Ionic liquids as a neat lubricant applied to steel-steel contacts

This paper studies the use of 3 ionic liquids ([(NEMM)MOE][FAP], [BMP][FAP] and [BMP][NTf2]) as neat lubricant within steel-steel contact conditions. Tribological tests (at 40 and 100 C) were conducted in a HFRR tribometer and hence a complementary study was developed using a MTM tribometer. The wear surface on the discs was measured after the HFRR tests by confocal microscopy and also analyzed by SEM and XPS. The [BMP][NTf2] showed the lowest friction coefficient in the MTM and HFRR tests at 40 C but at 100 C its tribological behavior worsened due to its lowest viscosity. Similar results were found for wear behavior. Both antifriction and antiwear results were related to the tribofilms formation from the ECR and XPS measurements. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd

The Gaia-ESO Survey: Tracing interstellar extinction

Large spectroscopic surveys have enabled in the recent years the computation of three-dimensional interstellar extinction maps thanks to accurate stellar atmospheric parameters and line-of-sight distances. Such maps are complementary to 3D maps extracted from photometry, allowing a more thorough study of the dust properties. Our goal is to use the high-resolution spectroscopic survey Gaia-ESO in order to obtain with a good distance resolution the interstellar extinction and its dependency as a function of the environment and the Galactocentric position. We use the stellar atmospheric parameters of more than 5000 stars, obtained from the Gaia-ESO survey second internal data release, and combine them with optical (SDSS) and near-infrared (VISTA) photometry as well as different sets of theoretical stellar isochrones, in order to calculate line-of-sight extinction and distances. The extinction coefficients are then compared with the literature to discuss their dependancy on the stellar parameters and position in the Galaxy. Within the errors of our method, our work does not show that there is any dependence of the interstellar extinction coefficient on the atmospheric parameters of the stars. We do not find any evidence of the variation of E(J-H)/E(J-K) with the angle from the Galactic centre nor with Galactocentric distance. This suggests that we are dealing with a uniform extinction law in the SDSS ugriz bands and the near-IR JHKs bands. Therefore, extinction maps using mean colour-excesses and assuming a constant extinction coefficient can be used without introducing any systematic errors.Comment: 13 pages, 14 figures, 1 Appendix accepted for publication in Astronomy&Astrophysic

Heptagon-Containing Nanographene Embedded into [10]Cycloparaphenylene

We report the synthesis and characterization of a novel type of nanohoop, consisting of a cycloparaphenylene derivative incorporating a curved heptagon-containing π-extended polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) unit. We demonstrate that this new macrocycle behaves as a supramolecular receptor of curved π-systems such as fullerenes C60 and C70, with remarkably large binding constants (ca. 107 M−1), as estimated by fluorescence measurements. Nanosecond and femtosecond spectroscopic analysis show that these host-guest complexes are capable of quasi-instantaneous charge separation upon photoexcitation, due to the ultrafast charge transfer from the macrocycle to the complexed fullerene. These results demonstrate saddle-shaped PAHs with dibenzocycloheptatrienone motifs as structural components for new macrocycles displaying molecular receptor abilities and versatile photochemical responses with promising electron-donor properties in host-guest complexes

Magnetic Gearboxes for Aerospace Applications

Magnetic gearboxes are contactless mechanisms for torque-speed conversion. They present no wear, no friction and no fatigue. They need no lubricant and can be customized for other mechanical properties as stiffness or damping. Additionally, they can protect structures and mechanisms against overloads, limitting the transmitted torque. In this work, spur, planetary and "magdrive" or "harmonic drive" configurations are compared considering their use in aerospace applications. The most recent test data are summarized to provide some useful help for the design engineer

Stability of childhood anxiety disorder diagnoses: a follow-up naturalistic study in psychiatric care

Few studies have examined the stability of major psychiatric disorders in pediatric psychiatric clinical populations. The objective of this study was to examine the long-term stability of anxiety diagnoses starting with pre-school age children through adolescence evaluated at multiple time points. Prospective cohort study was conducted of all children and adolescents receiving psychiatric care at all pediatric psychiatric clinics belonging to two catchment areas in Madrid, Spain, between 1 January, 1992 and 30 April, 2006. Patients were selected from among 24,163 children and adolescents who received psychiatric care. Patients had to have a diagnosis of an ICD-10 anxiety disorder during at least one of the consultations and had to have received psychiatric care for the anxiety disorder. We grouped anxiety disorder diagnoses according to the following categories: phobic disorders, social anxiety disorders, obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), stress-related disorders, and "other" anxiety disorders which, among others, included generalized anxiety disorder, and panic disorder. Complementary indices of diagnostic stability were calculated. As much as 1,869 subjects were included and had 27,945 psychiatric/ psychological consultations. The stability of all ICD-10 anxiety disorder categories studied was high regardless of the measure of diagnostic stability used. Phobic and social anxiety disorders showed the highest diagnostic stability, whereas OCD and "other" anxiety disorders showed the lowest diagnostic stability. No significant sex differences were observed on the diagnostic stability of the anxiety disorder categories studied. Diagnostic stability measures for phobic, social anxiety, and "other" anxiety disorder diagnoses varied depending on the age at first evaluation. In this clinical pediatric outpatient sample it appears that phobic, social anxiety, and stress-related disorder diagnoses in children and adolescents treated in community outpatient services may have high diagnostic stability

