Electromagnetic shielding with polypyrrole-coated fabrics

Several shielding applications, to protect human health and electronic devices against dangerous effects of electromagnetic radiation, require solutions that fabrics can suitably fulfill. Here, we will investigate the electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness of polypyrrole-coated polyester textiles, in the frequency range 100-1000 MHz. Insertion losses for several conductive fabrics with different surface resistivity ranging from 40 Ohm till the very low value of 3 Ohm were evaluated with a dual-tem cell. Correlations between the shielding effectiveness and the conductivity of composites are also discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

More on the infrared renormalization group limit cycle in QCD

We present a detailed study of the recently conjectured infrared renormalization group limit cycle in QCD using chiral effective field theory. It was conjectured that small increases in the up and down quark masses can move QCD to the critical trajectory for an infrared limit cycle in the three-nucleon system. At the critical quark masses, the binding energies of the deuteron and its spin-singlet partner are tuned to zero and the triton has infinitely many excited states with an accumulation point at the three-nucleon threshold. We exemplify three parameter sets where this effect occurs at next-to-leading order in the chiral counting. For one of them, we study the structure of the three-nucleon system in detail using both chiral and contact effective field theories. Furthermore, we investigate the matching of the chiral and contact theories in the critical region and calculate the influence of the limit cycle on three-nucleon scattering observables.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, discussion improved, results unchanged, version to appear in EPJ

Rapid Casing Corrosion in High Temperature Liquid Dominated Geothermal Fields

Downhole logging and workover operations on 12-20 year old wells in several high temperature, liquid-dominated geothermal fields in New Zealand has shown that severe corrosion has commonly occurred in the production casing string where this is unprotected by larger diameter casings. To date corrosion products from only one well have been examined in detail. These indicate that corrosion attack commences at the outer casing wall and continues at a rate as great as 0.8mm/year. Rapid corrosion has been attributed to neutral or slightly acid high bicarbonate waters formed by the absorption of steam and gas into shallow aquifers not directly connected to the deeper, high chloride reservoir

Thermal noise of a plano-convex mirror

We study theoretically the internal thermal noise of a mirror coated on a plano-convex substrate. The comparison with a cylindrical mirror of the same mass shows that the effect on a light beam can be reduced by a factor 10, improving the sensitivity of high-precision optical experiments such as gravitational-wave interferometers.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, RevTe

A renormalisation group approach to two-body scattering in the presence of long-range forces

We apply renormalisation-group methods to two-body scattering by a combination of known long-range and unknown short-range potentials. We impose a cut-off in the basis of distorted waves of the long-range potential and identify possible fixed points of the short-range potential as this cut-off is lowered to zero. The expansions around these fixed points define the power countings for the corresponding effective field theories. Expansions around nontrivial fixed points are shown to correspond to distorted-wave versions of the effective-range expansion. These methods are applied to scattering in the presence of Coulomb, Yukawa and repulsive inverse-square potentials.Comment: 22 pages (RevTeX), 4 figure

Multi-plane remote refocussing epifluorescence microscopy to image dynamic Ca2+ events

Rapid imaging of multiple focal planes without sample movement may be achieved through remote refocusing, where imaging is carried out in a plane conjugate to the sample plane. The technique is ideally suited to studying the endothelial and smooth muscle cell layers of blood vessels. These are intrinsically linked through rapid communication and must be separately imaged at a sufficiently high frame rate in order to understand this biologically crucial interaction. We have designed and implemented an epifluoresence-based remote refocussing imaging system that can image each layer at up to 20fps using different dyes and excitation light for each layer, without the requirement for optically sectioning microscopy. A novel triggering system is used to activate the appropriate laser and image acquisition at each plane of interest. Using this method, we are able to achieve axial plane separations down to 15 ????m, with a mean lateral stability of ≤ 0.32 ????m displacement using a 60x, 1.4NA imaging objective and a 60x, 0.7NA reimaging objective. The system allows us to image and quantify endothelial cell activity and smooth muscle cell activity at a high framerate with excellent lateral and good axial resolution without requiring complex beam scanning confocal microscopes, delivering a cost effective solution for imaging two planes rapidly. We have successfully imaged and analysed Ca2+ activity of the endothelial cell layer independently of the smooth muscle layer for several minutes

Digital Simulation for Automobile Maneuvers

A new all-digital simulation of automobile handling allows severe maneuvers involving braking or accel eration and cornering. A novel feature is the in corporation of closed-loop control based on a mathematical model of the human driver. The program is modular and well-documented. The model includes provisions for nonlinear tire and suspension forces and moments; it also allows the user to switch off the nonlinearities and to include an antilock brake system.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68886/2/10.1177_003754978103700304.pd

Towards routine refinement of hydrogenous materials by neutron powder diffraction

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Crop load manipulation and fruit cracking in sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.)

Yield loss from rain-induced fruit cracking is a perpetual risk associated with the production of sweet cherries, and is difficult to manage due to the unpredictability of fruit responses to late season rainfall. The aim of this five-year study was to investigate the relationship between fruit crop load and incidence of cracking. The results showed a negative correlation between crop load and incidence of fruit cracking, and it was found in both natural and manipulated crop load trials for all varieties studied and in all seasons assessed. The effect of crop load on final cracking levels are deter- mined post cell division. Results from this study showed that fruit width was positively correlated with cuticular cracking but, contrary to what has been purported in literature, no relationship between concentration of soluble sugars or firmness with the incidence of cracking was found. This study has confirmed that crop load should be a major consideration in orchard practices in developing strategies to manage fruit cracking