The stellarator concept is a promising candidate for a steady-state fusion power plant, but currently lacking behind the tokamak developments. In order to bring the stellarator concept to maturity, a ...new EUROfusion Task has been established within the Work Package Prospective Research & Development (WP-PRD) called Stellarator Power Plant Studies (SPPS). This task addresses the stellarator-specific engineering aspects relevant on the way to a fusion reactor. This paper reports on the strategy of this task and provides an overview over ongoing activities as well as initial achievements.
The 3D detachment folding instability gives rise to a wide variety of fold shapes (e.g. from dome shape structures to long en-echelon or straight anticlines) as a result of interactions between ...growing fold segments. The 3D growth of these folds, as well as the wavelength and lateral propagation of folds, is controlled by the physical parameters of a detachment layer and its overburden. However, the existence of initial heterogeneities, such as pre-existing salt plugs within the sedimentary cover, might affect fold development as well.
We use numerical modeling to investigate how the fold pattern is affected by pre-existing salt structures. High-resolution 3D folding simulations (with and without pre-existing salt structures) were performed, in which we varied the shape, height and spacing of pre-existing diapirs. In a first geometric setup, we employed a multilayer setup and synthetic diapir distributions in order to study the influence of diapir spacing on fold spacing and patterns. In a second geometric setup, we use a diapir distribution that fits the observed exposed diapir distribution in the southeastern Zagros.
Results show that the presence of diapirs does not considerably change the wavelength of the folds, which is in all cases close to the dominant folding wavelength that develops in the absence of diapirs. Yet, the presence of pre-existing structures speeds up the folding instability in those locations and also affects folding patterns as the diapirs localize the initial deformation by accommodating folding above them, which results in the diapirs being located in the core of the folds. If diapir spacing is much smaller than the dominant folding wavelength, diapirs are located in different structural positions such as fold synclines or flanks.
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•We study the effect of pre-existing salt diapirs on folding with 3D simulations.•Two rheological setups and six regular diapir distributions are used.•Spacing of regular diapirs is compared with analytical fold growth rate diagrams.•Diapirs localize folding except when spacing is smaller than the fold wavelength.•Results of a realistic diapir distribution are compared to SE Zagros folded belt.
► The total effective xenobiotic burden (TEXB) was investigated in human samples. ► Adipose samples were processed with endogenous estrogens and after their removal. ► Both procedures represent an ...integrative measure of the internal estrogen load. ► TEXB of the whole extract represents the total activity to which humans are exposed. ► Extract fractionation may help to determine source chemicals and potency of mixtures.
The estrogenicity of biological extracts tested by appropriate bioassay is a standard method to evaluate the total effective xenoestrogen burden (TEXB). Information has been published on the combined effect of xenoestrogens after removing endogenous hormones. The main goal of the present study was to investigate the combined estrogenicity of endogenous and xenoestrogens in human adipose tissue samples with and without HPLC fractionation. The results suggest that both approaches may be useful to study interaction between xenoestrogens and endogenous hormones. TEXB of the whole extract provides information about the overall estrogenicity to which humans are exposed, useful to assess the potential contribution to health outcomes. Additionally, it is possible to identify the source and potency of the estrogenicity by using the method with fractionation, distinguishing the effect of organohalogenated chemicals (alpha-fraction) from that of endogenous hormones and more polar xenoestrogens (beta-fraction). Both methods are an integrative measure of internal estrogen load.
► Deposition of nanostructured coatings via thermal spraying techniques. ► Establishing a structure–property relationship for Fe–Cu–Al–Al2O3 cermets. ► Effect of microstructure and interface ...phenomena on wear of tribosystem. ► Comparison of nc Fe–Cu–Al–Al2O3 cermets with alloy steel benchmarks.
A nanostructured cermet coating consisting of alumina dispersed in a Fe–Cu–Al matrix was deposited by supersonic spraying. The experiments revealed a strong effect of deposition parameters and chemical composition of the powders on the structural characteristics of the Fe–Cu–Al+Al2O3 sprayed cermet. This cermet is made up of complex metallurgical phases as revealed by electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The mechanical properties of the different phases detected were determined by nanoindentation. Finally, the friction and wear behavior of this nanostructured sprayed cermet were compared to the ones of benchmark materials. It was found that the Fe–Cu–Al+Al2O3 cermet coating exhibit better tribological properties than the benchmark materials thanks to an appropriate balance of hard and soft phases, and a nanostructuring. The wear mechanism was investigated to establish a ‘structure–property’ relationship for this type of nanostructured cermet coatings.
Summary
Background
Strong acid inhibition using esomeprazole increases cure rates with triple therapy and 10‐day treatments are more effective than 7‐day ones. The combination of amoxicillin plus ...metronidazole at full doses, and using a physiologically‐correct schedule three times a day, and has been shown to overcome metronidazole resistance and to achieve good eradication rates.
Aims
To assess the eradication rate of a new first‐line treatment regimen associating strong acid inhibition, amoxicillin and metronidazole and to evaluate tolerance.
