Deterministic quantum mechanics: The role of the Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution

To be accepted by the community, the claim that nuclear motion has to be treated classically must be tested for all kinds of phenomena. For the moment we claim that in a quantum chemical calculation, a classical description of nuclear motion is superior to the use of the Schrödinger equation, and investigate how far we get with this statement. In the present paper we address the question what nuclear quantum statistics means in this context. We will show that the Maxwell–Boltzmann velocity distribution evolves quickly in any molecular dynamics simulation and this guarantees the physically correct behavior of molecular systems. Using first-principles molecular dynamics simulations, or more precisely Car–Parrinello molecular dynamics, we investigate what this means for Bose-Einstein condensates and for Cooper pairs. It turns out that our approach can explain all relevant phenomena. As a consequence, we can introduce a deterministic formulation of quantum mechanics and can get rid of all the paradoxa in traditional quantum mechanics. The basic idea is to treat electrons and nuclei differently

"Urban Plant" light-weight solar system for parking and other urban double use applications

Innovations on all aspects of BOS and solar cell integration into the module are essential to further reducing the costs of PV electricity and substantial progress has been made in the past years. One other important aspect is the availability of space for PV power production, especially in densely occupied urban areas. Roof space is limited or only partially useable. A promising other application for PV power production in urban areas today are PV carports on parking lots, which require massive structures and foundations. The approach presented here is a newly developed PV plant which automatically stores the PV modules in a protection box in case of bad weather conditions. Avoiding bad weather conditions implies that only a fraction of the mechanical load is present on the PV modules and the structure, enabling light weight structural design. The newly developed PV plant is folding the PV generator into a protection box and will pull out the PV generator, carried on two supporting cables for operation during good weather conditions. An innovative autonomous control system was developed based on local meteo sensors and regional weather information. The PV modules of the Urban Plant are mounted six meters above a parking lot with the benefit of full double use of the land below. Thus a PV system has been built with currently 52 kW nominal power, 16 meter wide, with a folding roof of PV modules expanding 24 meters in one direction. The system can be extended to 104 kWp with a second folding roof expanding into the other direction. As special PV system design was developed with a light weight PV generator using module laminates with special mounting elements. Moreover the system comprises innovative string wiring and inverters that can be also integrated into the safety box. A first 250kW commercial system is scheduled to be set into operation in Jan 2014 in Southern Germany

The Fate of Children with Microdeletion 22q11.2 Syndrome and Congenital Heart Defect: Clinical Course and Cardiac Outcome

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the cardiac outcome for children with microdeletion 22q11.2 and congenital heart defect (CHD). Methods: A total of 49 consecutive children with 22q11.2 and CHD were retrospectively identified. The CHD consisted of tetralogy of Fallot and variances (n = 22), interrupted aortic arch (n = 10), ventricular septal defect (n = 8), truncus arteriosus (n = 6), and double aortic arch (n = 1). Extracardiac anomalies were present in 46 of 47 children. Results: The median follow-up time was 8.5 years (range, 3 months to 23.5 years). Cardiac surgical repair was performed for 35 children, whereas 5 had palliative surgery, and 9 never underwent cardiac surgery. The median age at repair was 7.5 months (range, 2 days to 5 years). The mean hospital stay was 35 days (range, 7-204 days), and the intensive care unit stay was 15 days (range, 3-194 days). Significant postoperative complications occurred for 26 children (74%), and surgery for extracardiac malformations was required for 21 patients (43%). The overall mortality rate was 22% (11/49), with 1-year survival for 86% and 5-year survival for 80% of the patients. A total of 27 cardiac reinterventions were performed for 16 patients (46%) including 15 reoperations and 12 interventional catheterizations. Residual cardiac findings were present in 25 patients (71%) at the end of the follow-up period. Conclusions: Children with microdeletion 22q11.2 and CHD are at high risk for mortality and morbidity, as determined by both the severity of the cardiac lesions and the extracardiac anomalies associated with the microdeletio

Dopamine receptor 4 promoter polymorphism modulates memory and neuronal responses to salience

Animal models and human functional imaging data implicate the dopamine system in mediating enhanced encoding of novel stimuli into human memory. A separate line of investigation suggests an association between a functional polymorphism in the promoter region for the human dopamine 4 receptor gene (DRD4) and sensitivity to novelty. We demonstrate, in two independent samples, that the -521Cmayor queT DRD4 promoter polymorphism determines the magnitude of human memory enhancement for contextually novel, perceptual oddball stimuli in an allele dose-dependent manner. The genotype-dependent memory enhancement conferred by the C allele is associated with increased neuronal responses during successful encoding of perceptual oddballs in the ventral striatum, an effect which is again allele dose-dependent. Furthermore, with repeated presentations of oddball stimuli, this memory advantage decreases, an effect mirrored by adaptation of activation in the hippocampus and substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area in C carriers only. Thus, a dynamic modulation of human memory enhancement for perceptually salient stimuli is associated with activation of a dopaminergic-hippocampal system, which is critically dependent on a functional polymorphism in the DRD4 promoter region

