Some properties of Potato Virus M (PVM) in Crude Sap and in Pure Preparations

A study was performed to determine some properties of the potato virus M (PVM) in crude sap and in pure preparations. In crude sap the virus was shown to have a dilution end point value of 10- 4, longevity in vitro particles sedimented as one peak with a sedimentation coefficient value of 162 s. The buoyant density in cesium chloride was 1.304 gm/cm ~ Electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gels showed that the virus possessed only one protein subunit with a molecular weight of 39,300 daltons

UK Coal resource for new exploitation technologies. Final report

This focus of this report are the UK coal resources available for exploitation by the new technologies of Underground Coal Gasification, Coalbed Methane production and Carbon Dioxide Sequestration. It also briefly considers the potential for further underground and opencast mining and the extraction of methane from working and closed mines. The potential for mining was mainly considered because it has a bearing on the scope for the new exploitation technologies rather than to identify resources or potential mine development areas. The report covers the UK landward area and nearshore areas, although information on the extent of underground mining was not available for the nearshore areas. This work was carried out by the British Geological Survey, with the assistance of Wardell Armstrong and Imperial College, London. It represents a summary of the results of the Study of the UK Coal Resource for New Exploitation Technologies Project, carried out for the DTI Cleaner Coal Technology Programme (Contract No. C/01/00301/00/00) under the management of Future Energy Solutions (Agreement No. C/01/00301/00/00). Coalbed methane production can be subdivided into three categories: Methane drained from working mines, known as Coal Mine Methane (CMM), has been exploited in the UK since at least the 1950s. Currently all working mines except Daw Mill and Ellington drain methane. It is used to generate electricity at Harworth, Tower and Thoresby collieries and in boilers at Welbeck, Kellingley and Ricall/Whitemoor collieries. There is potential to increase the exploitation of CMM in the UK but this is mainly a question of economics. There is also an environmental case for further utilisation, as methane is an important greenhouse gas, 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide on a mass basis. Methane drained from abandoned mines, known as Abandoned Mine Methane (AMM), is a methane-rich gas that is obtained from abandoned mines by applying suction to the workings. The fuel gas component consists primarily of methane desorbed from seams surrounding the mined seam(s). These unmined seams have been de-stressed and fractured by the collapse of overlying and underlying strata into the void left by the extracted seam(s). Currently AMM is being exploited at sites in North Staffordshire (Silverdale Colliery), the East Midlands (Bentinck, Shirebrook and Markham collieries) and Yorkshire (Hickleton, Monk Bretton and Wheldale collieries). The methane-rich gas is used for electricity generation or supplied to local industry for use in boilers and kilns. Over the last few years, the fledgling UK AMM industry has started to ascend a learning curve. However, it has suffered a major setback since the wholesale price of electricity fell under the New Electricity Trading Arrangements and AMM does not currently qualify as renewable energy in the UK. Coalbed methane produced via boreholes from virgin coal seams, known as Virgin Coalbed Methane (VCBM), has been the subject of significant exploration effort in Lancashire, North Wales, South Wales and Scotland. The best production of gas and water from a single well is understood to be from the project at Airth, north of Falkirk in Scotland. However, this is not economic at present. The main reason for the slow development of VCBM in the UK is perceived to be the widespread low permeability of UK coal seams, although little work has been carried out in the UK on coal permeability, or to truly identify the reasons for the lack of success. This must be overcome before the otherwise significant resource bases in the Clackmannan Syncline, Canonbie, Cumbria, South Lancashire, North Wales, North Staffordshire and South Wales coalfields can be exploited. A technological breakthrough is required to overcome the likely widespread low permeability in the UK Carboniferous coal seams. Otherwise, at best, production will probably be limited to niche opportunities in areas where high seam permeability exists. The criteria used to define and map the location of VCBM resources are as follows: • Coal seams greater than 0.4 m in thickness at depths >200 m • Seam gas content >1m3/tonne • 500 metres or more horizontal separation from underground coal workings • Vertical separation of 150m above and 40 m below a previously worked seam Vertical separation of >100 m from major unconformities of these areas is thought to be about ,900 x 109 m3 (about 29 years of UK natural gas consumption). he main criteria sed for the delineation and mapping of resource areas with potential for UCG were: eparation from underground coal workings and current omic and environmental grounds as described later in this report. he establishment of these criteria do not rule out UCG projects in shallower or thinner seams, if • Vertical separation of >100 m from major aquifers, and • Areas with a CMM resource (current underground coal mining licences) were excluded. Note that the presence of a CBM resource does not imply permeability in the coal seams or that the resource can be recovered economically now or at any time in the future. Using these criteria resource areas were defined and represented on the maps. The total VCBM resource 2 Underground coal gasification (UCG) is the process whereby the injection of oxygen and steam/water via a borehole results in the partial in-situ combustion of coal to produce a combustible gas mixture consisting of CO2, CH4, H2 and CO, the proportions depending on temperature, pressure conditions and the reactant gases injected. This product gas is then extracted via a producing well for use as an energy source. All previous trials of this technology in the UK took place in the 1950’s or before, e.g. Durham (1912), Newman Spinney (1949-1956) and Bayton (c.1955), although this country is well placed for UCG, with large reserves of indigenous coal both onshore and offshore. T u • Seams of 2 m thickness or greater • Seams at depths between 600 and 1200 m from the surface • 500 m or more horizontal and vertical scoal mining licences, and • Greater than 100 m from major aquifers While seams outside these depth and thicknesses criteria are known to support UCG, the criteria were chosen for this generic study on econ T local site specific factors support it. Mapping of the potential UCG resource has identified large areas suitable for UCG, particularly in Eastern England, Midland Valley of Scotland, North Wales, Cheshire Basin, South Lancashire, Canonbie, the Midlands and Warwickshire. Potential also exists in other coalfields but on a smaller scale; this is often limited by the extent of former underground coal mining activities. The total area where coals are suitable for gasification is approximately 2.8 x 109m2. Where the criteria for UCG are met, the minimum volume of coal available for gasification, calculated assuming only one 2 m thick seam meets the criteria across each area, is app63 roximately 5,698 x 10 m (~7 Btonnes). Using an verage of the total thickness of coals that meet the criteria across each area gives a more realistic source figure of 12,911 x 106m3 (~17 Btonnes). pass the expensive step of parating the CO2 from flue gases. If the main objective, however, is CO2 sequestration rather than ethane production then separation of the flue gases may be worthwhile. O2 on coal seams, is would render them unminable and ungasifiable (because the CO2 would be released). Any future ining of such coals would require re-capture and sequestration of the stored CO . ion, providing that other issues, such as low seam permeability, can be vercome. Large areas where coal is below 1,200 m occur in the UK, particularly in the Cheshire asin and Eastern England. In summary • and its potential application in the UK cannot be assessed. However, there are vast areas of coal at depths below 1,200 m that are possibly too deep for mining and in situ gasification

