179 research outputs found
Shielding efficiency and E(J) characteristics measured on large melt cast Bi-2212 hollow cylinders in axial magnetic fields
We show that tubes of melt cast Bi-2212 used as current leads for LTS magnets
can also act as efficient magnetic shields. The magnetic screening properties
under an axial DC magnetic field are characterized at several temperatures
below the liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K). Two main shielding properties are
studied and compared with those of Bi-2223, a material that has been considered
in the past for bulk magnetic shields. The first property is related to the
maximum magnetic flux density that can be screened, Blim; it is defined as the
applied magnetic flux density below which the field attenuation measured at the
centre of the shield exceeds 1000. For a cylinder of Bi-2212 with a wall
thickness of 5 mm and a large ratio of length over radius, Blim is evaluated to
1 T at T = 10 K. This value largely exceeds the Blim value measured at the same
temperature on similar tubes of Bi-2223. The second shielding property that is
characterized is the dependence of Blim with respect to variations of the sweep
rate of the applied field, dBapp/dt. This dependence is interpreted in terms of
the power law E = Ec(J/Jc)^n and allows us to determine the exponent n of this
E(J) characteristics for Bi-2212. The characterization of the magnetic field
relaxation involves very small values of the electric field. This gives us the
opportunity to experimentally determine the E(J) law in an unexplored region of
small electric fields. Combining these results with transport and AC shielding
measurements, we construct a piecewise E(J) law that spans over 8 orders of
magnitude of the electric field.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure
Simulation of the Thermal Performance of HTS Coated Conductors for HVDC SFCL
Within the EU-funded project FastGrid a resistive superconducting fault current limiter for DC-application is actually under development. To reduce substantially the amount of deployed superconducting tape an increase of voltage per length in the limitation case is needed. Moreover, the resistive transition (quench) should be fast and uniform. In the present work, the thermal behavior of three different architectures of coated conductors are investigated by means of transient simulations. The first architecture is composed by an additional Hastelloy shunt layer, which is supposed to avoid overheating of the conductor during fault limitation. The other architectures include layers of silver and copper as stabilizers. Our parameter study including the geometries of the different layers and the inhomogeneity of the critical current density of the superconducting tape shall lead to an optimized tape layout. First comparisons with experiment indicate, that, with the first architecture, electric field strength up to 100 V/m should be within reach
Perspectives of Long-Haul WDM Transmission Systems Based on Phase-Insensitive Fiber-Optic Parametric Amplifiers
International audienceThe deployment of phase-insensitive fiber-optic parametric amplifiers (PI-FOPAs) as inline amplifiers in long-haul WDM transmission systems is discussed, and it is outlined how to design PI-FOPAs to be a valuable upgrade option for this application
Heavy-Fermion Formation at the Metal-to-Insulator Transition in GdSrTiO
The perovskite-like transition-metal oxide GdSrTiO is
investigated by measurements of resistivity, specific-heat, and electron
paramagnetic resonance (EPR). Approaching the metal-to-insulator transition
from the metallic regime (), the Sommerfeld coefficient of
the specific heat becomes strongly enhanced and the resistivity increases
quadratically at low temperatures, which both are fingerprints of strong
electronic correlations. The temperature dependence of the dynamic
susceptibility, as determined from the Gd-EPR linewidth, signals the
importance of strong spin fluctuations, as observed in heavy-fermion compounds.Comment: 4pages, 3 figure
Relevance of ferromagnetic correlations for the Electron Spin Resonance in Kondo lattice systems
Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) measurements of the ferromagnetic Kondo lattice
system CeRuPO show a well defined ESR signal which is related to the magnetic
properties of the Ce3+ moment. In contrast, no ESR signal could be observed in
the antiferromagnetic homologue CeOsPO. Additionally, we detect an ESR signal
in a further ferromagnetic Yb compound, YbRh, while it was absent in a number
of Ce or Yb intermetallic compounds with dominant antiferromagnetic exchange,
independently of the presence of a strong Kondo interaction or the proximity to
a (quantum) critical point. Thus, the observation of an ESR signal in a Kondo
lattice is neither specific to Yb nor to the proximity of a quantum critical
point, but seems to be connected to the presence of ferromagnetic fluctuations.
