1,469 research outputs found
Experimental Two-Phase Flow Characterization of Subcooled Boiling in a Rectangular Channel
On the efforts to provide a reliable source of experimental information on turbulent
subcooled boiling ow, time resolved Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV) experiments
were carried out using HFE-301 refrigerant ow through a vertical rectangular
channel with one heated wall. Measurements were performed at liquid Reynolds numbers
of 3309, 9929 and 16549 over a wall heat flux range of 0.0 to 64.0 kW=m2. From
the PTV measurements, liquid two dimensional turbulence statistics are available,
such as: instantaneous 2-D velocity fields, time-averaged axial and normal velocities,
axial and normal turbulence intensities, and Reynolds stresses. The present results
agree with previous works and provide new information due to the 2-D nature of
the technique, for instance, this work shows that by increasing heat ux, the boiling
bubbles influence on the liquid phase is portrayed as a persistent increase of axial
velocity on regions close to the heater wall. This persistent increase on the axial
velocity reaches a maximum value attributed to the terminal bubble velocity. These
new observed phenomena must be considered for the development and improvement
of two-phase ow turbulence models. To this end, an extensive error analysis was also
performed with emphasis on the applicability of the PTV measurement technique on
optically inhomogeneous flows. The error quantification exhibited negligible optically
induced errors for the current conditions, making the data acquired in this work a
vast and reliable source
Optimal Sensor Placement with Adaptive Constraints for Nuclear Digital Twins
Given harsh operating conditions and physical constraints in reactors,
nuclear applications cannot afford to equip the physical asset with a large
array of sensors. Therefore, it is crucial to carefully determine the placement
of sensors within the given spatial limitations, enabling the reconstruction of
reactor flow fields and the creation of nuclear digital twins. Various design
considerations are imposed, such as predetermined sensor locations, restricted
areas within the reactor, a fixed number of sensors allocated to a specific
region, or sensors positioned at a designated distance from one another. We
develop a data-driven technique that integrates constraints into an
optimization procedure for sensor placement, aiming to minimize reconstruction
errors. Our approach employs a greedy algorithm that can optimize sensor
locations on a grid, adhering to user-defined constraints. We demonstrate the
near optimality of our algorithm by computing all possible configurations for
selecting a certain number of sensors for a randomly generated state space
system. In this work, the algorithm is demonstrated on the Out-of-Pile Testing
and Instrumentation Transient Water Irradiation System (OPTI-TWIST) prototype
vessel, which is electrically heated to mimic the neutronics effect of the
Transient Reactor Test facility (TREAT) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The
resulting sensor-based reconstruction of temperature within the OPTI-TWIST
minimizes error, provides probabilistic bounds for noise-induced uncertainty
and will finally be used for communication between the digital twin and
experimental facility
LITIO COMO TERAPIA NEUROPROTECTORA EN EL MODELO APPSL/PS1M146L DE LA ENFERMEDAD DE ALZHEIMER
El litio se utiliza desde hace varias décadas en el tratamiento de trastornos bipolares y la depresión, y recientemente se debate su uso potencial en patologías neurodegenerativas como la enfermedad de Alzheimer (AD). Diversos estudios han puesto de manifiesto su efecto positivo como potente inhibidor de GSK3beta disminuyendo la fosforilación de tau, la producción de Abeta e incrementando plasticidad sináptica. Sin embargo, su posible efecto neuroprotector previniendo la muerte neuronal in vivo no ha sido aun demostrado ya que la mayoría de los modelos transgénicos de AD no presentan pérdida neuronal. Nuestro modelo APPSL/PS1M146L sufre una pérdida significativa de neuronas SOM/NPY en hipocampo y corteza entorrinal desde edades tempranas (6 meses) con un marcado desarrollo de distrofias axonales. En este trabajo hemos estudiado el posible efecto neuroprotector del litio en este modelo animal mediante tratamiento crónico en la dieta desde los 3 hasta los 9 meses de edad. Se han utilizado técnicas imnunohistoquímicas, western blots y análisis por RT-PCR, y además se ha determinado la carga amiloide, el grado de compactación y el tamaño de las placas. El resultado más relevante de este estudio fue la preservación de la población de interneuronas SOM/NPY tanto en hipocampo como corteza entorrinal en los animales tratados, mientras que en los no tratados existió una pérdida significativa de esta supoblación neuronal. El efecto neuroprotector del litio se manifestó también en una marcada disminución de tau fosforilado, distrofias axonales y marcadores sinápticos, junto con una mejora cognitiva de los animales utilizando el test de reconocimiento de objetos. Este efecto preventivo del litio parece estar asociado con cambios en la formación de placas de Abeta que podrían afectar a su toxicidad, ya que los animales tratados presentaron placas más pequeñas y apariencia más compacta. Financiación: FIS PI12/01431 (AG) y FIS PI12/01439 (JV).Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech
Skipper-CCD Sensors for the Oscura Experiment: Requirements and Preliminary Tests
Oscura is a proposed multi-kg skipper-CCD experiment designed for a dark
matter (DM) direct detection search that will reach unprecedented sensitivity
to sub-GeV DM-electron interactions with its 10 kg detector array. Oscura is
planning to operate at SNOLAB with 2070 m overburden, and aims to reach a
background goal of less than one event in each electron bin in the 2-10
electron ionization-signal region for the full 30 kg-year exposure, with a
radiation background rate of 0.01 dru. In order to achieve this goal, Oscura
must address each potential source of background events, including instrumental
backgrounds. In this work, we discuss the main instrumental background sources
and the strategy to control them, establishing a set of constraints on the
sensors' performance parameters. We present results from the tests of the first
fabricated Oscura prototype sensors, evaluate their performance in the context
of the established constraints and estimate the Oscura instrumental background
based on these results
Early Science with the Oscura Integration Test
Oscura is a planned light-dark matter search experiment using Skipper-CCDs
with a total active mass of 10 kg. As part of the detector development, the
collaboration plans to build the Oscura Integration Test (OIT), an engineering
test experiment with 10% of the Oscura's total mass. Here we discuss the early
science opportunities with the OIT to search for millicharged particles (mCPs)
using the NuMI beam at Fermilab. mCPs would be produced at low energies through
photon-mediated processes from decays of scalar, pseudoscalar, and vector
mesons, or direct Drell-Yan productions. Estimates show that the OIT would be a
world-leading probe for low-mass mCPs.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figure
A catalogue of structural and morphological measurements for DES Y1
We present a structural and morphological catalogue for 45 million objects selected from the first year data of the Dark Energy Survey (DES). Single Sersic fits and non-parametric ´ measurements are produced for g, r, and i filters. The parameters from the best-fitting Sersic ´ model (total magnitude, half-light radius, Sersic index, axis ratio, and position angle) are mea- ´ sured with GALFIT; the non-parametric coefficients (concentration, asymmetry, clumpiness, Gini, M20) are provided using the Zurich Estimator of Structural Types (ZEST+). To study the statistical uncertainties, we consider a sample of state-of-the-art image simulations with a realistic distribution in the input parameter space and then process and analyse them as we do with real data: this enables us to quantify the observational biases due to PSF blurring and magnitude effects and correct the measurements as a function of magnitude, galaxy size, Sersic ´ index (concentration for the analysis of the non-parametric measurements) and ellipticity. We present the largest structural catalogue to date: we find that accurate and complete measurements for all the structural parameters are typically obtained for galaxies with SEXTRACTOR MAG AUTO I ≤ 21. Indeed, the parameters in the filters i and r can be overall well recovered up to MAG AUTO ≤ 21.5, corresponding to a fitting completeness of ∼90 per cent below this threshold, for a total of 25 million galaxies. The combination of parametric and non-parametric structural measurements makes this catalogue an important instrument to explore and understand how galaxies form and evolve. The catalogue described in this paper will be publicly released alongside the DES collaboration Y1 cosmology data products at the following URL: https://des.ncsa.illinois.edu/releases
A Customized Pigmentation SNP Array Identifies a Novel SNP Associated with Melanoma Predisposition in the SLC45A2 Gene
As the incidence of Malignant Melanoma (MM) reflects an interaction between skin colour and UV exposure, variations in genes implicated in pigmentation and tanning response to UV may be associated with susceptibility to MM. In this study, 363 SNPs in 65 gene regions belonging to the pigmentation pathway have been successfully genotyped using a SNP array. Five hundred and ninety MM cases and 507 controls were analyzed in a discovery phase I. Ten candidate SNPs based on a p-value threshold of 0.01 were identified. Two of them, rs35414 (SLC45A2) and rs2069398 (SILV/CKD2), were statistically significant after conservative Bonferroni correction. The best six SNPs were further tested in an independent Spanish series (624 MM cases and 789 controls). A novel SNP located on the SLC45A2 gene (rs35414) was found to be significantly