Transport of paramagnetic liquids under nonuniform high magnetic field

From recent investigations, the magnetic force generated by a heterogeneous high magnetic field has been highlighted, in particular by levitating systems. This paper is devoted to describing a new method for the analysis of the magnetic properties of liquids by using the magnetic force. This technique has consisted of observing and measuring the transport of a paramagnetic or diamagnetic liquid under the gradient of high magnetic fields. The theoretical approach of this phenomenon has been developed taking into account the fluid motion expanding in an axially symmetrical magnetic field. From this investigation, a typical experiment has been carried out by injecting a small amount of paramagnetic copper sulfate solution in a cell settled inside the bore of a superconducting magnet. Consequently, the accordance between the experimental results and the theoretical expectations has led to the determination of the magnetic susceptibility of the solution in a short time.     

Correction of inner filter effect in mirror coating cells for trace level fluorescence measurements

The sensitivity of the spectrofluorometric technique can be improved by a factor of about 3.6 using a mirror coating cell. In the case of a large working range, the nonlinear relationship due to the absorbance of solutions between concentration of the analyte of interest and fluorescence intensity (called inner filter effect) must be corrected. This paper suggests a universal inner filter correction equation based on the physical absorbance phenomenon of a mirror coating cell that only depends on the solution absorbance spectra and the cell parameters. These parameters are determined with rhodamine b standard solutions and a simplex method-based mathematical fitting. The methodology has been successfully applied to the correction of classical and synchronous spectra in absorbent media. The partial least squares (PLS) quantification of a mixture of trace levels (approximately 1-10 microg L(-1)) of six polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by synchronous fluorescence is possible, even in an absorbent matrix. This simple method allows extension of the analytical field of fluorescence quantification to a large working range in absorbent solutions.     

Novel TTLL5 Variants Associated with Cone-Rod Dystrophy and Early-Onset Severe Retinal Dystrophy

Variants of the TTLL5 gene, which encodes tubulin tyrosine ligase-like family member five, are a rare cause of cone dystrophy (COD) or cone-rod dystrophy (CORD). To date, only a few TTLL5 patients have been clinically and genetically described. In this study, we report five patients harbouring biallelic variants of TTLL5. Four adult patients presented either COD or CORD with onset in the late teenage years. The youngest patient had a phenotype of early onset severe retinal dystrophy (EOSRD). Genetic analysis was performed by targeted next generation sequencing of gene panels and assessment of copy number variants (CNV). We identified eight variants, of which six were novel, including two large multiexon deletions in patients with COD or CORD, while the EOSRD patient harboured the novel homozygous p.(Trp640*) variant and three distinct USH2A variants, which might explain the observed rod involvement. Our study highlights the role of TTLL5 in COD/CORD and the importance of large deletions. These findings suggest that COD or CORD patients lacking variants in known genes may harbour CNVs to be discovered in TTLL5, previously undetected by classical sequencing methods. In addition, variable phenotypes in TTLL5-associated patients might be due to the presence of additional gene defects.     

Retrovirally transduced bone marrow-derived dendritic cells require CD4+ T cell help to elicit protective and therapeutic antitumor immunity

It has been extensively documented that murine dendritic cells loaded with tumor-associated Ag (TAA)-derived peptides or protein can prime Ag-specific CD8+ cytotoxic T cells in vivo and can elicit Ag-specific immunity. Optimal presentation of TAA might be achieved by retroviral transduction of DCs allowing long term and stable expression of the TAA-peptides as well as the presentation of multiple epitopes in the context of MHC class I and/or class II molecules. Here we show that retroviral transduction of bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (DCs) with chicken OVA cDNA or the reporter gene green fluorescent protein retained their potent stimulatory capacity and that the transduced DCs could process and present the endogenously expressed OVA protein. The DCs transduced with cDNA encoding native OVA protein presented OVA-derived peptides in the context of MHC class I as well as MHC class II and induced a strong Ag-specific CTL response. DCs expressing a cytosolic form of OVA presented OVA peptides only in the context of MHC class I and failed to induce an OVA-specific CTL response in vivo when they had been cultured in the absence of exogenous protein. Immunization with retrovirally transduced DCs resulted in an Ag-specific immunity and rejection of a tumor cell challenge and a significant survival advantage in tumor-bearing mice. These results obtained in this rapidly lethal tumor model suggest that DCs transduced with TAA may be useful for tumor immunotherapy and underscore the importance of the simultaneous delivery of T cell help in the development of Ag-specific cytotoxic T-cells.     

