Near-UV photodissociation dynamics of CH2I2

The near-UV photodissociation dynamics of CH2I2 has been investigated using a combination of velocitymap (slice) ion imaging and ab initio calculations characterizing the excited states. Ground state I(2 P3/2) and spin-orbit excited I*(2 P1/2) atoms were probed using 2+1 resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) or with single-photon VUV ionization. Two-color ion images were recorded at pump wavelengths of 355 nm, 266 nm and 248 nm, and one-color ion images at the REMPI wavelengths of ~304 nm and ~280 nm. Analysis of the ion images shows that, regardless of iodine spin-orbit state, ~20% of the available energy is partitioned into translation ET at all excitation wavelengths indicating that the CH2I co-fragment is formed highly internally excited. The translational energy distributions comprise a slow, “statistical” component that peaks near zero and faster components that peak away from zero. The slow component makes an increasingly large contribution to the distribution as the excitation wavelength is decreased. The C–I bond dissociation energy of D0 = 2.155±0.008 eV is obtained from the trend in the ET release of the faster components with increasing excitation energy. The I and I* ion images are anisotropic, indicating prompt dissociation, and are characterized by β parameters that become increasingly positive with increasing ET. The decrease in β at lower translational energies can be attributed to deviation from axial recoil. MRCI calculations including spin-orbit coupling have been performed to identify the overlapping features in the absorption spectrum and characterize onedimensional cuts through the electronically excited potential energy surfaces. The excited states are of significantly mixed singlet and triplet character. At longer wavelengths, excitation directly accesses repulsive states primarily of B1 symmetry, consistent with the observed !β∀, while shorter wavelengths accesses bound states, also of B1 symmetry that are crossed by repulsive states

Screening versus routine practice in detection of atrial fibrillation in patients aged 65 or over: Screening versus routine practice in detection cluster randomised controlled trial

Objectives : To assess whether screening improves the detection of atrial fibrillation (cluster randomisation) and to compare systematic and opportunistic screening. Design : Multicentred cluster randomised controlled trial, with subsidiary trial embedded within the intervention arm. Setting : 50 primary care centres in England, with further individual randomisation of patients in the intervention practices. Participants : 14,802 patients aged 65 or over in 25 intervention and 25 control practices. Interventions : Patients in intervention practices were randomly allocated to systematic screening (invitation for electrocardiography) or opportunistic screening (pulse taking and invitation for electrocardiography if the pulse was irregular). Screening took place over 12 months in each practice from October 2001 to February 2003. No active screening took place in control practices. Main outcome measure : Newly identified atrial fibrillation. Results : The detection rate of new cases of atrial fibrillation was 1.63% a year in the intervention practices and 1.04% in control practices (difference 0.59%, 95% confidence interval 0.20% to 0.98%). Systematic and opportunistic screening detected similar numbers of new cases (1.62% v 1.64%, difference 0.02%, −0.5% to 0.5%). Conclusion : Active screening for atrial fibrillation detects additional cases over current practice. The preferred method of screening in patients aged 65 or over in primary care is opportunistic pulse taking with follow-up electrocardiography. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN19633732

Spatial patterns of carbon, biodiversity, deforestation threat, and REDD+ projects in Indonesia

There are concerns that Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) may fail to deliver potential biodiversity cobenefits if it is focused on high carbon areas. We explored the spatial overlaps between carbon stocks, biodiversity, projected deforestation threats, and the location of REDD+ projects in Indonesia, a tropical country at the forefront of REDD+ development. For biodiversity, we assembled data on the distribution of terrestrial vertebrates (ranges of amphibians, mammals, birds, reptiles) and plants (species distribution models for 8 families). We then investigated congruence between different measures of biodiversity richness and carbon stocks at the national and subnational scales. Finally, we mapped active REDD+ projects and investigated the carbon density and potential biodiversity richness and modeled deforestation pressures within these forests relative to protected areas and unprotected forests. There was little internal overlap among the different hotspots (richest 10% of cells) of species richness. There was also no consistent spatial congruence between carbon stocks and the biodiversity measures: a weak negative correlation at the national scale masked highly variable and nonlinear relationships island by island. Current REDD+ projects were preferentially located in areas with higher total species richness and threatened species richness but lower carbon densities than protected areas and unprotected forests. Although a quarter of the total area of these REDD+ projects is under relatively high deforestation pressure, the majority of the REDD+ area is not. In Indonesia at least, first-generation REDD+ projects are located where they are likely to deliver biodiversity benefits. However, if REDD+ is to deliver additional gains for climate and biodiversity, projects will need to focus on forests with the highest threat to deforestation, which will have cost implications for future REDD+ implementation

Coexistence of ferro- and antiferromagnetic order in Mn-doped Ni2_2MnGa

Ni-Mn-Ga is interesting as a prototype of a magnetic shape-memory alloy showing large magnetic field induced strains. We present here results for the magnetic ordering of Mn-rich Ni-Mn-Ga alloys based on both experiments and theory. Experimental trends for the composition dependence of the magnetization are measured by a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) in magnetic fields of up to several tesla and at low temperatures. The saturation magnetization has a maximum near the stoichiometric composition and it decreases with increasing Mn content. This unexpected behaviour is interpreted via first-principles calculations within the density-functional theory. We show that extra Mn atoms are antiferromagnetically aligned to the other moments, which explains the dependence of the magnetization on composition. In addition, the effect of Mn doping on the stabilization of the structural phases and on the magnetic anisotropy energy is demonstrated.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Hard-core Yukawa model for two-dimensional charge stabilized colloids

