5,703 research outputs found
Computer program simplifies design of rotating components of turbomachinery
Digital computer program performs stress analysis and burst speed calculations on rotating axisymmetric turbomachinery components. The computer printout contains the displacement of each nodal point, the stress at the center of each element, the average tangential stress within the component, and the burst speed
Adsorption of a binary mixture of monomers with nearest-neighbour cooperative effects
A model for the adsorption of a binary mixture on a one-dimensional infinite
lattice with nearest neighbour cooperative effects is considered. The particles
of the two species are both monomers but differ in the repulsive interaction
experienced by them when trying to adsorb. An exact expression for the coverage
of the lattice is derived. In the jamming limit, it is a monotonic function of
the ratio between the attempt frequencies of the two species, varying between
the values corresponding to each of the two single species. This is in contrast
with the results obtained in other models for the adsorption of particles of
different sizes. The structure of the jamming state is also investigated.Comment: v2: Errors in the figures fixed; same text; 23 pages, 5 figures.
Accepted for publication in Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Genera
A redshift survey towards the CMB Cold Spot
We have carried out a redshift survey using the VIMOS spectrograph on the VLT
towards the Cosmic Microwave Background cold spot. A possible cause of the cold
spot is the Integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect imprinted by an extremely large void
(hundreds of Mpc in linear dimension) at intermediate or low redshifts. The
redshift distribution of over seven hundred z<1 emission-line galaxies drawn
from an I-band flux limited sample of galaxies in the direction of the cold
spot shows no evidence of a gap on scales of Delta-z> 0.05 as would be expected
if such a void existed at 0.35<z<1. There are troughs in the redshift
distribution on smaller scales (Delta-z ~0.01) indicating that smaller scale
voids may connect regions separated by several degrees towards the cold spot. A
comparison of this distribution with that generated from similarly-sized
subsamples drawn from widely-spaced pointings of the VVDS survey does not
indicate that the redshift distribution towards the cold spot is anomalous or
that these small gaps can be uniquely attributed to real voids.Comment: MNRAS in press, 6 page
Memory effects in vibrated granular systems
Granular materials present memory effects when submitted to tapping
processes. These effects have been observed experimentally and are discussed
here in the context of a general kind of model systems for compaction
formulated at a mesoscopic level. The theoretical predictions qualitatively
agree with the experimental results. As an example, a particular simple model
is used for detailed calculations.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures; to appear in Journal of Physics: Condensed
Matter (Special Issue: Proceedings of ESF SPHINX Workshop on ``Glassy
behaviour of kinetically constrained models.''
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Re-evaluation of the first synthetic estrogen, 1-keto-1,2,3,4-tetrahydrophenanthrene, and bisphenol A, using both the ovariectomised rat model used in 1933 and additional assays
1-Keto-1,2,3,4-tetrahydrophenanthrene (THP-1) was reported by Cook et al in 1933 as the first synthetic estrogen. Estrogenic activity was assessed by the induction of vaginal cornification in ovariectomised rats. The corresponding 4-isomer (THP-4) was shown to be inactive. Both chemicals have been re-synthesised and assessed for hormonal activity. Each chemical bound weakly and to the same extent to isolated estrogen receptors, but only at high concentrations. However, they each lacked estrogenic or anti-estrogenic activity when evaluated in vitro using a yeast hER assay, and both failed to induce vaginal cornification or uterotrophic effects in ovariectomised rats. THP-1, and to a lesser extent THP-4, were shown to possess weak androgenic and anti-androgenic activity in vitro when evaluated using an hAR yeast assay. Estrogenic activity for bisphenol A (BPA) was subsequently demonstrated by Dodds and Lawson (1936) using the same ovariectomised rat protocol, and this activity has been confirmed and supplemented by positive uterotrophic effects for BPA in the same bioassays.
