Ferromagnetic superconductors: Effect of disorder on the coexistence phase in ErRh4B4 and pseudoternary systems

The asperomagnetic ordering model with a randomly oriented easy axis in the basal plane provides a natural explanation of the unusual magnetic properties of ErRh₄B₄, including the different results of Mössbauer and neutron diffraction measurements of the magnetic moment in the normal low temperature magnetic phase (FN phase) as well as anomalies in the magnetic ordering at the transition from the nonmagnetic superconducting phase (S phase) to the FN phase. Here the small intensities of satellites and the simultaneous appearance of ferromagnetic peaks and satellites are explained in terms of the destruction of inhomogeneous magnetic structure in the coexistence phase due to disorder in the main part of the sample. The effect of disorder on the coexistence state in pseudoternary compounds is also considered.     

Staying on your feet: the effectiveness of posture and handles in counteracting balance perturbation

Stairways, public transport and inclined walkways are often considered as sites with higher likelihood of falls due to a sudden loss of balance. Such sites are usually marked with warning signs, equipped with non-slip surfaces and handles or handrails to avert or decrease this likelihood. Especially, handles are supposed to provide additional support in cases of a sudden loss of balance. However, the mechanisms of using handles for balance at different heights are not yet fully disclosed. We simulated full body perturbations by applying an anterior force to the waist and investigated effectiveness and mechanisms of balance recovery in five different postures: step stance and normal stance with or without holding handles at different heights. Results indicate that both step stance and holding handles at different vertical positions sufficiently assist balance recovery, compared to normal stance. While there was no significant effect of handle in CoM displacement, the shoulder height handle required the lowest handle force, indicating a difference in using the handle.

Practitioner summary: To investigate handle use for balance recovery, we perturbed healthy young adults in different standing positions. Even though the use of different handles had a similar effect, the lowest forces were exerted on the shoulder height handle indicating a preferred handle position for balance recovery.

Abbreviation: AP: antero-posterior; CNS: Central nervous system; CoM: Center of Mass; CoMmax: Maximal displacement of the center of mass; CoP: Center of pressure; FHmax: Maximal resultant force exerted on the handle; hFHmax: Maximal horizontal force exerted on the handle; vFHmax; Maximal vertical force exerted on the handle; M1-M8: Perturbation force magnitude     

Past‐Free[ze] reachability analysis: reaching further with DAG‐directed exhaustive state‐space analysis

Model‐checking enables the automated formal verification of software systems through the explicit enumeration of all the reachable states. While this technique has been successfully applied to industrial systems, it suffers from the state‐space explosion problem because of the exponential growth in the number of states with respect to the number of interacting components. In this paper, we present a new reachability analysis algorithm, named Past‐Free[ze], that reduces the state‐space explosion problem by freeing parts of the state‐space from memory. This algorithm relies on the explicit isolation of the acyclic parts of the system before analysis. The parallel composition of these parts drives the reachability analysis, the core of all model‐checkers. During the execution, the past states of the system are freed from memory making room for more future states. To enable counter‐example construction, the past states can be stored on external storage. To show the effectiveness of the approach, the algorithm was implemented in the OBP Observation Engine and was evaluated both on a synthetic benchmark and on realistic case studies from automotive and aerospace domains. The benchmark, composed of 50 test cases, shows that in average, 75% of the state‐space can be dropped from memory thus enabling the exploration of up to 14 times more states than traditional approaches. Moreover, in some cases, the reachability analysis time can be reduced by up to 25%. In realistic settings, the use of Past‐Free[ze] enabled the exploration of a state‐space 4.5 times larger on the automotive case study, where almost 50% of the states are freed from memory. Moreover, this approach offers the possibility of analyzing an arbitrary number of interactions between the environment and the system‐under‐verification; for instance, in the case of the aerospace example, 1000 pilot/system interactions could be analyzed unraveling an 80 GB state‐space using only 10 GB of memory. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts Regulate Kinase Activity in Mesothelioma Cell Lines via Paracrine Signaling and Thereby Dictate Cell Faith and Behavior

Background: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) has an infaust prognosis due to resistance to systemic treatment with platin-analoga. MPM cells modulate the immune response to their benefit. They release proinflammatory cytokines, such as TGF-ß, awakening resting fibrocytes that switch their phenotype into activated fibroblasts. Signaling interactions between cancer cells and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) play an integral part in tumor progression. This study aimed to investigate the role CAFs play in MPM progression, analyzing the impact this complex, symbiotic interaction has on kinase-related cell signaling in vitro. Methods: We simulated paracrine signaling in vitro by treating MPM cell lines with conditioned medium (CM) from fibroblasts (FB) and vice versa. NCI-H2052, MSTO-211H, and NCI-H2452 cell lines representing the three mayor MPM subtypes, while embryonal myofibroblast cell lines, IMR-90 and MRC-5, provide a CAFs-like phenotype. Subsequently, differences in proliferation rates, migratory behavior, apoptosis, necrosis, and viability were used as covariates for data analysis. Kinase activity of treated samples and corresponding controls were then analyzed using the PamStation12 platform (PamGene); Results: Treatment with myofibroblast-derived CM revealed significant changes in phosphorylation patterns in MPM cell lines. The observed effect differs strongly between the analyzed MPM cell lines and depends on the origin of CM. Overall, a much stronger effect was observed using CM derived from IMR-90 than MRC-5. The phosphorylation changes mainly affected the MAPK signaling pathway.; Conclusions: The factors secreted by myofibroblasts in fibroblasts CM significantly influence the phosphorylation of kinases, mainly affecting the MAPK signaling cascade in tested MPM cell lines. Our in vitro results indicate promising therapeutic effects by the use of MEK or ERK inhibitors and might have synergistic effects in combination with cisplatin-based treatment, improving clinical outcomes for MPM patients.     

