1,072 research outputs found
Lightweight, self-evacuated insulation panels
Multilayer insulation of prefabricated panels is developed for cryogenic storage tanks. System utilizes panels of aluminized Mylar separated by sheets of low conductivity polyurethane foam. Panels are self-evacuated by cryopumping of gaseous carbon dioxide at time of use
On Resource-bounded versions of the van Lambalgen theorem
The van Lambalgen theorem is a surprising result in algorithmic information
theory concerning the symmetry of relative randomness. It establishes that for
any pair of infinite sequences and , is Martin-L\"of random and
is Martin-L\"of random relative to if and only if the interleaved sequence
is Martin-L\"of random. This implies that is relative random
to if and only if is random relative to \cite{vanLambalgen},
\cite{Nies09}, \cite{HirschfeldtBook}. This paper studies the validity of this
phenomenon for different notions of time-bounded relative randomness.
We prove the classical van Lambalgen theorem using martingales and Kolmogorov
compressibility. We establish the failure of relative randomness in these
settings, for both time-bounded martingales and time-bounded Kolmogorov
complexity. We adapt our classical proofs when applicable to the time-bounded
setting, and construct counterexamples when they fail. The mode of failure of
the theorem may depend on the notion of time-bounded randomness
Rigid open-cell polyurethane foam for cryogenic insulation
Lightweight polyurethane foam assembled in panels is effective spacer material for construction of self-evacuating multilayer insulation panels for cryogenic liquid tanks. Spacer material separates radiation shields with barrier that minimizes conductive and convective heat transfer between shields
Intracellular sodium changes in cancer cells using a microcavity array-based bioreactor system and sodium triple-quantum mr signal
The sodium triple-quantum (TQ) magnetic resonance (MR) signal created by interactions of sodium ions with macromolecules has been demonstrated to be a valuable biomarker for cell viability. The aim of this study was to monitor a cellular response using the sodium TQ signal during inhibition of Na/K-ATPase in living cancer cells (HepG2). The cells were dynamically investigated after exposure to 1 mM ouabain or K-free medium for 60 min using an MR-compatible bioreactor system. An improved TQ time proportional phase incrementation (TQTPPI) pulse sequence with almost four times TQ signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) gain allowed for conducting experiments with 12–14 × 10 cells using a 9.4 T MR scanner. During cell intervention experiments, the sodium TQ signal increased to 138.9 ± 4.1% and 183.4 ± 8.9% for 1 mM ouabain (n = 3) and K-free medium (n = 3), respectively. During reperfusion with normal medium, the sodium TQ signal further increased to 169.2 ± 5.3% for the ouabain experiment, while it recovered to 128.5 ± 6.8% for the K-free experiment. These sodium TQ signal increases agree with an influx of sodium ions during Na/K-ATPase inhibition and hence a reduced cell viability. The improved TQ signal detection combined with this MR-compatible bioreactor system provides a capability to investigate the cellular response of a variety of cells using the sodium TQ MR signal
Energetic particle loss mechanisms in reactor-scale equilibria close to quasisymmetry
Collisionless physics primarily determines the transport of fusion-born alpha
particles in 3D equilibria. Several transport mechanisms have been implicated
in stellarator configurations, including stochastic diffusion due to class
transitions, ripple trapping, and banana drift-convective orbits. Given the
guiding center dynamics in a set of six quasihelical and quasiaxisymmetric
equilibria, we perform a classification of trapping states and transport
mechanisms. In addition to banana drift convection and ripple transport, we
observe substantial non-conservation of the parallel adiabatic invariant which
can cause losses through diffusive banana tip motion. Furthermore, many lost
trajectories undergo transitions between trapping classes on longer time
scales, either with periodic or irregular behavior. We discuss possible
optimization strategies for each of the relevant transport mechanisms. We
perform a comparison between fast ion losses and metrics for the prevalence of
mechanisms such as banana-drift convection [1], transitioning orbits, and wide
orbit widths. Quasihelical configurations are found to have natural protection
against ripple-trapping and diffusive banana tip motion leading to a reduction
