1,467 research outputs found
Converting the physical to the virtual: providing a laboratory experience for distance learners in engineering
Face-to-face modules on the full-time Masters in Renewable Energy Systems Technology at
Loughborough University involve students collecting data from physical laboratory experiments.
Conversion to distance learning mode, due to demand from industry for the skills and competencies
acquired, raised the problem of providing a comparable laboratory experience. The solution adopted
was to develop a number of virtual laboratories to enable distance students to experience the same
experiments as their face-to-face peers, the focus in both modes being on interpreting the data
generated. The virtual laboratory described in this paper was designed to provide activities requiring
students to review content covered in study notes, enhancing the learning associated with their progress
through the experiment. This paper will provide evidence to show that distance students were not
disadvantaged and that student evaluative feedback has been generally positive
Establishing and supporting educational research in engineering from a local and national perspective
This paper describes an action research approach to supporting an
improvement in the educational research skills of engineering academics in the UK. Two
engineering education centres based at Loughborough University (the engCETL which is
funded to support academics based at the university and the Engineering Subject Centre
which has a national remit) have worked collaboratively to develop resources, including
guides, workshops and other events and have started to disseminate this work
internationally. In response to an identified need to develop understanding and to
facilitate collaborative opportunities, a Special Interest Group has been established that
will promote high quality educational research and provide the UK voice for
international research communities. This is work in progress and there will be further
evaluation undertaken of the impact of these developments. The aim is to establish a selfsustaining
community of researchers as there is limited funding for engineering
education research in the UK
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Oxygen sparging of residue salts
Oxygen sparge is a process for treating salt residues at Los Alamos National Laboratory by sparging oxygen through molten salts. Oxygen reacts with the plutonium trichloride in these salts to form plutonium dioxide. There is further reaction of the plutonium dioxide with plutonium metal and the molten salt to form plutonium oxychloride. Both of the oxide plutonium species are insoluble in the salt and collect atthe bottom of the crucible. This results in a decrease of a factor of 2--3 in the amount of salt that must be treated, and the amount of waste generated by aqueous treatment methods
Projected shell model study of odd-odd f-p-g shell proton-rich nuclei
A systematic study of 2-quasiparticle bands of the proton-rich odd-odd nuclei
in the mass A ~ 70-80 region is performed using the projected shell model
approach. The study includes Br-, Rb-, and Y-isotopes with N = Z+2, and Z+4. We
describe the energy spectra and electromagnetic transition strengths in terms
of the configuration mixing of the angular-momentum projected
multi-quasiparticle states. Signature splitting and signature inversion in the
rotational bands are discussed and are shown to be well described. A
preliminary study of the odd-odd N = Z nucleus, 74Rb using the concept of
spontaneous symmetry breaking is also presented.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, final version accepted by Phys. Rev.
Lodged in the throat: Internal infinities and AdS/CFT
In the context of AdS3/CFT2, we address spacetimes with a certain sort of
internal infinity as typified by the extreme BTZ black hole. The internal
infinity is a null circle lying at the end of the black hole's infinite throat.
We argue that such spacetimes may be described by a product CFT of the form
CFT-L * CFT-R, where CFT-R is associated with the asymptotically AdS boundary
while CFT-L is associated with the null circle. Our particular calculations
analyze the CFT dual of the extreme BTZ black hole in a linear toy model of
AdS3/CFT2. Since the BTZ black hole is a quotient of AdS3, the dual CFT state
is a corresponding quotient of the CFT vacuum state. This state turns out to
live in the aforementioned product CFT. We discuss this result in the context
of general issues of AdS/CFT duality and entanglement entropy.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures; v2 - some typos corrected, minor revision
Role of the interval from completion of neoadjuvant therapy to surgery in postoperative morbidity in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer
Increasing the interval from completion of neoadjuvant therapy to surgery beyond 8 weeks is associated with increased response of rectal cancer to neoadjuvant therapy. However, reports are conflicting on whether extending the time to surgery is associated with increased perioperative morbidity. Patients who presented with a tumor within 15 cm of the anal verge in 2009-2015 were grouped according to the interval between completion of neoadjuvant therapy and surgery: < 8 weeks, 8-12 weeks, and 12-16 weeks. Among 607 patients, the surgery was performed at < 8 weeks in 317 patients, 8-12 weeks in 229 patients, and 12-16 weeks in 61 patients. Patients who underwent surgery at 8-12 weeks and patients who underwent surgery at < 8 weeks had comparable rates of complications (37% and 44%, respectively). Univariable analysis identified male sex, earlier date of diagnosis, tumor location within 5 cm of the anal verge, open operative approach, abdominoperineal resection, and use of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy alone to be associated with higher rates of complications. In multivariable analysis, male sex, tumor location within 5 cm of the anal verge, open operative approach, and neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy administered alone were independently associated with the presence of a complication. The interval between neoadjuvant therapy and surgery was not an independent predictor of postoperative complications. Delaying surgery beyond 8 weeks from completion of neoadjuvant therapy does not appear to increase surgical morbidity in rectal cancer patients
Three-generation flavor transitions and decays of supernova relic neutrinos
If neutrinos have mass, they can also decay. Decay lifetimes of cosmological
interest can be probed, in principle, through the detection of the redshifted,
diffuse neutrino flux produced by all past supernovae--the so-called supernova
relic neutrino (SRN) flux. In this work, we solve the SRN kinetic equations in
the general case of three-generation flavor transitions followed by invisible
(nonradiative) two-body decays. We then use the general solution to calculate
observable SRN spectra in some representative decay scenarios. It is shown
that, in the presence of decay, the SRN event rate can basically span the whole
range below the current experimental upper bound--a range accessible to future
experimental projects. Radiative SRN decays are also briefly discussed.Comment: 25 pages, including 7 figure
Couplings of light I=0 scalar mesons to simple operators in the complex plane
The flavour and glue structure of the light scalar mesons in QCD are probed
by studying the couplings of the I=0 mesons and to the
operators , and to two photons. The Roy dispersive
representation for the amplitude is used to determine the
pole positions as well as the residues in the complex plane. On the real axis,
is constrained to solve the Roy equation together with elastic
unitarity up to the K\Kbar threshold leading to an improved description of
the . The problem of using a two-particle threshold as a matching
point is discussed. A simple relation is established between the coupling of a
scalar meson to an operator and the value of the related pion form-factor
computed at the resonance pole. Pion scalar form-factors as well as two-photon
partial-wave amplitudes are expressed as coupled-channel Omn\`es dispersive
representations. Subtraction constants are constrained by chiral symmetry and
experimental data. Comparison of our results for the couplings with
earlier determinations of the analogous couplings of the lightest I=1 and
scalar mesons are compatible with an assignment of the ,
, , into a nonet. Concerning the gluonic operator
we find a significant coupling to both the and the
.Comment: 31 pages, 5 figure
Correlation between NS5A dimerization and hepatitis C virus replication
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the main agent of acute and chronic liver diseases leading to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The current standard therapy has limited efficacy and serious side effects. Thus, the development of alternate therapies is of tremendous importance. HCV NS5A (nonstructural 5A protein) is a pleiotropic protein with key roles in HCV replication and cellular signaling pathways. Here we demonstrate that NS5A dimerization occurs through Domain I (amino acids 1-240). This interaction is not mediated by nucleic acids because benzonase, RNase, and DNase treatments do not prevent NS5A-NS5A interactions. Importantly, DTT abrogates NS5A-NS5A interactions but does not affect NS5A-cyclophilin A interactions. Other reducing agents such as tris(2-carboxyethyl) phosphine and 2-mercaptoethanol also abrogate NS5A-NS5A interactions, implying that disulfide bridges may play a role in this interaction. Cyclophilin inhibitors, cyclosporine A, and alisporivir and NS5A inhibitor BMS-790052 do not block NS5A dimerization, suggesting that their antiviral effects do not involve the disruption of NS5A-NS5A interactions. Four cysteines, Cys-39, Cys-57, Cys-59, and Cys-80, are critical for dimerization. Interestingly, the four cysteines have been proposed to form a zinc-binding motif. Supporting this notion, NS5A dimerization is greatly facilitated by Zn2+ but not by Mg2+ or Mn2+. Importantly, the four cysteines are vital not only for viral replication but also critical for NS5A binding to RNA, revealing a correlation between NS5A dimerization, RNA binding, and HCV replication. Altogether our data suggest that NS5A-NS5A dimerization and/or multimerization could represent a novel target for the development of HCV therapies
Polarization phenomena in open charm photoproduction processes
We analyze polarization effects in associative photoproduction of
pseudoscalar () charmed mesons in exclusive processes , , . Circularly polarized photons
induce nonzero polarization of the -hyperon with - and -components
(in the reaction plane) and non vanishing asymmetries and for polarized nucleon target. These polarization observables can be
predicted in model-independent way for exclusive -production processes
in collinear kinematics. The T-even -polarization and asymmetries for
non-collinear kinematics can be calculated in framework of an effective
Lagrangian approach. The depolarization coefficients , characterizing
the dependence of the -polarization on the nucleon polarization are also
calculated.Comment: 36 pages 13 figure
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