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Most previous efforts to calibrate how rotation and magnetic activity depend on stellar age and mass have relied on observations of clusters, where isochrones from stellar evolution models are used to determine the properties of the ensemble. Asteroseismology employs similar models to measure the properties of an individual star by matching its normal modes of oscillation, yielding the stellar age and mass with high precision. We use 27 days of photometry from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite to characterize solar-like oscillations in the G8 subgiant of the 94 Aqr triple system. the resulting stellar properties, when combined with a reanalysis of 35 yr of activity measurements from the Mount Wilson HK project, allow us to probe the evolution of rotation and magnetic activity in the system. the asteroseismic age of the subgiant agrees with a stellar isochrone fit, but the rotation period is much shorter than expected from standard models of angular momentum evolution. We conclude that weakened magnetic braking may be needed to reproduce the stellar properties, and that evolved subgiants in the hydrogen shell-burning phase can reinvigorate large-scale dynamo action and briefly sustain magnetic activity cycles before ascending the red giant branch., NSFNational Science Foundation (NSF) [AST-1812634]; NASANational Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) [NNX17AF27G, NNX16AB97G, 80NSSC20K0458, 80NSSC19K0374]; Visiting Fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research; NASA through the TESS Guest Investigator Program [80NSSC18K1584, 80NSSC18K1585, 80NSSC19K0379]; NASA through the Living With A Star Program [NNX16AB76G]; TESS GI Program [80NSSC18K1585, 80NSSC19K0385]; UK Space Agency; Danish National Research FoundationDanmarks Grundforskningsfond [DNRF106]; NCAR Advanced Study Program Postdoctoral FellowshipNational Science Foundation (NSF)NSF - Directorate for Geosciences (GEO); National Science FoundationNational Science Foundation (NSF); CNES PLATO grant; German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt) under PLATO Data Center [50OO1501]; European Research Council (ERC)European Research Council (ERC) [715947]; Programme de Physique Stellaire et Planetaire; Australian Research CouncilAustralian Research Council; Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) [SEV-2015-0548-17-2, BES-2017-082610]; State Research Agency (AEI) of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MCIU); European Social Fund via the Lithuanian Science Council (LMTLT)Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT) [09.3.3-LMT-K-712-01-0103]; ESA PRODEX program; Spanish Ministry with the Ramon y Cajal fellowship [RYC-2015-17697]; Scientific and Technological Research Council of TurkeyTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [TuBTAK:118F352], T.S.M. acknowledges support from NSF grant AST-1812634, NASA grants NNX16AB97G and 80NSSC20K0458, and a Visiting Fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research. Computational time at the Texas Advanced Computing Center was provided through XSEDE allocation TG-AST090107. J.v.S. acknowledges support from NASA through the TESS Guest Investigator Program (80NSSC18K1584). S.B. acknowledges NASA grant 80NSSC19K0374. D.B. acknowledges support from NASA through the Living With A Star Program (NNX16AB76G) and from the TESS GI Program under awards 80NSSC18K1585 and 80NSSC19K0385. W.J.C., W.H.B. and M.B.N. acknowledge support from the UK Space Agency. Funding for the Stellar Astrophysics Centre is provided by the Danish National Research Foundation (grant agreement No.: DNRF106). R.E. was supported by the NCAR Advanced Study Program Postdoctoral Fellowship. the National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation. R.A.G. and B.M. acknowledge support from the CNES PLATO grant. P.G. acknowledges funding from the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt) under PLATO Data Center grant 50OO1501. D.H. acknowledges support from NASA through the TESS Guest Investigator Program (80NSSC18K1585, 80NSSC19K0379). T.R. acknowledges support from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 715947). T.A. acknowledges support from the Programme de Physique Stellaire et Planetaire. T.R.B. acknowledges support from the Australian Research Council. L.G.C. acknowledges support from grant FPI-SO from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) (research project SEV-2015-0548-17-2 and predoctoral contract BES-2017-082610). A.J. Acknowledges support from the State Research Agency (AEI) of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MCIU). H.K. acknowledges support from the European Social Fund via the Lithuanian Science Council (LMTLT) grant No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712-01-0103. M.N.L. acknowledges support from the ESA PRODEX program. S.M. acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry with the Ramon y Cajal fellowship number RYC-2015-17697. Z.C.O., S.o. and M.Y. acknowledge support from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TuBTAK:118F352). A.R.G.S. acknowledges support from NASA grant NNX17AF27G. This work benefited from discussions within the international team "The Solar and Stellar Wind Connection: Heating processes and angular momentum loss" at the International Space Science Institute (ISSI).

When ceria is used as a support for many redox catalysis involved in green catalysis, it is well-known that the overlying noble metal can gain access to a significant quantity of oxygen atoms with high mobility and fast reduction and oxidation properties under mild conditions. However, it is as yet unclear what the underlying principle and the nature of the ceria surface involved are. By using two tailored morphologies of ceria nanocrystals, namely cubes and rods, it is demonstrated from Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy with Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (STEM-EELS) mapping and Pulse Isotopic Exchange (PIE) that ceria nanocubes terminated with a polar surface (100) can give access to more than the top most layer of surface oxygen atoms. Also, they give higher oxygen mobility than ceria nanorods with a non-polar facet of (110). A new insight for the possible additional role of polar ceria surface plays in the oxygen mobility is obtained from Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations which suggest that the (100) surface sites that has more than half-filled O on same plane can drive oxygen atoms to oxidise adsorbate(s) on Pd due to the strong electrostatic repulsion.

Omission of a carbohydrate-rich breakfast followed by consuming an ad libitum lunch impairs evening exercise performance. However, it is unclear if this is due to breakfast omission per se, or secondary to lower carbohydrate intake over the day. To test whether impaired evening performance following breakfast omission persists when complete dietary compensation occurs at lunch, in a randomised cross-over design, eleven highly trained cyclists (age: 25 ± 7 y, VO 2max: 61 ± 5 ml·kg -1·min -1) completed two trials: breakfast (B) and no breakfast (NB). During B, participants consumed an individualised breakfast (583±54 kcal; 8-9am) and lunch (874±80 kcal; 12-2pm), whilst during NB participants fasted until 12pm and then consumed a standardised lunch (1457±134 kcal: 12-2pm). The overall energy (1457±134 kcal) and macronutrient profile (carbohydrate: 81.5±0.4%, fat: 5.8±0.1%, protein: 12.7±0.3%) was identical in both trials, with timing the only difference. Mean power output during a 20 km time trial performed in the evening was ∼3% lower in NB compared to B (mean difference [95% CI]: -9.1 [-15.3, -2.9] watts, p

Membranes for CO2 capture should offer high permeant fluxes to keep membrane surface area small and material requirements low. Ag-supported, dual-phase, molten-carbonate membranes routinely demonstrate the highest CO2 fluxes in this class of membrane. However, using Ag as a support incurs high cost. Here, the non-equilibrium conditions of permeation were exploited to stimulate the self-assembly of a percolating, dendritic network of Ag from the molten carbonate. Multiple membrane support geometries and Ag incorporation methods were employed, demonstrating the generality of the approach, while X-ray micro-computed tomography confirmed that CO2 and O2 permeation stimulated self-assembly. We report the highest flux of Ag-supported molten-salt membranes to date (1.25 ml min−1 cm−2 at 650 °C) and ultrahigh permeability (9.4 × 10−11 mol m−1 s−1 Pa−1), surpassing the permeability requirement for economically-competitive post-combustion CO2 capture, all whilst reducing the membrane-volume-normalised demand for Ag by one order of magnitude.

