Physics-based control of neoclassical tearing modes on TCV

This paper presents recent progress on the studies of neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs) on TCV, concerning the new physics learned and how this physics contributes to a better real-time (RT) control of NTMs. A simple technique that adds a small (sinusoidal) sweeping to the target electron cyclotron (EC) beam deposition location has proven effective both for the stabilization and prevention of 2⁄1 NTMs. This relaxes the strict requirement on beam-mode alignment for NTM control, which is difficult to ensure in RT. In terms of the EC power for NTM stabilization, a control scheme making use of RT island width measurements has been tested on TCV. NTM seeding through sawtooth (ST) crashes or unstable current density profiles (triggerless NTMs) has been studied in detail. A new NTM prevention strategy utilizing only transient EC beams near the relevant rational surface has been developed and proven effective for preventing ST-seeded NTMs. With a comprehensive modified Rutherford equation (co-MRE) that considers the classical stability both at zero and finite island width, the prevention of triggerless NTMs with EC beams has been simulated for the first time. The prevention effects are found to result from the local effects of the EC beams (as opposed to global current profile changes), as observed in a group of TCV experiments scanning the deposition location of the preemptive EC beam. The co-MRE has also proven able to reproduce well the island width evolution in distinct plasma scenarios on TCV, ASDEX Upgrade and MAST, with very similar constant coefficients. The co-MRE has the potential of being applied in RT to provide valuable information such as the EC power required for NTM control with RT-adapted coefficients, contributing to both NTM control and integrated control with a limited set of actuators.

Investor Due Diligence and Legitimate Expectations

This article examines the significance of investor due diligence in the context of a claim that a host State has breached its obligation to provide fair and equitable treatment (FET). Despite increasing reliance on due diligence exercises, there are considerable differences in how tribunals understand and use such exercises. These differences are related to different visions of the function and future of international investment law. After exploring the different approaches that are taken, this article will argue that the most coherent approach is to treat investor due diligence as merely a technique for assessing investor reasonableness and prudence, rather than a strict requirement.

Synthesis of a Cyclophosphazene Derivative Containing Multiple Cyano Groups for Electron-Beam Irradiated Flame-Retardant Materials

A cyclophosphazene derivative containing multiple cyano groups, denoted as hexa(4-cyanophenoxy)cyclotriphosphazene (CN-CP), was synthesized by a one-step nucleophilic substitution reaction for a phosphorus–nitrogen flame retardant. To meet the strict requirement of safe and environment-protective insulation materials, a series of composites based on low-density polyethylene-poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) containing CN-CP/Mg(OH)2/Al(OH)3 organic-inorganic synergistic flame retardants was fabricated. High-energy electron beam irradiation was subsequently applied to obtain a halogen-free flame-retardant crosslinked system. The relationship between crosslinking degree and irradiation dose was studied, and crosslinking degrees ranging within 63–85% were obtained under 100–190 kGy. Furthermore, the effects of CN-CP filler and irradiation dose on the properties of the composites were carefully investigated. The maximum tensile stress and limiting oxygen index values of most composites irradiated by EB were more than 15 MPa and 28%. Results revealed that the obtained materials had excellent thermal and mechanical, flame-retardant, and insulation properties, thereby suggesting their promising prospects for wire and cable applications.

Does Social Media Moderates Factors that Influence Perceived Value and Personal Value on Purchase Intention of Modest Apparel?

Muslim women are huge target market that fashion industry just cannot afford to ignore. As fashion evolves, the industry had witnessed an evolution in the way of how Muslim women dressed. Donning modern apparel but at the same time still adhering to the strict requirement of covering ones ‘aurat’ had created modest apparel segment that could not to be ignored by fashion industry players due to the increasing demand from that growing niche market. The purpose of this study is to find out the factors that influence Muslim women to purchase modest apparel and whether social media has any influence towards their purchase decision. Fashion Innovativeness and Opinion Leadership are elements that represent the consumer Perceived Value while Fashion Consciousness and Fashion Motivation are elements representing the consumer’s Personal Value are the factors that this study is looking at. The finding from this study will benefit marketers and industry players to understand more about this newly emerging segment and how to attract them. This study was carried out via convenience sampling of Muslim women in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as Malaysia has more than 60 percent Muslim population. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 22 and Smart PLS 3. Fashion innovativeness was found not to have significant effect towards modest apparel purchase intention and social media does not moderate these factors to influence Malaysian Muslim women purchase attention at the moment.

