2,662 research outputs found
Application of moderate resolution band models to the prediction of heat transfer from rocket exhaust plumes
Computer program for resolution band model prediction of heat transfer from rocket exhaust plume
Transfer molding of PMR-15 polyimide resin
Transfer molding is an economically viable method of producing small shapes of PMR-15 polyimide. It is shown that with regard to flexural, compressive, and tribological properties transfer-molded PMR-15 polyimide is essentially equivalent to PMR-15 polyimide produced by the more common method of compression molding. Minor variations in anisotropy are predictable effects of molding design and secondary finishing operations
Optimal Pacing for Running 400 m and 800 m Track Races
Physicists seeking to understand complex biological systems often find it
rewarding to create simple "toy models" that reproduce system behavior. Here a
toy model is used to understand a puzzling phenomenon from the sport of track
and field. Races are almost always won, and records set, in 400 m and 800 m
running events by people who run the first half of the race faster than the
second half, which is not true of shorter races, nor of longer. There is
general agreement that performance in the 400 m and 800 m is limited somehow by
the amount of anaerobic metabolism that can be tolerated in the working muscles
in the legs. A toy model of anaerobic metabolism is presented, from which an
optimal pacing strategy is analytically calculated via the Euler-Lagrange
equation. This optimal strategy is then modified to account for the fact that
the runner starts the race from rest; this modification is shown to result in
the best possible outcome by use of an elementary variational technique that
supplements what is found in undergraduate textbooks. The toy model reproduces
the pacing strategies of elite 400 m and 800 m runners better than existing
models do. The toy model also gives some insight into training strategies that
improve performance.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, submitted to the American Journal of Physic
Cilengitide: an RGD pentapeptide ανβ3 and ανβ5 integrin inhibitor in development for glioblastoma and other malignancies
Cilengitide, a cyclicized arginine-glycine-aspartic acid-containing pentapeptide, potently blocks ανβ3 and ανβ5 integrin activation. Integrins are upregulated in many malignancies and mediate a wide variety of tumor-stroma interactions. Cilengitide and other integrin-targeting therapeutics have preclinical activity against many cancer subtypes including glioblastoma (GBM), the most common and deadliest CNS tumor. Cilengitide is active against orthotopic GBM xenografts and can augment radiotherapy and chemotherapy in these models. In Phase I and II GBM trials, cilengitide and the combination of cilengitide with standard temozolomide and radiation demonstrate consistent antitumor activity and a favorable safety profile. Cilengitide is currently under evaluation in a pivotal, randomized Phase III study (Cilengitide in Combination With Temozolomide and Radiotherapy in Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma Phase III Randomized Clinical Trial [CENTRIC]) for newly diagnosed GBM. In addition, randomized controlled Phase II studies with cilengitide are ongoing for non-small-cell lung cancer and squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Cilengitide is the first integrin inhibitor in clinical Phase III development for oncology
Unscreened water-diversion pipes pose an entrainment risk to the threatened green sturgeon, Acipenser medirostris.
Over 3,300 unscreened agricultural water diversion pipes line the levees and riverbanks of the Sacramento River (California) watershed, where the threatened Southern Distinct Population Segment of green sturgeon, Acipenser medirostris, spawn. The number of sturgeon drawn into (entrained) and killed by these pipes is greatly unknown. We examined avoidance behaviors and entrainment susceptibility of juvenile green sturgeon (35±0.6 cm mean fork length) to entrainment in a large (>500-kl) outdoor flume with a 0.46-m-diameter water-diversion pipe. Fish entrainment was generally high (range: 26-61%), likely due to a lack of avoidance behavior prior to entering inescapable inflow conditions. We estimated that up to 52% of green sturgeon could be entrained after passing within 1.5 m of an active water-diversion pipe three times. These data suggest that green sturgeon are vulnerable to unscreened water-diversion pipes, and that additional research is needed to determine the potential impacts of entrainment mortality on declining sturgeon populations. Data under various hydraulic conditions also suggest that entrainment-related mortality could be decreased by extracting water at lower diversion rates over longer periods of time, balancing agricultural needs with green sturgeon conservation
Bistability in organic magnetic materials: a comparative study of the key differences between hysteretic and non-hysteretic spin transitions in dithiazolyl radicals
Dithiazolyl (DTA)- based radicals have furnished many examples of organic spin- transition materials, some of them occurring with hysteresis and some others without. Herein, we present a combined computational and experimental study aimed at deciphering the factors controlling the existence or absence of hysteresis by comparing the phase transitions of 4- cyanobenzo- 1,3,2- dithiazolyl and 1,3,5trithia- 2,4,6- triazapentalenyl radicals, which are prototypical examples of non- bistable and bistable spin transitions, respectively. Both materials present low- temperature diamagnetic and high- temperature paramagnetic structures, characterized by dimerized (center dot center dot center dot A-A center dot center dot center dot A-A center dot center dot center dot) n and regular (center dot center dot center dot A center dot center dot center dot A center dot center dot center dot A center dot center dot center dot A center dot center dot center dot) n pi- stacks of radicals, respectively. We show that the regular pi-stacks are not potential energy minima but average structures arising from a dynamic inter-conversion between two degenerate dimerized configurations: (center dot center dot center dot A-A center dot center dot center dot A-A center dot center dot center dot)n (-A center dot center dot center dot A-A center dot center dot center dot A-)n. The emergence of this intrastack dynamics upon heating gives rise to a second-order phase transition that is responsible for the change in the dominant magnetic interactions of the system. This suggests that the promotion of a (center dot center dot center dot A-A center dot center dot center dot A-A center dot center dot center dot)n (-A center dot center dot center dot A-A center dot center dot center dot A-) n dynamics is a general mechanism for triggering spin transitions in DTA-based materials. Yet, this intra-stack dynamics does not suffice to generate bistability, which also requires a rearrangement of the intermolecular bonds between the pstacks via a first-order phase transition
