We present an investigation of the structure of 13Be obtained via a kinematically complete measurement of the (p,pn) reaction in inverse kinematics at 265 MeV/nucleon. The relative energy spectrum of ...13Be is compared to Transfer-to-the-Continuum calculations which use as structure inputs the overlaps of the 14Be ground-state wave function, computed in a three-body model, with the unbound states of the 13Be residual nucleus. The key role of neutron p-wave orbital in the interpretation of the low-relative-energy part of the spectrum is discussed.
High mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1) is a non-histone chromosomal protein which is highly conserved, ubiquitous, and widely distributed. HMGB1 has multiple functions in the nucleus, including ...the maintenance of nucleosome structure, the regulation of gene transcription, and involvement in DNA recombination. HMBG1 is currently recognized to have a wide range of potential functions and pathological relevance. HMGB1 is released into the extracellular space from necrotic cells and from activated macrophages. HMGB1 binds to the receptor for advanced glycation end products, resulting in the induction of inflammatory cytokines, and to endothelial cell thrombomodulin. HMGB1 neutralization may also reduce the development of atherosclerosis and ameliorate brain infarction. We investigated the immunolocalization of HMGB1 in atherosclerotic lesions of human cerebral and carotid arteries using a specific antibody, and confirmed the detailed expression and cell type localization using double immunofluorolabeling. In the main cerebral arteries, this anti-HMGB1 antibody intensely immunolabeled both normal morphological vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) within the tunica media and infiltrating VSMCs within the intima of thickened fibrous cap plaques. Endothelial cells were also positive for HMGB1. In carotid plaques, HMGB1-like immunoreactivity (IR) was intense in macrophages, although this IR decreased with increasing cell size. Medium-sized foam cells (50-150 μm) were the most intensely stained. This IR was also observed in the nuclei of foam cells and VSMCs. These findings may provide a basis for understanding the association of HMGB1 with atherosclerotic lesions of the cerebral and carotid arteries, and for constructing strategies to counteract atherosclerosis with anti-HMGB1 antibody.
► The Mori–Tanaka method is generalized to an incremental mechanics of continua. ► So-called virtual matrix with zero volume is introduced. ► Weng’s debonding model is included to simulate ...interfacial debondings. ► Numerical models show good consistency with many experimental results. ► It can be used for composites as well as polycrystals.
A modification of the Mori–Tanaka method is proposed to evaluate the average elastoplastic behavior of composites and polycrystals in a virtual matrix. The virtual matrix is an elastic material in which real matrix material and inhomogeneities are embedded, and its volume vanishes as a limit after homogenization. With regard to elasticity, depending on the choice of material properties of this virtual matrix, many kinds of average moduli between the classical bounds can be predicted. In this paper, we extend the application of this method to elastoplastic materials. Furthermore, Weng’s approximate model of interfacial debonding between the inclusions and the matrix is installed, because of its very simple criterion for the initiation of debonding to simulate progressive debonding phenomena. Several numerical examples without interfacial debonding show the applicability of the virtual matrix concept to elastoplastic materials. The characteristics of the model and its overall behaviors are described through the use of typical numerical simulations with debondings. Finally, comparisons with experimental results including debondings demonstrate the eligibility of the proposed method and models, and the application of the present method to designing a hybrid FRP is overviewed.
Literacy and numeracy equally affect an individual's success in and beyond schools, but these two competencies tend to be separately examined, particularly in neuroimaging studies. The current ...resting-state fMRI study examined the neural correlates of literacy and numeracy in the same sample of healthy adults. We first used an exploratory "Multivariate Distance Matrix Regression" (MDMR) approach to examine intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC), highlighting the middle frontal gyrus (MFG) for both competencies. Notably, there was a hemispheric asymmetry in the MDMR-based MFG findings, with literacy associated with the left MFG, whereas numeracy associated with the right MFG (R.MFG). Results of post-hoc seed-based correlation analyses further strengthened differential contributions of MFG connections to each competency. One of the most striking and novel findings from the present work was that numeracy was negatively related to R.MFG connections with the default network, which has been largely overlooked in the literature. Our results are largely consistent with prior neuroimaging work showing distinct neural mechanisms underlying literacy and numeracy, and also indicate potentially common iFC profiles to both competencies (e.g., R.MFG with cerebellum). Taken together, our iFC findings have a potential to provide novel insights into neural bases of literacy, numeracy, and impairments in these competencies.
