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Analyzing the Hemolytic Effects of a Microchannel-Based Blood Processing Device
While hemodialysis is a unique therapy for treating chronic kidney failure, the application of extracorporeal blood processing presents the opportunity for treating a wider range of bloodborne diseases. The objective of the i-Blood research team is to develop a blood processing device that utilizes microscale-based technology as a platform for incorporating novel bioconjugation mechanisms to remove/degrade undesired solutes in the blood or administer drugs. The development of treatment mechanisms for hyperuricemia (high concentrations of uric acid in the blood) and iron overload (high concentrations of iron in the blood) have been the focus for other individuals on the research team. During preliminary development of the device, one concern that came up was the potential for mechanically induced hemolysis due to the foreign flow conditions imposed by the geometry of the device. While red blood cells (RBCs) are especially adept at modifying their shape to endure high pressures in arteries and small orifices in capillaries, the concern remains that the flow through the foreign materials of the device could inflict enough shear stress to break the cell membrane of RBCs. In order to provide a therapeutic benefit, it is essential that the team can identify flow conditions that minimize risks to the patient (i.e. minimized blood damage and coagulation) while simultaneously maintaining the intended functionality of the device for a given disease.
The primary objective of this project was to characterize the degree of blood damage in a novel microchannel-based blood processing device by quantifying the hemolytic effects of various flow parameters. A nuanced methodology of measuring the plasma-free hemoglobin concentrations via a hemoglobin detection assay and absorbance spectroscopy was developed. The effects of fluid velocity and number of passes through the device were investigated using a syringe pump apparatus. Experimental results indicated that velocity had an insignificant effect on the hemolytic effects of the device for a single pass while increasing the number of passes at a constant flow rate caused an increase in hemolysis. No specific plate geometry recommendations can be made based on the current results, though recommended next steps and identified concerns for future investigation are discussed in detail. Ultimately, the research project was successful at developing a reliable methodology for quantifying blood damage which can be used throughout the design process
Off-shell effects on particle production
We investigate the observable effects of off-shell propagation of nucleons in
heavy-ion collisions at SIS energies. Within a semi-classical BUU transport
model we find a strong enhancement of subthreshold particle production when
off-shell nucleons are propagated.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure
Transport Theoretical Approach to the Nucleon Spectral Function in Nuclear Matter
The nucleon spectral function in infinite nuclear matter is calculated in a
quantum transport theoretical approach. Exploiting the known relation between
collision rates and correlation functions the spectral function is derived
self-consistently. By re-inserting the spectral functions into the collision
integrals the description of hard processes from the high-momentum components
of wave functions and interactions is improved iteratively until convergence is
achieved. The momentum and energy distributions and the nuclear matter
occupation probabilities are in very good agreement with the results obtained
from many-body theory.Comment: minor changes in the text, additional curves in fig.
Spectral Function of Quarks in Quark Matter
We investigate the spectral function of light quarks in infinite quark matter
using a simple, albeit self-consistent model. The interactions between the
quarks are described by the SU(2) Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model. Currently mean
field effects are neglected and all calculations are performed in the chirally
restored phase at zero temperature. Relations between correlation functions and
collision rates are used to calculate the spectral function in an iterative
process.Comment: final version, published in PRC; 15 pages, RevTeX
Baryon flow at SIS energies
We calculate the baryon flow in the energy range from .25 to
in a relativistic transport model for and
collisions employing various models for the baryon self energies. We find that
to describe the flow data of the FOPI Collaboration the strength of the vector
potential has to be reduced at high relative momentum or at high density such
that the Schr\"odinger- equivalent potential at normal nuclear density
decreases above 1 GeV relative kinetic energy and approaches zero above 2 GeV.Comment: 20 pages, LATEX, 7 PostScript figure
Towards a fully self-consistent spectral function of the nucleon in nuclear matter
We present a calculation of nuclear matter which goes beyond the usual
quasi-particle approximation in that it includes part of the off-shell
dependence of the self-energy in the self-consistent solution of the
single-particle spectrum. The spectral function is separated in contributions
for energies above and below the chemical potential. For holes we approximate
the spectral function for energies below the chemical potential by a
-function at the quasi-particle peak and retain the standard form for
energies above the chemical potential. For particles a similar procedure is
followed. The approximated spectral function is consistently used at all levels
of the calculation. Results for a model calculation are presented, the main
conclusion is that although several observables are affected by the inclusion
of the continuum contributions the physical consistency of the model does not
improve with the improved self-consistency of the solution method. This in
contrast to expectations based on the crucial role of self-consistency in the
proofs of conservation laws.Comment: 26 pages Revtex with 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Fragment Formation in Central Heavy Ion Collisions at Relativistic Energies
We perform a systematic study of the fragmentation path of excited nuclear
matter in central heavy ion collisions at the intermediate energy of . The theoretical calculations are based on a Relativistic
Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck () transport equation including stochastic
effects. A Relativistic Mean Field () approach is used, based on a
non-linear Lagrangian, with coupling constants tuned to reproduce the high
density results of calculations with correlations.
