Cavitation in Turbopumps -- Part 1

A free-streamline flow through a cascade of semi-infinite flat plates is taken as a simplified model of the cavitation process in a helical inducer pump. The length and thickness of the resulting cavity is determined as a function of blade geometry and cavitation parameter. Loss coefficients resulting from the cavitation are estimated and representative cavity shapes are calculated to aid in designing the leading edge shape of the blades

Berdazimer gel for molluscum contagiosum in patients with atopic dermatitis

OBJECTIVE: Controlling molluscum contagiosum (MC) infections is critical in atopic dermatitis (AD) management. This post hoc analysis assessed the efficacy and safety of berdazimer gel, 10.3% (topical, antiviral, nitric oxide-releasing medication) versus vehicle in MC patients with or without AD. METHODS: Three Phase 3, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, vehicle-controlled, parallel-group trials (B-SIMPLE[berdazimer sodium in molluscum patients with lesions]1, -2, -4) enrolled patients 6 months and older with 3-70 mollusca. Berdazimer or vehicle was applied once daily to all MC lesions for 12 weeks. Data from three Phase 3 studies were integrated for subgroup efficacy and safety assessments using several weighted meta-analysis approaches. Patients with concurrent AD or a history of AD/eczema were categorized as AD+ subgroup (AD- when absent). Primary efficacy endpoint: complete lesion clearance at Week 12. Safety endpoints included adverse events (AEs) through Week 24 and local skin reactions through Week 12. RESULTS: Of 1598 enrolled patients, 209 (13.1%) were AD+. Baseline mean lesion counts were greater in AD+ (26.4) than AD- (19.3). Complete clearance rates were higher at Week 12 for berdazimer compared with vehicle in AD+ (n = 209; 35.0% vs. 27.4%; odds ratio [OR], 1.3; 95% CI, 0.7-2.5) and AD- (n = 1389; 29.1% vs. 18.9%; OR 1.8; 95% CI 1.4-2.4) subgroups. AEs in AD+ were application-site pain (21.6% with berdazimer vs. 11.9% with vehicle), dermatitis (12.8% vs. 2.4%), and erythema (9.6% vs. 7.1%). CONCLUSIONS: Berdazimer gel showed favorable efficacy regardless of AD status. Berdazimer-induced erythema may be indistinguishable from AD symptoms or with inflammatory response upon resolution of molluscum

Neural Correlates of Experience-Induced Deficits in Learned Vocal Communication

Songbirds are one of the few vertebrate groups (including humans) that evolved the ability to learn vocalizations. During song learning, social interactions with adult models are crucial and young songbirds raised without direct contacts with adults typically produce abnormal songs showing phonological and syntactical deficits. This raises the question of what functional representation of their vocalizations such deprived animals develop. Here we show that young starlings that we raised without any direct contact with adults not only failed to differentiate starlings' typical song classes in their vocalizations but also failed to develop differential neural responses to these songs. These deficits appear to be linked to a failure to acquire songs' functions and may provide a model for abnormal development of communicative skills, including speech

Computational Inference of Neural Information Flow Networks

Determining how information flows along anatomical brain pathways is a fundamental requirement for understanding how animals perceive their environments, learn, and behave. Attempts to reveal such neural information flow have been made using linear computational methods, but neural interactions are known to be nonlinear. Here, we demonstrate that a dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) inference algorithm we originally developed to infer nonlinear transcriptional regulatory networks from gene expression data collected with microarrays is also successful at inferring nonlinear neural information flow networks from electrophysiology data collected with microelectrode arrays. The inferred networks we recover from the songbird auditory pathway are correctly restricted to a subset of known anatomical paths, are consistent with timing of the system, and reveal both the importance of reciprocal feedback in auditory processing and greater information flow to higher-order auditory areas when birds hear natural as opposed to synthetic sounds. A linear method applied to the same data incorrectly produces networks with information flow to non-neural tissue and over paths known not to exist. To our knowledge, this study represents the first biologically validated demonstration of an algorithm to successfully infer neural information flow networks

FRMRC presentations to practitioners workshop

Practitioners workshop introduction - Infrastructure management Channels and their management Estimating blockage potential at culvert trash screens Fragility curves Predicting breach Simplified tools for risk assessment 2nd generation asset inspection techniques Use of non-invasive measuring techniques in asset inspection Asset deterioration - Assessment and measurement Attributing risk to assets - Examples from pilot projects Practitioner workshop on asset managment Multi-objective optimisation of flood risk mitigation measures, including real options Next steps to implementation and future research need

Functional MRI of Auditory Responses in the Zebra Finch Forebrain Reveals a Hierarchical Organisation Based on Signal Strength but Not Selectivity

BACKGROUND: Male songbirds learn their songs from an adult tutor when they are young. A network of brain nuclei known as the 'song system' is the likely neural substrate for sensorimotor learning and production of song, but the neural networks involved in processing the auditory feedback signals necessary for song learning and maintenance remain unknown. Determining which regions show preferential responsiveness to the bird's own song (BOS) is of great importance because neurons sensitive to self-generated vocalisations could mediate this auditory feedback process. Neurons in the song nuclei and in a secondary auditory area, the caudal medial mesopallium (CMM), show selective responses to the BOS. The aim of the present study is to investigate the emergence of BOS selectivity within the network of primary auditory sub-regions in the avian pallium. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Using blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI, we investigated neural responsiveness to natural and manipulated self-generated vocalisations and compared the selectivity for BOS and conspecific song in different sub-regions of the thalamo-recipient area Field L. Zebra finch males were exposed to conspecific song, BOS and to synthetic variations on BOS that differed in spectro-temporal and/or modulation phase structure. We found significant differences in the strength of BOLD responses between regions L2a, L2b and CMM, but no inter-stimuli differences within regions. In particular, we have shown that the overall signal strength to song and synthetic variations thereof was different within two sub-regions of Field L2: zone L2a was significantly more activated compared to the adjacent sub-region L2b. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our results we suggest that unlike nuclei in the song system, sub-regions in the primary auditory pallium do not show selectivity for the BOS, but appear to show different levels of activity with exposure to any sound according to their place in the auditory processing stream