758 research outputs found
S100B brain expression and plasma concentrations in a preeclampsia rat model
Objective: To assess brain damage using the neuroinflammation marker S100B in a preeclampsia rat model.Methods: Non-pregnant and pregnant rats were infused with saline or low-dose-endotoxin on day 14 of pregnancy. S100B expression in the brain (immunohistochemistry) and S100B plasma concentrations (ELISA) were studied.Results: No differences in S100B expression in brain tissue were observed between the four groups. Pregnant endotoxin treated animals did not show increased levels of plasma S100B levels as compared with control pregnant rats, while significantly higher plasma S100B levels were found in non-pregnant endotoxin versus pregnant endotoxin infused rats.Conclusion: Pregnancy nor experimental preeclampsia, alter S100B in rat brain, or in plasma. Increased plasma S100B in non-pregnant endotoxin-treated rats may indicate brain injury in these rats, whereas pregnancy might be protective.</p
Field intercomparison of prevailing sonic anemometers
Three-dimensional sonic anemometers are the core component of eddy covariance
systems, which are widely used for micrometeorological and ecological
research. In order to characterize the measurement uncertainty of these
instruments we present and analyse the results from a field intercomparison
experiment of six commonly used sonic anemometer models from four major
manufacturers. These models include Campbell CSAT3, Gill HS-50 and R3, METEK
uSonic-3 Omni, R. M. Young 81000 and 81000RE. The experiment was conducted
over a meadow at the TERENO/ICOS site DE-Fen in southern Germany over a
period of 16 days in June of 2016 as part of the ScaleX campaign. The
measurement height was 3 m for all sensors, which were separated by 9 m
from each other, each on its own tripod, in order to limit contamination of
the turbulence measurements by adjacent structures as much as possible.
Moreover, the high-frequency data from all instruments were treated with the
same post-processing algorithm. In this study, we compare the results for
various turbulence statistics, which include mean horizontal wind speed,
standard deviations of vertical wind velocity and sonic temperature, friction
velocity, and the buoyancy flux. Quantitative measures of uncertainty, such
as bias and comparability, are derived from these results. We find that
biases are generally very small for all sensors and all computed variables,
except for the sonic temperature measurements of the two Gill sonic
anemometers (HS and R3), confirming a known transducer-temperature dependence
of the sonic temperature measurement. The best overall agreement between the
different instruments was found for the mean wind speed and the buoyancy
flux
Fuzzy Topology, Quantization and Gauge Invariance
Dodson-Zeeman fuzzy topology considered as the possible mathematical
framework of quantum geometric formalism. In such formalism the states of
massive particle m correspond to elements of fuzzy manifold called fuzzy
points. Due to their weak (partial) ordering, m space coordinate x acquires
principal uncertainty dx. It's shown that m evolution with minimal number of
additional assumptions obeys to schroedinger and dirac formalisms in
norelativistic and relativistic cases correspondingly. It's argued that
particle's interactions on such fuzzy manifold should be gauge invariant.Comment: 12 pages, Talk given on 'Geometry and Field Theory' conference,
Porto, July 2012. To be published in Int. J. Theor. Phys. (2015
Surface flux estimates derived from UAS-based mole fraction measurements by means of a nocturnal boundary layer budget approach
The carbon exchange between ecosystems and the atmosphere has a large influence on the Earth system and specifically on the climate. This exchange is therefore being studied intensively, often using the eddy covariance (EC) technique. EC measurements provide reliable results under turbulent atmospheric conditions, but under stable conditions – as they often occur at night – these measurements are known to misrepresent exchange fluxes. Nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) budgets can provide independent flux estimates under stable conditions, but their application so far has been limited by rather high cost and practical difficulties. Unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) equipped with trace gas analysers have the potential to make this method more accessible. We present the methodology and results of a proof of concept study carried out during the ScaleX 2016 campaign. Successive vertical profiles of carbon dioxide dry air mole fraction in the NBL were taken with a compact analyser carried by a UAS. We estimate an average carbon dioxide flux of 12 μmol m−2 s−1, which is plausible for nocturnal respiration in this region in summer. Transport modelling suggests that the NBL budgets represent an area on the order of 100 km2
Relativistic Effects of Light in Moving Media with Extremely Low Group Velocity
A moving dielectric medium acts as an effective gravitational field on light.
