512 research outputs found
Breakdown of Burton-Prim-Slichter approach and lateral solute segregation in radially converging flows
A theoretical study is presented of the effect of a radially converging melt
flow, which is directed away from the solidification front, on the radial
solute segregation in simple solidification models. We show that the classical
Burton-Prim-Slichter (BPS) solution describing the effect of a diverging flow
on the solute incorporation into the solidifying material breaks down for the
flows converging along the solidification front. The breakdown is caused by a
divergence of the integral defining the effective boundary layer thickness
which is the basic concept of the BPS theory. Although such a divergence can
formally be avoided by restricting the axial extension of the melt to a layer
of finite height, radially uniform solute distributions are possible only for
weak melt flows with an axial velocity away from the solidification front
comparable to the growth rate. There is a critical melt velocity for each
growth rate at which the solution passes through a singularity and becomes
physically inconsistent for stronger melt flows. To resolve these
inconsistencies we consider a solidification front presented by a disk of
finite radius subject to a strong converging melt flow and obtain an
analytic solution showing that the radial solute concentration depends on the
radius as and close to the rim and
at large distances from it. The logarithmic increase of concentration is
limited in the vicinity of the symmetry axis by the diffusion becoming
effective at a distance comparable to the characteristic thickness of the
solute boundary layer. The converging flow causes a solute pile-up forming a
logarithmic concentration peak at the symmetry axis which might be an
undesirable feature for crystal growth processes.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure
Cell Death in the Embryonic Developing Limb
In amniote vertebrates, the development of form and structure of the limb bud is accompanied by precise patterns of massive mesodermal cell death with morphological features of apoptosis. These areas of cell death appear to eliminate undifferentiated cells which are required only for a limited time period of limb development. Predictable skeletal and morphological anomalies of the limb occur when the pattern of cell death is modified in mutant species or under experimental conditions. Most evidence points to the occurrence of local triggering mechanisms to account for the establishment of the areas of cell death and the subsequent activation of cell death genes. Modifications of the extracellular matrix and diminution in the contribution of growth factors by neighbouring tissues appear as the most likely potential candidates for triggering the cell death program. Information on the genetical basis of cell death in the developing limb is very scarce. Among the increasing number of cell death genes identified in other cell death systems, such as p-53 and the ced-3/ICE and ced-9/bcl-2 gene families, only bcl-2 has been studied in detail during limb development and yet, the information obtained is contradictory. Bcl-2 is not expressed in the areas of cell death of the developing limb, but normal limbs develop in mice with disruption of the bcl-2 gene. Obviously, the clarification of the role of the cell death genes constitute a major task in future studies of cell death in the developing limb
Ion-doped brushite cements for bone regeneration
Decades of research in orthopaedics has culminated in the quest for formidable yet resorbable biomaterials using bioactive materials. Brushite cements most salient features embrace high biocompatibility,
bioresorbability, osteoconductivity, self-setting characteristics, handling, and injectability properties. Such
type of materials is also effectively applied as drug delivery systems. However, brushite cements possess limited mechanical strength and fast setting times. By means of incorporating bioactive ions, which
are incredibly promising in directing cell fate when incorporated within biomaterials, it can yield biomaterials with superior mechanical properties. Therefore, it is a key to develop fine-tuned regenerative
medicine therapeutics. A comprehensive overview of the current accomplishments of ion-doped brushite
cements for bone tissue repair and regeneration is provided herein. The role of ionic substitution on
the cements physicochemical properties, such as structural, setting time, hydration products, injectability,
mechanical behaviour and ion release is discussed. Cell-material interactions, osteogenesis, angiogenesis,
and antibacterial activity of the ion-doped cements, as well as its potential use as drug delivery carriers
are also presented.This study was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the German Academic Exchange
Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, DAAD) for the
transnational cooperation FCT/DAAD 2018-2019. The authors also
thank the funds provided under the distinctions attributed to JMO
(IF/01285/2015) and SP (CEECIND/03673/2017). Furthermore, funding by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG), Grant Nr. HU 2498/1-1; GB 1/22-1, and the
Emerging Talents Initiative of the FAU is acknowledged
Quasi-two-dimensional convection in a three-dimensional laterally heated box in a strong magnetic field normal to main circulation
Testimony at court: a randomised controlled trial investigating the art and science of persuading witnesses and victims to attend trial
The presence of civilian witnesses and victims in court is central to the effective operation of the criminal justice system. However, there is evidence of significant non-attendance which can result in ineffective and cracked trials. To address this, West Midlands Police Witness Care Unit and the Behavioural Insights Team designed an intervention using behavioural insight principles consisting of (1) a new conversation guide for Witness Care Officers (WCOs); (2) a redesigned ‘Warning Letter’ confirming details of the proceedings; and (3) a new reminder call and SMS. The impact of the new approach was evaluated through a randomised controlled trial in which 36 WCOs were randomly assigned to either “business as usual” (control) or treatment. The evaluation used an intention-to-treat design with implementation guided and encouraged at several points. Subgroup analysis was undertaken to explore whether differential effects were seen for domestic violence cases or between those that were victims and witnesses. Results indicated that the treatment approach was directionally positive in all cases, but that the increase in attendance was not statistically significant. This is in line with findings of other similar research in this area
First-principles study of As interstitials in GaAs: Convergence, relaxation, and formation energy
Convergence of density-functional supercell calculations for defect formation
energies, charge transition levels, localized defect state properties, and
defect atomic structure and relaxation is investigated using the arsenic split
interstitial in GaAs as an example. Supercells containing up to 217 atoms and a
variety of {\bf k}-space sampling schemes are considered. It is shown that a
good description of the localized defect state dispersion and charge state
transition levels requires at least a 217-atom supercell, although the defect
structure and atomic relaxations can be well converged in a 65-atom cell.
