1,715 research outputs found

    Genetic Diversity Among Banana streak virus Isolates from Australia

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    Banana streak virus (BSV) is an important pathogen of bananas and plantains (Musa spp.) throughout the world. We have cloned and sequenced part of the genomes of four isolates of BSV from Australia, designated BSV-RD, BSV-Cav, BSV-Mys, and BSV-GF. These isolates originated from banana cvs. Red Dacca, Williams, Mysore, and Goldfinger, respectively. All clones contained a sequence covering part of open reading frame III and the intergenic region of the badnavirus genome. The sequences were compared with those of other badnaviruses, including BSV-Onne, a previously characterized isolate from Nigeria. The BSV-RD sequence was virtually identical to that of BSV-Onne, differing by only two nucleotides over 1,292 bp. However, BSV-Cav, -Mys, and -GF were divergent in nucleotide sequence. Phylogenetic analyses using conserved sequences in the ribonuclease H domain revealed that all BSV isolates were more closely related to each other than to any other badnavirus. BSV-Cav was most closely related to BSV-Onne, and there was 95.1% identity between the two amino acid sequences. Other relationships between the BSV isolates were less similar, with sequence identities ranging from 66.4 to 78.2%, which is a magnitude comparable to the distance between some of the recognized badnavirus species. Immunocapture-polymerase chain reaction assays have been developed, allowing specific detection and differentiation of the four isolates of BSV

    Adiabatic Domain Wall Motion and Landau-Lifshitz Damping

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    Recent theory and measurements of the velocity of current-driven domain walls in magnetic nanowires have re-opened the unresolved question of whether Landau-Lifshitz damping or Gilbert damping provides the more natural description of dissipative magnetization dynamics. In this paper, we argue that (as in the past) experiment cannot distinguish the two, but that Landau-Lifshitz damping nevertheless provides the most physically sensible interpretation of the equation of motion. From this perspective, (i) adiabatic spin-transfer torque dominates the dynamics with small corrections from non-adiabatic effects; (ii) the damping always decreases the magnetic free energy, and (iii) microscopic calculations of damping become consistent with general statistical and thermodynamic considerations

    Thermal-Structural Analysis of the MacArthur Maze Freeway Collapse

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    At approximately 3:41 AM on the morning of April 29, 2007, a tractor-trailer rig carrying 8,600 gallons (32.6 m{sup 3}) of fuel overturned on Interstate 880 in Oakland, CA. The resultant fire weakened the surrounding steel superstructure and caused a 50-yard (45.7 m) long section of the above connecting ramp from Interstate 80 to Interstate 580 to fail in approximately 18 minutes. In this study, we performed a loosely-coupled thermal-structural finite element analysis of the freeway using the LLNL Engineering codes NIKE3D, DYNA3D and TOPAZ3D. First, we applied an implicit structural code to statically initialize the stresses and displacements in the roadway at ambient conditions due to gravity loading. Next, we performed a thermal analysis by approximating the tanker fire as a moving box region of uniform temperature. This approach allowed for feasible calculation of the fire-to-structure radiative view factors and convective heat transport. We used a mass scaling methodology in the thermal analysis to reduce the overall simulation time so an explicit structural analysis could be used, which provided a more computationally efficient simulation of structural failure. Our approach showed structural failure of both spans due to thermal softening under gravity loading at approximately 20 minutes for a fixed fire temperature of 1200 C and fixed thermal properties. When temperature-dependent thermal properties were applied, the south and north spans collapsed at approximately 10 minutes and 16 minutes, respectively. Finally, we performed a preliminary fully-coupled analysis of the system using the new LLNL implicit multi-mechanics code Diablo. Our investigation shows that our approach provides a reasonable first-order analysis of the system, but improved modeling of the transport properties and the girder-box beam connections is required for more accurate predictions

    Climate change: what competencies and which medical education and training approaches?

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Much research has been devoted to identifying healthcare needs in a climate-changing world. However, while there are now global and national policy statements about the importance of health workforce development for climate change, little has been published about what competencies might be demanded of practitioners in a climate-changing world. In such a context, this debate and discussion paper aims to explore the nature of key competencies and related opportunities for teaching climate change in medical education and training. Particular emphasis is made on preparation for practice in rural and remote regions likely to be greatly affected by climate change.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The paper describes what kinds of competencies for climate change might be included in medical education and training. It explores which curricula, teaching, learning and assessment approaches might be involved. Rather than arguing for major changes to medical education and training, this paper explores well established precedents to offer practical suggestions for where a particular kind of literacy--eco-medical literacy--and related competencies could be naturally integrated into existing elements of medical education and training.</p> <p>Summary</p> <p>The health effects of climate change have, generally, not yet been integrated into medical education and training systems. However, the necessary competencies could be taught by building on existing models, best practice and innovative traditions in medicine. Even in crowded curricula, climate change offers an opportunity to reinforce and extend understandings of how interactions between people and place affect health.</p

    Gilbert Damping in Magnetic Multilayers

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    We study the enhancement of the ferromagnetic relaxation rate in thin films due to the adjacent normal metal layers. Using linear response theory, we derive the dissipative torque produced by the s-d exchange interaction at the ferromagnet-normal metal interface. For a slow precession, the enhancement of Gilbert damping constant is proportional to the square of the s-d exchange constant times the zero-frequency limit of the frequency derivative of the local dynamic spin susceptibility of the normal metal at the interface. Electron-electron interactions increase the relaxation rate by the Stoner factor squared. We attribute the large anisotropic enhancements of the relaxation rate observed recently in multilayers containing palladium to this mechanism. For free electrons, the present theory compares favorably with recent spin-pumping result of Tserkovnyak et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{88},117601 (2002)].Comment: 1 figure, 5page
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