Design of Microwave Pulse Compressors Using Small Form-Factor Waveguide Cavities

A microwave pulse compressor (MPC) consisting of an iris, a straight waveguide section, and a T-junction can be used in order to convert a long pulse with lower power to a shorter pulse with a higher power. A significant compression gain can be achieved, provided that the system is designed precisely. The duration of the compressed pulse is proportional to the cavity length, thus imposing a constraint on the development of mobile systems. In this work, we present the circuit/transmission-line-based design methodology that we follow in order to fold the cavity (while retaining the same electrical length) by using T-junction turns. For example, we design a 1.3-GHz folded compressor and compare its performance to the corresponding one of a straight-cavity compressor. The 3-D full-wave simulations with CST Studio Suite and experimental measurements with the developed compressor confirm the accuracy of the proposed design methodology

Computational Discovery of Hydrogen Bond Design Rules for Electrochemical Ion Separation

Selective ion separation is a major challenge with far-ranging impact from water desalination to product separation in catalysis. Recently introduced ferrocene (Fc)/ferrocenium (Fc⁺) polymer electrode materials have been demonstrated experimentally and theoretically to selectively bind carboxylates over perchlorate through weak C–H···O hydrogen bond (HB) interactions that favor carboxylates, despite the comparable size and charge of the two species. However, practical application of this technology in aqueous environments requires further selectivity enhancement. Using a first-principles discovery approach, we investigate the effect of Fc/Fc⁺ functional groups (FGs) on the selectivity and reversibility of formate–Fc⁺ adsorption with respect to perchlorate in aqueous solution. Our wide design space of 44 FGs enables identification of FGs with higher selectivity and rationalization of trends through electronic energy decomposition analysis or geometric hydrogen bonding analysis. Overall, we observe weaker, longer HBs for perchlorate as compared to formate with Fc⁺. We further identify Fc⁺ functionalizations that simultaneously increase selectivity for formate in aqueous environments but permit rapid release from neutral Fc. We introduce the materiaphore, a 3D abstraction of these design rules, to help guide next-generation material optimization for selective ion sorption. This approach is expected to have broad relevance in computational discovery for molecular recognition, sensing, separations, and catalysis.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (ECCS-1449291

Manifesto for a European research network into Problematic Usage of the Internet

Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.The Internet is now all-pervasive across much of the globe. While it has positive uses (e.g. prompt access to information, rapid news dissemination), many individuals develop Problematic Use of the Internet (PUI), an umbrella term incorporating a range of repetitive impairing behaviours. The Internet can act as a conduit for, and may contribute to, functionally impairing behaviours including excessive and compulsive video gaming, compulsive sexual behaviour, buying, gambling, streaming or social networks use. There is growing public and National health authority concern about the health and societal costs of PUI across the lifespan. Gaming Disorder is being considered for inclusion as a mental disorder in diagnostic classification systems, and was listed in the ICD-11 version released for consideration by Member States (http://www.who.int/classifications/icd/revision/timeline/en/). More research is needed into disorder definitions, validation of clinical tools, prevalence, clinical parameters, brain-based biology, socio-health-economic impact, and empirically validated intervention and policy approaches. Potential cultural differences in the magnitudes and natures of types and patterns of PUI need to be better understood, to inform optimal health policy and service development. To this end, the EU under Horizon 2020 has launched a new four-year European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action Programme (CA 16207), bringing together scientists and clinicians from across the fields of impulsive, compulsive, and addictive disorders, to advance networked interdisciplinary research into PUI across Europe and beyond, ultimately seeking to inform regulatory policies and clinical practice. This paper describes nine critical and achievable research priorities identified by the Network, needed in order to advance understanding of PUI, with a view towards identifying vulnerable individuals for early intervention. The network shall enable collaborative research networks, shared multinational databases, multicentre studies and joint publications.Peer reviewe

Exercise addiction, body dysmorphic disorder, and use of enhancement drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic confinement period: a transcultural study

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

COVID-19 publications: Database coverage, citations, readers, tweets, news, Facebook walls, Reddit posts

