420 research outputs found
Overcoming the barriers to implementing urban road user charging schemes
Urban road user charging offers the potential to achieve significant improvements in urban transport, but is notoriously difficult to implement. Cities need guidance on the range of factors to be considered in planning and implementing such schemes. This paper summarises the results of a 3 year programme which has collated evidence on the issues of most concern to cities. A state of the art report has provided evidence on 14 themes, ranging from objectives and design to implementation and evaluation. A set of 16 case studies has reviewed experience in design and implementation across Europe. The paper summarises their findings, provides references to more detailed information, presents the resulting policy recommendations to European, national and local government, and outlines the areas in which further research is needed
Damping of liquid sloshing by foams
When a container is set in motion, the free surface of the liquid starts to
oscillate or slosh. Such effects can be observed when a glass of water is
handled carelessly and the fluid sloshes or even spills over the rims of the
container. However, beer does not slosh as readily as water, which suggests
that foam could be used to damp sloshing. In this work, we study experimentally
the effect on sloshing of a liquid foam placed on top of a liquid bath. We
generate a monodisperse two-dimensional liquid foam in a rectangular container
and track the motion of the foam. The influence of the foam on the sloshing
dynamics is experimentally characterized: only a few layers of bubbles are
sufficient to significantly damp the oscillations. We rationalize our
experimental findings with a model that describes the foam contribution to the
damping coefficient through viscous dissipation on the walls of the container.
Then we extend our study to confined three-dimensional liquid foam and observe
that the behavior of 2D and confined 3D systems are very similar. Thus we
conclude that only the bubbles close to the walls have a significant impact on
the dissipation of energy. The possibility to damp liquid sloshing using foam
is promising in numerous industrial applications such as the transport of
liquefied gas in tankers or for propellants in rocket engines.Comment: 17 pages, accepted in Physics of Fluid
Projet sur l’acceptabilité sociale du partage des renseignements de santé : enquête sur l’acceptabilité sociale du partage des renseignements de santé : constatations, résultats et variations : rapport final
Le rapport présente les résultats d’une enquête sur l’acceptabilité sociale du partage des renseignements de santé. L’enquête comporte une revue de la littérature scientifique sur la question de l’acceptabilité sociale et un sondage auprès de 2016 répondants québécois selon une approche bimodale et une méthodologie d’économie expérimentale
Optimization of Naked DNA Delivery for Interferon Subtype Immunotherapy in Cytomegalovirus Infection
Type I interferon (IFN) gene therapy modulates the immune response leading to inflammatory heart disease following cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in a murine model of post-viral myocarditis. Efficacy of different immunisation protocols for the IFN constructs was influenced by the dose of DNA, subtype choice, combination use, pre-medication, and timing of DNA administration. Optimal efficacy was found with bupivacaine treatment prior to DNA inoculation of 200mg IFN DNA 14 days prior to virus challenge. Maximal antiviral and antimyocarditic effects were achieved with this vaccination schedule. Furthermore, inoculation of synergistic IFN subtypes demonstrated enhanced efficacy when delivered either alone or with CMV gB DNA vaccination in the CMV model. Thus naked DNA delivery of IFN provides an avenue of immunotherapy for regulating herpesvirus-induced diseases
Expression of Distal-less, dachshund, and optomotor blind in Neanthes arenaceodentata (Annelida, Nereididae) does not support homology of appendage-forming mechanisms across the Bilateria
The similarity in the genetic regulation of
arthropod and vertebrate appendage formation has been
interpreted as the product of a plesiomorphic gene
network that was primitively involved in bilaterian
appendage development and co-opted to build appendages
(in modern phyla) that are not historically related
as structures. Data from lophotrochozoans are needed to
clarify the pervasiveness of plesiomorphic appendage forming
mechanisms. We assayed the expression of three
arthropod and vertebrate limb gene orthologs, Distal-less
(Dll), dachshund (dac), and optomotor blind (omb), in
direct-developing juveniles of the polychaete Neanthes
arenaceodentata. Parapodial Dll expression marks premorphogenetic
notopodia and neuropodia, becoming restricted
to the bases of notopodial cirri and to ventral
portions of neuropodia. In outgrowing cephalic appendages,
Dll activity is primarily restricted to proximal
domains. Dll expression is also prominent in the brain. dac
expression occurs in the brain, nerve cord ganglia, a pair
of pharyngeal ganglia, presumed interneurons linking a
pair of segmental nerves, and in newly differentiating
mesoderm. Domains of omb expression include the brain,
nerve cord ganglia, one pair of anterior cirri, presumed
precursors of dorsal musculature, and the same pharyngeal
ganglia and presumed interneurons that express dac.
Contrary to their roles in outgrowing arthropod and
vertebrate appendages, Dll, dac, and omb lack comparable
expression in Neanthes appendages, implying independent
evolution of annelid appendage development. We infer
that parapodia and arthropodia are not structurally or
mechanistically homologous (but their primordia might
be), that Dll’s ancestral bilaterian function was in sensory
and central nervous system differentiation, and that
locomotory appendages possibly evolved from sensory
outgrowths
Airlift bioreactor for biological applications with microbubble mediated transport processes
Airlift bioreactors can provide an attractive alternative to stirred tanks, particularly for bioprocesses with gaseous reactants or products. Frequently, however, they are susceptible to being limited by gas–liquid mass transfer and by poor mixing of the liquid phase, particularly when they are operating at high cell densities. In this work we use CFD modelling to show that microbubbles generated by fluidic oscillation can provide an effective, low energy means of achieving high interfacial area for mass transfer and improved liquid circulation for mixing.
The results show that when the diameter of the microbubbles exceeded 200 µm, the “downcomer” region, which is equivalent to about 60% of overall volume of the reactor, is free from gas bubbles. The results also demonstrate that the use of microbubbles not only increases surface area to volume ratio, but also increases mixing efficiency through increasing the liquid velocity circulation around the draft tube. In addition, the depth of downward penetration of the microbubbles into the downcomer increases with decreasing bubbles size due to a greater downward drag force compared to the buoyancy force. The simulated results indicate that the volume of dead zone increases as the height of diffuser location is increased. We therefore hypothesise that poor gas bubble distribution due to the improper location of the diffuser may have a markedly deleterious effect on the performance of the bioreactor used in this work
In- and out-plane transport properties of chemical vapor deposited TiO2 anatase films
Due to their polymorphism, TiO2 films are quintessential components of state-of-the-art functional materials and devices for various applications from dynamic random access memory to solar water splitting. However, contrary to other semiconductors/dielectric materials, the relationship between structural/morphological and electrical properties at the nano and microscales remains unclear. In this context, the morphological characteristics of TiO2 films obtained by metal–organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), the latter including nitrogen doping, are investigated and they are linked to their in- and out-plane electrical properties. A transition from dense to tree-like columnar morphology is observed for the MOCVD films with increasing deposition temperature. It results in the decrease in grain size and the increase in porosity and disorder, and subsequently, it leads to the decrease in lateral carrier mobility. The increase in nitrogen amount in the PECVD films enhances the disorder in their pillar-like columnar morphology along with a slight increase in density. A similar behavior is observed for the out-plane current between the low temperature MOCVD films and the undoped PECVD ones. The pillar-like structure of the latter presents a lower in-plane resistivity than the low temperature MOCVD films, whereas the out-plane resistivity is lower. The tree-like columnar structure exhibits poor in- and out-plane conductivity properties, whereas pillar-like and dense TiO2 exhibits similar in- and out-plane conductivities even if their morphologies are noticeably different
Alterations in the neuropeptide galanin system in major depressive disorder involve levels of transcripts, methylation, and peptide
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a substantial burden to
patients, families, and society, but many patients cannot be
treated adequately. Rodent experiments suggest that the
neuropeptide galanin (GAL) and its three G protein-coupled
receptors, GAL1–3, are involved in mood regulation. To explore
the translational potential of these results, we assessed the
transcript levels (by quantitative PCR), DNA methylation status
(by bisulfite pyrosequencing), and GAL peptide by RIA of the GAL
system in postmortem brains from depressed persons who had
committed suicide and controls. Transcripts for all four members
were detected and showed marked regional variations, GAL and
galanin receptor 1 (GALR1) being most abundant. Striking
increases in GAL and GALR3 mRNA levels, especially in the
noradrenergic locus coeruleus and the dorsal raphe nucleus, in
parallel with decreased DNA methylation, were found in both male
and female suicide subjects as compared with controls. In
contrast, GAL and GALR3 transcript levels were decreased, GALR1
was increased, and DNA methylation was increased in the
dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of male suicide subjects,
however, there were no changes in the anterior cingulate cortex.
Thus, GAL and its receptor GALR3 are differentially methylated
and expressed in brains of MDD subjects in a region- and sex-
specific manner. Such an epigenetic modification in GALR3, a
hyperpolarizing receptor, might contribute to the dysregulation
of noradrenergic and serotonergic neurons implicated in the
pathogenesis of MDD. Thus, one may speculate that a GAL3
antagonist could have antidepressant properties by disinhibiting
the firing of these neurons, resulting in increased release of
noradrenaline and serotonin in forebrain areas involved in mood
regulation
Approaches and challenges to the study of loess—Introduction to the LoessFest Special Issue
In September 2016, the annual meeting of the International Union for Quaternary Research's Loess and Pedostratigraphy Focus Group, traditionally referred to as a LoessFest, met in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA. The 2016 LoessFest focused on thin loess deposits and loess transportation surfaces. This LoessFest included 75 registered participants from 10 countries. Almost half of the participants were from outside the United States, and 18 of the participants were students. This review is the introduction to the special issue for Quaternary Research that originated from presentations and discussions at the 2016 LoessFest. This introduction highlights current understanding and ongoing work on loess in various regions of the world and provides brief summaries of some of the current approaches/strategies used to study loess deposits
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