Methods
Patients from eight hospitals were included. Helicobacter pylori status was assessed by at least one of the following: histology, culture, rapid urease test or urea breath test (UBT). Ten‐day treatment was prescribed comprising esomeprazole 40 mg twice a day plus amoxicillin 1 g and metronidazol 500 mg both three times a day. Helicobacter pylori cure was assessed by UBT.
Results
A hundred and thirty‐six patients were enrolled. Mean age was 52.6 ± 16 years and 59.6% of patients were men. Main indications for treatment were: uninvestigated dyspepsia (13.6%); functional dyspepsia (18.2%); gastric ulcer (21.8%); and duodenal ulcer (39.8%). Helicobacter pylori eradication was achieved in 112 of the 127 patients who returned for follow‐up. Eradication rates were 82.4% (95% CI: 74.7–88.1) by intention‐to‐treat analysis and 88.2% (95% CI: 81.2–92.8) by per protocol. Treatment was well tolerated and no major side effects were reported. Nine patients complained of mild side effects.
Conclusions
Cure rates of the combination of esomeprazole, amoxicillin and metronidazole are high and the treatment was well tolerated. This pilot study warrants the comparison of this schedule with current standards.
With the purpose of improving the protection of steel ASTM A36 from corrosion, in this paper the use of tannin as an inhibitor was studied by incorporating it in an epoxy resin along with zinc oxide ...nanoparticles functionalized with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) in concentrations of 1, 3, and 5%w/w. Electrochemical techniques such as polarization curves and EIS for the characterization of the anticorrosive properties, SKP for the study of coating delamination with the substrate, contact angle measurement and other standardized methods were used for the evaluation of the properties of the film. The results of the polarization curves revealed that the corrosion current density of the steel (icorr) decreases markedly with the addition of the tannin extract by changing the cathodic behavior without affecting the active anodic behavior. Likewise, the EIS analysis showed that the coatings with surface modified nanoparticles provide an excellent protection against corrosion that is complemented by the protective layer of the tannin-iron complex formed and the same was confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy after exposing the plates to accelerated corrosion tests in salt spray and weathering chamber. Finally, it could be demonstrated that the incorporation of zinc oxide nanoparticles in the coating formulation subtly improves the film properties and likewise, partially increases the hydrophobicity.
The study of the spin-parity and tensor structure of the interactions of the recently discovered Higgs boson is performed using the H to ZZ, Z gamma*, gamma* gamma* to 4 l, H to WW to l nu l nu, and ...H to gamma gamma decay modes. The full dataset recorded by the CMS experiment during the LHC Run 1 is used, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of up to 5.1 inverse femtobarns at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and up to 19.7 inverse femtobarns at 8 TeV. A wide range of spin-two models is excluded at a 99% confidence level or higher, or at a 99.87% confidence level for the minimal gravity-like couplings, regardless of whether assumptions are made on the production mechanism. Any mixed-parity spin-one state is excluded in the ZZ and WW modes at a greater than 99.999% confidence level. Under the hypothesis that the resonance is a spin-zero boson, the tensor structure of the interactions of the Higgs boson with two vector bosons ZZ, Z gamma, gamma gamma, and WW is investigated and limits on eleven anomalous contributions are set. Tighter constraints on anomalous HVV interactions are obtained by combining the HZZ and HWW measurements. All observations are consistent with the expectations for the standard model Higgs boson with the quantum numbers JPC=0++.
ABSTRACT Transient X-ray binaries produce major outbursts in which the X-ray flux can increase over the quiescent level by factors as large as 107. The low-mass X-ray binary V 404 Cyg and the ...high-mass system 4U 0115+634 underwent such major outbursts in 2015 June and October, respectively. We present here observations at energies above hundreds of GeV with the VERITAS observatory taken during some of the brightest X-ray activity ever observed from these systems. No gamma-ray emission has been detected by VERITAS in 2.5 hr of observations of the microquasar V 404 Cyg from 2015, June 20-21. The upper flux limits derived from these observations on the gamma-ray flux above 200 GeV of F cm−2 s−1 correspond to a tiny fraction (about 10−6) of the Eddington luminosity of the system, in stark contrast to that seen in the X-ray band. No gamma-rays have been detected during observations of 4U 0115+634 in the period of major X-ray activity in 2015 October. The flux upper limit derived from our observations is F cm−2 s−1 for gamma-rays above 300 GeV, setting an upper limit on the ratio of gamma-ray to X-ray luminosity of less than 4%.
A search for a heavy neutral lepton N of Majorana nature decaying into a W boson and a charged lepton is performed using the CMS detector at the LHC. The targeted signature consists of three prompt ...charged leptons in any flavor combination of electrons and muons. The data were collected in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, with an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb−1. The search is performed in the N mass range between 1 GeV and 1.2 TeV. The data are found to be consistent with the expected standard model background. Upper limits are set on the values of |VeN|2 and |VμN|2, where VℓN is the matrix element describing the mixing of N with the standard model neutrino of flavor ℓ. These are the first direct limits for N masses above 500 GeV and the first limits obtained at a hadron collider for N masses below 40 GeV.
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