3,166 research outputs found

    Technische Maßnahmen zur Schonung des Ostseedorschs - Gegenwärtige Ergebnisse der Selektionsforschung

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    Die gegenwärtige Situation der westlichen und östlichen Dorschbestände in der Ostsee wird von den Experten des Internationalen Rates für Meeresforschung, verglichen mit den 80er Jahren, als ungünstig beurteilt. Noch 1994 wurde daher kein Anlaß gesehen, trotz massiver Proteste der Praxis, die Empfehlung für eine moderate Befischung aufzuheben (Anon. 1994)

    Sensor systems testbed for telerobotic navigation

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    A testbed has been developed for the study of sensor systems to be used in telerobotic operations. The program, conducted in conjunction with Johnson Space Center of NASA, addresses the navigational problems associated with target acquisition and rendezvous for teleoperated robotic work stations. The program will utilize a mobile platform which will support various sensor systems during their development and testing in an earth-based environment. The testbed has been developed in support of a program to develop sensor systems that will aid in rendezvous and docking operations to be conducted as a part of the space station program. A mobile platform has been used to permit testing of these components in a conventional laboratory environment with consequent savings in cost and complexity. The sensor systems, while representative of devices currently in use for robotic applications, are not considered prototypical of the ones that will be used in the final applications. The test program provided information that will support the design of system augmentations and will lead to a comprehensive test program for sensor development

    Rayleigh and depinning instabilities of forced liquid ridges on heterogeneous substrates

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    Depinning of two-dimensional liquid ridges and three-dimensional drops on an inclined substrate is studied within the lubrication approximation. The structures are pinned to wetting heterogeneities arising from variations of the strength of the short-range polar contribution to the disjoining pressure. The case of a periodic array of hydrophobic stripes transverse to the slope is studied in detail using a combination of direct numerical simulation and branch-following techniques. Under appropriate conditions the ridges may either depin and slide downslope as the slope is increased, or first breakup into drops via a transverse instability, prior to depinning. The different transition scenarios are examined together with the stability properties of the different possible states of the system.Comment: Physics synopsis link: http://physics.aps.org/synopsis-for/10.1103/PhysRevE.83.01630

    Thermodynamically consistent description of the hydrodynamics of free surfaces covered by insoluble surfactants of high concentration

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    In this paper we propose several models that describe the dynamics of liquid films which are covered by a high concentration layer of insoluble surfactant. First, we briefly review the 'classical' hydrodynamic form of the coupled evolution equations for the film height and surfactant concentration that are well established for small concentrations. Then we re-formulate the basic model as a gradient dynamics based on an underlying free energy functional that accounts for wettability and capillarity. Based on this re-formulation in the framework of nonequilibrium thermodynamics, we propose extensions of the basic hydrodynamic model that account for (i) nonlinear equations of state, (ii) surfactant-dependent wettability, (iii) surfactant phase transitions, and (iv) substrate-mediated condensation. In passing, we discuss important differences to most of the models found in the literature.Comment: 31 pages, 2 figure

    The night-sky at the Calar Alto Observatory II: The sky at the near infrared

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    We present here the characterization of the night sky-brightness at the near-infrared, the telescope seeing, and the fraction of useful time at the Calar Alto observatory. For this study we have collected a large dataset comprising 7311 near-infrared images taken regularly along the last four years for the ALHAMBRA survey (J, H and Ks-bands), together with a more reduced dataset of additional near-infrared images taken for the current study. In addition we collected the information derived by the meteorological station at the observatory during the last 10 years, together with the results from the cloud sensor for the last ~2 years. We analyze the dependency of the near-infrared night sky-brightness with the airmass and the seasons, studying its origins and proposing a zenithal correction. A strong correlation is found between the night sky-brightness in the Ks-band and the air temperature, with a gradient of ~ -0.08 mag per 1 C degree. The typical (darkest) night sky-brightness in the J, H and Ks-band are 15.95 mag (16.95 mag), 13.99 mag (14.98 mag) and 12.39 mag (13.55 mag), respectively. These values show that Calar Alto is as dark in the near-infrared as most of the other astronomical astronomical sites in the world that we could compare with. Only Mauna Kea is clearly darker in the Ks-band. The typical telescope seeing at the 3.5m is ~1.0" when converted to the V-band, being only slightly larger than the atmospheric seeing measured at the same time by the seeing monitor, ~0.9". Finally we estimate the fraction of useful time based on the relative humidity, gust wind speed and presence of clouds. This fraction, ~72%, is very similar to the one derived in Paper I, based on the fraction of time when the extinction monitor is working.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, accepted to be published in PAS

    Lateral Hypothalamus GABAergic Neurons Modulate Consummatory Behaviors Regardless of the Caloric Content or Biological Relevance of the Consumed Stimuli

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    It was recently reported that activation of a subset of lateral hypothalamus (LH) GABAergic neurons induced both appetitive (food-seeking) and consummatory (eating) behaviors in vGat-ires-cre mice, while inhibition or deletion of GABAergic neurons blunted these behaviors. As food and caloric-dense liquid solutions were used, the data reported suggest that these LH GABAergic neurons may modulate behaviors that function to maintain homeostatic caloric balance. Here we report that chemogenetic activation of this GABAergic population in vGat-ires-cre mice increased consummatory behavior directed at any available stimulus, including those entailing calories (food, sucrose, and ethanol), those that do not (saccharin and water), and those lacking biological relevance (wood). Chemogenetic inhibition of these neurons attenuated consummatory behaviors. These data indicate that LH GABAergic neurons modulate consummatory behaviors regardless of the caloric content or biological relevance of the consumed stimuli

    Halothane potentiates the alcohol-adduct induced TNF-alpha release in heart endothelial cells

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    BACKGROUND: The possibility exists for major complications to occur when individuals are intoxicated with alcohol prior to anesthetization. Halothane is an anesthetic that can be metabolized by the liver into a highly reactive product, trifluoroacetyl chloride, which reacts with endogenous proteins to form a trifluoroacetyl-adduct (TFA-adduct). The MAA-adduct which is formed by acetaldehyde (AA) and malondialdehyde reacting with endogenous proteins, has been found in both patients and animals chronically consuming alcohol. These TFA and MAA-adducts have been shown to cause the release of inflammatory products by various cell types. If both adducts share a similar mechanism of cell activation, receiving halothane anesthesia while intoxicated with alcohol could exacerbate the inflammatory response and lead to cardiovascular injury. METHODS: We have recently demonstrated that the MAA-adduct induces tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) release by heart endothelial cells (HECs). In this study, pair and alcohol-fed rats were randomized to receive halothane pretreatments intra peritoneal. Following the pretreatments, the intact heart was removed, HECs were isolated and stimulated with unmodified bovine serum albumin (Alb), MAA-modified Alb (MAA-Alb), Hexyl-MAA, or lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and supernatant concentrations of TNF-α were measured by ELISA. RESULTS: Halothane pre-treated rat HECs released significantly greater TNF-α concentration following MAA-adduct and LPS stimulation than the non-halothane pre-treated in both pair and alcohol-fed rats, but was significantly greater in the alcohol-fed rats. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that halothane and MAA-adduct pre-treatment increases the inflammatory response (TNF-α release). Also, these results suggest that halothane exposure may increase the risk of alcohol-induced heart injury, since halothane pre-treatment potentiates the HEC TNF-α release measured following both MAA-Alb and LPS stimulation
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