Relevance for food sciences of quantitative spatially resolved element profile investigations in wheat (Triticum aestivum) grain

Bulk element concentrations of whole grain and element spatial distributions at the tissue level were investigated in wheat (Triticum aestivum) grain grown in Zn-enriched soil. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry were used for bulk analysis, whereas micro-proton-induced X-ray emission was used to resolve the two-dimensional localization of the elements. Soil Zn application did not significantly affect the grain yield, but did significantly increase the grain Ca, Fe and Zn concentrations, and decrease the grain Na, P and Mo concentrations; bulk Mg, S, K, Mn, Cu, Cd and Pb concentrations remained unchanged. These changes observed in bulk element concentrations are the reflection of tissue-specific variations within the grain, revealing that Zn application to soil can lead to considerable alterations in the element distributions within the grain, which might ultimately influence the quality of the milling fractions. Spatially resolved investigations into the partitioning of the element concentrations identified the tissues with the highest element concentrations, which is of utmost importance for accurate prediction of element losses during the grain milling and polishing processes.     

Lattice dynamics and Raman spectrum of rutile TiO2: The role of soft phonon modes in pressure induced phase transition

Using the plane-wave pseudopotential technique based on the first-principles density functional perturbation theory (DFPT), we have studied the vibrational properties and Raman susceptibility tensor at ambient and high pressure of rutile phase of TiO₂. Full phonon dispersion curves and phonon densities of states with projected phonon density of states and Raman tensors at high pressures are calculated and given. It is found that rutile TiO₂ shows a pressure induced phase transition, especially when lattice dynamical instabilities are involved, like the soft phonon modes, at a hydrostatic pressure lower than 10 GPa. An analyses of the vibrational displacements is given. The possibility to use Raman line intensities as an additional tool in the study of phase transitions is also discussed.     

Heat transfer rate predictions in condensation on droplets from air-steam mixtures

This paper describes simulations of the combined heat and mass transfer to single water droplets falling freely in air-steam mixtures. The effects of droplet size, initial velocity, and concentration of steam in the mixture are discussed. The results are to be used in the design synthesis of steam dousing chambers in which sprays containing droplets whose diameters range as high as 6 mm. are used.     

Using a LRF sensor in the Kalman-filtering-based localization of a mobile robot

This paper deals with the problem of estimating the output-noise covariance matrix that is involved in the localization of a mobile robot. The extended Kalman filter (EKF) is used to localize the mobile robot with a laser range finder (LRF) sensor in an environment described with line segments. The covariances of the observed environment lines, which compose the output-noise covariance matrix in the correction step of the EKF, are the result of the noise arising from a range-sensor’s (e.g., a LRF) distance and angle measurements. A method for estimating the covariances of the line parameters based on classic least squares (LSQ) is proposed. This method is compared with the method resulting from the orthogonal LSQ in terms of computational complexity. The results of a comparison show that the use of classic LSQ instead of orthogonal LSQ reduce the number of computations in a localization algorithm which is a part of a SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) algorithm. Statistical accuracy of both methods is also compared by simulating the LRF’s measurements and the comparison proves the efficiency of the proposed approach.     

北京奥林匹克森林公园桥梁设计

在北京奥林匹克森林公园中，为保证全园人流、车流的顺畅，并最大可能保证游客游览的高舒适度以及优秀景点的最佳观赏效果，在水岸间、溪流间等特殊交通节点，建设融八自然、提升园林景观的通行桥梁，是奥林匹克森林公园景观桥梁设计的宗旨。园区内的桥梁兼顾了功能性、观赏性和生态特性，发扬中国传统造桥工艺、技术、人文文化的优势，运用各种当代先进技术，将艺术与实用完美融合，为公园增加独特的景致。     

北京奥林匹克森林公园儿童乐园规划设计

奥林匹克森林公园设计方案命名为“通往自然的轴线”。孩童是人类的延续,从诞生开始接触自然,在对自然的种种感受、感应和领悟中开始自我体验与成长。奥林匹克森林公园儿童乐园规划设计基于儿童的特点和需求,依据“人与自然”不可分的原理,把时间、空间、场地相融合,突破功能和表面形式的层面,利用林中高低起伏的空间理念与儿童成长的时间理念融合交织,进行空间、环境、景观各个层面的设计,突出“自然乐园”这一主题