The direct synthesis of crosslinked polymeric azomethines

Char yields of synthesized crosslinked polymeric azomethine

Polymeric Schiff bases. 17 - Azomethine copolymers

Chemical synthesis of azomethine copolymers by melt polymerization techniques - polymeric Schiff base

The political economy of universal health coverage. Background paper for the global symposium on health systems research

This paper is one of several in a series commissioned by the World Health Organization for the First Global Symposium on Health Systems Research, held 16-19 November, 2010, in Montreux, Switzerland. The goal of these papers is to initiate a dialogue on the critical issues in health systems research. The opinions expressed in these papers are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the symposium organizers. This paper has financial support from the Rockefeller Foundation; the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research; and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (GTZ)

VBFNLO: A parton level Monte Carlo for processes with electroweak bosons -- Manual for Version 2.7.0

VBFNLO is a flexible parton level Monte Carlo program for the simulation of vector boson fusion (VBF), QCD induced single and double vector boson production plus two jets, and double and triple vector boson production (plus jet) in hadronic collisions at next-to-leading order (NLO) in the strong coupling constant, as well as Higgs boson plus two jet production via gluon fusion at the one-loop level. For the new version -- Version 2.7.0 -- several major enhancements have been included into VBFNLO. The following new production processes have been added: $W\gamma jj$ in VBF, $HHjj$ in VBF, $W$, $Wj$, $WH$, $WHj$, $pp\to \text{Spin-2}jj$ in VBF (with $\text{Spin-2}\to WW/ZZ\to\text{leptons}$) and the QCD induced processes $WZjj$, $W\gamma jj$, $W^\pm W^\pm jj$ and $Wjj$ production. The implementation of anomalous gauge boson couplings has been extended to all triboson and VBF $VVjj$ processes, with an enlarged set of operators yielding anomalous couplings. Finally, semileptonic decay modes of the vector bosons are now available for many processes, including $VVjj$ in VBF, $VVV$ and $VV\gamma$ production.Comment: 83 pages, 23 tables; new code available at http://www.itp.kit.edu/vbfnlo/; v3: update to version 2.7.

Planar Superconducting Resonators with Internal Quality Factors above One Million

We describe the fabrication and measurement of microwave coplanar waveguide resonators with internal quality factors above 10 million at high microwave powers and over 1 million at low powers, with the best low power results approaching 2 million, corresponding to ~1 photon in the resonator. These quality factors are achieved by controllably producing very smooth and clean interfaces between the resonators' aluminum metallization and the underlying single crystal sapphire substrate. Additionally, we describe a method for analyzing the resonator microwave response, with which we can directly determine the internal quality factor and frequency of a resonator embedded in an imperfect measurement circuit.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Human Female Genital Tract Infection by the Obligate Intracellular Bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis Elicits Robust Type 2 Immunity

While Chlamydia trachomatis infections are frequently asymptomatic, mechanisms that regulate host response to this intracellular Gram-negative bacterium remain undefined. This investigation thus used peripheral blood mononuclear cells and endometrial tissue from women with or without Chlamydia genital tract infection to better define this response. Initial genome-wide microarray analysis revealed highly elevated expression of matrix metalloproteinase 10 and other molecules characteristic of Type 2 immunity (e.g., fibrosis and wound repair) in Chlamydia-infected tissue. This result was corroborated in flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry studies that showed extant upper genital tract Chlamydia infection was associated with increased co-expression of CD200 receptor and CD206 (markers of alternative macrophage activation) by endometrial macrophages as well as increased expression of GATA-3 (the transcription factor regulating TH2 differentiation) by endometrial CD4+ T cells. Also among women with genital tract Chlamydia infection, peripheral CD3+ CD4+ and CD3+ CD4- cells that proliferated in response to ex vivo stimulation with inactivated chlamydial antigen secreted significantly more interleukin (IL)-4 than tumor necrosis factor, interferon-γ, or IL-17; findings that repeated in T cells isolated from these same women 1 and 4 months after infection had been eradicated. Our results thus newly reveal that genital infection by an obligate intracellular bacterium induces polarization towards Type 2 immunity, including Chlamydia-specific TH2 development. Based on these findings, we now speculate that Type 2 immunity was selected by evolution as the host response to C. trachomatis in the human female genital tract to control infection and minimize immunopathological damage to vital reproductive structures. © 2013 Vicetti Miguel et al

