431 research outputs found
Continuous pH Monitoring and Control: Selecting and Interfacing the Electrode, Controller, and Datalogger
pH control is essential to well-managed hydroponics. Here, we describe the selection and interfacing of electrodes, controllers, and loggers
How regularization concepts interfere with (quasi-)brittle damage: a comparison based on a unified variational framework
Three regularization concepts are assessed regarding their variational structure and interference with the predicted physics of (quasi-)brittle damage: the fracture energy concept, viscous regularization and micromorphic regularization. They are first introduced in a unified variational framework, depicting how they distinctively evolve from incremental energy minimization. The analysis of a certain time interval of a one-dimensional example is used to show how viscous and micromorphic regularization retains well-posedness within the softening regime. By way of contrast, the fracture energy concept is characterized by ill-posedness—as known from previous non-variational analyses. Numerical examples finally demonstrate the limitations and capabilities of each concept. The ill-posed local fracture energy concept leads by its design to a spatially constant fracture energy—in line with Griffith’s theory. The viscous regularization, in turn, yields a well-posed problem but artificial viscosity can add a bias to unloading and fracture thickness. Furthermore, and even more important, a viscous regularization does not predict a spatially constant fracture energy due to locally heterogeneous loading rates. The well-posed micromorphic regularization is in line with the underlying physics and does not show this undesired dependency. However, it requires the largest numerical efforts, since it is based on a coupled two-field formulation
Nutrient Management for Recirculating Hydroponics
Steady-state nutrient management is essential in hydroponic culture. Determination of an appropriate refill solution is attained using the principle of mass balance. Optimizing the ratio of nutrient elements and refill solution concentrations requires an understanding of the ratio of nutrients in tissue to water, which is measured as water use efficiency (WUE). This ratio is then multiplied by the desired concentration of nutrients in leaf tissue to determine the refill solution composition. Deep-flow hydroponics enables constant monitoring of solution parameters and root health. We have achieved a steady-state nitrogen concentration in solution by using an automated pH control system that adds a solution of 50 mM nitric acid and 200 mM ammonium sulfate. The pH remains stable throughout the life cycle as roots release a similar ratio of protons and hydroxide ions to balance uptake of either ammonium or nitrate. Daily monitoring of electrical conductivity (EC) guides adjustment of the refill solution concentration. A variable WUE and water to nutrient uptake ratio among species necessitates custom refill solutions. In our preliminary studies, wheat (Triticum aestivum) has a moderate WUE (3 g L-1) but ceases substantial nutrient uptake late in the lifecycle and the EC thus increases over time, causing nutrient accumulation in solution. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) also has a moderate WUE (3 g L-1), and the EC of the solution remains stable. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) has a high WUE (6 g L-1), causing reduced EC and nutrient solution depletion. Monitoring solution compositions has allowed us to optimize the refill solution and acid addition concentration among species and lifecycle stages
Thickness dependence study of current-driven ferromagnetic resonance in Y3Fe5O12/heavy metal bilayers
We use ferromagnetic resonance to study the current-induced torques in YIG/heavy metal bilayers. YIG samples with thickness varying from 14.8 nm to 80 nm, with the Pt or Ta thin film on top, are measured by applying a microwave current into the heavy metals and measuring the longitudinal DC voltage generated by both spin rectification and spin pumping. From a symmetry analysis of the FMR lineshape and its dependence on YIG thickness, we deduce that the Oersted field dominates over spin-transfer torque in driving magnetization dynamics
A mechanism for the non-Fermi-liquid behavior in CeCu_{6-x}Au_x
We propose an explanation for the recently observed non-Fermi-liquid behavior
of metallic alloys CeCu_{6-x}Au_x: near x=0.1, the specific heat c is
proportional to T \ln (T_0/T) and the resistivity increases linearly with
temperature T over a wide range of T. These features follow from a model in
which three-dimensional conduction electrons are coupled to two-dimensional
critical ferromagnetic fluctuations near the quantum critical point, x_{c}=0.1.
