The hydrogen–air burning rate near the lean flammability limit

This paper investigates the inner structure of the thin reactive layer of hydrogen–air fuellean deflagrations close to the flammability limit. The analysis, which employs seven elementary reactions for the chemistry description, uses the ratio of the characteristic radical and fuel concentrations as a small asymptotic parameter, enabling an accurate analytic expression for the resulting burning rate to be derived. The analysis reveals that the steady-state assumption for chemical intermediaries, applicable on the hot side of the reactive layer, fails, however, as the crossover temperature is approached, providing a nonnegligible higher-order correction to the burning rate. The results can be useful, for instance, in future investigations of hydrogen deflagration instabilities near the lean flammability limit

The non-convex shape of (234) Barbara, the first Barbarian

Asteroid (234) Barbara is the prototype of a category of asteroids that has been shown to be extremely rich in refractory inclusions, the oldest material ever found in the Solar System. It exhibits several peculiar features, most notably its polarimetric behavior. In recent years other objects sharing the same property (collectively known as "Barbarians") have been discovered. Interferometric observations in the mid-infrared with the ESO VLTI suggested that (234) Barbara might have a bi-lobated shape or even a large companion satellite. We use a large set of 57 optical lightcurves acquired between 1979 and 2014, together with the timings of two stellar occultations in 2009, to determine the rotation period, spin-vector coordinates, and 3-D shape of (234) Barbara, using two different shape reconstruction algorithms. By using the lightcurves combined to the results obtained from stellar occultations, we are able to show that the shape of (234) Barbara exhibits large concave areas. Possible links of the shape to the polarimetric properties and the object evolution are discussed. We also show that VLTI data can be modeled without the presence of a satellite.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

UK Renal Research Strategy

This is the first published UK Renal Research Strategy compiled by professional and patient stakeholders across the renal community to provide guidance and evidence to funders, policy makers and those helping to create and support the next generation of researchers. Two rounds of widely based consultation with contributions from major renal stakeholders, patients, clinicians, multi-disciplinary teams, researchers and funders contributed to the strategic vision and aims. The strategy calls for action and implementation of the strategy will be reviewed and monitored by an Implementation Board

A feasible route for the design and manufacture of customised respiratory protection through digital facial capture

The World Health Organisation has called for a 40% increase in personal protective equipment manufacturing worldwide, recognising that frontline workers need effective protection during the COVID-19 pandemic. Current devices suffer from high fit-failure rates leaving significant proportions of users exposed to risk of viral infection. Driven by non-contact, portable, and widely available 3D scanning technologies, a workflow is presented whereby a user’s face is rapidly categorised using relevant facial parameters. Device design is then directed down either a semi-customised or fully-customised route. Semi-customised designs use the extracted eye-to-chin distance to categorise users in to pre-determined size brackets established via a cohort of 200 participants encompassing 87.5% of the cohort. The user’s nasal profile is approximated to a Gaussian curve to further refine the selection in to one of three subsets. Flexible silicone provides the facial interface accommodating minor mismatches between true nasal profile and the approximation, maintaining a good seal in this challenging region. Critically, users with outlying facial parameters are flagged for the fully-customised route whereby the silicone interface is mapped to 3D scan data. These two approaches allow for large scale manufacture of a limited number of design variations, currently nine through the semi-customised approach, whilst ensuring effective device fit. Furthermore, labour-intensive fully-customised designs are targeted as those users who will most greatly benefit. By encompassing both approaches, the presented workflow balances manufacturing scale-up feasibility with the diverse range of users to provide well-fitting devices as widely as possible. Novel flow visualisation on a model face is presented alongside qualitative fit-testing of prototype devices to support the workflow methodology

The Middle Way: East Asian masters students’ perceptions of critical argumentation in U.K. universities.

