New model of calculating the energy transfer efficiency for the spherical theta-pinch device

Ion-beam-plasma-interaction plays an important role in the field of Warm Dense Matter (WDM) and Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF). A spherical theta pinch is proposed to act as a plasma target in various applications including a plasma stripper cell. One key parameter for such applications is the free electron density. A linear dependency of this density to the amount of energy transferred into the plasma from an energy storage was found by C. Teske. Since the amount of stored energy is known, the energy transfer efficiency is a reliable parameter for the design of a spherical theta pinch device. The traditional two models of energy transfer efficiency are based on assumptions which comprise the risk of systematical errors. To obtain precise results, this paper proposes a new model without the necessity of any assumption to calculate the energy transfer efficiency for an inductively coupled plasma device. Further, a comparison of these three different models is given at a fixed operation voltage for the full range of working gas pressures. Due to the inappropriate assumptions included in the traditional models, one owns a tendency to overestimate the energy transfer efficiency whereas the other leads to an underestimation. Applying our new model to a wide spread set of operation voltages and gas pressures, an overall picture of the energy transfer efficiency results

Neural BRDF Representation and Importance Sampling

Controlled capture of real-world material appearance yields tabulated sets of highly realistic reflectance data. In practice, however, its high memory footprint requires compressing into a representation that can be used efficiently in rendering while remaining faithful to the original. Previous works in appearance encoding often prioritized one of these requirements at the expense of the other, by either applying high-fidelity array compression strategies not suited for efficient queries during rendering, or by fitting a compact analytic model that lacks expressiveness. We present a compact neural network-based representation of BRDF data that combines high-accuracy reconstruction with efficient practical rendering via built-in interpolation of reflectance. We encode BRDFs as lightweight networks, and propose a training scheme with adaptive angular sampling, critical for the accurate reconstruction of specular highlights. Additionally, we propose a novel approach to make our representation amenable to importance sampling: rather than inverting the trained networks, we learn to encode them in a more compact embedding that can be mapped to parameters of an analytic BRDF for which importance sampling is known. We evaluate encoding results on isotropic and anisotropic BRDFs from multiple real-world datasets, and importance sampling performance for isotropic BRDFs mapped to two different analytic models

Staphylococcus aureus α-Toxin Triggers the Synthesis of B-Cell Lymphoma 3 by Human Platelets

The frequency and severity of bacteremic infections has increased over the last decade and bacterial endovascular infections (i.e., sepsis or endocarditis) are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Bacteria or secreted bacterial products modulate platelet function and, as a result, affect platelet accumulation at sites of vascular infection and inflammation. However, whether bacterial products regulate synthetic events in platelets is not known. In the present study, we determined if prolonged contact with staphylococcal α-toxin signals platelets to synthesize B-cell lymphoma (Bcl-3), a protein that regulates clot retraction in murine and human platelets. We show that α-toxin induced αIIbβ3-dependent aggregation (EC50 2.98 µg/mL ± 0.64 µg/mL) and, over time, significantly altered platelet morphology and stimulated de novo accumulation of Bcl-3 protein in platelets. Adherence to collagen or fibrinogen also increased the expression of Bcl-3 protein by platelets. α-toxin altered Bcl-3 protein expression patterns in platelets adherent to collagen, but not fibrinogen. Pretreatment of platelets with inhibitors of protein synthesis or the mammalian Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) decreased Bcl-3 protein expression in α-toxin stimulated platelets. In conclusion, Staphylococcus aureus-derived α-toxin, a pore forming exotoxin, exerts immediate (i.e., aggregation) and prolonged (i.e., protein synthesis) responses in platelets, which may contribute to increased thrombotic events associated with gram-positive sepsis or endocarditis

A high-affinity antibody against the CSP N-terminal domain lacks Plasmodium falciparum inhibitory activity

Malaria is a global health concern and research efforts are ongoing to develop a superior vaccine to RTS,S/AS01. To guide immunogen design, we seek a comprehensive understanding of the protective humoral response against Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein (PfCSP). In contrast to the well-studied responses to the repeat region and the C-terminus, the antibody response against the N-terminal domain of PfCSP (N-CSP) remains obscure. Here, we characterized the molecular recognition and functional efficacy of the N-CSP-specific monoclonal antibody 5D5. The crystal structure at 1.85 Åresolution revealed that 5D5 binds an α-helical epitope in N-CSP with high affinity through extensive shape and charge complementarity, and the unusual utilization of an N-linked glycan. Nevertheless, functional studies indicated low 5D5 binding to live Pf sporozoites, and lack of sporozoite inhibition in vitro and in mosquitoes. Overall, our data on low recognition and inhibition of sporozoites do not support the inclusion of the 5D5 epitope into the next generation of CSP-based vaccines.Summary Statement The Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite surface protein, PfCSP, is an attractive vaccine target, but the antibody response against the CSP N-terminal domain has remained understudied. Here, to guide immunogen design, Thai et al. provide insights into the binding motif and functional efficacy of the N-terminal domain-specific monoclonal antibody, 5D5

