Outbursts of Young Stellar Objects

We argue that the outbursts of the FU Orionis stars occur on timescales which are much longer than expected from the standard disc instability model with \alpha_{c} \gtrsim 10^{-3}. The outburst, recurrence, and rise times are consistent with the idea that the accretion disc in these objects is truncated at a radius R_{i} \sim 40 \rsun. In agreement with a number of previous authors we suggest that the inner regions of the accretion discs in FU Ori objects are evacuated by the action of a magnetic propeller anchored on the central star. We develop an analytic solution for the steady state structure of an accretion disc in the presence of a central magnetic torque, and present numerical calculations to follow its time evolution. These calculations confirm that a recurrence time that is consistent with observations can be obtained by selecting appropriate values for viscosity and magnetic field strength.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, accepted by MNRA

The steady-state structure of accretion discs in central magnetic fields

We develop a new analytic solution for the steady-state structure of a thin accretion disc under the influence of a magnetic field that is anchored to the central star. The solution takes a form similar to that of Shakura and Sunyaev and tends to their solution as the magnetic moment of the star tends to zero. As well as the Kramer's law case, we obtain a solution for a general opacity. The effects of varying the mass transfer rate, spin period and magnetic field of the star as well as the opacity model applied to the disc are explored for a range of objects. The solution depends on the position of the magnetic truncation radius. We propose a new approach for the identification of the truncation radius and present an analytic expression for its position.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, accepted by MNRA

National Hospital Management Portal (NHMP): a framework for e-health implementation

Health information represents the main basis for health decisionmaking process and there have been some efforts to increase access to health information in developing countries. However, most of these efforts are based on the internet which has minimal penetration especially in the rural and sub-urban part of developing countries. In this work, a platform for medical record acquisition via the ubiquitous 2.5G/3G wireless communications technologies is presented. The National Hospital Management Portal (NHMP)platform has a central database at each specific country’s national hospita

Vibrational overtone initiated unimolecular dissociation of HOCH_2OOH and HOCD_2OOH: Evidence for mode selective behavior

The vibrational overtone induced unimolecular dissociation of HMHP (HOCH2OOH) and HMHP-d2 (HOCD2OOH) into OH and HOCH2O (HOCD2O) fragments is investigated in the region of the 4nuOH and 5nuOH bands. The unimolecular dissociation rates in the threshold region, corresponding to the 4nuOH band, exhibit measurable differences associated with excitation of the OH stretch of the alcohol versus the peroxide functional group, with the higher energy alcohol OH stretching state exhibiting a slower dissociation rate compared to the lower energy peroxide OH stretch in both HMHP and HMHP-d2. Predictions using the Rice–Ramsperger–Kassel–Marcus theory give rates that are in reasonably good agreement with the measured dissociation rate for the alcohol OH stretch but considerably differ from the measured rates for the peroxide OH stretch in both isotopomers. The present results are interpreted as suggesting that the extent of intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) is different for the two OH stretching states associated with the two functional groups in HMHP, with IVR being substantially less complete for the peroxide OH stretch. Analysis of the OH fragment product state distributions in conjunction with phase-space theory simulation gives a D0 value of 38±0.7 kcal/mole for breaking the peroxide bond in HMHP

Large-scale Quality Control of Cardiac Imaging in Population Studies: Application to UK Biobank

In large population studies such as the UK Biobank (UKBB), quality control of the acquired images by visual assessment is unfeasible. In this paper, we apply a recently developed fully-automated quality control pipeline for cardiac MR (CMR) images to the first 19,265 short-axis (SA) cine stacks from the UKBB. We present the results for the three estimated quality metrics (heart coverage, inter-slice motion and image contrast in the cardiac region) as well as their potential associations with factors including acquisition details and subject-related phenotypes. Up to 14.2% of the analysed SA stacks had sub-optimal coverage (i.e. missing basal and/or apical slices), however most of them were limited to the first year of acquisition. Up to 16% of the stacks were affected by noticeable inter-slice motion (i.e. average inter-slice misalignment greater than 3.4 mm). Inter-slice motion was positively correlated with weight and body surface area. Only 2.1% of the stacks had an average end-diastolic cardiac image contrast below 30% of the dynamic range. These findings will be highly valuable for both the scientists involved in UKBB CMR acquisition and for the ones who use the dataset for research purposes

