Analysis and Modeling of the Forces Exerted on the Cookware in Induction Heating Applications

We present a semianalytical model for calculating the forces exerted on cookware in domestic induction heating applications. The developed model is based on the Maxwell''s stress tensor and is also based on the existing semianalytic expressions of the electromagnetic fields in planar induction heating systems, which are expressed in terms of Fourier-Bessel series. Taking advantage of the axial symmetry of usual domestic induction heating systems, the flux of the vertical component of the Maxwell''s stress tensor is analytically integrated and the vertical force is obtained. The proposed model captures both eddy currents and magnetization that occurs in typical ferromagnetic cookware. The model is verified by means of two-dimensional Finite Element simulations and also is tested by means of measurements of the change of the weight experimented by cookware due to the forces during the heating process

Adapting of Non-Metallic Cookware for Induction Heating Technology via Thin-Layer Non-Magnetic Conductive Coatings

We analyze the feasibility of heating non-metallic cookware, unappropriate for heating by means of induced currents, with the purpose of extending the applicability range of the current induction heating cooktops. In order to turn materials as glass, ceramic, wood or plastic into suitable for the induction heating technology, we propose the use of thin layers of a metal (not necessarily a ferromagnetic material) which can be deposited on a surface by means of a thin or thick layer technology. For this purpose, the inductive performance of these layers is investigated by means of an analytical electromagnetic model, finite element simulations and experimental measurements. Calculations point out that for a specific induction arrangement working at a fixed frequency, it exists a thickness which maximizes the induction efficiency for each layer material. The suitability of this result is tested by means of a set of samples with copper thin layers whose thicknesses range from one hundred of nanometers to tens of micrometers, which are implemented using a phase vapor deposition (PVD) technology. The obtained induction efficiency and equivalent resistance are compared with those obtained with conventional ferromagnetic materials. As a proof of concept, the inner and outer bottoms of two glass pots are covered with a copper layer of 2µm, and 1.5µm , respectively, and 1 kW is inductively supplied by means of a series resonant inverter, reaching the boiling water conditions

Flow Cytometry Data Preparation Guidelines for Improved Automated Phenotypic Analysis.

Advances in flow cytometry (FCM) increasingly demand adoption of computational analysis tools to tackle the ever-growing data dimensionality. In this study, we tested different data input modes to evaluate how cytometry acquisition configuration and data compensation procedures affect the performance of unsupervised phenotyping tools. An analysis workflow was set up and tested for the detection of changes in reference bead subsets and in a rare subpopulation of murine lymph node CD103+ dendritic cells acquired by conventional or spectral cytometry. Raw spectral data or pseudospectral data acquired with the full set of available detectors by conventional cytometry consistently outperformed datasets acquired and compensated according to FCM standards. Our results thus challenge the paradigm of one-fluorochrome/one-parameter acquisition in FCM for unsupervised cluster-based analysis. Instead, we propose to configure instrument acquisition to use all available fluorescence detectors and to avoid integration and compensation procedures, thereby using raw spectral or pseudospectral data for improved automated phenotypic analysis.We thank Irene Palacios, Elena Prieto, Mariano Vito´n, and Raquel Nieto for excellent technical assistance and Dr. Salvador Iborra for helpful discussion of dendritic cell studies. Editorial assistance was provided by Simon Bartlett.S

A Role for DPPX Modulating External TEA Sensitivity of Kv4 Channels

Shal-type (Kv4) channels are expressed in a large variety of tissues, where they contribute to transient voltage-dependent K+ currents. Kv4 are the molecular correlate of the A-type current of neurons (ISA), the fast component of ITO current in the heart, and also of the oxygen-sensitive K+ current (KO2) in rabbit carotid body (CB) chemoreceptor cells. The enormous degree of variability in the physiological properties of Kv4-mediated currents can be attributable to the complexity of their regulation together with the large number of ancillary subunits and scaffolding proteins that associate with Kv4 proteins to modify their trafficking and their kinetic properties. Among those, KChIPs and DPPX proteins have been demonstrated to be integral components of ISA and ITO currents, as their coexpression with Kv4 subunits recapitulates the kinetics of native currents. Here, we explore the presence and functional contribution of DPPX to KO2 currents in rabbit CB chemoreceptor cells by using DPPX functional knockdown with siRNA. Additionally, we investigate if the presence of DPPX endows Kv4 channels with new pharmacological properties, as we have observed anomalous tetraethylammonium (TEA) sensitivity in the native KO2 currents. DPPX association with Kv4 channels induced an increased TEA sensitivity both in heterologous expression systems and in CB chemoreceptor cells. Moreover, TEA application to Kv4-DPPX heteromultimers leads to marked kinetic effects that could be explained by an augmented closed-state inactivation. Our data suggest that DPPX proteins are integral components of KO2 currents, and that their association with Kv4 subunits modulate the pharmacological profile of the heteromultimers

Adding Acanthodactylus beershebensis to the mtDNA phylogeny of the Acanthodactylus pardalis group

