
terms of a hot spot, generated by proximity of the compact object, rotating
round the inner circumbinary disk with a period of 13 days. The glowing
material fades with time, quite slowly for the H alpha source but more rapidly
for the He I spectral lines. The orbital speed of the inner rim is
approximately 250 km/s. Conclusions. The mass of the binary system must exceed
40 solar masses and the compact object must be a rather massive stellar black
hole. The corollary is that the orbital speed of the companion must exceed 130
km/s.Comment: Article; 6 pages, 8 figures. The new version of 28 July 2010, to
appear in A&A, is 8 pages and 8 figures. The principal addition is some
discussion of the behaviour of a gas stream from the L2 point. I also have
added a note about the possibility that absorption lines taken as indicating
an orbital speed of 60 km/s for the companion might have their origin in the
circumbinary dis
A spiral structure in the disk of EX Draconis on the rise to outburst maximum
We report on the R-band eclipse mapping analysis of high-speed photometry of
the dwarf nova EX Dra on the rise to the maximum of the November 1995 outburst.
The eclipse map shows a one-armed spiral structure of ~180 degrees in azimuth,
extending in radius from R ~0.2 to 0.43 R_{L1} (where R_{L1} is the distance
from the disk center to the inner Lagrangian point), that contributes about 22
per cent of the total flux of the eclipse map. The spiral structure is
stationary in a reference frame co-rotating with the binary and is stable for a
timescale of at least 5 binary orbits. The comparison of the eclipse maps on
the rise and in quiescence suggests that the outbursts of EX Dra may be driven
by episodes of enhanced mass-transfer from the secondary star. Possible
explanations for the nature of the spiral structure are discussed.Comment: To appear in the Astrophysical Journal Letters; 8 pages, 2 figures;
coded with AAS latex styl
Theory of orbital state and spin interactions in ferromagnetic titanates
A spin-orbital superexchange Hamiltonian in a Mott insulator with
orbital degeneracy is investigated. More specifically, we focus on a spin
ferromagnetic state of the model and study a collective behavior of orbital
angular momentum. Orbital order in the model occurs in a nontrivial way -- it
is stabilized exclusively by quantum effects through the order-from-disorder
mechanism. Several energetically equivalent orbital orderings are identified.
Some of them are specified by a quadrupole ordering and have no unquenched
angular momentum at low energy. Other states correspond to a noncollinear
ordering of the orbital angular momentum and show the magnetic Bragg peaks at
specific positions. Order parameters are unusually small because of strong
quantum fluctuations. Orbital contribution to the resonant x-ray scattering is
discussed. The dynamical magnetic structure factor in different ordered states
is calculated. Predictions made should help to observe elementary excitations
of orbitals and also to identify the type of the orbital order in ferromagnetic
titanates. Including further a relativistic spin-orbital coupling, we derive an
effective low-energy spin Hamiltonian and calculate a spin-wave spectrum, which
is in good agreement with recent experimental observations in YTiO.Comment: 25 pages, 17 figure
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