Pressurized bellows flat contact heat exchanger interface

Disclosed is an interdigitated plate-type heat exchanger interface. The interface includes a modular interconnect to thermally connect a pair or pairs of plate-type heat exchangers to a second single or multiple plate-type heat exchanger. The modular interconnect comprises a series of parallel, plate-type heat exchangers arranged in pairs to form a slot therebetween. The plate-type heat exchangers of the second heat exchanger insert into the slots of the modular interconnect. Bellows are provided between the pairs of fins of the modular interconnect so that when the bellows are pressurized, they drive the plate-type heat exchangers of the modular interconnect toward one another, thus closing upon the second heat exchanger plates. Each end of the bellows has a part thereof a thin, membrane diaphragm which readily conforms to the contours of the heat exchanger plates of the modular interconnect when the bellows is pressurized. This ensures an even distribution of pressure on the heat exchangers of the modular interconnect thus creating substantially planar contact between the two heat exchangers. The effect of the interface of the present invention is to provide a dry connection between two heat exchangers whereby the rate of heat transfer can be varied by varying the pressure within the bellows

Some Fundamental Properties of a Multivariate von Mises Distribution

In application areas like bioinformatics multivariate distributions on angles are encountered which show significant clustering. One approach to statistical modelling of such situations is to use mixtures of unimodal distributions. In the literature (Mardia et al., 2011), the multivariate von Mises distribution, also known as the multivariate sine distribution, has been suggested for components of such models, but work in the area has been hampered by the fact that no good criteria for the von Mises distribution to be unimodal were available. In this article we study the question about when a multivariate von Mises distribution is unimodal. We give sufficient criteria for this to be the case and show examples of distributions with multiple modes when these criteria are violated. In addition, we propose a method to generate samples from the von Mises distribution in the case of high concentration.Comment: fixed a typo in the article title, minor fixes throughou

Competition between Two Kinds of Correlations in Literary Texts

A theory of additive Markov chains with long-range memory is used for description of correlation properties of coarse-grained literary texts. The complex structure of the correlations in texts is revealed. Antipersistent correlations at small distances, L 300 define this nontrivial structure. For some concrete examples of literary texts, the memory functions are obtained and their power-law behavior at long distances is disclosed. This property is shown to be a cause of self-similarity of texts with respect to the decimation procedure.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, Submitted to Physica

Population synthesis of classical low-mass X-ray binaries in the Galactic Bulge

Aims. We model the present-day population of 'classical' low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) with neutron star accretors, which have hydrogen-rich donor stars. Their population is compared with that of hydrogen-deficient LMXBs, known as ultracompact X-ray binaries (UCXBs). We model the observable LMXB population and compare it to observations. Methods. We combine the binary population synthesis code SeBa with detailed LMXB evolutionary tracks to model the size and properties of the present-day LMXB population in the Galactic Bulge. Whether sources are persistent or transient, and what their instantaneous X-ray luminosities are, is predicted using the thermal-viscous disk instability model. Results. We find a population of ~2.1 x 10^3 LMXBs with neutron star accretors. Of these about 15 - 40 are expected to be persistent (depending on model assumptions), with luminosities higher than 10^35 erg s^-1. About 7 - 20 transient sources are expected to be in outburst at any given time. Within a factor of two these numbers are consistent with the observed population of bright LMXBs in the Bulge. This gives credence to our prediction of the existence of a population of ~1.6 x 10^3 LMXBs with low donor masses that have gone through the period minimum, and have present-day mass transfer rates below 10^-11 Msun yr^-1. Conclusions. Even though the observed population of hydrogen-rich LMXBs in the Bulge is larger than the observed population of (hydrogen-deficient) UCXBs, the latter have a higher formation rate. While UCXBs may dominate the total LMXB population at the present, the majority would be very faint, or may have become detached and produced millisecond radio pulsars. In that case UCXBs would contribute significantly more to the formation of millisecond radio pulsars than hydrogen-rich LMXBs. [abridged]Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics. v2: minor language correction

Comparative gross morphology of male accessory glands among Neotropical Muridae (Mammalia: Rodentia) with comments on systematic implications

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/56403/1/MP159.pd

Transition from anticipatory to lag synchronization via complete synchronization in time-delay systems

The existence of anticipatory, complete and lag synchronization in a single system having two different time-delays, that is feedback delay $\tau_1$ and coupling delay $\tau_2$, is identified. The transition from anticipatory to complete synchronization and from complete to lag synchronization as a function of coupling delay $\tau_2$ with suitable stability condition is discussed. The existence of anticipatory and lag synchronization is characterized both by the minimum of similarity function and the transition from on-off intermittency to periodic structure in laminar phase distribution.Comment: 14 Pages and 12 Figure

Expression levels of Fv1: effects on retroviral restriction specificities

Background The mouse protein Fv1 is a factor that can confer resistance to retroviral infection. The two major Fv1 alleles from laboratory mice, Fv1 n and Fv1 b , restrict infection by different murine leukaemia viruses (MLVs). Fv1n restricts B-tropic MLV, but not N-tropic MLV or NB-tropic MLV. In cells expressing Fv1b at natural levels, only N-MLV is restricted, however restriction of NB-MLV and partial restriction of B-MLV were observed when recombinant Fv1b was expressed from an MLV promoter in Fv1 null Mus dunni tail fibroblast cells. To investigate the relationship between expression level and restriction specificity we have developed new retroviral delivery vectors which allow inducible expression of Fv1, and yet allow sufficient production of fluorescent reporter proteins for analysis in our FACS-based restriction assay. Results We demonstrated that at concentrations close to the endogenous expression level, Fv1b specifically restricts only N-MLV, but restriction of NB-MLV, and to a lesser extent B-MLV, could be gained by increasing the protein level of Fv1b. By contrast, we found that even when Fv1n is expressed at very high levels, no significant inhibition of N-MLV or NB-MLV could be observed. Study of Fv1 mutants using this assay led to the identification of determinants for N/B tropism at an expression level close to that of endogenous Fv1n and Fv1b. We also compared the recently described restriction activities of wild mice Fv1 proteins directed against non-MLV retroviruses when expressed at different levels. Fv1 from M. spretus restricted N-MLV, B-MLV and equine infectious anaemia virus equally even at low concentrations, while Fv1 from M. macedonicus showed even stronger restriction against equine infectious anaemia virus than to N-MLV. Restriction of feline foamy virus by Fv1 of M. caroli occurred at levels equivalent to MLV restriction. Conclusions Our data indicate that for some but not all Fv1 proteins, gain of restriction activities could be achieved by increasing the expression level of Fv1. However such a concentration dependent effect is not seen with most Fv1s and cannot explain the recently reported activities against non-MLVs. It will be interesting to examine whether overexpression of other capsid binding restriction factors such as TRIM5α or Mx2 result in novel restriction specificities