Classification and stability of simple homoclinic cycles in R^5

The paper presents a complete study of simple homoclinic cycles in R^5. We find all symmetry groups Gamma such that a Gamma-equivariant dynamical system in R^5 can possess a simple homoclinic cycle. We introduce a classification of simple homoclinic cycles in R^n based on the action of the system symmetry group. For systems in R^5, we list all classes of simple homoclinic cycles. For each class, we derive necessary and sufficient conditions for asymptotic stability and fragmentary asymptotic stability in terms of eigenvalues of linearisation near the steady state involved in the cycle. For any action of the groups Gamma which can give rise to a simple homoclinic cycle, we list classes to which the respective homoclinic cycles belong, thus determining conditions for asymptotic stability of these cycles.Comment: 34 pp., 4 tables, 30 references. Submitted to Nonlinearit

Nomadic Base Station (NBS): a Software Defined Radio (SDR) based Architecture for Capacity Enhancement in Mobile Communications Networks

In this research work, the problem of congestion that leads to dropped calls at GSM cell sites and drastic reduction in network capacity is addressed. We designed a novel GSM base station architecture named Nomadic Base Station (NBS) which is based on Software Defined Radio (SDR) architecture and simulated the LNA for its receiver front-end. The NBS receiver LNA selects and amplifies GSM signal bursts operating at 900MHz and 1800MHz Radio Frequency Band. The later stages translate the Radio Frequency (RF) signal to Intermediate Frequency (IF) signal. This implements the SDR technology by digitizing the IF signal into bit streams that can be processed on generic Central Processing Unit (CPU) using custom written signal processing software

Collective Modes in a Dilute Bose-Fermi Mixture

We here study the collective excitations of a dilute spin-polarized Bose-Fermi mixture at zero temperature, considering in particular the features arising from the interaction between the two species. We show that a propagating zero-sound mode is possible for the fermions even when they do not interact among themselves.Comment: latex, 6 eps figure

Environmental auditing of a packaging system for redesign: A case study exploration

Within the United Kingdom a significant portion of the energy consumed each year is done so through industry. It is therefore desirable to take measures that reduce this consumption. A process common to all manufacturing sectors is that of packaging, and this research focused on identifying, quantifying and reducing the environmental impact of one such system. It finally took the form of an abridged life cycle assessment focusing on the manufacturing and assembly stage of a packaging systems life. Two separate studies were conducted to evaluate the performance of specific tools for such environmental studies. Where, the total embodied energy and carbon of each sub-assembly of the systems was calculated and their contribution to the whole machine established. These were further broken down into material production and machine processes in order to establish where the major impacts were and potential areas for redesign. Both approaches were found to be resource hungry in their application, an output that may restrict their application in the type of company that operate in this domain. A surprising finding was that producing a design with lower environmental impact could be less expensive

Estimating the potential impact of canine distemper virus on the Amur tiger population (Panthera tigris altaica) in Russia

Lethal infections with canine distemper virus (CDV) have recently been diagnosed in Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica), but long-term implications for the population are unknown. This study evaluates the potential impact of CDV on a key tiger population in Sikhote-Alin Biosphere Zapovednik (SABZ), and assesses how CDV might influence the extinction potential of other tiger populations of varying sizes. An individual-based stochastic, SIRD (susceptible-infected-recovered/dead) model was used to simulate infection through predation of infected domestic dogs, and/or wild carnivores, and direct tiger-to-tiger transmission. CDV prevalence and effective contact based on published and observed data was used to define plausible low- and high-risk infection scenarios. CDV infection increased the 50-year extinction probability of tigers in SABZ by 6.3% to 55.8% compared to a control population, depending on risk scenario. The most significant factors influencing model outcome were virus prevalence in the reservoir population(s) and its effective contact rate with tigers. Adjustment of the mortality rate had a proportional impact, while inclusion of epizootic infection waves had negligible additional impact. Small populations were found to be disproportionately vulnerable to extinction through CDV infection. The 50-year extinction risk in populations consisting of 25 individuals was 1.65 times greater when CDV was present than that of control populations. The effects of density dependence do not protect an endangered population from the impacts of a multi-host pathogen, such as CDV, where they coexist with an abundant reservoir presenting a persistent threat. Awareness of CDV is a critical component of a successful tiger conservation management policy