The paper explores the learning experiences of East Asian masters students in dealing with Western academic norms of critical thinking in classroom debate and assignment writing. The research takes a cultural approach, and employs grounded theory and case study methodology, the aims being for students to explain their perceptions of their personal learning journeys. The data suggest that the majority of students interviewed rejected full academic acculturation into Western norms of argumentation. They instead opted for a ‘Middle Way’ that synergizes the traditional cultural academic values held by many East Asian students with those elements of Western academic norms that are perceived to be aligned with these. This is a relatively new area of research which represents a challenge for British lecturers and students

Paraneoplastic thrombocytosis in ovarian cancer

<p>Background: The mechanisms of paraneoplastic thrombocytosis in ovarian cancer and the role that platelets play in abetting cancer growth are unclear.</p> <p>Methods: We analyzed clinical data on 619 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer to test associations between platelet counts and disease outcome. Human samples and mouse models of epithelial ovarian cancer were used to explore the underlying mechanisms of paraneoplastic thrombocytosis. The effects of platelets on tumor growth and angiogenesis were ascertained.</p> <p>Results: Thrombocytosis was significantly associated with advanced disease and shortened survival. Plasma levels of thrombopoietin and interleukin-6 were significantly elevated in patients who had thrombocytosis as compared with those who did not. In mouse models, increased hepatic thrombopoietin synthesis in response to tumor-derived interleukin-6 was an underlying mechanism of paraneoplastic thrombocytosis. Tumorderived interleukin-6 and hepatic thrombopoietin were also linked to thrombocytosis in patients. Silencing thrombopoietin and interleukin-6 abrogated thrombocytosis in tumor-bearing mice. Anti–interleukin-6 antibody treatment significantly reduced platelet counts in tumor-bearing mice and in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. In addition, neutralizing interleukin-6 significantly enhanced the therapeutic efficacy of paclitaxel in mouse models of epithelial ovarian cancer. The use of an antiplatelet antibody to halve platelet counts in tumor-bearing mice significantly reduced tumor growth and angiogenesis.</p> <p>Conclusions: These findings support the existence of a paracrine circuit wherein increased production of thrombopoietic cytokines in tumor and host tissue leads to paraneoplastic thrombocytosis, which fuels tumor growth. We speculate that countering paraneoplastic thrombocytosis either directly or indirectly by targeting these cytokines may have therapeutic potential. </p&gt

The Science Case for PILOT I: Summary and Overview

Original article can be found at: http://www.publish.csiro.au/?nid=139&aid=108 DOI: 10.1071/AS08048 [Open access article]PILOT (the Pathfinder for an International Large Optical Telescope) is a proposed 2.5-m optical/infrared telescope to be located at Dome C on the Antarctic plateau. Conditions at Dome C are known to be exceptional for astronomy. The seeing (above ∼30 m height), coherence time, and isoplanatic angle are all twice as good as at typical mid-latitude sites, while the water-vapour column, and the atmosphere and telescope thermal emission are all an order of magnitude better. These conditions enable a unique scientific capability for PILOT, which is addressed in this series of papers. The current paper presents an overview of the optical and instrumentation suite for PILOT and its expected performance, a summary of the key science goals and observational approach for the facility, a discussion of the synergies between the science goals for PILOT and other telescopes, and a discussion of the future of Antarctic astronomy. Paper II and Paper III present details of the science projects divided, respectively, between the distant Universe (i.e. studies of first light, and the assembly and evolution of structure) and the nearby Universe (i.e. studies of Local Group galaxies, the Milky Way, and the Solar System).Peer reviewe

Prospects for K+→π+ννˉK^+ \to \pi^+ \nu \bar{ \nu } at CERN in NA62

The NA62 experiment will begin taking data in 2015. Its primary purpose is a 10% measurement of the branching ratio of the ultrarare kaon decay $K^+ \to \pi^+ \nu \bar{ \nu }$, using the decay in flight of kaons in an unseparated beam with momentum 75 GeV/c.The detector and analysis technique are described here.Comment: 8 pages for proceedings of 50 Years of CP

Caledonian foreland basin sedimentation : A new depositional model for the Upper Silurian-Lower Devonian Lower Old Red Sandstone of the Midland Valley Basin, Scotland

Open Access via Wiley publishing agreement. We thank Stuart Archer, Brian Hampton and the anonymous reviewer for their thoughtful and constructive reviews of this manuscript, which has benefited greatly from their attention. We also thank the Associate Editors at Basin Research for their time, advice and suggestions during the submission process. DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.Peer reviewedPublisher PD