Focussing system for an ion source having apertured electrodes Patent

Apertured electrode focusing system for ion sources with nonuniform plasma densit

Lie algebra and invariant tensor technology for g2

Proceeding in analogy with su(n) work on lambda matrices and f- and d-tensors, this paper develops the technology of the Lie algebra g2, its seven dimensional defining representation gamma and the full set of invariant tensors that arise in relation thereto. A comprehensive listing of identities involving these tensors is given. This includes identities that depend on use of characteristic equations, especially for gamma, and a good body of results involving the quadratic, sextic and (the non-primitivity of) other Casimir operators of g2.Comment: 29 pages, LaTe

Left ventricular clefts - incidental finding or pathologic sign of Wilson's disease?

Background: Wilson’s disease is an inherited autosomal recessive multi-systemic disorder characterized by reduced excretion and consequently excessive accumulation of copper in different organs, such as the heart. Results: In a prospective controlled trial, which is the largest to date, we evaluated 61 patients with Wilson’s disease, age- and sex-matched to 61 healthy patients, for cardiac manifestation using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. Patients were under stable disease and had no signs of heart failure at the time of examination. We detected a left ventricular cleft, an invagination penetrating more than 50% wall thickness of the adjoining compact myocardium in diastole, in 20% of the patients (12 out of 61) compared to 5% among control patients (3 out of 61, p = 0.013). No correlation between the incidence of cleft and a certain genotype of Wilson’s disease was found. All described cases were incidental findings and none of the patients showed other signs of cardiac involvement. Conclusions: To conclude, the results of this study suggests that the increased occurrence of left ventricular clefts is due to Wilson’s disease. Large studies with a long observation period are needed for further evaluation

Neue Erkenntnisse zur Ertragsrelevanz der Kraut- und Knollenfäule

Zur Kontrolle der Kraut- und Knollenfäule (Phytophthora infestans) im ökologischen Kartoffelanbau wurde in einem EU-Forschungsprojekt ein Systemansatz entwickelt. Ziel war unter anderem, den Einsatz von Kupferfungiziden zu reduzieren

Particle Acceleration and Magnetic Dissipation in Relativistic Current Sheet of Pair Plasmas

We study linear and nonlinear development of relativistic and ultrarelativistic current sheets of pair plasmas with antiparallel magnetic fields. Two types of two-dimensional problems are investigated by particle-in-cell simulations. First, we present the development of relativistic magnetic reconnection, whose outflow speed is an order of the light speed c. It is demonstrated that particles are strongly accelerated in and around the reconnection region, and that most of magnetic energy is converted into "nonthermal" part of plasma kinetic energy. Second, we present another two-dimensional problem of a current sheet in a cross-field plane. In this case, the relativistic drift kink instability (RDKI) occurs. Particle acceleration also takes place, but the RDKI fast dissipates the magnetic energy into plasma heat. We discuss the mechanism of particle acceleration and the theory of the RDKI in detail. It is important that properties of these two processes are similar in the relativistic regime of T > mc^2, as long as we consider the kinetics. Comparison of the two processes indicates that magnetic dissipation by the RDKI is more favorable process in the relativistic current sheet. Therefore the striped pulsar wind scenario should be reconsidered by the RDKI.Comment: To appear in ApJ vol. 670; 60 pages, 27 figures; References and typos are fixe

Ricci flow for homogeneous compact models of the universe

Using quaternions, we give a concise derivation of the Ricci tensor for homogeneous spaces with topology of the 3-dimensional sphere. We derive explicit and numerical solutions for the Ricci flow PDE and discuss their properties. In the collapse (or expansion) of these models, the interplay of the various components of the Ricci tensor are studied. We dedicate this paper to honor the work of Josh Goldberg.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figure

Ion rocket system research and development Final report, 24 Feb. 1964 - 25 Jun. 1965

Design studies and testing of ion rocket engine and zero gravity feed syste

DNA amplifications at 20q13 and MDM2 define distinct subsets of evolved breast and ovarian tumours.

DNA amplification seems to be particularly frequent in human breast tumours and has been associated with cancer evolution and aggressiveness. Recent data indicate that new events should be added to the list, such as the amplifications at chromosome 20q13 or the MDM2 gene. The present work aimed at determining the incidence and clinicopathological signification of these amplifications in a large series of breast and ovarian tumours. We tested 1371 breast and 179 ovarian tumours by Southern blotting and observed amplification of 20q13 in 5.4% breast and 2.8% ovarian carcinomas, whereas MDM2 was found amplified in 5.3% and 3.8% of breast and ovarian tumours respectively. MDM2 RNA expression levels were analysed in a subset of 57 breast tumours and overexpression was observed in 4/57 (7%) of the tumours. Elevated expression levels coincided with amplification of the gene. In breast cancer, 20q13 and MDM2 amplifications seem to define subsets of aggressive tumours. Indeed, 20q13 was correlated to axillary nodal involvement and occurred preferentially in younger patients (< 50 years). Furthermore, 20q13 correlated, as did MDM2 amplification, to aneuploidy. In parallel, we had also tested our tumour DNAs for amplification of CCND1, ERBB-2 and MYC, which made it possible to test for correlations with 20q13 or MDM2 amplifications. Whereas 20q13 showed a very strong correlation to CCND1 amplification, that of MDM2 was prevalent in MYC-amplified tumours. Interestingly, 20q13 and MDM2 amplifications showed some degree of correlation to each other, which may possibly be owing to the fact that both events occurred preferentially in aneuploid tumours. In ovarian cancer, no statistically significant correlation was observed. However, 20q13 amplification occurred preferentially in stage 3 tumours and MDM2 was correlated to ERBB-2 amplification. This may suggest that in ovarian tumours also, 20q13 and MDM2 amplifications occur in late or aggressive cancers