The phylogenetic affinities of Acanthodactylus beershebensis, a highly endangered lacertid lizard endemic to the Neguev (Israel), were assessed using mtDNA markers. Fragments of 12S and 16S rRNA were analysed and compared with already published sequences of Acanthodactylus. Results corroborate the taxonomic placement of A. beershebensis as a member of the A. pardalis group but place it within a polytomy at the same phylogenetic level as other (unnamed) African populations. This pattern of high but poorly structured genetic diversity, previously observed for other Acanthodactylus complexes, has been suggested to derive from the climatic instability of North Africa and the Middle East during the humid and dry periods of the Pleistocene as well as dune migrations. In conservation terms, if A. beershebensis is to be prioritised, then other populations of the A. pardalis group inhabiting North Africa would deserve a similar status, making their species definition urgent. These results highlight the need for considering phylogeny when establishing conservation priorities.publishe

Relativistic analyses of quasielastic neutrino cross sections at MiniBooNE kinematics

Two relativistic approaches are considered to evaluate the quasielastic double-differential and integrated neutrino-nucleus cross sections. One, based on the relativistic impulse approximation, relies on the microscopic description of nuclear dynamics using relativistic mean field theory, and incorporates a description of the final-state interactions. The second is based on the superscaling behavior exhibited by electron scattering data and its applicability, due to the universal character of the scaling function, to the analysis of neutrino scattering reactions. The role played by the vector meson-exchange currents in the two-particle two-hole sector is also incorporated and the results obtained are compared with the recent data for neutrinos measured by the MiniBooNE Collaboration.DGI FIS2008-01143 FPA2010-1742 FIS2008-04189Junta de Andalucía FPA2008-03770-E-INFN ACI2009-1053Spanish Consolider-Ingenio 2000 CSD2007-00042U.S. Department of Energy DE-FC02-94ER4081

Final-state interactions and superscaling in the semi-relativistic approach to quasielastic electron and neutrino scattering

The semi-relativistic approach to electron and neutrino quasielastic scattering from nuclei is extended to include final-state interactions. Starting with the usual nonrelativistic continuum shell model, the problem is relativized by using the semi-relativistic expansion of the current in powers of the initial nucleon momentum and relativistic kinematics. Two different approaches are considered for the final-state interactions: the Smith-Wambach 2p-2h damping model and the Dirac-equation-based potential extracted from a relativistic mean-field plus the Darwin factor. Using the latter, the scaling properties of (e,e′) and (νμ,μ-) cross sections for intermediate momentum transfers are investigated.DGI y FEDER BFM2002-03218 FIS05-01105 FPA2005-04460 FPA2006-13807 FPA2006-07393Junta de Andalucí

Exploiting data locality in Swift/T workflows using Hercules

The ever-increasing power of supercomputer systems is both driving and enabling the emergence of new problem-solving methods that require the efficient execution of many concurrent and interacting tasks. Swift/T, as a description language and runtime, offers the dynamic creation and execution of workflows, varying in granularity, on high-component-count platforms. Swift/T takes advantage of the Asynchronous Dynamic Load Balancing (ADLB) library to dynamically distribute the tasks among the nodes. These tasks may share data using a parallel file system, an approach that could degrade performance as a result of interference with other applications and poor exploitation of data locality. The objective of this work is to expose and exploit data locality in Swift/T through Hercules, a distributed in-memory store based on Memcached, and to explore tradeoffs between data locality and load balance in distributed workflow executions. In this paper we present our approach to enable locality-based optimizations in Swift/T by guiding ADLB to schedule computation jobs in the nodes containing the required data. We also analyze the interaction between locality and load balance: our initial measurements based on various raw file access patterns show promising results. Moreover, we present future work based on the promising results achieved so far.This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, under contract DE-AC02-06CH11357. Computing resources were provided by the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility. The work presented in this paper was supported by the COST Action IC1305, “Network for Sustainable Ultrascale Computing (NESUS).” The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement number 328582

Detoxification of azo dyes by a novel pH-versatile, salt-resistant laccase from Streptomyces ipomoea

A newly identified extracellular laccase produced by Streptomyces ipomoea CECT 3341 (SilA) was cloned and overexpressed, and its physicochemical characteristics assessed together with its capability to decolorize and detoxify an azotype dye. Molecular analysis of the deduced sequence revealed that SilA contains a TAT-type signal peptide at the N-terminus and only two cupredoxine domains; this is consistent with reports describing two other Streptomyces laccases but contrasts with most laccases, which contain three cupredoxine domains. The heterologous expression and purification of SilA revealed that the homodimer is the only active form of the enzyme. Its stability at high pH and temperature, together with its resistance to high concentrations of NaCl and to typical laccase inhibitors such as sodium azide confirmed the unique properties of this novel laccase. The range of substrates that SilA is able to oxidize was found to be pH-dependent; at alkaline pH, SilA oxidized a wide range of phenolic compounds, including the syringyl and guayacil moieties derived from lignin. The oxidative potential of this enzyme to use phenolic compounds as natural redox mediators was shown through the coordinated action of SilA and acetosyringone (as mediator), which resulted in the complete detoxification of the azo-type dye Orange II.This work was financially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science (CICYT Project CTQ2004-0344/PPQ to MEA and BFU 2006-00972/BMC to JMD). We thank the Autonomous Government of Madrid and the University of Alcalá for the fellowship awarded to R.M