Teleology and Realism in Leibniz's Philosophy of Science

This paper argues for an interpretation of Leibniz’s claim that physics requires both mechanical and teleological principles as a view regarding the interpretation of physical theories. Granting that Leibniz’s fundamental ontology remains non-physical, or mentalistic, it argues that teleological principles nevertheless ground a realist commitment about mechanical descriptions of phenomena. The empirical results of the new sciences, according to Leibniz, have genuine truth conditions: there is a fact of the matter about the regularities observed in experience. Taking this stance, however, requires bringing non-empirical reasons to bear upon mechanical causal claims. This paper first evaluates extant interpretations of Leibniz’s thesis that there are two realms in physics as describing parallel, self-sufficient sets of laws. It then examines Leibniz’s use of teleological principles to interpret scientific results in the context of his interventions in debates in seventeenth-century kinematic theory, and in the teaching of Copernicanism. Leibniz’s use of the principle of continuity and the principle of simplicity, for instance, reveal an underlying commitment to the truth-aptness, or approximate truth-aptness, of the new natural sciences. The paper concludes with a brief remark on the relation between metaphysics, theology, and physics in Leibniz

HV/HR-CMOS sensors for the ATLAS upgrade—concepts and test chip results

In order to extend its discovery potential, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will have a major upgrade (Phase II Upgrade) scheduled for 2022. The LHC after the upgrade, called High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC), will operate at a nominal leveled instantaneous luminosity of 5× 1034 cm−2 s−1, more than twice the expected Phase I . The new Inner Tracker needs to cope with this extremely high luminosity. Therefore it requires higher granularity, reduced material budget and increased radiation hardness of all components. A new pixel detector based on High Voltage CMOS (HVCMOS) technology targeting the upgraded ATLAS pixel detector is under study. The main advantages of the HVCMOS technology are its potential for low material budget, use of possible cheaper interconnection technologies, reduced pixel size and lower cost with respect to traditional hybrid pixel detector. Several first prototypes were produced and characterized within ATLAS upgrade R&D effort, to explore the performance and radiation hardness of this technology. In this paper, an overview of the HVCMOS sensor concepts is given. Laboratory tests and irradiation tests of two technologies, HVCMOS AMS and HVCMOS GF, are also given

Anthropogenic and natural ground deformation in the Hengill geothermal area, Iceland

We investigate crustal deformation due to the extraction of water and steam from a high-enthalpy geothermal reservoir; a common occurrence, yet not well understood. The cause of this deformation can be a change in pressure or in temperature in the reservoir, both of which can be caused by extraction or injection of geothermal fluids. Our study area, the Hengill mountains in SW Iceland, is an active volcanic center and a plate triple junction that hosts two power plants producing geothermal energy. This combination of natural and anthropogenic processes causes a complex displacement field at the surface. We analyze geodetic data—Global Navigation Satellite System and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar—to obtain the surface velocity field, which we then simulate using an inverse modeling approach. We focus on the deformation around the geothermal power plants but need to model the regional tectonic and volcanic deformation as well, because the signals are overlapping. We find that plate motion and a deep contracting body can explain the broad scale signal in the area. Local deformation near the two power plants, Hellisheidi and Nesjavellir, can be explained by extraction of geothermal fluids. We estimate reservoirs extending from 0.6 to 3.0 km depth at Hellisheidi, and 1.0 to 3.0 km depth at Nesjavellir for observed pressure decrease rates of 0.25 MPa/yr and 0.1 MPa/yr, respectively. We find that the main cause for the subsidence in the geothermal area is the observed pressure drawdown