Exsolution of surface and bulk nanoparticles in perovskites has been recently employed in chemical looping methane partial oxidation because of the emergent materials&rsquo, properties such as oxygen capacity, redox stability, durability, coke resistance and enhanced activity. Here we attempt to further lower the temperature of methane conversion by complementing exsolution with infiltration. We prepare an endo/exo-particle system using exsolution and infiltrate it with minimal amount of Rh (0.1 wt%) in order to functionalize the surface and induce low temperature activity. We achieve a temperature decrease by almost 220 &deg, C and an increase of the activity up to 40%. We also show that the initial microstructure of the perovskite plays a key role in controlling nanoparticle anchorage and carbon deposition. Our results demonstrate that microstructure tuning and surface functionalization are important aspects to consider when designing materials for redox cycling applications.

Composite materials consisting of metal and metal oxide phases are being researched intensively for various energy conversion applications where they are often expected to operate under redox conditions at elevated temperature. Understanding of the dynamics of composite evolution during redox cycling is still very limited, yet critical to maximising performance and increasing durability. Here we track the microstructural evolution of a single composite particle over 200 redox cycles for hydrogen production by chemical looping, using multi-length scale X-ray computed tomography. We show that redox cycling triggers a centrifugal redispersion of the metal phase and a centripetal clustering of porosity, both seemingly driven by the asymmetric nature of oxygen exchange in composites. Initially, the particle develops a large amount of internal porosity which boosts activity, but on the long term this facilitates structural and compositional reorganisation and eventually degradation. These results provide valuable insight into redox-driven microstructural changes and also for the design of new composite materials with enhanced durability.

Background The efficacy of high-intensity interval training (HIT) as a time-efficient exercise strategy for beneficially modifying risk factors for cardiovascular disease has repeatedly been demonstrated in controlled laboratory settings. However, the effectiveness of HIT in an unsupervised workplace setting has not been investigated. The objective of this study was to use mixed methods to investigate the feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of a short-duration, high-intensity exercise intervention (REHIT) when applied unsupervised in a workplace setting. Methods Twenty-five office-workers (mean ± SD age: 47 ± 9 y, BMI: 27.5 ± 4.4 kg·m− 2, V̇O2max: 28 ± 7 mL·kg− 1·min− 1) completed a 6-week REHIT intervention unsupervised in their workplace (n = 13, 6 men), or acted as a no-intervention control (n = 12, 6 men). The intervention consisted of 2 sessions/week of low-intensity (~ 25 W) cycling interspersed with 2 ‘all-out’ sprints, increasing in duration from 10 to 20 s per sprint over the 6 weeks (total time-commitment: 8:40 min per session). V̇O2max was assessed pre- and post-training, whilst questionnaire-based measures of exercise enjoyment, self-efficacy, and acceptability were completed post-training. Eight participants also completed post-intervention semi-structured interviews. Results V̇O2max significantly improved in the exercise group (2.25 ± 0.75 L·min− 1 vs. 2.42 ± 0.82 L·min− 1; + 7.4%) compared to the control group (2.22 ± 0.72 L·min− 1 vs. 2.17 ± 0.74 L·min− 1; − 2.3%; time*intervention interaction effect: p Conclusions REHIT could be implemented as a feasible, effective and acceptable exercise intervention in a workplace setting, with a total time-commitment of Trial registration The study was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov on 07/05/2019 (registration: NCT03941145).

This paper includes data collected by the TESS mission, which are publicly available from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST). et al., Over the course of its history, the Milky Way has ingested multiple smaller satellite galaxies. Although these accreted stellar populations can be forensically identified as kinematically distinct structures within the Galaxy, it is difficult in general to date precisely the age at which any one merger occurred. Recent results have revealed a population of stars that were accreted via the collision of a dwarf galaxy, called Gaia–Enceladus, leading to substantial pollution of the chemical and dynamical properties of the Milky Way. Here we identify the very bright, naked-eye star ν Indi as an indicator of the age of the early in situ population of the Galaxy. We combine asteroseismic, spectroscopic, astrometric and kinematic observations to show that this metal-poor, alpha-element-rich star was an indigenous member of the halo, and we measure its age to be 11.0±0.7 (stat) ±0.8 (sys) billion years. The star bears hallmarks consistent with having been kinematically heated by the Gaia–Enceladus collision. Its age implies that the earliest the merger could have begun was 11.6 and 13.2 billion years ago, at 68% and 95% confidence, respectively. Computations based on hierarchical cosmological models slightly reduce the above limits., J.M. acknowledge support from the ERC Consolidator Grant funding scheme (project ASTEROCHRONOMETRY, grant agreement number 772293). A.M.S. is partially supported by the Spanish Government (ESP2017-82674-R) and Generalitat de Catalunya (2017-SGR-1131). T.L.C. acknowledges support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement number 792848 (PULSATION). K.J.B., S.H., J.S.K. and N.T. are supported by the European Research Council under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC grant agreement number 338251 (StellarAges). E.C. is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement number 664931. L.G.-C. acknowledges support from the MINECO FPI-SO doctoral research project SEV-2015-0548-17-2 and predoctoral contract BES-2017-082610. S.M. acknowledges support from the Spanish ministry through the Ramon y Cajal fellowship number RYC-2015-17697. This work was supported by FEDER through COMPETE2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030389. A.M.B. acknowledges funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 749962 (project THOT).

Carbon dioxide and steam solid oxide co-electrolysis is a key technology for exploiting renewable electricity to generate syngas feedstock for the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. The integration of this process with methane partial oxidation in a single cell can eliminate or even reverse the electrical power demands of co-electrolysis, while simultaneously producing syngas at industrially attractive H2/CO ratios. Nevertheless, this system is rather complex and requires catalytically active and coke tolerant electrodes. Here, we report on a low-substitution rhodium-titanate perovskite (La0.43Ca0.37Rh0.06Ti0.94O3) electrode for the process, capable of exsolving high Rh nanoparticle populations, and assembled in a symmetrical solid oxide cell configuration. By introducing dry methane to the anode compartment, the electricity demands are impressively decreased, even allowing syngas and electricity cogeneration. To provide further insight on the Rh nanoparticles role on methane-to-syngas conversion, we adjusted their size and population by altering the reduction temperature of the perovskite. Our results exemplify how the exsolution concept can be employed to efficiently exploit noble metals for activating low-reactivity greenhouse gases in challenging energy-related applications.

Rotation plays an important role in the evolution of stars. For decades rotation-age relationships have been used as surface rotation can be measured rather easily. Here we show the result of the measurement of rotation periods for a large number of Kepler solar-like stars along with their level of magnetic activity. We also study solar-like stars for which oscillations have not been detected using 1 month of Kepler data in order to understand what can be the reason behind these non-detections. Surprisingly the conclusion of our analysis is that magnetic activity is not the main reason for not detecting acoustic modes in those stars.

