Surgical concepts for reconstruction of the auricle

We compiled and evaluated the world literature on auricular reconstruction, for a total of over 400 publications, more than 200 authors, and over 3,300 reported cases. We found that partial reconstructions were already performed as early as 600 BC; total reconstructions were still considered impracticable in 1830. But since 1891, more than 40 different cartilaginous, osseous, and alloplastic frame materials have been described. Only eight of these were still being applied in the last decade, with autogenous costal cartilage and silicone as the leading substances. Results of the operation can be improved by special surgical manipulations, eg, the "fan-flap" technique. Taking into consideration the complication rate, the number of individual interventions, and the stability of the results, we devised a special point system that makes possible a limited assessment of the different surgical techniques

UV-VIS spectra as potential process analytical technology (PAT) for measuring the density of compressed materials: Evaluation of the cielab color space

In this study, a novel approach was developed for determining the density of compacts using ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometry. The assumption within this context was that a change in density affects the corresponding color information of the compact. From the obtained spectra of the visible range, the color information of the compact was calculated which turned out to be directly proportional to the density of the compact. In comparison, the obtained spectra were analyzed using partial least square regression. The results of this study showed that both methods could be used predicting the density of a compact from the corresponding visible spectrum at identical accuracy. In contrast to the partial least square regression, the correlation of the color information as a direct output parameter of the spectrophotometer with the density required no excessive data pre-processing. Subsequently, the easier and faster data processing of the color information over the partial least square regression, conceives using this novel approach as potential process analytical technology tool for implementation into a compression process e.g., tableting or roller compaction

Исследование зон усталостного разрушения шнеков

Шнек - основной рабочий орган машин для переработки отходов - экструдеров. От качества его изготовления зависит производительность цеха и целостность корпуса машины. При переработке многокомпонентного сырья, которым является Refuse Derived Fuel - это общее название альтернативных видов топлива, получаемых при переработке отходов. В качестве сырья используется практически любой органический материал: целлюлоза, резина, пластик, кожа, дерево, пищевые заменители. В исследовании использован пример на базе работы с RDF-сырьем Мусороперерабатывающего комбината "Янино", Ленинградская область. Именно при работе с такими высокоабразивными отходами возникает необходимость многократно повышать ресурс шнеков за счет использования новых технологий обработки металлов, так как в составе данного сырья могут встречаться металлические компоненты и трудно размалываемые силикаты.Screw - the main working organ of machines for processing waste - extruders. From the quality of its production depends the productivity of the shop and the integrity of the machine body. When refining a multicomponent raw material, which is Refuse Derived Fuel - this is the general name for alternative fuels obtained from recycling. As raw material, almost any organic material is used: cellulose, rubber, plastic, leather, its substitutes. The study used an example based on work with RDF-raw materials of the Janino Refuse Processing Plant. Leningrad region. It is when working with such highly abrasive waste that it becomes necessary to increase the service life of screw augmentedly by using new processing technologies, since metal components and hard-to-break silicates can occur in the composition of this raw material

Three and four current reversals versus temperature in correlation ratchets with a simple sawtooh potential

Transport of Brownian particles on a simple sawtooth potential subjected to both unbiased thermal and nonequilibrium symmetric three-level Markovian noise is considered. The new effects of three and four current reversals as a function of temperature are established in such correlation ratchets. The parameter space coordinates of the fixed points associated with these current reversals and the necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of the novel current reversals are found.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures; some changes introduced; accepted for publication in Physical Review

Charm Production in DPMJET

In this work, charm production in the {\sc dpmjet} hadronic jet simulation is compared to experimental data. Since the major application of {\sc dpmjet} is the simulation of cosmic ray-induced air showers, the version of the code integrated in the CORSIKA simulation package has been used for the comparison. Wherever necessary, adjustments have been made to improve agreement between simulation and data. With the availability of new muon/neutrino detectors that combine a large fiducial volume with large amounts of shielding, investigation of prompt muons and neutrinos from cosmic ray interactions will be feasible for the first time. Furthermore, above $\gtrsim 100$ TeV charmed particle decay becomes the dominant background for diffuse extraterrestrial neutrino flux searches. A reliable method to simulate charm production in high-energy proton-nucleon interactions is therefore required.Comment: 10 pages, to be published in JCA