The 2dF QSO Redshift Survey - XII. The spectroscopic catalogue and luminosity function

We present the final catalogue of the 2dF QSO Redshift Survey (2QZ), based on Anglo-Australian Telescope 2dF spectroscopic observations of 44 576 colour-selected (ubJr) objects with 18.2

What is the association between childhood adversity and subsequent chronic pain in adulthood? A systematic review

Funding: NHS Education for Scotland. KN was academic fellow from 2018 to 2022. SEEM was funded through an academic clinical fellowship from the Scottish Government's Chief Scientist Office (CSO grant number CAF_17_06). DS is a fellow on the Multimorbidity Doctoral Training Programme for Health Professionals, which is supported by the Wellcome Trust [grant number 223499/Z/21/Z].Background Adverse childhood experiences and chronic pain are complex problems affecting millions of people worldwide, and result in significant healthcare utilisation. Our review aimed to determine known associations between adversity in childhood and chronic pain in adulthood. Methods We performed a prospectively registered systematic review (PROSPERO ID: 135625). Six electronic databases (Pubmed, Medline, Cochrane, Scopus, APA PsycNet, Web of Science) were searched from January 1, 2009 until May 30, 2022. Titles and abstracts were screened, and all original research studies examining associations between adverse childhood experiences and chronic pain in adulthood were considered for inclusion. Full texts were reviewed, and a narrative synthesis was used to identify themes from extracted data. Ten percent of studies were dual reviewed to assess inter-rater reliability. Quality assessment of study methodology was undertaken using recognised tools. Results Sixty-eight eligible studies describing 196 130 participants were included. Studies covered 15 different types of childhood adversity and 10 different chronic pain diagnoses. Dual reviewed papers had a Cohen's kappa reliability rating of 0.71. Most studies were of retrospective nature and of good quality. There were consistent associations between adverse childhood experiences and chronic pain in adulthood, with a ‘dose’-dependent relationship. Poor mental health was found to mediate the detrimental connection between adverse childhood experiences and chronic pain. Conclusion A strong association was found between adverse childhood experiences and chronic pain in adulthood. Adverse childhood experiences should be considered in patient assessment, and early intervention to prevent adverse childhood experiences may help reduce the genesis of chronic pain. Further research into assessment and interventions to address adverse childhood experiences is needed.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

