Rotational superradiant scattering in a vortex flow

When an incident wave scatters off of an obstacle, it is partially reflected and partially transmitted. In theory, if the obstacle is rotating, waves can be amplified in the process, extracting energy from the scatterer. Here we describe in detail the first laboratory detection of this phenomenon, known as superradiance 1, 2, 3, 4. We observed that waves propagating on the surface of water can be amplified after being scattered by a draining vortex. The maximum amplification measured was 14% ± 8%, obtained for 3.70 Hz waves, in a 6.25-cm-deep fluid, consistent with the superradiant scattering caused by rapid rotation. We expect our experimental findings to be relevant to black-hole physics, since shallow water waves scattering on a draining fluid constitute an analogue of a black hole 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, as well as to hydrodynamics, due to the close relation to over-reflection instabilities 11, 12, 13

Immune cell contexture in the bone marrow tumor microenvironment impacts therapy response in CML

Increasing evidence suggests that the immune system affects prognosis of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), but the detailed immunological composition of the leukemia bone marrow (BM) microenvironment is unknown. We aimed to characterize the immune landscape of the CML BM and predict the current treatment goal of tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy, molecular remission 4.0 (MR4.0). Using multiplex immunohistochemistry (mIHC) and automated image analysis, we studied BM tissues of CML patients (n = 56) and controls (n = 14) with a total of 30 immunophenotype markers essential in cancer immunology. CML patients' CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells expressed higher levels of putative exhaustion markers PD1, TIM3, and CTLA4 when compared to control. PD1 expression was higher in BM compared to paired peripheral blood (PB) samples, and decreased during TKI therapy. By combining clinical parameters and immune profiles, low CD4+ T-cell proportion, high proportion of PD1+ TIM3-CD8+ T cells, and high PB neutrophil count were most predictive of lower MR4.0 likelihood. Low CD4+ T-cell proportion and high PB neutrophil counts predicted MR4.0 also in a validation cohort (n = 52) analyzed with flow cytometry. In summary, the CML BM is characterized by immune suppression and immune biomarkers predicted MR4.0, thus warranting further testing of immunomodulatory drugs in CML treatment.Peer reviewe

Terminal multiple surface sliding guidance for planetary landing: Development, tuning and optimization via reinforcement learning

The problem of achieving pinpoint landing accuracy in future space missions to planetary bodies such as the Moon or Mars presents many challenges, including the requirements of higher accuracy and degree of flexibility. These new challenges may require the development of a new class of guidance algorithms. In this paper, a non-linear guidance algorithm for planetary landing is proposed and analyzed. Based on Higher-Order Sliding Control (HOSC) theory, the Multiple Sliding Surface Guidance (MSSG) algorithm has been specifically designed to take advantage of the ability of the system to reach multiple sliding surfaces in a finite time. As a result, a guidance law that is both globally stable and robust against unknown, but bounded perturbations is devised. The proposed MSSG does not require any off-line trajectory generation, but the acceleration command is instead generated directly as function of the current and final (target) state. However, after initial analysis, it has been noted that the performance of MSSG critically depends on the choice in guidance gains. MSSG-guided trajectories have been compared to an open-loop fuel-efficient solution to investigate the relationship between the MSSG fuel performance and the selection of the guidance parameters. A full study has been executed to investigate and tune the parameters of MSSG utilizing reinforcement learning in order to truly optimize the performance of the MSSG algorithm in powered descent scenarios. Results show that the MSSG algorithm can indeed generate closed-loop trajectories that come very close to the optimal solution in terms of fuel usage. A full comparison of the trajectories is included, as well as a further Monte Carlo analysis examining the guidance errors of the MSSG algorithm under perturbed conditions using the optimized set of parameters