Excitation Waves on a Minimal Small-World Model

We examine traveling-wave solutions on a regular ring network with one additional long-range link that spans a distance d. The nodes obey the FitzHugh-Nagumo kinetics in the excitable regime. The additional shortcut induces a plethora of spatio-temporal behavior that is not present without it. We describe the underlying mechanisms for different types of patterns: propagation failure, period decreasing, bistability, shortcut blocking and period multiplication. For this purpose, we investigate the dependence on d, the network size, the coupling range in the original ring and the global coupling strength and present a phase diagram summarizing the different scenarios. Furthermore, we discuss the scaling behavior of the critical distance by analytical means and address the connection to spatially continuous excitable media.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figure

Alternative Approaches for Medical Countermeasures to Biological and Chemical Terrorism and Warfare

The desire to develop and evaluate drugs as potential countermeasures for biological and chemical threats requires test systems that can also substitute for the clinical trials normally crucial for drug development. Animal models have limited predictivity for drug efficacy, as is well known from many disappointments in clinical trials. Traditional in vitro and in silico approaches are not really game changers here, but the substantial investment into novel tools now underway might bring about a second generation of alternative approaches. The avenue pursued focuses primarily on the development of a Human on a Chip, i.e., the combination of different three-dimensional (stem) cell-based organ equivalents combined with microfluidics. The prospects of such approaches, their impact on the field of alternative approaches, and necessary complementary activities are discussed. The need to adapt quality assurance measures and experiences from validation is stressed

Auf der Suche nach der optimalen Finanzmarktaufsicht

In diesem Beitrag werden mögliche ordnungspolitische Konsequenzen der Finanzmarktkrise in Folge der Turbulenzen auf dem US-amerikanischen Hypothekenkreditmarkt diskutiert. Zunächst erläutern die Autoren theoretisch und empirisch die Phänomene der Bankenkrisen und der Ansteckung in einem vernetzten Finanzmarkt, wie er in Europa vorliegt. Der derzeitige Status Quo der Finanzmarktaufsicht in Deutschland/Europa wird in seiner Funktionsweise geschildert, Schwächen und Stärken werden heraus gestellt. Anschließend entwickeln die Verfasser übergeordnete und abgeleitete Kriterien zur Bestimmung einer optimalen Finanzmarktaufsicht. Diese werden herangezogen, um drei unterschiedliche Szenarien zu bewerten und zu vergleichen: Den Status Quo, eine von den nationalen Notenbanken und der EZB dominierte Finanzmarktaufsicht sowie ein drittes, synthetisches Szenario für eine, gegebenenfalls erst zu schaffende neue Aufsichtsbehörde.In this paper, the authors discuss the consequences for the national and/or international financial market supervision on the background of the recent turmoil in the US mortgage market. In the first place, the phenomena of bank runs and contagion in interrelated financial markets are illustrated both theoretically and empirically. The actual legal and institutional setup of financial market supervision in Germany and Europe is presented; its functioning,strength and weaknesses are discussed. In the following, the authors develop superior and derived criteria for the design and definition of an optimal financial market supervision. These criteria then serve to assess and compare three different scenarios: the actual status quo (in Germany and Europe), a second scenario, in which national centralbanks and the ECB take the lead in financial market supervision and, finally, a third scenario, where a synthetic new institution is responsible for the control of financial markets

Weighted Gene Correlation Network Analysis (WGCNA) Reveals Novel Transcription Factors Associated With Bisphenol A Dose-Response

Despite Bisphenol-A (BPA) being subject to extensive study, a thorough understanding of molecular mechanism remains elusive. Here we show that using weighted gene correlation network analysis (WGCNA), which takes advantage of a graph theoretical approach to understanding correlations amongst genes and grouping genes into modules that typically have co-ordinated biological functions and regulatory mechanisms, that despite some commonality in altered genes, there is minimal overlap between BPA and estrogen in terms of network topology. We confirmed previous findings that ZNF217 and TFAP2C are involved in the estrogen pathway, and are implicated in BPA as well, although for BPA they appear to be active in the absence of canonical estrogen-receptor driven gene expression. Furthermore, our study suggested that PADI4 and RACK7/ZMYNDB8 may be involved in the overlap in gene expression between estradiol and BPA. Lastly, we demonstrated that even at low doses there are unique transcription factors that appear to be driving the biology of BPA, such as SREBF1. Overall, our data is consistent with other reports that BPA leads to subtle gene changes rather than profound aberrations of a conserved estrogen signaling (or other) pathways

Food for thought ... on alternative methods for cosmetics safety testing

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Food for thought ... on animal tests

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Zur Entwicklung der Pockenschutzimpfung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung Thüringens im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert

1980 erklärte die WHO die Pocken als erste Krankheit der Menschheitsgeschichte für ausgerottet. Die Entwicklung dahin begann in Europa 1721 mit der Einführung der Pockeninokulation in England. Die Staaten Europas schufen sich in den folgenden Jahren eigene Impfwesen. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war, diese Entwicklung in den Thüringer Kleinstaaten zu untersuchen. Darüber hinaus wird die Rolle der Thüringer Ärzte im Rahmen dieser Entwicklung dargestellt. Es wird ein Einblick in die technischen und organisatorischen Abläufe gegeben. Anhand der gesetzlichen Regelungen läßt sich die Entschlossenheit der einzelnen Regierungen erkennen, die Pocken zu bekämpfen

Die Paronomasie als werbestilistisches Element – Zur gefühlten Inflation einer rhetorischen Figur

Paronomasias are as rhetorical figures of repetition intentional combinations of at least similar, at best, equal, semantically and/or etymology but different words, the similarity in sound and/or writing is justified. Given the inflation of "Wau, ist das günstig", "MyTaxi holt dich app", "Hörvorragende Angebote"… questioned the contribution the spoken power of this particular figure of advertisement speech. Basis is the theory that advertising language is as comprehensive "semiosis of linguistic, paralinguistic and extra-linguistic" (Fix 1996) interpreted. Differentiated by primary (homonymous, homophonic, homographic) and secondary (paronymous) Paronomasias, he then examines the primary as a semiotic unintended inventory based on a reductionist body, which leads to the extraction of structural usage patterns and checks the validity of two general schemes

Highly purified lipoteichoic acid from Staphylococcus aureus induces procoagulant activity and tissue factor expression in human monocytes but is a weak inducer in whole blood: Comparison with peptidoglycan

Lipoteichoic acid from Staphylococcus aureus was a potent inducer of procoagulant activity in isolated mononuclear cells but not in whole blood. In contrast, staphylococcal peptidoglycan showed equal levels of potency in isolated mononuclear cells and whole blood, suggesting that peptidoglycan is an important inducer of procoagulant activity in severe sepsis involving gram-positive bacteria