High capacity demonstration of honeycomb panel heat pipes

The feasibility of performance enhancing the sandwich panel heat pipe was investigated for moderate temperature range heat rejection radiators on future-high-power spacecraft. The hardware development program consisted of performance prediction modeling, fabrication, ground test, and data correlation. Using available sandwich panel materials, a series of subscale test panels were augumented with high-capacity sideflow and temperature control variable conductance features, and test evaluated for correlation with performance prediction codes. Using the correlated prediction model, a 50-kW full size radiator was defined using methanol working fluid and closely spaced sideflows. A new concept called the hybrid radiator individually optimizes heat pipe components. A 2.44-m long hybrid test vehicle demonstrated proof-of-principle performance

Gender Equality and Customary Marriage: Bargaining in the Shadow of Post-Apartheid Legal Pluralism

This Report represents the culmination of a year-long project undertaken by the Crowley Program in International Human Rights at the Fordham Law School to study issues surrounding women and customary law marriages in South Africa in light of its international legal commitments. This Report presents the findings of this research effort. Following this introduction, Part I of this Report describes South Africa\u27s international and domestic legal obligations regarding culture and gender equality, particularly with respect to marriage, divorce, and family formation. Part I then sketches two distinct approaches to the tension between customary law and gender equality, both of which may be found in the domestic law regulating the family. Part II evaluates the effectiveness of the two approaches with reference to data collected in the course of several hundred interviews with South African men and women in May and June 2006. Part II also offers tentative conclusions and suggestions for reform

Influence of clamp-widening on the quality factor of nanomechanical silicon nitride resonators

Nanomechanical resonators based on strained silicon nitride (Si$_3$N$_4$) have received a large amount of attention in fields such as sensing and quantum optomechanics due to their exceptionally high quality factors ($Q$s). Room-temperature $Q$s approaching 1 billion are now in reach by means of phononic crystals (soft-clamping) and strain engineering. Despite great progress in enhancing $Q$s, difficulties in fabrication of soft-clamped samples limits their implementation into actual devices. An alternative means of achieving ultra-high $Q$s was shown using trampoline resonators with engineered clamps, which serves to localize the stress to the center of the resonator, while minimizing stress at the clamping. The effectiveness of this approach has since come into question from recent studies employing string resonators with clamp-tapering. Here, we investigate this idea using nanomechanical string resonators with engineered clampings similar to those presented for trampolines. Importantly, the effect of orienting the strings diagonally or perpendicularly with respect to the silicon frame is investigated. It is found that increasing the clamp width for diagonal strings slightly increases the $Q$s of the fundamental out-of-plane mode at small radii, while perpendicular strings only deteriorate with increasing clamp width. Measured $Q$s agree well with finite element method simulations even for higher-order resonances. The small increase cannot account for previously reported $Q$s of trampoline resonators. Instead, we propose the effect to be intrinsic and related to surface and radiation losses.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Numerical modeling in electro- and magnetoencephalography

This Thesis concerns the application of two numerical methods, Boundary Element Method (BEM) and Finite Element Method (FEM) to forward problem solution of bioelectromagnetic source localization in the brain. The aim is to improve the accuracy of the forward problem solution in estimating the electrical activity of the human brain from electric and magnetic field measurements outside the head. Electro- and magnetoencephalography (EEG, MEG) are the most important tools enabling us to gather knowledge about the human brain non-invasively. This task is alternatively named brain mapping. An important step in brain mapping is determining from where the brain signals originate. Using appropriate mathematical models, a localization of the sources of measured signals can be performed. A general motivation of this work was the fact that source localization accuracy can be improved by solving the forward problem with higher accuracy. In BEM studies, accurate representation of model geometry using higher order elements improves the solution of the forward problem. In FEM, complex conductivity information can be incorporated into numerical model. Using Whitney-type finite elements instead of using singular sources such as point dipoles, primary and volume currents are represented as continuous sources. With comparison to analytical solutions available in simple geometries such as sphere, the studied numerical methods show improvements in the forward problem solution of bioelectromagnetic source imaging.reviewe

The p53 binding protein PDCD5 is not rate-limiting in DNA damage induced cell death

