Siegener Beiträge zur Geschichte und Philosophie der Mathematik 2017

Die in diesem nunmehr vorliegenden achten Band der Siegener Beiträge vereinten Aufsätze dokumentieren jene Pluralität von Themen, Perspektiven und Methoden, die uns schon in den vorangehenden Bänden stets ein Anliegen war. Überspitzt gesagt, eint sie, zumindest auf den ersten Blick, nicht viel mehr als das große Oberthema Geschichte und Philosophie der Mathematik

Higher susceptibility to Fas ligand induced apoptosis and altered modulation of cell death by tumor necrosis factor-α in periarticular tenocytes from patients with knee joint osteoarthritis

The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression of Fas in periarticular tenocytes of patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and to study their susceptibility to Fas ligand-mediated apoptosis. Tendon samples were obtained from the quadriceps femoris muscle of patients with knee OA and used for histological evaluation, for immunohistochemical detection of Fas, and to establish tenocyte cultures. The expression of Fas mRNA was determined by quantitative PCR. Levels of soluble Fas and soluble tumour necrosis factor (TNF) receptor I were measured using ELISA. Apoptosis was induced with recombinant human Fas ligand and measured by a histone fragmentation assay and flow cytometry. The effects of TNF-α were studied by stimulation with TNF-α alone or 24 hours before the induction of apoptosis. Tendon samples from non-OA patients were used as controls. Histological evaluation revealed degenerative changes in the tendons of all OA patients but not in the controls. Fas was detected by immunohistochemistry in all specimens, but quantitative PCR revealed significantly higher levels of Fas mRNA in OA tenocytes. In contrast, lower levels of soluble Fas were found in OA tenocytes by ELISA. OA tenocytes were significantly more susceptible to Fas ligand induced apoptosis than were control cells. TNF-α reduced the Fas ligand induced apoptosis in OA tenocytes but had no effects on control tenocytes. These data suggest that knee OA is associated with higher susceptibility of periarticular tenocytes to Fas ligand induced apoptosis because of higher expression of Fas but lower levels of apoptosis-inhibiting soluble Fas. These changes may contribute to decreased cellularity in degenerative tendons and promote their rupturing. The antiapoptotic effects of TNF-α in OA tenocytes most likely reflect regenerative attempts and must be taken into account when anti-TNF strategies are considered for OA

Influence of Spatially Distributed Out-of-Plane CFRP Fiber Waviness on the Estimation of Knock-Down Factors Based on Stochastic Numerical Analysis

The presence of waviness defects in CFRP materials due to fiber undulation affects the structural performance of composite structures. Hence, without a reliable assessment of the resulting material properties, the full weight-saving potential cannot be exploited. Within the paper, a probabilistic numerical approach for improved estimation of material properties based on spatially distributed fiber waviness is presented. It makes use of a homogenization approach to derive viable knock-down factors for the different plies on the laminate level for reference material and is demonstrated for a representative tension loadcase. For the stochastic analysis, a random field is selected which describes the complex inner geometry of the plies in the laminate model and is numerically discretized by the Karhunen–Loeve expansion methods to fit into an FE model for the strength analysis. Conducted analysis studies reveal a substantial influence of randomly distributed waviness defects on the derived knock-down factors. Based on a topological analysis of the waviness fields, the reduction of the material properties was found to be weakly negatively correlated related to simple geometrical properties such as maximum amplitudes of the waviness field, which justifies the need for further subsequent sensitivity studies

Off-Chip-Controlled Droplet-on-Demand Method for Precise Sample Handling

We present a simple, stable, and highly reproducible off-chip-controlled method for generating droplets-on-demand. To induce the droplet generation, externally pre-programmed positive pressure pulses are applied to the dispersed phase input while the continuous phase channel remains at constant input pressure. By controlling solely one fluid phase, the method allows for connecting multiple independent dispersed-phase channels to a single continuous channel. Experimental results show that the method allows for a droplet generation frequency of 33 Hz and a high reproducibility of droplets with standard deviations less than 5% of the mean value. Moreover, utilization of the off-chip-controlled method results in the simplicity in chip design and allows rapid (5 min) and cost-efficient (0.5 USD) prototyping of the device.(VLID)4926439Version of recor

Sparse graphical Gaussian modeling of the isoprenoid gene network in Arabidopsis thaliana

We present a novel graphical Gaussian modeling approach for reverse engineering of genetic regulatory networks with many genes and few observations. When applying our approach to infer a gene network for isoprenoid biosynthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana, we detect modules of closely connected genes and candidate genes for possible cross-talk between the isoprenoid pathways. Genes of downstream pathways also fit well into the network. We evaluate our approach in a simulation study and using the yeast galactose network

Rail2X - SmartServices (Projektabschlussbericht)

V2X (Vehicle2Everything) ist ein WLAN-ähnlicher Standard, der im Automobilbereich für den Informationsaustausch zwischen Fahrzeugen und / oder Infrastruktur genutzt wird. Beispiels-weise findet dieser Nachrichtenstandard im Straßenverkehr Anwendung, um den Autofahrer rechtzeitig vor kritischen Situationen zu warnen und so zu unterstützen. V2X-Komponenten befinden sich daher seit mehreren Jahren in der Entwicklung und Erpro-bung. Jedoch ist dieser Kommunikationsstandard nicht ausschließlich auf den Automobilbe-reich begrenzt, sondern verkehrsträgerunabhängig ausgelegt. Über das Projekt Rail2X-Smart Services wurde die Nutzung der V2X-Kommunikation für den Eisenbahnsektor evaluiert. Ziel des Projektkonsortiums war die Erforschung und Erweiterung von V2X als Rail2X in den Bahnbereich, um den Komfort sowie die Effektivität und Wirtschaftlichkeit des Bahnbetriebs im Regionalverkehr zu steigern. Grundsätzlich wurde ein Verkehrsträger und Verkehrsmittel übergreifender Informationsaustausch ermöglicht. Sowohl die Nutzung einheitlicher Standards als auch die Verknüpfung mit einem zentralen Datenmanagementsystem, das Daten bearbeitet und mit anderen Datenquellen wie der mCLOUD korreliert, spielten dabei eine zentrale Rolle. Für die Erprobung und Evaluierung wurden drei relevanten Anwendungsfällen im Bahnbereich definiert und ausgestaltet die durch die V2X-Anwendung einen wirtschaftlichen Betrieb ermöglichen. Mittels dieser Anwendungsfälle konnte gezeigt werden, dass einerseits die Nutzung des V2X-Standards möglich und andererseits die Anwendung von kostengünstigen Standardkomponenten aus dem Automobilbereich auch im Bahnbereich zielführend ist