Free-vibration Characteristics of Laminated Angle-ply Non-circular Cylindrical Shells

This paper deals with the free-vibration behaviour of anisotropic laminated angle-ply noncircular cylindrical shells using finite element approach. The formulation is based on first-ordershear deformation theory. The present model accounts for in-plane and rotary inertia effects. A detailed study has been carried out to highlight the effects of shell geometry, cross-sectionalproperties, lay-up and ply-angles on the natural frequencies of different types of modes of vibration of non-circular elliptical shell structures

Notch signaling during human T cell development

Notch signaling is critical during multiple stages of T cell development in both mouse and human. Evidence has emerged in recent years that this pathway might regulate T-lineage differentiation differently between both species. Here, we review our current understanding of how Notch signaling is activated and used during human T cell development. First, we set the stage by describing the developmental steps that make up human T cell development before describing the expression profiles of Notch receptors, ligands, and target genes during this process. To delineate stage-specific roles for Notch signaling during human T cell development, we subsequently try to interpret the functional Notch studies that have been performed in light of these expression profiles and compare this to its suggested role in the mouse

Compensating control participants when the intervention is of significant value: experience in Guatemala, India, Peru and Rwanda

The Household Air Pollution Intervention Network (HAPIN) trial is a randomised controlled trial in Guatemala, India, Peru and Rwanda to assess the health impact of a clean cooking intervention in households using solid biomass for cooking. The HAPIN intervention—a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) stove and 18-month supply of LPG—has significant value in these communities, irrespective of potential health benefits. For control households, it was necessary to develop a compensation strategy that would be comparable across four settings and would address concerns about differential loss to follow-up, fairness and potential effects on household economics. Each site developed slightly different, contextually appropriate compensation packages by combining a set of uniform principles with local community input. In Guatemala, control compensation consists of coupons equivalent to the LPG stove’s value that can be redeemed for the participant’s choice of household items, which could include an LPG stove. In Peru, control households receive several small items during the trial, plus the intervention stove and 1 month of fuel at the trial’s conclusion. Rwandan participants are given small items during the trial and a choice of a solar kit, LPG stove and four fuel refills, or cash equivalent at the end. India is the only setting in which control participants receive the intervention (LPG stove and 18 months of fuel) at the trial’s end while also being compensated for their time during the trial, in accordance with local ethics committee requirements. The approaches presented here could inform compensation strategy development in future multi-country trials

Pediatric T- and NK-cell lymphomas: new biologic insights and treatment strategies

T- and natural killer (NK)-cell lymphomas are challenging childhood neoplasms. These cancers have varying presentations, vast molecular heterogeneity, and several are quite unusual in the West, creating diagnostic challenges. Over 20 distinct T- and NK-cell neoplasms are recognized by the 2008 World Health Organization classification, demonstrating the diversity and potential complexity of these cases. In pediatric populations, selection of optimal therapy poses an additional quandary, as most of these malignancies have not been studied in large randomized clinical trials. Despite their rarity, exciting molecular discoveries are yielding insights into these clinicopathologic entities, improving the accuracy of our diagnoses of these cancers, and expanding our ability to effectively treat them, including the use of new targeted therapies. Here, we summarize this fascinating group of lymphomas, with particular attention to the three most common subtypes: T-lymphoblastic lymphoma, anaplastic large cell lymphoma, and peripheral T-cell lymphoma-not otherwise specified. We highlight recent findings regarding their molecular etiologies, new biologic markers, and cutting-edge therapeutic strategies applied to this intriguing class of neoplasms

Global, regional, and national age-sex specific all-cause and cause-specific mortality for 240 causes of death, 1990-2013: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013