Chromospheric Ca II activity cycles are frequently found in late-type stars, but no systematic programs have been created to search for their coronal X-ray counterparts. The typical time scale of Ca II activity cycles ranges from years to decades. Therefore, long-lasting missions are needed to detect the coronal counterparts. The XMM-Newton satellite has so far detected X-ray cycles in five stars. A particularly intriguing question is at what age (and at what activity level) X-ray cycles set in. To this end, in 2015 we started the X-ray monitoring of the young solar-like star ? Eridani, previously observed on two occasions: in 2003 and in early 2015, both by XMM-Newton. With an age of 440 Myr, it is one of the youngest solar-like stars with a known chromospheric Ca II cycle. We collected the most recent Mount Wilson S-index data available for ? Eridani, starting from 2002, including previously unpublished data. We found that the Ca II cycle lasts 2.92 ± 0.02 yr, in agreement with past results. From the long-term XMM-Newton lightcurve, we find clear and systematic X-ray variability of our target, consistent with the chromospheric Ca II cycle. The average X-ray luminosity is 2 × 10erg s, with an amplitude that is only a factor of 2 throughout the cycle. We apply a new method to describe the evolution of the coronal emission measure distribution of ? Eridani in terms of solar magnetic structures: Active regions, cores of active regions, and flares covering the stellar surface at varying filling fractions. Combinations of these three types of magnetic structures can only describe the observed X-ray emission measure of ? Eridani if the solar flare emission measure distribution is restricted to events in the decay phase. The interpretation is that flares in the corona of ? Eridani last longer than their solar counterparts. We ascribe this to the lower metallicity of ? Eridani. Our analysis also revealed that the X-ray cycle of ? Eridani is strongly dominated by cores of active regions. The coverage fraction of cores throughout the cycle changes by the same factor as the X-ray luminosity. The maxima of the cycle are characterized by a high percentage of covering fraction of the flares, consistent with the fact that flaring events are seen in the corresponding short-term X-ray lightcurves predominately at the cycle maxima. The high X-ray emission throughout the cycle of ? Eridani is thus explained by the high percentage of magnetic structures on its surface., With funding from the Spanish government through the "María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence" accreditation (MDM-2017-0737)

The effect of breakfast omission on evening high-intensity exercise performance has not previously been studied.In a randomised and counterbalanced cross-over design, 10 competitive rowers (2 male, 8 female; mean ± SD: age 21 ± 2 y, height 176 ± 7 cm, weight 76 ± 12 kg, body fat 19.7 ± 6.8%) completed two trials (individualised carbohydrate-rich breakfast (BT; 831 ± 67 kcal eaten before 09:00) and no-breakfast (NBT; extended overnight fast until 12:00)). Following ad libitum afternoon food intake, participants completed a 2000-m time-trial on a rowing ergometer between 16:30 and 18:00. Appetite and energy intake were measured throughout the day, whilst power output, time, heart rate, blood lactate, blood glucose and RPE were assessed during the time trial.Appetite ratings were higher throughout the morning in NBT compared with BT, but there were no differences in ratings in the afternoon. Energy intake at lunch was greater NBT compared with BT (1236 ± 594 vs 836 ± 303 kcal, p .05), which partly compensated for breakfast omission, although overall energy intake tended to be lower in NBT compared with BT (1236 ± 594 vs 1589 ± 225 kcal, p = .08). The time taken to complete the 2000-m time trial was greater in NBT compared with BT (469.2 ± 43.4 vs 465.7 ± 43.3 s; p .05). No differences in heart rate, blood glucose and blood lactate responses were apparent, but overall RPE was higher in NBT compared with BT (17.8 ± 0.9 vs 16.7 ± 0.7 au, p .05).The omission of a carbohydrate-rich breakfast impaired evening performance during a 2000-m rowing time trial. This finding has implications for optimising evening high-intensity exercise performance.

ObjectiveFunctional impairment associated with Neurocognitive Disorder is often claimed in medico-legal settings after mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI). This case–control study examined self-reported functional impairment and the plausibility of chronic disability claims following uncomplicated mTBI.MethodIndependent Medical Evaluations included a battery of performance and symptom validity tests, along with self-reports of physical or emotional complaints and functional impairment. Slick and colleagues’ (Slick, D. J., Sherman, E. M., & Iverson, G. L. (1999). Diagnostic criteria for malingered neurocognitive dysfunction: Proposed standards for clinical practice and research. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 13, 545–561.) criteria ruled out probable malingering in 21 mTBI cases without psychiatric comorbidity and their self-reports were compared to those of seven non-malingering cases with a psychiatric comorbidity, 17 who were probable malingerers, and 31 orthopedic pain sufferers. Coherence Analysis of medical documentation corroborated assignment of mTBI cases to non-malingering versus probable malingering groups.ResultsProbable malingerers reported more postconcussion symptoms than non-malingerers (d = 0.79) but they did not differ significantly on tests of neurocognitive performance. Probable malingerers and orthopedic pain patients gave significantly higher ratings of functional impairment (d = 1.28 and 1.26) than non-malingerers. Orthopedic pain patients reported more disability due to pain than non-malingerers (d = 1.03), but pain catastrophizing was rated more highly by the probable malingerers (d = 1.21) as well as by the orthopedic pain patients (d = 0.98). The non-malingerers reported lower emotional distress than the other three groups, but only the probable malingerers reported elevated depression symptoms compared to the non-malingerers (d = 1.01).ConclusionsThe combined evaluation of performance validity, function, and coherence analysis would appear to enhance the difficult clinical evaluation of postconcussion symptoms in the medical-legal setting.

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007–2013)/ERC Grant Agreement Number 320725 and from the EPSRC via the research grants EP/P024807/1, EP/P009050/1, EP/P007767/1, EP/J016454/1 and EP/L017008/1. Data supporting this publication is openly available under an ‘Open Data Commons Open Database License’. Additional metadata are available at: https://doi.org/10.17634/161340-1. Metallic nanoparticles exsolved at the surface of perovskite oxides have been recently shown to unlock superior catalytic activity and durability towards various chemical reactions of practical importance. For example, for the CO oxidation reaction, exsolved Ni nanoparticles in oxidised form exhibit site activities approaching those of noble metals. This is of particular interest for the prospect of replacing noble metals with earth-abundant metal/metal oxide catalysts in the automotive exhaust control industry. Here we show that for the CO oxidation reaction, the functionality of exsolved Ni nanoparticles can be further improved when Fe is co-exsolved with Ni, as Fe–Ni alloy nanoparticles, eventually forming mixed oxide nanoparticles. As compared to the Ni nanoparticles, the alloy nanoparticles exhibit higher site activities, greatly improved durability over 170 h of continuous testing and increased tolerance towards sulphur-based atmospheres. Similarly to the single metal nanoparticles, the alloys demonstrate outstanding microstructural stability and high tolerance towards coking. These results open additional directions for tailoring the activity and durability of exsolved materials for the CO oxidation reaction and beyond. Publisher PDF

Purpose Reduced-exertion high-intensity interval training (REHIT) is a genuinely time-efficient exercise intervention that improves aerobic capacity and blood pressure in men with type 2 diabetes. However, the acute effects of REHIT on 24-h glycaemia have not been examined. Methods 11 men with type 2 diabetes (mean ± SD: age, 52 ± 6 years; BMI, 29.7 ± 3.1 kg/m2; HbA1c, 7.0 ± 0.8%) participated in a randomised, four-trial crossover study, with continual interstitial glucose measurements captured during a 24-h dietary-standardised period following either (1) no exercise (CON); (2) 30 min of continuous exercise (MICT); (3) 10 × 1 min at ~ 90 HRmax (HIIT; time commitment, ~ 25 min); and (4) 2 × 20 s ‘all-out’ sprints (REHIT; time commitment, 10 min). Results Compared to CON, mean 24-h glucose was lower following REHIT (mean ± 95%CI: − 0.58 ± 0.41 mmol/L, p = 0.008, d = 0.55) and tended to be lower with MICT (− 0.37 ± 0.41 mmol/L, p = 0.08, d = 0.35), but was not significantly altered following HIIT (− 0.37 ± 0.59 mmol/L, p = 0.31, d = 0.35). This seemed to be largely driven by a lower glycaemic response (area under the curve) to dinner following both REHIT and MICT (− 11%, p 0.9 for both) but not HIIT (− 4%, p = 0.22, d = 0.38). Time in hyperglycaemia appeared to be reduced with all three exercise conditions compared with CON (REHIT: − 112 ± 63 min, p = 0.002, d = 0.50; MICT: -115 ± 127 min, p = 0.08, d = 0.50; HIIT − 125 ± 122 min, p = 0.04, d = 0.54), whilst indices of glycaemic variability were not significantly altered. Conclusion REHIT may offer a genuinely time-efficient exercise option for improving 24-h glycaemia in men with type 2 diabetes and warrants further study.