The 2dF QSO Redshift Survey - IV. The QSO power spectrum from the 10k catalogue

We present a power spectrum analysis of the 10k catalogue from the 2dF QSO Redshift Survey. Although the Survey currently has a patchy angular selection function, we use the Virgo Consortium's Hubble Volume simulation to demonstrate that we are able to make a useful first measurement of the power spectrum over a wide range of scales. We compare the redshift-space power spectra of QSOs with those measured for galaxies and Abell clusters at low redshift and find that they show similar shapes in their overlap range, , with . The amplitude of the QSO power spectrum at is almost comparable to that of galaxies at the present day if and (the Λ cosmology), and a factor of ≈ 3 lower if (the EdS cosmology) is assumed. The amplitude of the QSO power spectrum is a factor of ≈ 10 lower than that measured for Abell clusters at the present day. At larger scales, the QSO power spectra continue to rise robustly to ≈ 400 h1 Mpc, implying more power at large scales than in the APM galaxy power spectrum measured by Baugh & Efstathiou. We split the QSO sample into two redshift bins and find little evolution in the amplitude of the power spectrum, consistent with the result for the QSO correlation function. In models with this represents evidence for a QSO-mass bias that evolves as a function of time. We compare the QSO power spectra with cold dark matter (CDM) models to obtain a constraint on the shape parameter, Γ. For two choices of cosmology , and , , we find that the best-fitting model has . In addition, we have shown that a power spectrum analysis of the Hubble Volume ΛCDM mock QSO catalogues with as input produces a result that is statistically consistent with the data. The analysis of the mock catalogues also indicates that the above results for Γ are unlikely to be dominated by systematic effects, owing to the current catalogue window. We conclude that the form of the QSO power spectrum shows large-scale power significantly in excess of the standard CDM prediction, similar to that seen in local galaxy surveys at intermediate scales

Semiclassical kinetic theory of electron spin relaxation in semiconductors

We develop a semiclassical kinetic theory for electron spin relaxation in semiconductors. Our approach accounts for elastic as well as inelastic scattering and treats Elliott-Yafet and motional-narrowing processes, such as D'yakonov-Perel' and variable g-factor processes, on an equal footing. Focusing on small spin polarizations and small momentum transfer scattering, we derive, starting from the full quantum kinetic equations, a Fokker-Planck equation for the electron spin polarization. We then construct, using a rigorous multiple time scale approach, a Bloch equation for the macroscopic ($\vec{k}$-averaged) spin polarization on the long time scale, where the spin polarization decays. Spin-conserving energy relaxation and diffusion, which occur on a fast time scale, after the initial spin polarization has been injected, are incorporated and shown to give rise to a weight function which defines the energy averages required for the calculation of the spin relaxation tensor in the Bloch equation. Our approach provides an intuitive way to conceptualize the dynamics of the spin polarization in terms of a ``test'' spin polarization which scatters off ``field'' particles (electrons, impurities, phonons). To illustrate our approach, we calculate for a quantum well the spin lifetime at temperatures and densities where electron-electron and electron-impurity scattering dominate. The spin lifetimes are non-monotonic functions of temperature and density. Our results show that at electron densities and temperatures, where the cross-over from the non-degenerate to the degenerate regime occurs, spin lifetimes are particularly long.Comment: 29 pages, 10 figures, final versio

On the Strong Coupling Limit of the Faddeev-Hopf Model

The variational calculus for the Faddeev-Hopf model on a general Riemannian domain, with general Kaehler target space, is studied in the strong coupling limit. In this limit, the model has key similarities with pure Yang-Mills theory, namely conformal invariance in dimension 4 and an infinite dimensional symmetry group. The first and second variation formulae are calculated and several examples of stable solutions are obtained. In particular, it is proved that all immersive solutions are stable. Topological lower energy bounds are found in dimensions 2 and 4. An explicit description of the spectral behaviour of the Hopf map S^3 -> S^2 is given, and a conjecture of Ward concerning the stability of this map in the full Faddeev-Hopf model is proved.Comment: 21 pages, 0 figure

