299,810 research outputs found
Cooling rates of neutron stars and the young neutron star in the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant
No full textWe explore the thermal state of the neutron star in the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant using the recent result of Ho & Heinke that the thermal radiation of this star is well described by a carbon atmosphere model and the emission comes from the entire stellar surface. Starting from neutron star cooling theory, we formulate a robust method to extract neutrino cooling rates of thermally relaxed stars at the neutrino cooling stage from observations of thermal surface radiation. We show how to compare these rates with the rates of standard candles – stars with non-superfluid nucleon cores cooling slowly via the modified Urca process. We find that the internal temperature of standard candles is a well-defined function of the stellar compactness parameter x=rg/R, irrespective of the equation of state of neutron star matter (R and rg are circumferential and gravitational radii, respectively). We demonstrate that the data on the Cassiopeia A neutron star can be explained in terms of three parameters: f?, the neutrino cooling efficiency with respect to the standard candle; the compactness x; and the amount of light elements in the heat-blanketing envelope. For an ordinary (iron) heat-blanketing envelope or a low-mass (? 10?13 M?) carbon envelope, we find the efficiency f?? 1 (standard cooling) for x? 0.5 and f?? 0.02 (slower cooling) for a maximum compactness x? 0.7. A heat blanket containing the maximum mass (?10?8 M?) of light elements increases f? by a factor of 50. We also examine the (unlikely) possibility that the star is still thermally non-relaxe
The effect of degassing on morphology and space charge
No full textIt is believed that space charge buildup in cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) insulation is the main cause for premature failure of underground power cables. The space charge activities in XLPE depend on many factors such as additives, material treatment, ambient temperature, insulator/electrode interface, etc. Degassing is one of the material treatment process commonly employ in cable manufacturing to improve insulation performance. In this paper, investigation on the effect of degassing period has on the morphology and space charge was carried out. Planar XLPE samples of the same composite were subjected to different degassing time. It is discovered that apart from removing volatile by-products, degassing also anneal XLPE material; changing the morphology as a result
Temperature effect on space charge dynamics in XLPE insulation
No full textThis paper reports on space charge evolution in crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE) planar samples approximately 1.20 mm thick subjected to electric stress level of 30 kVdc/mm under four temperature 25 oC, 50 oC, 70 oC and 90 oC for 24 hours. Space charge profiles in both as-received and degassed samples were measured using the laser induced pressure pulse (LIPP) technique. The dc threshold stresses at which space charge initiates are greatly affected by testing temperatures. The results suggest that testing temperature has numerous effects on space charge dynamics such as enhancement of ionic dissociation of polar crosslinked by-products, charge injection, charge mobility and electrical conductivity. Space charge distributions of very different nature were seen at lower temperatures when comparing the results of as-received samples with degassed samples. However at higher temperature, the space charge distribution took the same form, although of lower concentration in degassed samples. Space charge distributions are dominated by positive charge when tested at high temperatures regardless of sample treatment and positive charge propagation enhances as testing temperature increases. This can be a major cause of concern as positive charge propagation has been reported to be related to insulation breakdown
The 1961 Kampong Bukit Ho Swee fire and the making of modern Singapore
Full text linkBy 1970, Singapore’s urban landscape was dominated by high-rise blocks of planned public housing built by the People’s Action Party government, signifying the establishment of a high modernist nation-state. A decade earlier, the margins of the City had been dominated by kampongs, home to semi-autonomous communities of low-income Chinese families which freely built, and rebuilt, unauthorised wooden houses. This change was not merely one of housing but belied a more fundamental realignment of state-society relations in the 1960s. Relocated in Housing and Development Board flats, urban kampong families were progressively integrated into the social fabric of the emergent nation-state. This study examines the pivotal role of an event, the great Kampong Bukit Ho Swee fire of 1961, in bringing about this transformation. The redevelopment of the fire site in the aftermath of the calamity brought to completion the British colonial regime’s ‘emergency’ programmes of resettling urban kampong dwellers in planned accommodation, in particular, of building emergency public housing on the sites of major fires in the 1950s. The PAP’s far greater political resolve, and the timing of and state of emergency occasioned by the scale of the 1961 disaster, enabled the government to rehouse the Bukit Ho Swee fire victims in emergency housing in record time. This in turn provided the HDB with a strategic platform for clearing other kampongs and for transforming their residents into model citizens of the nation-state. The 1961 fire’s symbolic usefulness extended into the 1980s and beyond, in sanctioning the PAP’s new housing redevelopment schemes. The official account of the inferno has also become politically useful for the government of today for disciplining a new generation of Singaporeans against taking the nation’s progress for granted. Against these exalted claims of the fire’s role in the Singapore Story, this study also examines the degree of actual change and continuity in the social and economic lives of the people of Bukit Ho Swee after the inferno. In some crucial ways, the residents continued to occupy a marginal place in society while pondering, too, over the unresolved question of the cause of the fire. These continuities of everyday life reflect the ambivalence with which the citizenry regarded the high modernist state in contemporary Singapore
Study of Ho-doped Bi2Te3 topological insulator thin films
Full text linkThis publication arises from research funded by the John Fell Oxford University Press (OUP) Research Fund and the Research Complex at Harwell is acknowledged for their hospitality. This work was supported by a DARPA MESO project (No. N66001-11-1-4105). S.E.H. was supported by the VPGE (Stanford University). L.C.M. and A.A.B. acknowledge partial financial support from EPSRC (UK) through a Doctoral Training Award. Diamond Light Source is acknowledged for beamtime on I10 (proposal SI10207).Breaking time-reversal symmetry through magnetic doping of topological insulators has been identified as a key strategy for unlocking exotic physical states. Here, we report the growth of Bi2Te3 thin films doped with the highest magnetic moment element Ho. Diffraction studies demonstrate high quality films for up to 21% Ho incorporation. Superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry reveals paramagnetism down to 2 K with an effective magnetic moment of ∼5 μB/Ho. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy shows that the topological surface state remains intact with Ho doping, consistent with the material's paramagnetic state. The large saturation moment achieved makes these films useful for incorporation into heterostructures, whereby magnetic order can be introduced via interfacial coupling.Peer reviewe
HO-1 induction promotes M2 macrophage polarisation.
