2,916 research outputs found
Initial '80s Development of Inflated Antennas
State of the art technology was considered in the definition and documentation of a membrane surface suitable for use in a space reflector system for long durations in orbit. Requirements for a metal foil-plastic laminate structural element were determined and a laboratory model of a rigidized element to test for strength characteristics was constructed. Characteristics of antennas ranging from 10 meters to 1000 meters were determined. The basic antenna configuration studied consists of (1) a thin film reflector, (2) a thin film cone, (3) a self-rigidizing structural torus at the interface of the cone and reflector; and (4) an inflation system. The reflector is metallized and, when inflated, has a parabolic shape. The cone not only completes the enclosure of the inflatant, but also holds the antenna feed at its apex. The torus keeps the inflated cone-reflector from collapsing inward. Laser test equipment determined the accuracy of the inflated paraboloids
Management of skin-sparing mastectomy: Results of a survey of German Hospitals
Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the current management of skin-sparing mastectomy in German hospitals and to determine its oncologic safety. For this purpose, 100 surgeons were surveyed regarding their use of skin-sparing mastectomy. Results: Almost all surveyed hospitals performed skin-sparing mastectomy. Most of them believe that the recurrence rate is equal to that of conventional mastectomy. 95% regard inflammatory cancer as a contraindication to skin-sparing surgery. Most of the hospitals thin out the skin without leaving any macroscopic glandular tissue behind, and 73% leave the nipple-areola complex (NAC) on the basis of frozen sections. Volume replacement is most commonly done with latissimus dorsi muscle flaps and pedicled TRAM flaps. In 76% of the surveyed hospitals, reconstruction after mastectomy is performed by the gynecological department. Conclusion: Skin-sparing mastectomy is considered to be the best cosmetic option for breast reconstruction in selected breast cancer patients. At present, statistical proof of its oncologic safety is lacking. The surgical techniques used for skin-sparing mastectomy have not yet been standardized. In order to achieve standardization, careful discussion-making and evaluation remain important
Inflated concepts for the earth science geostationary platform and an associated flight experiment
Large parabolic reflectors and solar concentrators are of great interest for microwave transmission, solar powered rockets, and Earth observations. Collector subsystems have been under slow development for a decade. Inflated paraboloids have a great weight and package volume advantage over mechanically erected systems and, therefore, have been receiving greater attention recently. The objective of this program was to produce a 'conceptual definition of an experiment to assess in-space structural damping characteristics and effects of the space meteoroid environment upon structural integrity and service life of large inflatable structures.' The flight experiment was to have been based upon an inflated solar concentration, but much of that was being done on other programs. To avoid redundancy, the Earth Science Geostationary Platform (ESGP) was selected as a focus mission for the experiment. Three major areas were studied: the ESGP reflector configuration; flight experiment; and meteoroids
N-glycans of human amniotic fluid transferrin stimulate progesterone production in human first trimester trophoblast cells in vitro
Aims: During pregnancy, the placenta produces a variety of steroid hormones and proteins. Several of these substances have been shown to exert immunomodulatory effects. Progesterone is thought to mediate some of these effects by regulating uterine responsiveness. The aim of this study was to clarify the effect of amniotic fluid transferrin and its N-glycans on the release of progesterone by first trimester trophoblast cells in vitro. Methods: Cytotrophoblast cells were prepared from human first trimester placentae by trypsin-DNAse dispersion of villous tissue followed by a percoll gradient centrifugation and depletion of CD45 positive cells by magnetic cell sorting. Trophoblasts were incubated with varying concentrations (50-300 mug/ml) of transferrin from human amniotic fluid and serum as well as with N-glycans obtained from amniotic fluid transferrin. Culture supernatants were assayed for progesterone by enzyme-immunometric methods. Results: The release of progesterone increased in amniotic fluid transferrin- and N-glycan-treated trophoblast cell cultures compared to untreated trophoblast cells. There was no stimulating effect of serum transferrin on the progesterone production of trophoblast cells. Conclusions: The results suggest that amnion-transferrin and especially its N-glycans modulate the endocrine function of trophoblasts in culture by up regulating progesterone secretion
Theory of Optical Tweezers
We derive a partial-wave (Mie) expansion of the axial force exerted on a
transparent sphere by a laser beam focused through a high numerical aperture
objective. The results hold throughout the range of interest for practical
applications. The ray optics limit is shown to follow from the Mie expansion by
size averaging. Numerical plots show large deviations from ray optics near the
focal region and oscillatory behavior (explained in terms of a simple
interferometer picture) of the force as a function of the size parameter.
Available experimental data favor the present model over previous ones.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Optical application and measurement of torque on microparticles of isotropic nonabsorbing material
We show how it is possible to controllably rotate or align microscopic
particles of isotropic nonabsorbing material in a TEM00 Gaussian beam trap,
with simultaneous measurement of the applied torque using purely optical means.
This is a simple and general method of rotation, requiring only that the
particle is elongated along one direction. Thus, this method can be used to
rotate or align a wide range of naturally occurring particles. The ability to
measure the applied torque enables the use of this method as a quantitative
tool--the rotational equivalent of optical tweezers based force measurement. As
well as being of particular value for the rotation of biological specimens,
this method is also suitable for the development of optically-driven
micromachines.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
Microoptomechanical pumps assembled and driven by holographic optical vortex arrays
Beams of light with helical wavefronts can be focused into ring-like optical
traps known as optical vortices. The orbital angular momentum carried by
photons in helical modes can be transferred to trapped mesoscopic objects and
thereby coupled to a surrounding fluid. We demonstrate that arrays of optical
vortices created with the holographic optical tweezer technique can assemble
colloidal spheres into dynamically reconfigurable microoptomechanical pumps
assembled by optical gradient forces and actuated by photon orbital angular
momentum.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Optics Expres
The effects of meson mixing on dilepton spectra
The effect of scalar and vector meson mixing on the dilepton radiation from
hot and dense hadronic matter is estimated in different isospin channels. In
particular, we study the effect of - and mixing and
calculate the corresponding rates. Effects are found to be significant compared
to standard - and - annihilations. While the mixing in
the isoscalar channel mostly gives a contribution in the invariant mass range
between the two-pion threshold and the peak, the isovector channel
mixing induces an additional peak just below that of the .
Experimentally, the dilepton signals from - mixing seem to be more
tractable than those from - mixing.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
Strange Hadron Resonances and QGP Freeze-out
We describe how the abundance and distribution of hyperon resonances can be
used to probe freeze-out conditions. We demonstrate that resonance yields allow
us to measure the time scales of chemical and thermal freeze-outs. This should
permit a direct differentiation between the explosive sudden, and staged
adiabatic freeze-out scenarios.Comment: 8 pages including 4 figures, in Proceedings of Strange Quark Matter
2001, Frankfurt, submitted to J. Phys. G version 2: refernces
corrected/added, numercial corrections in figures 2,3,
Design of the Pluto Event Generator
We present the design of the simulation package Pluto, aimed at the study of
hadronic interactions at SIS and FAIR energies. Its main mission is to offer a
modular framework with an object-oriented structure, thereby making additions
such as new particles, decays of resonances, new models up to modules for
entire changes easily applicable. Overall consistency is ensured by a plugin-
and distribution manager. Particular features are the support of a modular
structure for physics process descriptions, and the possibility to access the
particle stream for on-line modifications. Additional configuration and
self-made classes can be attached by the user without re-compiling the package,
which makes Pluto extremely configurable.Comment: Presented at the 17th International Conference on Computing in High
Energy and Nuclear Physic
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