Potential hazard consequences to personnel exposed to the ignition of small volumes of weakly confined stoichiometric hydrogen/air mixture

Many studies have been devoted to understanding the consequence of ignition events that could occur as a result of using hydrogen as an alternative to fossil fuels or when hydrogen is present in large scale industrial or nuclear waste sites. Little attention has however, been given to the effect of explosion in small scale operations: this could involve service work with manual handling and manipulation of gas containing packages or vessels. The purpose of this study is to begin to address this knowledge gap and report the results of an experimental program carried out to simulate the effect of localised and weakly confined small volume hydrogen explosions on personal safety. Three aspects of personal injury consequences are considered; injury from shock loading to the head/brain, skin burns and acoustic/hearing damage. It is concluded from ignition and acoustic noise exposure experiments, carried with stoichiometric hydrogen /air mixtures, that injuries arising from shock loading or burns to the skin are less likely than hearing damage. It is suggested that further work should focus on the noise exposure and hearing damage effects of small scale explosions

Molecular heterogeneity in major urinary proteins of Mus musculus subspecies: potential candidates involved in speciation

When hybridisation carries a cost, natural selection is predicted to favour evolution of traits that allow assortative mating (reinforcement). Incipient speciation between the two European house mouse subspecies, Mus musculus domesticus and M.m.musculus, sharing a hybrid zone, provides an opportunity to understand evolution of assortative mating at a molecular level. Mouse urine odours allow subspecific mate discrimination, with assortative preferences evident in the hybrid zone but not in allopatry. Here we assess the potential of MUPs (major urinary proteins) as candidates for signal divergence by comparing MUP expression in urine samples from the Danish hybrid zone border (contact) and from allopatric populations. Mass spectrometric characterisation identified novel MUPs in both subspecies involving mostly new combinations of amino acid changes previously observed in M.m.domesticus. The subspecies expressed distinct MUP signatures, with most MUPs expressed by only one subspecies. Expression of at least eight MUPs showed significant subspecies divergence both in allopatry and contact zone. Another seven MUPs showed divergence in expression between the subspecies only in the contact zone, consistent with divergence by reinforcement. These proteins are candidates for the semiochemical barrier to hybridisation, providing an opportunity to characterise the nature and evolution of a putative species recognition signal

Origin of chemically distinct discs in the Auriga cosmological simulations

The stellar disc of the Milky Way shows complex spatial and abundance structure that is central to understanding the key physical mechanisms responsible for shaping our Galaxy. In this study, we use six very high resolution cosmological zoom-in simulations of Milky Way-sized haloes to study the prevalence and formation of chemically distinct disc components. We find that our simulations develop a clearly bimodal distribution in the [α/Fe]–[Fe/H] plane. We find two main pathways to creating this dichotomy, which operate in different regions of the galaxies: (a) an early (z > 1) and intense high-[α/Fe] star formation phase in the inner region (R ≲ 5 kpc) induced by gas-rich mergers, followed by more quiescent low-[α/Fe] star formation; and (b) an early phase of high-[α/Fe] star formation in the outer disc followed by a shrinking of the gas disc owing to a temporarily lowered gas accretion rate, after which disc growth resumes. In process (b), a double-peaked star formation history around the time and radius of disc shrinking accentuates the dichotomy. If the early star formation phase is prolonged (rather than short and intense), chemical evolution proceeds as per process (a) in the inner region, but the dichotomy is less clear. In the outer region, the dichotomy is only evident if the first intense phase of star formation covers a large enough radial range before disc shrinking occurs; otherwise, the outer disc consists of only low-[α/Fe] sequence stars. We discuss the implication that both processes occurred in the Milky Way

Clinical and functional characterisation of the combined respiratory chain defect in two sisters due to autosomal recessive mutations in MTFMT.

