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Jupiter's plasma sheet has been understood to be primarily composed of Io‐genic sulfur and oxygen, along with protons at lower mass density. These ions move radially away from Jupiter, filling its magnetosphere. The material in the plasma sheet interacts with Europa, which is also a source of magnetospheric pickup ions, primarily hydrogen and oxygen. Juno's thermal plasma instrument JADE, the Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment, has provided comprehensive in situ observations of the composition of Jupiter's plasma sheet ions with its Time‐of‐Flight mass‐spectrometry capabilities. Here, we present observations of the magnetospheric composition in the Europa‐Ganymede region of Jupiter's magnetosphere. We find material from Europa is intermittently present at comparable densities to Io‐genic plasma. The intermittency of Europa‐genic signatures suggests Europa's neutral oxygen toroidal cloud is more localized to Europa's vicinity than its hydrogen cloud. These observations reveal a more complex and compositionally diverse magnetosphere than previously thought. Plain Language Summary: Jupiter's charged particle environment is overwhelmingly driven by material lost from Io. This material interacts with the icy moon Europa, which can also inject charged particles into the environment. We find that Europa appreciably contributes to and modifies its local charged particle environment, revealing a more complex and compositionally diverse magnetosphere than previously thought. Key Points: Three distinct heavy ion populations observed in Jupiter's plasma sheet: Io‐genic plasma, Europa‐genic plasma, and Io‐genic energetic particlesThe mixture of Io‐genic and Europa‐genic plasma varies greatly throughout the Europa‐Ganymede regionWe find evidence Europa's oxygen neutral toroidal clouds are more localized than its hydrogen cloud [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing connections between heliospheric spacecraft and solar wind sources is a vital step in understanding the evolution of the solar corona into the solar wind and contextualizing in situ timeseries. Furthermore, making advanced predictions of this linkage for ongoing heliospheric missions, such as Parker Solar Probe (Parker), is necessary for achieving useful coordinated remote observations and maximizing scientific return. The general procedure for estimating such connectivity is straightforward (i.e., magnetic field line tracing in a coronal model) but validating the resulting estimates is difficult due to the lack of an independent ground truth and limited model constraints. In its most recent orbits, Parker has reached perihelia of 13.3R and moreover travels extremely fast prograde relative to the solar surface, covering over 120° longitude in 3 days. Here we present footpoint predictions and subsequent validation efforts for Parker Encounter 10, the first of the 13.3R orbits, which occurred in November 2021. We show that the longitudinal dependence of in situ plasma data from these novel orbits provides a powerful method of footpoint validation. With reference to other encounters, we also illustrate that the conditions under which source mapping is most accurate for near-ecliptic spacecraft (such as Parker) occur when solar activity is low, but also require that the heliospheric current sheet is strongly warped by mid-latitude or equatorial coronal holes. Lastly, we comment on the large-scale coronal structure implied by the Encounter 10 mapping, highlighting an empirical equatorial cut of the Alfvèn surface consisting of localized protrusions above unipolar magnetic separatrices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tensile properties of the polypropylene sheet having a thickness of 1, 2, and 3 mm were examined. It was tested at an initial strain rate of 5×10−4/s of the specimen was processed to 0°, 45° and 90° in the rolling direction. In addition, the tensile test was conducted in a tensile test (5×10−4/s, 5×10−3/s and 5×10−2/s) at various strain rates to evaluate the strain rate sensitivity. The experimental results were relatively reproducible, and the thicker the thickness, the higher the intensity. In addition, the polypropylene sheet showed some anisotropy depending on the rolling direction. Experimental results showed that the strain rate sensitivity was not affected by the difference in thickness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 10 January 2001, Cassini briefly entered into the magnetosphere of Jupiter, en route to Saturn. During this excursion into the Jovian magnetosphere, the Cassini Magnetosphere Imaging Instrument/Charge‐Energy‐Mass Spectrometer detected oxygen and sulfur ions. While Charge‐Energy‐Mass Spectrometer can distinguish between oxygen and sulfur charge states directly, only 95.9 ± 2.9 keV/e ions were sampled during this interval, allowing for a long time integration of the tenuous outer magnetospheric (~200 RJ) plasma at one energy. For this brief interval for the 95.9 keV/e ions, 96% of oxygen ions were O+, with the other 4% as O2+, while 25% of the energetic sulfur ions were S+, 42% S2+, and 33% S3+. The S2+/O+ flux ratio was observed to be 0.35 (±0.06 Poisson error). Plain Language Summary: While en route to Saturn, Cassini received a gravity assist from Jupiter. During this Jupiter flyby, Cassini briefly entered into the Jovian magnetosphere, due to an especially extended period of low solar wind pressure. In this paper, we focus on observations of the relative flux abundance of energetic (95.9 keV/e) heavy ions (oxygen and sulfur) by ion charge state (i.e., On+ and Sn+). These heavy ions would have largely originated from the moon Io, located 5.9 Jupiter radii (RJ) from Jupiter, while the observations from Cassini are near 200 RJ. By comparing the relative charge state zabundances of these heavy ions in the outer magnetosphere to previous observations closer to Io, we can study the evolution of plasma as it is transported away from Jupiter. These observations also serve to constrain modeling efforts and provide context to instruments incapable of independent ion mass and charge state determination. Key Points: Cassini measured the relative charge state abundances of 95.9 keV/e oxygen and sulfur in the outer magnetosphere (~200 RJ) of JupiterThe flux of 95.9 keV/e O+ was higher than that of S2+, with S2+ being the most abundant charge state among sulfur ionsThe relative abundances of 95.9 keV/e heavy ions are compared to thermal ions in the inner to middle magnetosphere [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low‐altitude, high‐velocity trajectory of the Juno spacecraft enables the Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment to make the first in situ observations of the high‐latitude ionospheric plasma. Ions are observed to energies below 1 eV. The high‐latitude ionospheric ions are observed simultaneously with a loss cone in the magnetospheric ions, suggesting precipitating magnetospheric ions contribute to the heating of the upper ionosphere, raising the scale height, and pushing ionospheric ions to altitudes of 0.5 RJ above the planet where they are observed by Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment. The source of the magnetospheric ions is tied to the Io torus and plasma sheet, indicated by the cutoff seen in both the magnetospheric and ionospheric plasma at the Io M‐shells. Equatorward of the Io M‐shell boundary, the ionospheric ions are not observed, indicating a drop in the scale height of the ionospheric ions at those latitudes. Plain Language Summary: The Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE) ion sensor has made the first in situ observations of the upper, high‐latitude ionosphere of Jupiter. Flown on the Juno spacecraft, JADE observes the ionosphere at altitudes of approximately half a Jovian radii, with the spacecraft traveling at the high speed of ~50 km/s. For comparison, a proton traveling at 50 km/s has an energy of approximately 10 eV. The combination of the low‐altitude and high ram velocity enables JADE to measure ionospheric ions to energies below 1 eV. These observations reveal a cold ionospheric population of protons at high latitudes, seen coincident with precipitating magnetospheric ions. This indicates that the precipitating magnetospheric ions heat the upper ionosphere, raising the height where these protons can be observed. The ionospheric protons are seen in bands in the northern and southern latitudes, bounded on the equator edge by the field lines that connect to Io, and inside the auroral oval to the poleward side. Key Points: The high‐latitude ionosphere is observed between the magnetic latitudes bounded by the auroral oval and Io's magnetic flux shellTwo populations are observed at high latitudes: (1) magnetospheric ions consisting of H, S, and O ions and (2) cold ionospheric H+ ionsObservation of a loss cone suggests precipitating magnetospheric ions heat the upper ionosphere to heights ~0.5 RJ above the clouds [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied the predictive performance of the Minto pharmacokinetic model during cardiopulmonary bypass in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Patients received remifentanil target-controlled infusion using the Minto model during total intravenous anaesthesia with propofol. From 56 patients, 275 arterial blood samples were drawn before, during and after bypass to determine the plasma concentration of remifentanil, and the predicted concentrations were recorded at each time. For pooled data, the median prediction error and median absolute prediction error were 21.3% and 21.8%, respectively, and 22.1% and 22.3% during bypass. Both were 148.4% during hypothermic circulatory arrest and measured concentrations were more than three times greater than predicted (26.9 (17.0) vs. 7.1 (1.6) ng.ml-1 ). The Minto model showed considerable bias but overall acceptable precision during bypass. The target concentration of remifentanil should be reduced when using the Minto model during hypothermic circulatory arrest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The infusion of fluids to patients may affect tissue microcirculation and the endothelial glycocalyx. However, the effects of hydroxyethyl starch and crystalloid on endothelial glycocalyx degradation and microvascular reactivity have not been evaluated in detail. We hypothesised