3,231 research outputs found
The AMS-02 Anticoincidence Counter
The AMS-02 detector will measure cosmic rays on the International Space
Station. This contribution will cover production, testing, space qualification
and integration of the AMS-02 anticoincidence counter. The anticoincidence
counter is needed to to assure a clean track reconstruction for the charge
determination and to reduce the trigger rate during periods of high flux.Comment: IPRD08 conference proceeding. Will be published in Nuclear Physics B
(Proceedings Supplement
IdentitÀt im Widerspruch : das VerhÀltnis von Christentum und Judentum als Kirchengeschichtliches Thema
Rede uitgesproken bij de aanvaarding van het ambt van hoogleraar Kerkgeschiedenis aan de Theologische Universiteit van de Gereformeerde Kerken te Kampen op 12 april 2002
Van theologie naar religious studies? : voorbij het dilemma tussen zelfopheffing en isolement
Diesrede Protestantse Theologische Universiteit d.d. 8 december 2008 te Leiden.
In uitgewerkte vorm verschenen: H.-M. Kirn, Von der Theologie zu den Religious Studies? Ăberlegungen zu Glaube und Religion im Wandel universitĂ€rer Bildung, in: R. Chr. Schwinges (ed.), UniversitĂ€t, Religion und Kirchen (Veröffentlichungen der Gesellschaft fĂŒr UniversitĂ€ts- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte 11), Basel: Schwabe, 2011, p. 541-559
Cancer prevalence in Central Europe: the EUROPREVAL Study
Background: Information on cancer prevalence is either absent or largely unavailable for central European countries. Materials and methods: Austria, Germany, The Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland cover a population of 13 million inhabitants. Cancer registries in these countries supplied incidence and survival data for 465â000 cases of cancer. The prevalence of stomach, colon, rectum, lung, breast, cervix uteri, corpus uteri and prostate cancer, as well as skin melanoma, Hodgkin's disease, leukaemia and all malignant neoplasms combined was estimated for the end of 1992. Results: A large heterogeneity was observed within central European countries. For all cancers combined, estimates ranged from 730 per 100â000 in Poland (men) to 3350 per 100â000 in Germany (women). Overall cancer prevalence was the highest in Germany and Switzerland, and the lowest in Poland and Slovenia. In Slovakia, prevalence was higher than average for men and lower than average for women. This was observed for almost all ages. As shown by incidence data, breast cancer was the most frequent malignancy among women in all countries. Among men, prostate cancer was the leading malignancy in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and lung cancer was the major cancer in Slovenia, Slovakia and Poland. The Netherlands had a high prevalence of both prostate and lung cancer. Time-related magnitude of prevalence within each country and the variability of such proportions across the countries has been estimated and cancer prevalence is given by time since diagnosis (1 year, 1-5 years, 5-10 years, >10 years) for each site. The weight of 1-year prevalence (248 per 100â000 among men and 253 per 100â000 among women) was 10 years before), reflecting long-term survival, and number of people considered as cured from cancer were 490 per 100â000 for men and 1028 per 100â000 for women, with a range between 26% (The Netherlands, men) and 50% (Slovakia, women). Conclusion: It is clear from observing countries in Central Europe, that high cancer prevalence is associated with well-developed economies. This burden of cancer could be interpreted as a paradoxical effect of better treatments and thereby survival. It could also be taken as a sign for not being satisfied with the advances in treating patients diagnosed with cancer, and for supporting more primary preventio
Enhancement of vaccinia virus based oncolysis with histone deacetylase inhibitors
Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDI) dampen cellular innate immune response by decreasing interferon production and have been shown to increase the growth of vesicular stomatitis virus and HSV. As attenuated tumour-selective oncolytic vaccinia viruses (VV) are already undergoing clinical evaluation, the goal of this study is to determine whether HDI can also enhance the potency of these poxviruses in infection-resistant cancer cell lines. Multiple HDIs were tested and Trichostatin A (TSA) was found to potently enhance the spread and replication of a tumour selective vaccinia virus in several infection-resistant cancer cell lines. TSA significantly decreased the number of lung metastases in a syngeneic B16F10LacZ lung metastasis model yet did not increase the replication of vaccinia in normal tissues. The combination of TSA and VV increased survival of mice harbouring human HCT116 colon tumour xenografts as compared to mice treated with either agent alone. We conclude that TSA can selectively and effectively enhance the replication and spread of oncolytic vaccinia virus in cancer cells. © 2010 MacTavish et al
