801 research outputs found
Magnetic superlens-enhanced inductive coupling for wireless power transfer
We investigate numerically the use of a negative-permeability "perfect lens"
for enhancing wireless power transfer between two current carrying coils. The
negative permeability slab serves to focus the flux generated in the source
coil to the receiver coil, thereby increasing the mutual inductive coupling
between the coils. The numerical model is compared with an analytical theory
that treats the coils as point dipoles separated by an infinite planar layer of
magnetic material [Urzhumov et al., Phys. Rev. B, 19, 8312 (2011)]. In the
limit of vanishingly small radius of the coils, and large width of the
metamaterial slab, the numerical simulations are in excellent agreement with
the analytical model. Both the idealized analytical and realistic numerical
models predict similar trends with respect to metamaterial loss and anisotropy.
Applying the numerical models, we further analyze the impact of finite coil
size and finite width of the slab. We find that, even for these less idealized
geometries, the presence of the magnetic slab greatly enhances the coupling
between the two coils, including cases where significant loss is present in the
slab. We therefore conclude that the integration of a metamaterial slab into a
wireless power transfer system holds promise for increasing the overall system
performance
Framing and the health policy process: a scoping review.
Framing research seeks to understand the forces that shape human behaviour in the policy process. It assumes that policy is a social construct and can be cast in a variety of ways to imply multiple legitimate value considerations. Frames provide the cognitive means of making sense of the social world, but discordance among them forms the basis of policy contestation. Framing, as both theory and method, has proven to generate considerable insight into the nature of policy debates in a variety of disciplines. Despite its salience for understanding health policy debates; however, little is known about the ways frames influence the health policy process. A scoping review using the Arksey and O'Malley framework was conducted. The literature on framing in the health sector was reviewed using nine health and social science databases. Articles were included that explicitly reported theory and methods used, data source(s), at least one frame, frame sponsor and evidence of a given frame's effect on the health policy process. A total of 52 articles, from 1996 to 2014, and representing 12 countries, were identified. Much of the research came from the policy studies/political science literature (n = 17) and used a constructivist epistemology. The term 'frame' was used as a label to describe a variety of ideas, packaged as values, social problems, metaphors or arguments. Frames were characterized at various levels of abstraction ranging from general ideological orientations to specific policy positions. Most articles presented multiple frames and showed how actors advocated for them in a highly contested political process. Framing is increasingly an important, yet overlooked aspect of the policy process. Further analysis on frames, framing processes and frame conflict can help researchers and policymakers to understand opaque and highly charged policy issues, which may facilitate the resolution of protracted policy controversies
Magnetic reordering in the vicinity of a ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic interface
The magnetic arrangement in the vicinity of the interface between a
ferromagnet and an antiferromagnet is investigated, in particular its
dependence on the exchange couplings and the temperature. Applying a Heisenberg
model, both sc(001) and fcc(001) lattices are considered and solved by a mean
field approximation. Depending on the parameter values a variety of different
magnetic configurations emerge. Usually the subsystem with the larger ordering
temperature induces a magnetic order into the other one (magnetic proximity
effect). With increasing temperature a reorientation of the magnetic
sublattices is obtained. For coupled sc(001) systems both FM and AFM films are
disturbed from their collinear magnetic order, hence exhibit a similar
behavior. This symmetry is absent for fcc(001) films which, under certain
circumstances, may exhibit two different critical temperatures. Analytical
results are derived for simple bilayer systems.Comment: accepted for publication in Eur. Phys. J.
