Cooling of the H Chondrite Parent Body: Examination and Assessment of 40Ar/39Ar Age Data

No abstract available

Three phases of carbonate minerals and two degrees of alteration in the Nogoya CM2 carbonaceous chondrite

No abstract available

Coated silica nanoparticles in Nakhla iddingsite veins: implications for waterrock interaction within the Martian crust

No abstract available

Resting respiratory tract dendritic cells preferentially stimulate T helper cell Type 2(Th2) responses and require obligatory cytokine signals for induction of Th1 immunity

Consistent with their role in host defense, mature dendritic cells (DCs) from central lymphoid organs preferentially prime for T helper cell type 1 (Th1)-polarized immunity. However, the “default” T helper response at mucosal surfaces demonstrates Th2 polarity, which is reflected in the cytokine profiles of activated T cells from mucosal lymph nodes. This study on rat respiratory tract DCs (RTDCs) provides an explanation for this paradox. We demonstrate that freshly isolated RTDCs are functionally immature as defined in vitro, being surface major histocompatibility complex (MHC) II lo, endocytosishi, and mixed lymphocyte reactionlo, and these cells produce mRNA encoding interleukin (IL)-10. After ovalbumin (OVA)-pulsing and adoptive transfer, freshly isolated RTDCs preferentially stimulated Th2-dependent OVA-specific immunoglobulin (Ig)G1 responses, and antigen-stimulated splenocytes from recipient animals produced IL-4 in vitro. However, preculture with granulocyte/macrophage colony stimulating factor increased their in vivo IgG priming capacity by 2–3 logs, inducing production of both Th1- and Th2-dependent IgG subclasses and high levels of IFN-γ by antigen-stimulated splenocytes. Associated phenotypic changes included upregulation of surface MHC II and B7 expression and IL-12 p35 mRNA, and downregulation of endocytosis, MHC II processing– associated genes, and IL-10 mRNA expression. Full expression of IL-12 p40 required additional signals, such as tumor necrosis factor α or CD40 ligand. These results suggest that the observed Th2 polarity of the resting mucosal immune system may be an inherent property of the resident DC population, and furthermore that mobilization of Th1 immunity relies absolutely on the provision of appropriate microenvironmental costimuli

An Improved CVDD Bur Used in Ultrasonic Dental System for Enamel Removal

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to increase enamel removal rate of dental diamond bur used in ultrasonic system so as to realize and promote its clinical applications. The cutting performances of the burs made by the electroplated diamond and by the chemical vapor deposition diamond (CVDD) are compared by experiment. It is found that the CVDD bur can achieve a higher removal rate. Detailed observation of the microphotograph of cut surface reveals that the superior performance of the CVDD bur is related to the morphology of the CVDD bur and the chips it produced. There are large amount of small cutting edges on the top of large size diamonds of the CVDD burs which results in tiny cutting chips. The materials along the plowed grooves left by the large size diamonds are removed by the adjacent small cutting edges. This action enables the cutting process to be carried out continuously rather than clogging the downward movement of the tool as experienced by the use of the electroplated diamond bur. But on the other hand, the too small chips also restrict the enamel removal rate. Hence a novel design of improved CVDD bur with fewer small cutting edges is proposed. The amount of cutting edges is reduced by heating the existing bur at 700°C for various time periods. It is found that the enamel removal rate along and perpendicular to enamel prism directions can be increased by 60% and 30%, respectively as compared with the untreated CVDD bur when it is heated in the nitrogen environment for 10minutes

Close encounters : spatial distances between people and a robot of mechanistic appearance

Peer reviewe

Northwest Africa 11522: A New Paired Stone of Martian Polymict Regolith Breccia Northwest Africa 7034

No abstract available

Mesoscopic Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in metallic rings

We study the amplitude of mesoscopic Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in quasi-one-dimensional (Q1D) diffusive rings. We consider first the low-temperature limit of a fully coherent sample. The variance of oscillation harmonics is calculated as a function of the length of the leads attaching the ring to reservoirs. We further analyze the regime of relatively high temperatures, when the dephasing due to electron-electron interaction suppresses substantially the oscillations. We show that the dephasing length L_phi^AB governing the damping factor exp(-2pi R /L_phi^AB) of the oscillations is parametrically different from the common dephasing length for the Q1D geometry. This is due to the fact that the dephasing is governed by energy transfers determined by the ring circumference 2pi R, making L_phi^AB R-dependent.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, to appear in proceedings of NATO/Euresco Conference "Fundamental Problems of Mesoscopic Physics: Interactions and Decoherence", Granada (Spain), September 200

Petrography and Geochemistry of Metals in Almahata Sitta Ureilites

Ureilites are ultramafic achondrites, predominantly composed of olivine and pyroxenes with accessory carbon, metal and sulfide. The majority of ureilites are believed to represent the mantle of the ureilite parent body (UPB) [1]. Although ureilites have lost much of their original metal [2], the metal that remains retains a record of the formative processes. Almahata Sitta is predominantly composed of unbrecciated ureilites with a wide range of silicate compositions [3,4]. As a fall it presents a rare opportunity to examine fresh ureilite metal in-situ, and analyzing their highly siderophile element (HSE) ratios gives clues to their formation. Bulk siderophile element analyses of Almahata Sitta fall within the range observed in other ureilites [5]. We have examined the metals in seven ureilitic samples of Almahata Sitta (AS) and one associated chondrite fragment (AS#25)