This study aims at improving the performance of thermally activated silica gel–water adsorption refrigeration cycle by applying multi-bed scheme. In this paper, a three-bed non-regenerative silica ...gel–water adsorption chiller design is outlined along with the performance evaluation of the innovative chiller. The three-bed chiller will be able to work as high efficient single-stage adsorption chiller where driving source temperature is between 60 and 95 °C along with a coolant at 30 °C. The three-bed cycle comprises with three adsorber/desorber heat exchangers, one evaporator and one condenser. Waste heat or renewable energy sources will power the high temperature desorber. If two beds are in desorption mode, the hot water outlet from the lead desorber will drive the lag desorber before being released to ambient. This facilitates the maximum utilization of the waste stream. On the contrary, if two adsorber or desorber beds are in adsorption mode, the cooling water outlet from the lead adsorber will cool down the lag adsorber. In this circumstance, two adsorber beds will be connected with the evaporator and will enhance evaporation.
A cycle simulation computer program is developed to analyze the influence of operating temperatures (hot and cooling water temperatures, adsorption/desorption cycle time) on cooling capacity and coefficient of performance (COP) of the innovative three-bed cycle in parallel flow configuration of the heat transfer fluids. The cycle simulation calculation indicates that the COP value of the three-bed chiller is 0.38 with a driving source temperature at 80 °C in combination with coolant inlet and chilled water inlet temperatures at 30 and 14 °C, respectively. The delivered chilled water temperature is about 6 °C with this operation condition. Simulation results also show that from the two to three beds, waste heat recovery efficiency,
η is boosted by about 35%.
This article presents the performance evaluation of a two-bed, activated carbon fiber (ACF)–ethanol adsorption chiller, which has been studied on the basis of the transient modelling developed by the ...same authors B.B. Saha, I.I. El-Sharkawy, A. Chakraborty, S. Koyama, Study on an activated carbon fiber–ethanol adsorption chiller: Part I – system description and modelling, International Journal of Refrigeration, submitted for publication. This innovative adsorption chiller, where pitch based ACF of type A-20 is taken as the adsorbent utilizes effectively the low-temperature waste heat sources of temperature between 60 and 95
°C along with a cooling source at ambient temperature. We have found that, regardless of the initial mass distribution, the ACF–ethanol adsorption chiller is able to achieve the same cyclic-steady-state within three half cycles or 1890
s. Simulation results show that the optimum COP values are obtained at driving source temperatures between 80 and 85
°C and makes this chiller suitable for low-temperature waste heat recovery with relatively higher performance.
The potential public health risks of radiofrequency (RF) fields have been discussed at length, especially with the use of mobile phones spreading extensively throughout the world. In order to ...investigate the properties of RF fields, we examined the effect of 2.45-GHz RF fields at the specific absorption rate (SAR) of 2 and 10 W/kg for 4 and 24 h on neutrophil chemotaxis and phagocytosis in differentiated human HL-60 cells. Neutrophil chemotaxis was not affected by RF-field exposure, and subsequent phagocytosis was not affected either compared with that under sham exposure conditions. These studies demonstrated an initial immune response in the human body exposed to 2.45-GHz RF fields at the SAR of 2 W/kg, which is the maximum value recommended by the International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines. The results of our experiments for RF-field exposure at an SAR under 10 W/kg showed very little or no effects on either chemotaxis or phagocytosis in neutrophil-like human HL-60 cells.
