Infinitesimal and local rigidity of mappings of CR manifolds

A holomorphic mapping $H$ between two real-analytic CR manifolds $M$ and $M'$ is said to be locally rigid if any other holomorphic map $F\colon M \to M'$ which is close enough to $H$ is obtained by composing $H$ with suitable automorphisms of $M$ and $M'$. With the aim of reducing the local rigidity problem to a linear one, we provide sufficient infinitesimal conditions. Furthermore we study some topological properties of the action of the automorphism group on the space of nondegenerate mappings from $M$ to $M'$

Radiative Response on Massive Noble Gas Injection For Runaway Suppression in Disruptive Plasmas

The most direct way to avoid the formation of a relativistic electron beam under the influence of an electric field in a highly conducting plasma, is to increase the electron density to a value, where the retarding collisional force balances the accelerating one. In a disruptive tokamak plasma, rapid cooling induces a high electric field, which could easily violate the force balance and push electrons into the relativistic regime. Such relativistic electrons, the so-called runaways, accumulate many MeV's and can cause substantial damage when they hit the wall. This thesis is based on the principle of rapidly fueling the plasma for holding the force balance even under the influence of high electric fields typical for disruptions. The method of injecting high amounts of noble gas particles into the plasma from a close distance is put into practice in the ASDEX Upgrade fusion test facility. In the framework of this thesis, a multi-channel photometer system based on 144 AXUV detectors in a toroidal stereo measurement setup was built. It kept its promise to provide new insights into the transport mechanisms in a disruptive plasma under the influence of strong radiative interaction dynamics between injected matter and the hot plasma

String-localized quantum fields for fermions

Die Ergebnisse einer jüngeren Arbeit von Mund, Schroer und Yngvason betreffend string-lokalisierter Quantenfelder werden um Fermionen ergänzt, indem Spinor-Darstellungen der SU(2) betrachtet werden.Previous results by Mund, Schroer, and Yngvason regarding string-localized quantum fields are extended to include fermions by considering spinor representations of SU(2)

Deformations of CR maps and applications

We study the deformation theory of CR maps in the positive codimensional case. In particular, we study structural properties of the {\em mapping locus} $E$ of (germs of nondegenerate) holomorphic maps $H \colon (M,p) \to M'$ between generic real submanifolds $M \subset \mathbb C^N$ and $M' \subset \mathbb C^{N'}$, defined to be the set of points $p' \in M'$ which admit such a map with $H(p) = p'$. We show that this set $E$ is semi-analytic and provide examples for which $E$ posseses (prescribed) singularities

Biodiversität – eine komplexe zeit-räumliche agrarökologische Herausforderung für den Ökolandbau

One year after the conventional farm started the conversion process in 2002, a long term farming system monitoring was established in the Eastern region of Austria. The goal was to evaluate the performance of organic arable farming and its biotopes (flowering stripes, hedges and tree rows), and specifically their impact on biodiversity. After nine years organic farming we note a considerable increase of biodiversity in the arable fields and accompanying biotopes. Indicators applied were soil fauna, breeding birds as well as weeds. Space-time aspects, rotation and management measures as well as crop specific characteristics were influencing the development of species diversity. The development of diversity however is limited due to the intense farming in the past and in the farm surroundings

The disrupted molecular circadian clock of monocytes and macrophages in allergic inflammation

IntroductionMacrophage dysfunction is a common feature of inflammatory disorders such as asthma, which is characterized by a strong circadian rhythm.Methods and resultsWe monitored the protein expression pattern of the molecular circadian clock in human peripheral blood monocytes from healthy, allergic, and asthmatic donors during a whole day. Monocytes cultured of these donors allowed us to examine circadian protein expression in human monocyte-derived macrophages, M1- and M2- polarized macrophages. In monocytes, particularly from allergic asthmatics, the oscillating expression of circadian proteins CLOCK, BMAL, REV ERBs, and RORs was significantly altered. Similar changes in BMAL1 were observed in polarized macrophages from allergic donors and in tissue-resident macrophages from activated precision cut lung slices. We confirmed clock modulating, anti-inflammatory, and lung-protective properties of the inverse ROR agonist SR1001 by reduced secretion of macrophage inflammatory protein and increase in phagocytosis. Using a house dust mite model, we verified the therapeutic effect of SR1001 in vivo.DiscussionOverall, our data suggest an interaction between the molecular circadian clock and monocytes/macrophages effector function in inflammatory lung diseases. The use of SR1001 leads to inflammatory resolution in vitro and in vivo and represents a promising clock-based therapeutic approach for chronic pulmonary diseases such as asthma