159 research outputs found
Adsorption and two-body recombination of atomic hydrogen on He-He mixture films
We present the first systematic measurement of the binding energy of
hydrogen atoms to the surface of saturated He-He mixture films.
is found to decrease almost linearly from 1.14(1) K down to 0.39(1) K, when the
population of the ground surface state of He grows from zero to
cm, yielding the value K cm
for the mean-field parameter of H-He interaction in 2D. The experiments
were carried out with overall He concentrations ranging from 0.1 ppm to 5 %
as well as with commercial and isotopically purified He at temperatures
70...400 mK. Measuring by ESR the rate constants and for
second-order recombination of hydrogen atoms in hyperfine states and we
find the ratio to be independent of the He content and to
grow with temperature.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, all zipped in a sigle file. Submitted to Phys.
Rev. Let
Differential expression and sex chromosome association of CHD3/4 and CHD5 during spermatogenesis
ATP-dependent nucleosome remodelers of the CHD family play important roles in chromatin regulation during development and differentiation. The ubiquitously expressed CHD3 and CHD4 proteins are essential for stem cell function and serve to orchestrate gene expression in different developmental settings. By contrast, the closely related CHD5 is predominantly expressed in neural tissue and its role is believed to be restricted to neural differentiation. Indeed, loss of CHD5 contributes to neuroblastoma. In this study, we first demonstrate that CHD5 is a nucleosome-stimulated ATPase. We then compare CHD3/4 and CHD5 expression in mouse brain and show that CHD5 expression is restricted to a subset of cortical and hippocampal neurons whereas CHD3/4 expression is more widespread. We also uncover high levels of CHD5 expression in testis. CHD5 is transiently expressed in differentiating germ cells. Expression is first detected in nuclei of postmeiotic round spermatids, reaches a maximum in stage VIII spermatids and then falls to undetectable levels in stage IX spermatids. Surprisingly, CHD3/4 and CHD5 show complementary expression patterns during spermatogenesis with CHD3/ 4 levels progressively decreasing as CHD5 expression increases. In spermatocytes, CHD3/4 localizes to the pseudoautosomal region, the X centromeric region and then spreads into the XY body chromatin. In postmeiotic cells, CHD5 colocalises with macroH2A1.2 in association with centromeres and part of the Y chromosome. The subnuclear localisations of CHD4 and CHD5 suggest specif
Driving pressure during general anesthesia for open abdominal surgery (DESIGNATION) : study protocol of a randomized clinical trial
Background
Intraoperative driving pressure (Delta P) is associated with development of postoperative pulmonary complications (PPC). When tidal volume (V-T) is kept constant, Delta P may change according to positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP)-induced changes in lung aeration. Delta P may decrease if PEEP leads to a recruitment of collapsed lung tissue but will increase if PEEP mainly causes pulmonary overdistension. This study tests the hypothesis that individualized high PEEP, when compared to fixed low PEEP, protects against PPC in patients undergoing open abdominal surgery.
Methods
The "Driving prESsure durIng GeNeral AnesThesIa for Open abdomiNal surgery trial" (DESIGNATION) is an international, multicenter, two-group, double-blind randomized clinical superiority trial. A total of 1468 patients will be randomly assigned to one of the two intraoperative ventilation strategies. Investigators screen patients aged >= 18 years and with a body mass index <= 40 kg/m(2), scheduled for open abdominal surgery and at risk for PPC. Patients either receive an intraoperative ventilation strategy with individualized high PEEP with recruitment maneuvers (RM) ("individualized high PEEP") or one in which PEEP of 5 cm H2O without RM is used ("low PEEP"). In the "individualized high PEEP" group, PEEP is set at the level at which Delta P is lowest. In both groups of the trial, V-T is kept at 8 mL/kg predicted body weight. The primary endpoint is the occurrence of PPC, recorded as a collapsed composite of adverse pulmonary events. Discussion DESIGNATION will be the first randomized clinical trial that is adequately powered to compare the effects of individualized high PEEP with RM versus fixed low PEEP without RM on the occurrence of PPC after open abdominal surgery. The results of DESIGNATION will support anesthesiologists in their decisions regarding PEEP settings during open abdominal surgery
Scattering of He-3 Atoms from He-4 Surfaces
We develop a first principles, microscopic theory of impurity atom scattering
from inhomogeneous quantum liquids such as adsorbed films, slabs, or clusters
of He-4. The theory is built upon a quantitative, microscopic description of
the ground state of both the host liquid as well as the impurity atom. Dynamic
effects are treated by allowing all ground-state correlation functions to be
time-dependent.
Our description includes both the elastic and inelastic coupling of impurity
motion to the excitations of the host liquid. As a specific example, we study
the scattering of He-3 atoms from adsorbed He-4 films. We examine the
dependence of ``quantum reflection'' on the substrate, and the consequences of
impurity bound states, resonances, and background excitations for scattering
properties.
A thorough analysis of the theoretical approach and the physical
circumstances point towards the essential role played by inelastic processes
which determine almost exclusively the reflection probabilities. The coupling
to impurity resonances within the film leads to a visible dependence of the
reflection coefficient on the direction of the impinging particle.Comment: 36 pages, 16 figure
Perceived stressors of climate vulnerability across scales in the Savannah zone of Ghana: a participatory approach
Smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are confronted with climatic and non-climatic stressors. Research attention has focused on climatic stressors, such as rainfall variability, with few empirical studies exploring non-climatic stressors and how these interact with climatic stressors at multiple scales to affect food security and livelihoods. This focus on climatic factors restricts understanding of the combinations of stressors that exacerbate the vulnerability of farming households and hampers the development of holistic climate change adaptation policies. This study addresses this particular research gap by adopting a multi-scale approach to understand how climatic and non-climatic stressors vary, and interact, across three spatial scales (household, community and district levels) to influence livelihood vulnerability of smallholder farming households in the Savannah zone of northern Ghana. This study across three case study villages utilises a series of participatory tools including semi-structured interviews, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. The incidence, importance, severity and overall risk indices for stressors are calculated at the household, community, and district levels. Results show that climatic and non-climatic stressors were perceived differently; yet, there were a number of common stressors including lack of money, high cost of farm inputs, erratic rainfall, cattle destruction of crops, limited access to markets and lack of agricultural equipment that crossed all scales. Results indicate that the gender of respondents influenced the perception and severity assessment of stressors on rural livelihoods at the community level. Findings suggest a mismatch between local and district level priorities that have implications for policy and development of agricultural and related livelihoods in rural communities. Ghana’s climate change adaptation policies need to take a more holistic approach that integrates both climatic and non-climatic factors to ensure policy coherence between national climate adaptation plans and District development plans
Shadow Places: Patterns of Spatial Concentration and Incorporation of Irregular Immigrants in the Netherlands
Summary: In Western countries, irregular immigrants constitute a sizeable segment of the population. By combining quantitative and qualitative research methods, this article describes and explains irregular immigrants’ patterns of spatial concentration and incorporation in the Netherlands. So far these spatial patterns have not been described and explained systematically,
neither in the Netherlands nor elsewhere. The article shows that illegal residence is selectively embedded in the (urban) social structure in various ways. The authors argue that irregular
immigrants are likely to be spatially concentrated and incorporated in similar ways in other Western countries; now and in the foreseeable future
- …