Asymmetric magnetization reversal in exchange biased polycrystalline F/AF bilayers
This paper describes a model for magnetization reversal in polycrystalline
Ferromagnetic/Antiferromagnetic exchange biased bilayers. We assume that the
exchange energy can be expanded into cosine power series. We show that it is
possible to fit experimental asymmetric shape of hysteresis loops in exchange
biased bilayer for any direction of the applied field. The hysteresis asymmetry
is discussed in terms of energy considerations. An angle beta is introduced to
quantify the easy axis dispersion of AF grains.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure
Computational Method for Phase Space Transport with Applications to Lobe Dynamics and Rate of Escape
Lobe dynamics and escape from a potential well are general frameworks
introduced to study phase space transport in chaotic dynamical systems. While
the former approach studies how regions of phase space are transported by
reducing the flow to a two-dimensional map, the latter approach studies the
phase space structures that lead to critical events by crossing periodic orbit
around saddles. Both of these frameworks require computation with curves
represented by millions of points-computing intersection points between these
curves and area bounded by the segments of these curves-for quantifying the
transport and escape rate. We present a theory for computing these intersection
points and the area bounded between the segments of these curves based on a
classification of the intersection points using equivalence class. We also
present an alternate theory for curves with nontransverse intersections and a
method to increase the density of points on the curves for locating the
intersection points accurately.The numerical implementation of the theory
presented herein is available as an open source software called Lober. We used
this package to demonstrate the application of the theory to lobe dynamics that
arises in fluid mechanics, and rate of escape from a potential well that arises
in ship dynamics.Comment: 33 pages, 17 figure
The Effects of Modulating eNOS Activity and Coupling on Leukocyte-endothelial Interactions in Rat Mesenteric Postcapillary Venules
Background: Leukocyte-endothelial interactions associated with vascular injury are attenuated by endothelial-derived nitric oxide (NO). Endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) in the presence of tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) produces NO from L-arginine and is termed eNOS coupling. However, when the ratio of dihydrobiopterin (BH2) to BH4 is increased, eNOS becomes uncoupled and produces superoxide instead of NO. Protein kinase C epsilon (PKC ε) positively regulates eNOS activity. This study examined modulating eNOS activity and coupling by superfusing BH2 (100 μM) by itself, combined with PKC ε activator (10μM) or PKC ε inhibitor, or combined with BH4 (100μM) and PKC ε activator in rat mesenteric venules
In-plane magnetic reorientation in coupled ferro- and antiferromagnetic thin films
By studying coupled ferro- (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) thin film
systems, we obtain an in-plane magnetic reorientation as a function of
temperature and FM film thickness. The interlayer exchange coupling causes a
uniaxial anisotropy, which may compete with the intrinsic anisotropy of the FM
film. Depending on the latter the total in-plane anisotropy of the FM film is
either enhanced or reduced. Eventually a change of sign occurs, resulting in an
in-plane magnetic reorientation between a collinear and an orthogonal magnetic
arrangement of the two subsystems. A canted magnetic arrangement may occur,
mediating between these two extremes. By measuring the anisotropy below and
above the N\'eel temperature the interlayer exchange coupling can be
determined. The calculations have been performed with a Heisenberg-like
Hamiltonian by application of a two-spin mean-field theory.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Framing universal health coverage in Kenya: an interpretive analysis of the 2004 Bill on National Social Health Insurance.
In 2004, President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya refused to sign a popular Bill on National Social Health Insurance into law. Drawing on innovations in framing theory, this research provides a social explanation for this decision. In addition to document review, this study involved interpretive analysis of transcripts from 50 semi-structured interviews with leading actors involved in the health financing policy process in Kenya, 2014-15. The frame-critical analysis focused on how actors engaged in (1) sensemaking, (2) naming, which includes selecting and categorizing and (3) storytelling. We demonstrated that actors' abilities to make sense of the Bill were largely influenced by their own understandings of the finer features of the Bill and the array of interest groups privy to the debate. This was reinforced by a process of naming, which selects and categorizes aspects of the Bill, including the public persona of its primary sponsor, its affordability, sustainability, technical dimensions and linkages to notions of economic liberalism. Actors used these understandings and names to tell stories of ideational warfare, which involved narrative accounts of policy resistance and betrayal. This analysis illustrates the difficulty in enacting sweeping reform measures and thus provides a basis for understanding incrementalism in Kenyan health policy
- …