Audio Preview Cues: Interaction Aides for Exploration of Online Music and Beyond

We present a light weight mechanism called preview cues that allows non-experts to explore an audio collection by providing supporting information (analogous to the use of tooltips) at the point of interest

Multi-silicon ridge nanofabrication by repeated edge lithography

We present a multi-Si nanoridge fabrication scheme and its application in nanoimprint\ud lithography (NIL). Triple Si nanoridges approximately 120 nm high and 40 nm wide separated\ud by 40 nm spacing are fabricated and successfully applied as a stamp in nanoimprint lithography.\ud The fabrication scheme, using a full-wet etching procedure in combination with repeated edge\ud lithography, consists of hot H3PO4 acid SiNx retraction etching, 20% KOH Si etching, 50% HF\ud SiNx retraction etching and LOCal Oxidation of Silicon (LOCOS). Si nanoridges with smooth\ud vertical sidewalls are fabricated by using Si 110 substrates and KOH etching. The presented\ud technology utilizes a conventional photolithography technique, and the fabrication of multi-Si\ud nanoridges on a full wafer scale has been demonstrated

Comment on ``Local dimer-adatom stacking fault structures from 3x3 to 13x13 along Si(111)-7x7 domain boundaries''

Zhao et al. [Phys.Rev.B 58, 13824 (1998)] depicted several atomic structures of domain boundaries on a Si(111) surface and criticized the article by the present author and the co-workers. I will point out that their criticism is incorrect and their structure models have no consistency.Comment: 2 pages. Physical Review B, to appea

Prediction of crack growth in a nickel-based superalloy under fatigue-oxidation conditions

Prediction of oxidation-assisted crack growth has been carried out for a nickel-based superalloy at elevated temperature based on finite element analyses of oxygen diffusion, coupled with viscoplastic deformation, near a fatigue crack tip. The material constitutive behaviour, implemented in the finite element code ABAQUS via a user-defined material subroutine (UMAT), was described by a unified viscoplastic model with non-linear kinematic and isotropic hardening rules. Diffusion of oxygen was assumed to be controlled by two parameters, the oxygen diffusivity and deformation-assisted oxygen mobility. Low frequencies and superimposed hold periods at peak loads significantly enhanced oxygen concentration near the crack tip. Evaluations of near-tip deformation and oxygen concentration were performed, which led to the construction of a failure envelop for crack growth based on the consideration of both oxygen concentration and accumulated inelastic strain near the crack tip. The failure envelop was then utilised to predict crack growth rates in a compact tension (CT) specimen under fatigue-oxidation conditions for selected loading ranges, frequencies and dwell periods. The predictions from the fatigue-oxidation failure envelop compared well with the experimental results for triangular and dwell loading waveforms, with marked improvements achieved over those predicted from the viscoplastic model alone. The fatigue-oxidation predictions also agree well with the experimental results for slow-fast loading waveforms, but not for fast-slow waveforms where the effect of oxidation is much reduced

Zener transitions between dissipative Bloch bands. II: Current Response at Finite Temperature

We extend, to include the effects of finite temperature, our earlier study of the interband dynamics of electrons with Markoffian dephasing under the influence of uniform static electric fields. We use a simple two-band tight-binding model and study the electric current response as a function of field strength and the model parameters. In addition to the Esaki-Tsu peak, near where the Bloch frequency equals the damping rate, we find current peaks near the Zener resonances, at equally spaced values of the inverse electric field. These become more prominenent and numerous with increasing bandwidth (in units of the temperature, with other parameters fixed). As expected, they broaden with increasing damping (dephasing).Comment: 5 pages, LateX, plus 5 postscript figure

Oxygen diffusion and crack growth for a nickel-based superalloy under fatigue-oxidation conditions

Advanced microscopy characterisation and numerical modelling have been carried out to investigate oxygen diffusion and crack growth in a nickel-based superalloy under fatigue-oxidation conditions. Penetration of oxygen into the material and the associated internal oxidation, which leads to material embrittlement and failure, have been found from Focused Ion Beam (FIB) examinations. Applied fatigue loading tends to enhance the extent of internal oxidation for temperatures at 750°C and above. Using a submodelling technique, finite element analyses of oxygen penetration at grain level have been carried out to quantify the fatigue-oxidation damage and calibrate the diffusion parameters based on the measurements of maximum depth of internal oxidation. The grain microstructure was considered explicitly in the finite element model, where the grain boundary was taken as the primary path for oxygen diffusion. A sequentially coupled mechanical-diffusion analysis was adopted to account for the effects of deformation on diffusion during fatigue loading, for which the material constitutive behaviour was described by a crystal plasticity model at grain level. Prediction of oxidation-assisted crack growth has also been carried out at elevated temperature from the finite 2 element analyses of oxygen diffusion near a fatigue crack tip. A failure curve for crack growth has been constructed based on the consideration of both oxygen concentration and accumulated inelastic strain near the crack tip. The predictions from the fatigue-oxidation failure curve compared well with the experimental results for triangular and dwell loading waveforms, with significant improvement achieved over those predicted from the viscoplastic model alone

Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor acts on retinal microglia/macrophage activation in a rat model of ocular inflammation.

