Development of macroscopic waveguide and waveguide components for optical systems Final report, 28 Jan. - 28 Nov. 1964

Macroscopic waveguide and waveguide components for optical systems - laser

Can a Postmodern Philosopher Teach Modern Philosophy?

This paper considers the following question: how can those whose thought is informed by poststructuralist values, arguments, and training legitimately teach the history of philosophy? In answering this question, three pedagogical approaches to courses in the history of philosophy are considered and criticized: the representational, the phenomenological, and the conversational. Although these three approaches are seemingly exhaustive, each is problematic because the question they attempt to answer rests on the false assumption that there is one, universally right way to teach philosophy and many wrong ways. In rejecting this assumption, the author considers a new, more concrete, and contextualized question concerning teaching philosophy from a postmodern perspective

Extreme Warming in the Kara Sea and Barents Sea during the Winter Period 2000–16

The regional climate model COSMOin Climate Limited-AreaMode (COSMO-CLM or CCLM) is used with a high resolution of 15km for the entire Arctic for all winters 2002/03–2014/15. The simulations show a high spatial and temporal variability of the recent 2-m air temperature increase in the Arctic. The maximum warming occurs north of Novaya Zemlya in the Kara Sea and Barents Sea between March 2003 and 2012 and is responsible for up to a 208C increase. Land-based observations confirm the increase but do not cover the maximum regions that are located over the ocean and sea ice.Also, the 30-km version of theArctic SystemReanalysis (ASR) is used to verify the CCLM for the overlapping time period 2002/03–2011/12. The differences between CCLM and ASR 2-m air temperatures vary slightly within 18C for the ocean and sea ice area. Thus,ASR captures the extreme warming as well. The monthly 2-m air temperatures of observations and ERA-Interim data show a large variability for the winters 1979–2016. Nevertheless, the air temperature rise since the beginning of the twenty-first century is up to 8 times higher than in the decades before. The sea ice decrease is identified as the likely reason for the warming. The vertical temperature profiles show that the warming has a maximum near the surface, but a 0.58Cyr21 increase is found up to 2 km. CCLM, ASR, and also the coarser resolved ERA-Interim data show that February and March are the months with the highest 2-m air temperature increases, averaged over the ocean and sea ice area north of 708N; for CCLM the warming amounts to an average of almost 58C for 2002/03–2011/12

The geomorphological setting of some of Scotland's east coast freshwater mills: a comment on Downward and Skinner (2005) ‘Working rivers: the geomorphological legacy...’

Many of the water mills on Scotland's east coast streams, unlike those discussed recently by Downward and Skinner (2005 Area 37 138–47), are found in predominantly bedrock reaches immediately downstream of knickpoints (i.e. bedrock steps). Bedrock knickpoints in the lower reaches of Scottish rivers are a widespread fluvial response to the glacio-isostatic rebound of northern Britain. These steps in the river profile propagate headward over time, but for intervals of a few centuries or so they are sufficiently stable to be exploited for the elevational fall necessary to power the mill wheel. Many of these mills were apparently powered by ‘run-of-the-river’, as are some today that formerly had mill dams. The typical lack of sediment storage along the erosional lower reaches of many Scottish rivers means that failure of mill structures in Scotland will probably have less dramatic geomorphological and management implications than those suggested by Downward and Skinner for southern English rivers

Fundamental studies of the mechanism of catalytic reactions with catalysts effective in the gasification of carbon solids and the oxidative coupling of methane. Quarterly report, October 1, 1994--December 31, 1994

This report describes research on the oxidative coupling of methane and catalysts involved in coal gasification. Topics include methane pyrolysis and catalysts, and magnetic properties of the coal gasification catalyst Ca-Ni-K-O system

Steady-state and transient catalytic oxidation and coupling of methane

This project addresses the conversion of methane from natural gas into ethane, ethylene and higher hydrocarbons. Our research explores the mechanistic and practical implications of carrying out the methane oxidative coupling reaction in reactor designs other than conventional packed-beds with co-fed reactants. These alternate reactor designs are needed to prevent the full oxidation of methane, which limits C{sub 2}, yields in methane oxidative coupling reactions. The research strategy focuses on preventing contact between the 0{sub 2} reactant required for favorable overall thermodynamics and the C{sub 2+} products of methane coupling. The behavior of various reactor designs are simulated using detailed kinetic transport models. These simulations have suggested that the best way to prevent high C0{sub 2} yields is to separate the oxygen and hydrocarbon streams altogether. As a result, the project has focused on the experimental demonstration of proton transport membrane reactors for the selective conversion of methane into higher hydrocarbons

Prognostic and therapeutic significance of carbohydrate antigen 19-9 as tumor marker in patients with pancreatic cancer

In pancreatic cancer ( PC) accurate determination of treatment response by imaging often remains difficult. Various efforts have been undertaken to investigate new factors which may serve as more appropriate surrogate parameters of treatment efficacy. This review focuses on the role of carbohydrate antigen 19- 9 ( CA 19- 9) as a prognostic tumor marker in PC and summarizes its contribution to monitoring treatment efficacy. We undertook a Medline/ PubMed literature search to identify relevant trials that had analyzed the prognostic impact of CA 19- 9 in patients treated with surgery, chemoradiotherapy and chemotherapy for PC. Additionally, relevant abstract publications from scientific meetings were included. In advanced PC, pretreatment CA 19- 9 levels have a prognostic impact regarding overall survival. Also a CA 19- 9 decline under chemotherapy can provide prognostic information for median survival. A 20% reduction of CA 19- 9 baseline levels within the first 8 weeks of chemotherapy appears to be sufficient to define a prognostic relevant subgroup of patients ('CA 19- 9 responder'). It still remains to be defined whether the CA 19- 9 response is a more reliable method for evaluating treatment efficacy compared to conventional imaging. Copyright (c) 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel

Regional IFNγ expression is insufficient for efficacious control of food-borne bacterial pathogens at the gut epithelial barrier

IFNγ is critical for host defence against various food-borne pathogens including Salmonella enterica and Listeria monocytogenes, the causative agents of salmonellosis and listeriosis, respectively. We investigated the impact of regional IFNγ expression at the intestinal epithelial barrier on host invasion by salmonellae and listeriae following oral challenge. Transgenic mice (IFNγ-gut), generated on an IFNγ knock-out (KO) background, selectively expressed IFNγ in the gut driven by the modified liver fatty acid-binding protein (Fabpl4× at −132) promoter. Infections with attenuated S. enterica Typhimurium or with L. monocytogenes did not differ significantly in IFNγ-KO, IFNγ-gut and wild-type mice. Further, Listeria-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were not altered in IFNγ-gut mice. Thus, this model indicates that local IFNγ expression by non-immunological cells in the distal part of the small intestine, caecum and colon is insufficient for prevention of gut penetration by S. enterica Typhimurium and L. monocytogene