Intravenous ketorolac as an adjuvant to pediatric patient-controlled analgesia with morphine

The multiglycosides of Tripterygium wilfordii (TII), a ready-made Chinese herbal medicine used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, have been shown to cause oligospermia in patients. In the present study, the antifertility effects of TII and tripchlorolide (T4, isolated from TII) were observed in male rats. In rats fed with TII at a dose of 10 mg.kg.d for 7 weeks, the seminiferous tubules were essentially not influenced. However, most of the sperm heads along the surface of the tubular lumen were transformed from the normal sickle-shaped to round shaped, suggesting a possible mutagenic action. There was minimal testicular change but prominent epididymal spermatozoa damage in all rats treated with T4 (0.05 mg.kg.d) for 7 weeks. The epididymal spermatozoa showed various structural abnormalities, including disrupted connecting pieces and cracked midpieces, and more than 80% of the spermatozoa were decapitated. No significant changes were seen in the main visceral organs. The data suggest that T4 may have good prospects as a male contraceptive.     

Generation and application of hyperspectral 3D plant models: methods and challenges

Hyperspectral imaging sensors have been introduced for measuring the health status of plants. Recently, they also have been used for close-range sensing of plant canopies with a highly complex architecture. However, the complex geometry of plants and their interaction with the illumination setting severely affect the spectral information obtained. Furthermore, the spatial component of analysis results gain in importance as higher plants are represented by multiple plant organs as leaves, stems and seed pods. The combination of hyperspectral images and 3D point clouds is a promising approach to face these problems. We present the generation and application of hyperspectral 3D plant models as a new, interesting application field for computer vision with a variety of challenging tasks. We sum up a geometric calibration method for hyperspectral pushbroom cameras using a reference object for the combination of spectral and spatial information. Furthermore, we show exemplarily new calibration and analysis methods enabled by the hyperspectral 3D models in an experiment with sugar beet plants. An improved normalization, a comparison of image and 3D analysis and the density estimation of infected surface points underline some of the new capabilities gained using this new data type. Based on such hyperspectral 3D models the effects of plant geometry and sensor configuration can be quantified and modeled. In future, reflectance models can be used to remove or weaken the geometry-related effects in hyperspectral images and, therefore, have the potential to improve automated plant phenotyping significantly.     

National Styles? Jacques Loeb's Analysis of German and American Science Around 1900 in his Correspondence with Ernst Mach

Abstract.   In modern discourse about the history of science, it seems to be widely accepted that at the end of the nineteenth century, Germany was one of the leading countries in the production of science. In the past, historians of science tried to trace back a specific 'German style' of science that—in combination with other factors—determined this German dominance around 1900, especially in the life sciences. Considering the theoretical concept of 'national styles', it has to be kept in mind that around 1900, contemporaries already proclaimed 'national styles' of science as representations of national identity. Thus, the question arises as to how far existing historiographical conceptions of national styles may include earlier claims and prejudices. Careful reconstructions of contemporary discourses on national styles and inquiries into the 'stylisation' of a dominant, successful 'German style' are necessary. One of the contemporary critics of a 'German style' of science was the physiologist Jacques Loeb (1859–1924), who emigrated to the USA in 1891. Loeb corresponded regularly with the physicist and philosopher Ernst Mach (1838–1916). Ernst Mach can be considered Loeb's intellectual father with whom he corresponded about strategic, philosophical, and epistemological questions. Using the Loeb–Mach correspondence, the aim of the paper is to reconstruct Loeb's conception of a 'German style' of science and its differences to an 'American style'. Changes in his views are discussed as well as the roots of his views and some of their consequences. Finally, Loeb's ideas on national styles and his working profiles before and after his emigration are compared to historiographical analyses of 'American' or 'German' styles of science around 1900.     

Kurt Schwabe – Ein Leipziger Akademiepräsident in schwieriger Zeit

On the occasion of the 100th birthday of the physical chemist Kurt Schwabe the article presents an overview about Schwabe’s activities as president of the Saxon Academy of Science from 1965 to 1980. Main topics of this time which has to be solved by Schwabe were to ensure the further existence of the academy and to reach an agreement about the principles of cooperation between the Saxon Academy of Science and the Berlin Academy of Science as an agreement of equals.     

In Situ Investigation of the Bainitic Transformation from Deformed Austenite During Continuous Cooling in a Low Carbon Mn-Si-Cr-Mo Steel

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - The effects of hot deformation on the bainitic transformation of a low carbon steel during continuous cooling were comprehensively studied through in...     

MITTEILUNGEN DER SCHWEIZER INFORMATIKER GESELLSCHAFT · 4/2003

MITTEILUNGEN

MITTEILUNGEN DER SCHWEIZER INFORMATIKER GESELLSCHAFT · 4/2003     

Über das Flüssigkeits-Grenzflächenpotential am Diaphragma von Referenzelektroden

The Liquid Junction Potential on the Diaphragm of Reference Electrodes The electrolyte solution flow through porous ceramic diaphragms is used for evaluating measurements of streaming potentials. With porous magnesia silicate diaphragms, by salt concentrations from 1 × 10⁻⁵ to 1 M KCl, the values of zeta potentials are negative. Increases in salt concentrations lower the zeta potentials through a decrease in double layer thickness. In presence of concentrated salt solutions the streaming potential has a very small effect on liquid junction potential of reference electrodes.