associated with melanoma in both phase I and phase II (P<0.0001). None of the other five SNPs were replicated in this second phase of the study. However, three SNPs in TYR, SILV/CDK2 and ADAMTS20 genes (rs17793678, rs2069398 and rs1510521 respectively) had an overall p-value<0.05 when considering the whole DNA collection (1214 MM cases and 1296 controls). Both the SLC45A2 and the SILV/CDK2 variants behave as protective alleles, while the TYR and ADAMTS20 variants seem to function as risk alleles. Cumulative effects were detected when these four variants were considered together. Furthermore, individuals carrying two or more mutations in MC1R, a well-known low penetrance melanoma-predisposing gene, had a decreased MM risk if concurrently bearing the SLC45A2 protective variant. To our knowledge, this is the largest study on Spanish sporadic MM cases to date
CIBERER : Spanish national network for research on rare diseases: A highly productive collaborative initiative
Altres ajuts: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.CIBER (Center for Biomedical Network Research; Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red) is a public national consortium created in 2006 under the umbrella of the Spanish National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII). This innovative research structure comprises 11 different specific areas dedicated to the main public health priorities in the National Health System. CIBERER, the thematic area of CIBER focused on rare diseases (RDs) currently consists of 75 research groups belonging to universities, research centers, and hospitals of the entire country. CIBERER's mission is to be a center prioritizing and favoring collaboration and cooperation between biomedical and clinical research groups, with special emphasis on the aspects of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cellular research of RDs. This research is the basis for providing new tools for the diagnosis and therapy of low-prevalence diseases, in line with the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) objectives, thus favoring translational research between the scientific environment of the laboratory and the clinical setting of health centers. In this article, we intend to review CIBERER's 15-year journey and summarize the main results obtained in terms of internationalization, scientific production, contributions toward the discovery of new therapies and novel genes associated to diseases, cooperation with patients' associations and many other topics related to RD research
The Biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea: Estimates, Patterns, and Threats
The Mediterranean Sea is a marine biodiversity hot spot. Here we combined an extensive literature analysis with expert opinions to update publicly available estimates of major taxa in this marine ecosystem and to revise and update several species lists. We also assessed overall spatial and temporal patterns of species diversity and identified major changes and threats. Our results listed approximately 17,000 marine species occurring in the Mediterranean Sea. However, our estimates of marine diversity are still incomplete as yet—undescribed species will be added in the future. Diversity for microbes is substantially underestimated, and the deep-sea areas and portions of the southern and eastern region are still poorly known. In addition, the invasion of alien species is a crucial factor that will continue to change the biodiversity of the Mediterranean, mainly in its eastern basin that can spread rapidly northwards and westwards due to the warming of the Mediterranean Sea. Spatial patterns showed a general decrease in biodiversity from northwestern to southeastern regions following a gradient of production, with some exceptions and caution due to gaps in our knowledge of the biota along the southern and eastern rims. Biodiversity was also generally higher in coastal areas and continental shelves, and decreases with depth. Temporal trends indicated that overexploitation and habitat loss have been the main human drivers of historical changes in biodiversity. At present, habitat loss and degradation, followed by fishing impacts, pollution, climate change, eutrophication, and the establishment of alien species are the most important threats and affect the greatest number of taxonomic groups. All these impacts are expected to grow in importance in the future, especially climate change and habitat degradation. The spatial identification of hot spots highlighted the ecological importance of most of the western Mediterranean shelves (and in particular, the Strait of Gibraltar and the adjacent Alboran Sea), western African coast, the Adriatic, and the Aegean Sea, which show high concentrations of endangered, threatened, or vulnerable species. The Levantine Basin, severely impacted by the invasion of species, is endangered as well
Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an
Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis
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