On the theory of magnetic field dependence of heat conductivity in dielectric in isotropic model

Phonon polarization in a magnetic field is analyzed in isotropic model. It is shown, that at presence of spin-phonon interaction phonon possess circular polari-zation which causes the appearance of heat flux component perpendicular both to temperature gradient and magnetic field.Comment: 5 pages, 0 figure

Philip Pullman: Postcolonial Dark Materials, the Daemon and the Search for Indigenous Authenticity

Contains fulltext : 131953.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)287 p

Veehouderij binnen de milieugebruiksruimte : opties voor sturingsinstrumenten veehouderij vanaf 2015

Veel veebedrijven hebben de wens om te groeien. De omvang van de melkveehouderij wordt momenteel begrensd door de EG-melkquotering, maar deze wordt in 2015 afgeschaft. De omvang van de varkens- en pluimveestapel wordt momenteel begrensd door het stelsel van dierrechten, maar in de Meststoffenwet staat 2015 als expiratiedatum van dit stelsel. Bij afschaffing van melkquotering en dierrechten heeft de overheid geen directe grip meer op de omvang van de veehouderij. Bij groei van de veestapel komt het realiseren van de milieudoelen met betrekking tot vermindering van de emissies van fosfaat, nitraat, ammoniak, broeikasgassen, fijn stof en zware metalen onder druk te staan. Veel van de milieudoelstellingen zijn internationaal vastgesteld, zoals in de Nitraatrichtlijn, de Kaderrichtlijn Water, de NEC-richtlijn (National Emission Ceiling), internationale klimaatafspraken en Natura 2000. In deze rapportage worden drie mogelijke sturingsinstrumenten beschreven: 1. Sturing door middel van dierrechten; 2. Sturing door middel van het Dierrechten Emissie Label Systeem (DELSY); 3. Sturing door middel van het Emissie Management Systeem (EMS)

Enhancement of bulk second-harmonic generation from silicon nitride films by material composition

We present a comprehensive tensorial characterization of second-harmonic generation from silicon nitride films with varying composition. The samples were fabricated using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, and the material composition was varied by the reactive gas mixture in the process. We found a six-fold enhancement between the lowest and highest second-order susceptibility, with the highest value of approximately 5 pm/V from the most silicon-rich sample. Moreover, the optical losses were found to be sufficiently small (below 6 dB/cm) for applications. The tensorial results show that all samples retain in-plane isotropy independent of silicon content, highlighting the controllability of the fabrication process.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables; Re-submitted to Optics Letter

The prognostic value of the hypoxia markers CA IX and GLUT 1 and the cytokines VEGF and IL 6 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma treated by radiotherapy ± chemotherapy

BACKGROUND: Several parameters of the tumor microenvironment, such as hypoxia, inflammation and angiogenesis, play a critical role in tumor aggressiveness and treatment response. A major question remains if these markers can be used to stratify patients to certain treatment protocols. The purpose of this study was to investigate the inter-relationship and the prognostic significance of several biological and clinicopathological parameters in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) treated by radiotherapy ± chemotherapy. METHODS: We used two subgroups of a retrospective series for which CT-determined tumoral perfusion correlated with local control. In the first subgroup (n = 67), immunohistochemistry for carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX) and glucose transporter-1 (GLUT-1) was performed on the pretreatment tumor biopsy. In the second subgroup (n = 34), enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to determine pretreatment levels of the cytokines vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in serum. Correlation was investigated between tumoral perfusion and each of these biological markers, as well as between the markers mutually. The prognostic value of these microenvironmental parameters was also evaluated. RESULTS: For CA IX and GLUT-1, the combined assessment of patients with both markers expressed above the median showed an independent correlation with local control (p = 0.02) and disease-free survival (p = 0.04) with a trend for regional control (p = 0.06). In the second subgroup, IL-6 pretreatment serum level above the median was the only independent predictor of local control (p = 0.009), disease-free survival (p = 0.02) and overall survival (p = 0.005). CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, we are the first to report a link in HNSCC between IL-6 pretreatment serum levels and radioresistance in vivo. This link is supported by the strong prognostic association of pretreatment IL-6 with local control, known to be the most important parameter to judge radiotherapy responses. Furthermore, the combined assessment of CA IX and GLUT-1 correlated independently with prognosis. This is a valuable indication that a combined approach is important in the investigation of prognostic markers

Using planar laser-induced fluorescence to study the phase transformations of two-component liquid and suspension droplets

Using the planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF), we performed experiments to determine evaporation dynamics of homogeneous and heterogeneous droplets of liquids, conditions of their boiling, and explosive breakup. For the 1–2 mm water droplets, the distribution of highly non-homogeneous and non-steady temperature field was detected by highspeed cross-correlation video recording and the Tema Automotive software.We identified highly nonlinear dependences of evaporation rate on heating temperature and time as well as water droplet size. For the two-component liquids and water-based suspensions of graphite, we revealed unsteady temperature fields and established mechanisms and regimes of the explosive breakup of the heterogeneous droplets when heated. The regimes differ in the number and dimensions of the emerging gas–liquid fragments as well as the durations of the main stages. The three regimes of warming-up and evaporation of the heterogeneous droplets have been obtained. The explosive breakup of droplets enables provision for the secondary atomization of the liquid with the emergence of an aerosol cloud. The surface area of the liquid increases several-fold. The temperature variations at the water/solid or water/flammable component interfaces were determined corresponding to each boiling and breakup regime. Using the PLIF, we studied reasons and mechanism of the explosive breakup of water droplets with single large carbonaceous inclusions when heated