YBaCo4O7+δ has been reported to have a large oxygen capacity which can be accessed on practical timescales by both temperature and pressure swings below 400 °C. One potential use of this oxygen capacity is for oxygen enrichment of process gas streams for e.g. application in oxy-fuel combustion and auto-thermal reforming. In this work, YBaCo4O7+δ powders were produced by a solid state synthesis and their material properties studied with a view to use as a process stream oxygen enricher. The stability of the material as a function of temperature in both CO2 and reducing gases (CO and H2) was investigated. The kinetics of oxygen uptake and release was studied by following the response to swings in oxygen partial pressure (pO2) and temperature. To demonstrate the potential for employing this reversible oxygen capacity, the material was successfully used to supply oxygen into a gas stream with a pO2 of 0.31 bar after oxidation in an air stream (pO2 = 0.21 bar).

A primary goal for human-autonomy integration (HAI) is to balance the strengths of human and autonomy in order to achieve performance objectives more efficiently and robustly than either the human ...

After decades of effort, the solar magnetic cycle is exceptionally well characterized, but it remains poorly understood. Pioneering work at the Mount Wilson Observatory demonstrated that other Sun-like stars also show regular activity cycles, and identified two distinct relationships between the rotation rate and the length of the cycle. The solar cycle appears to be an outlier, falling between the two stellar relationships, potentially threatening the very foundation of the solar-stellar connection. Recent discoveries emerging from NASA’s Kepler space telescope have started to shed light on this perplexing result, suggesting that the Sun’s rotation rate and magnetic field are currently in a transitional phase that occurs in all middle-aged stars. We have recently identified the manifestation of this magnetic transition in the best available data on stellar cycles. These observations suggest that the solar cycle is currently growing longer on stellar evolutionary timescales, and that the global dynamo may shut down entirely sometime in the next 0.8-2.4 Gyr. Future tests of this hypothesis will come from ground-based activity monitoring of Kepler targets that span the magnetic transition, and from asteroseismology with the TESS mission to determine precise masses and ages for bright stars with known cycles.

Objectives Previous research has supported the beneficial effects of relaxation training on running economy. However, no studies have compared the effects of brief contact instructions to alter facial expression or to relax on running economy or running performance. The primary aim of this study was to determine the effect of such attentional instructions on movement economy, physiological, and perceptual responses during running. Method Using a repeated measures design, 24 trained runners completed four 6 min running blocks at 70% of velocity at VO 2max with 2 min rest between blocks. Condition order was randomized. Participants completed running blocks while smiling, frowning, consciously relaxing their hands and upper-body, or with a normal attentional focus (control). Cardiorespiratory responses were recorded continuously and participants reported perceived effort, affective valence, and activation after each condition. Results Oxygen consumption was lower during smiling than frowning ( d = −0.23) and control ( d = −0.19) conditions. Fourteen participants were most economical when smiling in contrast with only one participant when consciously relaxing. Perceived effort was higher during frowning than smiling ( d = 0.58) and relaxing ( d = 0.49). Activation was higher during frowning than all other conditions (all d ≥ 0.59). Heart rate, affective valence, and manipulation adherence did not differ between conditions. Conclusion Periodic smiling may improve movement economy during vigorous intensity running. In contrast, frowning may increase both effort perception and activation. A conscious focus on relaxing was not more efficacious on any outcome. The findings have implications for applied practice to improve endurance performance.

The electrical performance and CO2 permeation of composite membranes based on Gd-doped ceria skeletons impregnated with molten alkaline carbonates are benchmarked against their predictable performance based on ambipolar conductivity governed kinetics (best scenario), using customized diagrams. Experiments performed in the 550–850 °C temperature range showed permeation rates reaching almost 0.6 cm3 min−1 cm−2 at 850 °C with 50 mol% CO2 content in the feed side. Endurance tests performed at 650 °C for over 100 h showed a small degradation due to microstructural changes. Impedance spectroscopy measurements combined with microstructural analysis involving several composite membranes and skeletons after distinct thermal history confirmed the potential of these techniques to monitor the ceramic skeleton and membrane condition. The diagrams used to map membrane performance highlight in an entirely novel manner several kinetic and experimental constraints.

Particles dispersed on the surface of oxide supports have enabled a wealth of applications in electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, and heterogeneous catalysis. Dispersing nanoparticles within the bulk of oxides is, however, synthetically much more challenging and therefore less explored, but could open new dimensions to control material properties analogous to substitutional doping of ions in crystal lattices. Here we demonstrate such a concept allowing extensive, controlled growth of metallic nanoparticles, at nanoscale proximity, within a perovskite oxide lattice as well as on its surface. By employing operando techniques, we show that in the emergent nanostructure, the endogenous nanoparticles and the perovskite lattice become reciprocally strained and seamlessly connected, enabling enhanced oxygen exchange. Additionally, even deeply embedded nanoparticles can reversibly exchange oxygen with a methane stream, driving its redox conversion to syngas with remarkable selectivity and long term cyclability while surface particles are present. These results not only exemplify the means to create extensive, self-strained nanoarchitectures with enhanced oxygen transport and storage capabilities, but also demonstrate that deeply submerged, redox-active nanoparticles could be entirely accessible to reaction environments, driving redox transformations and thus offering intriguing new alternatives to design materials underpinning several energy conversion technologies.

