Application of thermoelectric aging models to polymeric insulation in cable geometry

The life expressions of models of insulation ageing are functions of temperature and field as well as material parameters. A methodology is presented that allows these models to be applied to a cable geometry in which there is a radial variation of both field and temperature. In this way material parameters can be extracted from cable data. The methodology is illustrated using one such model and the parameters deduced from cable failure distributions are compared with those obtained for thin films. This comparison allows conclusions to be drawn about how the ageing process affects specimens of the same material with different volumes

Application of polymer ageing models to power cables

Ageing models have been developed to predict the lifetime of polymeric insulation subject to electro-thermal stresses. We present here a method for applying the models to situations in which the field is not constant over the whole specimen, as for cable geometry. The method has been applied to characteristic lifetime data from AC ageing experiments on cables. The results are presented, and the effect of insulation volume upon the model parameters is discussed

Cardiac Memory-induced T-wave Inversions

Introduction: Cardiac memory refers to T-wave inversions that result when normal ventricular activation resumes following a period of abnormal ventricular activation.Case Report: We present a case of a 29-year-old man with a pacemaker who presented with new, deep symmetric T-wave inversions caused by cardiac memory.Discussion: Abnormal ventricular activation is most commonly induced by ventricular pacing but can also occur in the setting of transient left bundle branch blocks, ventricular tachycardia, and intermittent ventricular pre-excitation.Conclusion: Recognition of this phenomenon may help to reduce unnecessary admissions, cardiac testing, and cardiac catheterizations

mGluR5 knockout mice exhibit normal conditioned place-preference to cocaine

Metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) null mutant (-/-) mice have been reported to totally lack the reinforcing or locomotor stimulating effects of cocaine. We tested mGluR5 -/- and +/+ mice for their locomotor and conditioned place- preference response to cocaine. Unlike the previous finding, here we show that compared to mGluR5 +/+ mice, -/- mice exhibit no difference in the locomotor response to low to moderate doses of cocaine (10 or 20 mg/kg). A high dose of cocaine (40 mg/kg) resulted in a blunted rather than absent locomotor response. We tested mGluR5 -/- and +/+ mice for conditioned place-preference to cocaine and found no group differences at a conditioning dose of 10 mg/kg, suggesting normal conditioned rewarding properties of cocaine. These results differ substantially from Chiamulera et al. (2001) and replicates Olsen et al., (2010), who found normal cocaine place-preference in mGluR5 -/- mice at 5 mg/kg. Our results indicate mGluR5 receptors exert a modulatory rather than necessary role in cocaine-induced locomotor stimulation and exert no effect on the conditioned rewarding effects of cocaine

Design of Ge/SiGe quantum-confined Stark effect electroabsorption heterostructures for CMOS compatible photonics

We describe a combined 6×6 k.p and one-band effective mass modelling tool to calculate absorption spectra in Ge–SiGe multiple quantum well (MQW) heterostructures. We find good agreement with experimentally measured absorption spectra of Ge–SiGe MQW structures described previously in the literature, proving its predictive capability, and the simulation tool is used for the analysis and design of electroabsorption modulators. We employ strain-engineering in Ge–SiGe MQW systems to design structures for modulation at 1310 nm and 1550 nm

The use of honey in healing a recalcitrant wound following surgical treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa

Ancient civilizations used honey to heal wounds. Despite the rediscovery of honey by modern physicians1 its use in conventional medicine, unlike in complementary medicine, remains limited. Much anecdotal evidence, some clinical observations, some animal models and some randomised controlled trials support the efficacy of honey in managing wounds2,3 , but few detailed descriptions of the use of honey in healing difficult surgical wounds have previously been published