Dynamics and rheology of a suspension of super-paramagnetic chains under the combined effect of a shear flow and a rotating magnetic field

This study presents an analysis of the dynamics of a single and multiple chains of spherical super-paramagnetic beads suspended in a Newtonian fluid under the combined effect of an external rotating magnetic field and a shear flow. Viscosity results depend on two main non-dimensional numbers: the ratio between the shear rate and the magnetic rotation frequency and the ratio between the hydrodynamic and magnetostatic interactions (the Mason number). When the shear rate is smaller than the magnetic frequency, the chain rotation accelerates the surrounding fluid, reducing the value of the measured suspension viscosity even below the solvent one. In this regime, shear-thickening is observed. For values of the shear rates comparable to the rotation magnetic frequency, the viscosity reaches a maximum and non-linear coupling effects come up. If the shear rate is increased to values above the rotation frequency, the viscosity decreases and a mild shear-thinning is observed. In terms of the Mason number, the suspension viscosity reduces in line with literature results reported for fixed magnetic fields, whereas the shear-rate/magnetic-frequency ratio parameters induces a shift of the viscosity curve towards larger values. Results at larger concentrations and multiple chains amplify the observed effects

Tribological variable-friction coefficient models for the simulation of dense suspensions of rough polydisperse particles

The rheology of concentrated suspensions of particles is complex and typically exhibits a shear-thickening behavior in the case of repulsive interactions. Despite the recent interest arisen, the causes of the shear-thickening remain unclear. Frictional contacts have been able to explain the discontinuous shear thickening in simulations. However, the interparticle friction coefficient is considered to be constant in most simulations and theoretical works reported to date despite the fact that tribological experiments demonstrate that the friction coefficient can not only be constant (boundary regime) but also decrease (mixed regime) or even increase (full-film lubrication regime), depending on the normal force and the relative velocity between the particles and the interstitial liquid between them. Interestingly, the transition between the boundary regime and the full-lubrication regime is governed by the particle average roughness. Particle-level simulations of suspensions of hard spheres were carried out using short-range lubrication and roughness-dependent frictional forces describing the full Stribeck curve. Suspensions with different particle's roughness were simulated to show that the particle roughness is a key factor in the shear-thickening behavior; for sufficiently rough particles, the suspension exhibits a remarkable shear-thickening, while for sufficiently smooth particles, the discontinuous shear-thickening disappears

Small-Packet Flows in Software Defined Networks: Traffic Profile Optimization

This paper proposes a method for optimizing bandwidth usage in Software Defined Networks (SDNs) based on OpenFlow. Flows of small packets presenting a high overhead, as the ones generated by emerging services, can be identified by the SDN controller, in order to remove header fields that are common to any packet in the flow, only during their way through the SDN. At the same time, several packets can be multiplexed together in the same frame, thus reducing the overall number of frames. The method can be useful for providing QoS while the packets are traversing the SDN. Four kinds of small-packet traffic flows are considered (VoIP, UDP and TCP-based online games, and ACKs from TCP flows). Both IPv4 and IPv6 are studied, and significant bandwidth savings (up to 68 % for IPv4 and 78 % for IPv6) can be obtained for the considered kinds of traffic. The optimization method is also applied to different public Internet traffic traces, and significant reductions in terms of packets per second are achieved. Results show that bandwidth consumption is also reduced, especially in those traces where the percentage of small packets is high. Regarding the effect on QoS, the additional delay can be kept very low (below 1 millisecond) when the throughput is high, but it may become significant for low- throughput scenarios. Thus, a trade-off between bandwidth saving and additional delay appears in those cases

Injection of light into a planar dielectric waveguide of metallic walls

We study the resonant excitation of the electromagnetic modes in a planar waveguide of metallic walls - light incident on the guide from the air can transfer energy through the walls exciting normal modes of propagation. It is found theoretically that radiation propagates along the guide while the reflectivity presents a minimum. The energy of the incident radiation can be transferred to the guide almost completely when the thickness dm of the metallic wall is around two times the skin depth δ. Experimental evidence of the injection of light is presented for the system Ag/Al2O3/Ag that was grown by pulsed laser deposition

