Homogeneous bubble nucleation limit of mercury under the normal working conditions of the planned European Spallation Source

In spallation neutron sources, liquid mercury is the subject of big thermal and pressure shocks, upon adsorbing the proton beam. These changes can cause unstable bubbles in the liquid, which can damage the structural material. While there are methods to deal with the pressure shock, the local temperature shock cannot be avoided. In our paper we calculated the work of the critical cluster formation (i.e. for mercury micro-bubbles) together with the rate of their formation (nucleation rate). It is shown that the homogeneous nucleation rates are very low even after adsorbing several proton pulses, therefore the probability of temperature induced homogeneous bubble nucleation is negligible.Comment: 22 Pages, 11 figures, one of them is colour, we plan to publish it in Eur. Phys. J.

Effect Of Ridge-lap Surface Treatments On The Bond Of Resin Teeth To Denture Base.

To test in vitro the shear bond strength of resin teeth to an acrylic resin denture base given different ridgelap surface treatments. Ninety rectangular dies were made with wax and traditionally invested in metallic or plastic flasks. The stone molds were covered with silicone, in which were included an acrylic molar with a wax stick fixed on the ridge lap surface. After deflasking, the wax sticks were removed, the teeth were cleaned with detergent, the ridge lap surface was submitted to different treatments (unmodified, bur-cut grooves, aluminum oxide particle sandblasting, monomer swelling, and primer swelling), and the teeth were replaced in the silicone molds. Metallic flasks were placed in a thermopolymerizing unit to polymerize heat-curing denture-base polymer, and plastic flasks were placed in a domestic microwave oven at 900 W to polymerize microwaveable denture base polymer. After deflasking, the specimens were submitted to the shear bond test in an Instron machine at a cross-speed of 1 mm/min. Results were submitted to ANOVA and Tukey's test (5%). Shear bond strength values were influenced by the ridge-lap surface treatments only in the microwaved polymer. Sandblasting + monomer swelling and sandblasting + primer swelling interactions yielded lower strengths for microwaved polymer. Only the unmodified surfaces presented a significant difference when the resins were compared, where the microwaved polymer showed a higher value. Different tooth ridge-lap surface treatments promoted different strengths of the tooth/resin bond.13287-9

Effect of drought and sowing time on content and oil and protein yields in soybean cultivars in Tocantins.

A composição química dos grãos de soja é determinada por fatores genéticos e ambientais. A disponibilidade hídrica, aliada à época de semeadura, são fatores ambientais de maior impacto na produção e definição da qualidade dos grãos. Objetivou-se neste estudo avaliar o teor e rendimento kg há-1 de óleo e proteína em grãos de soja, submetidos à déficit hídrico em duas épocas de semeadura (10/07 e 10/12/2014). Em cada época de semeadura, foi realizado um experimento em casa de vegetação na Universidade Federal do Tocantins, município de Palmas. O delineamento experimental utilizado em cada experimento foi inteiramente casualizado em esquema fatorial 4x2 com quatro repetições, representado por quatro sistemas de manejo (déficit hídrico nas fases de floração, enchimento do grão e maturação e sem déficit hídrico) e duas cultivares (TMG132RR e TMG1288RR). Os sistemas de manejo foram impostos com variações de 30% (déficit hídrico) a 70% (sem déficit hídrico) da água disponível no solo. Foi observado que os sistemas de manejo de irrigação e épocas de semeadura afetaram o rendimento de óleo e proteína. As épocas de semeadura tiveram maior influência nos teores de óleo e proteína do que os sistemas de manejo de irrigação. Os maiores teores de óleo e proteína foram observados na primeira e segunda épocas de semeadura respectivamente. A floração e o enchimento de grãos foram mais sensíveis ao déficit hídrico. As cultivares de soja avaliadas apresentaram resposta similar quanto ao déficit hídrico.The chemical composition of the soybeans grain is determined by genetic and environmental factors. The water availability, coupled with sowing, are environmental factors with the greatest impact in the production and definition of the quality of grain. The aim of this study was to evaluate the content and yield kg-1 for oil and protein in soybeans, submitted to water deficit in two sowing seasons (10/07 and 10/12/2014). In each sowing time, an experiment was conducted in a greenhouse at the Federal University of Tocantins, Palmas municipality. The experimental design used in each experiment was completely randomized in a 4x2 factorial design with four replications, represented by four management systems (water deficit in the flowering stage, grain filling and maturation and without water deficit) and two cultivars (TMG132RR and TMG1288RR). The management were imposed systems with variations of 30% (water deficit) to 70% (without water deficit) of available soil water. It was observed that the irrigation management systems and sowing dates affected the yield of oil and protein. Sowing dates had the greatest influence on levels of oil and protein than irrigation management systems. The highest levels of oil and protein were observed in the first and second sowing dates respectively. The evaluated soybean cultivars showed similar response as the water deficit.Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestale

Prognostic factors influencing clinical outcome of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation following imatinib-based therapy in BCR–ABL-positive ALL

We investigated prognostic factors for the clinical outcome of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) in patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ALL) following imatinib-based therapy. Among 100 adult patients who were prospectively enrolled in the JALSG Ph+ALL202 study, 97 patients obtained complete remission (CR) by imatinib-combined chemotherapy, among whom 60 underwent allo-HSCT in their first CR. The probabilities of overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) at 3 years after HSCT were 64% (95% CI, 49–76) and 58% (95% CI, 43–70), respectively. Prognostic factor analysis revealed that the major BCR–ABL transcript was the only unfavorable predictor for OS and DFS after HSCT by both univariate (HR, 3.67 (95% CI 1.49–9.08); P=0.005 and HR, 6.25 (95% CI, 1.88–20.8); P=0.003, respectively) and multivariate analyses (HR, 3.20 (95% CI, 1.21–8.50); P=0.019 and HR, 6.92 (95% CI, 2.09–22.9); P=0.002, respectively). Minimal residual disease status at the time of HSCT had a significant influence on relapse rate (P=0.015). Further study of the BCR–ABL subtype for the clinical impact on outcome of allo-HSCT in Ph+ALL is warranted

Evaluation of the Quasi‐Biennial Oscillation in global climate models for the SPARC QBO‐initiative

The Quasi‐Biennial Oscillation initiative (QBOi) is a model intercomparison programme that specifically targets simulation of the QBO in current global climate models. Eleven of the models or model versions that participated in a QBOi intercomparison study have upper boundaries in or above the mesosphere and therefore simulate the region where the stratopause semiannual oscillation (SAO) is the dominant mode of variability of zonal winds in the tropical upper stratosphere. Comparisons of the SAO simulations in these models are presented here. These show that the model simulations of the amplitudes and phases of the SAO in zonal‐mean zonal wind near the stratopause agree well with the information derived from available observations. However, most of the models simulate time‐average zonal winds that are more westward than determined from observations, in some cases by several tens of m·s$^{–1}$. Validation of wave activity in the models is hampered by the limited observations of tropical waves in the upper stratosphere but suggests a deficit of eastward forcing either by large‐scale waves, such as Kelvin waves, or by gravity waves

Identification of amino acid residues responsible for von Willebrand factor binding to sulfatide by charged-to-alanine-scanning mutagenesis

von Willebrand factor (VWF) performs its hemostatic functions through binding to various proteins. The A1 domain of VWF contains binding sites of not only physiologically important ligands, but also exogenous modulators that induce VWF-platelet aggregation. Sulfatides, 3-sulfated galactosyl ceramides, that are expressed on oligodendrocytes, renal tubular cells, certain tumor cells and platelets, have been suggested to interact with VWF under some pathological conditions. The binding of VWF to sulfatide requires the A1 domain, but its binding sites have not been precisely identified. Here, we report that alanine mutations at Arg1392, Arg1395, Arg1399 and Lys1423 led to decreased VWF–sulfatide binding. These sites have been reported to be the binding sites for platelet membrane glycoprotein (GP) Ib and/or snake venom botrocetin, and, interestingly, are identical to the monoclonal antibody (mAb) NMC4 epitope previously reported to inhibit the VWF-GPIb interaction. We observed that NMC4 also inhibited VWF interaction with sulfatides in a dose-dependent manner. Thus, we conclude that VWF binding sites of sulfatide overlap those of platelet GPIb and botrocetin