The tumour suppressor p53 is an important mediator of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in response to DNA damage, acting mainly by transcriptional regulation of specific target genes. The exact details how p53 modulates this decision on a molecular basis is still incompletely understood. One mechanism of regulation is acetylation of p53 on lysine K120 by the histone-acetyltransferase Tip60, resulting in preferential transcription of proapoptotic target genes. PDCD5, a protein with reported pro-apoptotic function, has recently been identified as regulator of Tip60-dependent p53-acetylation. In an effort to clarify the role of PDCD5 upon DNA damage, we generated cell lines in which PDCD5 expression was conditionally ablated by shRNAs and investigated their response to genotoxic stress. Surprisingly, we failed to note a rate-limiting role of PDCD5 in the DNA damage response. PDCD5 was dispensable for DNA damage induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest and we observed no significant changes in p53 target gene transcription. While we were able to confirm interaction of PDCD5 with p53, we failed to do so for Tip60. Altogether, our results suggest a role of PDCD5 in the regulation of p53 function but unrelated to cell cycle arrest or apoptosis, at least in the cell types investigated.FP06 RTN ‘ApopTrain’Tyrolean Science FundKrebshilfe-Tyro

Lower risk of hypoglycaemia and greater odds for weight loss with initiation of insulin detemir compared with insulin glargine in Turkish patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: local results of a multinational observational study

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of insulin initiation with once-daily insulin detemir (IDet) or insulin glargine (IGlar) in real-life clinical practice in Turkish patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: This was a 24-week multinational observational study of insulin initiation in patients with T2DM. RESULTS: The Turkish cohort (n = 2886) included 2395 patients treated with IDet and 491 with IGlar. The change in glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA(1c)) from the pre-insulin levels was -2.21% [95% confidence interval (CI) -2.32, -2.09] in the IDet group and -1.88% [95% CI -2.17, -1.59] in the IGlar group at the final visit. The incidence rate of minor hypoglycaemia increased in both groups from the pre-insulin to the final visit (+0.66 and +2.23 events per patient year in the IDet and IGlar groups, respectively). Weight change in the IDet group was -0.23 kg [95% CI -0.49, 0.02 kg], and +1.55 kg [95% CI 1.11, 2.00 kg] in the IGlar group. Regression analysis with adjustment for previously identified confounders (age, gender, duration of diabetes, body mass index, previous history of hypoglycaemia, microvascular disease, number and change in oral anti-diabetic drug therapy, HbA(1c) at baseline and insulin dose) identified an independent effect of insulin type (IDet versus IGlar) with a risk of at least one episode of hypoglycaemia (odds ratio (OR): 0.33 [95% CI 0.21, 0.52], p <0.0001), and weight loss ≥1 kg (OR: 1.75 [95% CI 1.18, 2.59], p = 0.005), but not on HbA(1c) (+0.05% [95% CI -0.15, 0.25%], p = 0.6). CONCLUSIONS: Initiation of basal insulin analogues, IDet and IGlar, were associated with clinically significant glycaemic improvements. A lower risk of minor hypoglycaemia and greater odds of weight loss ≥1 kg was observed with IDet compared with IGlar. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT00825643 and NCT0074051

The Fire and Smoke Model Evaluation Experiment—A Plan for Integrated, Large Fire–Atmosphere Field Campaigns

The Fire and Smoke Model Evaluation Experiment (FASMEE) is designed to collect integrated observations from large wildland fires and provide evaluation datasets for new models and operational systems. Wildland fire, smoke dispersion, and atmospheric chemistry models have become more sophisticated, and next-generation operational models will require evaluation datasets that are coordinated and comprehensive for their evaluation and advancement. Integrated measurements are required, including ground-based observations of fuels and fire behavior, estimates of fire-emitted heat and emissions fluxes, and observations of near-source micrometeorology, plume properties, smoke dispersion, and atmospheric chemistry. To address these requirements the FASMEE campaign design includes a study plan to guide the suite of required measurements in forested sites representative of many prescribed burning programs in the southeastern United States and increasingly common high-intensity fires in the western United States. Here we provide an overview of the proposed experiment and recommendations for key measurements. The FASMEE study provides a template for additional large-scale experimental campaigns to advance fire science and operational fire and smoke models