Study of Multimission Modular Spacecraft (MMS) propulsion requirements

The cost effectiveness of various propulsion technologies for shuttle-launched multimission modular spacecraft (MMS) missions was determined with special attention to the potential role of ion propulsion. The primary criterion chosen for comparison for the different types of propulsion technologies was the total propulsion related cost, including the Shuttle charges, propulsion module costs, upper stage costs, and propulsion module development. In addition to the cost comparison, other criteria such as reliability, risk, and STS compatibility are examined. Topics covered include MMS mission models, propulsion technology definition, trajectory/performance analysis, cost assessment, program evaluation, sensitivity analysis, and conclusions and recommendations

Results of Orcein, C- and G-banding techniques in the Gayal (Bibos frontalis) and its crossbreds with European cattle (Bos taurus typicus)

International audienc

Hierarchical solutions of the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model: Exact asymptotic behavior near the critical temperature

We analyze the replica-symmetry-breaking construction in the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model of a spin glass. We present a general scheme for deriving an exact asymptotic behavior near the critical temperature of the solution with an arbitrary number of discrete hierarchies of the broken replica symmetry. We show that all solutions with finite-many hierarchies are unstable and only the scheme with infinite-many hierarchies becomes marginally stable. We show how the solutions from the discrete replica-symmetry-breaking scheme go over to the continuous one with increasing the number of hierarchies.Comment: REVTeX4, 11 pages, no figure

Are the anti-charmed and bottomed pentaquarks molecular heptaquarks?

I study the charmed $uudd\bar c$ resonance D*p (3100) very recently discovered by the H1 collaboration at Hera. An anticharmed resonance was already predicted, in a recent publication mostly dedicated to the S=1 resonance Theta+(1540). To confirm these recent predictions, I apply the same standard quark model with a quark-antiquark annihilation constrained by chiral symmetry. I find that repulsion excludes the D*p (3100) as a $uudd\bar c$ s-wave pentaquark. I explore the D*p (3100) as a heptaquark, equivalent to a N-pi-D* linear molecule, with positive parity and total isospin I=0. I find that the N-D repulsion is cancelled by the attraction existing in the N-pi and pi-D channels. In our framework this state is harder to bind than the Theta+ described by a k-pi-N borromean bound-state, a lower binding energy is expected in agreement with the H1 observation. Multiquark molecules N-pi-D, N-pi-B* and N-pi-B are also predicted.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, RevTe

Eluate derived by extracorporal antibody-based immunoadsorption elevates the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration in podocytes via B-2 kinin receptors

Background/Aim: Patients with idiopathic focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) often develop a recurrence of the disease after kidney transplantation. In a number of FSGS patients, plasmapheresis and immunoadsorption procedures have been shown to transiently reduce proteinuria and are thought to do this by eliminating a circulating factor. Direct cellular effects of eluates from immunoadsorption procedures on podocytes, the primary target of injury in FSGS, have not yet been reported. Methods: Eluates were derived from antibody-based immunoadsorption of a patient suffering from primary FSGS, a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus, and a healthy volunteer. The cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration ({[}Ca2+](i)) of differentiated podocytes was measured by single-cell fura-2 microfluorescence measurements. Free and total immunoreactive kinin levels were measured by radioimmunoassay. Results: FSGS eluates increased the {[}Ca2+](i) levels concentration dependently (EC50 0.14 mg/ml; n = 3-19). 1 mg/ml eluate increased the {[}Ca2+](i) values reversibly from 82 +/- 12 to 1,462 +/- 370 nmol/l, and then they returned back to 100 16 nmol/l (n = 19). The eluate-induced increase of {[}Ca2+](i) consisted of an initial Ca2+ peak followed by a Ca2+ plateau which depended on the extracellular Ca2+ concentration. The eluate-induced increase of {[}Ca2+](i) was inhibited by the specific B-2 kinin receptor antagonist Hoe 140 in a concentration-dependent manner (IC50 2.47 nmol/l). In addition, prior repetitive application of bradykinin desensitized the effect of eluate on {[}Ca2+](i). A colonic epithelial cell line not reacting to bradykinin did not respond to eluate either (n = 6). Similar to FSGS eluates, the eluate preparations of both the systemic lupus patient and the healthy volunteer led to a biphasic, concentration-dependent {[}Ca2+](i) increase in poclocytes which again was inhibited by Hoe 140. Free kinins were detected in all eluate preparations. Conclusion: The procedure of antibody-based immunoadsorption leads to kinin in the eluate which elevates the {[}Ca2+](i) level of podocytes via B-2 kinin receptors. Copyright (C) 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel

Spin-Glass Attractor on Tridimensional Hierarchical Lattices in the Presence of an External Magnetic Field

A nearest-neighbor-interaction Ising spin glass, in the presence of an external magnetic field, is studied on different hierarchical lattices that approach the cubic lattice. The magnetic field is considered as uniform, or random (following either a bimodal or a Gaussian probability distribution). In all cases, a spin-glass attractor is found, in the plane magnetic field versus temperature, associated with a low-temperature phase. The physical consequences of this attractor are discussed, in view of the present scenario of the spin-glass problem.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review

UV/IR duality in noncommutative quantum field theory

We review the construction of renormalizable noncommutative euclidean phi(4)-theories based on the UV/IR duality covariant modification of the standard field theory, and how the formalism can be extended to scalar field theories defined on noncommutative Minkowski space.Comment: 12 pages; v2: minor corrections, note and references added; Contribution to proceedings of the 2nd School on "Quantum Gravity and Quantum Geometry" session of the 9th Hellenic School on Elementary Particle Physics and Gravity, Corfu, Greece, September 13-20 2009. To be published in General Relativity and Gravitatio

Critical Behavior of Light

Light is shown to exhibit critical and tricritical behavior in passive mode-locked lasers with externally injected pulses. It is a first and unique example of critical phenomena in a one-dimensional many body light-mode system. The phase diagrams consist of regimes with continuous wave, driven para-pulses, spontaneous pulses via mode condensation, and heterogeneous pulses, separated by phase transition lines which terminate with critical or tricritical points. Enhanced nongaussian fluctuations and collective dynamics are observed at the critical and tricritical points, showing a mode system analog of the critical opalescence phenomenon. The critical exponents are calculated and shown to comply with the mean field theory, which is rigorous in the light system.Comment: RevTex, 5 pages, 3 figure