Measurements of the relative permittivity of liquid water at frequencies in the range of 0.1 to 10 kHz and at temperatures between 273.1 and 373.2 K at ambient pressure

The static relative permittivity (dielectric constant) of water has been determined from capacitance measurements at frequencies between 0.1 and 10 kHz, in the temperature range from 273.2 to 373.2 K at ambient pressure. The capacitor used for these measurements was formed from sapphire-insulated concentric cylinders. The specific conductance of the water used was maintained within 20% of the lowest value ever observed, which is better than in all previous experiments in this range. The new data shed some light on a discrepancy between sets of literature data in liquid water between the triple and boiling points.     

Quantifying the error in estimated transfer functions withapplication to model order selection

Previous results on estimating errors or error bounds on identified transfer functions have relied on prior assumptions about the noise and the unmodeled dynamics. This prior information took the form of parameterized bounding functions or parameterized probability density functions, in the time or frequency domain with known parameters. It is shown that the parameters that quantify this prior information can themselves be estimated from the data using a maximum likelihood technique. This significantly reduces the prior information required to estimate transfer function error bounds. The authors illustrate the usefulness of the method with a number of simulation examples. How the obtained error bounds can be used for intelligent model-order selection that takes into account both measurement noise and under-modeling is shown. Another simulation study compares the method to Akaike's well-known FPE and AIC criteria     

Modelling the Material Flow and Web Tension in the Vertical Form–Fill–Seal Packaging Process

Vertical form–fill–seal (VFFS) machines are widely used to form bags for packaging products such as confectionary and snack food. One critical component of the machine is the forming shoulder, which needs to manipulate, without damage, the packaging material from a flat state into a tube. Some models of the geometry of the shoulder are available and have been used to help with its design and manufacture. However, there currently exists no theoretical basis for determining the geometry of the forming shoulder needed to process particular packaging materials. This paper investigates the application of Euler's theory for material flow around cylinders to the case of forming shoulders used in vertical form–fill–seal systems. It is shown that the theory is indeed applicable, and an inequality relation between the measured coefficient of friction of the material and the forming shoulder parameters is established. It is further shown how this can be used to direct the design of a forming shoulder for a particular application. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quinolizidines as Novel SARS-CoV-2 Entry Inhibitors

COVID-19, caused by the highly transmissible severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), has rapidly spread and become a pandemic since its outbreak in 2019. We have previously discovered that aloperine is a new privileged scaffold that can be modified to become a specific antiviral compound with markedly improved potency against different viruses, such as the influenza virus. In this study, we have identified a collection of aloperine derivatives that can inhibit the entry of SARS-CoV-2 into host cells. Compound 5 is the most potent tested aloperine derivative that inhibited the entry of SARS-CoV-2 (D614G variant) spike protein-pseudotyped virus with an IC₅₀ of 0.5 µM. The compound was also active against several other SARS-CoV-2 variants including Delta and Omicron. Results of a confocal microscopy study suggest that compound 5 inhibited the viral entry before fusion to the cell or endosomal membrane. The results are consistent with the notion that aloperine is a privileged scaffold that can be used to develop potent anti-SARS-CoV-2 entry inhibitors.     

A fold-back single-chain diabody format enhances the bioactivity of an anti-monkey CD3 recombinant diphtheria toxin-based immunotoxin

T-cell depleting anti-CD3 immunotoxins have utility in non-human primate models of transplantation tolerance and autoimmune disease therapy. We recently reported that an affinity matured single-chain (scFv) anti-monkey CD3 antibody, C207, had increased binding to T-cells and increased bioactivity in a diphtheria toxin (DT)-based biscFv immunotoxin compared with the parental antibody, FN18. However, FN18 scFvs and their mutant derivatives such as C207 did not exhibit robust bivalent character in the biscFv format. We now report that C207 in a diabody format exhibits a 7-fold increase in binding to T-cells over scFv (C207) indicating considerable divalent character for the diabody. This construct was formed by reducing the V(L)/V(H) linker to five residues and was secreted from Pichia pastoris as the non-covalent dimer. An immunotoxin based on this diabody format was secreted as a non-covalent dimer but was devoid of bioactivity and failed to bind T-cells, suggesting steric hindrance from the two large closely positioned truncated DT moieties. We constructed a single-chain diabody immunotoxin by fusing to the truncated DT C-terminus L1-VL-L1-VH-L2-VL-L1-VH where L1 is a five-residue linker and L2 is the longer (G4S)3 linker permitting interactions between the distal and proximal VL/VH domains. This 'fold-back' immunotoxin was secreted predominantly as the monomer and exhibited a 5- to 7-fold increase in bioactivity over DT390biscFv(C207) and depleted monkey T-cells in vivo.     

The 6-49 Lottery Paradox

The paradox of the preface and the lottery paradox are paradoxes of practical certainty sharing certain features. The paradox of the lottery argues that rational agents are at once practically certain that each ticket in a lottery will lose but also practically certain some ticket will win. The paradox of the preface argues that rational agents are at once practically certain that all facts in a written volume are true, yet are also practically certain that some fact is wrong. A difference between real lotteries and prefaces is that a winning lottery ticket is generally an intended feature of the lottery, whereas incorrect facts are generally unintended.
Despite these similarities, Pollock gives a novel argument suggesting that the preface paradox warrants qualitatively different treatment from the lottery, using as a rationale the differences between real lotteries and prefaces. This draws a clear line between the work of Pollock and the work of Kyburg, both of whom have had a prominent influence in recent thinking on nonmonotonic reasoning in AI.
This note shows there are real lotteries with the formal structure of the preface paradox and possibly prefaces with the formal structure of lotteries. The surprising conclusion is that within Pollock's framework, the treatment of any problem with a formal structure resembling the lottery (or the preface) depends on the process by which winning tickets (or publishing errors) are generated. The rationales given by Pollock seem to be unrelated to the actual mechanisms implemented.