A blue iridium carbene complex realizes high‐efficiency blue and white OLEDs (see figure). For a blue OLED, ηp,max is recorded to be 35.9 lm W−1. For a white OLED, ηp,max and ηp,1000 are measured to ...be 59.9 lm W−1 and 43.3 lm W−1, respectively, without any light‐outcoupling enhancement. This white OLED also shows an illumination‐acceptable CRI over 80.
OBJECTIVETo test the hypothesis that serum levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and neurofilament light chain (NfL), which are an intermediate astrocyte and neuron filaments, ...respectively, are clinically useful biomarkers of disease activity and disability in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD).
METHODSLevels of GFAP and NfL in serum (sGFAP and sNfL, respectively) and in CSF samples were measured in healthy controls (HCs) (n = 49; 49 serum samples), patients with NMOSD (n = 33; 42 CSF and 102 serum samples), and patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) (n = 49; 53 CSF and 91 serum samples) by ultrasensitive single-molecule array assays. Association of sGFAP and sNfL levels with clinical parameters was determined.
RESULTSFor both GFAP and NfL, CSF and serum levels were strongly correlated. Both were higher in the serum of patients with NMOSD than in HCs (both p < 0.001). Moreover, sGFAP was higher in NMOSD than in MS (median 207.7 vs 121.1 pg/mL, p < 0.001). In NMOSD, sGFAP concentration increased after recent relapse (540.9 vs 152.9 pg/mL, p < 0.001). Multivariate analyses indicated that sGFAP and sNfL were associated with Expanded Disability Status Scale score in NMOSD (p = 0.026 and p < 0.001, respectively). Higher sGFAP/sNfL quotient at relapse differentiated NMOSD from MS with a sensitivity of 73.0% and a specificity of 75.8%.
CONCLUSIONSsGFAP and sNfL are likely to be good biomarkers of disease activity and disability, and the sGFAP/sNfL quotient at relapse is a potential diagnostic marker for NMOSD.
Aims
Chronic psychological stress aggravates lower urinary tract symptoms. Among others, water avoidance stress is a chronic psychological stressor that plays a causal role in the exacerbation and ...development of bladder dysfunction in rats. In this report, the effects of KPR‐5714, which is a selective transient receptor potential melastatin 8 (TRPM8) antagonist, on bladder overactivity induced by water avoidance stress were examined.
Methods
Male rats were subjected to water avoidance stress for 2 h per day for 10 consecutive days. The effects of water avoidance stress on voiding behavior using metabolic cages and histological bladder changes were investigated in rats. The involvement of bladder C‐fiber afferent on voiding frequency in rats exposed to water avoidance stress was assessed using capsaicin. The effects of KPR‐5714 on storage dysfunction in rats subjected to water avoidance stress were examined.
Results
In voiding behavior measurements, water avoidance stress‐induced storage dysfunction, causing a decrease in the mean voided volume and increasing voiding frequency. A comparison of bladders from normal rats and rats exposed to water avoidance stress showed no histological differences. Water avoidance stress‐induced bladder overactivity was completely inhibited by pretreatment with capsaicin. KPR‐5714 showed a tendency to increase the mean voided volume and significantly decreased the voiding frequency without affecting the total voided volume in these rats.
Conclusion
The results suggest that KPR‐5714 is a promising option for treating chronic psychological stress‐induced bladder overactivity.
This article proposes a current droop control for series-connected current source converters in a universal smart power module (USPM) concept. In this concept, power conversion systems are ...constructed by USPMs, which have a high-speed controller and autonomous distributed control. USPM enhances versatility by its high flexibility and usability compared to power electronics building blocks, which is a similar concept. In this system, noninterference control is required because these USPMs are operated independently without sharing information with each other. Droop control for the voltage source converter is a common solution for parallel-connected converters. Likewise, a stabilization method for the current-source-type converter connected in series is necessary for the USPM system. The proposed method in this article solves these problems. In particular, the configuration of the current controller and its gain design method is verified in order to achieve a stable condition and high-speed response. The experimental results for the 500-W system reveal that the stability limit of the PI control adopting the proposed current droop control agrees with the analytical results with an error of 1.3%. Furthermore, this article demonstrates that the current deviation agrees with that of the design value with an error of 3.0% or less.
In the present, a power decoupling method without additional component is proposed for a dc to single-phase ac converter, which consists of a flying capacitor dc/dc converter (FCC) and the voltage ...source inverter (VSI). In particular, a small flying capacitor in the FCC is used for both a boost operation and a double-line-frequency power ripple reduction. Thus, the dc-link capacitor value can be minimized in order to avoid the use of a large electrolytic capacitor. In addition, component design, of, e.g., the boost inductor and the flying capacitor, is clarified when the proposed control is applied. Experiments were carried out using a 1.5-kW prototype in order to verify the validity of the proposed control. The experimental results revealed that the use of the proposed control reduced the dc-link voltage ripple by 74.5%, and the total harmonic distortion (THD) of the inverter output current was less than 5%. Moreover, a maximum system efficiency of 95.4% was achieved at a load of 1.1 kW. Finally, the high power density design is evaluated by the Pareto front optimization. The power densities of three power decoupling topologies, such as a boost topology, a buck topology, and the proposed topology are compared. As a result, the proposed topology achieves the highest power density (5.3 kW/dm 3 ) among the topologies considered herein.
