The LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration have cataloged eleven confidently detected gravitational-wave events during the first two observing runs of the advanced detector era. ...All eleven events were consistent with being from well-modeled mergers between compact stellar-mass objects: black holes or neutron stars. The data around the time of each of these events have been made publicly available through the gravitational-wave open science center. The entirety of the gravitational-wave strain data from the first and second observing runs have also now been made publicly available. There is considerable interest among the broad scientific community in understanding the data and methods used in the analyses. In this paper, we provide an overview of the detector noise properties and the data analysis techniques used to detect gravitational-wave signals and infer the source properties. We describe some of the checks that are performed to validate the analyses and results from the observations of gravitational-wave events. We also address concerns that have been raised about various properties of LIGO-Virgo detector noise and the correctness of our analyses as applied to the resulting data.
GW170817 is the very first observation of gravitational waves originating from the coalescence of two compact objects in the mass range of neutron stars, accompanied by electromagnetic counterparts, ...and offers an opportunity to directly probe the internal structure of neutron stars. We perform Bayesian model selection on a wide range of theoretical predictions for the neutron star equation of state. For the binary neutron star hypothesis, we find that we cannot rule out the majority of theoretical models considered. In addition, the gravitational-wave data alone does not rule out the possibility that one or both objects were low-mass black holes. We discuss the possible outcomes in the case of a binary neutron star merger, finding that all scenarios from prompt collapse to long-lived or even stable remnants are possible. For long-lived remnants, we place an upper limit of 1.9 kHz on the rotation rate. If a black hole was formed any time after merger and the coalescing stars were slowly rotating, then the maximum baryonic mass of non-rotating neutron stars is at most , and three equations of state considered here can be ruled out. We obtain a tighter limit of for the case that the merger results in a hypermassive neutron star.
•All material parameters implemented in the models were evaluated from isothermal tensile, creep and low cycle fatigue (LCF) tests.•The calculated fatigue crack growth was validated by in situ crack ...growth measurements using the beachmark technique in the TMF experiments.•The crack propagation initiated by the brittle coating system could be predicted very close to the experimental results using rectangular flat specimens.
The focus of this paper is the simulation of fatigue crack growth of the coated single crystalline nickel-based superalloy PWA 1484 under thermal mechanical loading. Thus, two physical models are superimposed in terms to firstly calculate the deformation behavior under instationary thermal and mechanical loading (TMF) and secondly to model crack propagation after initial brittle cracking of the coating layer on the basis of cyclic crack-tip opening displacement (CTOD). All material parameters implemented in the models were evaluated from monotonic isothermal tensile and creep tests as well as from isothermal low cycle fatigue (LCF) experiments. The calculated fatigue crack growth was validated by in situ crack growth measurements using the beachmark technique. Hence, crack propagation initiated by the brittle coating system closely to the experimental results using rectangular flat specimen geometry instead of corner-crack (CC) specimens. The comparison of the simulated lifetimes to the experimental results provides remarkable accuracy of the physically-based lifetime model.
The effect of the minor elements B, Zr, and C on the castability of a Nickel-based
γ
′-strengthened superalloy has been investigated. Tube-like specimens were prepared by directional solidification ...where the rigid ceramic core leads to hoop stresses and grain boundary cracking. It was found that an important improvement in castability can be achieved by adjusting the minor elemental composition. Too low C (≤0.15 pct) and too high B and Zr contents (≥0.05 pct) lead to material that is very prone to solidification cracking and should be avoided. The results cannot be rationalized on the basis of the current models for solidification cracking. Instead, pronounced hot tearing is observed to occur at high amounts of
γ
/
γ
′-eutectic and high Zr contents. The critical film stage where dendrites at the end of solidification do not touch and are separated by thin liquid films must be avoided. How Zr promotes the film stage will be discussed in the paper.
•The threshold stress concept is suitable to describe the creep behavior of dual phase alloys.•The Lagneborg-Bergmann-plot is used to assign the strength of the matrix and the γ′-phase.•The ...deformation behavior can be modelled by Hooke’s Law, Ramberg-Osgood equation and the threshold stress concept.•The dwell time increases the time dependent deformation and decreases the lifetime to a large extent.