Room temperature high frequency transport of Dirac fermions in epitaxially grown Sb_2Te_3 based topological insulators

We report on the observation of photogalvanic effects in epitaxially grown Sb_2Te_3 three-dimensional (3D) topological insulators (TI). We show that asymmetric scattering of Dirac electrons driven back and forth by the terahertz electric field results in a dc electric current. Due to the "symmetry filtration" the dc current is generated in the surface electrons only and provides an opto-electronic access to probe the electric transport in TI, surface domains orientation and details of electron scattering even in 3D TI at room temperature where conventional surface electron transport is usually hindered by the high carrier density in the bulk

Advanced perception, navigation and planning for autonomous in-water ship hull inspection

Inspection of ship hulls and marine structures using autonomous underwater vehicles has emerged as a unique and challenging application of robotics. The problem poses rich questions in physical design and operation, perception and navigation, and planning, driven by difficulties arising from the acoustic environment, poor water quality and the highly complex structures to be inspected. In this paper, we develop and apply algorithms for the central navigation and planning problems on ship hulls. These divide into two classes, suitable for the open, forward parts of a typical monohull, and for the complex areas around the shafting, propellers and rudders. On the open hull, we have integrated acoustic and visual mapping processes to achieve closed-loop control relative to features such as weld-lines and biofouling. In the complex area, we implemented new large-scale planning routines so as to achieve full imaging coverage of all the structures, at a high resolution. We demonstrate our approaches in recent operations on naval ships.United States. Office of Naval Research (Grant N00014-06-10043)United States. Office of Naval Research (Grant N00014-07-1-0791

Essential Role of P-Selectin in the Initiation of the Inflammatory Response Induced by Hemorrhage and Reinfusion

Resuscitation from hemorrhage induces profound pathophysiologic alterations and activates inflammatory cascades able to initiate neutrophil accumulation in a variety of tissues. This process is accompanied by acute organ damage (e.g., lungs and liver). We have previously demonstrated that significant leukocyte–endothelium interactions occur very early in other forms of ischemia/reperfusion (i.e., splanchnic ischemia/reperfusion and traumatic shock) which are largely mediated by increased expression of the adhesion molecule, P-selectin, on the vascular endothelium. Here we postulated that increased endothelial expression of P-selectin in the microvasculature would play an essential role in initiating the inflammatory signaling of hemorrhagic shock. Using intravital microscopy, we found that hemorrhagic shock significantly increased the number of rolling and adherent leukocytes in the mouse splanchnic microcirculation. In contrast, mice genetically deficient in P-selectin, or wild-type mice given either an anti–P-selectin monoclonal antibody or a recombinant soluble P-selectin glycoprotein ligand (PSGL)-1 immunoglobulin, exhibited markedly attenuated leukocyte–endothelium interaction after hemorrhagic shock. Thus, activation of P-selectin protein on the microvascular endothelium is essential for the initial upregulation of the inflammatory response occurring in hemorrhagic shock. Moreover, endogenous levels of PSGL-1 mRNA were significantly increased in the lung, liver, and small intestine of wild-type mice subjected to hemorrhagic shock. Since PSGL-1 promotes adhesive interactions largely through P-selectin expressed on the vascular endothelium, this result further supports the crucial role played by P-selectin in the recruitment of leukocytes during hemorrhagic shock

A framework for digital sunken relief generation based on 3D geometric models

Sunken relief is a special art form of sculpture whereby the depicted shapes are sunk into a given surface. This is traditionally created by laboriously carving materials such as stone. Sunken reliefs often utilize the engraved lines or strokes to strengthen the impressions of a 3D presence and to highlight the features which otherwise are unrevealed. In other types of reliefs, smooth surfaces and their shadows convey such information in a coherent manner. Existing methods for relief generation are focused on forming a smooth surface with a shallow depth which provides the presence of 3D figures. Such methods unfortunately do not help the art form of sunken reliefs as they omit the presence of feature lines. We propose a framework to produce sunken reliefs from a known 3D geometry, which transforms the 3D objects into three layers of input to incorporate the contour lines seamlessly with the smooth surfaces. The three input layers take the advantages of the geometric information and the visual cues to assist the relief generation. This framework alters existing techniques in line drawings and relief generation, and then combines them organically for this particular purpose

INVESTIGATION OF THE TRANSMISSION AND STOPPING OF LIGHT IONS PASSING THROUGH A PLASMA TARGET

Transmission and energy losses of 2 MeV/u Carbon and Sulphur beams passing through a plasma target, have been extensively investigated. A hydrogen plasma ignited by an electrical discharge was coupled to the Orsay Tandem beam accelerator. Fluctuations in beam transmission have been observed and attributed to a magnetic focusing effect generated during the plasma evolution. Energy loss measurements were performed on the basis of time of flight techniques and indicate an enhanced stopping power of the plasma relative to its cold matter equivalent