Structural determinants and regulation of spontaneous activity in GABAA receptors

GABAA receptors are vital for controlling neuronal excitability and can display significant levels of constitutive activity that contributes to tonic inhibition. However, the mechanisms underlying spontaneity are poorly understood. Here we demonstrate a strict requirement for β3 subunit incorporation into receptors for spontaneous gating, facilitated by α4, α6 and δ subunits. The crucial molecular determinant involves four amino acids (GKER) in the β3 subunit’s extracellular domain, which interacts with adjacent receptor subunits to promote transition to activated, open channel conformations. Spontaneous activity is further regulated by β3 subunit phosphorylation and by allosteric modulators including neurosteroids and benzodiazepines. Promoting spontaneous activity reduced neuronal excitability, indicating that spontaneous currents will alter neural network activity. This study demonstrates how regional diversity in GABAA receptor isoform, protein kinase activity, and neurosteroid levels, can impact on tonic inhibition through the modulation of spontaneous GABAA receptor gating.

Expression of Concern: Medical Flaws and Failure Support the Presumption that Vaccine Booster Shots Are Dangerous

Amid the rapid mutation of SARS-Cov-2 virus, leaders in the world are under pressure to contain outbreaks. It has been suggested that vaccine booster shots are the solution. Based on available evidence from medical literature, anyone would be compelled to find that booster shots are the best option. However, discovered flaws in the foundation of medicine give me a different perspective. I have proved that population model, symptom-based side effect research method, reductionist treatment approach, mathematical models, etc. used in researches produce grossly inaccurate findings. I have shown that side effects rated by the symptom-based revaluation method are obscured by massive organ reserve, and the superimposed affects of a large number of lifestyle-related factors can further obscure side effects of vaccines. When medical journals are heavy influenced by the drug industry, medical research focus has been steered away from taking up all flaws that must be addressed before vaccines performance can be evaluated correctly. I show that population-based research model, symptom-based side-effect evaluation method, and multiple disease causes model dramatically exaggerate vaccines’ benefit-to-risk ratios. Due to those flaws, the merits of vaccines cannot be based on the literal ratings of population studies. Thus, I urge world leaders to reject evidence that is acquired from deeply flawed research models and methods. To best resolve this issue, I will explore how booster shots can cause dangerous immune responses from a kinetic point of view. Then, I deeply examine three medical failures: the DES disaster, belated discovery of stress hormones’ roles, and failure to recognize the strict requirement of immune system balance. Deep analysis of those failures clearly support a finding that medicine is unable to determine latent adverse effects as a matter of course. When our theoretical findings and catastrophic failures are considered further in view of the repeated failures in predicting latent side effects in other products such as Roundup, “forever chemicals”, asbestos, agent orange, etc., I was compelled to make a presumption that vaccines booster shots are dangerous. Boosters shots may be justified only if unique personal circumstances can overcome this presumption by carefully considering personal health, special need and willingness to accept risks.

SARS-CoV-2 Spike Affinity and Dynamics Exclude the Strict Requirement of an Intermediate Host

SARS-CoV-2 proximal origin is still unclear, limiting the possibility of foreseeing other spillover events with pandemic potential. Here we propose an evolutionary model based on the thorough dissection of SARS-CoV-2 and RaTG13 - the closest bat ancestor - spike dynamics, kinetics and binding to ACE2. Our results indicate that both spikes share nearly identical, high affinities for Rhinolophus affinis bat and human ACE2, pointing out to negligible species barriers directly related to receptor binding. Also, SARS-CoV-2 spike shows a higher degree of dynamics and kinetics optimization that favors ACE2 engagement. Therefore, we devise an affinity-independent evolutionary process that likely took place in R. affinis bats and limits the eventual involvement of other animal species in initiating the pandemic to the role of vector.

