44,150 research outputs found
Evaluation of a Multizone Impedance Eduction Method
A computational study is used to evaluate the PyCHE impedance eduction method developed at the NASA Langley Research Center. This method combines an aeroacoustic duct propagation code based on numerical solution to the convected Helmholtz equation with a global optimizer that uses the Differential Evolution algorithm. The efficacy of this method is evaluated with acoustic pressure data simulated to represent that measured with one-zone, two-zone, and three-zone liners mounted in the NASA Langley Grazing Flow Impedance Tube. The PyCHE method has a normalized impedance error of approximately 0.2 for (uniform) one-zone liners with a length of at least 5, and produces quite reasonable results for liners as short as 2. Whereas the impedance of the liner has an effect on eduction accuracy, the amount of attenuation is shown to be the dominant parameter. Similar results are observed for two-zone liners, for which the impedance of each zone is unique. The two-zone results also indicate it is more difficult to accurately educe resistance than reactance, and a zone length of at least 6 (slightly longer than for uniform liners) is needed to limit the normalized error to 0.2. The PyCHE method is also demonstrated to successfully educe the impedances for each zone of a three-zone liner. These results are sufficiently encouraging to warrant the continued usage of the PyCHE impedance eduction method for single and multizone liners
The reduced cost of providing a nationally recognised service for familial hypercholesterolaemia
OBJECTIVE: Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) affects 1 in 500 people in the UK population and is associated with premature morbidity and mortality from coronary heart disease. In 2008, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended genetic testing of potential FH index cases and cascade testing of their relatives. Commissioners have been slow to respond although there is strong evidence of cost and clinical effectiveness. Our study quantifies the recent reduced cost of providing a FH service using generic atorvastatin and compares NICE costing estimates with three suggested alternative models of care (a specialist-led service, a dual model service where general practitioners (GPs) can access specialist advice, and a GP-led service).METHODS: Revision of existing 3?year costing template provided by NICE for FH services, and prediction of costs for running a programme over 10?years. Costs were modelled for the first population-based FH service in England which covers Southampton, Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Portsmouth (SHIP). Population 1.95 million.RESULTS: With expiry of the Lipitor (Pfizer atorvastatin) patent the cost of providing a 10-year FH service in SHIP reduces by 42.5% (£4.88 million on patent vs £2.80 million off patent). Further cost reductions are possible as a result of the reduced cost of DNA testing, more management in general practice, and lower referral rates to specialists. For instance a dual-care model with GP management of patients supported by specialist advice when required, costs £1.89 million.CONCLUSIONS: The three alternative models of care are now <50% of the cost of the original estimates undertaken by NICE
On the Use of Group Theoretical and Graphical Techniques toward the Solution of the General N-body Problem
Group theoretic and graphical techniques are used to derive the N-body wave
function for a system of identical bosons with general interactions through
first-order in a perturbation approach. This method is based on the maximal
symmetry present at lowest order in a perturbation series in inverse spatial
dimensions. The symmetric structure at lowest order has a point group
isomorphic with the S_N group, the symmetric group of N particles, and the
resulting perturbation expansion of the Hamiltonian is order-by-order invariant
under the permutations of the S_N group. This invariance under S_N imposes
severe symmetry requirements on the tensor blocks needed at each order in the
perturbation series. We show here that these blocks can be decomposed into a
basis of binary tensors invariant under S_N. This basis is small (25 terms at
first order in the wave function), independent of N, and is derived using
graphical techniques. This checks the N^6 scaling of these terms at first order
by effectively separating the N scaling problem away from the rest of the
physics. The transformation of each binary tensor to the final normal
coordinate basis requires the derivation of Clebsch-Gordon coefficients of S_N
for arbitrary N. This has been accomplished using the group theory of the
symmetric group. This achievement results in an analytic solution for the wave
function, exact through first order, that scales as N^0, effectively
circumventing intensive numerical work. This solution can be systematically
improved with further analytic work by going to yet higher orders in the
perturbation series.Comment: This paper was submitted to the Journal of Mathematical physics, and
is under revie
A far-infrared study of N/O abundance ratio in galactic H 2 regions
