The goal of this study is to design and evaluate simple and rapid seismic retrofit devices for relatively small rehabilitation projects for steel structures. These designs are consistent with the ...tenets of sustainable design and will result in a more resilient building stock as well as minimizing environmental and economical effects and social consequences during the rehabilitation project. To achieve these goals, a unique approach to designing supplemental systems by using tension-only elements is proposed, one that eliminates undesirable global and local buckling. The first generation of these devices, a bracing system consisting of cables and a central energy dissipating device couples resisting (CORE) damper, is presented in this paper. Both analytical studies with advanced and simplified models and proof-of-concept testing demonstrated stable, highly efficient performance of the system under seismic loads. Preliminary applications of the CORE damper system to the retrofitting of a braced steel frame showed the ability of the system to minimize soft story failures and residual deformations.
In the past two decades, pions created in the high density regions of heavy ion collisions have been predicted to be sensitive at high densities to the symmetry energy term in the nuclear equation of ...state, a property that is key to our understanding of neutron stars. In a new experiment designed to study the symmetry energy, the multiplicities of negatively and positively charged pions have been measured with high accuracy for central 132Sn+124Sn, 112Sn+124Sn, and 108Sn+112Sn collisions at E/A=270 MeV with the SπRIT Time Projection Chamber. While individual pion multiplicities are measured to 4% accuracy, those of the charged pion multiplicity ratios are measured to 2% accuracy. We compare these data to predictions from seven major transport models. The calculations reproduce qualitatively the dependence of the multiplicities and their ratios on the total neutron and proton number in the colliding systems. However, the predictions of the transport models from different codes differ too much to allow extraction of reliable constraints on the symmetry energy from the data. This finding may explain previous contradictory conclusions on symmetry energy constraints obtained from pion data in Au+Au system. These new results call for still better understanding of the differences among transport codes, and new observables that are more sensitive to the density dependence of the symmetry energy.
A thermodynamic database on a U-Pu-Zr-Np-Am-Fe alloy system is being constructed for developing metallic fuels containing minor actinides. In the first step, a ternary U-Pu-Zr alloy system is ...re-assessed by the CALPHAD method by taking some recent data into consideration, such as chemical activity of 8-phase for the U-Zr system, liquidus and solidus for the Pu-U system, vapour pressure of Pu in the Pu-U system and etc. Phase diagrams of three binary sub-system and a ternary system were then re-evaluated and some inconsistencies among the binary and ternary phase diagrams were adjusted by introducing some assumptions.
•The swimming energy capacity and the light condition in the tank have serious effects on the successful rearing of Pacific Bluefin tuna larvae.•Night-time swimming of Pacific Bluefin tuna larvae is ...affected by inflation of the swim bladder.•The larvae with inflated swim bladders during the night-time increased in buoyancy.•The larvae with un-inflated swim bladders at night were associated with an increased risk of sinking death.
In this study, we aimed to clarify the mechanism of sinking death during the larval stage of Pacific Bluefin tuna Thunnus orientalis by investigating the effects of swimming performance on sinking death, using a behavioral approach. Swimming performance was examined 3–9 days after hatching (DAH) under day and night light conditions in cuboid experimental tanks. Swimming behavior variables such as swimming speed and swimming angle were measured under both light conditions. Larvae in the daytime experiment and larvae with inflated swim bladders at night were distributed on the surface layer of the water column. In contrast, larvae with uninflated swim bladders at night were frequently observed swimming vertically or sinking to the bottom of the tank. Larvae with inflated swim bladders at night were always distributed beneath the surface until the next morning (survival rates were 100 %). However, larvae with uninflated swim bladders at night swam upward repeatedly and later sank to the bottom of the tank (survival rates were 60 % and 38 % at 5 and 9 DAH, respectively). Larvae with uninflated swim bladders were not always able to maintain their swimming depth by swimming until the next morning. Additionally, their swimming speed and vertical swimming frequency (ratio) depended on the illumination and swim bladder conditions. Our findings show that larvae with uninflated swim bladders at night were associated with a higher risk of sinking death. The swimming energy capacity of Pacific Bluefin tuna larvae, which indicates the total amount of the energy that enables individuals to swim throughout the night without feeding, was found to be linked to sinking death.
