Optimum fin spacing for heat transfer per unit length of heat exchange section

This thesis presents the results of an experimental study of the heat-transfer ability of a finned surface as a function of the spacing between fins. The results are expressed as heat transfer per unit length of finned section rather than the heat transfer per fin. Circumferential steel fins, seven and three-quarter inches in diameter, were used for the investigation. Data was taken for fin spacings ranging from zero to one and one-half inches. The experimental heat-transfer rate to atmospheric air was determined by measuring the volume of saturated steam which condensed in the test section over a measured time interval. Temperature readings were also taken on the outer radius of the fin surface using a radiation pyrometer. An analytical study of the overall heat transfer per unit length of the test section was broken down into four parts. These were heat transfer from 1) the outer edge of the fins, 2) the pipe through the middle of the fins, 3) lateral fin surfaces by radiation, and 4) the lateral fin surfaces by convection. The values for the first three parts were calculated from theoretical equations and the difference between the sum of the first three parts and the total measured heat transfer resulted in an evaluation of the convection heat transfer from the lateral fin surfaces. The results of the experiment show the optimum fin spacing for this particular test section to be five-sixteenths of an inch. The shape of the curve showing the heat-transfer rate per unit length of finned section as a function of fin spacing shows that there is a sharp maximum and that the value of fin spacing is very critical in order to obtain the maximum heat transfer from the test section --Abstract, page ii-iii

BEHAVIOR OF SANDHILL CRANES HARNESSED WITH DIFFERENT SATELLITE TRANSMITTERS

The effectiveness of various attachment methods and designs of platform transmitting terminals (PIT\u27s) was tested on captive sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, Maryland, during 1989-91. Combinations of attachment and transmitter designs included neoprene cord harness with batteries separate from the transmitter (2 harness designs), Teflon ribbon harness with batteries incorporated into the transmitter package (4 transmitter models), and a package attached directly to the bird with epoxy glue only. Physical effects seen on cranes wearing PTT\u27s ranged from skin lacerations (caused by rubbing of harness material) to no observed effects (other than feather wear). The most successful harness material and design utilized a Teflon ribbon harness with the 4 ribbon ends from the transmitter forming a neck loop and a body loop joined at the sternum. Time spent by sandhill cranes performing most activities did not change after transmitter attachment using this harness method

Stochastic Binding of Ca2+ Ions in the Dyadic Cleft; Continuous versus Random Walk Description of Diffusion

Ca2+ signaling in the dyadic cleft in ventricular myocytes is fundamentally discrete and stochastic. We study the stochastic binding of single Ca2+ ions to receptors in the cleft using two different models of diffusion: a stochastic and discrete Random Walk (RW) model, and a deterministic continuous model. We investigate whether the latter model, together with a stochastic receptor model, can reproduce binding events registered in fully stochastic RW simulations. By evaluating the continuous model goodness-of-fit for a large range of parameters, we present evidence that it can. Further, we show that the large fluctuations in binding rate observed at the level of single time-steps are integrated and smoothed at the larger timescale of binding events, which explains the continuous model goodness-of-fit. With these results we demonstrate that the stochasticity and discreteness of the Ca2+ signaling in the dyadic cleft, determined by single binding events, can be described using a deterministic model of Ca2+ diffusion together with a stochastic model of the binding events, for a specific range of physiological relevant parameters. Time-consuming RW simulations can thus be avoided. We also present a new analytical model of bimolecular binding probabilities, which we use in the RW simulations and the statistical analysis

As cold as a fish? Relationships between the Dark Triad personality traits and affective experience during the day: A day reconstruction study

