NQR study of phase transitions in CH 3\mathsf{_3} HgX (X=Cl, Br, I)

The temperature dependence of halogen nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) in the series CH 3HgX (X=Cl, Br, I) is measured with special emphasis on the structural phase transitions at T c =162 K, 310 K, and $\sim$ 400 K, respectively. In the temperature dependences of NQR frequencies similarities are observed and discussed in relation with the structure and thermal vibrations on both sides of the phase transition. On the basis of known data a mechanism for the three analogous phase transitions is proposed. The chlorine spin-lattice relaxation behaviour in CH 3HgCl can be explained by a competition of fast thermal fluctuations of MMX molecules across the high temperature (h.t.) mirror plane and of infrequent transitions to the other equivalent fluctuation mode across the orthogonal h.t. mirror plane. Proton high temperature relaxation is probably dominated by the same slow motion, but at lower temperatures some other mechanism involving magnetic coupling prevails. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin/Heidelberg 2003

National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Project on Criteria for Clinical Trials in Chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease: I. The 2020 Etiology and Prevention Working Group Report

Preventing chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) remains challenging because the unique cellular and molecular pathways that incite chronic GVHD are poorly understood. One major point of intervention for potential prevention of chronic GVHD occurs at the time of transplantation when acute donor anti-recipient immune responses first set the events in motion that result in chronic GVHD. After transplantation, additional insults causing tissue injury can incite aberrant immune responses and loss of tolerance, further contributing to chronic GVHD. Points of intervention are actively being identified so that chronic GVHD initiation pathways can be targeted without affecting immune function. The major objective in the field is to continue basic studies and to translate what is learned about etiopathology to develop targeted prevention strategies that decrease the risk of morbid chronic GVHD without increasing the risks of cancer relapse or infection. Development of strategies to predict the risk of developing debilitating or deadly chronic GVHD is a high research priority. This working group recommends further interrogation into the mechanisms underpinning chronic GVHD development, and we highlight considerations for future trial design in prevention trials. (C) 2021 The American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Turbulence investigation in the roughness sub-layer of a near wall flow

The turbulence behaviour along a wall roughened by pyramidal elements was analysed in the region extending from the apex of the roughness elements up to the external limit of the roughness sub-layer. The data used for the analysis were obtained by particle image velocimetry technique. The rough wall turbulent boundary layer flow is characterized by a relatively low Reynolds number. All the results on the rough wall were compared with data referring to the canonical flow on a smooth wall turbulent boundary layer. Mean values and turbulence quantities for the two flows collapse when approaching the external limit of the roughness sublayer. The quadrant analysis of the Reynolds shear stress, in the region near the surface, shows that the contribution of the sweep motions is about equivalent for the two flows (except for wall distances lower than 40 viscous units). The contribution of the ejection motions appears to be more important over the smooth wall than over the rough wall with increasing differences approaching the wall. The probability density functions of the streamwise fluctuating velocity field for the rough wall case appear to be positively skewed in the zone very close to the pyramid apex, in contrast with the behavior observed for the smooth wall case at corresponding distances from the wall. The integral and Taylor scales for the rough wall case appear to be strongly reduced by the presence of the roughness, while the Kolmogorov microscale shows higher values