Orhan, Zeynep Celik/0000-0002-9424-2339; Serenelli, Aldo/0000-0001-6359-2769; Monteiro, Mario J. P. F. G./0000-0003-0513-8116; Huber, Daniel/0000-0001-8832-4488; Adibekyan, Vardan/0000-0002-0601-6199; Reffert, Sabine/0000-0002-0460-8289; Stock, Stephan/0000-0002-1166-9338; Stassun, Keivan/0000-0002-3481-9052; Cunha, Margarida/0000-0001-8237-7343; Kuszlewicz, James/0000-0002-3322-5279; Lund, Mikkel Norup/0000-0001-9214-5642; Mathur, Savita/0000-0002-0129-0316; Nielsen, Martin Bo/0000-0001-9169-2599; Mosser, Benoit/0000-0002-7547-1208; Pereira, Filipe/0000-0002-2157-7146; Lucas, Miles/0000-0001-6341-310X; miglio, andrea/0000-0001-5998-8533; Ball, Warrick/0000-0002-4773-1017; Basu, Sarbani/0000-0002-6163-3472; Veras, Dimitri/0000-0001-8014-6162; Handberg, Rasmus/0000-0001-8725-4502; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jorgen/0000-0001-5137-0966; Delgado Mena, Elisa/0000-0003-4434-2195, WOS: 000498546800001, The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is performing a near all-sky survey for planets that transit bright stars. in addition, its excellent photometric precision enables asteroseismology of solar-type and red-giant stars, which exhibit convection-driven, solar-like oscillations. Simulations predict that TESS will detect solar-like oscillations in nearly 100 stars already known to host planets. in this paper, we present an asteroseismic analysis of the known red-giant host stars HD;212771 and HD;203949, both systems having a long-period planet detected through radial velocities. These are the first detections of oscillations in previously known exoplanet-host stars by TESS, further showcasing the mission?s potential to conduct asteroseismology of red-giant stars. We estimate the fundamental properties of both stars through a grid-based modeling approach that uses global asteroseismic parameters as input. We discuss the evolutionary state of HD;203949 in depth and note the large discrepancy between its asteroseismic mass (M-* = 1.23 0.15 MM* = 1.00 0.16 M if in the clump) and the mass quoted in the discovery paper (M-* = 2.1 0.1 M), implying a change >30% in the planet?s mass. Assuming HD;203949 to be in the clump, we investigate the planet?s past orbital evolution and discuss how it could have avoided engulfment at the tip of the red-giant branch. Finally, HD;212771 was observed by K2 during its Campaign 3, thus allowing for a preliminary comparison of the asteroseismic performances of TESS and K2. We estimate the ratio of the observed oscillation amplitudes for this star to be, NASA Explorer ProgramNational Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA); ESA PRODEXEuropean Space Agency [PEA 4000119301]; Stellar Astrophysics Centre (SAC) - Danish National Research Foundation [DNRF106]; European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grantEuropean Union (EU) [792848, 664931]; FCT/MCTESPortuguese Foundation for Science and Technology [UID/FIS/04434/2019]; FCTPortuguese Foundation for Science and Technology [PTDC/FIS-AST/30389/2017, PTDC/FIS-AST/28953/2017, PTDC/FIS-AST/32113/2017, CEECIND/02619/2017, IF/00650/2015/CP1273/CT0001, IF/00028/2014/CP1215/CT0002]; FEDER through COMPETE2020 [POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030389, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028953, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-032113]; National Science Foundation under the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics program "Better Stars, Better Planets" [NSF PHY-1748958]; European Research Council under the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC grant [338251]; ESA PRODEX programme; CNES through the PLATO grants; Spanish GovernmentSpanish Government [ESP2017-82674-R]; Generalitat de CatalunyaGeneralitat de Catalunya [2017-SGR-1131]; STFC via an Ernest Rutherford Fellowship [ST/P003850/1]; NSFNational Science Foundation (NSF) [AST-1514676]; NASANational Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) [NNX16AI09G]; Spanish Ministry through the Ramon y Cajal fellowship [RYC-2015-17697]; NYUAD Institute [G1502]; DFGGerman Research Foundation (DFG) [SPP 1992, RE 2694/5-1]; Scientific and Technological Research Council of TurkeyTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [TUBITAK:118F352]; National Aeronautics and Space Administration through the TESS Guest Investigator Program [80NSSC18K1585, 80NSSC19K0379]; European Social Fund via the Lithuanian Science Council [09.3.3-LMT-K-712-01-0103], This paper includes data collected by the TESS mission. Funding for the TESS mission is provided by the NASA Explorer Program. Funding for the TESS Asteroseismic Science Operations Center at Aarhus University is provided by ESA PRODEX (PEA 4000119301) and Stellar Astrophysics Centre (SAC), funded by the Danish National Research Foundation (Grant agreement No.: DNRF106). the project leading to this publication has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No..792848 (PULSATION). This work was supported by FCT/MCTES through national funds (UID/FIS/04434/2019). This work was supported by FCT through national funds (PTDC/FIS-AST/30389/2017, PTDC/FIS-AST/28953/2017, and PTDC/FIS-AST/32113/2017) and by FEDER through COMPETE2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030389, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028953, and POCI-01-0145-FEDER-032113). This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under grant No.NSF PHY-1748958 through the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics program "Better Stars, Better Planets". the research leading to the presented results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC grant agreement No..338251 (StellarAges). E.C.is funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No..664931. M.N.L.acknowledges support from the ESA PRODEX programme. B.M.and R.A.G. acknowledge the support received from CNES through the PLATO grants. A. S.is partially supported by grants ESP2017-82674-R (Spanish Government) and 2017-SGR-1131 (Generalitat de Catalunya). D.V.gratefully acknowledges the support of the STFC via an Ernest Rutherford Fellowship (grant ST/P003850/1). V. A.and S.G.S. acknowledge support from FCT through Investigador FCT contracts No..IF/00650/2015/CP1273/CT0001 and No..IF/00028/2014/CP1215/CT0002, respectively. S. B. acknowledges NSF grant AST-1514676 and NASA grant NNX16AI09G. S.M..acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry through the Ramon y Cajal fellowship No. RYC-2015-17697. M.B.N..acknowledges support from NYUAD Institute grant G1502. S.R..acknowledges support from the DFG priority program SPP 1992 "Exploring the Diversity of Extrasolar Planets (RE 2694/5-1)". M.Y., Z.C.O., and S. O. acknowledge the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK:118F352). D.H. acknowledges support by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NSSC18K1585, 80NSSC19K0379) awarded through the TESS Guest Investigator Program. M.S.C. is supported in the form of a work contract funded by FCT (CEECIND/02619/2017). H.K. acknowledges support from the European Social Fund via the Lithuanian Science Council grant No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712-01-0103.

Porous Organic Cages (POCs) are an emerging class of self-assembling, porous materials with novel properties. They offer a key advantage over other porous materials in permitting facile solution processing and re-assembly. The combination of POCs with metal nanoparticles (NPs) unlocks applications in the area of catalysis. In this context, POCs can function as both the template of ultra-small NPs and a porous, but reprocessable, heterogeneous catalyst support. Here, we demonstrate the synthesis of ultra-small Pd NPs with an imine linked POC known as 'CC3', and show that hydrogen gas can be used to form metallic NPs at ∼200 °C without the reduction of the organic cage (and the accompanying, unwanted loss of crystallinity). The resulting materials are characterized using a range of techniques (including powder diffraction, scanning transmission electron microscopy and synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy) and shown to be recrystallizable following dissolution in organic solvent. Their catalytic efficacy is demonstrated using the widely studied carbon monoxide oxidation reaction. This demonstration paves the way for using ultra-small NPs synthesized with POCs as solution-processable, self-assembling porous catalytic materials.

By combining ground-based spectrographic observations of variability in the chromospheric emission from Sun-like stars with the variability seen in their eigenmode frequencies, it is possible to relate the changes observed at the surfaces of these stars to the changes taking place in the interior. By further comparing this variability to changes in the relative flux from the stars, one can obtain an expression for how these activity indicators relate to the energy output from the stars. Such studies become very pertinent when the variability can be related to stellar cycles as they can then be used to improve our understanding of the solar cycle and its effect on the energy output from the Sun. Here we present observations of chromospheric emission in 20 Sun-like stars obtained over the course of the nominal 4-year Kepler mission. Even though 4 years is too short to detect stellar equivalents of the 11-year solar cycle, observations from the Kepler mission can still be used to analyse the variability of the different activity indicators thereby obtaining information of the physical mechanism generating the variability. The analysis reveals no strong correlation between the different activity indicators, except in very few cases. We suggest that this is due to the sparse sampling of our ground-based observations on the one hand and that we are likely not tracing cyclic variability on the other hand. We also discuss how to improve the situation., accepted for publication in MNRAS

The long-standing body of literature on human teams has provided an important foundation for understanding the core tenets that will structure and govern the dynamic human-autonomy teams of the future. The extant knowledge base highlights the importance of communication as a conduit for the development of teamwork states and processes such as shared situation awareness and appropriate team trust. However, the structure, roles, and interdependencies that will make up these future human-autonomy teams will inherently have marked differences in how they will operate, interact, and function. New metrics and assessment processes are needed to evaluate the interactions of these teams. Included in these needs are metrics of and standards for team performance, changes in team state measures (e.g., performance, stress, team cohesion, and trust), and evaluation of communication as it relates to the effectiveness of the team as a whole. In order to fully develop these metrics and assessments, coordination outside the laboratory environment with real-world autonomy-enabled systems is a critical next step. This paper provides a review of current processes recommended for assessing and evaluating teams, as well as the current limitations. The review is followed by a use case from a field study with the US Army Robotic Wingman program. This use case provides additional options for assessment protocols for human-autonomy team performance, team communication, and human state (including behavioral and physiological indicators) while operating in a real-world setting during gunnery operations. Overall, outcomes provide insight into future assessment procedures for future team crew station interaction with multiple robotic assets.

