Liquid helium cryostat for SQUID-based MRI receivers

We describe a liquid helium cryostat, developed to cool SQUID-based receivers in low field MRI systems. The cryostat has a 4 L liquid helium capacity, a hold time of over 3 days and accommodates 10 cm diameter receiver coils. New vacuum insulation methods reduce the noise level by at least an order of magnitude compared to existing commercial designs. The minimum detectable field at 425 kHz, with a 5 cm diameter circular coil, was estimated to be 0.018 fT/Hz^1/2 from Q-factor measurements and 0.035 fT/Hz^1/2 by direct measurement with a SQUID amplifier. Further measurements indicated that most of this field noise probably originates with dielectric losses in the cryostat’s fibreglass shells.     

Optimal strategies to protect a sub-population at risk due to an established epidemic

Epidemics can particularly threaten certain sub-populations. For example, for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the elderly are often preferentially protected. For diseases of plants and animals, certain sub-populations can drive mitigation because they are intrinsically more valuable for ecological, economic, socio-cultural or political reasons. Here, we use optimal control theory to identify strategies to optimally protect a ‘high-value’ sub-population when there is a limited budget and epidemiological uncertainty. We use protection of the Redwood National Park in California in the face of the large ongoing state-wide epidemic of sudden oak death (caused by Phytophthora ramorum) as a case study. We concentrate on whether control should be focused entirely within the National Park itself, or whether treatment of the growing epidemic in the surrounding ‘buffer region’ can instead be more profitable. We find that, depending on rates of infection and the size of the ongoing epidemic, focusing control on the high-value region is often optimal. However, priority should sometimes switch from the buffer region to the high-value region only as the local outbreak grows. We characterize how the timing of any switch depends on epidemiological and logistic parameters, and test robustness to systematic misspecification of these factors due to imperfect prior knowledge.     

STM study of the structure of the sulphur (1×2) overlayer on molybdenum (001) in air: ordered domains,phase boundaries and defects

A (001) surface of molybdenum, covered by one monolayer of sulphur was prepared in UHV and characterized by LEED, Auger and XPS. This surface was found to be stable in air for periods of several days. STM images of the surface, obtained in air in the topographic and local barrier height modes, revealed the atomic arrangement of sulphur atoms in domains with 1×2 and 2×1 periodicities. Boundaries between domains, adsorbate and substrate defect structures and crystallites formed during the initial oxidation of the Mo substrate were observed.     

Quantitative accuracy assessment of contextually filtered classified images

Relative radiance recorded by the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) for l–1O-year-old plantations of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) in Sabah, Malaysia, was negatively correlated with stand age. Remotely sensed response is determined by biophysical variables related to age since field planting, notably leaf area, canopy architecture and progressive masking of ground cover vegetation. The relation was asymptotic. Age and age-related variables will be most accurately inferred from TM data for stands under 5-years old, especially using short wave infrared and thermal bands. Narrower age classes will be required to represent younger stands in image classification.     

Adolescents' relationships to siblings and mothers: A multivariate genetic analysis.

Research has consistently demonstrated that children's behavior toward their siblings tends to resemble interactions occurring in the parent–child relationship. This study examined the relative contributions of genetic and environmental influences to the covariation between sibling relationships and mother–adolescent relationships. Reported and observed family interactions were assessed for 719 same-sex sibling pairs of varying degrees of genetic relatedness. The covariance between mother–adolescent and sibling interactions was decomposed into genetic, shared, and nonshared environmental components. The overlapping effects of shared environment on the two relationship subsystems explained most of the covariance. Smaller but significant genetic and nonshared environmental effects were also found. The consistency of these findings with family processes, such as modeling, is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An influence of explosive geometry on shaped charge jet performance

We have measured the velocities of the particles of a jet after breakup and found that the distribution contained an approximately constant velocity section of several particles immediately behind the tip. The jet was produced from a centrally initiated, 38 mm diameter conical shaped charge. Since the measurements were carried out after jet formation, the observation is not considered to be directly related to the inverse-velocity gradient effect that produces the tip particle. Comparison between calculated and measured jet penetration velocities show that the calculations assuming a uniformly stretching jet require modification to take account of the observation. A possible explanation for the origin of the non-ideal behaviour is that the short height of explosive between the detonator and liner (the explosive head height) produces a building detonation which strikes the liner with a varying impulse and curvature. Some support for the observation is found in earlier experimental work by DiPersio et al¹ and in a numerical modelling study by Coughlin².     