The focus of this paper is the simulation of the thermal-mechanical fatigue behavior (TMF) of two single crystalline Nickel-based superalloys in a temperature range between 400°C and 980°C. The newly developed rhenium-free alloy Astra-3OptW and the rhenium-free alloy CMSX-6 are analyzed concerning the basic deformation mechanisms, i.e. elasticity, time-independent and time-dependent plasticity contributing to hardening. In detail, the relevant parameters for high temperature deformation are identified from isothermal creep experiments and used in a numerical model to simulate the deformation behavior under instationary thermal and mechanical loading. Special attention is focused on the determination of the hardening by the second phase (γ′-precipitates) and their influence on time-dependent deformation and relaxation mechanisms. Therefore, the parameters describing the stress and temperature dependence of the creep rate (i.e. stress exponent n and activation energy Q) are interpreted in terms of a threshold stress taking into account the hardening contribution of the γ′-phase. Thus, only a reduced effective stress is active for plastic deformation. Particular attention is focused on the accurate determination of the threshold stress as a function of temperature and applied stress from the Langeborg-Bergmann-plot. The comparison of the simulated TMF-deformation to the experimental TMF-data clearly indicates the accuracy of the model in predicting the resulting stresses induced by instationary thermal and mechanical loading.
To determine the spectrum of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) antigen-specificities in eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), an ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) entity.
We ...conducted a retrospective analysis of 73 EGPA patients from three German tertiary referral centres for vasculitis. In addition to in-house ANCA testing, pentraxin 3 (PTX3)- and olfactomedin 4 (OLM4)-ANCA were determined using a prototype cell-based assay for research (EUROIMMUN, Lübeck, Germany). Patient characteristics and clinical manifestations were evaluated and compared based on ANCA status.
Myeloperoxidase (MPO)-ANCA positive patients (n=8; 11%) significantly more frequently displayed peripheral nervous system (PNS) and pulmonary involvement and less frequently heart involvement compared to MPO-ANCA negative patients. PTX3-ANCA positive patients (n=5; 6.8%) had a significantly higher prevalence of ear, nose and throat, pulmonary, gastrointestinal and PNS involvement, and a lower prevalence of renal and central nervous system involvement compared to PTX3-ANCA negative patients. Proteinase 3 (PR3)-ANCA and OLM4-ANCA were detected in 2 patients (2.7%) each with multiorgan involvement. One PR3-ANCA positive patient was also positive for bactericidal permeability increasing protein (BPI)-ANCA.
In addition to MPO, the spectrum of ANCA antigen specificities includes various other target antigens such as PR3, BPI, PTX3, and OLM4, potentially segregating further EGPA subgroups. A lower prevalence of MPO-ANCA was detected in this study compared with other studies. OLM4 is reported as novel ANCA antigen-specificity in EGPA, and thus AAV.
The study of aflatoxin in
spp. has garnered the attention of many researchers due to aflatoxin's carcinogenic properties and frequency as a food and feed contaminant. Significant progress has been ...made by utilizing the model organism
to characterize the regulation of sterigmatocystin (ST), the penultimate precursor of aflatoxin. A previous forward genetic screen identified 23
mutants involved in regulating ST production. Six mutants were characterized from this screen using classical mapping (five mutations in
) and complementation with a cosmid library (one mutation in
). The remaining mutants were backcrossed and sequenced using Illumina and Ion Torrent sequencing platforms. All but one mutant contained one or more sequence variants in predicted open reading frames. Deletion of these genes resulted in identification of mutant alleles responsible for the loss of ST production in 12 of the 17 remaining mutants. Eight of these mutations were in genes already known to affect ST synthesis (
,
,
, and
), while the remaining four mutations (in
,
, and
) were in previously uncharacterized genes not known to be involved in ST production. Deletion of
,
, and
in
results in loss of aflatoxin production, confirming that these regulators are conserved in the aflatoxigenic aspergilli. This report highlights the multifaceted regulatory mechanisms governing secondary metabolism in
Additionally, these data contribute to the increasing number of studies showing that forward genetic screens of fungi coupled with whole-genome resequencing is a robust and cost-effective technique.
In a postgenomic world, reverse genetic approaches have displaced their forward genetic counterparts. The techniques used in forward genetics to identify loci of interest were typically very cumbersome and time-consuming, relying on Mendelian traits in model organisms. The current work was pursued not only to identify alleles involved in regulation of secondary metabolism but also to demonstrate a return to forward genetics to track phenotypes and to discover genetic pathways that could not be predicted through a reverse genetics approach. While identification of mutant alleles from whole-genome sequencing has been done before, here we illustrate the possibility of coupling this strategy with a genetic screen to identify multiple alleles of interest. Sequencing of classically derived mutants revealed several uncharacterized genes, which represent novel pathways to regulate and control the biosynthesis of sterigmatocystin and of aflatoxin, a societally and medically important mycotoxin.
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