The Dark Triad of personality is a cluster of three socially aversive personality traits: Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy. These traits are associated with a selfish, aggressive and exploitative interpersonal strategy. The objective of the current study was to establish relationships between the Dark Triad traits (and their dimensions) and momentary affect. Machiavellianism, grandiose narcissism, vulnerable narcissism and the dimensions of the Triarchic model of psychopathy (namely, boldness, meanness and disinhibition) were examined. We used the Day Reconstruction Method, which is based on reconstructing affective states experienced during the previous day. The final sample consisted of 270 university students providing affective ratings of 3047 diary episodes. Analyses using multilevel modelling showed that only boldness had a positive association with positive affective states and affect balance, and a negative association with negative affective states. Grandiose narcissism and its sub-dimensions had no relationship with momentary affect. The other dark traits were related to negative momentary affect and/or inversely related to positive momentary affect and affect balance. As a whole, our results empirically demonstrated distinctiveness of the Dark Triad traits in their relationship to everyday affective states. These findings are not congruent with the notion that people with the Dark Triad traits, who have a dispositional tendency to manipulate and exploit others, are generally cold and invulnerable to negative feelings. The associations between the Dark Triad and momentary affect were discussed in the contexts of evolutionary and positive psychology, in relation to the role and adaptive value of positive and negative emotions experienced by individuals higher in Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy

PSR J1024-0719:A Millisecond Pulsar in an Unusual Long-Period Orbit

PSR J1024-0719 is a millisecond pulsar that was long thought to be isolated. However, puzzling results concerning its velocity, distance, and low rotational period derivative have led to a reexamination of its properties. We present updated radio timing observations along with new and archival optical data which show that PSR J1024-0719 is most likely in a long-period (2-20 kyr) binary system with a low-mass (approximate to 0.4 M-circle dot), low-metallicity (Z approximate to -0.9 dex) main-sequence star. Such a system can explain most of the anomalous properties of this pulsar. We suggest that this system formed through a dynamical exchange in a globular cluster that ejected it into a halo orbit, which is consistent with the low observed metallicity for the stellar companion. Further astrometric and radio timing observations such as measurement of the third period derivative could strongly constrain the range of orbital parameters

Multiple novel prostate cancer susceptibility signals identified by fine-mapping of known risk loci among Europeans

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous common prostate cancer (PrCa) susceptibility loci. We have fine-mapped 64 GWAS regions known at the conclusion of the iCOGS study using large-scale genotyping and imputation in 25 723 PrCa cases and 26 274 controls of European ancestry. We detected evidence for multiple independent signals at 16 regions, 12 of which contained additional newly identified significant associations. A single signal comprising a spectrum of correlated variation was observed at 39 regions; 35 of which are now described by a novel more significantly associated lead SNP, while the originally reported variant remained as the lead SNP only in 4 regions. We also confirmed two association signals in Europeans that had been previously reported only in East-Asian GWAS. Based on statistical evidence and linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure, we have curated and narrowed down the list of the most likely candidate causal variants for each region. Functional annotation using data from ENCODE filtered for PrCa cell lines and eQTL analysis demonstrated significant enrichment for overlap with bio-features within this set. By incorporating the novel risk variants identified here alongside the refined data for existing association signals, we estimate that these loci now explain ∼38.9% of the familial relative risk of PrCa, an 8.9% improvement over the previously reported GWAS tag SNPs. This suggests that a significant fraction of the heritability of PrCa may have been hidden during the discovery phase of GWAS, in particular due to the presence of multiple independent signals within the same regio

Contributions of mean and shape of blood pressure distribution to worldwide trends and variations in raised blood pressure: A pooled analysis of 1018 population-based measurement studies with 88.6 million participants