Enhanced neuroinflammation and pain hypersensitivity after peripheral nerve injury in rats expressing mutated superoxide dismutase 1

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Neuroinflammation and nitroxidative stress are implicated in the pathophysiology of neuropathic pain. In view of both processes, microglial and astroglial activation in the spinal dorsal horn play a predominant role. The present study investigated the severity of neuropathic pain and the degree of glial activation in an inflammatory- and nitroxidative-prone animal model.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Transgenic rats expressing mutated superoxide dismutase 1 (hSOD1^G93A) are classically used as a model for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Because of the associated inflammatory- and nitroxidative-prone properties, this model was used to study thermal and mechanical hypersensitivity following partial sciatic nerve ligation (PSNL). Next to pain hypersensitivity assessment, microglial and astroglial activation states were moreover characterized, as well as inflammatory marker gene expression and the glutamate clearance system.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>PSNL induced thermal and mechanical hypersensitivity in both wild-type (WT) and transgenic rats. However, the degree of thermal hypersensitivity was found to be exacerbated in transgenic rats while mechanical hypersensitivity was only slightly and not significantly increased. Microglial Iba1 expression was found to be increased in the ipsilateral dorsal horn of the lumbar spinal cord after PSNL but such Iba1 up-regulation was enhanced in transgenic rats as compared WT rats, both at 3 days and at 21 days after injury. Moreover, mRNA levels of Nox2, a key enzyme in microglial activation, but also of pro-inflammatory markers (IL-1β and TLR4) were not modified in WT ligated rats at 21 days after PSNL as compared to WT sham group while transgenic ligated rats showed up-regulated gene expression of these 3 targets. On the other hand, the PSNL-induced increase in GFAP immunoreactivity spreading that was evidenced in WT rats was unexpectedly found to be attenuated in transgenic ligated rats. Finally, GLT-1 gene expression and uptake activity were shown to be similar between WT sham and WT ligated rats at 21 days after injury, while both parameters were significantly increased in the ipsilateral dorsal region of the lumbar spinal cord of hSOD1^G93Arats.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Taken together, our findings show that exacerbated microglial activation and subsequent inflammatory and nitroxidative processes are associated with the severity of neuropathic pain symptoms.</p

Energy- and Cost-Efficient Pumping Station Control

With renewable energy becoming more common, energy prices fluctuate more depending on environmental factors such as the weather. Consuming energy without taking volatile prices into consideration can not only become expensive, but may also increase the peak load, which requires energy providers to generate additional energy using less environment-friendly methods. In the Netherlands, pumping stations that maintain the water levels of polder canals are large energy consumers, but the controller software currently used in the industry does not take real-time energy availability into account. We investigate if existing AI planning techniques have the potential to improve upon the current solutions. In particular, we propose a light weight but realistic simulator and investigate if an online planning method (UCT) can utilise this simulator to improve the cost-efficiency of pumping station control policies. An empirical comparison with the current control algorithms indicates that substantial cost, and thus peak load, reduction can be attained

Land-Applied Goat Manure as a Source of Human QFever in the Netherlands, 2006–2010

Studies have shown a link between Q-fever positive farms (QFPFs) and community cases of human Q-fever. Our study is the first to investigate the potential role of contaminated land-applied manure in human Q-fever, based on a large set of nationwide notification and farm management data. Time between manure application and disease onset in geographically linked notified human cases coincided with the incubation period of Q-fever. Proximity of contaminated land parcels predicted human cases better than proximity of QFPFs (80% vs. 58%, 0–5 km in 2009). Incidence around QFPFs and contaminated land parcels decreased with distance, but not around non-contaminated land parcels. Incidence was higher around contaminated land parcels than non-contaminated land parcels (RR = [10],95%CI = [7], [1]–[14,2]). Our findings deliver evidence that, apart from QFPFs, land-applied contaminated manure may be another source of human Q-fever

Dynamic contrast-enhanced and diffusion-weighted MRI for early detection of tumoral changes in single-dose and fractionated radiotherapy: evaluation in a rat rhabdomyosarcoma model

We aimed to examine different intratumoral changes after single-dose and fractionated radiotherapy, using diffusion-weighted (DW) and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI in a rat rhabdomyosarcoma model. Four WAG/Rij rats with rhabdomyosarcomas in the flanks received single-dose radiotherapy of 8 Gy, and four others underwent fractionated radiotherapy (five times 3 Gy). In rats receiving single-dose radiotherapy, a significant perfusion decrease was found in the first 2 days post-treatment, with slow recuperation afterwards. No substantial diffusion changes could be seen; tumor growth delay was 12 days. The rats undergoing fractionated radiotherapy showed a similar perfusion decrease early after the treatment. However, a very strong increase in apparent diffusion coefficient occurred in the first 10 days; growth delay was 18 days. DW-MRI and DCE-MRI can be used to show early tumoral changes induced by radiotherapy. Single-dose and fractionated radiotherapy induce an immediate perfusion effect, while the latter induces more intratumoral necrosis