Reproduction affects immune defenses in the guinea pig even under ad libitum food

Reproduction is one of the costliest processes in the life of an animal. Life history theory assumes that when resources are limiting allocation to reproduction will reduce allocation to other essential processes thereby inducing costs of reproduction. The immune system is vital for survival. If reproduction reduces investment in immune function, this could increase the risk of disease, morbidity and mortality. We here test in the guinea pig, if even under ad libitum food conditions, pregnancy and lactation reduce the activity of the adaptive and innate immune system compared to the reaction of non-reproducing animals. In response to a challenge with keyhole limpet haemocyanin the antibody-mediated adaptive immunity during (pregnancy and) lactation was reduced. Pregnant and lactating females showed higher levels of bacterial killing activity, an integrated measure of innate immunity, than non-reproducing females. However, two major effectors of the innate immunity, the natural antibody and the complement of pregnant and lactating females showed lower levels than in non-reproducing females. Pregnant and lactating females did not differ significantly in the expressed levels of innate immunity. Our results indicate that changes in the immune response during reproduction are physiological adjustments to predictable allocation problems, because they happen even under ad libitum food availability

Nitriding model for zirconium based fuel cladding in severe accident codes

A model has been developed to describe the nitriding of partially oxidized zirconium based cladding during an air ingress sequence when the reaction has become starved of oxidant (oxygen and/or steam), and the subsequent re-oxidation of nitride following of restoration of coolant. Key aspects of the model are the estimation of oxygen-stabilised alpha zirconium, α-Zr(O), formed during pre-oxidation and its reaction with the nitrogen. Nitriding of metallic Zr is much slower than α-Zr(O), and plays a comparatively minor role. The model is based on data from separate-effects tests comprised pre-oxidation, nitriding in the absence of oxidant, and re-oxidation in the absence of nitrogen, which were used to derive the kinetic parameters for the main reaction processes. Developmental assessment was performed using the test results, demonstrating favourable agreement for the main reaction signatures. Independent assessment against Integral Test data is underway

All-optical measurement of the hot electron sheath driving laser ion acceleration from thin foils

We present experimental results from an all-optical diagnostic method to directly measure the evolution of the hot-electron distribution driving the acceleration of ions from thin foils using high-intensity lasers. Central parameters of laser ion acceleration such as the hot-electron density, the temperature distribution and the conversion efficiency from laser pulse energy into hot electrons become comprehensively accessible with this technique.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (contract number TR18)Germany. Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (contract number 03ZIK445)Germany. Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (contract number 03ZIK052

Harmonic Generation from Relativistic Plasma Surfaces in Ultra-Steep Plasma Density Gradients

Harmonic generation in the limit of ultra-steep density gradients is studied experimentally. Observations demonstrate that while the efficient generation of high order harmonics from relativistic surfaces requires steep plasma density scale-lengths ($L_p/\lambda < 1$) the absolute efficiency of the harmonics declines for the steepest plasma density scale-length $L_p \to 0$, thus demonstrating that near-steplike density gradients can be achieved for interactions using high-contrast high-intensity laser pulses. Absolute photon yields are obtained using a calibrated detection system. The efficiency of harmonics reflected from the laser driven plasma surface via the Relativistic Oscillating Mirror (ROM) was estimated to be in the range of 10^{-4} - 10^{-6} of the laser pulse energy for photon energies ranging from 20-40 eV, with the best results being obtained for an intermediate density scale-length

Controlling Visible Light-Driven Photoconductivity in Self-Assembled Perylene Bisimide Structures

Alanine-functionalized perylene bisimides (PBI-A) are promising photoconductive materials. PBI-A self-assembles at high concentrations (mM) into highly ordered wormlike structures that are suitable for charge transport. However, we previously reported that the photoconductive properties of dried films of PBI-A did not correlate with the electronic absorption spectra as activity was only observed under UV light. Using transient absorption spectroscopy, we now demonstrate that charge separation can occur within these PBI-A structures in water under visible light. The lack of charge separation in the films is shown by DFT calculations to be due to a large ion-pair energy in the dried samples which is due to both the low dielectric environment and the change in the site of hole-localization upon drying. However, visible light photoconductivity can be induced in dried PBI-A films through the addition of methanol vapor, a suitable electron donor. The extension of PBI-A film activity into the visible region demonstrates that this class of self-assembled PBI-A structures may be of use in a heterojunction system when coupled to a suitable electron donor