© 2020 The Authors. Published by MIT Press. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1162/qss_a_00066The COVID-19 pandemic requires a fast response from researchers to help address biological, medical and public health issues to minimize its impact. In this rapidly evolving context, scholars, professionals and the public may need to quickly identify important new studies. In response, this paper assesses the coverage of scholarly databases and impact indicators during 21 March to 18 April 2020. The rapidly increasing volume of research, is particularly accessible through Dimensions, and less through Scopus, the Web of Science, and PubMed. Google Scholar’s results included many false matches. A few COVID-19 papers from the 21,395 in Dimensions were already highly cited, with substantial news and social media attention. For this topic, in contrast to previous studies, there seems to be a high degree of convergence between articles shared in the social web and citation counts, at least in the short term. In particular, articles that are extensively tweeted on the day first indexed are likely to be highly read and relatively highly cited three weeks later. Researchers needing wide scope literature searches (rather than health focused PubMed or medRxiv searches) should start with Dimensions (or Google Scholar) and can use tweet and Mendeley reader counts as indicators of likely importance

Automated Generation of High-Order Modes for Tests of Quasi-Optical Systems of Gyrotrons for W7-X Stellarator

A test system for the verification of the quasi-optical converter system is vital in the gyrotron development. For this reason, an automated measurement setup has been developed and is benchmarked with the TE$_{28,8}$ mode operating in the cavities of the gyrotrons of W7-X with a high purity of about 95 % and a counter-rotating amount of about 0.3 %. The time duration for the mode generator adjustment has been reduced to two days for this mode. After a successful mode excitation, the quasi-optical mode converter, consisting of a launcher and three mirrors, is measured having a vectorial Gaussian mode content of 97 %

Experimental Testing of the European TH1509U 170-GHz 1-MW CW Industrial Gyrotron – Long Pulse Operation

The upgraded European 1-MW, 170-GHz continuous wave (CW) industrial prototype gyrotron (TH1509U) for electron cyclotron resonance heating and current drive in ITER was tested at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). In this work, we report on the major achievements during the experimental campaigns that took place intermittently between October 2020 and July 2021. The upgraded gyrotron clearly surpassed the performance of the previous TH1509 tube. In particular, TH1509U delivered (i) 0.9 MW in 180 s pulses (maximum possible pulse length with the KIT test stand) and (ii) more than 1 MW at a pulse length limited to 40 s, due to an unforeseen problem with the test stand cooling circuit at that time. In addition, it was possible to also demonstrate gyrotron operation at (iii) 0.5 MW in 1600 s pulses. The experiments will be continued at the FALCON test stand at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)

Common Variants in CDKAL1, CDKN2A/B, IGF2BP2, SLC30A8, and HHEX/IDE Genes Are Associated With Type 2 Diabetes and Impaired Fasting Glucose in a Chinese Han Population

OBJECTIVE— Genome-wide association studies have identified common variants in CDKAL1, CDKN2A/B, IGF2BP2, SLC30A8, HHEX/IDE, EXT2, and LOC387761 loci that significantly increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. We aimed to replicate these observations in a population-based cohort of Chinese Hans and examine the associations of these variants with type 2 diabetes and diabetes-related phenotypes

A new approach to deploy a self-adaptive distributed firewall

Distributed firewall systems emerged with the proposal of protecting individual hosts against attacks originating from inside the network. In these systems, firewall rules are centrally created, then distributed and enforced on all servers that compose the firewall, restricting which services will be available. However, this approach lacks protection against software vulnerabilities that can make network services vulnerable to attacks, since firewalls usually do not scan application protocols. In this sense, from the discovery of any vulnerability until the publication and application of patches there is an exposure window that should be reduced. In this context, this article presents Self-Adaptive Distributed Firewall (SADF). Our approach is based on monitoring hosts and using a vulnerability assessment system to detect vulnerable services, integrated with components capable of deciding and applying firewall rules on affected hosts. In this way, SADF can respond to vulnerabilities discovered in these hosts, helping to mitigate the risk of exploiting the vulnerability. Our system was evaluated in the context of a simulated network environment, where the results achieved demonstrate its viability