Simple groups and strong covers

AbstractGiven a finite, nonabelian, simple group S and labelling π as the set of prime divisors of |S|, a set C of character degrees of S strongly covers π if some fixed prime divides every member of C and every prime in π divides at least one member of C. In this article, we classify the simple groups S for which there is such a set.When there is such a set, we associate a strong covering number scn(S) with S by letting this be the cardinality of a smallest set C of degrees which strongly covers π. Finding a set C which strongly covers π establishes an upper bound on scn(S), but in many cases our set C has minimal cardinality, and so scn(S)=|C|. In addition, if cd(S) has a subset C which strongly covers π, C can be chosen so |C|⩽3, showing scn(S)⩽3, and we furthermore classify which simple groups have a strong covering number of 3. For all the sporadic and alternating groups, and several families of groups of Lie type, we calculate the exact strong covering number. Several consequences of these facts are also presented

Preparing Catholic Educators to Educate and Evangelize in 21st Century Schools, Action Research of an Analysis of Educator Preparation Program Requirements Including Professional and Pedagogical, Relational, Formational and Evangelistic Education for P-16 Students (PROFEss)

Abstract The preparation of effective, knowledgeable and caring educators whose mission is to serve society through direct contact with and instruction of students, is the topic of this action research. We sought to determine how we as a teacher preparation program within a dynamic Catholic university could ensure that our Catholic identity was truly evident and nurtured in our teacher candidates as they prepare to engage in the extremely important job of offering what is a universal right to an education to PK-12 students, in a variety of learning environments. The analysis of this teacher preparation program included a review of literature specific to Catholic teaching on education, qualitative data collection via interviews, and personal reflection and analysis of curriculum and pedagogy in order to make our Catholic identity explicit. Findings included the need for reinforcing Catholic Identity through professional, pedagogical, relational, formational and evangelistic education for students (PROFEss)

Preliminary experimental results for a cryogenic brush seal configuration

Preliminary fluid nitrogen flow data are reported for a five-brush, ceramic-coated-rub-runner brush seal system, where the brushes and the rub runner were placed at each end of a centrally pressurized multifunction tester ('back-to-back' set of brushes) and tested at rotor speeds of 0, 10, 18, and 22.5 krpm. After testing, both the brushes and the ceramic-coated rub runner appeared pristine. The coating withstood both the thermomechanical and dynamic loadings with minor wear track scarring. The bristle tips showed some indication of material shearing (smearing) wear. The Ergun porous flow equation was applied to the brush seal data. The Ergun relation, which required heuristic information to characterize the coefficients, fit the gaseous data but was in poor agreement with the fluid results. The brush seal exit conditions were two phase. Two-phase, choked-flow design charts were applied but required one data point at each rotor speed to define the (C(sub f)A x Constant) flow and area coefficients. Reasonable agreement between prediction and data was found, as expected, but such methods are not to be construed as two-phase-flow brush seal analyses

Hypoxia and hyperglycaemia determine why some endometrial tumours fail to respond to metformin

High expression of Ki67, a proliferation marker, is associated with reduced endometrial cancer-specific survival. Pre-surgical metformin reduces tumour Ki-67 expression in some women with endometrial cancer. Metformin's anti-cancer activity may relate to effects on cellular energy metabolism. Since tumour hypoxia and glucose availability are major cellular redox determinants, we evaluated their role in endometrial cancer response to metformin. Endometrial cancer biopsies from women treated with pre-surgical metformin were tested for the hypoxia markers, HIF-1α and CA-9. Endometrial cancer cell lines were treated with metformin in variable glucose concentrations in normoxia or hypoxia and cell viability, mitochondrial biogenesis, function and energy metabolism were assessed. In women treated with metformin (n = 28), Ki-67 response was lower in hypoxic tumours. Metformin showed minimal cytostatic effects towards Ishikawa and HEC1A cells in conventional medium (25 mM glucose). In low glucose (5.5 mM), a dose-dependent cytostatic effect was observed in normoxia but attenuated in hypoxia. Tumours treated with metformin showed increased mitochondrial mass (n = 25), while in cultured cells metformin decreased mitochondrial function. Metformin targets mitochondrial respiration, however, in hypoxic, high glucose conditions, there was a switch to glycolytic metabolism and decreased metformin response. Understanding the metabolic adaptations of endometrial tumours may identify patients likely to derive clinical benefit from metformin

Small scale heater tests in argillite of the Eleana Formation at the Nevada Test Site

Near-surface heater tests were run in the Eleana Formation at the Nevada Test Site, in an effort to evaluate argillaceous rock for nuclear waste storage. The main test, which employed a full-scale heater with a thermal output approximating commercial borosilicate waste, was designed to operate for several months. Two smaller, scaled tests were run prior to the full-scale test. This report develops the thermal scaling laws, describes the pretest thermal and thermomechanical analysis conducted for these two tests, and discusses the material properties data used in the analyses. In the first test, scaled to a large heater of 3.5 kW power, computed heater temperatures were within 7% of measured values for the entire 96-hour test run. The second test, scaled to a large heater having 5.0 kW power, experienced periodic water in-flow onto the heater, which tended to damp the temperature. For the second test, the computed temperatures were within 7% of measured for the first 20 hours. After this time, the water effect became significant and the measured temperatures were 15 to 20% below those predicted. On the second test, rock surface spallation was noted in the bore hole above the heater, as predicted. The scaled tests indicated that in-situ argillite would not undergo major thermostructural failure during the follow-on, 3.5 kW, full-scale test. 24 figures, 6 tables

Agronomic characteristics of the spring forms of the wheat landraces (einkorn, emmer, spelt, intermediate bread wheat) grown in organic farming

Organic farmers look to the possibilities of growing neglected crops, such as the spring forms of hulled wheat – einkorn, emmer and spelt – for support in developing the organic farming system. In 2008, 169 landraces from the gene bank at the Crop Research Institute in Prague were tested on certifi ed organic plots. The experiment was aimed at fi nding suitable varieties for the organic farming system. In summary, our fi ndings show that einkorn (Triticum monococcum L.) and emmer wheat [Triticum dicoccum Schrank (Schuebl)] are resistant to powdery mildew and brown rust, spelt wheat (Triticum spelta L.) is less resistant to these two diseases, and the intermediate forms of bread wheat are very sensitive to such infestation. The varieties evaluated incline to lodging, as they have long and weak stems. Einkorn and emmer wheat have short and dense spikes and a low thousand grains weight, whereas spelt wheat has long and lax spikes. The level of the harvest index is low. Potentially useful varieties were found during the fi eld experiment and evaluation, and our future efforts will therefore focus on improving resistance to lodging and increasing the productivity of the spike

Eleana near-surface heater experiment final report

This report summarizes the results of a near-surface heater experiment operated at a depth of 23 m in argillite within the Eleana Formation on the Nevada Test Site (NTS). The test geometrically simulated emplacement of a single canister of High-Level Waste (HLW) and was operated at a power level of 2.5 kW for 21 days, followed by 3.8 kW to 250 days, when the power was turned off. Below 85 to 100{sup 0}C, there was good agreement between modeled and measured thermal results in the rock and in the emplacement hole, except for transient transport of water in the heater hole. Above 100{sup 0}C, modeled and measured thermal results increasingly diverged, indicating that the in-situ rock-mass thermal conductivity decreased as a result of dehydration more than expected on the basis of matrix properties. Correlation of thermomechanical modeling and field results suggests that this decrease was caused by strong coupling of thermal and mechanical behavior of the argillite at elevated temperatures. No hole-wall decrepitation was observed in the experiment; this fact and the codrrelation of modeled and measured results at lower temperatures indicate that there is no a priori reason to eliminate argillaceous rocks from further consideration as a host rock for nuclear wastes

Small scale heater tests in argillite of the Eleana Formation at the Nevada Test Site

Near-surface heater tests were run in the Eleana Formation at the Nevada Test Site, in an effort to evaluate argillaceous rock for nuclear waste storage. The main test, which employed a full-scale heater with a thermal output approximating commercial borosilicate waste, was designed to operate for several months. Two smaller, scaled tests were run prior to the full-scale test. This report develops the thermal scaling laws, describes the pretest thermal and thermomechanical analysis conducted for these two tests, and discusses the material properties data used in the analyses. In the first test, scaled to a large heater of 3.5 kW power, computed heater temperatures were within 7% of measured values for the entire 96-hour test run. The second test, scaled to a large heater having 5.0 kW power, experienced periodic water in-flow onto the heater, which tended to damp the temperature. For the second test, the computed temperatures were within 7% of measured for the first 20 hours. After this time, the water effect became significant and the measured temperatures were 15 to 20% below those predicted. On the second test, rock surface spallation was noted in the bore hole above the heater, as predicted. The scaled tests indicated that in-situ argillite would not undergo major thermostructural failure during the follow-on, 3.5 kW, full-scale test. 24 figures, 6 tables

Overtone production of soft x-rays with free-electron lasers

Two one-dimensional free-electron laser codes have recently been written that include harmonic generation. A comparison of the results of these codes show that a self-consistent treatment of the harmonic interaction is not required in the presence of a strong fundamental field. Use of these codes to predict the effects of emittance on harmonic production have been conducted. The effects of wiggler-field amplitude fluctuations and odd-harmonic wiggler-field components on the harmonic-radiation production are also discussed