Marangoni instability in a liquid layer with two free surfaces

The onset of the Marangoni instability in a liquid layer with two free nearly insulating surfaces heated from below is studied. Linear stability analysis yields a condition for the emergence of a longwave or a finite wavelength instability from the quiescent equilibrium state. Using the method of asymptotic expansions, a weakly nonlinear evolution equation describing the spatiotemporal behavior of the velocity and temperature fields at the onset of the longwave instability is derived. The latter is given by delta(M) = 24, delta(M) being the difference between the upper and the lower Marangoni numbers. It is shown that in some parametric range one convective cell forms across the layer, while in other parametric domains two convective cells emerge between the two free surfaces

On 32-GHz cryogenically cooled HEMT low-noise amplifiers

The cryogenic noise temperature performance of a two-stage and a three-stage 32 GHz High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) amplifier was evaluated. The amplifiers employ 0.25 micrometer conventional AlGaAs/GaAs HEMT devices, hybrid matching input and output microstrip circuits, and a cryogenically stable dc biasing network. The noise temperature measurements were performed in the frequency range of 31 to 33 GHz over a physical temperature range of 300 K down to 12 K. Across the measurement band, the amplifiers displayed a broadband response, and the noise temperature was observed to decrease by a factor of 10 in cooling from 300 K to 15 K. The lowest noise temperature measured for the two-stage amplifier at 32 GHz was 35 K with an associated gain of 16.5 dB, while the three-stage amplifier measured 39 K with an associated gain of 26 dB. It was further observed that both amplifiers were insensitive to light

Current research into brain barriers and the delivery of therapeutics for neurological diseases: a report on CNS barrier congress London, UK, 2017.

This is a report on the CNS barrier congress held in London, UK, March 22-23rd 2017 and sponsored by Kisaco Research Ltd. The two 1-day sessions were chaired by John Greenwood and Margareta Hammarlund-Udenaes, respectively, and each session ended with a discussion led by the chair. Speakers consisted of invited academic researchers studying the brain barriers in relation to neurological diseases and industry researchers studying new methods to deliver therapeutics to treat neurological diseases. We include here brief reports from the speakers

Development of a decision support tool to facilitate primary care management of patients with abnormal liver function tests without clinically apparent liver disease [HTA03/38/02]. Abnormal Liver Function Investigations Evaluation (ALFIE)

Liver function tests (LFTs) are routinely performed in primary care, and are often the gateway to further invasive and/or expensive investigations. Little is known of the consequences in people with an initial abnormal liver function (ALF) test in primary care and with no obvious liver disease. Further investigations may be dangerous for the patient and expensive for Health Services. The aims of this study are to determine the natural history of abnormalities in LFTs before overt liver disease presents in the population and identify those who require minimal further investigations with the potential for reduction in NHS costs

Impact of adverse events, treatment modifications, and dose intensity on survival among patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma treated with first‐line sunitinib: a medical chart review across ten centers in five European countries

Angiogenesis inhibitors have become standard of care for advanced and/or metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC), but data on the impact of adverse events (AEs) and treatment modifications associated with these agents are limited. Medical records were abstracted at 10 tertiary oncology centers in Europe for 291 patients ≥18 years old treated with sunitinib as first-line treatment for advanced RCC (no prior systemic treatment for advanced disease). Logistic regression models were estimated to compare dose intensity among patients who did and did not experience AEs during the landmark periods (18, 24, and 30 weeks). Cox proportional hazard models were used to explore the possible relationship of low-dose intensity (defined using thresholds of 0.7, 0.8, and 0.9) and treatment modifications during the landmark periods to survival. 64.4% to 67.9% of patients treated with sunitinib reported at least one AE of any grade, and approximately 10% of patients experienced at least one severe (grade 3 or 4) AE. Patients reporting severe AEs were statistically significantly more likely to have dose intensities below either 0.8 or 0.9. Dose intensity below 0.7 and dose discontinuation during all landmark periods were statistically significantly associated with shorter survival time. This study of advanced RCC patients treated with sunitinib in Europe found a significant relationship between AEs and dose intensity. It also found correlations between dose intensity and shorter survival, and between dose discontinuation and shorter survival. These results confirm the importance of tolerable treatment and maintaining dose intensity