408 research outputs found
Distribution of aortic mechanical prosthetic valve closure sound model parameters on the surface of chest
Cataloged from PDF version of article.It has been previously proposed that heart valve
closure sounds can be modeled by a sum of decaying sinusoids,
based on the hypothesis that the heart cavity, heart walls, major
vessels, and other structures in the chest constitute a frequency
selective linear acoustic system and this system is excited by the
rapidly decelerating valve occluder. In this study, distribution
of the parameters of this model for the second heart sound is
investigated. For this purpose, heart sounds of 10 patients who
have a St. Jude-type bileaflet mechanical heart valve prosthesis
in aortic position are recorded. Recordings are performed at 12
different locations on the surface of the chest. To reliably assign
representative parameters to each recording site, signal averaging,
model order selection, and a special filtration technique are
employed. The results of the analyses are discussed in relation to
the above hypothesis on the heart sound generation mechanism.
It is observed that site-to-site variation of frequencies of modes
does not exceed the accuracy limit of proposed analysis method,
but energies of these modes vary on the surface of the chest, and
as a result of statistical analysis, it appears that energy of some
modes are significantly different between two recording sites
Recent X-ray measurements of the accretion-powered pulsar 4U 1907+09
X-ray observations of the accreting X-ray pulsar 4U~1907+09, obtained during
February 1996 with the Proportional Counter Array on the Rossi X-ray Timing
Experiment (RXTE), have enabled the first measurement of the intrinsic pulse
period Ppulse since 1984: Ppulse=440.341[+0.012,-0.017] s. 4U 1907+09 is in a
binary system with a blue supergiant. The orbital parameters were solved and
this enabled the correction for orbital delay effects of a measurement of
Ppulse obtained in 1990 with Ginga. Thus, three spin down rates could be
extracted from four pulse periods obtained in 1983, 1984, 1990, and 1996. These
are within 8% equal to a value of dPpulse/dt=+0.225 s/yr. This suggest that the
pulsar is perhaps in a monotonous spin down mode since its discovery in 1983.
Furthermore, the RXTE observations show transient ~18 s oscillations during a
flare that lasted about 1 hour. The oscillations may be interpreted as
Keplerian motion of an accretion disk near the magnetospheric radius. This, and
the notion that the co-rotation radius is much larger than any conceivable
value for the magnetospheric radius (because of the long spin period), renders
it unlikely that this pulsar spins near equilibrium like is suspected for other
slowing accreting X-ray pulsars. We suggest as an alternative that perhaps the
frequent occurrence of a retrograde transient accretion disk may be
consistently slowing the pulsar down. Further observations of flares can
provide more evidence of this.Comment: 26 pages, 11 figures, to be published in Astrophysical Journal part I
on March 20, 199
Low Frequency Flickering of TT Arietis:Hard and Soft X-ray Emission Region
Using archival ASCA observations of TT Arietis, X-ray energy spectra and
power spectra of the intensity time series are presented for the first time.
The energy spectra are well-fitted by a two continuum plasma emission model
with temperatures around 1 keV and 10 keV. A coherent feature at about 0.643
mHz appeared in the power spectra during the observation.Comment: 9 pages in PostScript including figures, accepted for publication in
Astrophysics and Space Science, available at
http://astroa.physics.metu.edu.tr/preprints.htm
Role of vanadium ions substitution on spinel MnCo2O4 towards enhanced electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen generation
This is the final version. Available on open access from Nature Research via the DOI in this recordData availability:
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.Improving efficient electrocatalysts (ECs) for hydrogen generation through water splitting is of significant interest in tackling the upcoming energy crisis. Sustainable hydrogen generation is the primary prerequisite to realizing the future hydrogen economy. This work examines the electrocatalytic activity of hydrothermally prepared vanadium doped MnCo spinel oxide microspheres (MC), MnVxCo2−xO4 (Vx-MnCo MC, where x ≤ 0.4) in the HER (hydrogen evolution reaction) process. Magnetization measurements demonstrated a paramagnetic (at high temperatures) to a ferrimagnetic (at low temperatures) transition below the Curie temperature (Tc) in all the samples. The magnetization is found to intensify with the rising vanadium content of MCs. The optimized catalyst Vx-MnCo MCs (x = 0.3) outperformed other prepared ECs with a Tafel slope of 84 mV/dec, a low onset potential of 78.9 mV, and a low overpotential of 85.9 mV at a current density of 10 mA/cm2, respectively. The significantly improved HER performance of hydrothermally synthesized Vx-MnCo MCs (x = 0.3) is principally attributable to many exposed active sites, accelerated electron transport at the EC/electrolyte interface, and remarkable electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ECSA) value was found ~ 11.4 cm2. Moreover, the Vx-MnCo MCs (x = 0.3) electrode exhibited outstanding electrocatalytic stability after exposure to 1000 cyclic voltametric cycles and 36 h of chronoamperometric testing. Our results suggest a feasible route for developing earth-abundant transition metal oxide-based EC as a superior electrode for future water electrolysis applications.British CouncilKACARE Fellowshi
