Recent results from the NA49 experiment

Recent results of the NA49 collaboration are presented. Transverse mass spectra as well as total multiplicities of identified particles are discussed. The study of their evolution from AGS over SPS to the highest RHIC energy reveals a couple of interesting features. These include a sudden change in the energy dependence of the mt-spectra and of the yields of strange hadrons around 30A GeV. Additionally, new results on particle production at high-pt for Pb+Pb collsions at 158A GeV, as well as on the v2 of L, are discussed

Review of structures in the energy dependence of hadronic observables

The energy dependence of various hadronic observables is reviewed. The study of their evolution from AGS over SPS to the highest RHIC energy reveals interesting features, which might locate a possible onset of deconfinement. These observables include transverse spectra of different particle types and their total multiplicities, as well as elliptic flow. In this context especially the observation of a maximum of the strangeness to pion ratio is of particular interest, since on one hand it has been predicted as a signal for the onset of deconfinement but on the other hand also statistical model calculations exhibit qualitatively similar structures. The sharpness of these features is however not reproduced by hadronic scenarios. The significance of these structures will be discussed in this contribution. Other observables, such as radius parameters from Bose-Einstein correlations, on the other hand do not exhibit any structure in their energy dependence

Results on correlations and fluctuations from NA49

The large acceptance and high momentum resolution as well as the significant particle identification capabilities of the NA49 experiment at the CERN SPS allow for a broad study of fluctuations and correlations in hadronic interactions. In the first part recent results on event-by-event charge and p_t fluctuations are presented. Charge fluctuations in central Pb+Pb reactions are investigated at three different beam energies (40, 80, and 158 AGeV), while for the p_t fluctuations the focus is put on the system size dependence at 158 AGeV. In the second part recent results on Bose Einstein correlations of h-h- pairs in minimum bias Pb+Pb reactions at 40 and 158 AGeV, as well as of K+K+ and K-K- pairs in central Pb+Pb collisions at 158 AGeV are shown. Additionally, other types of two particle correlations, namely pi p, Lambda p, and Lambda Lambda correlations, have been measured by the NA49 experiment. Finally, results on the energy and system size dependence of deuteron coalescence are discussed

Energy dependence of hadronic observables in central Pb+Pb reactions at the CERN SPS

In the recent years the NA49 experiment has collected data on Pb+Pb collisions at beam energies between 20 to 158 AGeV with the objective to cover the critical region of energy densities where the expected phase transition to a deconfined phase might occur in the early stage of the reactions. In this contribution the energy dependence of various hadronic observables is presented. These include m_t- and rapidity- distributions, particle ratio fluctuations, as well as HBT radii.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, Proceedings of the 20th Winter Workshop on Nuclear Dynamics, Jamaic

Efficient Implementation of Automaton Functors for the Verification of Graph Transformation Systems

In this paper we show new applications for recognizable graph languages to invariant checking. Furthermore we present details about techniques we used for an implementation of a tool suite for (finite) automaton functors which generalize finite automata to the setting of recognizable (graph) languages. In order to develop an efficient implementation we take advantage of Binary Decision Diagrams (BDDs)

Recognizable Graph Languages for Checking Invariants

We generalize the order-theoretic variant of the Myhill-Nerode theorem to graph languages, and characterize the recognizable graph languages as the class of languages for which the Myhill-Nerode quasi order is a well quasi order. In the second part of the paper we restrict our attention to graphs of bounded interface size, and use Myhill-Nerode quasi orders to verify that, for such bounded graphs, a recognizable graph property is an invariant of a graph transformation system. A recognizable graph property is a recognizable graph language, given as an automaton functor. Finally, we present an algorithm to approximate the Myhill-Nerode ordering

Quarkonia Measurements with the Central Detectors of ALICE

A Large Ion Collider Experiment - ALICE will become operational with the startup of the Large Hadron Collider - LHC at the end of 2007. One focus of the physics program is the measurement of quarkonia in proton-proton and lead-lead collisions. Quarkonia states will be measured in two kinematic regions and channels: di-muonic decays will be measured in the forward region by the muon arm, the central part of the detector will measure di-electronic decays. The presented studies show the expected performance of the di-electron measurement in proton-proton and central lead-lead collisions.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, Proceedings of the QM 2006 poster sessio

Evaluation of Drug Delivery and Efficacy of Ciprofloxacin-Loaded Povidone Foils and Nanofiber Mats in a Wound-Infection Model Based on Ex Vivo Human Skin

Topical treatment of wound infections is often a challenge due to limited drug availability at the site of infection. Topical drug delivery is an attractive option for reducing systemic side effects, provided that a more selective and sustained local drug delivery is achieved. In this study, a poorly water-soluble antibiotic, ciprofloxacin, was loaded on polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-based foils and nanofiber mats using acetic acid as a solubilizer. Drug delivery kinetics, local toxicity, and antimicrobial activity were tested on an ex vivo wound model based on full-thickness human skin. Wounds of 5 mm in diameter were created on 1.5 × 1.5 cm skin blocks and treated with the investigated materials. While nanofiber mats reached the highest amount of delivered drug after 6 h, foils rapidly achieved a maximum drug concentration and maintained it over 24 h. The treatment had no effect on the overall skin metabolic activity but influenced the wound healing process, as observed using histological analysis. Both delivery systems were efficient in preventing the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms in ex vivo human skin. Interestingly, foils loaded with 500 µg of ciprofloxacin accomplished the complete eradication of biofilm infections with 1 × 109 bacteria/wound. We conclude that antimicrobial-loaded resorbable PVP foils and nanofiber mats are promising delivery systems for the prevention or topical treatment of infected wounds