On the prediction of the reactor vessel integrity under severe accident loadings (RPVSA)

In order to allow more reliable predictions on the lower head response under core melt-down conditions, the temperature distribution has been analysed including the natural convection in the corium pool. Furthermore, the mechanical models and the failure criteria have been improved based on the RUPTHER and FASTHER experiments where typical temperature gradients are simulated. Lower head local melting as well as corium crust development has been addressed in the CORVIS experiments studying the contact between an alumina/iron thermite and a thick steel plate. The upper head loading by corium impact due to a postulated in-vessel steam explosion has been investigated by the BERDA experiments. Similarity rules were considered such that the results can be directly converted to reactor conditions. Based on these investigations admissible steam explosion energy releases are determined which the upper head can carry. If these limits are not exceeded the reactor containment cannot be endangered by broken head fragments. To provide the necessary basic data, mechanical material tests have been performed.     

Minimising heat dissipation in ultrasonic piezomotors by working in a resonant mode

Heat dissipation in ultrasonic motors should be limited, especially in precision applications since it causes thermal deformations. Therefore, an easy-to-understand mechanical model was developed to simulate heat dissipation in an ultrasonic motor. This model involves the dielectric, piezoelectric and mechanical hysteretic losses of the piezoelectric material. Both the model and the experiments lead to the same recommendations to minimise the heat dissipation for ultrasonic motors. Large piezoactuators, exciting passive structures at high resonance frequencies result in a minimum heat dissipation. Furthermore, it was shown that the optimal frequency regarding minimal heat dissipation lies between the resonance and the antiresonance frequency of the system, close to the resonance frequency.     

A noninvasive system-level model order reduction scheme for flexible multibody simulation

This paper presents a novel system-level model order reduction scheme for flexible multibody simulation, namely the system-level affine projection (SLAP). Contrary to existing system-level model order reduction approaches for multibody systems simulation, this methodology allows to obtain a constant reduced order basis which can be obtained in a noninvasive fashion with respect to the original flexible multibody model. It is shown that this scheme enables an automatic joint constraint elimination which can be obtained at low computational cost through exploitation of the component level modes typically employed in flexible multibody simulation. The equations of motion are derived such that the computational cost of the resulting SLAP model is independent of the original model size. This approach results in a set of ordinary differential equations with a constant mass matrix and nonlinear internal forces. This structure makes the resulting model suitable for a range of estimation, control, and design applications. The proposed approach is validated numerically on a flexible four-bar mechanism and shows good accuracy for a very low-order SLAP model.     

Intergroup emotions: Explaining offensive action tendencies in an intergroup context.

Three studies tested the idea that when social identity is salient, group-based appraisals elicit specific emotions and action tendencies toward out-groups. Participants' group memberships were made salient and the collective support apparently enjoyed by the in-group was measured or manipulated. The authors then measured anger and fear (Studies 1 and 2) and anger and contempt (Study 3), as well as the desire to move against or away from the out-group. Intergroup anger was distinct from intergroup fear, and the inclination to act against the out-group was distinct from the tendency to move away from it. Participants who perceived the in-group as strong were more likely to experience anger toward the out-group and to desire to take action against it. The effects of perceived in-group strength on offensive action tendencies were mediated by anger. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

American = White?

Six studies investigated the extent to which American ethnic groups (African, Asian, and White) are associated with the category "American." Although strong explicit commitments to egalitarian principles were expressed in Study 1, Studies 2-6 consistently revealed that both African and Asian Americans as groups are less associated with the national category "American" than are White Americans. Under some circumstances, a dissociation between mean levels of explicit beliefs and implicit responses emerged such that an ethnic minority was explicitly regarded to be more American than were White Americans, but implicit measures showed the reverse pattern (Studies 3 and 4). In addition, Asian American participants themselves showed the American = White effect, although African Americans did not (Study 5). The American = White association was positively correlated with the strength of national identity in White Americans. Together, these studies provide evidence that to be American is implicitly synonymous with being White. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)