that hydroxyethyl starch may cause less endothelial glycocalyx degradation and better microvascular reactivity than that caused by crystalloid. We randomly allocated 120 patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass graft surgery to receive up to 20 ml.kg-1 of either hydroxyethyl starch 670/0.75 or crystalloid for intra-operative fluid resuscitation. Crystalloid was then infused to meet ongoing fluid requirements. During the peri-operative period, vascular occlusion tests were performed to assess microvascular reactivity, and serum syndecan-1 was measured as an index of endothelial glycocalyx degradation. The median (IQR [range]) fluid infused during surgery was significantly less in the hydroxyethyl starch group than the crystalloid group; 2800 (2150-3550 [1400-7300]) vs. 3925 (3100-4725 [1900-6700]) ml, respectively, p < 0.001. Vascular occlusion test parameters, including tissue oxygen saturation, occlusion and recovery slope did not differ significantly between the groups. Peri-operative changes in syndecan-1 were not significantly different between the groups. We conclude that, in patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass graft surgery, compared with crystalloid, the use of hydroxyethyl starch 670/0.75 did not result in significant differences in microvascular reactivity or endothelial glycocalyx degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new design for a small modular sodium-cooled fast reactor core with an optimized lifetime and reactivity swing through the analysis of various breed-and-burn strategies and its neutronic analyses in terms of active core movements, isotopic mass balance, kinetic parameters, and inherent safety. The new core design aims at a power level of 260 MW with a long lifetime of 30 years without refueling and a reactivity swing smaller than 1000 pcm. Starting from five initial candidate cores with various breed-and-burn strategies, an optimum core was selected from a combination of the two candidates that shows a proper breeding behavior with the optimized uranium enrichment in the low-enriched uranium region and the optimized size of the blanket region. The depletion analysis of the new core provides various reactor design parameters such as the core multiplication factor, breeding ratio, heavy metal mass change, power distribution, and summary of neutron balance. In addition, the perturbation analysis provides the reactor kinetic parameters and reactivity feedback coefficients for the inherent safety analysis of the core. The integral reactivity parameters of the quasi-static reactivity balance analysis demonstrate that the new core is inherently safe in cases of unprotected loss of flow, unprotected loss of heat sink, and unprotected transient over power. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a design study of power shape flattening for an optimized ultra-long cycle fast reactor with a power rate of 1000 MWe in order to mitigate the power peaking issue and improve the safety with a lower maximum neutron flux and reactivity swing. There are variations in the core designs by loading thorium fuel or zoning fuels in the blanket region and the bottom driver region of ultra-long cycle fast reactor with a power rate of 1000 MWe. While it has lower breeding performance in a fast breeder reactor, thorium fuel is one of the promising fuel options for future reactors because of its abundance and its safety characteristics. It has been confirmed that the thorium fuels, when loaded into the center region of a reactor core, lower the power peaking factor from 1.64 to 1.25 after 20 years and achieves a more flattened radial power distribution. This consequently reduces the maximum neutron flux and the speed of the active core moving from 3.0 cm/year to 2.5 cm/year on the average over the 60-year reactor operation. It has been successfully demonstrated that the three-zone core is the most optimized core, has the most flattened radial power shape, and is without any compromise in the nature of long cycle core, from the neutronics point of view, in terms of average discharge burnup and breeding ratio. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the feasibility of ultralong-cycle operation on a compact liquid metal-cooled fast reactor (LMR) firstly by assessing the operation of a long-life fast reactor core and secondly by evaluating material performance in respect to both long-cycle operation and compact-size fast reactor. Many kinds of reactor concepts have been proposed, and LMR and small modular reactor (SMR) are the issued leading technologies for generation four (Gen-IV) reactor system development. The breed-and-burn strategy was proposed as a core burning strategy to operate a long cycle, and it has been evaluated in this paper with two reactor concepts: constant axial shape of neutron flux, nuclide densities, and power shape during life of energy and ultralong cycle fast reactor. In addition, Super-Safe, Small, and Simple and small modular fast reactor, compact LMR concepts, have been simulated to evaluate their long-life operation strategies. For the other practical issues, the materials for fuel, coolant, and structure have been identified and some of them are selected to have their performance optimized specifically for compact LMR with a long-cycle operation. It is believed that this comprehensive review will propose a proper direction for future reactor development and will be followed by the next step research for a complete reactor model with the other reactor components. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silencing Amblyomma americanum insulin-like growth factor binding protein-related protein 1 ( AamIGFBP-rP1) mRNA prevented ticks from feeding to repletion. In this study, we used recombinant (r) AamIGFBP-rP1 in a series of assays to obtain further insight into the role(s) of this protein in tick feeding regulation. Our results suggest that AamIGFBP-1 is an antigenic protein that is apparently exclusively expressed in salivary glands. We found that both males and females secrete AamIGFBP-rP1 into the host during feeding and confirmed that female ticks secrete this protein from within 24-48 h after attachment. Our data suggest that native AamIGFBP-rP1 is a functional insulin binding protein in that both yeast- and insect cell-expressed r AamIGFBP-rP1 bound insulin, but not insulin-like growth factors. When subjected to anti-blood clotting and platelet aggregation assays, r AamIGFBP-rP1 did not have any effect. Unlike human IGFBP-rP1, which is controlled by trypsinization, r AamIGFBP-rP1 is resistant to digestion, suggesting that the tick protein may not be under mammalian host control at the tick feeding site. The majority of tick-borne pathogens are transmitted 48 h after the tick has attached. Thus, the demonstrated antigenicity and secretion into the host within 24-48 h of the tick starting to feed makes AamIGFBP-rP1 an attractive target for antitick vaccine development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of genetic factors (e.g. sequence variation) in the absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion (ADME) and overall efficacy of therapeutic agents is well established. Our ability to identify, interpret and utilize these factors is the subject of much clinical investigation and therapeutic development. However, drug ADME and efficacy are also heavily influenced by epigenetic factors such as DNA/histone methylation and non-coding RNAs [especially microRNAs (miRNAs)]. Results from studies using tools, such as in silico miRNA target prediction, in vitro functional assays, nucleic acid profiling/sequencing and high-throughput proteomics, are rapidly expanding our knowledge of these factors and their effects on drug metabolism. Although these studies reveal a complex regulation of drug ADME, an increased understanding of the molecular interplay between the genome, epigenome and transcriptome has the potential to provide practically useful strategies to facilitate drug development, optimize therapeutic efficacy, circumvent adverse effects, yield novel diagnostics and ultimately become an integral component of personalized medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of genetic factors (e.g. sequence variation) in the absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion ( ADME) and overall efficacy of therapeutic agents is well established. Our ability to identify, interpret and utilize these factors is the subject of much clinical investigation and therapeutic development. However, drug ADME and efficacy are also heavily influenced by epigenetic factors such as DNA/histone methylation and non-coding RNAs [especially micro RNAs ( miRNAs)]. Results from studies using tools, such as in silico miRNA target prediction, in vitro functional assays, nucleic acid profiling/sequencing and high-throughput proteomics, are rapidly expanding our knowledge of these factors and their effects on drug metabolism. Although these studies reveal a complex regulation of drug ADME, an increased understanding of the molecular interplay between the genome, epigenome and transcriptome has the potential to provide practically useful strategies to facilitate drug development, optimize therapeutic efficacy, circumvent adverse effects, yield novel diagnostics and ultimately become an integral component of personalized medicine. Linked Articles This article is part of a themed section on Epigenetics and Therapy. To view the other articles in this section visit [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effects of porosity of catalyst layers (CLs) on direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) performances are investigated using silicon dioxide (SiO2) particles as a pore former. The pore size and volume of CLs are controlled by changing the size and content of SiO2. As the size of pore formed by removal of SiO2 increases, DMFC performances are enhanced. The augmentation in performances can be explained by facilitation of fuel transport to catalyst particles, increase of utilization efficiency of catalysts, diminishment in methanol crossover, reduction in activation loss and facilitation of water discharging out of CLs of cathode due to the controlled porosity in CLs. The enhanced fuel transport, accessibility of fuels to Pt catalyst surface, is proved by the active areas of Pt catalyst. In addition to the active area of Pt catalyst, porous CLs exhibit a decline in methanol crossover, leading to increase of open circuit voltage (OCV). The porous CLs also show improvements in activation loss due to high porosity, causing enhancement in DMFC performances. In aspect of pore volume contribution to cathode performance, the SiO2 content is optimized. Based on the DMFC performances, it can be suggested that the optimum conditions of SiO2 are 500 nm in size and 20 wt.