This paper proposes a measurement-based method to derive a reduced-network model of distribution systems in real-time using two-port networks. Instead of relying on an offline model, the method uses only synchronized voltage and current phasor data collected from a limited number of strate-gically placed distribution-level phasor measurement units. An important feature of the measurement-based approach is that it is adaptive to operating-point changes. Through numerical examples, we verify the accuracy of the reduced-network model by comparing its power flow solution and optimal power flow solution to that of the original distribution system from which measurements are obtained.

We have previously demonstrated that reduced-exertion high-intensity interval training (REHIT) is a genuinely time-efficient exercise strategy for improving cardiometabolic health. Here, we examined the affective and perceptual responses to REHIT. Eight young men and women (age 21±1 y, BMI 24.9±2.1 m/kg2, V̇ O2max 39±10 ml/kg/min) and 11 men with type 2 diabetes (T2D; age 52±6 y, BMI 29.7±3.1 m/kg2, V̇ O2max 29±5 ml/kg/min) took part in three-arm crossover trials with RPE and affective valence measured during, and enjoyment and exercise preferences measured following either: 1) REHIT (2x20-s sprints in a 10-min exercise session), 2) HIIT (10x1-min efforts) and 3) 30 min MICT. Furthermore, 19 young men and women (age 25±6 y, BMI 24±4 m/kg2, V̇ O2max 34±8 ml/kg/min) completed a 6-week REHIT intervention with affective valence during an acute REHIT session measured before and after training. Affect decreases (briefly) during REHIT, but recovers rapidly, and the decline is not significantly different when compared to MICT or HIIT in either healthy participants or T2D patients. Young sedentary participants reported similar levels of enjoyment for REHIT, MICT and HIIT, but 7 out of 8 had a preference for REHIT. Conversely, T2D patients tended to report lower levels of enjoyment with REHIT compared with MICT. The decrease in affective valence observed during an acute REHIT session was significantly attenuated following training. We conclude that affective and perceptual responses to REHIT are no more negative compared to those associated with MICT or HIIT, refuting claims that supramaximal sprint interval training protocols are associated with inherent negative responses.

We present the target list of solar-type stars to be observed in short-cadence (2-min) for asteroseismology by the NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) during its 2-year nominal survey mission. The solar-like Asteroseismic Target List (ATL) is comprised of bright, cool main-sequence and subgiant stars and forms part of the larger target list of the TESS Asteroseismic Science Consortium (TASC). The ATL uses Gaia DR2 and the Extended Hipparcos Compilation (XHIP) to derive fundamental stellar properties, calculate detection probabilities and produce a rank-ordered target list. We provide a detailed description of how the ATL was produced and calculate expected yields for solar-like oscillators based on the nominal photometric performance by TESS. We also provide publicly available source code which can be used to reproduce the ATL, thereby enabling comparisons of asteroseismic results from TESS with predictions from synthetic stellar populations., Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures; accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series

Solar-type stars are born with relatively rapid rotation and strong magnetic fields. Through a process known as magnetic braking, the rotation slows over time as stellar winds gradually remove angular momentum from the system. The rate of angular momentum loss depends sensitively on the magnetic morphology, with the dipole field exerting the largest torque on the star. Recent observations suggest that the efficiency of magnetic braking may decrease dramatically in stars near the middle of their main-sequence lifetimes. One hypothesis to explain this reduction in efficiency is a shift in magnetic morphology from predominantly larger to smaller spatial scales. We aim to test this hypothesis with spectropolarimetric measurements of two stars that sample chromospheric activity levels on opposite sides of the proposed magnetic transition. As predicted, the more active star (HD 100180) exhibits a significant circular polarization signature due to a non-axisymmetric large-scale magnetic field, while the less active star (HD 143761) shows no significant signal. We identify analogs of the two stars among a sample of well-characterized Kepler targets, and we predict that the asteroseismic age of HD 143761 from future TESS observations will substantially exceed the age expected from gyrochronology. We conclude that a shift in magnetic morphology likely contributes to the loss of magnetic braking in middle-aged stars, which appears to coincide with the shutdown of their global dynamos., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, ApJ Letters (accepted)

Brightness variations due to dark spots on the stellar surface encode information about stellar surface rotation and magnetic activity. In this work, we analyze the Kepler long-cadence data of 26,521 main-sequence stars of spectral types M and K in order to measure their surface rotation and photometric activity level. Rotation-period estimates are obtained by the combination of a wavelet analysis and autocorrelation function of the light curves. Reliable rotation estimates are determined by comparing the results from the different rotation diagnostics and four data sets. We also measure the photometric activity proxy Sph using the amplitude of the flux variations on an appropriate timescale. We report rotation periods and photometric activity proxies for about 60 per cent of the sample, including 4,431 targets for which McQuillan et al. (2013a,2014) did not report a rotation period. For the common targets with rotation estimates in this study and in McQuillan et al. (2013a,2014), our rotation periods agree within 99 per cent. In this work, we also identify potential polluters, such as misclassified red giants and classical pulsator candidates. Within the parameter range we study, there is a mild tendency for hotter stars to have shorter rotation periods. The photometric activity proxy spans a wider range of values with increasing effective temperature. The rotation period and photometric activity proxy are also related, with Sph being larger for fast rotators. Similar to McQuillan et al. (2013a,2014), we find a bimodal distribution of rotation periods., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJS, 24 pages, 20 figures

Perovskite oxides displaying mixed ionic and electronic conductivity have attracted a lot of interest for application in oxygen separation membranes. Such membranes could be used for a range of processes, including the conversion of natural gas to hydrogen or syngas. A major limitation of these materials is their tendency to segregate into simpler oxides under operating conditions, reacting with sulphur-based species often found in natural gas and leading to irreversible membrane degradation over time. Here we aim to delay or prevent this process by coating La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ membranes with Alumina (Al2O3) layers of 1–100 nm thickness by using atomic layer deposition. We show that coatings of about 30 nm have negligible negative effect on O2 transport flux across the membrane and display good flux recovery when H2S is removed from the stream. Coatings thinner than this critical value provide little protection against irreversible poisoning while thicker coatings dramatically decrease overall O2 permeation fluxes. We also show that the irreversible sulphur poisoning under O2 permeation conditions is linked to microstructural and composition changes at the membrane surface caused predominantly by the formation of SrSO4 particles at the perovskite grain boundaries.

Dual-phase molten salt-ceramic membranes show high permselectivity for CO2 when molten carbonate is supported in a porous oxygen-ion and/or electron conductor. In this arrangement, the support likely contributes to permeation. Thus, if one is to understand and ultimately design membranes, it is also important to perform experiments with an inert support where permeation relies upon the molten carbonate properties alone. Here, a nominally inert material (Al2O3) was used in order to restrict permeation to molten carbonate. Model Al2O3 dual-phase membranes were fabricated using laser drilling to provide an order of magnitude difference in molten salt-gas interfacial area between feed and permeate sides. Molten carbonate thickness in the model membranes was also varied, independent of the molten salt-gas interfacial area. For all thicknesses studied, CO2 permeation rates showed a significant temperature dependence from 500 to 750 °C, suggesting an activated process was rate-limiting, likely a permeate-side molten salt-gas interfacial process, i.e. desorption of CO2. We applied these findings in asymmetric hollow-fibre supports, a geometry with inherent modularity and scalability, by developing a new carbonate infiltration method to control molten carbonate distribution within the hollow fibre. Compared to a conventionally prepared dual-phase hollow-fibre membrane with an uncontrolled distribution of carbonates, permeation rates were increased by up to 4 times when the molten salt was confined to the packed-pore network, i.e. without infiltrating the hollow-fibre micro-channels. X-ray micro-CT investigations supported the idea that the resulting increase in interfacial area for desorption of CO2 was the key structural difference contributing to increased permeation rates. For CO2 separation, where large volumes of gas must be processed, such increases in permeation rates will reduce the demand for membrane materials, although one must note the higher permeation rates achievable with oxygen-ion and/or electron conducting supports.

