Two-Band-Type Superconducting Instability in MgB2

Using the tight-binding method for the $\pi$-bands in MgB$_2$, the Hubbard on-site Coulomb interaction on two inequivalent boron $p_z$-orbitals is transformed into expressions in terms of $\pi$-band operators. For scattering processes relevant to the problemin which a wave vector {\bf q} is parallel to $\hat{z}$, it is found to take a relatively simple form consisting of intra-band Coulomb scattering, interband pair scattering etc. with large constant coupling constants. This allows to get a simple expression for the amplitude of interband pair scattering between two $\pi$-bands, which diverges if the interband polarization function in it becomes large enough.The latter was approximately evaluated and found to be largely enhanced in the band structure in MgB$_2$. These results lead to a divergent interband pair scattering, meaning two-band-type superconducting instability with enhanced $T_c$. Adding a subsidiary BCS attractive interaction in each band into consideration, a semi-quantitative gap equation is given, and $T_c$ and isotope exponent $\alpha$ are derived. The present instability is asserted to be the origin of high $T_c$ in MgB$_2$.Comment: 4 pages, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. vol. 70, No.

Radar systems for the water resources mission. Volume 4: Appendices E-I

The use of a scanning antenna beam for a synthetic aperture system was examined. When the resolution required was modest, the radar did not use all the time the beam was passing a given point on the ground to build a synthetic aperture, so time was available to scan the beam to other positions and build several images at different ranges. The scanning synthetic-aperture radar (SCANSAR) could achieve swathwidths of well over 100 km with modest antenna size. Design considerations for a SCANSAR for hydrologic parameter observation are presented. Because of the high sensitivity to soil moisture at angles of incidence near vertical, a 7 to 22 deg swath was considered for that application. For snow and ice monitoring, a 22 to 37 deg scan was used. Frequencies from X-band to L-band were used in the design studies, but the proposed system operated in C-band at 4.75 GHz. It achieved an azimuth resolution of about 50 meters at all angles, with a range resolution varying from 150 meters at 7 deg to 31 meters at 37 deg. The antenna required an aperture of 3 x 4.16 meters, and the average transmitter power was under 2 watts

Radar systems for the water resources mission, volume 2

The application of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) in monitoring and managing earth resources was examined. The function of spaceborne radar is to provide maps and map imagery to be used for earth resource and oceanographic applications. Spaceborne radar has the capability of mapping the entire United States regardless of inclement weather; however, the imagery must have a high degree of resolution to be meaningful. Attaining this resolution is possible with the SAR system. Imagery of the required quality must first meet mission parameters in the following areas: antenna patterns, azimuth and range ambiguities, coverage, and angle of incidence

Radar systems for the water resources mission, volume 1

The state of the art determination was made for radar measurement of: soil moisture, snow, standing and flowing water, lake and river ice, determination of required spacecraft radar parameters, study of synthetic-aperture radar systems to meet these parametric requirements, and study of techniques for on-board processing of the radar data. Significant new concepts developed include the following: scanning synthetic-aperture radar to achieve wide-swath coverage; single-sideband radar; and comb-filter range-sequential, range-offset SAR processing. The state of the art in radar measurement of water resources parameters is outlined. The feasibility for immediate development of a spacecraft water resources SAR was established. Numerous candidates for the on-board processor were examined

Radar systems for a polar mission, volume 3, appendices A-D, S, T

Success is reported in the radar monitoring of such features of sea ice as concentration, floe size, leads and other water openings, drift, topographic features such as pressure ridges and hummocks, fractures, and a qualitative indication of age and thickness. Scatterometer measurements made north of Alaska show a good correlation with a scattering coefficient with apparent thickness as deduced from ice type analysis of stereo aerial photography. Indications are that frequencies from 9 GHz upward seem to be better for sea ice radar purposes than the information gathered at 0.4 GHz by a scatterometer. Some information indicates that 1 GHz is useful, but not as useful as higher frequencies. Either form of like-polarization can be used and it appears that cross-polarization may be more useful for thickness measurement. Resolution requirements have not been fully established, but most of the systems in use have had poorer resolution than 20 meters. The radar return from sea ice is found to be much different than that from lake ice. Methods to decrease side lobe levels of the Fresnel zone-plate processor and to decrease the memory requirements of a synthetic radar processor are discussed

Cancer and systemic inflammation: treat the tumour and treat the host

Determinants of cancer progression and survival are multifactorial and host responses are increasingly appreciated to have a major role. Indeed, the development and maintenance of a systemic inflammatory response has been consistently observed to confer poorer outcome, in both early and advanced stage disease. For patients, cancer-associated symptoms are of particular importance resulting in a marked impact on day-to-day quality of life and are also associated with poorer outcome. These symptoms are now recognised to cluster with one another with anorexia, weight loss and physical function forming a recognised cluster whereas fatigue, pain and depression forming another. Importantly, it has become apparent that these symptom clusters are associated with presence of a systemic inflammatory response in the patient with cancer. Given the understanding of the above, there is now a need to intervene to moderate systemic inflammatory responses, where present. In this context the rationale for therapeutic intervention using nonselective anti-inflammatory agents is clear and compelling and likely to become a part of routine clinical practice in the near future. The published literature on therapeutic intervention using anti-inflammatory agents for cancer-associated symptoms was reviewed. There are important parallels with the development of useful treatments for the systemic inflammatory response in patients with rheumatological disease and cardiovascular disease

On the interaction between corrosion and fatigue which determines the remaining life of bridges

This paper studies the combined effect of corrosion and fatigue on the growth of cracks that arise from natural corrosion in steel bridges. It is shown that if these two effects need to be simultaneously analysed. If not then the resulting life is not conservative. Consequently, to enable a better understanding of the remaining life of steel bridges this paper presents a simple methodology for performing this coupled analysis

Preoperative systemic inflammation predicts postoperative infectious complications in patients undergoing curative resection for colorectal cancer

The presence of systemic inflammation before surgery, as evidenced by the glasgow prognostic score (mGPS), predicts poor long-term survival in colorectal cancer. The aim was to examine the relationship between the preoperative mGPS and the development of postoperative complications in patients undergoing potentially curative resection for colorectal cancer. Patients (n=455) who underwent potentially curative resections between 2003 and 2007 were assessed consecutively, and details were recorded in a database. The majority of patients presented for elective surgery (85%) were over the age of 65 years (70%), were male (58%), were deprived (53%), and had TNM stage I/II disease (61%), had preoperative haemoglobin (56%), white cell count (87%) and mGPS 0 (58%) in the normal range. After surgery, 86 (19%) patients developed a postoperative complication; 70 (81%) of which were infectious complications. On multivariate analysis, peritoneal soiling (P<0.01), elevated preoperative white cell count (P<0.05) and mGPS (P<0.01) were independently associated with increased risk of developing a postoperative infection. In elective patients, only the mGPS (OR=1.75, 95% CI=1.17-2.63, P=0.007) was significantly associated with increased risk of developing a postoperative infection. Preoperative elevated mGPS predicts increased postoperative infectious complications in patients undergoing potentially curative resection for colorectal cancer

Food Habits of the Hoary Bat in an Agricultural Landscape

Information on diets is fundamental to ecological studies. Prey use by the solitary, tree-roosting hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus) in agricultural landscapes is not known. We examined the stomach contents and fecal material from carcasses of hoary bats collected during a mortality study at wind turbine sites in southwestern Minnesota. We compared diet of hoary bats to availability of prey to determine whether bats were opportunistic or selective. Food of the hoary bats primarily consisted of lepidopterans (moths; 49-50 %) and coleopterans (beetles; 28-40 %). The abundance of insects in the diet of hoary bats was not proportional to the estimated availability of prey. Hoary bats selected large, soft-bodied insects (e.g., lepidopterans and neuropterans) and avoided small or hard-bodied insects (e.g., coleopterans, dipterans, and hemipterans). We suggest that hoary bats do not select prey based on availability, but rather, select prey that are large and soft-bodied

Random Fixed Point of Three-Dimensional Random-Bond Ising Models

The fixed-point structure of three-dimensional bond-disordered Ising models is investigated using the numerical domain-wall renormalization-group method. It is found that, in the +/-J Ising model, there exists a non-trivial fixed point along the phase boundary between the paramagnetic and ferromagnetic phases. The fixed-point Hamiltonian of the +/-J model numerically coincides with that of the unfrustrated random Ising models, strongly suggesting that both belong to the same universality class. Another fixed point corresponding to the multicritical point is also found in the +/-J model. Critical properties associated with the fixed point are qualitatively consistent with theoretical predictions.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Journal of the Physical Society of Japa