A grid-enabled problem solving environment for parallel computational engineering design

This paper describes the development and application of a piece of engineering software that provides a problem solving environment (PSE) capable of launching, and interfacing with, computational jobs executing on remote resources on a computational grid. In particular it is demonstrated how a complex, serial, engineering optimisation code may be efficiently parallelised, grid-enabled and embedded within a PSE. The environment is highly flexible, allowing remote users from different sites to collaborate, and permitting computational tasks to be executed in parallel across multiple grid resources, each of which may be a parallel architecture. A full working prototype has been built and successfully applied to a computationally demanding engineering optimisation problem. This particular problem stems from elastohydrodynamic lubrication and involves optimising the computational model for a lubricant based on the match between simulation results and experimentally observed data

SRE STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES

General SRE operating instructions, limits, and procedures are listed. Specific operating instructions are given for the reactor, sodium heat-transfer systems, sodium service systems, service cooling system, helium system, nitrogen and dehumidification systems, vent system, liquid waste system, fuel handling machine, building ventilation systems, wash cells, emergency power system, pump coolant systems, crane operation, off-normal conditions, and special procedures. (W.D.M.

Extracellular bacterial lymphatic metastasis drives Streptococcus pyogenes systemic infection

Unassisted metastasis through the lymphatic system is a mechanism of dissemination thus far ascribed only to cancer cells. Here, we report that Streptococcus pyogenes also hijack lymphatic vessels to escape a local infection site, transiting through sequential lymph nodes and efferent lymphatic vessels to enter the bloodstream. Contrasting with previously reported mechanisms of intracellular pathogen carriage by phagocytes, we show S. pyogenes remain extracellular during transit, first in afferent and then efferent lymphatics that carry the bacteria through successive draining lymph nodes. We identify streptococcal virulence mechanisms important for bacterial lymphatic dissemination and show that metastatic streptococci within infected lymph nodes resist and subvert clearance by phagocytes, enabling replication that can seed intense bloodstream infection. The findings establish the lymphatic system as both a survival niche and conduit to the bloodstream for S. pyogenes, explaining the phenomenon of occult bacteraemia. This work provides new perspectives in streptococcal pathogenesis with implications for immunity

Stress response inside perturbed particle assemblies

The effect of structural disorder on the stress response inside three dimensional particle assemblies is studied using computer simulations of frictionless sphere packings. Upon applying a localised, perturbative force within the packings, the resulting {\it Green's} function response is mapped inside the different assemblies, thus providing an explicit view as to how the imposed perturbation is transmitted through the packing. In weakly disordered arrays, the resulting transmission of forces is of the double-peak variety, but with peak widths scaling linearly with distance from the source of the perturbation. This behaviour is consistent with an anisotropic elasticity response profile. Increasing the disorder distorts the response function until a single-peak response is obtained for fully disordered packings consistent with an isotropic description.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure captions To appear in Granular Matte

Coisotropic D8-branes and Model-building

Up to now chiral type IIA vacua have been mostly based on intersecting D6-branes wrapping special Lagrangian 3-cycles on a CY three-fold. We argue that there are additional BPS D-branes which have so far been neglected, and which seem to have interesting model-building features. They are coisotropic D8-branes, in the sense of Kapustin and Orlov. The D8-branes wrap 5-dimensional submanifolds of the CY which are trivial in homology, but contain a worldvolume flux that induces D6-brane charge on them. This induced D6-brane charge not only renders the D8-brane BPS, but also creates D=4 chirality when two D8-branes intersect. We discuss in detail the case of a type IIA Z2 x Z2 orientifold, where we provide explicit examples of coisotropic D8-branes. We study the chiral spectrum, SUSY conditions, and effective field theory of different systems of D8-branes in this orientifold, and show how the magnetic fluxes generate a superpotential for untwisted Kahler moduli. Finally, using both D6-branes and coisotropic D8-branes we construct new examples of MSSM-like type IIA vacua.Comment: 63 pages, 11 figures. Typos corrected and comments adde

Across-arc geochemical variations in the Southern Volcanic Zone, Chile (34.5- 38.0°S): Constraints on Mantle Wedge and Input Compositions

Crustal assimilation (e.g. Hildreth and Moorbath, 1988) and/or subduction erosion (e.g. Stern, 1991; Kay et al., 2005) are believed to control the geochemical variations along the northern portion of the Chilean Southern Volcanic Zone. In order to evaluate these hypotheses, we present a comprehensive geochemical data set (major and trace elements and O-Sr-Nd-Hf-Pb isotopes) from Holocene primarily olivine-bearing volcanic rocks across the arc between 34.5-38.0°S, including volcanic front centers from Tinguiririca to Callaqui, the rear arc centers of Infernillo Volcanic Field, Laguna del Maule and Copahue, and extending 300 km into the backarc. We also present an equivalent data set for Chile Trench sediments outboard of this profile. The volcanic arc (including volcanic front and rear arc) samples primarily range from basalt to andesite/trachyandesite, whereas the backarc rocks are low-silica alkali basalts and trachybasalts. All samples show some characteristic subduction zone trace element enrichments and depletions, but the backarc samples show the least. Backarc basalts have higher Ce/Pb, Nb/U, Nb/Zr, and Ta/Hf, and lower Ba/Nb and Ba/La, consistent with less of a slab-derived component in the backarc and, consequently, lower degrees of mantle melting. The mantle-like δ18O in olivine and plagioclase phenocrysts (volcanic arc = 4.9-5.6 and backarc = 5.0-5.4 per mil) and lack of correlation between δ18O and indices of differentiation and other isotope ratios, argue against significant crustal assimilation. Volcanic arc and backarc samples almost completely overlap in Sr and Nd isotopic composition. High precision (double-spike) Pb isotope ratios are tightly correlated, precluding significant assimilation of older sialic crust but indicating mixing between a South Atlantic Mid Ocean-Ridge Basalt (MORB) source and a slab component derived from subducted sediments and altered oceanic crust. Hf-Nd isotope ratios define separate linear arrays for the volcanic arc and backarc, neither of which trend toward subducting sediment, possibly reflecting a primarily asthenospheric mantle array for the volcanic arc and involvement of enriched Proterozoic lithospheric mantle in the backarc. We propose a quantitative mixing model between a mixed-source, slab-derived melt and a heterogeneous mantle beneath the volcanic arc. The model is consistent with local geodynamic parameters, assuming water-saturated conditions within the slab

A systematic review of reviews identifying UK validated dietary assessment tools for inclusion on an interactive guided website for researchers: www.nutritools.org

Background: Health researchers may struggle to choose suitable validated dietary assessment tools (DATs) for their target population. The aim of this review was to identify and collate information on validated UK DATs and validation studies for inclusion on a website to support researchers to choose appropriate DATs. Design: A systematic review of reviews of DATs was undertaken. DATs validated in UK populations were extracted from the studies identified. A searchable website was designed to display these data. Additionally, mean differences and limits of agreement between test and comparison methods were summarized by a method, weighting by sample size. Results: Over 900 validation results covering 5 life stages, 18 nutrients, 6 dietary assessment methods, and 9 validation method types were extracted from 63 validated DATs which were identified from 68 reviews. These were incorporated into www.nutritools.org. Limits of agreement were determined for about half of validations. Thirty four DATs were FFQs. Only 17 DATs were validated against biomarkers, and only 19 DATs were validated in infant/children/adolescents. Conclusions: The interactive www.nutritools.org website holds extensive validation data identified from this review and can be used to guide researchers to critically compare and choose a suitable DAT for their research question, leading to improvement of nutritional epidemiology research