The Kraichnan-Kazantsev dynamo

The problem of the dynamo effect for a Kraichnan incompressible helicity-free velocity field is considered. Exploiting a quantum formalism first introduced by Kazantsev (A.P. Kazantsev, Sov. Phys. JETP 26, 1031-1034 (1968)), we show that a critical magnetic Reynolds number exists for the presence of dynamo. The value of the Prandtl number influences the spatial distribution of the magnetic field and its growth in time. The magnetic field correlation length is always the largest between the diffusive scale and the viscous scale of the flow. In the same way the field growth is characterized by a time scale that corresponds to the largest between the diffusive and the viscous characteristic time.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure

Nonlinear elastic polymers in random flow

Polymer stretching in random smooth flows is investigated within the framework of the FENE dumbbell model. The advecting flow is Gaussian and short-correlated in time. The stationary probability density function of polymer extension is derived exactly. The characteristic time needed for the system to attain the stationary regime is computed as a function of the Weissenberg number and the maximum length of polymers. The transient relaxation to the stationary regime is predicted to be exceptionally slow in the proximity of the coil-stretch transition.Comment: 10 pages, to be published in J. Fluid Mec

Shear effects on passive scalar spectra

The effects of a large-scale shear on the energy spectrum of a passively advected scalar field are investigated. The shear is superimposed on a turbulent isotropic flow, yielding an Obukhov-Corrsin $k^{-5/3}$ scalar spectrum at small scales. Shear effects appear at large scales, where a different, anisotropic behavior is observed. The scalar spectrum is shown to behave as $k^{-4/3}$ for a shear fixed in intensity and direction. For other types of shear characteristics, the slope is generally intermediate between the -5/3 Obukhov-Corrsin's and the -1 Batchelor's values. The physical mechanisms at the origin of this behaviour are illustrated in terms of the motion of Lagrangian particles. They provide an explanation to the scalar spectra shallow and dependent on the experimental conditions observed in shear flows at moderate Reynolds numbers.Comment: 10 LaTeX pages,3 eps Figure

Interference fit effect on holed single plates loaded with tension-tension stresses

This paper deals with the influence of interference fit coupling on the fatigue strength of holed plates. The effect was investigated both experimentally and numerically. Axial fatigue tests have been carried out on holed specimens made of high performance steel (1075MPa of Ultimate strength and 990MPa of Yield strength) with or without a pin, made of the same material, press fitted into their central hole. Three different conditions have been investigated: free hole specimens, specimens with 0.6% of nominal specific interference and specimens with 2% of nominal specific interference. The experimental stress-life (S–N) curves pointed out an increased fatigue life of the interference fit specimens compared with the free hole ones. The numericalinvestigation was performed in order to analyse the stress fields by applying an elastic plastic 2D simulation witha commercial Finite Element software. The stress history and distribution along the contact interference of the fitted samples indicates a significant reduction of the local stress range due to the externally applied loading (remote stress) since a residual and compressive stress field is generated by the pin insertion

Can the plasma PD-1 levels predict the presence and efficiency of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in patients with metastatic melanoma?

Background: The immune response in melanoma patients is locally affected by presence of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), generally divided into brisk, nonbrisk, and absent. Several studies have shown that a greater presence of TILs, especially brisk, in primary melanoma is associated with a better prognosis and higher survival rate. Patients and Methods: We investigated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) the correlation between PD-1 levels in plasma and the presence/absence of TILs in 28 patients with metastatic melanoma. Results: Low plasma PD-1 levels were correlated with brisk TILs in primary melanoma, whereas intermediate values correlated with the nonbrisk TILs, and high PD-1 levels with absent TILs. Although the low number of samples did not allow us to obtain a statistically significant correlation between the plasma PD-1 levels and the patients' overall survival depending on the absence/presence of TILs, the median survival of patients having brisk type TILs was 5 months higher than that of patients with absent and nonbrisk TILs. Conclusions: This work highlights the ability of measuring the plasma PD-1 levels in order to predict the prognosis of patients with untreated metastatic melanoma without a BRAF mutation at the time of diagnosis

A model for alignment between microscopic rods and vorticity

Numerical simulations show that microscopic rod-like bodies suspended in a turbulent flow tend to align with the vorticity vector, rather than with the dominant eignevector of the strain-rate tensor. This paper investigates an analytically solvable limit of a model for alignment in a random velocity field with isotropic statistics. The vorticity varies very slowly and the isotropic random flow is equivalent to a pure strain with statistics which are axisymmetric about the direction of the vorticity. We analyse the alignment in a weakly fluctuating uniaxial strain field, as a function of the product of the strain relaxation time $\tau_{\rm s}$ and the angular velocity $\omega$ about the vorticity axis. We find that when $\omega\tau_{\rm s}\gg 1$, the rods are predominantly either perpendicular or parallel to the vorticity

Laboratory implementation of edge illumination X-ray phase-contrast imaging with energy-resolved detectors

Edge illumination (EI) X-ray phase-contrast imaging (XPCI) has potential for applications in different fields of research, including materials science, non-destructive industrial testing, small-animal imaging, and medical imaging. One of its main advantages is the compatibility with laboratory equipment, in particular with conventional non-microfocal sources, which makes its exploitation in normal research laboratories possible. In this work, we demonstrate that the signal in laboratory implementations of EI can be correctly described with the use of the simplified geometrical optics. Besides enabling the derivation of simple expressions for the sensitivity and spatial resolution of a given EI setup, this model also highlights the EI’s achromaticity. With the aim of improving image quality, as well as to take advantage of the fact that all energies in the spectrum contribute to the image contrast, we carried out EI acquisitions using a photon-counting energy-resolved detector. The obtained results demonstrate that this approach has great potential for future laboratory implementations of EI. © (2015) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only

Crystal experiments on efficient beam extraction

Silicon crystal was channeling and extracting 70-GeV protons from the U-70 accelerator with efficiency of 85.3+-2.8% as measured for a beam of 10^12 protons directed towards crystals of 2 mm length in spills of 1-2 s duration. The experimental data follow very well the prediction of Monte Carlo simulations. This success is important to devise a more efficient use of the U-70 accelerator in Protvino and provides a crucial support for implementation of crystal-assisted collimation of gold ion beam in RHIC and slow extraction from AGS onto E952, now in preparation at Brookhaven Nat'l Lab. Future applications, spanning in the energy from sub-GeV (medical) to order of 1 GeV (scraping in the SNS, extraction from COSY) to order of 1 TeV and beyond (scraping in the Tevatron, LHC, VLHC), can benefit from these studies.Comment: 12pp. Presented at 19-th Intern. Conference on Atomic Collisions in Solids (ICACS-19: Paris, July 29 - August 3, 2001

Progress in crystal extraction and collimation

Recent IHEP Protvino experiments show efficiencies of crystal-assisted slow extraction and collimation of 85.3+-2.8%, at the intensities of the channeled beam on the order of 10^12 proton per spill of 2 s duration. The obtained experimental data well follows the theory predictions. We compare the measurements against theory and outline the theoretical potential for further improvement in the efficiency of the technique. This success is important for the efficient use of IHEP accelerator and for implementation of crystal-assisted collimation at RHIC and slow extraction from AGS onto E952, now in preparation. Future applications, spanning in the energy from order of 1 GeV (scraping in SNS, slow extraction from COSY and medical accelerators) to order of 1 TeV and beyond (scraping in Tevatron, LHC, VLHC), can benefit from these studies.Comment: 7pp. Presented at HEACC 2001 (Tsukuba, March 25-30