Compact ridge waveguide filter with parallel and series-coupled resonators

A novel 3rd-order compact E-plane ridge waveguide filter is presented. Miniaturization is achieved upon introducing a configuration of parallel-coupled E-plane ridge waveguide resonators. Furthermore, the proposed filter allows for transmission zeros at finite frequencies. Fabrication simplicity and mass producibility of standard E-plane filters is maintained. The numerical and experimental results are presented to validate the proposed configuration. A miniaturisation factor of 2 and very sharp upper cutoff are achieved. 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Upper and lower bounds of 180 degrees unit element of a ridge waveguide: Calculations and measurements

The upper and lower bounds on the actual solution of any microwave structure is of general interest. The purpose of this letter is to compare some calculations using the mode-matching and finite-element methods, with some measurements on a 180 degrees ridge waveguide insert between standard WR62 rectangular waveguides. The work suggests that the MMM produces an upper bound, while the FEM places a lower bound on the measurement. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

On the abundance gradients of organic molecules along the TMC-1 ridge

Gradients in molecular abundances along the TMC-1 ridge have been observed by several authors, most recently in a comprehensive study by Pratap et al. These can be explained by there being a difference in density, C/O ratio, or chemical evolutionary state along the ridge. The presence at the carbon-rich

Adsorption of methylene blue onto activated carbon produced from steam activated bituminous coal: A study of equilibrium adsorption isotherm.

Chemical Engineering Journal, 124 (2006) 103.

Delivery of Methylene Blue and meso-tetra (N-methyl-4-pyridyl) porphine tetra tosylate from cross-linked poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogels: A potential means of photodynamic therapy of infected wounds

Poly(vinyl alcohol)-borate complexes were evaluated as a potentially novel drug delivery platform suitable for in vivo use in photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) of wound infections. An optimised formulation (8.0%w/w PVA, 2.0% w/w borax) was loaded with 1.0 mg ml(-1) of the photosensitisers Methylene Blue (MB) and meso-tetra (N-methyl-4-pyridyl) porphine tetra tosylate (TMP). Both drugs were released to yield receiver compartment concentrations (>5.0 mu g ml(-1)) found to be phototoxic to both planktonic and bicifilm-grown methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a common cause of wound infections in hospitals. Newborn calf serum, used to simulate the conditions prevalent in an exuding wound, did not adversely affect the properties of the hydrogels and had no significant effect on the rate of TMP-mediated photodynamic kill of MRSA, despite appreciably reducing the fluence rate of incident light. However, MB-mediated photodynamic kill of MRSA was significantly reduced in the presence of calf serum and when the clinical isolate was grown in a biofilm. Results support the contention that delivery of MB or TMP using gel-type vehicles as part of PACT could make a contribution to the photodynamic eradication of MRSA from infected wounds. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

'In the Service of the Honourable East India Company': Politics and Identity in Dean Mahomet's Travels (1794)

The successful career of Dean Mahomet (1759-1851) as a migrant from India to Ireland (and later, England) has led to scholarly and popular interest in his work. His Travels through several parts of India in the Service of the Honourable East India Company (1794) published by subscription in Cork is reputedly the first English book by an Indian, and has been seen to counterbalance the many accounts of India by western travellers, and to assert, in autobiographical form, his identity as an Indian in 1790s Ireland. My paper analyses this text in relation to moral and economic criticisms of the East India Company in the eighteenth century, and in particular to legislation of 1793 which defined the role of the Company in Ireland’s trade with the east. These aspects of colonial politics involving Ireland and India as subject nations of Britain are shown to shape Mahomet’s discursive strategies and the complex identity produced in his text.

Intellectual Property management in publicly funded R&D centres—A comparison of university-based and company-based research centres

Recent thinking on open innovation and the knowledge-based economy have stressed the importance of external knowledge sources in stimulating innovation. Policy-makers have recognised this, establishing publicly funded Centres of R&D Excellence with the objective of stimulating industry–science links and localised innovation spillovers. Here, we examine the contrasting IP management practices of a group of 18 university- and company-based R&D centres supported by the same regional programme. Our analysis covers all but one of the Centres supported by the programme and suggests marked contrasts between the IP strategies of the university-based and company-based centres. This suggests the potential for very different types of knowledge spillovers from publicly funded R&D centres based in different types of organisations, and a range of alternative policy approaches to the future funding of R&D centres depending on policy-makers’ objectives.

Multiple major outbursts from a restless luminous blue variable in NGC 3432

We present new photometric and spectroscopic observations of an unusual luminous blue variable (LBV) in NGC 3432, covering three major outbursts in 2008 October, 2009 April and 2009 November. Previously, this star experienced an outburst also in 2000 (known as SN 2000ch). During outbursts the star reached an absolute magnitude between -12.1 and -12.8. Its spectrum showed H, He I and Fe II lines with P-Cygni profiles during and soon after the eruptive phases, while only intermediate-width lines in pure emission (including He II lambda 4686) were visible during quiescence. The fast-evolving light curve soon after the outbursts, the quasi-modulated light curve, the peak magnitude and the overall spectral properties are consistent with multiple episodes of variability of an extremely active LBV. However, the widths of the spectral lines indicate unusually high wind velocities (1500-2800 km s-1), similar to those observed in Wolf-Rayet stars. Although modulated light curves are typical of LBVs during the S-Dor variability phase, the luminous maxima and the high frequency of outbursts are unexpected in S-Dor variables. Such extreme variability may be associated with repeated ejection episodes during a giant eruption of an LBV. Alternatively, it may be indicative of a high level of instability shortly preceding the core-collapse or due to interaction with a massive, binary companion. In this context, the variable in NGC 3432 shares some similarities with the famous stellar system HD 5980 in the Small Magellanic Cloud, which includes an erupting LBV and an early Wolf-Rayet star.