Ultra-compact binaries: relevance and role of Utrecht

We present a short overview of the formation and evolution of ultra-compact binaries. They are relevant to a surprisingly large number of astrophysical phenomena (binary interactions, mass transfer stability, explosive phenomena such as type Ia supernovae and gravitational waves).Comment: To appear in proceedings of "370 years of astronomy in Utrecht", Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands, April 2-5, 2012 (ASP Conference Series

Biomarkers, Models and Mechanisms of Intestinal Fibrosis

Chronic intestinal inflammation in Crohn’s disease (CD) frequently causes complications such as fibrosis or fistulae. Intestinal fibrosis is characterized by excessive deposition of collagens and causing stenosis and finally intestinal obstruction. Fistulae on the other hand are characterized by a relative decrease in deposition of collagens due to persistent inflammation. Despite advances in treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs, the incidence of fibrosis and fistulae remains high. Repetitive endoscopic dilatation of stenosis, or surgery for fibrosis or fistulae are so far the only therapeutic options. Furthermore, currently no serological biomarkers are available to detect the presence of intestinal fibrosis or fistulae. The development of drugs against intestinal fibrosis/fistulae is being hampered by the lack of insight in the underlying mechanism and by the lack of translational models that can predict drug efficacy in humans. We describe a novel translational ex vivo model for intestinal fibrosis, which could bridge the gap between pre-clinical and clinical research to evaluate the efficacy of anti-fibrotic drugs in man. In addition, pH sensing receptor ovarian cancer G-protein coupled receptor-1 was confirmed to be part of the mechanism of inducing intestinal fibrosis and may be a target for CD-associated fibrosis. Furthermore, we propose targets to inhibit intestinal fibrosis and existing drugs acting on these targets, based on increased mRNA expression of enzymes involved in the post-translational collagen processing of intestinal fibrosis affected tissue. Finally, we provide evidence for the use of serological markers related to turnover of extra cellular matrix to detect the presence of penetrating CD

Managing the Green Revolution: Management Knowledge and Indian Agriculture, 1963–1973

This article delves into the circulation of a set of management ideas and concepts between India and the US and the overlooked role that this body of knowledge played in India’s Green Revolution in the late 1960s. The paper takes a situated approach and examines how the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) formed a site for experimenting with management knowledge and became increasingly enmeshed with questions of rural governance by setting up a new research unit for agricultural development in the period 1963–1973. Drawing from the notion of techno-politics, the article argues that the managerial knowledge produced at this site played a significant part in the developmental politics of the Indian state that constituted India’s Green Revolution. The paper describes how the management concepts introduced under the rubric of “agribusiness” – developed in the context of an industrial society and American post-war capitalism – were unpacked and aligned to the dominant developmental imaginaries of the political elite and used in the agenda to rebuild India’s rural areas on the principles of cooperative organization and modes of production

The Making of Argumentation Theory: A Pragma-dialectical View

In ‘The making of argumentation theory’ van Eemeren and van Haaften describe the contributions made to the five components of a full-fledged research program of argumentation theory by four prominent approaches to the discipline: formal dialectics, rhetoric/pragmalinguistics, informal logic, and pragma-dialectics. Most of these approaches do not contribute to all components, but to some in particular. Starting from the pragma-dialectical view of the relationship between dialectical reasonableness and rhetorical effectiveness – the crucial issue in argumentation theory – van Eemeren and van Haaften explain the positions taken by representatives from the approaches discussed and indicate where they differ from the pragma-dialectical approach. It transpires that approaches focusing on dialectical reasonableness are, next to pragma-dialectics, formal dialectics and informal logic; approaches focusing on rhetorical effectiveness are, next to pragma-dialectics, rhetoric and pragmalinguistics, and the informal logician Tindale. When it comes to the relationship between dialectical reasonableness and rhetorical effectiveness, some interest in it is shown in rhetoric and pragmalinguistics, but only in pragma-dialectics and in Tindale’s work is it a real focus. The main difference between Tindale’s view and the pragma-dialectical view is that in pragma-dialectics the decisive role in deciding about reasonableness is assigned to a code of conduct for reasonable argumentative discourse and in Tindale’s approach this role is assigned to Tindale’s interpretation of the Perelmanian universal audience.</p

A Gas-Fired Kiln For Home And Student Potters

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The Influence of Video Interaction Guidance on the Quality of Parental Bonding towards and Interaction with the Premature Infant

Developing a parent-infant bond and interaction can be more challenging for parents of a preterm born infant. This study wants to shed light on the influence of video interaction guidance (VIG) on the quality of parental bonding towards and interaction with the premature infant

Population synthesis of classical low-mass X-ray binaries in the Galactic Bulge

Aims. We model the present-day population of 'classical' low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) with neutron star accretors, which have hydrogen-rich donor stars. Their population is compared with that of hydrogen-deficient LMXBs, known as ultracompact X-ray binaries (UCXBs). We model the observable LMXB population and compare it to observations. Methods. We combine the binary population synthesis code SeBa with detailed LMXB evolutionary tracks to model the size and properties of the present-day LMXB population in the Galactic Bulge. Whether sources are persistent or transient, and what their instantaneous X-ray luminosities are, is predicted using the thermal-viscous disk instability model. Results. We find a population of ~2.1 x 10^3 LMXBs with neutron star accretors. Of these about 15 - 40 are expected to be persistent (depending on model assumptions), with luminosities higher than 10^35 erg s^-1. About 7 - 20 transient sources are expected to be in outburst at any given time. Within a factor of two these numbers are consistent with the observed population of bright LMXBs in the Bulge. This gives credence to our prediction of the existence of a population of ~1.6 x 10^3 LMXBs with low donor masses that have gone through the period minimum, and have present-day mass transfer rates below 10^-11 Msun yr^-1. Conclusions. Even though the observed population of hydrogen-rich LMXBs in the Bulge is larger than the observed population of (hydrogen-deficient) UCXBs, the latter have a higher formation rate. While UCXBs may dominate the total LMXB population at the present, the majority would be very faint, or may have become detached and produced millisecond radio pulsars. In that case UCXBs would contribute significantly more to the formation of millisecond radio pulsars than hydrogen-rich LMXBs. [abridged]Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics. v2: minor language correction