Vortex lattice structures and pairing symmetry in Sr2RuO4

Recent experimental results indicate that superconductivity in Sr2RuO4 is described by the p-wave E_u representation of the D_{4h} point group. Results on the vortex lattice structures for this representation are presented. The theoretical results are compared with experiment.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, M2S-HTSC-VI proceeding

A new displacement-based approach to calculate stress intensity factors with the boundary element method

The analysis of cracked brittle mechanical components considering linear elastic fracture mechanics is usually reduced to the evaluation of stress intensity factors (SIFs). The SIF calculation can be carried out experimentally, theoretically or numerically. Each methodology has its own advantages but the use of numerical methods has be-come very popular. Several schemes for numerical SIF calculations have been developed, the J-integral method being one of the most widely used because of its energy-like formulation. Additionally, some variations of the J-integral method, such as displacement-based methods, are also becoming popular due to their simplicity. In this work, a simple displacement-based scheme is proposed to calculate SIFs, and its performance is compared with contour integrals. These schemes are all implemented with the Boundary Element Method (BEM) in order to exploit its advantages in crack growth modelling. Some simple examples are solved with the BEM and the calculated SIF values are compared against available solutions, showing good agreement between the different schemes

Defect Statistics in the Two Dimensional Complex Ginsburg-Landau Model

The statistical correlations between defects in the two dimensional complex Ginsburg-Landau model are studied in the defect-coarsening regime. In particular the defect-velocity probability distribution is determined and has the same high velocity tail found for the purely dissipative time-dependent Ginsburg-Landau (TDGL) model. The spiral arms of the defects lead to a very different behavior for the order parameter correlation function in the scaling regime compared to the results for the TDGL model.Comment: 24 page

Targeting Toll-like receptor-4 to tackle preterm birth and fetal inflammatory injury

Every year, 15 million pregnancies end prematurely, resulting in more than 1 million infant deaths and long-term health consequences for many children. The physiological processes of labour and birth involve essential roles for immune cells and pro-inflammatory cytokines in gestational tissues. There is compelling evidence that the mechanisms underlying spontaneous preterm birth are initiated when a premature and excessive inflammatory response is triggered by infection or other causes. Exposure to pro-inflammatory mediators is emerging as a major factor in the 'fetal inflammatory response syndrome' that often accompanies preterm birth, where unscheduled effects in fetal tissues interfere with normal development and predispose to neonatal morbidity. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are critical upstream gatekeepers of inflammatory activation. TLR4 is prominently involved through its ability to sense and integrate signals from a range of microbial and endogenous triggers to provoke and perpetuate inflammation. Preclinical studies have identified TLR4 as an attractive pharmacological target to promote uterine quiescence and protect the fetus from inflammatory injury. Novel small-molecule inhibitors of TLR4 signalling, specifically the non-opioid receptor antagonists (+)-naloxone and (+)-naltrexone, are proving highly effective in animal models for preventing preterm birth induced by bacterial mimetic LPS, heat-killed Escherichia coli, or the TLR4-dependent pro-inflammatory lipid, platelet-activating factor (PAF). Here, we summarise the rationale for targeting TLR4 as a master regulator of inflammation in fetal and gestational tissues, and the potential utility of TLR4 antagonists as candidates for preventative and therapeutic application in preterm delivery and fetal inflammatory injury.Sarah A Robertson, Mark R Hutchinson, Kenner C Rice, Peck-Yin Chin, Lachlan M Moldenhauer, Michael J Stark, David M Olson, Jeffrey A Keela

Mirror symmetry breaking through an internal degree of freedom leading to directional motion

We analyze here the minimal conditions for directional motion (net flow in phase space) of a molecular motor placed on a mirror-symmetric environment and driven by a center-symmetric and time-periodic force field. The complete characterization of the deterministic limit of the dissipative dynamics of several realizations of this minimal model, reveals a complex structure in the phase diagram in parameter space, with intertwined regions of pinning (closed orbits) and directional motion. This demonstrates that the mirror-symmetry breaking which is needed for directional motion to occur, can operate through an internal degree of freedom coupled to the translational one.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

The analytic solution of near-tip stress fields for perfectly plastic pressure-sensitive material under plane stress condition

Different from dense metals, many engineering materials exhibit pressure-sensitive yielding and plastic volumetric deformation. Adopting a yield criterion that contains a linear combination of the Mises stress and the hydrostatic stress, the analytic solutions of plane-stress mode I perfectly-plastic near-tip stress fields for pressuresensitive materials are derived. Also, the relevant characteristic fields are presented. This perfectly plastic solution, containing a pressure sensitivity parameter μ, is shown to correspond to the limit of low-hardening solutions, and when μ=0 it reduces to the perfectly plastic solution of near-tip fields for the Mises material given by Hutchinson [1]. The effects of material pressure sensitivity on the near-tip fields are discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42771/1/10704_2004_Article_BF00034180.pd

A Review of the fossil record of turtles of the clade Baenidae

The fossil record of the turtle clade Baenidae ranges from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian—Albian) to the Eocene. The group is present throughout North America during the Early Cretaceous, but is restricted to the western portions of the continents in the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene. No credible remains of the clade have been reported outside of North America to date. Baenids were warmadapted freshwater aquatic turtles that supported high levels of diversity at times through niche partitioning, particularly by adapting to a broad range of dietary preferences ranging from omnivorous to molluscivorous. Current phylogenies place Baenidae near the split of crown-group Testudines. Within Baenidae three more inclusive, named clades are recognized: Baenodda, Palatobaeninae and Eubaeninae. A taxonomic review of the group concludes that of 49 named taxa, 30 are nomina valida, 12 are nomina invalida and 7 are nomina dubia

The Kuiper Belt and Other Debris Disks

We discuss the current knowledge of the Solar system, focusing on bodies in the outer regions, on the information they provide concerning Solar system formation, and on the possible relationships that may exist between our system and the debris disks of other stars. Beyond the domains of the Terrestrial and giant planets, the comets in the Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud preserve some of our most pristine materials. The Kuiper belt, in particular, is a collisional dust source and a scientific bridge to the dusty "debris disks" observed around many nearby main-sequence stars. Study of the Solar system provides a level of detail that we cannot discern in the distant disks while observations of the disks may help to set the Solar system in proper context.Comment: 50 pages, 25 Figures. To appear in conference proceedings book "Astrophysics in the Next Decade

An Integrated TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource to Drive High-Quality Survival Outcome Analytics

For a decade, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) program collected clinicopathologic annotation data along with multi-platform molecular profiles of more than 11,000 human tumors across 33 different cancer types. TCGA clinical data contain key features representing the democratized nature of the data collection process. To ensure proper use of this large clinical dataset associated with genomic features, we developed a standardized dataset named the TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource (TCGA-CDR), which includes four major clinical outcome endpoints. In addition to detailing major challenges and statistical limitations encountered during the effort of integrating the acquired clinical data, we present a summary that includes endpoint usage recommendations for each cancer type. These TCGA-CDR findings appear to be consistent with cancer genomics studies independent of the TCGA effort and provide opportunities for investigating cancer biology using clinical correlates at an unprecedented scale. Analysis of clinicopathologic annotations for over 11,000 cancer patients in the TCGA program leads to the generation of TCGA Clinical Data Resource, which provides recommendations of clinical outcome endpoint usage for 33 cancer types

Hadronic contributions to (g−2)(g-2) of the leptons and to the effective fine structure constant α(MZ2)\alpha(M_Z^2)

The hadronic contributions to the anomalous magnetic moments of the leptons and to the effective fine structure constant at the Z-mass are reevaluated using all presently available $e^+ e^-$ data.Comment: 36 pages, 11 Postscript figures, available at ftp://129.129.40.58/pub/preprints/vapogm2.ps.g