in prompt losses
The novel transcriptional regulator SczA mediates protection against Zn2+ stress by activation of the Zn2+-resistance gene czcD in Streptococcus pneumoniae
Maintenance of the intracellular homeostasis of metal ions is important for the virulence of many bacterial pathogens. Here, we demonstrate that the czcD gene of the human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae is involved in resistance against Zn2+, and that its transcription is induced by the transition-metal ions Zn2+, Co2+ and Ni2+. Upstream of czcD a gene was identified, encoding a novel TetR family regulator, SczA, that is responsible for the metal ion-dependent activation of czcD expression. Transcriptome analyses revealed that in a sczA mutant expression of czcD, a gene encoding a MerR-family transcriptional regulator and a gene encoding a zinc-containing alcohol dehydrogenase (adhB) were downregulated. Activation of the czcD promoter by SczA is shown to proceed by Zn2+-dependent binding of SczA to a conserved DNA motif. In the absence of Zn2+, SczA binds to a second site in the czcD promoter, thereby fully blocking czcD expression. This is the first example of a metalloregulatory protein belonging to the TetR family that has been described. The presence in S. pneumoniae of the Zn2+-resistance system characterized in this study might reflect the need for adjustment to a fluctuating Zn2+ pool encountered by this pathogen during infection of the human body
Centre for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer ScienceNot Every Domain of a Plain Decompressor Contains the Domain of a Prefix-Free One
question about the relation between plain and prefix Kolmogorov complexities (see their paper in DLT 2008 conference proceedings): does the domain of every optimal decompressor contain the domain of some optimal prefix-free decompressor? In this paper we provide a negative answer to this question.
The Isomorphism Relation Between Tree-Automatic Structures
An -tree-automatic structure is a relational structure whose domain
and relations are accepted by Muller or Rabin tree automata. We investigate in
this paper the isomorphism problem for -tree-automatic structures. We
prove first that the isomorphism relation for -tree-automatic boolean
algebras (respectively, partial orders, rings, commutative rings, non
commutative rings, non commutative groups, nilpotent groups of class n >1) is
not determined by the axiomatic system ZFC. Then we prove that the isomorphism
problem for -tree-automatic boolean algebras (respectively, partial
orders, rings, commutative rings, non commutative rings, non commutative
groups, nilpotent groups of class n >1) is neither a -set nor a
-set
Proteomic responses to gold(III)-toxicity in the bacterium Cupriavidus metallidurans CH34
Accepted 11th October 2016The metal-resistant β-proteobacterium Cupriavidus metallidurans drives gold (Au) biomineralisation and the (trans)formation of Au nuggets largely via unknown biochemical processes, ultimately leading to the reductive precipitation of mobile, toxic Au(i/iii)-complexes. In this study proteomic responses of C. metallidurans CH34 to mobile, toxic Au(iii)-chloride are investigated. Cells were grown in the presence of 10 and 50 μM Au(iii)-chloride, 50 μM Cu(ii)-chloride and without additional metals. Differentially expressed proteins were detected by difference gel electrophoresis and identified by liquid chromatography coupled mass spectrometry. Proteins that were more abundant in the presence of Au(iii)-chloride are involved in a range of important cellular functions, e.g., metabolic activities, transcriptional regulation, efflux and metal transport. To identify Au-binding proteins, protein extracts were separated by native 2D gel electrophoresis and Au in protein spots was detected by laser absorption inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. A chaperon protein commonly understood to bind copper (Cu), CupC, was identified and shown to bind Au. This indicates that it forms part of a multi-metal detoxification system and suggests that similar/shared detoxification pathways for Au and Cu exist. Overall, this means that C. metallidurans CH34 is able to mollify the toxic effects of cytoplasmic Au(iii) by sequestering this Au-species. This effect may in the future be used to develop CupC-based biosensing capabilities for the in-field detection of Au in exploration samples.Carla M. Zammit, Florian Weiland, Joël Brugger, Benjamin Wade, Lyron Juan Winderbaum, Dietrich H. Nies, Gordon Southam, Peter Hoffmann and Frank Reit
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