Growth rate effects in soft CoFe films

We report on growth rate effects in sputter-deposited CoFe films prepared using high target utilization sputtering technology (HiTUS). We find that the grain structure of these polycrystalline films is closely related to the growth rate. By changing the growth rate, samples were prepared with different grain structure, which in turn had the effect of changing the magnetic properties of the films. We demonstrate control of the coercivity, which varied by a factor of more than ten. This was achieved via grain size control in CoFe films of thickness 20 nm. Furthermore, by employing a two-step sputtering process, in which two extreme growth rates are used sequentially, we were able to tune the saturation magnetization

Novel sputtering-technology for grain-size control

In this paper, we present a description of a novel high-rate plasma sputtering system that allows the control of grain size in sputtered films. Additionally, the system has the advantage of a better utilization of the target material (around 80% to 90%) by eliminating the race track at the target as in conventional plasma magnetron sputtering systems. The potential and capabilities of this novel plasma sputtering device are demonstrated in this paper by the deposition of a number of different Cr thin films suitable for underlayers in thin-film media and for which we have performed a systematic X-ray and TEM analysis to determine the grain-size histograms, mean grain diameters, and their relationship to the sputtering processes

Effect of blade geometry on the aerodynamic loads produced by vertical-axis wind turbines

Accurate aerodynamic modelling of vertical-axis wind turbines poses a significant challenge. The rotation of the turbine induces large variations in the angle of attack of its blades that can manifest as dynamic stall. In addition, interactions between the blades of the turbine and the wake that they produce can result in impulsive changes to the aerodynamic loading. The Vorticity Transport Model has been used to simulate the aerodynamic performance and wake dynamics of three different vertical-axis wind turbine configurations. It is known that vertical-axis turbines with either straight or curved blades deliver torque to their shaft that fluctuates at the blade passage frequency of the rotor. In contrast, a turbine with helically twisted blades delivers a relatively steady torque to the shaft. In this article, the interactions between helically twisted blades and the vortices within their wake are shown to result in localized perturbations to the aerodynamic loading on the rotor that can disrupt the otherwise relatively smooth power output that is predicted by simplistic aerodynamic tools that do not model the wake to sufficient fidelity. Furthermore, vertical-axis wind turbines with curved blades are shown to be somewhat more susceptible to local dynamic stall than turbines with straight blades

Structural Conservation and E2F Binding Specificity within the Retinoblastoma Pocket Protein Family

The human pocket proteins retinoblastoma (Rb), p107, and p130 are critical negative regulators of the cell cycle and contribute to tumor suppression. While strong structural conservation within the pocket protein family provides for some functional redundancy, important differences have been observed and may underlie the reason that Rb is a uniquely potent tumor suppressor. It has been proposed that distinct pocket protein activities are mediated by their different E2F transcription factor binding partners. In humans, Rb binds E2F1–E2F5, whereas p107 and p130 almost exclusively associate with E2F4 and E2F5. To identify the molecular determinants of this specificity, we compared the crystal structures of Rb and p107 pocket domains and identified several key residues that contribute to E2F selectivity in the pocket family. Mutation of these residues in p107 to match the analogous residue in Rb results in an increase in affinity for E2F1 and E2F2 and an increase in the ability of p107 to inhibit E2F2 transactivation. Additionally, we investigated how phosphorylation by Cyclin-dependent kinase on distinct residues regulates p107 affinity for the E2F4 transactivation domain. We found that phosphorylation of residues S650 and S975 weakens the E2F4 transactivation domain binding. Our data reveal molecular features of pocket proteins that are responsible for their similarities and differences in function and regulation

Genome sequences of 12 isolates of the EU1 lineage of Phytophthora ramorum, a fungus-like pathogen that causes extensive damage and mortality to a wide range of trees and other plants

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.Here we present genome sequences for twelve isolates of the invasive pathogen Phytophthora ramorum EU1. The assembled genome sequences and raw sequence data are available via BioProject accession number PRJNA177509. These data will be useful in developing molecular tools for specific detection and identification of this pathogen.This work was supported in part by a grant funded jointly by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Economic and Social Research Council, the Forestry Commission, the Natural Environment Research Council and the Scottish Government, under the Tree Health and Plant Biosecurity Initiative (BB/L012499/1). PAO was supported by a joint studentship from the Fera seedcorn programme and from the Defra Future-proofing Plant Health project (PH0441). We acknowledge funding for the joint studentship from the Fera seedcorn programme and from the Defra Future-proofing Plant Health project (PH0441)

Searches for IceCube Neutrinos Coincident with Gravitational Wave Events

Searches for neutrinos from gravitational wave events have been performed utilizing the wide energy range of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. We discuss results from these searches during the third observing run (O3) of the advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors, including a low-latency follow-up of public candidate alert events in O3, an archival search on high-energy track data, and a low-energy search employing IceCube-DeepCore. The dataset of high-energy tracks is mainly sensitive to muon neutrinos, while the low energy dataset is sensitive to neutrinos of all flavors. In all of these searches, we present upper limits on the neutrino flux and isotropic equivalent energy emitted in neutrinos. We also discuss future plans for additional searches, including extending the low-latency follow-up to the next observing run of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA detectors (O4) and analysis of gravitational wave (GW) events using a high-energy cascade dataset, which are produced by electron neutrino charged-current interactions and neutral-current interactions from neutrinos of all flavors.Comment: Presented at the 38th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2023). See arXiv:2307.13047 for all IceCube contribution