Far-infrared lines of N++ and O++ in several galactic H II regions were measured in an effort to probe the abundance ratio N/O. New measurements are presented for W32 (630.8-0.0), Orion A, and G75.84+0.4. The combination of (N III) 57.3 millimicrons and (O III) 88.4 and 51.8 millimicrons yields measurements of N++/O++ that are largely insensitive to electron temperature, density uncertainties, and to clumping of the ionized gas, due to the similarity of the critical densities for these transitions. In the observed nebulae, N++/O++ should be indicative of N/O, a ratio that is of special importance in nucleosynthesis theory. Measurements are compared with previous measurements of M17 and W51. For nebulae in the solar circle, N++/O++ is greater than the N/O values derived from optical studies of N+/O+ in low ionization zones of the same nebulae. We find that N++/O++ in W43 is significantly higher than for the other H II regions in the sample. Since W43 is located at R = 5 kpc, which is the smallest galactocentric distance in our sample, our data appear consistent with the presence of a negative abundance gradient d(N/O)dR
Studies of CMB structure at Dec=40. II: Analysis and cosmological interpretation
We present a detailed analysis of the cosmic microwave background structure
in the Tenerife Dec=+40 degrees data. The effect of local atmospheric
contributions on the derived fluctuation amplitude is considered, resulting in
an improved separation of the intrinsic CMB signal from noise. Our analysis
demonstrates the existence of common structure in independent data scans at 15
and 33 GHz. For the case of fluctuations described by a Gaussian
auto-correlation function, a likelihood analysis of our combined results at 15
and 33 GHz implies an intrinsic rms fluctuation level of 48^{+21}_{-15} uK on a
coherence scale of 4 degrees; the equivalent analysis for a
Harrison-Zel'dovitch model gives a power spectrum normalisation of Q_{rms-ps} =
22^{+10}_{-6} uK. The fluctuation amplitude is seen to be consistent at the 68%
confidence level with that reported for the COBE two-year data for primordial
fluctuations described by a power law model with a spectral index in the range
1.0 \le n \le 1.6. This limit favours the large scale CMB anisotropy being
dominated by scalar fluctuations rather than tensor modes from a gravitational
wave background. The large scale Tenerife and COBE results are considered in
conjunction with observational results from medium scale experiments in order
to place improved limits on the fluctuation spectral index; we find n=1.10 +/-
0.10 assuming standard CDM with H_{0}=50 kms^{-1}Mpc^{-1}.Comment: 10 pages LaTeX, including 8 PostScript figures. Accepted for
publication in MNRA
Manipulating a single adsorbed DNA for a critical endpoint
We show the existence of a critical endpoint in the phase diagram of
unzipping of an adsorbed double-stranded (ds) polymer like DNA. The competition
of base pairing, adsorption and stretching by an external force leads to the
critical end point. From exact results, the location of the critical end point
is determined and its classical nature established.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, Published versio
Detection of interstellar NH sub 3 in the far-warm and dense gas in Orion-KL
The detection of the (J,K) = a(4,3) yields s(3,3) rotation inversion transition of ammonia at 124.6 microns toward the center of the Orion-KL region is reported. The line is in emission and has a FWHM or = to 30 km s 0.15. The far IR ammonia line emission probably comes mainly from the 'hot core', a compact region of warm, very dense gas previously identified by the radio inversion lines of NH3. The a(4,3) yields s(3,3) line is very optically thick, and since it is seen in emission, radiative excitation of the (4,3) NH3 level by far IR emission from dust within the source can be ruled out. Radiative excitation via the 10 microns of vibrational transitions of NH3 also seems unlikely. Hence, the (4,3) level is probably collisionally excited and the gas in the hot core region is warmer than the dust. Since the far IR line emission is highly trapped, densities of approximately 10 to the 7th power cu cm are high enough to explain the observations. Shock heating by the mass outflow from IRc2 may account for the high gas temperatures in the hot core region
Full control of quadruple quantum dot circuit charge states in the single electron regime
We report the realization of an array of four tunnel coupled quantum dots in
the single electron regime, which is the first required step toward a scalable
solid state spin qubit architecture. We achieve an efficient tunability of the
system but also find out that the conditions to realize spin blockade readout
are not as straightforwardly obtained as for double and triple quantum dot
circuits. We use a simple capacitive model of the series quadruple quantum dots
circuit to investigate its complex charge state diagrams and are able to find
the most suitable configurations for future Pauli spin blockade measurements.
We then experimentally realize the corresponding charge states with a good
agreement to our model.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
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