Distributed manufacturing: A new digital framework for sustainable modular construction

This paper explores the notion of the modular building construction site as an applied instance of redistributed manufacturing; in so doing, this research seeks to reduce the environmental footprint of building sites, treating them as small digitally connected subunits. In seeking to provide a whole lifecycle appreciation of a construction project, it is noted that the presence of a framework to provide guidance on the consideration of Internet of Things (IoT) data streams and connected construction objects is currently lacking. This paper proposes use of embedded IoT enabled sensing technology within all stages of a modular building lifecycle. An expanded four-phase model of intelligent assets use in construction is proposed along with an outline of the required data flows between the stages of a given building’s entire lifecycle that need to be facilitated for a BIM (Buildings Information Modelling) representation to begin to describe a building project as a sustainable asset within the circular economy. This paper also describes the use of concrete as a modular sensing structure; proposing that health monitoring of the material in situ along with the recoding of environmental factors over time could help to extend the longevity of such structures

A first-in-human phase I study to determine the maximum tolerated dose of the oral Src/ABL inhibitor AZD0424

BACKGROUND: Src is involved in cancer invasion and metastasis. AZD0424, an oral inhibitor of Src and ABL1, has shown evidence of anti-tumour activity in pre-clinical studies. METHODS: A phase Ia, dose escalation study was performed to assess the safety of continuous oral dosing with AZD0424 in advanced solid tumours. Secondary objectives included investigation of AZD0424 pharmacokinetics, effect on Src activity using markers of bone turnover, and anti-tumour activity. RESULTS: 41 patients were treated; 34 received AZD0424 once-daily at doses ranging from 5 mg to 150 mg, and 7 received 40 mg bi-daily 41.5% of patients experienced at least one AZD0424-related adverse event that was Grade 3-5 in severity, with patients treated at doses above 60 mg per day experiencing multiple treatment-related toxicities. The most commonly observed AZD0424-related adverse events were nausea, fatigue, anorexia and alopecia. Cmaxand AUC increased linearly with dose and the mean±standard deviation t1/2was 8.4±2.8 h. Clear evidence of Src target inhibition was seen at doses ⩾20 mg per day. No responses were observed and 7 patients (17.1%) achieved stable disease lasting 6 weeks or more. CONCLUSIONS: AZD0424 displayed no evidence of efficacy as monotherapy despite a clear pharmacodynamic effect. Further evaluation of AZD0424 monotherapy in patients with solid tumours is not recommended

X-ray Spectroscopy and Variability of AGN Detected in the 2 Ms Chandra Deep Field-North Survey

We investigate the nature of the faint X-ray source population through X-ray spectroscopy and variability analyses of 136 AGN detected in the 2 Ms Chandra Deep Field-North survey with > 200 background-subtracted 0.5-8.0 keV counts [F(0.5-8.0 keV)=(1.4-200)e-15 erg cm^{-2} s^{-1}]. Our preliminary spectral analyses yield median spectral parameters of Gamma=1.61 and intrinsic N_H=6.2e21 cm^{-2} (z=1 assumed when no redshift available) when the AGN spectra are fitted with a simple absorbed power-law model. However, considerable spectral complexity is apparent (e.g., reflection, partial covering) and must be taken into account to model the data accurately. Moreover, the choice of spectral model (i.e., free vs. fixed photon index) has a pronounced effect on the derived N_H distribution and, to a lesser extent, the X-ray luminosity distribution. Ten of the 136 AGN (~7%) show significant Fe Kalpha emission-line features with equivalent widths in the range 0.1-1.3 keV. Two of these emission-line AGN could potentially be Compton thick (i.e., Gamma < 1.0 and large Fe Kalpha equivalent width). Finally, we find that 81 (~60%) of the 136 AGN show signs of variability, and that this fraction increases significantly (~80-90%) when better photon statistics are available.Comment: Submitted to Advances in Space Research for New X-ray Results from Clusters of Galaxies and Black Holes (Oct 2002; Houston, TX), eds. C. Done, E.M. Puchnarewicz, M.J. Ward. Requires cospar.sty (6 pgs, 10 figs

Time to revisit the definition and clinical criteria for anaphylaxis?

Anaphylaxis represents the severe end of the spectrum of allergic reactions. A number of different definitions for anaphylaxis are currently foundin the literature (Table 1).[1-6]Manydefine anaphylaxis as a life-threatening reaction. However, data from large case series and patient registries have demonstrated that despite the fact thatthe vast majority of anaphylaxisreactionsare not treated appropriately with prompt administration of epinephrine/adrenaline, ingeneral this does not result in increased mortality or morbidity(such as hospitalization);[7-9]this observation is also consistent with national epidemiological datafor food anaphylaxis, which indicate that fatal anaphylaxis is a rare (but unpredictable) event.[10-12]Therefore, the majority of anaphylaxis reactions cannot be described as life-threatening in themselves,althoughdue to our inability to predict severity of reaction, [12]we emphasise that all anaphylaxis must be appropriately treated with intramuscular epinephrine/adrenaline. Both the descriptions used by the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA)[4] and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID)[5] refer to anaphylaxis as a serious allergic reaction, and acknowledge the spectrum of severity in terms of identifying the potential for anaphylaxis to be life-threatening

