207 research outputs found

    Accounting for Local Thermal Distortions in a Chamber Model for Twin Screw Compressors

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    A procedure is presented to estimate local clearance distortions in a twin screw compressor using boundary conditions derived from a chamber model. Time varying boundary conditions from the non-dimensional model are mapped onto rotor and casing surface arrays. The fluid boundary temperatures are time-averaged then used to estimate the local rotor and casing temperatures. Heat transfer assumptions that represent the extreme case for component temperature distributions are presented. The relative local change in clearances between rotors and casing are then investigated analytically. The effect of the revised clearances on the performance is quantified and compared against experimental results

    Tito's Bunker

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    Inclusion of Amoy Gardens (2003/07) in international group exhibition Tito's Bunker at Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, curated by Iris Dressler and Hans D. Christ. The exhibition reconsiders the socio-political text of a nuclear bunker built between 1953 and 1979 in Konjic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, for Josip Broz Tito, former prime minister of Yugoslavia

    Segmentation of the C57BL/6J mouse cerebellum in magnetic resonance images

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    The C57BL mouse is the centerpiece of efforts to use gene-targeting technology to understand cerebellar pathology, thus creating a need for a detailed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) atlas of the cerebellum of this strain. In this study we present a methodology for systematic delineation of the vermal and hemispheric lobules of the C57BL/6J mouse cerebellum in magnetic resonance images. We have successfully delineated 38 cerebellar and cerebellar-related structures. The higher signal-to-noise ratio achieved by group averaging facilitated the identification of anatomical structures. In addition, we have calculated average region volumes and created probabilistic maps for each structure. The segmentation method and the probabilistic maps we have created will provide a foundation for future studies of cerebellar disorders using transgenic mouse models

    Investigation of the use of a sensor bracelet for the presymptomatic detection of changes in physiological parameters related to COVID-19: an interim analysis of a prospective cohort study (COVI-GAPP).

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    OBJECTIVES We investigated machinelearningbased identification of presymptomatic COVID-19 and detection of infection-related changes in physiology using a wearable device. DESIGN Interim analysis of a prospective cohort study. SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTIONS Participants from a national cohort study in Liechtenstein were included. Nightly they wore the Ava-bracelet that measured respiratory rate (RR), heart rate (HR), HR variability (HRV), wrist-skin temperature (WST) and skin perfusion. SARS-CoV-2 infection was diagnosed by molecular and/or serological assays. RESULTS A total of 1.5 million hours of physiological data were recorded from 1163 participants (mean age 44±5.5 years). COVID-19 was confirmed in 127 participants of which, 66 (52%) had worn their device from baseline to symptom onset (SO) and were included in this analysis. Multi-level modelling revealed significant changes in five (RR, HR, HRV, HRV ratio and WST) device-measured physiological parameters during the incubation, presymptomatic, symptomatic and recovery periods of COVID-19 compared with baseline. The training set represented an 8-day long instance extracted from day 10 to day 2 before SO. The training set consisted of 40 days measurements from 66 participants. Based on a random split, the test set included 30% of participants and 70% were selected for the training set. The developed long short-term memory (LSTM) based recurrent neural network (RNN) algorithm had a recall (sensitivity) of 0.73 in the training set and 0.68 in the testing set when detecting COVID-19 up to 2 days prior to SO. CONCLUSION Wearable sensor technology can enable COVID-19 detection during the presymptomatic period. Our proposed RNN algorithm identified 68% of COVID-19 positive participants 2 days prior to SO and will be further trained and validated in a randomised, single-blinded, two-period, two-sequence crossover trial. Trial registration number ISRCTN51255782; Pre-results

    Systemic Measures and Legislative and Organizational Frameworks Aimed at Preventing or Mitigating Drug Shortages in 28 European and Western Asian Countries

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    Drug shortages have been identified as a public health problem in an increasing number of countries. This can negatively impact on the quality and efficiency of patient care, as well as contribute to increases in the cost of treatment and the workload of health care providers. Shortages also raise ethical and political issues. The scientific evidence on drug shortages is still scarce, but many lessons can be drawn from cross-country analyses. The objective of this study was to characterize, compare, and evaluate the current systemic measures and legislative and organizational frameworks aimed at preventing or mitigating drug shortages within health care systems across a range of European and Western Asian countries. The study design was retrospective, cross-sectional, descriptive, and observational. Information was gathered through a survey distributed among senior personnel from ministries of health, state medicines agencies, local health authorities, other health or pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement authorities, health insurance companies and academic institutions, with knowledge of the pharmaceutical markets in the 28 countries studied. Our study found that formal definitions of drug shortages currently exist in only a few countries. The characteristics of drug shortages, including their assortment, duration, frequency, and dynamics, were found to be variable and sometimes difficult to assess. Numerous information hubs were identified. Providing public access to information on drug shortages to the maximum possible extent is a prerequisite for performing more advanced studies on the problem and identifying solutions. Imposing public service obligations, providing the formal possibility to prescribe unlicensed medicines, and temporary bans on parallel exports are widespread measures. A positive finding of our study was the identification of numerous bottom-up initiatives and organizational frameworks aimed at preventing or mitigating drug shortages. The experiences and lessons drawn from these initiatives should be carefully evaluated, monitored, and presented to a wider international audience for careful appraisal. To be able to find solutions to the problem of drug shortages, there is an urgent need to develop a set of agreed definitions for drug shortages, as well as methodologies for their evaluation and monitoring. This is being progressed

