Chemically mediated sexual communication in humans has been largely neglected due to its non-conscious and relatively concealed nature. However, menstrual cycle synchronisation, puberty onset in young pre-pubertal girls exposed to their stepfather, and consanguinity avoidance suggest a function in the physiological regulation of sexual and reproductive behaviour in humans. These phenomena are r...

We explore the analytical performance and limitations of optically monitoring aqueous-phase temperature using protein-protected gold nanoclusters (AuNCs). Although not reported elsewhere, we find that these bio-passivated AuNCs show pronounced hysteresis upon thermal cycling. This unwanted behaviour can be eliminated by several strategies, including sol-gel coating and thermal denaturation of t...

In this review, the intriguing, anomalous behaviour of hydrate thermal conductivity will be described, and progress in performing experimental measurements will be described briefly. However particular attention shall be devoted to recent advances in the development of detailed theoretical understandings of mechanisms of thermal conduction in clathrate hydrates, and on how information gleaned f...

Prediction of concrete performance at high temperatures is of great importance, in particular for safety evaluation of concrete structures in fires in tunnels and high buildings or in thermal hazard situations like hypothetical core disruptive nuclear accidents. High temperatures induce strong physical and chemical changes in the micro-structure of concrete that affect its mechanical behaviour....

In this paper we study the effective thermal behaviour of 3D representative volume elements (RVEs) of two-phased composite materials constituted by a matrix with cylindrical and spherical inclusions distributed randomly, with periodic boundaries. Variations around the shape of inclusions have been taken into account, by corrugating shapes, excavating and/or by removing pieces of inclusions. The...

Nitinol, a nickel titanium alloy, is widely used as a biocompatible metal with applications in high strain medical devices. The alloy exhibits both superelasticity and thermal shape memory behaviour. Basic mechanical properties can be established and are provided by suppliers; however the true stress-strain response under repeated load is not fully understood. It is essential to know this behav...

Because key nutritional processes differ in their thermal optima, ectotherms may use temperature selection to optimize performance in changing nutritional environments. Such behaviour would be especially advantageous to small terrestrial animals, which have low thermal inertia and often have access to a wide range of environmental temperatures over small distances. Using the locust, Locusta mig...

We have simulated by Monte Carlo method the thermal behaviour of a small (N=13 particles) cluster described by a Heisenberg model including nearest neighbours ferromagnetic interactions and radial surface anisotropy, in an applied magnetic field. We have studied three different lattice structures: hexagonal close packed, face centered cubic and icosahedral. We show that the zero field thermal b...

the thermal denaturation of α-amylase from bacillus amyloliquefaciens has been investigated in the presence and absence of sodium dodecyl sulphate (sds) over the temperature range (293-373) k in 20 mm sodium phosphate buffer, ph 6.9, using temperature scanning spectroscopy. the presence of sds caused the destabilization of α-amylase resulting in a decrease in the temperature of unfolding with a...

Xenon and caesium are among the most impacting fission products when studying nuclear fuel: xenon for its role on fuel rod thermomechanical behaviour during reactor operation in case of atmospheric radioactive release an accident a power plant. This paper focuses comparison thermal polycrystalline uranium dioxide (UO2) pellets. Caesium-133 or xenon-136 stable isotopes were introduced depleted U...