Singularity free dilaton-driven cosmologies and pre-little-bang

There are no reasons why the singularity in the growth of the dilaton coupling should not be regularised, in a string cosmological context, by the presence of classical inhomogeneities. We discuss a class of inhomogeneous dilaton-driven models whose curvature invariants are all bounded and regular in time and space. We prove that the non-space-like geodesics of these models are all complete in the sense that none of them reaches infinity for a finite value of the affine parameter. We conclude that our examples represent truly singularity-free solutions of the low energy beta functions. We discuss some symmetries of the obtained solutions and we clarify their physical interpretation. We also give examples of solutions with spherical symmetry. In our scenario each physical quantity is everywhere defined in time and space, the big-bang singularity is replaced by a maximal curvature phase where the dilaton kinetic energy reaches its maximum. The maximal curvature is always smaller than one (in string units) and the coupling constant is also smaller than one and it grows between two regimes of constant dilaton, implying, together with the symmetries of the solutions, that higher genus and higher curvature corrections are negligible. We argue that our examples describe, in a string cosmological context, the occurrence of ``little bangs''(i.e. high curvature phases which never develop physical singularities). They also suggest the possibility of an unexplored ``pre-little-bang'' phase.Comment: 25 pages in LaTex style, 3 encapsulated figure

Measurements of Direct CP Violation, CPT Symmetry, and Other Parameters in the Neutral Kaon System

We present a series of measurements based on K -> pi+pi- and K -> pi0pi0 decays collected in 1996-1997 by the KTeV experiment (E832) at Fermilab. We compare these four K -> pipi decay rates to measure the direct CP violation parameter Re(e'/e) = (20.7 +- 2.8) x 10^-4. We also test CPT symmetry by measuring the relative phase between the CP violating and CP conserving decay amplitudes for K->pi+pi- (phi+-) and for K -> pi0pi0 (phi00). We find the difference between the relative phases to be Delta-phi = phi00 - phi+- = (+0.39 +- 0.50) degrees and the deviation of phi+- from the superweak phase to be phi+- - phi_SW =(+0.61 +- 1.19) degrees; both results are consistent with CPT symmetry. In addition, we present new measurements of the KL-KS mass difference and KS lifetime: Delta-m = (5261 +- 15) x 10^6 hbar/s and tauS = (89.65 +- 0.07) x 10^-12 s.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. D, August 6, 2002; 37 pages, 32 figure

Plane-symmetric inhomogeneous magnetized viscous fluid universe with a variable Λ\Lambda

The behavior of magnetic field in plane symmetric inhomogeneous cosmological models for bulk viscous distribution is investigated. The coefficient of bulk viscosity is assumed to be a power function of mass density $(\xi =\xi_{0}\rho^{n})$. The values of cosmological constant for these models are found to be small and positive which are supported by the results from recent supernovae Ia observations. Some physical and geometric aspects of the models are also discussed.Comment: 18 pages, LaTex, no figur

Towards an international understanding of the power of celebrity persuasions: a review and a research agenda

Research into advertising using celebrity has been undertaken for nearly 40 years. It has principally used surveys and experiments to explore how consumers respond to celebrity advertisements. A recent meta-study of 32 papers has demonstrated that different populations respond in different ways to celebrity endorsements. Specifically, both US subjects and college students are more likely to respond in a significant way to the presence of celebrity than subjects who are not from the US, or who are not studying at college. Given that the nationality and student status of subjects matter, this article explores the make up of the samples that have been used to examine celebrity advertising. The article finds that these samples are not representative of US populations (because so many are students), nor of populations outside the US (because so few live beyond it). Furthermore, the history of dominance of US-based student samples, and the citation practices which keep them circulating in academia, suggests that theories of celebrity advertising have for a long time been excessively influenced by ideas tested on this unrepresentative group. This fact will limit the applicability of research into celebrity advertising to the wider world. I explore whether this matters, and how deficiencies might be addressed in further research

Search for a W' boson decaying to a bottom quark and a top quark in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

Results are presented from a search for a W' boson using a dataset corresponding to 5.0 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity collected during 2011 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV. The W' boson is modeled as a heavy W boson, but different scenarios for the couplings to fermions are considered, involving both left-handed and right-handed chiral projections of the fermions, as well as an arbitrary mixture of the two. The search is performed in the decay channel W' to t b, leading to a final state signature with a single lepton (e, mu), missing transverse energy, and jets, at least one of which is tagged as a b-jet. A W' boson that couples to fermions with the same coupling constant as the W, but to the right-handed rather than left-handed chiral projections, is excluded for masses below 1.85 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the first time using LHC data, constraints on the W' gauge coupling for a set of left- and right-handed coupling combinations have been placed. These results represent a significant improvement over previously published limits.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters B. Replaced with version publishe

Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV

A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons is described. The analysis is performed using a dataset recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC from pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, which corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.8 inverse femtobarns. Limits are set on the cross section of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The expected exclusion limit at 95% confidence level is between 1.4 and 2.4 times the standard model cross section in the mass range between 110 and 150 GeV. The analysis of the data excludes, at 95% confidence level, the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range 128 to 132 GeV. The largest excess of events above the expected standard model background is observed for a Higgs boson mass hypothesis of 124 GeV with a local significance of 3.1 sigma. The global significance of observing an excess with a local significance greater than 3.1 sigma anywhere in the search range 110-150 GeV is estimated to be 1.8 sigma. More data are required to ascertain the origin of this excess.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters