Magnetically soft, high moment grain-refined Fe films: application to magnetic tunnel junctions

The effect of N-doping on the microstructure and magnetic properties of thin Fe layers has been employed to construct all Fe-electrode magnetic tunnel junctions that displayed the tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) effect. Using low nitrogen doses, a reduction in coercivity was achieved due to grain refinement, without a concurrent decrease in the saturation magnetization of the Fe films caused by the formation of crystalline iron nitride phases. It was demonstrated that this N-induced grain refinement can be applied beneficially to control the switching field of the "free" layer in magnetic trilayer structures. In general the ability to control magnetic softness without reducing saturation magnetization will prove important for incorporating high spin-polarized materials into spin valves and TMR devices

Commentary on child-adult differences in muscle activation - A review

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Impact of eight weeks of repeated ischaemic preconditioning on brachial artery and cutaneous microcirculatory function in healthy males

Background Ischaemic preconditioning has well-established cardiac and vascular protective effects. Short interventions (one week) of daily ischaemic preconditioning episodes improve conduit and microcirculatory function. This study examined whether a longer (eight weeks) and less frequent (three per week) protocol of repeated ischaemic preconditioning improves vascular function. Methods Eighteen males were randomly allocated to either ischaemic preconditioning (22.4 ± 2.3 years, 23.7 ± 3.1 kg/m2) or a control intervention (26.0 ± 4.8 years, 26.4 ± 1.9 kg/m2). Brachial artery endothelial-dependent (FMD), forearm cutaneous microvascular function and cardiorespiratory fitness were assessed at zero, two and eight weeks. Results A greater improvement in FMD was evident following ischaemic preconditioning training compared with control at weeks 2 (2.24% (0.40, 4.08); p=0.02) and 8 (1.11% (0.13, 2.10); p=0.03). Repeated ischaemic preconditioning did not change cutaneous microcirculatory function or fitness. Conclusions These data indicate that a feasible and practical protocol of regular ischaemic preconditioning episodes improves endothelial function in healthy individuals within two weeks, and these effects persist following repeated ischaemic preconditioning for eight weeks

The pharmaceutical use of permethrin: Sources and behavior during municipal sewage treatment

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.Permethrin entered use in the 1970s as an insecticide in a wide range of applications, including agriculture, horticultural, and forestry, and has since been restricted. In the 21st century, the presence of permethrin in the aquatic environment has been attributed to its use as a human and veterinary pharmaceutical, in particular as a pedeculicide, in addition to other uses, such as a moth-proofing agent. However, as a consequence of its toxicity to fish, sources of permethrin and its fate and behavior during wastewater treatment are topics of concern. This study has established that high overall removal of permethrin (approximately 90%) was achieved during wastewater treatment and that this was strongly dependent on the extent of biological degradation in secondary treatment, with more limited subsequent removal in tertiary treatment processes. Sources of permethrin in the catchment matched well with measured values in crude sewage and indicated that domestic use accounted for more than half of the load to the treatment works. However, removal may not be consistent enough to achieve the environmental quality standards now being derived in many countries even where tertiary treatment processes are applied.United Utilities PL

Scoping the strengths and weaknesses of different auction and PES mechanisms for Countryside Stewardship

This is the final version. Available from Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) via the link in this recordThe majority of farmers in England currently receive a fixed fee for managing their land under an agrienvironment scheme (Environmental Stewardship), which is based on an estimate of the typical income forgone by participating. The aim of this research is to explore alternative mechanisms for allocating agri-environment contracts with a view to achieving a more cost-efficient and effective use of funds. The focus is on reverse auctions, whereby farmers opt into a bidding process, offering to manage their land under prescribed management options at a price that more closely reflects their cost of doing so. The researchers have used a combination of laboratory experiments, simulation modelling and farmer workshops to consider the opportunity for efficiency gains, aspects of auction design and farmer responses to auctions. A secondary objective of the work is to explore opportunities for the private sector to engage in agrienvironment actions by leveraging match-funding where there are common goals and mutual benefits for private firms and society. This has entailed a review of the payment for ecosystem services (PES) literature and consultations with a number of relevant private firms. A particular focus for the latter has been the water companies, as they have already established some initiatives on PES around improving water quality

In situ 4D tomography image analysis framework to follow sintering within 3D-printed glass scaffolds