Increased expression of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) in human pituitary tumors
PURPOSE: Subsets of pituitary tumors exhibit an aggressive clinical courses and recur despite surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Because modulation of the immune response through inhibition of T-cell checkpoints has led to durable clinical responses in multiple malignancies, we explored whether pituitary adenomas express immune-related biomarkers that could suggest suitability for immunotherapy. Specifically, programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) has emerged as a potential biomarker whose expression may portend more favorable responses to immune checkpoint blockade therapies. We thus investigated the expression of PD-L1 in pituitary adenomas. METHODS: PD-L1 RNA and protein expression were evaluated in 48 pituitary tumors, including functioning and non-functioning adenomas as well as atypical and recurrent tumors. Tumor infiltrating lymphocyte populations were also assessed by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Pituitary tumors express variable levels of PD-L1 transcript and protein. PD-L1 RNA and protein expression were significantly increased in functioning (growth hormone and prolactin-expressing) pituitary adenomas compared to non-functioning (null cell and silent gonadotroph) adenomas. Moreover, primary pituitary adenomas harbored higher levels of PD-L1 mRNA compared to recurrent tumors. Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes were observed in all pituitary tumors and were positively correlated with increased PD-L1 expression, particularly in the functional subtypes. CONCLUSIONS: Human pituitary adenomas harbor PD-L1 across subtypes, with significantly higher expression in functioning adenomas compared to non-functioning adenomas. This expression is accompanied by the presence of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes. These findings suggest the existence of an immune response to pituitary tumors and raise the possibility of considering checkpoint blockade immunotherapy in cases refractory to conventional management
The Source of Three-minute Magneto-acoustic Oscillations in Coronal Fans
We use images of high spatial, spectral and temporal resolution, obtained
using both ground- and space-based instrumentation, to investigate the coupling
between wave phenomena observed at numerous heights in the solar atmosphere.
Intensity oscillations of 3 minutes are observed to encompass photospheric
umbral dot structures, with power at least three orders-of-magnitude higher
than the surrounding umbra. Simultaneous chromospheric velocity and intensity
time series reveal an 87 \pm 8 degree out-of-phase behavior, implying the
presence of standing modes created as a result of partial wave reflection at
the transition region boundary. An average blue-shifted Doppler velocity of
~1.5 km/s, in addition to a time lag between photospheric and chromospheric
oscillatory phenomena, confirms the presence of upwardly-propagating slow-mode
waves in the lower solar atmosphere. Propagating oscillations in EUV intensity
are detected in simultaneous coronal fan structures, with a periodicity of 172
\pm 17 s and a propagation velocity of 45 \pm 7 km/s. Numerical simulations
reveal that the damping of the magneto-acoustic wave trains is dominated by
thermal conduction. The coronal fans are seen to anchor into the photosphere in
locations where large-amplitude umbral dot oscillations manifest. Derived
kinetic temperature and emission measure time-series display prominent
out-of-phase characteristics, and when combined with the previously established
sub-sonic wave speeds, we conclude that the observed EUV waves are the coronal
counterparts of the upwardly-propagating magneto-acoustic slow-modes detected
in the lower solar atmosphere. Thus, for the first time, we reveal how the
propagation of 3 minute magneto-acoustic waves in solar coronal structures is a
direct result of amplitude enhancements occurring in photospheric umbral dots.Comment: Accepted into ApJ (13 pages and 10 figures
Reversible melting and equilibrium phase formation of (Bi,Pb)2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10+d
The decomposition and the reformation of the (Bi,Pb)2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10+d
(?Bi,Pb(2223)?) phase have been investigated in-situ by means of
High-Temperature Neutron Diffraction, both in sintered bulk samples and in
Ag-sheathed monofilamentary tapes. Several decomposition experiments were
performed at various temperatures and under various annealing atmospheres,
under flowing gas as well as in sealed tubes, in order to study the appropriate
conditions for Bi,Pb(2223) formation from the melt. The Bi,Pb(2223) phase was
found to melt incongruently into (Ca,Sr)2CuO3, (Sr,Ca)14Cu24O41 and a
Pb,Bi-rich liquid phase. Phase reformation after melting was successfully
obtained both in bulk samples and Ag-sheathed tapes. The possibility of
crystallising the Bi,Pb(2223) phase from the melt was found to be extremely
sensitive to the temperature and strongly dependent on the Pb losses. The study
of the mass losses due to Pb evaporation was complemented by thermogravimetric
analysis which proved that Pb losses are responsible for moving away from
equilibrium and therefore hinder the reformation of the Bi,Pb(2223) phase from
the melt. Thanks to the full pattern profile refinement, a quantitative phase
analysis was carried out as a function of time and temperature and the role of
the secondary phases was investigated. Lattice distortions and/or transitions
were found to occur at high temperature in Bi,Pb(2223), Bi,Pb(2212),
(Ca,Sr)2CuO3 and (Sr,Ca)14Cu24O41, due to cation diffusion and stoichiometry
changes. The results indicate that it is possible to form the Bi,Pb(2223) phase
from a liquid close to equilibrium conditions, like Bi(2212) and Bi(2201), and
open new unexplored perspectives for high-quality Ag-sheathed Bi,Pb(2223) tape
processing.Comment: 45 pages (including references,figures and captions), 13 figures
Submitted to Supercond. Sci. Techno
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