X-ray Spectra and Pulse Frequency Changes in SAX J2103.5+4545
The November 1999 outburst of the transient pulsar SAX J2103.5+4545 was
monitored with the large area detectors of the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer
until the pulsar faded after a year. The 358 s pulsar was spun up for 150 days,
at which point the flux dropped quickly by a factor of 7, the frequency
saturated and, as the flux continued to decline, a weak spin-down began. The
pulses remained strong during the decay and the spin-up/flux correlation can be
fit to the Ghosh and Lamb derivations for the spin-up caused by accretion from
a thin, pressure-dominated disk, for a distance 3.2 kpc and a surface magnetic
field 1.2 10^{13} Gauss. During the bright spin-up part of the outburst, the
flux was subject to strong orbital modulation, peaking 3 days after periastron
of the eccentric 12.68 day orbit, while during the faint part, there was little
orbital modulation. The X-ray spectra were typical of accreting pulsars,
describable by a cut-off power-law, with an emission line near the 6.4 keV of K
alpha fluorescence from cool iron. The equivalent width of this emission did
not share the orbital modulation, but nearly doubled during the faint phase,
despite little change in the column density. The outburst could have been
caused by an episode of increased wind from a Be star, such that a small
accretion disk is formed during each periastron passage. A change in the wind
and disk structure apparently occurred after 5 months such that the accretion
rate was no longer modulated or the diffusion time was longer. The distance
estimate implies the X-ray luminosity observed was between 1 10^{36} ergs
s^{-1} and 6 \times 10^{34} ergs s^{-1}, with a small but definite correlation
of the intrinsic power-law spectral index.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa
A Unified Approach to Variational Derivatives of Modified Gravitational Actions
Our main aim in this paper is to promote the coframe variational method as a
unified approach to derive field equations for any given gravitational action
containing the algebraic functions of the scalars constructed from the Riemann
curvature tensor and its contractions. We are able to derive a master equation
which expresses the variational derivatives of the generalized gravitational
actions in terms of the variational derivatives of its constituent curvature
scalars. Using the Lagrange multiplier method relative to an orthonormal
coframe, we investigate the variational procedures for modified gravitational
Lagrangian densities in spacetime dimensions . We study
well-known gravitational actions such as those involving the Gauss-Bonnet and
Ricci-squared, Kretchmann scalar, Weyl-squared terms and their algebraic
generalizations similar to generic theories and the algebraic
generalization of sixth order gravitational Lagrangians. We put forth a new
model involving the gravitational Chern-Simons term and also give three
dimensional New massive gravity equations in a new form in terms of the Cotton
2-form
Magnetic and microwave properties of SrFe12O19/MCe0.04Fe1.96O4 (M = Cu, Ni, Mn, Co and Zn) hard/soft nanocomposites
This paper reports the synthesis, structural characteristics and magnetism of SrFe12O19/MCe0.04Fe1.96O4 (M = Cu, Ni, Mn, Co and Zn) hard/soft nanocomposites. The hard/soft compositions were manufactured via a one-pot reactions citrate sol-gel approach. The hard/soft phases formation was confirmed using XRD, SEM, TEM and HRTEM techniques. M vs. H (Magnetization measurements) were done at unbent temperature and 10 K. Smoothed M against H loops and single peaks in dM/dH vs. H curves were noticed in SrFe12O19/MnCe0.04Fe1.96O4, SrFe12O19/CuCe0.04Fe1.96O4 and SrFe12O19/ZnCe0.04Fe1.96O4 hard/soft nanocomposites. This indicated the manifestation of well exchange-coupled effect among hard and soft phases in these composites. However, SrFe12O19/CoCe0.04Fe1.96O4 and SrFe12O19/NiCe0.04Fe1.96O4 hard/soft nanocomposites showed non-well smoothed M against H loops and two peaks in dM/dH versus H plots, indicating that the dipolar interactions are unimportant compared to exchange-coupling behavior. Among all prepared nanocomposites, the SrFe12O19/MnCe0.04Fe1.96O4 hard/soft nanocomposite showed the highest exchange-coupling behavior. Microwave properties of the SrFe12O19/MCe0.04Fe1.96O4 (M = Cu, Ni, Mn, Co