A Critical Analysis of the Conventionally Employed Creep Lifing Methods

The deformation of structural alloys presents problems for power plants and aerospace applications due to the demand for elevated temperatures for higher efficiencies and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The materials used in such applications experience harsh environments which may lead to deformation and failure of critical components. To avoid such catastrophic failures and also increase efficiency, future designs must utilise novel/improved alloy systems with enhanced temperature capability. In recognising this issue, a detailed understanding of creep is essential for the success of these designs by ensuring components do not experience excessive deformation which may ultimately lead to failure. To achieve this, a variety of parametric methods have been developed to quantify creep and creep fracture in high temperature applications. This study reviews a number of well-known traditionally employed creep lifing methods with some more recent approaches also included. The first section of this paper focuses on predicting the long-term creep rupture properties which is an area of interest for the power generation sector. The second section looks at pre-defined strains and the re-production of full creep curves based on available data which is pertinent to the aerospace industry where components are replaced before failure

Risk estimation of distant metastasis in node-negative, estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer patients using an RT-PCR based prognostic expression signature

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Given the large number of genes purported to be prognostic for breast cancer, it would be optimal if the genes identified are not confounded by the continuously changing systemic therapies. The aim of this study was to discover and validate a breast cancer prognostic expression signature for distant metastasis in untreated, early stage, lymph node-negative (N-) estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) patients with extensive follow-up times.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>197 genes previously associated with metastasis and ER status were profiled from 142 untreated breast cancer subjects. A "metastasis score" (MS) representing fourteen differentially expressed genes was developed and evaluated for its association with distant-metastasis-free survival (DMFS). Categorical risk classification was established from the continuous MS and further evaluated on an independent set of 279 untreated subjects. A third set of 45 subjects was tested to determine the prognostic performance of the MS in tamoxifen-treated women.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A 14-gene signature was found to be significantly associated (p < 0.05) with distant metastasis in a training set and subsequently in an independent validation set. In the validation set, the hazard ratios (HR) of the high risk compared to low risk groups were 4.02 (95% CI 1.91–8.44) for the endpoint of DMFS and 1.97 (95% CI 1.28 to 3.04) for overall survival after adjustment for age, tumor size and grade. The low and high MS risk groups had 10-year estimates (95% CI) of 96% (90–99%) and 72% (64–78%) respectively, for DMFS and 91% (84–95%) and 68% (61–75%), respectively for overall survival. Performance characteristics of the signature in the two sets were similar. Ki-67 labeling index (LI) was predictive for recurrent disease in the training set, but lost significance after adjustment for the expression signature. In a study of tamoxifen-treated patients, the HR for DMFS in high compared to low risk groups was 3.61 (95% CI 0.86–15.14).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The 14-gene signature is significantly associated with risk of distant metastasis. The signature has a predominance of proliferation genes which have prognostic significance above that of Ki-67 LI and may aid in prioritizing future mechanistic studies and therapeutic interventions.</p

Health, education, and social care provision after diagnosis of childhood visual disability

Aim: To investigate the health, education, and social care provision for children newly diagnosed with visual disability.Method: This was a national prospective study, the British Childhood Visual Impairment and Blindness Study 2 (BCVIS2), ascertaining new diagnoses of visual impairment or severe visual impairment and blindness (SVIBL), or equivalent vi-sion. Data collection was performed by managing clinicians up to 1-year follow-up, and included health and developmental needs, and health, education, and social care provision.Results: BCVIS2 identified 784 children newly diagnosed with visual impairment/SVIBL (313 with visual impairment, 471 with SVIBL). Most children had associated systemic disorders (559 [71%], 167 [54%] with visual impairment, and 392 [84%] with SVIBL). Care from multidisciplinary teams was provided for 549 children (70%). Two-thirds (515) had not received an Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP). Fewer children with visual impairment had seen a specialist teacher (SVIBL 35%, visual impairment 28%, χ2p < 0.001), or had an EHCP (11% vs 7%, χ2p < 0 . 01).Interpretation: Families need additional support from managing clinicians to access recommended complex interventions such as the use of multidisciplinary teams and educational support. This need is pressing, as the population of children with visual impairment/SVIBL is expected to grow in size and complexity.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Energetic particle influence on the Earth's atmosphere

This manuscript gives an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of the effects of energetic particle precipitation (EPP) onto the whole atmosphere, from the lower thermosphere/mesosphere through the stratosphere and troposphere, to the surface. The paper summarizes the different sources and energies of particles, principally galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), solar energetic particles (SEPs) and energetic electron precipitation (EEP). All the proposed mechanisms by which EPP can affect the atmosphere are discussed, including chemical changes in the upper atmosphere and lower thermosphere, chemistry-dynamics feedbacks, the global electric circuit and cloud formation. The role of energetic particles in Earth’s atmosphere is a multi-disciplinary problem that requires expertise from a range of scientific backgrounds. To assist with this synergy, summary tables are provided, which are intended to evaluate the level of current knowledge of the effects of energetic particles on processes in the entire atmosphere

Cupid 2.0

Cupido, el hijo de los dioses Tinder e Instagram, tuvo una crianza en la web junto a sus primos los algoritmos. Creció con mucho amor y likes, pero eso no le alcanzaba, entonces, sus padres decidieron crear filtros para que no este triste. Los filtros lo mantuvieron feliz y lejos de su casa por unos días. Cuando regreso, sus padres notaron que tenia el ala y la flecha rota; entonces se dieron cuenta que todo fue culpa del magnetismo que irradiaban los filtros que ellos crearon.Escritores: Cane, Julieta Ilustrador/Estudiante: Santodomingo, Karen Docente coordinador: Tollo, Diego Área: Comunicación Visual Institución Beneficiara seleccionada: Biblioteca Gr. San Martin. EnsenadaFacultad de Arte

The LungPath study:variation in the diagnostic and staging pathway for patients with lung cancer in England

The LungPath project investigated differences in lung cancer diagnostic practice by following the diagnostic pathways of 1507 patients from 19 representative English lung cancer centres. We found large variation in the proportion of patients receiving positron emission tomography-CT scan (range 13%-64%) and endobronchial ultrasound (range 2%-31%). There was also wide variation in the proportion of patients with good performance status who had their tumours histologically confirmed (range 61%-100%). The variation is discussed with reference to current national guidelines and implications for patient care

Intraspecific variation in growth and yield response to elevated CO2 in wheat depends on the differences of leaf mass per unit area

In order to investigate the underlying physiological mechanism of intraspecific variation in plant growth and yield response to elevated CO2 concentration [CO2], seven cultivars of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were grown at either ambient [CO2] (∼384molmol-1) or elevated [CO2] (700molmol-1) in temperature controlled glasshouses. Grain yield increased under elevated [CO2] by an average of 38% across all seven cultivars, and this was correlated with increases in both spike number (productive tillers) (r≤0.868) and aboveground biomass (r≤0.942). Across all the cultivars, flag leaf photosynthesis rate (A) increased by an average of 57% at elevated [CO2]. The response of A to elevated [CO2] ranged from 31% (in cv. H45) to 75% (in cv. Silverstar). Only H45 showed A acclimation to elevated [CO2], which was characterised by lower maximum Rubisco carboxylation efficiency, maximum electron transport rate and leaf N concentration. Leaf level traits responsible for plant growth, such as leaf mass per unit area (LMA), carbon (C), N content on an area basis ([N]LA) and the C:N increased at elevated [CO2]. LMA stimulation ranged from 0% to 85% and was clearly associated with increased [N]LA. Both of these traits were positively correlated with grain yield, suggesting that differences in LMA play an important role in determining the grain yield response to elevated [CO2]. Thus increased LMA can be used as a new trait to select cultivars for a future [CO2]-rich atmosphere

Intraspecific variation in leaf growth of wheat (Triticum aestivum) under Australian Grain Free Air CO2 Enrichment (AGFACE): Is it regulated through carbon and/or nitrogen supply?

Underlying physiological mechanisms of intraspecific variation in growth response to elevated CO2 concentration [CO2] were investigated using two spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars: Yitpi and H45. Leaf blade elongation rate (LER), leaf carbon (C), nitrogen (N) in the expanding leaf blade (ELB, sink) and photosynthesis (A) and C and N status in the last fully expanded leaf blade (LFELB, source) were measured. Plants were grown at ambient [CO2] (∼384molmol-1) and elevated [CO2] (∼550molmol-1) in the Australian Grains Free Air CO2 Enrichment facility. Elevated [CO2] increased leaf area and total dry mass production, respectively, by 42 and 53% for Yitpi compared with 2 and 13% for H45. Elevated [CO2] also stimulated the LER by 36% for Yitpi compared with 5% for H45. Yitpi showed a 99% increase in A at elevated [CO2] but no A stimulation was found for H45. There was a strong correlation (r2≤0.807) between LER of the ELB and soluble carbohydrate concentration in LFELB. In ELB, the highest spatial N concentration was observed in the cell division zone, where N concentrations were 67.3 and 60.6mg g-1 for Yitpi compared with 51.1 and 39.2mg g-1 for H45 at ambient and elevated [CO2]. In contrast, C concentration increased only in the cell division and cell expansion zone of the ELB of Yitpi. These findings suggest that C supply from the source (LFELB) is cultivar dependent and well correlated with LER, leaf area expansion and whole-plant growth response to elevated [CO2]