PURPOSE: To evaluate whether anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) neutralizing antibodies injected in the vitreous of rat eyes influence retinal microglia and macrophage activation. To dissociate the effect of anti-VEGF on microglia and macrophages subsequent to its antiangiogenic effect, we chose a model of acute intraocular inflammation. METHODS: Lewis rats were challenged with systemic lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection and concomitantly received 5 µl of rat anti-VEGF-neutralizing antibody (1.5 mg/ml) in the vitreous. Rat immunoglobulin G (IgG) isotype was used as the control. The effect of anti-VEGF was evaluated at 24 and 48 h clinically (uveitis scores), biologically (cytokine multiplex analysis in ocular media), and histologically (inflammatory cell counts on eye sections). Microglia and macrophages were immunodetected with ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1 (IBA1) staining and counted based on their differential shapes (round amoeboid or ramified dendritiform) on sections and flatmounted retinas using confocal imaging and automatic quantification. Activation of microglia was also evaluated with inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and IBA1 coimmunostaining. Coimmunolocalization of VEGF receptor 1 and 2 (VEGF-R1 and R2) with IBA1 was performed on eye sections with or without anti-VEGF treatment. RESULTS: Neutralizing rat anti-VEGF antibodies significantly decreased ocular VEGF levels but did not decrease the endotoxin-induced uveitis (EIU) clinical score or the number of infiltrating cells and cytokines in ocular media (interleukin [IL]-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-α, and monocyte chemoattractant protein [MCP]-1). Eyes treated with anti-VEGF showed a significantly decreased number of activated microglia and macrophages in the retina and the choroid and decreased iNOS-positive microglia. IBA1-positive cells expressed VEGF-R1 and R2 in the inflamed retina. CONCLUSIONS: Microglia and macrophages expressed VEGF receptors, and intravitreous anti-VEGF influenced the microglia and macrophage activation state. Taking into account that anti-VEGF drugs are repeatedly injected in the vitreous of patients with retinal diseases, part of their effects could result from unsuspected modulation of the microglia activation state. This should be further studied in other ocular pathogenic conditions and human pathology

Subconjunctival Injection of XG-102, a c-Jun N-Terminal Kinase Inhibitor Peptide, in the Treatment of Endotoxin-Induced Uveitis in Rats.

Abstract Purpose: XG-102, a TAT-coupled dextrogyre peptide inhibiting the c-Jun N-terminal kinase, was shown efficient in the treatment of experimental uveitis. Preclinical studies are now performed to determine optimal XG-102 dose and route of administration in endotoxin-induced uveitis (EIU) in rats with the purpose of clinical study design. METHODS: EIU was induced in Lewis rats by lipopolysaccharides (LPS) injection. XG-102 was administered at the time of LPS challenge by intravenous (IV; 3.2, 35 or 355 μg/injection), intravitreal (IVT; 0.08, 0.2 or 2.2 μg/eye), or subconjunctival (SCJ; 0.2, 1.8 or 22 μg/eye) routes. Controls received either the vehicle (saline) or dexamethasone phosphate injections. Efficacy was assessed by clinical scoring, infiltrating cells count, and expression of inflammatory mediators [inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant-1 (CINC-1)]. The effect of XG-102 on phosphorylation of c-Jun was evaluated by Western blot. RESULTS: XG-102 demonstrated a dose-dependent anti-inflammatory effect in EIU after IV and SCJ administrations. Respective doses of 35 and 1.8 μg were efficient as compared with the vehicle-injected controls, but only the highest doses, respectively 355 and 22 μg, were as efficient as dexamethasone phosphate. After IVT injections, the anti-inflammatory effect of XG-102 was clinically evaluated similar to the corticoid's effect with all the tested doses. Regardless of the administration route, the lowest efficient doses of XG-102 significantly decreased the ration of phospho c-Jun/total c-Jun, reduced cells infiltration in the treated eyes, and significantly downregulated iNOS and CINC-1 expression in the retina. CONCLUSION: These results confirm that XG-102 peptide has potential for treating intraocular inflammation. SCJ injection appears as a good compromise to provide a therapeutic effect while limiting side effects

Gravitational anomalies signaling the breakdown of classical gravity

Recent observations for three types of astrophysical systems severely challenge the GR plus dark matter scenario, showing a phenomenology which is what modified gravity theories predict. Stellar kinematics in the outskirts of globular clusters show the appearance of MOND type dynamics on crossing the $a_{0}$ threshold. Analysis shows a ``Tully-Fisher'' relation in these systems, a scaling of dispersion velocities with the fourth root of their masses. Secondly, an anomaly has been found at the unexpected scales of wide binaries in the solar neighbourhood. Binary orbital velocities cease to fall along Keplerian expectations, and settle at a constant value, exactly on crossing the $a_{0}$ threshold. Finally, the inferred infall velocity of the bullet cluster is inconsistent with the standard cosmological scenario, where much smaller limit encounter velocities appear. This stems from the escape velocity limit present in standard gravity; the ``bullet'' should not hit the ``target'' at more than the escape velocity of the joint system, as it very clearly did. These results are consistent with extended gravity, but would require rather contrived explanations under GR, each. Thus, observations now put us in a situation where modifications to gravity at low acceleration scales cease to be a matter of choice, to now become inevitable.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings 38, 4