and Zn) hard/soft nanocomposites were investigated using coaxial method with applied frequency values fall between 2 and 18 GHz. Reflection losses were calculated from frequency dependences of the imaginary and real parts of permeability and permittivity. The correlation between the chemical composition of the spinel phase (A-cation) and microwave properties of composites. Most intensive electromagnetic absorption was observed for Ni- and Mn-spinels. This is can be a result of the differences in electron shell configuration and radii for A-site ions in the spinel phase. Change of the absorption mechanisms (transition from ionic polarization to dipole polarization) was observed. © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).The work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (agreement number 19-72-10071 ). Also Authors are thank to the Institute for Research & Medical Consultations (Projects Application No. 2018-IRMC-S-2 ) of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU – Saudi Arabia) for financial and technical supports
Transmission Factor (TF) Behavior of Bi2O3–TeO2–Na2O–TiO2–ZnO Glass System: A Monte Carlo Simulation Study
The main objective of the present work was to assess the gamma radiation shielding competencies and gamma radiation transmission factors (TFs) for some tellurite glasses in the form of Bi2O3–TeO2–Na2O–TiO2–ZnO. MCNPX general-purpose Monte Carlo code (version 2.6.0) was utilized for the determination of TF values at various well-known radioisotope energies for different glass thicknesses from 0.5 cm to 3 cm. Moreover, some important gamma ray shielding properties were also determined in the 0.015–15 MeV energy range. The results show that glass densities were improved from 5.401 g/cm3 to 6.138 g·cm3 as a function of Bi2O3 increment in the glass composition. A S5 glass sample with the maximum Bi2O3 additive was reported with superior gamma ray shielding properties among the studied glasses. It can be concluded that Bi2O3 can be used as a functional tool in terms of improving glass density and, accordingly, gamma ray shielding attenuation properties of tellurite glasses, where the role Bi2O3 is also critical for other material properties, such as structural, optical, and mechanical. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.This work was performed under Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project Number (PNURSP2022R149), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The authors express their sincere gratitude to Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University
Alterations in the magnetic and electrodynamic properties of hard-soft Sr0.5Ba0.5Eu0.01Fe12O19/NixCuyZnwFe2O4 nanocomposites
Hard/soft (H/S) Sr0.5Ba0.5Eu0.01Fe12O19/NixCuyZnwFe2O4 nanocomposites (NCs) were produced via a one-pot sol–gel auto-combustion procedure. Phase and surface analyses were performed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). Magnetization measurements for H/S NCs with different x, y, and w ratios were investigated at two different temperatures (300 and 10 K). The M−H curves were not smooth for the different H/S NCs, revealing that the exchange interaction was incomplete. The derivative of the magnetization (dM/dH versus H) exhibited two separate peaks, confirming the non-coupled H/S mixtures. Maximum saturation magnetization (Ms) values of 93.9 and 63.1 emu/g were obtained at 10 and 300 K, respectively, for the H/S Sr0.5Ba0.5Eu0.01Fe11.99O19/Ni0.3Cu0.3Zn0.4Fe2O4 NC, which contained the highest content of Zn and the same contents of Ni and Cu within the soft magnetic phase. The calculated squareness ratios (SQR = Mr/Ms) were less than 0.5, indicating incomplete exchange coupling. The coercive field (Hc) of the produced NCs reached a maximum value of approximately 2485 Oe at 300 K and 2331 Oe at 10 K with a decrease in the Ms values to 56.9 emu/g at 300 K and 78.5 emu/g at 10 K for the H/S Sr0.5Ba0.5Eu0.01Fe11.99O19/Ni0.8Cu0.1Zn0.1Fe2O4 NC, which contained lower fractions of Zn and Cu and the highest fraction of Ni. The reflection/transmission-based waveguide approach was employed to investigate the electrodynamic properties of the H/S NC samples within a frequency band of 7–18 GHz. The reflection and transmission coefficients (S11/S21) were measured using a vector network analyzer (VNA) for the sample placed inside a waveguide. The frequency dispersions of the magnetic permeability and electric permittivity were calculated. © 2021 The Author(s)2020-164-IRMC; King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, KFUPM; Russian Science Foundation, RSF: 21-79-10115This study was supported by the Deanship of Scientific Research of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (Dammam, Saudi Arabia) through Grant No. 2020-164-IRMC . The authors also acknowledge support from the Center for Communication Systems and Sensing at KFUPM . Electromagnetic measurements and analysis were partially supported by the Russian Science Foundation (Agreement No. 21-79-10115)
- …