Combined Additive Manufacturing Techniques for Adaptive Coastline Protection Structures

Traditional reinforcement cages are manufactured in a handicraft manner and do not use the full potential of the material, nor can they map from optimised geometries. The shown research is focused on robotically-manufactured, structurally-optimised reinforcement structures which are prefabricated and can be encased by concrete through SC3DP in a combined process. Based on the reinforcement concept of “reinforcement supports concrete,” the prefabricated cages support the concrete during application in a combined AM process. To demonstrate the huge potential of combined AM processes based on the SC3DP and WAAM techniques (for example, the manufacturing of individualized CPS), the so-called FLOWall is presented here. First, the form-finding process for the FLOWall concept based on fluid dynamic simulation is explained. For this, a three-step strategy is presented, which consists of (i) the 3D modelling of the element, (ii) the force-flow analysis, and (iii) the structural validation in a computational fluid dynamics software. From the finalized design, the printing phase is divided into two steps, one for the WAAM reinforcement and one for the SC3DP wall. The final result provides a good example of efficient integration of two different printing techniques to create a new generation of freeform coastline protection structures

Effect of carnitine on muscular glutamate uptake and intramuscular glutathione in malignant diseases

Abnormally low intramuscular glutamate and glutathione (GSH) levels and/or a decreased muscular uptake of glutamate by the skeletal muscle tissue have previously been found in malignant diseases and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection and may contribute to the development of cachexia. We tested the hypothesis that an impaired mitochondrial energy metabolism may compromise the Na+-dependent glutamate transport. A randomized double-blind clinical trial was designed to study the effects of L -carnitine, i.e. an agent known to enhance mitochondrial integrity and function, on the glutamate transport and plasma glutamate level of cancer patients. The effect of carnitine on the intramuscular glutamate and GSH levels was examined in complementary experiments with tumour-bearing mice. In the mice, L -carnitine treatment ameliorated indeed the tumour-induced decrease in muscular glutamate and GSH levels and the increase in plasma glutamate levels. The carnitine-treated group in the randomized clinical study showed also a significant decrease in the plasma glutamate levels but only a moderate and statistically not significant increase in the relative glutamate uptake in the lower extremities. Further studies may be warranted to determine the effect of L -carnitine on the intramuscular GSH levels in cancer patients. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaig

Hadamard states from null infinity

Free field theories on a four dimensional, globally hyperbolic spacetime, whose dynamics is ruled by a Green hyperbolic partial differential operator, can be quantized following the algebraic approach. It consists of a two-step procedure: In the first part one identifies the observables of the underlying physical system collecting them in a *-algebra which encodes their relational and structural properties. In the second step one must identify a quantum state, that is a positive, normalized linear functional on the *-algebra out of which one recovers the interpretation proper of quantum mechanical theories via the so-called Gelfand-Naimark-Segal theorem. In between the plethora of possible states, only few of them are considered physically acceptable and they are all characterized by the so-called Hadamard condition, a constraint on the singular structure of the associated two-point function. Goal of this paper is to outline a construction scheme for these states which can be applied whenever the underlying background possesses a null (conformal) boundary. We discuss in particular the examples of a real, massless conformally coupled scalar field and of linearized gravity on a globally hyperbolic and asymptotically flat spacetime.Comment: 23 pages, submitted to the Proceedings of the conference "Quantum Mathematical Physics", held in Regensburg from the 29th of September to the 02nd of October 201

HV 11423: The Coolest Supergiant in the SMC

We call attention to the fact that one of the brightest red supergiants in the SMC has recently changed its spectral type from K0-1 I (December 2004) to M4 I (December 2005) and back to K0-1 I (September 2006). An archival spectrum from the Very Large Telescope reveals that the star was even cooler (M4.5-M5 I) in December 2001. By contrast, the star was observed to be an M0 I in both October 1978 and October 1979. The M4-5 I spectral types is by far the latest type seen for an SMC supergiant, and its temperature in that state places it well beyond the Hayashi limit into a region of the H-R diagram where the star should not be in hydrostatic equilibrium. The star is variable by nearly 2 mag in V, but essentially constant in K. Our modeling of its spectral energy distribution shows that the visual extinction has varied during this time, but that the star has remained essentially constant in bolometric luminosity. We suggest that the star is currently undergoing a period of intense instability, with its effective temperature changing from 4300 K to 3300 K on the time-scale of months. It has one of the highest 12-micron fluxes of any RSG in the SMC, and we suggest that the variability at V is due primarily to changes in effective temperature, and secondly, due to changes in the local extinction due to creation and dissipation of circumstellar dust. We speculate that the star may be nearing the end of its life.Comment: Accepted by the Astrophysical Journa

Concordance of KRAS/BRAF Mutation Status in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer before and after Anti-EGFR Therapy

