Development of improved thermoelectric mater- ials for spacecraft applications final summary report, 29 jun. 1964 - 29 jun. 1965

Thermoelectric materials for spacecraft applications - optimization of bismuth-antimony alloys and ag-sb-fe-te-se system alloys for thermoelectric cooling in space environmen

New Approaches for the Treatment of Chronic Graft-Versus-Host Disease: Current Status and Future Directions

Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGvHD) is a severe complication of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation that affects various organs leading to a reduced quality of life. The condition often requires enduring immunosuppressive therapy, which can also lead to the development of severe side effects. Several approaches including small molecule inhibitors, antibodies, cytokines, and cellular therapies are now being developed for the treatment of cGvHD, and some of these therapies have been or are currently tested in clinical trials. In this review, we discuss these emerging therapies with particular emphasis on tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). TKIs are a class of compounds that inhibits tyrosine kinases, thereby preventing the dissemination of growth signals and activation of key cellular proteins that are involved in cell growth and division. Because they have been shown to inhibit key kinases in both B cells and T cells that are involved in the pathophysiology of cGvHD, TKIs present new promising therapeutic approaches. Ibrutinib, a Bruton tyrosine kinase (Btk) inhibitor, has recently been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States for the treatment of adult patients with cGvHD after failure of first-line of systemic therapy. Also, Janus Associated Kinases (JAK1 and JAK2) inhibitors, such as itacitinib (JAK1) and ruxolitinib (JAK1 and 2), are promising in the treatment of cGvHD. Herein, we present the current status and future directions of the use of these new drugs with particular spotlight on their targeting of specific intracellular signal transduction cascades important for cGvHD, in order to shed some light on their possible mode of actions

Quantum computing with defects

Identifying and designing physical systems for use as qubits, the basic units of quantum information, are critical steps in the development of a quantum computer. Among the possibilities in the solid state, a defect in diamond known as the nitrogen-vacancy (NV-1) center stands out for its robustness - its quantum state can be initialized, manipulated, and measured with high fidelity at room temperature. Here we describe how to systematically identify other deep center defects with similar quantum-mechanical properties. We present a list of physical criteria that these centers and their hosts should meet and explain how these requirements can be used in conjunction with electronic structure theory to intelligently sort through candidate defect systems. To illustrate these points in detail, we compare electronic structure calculations of the NV-1 center in diamond with those of several deep centers in 4H silicon carbide (SiC). We then discuss the proposed criteria for similar defects in other tetrahedrally-coordinated semiconductors.Comment: 31 pages, 7 figures, 2 table

Quantum Information Processing with Ferroelectrically Coupled Quantum Dots

I describe a proposal to construct a quantum information processor using ferroelectrically coupled Ge/Si quantum dots. The spin of single electrons form the fundamental qubits. Small (<10 nm diameter) Ge quantum dots are optically excited to create spin polarized electrons in Si. The static polarization of an epitaxial ferroelectric thin film confines electrons laterally in the semiconductor; spin interactions between nearest neighbor electrons are mediated by the nonlinear process of optical rectification. Single qubit operations are achieved through "g-factor engineering" in the Ge/Si structures; spin-spin interactions occur through Heisenberg exchange, controlled by ferroelectric gates. A method for reading out the final state, while required for quantum computing, is not described; electronic approaches involving single electron transistors may prove fruitful in satisfying this requirement.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Consensus of German Transplant Centers on Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Fanconi Anemia

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is currently the only curative therapy for the severe hematopoietic complications associated with Fanconi anemia (FA). In Germany, it is estimated that 10–15 transplants are performed annually for FA. However, because FA is a DNA repair disorder, standard conditioning regimens confer a high risk of excessive regimen-related toxicities and mortality, and reduced intensity regimens are linked with graft failure in some FA patients. Moreover, development of graft-versus-host disease is a major contributing factor for secondary solid tumors. The relative rarity of the disorder limits HSCT experience at any single center. Consensus meetings were convened to develop a national approach for HSCT in FA. This manuscript outlines current experience and knowledge about HSCT in FA and, based on this analysis, general recommendations reached at these meetings

Semi-automated creation of accurate FEM meshes of heritage masonry walls from point cloud data

The structural analysis of buildings requires accurate spatial models. Additionally, pathologies such as settlement-induced damages are paramount in the assessment of heritage assets. This spatial information is used as a basis for Finite Element Method (FEM) meshes to evaluate the stability of the structure. Traditional data acquisition approaches rely on manual measurements which are labor intensive and error prone. Therefore, major simplifications are made to document structures efficiently. The goal of this research is to provide faster and more accurate procedures to capture the spatial information required by a FEM. This paper presents a semi-automated approach to create accurate models of complex heritage buildings for the purpose of structural analysis. By employing non-destructive techniques such as terrestrial laser scanning and photogrammetry, a complex mesh of the structure is created. Also, a methodology is proposed to capture crack information. A stepwise approach is elaborated to illustrate how the spatial information is adapted towards a FEM mesh. The results show a significant difference between the geometry our model and a traditional wire- frame model. Not only does accurate modelling result in deviating loads, it also affects the behavior of the object. Through the proposed approach, experts can develop highly accurate FEM meshes to assess the stability of the structure up to as-built conditionsPostprint (published version

Development of nondestructive evaluation methods for structural ceramics

Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods using three-dimensional microfocus X-ray computed tomographic imaging (3DXCT) were employed to map axial and radial density variations in hot-gas filters and heat exchanger tubes. 3D XCT analysis was conducted on (a) two 38-mm-OD, 6.5-mm wall, SiC/SiC heat exchanger tubes infiltrated by CVI; (b) eight 10 cm diam. oxide/oxide heat exchanger tubes; and (c) one 26-cm-long Nextel fiber/SiC matrix hot-gas filter. The results show that radial and axial density uniformity as well as porosity, can be assessed by 3D XCT. NDE methods are also under development to assess thermal barrier coatings which are under development as methods to protect gas-turbine first-stage hot section metallic substrates. Further, because both shop and field joining of CFCC materials will be necessary, work is now beginning on development of NDE methods for joining

Automated nondestructive evaluation method for characterizing ceramic and metallic hot gas filters.

In advanced coal-fired power generation, one technology under development to clean up hot gases before their use as fuel for gas turbines is rigid ceramic candle filters. These porous filters are typically 1.5 m long and 60 mm in diameter and are made of various ceramic materials, including clay-bonded SiC. The high costs of downtime in a large utility demands that nondestructive evaluation/characterization (NDE/C) methods be available. At shutdowns, data from such analysis are needed to decide which filters are still usable and which need to be replaced, and if possible, to estimate the remaining lifetimes. Thus our objective was to develop reliable low-cost NDE technology for these filters. Our approach was to develop NDE/C technology, referred to as acousto-ultrasonics (AU), for application to hot gas filters. Lamb waves generated by the AU method were analyzed to derive a stress wave factor (SWF). This technology was tested by comparing SWF data with the measured strength for a variety of rigid ceramic filters and was shown to work on iron-aluminide filters as well but no strength data have been obtained on the iron-aluminides at this time

Residual Kondo effect in quantum dot coupled to half-metallic ferromagnets

We study the Kondo effect in a quantum dot coupled to half-metallic ferromagnetic electrodes in the regime of strong on-dot correlations. Using the equation of motion technique for nonequilibrium Green functions in the slave boson representation we show that the Kondo effect is not completely suppressed for anti-parallel leads magnetization. In the parallel configuration there is no Kondo effect but there is an effect associated with elastic cotunneling which in turn leads to similar behavior of the local (on-dot) density of states (LDOS) as the usual Kondo effect. Namely, the LDOS shows the temperature dependent resonance at the Fermi energy which splits with the bias voltage and the magnetic field. Moreover, unlike for non-magnetic or not fully polarized ferromagnetic leads the only minority spin electrons can form such resonance in the density of states. However, this resonance cannot be observed directly in the transport measurements and we give some clues how to identify the effect in such systems.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in J. Phys.: Condens. Mat