System remotely inspects, measures, and records internal irregularities in piping

Video electromechanical probe visually inspects and measures internal offset and peaking of welds in relatively large piping. Irregularity dimensions are recorded on peripheral equipment consisting of video tape and X-Y plotter. The probe is used for inspection of vacuum-jacketed liquid lines that cannot be inspected externally

Surface Wave Modes on Spherical Cavities Excited by Incident Ultrasound

It has been shown both experimentally and theoretically1 that ultrasonic waves propagate circumferentially around the surface of cavities in an elastic medium, besides being reflected from its “flash points”. Surface wave returns were seen to decisively influence the time structure of the echo return from incident ultrasonic pulses. Nagase2 has solved a characteristic equation applicable to the spherical cavity problem, from which it could be shown3 that the surface of a spherical cavity supports a Rayleigh-type and two (P and S) Franz-type surface waves, of known speeds and dispersions. On the other hand, the complex eigenfrequencies of cavities were recently obtained numerically4. We have used these numerical results in order to satisfy Nagase’s solutions, presented in the form of propagation constants of the surface waves as series of fractional powers of the frequency, and have obtained in this way a mode number assignment for all the complex eigenfrequencies. Using this, we calculate dispersion curves for the Rayleigh, P and S- type surface wave phase velocities; their knowledge will permit an accurate interpretation of ultrasonic scattering experiments1, which previously could be analyzed in a qualitative way only

Advanced stratified charge rotary aircraft engine design study

A technology base of new developments which offered potential benefits to a general aviation engine was compiled and ranked. Using design approaches selected from the ranked list, conceptual design studies were performed of an advanced and a highly advanced engine sized to provide 186/250 shaft Kw/HP under cruise conditions at 7620/25,000 m/ft altitude. These are turbocharged, direct-injected stratified charge engines intended for commercial introduction in the early 1990's. The engine descriptive data includes tables, curves, and drawings depicting configuration, performance, weights and sizes, heat rejection, ignition and fuel injection system descriptions, maintenance requirements, and scaling data for varying power. An engine-airframe integration study of the resulting engines in advanced airframes was performed on a comparative basis with current production type engines. The results show airplane performance, costs, noise & installation factors. The rotary-engined airplanes display substantial improvements over the baseline, including 30 to 35% lower fuel usage

Hyperoxia Causes Mitochondrial Fragmentation in Pulmonary Endothelial Cells by Increasing Expression of Pro-Fission Proteins

Objective—We explored mechanisms that alter mitochondrial structure and function in pulmonary endothelial cells (PEC) function after hyperoxia. Approach and Results—Mitochondrial structures of PECs exposed to hyperoxia or normoxia were visualized and mitochondrial fragmentation quantified. Expression of pro-fission or fusion proteins or autophagy-related proteins were assessed by Western blot. Mitochondrial oxidative state was determined using mito-roGFP. Tetramethylrhodamine methyl ester estimated mitochondrial polarization in treatment groups. The role of mitochondrially derived reactive oxygen species in mt-fragmentation was investigated with mito-TEMPOL and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage studied by using ENDO III (mt-tat-endonuclease III), a protein that repairs mDNA damage. Drp-1 (dynamin-related protein 1) was overexpressed or silenced to test the role of this protein in cell survival or transwell resistance. Hyperoxia increased fragmentation of PEC mitochondria in a time-dependent manner through 48 hours of exposure. Hyperoxic PECs exhibited increased phosphorylation of Drp-1 (serine 616), decreases in Mfn1 (mitofusion protein 1), but increases in OPA-1 (optic atrophy 1). Pro-autophagy proteins p62 (LC3 adapter–binding protein SQSTM1/p62), PINK-1 (PTEN-induced putative kinase 1), and LC3B (microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B-light chain 3) were increased. Returning cells to normoxia for 24 hours reversed the increased mt-fragmentation and changes in expression of pro-fission proteins. Hyperoxia-induced changes in mitochondrial structure or cell survival were mitigated by antioxidants mito-TEMPOL, Drp-1 silencing, or inhibition or protection by the mitochondrial endonuclease ENDO III. Hyperoxia induced oxidation and mitochondrial depolarization and impaired transwell resistance. Decrease in resistance was mitigated by mito-TEMPOL or ENDO III and reproduced by overexpression of Drp-1. Conclusions—Because hyperoxia evoked mt-fragmentation, cell survival and transwell resistance are prevented by ENDO III and mito-TEMPOL and Drp-1 silencing, and these data link hyperoxia-induced mt-DNA damage, Drp-1 expression, mt-fragmentation, and PEC dysfunction