This picture is motivated by the neutron scattering data in the ordered phase
(x=0.2) and is consistent with the observed phase diagram.Comment: 4 pages, LaTeX, 3 figure
Model-independent extraction of matrix elements from top-quark measurements at hadron colliders
Current methods to extract the quark-mixing matrix element from
single-top production measurements assume that : top quarks decay into quarks with 100% branching fraction,
s-channel single-top production is always accompanied by a quark and
initial-state contributions from and quarks in the -channel
production of single top quarks are neglected. Triggered by a recent
measurement of the ratio
performed by the D0 collaboration, we consider a extraction method
that takes into account non zero d- and s-quark contributions both in
production and decay. We propose a strategy that allows to extract consistently
and in a model-independent way the quark mixing matrix elements ,
, and from the measurement of and from single-top
measured event yields. As an illustration, we apply our method to the Tevatron
data using a CDF analysis of the measured single-top event yield with two jets
in the final state one of which is identified as a -quark jet. We constrain
the matrix elements within a four-generation scenario by combining
the results with those obtained from direct measurements in flavor physics and
determine the preferred range for the top-quark decay width within different
scenarios.Comment: 36 pages, 17 figure
An economic comparison of treatment strategies with anakinra in systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA)
Introduction: Systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) is a rare, complex autoinflammatory disease with substantial morbidity, often characterized by fever, rash, and muscle pain, amongst other symptoms. Biologic agents, such as anakinra, have been successfully used to treat patients internationally, but their usage in some regions is limited to patients that have failed to achieve clinically inactive disease with corticosteroids and conventional synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (csDMARDs). Use of anakinra early in the disease course leads to better clinical outcomes; however, longer-term costs for this treatment strategy have not been established. This study compares the economic implications of first-line versus later-line availability of anakinra for patients with sJIA.
Methods: Data for patients treated with first-line anakinra were identified from a single-center, prospective study and compared to a combination of published trial and economic evaluation information to facilitate a comparison to later-line anakinra (ie, following corticosteroids + csDMARDs). Costs were estimated for product acquisition and medical resource utilization (MRU), including planned outpatient visits and unplanned hospital admissions. Total costs over a 5-year horizon were compared.
Results: Total 5-year product acquisition cost for the first-line anakinra strategy was € 24,021, and for later-line anakinra was € 20,471. The corresponding MRU costs were € 19,197 (first-line) versus € 25,425 (later-line). Overall 5-year costs (product acquisition and MRU) were lower for the first-line strategy (€ 43,218 versus € 45,896).
Conclusion: The use of anakinra for patients with sJIA in the first-line setting is efficacious to induce and sustain inactive disease, and the findings of this study show that this treatment strategy leads to cost savings through reduced medical expenditure
Top pair Asymmetries at Hadron colliders with general couplings
Recently it has been shown that measurement of charge asymmetry of top pair
production at LHC excludes any flavor violating vector gauge boson that
could explain Tevatron forward-backward asymmetry (FBA). We consider the
general form of a gauge boson including left-handed, right-handed vector
and tensor couplings to examine FBA and charge asymmetry. To evaluate top pair
asymmetries at Tevatron and LHC, we consider mixing constraints on
flavor changing couplings and show that this model still explain
forward-backward asymmetry at Tevatron and charge asymmetry can not exclude it
in part of parameters space.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figure
Planck Scale Boundary Conditions and the Higgs Mass
If the LHC does only find a Higgs boson in the low mass region and no other
new physics, then one should reconsider scenarios where the Standard Model with
three right-handed neutrinos is valid up to Planck scale. We assume in this
spirit that the Standard Model couplings are remnants of quantum gravity which
implies certain generic boundary conditions for the Higgs quartic coupling at
Planck scale. This leads to Higgs mass predictions at the electroweak scale via
renormalization group equations. We find that several physically well motivated
conditions yield a range of Higgs masses from 127-142 GeV. We also argue that a
random quartic Higgs coupling at the Planck scale favors M_H > 150 GeV, which
is clearly excluded. We discuss also the prospects for differentiating
different boundary conditions imposed for \lambda(M_{pl}) at the LHC. A
striking example is M_H = 127\pm 5 GeV corresponding to \lambda(M_{pl})=0,
which would imply that the quartic Higgs coupling at the electroweak scale is
entirely radiatively generated.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures; references added and other minor improvements,
matches version published in JHE
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