Polyesteramides with mixtures of poly(tetramethylene oxide) and 1,5 pentanediol

Segmented polyesteramides have been synthesized from N,N¿-bis(p-carbomethoxybenzoy)butanediamine as crystalline segments and mixtures of poly(tetramethylene oxide) (mol. wt. 1000) and 1,5-pentanediol as soft segments. The polymerization was carried out in the melt at 250°C for 1 h while vacuum was applied. The melting behaviour of the copolymers was studied by differential scanning calorimetry. The mechanical properties were investigated on injection moulded bars, using dynamic mechanical analysis. It was found that the copolymers with more than 50% molar ratio pentanediol showed two glass transition temperatures and two melting temperatures. The glass transition temperatures were not affected by the composition. The melting temperatures increased with pentanediol content. The pentanediol seems in part to be present as adjacent re-entry groups. The under-cooling for these copolymers was very small, which means that these segmented copolymers crystallize very fast

The 2010 MW 6.8 Yushu (Qinghai, China) earthquake: constraints provided by InSAR and body wave seismology

By combining observations from satellite radar, body wave seismology and optical imagery, we have determined the fault segmentation and sequence of ruptures for the 2010 Mw 6.8 Yushu (China) earthquake. We have mapped the fault trace using displacements from SAR image matching, interferometric phase and coherence, and 2.5 m SPOT-5 satellite images. Modeling the event as an elastic dislocation with three segments fitted to the fault trace suggests that the southeast and northwest segments are near vertical, with the central segment dipping 70° to the southwest; slip occurs mainly in the upper 10 km, with a maximum slip of 1.5 m at a depth of 4 km on the southeastern segment. The maximum slip in the top 1 km (i.e., near surface) is up to 1.2 m, and inferred locations of significant surface rupture are consistent with displacements from SAR image matching and field observations. The radar interferograms show rupture over a distance of almost 80 km, much larger than initial seismological and field estimates of the length of the fault. Part of this difference can be attributed to slip on the northwestern segment of the fault being due to an Mw 6.1 aftershock two hours after the main event. The remaining difference can be explained by a non-uniform slip distribution with much of the moment release occurring at depths of less than 10 km. The rupture on the central and southeastern segments of the fault in the main shock propagated at a speed of 2.5 km/s southeastward toward the town of Yushu located at the end of this segment, accounting for the considerable building damage. Strain accumulation since the last earthquake on the fault segment beyond Yushu is equivalent to an Mw 6.5 earthquake

Multi-criteria de Novo programming with fuzzy parameters

AbstractA multiple criteria de Novo program with fuzzy parameters is developed based on the possibility concept of fuzzy set. This approach is much more flexible than the standard de Novo programming and allows the decision maker to choose his appropriate membership grades based on the risk factor he is willing to take. A numerical example is given to illustrate the approach

Analysis of macrobenthic assemblages of Lake Illawarra, New South Wales, Australia

1 - A survey of the macrobenthos community was carried out in Lake Illawarra, NSW, Australia, during April and May 2011.2 - The aim of this study was to understand the current status of the characteristic macrobenthic fauna community, and the temporal changes over the past 30 years, as well as the impacts of anthropogenic activities on the benthic ecosystem.3- Fifteen stations were selected as representative of three main areas of the lake (the entrance channel, the central basin and the sublittoral fringe), which might be impacted by different kinds of human activities.4 - A total of 45 macrobenthic species were identified. Mollusca represented the most abundant taxon with 17 species, followed by Crustacea with 16 species. Three species were dominant, i.e., the mollusk Nassarius burchardi, and the polychaeta Lumbrineris sp. and Nephtys australiensis.5 - The abundance and biomass of the macrobenthos were variable between the three main areas. Based on Bray Curtis similarity of macrobenthos, the 15 sites also divided largely into three groups.6 - M-AMBI index analysis indicated that eight stations (57.1%) had ‘good’ to ‘high’ ecological status (EcoQ), four stations (28.6%) ‘moderate’ EcoQ, and two stations (14.3%) with ‘poor’ to ‘bad’ EcoQ, which indicates the Lake Illawarra was in reasonably good condition, but evidence of disturbance and impact on benthic communities was obvious at several sites