At variance with the case at Fermi energies, a new fast clusterization
mechanism is revealed in the early compression stage of the reaction dynamics.
Fragments appear directly produced from phase-space fluctuations due to
two-body correlations. In-medium effects of the elastic nucleon-nucleon cross
sections on the fragmentation dynamics are particularly discussed. The
subsequent evolution of the primordial clusters is treated using a simple
phenomenological phase space coalescence algorithm.
The reliability of the approach, formation and recognition, is investigated
in detail by comparing fragment momentum space distributions {\it and
simultaneously} their yields with recent experimental data of the
collaboration by varying the system size of the colliding system, i.e. its
compressional energy (pressure, radial flow). We find an excellent agreement
between theory and experiment in almost all the cases and, on the other hand,
some limitations of the simple coalescence model. Furthermore, the temporal
evolution of the fragment structure is explored with a clear evidence of an
earlier formation of the heavier clusters, that will appear as interesting
of the high density phase of the nuclear Equation of State ().Comment: 21 pages, 8 figures, Latex Elsart Style, minor corrections in p.7,
two refs. added, Nucl.Phys.A, accepte
Development of automatic surveillance of animal behaviour and welfare using image analysis and machine learned segmentation technique
Self-consistent Approach to Off-Shell Transport
The properties of two forms of the gradient expanded Kadanoff--Baym
equations, i.e. the Kadanoff--Baym and Botermans-Malfliet forms, suitable to
describe the transport dynamics of particles and resonances with broad spectral
widths, are discussed in context of conservation laws, the definition of a
kinetic entropy and the possibility of numerical realization. Recent results on
exact conservations of charge and energy-momentum within Kadanoff-Baym form of
quantum kinetics based on local coupling schemes are extended to two cases
relevant in many applications. These concern the interaction via a finite range
potential, and, relevant in nuclear and hadron physics, e.g. for the
pion--nucleon interaction, the case of derivative coupling.Comment: 35 pages, submitted to issue of Phys. Atom. Nucl. dedicated to S.T.
Belyaev on the occasion of his 80th birthday. Few references are adde
Aspects of thermal and chemical equilibration of hadronic matter
We study thermal and chemical equilibration in 'infinite' hadron matter as
well as in finite size relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions using a BUU
cascade transport model that contains resonance and string degrees-of-freedom.
The 'infinite' hadron matter is simulated within a cubic box with periodic
boundary conditions. The various equilibration times depend on baryon density
and energy density and are much shorter for particles consisting of light
quarks then for particles including strangeness. For kaons and antikaons the
chemical equilibration time is found to be larger than 40 fm/c for all
baryon and energy densities considered. The inclusion of continuum excitations,
i.e. hadron 'strings', leads to a limiting temperature of 150 MeV.
We, furthermore, study the expansion of a hadronic fireball after
equilibration. The slope parameters of the particles after expansion increase
with their mass; the pions leave the fireball much faster then nucleons and
accelerate subsequently heavier hadrons by rescattering ('pion wind'). If the
system before expansion is close to the limiting temperature , the slope
parameters for all particles after expansion practically do not depend on
(initial) energy and baryon density. Finally, the equilibration in relativistic
nucleus-nucleus collision is considered. Since the reaction time here is much
shorter than the equilibration time for strangeness, a chemical equilibrium of
strange particles in heavy-ion collisions is not supported by our transport
calculations. However, the various particle spectra can approximately be
described within the blast model.Comment: 39 pages, LaTeX, including 18 postscript figures, Nucl. Phys. A, in
pres
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