684 research outputs found

    Strain evolution during hydride precipitation in Zircaloy-4 observed with synchrotron X-ray diffraction

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    Synchrotron X-ray diffraction was used to evaluate strain evolution observed in Zircaloy-4 undergoing hydride precipitation during a range of thermal operations. During continuous heating, a change in the constraining effect of the matrix was observed at a temperature of 280 °C, thought to be the result of matrix dilatation from interstitial hydrogen. A deconvolution of the thermal, chemical and mechanical sources of strain during quench and dwell operations identified a non-negligible mechanical effect in the matrix. During these dwells, slow strain rate relaxation of elastic strains was seen in the matrix and hydride, suggesting that time dependent relaxation of misfit stresses may be possible at reactor relevant temperatures. Notable anisotropy was observed between the rolling and transverse directions, identified as being the likely product of a similar anisotropy in the relaxation of the hydride misfit between the α and α matrix directions, owing to the differing coherency of these two interfaces

    A qualitative study of stakeholders' perspectives on the social network service environment

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    Over two billion people are using the Internet at present, assisted by the mediating activities of software agents which deal with the diversity and complexity of information. There are, however, ethical issues due to the monitoring-and-surveillance, data mining and autonomous nature of software agents. Considering the context, this study aims to comprehend stakeholders' perspectives on the social network service environment in order to identify the main considerations for the design of software agents in social network services in the near future. Twenty-one stakeholders, belonging to three key stakeholder groups, were recruited using a purposive sampling strategy for unstandardised semi-structured e-mail interviews. The interview data were analysed using a qualitative content analysis method. It was possible to identify three main considerations for the design of software agents in social network services, which were classified into the following categories: comprehensive understanding of users' perception of privacy, user type recognition algorithms for software agent development and existing software agents enhancement

    Antibody targeting of B7-H4 enhances the immune response in urothelial carcinoma.

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    Patients with locally advanced and metastatic urothelial carcinoma have a low survival rate (median 15.7 months, 13.1-17.8), with only a 23% response rate to monotherapy treatment with anti-PDL1 checkpoint immunotherapy. To identify new therapeutic targets, we profiled the immune regulatory signatures during murine cancer development using the BBN carcinogen and identified an increase in the expression of the T cell inhibitory protein B7-H4 (VTCN1, B7S1, B7X). B7-H4 expression temporally correlated with decreased lymphocyte infiltration. While the increase in B7-H4 expression within the bladder by CD11
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