Background Up-to-date evidence on levels and trends for age-sex-specific all-cause and cause-specific mortality is essential for the formation of global, regional, and national health policies. In the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 (GBD 2013) we estimated yearly deaths for 188 countries between 1990, and 2013. We used the results to assess whether there is epidemiological convergence across countries. Methods We estimated age-sex-specific all-cause mortality using the GBD 2010 methods with some refinements to improve accuracy applied to an updated database of vital registration, survey, and census data. We generally estimated cause of death as in the GBD 2010. Key improvements included the addition of more recent vital registration data for 72 countries, an updated verbal autopsy literature review, two new and detailed data systems for China, and more detail for Mexico, UK, Turkey, and Russia. We improved statistical models for garbage code redistribution. We used six different modelling strategies across the 240 causes; cause of death ensemble modelling (CODEm) was the dominant strategy for causes with sufficient information. Trends for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias were informed by meta-regression of prevalence studies. For pathogen-specific causes of diarrhoea and lower respiratory infections we used a counterfactual approach. We computed two measures of convergence (inequality) across countries: the average relative difference across all pairs of countries (Gini coefficient) and the average absolute difference across countries. To summarise broad findings, we used multiple decrement life-tables to decompose probabilities of death from birth to exact age 15 years, from exact age 15 years to exact age 50 years, and from exact age 50 years to exact age 75 years, and life expectancy at birth into major causes. For all quantities reported, we computed 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). We constrained cause-specific fractions within each age-sex-country-year group to sum to all-cause mortality based on draws from the uncertainty distributions. Findings Global life expectancy for both sexes increased from 65·3 years (UI 65·0-65·6) in 1990, to 71·5 years (UI 71·0-71·9) in 2013, while the number of deaths increased from 47·5 million (UI 46·8-48·2) to 54·9 million (UI 53·6-56·3) over the same interval. Global progress masked variation by age and sex: for children, average absolute differences between countries decreased but relative differences increased. For women aged 25-39 years and older than 75 years and for men aged 20-49 years and 65 years and older, both absolute and relative differences increased. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the prominent role of reductions in age-standardised death rates for cardiovascular diseases and cancers in high-income regions, and reductions in child deaths from diarrhoea, lower respiratory infections, and neonatal causes in low-income regions. HIV/AIDS reduced life expectancy in southern sub-Saharan Africa. For most communicable causes of death both numbers of deaths and age-standardised death rates fell whereas for most non-communicable causes, demographic shifts have increased numbers of deaths but decreased age-standardised death rates. Global deaths from injury increased by 10·7%, from 4·3 million deaths in 1990 to 4·8 million in 2013; but age-standardised rates declined over the same period by 21%. For some causes of more than 100 000 deaths per year in 2013, age-standardised death rates increased between 1990 and 2013, including HIV/AIDS, pancreatic cancer, atrial fibrillation and flutter, drug use disorders, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and sickle-cell anaemias. Diarrhoeal diseases, lower respiratory infections, neonatal causes, and malaria are still in the top five causes of death in children younger than 5 years. The most important pathogens are rotavirus for diarrhoea and pneumococcus for lower respiratory infections. Country-specific probabilities of death over three phases of life were substantially varied between and within regions. Interpretation For most countries, the general pattern of reductions in age-sex specific mortality has been associated with a progressive shift towards a larger share of the remaining deaths caused by non-communicable disease and injuries. Assessing epidemiological convergence across countries depends on whether an absolute or relative measure of inequality is used. Nevertheless, age-standardised death rates for seven substantial causes are increasing, suggesting the potential for reversals in some countries. Important gaps exist in the empirical data for cause of death estimates for some countries; for example, no national data for India are available for the past decade. Funding Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Evaluation of silicon nitride as a diffusion barrier for Gd-Si-Ge films on silicon

Synthesis of thin film of magnetocaloric Gd-Si-Ge alloy has been investigated for use in miniature magnetic coolers. PECVD Si3N4 films were deposited on Si(100) substrates. Next thin films of Gd5Si2Ge2 (GdSiGe) were sputtered from a stoichiometric, magnetocaloric Gd5Si2Ge2 target. After deposition, the films were ex situ annealed to (a) investigate the stability of the diffusion barrier and (b) to obtain Gd5Si2Ge2. Samples of Si/300 nm Si3N4/100 run GdSiGe were prepared and annealed in vacuum between 700 and 1150 degrees C. The structure and morphology of films were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The interface of annealed sample (1150 degrees C) was analyzed using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). Results show that while the magnetocaloric phase does form, silicon nitride does not serve as a stable diffusion barrier in the GdSiGe/Si3N4/Si system

Discontinuous Galerkin Method with Gaussian Artificial Viscosity on Graphical Processing Units for Nonlinear Acoustics

20th International Symposium on Nonlinear Acoustics (ISNA) including the 2nd International Sonic Boom Forum (ISBF), Ecole Centrale Lyon, Lyon, FRANCE, JUN 29-JUL 03, 2015International audiencePropagation of acoustical shock waves in complex geometry is a topic of interest in the field of nonlinear acoustics. For instance, simulation of Buzz Saw Noice requires the treatment of shock waves generated by the turbofan through the engines of aeroplanes with complex geometries and wall liners. Nevertheless, from a numerical point of view it remains a challenge. The two main hurdles are to take into account the complex geometry of the domain and to deal with the spurious oscillations (Gibbs phenomenon) near the discontinuities. In this work, first we derive the conservative hyperbolic system of nonlinear acoustics (up to quadratic nonlinear terms) using the fundamental equations of fluid dynamics. Then, we propose to adapt the classical nodal discontinuous Galerkin method to develop a high fidelity solver for nonlinear acoustics. The discontinuous Galerkin method is a hybrid of finite element and finite volume method and is very versatile to handle complex geometry. In order to obtain better performance, the method is parallelized on Graphical Processing Units. Like other numerical methods, discontinuous Galerkin method suffers with the problem of Gibbs phenomenon near the shock, which is a numerical artifact. Among the various ways to manage these spurious oscillations, we choose the method of parabolic regularization. Although, the introduction of artificial viscosity into the system is a popular way of managing shocks, we propose a new approach of introducing smooth artificial viscosity locally in each element, wherever needed. Firstly, a shock sensor using the linear coefficients of the spectral solution is used to locate the position of the discontinuities. Then, a viscosity coefficient depending on the shock sensor is introduced into the hyperbolic system of equations, only in the elements near the shock. The viscosity is applied as a two-dimensional Gaussian patch with its shape parameters depending on the element dimensions, referred here as Element Centered Smooth Artificial Viscosity. Using this numerical solver, various numerical experiments are presented for one and two-dimensional test cases in homogeneous and quiescent medium. This work is funded by CEFIPRA (Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advance Research) and partially aided by EGIDE (Campus France)