Search

The characteristics of parametric spin-wave pumping are investigated in three rectangular permalloy blocks with in-plane aspect ratios of 12, 6, and 4. Micro-Brillouin light scattering (BLS) spectroscopy is utilized to detect the intrinsic properties of excited spin waves under various excitation conditions of an external magnetic field and microwave power. Based on the theoretical dispersion relation and BLS intensity and its spatial profile, the parametric spin wave with a frequency of is found to be excited in fundamental mode in a block of largest aspect ratio while the other block have higher-order or edge-localized modes along the width direction. The data shows that the nature of spin waves is quite sensitive on the conditions of sample geometry, applied field and microwave power. Thus, with the appropriate combination of the three parameters, it would be possible to control the nature of spin wave in each block simultaneously, which increase the blocks' potential in magnonic applications, such as spin-logic and interferometer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background We investigated whether preoperative anemia and perioperative blood transfusion (PBT) are associated with overall survival and recurrence-free survival in patients with nonmetastatic colorectal cancer. Methods From 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2014, 1003 patients with primary colorectal cancer were enrolled in the study. Perioperative clinical and oncologic outcomes were analyzed based on the presence of preoperative anemia and pbt. Results Preoperative anemia was found in 468 patients (46.7%). In the anemia and no-anemia groups, pbt was performed in 44% and 15% of patients respectively. Independent predictors for pbt were preoperative anemia, higher American Society of Anesthesiologists score, laparotomy, lengthy operative time, advanced TNM stage, T4 stage, and 30-day morbidity. The use of pbt, but not preoperative anemia, was found to be an independent adverse prognostic factor for overall survival. In terms of recurrence-free survival, the presence of preoperative anemia was similarly not a significant prognostic factor, but the use of pbt was an independent factor for an unfavourable prognosis. Conclusions The use of pbt, but not preoperative anemia, was independently associated with worse overall and recurrence-free survival in nonmetastatic colorectal cancer. For better oncologic outcomes, our findings indicate a need to reduce the use of blood transfusion during the perioperative period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerns regarding the safety of transgenic foods have been raised because of possibility of undesirable effects development during genetic engineering. Analysis of phenotypic traits can increase the likelihoods of identifying those unintended effects in dietary composition of the GM crops. Objective of this study was to compare the transgenic lines with their non-transgenic counterpart. Different vegetative and reproductive traits as well as antioxidant properties were considered to evaluate the transgenic ( HV8 and HV23) lines containing CaMsrB2 gene and their non-transgenic (Ilmi) parent line. Grain size and weight, seed germination, root length, root and shoot dry weight, length and width of flag leaf, plant height, and ligule, stamen and carpel length were not significantly different. Onset and completion of heading in each line occurred almost during the same period. The antioxidant properties in terms of DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging activity and polyphenol content were not statistically different under same treatment condition. The results suggested that the transgenic rice lines containing CaMsrB2 gene were equivalent to their non-transgenic counterpart without any visible unintended effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A plasma generator for a long pulse H+/D+ ion source has been developed. The plasma generator was designed to produce 65 A H+/D+ beams at an energy of 120 keV from an ion extraction area of 12 cm in width and 45 cm in length. Configuration of the plasma generator is a multi-cusp bucket type with SmCo permanent magnets. Dimension of a plasma chamber is 25 cm in width, 59 cm in length, and 32.5 cm in depth. The plasma generator was designed and fabricated at Japan Atomic Energy Agency. Source plasma generation and beam extraction tests for hydrogen coupling with an accelerator of the KSTAR ion source have been performed at the KSTAR neutral beam test stand under the agreement of Japan-Korea collaborative experiment. Spatial uniformity of the source plasma at the extraction region was measured using Langmuir probes and ±7% of the deviation from an averaged ion saturation current density was obtained. A long pulse test of the plasma generation up to 200 s with an arc discharge power of 70 kW has been successfully demonstrated. The arc discharge power satisfies the requirement of the beam production for the KSTAR NBI. A 70 keV, 41 A, 5 s hydrogen ion beam has been extracted with a high arc efficiency of 0.9 -1.1 A/kW at a beam extraction experiment. A deuteron yield of 77% was measured even at a low beam current density of 73 mA/cm2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A micromechanics-based elastic-damage model considering cumulative damage is proposed to predict the effective stress—strain response and damage evolution in particulate composites. A cumulative damage model combining the Weibull probability distribution function (Weibull, 1951) and the step-stress concept (ReliaSoft, 2003) is incorporated into micromechanical formulations (Ju and Chen, 1994a,b) for more realistic prediction of evolutionary interfacial debonding. A multistep damage process is introduced to model accumulated damage induced by the interfacial debonding. A parametric study of Weibull damage parameters is carried out to examine the sensitivity of the parameters to the proposed model. Finally, present predictions are compared with other numerical predictions and experimental data to assess the predictive capability of the proposed model. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The articles presents an examination of the calibration status of the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 6.8 μm water vapor (WV) channel over the tropical low latitude regions. It demonstrates a comparison of Terra/MODIS measurements with the WV channel brightness temperatures tantamount to Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI). Also provided is a strong evidence that the channel is biased cold by 2-3 Kelvin.