Continuous sensing of nutrients and growth factors by the mTORC1-TFEB axis

mTORC1 senses nutrient and growth factor status and phosphorylates downstream targets, including the transcription factor TFEB, to coordinate metabolic supply and demand. The molecular mechanisms of mTORC1 activation are thought to enforce a strict requirement for simultaneous amino acid and growth factor stimuli, but this model has not been evaluated with quantitative or single-cell methods. Here, we develop a series of fluorescent protein-TFEB fusions and investigate how combinations of stimuli jointly regulate signaling from mTORC1 to TFEB at the single-cell level. Live-cell imaging of individual cells revealed that mTORC1-TFEB signaling responds with graded changes to individual amino acid and growth factor inputs, rather than behaving as a logical AND gate. We find that mTORC1 inputs can be sequentially sensed, with responses that vary between mTORC1 substrates and are amplified by input from other kinases, including GSK3β. In physiologically relevant concentrations of amino acids, we observe fluctuations in mTORC1-TFEB signaling that indicate continuous responsiveness to nutrient availability. Our results clarify how the molecular regulation of mTORC1 enables homeostatic processes at the cellular level and provide a more precise understanding of its behavior as an integrator of multiple inputs.

A Humanistic Consequentialism for Film and Media Studies

This chapter outlines the framework for ethical analysis that will be carried through readings in the latter half of the book. It interrogates the reasons behind a dominant virtue ethics approach in film and media studies, and describes an alternative humanistic consequentialist approach. Consequentialism displaces the evaluation of others and their moral being, including the heroic or villainous qualities of fictive characters, in favor of a future-thinking concern that is more self-implicating, while humanist ethics integrates care and understanding of moral failures and the vagaries of moral luck. Humanistic consequentialism emerges as a pressure we can put on one another to be aware of the results of our behavior rather than a strict requirement to maximize the hedonic results of our actions; implications for the “thought experiments” of media are discussed.

Dust distribution and dynamics in the coma of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

<p>In this work, the motion of dust particles in the coma of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is investigated. This is done by analyzing sets of images taken by OSIRIS, the main imaging system on board Rosetta, in which these dust particles can be seen as bright tracks instead of points sources, as result of the combination of motions of both particles and spacecraft. A fundamental obstacle to deriving the dust size and velocity distribution from such data is that without additional information, the apparent brightness of a particle constrains only the ratio of size and distance, but neither quantity individually.</p> <p>While previous works in this area focused on obtaining the distance to individual detected particles in the image, a novel approach to analyze the dynamics of the dust is introduced in this work. This new approach is based on the statistical comparison between the images obtained by the camera, and synthetic images created by modeling the dynamics of the dust in the coma. The main advantage of this approach is to bypass the mentioned distance determination to the particles, which lifts the strict requirement on the observation conditions that were imposed by the earlier methods. This allows us to analyze a much larger set of images, and then, characterize the dust distribution and dynamics at the coma in a variety of conditions.</p> <p>Our method can be divided in three main parts. First, dust tracks on the OSIRIS images are detected using an algorithm based on the Hough transform method. Secondly, the trajectories of dust particles under the influence of gas drag, nucleus gravity, and solar radiation pressure are modeled. These trajectories vary depending on the dust properties, such as density and size. The combination of the trajectories and the information about spacecraft position and orientation allows us to generate synthetic images for each type of modeled dust. Lastly, the distribution of selected track properties, like orientation, length and total brightness, obtained from the real images, is fitted by combining the ones obtained from the synthetic images. This allows us to estimate the contents of each type of dust in the coma. </p>