A thermodynamic database on a U-Pu-Zr-Np-Am-Fe alloy system is being constructed for developing metallic fuels containing minor actinides. The binary sub-systems containing Np, A m, and Fe were ...assessed by the CALPHAD method. The phase diagrams of ternary sub-systems were evaluated using both the assessed binary parameters and experimental information for some ternary systems, and then inconsistencies among the binary and ternary phase diagrams were adjusted. The assessed results were summarized as a database file for a thermodynamic calculation program such as Thermo-calc. The available experimental data on the binary, ternary, and quaternary sub-systems in the U-Pu-Zr-Np-Am-Fe system were fitted reasonably using the database.
Many neutron star properties, such as the proton fraction, reflect the symmetry energy contributions to the equation of state that dominate when neutron and proton densities differ strongly. To ...constrain these contributions at suprasaturation densities, we measure the spectra of charged pions produced by colliding rare isotope tin (Sn) beams with isotopically enriched Sn targets. Using ratios of the charged pion spectra measured at high transverse momenta, we deduce the slope of the symmetry energy to be 42<L<117 MeV. This value is slightly lower but consistent with the L values deduced from a recent measurement of the neutron skin thickness of ^{208}Pb.
Intrabone marrow cord blood transplantation (IB-CBT) was proposed as a promising treatment modality to improve hematological recovery. However, clinical advantages of IB-CBT over conventional IV CBT ...have been unclear. We conducted a prospective single-center trial of IB-CBT to evaluate its safety and superiority in terms of hematological recovery. Fifteen adults with hematological malignancies were enrolled. A thawed and unwashed single cord blood unit was injected into the bilateral superior-posterior iliac crests under local anesthesia. Engraftments of neutrophils and platelets were achieved in 13 cases, with medians of 17 and 45 days, respectively. For the control, we extracted data from the Japanese nationwide database and compared the hematological recovery of contemporaneously transplanted 1135 CBT cases. Multivariate analysis revealed that IB-CBT enhanced platelet recovery (hazard ratio, 2.13; P=0.007), but neutrophil recovery did not differ significantly (hazard ratio, 1.70; P=0.19). Better donor chimerism was seen in the bone marrow of the ilium than of the sternum on day 14, suggesting that the local hematopoiesis at the injected site was established earlier than that at the remote bone marrow site. Collectively, IB-CBT was well tolerated and may enhance local engraftment, which promotes prompter platelet recovery than does IV-CBT.
Summary
Background
Mycosis fungoides (MF) classically presents from patch stage to plaque stage over a number of years and finally progresses to tumour stage with nodal or visceral involvement. The ...mechanism of progression remains incompletely elucidated. Chemokines and their receptors are known to be involved in disease mechanisms, with CXCL12 and CXCR4 playing a critical role in carcinogenesis, invasion and cancer cell migration in various carcinomas.
Objectives
To investigate the expression of CXCL12 and CXCR4 in different cutaneous stages of MF.
Methods
Formalin‐fixed, paraffin‐embedded skin samples from 40 patients with MF (21 patch stage, 10 plaque stage, nine tumour stage) and 30 non‐neoplastic control skin samples were analysed. CXCL12 and CXCR4 were assessed by quantitative reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemical staining.
Results
The expression level of mRNA for CXCL12 in plaque‐stage MF was significantly higher than in control skin (P = 0·0035), or patch‐stage (P = 0·0108) or tumour‐stage disease (P = 0·0089). The CXCR4 mRNA expression level in plaque‐stage disease was significantly higher than in control skin (P = 0·0090) or patch‐stage disease (P = 0·0387). CXCL12‐ and CXCR4‐positive cell rates in patch‐stage and plaque‐stage MF were significantly higher than those in control skin (P < 0·0001). CXCL12‐ and CXCR4‐positve cell rates in tumour‐stage MF were significantly lower than those in patch‐ and plaque‐stage disease (P = 0·0274 and P = 0·0492, respectively).
Conclusions
Our data suggest that neoplastic T cells in MF are exposed to the microenvironment, given the abundance of CXCL12 during its progression, and also that neoplastic T cells express CXCR4, especially in the pretumour stage. We reveal that the CXCL12–CXCR4 axis plays a critical role in MF progression.
What's already known about this topic?
Specific chemokines and their receptors play critical roles in cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma, including mycosis fungoides (MF).
The CXCL12–CXCR4 axis is involved in the proliferation and metastasis of various kinds of carcinoma.
What does this study add?
Despite there being many studies on various carcinomas, CXCL12 and CXCR4 expression dynamics during the progression of MF have not been assessed.
We analysed the expression of CXCL12 and CXCR4 in different cutaneous stages of MF by polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry, and investigated the CXCL12–CXCR4 interaction.
We reveal that expression of CXCL12 and CXCR4 is significantly increased in the pretumour stage of disease progression.
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