Actions for the Restoration of the Biodiversity of Forest Ecosystems in Cuba

The Earth is threatened daily by the degradation of its ecosystems due to fragmentation. One of the main consequences is biodiversity loss. Despite the economic progress and conservation actions carried out in many countries, the planet is losing genuine tropical forest due to diverse reasons. This chapter presents the results obtained during the restoration of three tropical forests in Cuba: 1) the mesophyll semi-deciduous forest in the western sector of the Biosphere Reserve 'Sierra del Rosario' (BRSR); 2) the riverside forest of the Cuyaguateje River in western Cuba; and 3) the exploited native rainforests of the sector Quibiján-Naranjal of the River Toa in eastern Cuba

Ionic liquids as an additive in fully formulated wind turbine gearbox oils

This work presents the friction and wear behaviour of two fully formulated (polyalphaolefin- and mineral-based) wind turbine gearbox oils separately additivated with two ionic liquids ([Choline][NTf2] and [BMP][NTf2]) at 5wt% concentration. A tribometer using a ball-on-plate reciprocating configuration is adopted for friction and wear experiments. Friction is measured during tests and the worn surface is measured and analysed by confocal microscopy, SEM, EDS and XPS. The friction and wear results show that both ionic liquids used as an additive have a slight friction modifier character but a strong wear reducing performance, with [BMP][NTf2] performing better than [Choline][NTf2]. In addition, EDS and XPS analysis demonstrated the temperature-related chemical interactions and their influence on tribological behaviour

mTORC2 Is the major second layer kinase negatively regulating FOXO3 activity

Forkhead box O (FOXO) proteins are transcription factors involved in cancer and aging and their pharmacological manipulation could be beneficial for the treatment of cancer and healthy aging. FOXO proteins are mainly regulated by post-translational modifications including phosphorylation, acetylation and ubiquitination. As these modifications are reversible, activation and inactivation of FOXO factors is attainable through pharmacological treatment. One major regulatory input of FOXO signaling is mediated by protein kinases. Here, we use specific inhibitors against different kinases including PI3K, mTOR, MEK and ALK, and other receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) to determine their effect on FOXO3 activity. While we show that inhibition of PI3K efficiently drives FOXO3 into the cell nucleus, the dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitors dactolisib and PI-103 induce nuclear FOXO translocation more potently than the PI3Kδ inhibitor idelalisib. Furthermore, specific inhibition of mTOR kinase activity affecting both mTORC1 and mTORC2 potently induced nuclear translocation of FOXO3, while rapamycin, which specifically inhibits the mTORC1, failed to affect FOXO3. Interestingly, inhibition of the MAPK pathway had no effect on the localization of FOXO3 and upstream RTK inhibition only weakly induced nuclear FOXO3. We also measured the effect of the test compounds on the phosphorylation status of AKT, FOXO3 and ERK, on FOXO-dependent transcriptional activity and on the subcellular localization of other FOXO isoforms. We conclude that mTORC2 is the most important second layer kinase negatively regulating FOXO activity.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Lyth Bound and the End of Inflation

We derive an extended version of the well-known Lyth Bound on the total variation of the inflaton field, incorporating higher order corrections in slow roll. We connect the field variation $\Delta\phi$ to both the spectral index of scalar perturbations and the amplitude of tensor modes. We then investigate the implications of this bound for ``small field'' potentials, where the field rolls off a local maximum of the potential. The total field variation during inflation is {\em generically} of order $m_{\rm Pl}$, even for potentials with a suppressed tensor/scalar ratio. Much of the total field excursion arises in the last e-fold of inflation and in single field models this problem can only be avoided via fine-tuning or the imposition of a symmetry. Finally, we discuss the implications of this result for inflationary model building in string theory and supergravity.Comment: 10 pages, RevTeX, 2 figures (V3: version accepted for publication by JCAP

Durvalumab plus tremelimumab for the treatment of advanced neuroendocrine neoplasms of gastroenteropancreatic and lung origin

Single immune checkpoint blockade has shown limited activity in patients with neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs). Here the authors report the results of a phase II clinical trial of durvalumab (anti-PD-L1) and tremelimumab (anti CTLA-4) in patients with advanced NENs of gastroenteropancreatic and lung origin. Single immune checkpoint blockade in advanced neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) shows limited efficacy; dual checkpoint blockade may improve treatment activity. Dune (NCT03095274) is a non-randomized controlled multicohort phase II clinical trial evaluating durvalumab plus tremelimumab activity and safety in advanced NENs. This study included 123 patients presenting between 2017 and 2019 with typical/atypical lung carcinoids (Cohort 1), G1/2 gastrointestinal (Cohort 2), G1/2 pancreatic (Cohort 3) and G3 gastroenteropancreatic (GEP) (Cohort 4) NENs; who progressed to standard therapies. Patients received 1500 mg durvalumab and 75 mg tremelimumab for up to 13 and 4 cycles (every 4 weeks), respectively. The primary objective was the 9-month clinical benefit rate (CBR) for cohorts 1-3 and 9-month overall survival (OS) rate for Cohort 4. Secondary endpoints included objective response rate, duration of response, progression-free survival according to irRECIST, overall survival, and safety. Correlation of PD-L1 expression with efficacy was exploratory. The 9-month CBR was 25.9%/35.5%/25% for Cohorts 1, 2, and 3 respectively. The 9-month OS rate for Cohort 4 was 36.1%, surpassing the futility threshold. Benefit in Cohort 4 was observed regardless of differentiation and Ki67 levels. PD-L1 combined scores did not correlate with treatment activity. Safety profile was consistent with that of prior studies. In conclusion, durvalumab plus tremelimumab is safe in NENs and shows modest survival benefit in G3 GEP-NENs; with one-third of these patients experiencing a prolonged OS