Gradiometer pick-up coil design for a low field SQUID-MRI system

We describe the use of liquid helium-cooled (4.2 K) gradiometer coils and a DC superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) preamplifier to improve the SNR of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 0.01 T. Gradiometer windings are used both to reduce lossy interactions with the MRI system's room temperature magnet and gradient coils and also to reject interference from more distant sources, which reduces the need for RF shielding. We have tested both axial and planar (figure-of-eight) gradiometer configurations. The figure-of-eight gradiometer has a more rapid fall-off in sensitivity with increasing distance from its windings than the axial gradiometer, but this is compensated for by reduced lossy interactions and improved interference rejection. We have used the system to image the human arm.     

Hydrodesulfurization over supported monometallic, bimetallic and promoted carbide and nitride catalysts

The preparation of alumina-supported β-Mo₂C, MoC_1−x (x≈0.5), γ-Mo₂N, Co–Mo₂C, Ni₂Mo₃N, Co₃Mo₃N and Co₃Mo₃C catalysts is described and their hydrodesulfurization (HDS) catalytic properties are compared to conventional sulfide catalysts having similar metal loadings. Alumina-supported β-Mo₂C and γ-Mo₂N catalysts (Mo₂C/Al₂O₃ and Mo₂N/Al₂O₃, respectively) are significantly more active than sulfided MoO₃/Al₂O₃ catalysts, and X-ray diffraction, pulsed chemisorption and flow reactor studies of the Mo₂C/Al₂O₃ catalysts indicate that they exhibit strong resistance to deep sulfidation. A model is presented for the active surface of Mo₂C/Al₂O₃ and Mo₂N/Al₂O₃ catalysts in which a thin layer of sulfided Mo exposing a high density of sites forms at the surface of the alumina-supported β-Mo₂C and γ-Mo₂N particles under HDS conditions. Cobalt promoted catalysts, Co–Mo₂C/Al₂O₃, have been found to be substantially more active than conventional sulfided Co–MoO₃/Al₂O₃ catalysts, while requiring less Co to achieve optimal HDS activity than is observed for the sulfide catalysts. Alumina-supported bimetallic nitride and carbide catalysts (Ni₂Mo₃N/Al₂O₃, Co₃Mo₃N/Al₂O₃, Co₃Mo₃C/Al₂O₃), while significantly more active for thiophene HDS than unpromoted Mo nitride and carbide catalysts, are less active than conventional sulfided Ni–Mo and Co–Mo catalysts prepared from the same oxidic precursors.     

Synthesis and Hydrodesulfurization Properties of Noble Metal Phosphides: Ruthenium and Palladium

Silica-supported ruthenium and palladium phosphide catalysts (Ru₂P, RuP, Pd₃P, Pd₅P₂) were investigated for the hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of dibenzothiophene (DBT). The Ru and Pd phosphide catalysts were prepared by temperature-programmed reduction of hypophosphite-based precursors consisting of uncalcined or calcined Ru/SiO₂ or Pd/SiO₂ impregnated with ammonium hyposphosphite (NH₄H₂PO₂). The Ru₂P/SiO₂ and RuP/SiO₂ catalysts prepared from uncalcined precursors had smaller average crystallite sizes, higher CO chemisorption capacities, and higher HDS activities than the catalysts prepared from the calcined precursors, while the effect of preparation method on catalytic properties was less clear for the Pd₃P/SiO₂ and Pd₅P₂/SiO₂ catalysts. Following HDS testing at 673?K, X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the Pd₅P₂/SiO₂ catalysts decomposed to give Pd₃P on the silica support, while the other phosphides exhibited good stability during the testing period. At temperatures at which high DBT conversion was observed (>598?K), the Ru and Pd phosphide catalysts were less active than sulfided Ru/SiO₂ and Pd/SiO₂ catalysts prepared from the uncalcined metal precursors.