    AGN STORM 2: V. Anomalous Behavior of the CIV Light Curve in Mrk 817

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    An intensive reverberation mapping campaign on the Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk817 using the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) revealed significant variations in the response of the broad UV emission lines to fluctuations in the continuum emission. The response of the prominent UV emission lines changes over a \sim60-day duration, resulting in distinctly different time lags in the various segments of the light curve over the 14 months observing campaign. One-dimensional echo-mapping models fit these variations if a slowly varying background is included for each emission line. These variations are more evident in the CIV light curve, which is the line least affected by intrinsic absorption in Mrk817 and least blended with neighboring emission lines. We identify five temporal windows with distinct emission line response, and measure their corresponding time delays, which range from 2 to 13 days. These temporal windows are plausibly linked to changes in the UV and X-ray obscuration occurring during these same intervals. The shortest time lags occur during periods with diminishing obscuration, whereas the longest lags occur during periods with rising obscuration. We propose that the obscuring outflow shields the ultraviolet broad lines from the ionizing continuum. The resulting change in the spectral energy distribution of the ionizing continuum, as seen by clouds at a range of distances from the nucleus, is responsible for the changes in the line response.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Ap

    AGN STORM 2. IV. Swift X-ray and ultraviolet/optical monitoring of Mrk 817

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    The AGN STORM 2 campaign is a large, multiwavelength reverberation mapping project designed to trace out the structure of Mrk 817 from the inner accretion disk to the broad emission line region and out to the dusty torus. As part of this campaign, Swift performed daily monitoring of Mrk 817 for approximately 15 months, obtaining observations in X-rays and six UV/optical filters. The X-ray monitoring shows that Mrk 817 was in a significantly fainter state than in previous observations, with only a brief flare where it reached prior flux levels. The X-ray spectrum is heavily obscured. The UV/optical light curves show significant variability throughout the campaign and are well correlated with one another, but uncorrelated with the X-rays. Combining the Swift UV/optical light curves with Hubble UV continuum light curves, we measure interband continuum lags, τ(λ)\tau(\lambda), that increase with increasing wavelength roughly following τ(λ)λ4/3\tau(\lambda) \propto \lambda^{4/3}, the dependence expected for a geometrically thin, optically thick, centrally illuminated disk. Modeling of the light curves reveals a period at the beginning of the campaign where the response of the continuum is suppressed compared to later in the light curve - the light curves are not simple shifted and scaled versions of each other. The interval of suppressed response corresponds to a period of high UV line and X-ray absorption, and reduced emission line variability amplitudes. We suggest that this indicates a significant contribution to the continuum from the broad line region gas that sees an absorbed ionizing continuum.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in Ap

    A global analysis of Y-chromosomal haplotype diversity for 23 STR loci

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    In a worldwide collaborative effort, 19,630 Y-chromosomes were sampled from 129 different populations in 51 countries. These chromosomes were typed for 23 short-tandem repeat (STR) loci (DYS19, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS385ab, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439, DYS448, DYS456, DYS458, DYS635, GATAH4, DYS481, DYS533, DYS549, DYS570, DYS576, and DYS643) and using the PowerPlex Y23 System (PPY23, Promega Corporation, Madison, WI). Locus-specific allelic spectra of these markers were determined and a consistently high level of allelic diversity was observed. A considerable number of null, duplicate and off-ladder alleles were revealed. Standard single-locus and haplotype-based parameters were calculated and compared between subsets of Y-STR markers established for forensic casework. The PPY23 marker set provides substantially stronger discriminatory power than other available kits but at the same time reveals the same general patterns of population structure as other marker sets. A strong correlation was observed between the number of Y-STRs included in a marker set and some of the forensic parameters under study. Interestingly a weak but consistent trend toward smaller genetic distances resulting from larger numbers of markers became apparent.Peer reviewe
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