Detecting a stochastic gravitational wave background with the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna

The random superposition of many weak sources will produce a stochastic background of gravitational waves that may dominate the response of the LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) gravitational wave observatory. Unless something can be done to distinguish between a stochastic background and detector noise, the two will combine to form an effective noise floor for the detector. Two methods have been proposed to solve this problem. The first is to cross-correlate the output of two independent interferometers. The second is an ingenious scheme for monitoring the instrument noise by operating LISA as a Sagnac interferometer. Here we derive the optimal orbital alignment for cross-correlating a pair of LISA detectors, and provide the first analytic derivation of the Sagnac sensitivity curve.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures. Significant changes to the noise estimate

Observations of Mkn 421 in 2004 with H.E.S.S. at large zenith angles

Mkn 421 was observed during a high flux state for nine nights in April and May 2004 with the fully operational High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) in Namibia. The observations were carried out at zenith angles of 60$^\circ$--65$^\circ$, which result in an average energy threshold of 1.5 TeV and a collection area reaching 2~km$^2$ at 10~TeV. Roughly 7000 photons from Mkn~421 were accumulated with an average gamma-ray rate of 8 photons/min. The overall significance of the detection exceeds 100 standard deviations. The light-curve of integrated fluxes above 2~TeV shows changes of the diurnal flux up to a factor of 4.3. For nights of high flux, intra-night variability is detected with a decay time of less than 1 hour. The time averaged energy spectrum is curved and is well described by a power-law with a photon index \egamm and an exponential cutoff at \ecut~TeV and an average integral flux above 2~TeV of 3 Crab flux units. Significant variations of the spectral shape are detected with a spectral hardening as the flux increases. Contemporaneous multi-wavelength observations at lower energies (X-rays and gamma-rays above $\approx 300$~GeV) indicate smaller relative variability amplitudes than seen above 2~TeV during high flux state observed in April 2004.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, published in A&

Discovery of the Binary Pulsar PSR B1259-63 in Very-High-Energy Gamma Rays around Periastron with H.E.S.S

We report the discovery of very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray emission of the binary system PSR B1259-63/SS 2883 of a radio pulsar orbiting a massive, luminous Be star in a highly eccentric orbit. The observations around the 2004 periastron passage of the pulsar were performed with the four 13 m Cherenkov telescopes of the H.E.S.S. experiment, recently installed in Namibia and in full operation since December 2003. Between February and June 2004, a gamma-ray signal from the binary system was detected with a total significance above 13 sigma. The flux was found to vary significantly on timescales of days which makes PSR B1259-63 the first variable galactic source of VHE gamma-rays observed so far. Strong emission signals were observed in pre- and post-periastron phases with a flux minimum around periastron, followed by a gradual flux decrease in the months after. The measured time-averaged energy spectrum above a mean threshold energy of 380 GeV can be fitted by a simple power law F_0(E/1 TeV)^-Gamma with a photon index Gamma = 2.7+-0.2_stat+-0.2_sys and flux normalisation F_0 = (1.3+-0.1_stat+-0.3_sys) 10^-12 TeV^-1 cm^-2 s^-1. This detection of VHE gamma-rays provides unambiguous evidence for particle acceleration to multi-TeV energies in the binary system. In combination with coeval observations of the X-ray synchrotron emission by the RXTE and INTEGRAL instruments, and assuming the VHE gamma-ray emission to be produced by the inverse Compton mechanism, the magnetic field strength can be directly estimated to be of the order of 1 G.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, accepted in Astronomy and Astrophysics on 2 June 2005, replace: document unchanged, replaced author field in astro-ph entry - authors are all members of the H.E.S.S. collaboration and three additional authors (99+3, see document