Formation energies are calculated for the As split interstitial, Ga vacancy,
and As antisite defects in GaAs, taking into account the dependence upon
chemical potential and Fermi energy. It is found that equilibrium
concentrations of As interstitials will be much lower than equilibrium
concentrations of As antisites in As-rich, -type or semi-insulating GaAs.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
DNA damage precedes apoptosis during the regression of the interdigital tissue in vertebrate embryos
DNA damage independent of caspase activation accompanies programmed cell death in different vertebrate embryonic organs. We analyzed the significance of DNA damage during the regression of the interdigital tissue, which sculpts the digits in the embryonic limb. Interdigit remodeling involves oxidative stress, massive apoptosis and cell senescence. Phosphorylation of H2AX mediated by ATM precedes caspase dependent apoptosis and cell senescence during interdigit regression. The association of ?H2AX with other downstream DNA repair factors, including MDC1, Rad50 and 53BP1 suggests a defensive response of cells against DNA damage. The relative distribution of cells ?H2AX-only positive, TUNEL-only positive, and cells double positive for both markers is consistent with a sequence of degenerative events starting by damage of the DNA. In support of this interpretation, the relative number of ?H2AX-only cells increases after caspase inhibition while the relative number of TUNELonly cells increases after inhibition of ATM. Furthermore, cultured interdigits survived and maintained intense chondrogenic potential, even at advanced stages of degeneration, discarding a previous commitment to die. Our findings support a new biological paradigm considering embryonic cell death secondary to genotoxic stimuli, challenging the idea that considers physiological cell death a cell suicide regulated by an internal death clock that pre-programmes degeneration
On the principal bifurcation branch of a third order nonlinear long-wave equation
We study the principal bifurcation curve of a third order equation which
describes the nonlinear evolution of several systems with a long--wavelength
instability. We show that the main bifurcation branch can be derived from a
variational principle. This allows to obtain a close estimate of the complete
branch. In particular, when the bifurcation is subcritical, the large amplitude
stable branch can be found in a simple manner.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure
Bistability of Slow and Fast Traveling Waves in Fluid Mixtures
The appearence of a new type of fast nonlinear traveling wave states in
binary fluid convection with increasing Soret effect is elucidated and the
parameter range of their bistability with the common slower ones is evaluated
numerically. The bifurcation behavior and the significantly different
spatiotemporal properties of the different wave states - e.g. frequency, flow
structure, and concentration distribution - are determined and related to each
other and to a convenient measure of their nonlinearity. This allows to derive
a limit for the applicability of small amplitude expansions. Additionally an
universal scaling behavior of frequencies and mixing properties is found.
PACS: 47.20.-k, 47.10.+g, 47.20.KyComment: 4 pages including 5 Postscript figure
Eutectic Colony Formation: A Stability Analysis
Experiments have widely shown that a steady-state lamellar eutectic
solidification front is destabilized on a scale much larger than the lamellar
spacing by the rejection of a dilute ternary impurity and forms two-phase cells
commonly referred to as `eutectic colonies'. We extend the stability analysis
of Datye and Langer for a binary eutectic to include the effect of a ternary
impurity. We find that the expressions for the critical onset velocity and
morphological instability wavelength are analogous to those for the classic
Mullins-Sekerka instability of a monophase planar interface, albeit with an
effective surface tension that depends on the geometry of the lamellar
interface and, non-trivially, on interlamellar diffusion. A qualitatively new
aspect of this instability is the occurence of oscillatory modes due to the
interplay between the destabilizing effect of the ternary impurity and the
dynamical feedback of the local change in lamellar spacing on the front motion.
In a transient regime, these modes lead to the formation of large scale
oscillatory microstructures for which there is recent experimental evidence in
a transparent organic system. Moreover, it is shown that the eutectic front
dynamics on a scale larger than the lamellar spacing can be formulated as an
effective monophase interface free boundary problem with a modified
Gibbs-Thomson condition that is coupled to a slow evolution equation for the
lamellar spacing. This formulation provides additional physical insights into
the nature of the instability and a simple means to calculate an approximate
stability spectrum. Finally, we investigate the influence of the ternary
impurity on a short wavelength oscillatory instability that is already present
at off-eutectic compositions in binary eutectics.Comment: 26 pages RevTex, 14 figures (28 EPS files); some minor changes;
references adde
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