The inspection gallery of a dam is leached by reservoir water that has infiltrated through the rock-fill dam body from the high-pressure water area upstream (leakage), and groundwater seeping through ...the foundation bed which has been injected with ordinary Portland cement (OPC) grout. Seepage waters with a pH greater than 12 are characterized by the major components of Ca(OH)2 and alkali hydroxides, lower Mg2+ concentration and higher K+/Na+ molar ratio than those for river and spring waters and groundwater near the dam site, and the extensive carbonate deposits precipitated from the waters. During a low discharge period, NaOH was the major component because Ca2+ was removed as carbonate deposits. Based on the stable isotope ratios of hydrogen and oxygen in the water, which reflect the altitude effect, it was inferred that the seepage waters are supplied from the shallow groundwater near the dam site and that the leakage is a mixture of the seepage water and reservoir water. Alkali hydroxides and Ca(OH)2 cement porewaters formed during the early stages of hydration of OPC are still present in the cement mass after 46 years, and that the OPC still remains partially unhydrated. These highly alkaline porewaters have seeped through gaps of the concrete joint surfaces to discharge into the inspection gallery. The Ca(OH)2 concentration in the seepage was below the portlandite saturation, therefore, the grout-derived solutes are considered to have been diluted as they diffused into the shallow groundwater before being discharged with the groundwater seeping into the gallery due to the hydraulic head difference and mixed with the groundwater. Ca(OH)2 in the seepage reacted with atmospheric CO2 in the inspection gallery, and the carbon stable isotope ratio of the carbonate deposits produced in this way was unusually low, about −25‰ VPDB, due to the large disequilibrium isotope fractionation during the direct reaction of CO2 with OH− in the solution. In addition to the change in its discharge, the hyperalkaline seepage and the resulting carbonate deposits with unusually low δ13C values can be measures of the durability of the grout-treated foundation rock of the rock-fill dam, because the decrease in pH in the future is related to the instability of the grout hydration products by carbonation.
•Seepage waters with a pH greater than 12 have been observed in an inspection gallery of an over 46 years old rock-fill dam.•Hyperalkaline seepage waters are characterized by their high calcium and alkali hydroxides contents and by calcite deposits.•Altitude effect of hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios of water could allow estimating their source waters.•The unusually low δ13C carbonate deposits were produced by the direct reaction of atmospheric CO2 with OH- in the solution.•The hyperalkaline seepage and the carbonate deposits can be measures of the grout-treated foundation rock durability.
ABSTRACT
We have conducted numerical simulations to reproduce the observed optical energy profile of the 2021 October 15 (ut) impact flash on Jupiter, which was the largest and the most well-observed ...flash event detected by ground-based movie observations. The observed long-duration (∼5.5 s) optical emission can be reproduced by an impact of an object with an exceptionally small angle of entry relative to the horizontal. The apparent lack of the impact debris feature despite the large impact object was possibly due to the shallower angle of entry (≤12°), which resulted in the lower ablation per unit volume at altitudes higher than $50 \, {\rm km}$, and the volume densities of the ablated materials were too low to allow the debris particulates to coagulate. The absence of temporal methane absorption change in the observed flash spectrum is consistent with the best-fitting results. The model better fits the observed optical energy profile for weaker material (cometary and stony) cases than for metallic ones. Based on the simulation results, prospects for future observations of impact flashes are discussed.
Aims.
We investigate the optical characteristics of flashes caused by the impact of metre- to decametre-sized outer Solar System objects on Jupiter, and the contributions of reflected light from ...surface clouds at visible wavelengths, in order to estimate more accurate bulk parameters, such as the luminous energy of the flash, the kinetic energy, the mass, and the size of the impact object.
Methods.
Using the results of recent reflectivity studies of the Jovian surface, we developed a cloud reflection model that calculates the contribution of the reflected light relative to that directly from the flash. We compared the apparent luminous energy of the previously reported flashes with the expected cloud reflection contributions to obtain their revised bulk parameters.
Results.
We find that cloud reflection contributions can make up to 200% of the flux directly from the flash, and thus can be the most significant uncertainty in the measurement of the bulk parameters. The reflection contributions strongly depend on wavelength. With our cloud reflection correction, we obtained revised bulk parameters for the previously reported flashes.
Conclusions.
Our cloud reflection correction enables us to better understand the properties of objects impacting Jupiter and is crucial for ongoing detailed investigations using high-sensitivity and multi-wavelength observation systems, such as PONCOTS. It will also be useful for understanding other optical transients in Jupiter’s upper atmosphere, such as the recently discovered sprite-like events.
Epstein‐Barr virus‐associated lymphoproliferative disease (EBV‐LPD) is frequently fatal. Innate immunity plays a key role in protecting against pathogens and cancers. The stimulator of interferon ...genes (STING) is regarded as a key adaptor protein allowing DNA sensors recognizing exogenous cytosolic DNA to activate the type I interferon signaling cascade. In terms of EBV tumorigenicity, the role of STING remains elusive. Here we showed that treatment with the STING inhibitor, C‐176, suppressed EBV‐induced transformation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. In an EBV‐LPD mouse model, C‐176 treatment also inhibited tumor formation and prolonged survival. Treatment with B cells alone did not affect EBV transformation, but suppression of EBV‐induced transformation was observed in the presence of T cells. Even without direct B cell‐T cell contact in a transwell system, the inhibitor reduced the transformation activity, indicating that intercellular communication by humoral factors was critical to prevent EBV‐induced transformation. These findings suggest that inhibition of STING signaling pathway with C‐176 could be a new therapeutic target of EBV‐LPD.
Treatment with STING inhibitor, C‐176, suppressed the tumor formation in a mouse model of EBV LPDs. Although inhibitor treatment with B cells in vitro alone did not affect EBV transformation, the suppression of EBV‐induced transformation was observed in the presence of T cells
PDF