We propose a novel image analysis framework to automate analysis of X-ray microtomography images of sintering ceramics and glasses, using open-source toolkits and machine learning. Additive manufacturing (AM) of glasses and ceramics usually requires sintering of green bodies. Sintering causes shrinkage, which presents a challenge for controlling the metrology of the final architecture. Therefore, being able to monitor sintering in 3D over time (termed 4D) is important when developing new porous ceramics or glasses. Synchrotron X-ray tomographic imaging allows in situ, real-time capture of the sintering process at both micro and macro scales using a furnace rig, facilitating 4D quantitative analysis of the process. The proposed image analysis framework is capable of tracking and quantifying the densification of glass or ceramic particles within multiple volumes of interest (VOIs) along with structural changes over time using 4D image data. The framework is demonstrated by 4D quantitative analysis of bioactive glass ICIE16 within a 3D-printed scaffold. Here, densification of glass particles within 3 VOIs were tracked and quantified along with diameter change of struts and interstrut pore size over the 3D image series, delivering new insights on the sintering mechanism of ICIE16 bioactive glass particles in both micro and macro scale

Phenolic content of apple juice for cider making as influenced by common pre-fermentation processes using two analytical methods

Pre-fermentation methods can influence the cider produced from apple juice. This study analyses the influence of pre-fermentation methods; maceration and press fractioning, on the total phenolic content of juice from four apple varieties; ‘Red Delicious’, ‘Pink Lady’, ‘Sturmer’, and ‘Bulmer’s Norman’. The must was macerated for 0 or 2 h and juice was collected at free run or under 200 kpa. Base juice characteristics and total phenolic content was analysed using the Folin-Ciocalteu method and spectrophotometric absorbance at 280 nm (A280), a method used for the analysis of white wine. Both methods of analysing the total phenolic content were used, measuring the same samples to determine if the methods are comparable. No interaction was found between pre-fermentation technique and the results varied by variety and analytical method. High pressure improved the phenolic extraction for ‘Bulmer’s Norman’ juice compared to free run juice when analysed by A280. Non-macerated juice had higher total phenolic content than macerated juice for ‘Red Delicious’ and ‘Pink Lady’ juice when analysed using the Folin–Ciocalteu method. There was a moderate positive correlation between the analytical methods

Detection and tracking volumes of interest in 3D printed tissue engineering scaffolds using 4D imaging modalities.

Additive manufacturing (AM) platforms allow the production of patient tissue engineering scaffolds with desirable architectures. Although AM platforms offer exceptional control on architecture, post-processing methods such as sintering and freeze-drying often deform the printed scaffold structure. In-situ 4D imaging can be used to analyze changes that occur during post-processing. Visualization and analysis of changes in selected volumes of interests (VOIs) over time are essential to understand the underlining mechanisms of scaffold deformations. Yet, automated detection and tracking of VOIs in the 3D printed scaffold over time using 4D image data is currently an unsolved image processing task. This paper proposes a new image processing technique to segment, detect and track volumes of interest in 3D printed tissue engineering scaffolds. The method is validated using a 4D synchrotron sourced microCT image data captured during the sintering of bioactive glass scaffolds in-situ. The proposed method will contribute to the development of scaffolds with controllable designs and optimum properties for the development of patient-specific scaffolds

All-Versus-Nothing Proof of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Steering

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering is a form of quantum nonlocality intermediate between entanglement and Bell nonlocality. Although Schr\"odinger already mooted the idea in 1935, steering still defies a complete understanding. In analogy to "all-versus-nothing" proofs of Bell nonlocality, here we present a proof of steering without inequalities rendering the detection of correlations leading to a violation of steering inequalities unnecessary. We show that, given any two-qubit entangled state, the existence of certain projective measurement by Alice so that Bob's normalized conditional states can be regarded as two different pure states provides a criterion for Alice-to-Bob steerability. A steering inequality equivalent to the all-versus-nothing proof is also obtained. Our result clearly demonstrates that there exist many quantum states which do not violate any previously known steering inequality but are indeed steerable. Our method offers advantages over the existing methods for experimentally testing steerability, and sheds new light on the asymmetric steering problem.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. Accepted in Sci. Re

Removal processes for tributyltin during municipal wastewater treatment

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2013 Springer.The fate and behaviour of tributyltin (TBT) at two wastewater treatment works was examined. Both sites had two inlet streams, and each utilised high rate biological filters (biofilters) on one the streams, before treatment of the combined flows on trickling filters, with one having additional tertiary processes, installed to remove ammonia and solids. The study was designed to determine if these processes enhanced the removal of TBT. Degradation of TBT was observed in one of the biofilters, possibly as a result of temperature and hydraulic loading. At the treatment works with tertiary processes, the mass flux showed the overall removal of TBT was 68 %, predominantly due to removal with solids in the primary settlement processes. However, overall removal of 95 % was observed in the conventional trickling filter works with 94 % of this due to biodegradation in the trickling filter. The two works both removed TBT, but at different treatment stages and by different processes. Differences in the form (solubility) of TBT in the influent may have attributed to this, although further understanding of factors controlling degradation would allow for a more complete assessment of the potential of biological processes to remove hazardous compounds from wastewaters.United Utilities PL