An experimental and CFD study of the extreme waves impact on OC3-Hywind Spar Floating offshore wind turbine

The study presents a combined wave tank experiment and Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD) study on the OC3-Hywind Spar Floating [1] offshore wind turbine under extreme wave conditions. Focused wave is adopted in the present study as one of the effective ways to model the extreme wave. The main objectives of this study are to demonstrate how the focused waves could represent the extreme waves and the difference of focused waves approach and other wave types to model extreme waves, i.e., irregular waves. The experimental tank test was carried out with a 1/74 scale model both in irregular and focused wave conditions in Kelvin Hydrodynamics Laboratory at the University of Strathclyde. The irregular waves are designed by using identical wave spectrum with focused waves in the wave tank, and it will be helpful to determine the viability of using different wave types to represent high amplitude waves. The study provides a comparison of the dynamic responses, motion RAOs of the floater between focused waves and irregular waves. In addition, an in-house CFD code[2][3][4] based on an open-source CFD framework OpenFOAM [5] is adopted to simulate the fluid flow around the Spar-FOWT in a numerical wave tank under regular and focused wave conditions. Firstly, for code validation, the dynamic response of the Spar-FOWT is simulated under regular waves and the results are compared with the existing research [6]. Next, the focused wave with the identical wave spectrum provided by the experimental test is generated in our numerical wave tank without the floating structure. After the validation of the focused wave generation, the wave-structure interaction and the dynamic response of the Spar-FOWT is investigated under the focused wave. The results show good agreement with the tank test which demonstrates the capacity and the fidelity of our CFD tools

Theoretical Evidence for the Berry-Phase Mechanism of Anomalous Hall Transport: First-principles Studies on CuCr2_2Se4−x_{4-x}Brx_x

To justify the origin of anomalous Hall effect (AHE), it is highly desirable to have the system parameters tuned continuously. By quantitative calculations, we show that the doping dependent sign reversal in CuCr$_{2}$Se$_{4-x}$Br$_{x}$, observed but not understood, is nothing but direct evidence for the Berry-Phase mechanism of AHE. The systematic calculations well explain the experiment data for the whole doping range where the impurity scattering rates is changed by several orders with Br substitution. Further sign change is also predicted, which may be tested by future experiments.Comment: 4 page

Prevalence of insomnia symptoms and their associated factors in patients treated in outpatient clinics of four general hospitals in Guangzhou, China

Background: Data on the prevalence of insomnia symptoms in medical outpatient clinics in China are lacking. This study examined the prevalence of insomnia symptoms and their socio-demographic correlates in patients treated at medical outpatient clinics affiliated with four general hospitals in Guangzhou, a large metropolis in southern China. Method: A total of 4399 patients were consecutively invited to participate in the study. Data on insomnia and its socio-demographic correlates were collected with standardized questionnaires. Results: The prevalence of any type of insomnia symptoms was 22.1% (95% confidence interval (CI): 20.9–23.3%); the prevalence of difficulty initiating sleep was 14.3%, difficulty maintaining sleep was 16.2%, and early morning awakening was 12.4%. Only 17.5% of the patients suffering from insomnia received sleeping pills. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that male gender, education level, rural residence, and being unemployed or retired were negatively associated with insomnia symptoms, while lacking health insurance, older age and more severe depressive symptoms were positively associated with insomnia symptoms. Conclusions: Insomnia symptoms are common in patients attending medical outpatient clinics in Guangzhou. Increasing awareness of sleep hygiene measures, regular screening and psychosocial and pharmacological interventions for insomnia are needed in China. Trial registration: ChiCTR-INR-16008066. Registered 8 March 2016

Electrical recordings from dendritic spines of adult mouse hippocampus and effect of the actin cytoskeleton

