Carbon nanotubes grown in situ by a novel catalytic method

Carbon nanotubes can be produced by the catalytic decomposition of hydrocarbons on small metal particles. However, nanotubes are generally produced together with non-tubular filaments and tubes coated by pyrolytic carbon. We propose a novel catalyst method for the in situ production, in a composite powder, of a huge amount of single- and multiwalled carbon nanotubes, having a diameter between 1.5 and 15 nm and arranged in bundles up to 100 mm long. We anticipate that dense materials prepared from such composite powders could have interesting mechanical and physical properties

A Novel Method to Prevent Misconfigurations of Industrial Automation and Control Systems

Configuration errors are among the dominant causes of system faults for the industrial automation and control systems (IACS). It is difficult to detect and correct such errors of IACS as there are various kinds of systems and devices with miscellaneous configuration specifications. In this paper, we first propose a streaming algorithm to keep all the configuration changes in the limited memory space. And, when making a new configuration change, another novel streaming algorithm is proposed to search and return all the similar historical changes which can be used to validate this new one. So far, we are the first to model the configuration changes of IACS as a data stream and apply the streaming similarity search in correcting configuration errors while overcoming the inherent unbounded-memory bottleneck. The theoretical correctness and complexity analyses are presented. Experiments with real and synthetic datasets confirm the theoretical analyses and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in preventing misconfigurations of IACS

Metagenomic study of the viruses of African straw-coloured fruit bats: detection of a chiropteran poxvirus and isolation of a novel adenovirus

Viral emergence as a result of zoonotic transmission constitutes a continuous public health threat. Emerging viruses such as SARS coronavirus, hantaviruses and henipaviruses have wildlife reservoirs. Characterising the viruses of candidate reservoir species in geographical hot spots for viral emergence is a sensible approach to develop tools to predict, prevent, or contain emergence events. Here, we explore the viruses of Eidolon helvum, an Old World fruit bat species widely distributed in Africa that lives in close proximity to humans. We identified a great abundance and diversity of novel herpes and papillomaviruses, described the isolation of a novel adenovirus, and detected, for the first time, sequences of a chiropteran poxvirus closely related with Molluscum contagiosum. In sum, E. helvum display a wide variety of mammalian viruses, some of them genetically similar to known human pathogens, highlighting the possibility of zoonotic transmission

The Benefit of Enhanced Contractility in the Infarct Borderzone: A Virtual Experiment

Objectives: Contractile function in the normally perfused infarct borderzone (BZ) is depressed. However, the impact of reduced BZ contractility on left ventricular (LV) pump function is unknown. As a consequence, there have been no therapies specifically designed to improve BZ contractility. We tested the hypothesis that an improvement in borderzone contractility will improve LV pump function. Methods: From a previously reported study, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images with non-invasive tags were used to calculate 3D myocardial strain in five sheep 16 weeks after anteroapical myocardial infarction. Animal-specific finite element (FE) models were created using MRI data and LV pressure obtained at early diastolic filling. Analysis of borderzone function using those FE models has been previously reported. Chamber stiffness, pump function (Starling’s law) and stress in the fiber, cross fiber, and circumferential directions were calculated. Animal-specific FE models were performed for three cases: (a) impaired BZ contractility (INJURED); (b) BZ-contractility fully restored (100% BZ IMPROVEMENT); or (c) BZ-contractility partially restored (50% BZ IMPROVEMENT). Results: 100% BZ IMPROVEMENT and 50% BZ IMPROVEMENT both caused an upward shift in the Starling relationship, resulting in a large (36 and 26%) increase in stroke volume at LVPED = 20 mmHg (8.0 ml, p < 0.001). Moreover, there were a leftward shift in the end-systolic pressure volume relationship, resulting in a 7 and 5% increase in LVPES at 110 mmHg (7.7 ml, p < 0.005). It showed that even 50% BZ IMPROVEMENT was sufficient to drive much of the calculated increase in function. Conclusion: Improved borderzone contractility has a beneficial effect on LV pump function. Partial improvement of borderzone contractility was sufficient to drive much of the calculated increase in function. Therapies specifically designed to improve borderzone contractility should be developed

A Clinical and Epidemiological Investigation of the First Reported Human Infection With the Zoonotic Parasite Trypanosoma evansi in Southeast Asia

Background. Trypanosoma is a genus of unicellular parasitic flagellate protozoa. Trypanosoma brucei species and Trypanosoma cruzi are the major agents of human trypanosomiasis; other Trypanosoma species can cause human disease, but are rare. In March 2015, a 38-year-old woman presented to a healthcare facility in southern Vietnam with fever, headache, and arthralgia. Microscopic examination of blood revealed infection with Trypanosoma. Methods. Microscopic observation, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of blood samples, and serological testing were performed to identify the infecting species. The patient's blood was screened for the trypanocidal protein apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1), and a field investigation was performed to identify the zoonotic source. Results. PCR amplification and serological testing identified the infecting species as Trypanosoma evansi. Despite relapsing 6 weeks after completing amphotericin B therapy, the patient made a complete recovery after 5 weeks of suramin. The patient was found to have 2 wild-type APOL1 alleles and a normal serum APOL1 concentration. After responsive animal sampling in the presumed location of exposure, cattle and/or buffalo were determined to be the most likely source of the infection, with 14 of 30 (47%) animal blood samples testing PCR positive for T. evansi. Conclusions. We report the first laboratory-confirmed case of T. evansi in a previously healthy individual without APOL1 deficiency, potentially contracted via a wound while butchering raw beef, and successfully treated with suramin. A linked epidemiological investigation revealed widespread and previously unidentified burden of T. evansi in local cattle, highlighting the need for surveillance of this infection in animals and the possibility of further human cases

