516 research outputs found
The density difference between tissue and neural probes is a key factor for glial scarring.
A key to successful chronic neural interfacing is to achieve minimal glial scarring surrounding the implants, as the astrocytes and microglia may functionally insulate the interface. A possible explanation for the development of these reactions is mechanical forces arising between the implants and the brain. Here, we show that the difference between the density of neural probes and that of the tissue, and the resulting inertial forces, are key factors for the development of the glial scar. Two probes of similar size, shape, surface structure and elastic modulus but differing greatly in density were implanted into the rat brain. After six weeks, significantly lower astrocytic and microglial reactions were found surrounding the low-density probes, approaching no reaction at all. This provides a major key to design fully biocompatible neural interfaces and a new platform for in vivo assays of tissue reactions to probes with differing materials, surface structures, and shapes
Quantum corrections to slow-roll inflation: scalar and tensor modes
Inflation is often described through the dynamics of a scalar field,
slow-rolling in a suitable potential. Ultimately, this inflaton must be
identified as the expectation value of a quantum field, evolving in a quantum
effective potential. The shape of this potential is determined by the
underlying tree-level potential, dressed by quantum corrections from the scalar
field itself and the metric perturbations. Following [1], we compute the
effective scalar field equations and the corrected Friedmann equations to
quadratic order in both scalar field, scalar metric and tensor perturbations.
We identify the quantum corrections from different sources at leading order in
slow-roll, and estimate their magnitude in benchmark models of inflation. We
comment on the implications of non-minimal coupling to gravity in this context.Comment: 26 pages, no figure
NafA Negatively Controls Neisseria meningitidis Piliation
Bacterial auto-aggregation is a critical step during adhesion of N. meningitidis to host cells. The precise mechanisms and functions of bacterial auto-aggregation still remain to be fully elucidated. In this work, we characterize the role of a meningococcal hypothetical protein, NMB0995/NMC0982, and show that this protein, here denoted NafA, acts as an anti-aggregation factor. NafA was confirmed to be surface exposed and was found to be induced at a late stage of bacterial adherence to epithelial cells. A NafA deficient mutant was hyperpiliated and formed bundles of pili. Further, the mutant displayed increased adherence to epithelial cells when compared to the wild-type strain. In the absence of host cells, the NafA deficient mutant was more aggregative than the wild-type strain. The in vivo role of NafA in sepsis was studied in a murine model of meningococcal disease. Challenge with the NafA deficient mutant resulted in lower bacteremia levels and mortality when compared to the wild-type strain. The present study reveals that meningococcal NafA is an anti-aggregation factor with strong impact on the disease outcome. These data also suggest that appropriate bacterial auto-aggregation is controlled by both aggregation and anti-aggregation factors during Neisseria infection in vivo
Stochastic inflation from quantum field theory and the parametric dependence of the effective noise amplitude
The non-linear dynamics of long-wavelength cosmological fluctuations may be phrased in terms of an effective classical, but stochastic evolution equation. The stochastic noise represents short-wavelength modes that continually redshift into the long-wavelength domain. The effective evolution may be derived from first principles quantum field theory in an expanding background, through a sequence of approximations calling for additional scrutiny. We perform such an analysis, putting particular emphasis on the amplitude of the stochastic noise, which ultimately determines the cosmological correlations and provides a non-perturbative IR regulator to the dynamics.publishedVersio
Quantum corrections to slow-roll inflation: scalar and tensor modes
Inflation is often described through the dynamics of a scalar field, slow-rolling in a suitable potential. Ultimately, this inflaton must be identified with the expectation value of a quantum field, evolving in a quantum effective potential. The shape of this potential is determined by the underlying tree-level potential, dressed by quantum corrections from the scalar field itself and the metric perturbations. Following [1], we compute the effective scalar field equations and the corrected Friedmann equations to quadratic order in both scalar field, scalar metric and tensor perturbations. We identify the quantum corrections from different sources at leading order in slow-roll, and estimate their magnitude in benchmark models of inflation. We comment on the implications of non-minimal coupling to gravity in this context.publishedVersio