Exome sequencing identified compound heterozygous mutations in the recently discovered mitochondrial methionyl-tRNA formyltransferase (MTFMT) gene in two sisters with mild Leigh syndrome and combined respiratory chain deficiency. The mutations lead to undetectable levels of the MTFMT protein. Blue native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed decreased complexes I and IV, and additional products stained with complex V antibodies, however the overall steady state level of mt-tRNA(Met) was normal. Our data illustrate that exome sequencing is an excellent diagnostic tool, and its value in clinical medicine is enormous, however it can only be optimally exploited if combined with detailed phenotyping and functional studies

Leishmania isoenzyme polymorphisms in Ecuador: Relationships with geographic distribution and clinical presentation

Background: Determinants of the clinical presentation of the leishmaniases are poorly understood but Leishmania species and strain differences are important. To examine the relationship between clinical presentation, species and isoenzyme polymorphisms, 56 Leishmania isolates from distinct presentations of American tegumentary leishmaniasis (ATL) from Ecuador were analyzed. Methods: Isolates were characterized by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis for polymorphisms of 11 isoenzymes. Patients were infected in four different ecologic regions: highland and lowland jungle of the Pacific coast, Amazonian lowlands and Andean highlands. Results: Six Leishmania species constituting 21 zymodemes were identified: L. (Viannia) panamensis (21 isolates, 7 zymodemes), L. (V.) guyanensis (7 isolates, 4 zymodemes), L. (V.) braziliensis (5 isolates, 3 zymodemes), L. (Leishmania) mexicana (11 isolates, 4 zymodemes), L. (L.) amazonensis (10 isolates, 2 zymodemes) and L. (L.) major (2 isolates, 1 zymodeme). L. panamensis was the species most frequently identified in the Pacific region and was associated with several clinical variants of cutaneous disease (CL); eight cases of leishmaniasis recidiva cutis (LRC) found in the Pacific highlands were associated with 3 zymodemes of this species. Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis found only in the Amazonian focus was associated with 3 zymodemes of L. braziliensis. The papular variant of CL, Uta, found in the Andean highlands was related predominantly with a single zymodeme of L. mexicana. Conclusion: Our data show a high degree of phenotypic variation within species, and some evidence for associations between specific variants of ATL (i.e. Uta and LRC) and specific Leishmania zymodemes. This study further defines the geographic distribution of Leishmania species and clinical variants of ATL in Ecuador

Moduli Stabilization and Cosmology of Type IIB on SU(2)-Structure Orientifolds

We consider type IIB flux compactifications on six-dimensional SU(2)-structure manifolds with O5- and O7-planes. These six-dimensional spaces allow not only for F_3 and H_3 fluxes but also for F_1 and F_5 fluxes. We derive the four-dimensional N=1 scalar potential for such compactifications and present one explicit example of a fully stabilized AdS vacuum with large volume and small string coupling. We then discuss cosmological aspects of these compactifications and derive several no-go theorems that forbid dS vacua and slow-roll inflation under certain conditions. We also study concrete examples of cosets and twisted tori and find that our no-go theorems forbid dS vacua and slow-roll inflation in all but one of them. For the latter we find a dS critical point with \epsilon numerically zero. However, the point has two tachyons and eta-parameter \eta \approx -3.1.Comment: 35 pages + appendices, LaTeX2e; v2: numerical dS extremum added, typos corrected, references adde

Revealing natural relationships among arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: culture line BEG47 represents Diversispora epigaea, not Glomus versiforme

