Material Characterization and Real-Time Wear Evaluation of Pistons and Cylinder Liners of the Tiger 131 Military Tank

Material characterisation and wear evaluation of the original and replacement pistons and cylinder-liners of Tiger 131 is reported. Original piston and cylinder-liner were operative in the Tigers’ engine during WWII. The replacement piston and cylinder-liner were used as substitutes and were obtained after failure in two hours of operation in the actual engine. Material characterisation revealed that the original piston was aluminium silicon hypereutectic alloy whereas the replacement piston was aluminium copper alloy with very low silicon content. Both original and replacement cylinder-liners consisted of mostly iron which is indicative of cast iron, a common material for this application. The replacement piston average surface roughness was found to be 9.09 μm while for replacement cylinder-liner it was 5.78 μm

Hedgehog Signalling in Androgen Independent Prostate Cancer

Objectives: Androgen-deprivation therapy effectively shrinks hormone-naïve prostate cancer, both in the prostate and at sites of distant metastasis. However prolonged androgen deprivation generally results in relapse and androgen-independent tumour growth, which is inevitably fatal. The molecular events that enable prostate cancer cells to proliferate in reduced androgen conditions are poorly understood. Here we investigate the role of Hedgehog signalling in androgen-independent prostate cancer (AIPC). Methods: Activity of the Hedgehog signalling pathway was analysed in cultured prostate cancer cells, and circulating prostate tumour cells were isolated from blood samples of patients with AIPC. Results: AIPC cells were derived through prolonged culture in reduced androgen conditions, modelling hormone therapy in patients, and expressed increased levels of Hedgehog signalling proteins. Exposure of cultured AIPC cells to cyclopamine, which inhibits Hedgehog signalling, resulted in inhibition of cancer cell growth. The expression of the Hedgehog receptor PTCH and the highly prostate cancer-specific gene DD3PCA3 was significantly higher in circulating prostate cancer cells isolated from patients with AIPC compared with samples prepared from normal individuals. There was an association between PTCH and DD3PCA3 expression and the length of androgen-ablation therapy. Conclusions: Our data are consistent with reports implicating overactivity of Hedgehog signalling in prostate cancer and suggest that Hedgehog signalling contributes to the androgen-independent growth of prostate cancer cells. As systemic anti-Hedgehog medicines are developed, the Hedgehog pathway will become a potential new therapeutic target in advanced prostate cancer.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Performance modeling of ultraviolet Raman lidar systems for daytime profiling of atmospheric water vapor

We describe preliminary results from a comprehensive computer model developed to guide optimization of a Raman lidar system for measuring daytime profiles of atmospheric water vapor, emphasizing an ultraviolet, solar-blind approach

Evidence of distinct profiles of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) based on the new ICD-11 Trauma Questionnaire (ICD-TQ)

BACKGROUND: The WHO International Classification of Diseases, 11th version (ICD-11), has proposed two related diagnoses following exposure to traumatic events; Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex PTSD (CPTSD). We set out to explore whether the newly developed ICD-11 Trauma Questionnaire (ICD-TQ) can distinguish between classes of individuals according to the PTSD and CPTSD symptom profiles as per ICD-11 proposals based on latent class analysis. We also hypothesized that the CPTSD class would report more frequent and a greater number of different types of childhood trauma as well as higher levels of functional impairment. Methods Participants in this study were a sample of individuals who were referred for psychological therapy to a National Health Service (NHS) trauma centre in Scotland (N=193). Participants completed the ICD-TQ as well as measures of life events and functioning. RESULTS: Overall, results indicate that using the newly developed ICD-TQ, two subgroups of treatment-seeking individuals could be empirically distinguished based on different patterns of symptom endorsement; a small group high in PTSD symptoms only and a larger group high in CPTSD symptoms. In addition, CPTSD was more strongly associated with more frequent and a greater accumulation of different types of childhood traumatic experiences and poorer functional impairment. LIMITATIONS: Sample predominantly consisted of people who had experienced childhood psychological trauma or been multiply traumatised in childhood and adulthood. CONCLUSIONS: CPTSD is highly prevalent in treatment seeking populations who have been multiply traumatised in childhood and adulthood and appropriate interventions should now be developed to aid recovery from this debilitating condition

Estrogen-Like Activity of Perfluoroalkyl Acids In Vivo and Interaction with Human and Rainbow Trout Estrogen Receptors In Vitro