Dendritic spines (DS) are tiny protrusions implicated in excitatory postsynaptic responses in the CNS. To achieve their function, DS concentrate a high density of ion channels and dynamic actin networks in a tiny specialized compartment. However, to date there is no direct information on DS ionic conductances. Here, we used several experimental techniques to obtain direct electrical information from DS of the adult mouse hippocampus. First, we optimized a method to isolate DS from the dissected hippocampus. Second, we used the lipid bilayer membrane (BLM) reconstitution and patch clamping techniques and obtained heretofore unavailable electrical phenotypes on ion channels present in the DS membrane. Third, we also patch clamped DS directly in cultured adult mouse hippocampal neurons, to validate the electrical information observed with the isolated preparation. Electron microscopy and immunochemistry of PDS-95 and NMDA receptors and intrinsic actin networks confirmed the enrichment of the isolated DS preparation, showing open and closed DS, and multi-headed DS. The preparation was used to identify single channel activities and “whole-DS” electrical conductance. We identified NMDA and Ca2+-dependent intrinsic electrical activity in isolated DS and in situ DS of cultured adult mouse hippocampal neurons. In situ recordings in the presence of local NMDA, showed that individual DS intrinsic electrical activity often back-propagated to the dendrite from which it sprouted. The DS electrical oscillations were modulated by changes in actin cytoskeleton dynamics by addition of the F-actin disrupter agent, cytochalasin D, and exogenous actin-binding proteins. The data indicate that DS are elaborate excitable electrical devices, whose activity is a functional interplay between ion channels and the underlying actin networks. The data argue in favor of the active contribution of individual DS to the electrical activity of neurons at the level of both the membrane conductance and cytoskeletal signaling.Fil: Priel, Avner. Bar-Ilan University; IsraelFil: Dai, Xiao Qing. University of Alberta; CanadáFil: Chen, Xing-Zhen. University of Alberta; CanadáFil: Scarinci, María Noelia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet Noa Sur. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Salud, Tecnologia y Desarrollo. - Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Salud, Tecnologia y Desarrollo.; ArgentinaFil: Cantero, Maria del Rocio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet Noa Sur. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Salud, Tecnologia y Desarrollo. - Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Salud, Tecnologia y Desarrollo.; ArgentinaFil: Cantiello, Horacio Fabio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet Noa Sur. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Salud, Tecnologia y Desarrollo. - Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Salud, Tecnologia y Desarrollo.; Argentin

Sequence-dependent abnormal aggregation of human Tau fragment in an inducible cell model

AbstractA pathological hallmark of Alzheimer disease (AD) is the accumulation of misfolded hyperphosphorylated microtubule-associated protein Tau within neurons, forming neurofibrillary tangles and leading to synaptic dysfunction and neuronal death. Here we study sequence-dependent abnormal aggregation of human fragment Tau244–372 in an inducible cell model. As evidenced by confocal laser scanning microscopy, Western blot, and immunogold electron microscopy, fibril-forming motifs are essential and sufficient for abnormal aggregation of Tau244–372 in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells induced by Congo red: when its two fibril-forming segments PHF6 and PHF6* are deleted, Tau244–372 does lose its ability to form fibrils in SH-SY5Y cells, and the replacement of PHF6 and PHF6* with an unrelated amyloidogenic sequence IFQINS from human lysozyme does rescue the fibril-forming ability of Tau244–372 in SH-SY5Y cells. By contrast, insertion of a non-fibril forming peptide GGGGGG does not drive the disabled Tau244–372 to misfold in SH-SY5Y cells. Furthermore, as revealed by quantum dots based probes combined with annexin V staining, annexin V-FITC apoptosis detection assay, and immunofluorescence, fibril-forming motifs are essential and sufficient for early apoptosis of living SH-SY5Y cells induced by abnormal aggregation of Tau244–372. Our results suggest that fibril-forming motifs could be the determinants of Tau protein tending to misfold in living cells, thereby inducing neuronal apoptosis and causing the initiation and development of AD

Design and development of modular magnetic bio-inspired autonomous underwater robot – MMBAUV

This paper describes the design and construction of a magnetically coupled modular bio-inspired underwater robot named the Modular Magnetic Bio-Inspired Underwater Vehicle (MMBAUV). Designed to form a traveling wave to mimic efficient Body Caudal Fin (BCF) swimming and manoeuvring, its modularity allows for flexible system setup and offers an opportunity for redundancy and cost reduction through a common design structure. The specific feature of this design presents a novel application of a permanent synchronous magnetic coupling between neighbouring modules with a rotational degree of freedom (DoF). The actuated magnetic coupling provides a reliable and low maintenance solution to the fundamental issues of water tightness of flexible underwater structures. When encountering extreme conditions, the magnetic coupling allows the safe decoupling of the modules increasing the survivability of the robotic system. Presented lab testing results demonstrate the function of the design and provide initial evidence of its thrust generation and manoeuvrability

Modular magnetic bio-inspired autonomous underwater vehicle

[Abstract unavailable

Research on the Effect of Non-Thermal Plasma on the Sterilization of Craft Beer

The craft beer was continuously sterilized by the non-thermal plasma reactor, and its sterilization and quality were evaluated. The total count of aerobic plate, yeast and Escherichia coli were used as microbial indexes, the effects of plasma sterilization and pasteurization on the bactericidal effect of craft beer were studied. Meanwhile, the beer color, foam hold and pH were evaluated to obtain the optimum sterilization condition with the response surface. The results showed that, compared with pasteurization, the sterilization rate after plasma treatment was almost the same, but the chroma, brightness and bubble retention were better, which was closer to the original beer. The total number of colonies and Escherichia coli were almost completely killed, and the number of yeast was reduced by 97.5% with the 40 kV plasma treatment voltage, 10 s and 60 mL/min gas flow rate. According to the analysis of Design Expert software, the sterilization effect and brightness were the best when the voltage, plasma treatment times and gas flow were 40 kV, 10 s and 60 mL/min, respectively. The predicted values were consistent with the measured values. The influence of each factors were voltage > time > gas flow rate