The release behavior of Pu and Am was investigated under the reducing atmosphere expected in sodium cooled fast reactor severe accidents. Irradiated Pu and U mixed oxide fuels were heated at maximum ...temperatures of 2773K and 3273K. EPMA, γ-ray spectrometry and α-ray spectrometry for released and residual materials revealed that Pu and Am can be released more easily than U under the reducing atmosphere. The respective release rate coefficients for Pu and Am were obtained as 3.11×10−4min−1 and 1.60×10−4min−1 at 2773K under the reducing atmosphere with oxygen partial pressure less than 0.02Pa. Results of thermochemical calculations indicated that the main released chemical forms would likely be PuO for Pu and Am for Am under quite low oxygen partial pressure.
Four experiments were conducted to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of noninvasive evaluation of cortisol in saliva of dogs. In experiment 1, we measured the cortisol concentration in the filter ...paper on which 250-μL cortisol solutions had been quantitatively pipetted and in filter papers dipped in cortisol solution. In experiment 2, we collected the blood and saliva of dogs 3 times at 30-min intervals and compared the cortisol concentrations to examine whether the dynamics of cortisol in the blood and saliva are similar. The results of experiments 1 and 2 showed that the cortisol concentration can be quantitatively measured with this method and that the dynamics of cortisol concentration in the plasma and saliva collected by using filter paper are not different (P = 0.14 for experiment 1 and P = 0.51 for experiment 2). In experiment 3, to investigate the factors related to inducing stress in dogs by using the filter-paper method of collecting saliva, we compared the cortisol concentrations at 0 and 30 min after collecting the saliva of pet dogs. The dog owners completed a survey on their dogs, providing basic information and reporting the collection of their dog's saliva. We found that the cortisol concentrations increased significantly in dogs whose owners spent >2 min collecting saliva (P = 0.005), suggesting that prompt collection of saliva is necessary for accurate assessment of cortisol without induction of a stress response. In addition, the cortisol concentrations increased significantly in dogs whose teeth were not regularly brushed (P = 0.04), suggesting that regular teeth brushing mitigates the effect of the collection process on cortisol concentrations in the saliva, with minimal stress to the dogs. In experiment 4, we measured cortisol concentrations in pet dogs accustomed to having their teeth brushed by their owners, before and after interaction with their owners, to assess whether brushing induces stress in dogs. We detected that the cortisol concentrations significantly decreased after human–dog interaction (P = 0.008), suggesting that this method does not induce stress in dogs. Our study indicates that the method of saliva collection by using filter paper is effective in measuring the cortisol concentrations to evaluate stress, although certain steps are required to enhance accuracy.
Pseudoautosomal region 1 (PAR1) contains SHOX, in addition to seven highly conserved non-coding DNA elements (CNEs) with cis-regulatory activity. Microdeletions involving SHOX exons 1-6a and/or the ...CNEs result in idiopathic short stature (ISS) and Leri-Weill dyschondrosteosis (LWD). Here, we report six rare copy-number variations (CNVs) in PAR1 identified through copy-number analyzes of 245 ISS/LWD patients and 15 unaffected individuals. The six CNVs consisted of three microduplications encompassing SHOX and some of the CNEs, two microduplications in the SHOX 3'-region affecting one or four of the downstream CNEs, and a microdeletion involving SHOX exon 6b and its neighboring CNE. The amplified DNA fragments of two SHOX-containing duplications were detected at chromosomal regions adjacent to the original positions. The breakpoints of a SHOX-containing duplication resided within Alu repeats. A microduplication encompassing four downstream CNEs was identified in an unaffected father-daughter pair, whereas the other five CNVs were detected in ISS patients. These results suggest that microduplications involving SHOX cause ISS by disrupting the cis-regulatory machinery of this gene and that at least some of microduplications in PAR1 arise from Alu-mediated non-allelic homologous recombination. The pathogenicity of other rare PAR1-linked CNVs, such as CNE-containing microduplications and exon 6b-flanking microdeletions, merits further investigation.
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