Structure stability evaluation of offshore heave compensator using multi-body dynamics analysis method

Heave compensator attenuate vessel heave motion during drilling operation of drillship. Heave compensator functions as damping form motion of drillship, such as principle spring of suspension system. The load transfers on the parts of heave compensator. Stress and deformation of all parts is evaluated to diagnose the stability of the compensator. This study makes a decision on the safety of structure. Results of analysis confirm the structure stability of heave compensator for simulation. This result can be used as data for structural analysis to determine safety of a structure

The Singer's Formant and Speaker's Ring Resonance: A Long-Term Average Spectrum Analysis

ObjectivesWe previously showed that a trained tenor's voice has the conventional singer's formant at the region of 3 kHz and another energy peak at 8-9 kHz. Singers in other operatic voice ranges are assumed to have the same peak in their singing and speaking voice. However, to date, no specific measurement of this has been made.MethodsTenors, baritones, sopranos and mezzo sopranos were chosen to participate in this study of the singer's formant and the speaker's ring resonance. Untrained males (n=15) and females (n=15) were included in the control group. Each subject was asked to produce successive /a/ vowel sounds in their singing and speaking voice. For singing, the low pitch was produced in the chest register and the high notes in the head register. We collected the data on the long-term average spectra of the speaking and singing voices of the trained singers and the control groups.ResultsFor the sounds produced from the head register, a significant energy concentration was seen in both 2.2-3.4 kHz and 7.5-8.4 kHz regions (except for the voices of the mezzo sopranos) in the trained singer group when compared to the control groups. Also, the chest register had a significant energy concentration in the 4 trained singer groups at the 2.2-3.1 kHz and 7.8-8.4 kHz. For speaking sound, all trained singers had a significant energy concentration at 2.2-5.3 kHz and sopranos had another energy concentration at 9-10 kHz.ConclusionThe results of this study suggest that opera singers have more energy concentration in the singer's formant/speaker's ring region, in both singing and speaking voices. Furthermore, another region of energy concentration was identified in opera singer's singing sound and in sopranos' speaking sound at 8-9 kHz. The authors believe that these energy concentrations may contribute to the rich voice of trained singers

Unleashing the full potential of Hsp90 inhibitors as cancer therapeutics through simultaneous inactivation of Hsp90, Grp94, and TRAP1

Cancer therapeutics: Extending a drug's reach A new drug that blocks heat shock proteins (HSPs), helper proteins that are co-opted by cancer cells to promote tumor growth, shows promise for cancer treatment. Several drugs have targeted HSPs, since cancer cells are known to hijack these helper proteins to shield themselves from destruction by the body. However, the drugs have had limited success. Hye-Kyung Park and Byoung Heon Kang at Ulsan National Institutes of Science and Technology in South Korea and coworkers noticed that the drugs were not absorbed into mitochondria, a key cellular compartment, and HSPs in this compartment were therefore not being blocked. They identified a new HSP inhibitor that can reach every cellular compartment and inhibit all HSPs. Testing in mice showed that this inhibitor effectively triggered death of tumor cells, and therefore shows promise for anti-cancer therapy. The Hsp90 family proteins Hsp90, Grp94, and TRAP1 are present in the cell cytoplasm, endoplasmic reticulum, and mitochondria, respectively; all play important roles in tumorigenesis by regulating protein homeostasis in response to stress. Thus, simultaneous inhibition of all Hsp90 paralogs is a reasonable strategy for cancer therapy. However, since the existing pan-Hsp90 inhibitor does not accumulate in mitochondria, the potential anticancer activity of pan-Hsp90 inhibition has not yet been fully examined in vivo. Analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas database revealed that all Hsp90 paralogs were upregulated in prostate cancer. Inactivation of all Hsp90 paralogs induced mitochondrial dysfunction, increased cytosolic calcium, and activated calcineurin. Active calcineurin blocked prosurvival heat shock responses upon Hsp90 inhibition by preventing nuclear translocation of HSF1. The purine scaffold derivative DN401 inhibited all Hsp90 paralogs simultaneously and showed stronger anticancer activity than other Hsp90 inhibitors. Pan-Hsp90 inhibition increased cytotoxicity and suppressed mechanisms that protect cancer cells, suggesting that it is a feasible strategy for the development of potent anticancer drugs. The mitochondria-permeable drug DN401 is a newly identified in vivo pan-Hsp90 inhibitor with potent anticancer activity