Despite increasingly mixed communities in large cities, there remains a paucity of absolute and comparative data concerning the treatment, access and survival of British Asians with pancreatic cancer. A prospective database of 1038 patients with a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer from 2003 to 2012 was analysed. Asian/Asian British was defined as patients identifying themselves as originating from India, Bangladesh or Pakistan. No significant difference was observed in gender split for both Asian/Asian British and White British (AAB and WB). The incidence of pancreas cancer was also equivalent between the two groups at 8.1 versus 8.8 per 100,000 of the population. Age at presentation was significantly younger in AABs when compared to WBs (67 vs. 70 years, p = 0.003). Whilst median maximal tumour diameter, node status and the incidence of metastases were not different between AABs and WBs, the AABs had a significantly greater median T-stage (3.0 versus 2.5, p = 0.0024). The percentage of patients referred for chemotherapy was significantly higher in the AAB group (70.5 vs. 47.7 %, p = 0.0015). Overall survival and survival for patients having palliative treatment were significantly greater in AABs (4.6 vs. 6.1 months and 3.7 vs. 5.1 months). This study demonstrates that AAB patients are present with pancreatic cancer at a younger age and that when receiving palliative chemotherapy their survival is significantly better. Further studies and larger data sets over a longer period are required. It is important to examine further the complexity of incidence and survival in ethnic minorities and investigate the underlying reasons when differences are demonstrated.

Background: Marine-derived ω-3 fatty acids (ω-3FAs) have proven antitumor activity in vivo and in vitro and improve quality of life (QOL) in clinical cancer studies. These changes may be mediated by reduction in circulating proangiogenic and proinflammatory factors. In this first study of intravenous ω-3FAs as a therapy in cancer patients, we aimed to assess if it could augment the antitumor activity of gemcitabine in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer and improve QOL. Materials and Methods: Patients were administered gemcitabine 1000 mg/m3 weekly followed by up to 100 g (200 mg/mL) of ω-3 rich lipid emulsion for 3 weeks followed by a rest week. This was continued for up to 6 cycles, progression, unacceptable toxicity, patient request, or death. The primary outcome measure was objective response rate, with secondary outcome measures of overall and progression free survival, QOL scores, and adverse events. Results: Fifty patients were recruited. Response rate was 14.3% and disease control rate was 85...

This paper describes a method for voltage control towards optimal power flow (OPF) operation of radial distribution systems through reactive power (Q) control of distributed energy resources (DERs). A two-level control system consisting of an upper-level centralized controller and lower-level local controllers is proposed. First, a stable local control scheme and a criteria for its voltage stability via a discrete-time state-space model are presented. Second, the local control scheme is combined with a centralized AC OPF optimization to minimize delivery losses in the distribution system while maintaining bus voltages at optimal levels. The control system is modeled and simulated in Matlab/OpenDSS considering real world input data. In a simulation study of the IEEE 123-bus test system with historical load and solar generation data for a 24-h period, the proposed method is compared to other Q modes of DERs, specifically the volt-var droop control mode and a centralized OPF control mode. Furthermore, the control system is used in a scenario with an on-load tap changer and in unbalanced loading conditions. Overall, the proposed control method enhances existing local controllers with faster convergence and reduced voltage variations while ensuring stability, particularly in cases with highly intermittent renewable generation. In addition, it can reduce system voltage unbalance and transformer tap changer operations.

Noble metals notably platinum (Pt), is a major element of heterogeneous catalysts, excel in catalysing an extensive number of important catalytic reactions in chemical and automotive industries. Since the increased use of these metals is severely limited because of their high cost and scarcity’s, there is therefore an urgent need for the search of alternative transition metal catalysts that are cheaper and more widely available. This can only be practical if the main drawbacks of these transition metals can be impeded for instance the agglomeration of particles under high temperatures operational conditions with their activity enhanced, such that they can directly replace Pt on a weight-to-weight basis. The exsolution of metallic nanoparticles mainly nickel (Ni) at the surface of perovskite oxides in situ has shown remarkable catalytic activity and durability towards carbon monoxide (CO) and nitric oxide (NO) oxidation and in fuel cells. In this study, for CO oxidation reaction, the catalytic capabilities of exsolved Ni nanoparticles can be further enhanced when iron (Fe) and cobalt (Co) are co-exsolved with Ni, as FeNi and CoNi alloy nanoparticles, forming mixed oxide nanoparticles. FeNi alloy nanoparticles exhibit almost ten times site activities as compared to the Ni nanoparticles, owing to the oxide layer formation which then aided the oxidation of CO. Interesting enough, the CoNi alloy nanoparticles exhibit slightly different morphological and chemical transformation due to the difference in oxidation mechanism and the degree of oxidation, which reveal greater site activities towards CO oxidation. These nanoparticles were also subjected to additional compressive strain when they expanded as a result of them being pinned to the support. These results pave the way for new approach in altering the activity of the exsolved materials for various reactions.

High temperature ceramic membranes often suffer catastrophic failure and loss of selectivity due to the initiation and propagation of cracks, leading to the creation of leak paths for undesired permeants. Cracking occurs due to the brittle nature of ceramics and e.g. materials expansivity mismatch or stresses accumulated at sealing points. One way to overcome this problem is to produce a self-healing membrane, where the healing phase restores perm-selectivity to the membrane following cracking. Here we show that the molten salt in a supported molten-salt membrane for CO2 permeation can be used to self-heal a working membrane in operation, all the while being the selective phase for permeation. By designing a membrane with a sacrificial crack-inducing agent (removed to create a clear leak-path) we show in a single experiment how a permeating membrane can crack and leak, then autonomously self-heal via an intrinsic mechanism; controlled spreading of the highly-wetting and CO2 selective molten salt. No external triggers or self-healing stimuli are required, indicating that highly-wetting and selective liquids can be used to increase membrane lifetime by self-healing, reducing capital and operating costs.

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAC) is a devastating condition, with the majority of patients presenting with metastatic or locally advanced disease. In these patients their disease is classified as advanced pancreatic cancer (APC), which is incurable and associated with survivals generally of a few months. The overall survival (OS) for pancreatic cancer has not changed significantly in the past forty years with multiple trials demonstrating disappointing results. Immune modulatory cells particularly myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and T regulatory cells (Tregs) are important mediators in PAC. Omega 3 fatty acids (ω-3FAs) have been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties and there is now evidence demonstrating the benefit of ω-3FAs in PAC. METHODS: This was a single-center cohort study investigating intravenous ω-3FAs and gemcitabine chemotherapy versus gemcitabine therapy only in patients with APC. Here, we investigated levels of MDSCs and Tregs and examined how these changes correlated with survival. RESULTS: Eighteen trial and nine control patients were recruited. There was a significant benefit in progression-free survival (PFS) in trial compared to control patients (P=0.0003). Median survival in trial patients was 5.65 months compared to 1.8 months in control patients. There was no significant benefit in OS in trial compared to control patients (P=0.13). Median survival in trial patients was 7 months compared to 2.9 months in control patients. MDSCs were significantly decreased in trial patients (P=0.0001) but not control patients. Conversely Tregs were significantly increased in control patients (P=0.005) but not in trial patients. CONCLUSIONS: Administration of ω-3FAs with gemcitabine chemotherapy in APC results in a significant decrease of MDSCs and stability of Tregs. This may be secondary to the reduction of pro-inflammatory mediators. A phase three randomized trial is justified to further examine these effects.

