Unambiguous Mono Deuterium Labelling of Alkyl Ethyl Ketones at the α Position of the Ethyl Group by Ruthenium (III) Catalyzed Isomerization of O-Deuterated Allylic Alcohols

Ruthenium (III) tris acetylacetonate is an efficient catalyst for the isomerization of O-deuterated alkylvinyl carbinols allowing thus a facile route to the title compounds.     

An Acoustic Emission Study for Monitoring Anterior Cruciate Ligament Failure Under Tension

The analysis of the acoustic signals produced during anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) failure could be useful in understanding its behavior. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the role of coupling conditions of the sensors and to determine the value of newly introduced acoustic emission (AE) parameters. Seven femur-ACL-tibia complex (FATC) specimens were fixed in a universal tensile testing machine and load was applied. Different coupling conditions were applied in two groups of specimens. The load-time curve was monitored, with the simultaneous recording of the acoustic signals and the failure mode. During ACL tear, detectable changes in the load-time curve occurred linked to changes in the macroscopic sequence of events and the measured AE parameters irrespective the coupling conditions. AE provides information on the determination of the moment (or load) when crucial irreversible damage occurs. Furthermore, specific AE indices exhibit changes throughout the testing, and imply shift of the failure mechanisms.     

A phase I, randomized study of combined IL-2 and therapeutic immunisation with antiretroviral therapy

Background  

Fully functional HIV-1-specific CD8 and CD4 effector T-cell responses are vital to the containment of viral activity and disease progression. These responses are lacking in HIV-1-infected patients with progressive disease. We attempted to augment fully functional HIV-1-specific CD8 and CD4 effector T-cell responses in patients with advanced chronic HIV-1 infection.     

Rupture of anterior cruciate ligament monitored by acoustic emission

The scope of this study is to relate the acoustic emission (AE) during rupture of human soft tissue (anterior cruciate ligament, ACL) to the mechanisms leading to its failure. The cumulative AE activity highlights the onset of serious damage, while other parameters, show repeatable tendencies, being well correlated with the tissue's mechanical behavior. The frequency content of AE signals increases throughout the experiment, while other indices characterize between different modes of failure. Results of this preliminary study show that AE can shed light into the failure process of this tissue, and provide useful data on the ACL reconstruction.     

A note on the design of hp-version interior penalty discontinuous Galerkin finite element methods for degenerate problems

^** Email: emmanuil.georgoulis{at}mcs.le.ac.uk^*** Email: al{at}maths.strath.ac.uk We consider a variant of the hp-version interior penalty discontinuousGalerkin finite element method (IP-DGFEM) for second-order problemsof degenerate type. We do not assume uniform ellipticity ofthe diffusion tensor. Moreover, diffusion tensors of arbitraryform are covered in the theory presented. A new, refined recipefor the choice of the discontinuity-penalization parameter (thatis present in the formulation of the IP-DGFEM) is given. Makinguse of the recently introduced augmented Sobolev space framework,we prove an hp-optimal error bound in the energy norm and anh-optimal and slightly p-suboptimal (by only half an order ofp) bound in the L² norm (the latter, for the symmetric versionof the IP-DGFEM), provided that the solution belongs to an augmentedSobolev space.     

Optimal error estimates for the hp-version interior penalty discontinuous Galerkin finite element method

We consider the hp-version interior penalty discontinuous Galerkinfinite-element method (hp-DGFEM) for second-order linear reaction–diffusionequations. To the best of our knowledge, the sharpest knownerror bounds for the hp-DGFEM are due to Rivière et al.(1999,Comput. Geosci., 3, 337–360) and Houston et al.(2002,SIAM J. Numer. Anal., 99, 2133–2163). These are optimalwith respect to the meshsize h but suboptimal with respect tothe polynomial degree p by half an order of p. We present improvederror bounds in the energy norm, by introducing a new functionspace framework. More specifically, assuming that the solutionsbelong element-wise to an augmented Sobolev space, we deducefully hp-optimal error bounds.     

Femtosecond vibrational dynamics of self-trapping in a quasi-one-dimensional system

We have directly time resolved the lattice motions associated with the formation of the self-trapped exciton in the quasi-one-dimensional system [Pt(en)(2)] [Pt(en)2Br2];(PF6)(4) ( en = ethylene-diamine, C2H8N2), using femtosecond impulsive excitation techniques. A strongly damped, low-frequency wave packet modulation at approximately 110 cm(-1) accompanies the formation of the self-trapped exciton on a approximately 200 fs time scale following excitation of the intervalence charge-transfer transition. Coherent oscillations at the ground state vibrational frequency and its harmonics are also detected.