59,919 research outputs found
Organs from animals for man
In the following review some of the problems of xenotransplantation shall be discussed, based on the few experimental data available so far and on reports in the literature describing investigations which may be of importance for xenotransplantation. The impact of gravity on the upright posture of man versus almost all other mammals, the dysfunction between enzymes and hormones in different species and the lack of interactions between interleukins, cytokines and vasoactive substances will be taken into consideration. The question must be asked whether different levels of carrier molecules or serum proteins play a role in the physiological network. Even though the development of transgenic animals or other imaginative manipulations may lead to the acceptance of any type of xenografted organ, it has to be established for how long the products of the xenografts are able to act in the multifactorial orchestra. We are far from understanding xenogeneic molecular mechanisms involved in toxicity, necrosis and apoptosis or even reperfusion injury and ischemia in addition to the immediate mechanisms of the hyperacute xenogeneic rejection. Here, cell adhesion, blood clotting and vasomotion collide and bring micro-and macrocirculation to a standstill. All types of xenogeneic immunological mechanisms studied so far were found to have a more serious impact than those seen in allogeneic transplantation. In addition we are now only beginning to understand that so-called immunological parameters in allogeneic mechanisms act also in a true physiological manner in the xenogeneic situation. These molecular mechanisms occur behind the curtain of hyperacute, accelerated, acute or chronic xenograft rejection of which only some folds have been lifted to allow glimpses of part of the total scene. Other obstacles are likely to arise when long-term survival is achieved. These obstacles include retroviral infections, transfer of prions and severe side effects of the massive immunosuppression which will be needed. Moral, ethical and religious concerns are under debate and the species-specific production of proteins of the foreign donor species developed for clinical use suddenly appears to be a greater problem than anticipated
Hot-wire anemometry in hypersonic helium flow
Hot-wire anemometry techniques are described that have been developed and used for hypersonic-helium-flow studies. The short run time available dictated certain innovations in applying conventional hot-wire techniques. Some examples are given to show the application of the techniques used. Modifications to conventional equipment are described, including probe modifications and probe heating controls
Simulation of associative learning with the replaced elements model
Associative learning theories can be categorised according to whether they treat the representation of stimulus compounds in an elemental or configural manner. Since it is clear that a simple elemental approach to stimulus representation is inadequate there have been several attempts to produce more elaborate elemental models. One recent approach, the Replaced Elements Model (Wagner, 2003), reproduces many results that have until recently been uniquely predicted by Pearce’s Configural Theory (Pearce, 1994). Although it is possible to simulate the Replaced Elements Model using “standard” simulation programs the generation of the correct stimulus representation is complex. The current paper describes a method for simulation of the Replaced Elements Model and presents the results of two example simulations that show differential predictions of Replaced Elements and Pearce’s Configural Theor
Pairing mechanism in Fe pnictide superconductors
By applying an exact unitary transformation to a two-band hamiltonian which
also includes the effects due to large pnictogen polarizabilities, we show that
an attractive spin-mediated Hubbard term appears in the ,
nearest-neighbour channel. This pairing mechanism implies a singlet
superconducting order parameter in iron pnictides.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
A study of local and non-local spatial densities in quantum field theory
We use a one-dimensional model system to compare the predictions of two
different 'yardsticks' to compute the position of a particle from its quantum
field theoretical state. Based on the first yardstick (defined by the
Newton-Wigner position operator), the spatial density can be arbitrarily narrow
and its time-evolution is superluminal for short time intervals. Furthermore,
two spatially distant particles might be able to interact with each other
outside the light cone, which is manifested by an asymmetric spreading of the
spatial density. The second yardstick (defined by the quantum field operator)
does not permit localized states and the time evolution is subluminal.Comment: 29 pages, 3 figure
The drive system of the Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov Telescope
The MAGIC telescope is an imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope, designed
to observe very high energy gamma-rays while achieving a low energy threshold.
One of the key science goals is fast follow-up of the enigmatic and short lived
gamma-ray bursts. The drive system for the telescope has to meet two basic
demands: (1) During normal observations, the 72-ton telescope has to be
positioned accurately, and has to track a given sky position with high
precision at a typical rotational speed in the order of one revolution per day.
(2) For successfully observing GRB prompt emission and afterglows, it has to be
powerful enough to position to an arbitrary point on the sky within a few ten
seconds and commence normal tracking immediately thereafter. To meet these
requirements, the implementation and realization of the drive system relies
strongly on standard industry components to ensure robustness and reliability.
In this paper, we describe the mechanical setup, the drive control and the
calibration of the pointing, as well as present measurements of the accuracy of
the system. We show that the drive system is mechanically able to operate the
motors with an accuracy even better than the feedback values from the axes. In
the context of future projects, envisaging telescope arrays comprising about
100 individual instruments, the robustness and scalability of the concept is
emphasized.Comment: 15 pages, 12 (10) figures, submitted to Astroparticle Physics, a high
resolution version of the paper (particularly fig. 1) is available at
http://publications.mppmu.mpg.de/2008/MPP-2008-101/FullText.pd
Advanced infrared laser modulator development
A parametric study was conducted to develop an electrooptic waveguide modulator for generating continuous tunable sideband power from an infrared CO2 laser. Parameters included were the waveguide configurations, microstrip dimensions device impedance, and effective dielectric constants. An optimum infrared laser modulator was established and was fabricated. This modulator represents the state-of-the-art integrated optical device, which has a three-dimensional topology to accommodate three lambda/4 step transformers for microwave impedance matching at both the input and output terminals. A flat frequency response of the device over 20 HGz or = 3 dB) was achieved. Maximum single sideband to carrier power greater than 1.2% for 20 W microwave input power at optical carrier wavelength of 10.6 microns was obtained
Implications of the Global Surface Fault Distribution and of Lithospheric Cooling
This contribution presents a model that links the observed distribution of surface faults to the spatial distribution of marsquakes. The annual seismic moment budget is computed based on the as-sumption that global cooling and subsequent shrink-ing of Mars is the main source of strain today [1]. A truncated Gutenberg-Richter distribution is used to re-late the seismic moment budget to marsquake frequen-cies. We have derived a theoretical relation for the limitation of quake size by the lengths of the individual faults. This relation is used for the simulation of epi-center catalogs that may serve as input data for the development of seismological experiments
AGN Feedback Compared: Jets versus Radiation
Feedback by Active Galactic Nuclei is often divided into quasar and radio
mode, powered by radiation or radio jets, respectively. Both are fundamental in
galaxy evolution, especially in late-type galaxies, as shown by cosmological
simulations and observations of jet-ISM interactions in these systems. We
compare AGN feedback by radiation and by collimated jets through a suite of
simulations, in which a central AGN interacts with a clumpy, fractal galactic
disc. We test AGN of and erg/s, considering jets
perpendicular or parallel to the disc. Mechanical jets drive the more powerful
outflows, exhibiting stronger mass and momentum coupling with the dense gas,
while radiation heats and rarifies the gas more. Radiation and perpendicular
jets evolve to be quite similar in outflow properties and effect on the cold
ISM, while inclined jets interact more efficiently with all the disc gas,
removing the densest in Myr, and thereby reducing the amount of
cold gas available for star formation. All simulations show small-scale inflows
of M/yr, which can easily reach down to the Bondi radius of
the central supermassive black hole (especially for radiation and perpendicular
jets), implying that AGN modulate their own duty cycle in a feedback/feeding
cycle.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figures, 2 table
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