40,419 research outputs found
The Cytoscan (TM) model E-II, a new reflectance microscope for intravital microscopy: Comparison with the standard fluorescence method
The Cytoscan(TM) Model E-II (Cytometrics Inc., Philadelphia, Pa., USA) is a newly developed instrument which functions as an intravital microscope and is small and easily portable. Through the use of orthogonal polarization spectral (OPS) imaging, the Cytoscan Model E-II delivers images of the microcirculation which are comparable to those achieved with intravital fluorescence videomicroscopy (IFM), but without the use of fluorescent dyes. The purpose of this study was to validate the Cytoscan Model E-II instrument against IFM. The experiments were carried out on striated muscle in the dorsal skinfold chamber of the awake Syrian hamster. The following parameters were measured in identical regions of interest in the same animal under baseline conditions and 0.5 and 2 h after a 4-hour period of pressure-induced ischemia: arteriolar diameter, venular diameter and venular red blood cell velocity. Bland-Altman plots showed good agreement between the two techniques for venular red blood cell velocity. As expected, arteriolar and venular diameters as measured by the Cytoscan were on average 5 mum smaller than the values from IFM, since the Cytoscan measures the red blood cell column width and IFM measures luminal diameter. Thus, OPS imaging can be used to make valid measurements of microvascular diameter and red blood cell velocity in tissues. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel
The Globular Cluster Systems in the Coma Ellipticals. III: The Unique Case of IC 4051
Using archival \hst WFPC2 data, we derive the metallicity distribution,
luminosity function, and spatial structure of the globular cluster system
around IC 4051, a giant E galaxy on the outskirts of the Coma cluster core. The
metallicity distribution derived from the (V-I) colors has a mean [Fe/H] =
-0.3, a near-complete lack of metal-poor clusters, and only a small metallicity
gradient with radius; it may, however, have two roughly equal metallicity
subcomponents, centered at [Fe/H] ~ 0.0 and -1.0. The luminosity distribution
(GCLF) has the Gaussian-like form observed in all other giant E galaxies, with
a peak (turnover) at V = 27.8, consistent with a Coma distance of 100 Mpc. The
radial profiles of both the GCS and the halo light show an unusually steep
falloff which may indicate that the halo of this galaxy has been tidally
truncated. Lastly, the specific frequency of the GCS is remarkably large: we
find S_N = 11 +- 2, resembling the central cD-type galaxies even though IC 4051
is not a cD or brightest cluster elliptical. A formation model consistent with
most of the observations would be that this galaxy was subjected to removal of
a large fraction of its protogalactic gas shortly after its main phase of
globular cluster formation, probably by its first passage through the Coma
core. Since then, no significant additions due to accretions or mergers have
taken place.Comment: 24 pp. plus 13 Figures. Postscript file for the complete paper can
also be downloaded from http://www.physun.mcmaster.ca/~harris/WEHarris.html.
Astron.J., in pres
Enhancement of Kerr nonlinearity via multi-photon coherence
We propose a new method of resonant enhancement of optical Kerr nonlinearity
using multi-level atomic coherence. The enhancement is accompanied by
suppression of the other linear and nonlinear susceptibility terms of the
medium. We show that the effect results in a modification of the nonlinear
Faraday rotation of light propagating in an Rb87 vapor cell by changing the
ellipticity of the light.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures Submitted to Optics Letter
Impact hazard protection efficiency by a small kinetic impactor
In this paper the ability of a small kinetic impactor spacecraft to mitigate an Earth-threatening asteroid is assessed by means of a novel measure of efficiency. This measure estimates the probability of a space system to deflect a single randomly-generated Earth-impacting object to a safe distance from the Earth. This represents a measure of efficiency that is not biased by the orbital parameters of a test-case object. A vast number of virtual Earth-impacting scenarios are investigated by homogenously distributing in orbital space a grid of 17,518 Earth impacting trajectories. The relative frequency of each trajectory is estimated by means Opik’s theory and Bottke’s near Earth objects model. A design of the entire mitigation mission is performed and the largest deflected asteroid computed for each impacting trajectory. The minimum detectable asteroid can also be estimated by an asteroid survey model. The results show that current technology would likely suffice against discovered airburst and local damage threats, whereas larger space systems would be necessary to reliably tackle impact hazard from larger threats. For example, it is shown that only 1,000 kg kinetic impactor would suffice to mitigate the impact threat of 27.1% of objects posing similar threat than that posed by Apophis
Low-density series expansions for directed percolation IV. Temporal disorder
We introduce a model for temporally disordered directed percolation in which
the probability of spreading from a vertex , where is the time and
is the spatial coordinate, is independent of but depends on . Using
a very efficient algorithm we calculate low-density series for bond percolation
on the directed square lattice. Analysis of the series yields estimates for the
critical point and various critical exponents which are consistent with a
continuous change of the critical parameters as the strength of the disorder is
increased.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure
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