One can use media with extremely low group velocities [Lene Vestergaard Hau et
al., Nature 397, 594 (1999)] to create dielectric analogs of astronomical
effects on Earth. In particular, a vortex flow imprints a long-ranging
topological effect on incident light and can behave like an optical black hole.Comment: Physical Review Letters (accepted
Exact solution of the Zeeman effect in single-electron systems
Contrary to popular belief, the Zeeman effect can be treated exactly in
single-electron systems, for arbitrary magnetic field strengths, as long as the
term quadratic in the magnetic field can be ignored. These formulas were
actually derived already around 1927 by Darwin, using the classical picture of
angular momentum, and presented in their proper quantum-mechanical form in 1933
by Bethe, although without any proof. The expressions have since been more or
less lost from the literature; instead, the conventional treatment nowadays is
to present only the approximations for weak and strong fields, respectively.
However, in fusion research and other plasma physics applications, the magnetic
fields applied to control the shape and position of the plasma span the entire
region from weak to strong fields, and there is a need for a unified treatment.
In this paper we present the detailed quantum-mechanical derivation of the
exact eigenenergies and eigenstates of hydrogen-like atoms and ions in a static
magnetic field. Notably, these formulas are not much more complicated than the
better-known approximations. Moreover, the derivation allows the value of the
electron spin gyromagnetic ratio to be different from 2. For
completeness, we then review the details of dipole transitions between two
hydrogenic levels, and calculate the corresponding Zeeman spectrum. The various
approximations made in the derivation are also discussed in details.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to Physica Script
Proper time and Minkowski structure on causal graphs
For causal graphs we propose a definition of proper time which for small
scales is based on the concept of volume, while for large scales the usual
definition of length is applied. The scale where the change from "volume" to
"length" occurs is related to the size of a dynamical clock and defines a
natural cut-off for this type of clock. By changing the cut-off volume we may
probe the geometry of the causal graph on different scales and therey define a
continuum limit. This provides an alternative to the standard coarse graining
procedures. For regular causal lattice (like e.g. the 2-dim. light-cone
lattice) this concept can be proven to lead to a Minkowski structure. An
illustrative example of this approach is provided by the breather solutions of
the Sine-Gordon model on a 2-dimensional light-cone lattice.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure
Fuzzy Geometry of Phase Space and Quantization of Massive Fields
The quantum space-time and the phase space with fuzzy structure is
investigated as the possible quantization formalism. In this theory the state
of nonrelativistic particle corresponds to the element of fuzzy ordered set
(Foset) - fuzzy point. Due to Foset partial (weak) ordering, particle's space
coordinate x acquires principal uncertainty dx. It's shown that Shroedinger
formalism of Quantum Mechanics can be completely derived from consideration of
particle evolution in fuzzy phase space with minimal number of axioms.Comment: 13 pages, Talk given at QFEXT07 Workshop, Leipzig, Sept. 200
Long-Term Visual Functioning After Eclampsia
OBJECTIVE: Complete neurocognitive recovery after eclampsia has been questioned with the expression of neurocognitive deficits by affected women and demonstration of cerebral white matter lesions on magnetic resonance imaging years after eclampsia. We hypothesized that formerly eclamptic women may experience impaired vision-related quality of life (QOL) and visual field loss as a result of the presence of such lesions in the cerebral visual areas. METHODS: Using the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-39/Nederlands questionnaire, vision-related QOL was compared between formerly eclamptic women and control participants after normotensive pregnancies. Furthermore, in formerly eclamptic women, visual fields were assessed using automated perimetry, and presence of white matter lesions was evaluated using cerebral magnetic resonance imaging. Presence of a relationship between these lesions and National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-39/Nederlands scores was estimated. RESULTS: Forty-seven formerly eclamptic women and 47 control participants participated 10.1 +/- 5.2 and 11.5 +/- 7.8 years after their index pregnancy, respectively. Composite scores and 4 out of 12 National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-39/Nederlands subscale scores were significantly lower in formerly eclamptic women than in control participants (P CONCLUSION: Formerly eclamptic women express lower vision-related QOL than control participants, which seemed at least partly related to the presence of white matter lesions. However, such women do not have unconscious visual field loss. Vision-related QOL impairment expressed by formerly eclamptic women may therefore be related to problems with higher-order visual functions
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