Nongaussian fluctuations arising from finite populations: Exact results for the evolutionary Moran process
The appropriate description of fluctuations within the framework of
evolutionary game theory is a fundamental unsolved problem in the case of
finite populations. The Moran process recently introduced into this context
[Nowak et al., Nature (London) 428, 646 (2004)] defines a promising standard
model of evolutionary game theory in finite populations for which analytical
results are accessible. In this paper, we derive the stationary distribution of
the Moran process population dynamics for arbitrary games for the
finite size case. We show that a nonvanishing background fitness can be
transformed to the vanishing case by rescaling the payoff matrix. In contrast
to the common approach to mimic finite-size fluctuations by Gaussian
distributed noise, the finite size fluctuations can deviate significantly from
a Gaussian distribution.Comment: 4 pages (2 figs). Published in Physical Review E (Rapid
Communications
Afstrømning fra tagflader og befæstede arealer – Vurdering af forureningsrisici for grundvand
The Road I Can\u27t Help Travelling : Holmes on Truth and Persuadability
Nano-structural evolution of layer morphology and interfacial roughness in Cr/Sc metal multilayers grown with ion assistance during magnetron sputter deposition has been investigated by high resolution transmission electron microscopy and hard X-ray reflectivity. Calculations based on a binary collision model predict an ion-assisted growth window for optimized Cr/Sc multilayer interface sharpness, within the ion energy range of 21 eV to 37 eV and an ion flux of 10 ions per deposited atom. Multilayers with nominal modulation periods in the range of 1.6 nm to 10.2 nm, grown with these conditions, exhibit a well-defined layer structure with an improved flattening and abruptness of the interfaces. It is shown that multilayers with a modulation period smaller than 3.4 nm have clear benefit from the reduced intermixing obtained by utilizing a two-stage ion energy modulation for each individual layer. The amorphization of Sc and Cr layers, below certain thicknesses, is found to be independent of the low energy ion-assistance. It is also shown that the Cr/Sc multilayers, containing periods less than 2 nm are ‘self healing’ i.e. they re-gain abrupt interfaces and flat layers after morphological disturbances during ion assisted growth. In comparison, multilayers grown without ion-assistance exhibited severe roughness and layer distortions.Original publication: N. Ghafoor, F. Eriksson, P.O.Å. Persson, L. Hultman and J. Birch, Effects of ion-assisted growth on the layer definition in Cr/Sc multilayers, 2008, Thin Solid Films, (516), 6, 982-990. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2007.06.108. Copyright: Elsevier B.V., http://www.elsevier.com
Reflections on an Integrated Content and Language Project-Based Design of a Technical Communication Course for Electrical Engineering Students
Effective ways of teaching technical communication skills to engineering students have been much discussed. This article reflects on one setting, a first year course in Technical Communication at a university in Sweden, where electrical engineering teachers, language and communication teachers and student counsellors work in close, team-based cooperation using a project model which requires the students to analyse, implement and communicate technical problems. The paper discusses the change in this course - from an EAP course primarily prioritizing language training which ran parallel with a project course - to one unified ICL course. The progression is described through the changes in the organization of the course, and the article focuses on one learning activity: interdisciplinary tutorials on project reports. Through a pilot study where these sessions were video recorded and mapped, we conclude that the presence of different roles became an asset for the range of what the students see as relevant for their project report. In particular, the technical report genre was critically analysed, including problematic areas such as textual sequencing and display of technical problems; data visualisation and commentary; and referencing
Оценка квалификации выпускника фармацевтического факультета с позиций компетентностного подхода
конкурентоспособностьОБРАЗОВАНИЕ ФАРМАЦЕВТИЧЕСКОЕпровизорыПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНАЯ КОМПЕТЕНТНОСТ
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