Numerical Analysis Of The Effects Of Transient Aerodynamics On Driving Stability

The present study investigated the effects of transient aerodynamic forces on driving stability of road vehicle. The investigation was carried out using large eddy simulation (LES). To facilitate the investigation, two vehicle models with distinct upper body geometries were developed. The models adopted the characteristic geometries of upper body of real sedan-type vehicles with distinct pitching stability behavior. To probe the dynamic response of the models, a forced-sinusoidal-pitching oscillation is imposed on them during the LES. Accordingly, the models undergo pitching oscillation in a similar manner to the rear-ride-height fluctuation of real vehicles. To allow quantitative analysis on the stability characteristic of models, a parameter termed aerodynamic damping coefficient is introduced. The coefficient quantifies the work done by aerodynamic pitching moment on the models during pitching oscillation. For validation of the LES method, flow structures around the models obtained by stationary LES were compared to the wind tunnel measurements. The comparison shows good agreement. Meanwhile, the dynamic LES results show higher aerodynamic damping in the model with rounded front pillar configuration, by about 22.3%. The Underbody has the highest contribution to the total aerodynamic damping, which was up to 69%. However, the difference between the aerodynamic damping of models with distinct front and rear pillar configurations mainly depends on the trunk-deck contribution

Direct guanylation of amino groups by cyanamide in water: Catalytic generation and activation of unsubstituted carbodiimide by scandium(iii) triflate

Guanylation proceeded efficiently upon treatment of the various amines with cyanamide in the presence of catalytic amounts of scandium(III) triflate under mild conditions. The method did not require the guanylation reagents to be preactivated, and the reaction proceeded efficiently in water. The method, therefore, has practical utility for substrates that dissolve only in aqueous solutions, for example, peptides or pharmacologically important compounds. © Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart New York

Cancer cell targeting driven by selective polyamine reactivity with glycine propargyl esters

© 2017 The Royal Society of Chemistry. Rapidly growing cancer cells have increased levels of intracellular polyamines compared to normal, healthy tissues. Based on the selective reactivity of glycine propargyl esters, probes were synthesized that show evidence for selective polyamine reactivity, which was then applied for selective cancer cell imaging studies

One-Pot Evolution of Ageladine A through a Bio-Inspired Cascade towards Selective Modulators of Neuronal Differentiation

© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, WeinheimA bio-inspired cascade reaction has been developed for the construction of the marine natural product ageladine A and a de novo array of its N1-substituted derivatives. This cascade features a 2-aminoimidazole formation that is modeled after an arginine post-translational modification and an aza-electrocyclization. It can be effectively carried out in a one-pot procedure from simple anilines or guanidines, leading to structural analogues of ageladine A that had been otherwise synthetically inaccessible. We found that some compounds out of this structurally novel library show a significant activity in modulating the neural differentiation. Namely, these compounds selectively activate or inhibit the differentiation of neural stem cells to neurons, while being negligible in the differentiation to astrocytes. This study represents a successful case in which the native biofunction of a natural product could be altered by structural modifications

Internal Radiation Exposure Dose in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture after the Accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant

As a result of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP) on 11 March 2011, a huge amount of radionuclides, including radiocesium, was released and spread over a wide area of eastern Japan. Although three years have passed since the accident, residents around the FNPP are anxious about internal radiation exposure due to radiocesium. In this study, we screened internal radiation exposure doses in Iwaki city of Fukushima prefecture, using a whole-body counter. The first screening was conducted from October 2012 to February 2013, and the second screening was conducted from May to November 2013. Study participants were employees of ALPINE and their families who underwent examination. A total of 2,839 participants (1,366 men and 1,473 women, 1-86 years old) underwent the first screening, and 2,092 (1,022 men and 1,070 women, 1-86 years old) underwent the second screening. The results showed that 99% of subjects registered below 300 Bq per body in the first screening, and all subjects registered below 300 Bq per body in the second screening. The committed effective dose ranged from 0.01-0.06 mSv in the first screening and 0.01-0.02 mSv in the second screening. Long-term follow-up studies are needed to avoid unnecessary chronic internal exposure and to reduce anxiety among the residents by communicating radiation health risks

Sequencing and Analysis of Approximately 40 000 Soybean cDNA Clones from a Full-Length-Enriched cDNA Library

A large collection of full-length cDNAs is essential for the correct annotation of genomic sequences and for the functional analysis of genes and their products. We obtained a total of 39 936 soybean cDNA clones (GMFL01 and GMFL02 clone sets) in a full-length-enriched cDNA library which was constructed from soybean plants that were grown under various developmental and environmental conditions. Sequencing from 5′ and 3′ ends of the clones generated 68 661 expressed sequence tags (ESTs). The EST sequences were clustered into 22 674 scaffolds involving 2580 full-length sequences. In addition, we sequenced 4712 full-length cDNAs. After removing overlaps, we obtained 6570 new full-length sequences of soybean cDNAs so far. Our data indicated that 87.7% of the soybean cDNA clones contain complete coding sequences in addition to 5′- and 3′-untranslated regions. All of the obtained data confirmed that our collection of soybean full-length cDNAs covers a wide variety of genes. Comparative analysis between the derived sequences from soybean and Arabidopsis, rice or other legumes data revealed that some specific genes were involved in our collection and a large part of them could be annotated to unknown functions. A large set of soybean full-length cDNA clones reported in this study will serve as a useful resource for gene discovery from soybean and will also aid a precise annotation of the soybean genome

Evaluation of the Relationship between Current Internal 137Cs Exposure in Residents and Soil Contamination West of Chernobyl in Northern Ukraine

After the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident, the residents living around the Chernobyl were revealed to have been internally exposed to 137Cs through the intake of contaminated local foods. To evaluate the current situation of internal 137Cs exposure and the relationship between the 137Cs soil contamination and internal exposure in residents, we investigated the 137Cs body burden in residents who were living in 10 selected cities from the northern part of the Zhitomir region, Ukraine, and collected soil samples from three family farms and wild forests of each city to measured 137Cs concentrations. The total number of study participants was 36,862, of which 68.9%of them were female. After 2010, the annual effective doses were less than 0.1 mSv in over 90% of the residents. The 137Cs body burden was significantly higher in autumn than other seasons (p < 0.001) and in residents living in more contaminated areas (p < 0.001). We also found a significant correlation between the proportion of residents in each city with an estimated annual exposure dose exceeding 0.1 mSv and 137Cs concentration of soil samples from family farms (r = 0.828, p = 0.003). In conclusion, more than 25 years after the Chernobyl accident, the internal exposure doses to residents living in contaminated areas of northern Ukraine is limited but still related to 137Cs soil contamination. Furthermore, the consumption of local foods is considered to be the cause of internal exposure

Numerical quantification of aerodynamic damping on pitching of vehicle-inspired bluff body

The influence of transient flows on vehicle stability was investigated by large eddy simulation. To consider the dynamic response of a vehicle to real-life transient aerodynamics, a dimensionless parameter that quantifies the amount of aerodynamic damping for vehicle subjects to pitching oscillation is proposed. Two vehicle models with different stability characteristics were created to verify the parameter. For idealized notchback models, underbody has the highest contribution to the total aerodynamic damping, which was up to 69%. However, the difference between the aerodynamic damping of models with distinct A- and C-pillar configurations mainly depends on the trunk-deck contribution. Comparison between dynamically obtained phase-averaged pitching moment with quasi-steady values shows totally different aerodynamic behaviors