Infrastructure platform for privacy-preserving distributed machine learning development of computer-assisted theragnostics in cancer

Introduction: Emerging evidence suggests that data-driven support tools have found their way into clinical decision-making in a number of areas, including cancer care. Improving them and widening their scope of availability in various differing clinical scenarios, including for prognostic models derived from retrospective data, requires co-ordinated data sharing between clinical centres, secondary analyses of large multi-institutional clinical trial data, or distributed (federated) learning infrastructures. A systematic approach to utilizing routinely collected data across cancer care clinics remains a significant challenge due to privacy, administrative and political barriers. Methods: An information technology infrastructure and web service software was developed and implemented which uses machine learning to construct clinical decision support systems in a privacy-preserving manner across datasets geographically distributed in different hospitals. The infrastructure was deployed in a network of Australian hospitals. A harmonized, international ontology-linked, set of lung cancer databases were built with the routine clinical and imaging data at each centre. The infrastructure was demonstrated with the development of logistic regression models to predict major cardiovascular events following radiation therapy. Results: The infrastructure implemented forms the basis of the Australian computer-assisted theragnostics (AusCAT) network for radiation oncology data extraction, reporting and distributed learning. Four radiation oncology departments (across seven hospitals) in New South Wales (NSW) participated in this demonstration study. Infrastructure was deployed at each centre and used to develop a model predicting for cardiovascular admission within a year of receiving curative radiotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer. A total of 10,417 lung cancer patients were identified with 802 being eligible for the model. Twenty features were chosen for analysis from the clinical record and linked registries. After selection, 8 features were included and a logistic regression model achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve of 0.70 and C-index of 0.65 on out-of-sample data. Conclusion: The infrastructure developed was demonstrated to be usable in practice between clinical centres to harmonize routinely collected oncology data and develop models with federated learning. It provides a promising approach to enable further research studies in radiation oncology using real world clinical data

The management of tetanus in adults in an intensive care unit in Southern Vietnam

Background: Tetanus remains common in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) yet the evidence base guiding management of this disease is extremely limited, particularly with respect to contemporary management options. Sharing knowledge about practice may facilitate improvement in outcomes elsewhere. Methods: We describe clinical interventions and outcomes of 180 adult patients ≥16 years-old with tetanus enrolled in prospective observational studies at a specialist infectious diseases hospital in Southern Vietnam. Patients were treated according to a holistic management protocol encompassing wound-care, antitoxin, antibiotics, symptom control, airway management, nutrition and de-escalation criteria. Results: Mortality rate in our cohort was 2.8%, with 90 (50%) patients requiring mechanical ventilation for a median 16 [IQR 12-24] days. Median [IQR] duration of ICU stay was 15 [8-23] days. Autonomic nervous system dysfunction occurred in 45 (25%) patients. Hospital acquired infections occurred in 77 (43%) of patients. Conclusion: We report favourable outcomes for patients with tetanus in a single centre LMIC ICU, treated according to a holistic protocol. Nevertheless, many patients required prolonged intensive care support and hospital acquired infections were common

Reliability and Diagnostic Performance of CT Imaging Criteria in the Diagnosis of Tuberculous Meningitis

The original publication is available at http:// www.plosone.orgPublication of this article was funded by the Stellenbosch University Open Access Fund.Introduction: Abnormalities on CT imaging may contribute to the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM). Recently, an expert consensus case definition (CCD) and set of imaging criteria for diagnosing basal meningeal enhancement (BME) have been proposed. This study aimed to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity and reliability of these in a prospective cohort of adult meningitis patients. Methods: Initial diagnoses were based on the CCD, classifying patients into: ‘Definite TBM’ (microbiological confirmation), ‘Probable TBM’ (diagnostic score $10), ‘Possible TBM’ (diagnostic score 6–9), ‘Not TBM’ (confirmation of an alternative diagnosis) or ‘Uncertain’ (diagnostic score of ,6). CT images were evaluated independently on two occasions by four experienced reviewers. Intra-rater and inter-rater agreement were calculated using the kappa statistic. Sensitivities and specificities were calculated using both ‘Definite TBM’ and either ‘Definite TBM’ or ‘Probable TBM’ as gold standards. Results: CT scan criteria for BME had good intra-rater agreement (k range 0.35–0.78) and fair to moderate inter-rater agreement (k range 0.20–0.52). Intra- and inter-rater agreement on the CCD components were good to fair (k = ranges 0.47–0.81 and 0.21–0.63). Using ‘Definite TBM’ as a gold standard, the criteria for BME were very specific (61.5%–100%), but insensitive (5.9%–29.4%). Similarly, the imaging components of the CCD were highly specific (69.2–100%) but lacked sensitivity (0–56.7%). Similar values were found when using ‘Definite TBM’ or ‘Probable TBM’ as a gold standard. Discussion: The fair to moderate inter-rater agreement and poor sensitivities of the criteria for BME suggest that little reliance should be placed in these features in isolation. While the presence of the CCD criteria of acute infarction or tuberculoma(s) appears useful as rule-in criteria, their absence is of little help in excluding TBM. The CCD and criteria for BME, as well as any new criteria, need to be standardized and validated in prospective cohort studies.Funding: KB received funding from the Discovery Foundation (Academic Fellowship Award; http://www.discovery.co.za/portal/loggedout-individual/discoverycommunity- about), College of Neurology of South Africa (K.M. Browse Award; http://www.collegemedsa.ac.za/Default.aspx ) and the University of Stellenbosch. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Publisher's versio