Nitrite stress increases staphylococcal enterotoxin C transcription and triggers the SigB regulon

Staphylococcal food poisoning is a common food intoxication caused by staphylococcal enterotoxins. While growth of Staphylococcus aureus is not inhibited by the meat-curing agent nitrite, we hypothesize that nitrite has an influence on enterotoxin C (SEC) expression. We investigated the influence of 150 mg/l nitrite on SEC expression at mRNA and protein level in seven strains expressing different SEC variants. Additionally, regulatory knockout mutants (Δagr, ΔsarA, and ΔsigB) of high SEC producing strain SAI48 were investigated at mRNA level. Our findings suggest that nitrite effectively increases sec mRNA transcription, but the effects on SEC protein expression are less pronounced. While Δagr mutants exhibited lower sec mRNA transcription levels than wildtype strains, this response was not stress specific. ΔsigB mutants displayed a nitrite stress-specific response. Whole genome sequencing of the strains revealed a defective agr element in one strain (SAI3). In this strain, sec transcription and SEC protein synthesis was not affected by the mutation. Consequently, additional regulatory networks must be at play in SEC expression. Comparison of our findings about SEC with previous experiments on SEB and SED suggest that each SE can respond differently, and that the same stressor can trigger opposing responses in strains that express multiple toxins

LUCI onboard Lagrange, the Next Generation of EUV Space Weather Monitoring

LUCI (Lagrange eUv Coronal Imager) is a solar imager in the Extreme UltraViolet (EUV) that is being developed as part of the Lagrange mission, a mission designed to be positioned at the L5 Lagrangian point to monitor space weather from its source on the Sun, through the heliosphere, to the Earth. LUCI will use an off-axis two mirror design equipped with an EUV enhanced active pixel sensor. This type of detector has advantages that promise to be very beneficial for monitoring the source of space weather in the EUV. LUCI will also have a novel off-axis wide field-of-view, designed to observe the solar disk, the lower corona, and the extended solar atmosphere close to the Sun-Earth line. LUCI will provide solar coronal images at a 2-3 minute cadence in a pass-band centred on 19.5 nm. Observations made through this pass-band allow for the detection and monitoring of semi-static coronal structures such as coronal holes, prominences, and active regions; as well as transient phenomena such as solar flares, limb Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), EUV waves, and coronal dimmings. The LUCI data will complement EUV solar observations provided by instruments located along the Sun-Earth line such as PROBA2-SWAP, SUVI-GOES and SDO-AIA, as well as provide unique observations to improve space weather forecasts. Together with a suite of other remote-sensing and in-situ instruments onboard Lagrange, LUCI will provide science quality operational observations for space weather monitoring

Bistability of Slow and Fast Traveling Waves in Fluid Mixtures

The appearence of a new type of fast nonlinear traveling wave states in binary fluid convection with increasing Soret effect is elucidated and the parameter range of their bistability with the common slower ones is evaluated numerically. The bifurcation behavior and the significantly different spatiotemporal properties of the different wave states - e.g. frequency, flow structure, and concentration distribution - are determined and related to each other and to a convenient measure of their nonlinearity. This allows to derive a limit for the applicability of small amplitude expansions. Additionally an universal scaling behavior of frequencies and mixing properties is found. PACS: 47.20.-k, 47.10.+g, 47.20.KyComment: 4 pages including 5 Postscript figure

Pattern selection in the absolutely unstable regime as a nonlinear eigenvalue problem: Taylor vortices in axial flow

A unique pattern selection in the absolutely unstable regime of a driven, nonlinear, open-flow system is analyzed: The spatiotemporal structures of rotationally symmetric vortices that propagate downstream in the annulus of the rotating Taylor-Couette system due to an externally imposed axial through-flow are investigated for two different axial boundary conditions at the in- and outlet. Unlike the stationary patterns in systems without through-flow the spatiotemporal structures of propagating vortices are independent of parameter history, initial conditions, and system's length. They do, however, depend on the axial boundary conditions, the driving rate of the inner cylinder and the through-flow rate. Our analysis of the amplitude equation shows that the pattern selection can be described by a nonlinear eigenvalue problem with the frequency being the eigenvalue. Approaching the border between absolute and convective instability the eigenvalue problem becomes effectively linear and the selection mechanism approaches that one of linear front propagation. PACS:47.54.+r,47.20.Ky,47.32.-y,47.20.FtComment: 15 pages (LateX-file), 8 figures (Postscript