© The Author(s) 2018. Background: Change in the prevalence of raised blood pressure could be due to both shifts in the entire distribution of blood pressure (representing the combined effects of public health interventions and secular trends) and changes in its high-blood-pressure tail (representing successful clinical interventions to control blood pressure in the hypertensive population). Our aim was to quantify the contributions of these two phenomena to the worldwide trends in the prevalence of raised blood pressure. Methods: We pooled 1018 population-based studies with blood pressure measurements on 88.6 million participants from 1985 to 2016. We first calculated mean systolic blood pressure (SBP), mean diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and prevalence of raised blood pressure by sex and 10-year age group from 20-29 years to 70-79 years in each study, taking into account complex survey design and survey sample weights, where relevant. We used a linear mixed effect model to quantify the association between (probittransformed) prevalence of raised blood pressure and age-group- and sex-specific mean blood pressure. We calculated the contributions of change in mean SBP and DBP, and of change in the prevalence-mean association, to the change in prevalence of raised blood pressure. Results: In 2005-16, at the same level of population mean SBP and DBP, men and women in South Asia and in Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa would have the highest prevalence of raised blood pressure, and men and women in the highincome Asia Pacific and high-income Western regions would have the lowest. In most region-sex-age groups where the prevalence of raised blood pressure declined, one half or more of the decline was due to the decline in mean blood pressure. Where prevalence of raised blood pressure has increased, the change was entirely driven by increasing mean blood pressure, offset partly by the change in the prevalence-mean association. Conclusions: Change in mean blood pressure is the main driver of the worldwide change in the prevalence of raised blood pressure, but change in the high-blood-pressure tail of the distribution has also contributed to the change in prevalence, especially in older age groups

Geoeconomic variations in epidemiology, ventilation management, and outcomes in invasively ventilated intensive care unit patients without acute respiratory distress syndrome: a pooled analysis of four observational studies

Background: Geoeconomic variations in epidemiology, the practice of ventilation, and outcome in invasively ventilated intensive care unit (ICU) patients without acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remain unexplored. In this analysis we aim to address these gaps using individual patient data of four large observational studies. Methods: In this pooled analysis we harmonised individual patient data from the ERICC, LUNG SAFE, PRoVENT, and PRoVENT-iMiC prospective observational studies, which were conducted from June, 2011, to December, 2018, in 534 ICUs in 54 countries. We used the 2016 World Bank classification to define two geoeconomic regions: middle-income countries (MICs) and high-income countries (HICs). ARDS was defined according to the Berlin criteria. Descriptive statistics were used to compare patients in MICs versus HICs. The primary outcome was the use of low tidal volume ventilation (LTVV) for the first 3 days of mechanical ventilation. Secondary outcomes were key ventilation parameters (tidal volume size, positive end-expiratory pressure, fraction of inspired oxygen, peak pressure, plateau pressure, driving pressure, and respiratory rate), patient characteristics, the risk for and actual development of acute respiratory distress syndrome after the first day of ventilation, duration of ventilation, ICU length of stay, and ICU mortality. Findings: Of the 7608 patients included in the original studies, this analysis included 3852 patients without ARDS, of whom 2345 were from MICs and 1507 were from HICs. Patients in MICs were younger, shorter and with a slightly lower body-mass index, more often had diabetes and active cancer, but less often chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart failure than patients from HICs. Sequential organ failure assessment scores were similar in MICs and HICs. Use of LTVV in MICs and HICs was comparable (42\ub74% vs 44\ub72%; absolute difference \u20131\ub769 [\u20139\ub758 to 6\ub711] p=0\ub767; data available in 3174 [82%] of 3852 patients). The median applied positive end expiratory pressure was lower in MICs than in HICs (5 [IQR 5\u20138] vs 6 [5\u20138] cm H2O; p=0\ub70011). ICU mortality was higher in MICs than in HICs (30\ub75% vs 19\ub79%; p=0\ub70004; adjusted effect 16\ub741% [95% CI 9\ub752\u201323\ub752]; p<0\ub70001) and was inversely associated with gross domestic product (adjusted odds ratio for a US$10 000 increase per capita 0\ub780 [95% CI 0\ub775\u20130\ub786]; p<0\ub70001). Interpretation: Despite similar disease severity and ventilation management, ICU mortality in patients without ARDS is higher in MICs than in HICs, with a strong association with country-level economic status. Funding: No funding

The Influence of Manga on the Graphic Novel

This material has been published in The Cambridge History of the Graphic Novel edited by Jan Baetens, Hugo Frey, Stephen E. Tabachnick. This version is free to view and download for personal use only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works. © Cambridge University PressProviding a range of cogent examples, this chapter describes the influences of the Manga genre of comics strip on the Graphic Novel genre, over the last 35 years, considering the functions of domestication, foreignisation and transmedia on readers, markets and forms