4,240 research outputs found
Relaxation Design of Separable Tube Connectors
Design procedure to predict relaxation or time to leakage for separable tube connector
Comparison of robust optimization and info-gap methods for water resource management under deep uncertainty
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.This paper evaluates two established decision-making methods and analyzes their performance and suitability within a water resources management (WRM) problem. The methods under assessment are info-gap (IG) decision theory and robust optimization (RO). The methods have been selected primarily to investigate a contrasting local versus global method of assessing water system robustness to deep uncertainty, but also to compare a robustness model approach (IG) with a robustness algorithm approach (RO), whereby the former selects and analyzes a set of prespecified strategies and the latter uses optimization algorithms to automatically generate and evaluate solutions. The study presents a novel area-based method for IG robustness modeling and assesses the applicability of utilizing the future flows climate change projections in scenario generation for water resource adaptation planning. The methods were applied to a case study resembling the Sussex North Water Resource Zone in England, assessing their applicability at improving a risk-based WRM problem and highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each method at selecting suitable adaptation strategies under climate change and future demand uncertainties. Pareto sets of robustness to cost are produced for both methods and highlight RO as producing the lower cost strategies for the full range of varying target robustness levels. IG produced the more expensive Pareto strategies due to its more selective and stringent robustness analysis, resulting from the more complex scenario ordering process.This work was financially supported by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research
Council, HR Wallingford and The University of Exeter through the STREAM Industrial
Doctorate Centre. The authors are grateful to Dr Steven Wade, now at the Met Office, and Chris
Counsell of HR Wallingford for providing data for the Sussex North case study
Collimated, single-pass atom source from a pulsed alkali metal dispenser for laser-cooling experiments
We have developed an improved scheme for loading atoms into a magneto-optical
trap (MOT) from a directed alkali metal dispenser in < 10^-10 torr ultra-high
vacuum conditions. A current-driven dispenser was surrounded with a cold
absorbing "shroud" held at < 0 C, pumping rubidium atoms not directed into the
MOT. This nearly eliminates background alkali atoms and reduces the detrimental
rise in pressure normally associated with these devices. The system can be
well-described as a current-controlled, rapidly-switched, two-temperature
thermal beam, and was used to load a MOT with 3 x 10^8 atoms.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Effect of Magnetization Inhomogeneity on Magnetic Microtraps for Atoms
We report on the origin of fragmentation of ultracold atoms observed on a
permanent magnetic film atom chip. A novel technique is used to characterize
small spatial variations of the magnetic field near the film surface using
radio frequency spectroscopy of the trapped atoms. Direct observations indicate
the fragmentation is due to a corrugation of the magnetic potential caused by
long range inhomogeneity in the film magnetization. A model which takes into
account two-dimensional variations of the film magnetization is consistent with
the observations.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Neuroprotection by safinamide in the 6-hydroxydopamine model of Parkinson's disease
AIMS: Current therapies in Parkinson's disease mainly treat symptoms rather than provide effective neuroprotection. We examined the effects of safinamide (monoamine oxidase B and sodium channel blocker) on microglial activation and the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in a rat model of PD in vivo, and on microglia in vitro. METHODS: Rats received unilateral stereotaxic injection of 6-hydroxydopamine into the medial forebrain bundle on day 0: The contralateral side served as control. Safinamide or vehicle was delivered from days 0 or 1, for 7 days, via sub-cutaneous mini-pumps. RESULTS: In vehicle-treated rats 6-hydroxydopamine caused a significant increase in the number of activated MHC-II(+) microglia compared with the contralateral side, and only 50% of the dopaminergic neurons survived in the ipsilateral SNc. In contrast, rats treated daily with safinamide 50 and 150 mg/ml (on day 0 or 1) exhibited a significantly reduced number of activated microglia (55% reduction at 150 mg/ml) and a significant protection of dopaminergic neurons (80% of neurons survived) (P < 0.001) compared with vehicle-treated controls. Rasagiline, a monoamine oxidase B inhibitor, and lamotrigine, a sodium channel blocking drug, also protected dopaminergic neurons, indicating that safinamide may act by either or both mechanisms. Safinamide also reduced the activation of microglial cells in response to lipopolysaccharide exposure in vitro. CONCLUSION: Safinamide therapy suppresses microglial activation and protects dopaminergic neurons from degeneration in the 6-hydroxydopamine model of PD, suggesting that the drug not only treats symptoms but also provides neuroprotection
Rapid colour changes in Euglena sanguinea (Euglenophyceae) caused by internal lipid globule migration
The accumulation of red pigments under chronic stress is a response observed in most
groups of oxygenic photoautotrophs. It is thought that the red pigments in the cell shield
the chlorophyll located underneath from the light. Among these red pigments, the
accumulation of carotenoids is one of the most frequent cases. However, the synthesis
or degradation of carotenoids is a slow process and this response is usually only
observed when the stress is maintained over a period of time. In the Euglenophyte
Euglena sanguinea, this is due to the accumulation of a large amount of free and
esterified astaxanthin (representing 80% of the carotenoid pool). While reddening is a
slow and sometimes irreversible process in other phototrophs, reducing the efficiency of
light harvesting by chlorophyll, in E. sanguinea it is highly dynamic, capable of shifting
from red to green (and vice-versa) in 10-20 min. This change is not due to de novo
carotenogenesis, but to the relocation of cytoplasmic lipid globules where astaxanthin
accumulates. Thus, red globules migrate from the centre of the cell to peripheral
locations when photoprotection is demanded. This protective system seems to be so
efficient that other classical mechanisms are not operative in this species. For example,
despite the presence and operation of the diadino-diatoxanthin cycle, nonphotochemical
quenching (NPQ) is almost undetectable. Since E. sanguinea forms
extensive floating colonies, reddening can be observed at much greater scale than at a
cellular level, the mechanism described here being one of the fastest and most dramatic
colour changes attributable to photosynthetic organisms at cell and landscape level. In
sum, these data indicate an extremely dynamic and efficient photoprotective mechanism
based on organelle migration more than on carotenoid biosynthesis that prevents excess
light absorption by chlorophylls reducing the need for other protective processes related
to energy dissipation.This work was supported by the Basque Government [UPV/EHU-GV IT-1018-16] [UPV/EHU PPG17/67 – GV IT-1040-16], and by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) and the European Research and Development Foundation (FEDER) through (i) [CTM2014-53902-C2-2-P] national grant and (ii) a “Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación” postdoctoral grant [IJCI-2014-22489] to BFM
In the Interests of clients or commerce? Legal aid, supply, demand, and 'ethical indeterminacy' in criminal defence work
As a professional, a lawyer's first duty is to serve the client's best interests, before simple monetary gain. In criminal defence work, this duty has been questioned in the debate about the causes of growth in legal aid spending: is it driven by lawyers (suppliers) inducing unnecessary demand for their services or are they merely responding to increased demand? Research reported here found clear evidence of a change in the handling of cases in response to new payment structures, though in ways unexpected by the policy's proponents. The paper develops the concept of 'ethical indeterminacy' as a way of understanding how defence lawyers seek to reconcile the interests of commerce and clients. Ethical indeterminacy suggests that where different courses of action could each be said to benefit the client, the lawyer will tend to advise the client to decide in the lawyer's own interests. Ethical indeterminacy is mediated by a range of competing conceptions of 'quality' and 'need'. The paper goes on to question the very distinction between 'supply' and 'demand' in the provision of legal services
Quantum statistics of atoms in microstructures
This paper proposes groove-like potential structures for the observation of
quantum information processing by trapped particles. As an illustration the
effect of quantum statistics at a 50-50 beam splitter is investigated. For
non-interacting particles we regain the results known from photon experiments,
but we have found that particle interactions destroy the perfect bosonic
correlations. Fermions avoid each other due to the exclusion principle and
hence they are far less sensitive to particle interactions. For bosons, the
behavior can be explained with simple analytic considerations which predict a
certain amount of universality. This is verified by detailed numerical
calculations.Comment: 18 pages incl. 13 figure
Building Future Capacity of School Psychologists to Address the Demand for Inclusive Evidence-Based Consultation: Moving Beyond K-12 to Include School Readiness Frameworks
There is high demand for future school psychologists to address the need for continuous evidence-based consultation that moves beyond K-12 settings, and includes evidence-based consultation to promote school readiness for infants and toddlers with and at risk for developmental disabilities. While there exists a demand for school psychologists in infant and toddler settings, the primary focus of training programs is preparing graduates to work in school-based settings. Currently, a gap exists in graduate training opportunities in evidence-based consultation practices that support school readiness for infants and toddlers with and at risk for disabilities served through Part C services. While school psychologists typically are trained on evidence-based consultation mechanisms that have largely been utilized in K-12 contexts, they rarely receive consultation training with families of infants and toddlers. Therefore, expansion of training is necessary to support infants and toddlers through evidence-based consultation models. To underscore the importance of continuity in application of evidence-based consultation models, the current manuscript compares an evidence-based consultation model validated in K-12 settings and a consultation model for promoting infant and toddler developmental competencies. An illustration of the application of evidence-based consultation frameworks within multi-tiered systems of support and recommendations for graduate training, to better prepare school psychologists for work in birth-to-three settings, is provided
- …