The Hypolipidemic Activity of Metal Complexes of Amine Carboxyboranes in Rodents

The metal complexes of amine-carboxyborane including copper, chromium, zinc, calcium amd cobalt were effective hypolipidemic agents lowering both serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels significantly in mice at 8 mg/kg/day, I.P. after 16 days. The agents reduced acetyl CoA synthetase, ATP-dependent citrate lyase, acyl CoA cholesterol acyl transferase, sn-glycerol-3-phosphate acyl transferase activities of rat liver and small intestinal mucosa after 14 days treatment. The neutral cholesterol ester hydrolase activity was elevated by the agents in both tissues. The metal complexes altered lipid levels in the bile of rats after treatment as well as the bile acid composition after 14 days administration, orally. The agents blocked enterohepatic absorption of cholesterol from rat isolated intestinal loops

Ultra-strong nonlinear optical processes and trigonal warping in MoS2 layers

Nonlinear optical processes, such as harmonic generation, are of great interest for various applications, e.g., microscopy, therapy, and frequency conversion. However, high-order harmonic conversion is typically much less efficient than low-order, due to the weak intrinsic response of the higher-order nonlinear processes. Here we report ultra-strong optical nonlinearities in monolayer MoS2 (1L-MoS2): the third harmonic is 30 times stronger than the second, and the fourth is comparable to the second. The third harmonic generation efficiency for 1L-MoS2 is approximately three times higher than that for graphene, which was reported to have a large χ (3). We explain this by calculating the nonlinear response functions of 1L-MoS2 with a continuum-model Hamiltonian and quantum mechanical diagrammatic perturbation theory, highlighting the role of trigonal warping. A similar effect is expected in all other transition-metal dichalcogenides. Our results pave the way for efficient harmonic generation based on layered materials for applications such as microscopy and imaging.We acknowledge funding from the Academy of Finland (Nos: 276376, 284548, 295777, 298297, and 304666), TEKES (NP-Nano, OPEC), Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) Research Fellowships, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, the Graphene Flagship, ERC grants Hetero2D, Nokia Foundation, EPSRC Grants EP/K01711X/1, EP/K017144/1, EP/L016087/1, AFOSR COMAS MURI (FA9550-10-1-0558), ONR NECom MURI, CIAN NSF ERC under Grant EEC-0812072, and TRIF Photonics funding from the state of Arizona and the Micronova, Nanofabrication Centre of Aalto University

Psychological and Genetic Predictors of Pain Tolerance

Previous studies have shown associations between genetic polymorphisms and pain tolerance, but psychological evaluations are seldom measured. The objective of this study was to determine the independent effects of demographic, psychological, and genetic predictors of cold noxious pain tolerance. Healthy subjects (n = 89) completed the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) and Fear of Pain Questionnaire (FPQ-III), underwent genotyping for candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and completed a cold-pressor test in a 1-2 degrees C water bath for a maximum of 3 minutes. The primary outcome measure was pain tolerance, defined as the maximum duration of time subjects left their nondominant hand in the cold-water bath. Cox proportional hazards regression indicated that female sex, Asian race, and increasing PCS and FPQ-III scores were associated with lower pain tolerance. No candidate SNP was significantly associated with pain tolerance. Future genetic studies should include demographic and psychological variables as confounders in experimental pain models.Open access journal.This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Design, set-up and utility of the UK facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy patient registry

Facioscapulohumeral dystrophy (FSHD) is a rare inherited neuromuscular disease estimated to affect 1/15,000 people. Through basic research, remarkable progress has been made towards the development of targeted therapies. Patient identification, through registries or other means is essential for trial-readiness. The UK FSHD Patient Registry is a patient initiated registry that collects standardised and internationally agreed dataset of self-reported clinical details combined with professionally verified genetic information. It includes four additional questionnaires to capture patient reported outcomes related to pain, quality of life and scapular fixation. Between 2013 and 2015, 518 patients registered 243 males, 241 females with a mean age of 47.8 years. Most of the patients have FSHD type 1 (91.7 %), and weakness of the facial (59.2 %) was the most prevalent symptom at onset, followed by shoulder-girdle muscles (53.3 %) and distal (22.45 %) or proximal lower limb weakness (14.8 %). 85.57 % patients were ambulant or ambulant with assistance at the time of registration, 7.9 % report respiratory insufficiency. The registry has demonstrated utility with the recruitment of patients for a natural history study of infantile onset FSHD, and the longitudinal analysis of patient-related outcomes will provide much-needed baseline information to power future trials. The internationally agreed core dataset enables national registries to participate in a "Global FSHD registry". We suggest that the registry's ability to interoperate with other large datasets will be instrumental for sharing and exploiting data globally