Anti-EGFR targeted therapy is a potent strategy in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) but activating mutations in the KRAS gene are associated with poor response to this treatment. Therefore, KRAS mutation analysis is employed in the selection of patients for EGFR-targeted therapy and various studies have shown a high concordance between the mutation status in primary CRC and corresponding metastases. However, although development of therapy related resistance occurs also in the context of novel drugs such as tyrosine kinase-inhibitors the effect of the anti-EGFR treatment on the KRAS/BRAF mutation status itself in recurrent mCRC has not yet been clarified. Therefore, we analyzed 21 mCRCs before/after anti-EGFR therapy and found a pre-/posttherapeutic concordance of the KRAS/BRAF mutation status in 20 of the 21 cases examined. In the one discordant case, further analyses revealed that a tumor mosaicism or multiple primary tumors were present, indicating that anti-EGFR therapy has no influence on KRAS/BRAF mutation status in mCRC. Moreover, as the preselection of patients with a KRASwt genotype for anti-EGFR therapy has become a standard procedure, sample sets such ours might be the basis for future studies addressing the identification of potential anti-EGFR therapy induced genetic alterations apart from KRAS/BRAF mutations

Exploring a combined biomarker for tuberculosis treatment response: protocol for a prospective observational cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: An improved understanding of factors explaining tuberculosis (TB) treatment response is urgently needed to help clinicians optimise and personalise treatment and assist scientists undertaking novel treatment regimen trials. Promising outcome proxy measures, including sputum bacillary load and host immune response, are widely reported with variable results. However, they have not been studied together in combination with antibiotic exposure. The aim of this observational cohort study is to investigate which antibiotic exposures correlate with sputum bacillary load and which with the host immune response. Subsequently, we will explore if these correlations can be used to inform a candidate combined biomarker predicting cure. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: All patients aged ≥ 18, diagnosed with drug-sensitive pulmonary TB (culture or molecular test), eligible for standard anti-TB treatment, at selected London, UK TB Services, will be invited to participate in this observational cohort study (target sample size=210). Patients will be asked to give blood for host transcriptomics and antibiotic plasma exposure, in addition to standard of care sputum samples for bacillary load. Antibiotic plasma concentrations will be quantified using a validated liquid chromatograph triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS) assay and sputum bacillary load by mycobacterial growth incubator tube time to positivity. Expression from a total of 35 prespecified host blood genes will be quantified using NanoString®. Antibiotic exposure, sputum bacillary load and host blood transcriptomic time series data will be analysed using nonlinear mixed-effects models. Correlations between combinations of longitudinal biomarkers and microbiological cure at the end of treatment and remaining relapse free for 1 year thereafter will be analysed using logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard models. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The observational cohort study has been approved by the UK's HRA REC (20/SW/0007). Written informed consent will be obtained. Results will be disseminated via publication, presentation and through engagement with institutes/companies developing novel anti-TB treatment combinations

Impacts of dietary inclusion of dried brewers’ grains on growth, carcass traits, meat quality, nutrient digestibility and blood biochemical indices of broilers

The current investigation aimed to evaluate the effect of dietary inclusion of dried brewers’ grains (DBG) on growth performance, carcass traits, meat quality, nutrient digestibility, blood biochemical constituents and antioxidant indices of broiler chickens. A total of 300 unsexed one-week-old Hubbard chicks were randomly allotted to five treatment groups. The dietary treatments consisted of a basal diet as the control and DBG groups (3%, 6%, 9% and 12%, respectively). The best feed conversion ratio (FCR) was found in the group of birds fed a diet containing 9% DBG, compared the other groups. Dressing and abdominal fat percentages decreased significantly but gradually with the elevated DBG level in the diets from 6% to 12%. The inclusion of DBG in broiler diets resulted in significant positive effects on all of the sensory evaluation indicators except appearance and tenderness. Broilers fed a diet containing 3% DBG had significant higher of digestion coefficients for crude protein than those fed on the other experimental diets. Based on growth performance and health status, 3% or 9% DBG may be the optimum percentages for inclusion in the diets of poultry until six weeks old. In addition, DBG exerted several health benefits in meat, which would be reflected positively on human health.Keywords: unconventional feedstuff, inclusion, performance, chicken, meat qualit

The Effect of wake Turbulence Intensity on Transition in a Compressor Cascade

Direct numerical simulations of separating flow along a section at midspan of a low-pressure V103 compressor cascade with periodically incoming wakes were performed. By varying the strength of the wake, its influence on both boundary layer separation and bypass transition were examined. Due to the presence of small-scale three-dimensional fluctuations in the wakes, the flow along the pressure surface undergoes bypass transition. Only in the weak-wake case, the boundary layer reaches a nearly-separated state between impinging wakes. In all simulations, the flow along the suction surface was found to separate. In the simulation with the strong wakes, separation is intermittently suppressed as the periodically passing wakes managed to trigger turbulent spots upstream of the location of separation. As these turbulent spots convect downstream, they locally suppress separation. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht