8,202 research outputs found
Thermal induced flow oscillations in heat exchangers for supercritical fluids
Analytical model has been developed to predict possible unstable behavior in supercritical heat exchangers. From complete model, greatly simplified stability criterion is derived. As result of this criterion, stability of heat exchanger system can be predicted in advance
Temporal characteristics of oxygenation-sensitive MRI responses to visual activation in humans.
Sensation Seeking and Perceived Need for Structure Moderate Soldiers’ Well-Being Before and After Operational Deployment
This study examined associations between sensation seeking and perceived need for structure, and changes in reported well-being among deployed soldiers. Participants (n = 167) were assessed before and after a six-month deployment to south Afghanistan. Results indicated that although well-being declined in the soldier sample as a whole following deployment, the degree of decrease was significantly different among soldiers with different personality profiles. Differences were moderated by soldiers’ level of sensation seeking and perceived need for structure. Results are discussed in terms of a person-environment fit theory in the context of preparation and rehabilitation of deployed military personnel
Emotional disorders: Cluster 4 of the proposed meta-structure for DSM-V and ICD-11
Background The extant major psychiatric classifications DSM-IV, and ICD-10, are atheoretical and largely descriptive. Although this achieves good reliability, the validity of a medical diagnosis would be greatly enhanced by an understanding of risk factors and clinical manifestations. In an effort to group mental disorders on the basis of aetiology, five clusters have been proposed. This paper considers the validity of the fourth cluster, emotional disorders, within that proposal.Method We reviewed the literature in relation to 11 validating criteria proposed by a Study Group of the DSM-V Task Force, as applied to the cluster of emotional disorders.Results An emotional cluster of disorders identified using the 11 validators is feasible. Negative affectivity is the defining feature of the emotional cluster. Although there are differences between disorders in the remaining validating criteria, there are similarities that support the feasibility of an emotional cluster. Strong intra-cluster co-morbidity may reflect the action of common risk factors and also shared higher-order symptom dimensions in these emotional disorders.Conclusion Emotional disorders meet many of the salient criteria proposed by the Study Group of the DSM-V Task Force to suggest a classification cluster.</p
Room-temperature near-infrared silicon carbide nanocrystalline emitters based on optically aligned spin defects
Bulk silicon carbide (SiC) is a very promising material system for
bio-applications and quantum sensing. However, its optical activity lies beyond
the near infrared spectral window for in-vivo imaging and fiber communications
due to a large forbidden energy gap. Here, we report the fabrication of SiC
nanocrystals and isolation of different nanocrystal fractions ranged from 600
nm down to 60 nm in size. The structural analysis reveals further fragmentation
of the smallest nanocrystals into ca. 10-nm-size clusters of high crystalline
quality, separated by amorphization areas. We use neutron irradiation to create
silicon vacancies, demonstrating near infrared photoluminescence. Finally, we
detect, for the first time, room-temperature spin resonances of these silicon
vacancies hosted in SiC nanocrystals. This opens intriguing perspectives to use
them not only as in-vivo luminescent markers, but also as magnetic field and
temperature sensors, allowing for monitoring various physical, chemical and
biological processes.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Fiber-Reinforced Wood Composites
The technical feasibility of producing internally reinforced laminated wood is evaluated experimentally. Numerous fiber reinforcements and adhesives are assessed, and effects of several processing and environmental parameters are included. Results demonstrate the increased strength and stiffness to be achieved under both tension and flexure by adding fiber reinforcement. Glass reinforcement is particularly suitable
The Genetic and Environmental Sources of Resemblance Between Normative Personality and Personality Disorder Traits
Recent work has suggested a high level of congruence between normative personality, most typically represented by the big five factors, and abnormal personality traits. In 2,293 Norwegian adult twins ascertained from a population-based registry, the authors evaluated the degree of sharing of genetic and environmental influences on normative personality, assessed by the Big Five Inventory (BFI), and personality disorder traits (PDTs), assessed by the Personality Inventory for DSM-S-Norwegian Brief Form (PID-5NBF). For four of the five BFI dimensions, the strongest genetic correlation was observed with the expected PID-5-NBF dimension (e.g., neuroticism with negative affectivity [+], conscientiousness with disinhibition [-]). However, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and agreeableness had substantial genetic correlations with other PID-S-NBF dimensions (e.g., neuroticism with compulsivity [+], agreeableness with detachment [-]). Openness had no substantial genetic correlations with any PID-5-NBF dimension. The proportion of genetic risk factors shared in aggregate between the BFI traits and the PID-5-NBF dimensions was quite high for conscientiousness and neuroticism, relatively robust for extraversion and agreeableness, but quite low for openness. Of the six PID-S-NBF dimensions, three (negative affectivity, detachment, and disinhibition) shared, in aggregate, most of their genetic risk factors with normative personality traits. Genetic factors underlying psychoticism, antagonism, and compulsivity were shared to a lesser extent, suggesting that they are influenced by etiological factors not well indexed by the BFI
Robust T1-Weighted Structural Brain Imaging and Morphometry at 7T Using MP2RAGE.
PURPOSE: To suppress the noise, by sacrificing some of the signal homogeneity for numerical stability, in uniform T1 weighted (T1w) images obtained with the magnetization prepared 2 rapid gradient echoes sequence (MP2RAGE) and to compare the clinical utility of these robust T1w images against the uniform T1w images.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: 8 healthy subjects (29.0±4.1 years; 6 Male), who provided written consent, underwent two scan sessions within a 24 hour period on a 7T head-only scanner. The uniform and robust T1w image volumes were calculated inline on the scanner. Two experienced radiologists qualitatively rated the images for: general image quality; 7T specific artefacts; and, local structure definition. Voxel-based and volume-based morphometry packages were used to compare the segmentation quality between the uniform and robust images. Statistical differences were evaluated by using a positive sided Wilcoxon rank test.
RESULTS: The robust image suppresses background noise inside and outside the skull. The inhomogeneity introduced was ranked as mild. The robust image was significantly ranked higher than the uniform image for both observers (observer 1/2, p-value = 0.0006/0.0004). In particular, an improved delineation of the pituitary gland, cerebellar lobes was observed in the robust versus uniform T1w image. The reproducibility of the segmentation results between repeat scans improved (p-value = 0.0004) from an average volumetric difference across structures of ≈6.6% to ≈2.4% for the uniform image and robust T1w image respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: The robust T1w image enables MP2RAGE to produce, clinically familiar T1w images, in addition to T1 maps, which can be readily used in uniform morphometry packages
Entrainment rates and microphysics in POST stratocumulus
The article of record as published may be located at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50878An aircraft field study (POST; Physics of Stratocumulus Top) was conducted off the
central California coast in July and August 2008 to deal with the known difficulty of
measuring entrainment rates in the radiatively important stratocumulus (Sc) prevalent in that
area. The Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Studies Twin Otter
research aircraft flew 15 quasi-Lagrangian flights in unbroken Sc and carried a full
complement of probes including three high-data-rate probes: ultrafast temperature probe,
particulate volume monitor probe, and gust probe. The probes’ colocation near the nose of
the Twin Otter permitted estimation of entrainment fluxes and rates with an in-cloud
resolution of 1m. Results include the following: Application of the conditional sampling
variation of classical mixed layer theory for calculating the entrainment rate into cloud top
for POST flights is shown to be inadequate for most of the Sc. Estimated rates resemble
previous results after theory is modified to take into account both entrainment and
evaporation at cloud top given the strong wind shear and mixing at cloud top. Entrainment
rates show a tendency to decrease for large shear values, and the largest rates are for the
smallest temperature jumps across the inversion. Measurements indirectly suggest that
entrained parcels are primarily cooled by infrared flux divergence rather than cooling from
droplet evaporation, while detrainment at cloud top causes droplet evaporation and cooling
in the entrainment interface layer above cloud top.NSF supported H. Gerber, G. Frick, and S. Malinowski (ATM-0735121, AGS-1020445), D. Khelif (ATM-0734323), and S. Krueger (ATM-0735118). The Office of Naval Research and the Naval Postgraduate School supported in part the deployment of the Twin Otter aircraft
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