Geographical information retrieval with ontologies of place
Geographical context is required of many information retrieval tasks in which the target of the search may be documents, images or records which are referenced to geographical space only by means of place names. Often there may be an imprecise match between the query name and the names associated with candidate sources of information. There is a need therefore for geographical information retrieval facilities that can rank the relevance of candidate information with respect to geographical closeness of place as well as semantic closeness with respect to the information of interest. Here we present an ontology of place that combines limited coordinate data with semantic and qualitative spatial relationships between places. This parsimonious model of geographical place supports maintenance of knowledge of place names that relate to extensive regions of the Earth at multiple levels of granularity. The ontology has been implemented with a semantic modelling system linking non-spatial conceptual hierarchies with the place ontology. An hierarchical spatial distance measure is combined with Euclidean distance between place centroids to create a hybrid spatial distance measure. This is integrated with thematic distance, based on classification semantics, to create an integrated semantic closeness measure that can be used for a relevance ranking of retrieved objects
A High-resolution Scintillating Fiber Tracker With Silicon Photomultiplier Array Readout
We present prototype modules for a tracking detector consisting of multiple
layers of 0.25 mm diameter scintillating fibers that are read out by linear
arrays of silicon photomultipliers. The module production process is described
and measurements of the key properties for both the fibers and the readout
devices are shown. Five modules have been subjected to a 12 GeV/c proton/pion
testbeam at CERN. A spatial resolution of 0.05 mm and light yields exceeding 20
detected photons per minimum ionizing particle have been achieved, at a
tracking efficiency of more than 98.5%. Possible techniques for further
improvement of the spatial resolution are discussed.Comment: 31 pages, 27 figures, pre-print version of an article published in
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A, Vol. 62
Experimental Induction of Odontoblast Differentiation and Stimulation During Preparative Processes
In vivo implantation experiments have shown that ethylenediaminetetraaceticacid(EDTA)-soluble frac tions of dentin stimulate reparative dentinogenesis . When isolated embryonic dental papillae were cultured in the presence of these dentin constituents, odontoblast cytological and functional differentiation could be initiated and maintained in the absence of an enamel organ. These effects were attributed to the presence of TGF-/1- related molecules [TGF-/11 or bone morphogenetic protein -2a (BMP-2a)] which had to be used in combination with an EDT A-soluble fraction of dentin in order to specifically affect competent preodontoblasts . These EDT A-soluble constituents present in dentin could be replaced by heparin or fibronectin which both have been reported to interact with TGF-/1. The association of such defined matrix components with a TGF-/1-related molecule represents a biologically active complex triggering odontoblast functional differentiation.
In response to caries, odontoblasts modulate their secretory activity and are stimulated to elaborate reactionary dentin. This might be induced by active molecules such as IGF, TGF-6 or BMP which are liberated from dentin consecutively to the demineralization process.
Reparative dentinogenesis is distinct from reactionary dentinogenesis and more complex since it implicates the differentiation of precursor cells present in the dental papilla. The developmental history of these cells is different from that of the physiological predontoblasts in developing teeth. The nature of these stem cells and the mechanism of their induction still remain open questions
Search for Point Sources of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays Above 40 EeV Using a Maximum Likelihood Ratio Test
We present the results of a search for cosmic ray point sources at energies
above 40 EeV in the combined data sets recorded by the AGASA and HiRes stereo
experiments. The analysis is based on a maximum likelihood ratio test using the
probability density function for each event rather than requiring an a priori
choice of a fixed angular bin size. No statistically significant clustering of
events consistent with a point source is found.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journa
- âŠ