These conclusions not only provide a basic concept to understand the ESR in
Kondo lattice systems even well below the Kondo temperature as observed in the
heavy fermion metal YbRh2Si2 but point out ESR as a prime method to investigate
directly the spin dynamics of the Kondo ion.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, 1 tabl
Temperature dependence of the EPR linewidth of Yb3+ - ions in Y0.99Yb0.01Ba2Cu3OX compounds: Evidence for an anomaly near TC
Electron paramagnetic resonance experiments on doped Yb3+ ions in YBaCuO
compounds with different oxygen contents have been made. We have observed the
strong temperature dependence of the EPR linewidth in the all investigated
samples caused by the Raman processes of spin-lattice relaxation. The
spin-lattice relaxation rate anomaly revealed near TC in the superconducting
species can be assigned to the phonon density spectrum changesComment: 10 pages, 4 figures Renewed versio
Normal-superconducting transition induced by high current densities in YBa2Cu3O7-d melt-textured samples and thin films: Similarities and differences
Current-voltage characteristics of top seeded melt-textured YBa2Cu3O7-d are
presented. The samples were cut out of centimetric monoliths. Films
characteristics were also measured on microbridges patterned on thin films
grown by dc sputtering. For both types of samples, a quasi-discontinuity or
quenching was observed for a current density J* several times the critical
current density Jc. Though films and bulks much differ in their magnitude of
both Jc and J*, a proposal is made as to a common intrinsic origin of the
quenching phenomenon. The unique temperature dependence observed for the ratio
J*/Jc, as well as the explanation of the pre-quenching regime in terms of a
single dissipation model lend support to our proposal.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Physical Review
High Temperature Superconducting Fault Current Limiters as Enabling Technology in Electrical Grids with Increased Distributed Generation Penetration
Adaptation of Brucella melitensis Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing to the ISO 20776 Standard and Validation of the Method
This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Themes in Brucella and Brucellosis.Brucellosis, mainly caused by Brucella (B.) melitensis, is associated with a risk of chronification
and relapses. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) standards for B. melitensis are not
available, and the agent is not yet listed in the EUCAST breakpoint tables. CLSI recommendations
for B. melitensis exist, but they do not fulfill the requirements of the ISO 20776 standard regarding
the culture medium and the incubation conditions. Under the third EU Health Programme, laboratories
specializing in the diagnostics of highly pathogenic bacteria in their respective countries
formed a working group within a Joint Action aiming to develop a suitable method for the AST of B. melitensis. Under the supervision of EUCAST representatives, this working group adapted the
CLSI M45 document to the ISO 20776 standard after testing and validation. These adaptations included
the comparison of various culture media, culture conditions and AST methods. A Standard
Operation Procedure was derived and an interlaboratory validation was performed in order to evaluate
the method. The results showed pros and cons for both of the two methods but also indicate
that it is not necessary to abandon Mueller–Hinton without additives for the AST of B. melitensis.This research was funded by the EU Health Programme 2014–2020, through the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (CHAFEA, European Commission), the Joint
Action EMERGE (CHAFEA n° 677 066) and the Joint Action SHARP (848096-SHARP JA).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Comparison of diagnostic tests for the detection of Brucella spp. in camel sera
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Brucellosis in livestock causes enormous losses for economies of developing countries and poses a severe health risk to consumers of dairy products. Little information is known especially on camel brucellosis and its impact on human health. For surveillance and control of the disease, sensitive and reliable detection methods are needed. Although serological tests are the mainstay of diagnosis in camel brucellosis, these tests have been directly transposed from cattle without adequate validation. To date, little information on application of real-time PCR for detection of <it>Brucella </it>in camel serum is available. Therefore, this study was performed to compare the diagnostic efficiency of different serological tests and real-time PCR in order to identify the most sensitive, rapid and simple combination of tests for detecting <it>Brucella </it>infection in camels.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>A total of 895 serum samples collected from apparently healthy Sudanese camels was investigated. Sudan is a well documented endemic region for brucellosis with cases in humans, ruminants, and camels. Rose Bengal Test (RBT), Complement Fixation Test (CFT), Slow Agglutination Test (SAT), Competitive Enzyme Linked Immunosorbant Assay (cELISA) and Fluorescence Polarization Assay (FPA) as well as real-time PCR were used. Our findings revealed that <it>bcsp31 </it>kDa real-time PCR detected <it>Brucella </it>DNA in 84.8% (759/895) of the examined samples, of which 15.5% (118/759) were serologically negative. Our results show no relevant difference in sensitivity between the different serological tests. FPA detected the highest number of positive cases (79.3%) followed by CFT (71.4%), RBT (70.7%), SAT (70.6%) and cELISA (68.8%). A combination of real-time PCR with one of the used serological tests identified brucellosis in more than 99% of the infected animals. 59.7% of the examined samples were positive in all serological tests and real-time PCR. A subpopulation of 6.8% of animals was positive in all serological tests but negative in real-time PCR assays. The high percentage of positive cases in this study does not necessarily reflect the seroprevalence of the disease in the country but might be caused by the fact that the camels were imported from brucellosis infected herds of Sudan, accidentally. Seroprevalence of brucellosis in camels should be examined in confirmatory studies to evaluate the importance of brucellosis in this animal species.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We suggest combining <it>bcsp31 </it>real-time PCR with either FPA, CFT, RBT or SAT to screen camels for brucellosis.</p
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