The present results illustrate the complexity of deriving conclusions regarding the hormonal activities of chemicals. First, some activities observed in isolated hormonal receptor binding assays may not be expressed in functional hormonal assays. This indicates the need for functional hormonal assays in any screening programme. Second, that activities observed for a chemical in one hormonal assay may not be reflected in related hormonal assays. This indicates the need to define assay protocols with some precision when incorporating them into screening batteries. Finally, that some literature reports of hormonal activity for chemicals may not be capable of independent confirmation under apparently identical conditions of test. This illustrates the need to use lists of hormonally active chemicals with car
Structural properties of silicon dioxide thin films densified by medium-energy particles
Classical molecular-dynamics simulations have been carried out to investigate
densification mechanisms in silicon dioxide thin films deposited on an
amorphous silica surface, according to a simplified ion-beam assisted
deposition (IBAD) scenario. We compare the structures resulting from the
deposition of near-thermal (1 eV) SiO particles to those obtained with
increasing fraction of 30 eV SiO particles. Our results show that there
is an energy interval - between 12 and 15 eV per condensing SiO unit on
average - for which the growth leads to a dense, low-stress amorphous
structure, in satisfactory agreement with the results of low-energy ion-beam
experiments. We also find that the crossover between low- and high-density
films is associated with a tensile to compressive stress transition, and a
simultaneous healing of structural defects of the {\em a-}SiO network,
namely three- and four-fold rings. It is observed, finally, that densification
proceeds through significant changes at intermediate length scales (4--10 \AA),
leaving essentially unchanged the ``building blocks'' of the network, viz. the
Si(O) tetrahedra. This latter result is in qualitative agreement
with the mechanism proposed to explain the irreversible densification of
amorphous silica recovered from high pressures ( 15--20 GPa).Comment: 12 pages including 10 postscript figures; submitted to Phys. Rev. B;
related publications can be found on web site
http://www.centrcn.umontreal.ca/~lewi
Constitutional Law - Search and Seizure: Supreme Court Addresses Advances in Technology and Rules That Thermal Imaging Devices May Not Be Used without a Search Warrant
Analysis of longitudinal bunching inan FEL driven two-beam accelerator
Recent experiments [1] have explored the use of a free-electron laser (FEL)
as a buncher for a microwave two-beam accelerator, and the subsequent driving
of a standing-wave rf output cavity. Here we present a deeper analysis of the
longitudinal dynamics of the electron bunches as they are transported from the
end of the FEL and through the output cavity. In particular, we examine the
effect of the transport region and cavity aperture to filter the bunched
portion of the beam.
[1] T. Lefevre, et. al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 84 (2000), 1188.Comment: 3 pages, 8 figures. Submitted to XX Int'l LINAC Conferenc
The rodent uterotrophic assay: Critical protocol features, studies with nonyl phenols, and comparison with a yeast estrogenicity assay
The major protocol features of the immature rat uterotrophic assay have been evaluated using a range of reference chemicals. The protocol variables considered include the selection of the test species and route of chemical administration, the age of the test animals, the maintenance diet used, and the specificity of the assay for estrogens. It is concluded that three daily oral administrations of test chemicals to 21- to 22-day-old rats, followed by determination of absolute uterus weights on the fourth day, provide a sensitive and toxicologically relevant in vivo estrogenicity assay. Rats are favored over mice for reasons of toxicological practice, but the choice of test species is probably not a critical protocol variable, as evidenced by the similar sensitivity of rats and mice to the uterotrophic activity of methoxychlor. Vaginal opening is shown to be a useful, but nondefinitive, adjunct to the uterotrophic assay. The ability of test chemicals to reduce or abolish the uterotrophic response of estradiol is suggested to provide a useful extension of the uterotrophic assay for the purpose of detecting antiestrogens. The results of a series of studies on the environmental estrogen nonyl phenol (NP), and its linear isomer n -nonyl phenol, confirm that branching of the aliphatic side chain is important for activity. 17beta-Desoxyestradiol is shown to be of similar activity to estradiol in the uterotrophic assay and is suggested to represent the "parent" estrogen of NP. Benzoylation of NP and 17-desoxyestradiol did not affect their uterotrophic activity, in contrast to the enhancing effect of benzoylation on estradiol. Selected chemicals shown to be active in the immature rat uterotrophic assay were also evaluated in an in vitro yeast human estrogen receptor transactivation assay. Most of the chemicals gave similar qualitative responses to those seen in the uterotrophic assay, and the detection of the estrogen methoxychlor by the yeast assay evidenced a degree of intrinsic metabolic competence. However, the assay had a reduced ability (compared to rodents) to hydrolyze the benzoate ester of estradiol, and the estrogenic benzoate derivative of NP was not active in the yeast assay. These last results indicate that current metabolic deficiencies of in vitro estrogenicity assays will limit the value of negative data for the immediate future. The results described illustrate the intrinsic complexity of evaluating chemicals for estrogenic activities and confirm the need for rigorous attention to experimental design and criteria for assessing estrogenic activity
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