The hyper-netted chain (HNC) and Percus-Yevick (PY) approximations are used to study the phase diagram of a simple hard-core Yukawa model of charge-stabilized colloidal particles in a two-dimensional system. We calculate the static structure factor and the pair distribution function over a wide range of parameters. Using the statics correlation functions we present an estimate for the liquid-solid phase diagram for the wide range of the parameters.Comment: 7 pages, 9figure

An introduction to neonatal EEG

Electroencephalography (EEG) is used in neonatal care to assess encephalopathy, seizure recognition and classification, to make epilepsy syndrome diagnoses and to assess the maturity of neonatal brain activity. A basic understanding of the EEG is very helpful in ensuring that clinicians gain as much information as possible from this helpful, non-invasive investigation. The neonatal EEG is complex and accurate reporting requires detailed clinical information to be provided on request forms. Even when this is provided EEG reports are frequently returned to the neonatal unit loaded with technical details, making it difficult for neonatal staff to fully understand them. This article reviews the basics of EEG, the changes seen with increasing gestational age, and changes seen in common pathologies. We also provide a structured approach to the interpretation of the neonatal EEG report, and discuss its role in prognostication. Amplitude integrated EEG is reviewed in our companion paper

Gene expression time delays & Turing pattern formation systems

The incorporation of time delays can greatly affect the behaviour of partial differential equations and dynamical systems. In addition, there is evidence that time delays in gene expression due to transcription and translation play an important role in the dynamics of cellular systems. In this paper, we investigate the effects of incorporating gene expression time delays into a one-dimensional putative reaction diffusion pattern formation mechanism on both stationary domains and domains with spatially uniform exponential growth. While oscillatory behaviour is rare, we find that the time taken to initiate and stabilise patterns increases dramatically as the time delay is increased. In addition, we observe that on rapidly growing domains the time delay can induce a failure of the Turing instability which cannot be predicted by a naive linear analysis of the underlying equations about the homogeneous steady state. The dramatic lag in the induction of patterning, or even its complete absence on occasions, highlights the importance of considering explicit gene expression time delays in models for cellular reaction diffusion patterning

Chasing the identification of ASCA Galactic Objects (ChIcAGO): An X-ray survey of unidentified sources in the galactic plane. I : Source sample and initial results

We present the Chasing the Identification of ASCA Galactic Objects (ChIcAGO) survey, which is designed to identify the unknown X-ray sources discovered during the ASCA Galactic Plane Survey (AGPS). Little is known about most of the AGPS sources, especially those that emit primarily in hard X-rays (2-10 keV) within the Fx 10-13 to 10-11 erg cm -2 s-1 X-ray flux range. In ChIcAGO, the subarcsecond localization capabilities of Chandra have been combined with a detailed multiwavelength follow-up program, with the ultimate goal of classifying the >100 unidentified sources in the AGPS. Overall to date, 93 unidentified AGPS sources have been observed with Chandra as part of the ChIcAGO survey. A total of 253 X-ray point sources have been detected in these Chandra observations within 3′ of the original ASCA positions. We have identified infrared and optical counterparts to the majority of these sources, using both new observations and catalogs from existing Galactic plane surveys. X-ray and infrared population statistics for the X-ray point sources detected in the Chandra observations reveal that the primary populations of Galactic plane X-ray sources that emit in the Fx 10-13 to 10-11 erg cm -2 s-1 flux range are active stellar coronae, massive stars with strong stellar winds that are possibly in colliding wind binaries, X-ray binaries, and magnetars. There is also another primary population that is still unidentified but, on the basis of its X-ray and infrared properties, likely comprises partly Galactic sources and partly active galactic nuclei.Peer reviewedSubmitted Versio

The generalized non-conservative model of a 1-planet system - revisited

We study the long-term dynamics of a planetary system composed of a star and a planet. Both bodies are considered as extended, non-spherical, rotating objects. There are no assumptions made on the relative angles between the orbital angular momentum and the spin vectors of the bodies. Thus, we analyze full, spatial model of the planetary system. Both objects are assumed to be deformed due to their own rotations, as well as due to the mutual tidal interactions. The general relativity corrections are considered in terms of the post-Newtonian approximation. Besides the conservative contributions to the perturbing forces, there are also taken into account non-conservative effects, i.e., the dissipation of the mechanical energy. This dissipation is a result of the tidal perturbation on the velocity field in the internal zones with non-zero turbulent viscosity (convective zones). Our main goal is to derive the equations of the orbital motion as well as the equations governing time-evolution of the spin vectors (angular velocities). We derive the Lagrangian equations of the second kind for systems which do not conserve the mechanical energy. Next, the equations of motion are averaged out over all fast angles with respect to time-scales characteristic for conservative perturbations. The final equations of motion are then used to study the dynamics of the non-conservative model over time scales of the order of the age of the star. We analyze the final state of the system as a function of the initial conditions. Equilibria states of the averaged system are finally discussed.Comment: 37 pages, 13 figures, accepted to Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronom