Characterization of high-fracture toughness K-fluorrichterite-fluorapatite glass ceramics

Stoichiometric K-fluorrichterite (Glass A) and the same composition with 2 mol% P2O5 added (Glass B) were prepared and then heat-treated isothermally from 550°1000°C with 50°C intervals. Samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The biaxial flexural strength and indentation fracture toughness of heat-treated glass specimens were also determined for both materials. XRD traces and TEM images showed similar phase evolution and fine microstructures for both systems at ≤950°C, with mica and diopside reacting with residual glass to form K-fluorrichterite as the temperature was increased from 650°C. However, in Glass B, fluorapatite was also present at >800°C. In contrast, coarser microstructures were observed at 1000°C, with larger K-fluorrichterite (20 μm) and enstatite (10 μm) crystals in Glasses A and B, respectively. The highest fracture toughness (2.69 ± 0.01 MPa·m(1/2)) and biaxial strength (242.6 ± 3.6 MPa) were recorded for Glass B heat-treated at 1000°C. This was attributed to the presence of enstatite coupled with an interlocked lath-like crystalline microstructure

On the vanishing viscosity limit in a disk

We say that the solution u to the Navier-Stokes equations converges to a solution v to the Euler equations in the vanishing viscosity limit if u converges to v in the energy norm uniformly over a finite time interval. Working specifically in the unit disk, we show that a necessary and sufficient condition for the vanishing viscosity limit to hold is the vanishing with the viscosity of the time-space average of the energy of u in a boundary layer of width proportional to the viscosity due to modes (eigenfunctions of the Stokes operator) whose frequencies in the radial or the tangential direction lie between L and M. Here, L must be of order less than 1/(viscosity) and M must be of order greater than 1/(viscosity)

Effect of Concurrent Partnerships and Sex-Act Rate on Gonorrhea Prevalence

The disease gonorrhea (GC) is a major public health problem in the United States, and the dynamics of the spread of GC through popula tions are complicated and not well understood. Studies have drawn attention to the effect of concurrent sexual partnerships as an influen tial factor for determining disease prevalence. However, little has been done to date to quantify the combined effects of concurrency and within-partnership sex-act rates on the prevalence of GC. This simulation study examines this issue with a simplified model of GC transmission in closed human populations that include concurrent partnerships. Two models of within-partnership sex-act rate are compared; one is a fixed sex-act rate per partnership, and the other is perhaps more realistic in that the rate depends on the number of concurrent partners. After controlling for total number of sex acts, pseudo-equilibrium prevalence is higher with the fixed sex-act rate than under the concurrency-adjusted rate in all the modeled partnership formation conditions.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68414/2/10.1177_003754979807100404.pd

The diving behaviour of mammal-eating killer whales (Orcinus orca): variations with ecological not physiological factors

Mammal-eating killer whales (Orcinus orca (L., 1758)) are a rare example of social predators that hunt together in groups of sexually dimorphic adults and juveniles with diverse physiological diving capacities. Day–night ecological differences should also affect diving as their prey show diel variation in activity and mammal-eating killer whales do not rely on echolocation for prey detection. Our objective was to explore the extent to which physiological aerobic capacities versus ecological factors shape the diving behaviour of this breath-hold diver. We used suction-cup-attached depth recorders (Dtags) to record 7608 dives of 11 animals in southeast Alaska. Analysis of dive sequences revealed a strong bout structure in both dive depth and duration. Day–night comparisons revealed reduced rates of deep dives, longer shallow dives, and shallower long-duration dives at night. In contrast, dive variables did not differ by age–sex class. Estimates of the aerobic dive limit (cADL) suggest that juveniles exceeded their cADL during as much as 15% of long dives, whereas adult males and females never exceeded their cADL. Mammal-eating killer whales in this area appear to employ a strategy of physiological compromise, with smaller group members diving nearer their physiological limits and large-bodied males scaling down their physiological performance

Modelling knowledge in Electronic Study Books

Knowledge graphs are a new form of knowledge representation. They are closely related to semantic networks and can be looked upon as in line with Schank's conceptual dependency theory and Sowa's conceptual graphs. The special feature of knowledge graphs is the use of a very restricted set of types of relations, that is considered to be the basic set of primitive relations. The theory of knowledge graphs is outlined in the first part of the paper. In the second part the possibilities of knowledge graphs for solving problems posed by Electronic (Study) Books will be discussed

Dynamical Renormalization Group Approach to Quantum Kinetics in Scalar and Gauge Theories

We derive quantum kinetic equations from a quantum field theory implementing a diagrammatic perturbative expansion improved by a resummation via the dynamical renormalization group. The method begins by obtaining the equation of motion of the distribution function in perturbation theory. The solution of this equation of motion reveals secular terms that grow in time, the dynamical renormalization group resums these secular terms in real time and leads directly to the quantum kinetic equation. We used this method to study the relaxation in a cool gas of pions and sigma mesons in the O(4) chiral linear sigma model. We obtain in relaxation time approximation the pion and sigma meson relaxation rates. We also find that in large momentum limit emission and absorption of massless pions result in threshold infrared divergence in sigma meson relaxation rate and lead to a crossover behavior in relaxation. We then study the relaxation of charged quasiparticles in scalar electrodynamics (SQED). While longitudinal, Debye screened photons lead to purely exponential relaxation, transverse photons, only dynamically screened by Landau damping lead to anomalous relaxation, thus leading to a crossover between two different relaxational regimes. We emphasize that infrared divergent damping rates are indicative of non-exponential relaxation and the dynamical renormalization group reveals the correct relaxation directly in real time. Finally we also show that this method provides a natural framework to interpret and resolve the issue of pinch singularities out of equilibrium and establish a direct correspondence between pinch singularities and secular terms. We argue that this method is particularly well suited to study quantum kinetics and transport in gauge theories.Comment: RevTeX, 40 pages, 4 eps figures, published versio

High accuracy 234U(n,f) cross section in the resonance energy region

New results are presented of the 234U neutron-induced fission cross section, obtained with high accuracy in the resonance region by means of two methods using the 235U(n,f) as reference. The recent evaluation of the 235U(n,f) obtained with SAMMY by L. C. Leal et al. (these Proceedings), based on previous n-TOF data [1], has been used to calculate the 234U(n,f) cross section through the 234U/235U ratio, being here compared with the results obtained by using the n-TOF neutron flux

Application of non-HDL cholesterol for population-based cardiovascular risk stratification: results from the Multinational Cardiovascular Risk Consortium.

BACKGROUND: The relevance of blood lipid concentrations to long-term incidence of cardiovascular disease and the relevance of lipid-lowering therapy for cardiovascular disease outcomes is unclear. We investigated the cardiovascular disease risk associated with the full spectrum of bloodstream non-HDL cholesterol concentrations. We also created an easy-to-use tool to estimate the long-term probabilities for a cardiovascular disease event associated with non-HDL cholesterol and modelled its risk reduction by lipid-lowering treatment. METHODS: In this risk-evaluation and risk-modelling study, we used Multinational Cardiovascular Risk Consortium data from 19 countries across Europe, Australia, and North America. Individuals without prevalent cardiovascular disease at baseline and with robust available data on cardiovascular disease outcomes were included. The primary composite endpoint of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease was defined as the occurrence of the coronary heart disease event or ischaemic stroke. Sex-specific multivariable analyses were computed using non-HDL cholesterol categories according to the European guideline thresholds, adjusted for age, sex, cohort, and classical modifiable cardiovascular risk factors. In a derivation and validation design, we created a tool to estimate the probabilities of a cardiovascular disease event by the age of 75 years, dependent on age, sex, and risk factors, and the associated modelled risk reduction, assuming a 50% reduction of non-HDL cholesterol. FINDINGS: Of the 524 444 individuals in the 44 cohorts in the Consortium database, we identified 398 846 individuals belonging to 38 cohorts (184 055 [48·7%] women; median age 51·0 years [IQR 40·7-59·7]). 199 415 individuals were included in the derivation cohort (91 786 [48·4%] women) and 199 431 (92 269 [49·1%] women) in the validation cohort. During a maximum follow-up of 43·6 years (median 13·5 years, IQR 7·0-20·1), 54 542 cardiovascular endpoints occurred. Incidence curve analyses showed progressively higher 30-year cardiovascular disease event-rates for increasing non-HDL cholesterol categories (from 7·7% for non-HDL cholesterol <2·6 mmol/L to 33·7% for ≥5·7 mmol/L in women and from 12·8% to 43·6% in men; p<0·0001). Multivariable adjusted Cox models with non-HDL cholesterol lower than 2·6 mmol/L as reference showed an increase in the association between non-HDL cholesterol concentration and cardiovascular disease for both sexes (from hazard ratio 1·1, 95% CI 1·0-1·3 for non-HDL cholesterol 2·6 to <3·7 mmol/L to 1·9, 1·6-2·2 for ≥5·7 mmol/L in women and from 1·1, 1·0-1·3 to 2·3, 2·0-2·5 in men). The derived tool allowed the estimation of cardiovascular disease event probabilities specific for non-HDL cholesterol with high comparability between the derivation and validation cohorts as reflected by smooth calibration curves analyses and a root mean square error lower than 1% for the estimated probabilities of cardiovascular disease. A 50% reduction of non-HDL cholesterol concentrations was associated with reduced risk of a cardiovascular disease event by the age of 75 years, and this risk reduction was greater the earlier cholesterol concentrations were reduced. INTERPRETATION: Non-HDL cholesterol concentrations in blood are strongly associated with long-term risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. We provide a simple tool for individual long-term risk assessment and the potential benefit of early lipid-lowering intervention. These data could be useful for physician-patient communication about primary prevention strategies. FUNDING: EU Framework Programme, UK Medical Research Council, and German Centre for Cardiovascular Research