Animal dietary exposure : overview of current approaches used at EFSA

At EFSA, animal dietary exposure estimates are undertaken by several Panels/Units to assess the risk of feed contaminants, pesticide residues, genetically modified feed and feed additives. Guidance documents describing methodologies for animal dietary exposure assessment are available both at EFSA and international levels. Although appropriate within pertinent regulatory frameworks, the methodologies used to assess animal dietary exposure vary across risk assessment areas. There are different approaches ranging from quick worst-case estimations to more refined methods assessing actual exposure, resulting from the use of a heterogeneous selection of animal populations and default values to estimate feed intake. Furthermore, current feed classification systems in place at international and national levels contain a large and heterogeneous number of feed materials, which may benefit from further harmonisation efforts. This technical report presents an overview of the current approaches in place at EFSA to assess the exposure to chemicals in feed. The possibility for a greater harmonisation of feed classification and terminology is also addressed by comparing the structure of the EU catalogue of feed materials and the Harmonised OECD tables of feedstuffs derived from field crops with the EFSA FoodEx2 system

Knowledge, attitudes and preventive practices of primary health care professionals towards alcohol use: A national, cross-sectional study

Introduction Primary care (PC) professionals' knowledge about alcohol use has been identified as one of the barriers PC providers face in their clinic. Both PC professionals' level of training and attitude are crucial in the clinical practice regarding alcohol use. Objective To evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and preventive practices of Spanish PC physicians and nurses towards alcohol use. Design An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional, multi-center study. Methodology Location: PC centers of the Spanish National Health System (NHS). Participants: PC physicians and nurses selected randomly from health care centers, and by sending an e-mail to semFYC and SEMERGEN members. Healthcare providers completed an online survey on knowledge, attitude, and follow-up recommendations for reducing alcohol intake. A descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate statistical analysis was conducted (p<0.05). Results Participants: 1, 760 healthcare providers completed the survey (75.6% [95% CI 73.5-77.6] family physicians; 11.4% [95% CI 9.9-12.9] medical residents; and 12.5% [95% CI 10.9-14.1] nurses), with a mean age of 44.7 (SD 11.24, range: 26-64, 95% CI: 47.2-48.2). Knowledge was higher in family physicians (p<0.001), older professionals (Spearman's r = 0.11, p<0.001), and resident trainers (p<0.001). The PC professional most likely to provide advice for reducing alcohol use was: a nurse (p<0.001), female (p = 0.010), between 46 and 55 years old (p <0.001). Conclusions PC providers' knowledge and preventive practices regarding alcohol use are scarce, hence specific training strategies to increase their knowledge and improve their attitude and skills with regard to this health problem should be considered a healthcare policy priority

The QUIJOTE experiment: project status and first scientific results

We present the current status of the QUIJOTE (Q-U-I JOint TEnerife) experiment, a new polarimeter with the aim of characterizing the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background, and other galactic or extra-galactic physical processes that emit in microwaves in the frequency range 10–42 GHz, and at large angular scales (around 1 degree resolution). The experiment has been designed to reach the required sensitivity to detect a primordial gravitational wave component in the CMB, provided its tensor-to-scalar ratio is larger than r ∼ 0.05. The project consists of two telescopes and three instruments which will survey a large sky area from the Teide Observatory to provide I, Q and U maps of high sensitivity. The first QUIJOTE instrument, known as Multi-Frequency Instrument (MFI), has been surveying the northern sky in four individual frequencies between 10 and 20 GHz since November 2012, providing data with an average sensitivity of 80 µK beam−1 in Q and U in a region of 20, 000 square-degrees. The second instrument, or Thirty-GHz Instrument (TGI), is currently undergoing the commissioning phase, and the third instrument, or Forty-GHz Instrument (FGI), is in the final fabrication phase. Finally, we describe the first scientific results obtained with the MFI. Some specific regions, mainly along the Galactic plane, have been surveyed to a deeper depth, reaching sensitivities of around 40 µK beam−1. We present new upper limits on the polarization of the anomalous dust emission, resulting from these data, in the Perseus molecular complex and in the W43 molecular complex

Measurement of the Bs0→J/ψKS0B_s^0\to J/\psi K_S^0 branching fraction

The $B_s^0\to J/\psi K_S^0$ branching fraction is measured in a data sample corresponding to 0.41$fb^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity collected with the LHCb detector at the LHC. This channel is sensitive to the penguin contributions affecting the sin2$\beta$ measurement from $B^0\to J/\psi K_S^0$ The time-integrated branching fraction is measured to be $BF(B_s^0\to J/\psi K_S^0)=(1.83\pm0.28)\times10^{-5}$. This is the most precise measurement to date