Detecting Solenoid Valve Deterioration in In-Use Electronic Diesel Fuel Injection Control Systems

The diesel engine is the main power source for most agricultural vehicles. The control of diesel engine emissions is an important global issue. Fuel injection control systems directly affect fuel efficiency and emissions of diesel engines. Deterioration faults, such as rack deformation, solenoid valve failure, and rack-travel sensor malfunction, are possibly in the fuel injection module of electronic diesel control (EDC) systems. Among these faults, solenoid valve failure is most likely to occur for in-use diesel engines. According to the previous studies, this failure is a result of the wear of the plunger and sleeve, based on a long period of usage, lubricant degradation, or engine overheating. Due to the difficulty in identifying solenoid valve deterioration, this study focuses on developing a sensor identification algorithm that can clearly classify the usability of the solenoid valve, without disassembling the fuel pump of an EDC system for in-use agricultural vehicles. A diagnostic algorithm is proposed, including a feedback controller, a parameter identifier, a linear variable differential transformer (LVDT) sensor, and a neural network classifier. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can accurately identify the usability of solenoid valves

A Selberg integral for the Lie algebra A_n

A new q-binomial theorem for Macdonald polynomials is employed to prove an A_n analogue of the celebrated Selberg integral. This confirms the g=A_n case of a conjecture by Mukhin and Varchenko concerning the existence of a Selberg integral for every simple Lie algebra g.Comment: 32 page

Increased Oxidative Burden Associated with Traffic Component of Ambient Particulate Matter at Roadside and Urban Background Schools Sites in London

As the incidence of respiratory and allergic symptoms has been reported to be increased in children attending schools in close proximity to busy roads, it was hypothesised that PM from roadside schools would display enhanced oxidative potential (OP). Two consecutive one-week air quality monitoring campaigns were conducted at seven school sampling sites, reflecting roadside and urban background in London. Chemical characteristics of size fractionated particulate matter (PM) samples were related to the capacity to drive biological oxidation reactions in a synthetic respiratory tract lining fluid. Contrary to hypothesised contrasts in particulate OP between school site types, no robust size-fractionated differences in OP were identified due high temporal variability in concentrations of PM components over the one-week sampling campaigns. For OP assessed both by ascorbate (OPAA m−3) and glutathione (OPGSH m−3) depletion, the highest OP per cubic metre of air was in the largest size fraction, PM1.9–10.2. However, when expressed per unit mass of particles OPAA µg−1 showed no significant dependence upon particle size, while OPGSH µg−1 had a tendency to increase with increasing particle size, paralleling increased concentrations of Fe, Ba and Cu. The two OP metrics were not significantly correlated with one another, suggesting that the glutathione and ascorbate depletion assays respond to different components of the particles. Ascorbate depletion per unit mass did not show the same dependence as for GSH and it is possible that other trace metals (Zn, Ni, V) or organic components which are enriched in the finer particle fractions, or the greater surface area of smaller particles, counter-balance the redox activity of Fe, Ba and Cu in the coarse particles. Further work with longer-term sampling and a larger suite of analytes is advised in order to better elucidate the determinants of oxidative potential, and to fuller explore the contrasts between site types.\ud \u

Double-peaked Narrow-Line Signatures of Dual Supermassive Black Holes in Galaxy Merger Simulations

We present a first attempt to model the narrow-line (NL) region of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in hydrodynamic simulations of galaxy mergers, using a novel physical prescription. This model is used to determine the origin of double-peaked NL (dNL) AGN in merging galaxies and their connection to supermassive black hole (SMBH) pairs, motivated by recent observations of such objects. We find that dNL AGN induced by the relative motion of SMBH pairs are a generic but short-lived feature of gaseous major mergers. dNL AGN should often be observed in late-stage mergers, during the kpc-scale phase of SMBH inspiral or soon after the SMBH merger. However, even within the kpc-scale phase, only a minority of dNL AGN are directly induced by SMBH motion; their lifetimes are typically a few Myr. Most double peaks arise from gas kinematics near the SMBH, although prior to the SMBH merger up to 80% of all dNL profiles may be influenced by SMBH motion via altered peak ratios or velocity offsets. The total lifetimes of dNL AGN depend strongly on viewing angle and on properties of the merging galaxies. Also, in a typical merger, at least 10-40% of the double peaks induced by SMBH motion have small projected separations, 0.1-1 kpc, such that dual peaks of stellar surface brightness are not easily resolved. Diffuse tidal features can indicate late-stage galaxy mergers, although they do not distinguish SMBH pairs from merged SMBHs. We show that dNL profiles with peak velocity splittings > 500 km s^-1 or with measurable overall velocity shifts are often associated with SMBH pairs. Our results support the notion that selection of dNL AGN is a promising method for identifying dual SMBH candidates, but demonstrate the critical importance of high-resolution, multi-wavelength follow-up observations, and the use of multiple lines of evidence, for confirming the dual nature of candidate SMBH pairs. (Abridged)Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures. Moderate revisions; accepted to MNRA