The physical meaning of the "boost-rotation symmetric" solutions within the general interpretation of Einstein's theory of gravitation

The answer to the question, what physical meaning should be attributed to the so-called boost-rotation symmetric exact solutions to the field equations of general relativity, is provided within the general interpretation scheme for the ``theories of relativity'', based on group theoretical arguments, and set forth by Erich Kretschmann already in the year 1917.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure; text to appear in General Relativity and Gravitatio

Revisiting Weyl's calculation of the gravitational pull in Bach's two-body solution

When the mass of one of the two bodies tends to zero, Weyl's definition of the gravitational force in an axially symmetric, static two-body solution can be given an invariant formulation in terms of a force four-vector. The norm of this force is calculated for Bach's two-body solution, that is known to be in one-to-one correspondence with Schwarzschild's original solution when one of the two masses l, l' is made to vanish. In the limit when, say, l' goes to zero, the norm of the force divided by l' and calculated at the position of the vanishing mass is found to coincide with the norm of the acceleration of a test body kept at rest in Schwarzschild's field. Both norms happen thus to grow without limit when the test body (respectively the vanishing mass l') is kept at rest in a position closer and closer to Schwarzschild's two-surface.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures. Text to appear in Classical and Quantum Gravit

The Resilient Dairy Genome Project - a general overview of methods and objectives related to feed efficiency and methane emissions.

The Resilient Dairy Genome Project (RDGP) is an international large-scale applied research project that aims to generate genomic tools to breed more resilient dairy cows. In this context, improving feed efficiency and reducing greenhouse gases from dairy is a high priority. The inclusion of traits related to feed efficiency (e.g., dry matter intake [DMI]) or greenhouse gases (e.g., methane emissions [CH4]) relies on available genotypes as well as high quality phenotypes. Currently, 7 countries, i.e., Australia [AUS], Canada [CAN], Denmark [DNK], Germany [DEU], Spain [ESP], Switzerland [CHE], and United States of America [USA] contribute with genotypes and phenotypes including DMI and CH4. However, combining data is challenging due to differences in recording protocols, measurement technology, genotyping, and animal management across sources. In this study, we provide an overview of how the RDGP partners address these issues to advance international collaboration to generate genomic tools for resilient dairy. Specifically, we describe the current state of the RDGP database, data collection protocols in each country, and the strategies used for managing the shared data. As of February 2022, the database contains 1,289,593 DMI records from 12,687 cows and 17,403 CH4 records from 3,093 cows and continues to grow as countries upload new data over the coming years. No strong genomic differentiation between the populations was identified in this study, which may be beneficial for eventual across-country genomic predictions. Moreover, our results reinforce the need to account for the heterogeneity in the DMI and CH4 phenotypes in genomic analysis

The JNK Inhibitor XG-102 Protects against TNBS-Induced Colitis

The c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)-inhibiting peptide D-JNKI-1, syn. XG-102 was tested for its therapeutic potential in acute inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in mice. Rectal instillation of the chemical irritant trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) provoked a dramatic acute inflammation in the colon of 7–9 weeks old mice. Coincident subcutaneous application of 100 µg/kg XG-102 significantly reduced the loss of body weight, rectal bleeding and diarrhoea. After 72 h, the end of the study, the colon was removed and immuno-histochemically analysed. XG-102 significantly reduced (i) pathological changes such as ulceration or crypt deformation, (ii) immune cell pathology such as infiltration and presence of CD3- and CD68-positive cells, (iii) the production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in colon tissue cultures from TNBS-treated mice, (iv) expression of Bim, Bax, FasL, p53, and activation of caspase 3, (v) complexation of JNK2 and Bim, and (vi) expression and activation of the JNK substrate and transcription factor c-Jun. A single application of subcutaneous XG-102 was at least as effective or even better depending on the outcome parameter as the daily oral application of sulfasalazine used for treatment of IBD

Steering stomatal dynamics by chemicals during acclimatization of Spathiphyllum

The acclimatization of micropropagated plants is one of the crucial phases for achieving a successful tissue culture protocol. Tissue cultured plants have no functional stomata, a reduced root system and an underdeveloped cuticula. By steering the stomatal dynamics or minimizing the respiration, acclimatization might be optimized. In this research, we try to regulate stomatal behavior and respiration during the acclimatization phase by chemical triggers as plant growth regulators and antitranspirants. Therefore, Spathiphyllum plantlets were drenched in different plant growth regulators before being transferred to the greenhouse. Afterwards, stomatal conductance and water retention were measured during the acclimatization. The water retention measurements demonstrated that the crucial phase during acclimatization takes place between day four and day seven. Promising effects of abscisic acid, antitranspirants and paclobutrazol on acclimatization of the tissue cultured plantlets were observed

Laser microprobe mass analysis of individual North Sea aerosol particles

Some 6000 individual aerosol particles in the 0.5-4-µm aerodynamic diameter range, collected from an aircraft at different heights above the North Sea, were analyzed using laser microprobe mass analysis (LAMMA). In this way, various well-separated particle types could be defined. Many of these particles appeared to occur as internal mixtures. Several definite trends in particle type abundances as a function of wind direction during sampling and of particle size could be observed. This helped in identifying source processes of the aerosol. Obtaining conclusive results as a function of sampling height, on the other hand was much less straightforward. This is not surprising, since most samples were collected under the inversion layer where extensive mixing is likely to take place

Textile Microwave Components in Substrate Integrated Waveguide Technology

Although substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) technology is well established for the fabrication of microwave circuits on rigid printed circuit boards, and the first implementations of textile SIW antennas have recently appeared in literature, up to now, no complete set of SIW microwave components has been presented. Therefore, this paper describes the design, manufacturing, and testing of a new class of textile microwave components for wearable applications, implemented in SIW technology. After characterizing the adopted textile fabrics material in terms of electrical properties, it is shown that folded textile SIW components, such as interconnections, filters, and antennas form excellent building blocks for wearable microwave circuits, given their low profile, flexibility, and stable characteristics under bending and in proximity of the human body. Hence, they allow the full exploitation of the large area garments offered for the deployment of wearable electronics. Besides SIW interconnections, a folded textile SIW filter operating at 2.45 GHz is designed and tested. The filter combines excellent performance in the band of interest with good out-of-band rejection, even when accounting for the tolerances in the fabrication process. Finally, a folded SIW cavity-backed patch antenna is fabricated and experimentally verified in realistic operating conditions