Background: Understanding the mechanisms underlying biological phenomena, such as evolutionarily conservative trait inheritance, is predicated on knowledge of the natural relationships among organisms. However, despite their enormous ecological significance, many of the ubiquitous soil inhabiting and plant symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF, phylum Glomeromycota) are incorrectly classified. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here, we focused on a frequently used model AMF registered as culture BEG47. This fungus is a descendent of the ex-type culture-lineage of Glomus epigaeum, which in 1983 was synonymised with Glomus versiforme. It has since then been used as ‘G. versiforme BEG47’. We show by morphological comparisons, based on type material, collected 1860–61, of G. versiforme and on type material and living ex-type cultures of G. epigaeum, that these two AMF species cannot be conspecific, and by molecular phylogenetics that BEG47 is a member of the genus Diversispora. Conclusions: This study highlights that experimental works published during the last >25 years on an AMF named ‘G. versiforme’ or ‘BEG47’ refer to D. epigaea, a species that is actually evolutionarily separated by hundreds of millions of years from all members of the genera in the Glomerales and thus from most other commonly used AMF ‘laboratory strains’. Detailed redescriptions substantiate the renaming of G. epigaeum (BEG47) as D. epigaea, positioning it systematically in the order Diversisporales, thus enabling an evolutionary understanding of genetical, physiological, and ecological traits, relative to those of other AMF. Diversispora epigaea is widely cultured as a laboratory strain of AMF, whereas G. versiforme appears not to have been cultured nor found in the field since its original description

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor of epididymis: a case report and review of literature

Background Epididymal inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor, also known by various other synonyms is a rare benign disease. Only eight cases have been reported to date. The most common presentation is a scrotal mass of variable duration. For a scrotal mass it is difficult to distinguish a benign or malignant etiology, in addition to the origin whether from testis or epididymis. As a result the definitive diagnosis can only be established by surgical exploration. Case presentation We report the ninth case of epididymal IMT who based on clinical and radiological findings underwent radical orchidectomy, with the histology suggestive of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor. At 4 years follow up the patient is free of disease recurrence. Conclusion IMT though rare should be considered in the differential diagnosis of epididymal mass. Clinically it is often difficult to distinguish the origin of mass and even though the disease has benign nature and course it is crucial to counsel patients for orchidectomy as definitive diagnosis is established on surgical exploration

Association of LMP/TAP Gene Polymorphisms with Tuberculosis Susceptibility in Li Population in China

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious disease affected by multiple genetic and environmental factors. Several association studies have suggested that cellular immune response is vital for controlling and preventing of tuberculosis infection. Low molecular weight polypeptides (LMPs) and transporters with antigen processing (TAPs) are the main molecules in the processing and presentation pathway for intracellular antigens. This study was performed to elucidate whether these antigen-processing genes (LMP/TAP) polymorphisms could be associated with the risk of tuberculosis infection in China. Methodology/Principal Findings: We recruited 205 active pulmonary tuberculosis patients and 217 normal controls from Li population for this study. Four polymorphisms of LMP/TAP genes were determined by PCR-RFLP assay and haplotypes were constructed by software PHASE 1.0. Of the total four polymorphisms, genotype frequencies of LMP7 AA homozygote and CA heterozygote were significantly greater among cases compared to controls, with odds ratio of 3.77 (95 % CI: 1.60–8.89; P = 0.002) and 2.97 (95 % CI: 1.80–4.90; P,0.0001), respectively. The genotypes of TAP1-2 GG homozygote and AG heterozygote were more frequent in subjects with TB than in controls, with odds ratio of 3.94 (95 % CI: 1.82–8.53; P = 0.001) and 2.87 (95 % CI: 1.75–4.71; P,0.0001), respectively. Similarly, we found that haplotype B which carried LMP7 and TAP1-2 variations significantly increased the susceptibility to TB (OR = 3.674, 95 % CI: 2.254–5.988; P,0.0001). Moreover, it i

Ground characterisation for PISA pile testing and analysis

This paper is the first of a set of linked publications on the PISA Joint Industry Research Project, which was concerned with the development of improved design methods for monopile foundations in offshore wind applications. PISA involved large-scale pile tests in overconsolidated glacial till at Cowden, north-east England, and in dense, normally consolidated marine sand at Dunkirk, northern France. The paper presents the characterisation of the two sites, which was crucial to the design of the field experiments and advanced numerical modelling of the pile–soil interactions. The studies described, which had to be completed at an early stage of the PISA project, added new laboratory and field campaigns to historic investigations at both sites. They enabled an accurate description of soil behaviour from small strains to ultimate states to be derived, allowing analyses to be undertaken that captured both the serviceability and limit state behaviour of the test monopiles