Stable One-Dimensional Dissipative Solitons in Complex Cubic-Quintic Ginzburg-Landau Equation

The generation and nonlinear dynamics of one-dimensional optical dissipative solitonic pulses are examined. The variational method is extended to complex dissipative systems, in order to obtain steady state solutions of the (1 + 1)-dimensional complex cubic-quintic Ginzburg-Landau equation. A stability criterion is established fixing a domain of dissipative parameters for stable steady state solutions. Following numerical simulations, evolution of any input pulse from this domain leads to stable dissipative temporal solitons. Analytical predictions are confirmed by numerical evolution of input temporal pulses towards stable dissipative solitons

Hybrid-procedures for the Treatment of Thoracoabdominal Aortic Aneurysms and Dissections

AimThe conventional open repair of thoracoabdominal aneurysms and dissections remains complex and demanding and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. We present our experience of hybrid open and endovascular treatment of thoracoabdominal aneurysms and dissections.MethodsWithin an experience of 226 aortic stent-grafts between 1998 and April 2006, 6 of the patients (median age 60 years, range 35 to 68 years) with thoracoabdominal aneurysms (Crawford type I, II, III, and V) were treated with a combined endovascular and open surgical approach. Five men and one woman, with median aneurysm diameter of 75mm (range 70–100mm), received revascularization of the renal arteries, the superior mesenteric artery, and the coeliac trunk accomplished via transperitoneal bypass grafting. Aneurysmal exclusion was then performed by stent-graft deployment.ResultsThe entire procedure was technically successful in all patients. The patients were discharged a median of 9 days after the operation, while the postoperative studies revealed the patency of the vessels and no evidence of type I endoleak or secondary rupture of the aneurysm. During follow up (1 to 22 months) spiral-CT scanning revealed distinct shrinkage of the aneurysm, no graft migration or endoleak and patency of all revascularised vessels, except one renal artery in two patients. No patient experienced any temporary or permanent neurological deficit, and no dialysis was necessary.ConclusionThe combined endovascular and open surgical approach is feasible, without cross clamping of the aorta and with minimized ischemia time for renal and visceral arteries, and seems to be an appropriate strategy for patients with a thoraco-abdominal aortic aneurysm or dissection

Fractal and stereological analyses of insulin-induced rat exocrine pancreas remodelling

Background: The effect of insulin on the endocrine pancreas has been the subject of extensive study, but quantitative morphometric investigations of the exocrine pancreas are scarce. This study was therefore undertaken to investigate the effect of acute and chronic insulin administration (two doses, 0.4 IU and 4 IU) on the morphology of rat pancreas acini. Materials and methods: Semi-fine sections stained with methylene blue and basic fuchsine or haematoxylin and eosin-stained 5-micrometer thick paraffin sections were used for fractal and stereological analysis of exocrine acini. Acute insulin treatment, independent of applied doses increased fractal dimension in line with decreased lacunarity of pancreas acini. Chronic low dose insulin decreased fractal dimension and increased lacunarity of pancreas acini, but a high dose had the opposite effect. The volume densities (Vv) of cytoplasm, granules and nucleus are affected differently: acute low dose and high chronic dose significantly decreased granules Vv, and in line increased cytoplasmic Vv, whereas other examined structures showed slight changes without statistical significance. Results: The results obtained from this investigation indicate that insulin treatment induced structural remodelling of the exocrine pancreas suggesting a substantial role of insulin in its functioning. Conclusions: Additionally, we showed that fine architectural changes in acini could be detected by fractal analysis, suggesting this method as an alternative or addition to routine stereology

ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC ANALOGIES BETWEEN THERMOELASTIC COMPONENT OF THE PHOTOACOUSTIC SIGNAL AND LOW-PASS RC FILTER

This paper presents a new approach to the thermal characterization of aluminum, based on the electro-acoustic analogy between the thermoelastic component of the photoacoustic signal and the passive RC low-pass filter. The analogies were used to calculate the characteristic thermoelastic cut-off frequencies of the photoacoustic component and obtain their relationship with the thickness of the aluminum samples. Detailed numerical analysis showed that the required relationship is linear in the log-log scale and can serve as a reference curve for the given material. The results of the numerical analysis were also confirmed experimentally

Fractal Nature Complex Correction an Inductivity

The microstructures properties predicting are based on their materials characteristics. In ceramic materials, regarding higher miniaturization and integrations, the structure analysis is very important. The main contribution of this research is related to relation between perovscites ceramics electronic properties, especially BaTiO3 and NZT-ceramics and structural characteristics. We applied advanced analysis, based on fractal nature and introduced complex fractal correction in defining the very important electromagnetic parameter inductivity (L). The samples consolidation includes both, powder pressing (cold sintering) and hot sintering. The fractal characterization performs very important role from powders up to the final structures, through which exists structure influence on electro-physical and other ceramic properties. We report the experimental results of BaTiO3 and NZT-ceramics processing. Also, this is the first time that we apply complex fractal correction (influence of grains and pore surface and as well as particles Brownian motion) on fundamental thermodynamic temperature in Currie-Weiss law. This application includes the influence of Housdorff dimension (DH) from the microstructure images and connect fractal corrections in Currie-Weiss law, for relative dielectric constant ϵr and magnetic permeability μr. Through ϵr and μr, on this way, for the first time in this scientific area, we present direct relation to inductivity. This complex relation opens quit new advance understanding in structures and parameters in area of ferroelectic-magnetic applications in telecommunications, by introducing the fractals.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

A unifying mathematical framework for experimental TCR-pMHC kinetic constants

Receptor binding and triggering are central in Immunology as T cells activated through their T cell receptors (TCR) by protein antigens orchestrate immune responses. In order to understand receptor-ligand interactions, many groups working with different experimental techniques and assays have generated a vast body of knowledge during the last decades. However, in recent years a type of assays, referred to as two-dimensional or membrane-to-membrane, has questioned our current understanding of the role of different kinetic constants (for instance, on- versus off-rate constants) on TCR-ligand interaction and subsequent T cell activation. Here we present a general mathematical framework that provides a unifying umbrella to relate fundamental and effective (or experimentally determined) kinetic constants, as well as describe and compare state-of-the-art experimental methods. Our framework is able to predict the correlations between functional output, such as 1/EC50, and effective kinetic constants for a range of different experimental assays (in two and three dimensions). Furthermore, our approach can be applied beyond Immunology, and serve as a “translation method” for the biochemical characterization of receptor-ligand interactions

The major upgrade of the MAGIC telescopes, Part II: A performance study using observations of the Crab Nebula

MAGIC is a system of two Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes located in the Canary island of La Palma, Spain. During summer 2011 and 2012 it underwent a series of upgrades, involving the exchange of the MAGIC-I camera and its trigger system, as well as the upgrade of the readout system of both telescopes. We use observations of the Crab Nebula taken at low and medium zenith angles to assess the key performance parameters of the MAGIC stereo system. For low zenith angle observations, the standard trigger threshold of the MAGIC telescopes is ~50GeV. The integral sensitivity for point-like sources with Crab Nebula-like spectrum above 220GeV is (0.66+/-0.03)% of Crab Nebula flux in 50 h of observations. The angular resolution, defined as the sigma of a 2-dimensional Gaussian distribution, at those energies is < 0.07 degree, while the energy resolution is 16%. We also re-evaluate the effect of the systematic uncertainty on the data taken with the MAGIC telescopes after the upgrade. We estimate that the systematic uncertainties can be divided in the following components: < 15% in energy scale, 11-18% in flux normalization and +/-0.15 for the energy spectrum power-law slope.Comment: 21 pages, 25 figures, accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physic

Lead Telluride Doped with Au as a Very Promising Material for Thermoelectric Applications

PbTe single crystals doped with monovalent Au or Cu were grown using the Bridgman method. Far infrared reflectivity spectra were measured at room temperature for all samples and plasma minima were registered. These experimental spectra were numerically analyzed and optical parameters were calculated. All the samples of PbTe doped with Au or Cu were of the “n” type. The properties of these compositions were analyzed and compared with PbTe containing other dopants. The samples of PbTe doped with only 3.3 at% Au were the best among the PbTe + Au samples having the lowest plasma frequency and the highest mobility of free carriers-electrons, while PbTe doped with Cu was the opposite. Samples with the lowest Cu concentration of 0.23 at% Cu had the best properties. Thermal diffusivity and electronic transport properties of the same PbTe doped samples were also investigated using a photoacoustic (PA) method with the transmission detection configuration. The results obtained with the far infrared and photoacoustic characterization of PbTe doped samples were compared and discussed. Both methods confirmed that when PbTe was doped with 3.3 at% Au, thermoelectric and electrical properties of this doped semiconductor were both significantly improved, so Au as a dopant in PbTe could be used as a new high quality thermoelectric material