% in content. The porosity effect on both electrodes appears as follows: the pores in cathode are more effective on DMFC performances (55.5%) than those of anodes (44.5%) based on the maximum power of DMFC, indicating that the pores in CLs facilitate removal of water from electrodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nonstructural 5B (NS5B) protein of hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) with a key role in HCV replication. To characterize the functional roles of NS5B in HCV replication, we produced a panel of 10 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) directed against NS5B protein from mice immunized with functionally active RdRp. The epitopes of eight mAbs are localized in the middle region (amino acid 240–263) of NS5B protein. On the other hand, the epitopes of two mAbs are mapped to amino acids 67–88 at the N-terminus of NS5B protein. To examine the effects of mAbs on HCV-RNA replication, we performed in vitro RdRp assay using either the 3′-untranslated region (UTR) or the full-length of HCV-RNA as a template in the presence of each mAb. mAbs specific for the middle region of NS5B had no effect on RdRp activity. Surprisingly, mAb recognizing the N-terminal region of NS5B inhibited RdRp activity in a dose-dependent manner. We have confirmed the same result using the other subclass of mAb, whose epitope is also localized to the same N-terminal region of NS5B. These data show that NS5B contains a B-cell epitope located between amino acid residues 67 and 88. Binding of this epitope with an antibody interferes with the enzymatic function of NS5B. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACTIn the classical model by Nye (1981), the main process for the change in pH across the rhizosphere is assumed to be diffusion. The classical model focuses on the non-growing part of the root and assumes that the distribution of ion fluxes along the root is spatially uniform. We consider the rhizosphere of the growth zone and take into account the root growth rate and spatially varying flux along the root surface. We present both analytical (dimensional analysis) and experimental (computational) evidence of the importance of taking into account the root growth rate. We describe a conceptual and mathematical model to analyse the pH field around the root tip over time. The model is used with published data to show that, for typical growth rates in sandy soil, the pH field becomes steady (independent of time) after 6 h. Dimensional analysis reveals that a version of the Péclet number, related to the quotient of root elongation rate and proton diffusivity, can be used to predict the extent of the rhizosphere and the time required for it to become steady. For Péclet numbers much greater than 1 (soils), the root influences soil pH for distances on the millimetre scale. In contrast, for Péclet numbers much less than one (agar, aqueous solution), the root influences substrate pH for radial distances on the scale of centimetres. We also present some evidence that agar-contact techniques to measure the soil pH may not be appropriate for measuring the millimetre-scale gradients in soil pH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When 23 recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (rCHO) cell clones were cultivated in hyperosmolar medium resulting from NaCl addition (533 mOsm/kg), their specific thrombopoietin (TPO) productivity (q(TPO)) was increased. However, due to depressed cell growth at elevated osmolality, no enhancement in the maximum TPO titer was made in batch cultures of all 23 clones. To test the feasibility of using glycine betaine, known as a strong osmoprotective compound, for improved TPO production in hyperosmotic rCHO cell cultures, hyperosmotic batch cultures of 23 clones were performed in the presence of 15 mM glycine betaine. Glycine betaine was found to have a strong osmoprotective effect on all 23 clones. Inclusion of 15 mM glycine betaine in hyperosmolar medium enabled 22 clones to grow at 542 mOsm/kg, where most clones could not grow in the absence of glycine betaine, but at a cost of reduced q(TPO). However, the relative decrease in q(TPO) varied significantly among clones. Thus, efficacy of the simultaneous use of hyperosmotic pressure and glycine betaine as a means to improve foreign protein production was variable among clones. Six out of 23 clones displayed more than a 40% increase in the maximum TPO titer in the hyperosmolar medium containing glycine betaine, compared with that in the standard medium with a physiological osmolality. Taken together, the results obtained here emphasize the importance of selection of clones for the successful use of hyperosmotic pressure and glycine betaine as an economical means to improve TPO production.