The objectives of this study were to determine the structural characteristics of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) that confer estrogen-like activity in vivo using juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) as an animal model and to determine whether these chemicals interact directly with the estrogen receptor (ER) using in vitro and in silico species comparison approaches. Perfluorooctanoic (PFOA), perfluorononanoic (PFNA), perfluorodecanoic (PFDA), and perfluoroundecanoic (PFUnDA) acids were all potent inducers of the estrogen-responsive biomarker protein vitellogenin (Vtg) in vivo, although at fairly high dietary exposures. A structure-activity relationship for PFAAs was observed, where eight to ten fluorinated carbons and a carboxylic acid end group were optimal for maximal Vtg induction. These in vivo findings were corroborated by in vitro mechanistic assays for trout and human ER. All PFAAs tested weakly bound to trout liver ER with half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 15.2-289μM. Additionally, PFOA, PFNA, PFDA, PFUnDA, and perlfuorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) significantly enhanced human ERα-dependent transcriptional activation at concentrations ranging from 10-1000nM. Finally, we employed an in silico computational model based upon the crystal structure for the human ERα ligand-binding domain complexed with E2 to structurally investigate binding of these putative ligands to human, mouse, and trout ERα. PFOA, PFNA, PFDA, and PFOS all efficiently docked with ERα from different species and formed a hydrogen bond at residue Arg394/398/407 (human/mouse/trout) in a manner similar to the environmental estrogens bisphenol A and nonylphenol. Overall, these data support the contention that several PFAAs are weak environmental xenoestrogens of potential concer

Non-linear susceptibilities of spherical models

The static and dynamic susceptibilities for a general class of mean field random orthogonal spherical spin glass models are studied. We show how the static and dynamical properties of the linear and nonlinear susceptibilities depend on the behaviour of the density of states of the two body interaction matrix in the neighbourhood of the largest eigenvalue. Our results are compared with experimental results and also with those of the droplet theory of spin glasses.Comment: 20 pages, 2 fig

Statistics of electromagnetic transitions as a signature of chaos in many-electron atoms

Using a configuration interaction approach we study statistics of the dipole matrix elements (E1 amplitudes) between the 14 lower odd states with J=4 and 21st to 100th even states with J=4 in the Ce atom (1120 lines). We show that the distribution of the matrix elements is close to Gaussian, although the width of the Gaussian distribution, i.e. the root-mean-square matrix element, changes with the excitation energy. The corresponding line strengths are distributed according to the Porter-Thomas law which describes statistics of transition strengths between chaotic states in compound nuclei. We also show how to use a statistical theory to calculate mean squared values of the matrix elements or transition amplitudes between chaotic many-body states. We draw some support for our conclusions from the analysis of the 228 experimental line strengths in Ce [J. Opt. Soc. Am. v. 8, p. 1545 (1991)], although direct comparison with the calculations is impeded by incompleteness of the experimental data. Nevertheless, the statistics observed evidence that highly excited many-electron states in atoms are indeed chaotic.Comment: 16 pages, REVTEX, 4 PostScript figures (submitted to Phys Rev A

Irruptions of the Sacred in a “World of Shit”: Profanity, Sacred Words, and Cinematic Hierophanies in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Full Metal Jacket remains embedded in the consciousness of the popular culture mainly because of its abundance of profane language, violent imagery, and salacious set pieces. The juxtaposition of profane language and imagery with sacred language and religious symbolism reveals that Kubrick’s Vietnam film has powerful religious overtones that comprise an important element of the film’s critique of homo religiosus and the modern human condition. By continually juxtaposing the sacred and profane, Kubrick created “cinematic hierophanies” that advanced a cultural critique that inventively integrated ideas from some of the mid-20th Century’s greatest interpreters of myths -- Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, and Mircea Eliade

International meta-analysis of PTSD genome-wide association studies identifies sex- and ancestry-specific genetic risk loci.

The risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following trauma is heritable, but robust common variants have yet to be identified. In a multi-ethnic cohort including over 30,000 PTSD cases and 170,000 controls we conduct a genome-wide association study of PTSD. We demonstrate SNP-based heritability estimates of 5-20%, varying by sex. Three genome-wide significant loci are identified, 2 in European and 1 in African-ancestry analyses. Analyses stratified by sex implicate 3 additional loci in men. Along with other novel genes and non-coding RNAs, a Parkinson's disease gene involved in dopamine regulation, PARK2, is associated with PTSD. Finally, we demonstrate that polygenic risk for PTSD is significantly predictive of re-experiencing symptoms in the Million Veteran Program dataset, although specific loci did not replicate. These results demonstrate the role of genetic variation in the biology of risk for PTSD and highlight the necessity of conducting sex-stratified analyses and expanding GWAS beyond European ancestry populations