With the help of the I-integrals expressed by Mura (1987, Micromechanics of Defects in Solids, 2nd ed., Martinus Nijhoff Dordrecht) and the outward unit normal vector introduced by Ju and Sun (1999, "A Novel Formulation for the Exterior-Point Eshelby's Tensor of an Ellipsoidal Inclusion," ASME Trans. J. Appi. Mech., 66, pp. 570-574), the closed form solution of the exterior-point Eshelby tensor for an elliptic cylindrical inclusion is derived in this work. The proposed closed form of the Eshelby tensor for an elliptic cylindrical inclusion is more explicit than that given by Mura, which is rough and unfinished. The Eshelby tensor for an elliptic cylindrical inclusion can be reduced to the Eshelby tensor for a circular cylindrical inclusion by letting the aspect ratio of the inclusion α = I. The closed form Eshelby tensor presented in this study can contribute to micromechanics-based analysis of composites with elliptic cylindrical inclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the cephalic vein follows a fairly consistent course, numerous variants have been reported. We found a rare anatomical presentation of the cephalic vein in a 43-year-old Korean male cadaver. The cephalic vein had anastomosed with the basilic vein and brachial vein at the level of the elbow, perforated the pectoralis major muscle between the clavicular and sternal heads, and then entered into one of the double axillary veins. Knowledge of the variations on the cephalic vein is important for clinicians as well as anatomists since the approach through the axillary base is favoured in many invasive procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has proposed new categorical pretreatment effluent standards for the Metal Products and Machinery Industry, which are more stringent than current discharge limits in the automotive industry. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate metal-sulfide precipitation chemistry as an alternative to metal-hydroxide precipitation chemistry for removing Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn. There were three aspects of this study: (1) theoretical analysis of both metal–hydroxide and metal–sulfide chemistry; (2) experimental evaluation of commercially available sulfur-containing precipitants using deionized water; and (3) experimental evaluation of the precipitants using wastewater samples from three automotive manufacturing plants (transmission, engine, and assembly plants). The primary findings are: (1) In theory, metal–hydroxide chemistry can achieve the proposed standards when no chelating agents are present. This is not true when as small as 1 mg/L of ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid (EDTA) is present. (2) Metal–sulfide precipitation chemistry could achieve solubility limits lower than those of metal–hydroxide chemistry over a wide range of pH. However, EDTA could still inhibit precipitation of Ni, Pb, and Zn to concentrations above the proposed standards. (3) The experiments with wastewater samples showed all precipitants removed Cu well while Ni and Zn were not well removed. The sample from transmission and engine plants were more difficult to treat than from an assembly plant, suggesting that it might have had more chelating agents. The commercially available precipitants did not perform any better than sodium sulfide. (4) Costs for using the precipitants were estimated to range from <$1/1,000 gal to >$5/1,000 gal depending on the precipitant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on a study which investigated the removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from automotive painting operations. Findings on the biological volatile organic compound (VOC); Methodology of the study; Results and conclusions.