Probabilistic Fatigue Life Assessment For Helicopter Dynamic Components

The safe operation of helicopters requires that the fatigue lives of dynamic components meet a minimum level of reliability. To estimate the safe operational time of such components a deterministic safety factor approach such as mu plus/minus 3sigma has been widely used by some helicopter manufacturers to determine the retirement lifetime of a component and has been claimed to meet a reliability level of 0.999,999 (six-nines). Based on field experience, this approach has performed well enough to ensure component failures due to fatigue are extremely remote, i.e. a reliability of six-nines appears to have been met. However, the TOS/(mu-3sigma) approach has recently been shown, through theoretical analysis, to be highly non-conservative in estimating the component lifetime at a reliability level of six-nines. To satisfy certification and airworthiness requirements for present and future aircraft structural components there is a need to resolve the discrepancy between the results of theoretical analysis and field experience. In this paper, the source of this discrepancy is identified and methods to address it are discussed

ZNF750 is a lineage-specific tumour suppressor in squamous cell carcinoma.

ZNF750 controls epithelial homeostasis by regulating epidermal-differentiation genes, a role underscored by its pathogenic mutations in esophageal squamous cell cancers (SCCs). However, the precise role of ZNF750 in SCC cell biology remains unclear. In this study, we report that ZNF750 is exclusively deleted, mutated and underexpressed in human SCCs, and low ZNF750 expression is associated with poor survival. Restoration of wildtype, but not mutant ZNF750 protein uniquely inhibited the malignant phenotypes of SCC cells both in vitro and in vivo. Notably, ZNF750 promoted the expression of a long non-coding RNA (TINCR), which mediated both cancer-inhibition and differentiation-induction effects of ZNF750. In addition, ZNF750 potently suppressed cell migration by directly inhibiting the transactivation of LAMC2. Together, our findings characterize ZNF750 as a crucial SCC-specific suppressor and uncover its novel anticancer-associated functions

Structure and Reactivity of α-Al₂O₃(0001) Surfaces: How Do Al-I and Gibbsite-like Terminations Interconvert?

The α-Al2O3(0001) surface has been extensively studied because of its significance in both fundamental research and application. Prior work suggests that in ultra-high-vacuum (UHV), in the absence of water, the so-called Al–I termination is thermodynamically favored, while in ambient, in contact with liquid water, a Gibbsite-like layer is created. While the view of the α-Al2O3(0001)/H2O(l) interface appears relatively clear in theory, experimental characterization of this system has resulted in estimates of surface acidity, i.e., isoelectric points, that differ by 4 pH units and surface structure that in some reports has non-hydrogen-bonded surface aluminol (Al–OH) groups and in others does not. In this study, we employed vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy (VSFS) and density functional theory (DFT) simulation to study the surface phonon modes of the differently terminated α-Al2O3(0001) surfaces in both UHV and ambient. We find that, on either water dosing of the Al–I in UHV or heat-induced dehydroxylation of the Gibbsite-like in ambient, the surfaces do not interconvert. This observation offers a new explanation for disagreements in prior work on the α-Al2O3(0001)/liquid water interface─different preparation methods may create surfaces that do not interconvert─and shows that the surface phonon spectral response offers a novel probe of interfacial hydrogen bonding structure

Towards granular hydrodynamics in two-dimensions

We study steady-state properties of inelastic gases in two-dimensions in the presence of an energy source. We generalize previous hydrodynamic treatments to situations where high and low density regions coexist. The theoretical predictions compare well with numerical simulations in the nearly elastic limit. It is also seen that the system can achieve a nonequilibrium steady-state with asymmetric velocity distributions, and we discuss the conditions under which such situations occur.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, revtex, references added, also available from http://arnold.uchicago.edu/?ebn

Genome analysis of two novel Synechococcus phages that lack common auxiliary metabolic genes: possible reasons and ecological insights by comparative analysis of cyanomyoviruses

The abundant and widespread unicellular cyanobacteria Synechococcus plays an important role in contributing to global phytoplankton primary production. In the present study, two novel cyanomyoviruses, S-N03 and S-H34 that infected Synechococcus MW02, were isolated from the coastal waters of the Yellow Sea. S-N03 contained a 167,069-bp genome comprising double-stranded DNA with a G + C content of 50.1%, 247 potential open reading frames and 1 tRNA; S-H34 contained a 167,040-bp genome with a G + C content of 50.1%, 246 potential open reading frames and 5 tRNAs. These two cyanophages contain fewer auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs) than other previously isolated cyanophages. S-H34 in particular, is currently the only known cyanomyovirus that does not contain any AMGs related to photosynthesis. The absence of such common AMGs in S-N03 and S-H34，their distinct evolutionary history and ecological features imply that the energy for phage production might be obtained from other sources rather than being strictly dependent on the maintenance of photochemical ATP under high light. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the two isolated cyanophages clustered together and had a close relationship with two other cyanophages of low AMG content. Comparative genomic analysis, habitats and hosts across 81 representative cyanomyovirus showed that cyanomyovirus with less AMGs content all belonged to Synechococcus phages isolated from eutrophic waters. The relatively small genome size and high G + C content may also relate to the lower AMG content, as suggested by the significant correlation between the number of AMGs and G + C%. Therefore, the lower content of AMG in S-N03 and S-H34 might be a result of viral evolution that was likely shaped by habitat, host, and their genomic context. The genomic content of AMGs in cyanophages may have adaptive significance and provide clues to their evolution

New Aspects of Geometric Phases in Experiments with polarized Neutrons

Geometric phase phenomena in single neutrons have been observed in polarimeter and interferometer experiments. Interacting with static and time dependent magnetic fields, the state vectors acquire a geometric phase tied to the evolution within spin subspace. In a polarimeter experiment the non-additivity of quantum phases for mixed spin input states is observed. In a Si perfect-crystal interferometer experiment appearance of geometric phases, induced by interaction with an oscillating magnetic field, is verified. The total system is characterized by an entangled state, consisting of neutron and radiation fields, governed by a Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian. In addition, the influence of the geometric phase on a Bell measurement, expressed by the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) inequality, is studied. It is demonstrated that the effect of geometric phase can be balanced by an appropriate change of Bell angles.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figure

Inelastic Collapse of Three Particles

A system of three particles undergoing inelastic collisions in arbitrary spatial dimensions is studied with the aim of establishing the domain of ``inelastic collapse''---an infinite number of collisions which take place in a finite time. Analytic and simulation results show that for a sufficiently small restitution coefficient, $0\leq r<7-4\sqrt{3}\approx 0.072$, collapse can occur. In one dimension, such a collapse is stable against small perturbations within this entire range. In higher dimensions, the collapse can be stable against small variations of initial conditions, within a smaller $r$ range, $0\leq r<9-4\sqrt{5}\approx 0.056$.Comment: 6 pages, figures on request, accepted by PR