Induction skull melt spinning of reactive metal alloys

An apparatus for melting and rapid solidification casting of metal alloys has a crucible for molding a metal charge. The crucible has side walls, a top and a bottom having an orifice therein. Collectively, the side walls, top and bottom define an interior of the crucible. A portion of the dimensions of the side walls of the side walls and bottom is divided by longitudinal slits into at least two segments. A nozzle is disposed partially within the crucible and extends through the orifice. The nozzle has a first end in communication with the interior of tune crucible. A second end of the nozzle has a nozzle orifice therein for defining a stream of molten metal alloy. A cooling mechanism cools the top, side walls and bottom of the crucible. The apparatus has mechanisms for inducing alternating electrical currents within the metal charge and within the nozzle, and for establishing and maintaining pressure within the interior of the crucible. A positioning mechanism positions the crucible and nozzle means relative to a quenching mechanisms that includes a rapidly moving chill substrate. The crucible, nozzle and quenching mechanism are housed within an enclosure that provides there within a controlled atmosphere having positive or negative pressure

Heat treatment of rapidly quenched Fe-6.5 wt % Si ribbon

A rapidly quenched Fe-Si Alloy containing 6 to 7 wt % is heat treated to promote and control an order-disorder reaction, thereby improving its ac core loss and exciting power at induction levels about B=1.2 T. The alloy has a substantially texture, a grain size of about 1 to 2 mm, a R2 domain size of 100 to 850 nm, a DO3 domain size of about 5 to 25 nm, an ac core loss of about 1.2 to 1.6 W/kg and an exciting power of about 15 to 46 VA/kg, the core loss and exciting power being measured at an induction level of B=1.4 T and a frequency of f=60 Hz

Blunted cardiomyocyte remodeling response in exercise-resistant rats

Increasing a subject’s aerobic exercise capacity with training decreases cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Of major concern is the key observation that up to 20% of subjects demonstrate little or no change in maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) with exercise training (1) and can be considered exercise resistant. Our goal with the current research was to test the hypothesis that variation in training response is associated with cardiomyocyte functional response to training

Pooled sequencing of 531 genes in inflammatory bowel disease identifies an associated rare variant in BTNL2 and implicates other immune related genes.

The contribution of rare coding sequence variants to genetic susceptibility in complex disorders is an important but unresolved question. Most studies thus far have investigated a limited number of genes from regions which contain common disease associated variants. Here we investigate this in inflammatory bowel disease by sequencing the exons and proximal promoters of 531 genes selected from both genome-wide association studies and pathway analysis in pooled DNA panels from 474 cases of Crohn's disease and 480 controls. 80 variants with evidence of association in the sequencing experiment or with potential functional significance were selected for follow up genotyping in 6,507 IBD cases and 3,064 population controls. The top 5 disease associated variants were genotyped in an extension panel of 3,662 IBD cases and 3,639 controls, and tested for association in a combined analysis of 10,147 IBD cases and 7,008 controls. A rare coding variant p.G454C in the BTNL2 gene within the major histocompatibility complex was significantly associated with increased risk for IBD (p = 9.65x10-10, OR = 2.3[95% CI = 1.75-3.04]), but was independent of the known common associated CD and UC variants at this locus. Rare (T) or decreased risk (IL12B p.V298F, and NICN p.H191R) of IBD. These results provide additional insights into the involvement of the inhibition of T cell activation in the development of both sub-phenotypes of inflammatory bowel disease. We suggest that although rare coding variants may make a modest overall contribution to complex disease susceptibility, they can inform our understanding of the molecular pathways that contribute to pathogenesis

Tracking early lung cancer metastatic dissemination in TRACERx using ctDNA

Circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) can be used to detect and profile residual tumour cells persisting after curative intent therapy1. The study of large patient cohorts incorporating longitudinal plasma sampling and extended follow-up is required to determine the role of ctDNA as a phylogenetic biomarker of relapse in early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Here we developed ctDNA methods tracking a median of 200 mutations identified in resected NSCLC tissue across 1,069 plasma samples collected from 197 patients enrolled in the TRACERx study2. A lack of preoperative ctDNA detection distinguished biologically indolent lung adenocarcinoma with good clinical outcome. Postoperative plasma analyses were interpreted within the context of standard-of-care radiological surveillance and administration of cytotoxic adjuvant therapy. Landmark analyses of plasma samples collected within 120 days after surgery revealed ctDNA detection in 25% of patients, including 49% of all patients who experienced clinical relapse; 3 to 6 monthly ctDNA surveillance identified impending disease relapse in an additional 20% of landmark-negative patients. We developed a bioinformatic tool (ECLIPSE) for non-invasive tracking of subclonal architecture at low ctDNA levels. ECLIPSE identified patients with polyclonal metastatic dissemination, which was associated with a poor clinical outcome. By measuring subclone cancer cell fractions in preoperative plasma, we found that subclones seeding future metastases were significantly more expanded compared with non-metastatic subclones. Our findings will support (neo)adjuvant trial advances and provide insights into the process of metastatic dissemination using low-ctDNA-level liquid biopsy

Erratum: Corrigendum: Sequence and comparative analysis of the chicken genome provide unique perspectives on vertebrate evolution

International Chicken Genome Sequencing Consortium. The Original Article was published on 09 December 2004. Nature432, 695–716 (2004). In Table 5 of this Article, the last four values listed in the ‘Copy number’ column were incorrect. These should be: LTR elements, 30,000; DNA transposons, 20,000; simple repeats, 140,000; and satellites, 4,000. These errors do not affect any of the conclusions in our paper. Additional information. The online version of the original article can be found at 10.1038/nature0315

Heat treatment of rapidly quenched Fe-6.5 wt % Si ribbon

A rapidly quenched Fe-Si alloy containing 6 to 7 wt % Si is heat treated to promote and control an order-disorder reaction, thereby improving its ac core loss and exciting power at induction levels above B=1.2 T. The alloy has a substantially texture, a grain size of about 1 to 2 mm, a B2 domain size of 100 to 850 nm, a DO3 domain size of about 5 to 25 nm, an ac core loss of about 1.2 to 1.6 W/kg and an exciting power of about 15 to 46 VA/kg, the core loss and exciting power being measured at an induction level of B=1.4 T and a frequency of f=60 Hz

Production of low temperature aluminum based brazing alloys

Apparatus is provided for fabricating continuous metal strip composed of a low density, readily oxidizable aluminum based alloy. The alloy is cast directly from the metal through a slotted nozzle onto a moving chill substrate. A scraping mechanism located upstream of the nozzle is adapted to ride on the substrate and remove therefrom the gaseous boundary layer associated therewith. Disposed between the scraping mechanism and the nozzle is a gas supply mechanism adapted to introduce a replacement gas that is carried by the substrate to the nozzle. A shielding means configured to form a semi-enclosed chamber around the nozzle and the substrate apparatus to direct and confine the replacement gas in the vicinity of the nozzle. The alloy preferably has the form of a foil and a composition consisting essentially of about 10 to 13 weight percent silicon, 0 to 3 weight percent magnesium, 0 to 4 weight percent copper, 0 to 0.2 weight percent of at least one of bismuth, phosphorous, strontium, lithium, scandium, yttrium, sodium and calcium and 0 to 2 weight percent of at least one of the rare earth elements, the balance being aluminum and incidental impurities