Cognitive decline is often undetectable in the early stages of accelerated vascular aging. Attentional processes are particularly affected in older adults with white matter hyperintensities (WMH), although specific neurovascular mechanisms have not been elucidated. We aimed to identify differences in attention-related neurofunctional activation and behavior between adults with and without WMH. Older adults with moderate to severe WMH (n = 18, mean age = 70 years), age-matched adults (n = 28, mean age = 72), and healthy younger adults (n = 19, mean age = 25) performed a modified flanker task during multi-echo blood oxygenation level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging. Task-related activation was assessed using a weighted-echo approach. Healthy older adults had more widespread response and higher amplitude of activation compared to WMH adults in fronto-temporal and parietal cortices. Activation associated with processing speed was absent in the WMH group, suggesting attention-related activation deficits that may be a consequence of cerebral small vessel disease. WMH adults had greater executive contrast activation in the precuneous and posterior cingulate gyrus compared to HYA, despite no performance benefits, reinforcing the network dysfunction theory in WMH.

Effective software development of distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS) requires an adequate test environment to facilitate implementation and testing. As the power system with distributed energy resources (DER) is a complex physical system and access to real-world test environments is limited, it is of interest to use real-time simulation for DERMS development. This paper introduces a cloud-based DERMS test platform using an OPAL-RT simulator for hardware-in-the-loop testing. A phasor-domain model of a modified IEEE 34 node test feeder with DER is implemented within ePHASORsim and interfaced through a Modbus connection to an internet-of-things (IoT) solution of KMC Control. The DERMS by Enbala operates on the Amazon cloud and is interfaced to the IoT cloud over a proprietary API. This paper describes the test setup and provides results of a sanity test of the DERMS. In the sanity test, DERs are controlled to avoid reverse power flow at the substation during high DER generation periods. The real-time hardware-in-the-loop test results have verified the basic functionalities and operations of the cloud-based DERMS control platform.

All real processes, be they chemical, mechanical or electrical, are thermodynamically irreversible and therefore suffer from thermodynamic losses. Here, we report the design and operation of a chemical reactor capable of approaching thermodynamically reversible operation. The reactor was employed for hydrogen production via the water–gas shift reaction, an important route to ‘green’ hydrogen. The reactor avoids mixing reactant gases by transferring oxygen from the (oxidizing) water stream to the (reducing) carbon monoxide stream via a solid-state oxygen reservoir consisting of a perovskite phase (La0.6Sr0.4FeO3-δ). This reservoir is able to remain close to equilibrium with the reacting gas streams because of its variable degree of non-stoichiometry and thus develops a ‘chemical memory’ that we employ to approach reversibility. We demonstrate this memory using operando, spatially resolved, real-time, high-resolution X-ray powder diffraction on a working reactor. The design leads to a reactor unconstrained by overall chemical equilibrium limitations, which can produce essentially pure hydrogen and carbon dioxide as separate product streams. Conventional chemical reactors are subject to the equilibrium limitations imposed by the overall reaction. It has now been shown that this limitation can be overcome if reactants are fed separately to a reactor and a non-stoichiometric oxygen carrier is used to transfer both oxygen and key chemical information across a reaction cycle.

In this driving study, participants were assigned to a driver-passenger dyad and performed two drives along Interstate-95 in normal traffic conditions. During the driving session, the driver had to safely navigate the route while listening and discussing news stories that were relayed by the passenger. The driver then performed a set of memory tasks to evaluate how well they retained information from the discussion in a multitask context. We report preliminary analyses that examined subjective factors which may influence success in social communication, including trait and state similarity derived from questionnaires as well as physiological synchrony from implicit state measurements derived from brain activity data. Although this dataset is still in collection, these initial findings suggest potential metrics that capture the contextual complexity in naturalistic, multitask environments, providing a rich opportunity to study how successful communication reflects shared social and emotional experiences.

There are a number of reasons to use computer-based simulation in human-robot interaction research. Most predominant is the assessment of humanin-the-loop interactions for robotic technologies that do not yet exist, are in prototype development, or are in early test and evaluation stages of development. In these cases, simulation can provide insight into how the human may interact with the real world robotic vehicle. However, there are a number of challenges to designing and developing these simulations so that findings translate to interaction with real-world systems. This work specifically looks at the incorporation of human factors into driving simulations for robotic military vehicles. Three use cases address a number of these challenges.

Recent work has highlighted that ‘energy landscapes’ should affect animal movement trajectories although expected patterns are rarely quantified. We developed a model, incorporating speed, substrate, superstrate and terrain slope, to determine minimized movement costs for an energetically well-understood model animal, Homo sapiens, negotiating an urban environment, to highlight features that promote increased tortuosity and affect area use. The model showed that high differential travel power costs between adjacent areas, stemming from substantial environmental heterogeneity in the energy landscape, produced the most tortuous least-cost paths across scales. In addition, projected territory size and shape in territorial animals is likely to be affected by the details in the energy landscape. We suggest that cognisance of energy landscapes is important for understanding animal movement patterns and that energetic differences between least cost- and observed pathways might code for, and give an explicit value to, other important landscape-use factors, such as the landscape of fear, food availability or social effects.

There has been considerable effort, particularly in the military, at integrating automated agents into human teams. Currently, automated agents lack the ability to intelligently adapt to a dynamic operational environment, which results in them acting as tools rather than teammates. Rapidly advancing technology is enabling the development of autonomous agents that are able to actively make team-oriented decisions meaning truly intelligent autonomous agents are on the horizon. This makes the understanding of what is important to team performance a critical goal. In human teams, mission success depends on the development of a shared mental models and situation awareness. Development of these constructs requires good intra-team communication. However, establishing effective intra-team communication in a mixed-initiative team represents a current bottleneck in achieving successful teams. There has been significant research aimed at identifying modes of communication that can be used both by human and agent teammates, but often neglects a source of communication or information for the agent teammate that has been adopted by the human robot community to increase robot acceptance. Specifically, the use of psychophysiological features supplied to the agent that can then use algorithms to infer the cognitive state of the human teammate. The utility of using psychophysiological features for communication within teams has not been widely explored yet representing a knowledge gap in developing mixed-initiative teams. We designed an experimental paradigm that created an integrated human-automation team where psychophysiological data was collected and analyzed in real-time to address this knowledge gap. We briefly present a general background to human automation teaming before presenting our research and preliminary analysis.

The recent proliferation of artificial intelligence research is reaching a point where machines are able to learn and adapt to dynamically make decisions independently or in collaboration with human team members. With such technological advancements on the horizon, there will come a mandate to develop techniques to deploy effective human-agent teams. One key challenge to the development of effective teaming has been enabling a shared, dynamic understanding of mission space, and a basic knowledge about the states and intents other teammates. Bidirectional communication is an approach that fosters communication between human and intelligent agents to improve mutual understanding and enable effective task coordination. This session focuses on current research and scientific gaps in three areas necessary to advance the field of bidirectional communication between human and intelligent agent team members. First, intelligent agents must be capable of understanding the state and intent of the human team member. Second, human team members must be capable of understanding the capabilities and intent of the intelligent agent. Finally, in order for the entire system to work, systems must effectively integrate information from and coordinate behaviors across all team members. The combination of these three areas will enable future human-agent teams to develop a shared understanding of the environment as well as a mutual understanding of each other, thereby enabling truly collaborative human-agent teams.