No full textRAW 264.7 cells were transfected with siRNA HO-1 and siRNA NC (non-correlated). (A) RT-qPCR analysis of HO-1 mRNA in cells transfected 48 hours after transfection. Cells were treated with SP (10 μM) and/or LPS (100 ng/ml) for 24 hours and mRNA expression of selected genes was evaluated by RT-qPCR (B) IL-6 mRNA expression (C) TNF-α mRNA expression (D) Arg1 mRNA expression (E) IL-10 mRNA expression and (F) Rel A mRNA expression. The data are mean ±SD of two separate experiments, each of which was performed in triplicate. **p < 0.01 versus siRNA NC.</p
Structural analysis of the RE3Ba5Cu8O18 (RE = Dy, Gd, Ho, Sm, Y, Yb) superconductor system
No full textEn este artículo reportamos la síntesis y caracterización estructural del sistema RE3Ba5Cu8O18 (RE = Dy, Gd, Ho, Sm, Y, Yb), lo que viene a complementar lo ya reportado por Aliabadi, et al., quienes lograron una temperatura crítica (TC) de ∼ 100 K para el sistema superconductor Y3Ba5Cu8O18, y evaluó la respuesta estructural en una muestra. El nuevo sistema RE3Ba5Cu8O18 se obtuvo utilizando el método de reacción de estado sólido seguido de un proceso térmico similar al empleado para el superconductor RE: 123. Asimismo, los resultados experimentales obtenidos mediante la técnica de difracción de rayos X y el análisis de Rietveld evidenciaron que estas muestras tenían la estructura cristalina esperada; sin embargo, fue obvio que la presencia de fases no superconductoras no afectó la temperatura de transición superconductora. Además, los estudios magnéticos revelaron que las muestras de RE3Ba5Cu8O18 registraban una transición superconductora en el rango de 80 a 93 K dependiendo de la tierra rara.In this paper, we report the synthesis and structural characterization of the RE3Ba5Cu8O18 (RE = Dy, Gd, Ho, Sm, Y, Yb) system, which adds to the findings reported by Aliabadi, et al., who determined a critical temperature (TC) of ∼ 100 K for the superconducting Y3Ba5Cu8O18 system and evaluated its structural response in a sample. The new RE3Ba5Cu8O18 system was produced using the solidstate reaction method and a similar thermal process as the one used for the superconductor RE: 123. The experimental results obtained with X-ray diffraction and the Rietveld analysis showed that these samples had the expected crystal structure. However, it was obvious that the presence of non-superconducting phases did not affect the superconducting transition temperature. Moreover, magnetic studies revealed that RE3Ba5Cu8O18 samples showed a superconductivity transition within a temperature range of 80 - 93 K depending on the rare earth
Effect of the length of degassing period on the space charge dynamic in XLPE insulation under DC stressing condition
No full textIn this paper, the space charge measurement results obtained from planar samples of XLPE (made by Borealis XL4201S) over a 24 hours Dc ageing are reported. Some preliminary results on the effect of the sample degassing period on space charge distribution in the XLPE material are discussed, and comparative study between as-received and degassed XLPE samples with different length of degassing period (degassed for 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours at 60OC) are also be presented
Optimization of the aluminium target thickness on the space charge measurement using LIPP technique
No full textIn this paper, the influence of the aluminium disc thickness on the acoustic reflection, spatial resolution of 1.2mm and 2mm XLPE plaque in space charge measurement using LIPP system will be studied. Preliminary results obtained from 2mm as-received and degassed planar XLPE samples subjected to dc electric stresses of 30kV/mm (at room temperature) for 24 hours using the optimum aluminium thickness are reported. Comparative study between as-received and degassed XLPE samples is also presented
Temperature effect on the space charge characteristics in as-received and degassed XLPE insulation under DC stressing condition
No full textThis paper reports on an investigation into the effect of temperature on space charge dynamics in ~2 mm thick as-received and degassed XLPE plaques. The samples were stressed at 30 kV/mm under dc condition for 24 hours. Measurements of space charge profiles were made at various times using our newly automated laser induced pressure pulse (LIPP) system. Emphasis has been placed on the comparison of space charge characteristics between as-received and degassed XLPE plaques at four different temperatures (i.e. 25OC, 50OC, 70OC and 90OC). Significant difference in space charge dynamics has been observed between as-received and degassed samples. It has been found that temperature has an important effect on both the rate of space charge build up and the amount of charge formed in the bulk
- …