Petrosal Approach for Aneurysms on the Vertebrobasilar Artery Junction and Mid-Basilar Artery: Technical Note

The aneurysms located on vertebra-basilar artery junction and mid-basilar artery are not common. These aneurysms may be surgically clipped through a variety of approaches. The suboccipital approach has potential morbidities due to retraction of cerebellum and brain stem. The supratentorial approach may have retraction damage to the temporal lobe and the vein of Labbe. Resection of petrous bone in combined approach of supratentorial and infratentorial route has some advantages. There is minimal retraction of cerebellum, brain stem and temporal lobe, preservation of the vein of Labbe and shortening of the operative distance. Thus the petrosal approach may be helpful for the surgery of aneurysms arising around vertebro-basilar artery junction and mid-basilar artery. We have clipped an aneurysm on the vertebro-basilar artery junction and mid-basilar artery with petrosal approach and discuss its usefulness for the approach to aneurysms on vertebro-basilar artery junction and mid-basilar artery

CT Evidence for Subchondral Trabecular Injury of the Femoral Head in Transient Osteoporosis of the Hip: A Case Report

A 28-yr-old woman presented with both hip pain that started sequentially during the peripartum period. Diagnosis of transient osteoporosis of the hip (TOH) was made based on typical findings of plain radiographs and magnetic resonance images. The subchondral trabeculae of the femoral head were evaluated on serially taken coronal multiplanar reformation computerized tomogram images. At 4 weeks after pain onset, marked decrease in the sclerotic density with irregular discontinuation was observed in the primary compression trabeculae. At 12 weeks, a focal area of irregular thickening of trabeculae was observed. At 20 weeks, sclerotic density of trabeculae recovered markedly and the focal area of irregular trabecular thickening disappeared. At 1 yr, subchondral trabeculae recovered almost completely. The evidence of subchondral trabecular injury was observed in the femoral heads of TOH

Thymic Metastasis in Breast Cancer: A Case Report

A malignant tumor is generally believed to be very unlikely to metastasize to the thymus. Only three cases of thymic metastases have been reported so far in the medical literature. We report here a rare case of metastatic breast cancer to the thymus, which was detected by CT and PET scanning, and the metastasis was also confirmed by video-assisted thoracic surgery biopsy. Recognition of an unusual breast cancer metastasis, such as to the thymus, as well as the usual patterns of breast cancer metastasis will facilitate an accurate, prompt diagnosis and its appropriate treatment

Generation of a single-cycle pulse using a two-stage compressor and its temporal characterization using a tunnelling ionization method

A single-cycle laser pulse was generated using a two-stage compressor and characterized using a pulse characterization technique based on tunnelling ionization. A 25-fs, 800-nm laser pulse was compressed to 5.5 fs using a gas-filled hollow-core fibre and a set of chirped mirrors. The laser pulse was further compressed, down to the single-cycle limit by propagation through multiple fused-silica plates and another set of chirped mirrors. The two-stage compressor mitigates the development of higher-order dispersion during spectral broadening. Thus, a single-cycle pulse was generated by compensating the second-order dispersion using chirped mirrors. The duration of the single-cycle pulse was 2.5 fs, while its transform-limited duration was 2.2 fs. A continuum extreme ultraviolet spectrum was obtained through high-harmonic generation without applying any temporal gating technique. The continuum spectrum was shown to have a strong dependence on the carrier-envelope phase of the laser pulse, confirming the generation of a single-cycle pulse. © 2019, The Author(s