The 2dF QSO Redshift Survey - XIV. Structure and evolution from the two-point correlation function

In this paper we present a clustering analysis of quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) using over 20000 objects from the final catalogue of the 2dF QSO Redshift Survey (2QZ), measuring the redshift-space two-point correlation function, ξ(s). When averaged over the redshift range 0.3 < z < 2.2 we find that ξ(s) is flat on small scales, steepening on scales above ~25h-1 Mpc. In a WMAP/2dF cosmology (Ωm= 0.27, ΩΛ= 0.73) we find a best-fitting power law with s0= 5.48+0.42-0.48h-1 Mpc and γ= 1.20 +/- 0.10 on scales s= 1 to 25h-1 Mpc. We demonstrate that non-linear redshift-space distortions have a significant effect on the QSO ξ(s) at scales less than ~10h-1 Mpc. A cold dark matter model assuming WMAP/2dF cosmological parameters is a good description of the QSO ξ(s) after accounting for non-linear clustering and redshift-space distortions, and allowing for a linear bias at the mean redshift of bQ(z= 1.35) = 2.02 +/- 0.07. We subdivide the 2QZ into 10 redshift intervals with effective redshifts from z= 0.53 to 2.48. We find a significant increase in clustering amplitude at high redshift in the WMAP/2dF cosmology. The QSO clustering amplitude increases with redshift such that the integrated correlation function, , within 20h-1 Mpc is and . We derive the QSO bias and find it to be a strong function of redshift with bQ(z= 0.53) = 1.13 +/- 0.18 and bQ(z= 2.48) = 4.24 +/- 0.53. We use these bias values to derive the mean dark matter halo (DMH) mass occupied by the QSOs. At all redshifts 2QZ QSOs inhabit approximately the same mass DMHs with MDH= (3.0 +/- 1.6) × 1012h-1 Msolar, which is close to the characteristic mass in the Press-Schechter mass function, M*, at z= 0. These results imply that L*Q QSOs at z~ 0 should be largely unbiased. If the relation between black hole (BH) mass and MDH or host velocity dispersion does not evolve, then we find that the accretion efficiency (L/LEdd) for L*Q QSOs is approximately constant with redshift. Thus the fading of the QSO population from z~ 2 to ~0 appears to be due to less massive BHs being active at low redshift. We apply different methods to estimate, tQ, the active lifetime of QSOs and constrain tQ to be in the range 4 × 106-6 × 108 yr at z~ 2. We test for any luminosity dependence of QSO clustering by measuring ξ(s) as a function of apparent magnitude (equivalent to luminosity relative to L*Q). However, we find no significant evidence of luminosity-dependent clustering from this data set

Localized Intersections of Non-Extremal p-branes and S-branes

A class of solutions to Supergravity in 10 or 11 dimensions is presented which extends the non-standard or semi-local intersections of Dp-branes to the case of non-extremal p-branes. The type of non-extremal solutions involved in the intersection is free and we provide two examples involving black-branes and/or D-\bar{D} systems. After a rotation among the time coordinate and a relatively transverse radial direction the solutions admit the interpretation of an intersection among D-branes and S-branes. We speculate on the relevance of these configurations both to study time dependent phenomena in the AdS/CFT correspondence as well as to construct cosmological brane-world scenarios within String Theory admitting accelerating expansion of the Universe.Comment: 31 pages, latex file; v2: typos corrected and references adde

Energy poverty, institutional reform and challenges of sustainable development: the case of India

This paper assesses recent efforts by the Indian Government to tackle energy poverty and sustainable development. It focuses on the new integrated energy policy, and initiatives to disseminate improved cookstoves and develop energy alternatives for transport. The success of government initiatives in cleaner biomass cookstoves and village electrification has historically been limited, and institutional reforms in the 2000s promoted market-led and ‘user-centred’ approaches, and encouraged biofuels as a ‘pro-poor’ route to rural development and energy security. The paper argues that such interventions have reopened tensions and conflicts around land-use, intra-community inequalities and the role of corporate agendas in sustainable energy