Research and development of high temperature resistant polymeric film forming material final summary report, 1 mar. 1961 - 17 apr. 1962

Preparation of poly-organometallosiloxane polymers from reactions between bis-dialkylamino metal derivatives and silanediol

Reciprocal interactions between the bark beetle-associated yeast Ogataea pini and host plant phytochemistry

Here we report the first experiments testing reciprocal effects between the bark beetle-associated yeast, Ogataea pini, and phytochemicals present in tree tissues (Pinus ponderosa). We tested two hypotheses: (i) tree phytochemicals mediate O. pin,i growth and (ii) O. pini affects chemical composition of plant tissues. We tested six monoterpenes on O. pins biomass growth in vitro and found that most monoterpenes inhibited O. pini growth; however mean O. pini biomass increased 21.5% when treated with myrcene and 75.5% when treated with terpinolene, relative to control. Ogataea pini was grown on phloem tissue ex vivo to determine whether O. pini affected phloem chemistry. Monoterpene concentrations declined in phloem over time, but phloem colonized by O. pini had significantly different concentrations of monoterpenes at two periods than phloem with no yeast. After 7 d, when O. pini was present, concentrations of the monoterpene Delta-3-carene was 42.9% lower than uncolonized phloem and concentrations of the monoterpene terpinolene was 345.0% higher than uncolonized phloem. After 15 d phloem colonized by O. pini had 505.4% higher concentrations of a-pinene than uncolonized phloem. These experiments suggest that O. pini responds to phytochemicals present in host tissues and the presence of O. pini might alter the chemical environment of phloem tissues during the early stages of beetle development. The interactions between O. pini and phytochemicals in pine vascular tissues might have consequences for the bark beetle that vectors O. pini, Dendroctonus brevicomis

Jet of Blood

A virtual production of Antonin Artaud’s 1925 play, Jet of Blood

Factors affecting decisions to extend access to primary care: results of a qualitative evaluation of general practitioners' views

OBJECTIVES: To report general practitioners' (GPs') views and experiences of an Enhanced Primary Care programme (EPCP) funded as part of the Prime Minister's Challenge Fund (second wave) for England which aimed to extend patient access to primary care. SETTING: Primary care in Sheffield, England. PARTICIPANTS: Semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of GPs working in 24 practices across the city. RESULTS: Four core themes were derived: GPs' receptivity to the aims of the EPCP, their capacity to support integrated care teams, their capacity to manage urgent care and the value of some new community-based schemes to enhance locality-based primary care. GPs were aware of the policy initiatives associated with out-of-hours access that aimed to reduce emergency department and hospital admissions. Due to limited capacity to respond to the programme, they selected elements that directly related to local patient demand and did not increase their own workload. CONCLUSIONS: The variation in practice engagement and capacity to manage changes in primary care services warrants a subtle and specialist approach to programme planning. The study makes the case for enhanced planning and organisational development with GPs as stakeholders within individual practices and groups. This would ensure that policy implementation is effective and sustained at local level. A failure to localise implementation may be associated with increased workloading in primary care without the sustained benefits to patients and the public. To enable GPs to become involved in systems transformation, further research is needed to identify the best methods to engage GPs in programme planning and evaluation

Tree size but not forest basal area influences ant colony response to disturbance in a neotropical ant–plant association

Ant–acacia mutualisms are conspicuous biotic associations in Savannah and neotropical ecosystems; however, the effects of tree size and forest structure on ant behaviour and tree traits are rarely examined. We tested two hypotheses related to these effects: (1) ant responses to disturbance are influenced by tree size and forest basal area; and (2) tree traits important to ants are predictable by tree size and forest basal area. We investigated these hypotheses in a dry tropical forest (Ometepe Island, Nicaragua) with the myrmecophytic Collins acacia (Vachellia collinsii Saff.) and the ant Pseudomyrmex spinicola (Emery 1890). We measured trees from three size classes and three basal area classes and quantified resources that are important for ants, including food resources (nectaries and Beltian bodies) and domiciles (thorns), as well as a measure of potential tree reproductive fitness (seedpods). We also evaluated ant responses to experimental disturbances. Three important findings emerged: (1) on average, 1140–1173% more ants responded to experimental disturbances of large trees than small- or intermediate-sized trees, respectively; (2) forest basal area did not affect ant responses to disturbance; and (3) neither tree size nor forest basal area was correlated with branch-level mean numbers of nectaries, food bodies or thorns. Our studies support the hypothesis that tree size is an important factor regarding ant behavioural responses to disturbance, but not forest basal area. Our work suggests that future studies of ant behaviour on myrmecophytes should consider tree size

Using Watershed Pour-Point Elevations to Evaluate the Base of Fresh Groundwater in the Cumberland Plateau of Eastern Kentucky

Horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing at shallow depths (less than 2,200 ft) in the Devonian Berea Sandstone oil and gas play, along with the potential for high-volume hydraulic fracturing in the nascent Cambrian Rogersville Shale gas play, have generated a renewed interest in protecting groundwater quality in eastern Kentucky. A critical component of protection is an accurate understanding of the distribution of fresh water in the subsurface. The “Fresh-Saline Water Interface Map of Kentucky” by H.T. Hopkins, published by the U.S. Geological Survey and Kentucky Geological Survey in 1966, has been a critical reference for assessing the maximum depth of fresh groundwater and is an important guidance document for well operators and regulatory agencies. To create the map, Hopkins assumed that total depth of domestic water wells equaled the base of fresh groundwater (total dissolved solids less than 1,000 ppm). Most domestic wells fail to penetrate the deepest fresh groundwater, however, and consequently, Hopkins’s map likely underestimates the depth of the fresh-saline water interface. Our study also used total depths of wells to map the base of fresh groundwater, but increased the data density by adding data from domestic water wells drilled after 1966. In the 14-county study area, the number of wells increased from 50 used by Hopkins to 4,824 in this study. Total well depths were contour mapped using Petra software. Despite the increased data density, the inclusion of a greater number of shallow wells produced contour patterns that impeded resolution of deep fresh groundwater distribution (i.e., noise). To limit the influence of shallow wells, we eliminated wells with total depths above the elevations of watershed pour points in each watershed defined by 14- and 11-digit hydrologic unit codes. This excluded wells that did not penetrate the deepest fresh groundwater in low-order watersheds. We then created maps based on all wells with total depths below the elevations of their respective pour points in 14- and 11-digit hydrologic units (n = 3,203 and 854, respectively), as well as maps based on the single deepest well in the 14- and 11-digit hydrologic units (n = 1,420 and 74, respectively). The pour-point method improved the resolution of deep fresh groundwater distribution, and the map using the single deepest well depth in each 11-digit hydrologic unit provided the clearest illustration of deep fresh groundwater distribution. Throughout most of the study area, the estimated depth of fresh groundwater derived from the 11-digit hydrologic unit deepest-well map is, on average, 147 ft deeper than the interface shown on the Hopkins map; in eastern Lawrence County, the difference exceeds 500 ft. Even though our study resulted in an improved estimate of maximum fresh groundwater depth, uncertainties remain in the data and methods. To reflect this uncertainty, the term “deepest observed fresh water” should be used as an alternative to “fresh-saline water interface.

Added mass of whipping modes for ships at high Froude number by a free surface boundary element method coupled with strip theory

Accurate prediction of the whipping response of a ship's structure following a wave impact is fundamental to both the prediction of instantaneous local stresses and global fatigue life assessment. In particular the added mass effect of the surrounding water has a profound effect on the modal frequencies. ``Strip theory'', routinely used for analysis of rigid body motions of ships in waves, is extended in this paper to include ship flexure. Moreover, the theoretical foundation of the method is discussed and it is shown that, although the theory becomes invalid for rigid body motions of high-speed vessels, the ship flexure problem is an ideal application of the theory. The associated two-dimensional free surface gravity wave problem is solved using a boundary element method based on wave functions given by Wehausen and Laitone (1960), which is also described. Results are validated against a fully three-dimensional solution, and incorporation of the added mass into a finite element model is shown to give excellent agreement with full scale measurements

Quantitative acoustic models for superfluid circuits

We experimentally realize a highly tunable superfluid oscillator circuit in a quantum gas of ultracold atoms and develop and verify a simple lumped-element description of this circuit. At low oscillator currents, we demonstrate that the circuit is accurately described as a Helmholtz resonator, a fundamental element of acoustic circuits. At larger currents, the breakdown of the Helmholtz regime is heralded by a turbulent shedding of vortices and density waves. Although a simple phase-slip model offers qualitative insights into the circuit's resistive behavior, our results indicate deviations from the phase-slip model. A full understanding of the dissipation in superfluid circuits will thus require the development of empirical models of the turbulent dynamics in this system, as have been developed for classical acoustic systems.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure

Genetic and Neuroanatomical Support for Functional Brain Network Dynamics in Epilepsy

Focal epilepsy is a devastating neurological disorder that affects an overwhelming number of patients worldwide, many of whom prove resistant to medication. The efficacy of current innovative technologies for the treatment of these patients has been stalled by the lack of accurate and effective methods to fuse multimodal neuroimaging data to map anatomical targets driving seizure dynamics. Here we propose a parsimonious model that explains how large-scale anatomical networks and shared genetic constraints shape inter-regional communication in focal epilepsy. In extensive ECoG recordings acquired from a group of patients with medically refractory focal-onset epilepsy, we find that ictal and preictal functional brain network dynamics can be accurately predicted from features of brain anatomy and geometry, patterns of white matter connectivity, and constraints complicit in patterns of gene coexpression, all of which are conserved across healthy adult populations. Moreover, we uncover evidence that markers of non-conserved architecture, potentially driven by idiosyncratic pathology of single subjects, are most prevalent in high frequency ictal dynamics and low frequency preictal dynamics. Finally, we find that ictal dynamics are better predicted by white matter features and more poorly predicted by geometry and genetic constraints than preictal dynamics, suggesting that the functional brain network dynamics manifest in seizures rely on - and may directly propagate along - underlying white matter structure that is largely conserved across humans. Broadly, our work offers insights into the generic architectural principles of the human brain that impact seizure dynamics, and could be extended to further our understanding, models, and predictions of subject-level pathology and response to intervention