CFT Duals for Extreme Black Holes

It is argued that the general four-dimensional extremal Kerr-Newman-AdS-dS black hole is holographically dual to a (chiral half of a) two-dimensional CFT, generalizing an argument given recently for the special case of extremal Kerr. Specifically, the asymptotic symmetries of the near-horizon region of the general extremal black hole are shown to be generated by a Virasoro algebra. Semiclassical formulae are derived for the central charge and temperature of the dual CFT as functions of the cosmological constant, Newton's constant and the black hole charges and spin. We then show, assuming the Cardy formula, that the microscopic entropy of the dual CFT precisely reproduces the macroscopic Bekenstein-Hawking area law. This CFT description becomes singular in the extreme Reissner-Nordstrom limit where the black hole has no spin. At this point a second dual CFT description is proposed in which the global part of the U(1) gauge symmetry is promoted to a Virasoro algebra. This second description is also found to reproduce the area law. Various further generalizations including higher dimensions are discussed.Comment: 18 pages; v2 minor change

An almost sure limit theorem for super-Brownian motion

We establish an almost sure scaling limit theorem for super-Brownian motion on $\mathbb{R}^d$ associated with the semi-linear equation $u_t = {1/2}\Delta u +\beta u-\alpha u^2$, where $\alpha$ and $\beta$ are positive constants. In this case, the spectral theoretical assumptions that required in Chen et al (2008) are not satisfied. An example is given to show that the main results also hold for some sub-domains in $\mathbb{R}^d$.Comment: 14 page

JAK2V617F promotes replication fork stalling with disease-restricted impairment of the intra-S checkpoint response

Cancers result from the accumulation of genetic lesions, but the cellular consequences of driver mutations remain unclear, especially during the earliest stages of malignancy. The V617F mutation in the JAK2 non-receptor tyrosine kinase (JAK2V617F) is present as an early somatic event in most patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), and the study of these chronic myeloid malignancies provides an experimentally tractable approach to understanding early tumorigenesis. Introduction of exogenous JAK2V617F impairs replication fork progression and is associated with activation of the intra-S checkpoint, with both effects mediated by phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling. Analysis of clonally derived JAK2V617F-positive erythroblasts from MPN patients also demonstrated impaired replication fork progression accompanied by increased levels of replication protein A (RPA)-containing foci. However, the associated intra-S checkpoint response was impaired in erythroblasts from polycythemia vera (PV) patients, but not in those from essential thrombocythemia (ET) patients. Moreover, inhibition of p53 in PV erythroblasts resulted in more gamma-H2Ax (γ-H2Ax)–marked double-stranded breaks compared with in like-treated ET erythroblasts, suggesting the defective intra-S checkpoint function seen in PV increases DNA damage in the context of attenuated p53 signaling. These results demonstrate oncogene-induced impairment of replication fork progression in primary cells from MPN patients, reveal unexpected disease-restricted differences in activation of the intra-S checkpoint, and have potential implications for the clonal evolution of malignancies

Sustainable low carbon urban lighting analysis: a case study of Bandung city

Nowadays, lighting technology is in the transition period from conventional lighting to LED, which more environmentally friendly due to free of harmful substances such as mercury, lead, or other hazardous chemicals and gases. This low light pollution because directional light is carefully distributed precisely to the intended location. Performance of the lights also brighter than other lights. This research measuring the reduction of CO2 gas emissions before and after PJU (street lights) in Bandung is changed from the conventional to the LED, also mapping the CO2 gas emissions in six Development Areas (SWK). The basis for this research approach is a case study with before and after comparison, meaning that this approach only applies to one object that is the same as comparing the condition of the object before and after the treatment. In this study, the evaluation research method used is a causal method, which is a method that is more directed at impact evaluation research. Scientifically and objectively, PJU LED provides low CO2 emissions gas by up to 26 % in Bandung city

Vibrational signature of broken chemical order in a GeS2 glass: a molecular dynamics simulation

Using density functional molecular dynamics simulations, we analyze the broken chemical order in a GeS$_2$ glass and its impact on the dynamical properties of the glass through the in-depth study of the vibrational eigenvectors. We find homopolar bonds and the frequencies of the corresponding modes are in agreement with experimental data. Localized S-S modes and 3-fold coordinated sulfur atoms are found to be at the origin of specific Raman peaks whose origin was not previously clear. Through the ring size statistics we find, during the glass formation, a conversion of 3-membered rings into larger units but also into 2-membered rings whose vibrational signature is in agreement with experiments.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures; to appear in Phys. Rev.