Interactive display of isosurfaces with global illumination

In many applications, volumetric data sets are examined by displaying isosurfaces, surfaces where the data, or some function of the data, takes on a given value. Interactive applications typically use local lighting models to render such surfaces. This work introduces a method to precompute or lazily compute global illumination to improve interactive isosurface renderings. The precompiled illumination resides in a separate volume and includes direct light, shadows, and intersections. Using this volume, interactive globally illuminated renderings of isosurfaces become feasible while still allowing dynamic manipulation of lighting, viewpoint and isovalue.     

The kinetics of molybdenum dioxide oxidation

Powdered molybdenum dioxide was oxidized to MoO₃ in the temperature range 390 to 465°C under oxygen partial pressures of 0.016 and 0.18 atmospheres^* and under 0.009 atmospheres in the temperature interval 465 to 529°C. The course of the reaction was followed by observing weight change with time. Parabolic kinetics were evident for oxidation below 460°C. Above 460°C linear kinetics were observed. The partial pressure dependence at 407°C and 455°C was found to be approximately \(P_{O_2 }^{1/5} \) . Oxidation tests were restricted to an oxygen partial pressure of 0.009 atmosphere in the temperature range between 460°C and 530°C since above this partial pressure excessive heating occurred. For the low temperature range the oxidation was explained in terms of the diffusion of mono-and divalent oxygen interstitials. Activation enthalpies of 159±8 and 105±8 kJ/mole were obtained respectively for parabolic and linear rate processes.     

Eigenvalue sensitivity analysis of stiffened plates with respect to the location of stiffeners

This paper formulates the eigenvalue sensitivity of a stiffened plate with respect to stiffener location; the analysis is based on the generalized Rayleigh quotient of the combined platebeam system. The results show that the eigenvalue sensitivity is proportional to the force between the plate and the stiffener as well as to the slope of the eigenfunction at the interface between the plate and the stiffener.     

Lagerung von Kartoffeln in kontrollierter Atmosphäre

Storage of potatoes in controlled atmosphere. The interim results obtained from trials with CA-storage are reported. Storage atmospheres with low O₂ and increased CO₂ contents largely inhibit the sprout growth of potatoes kept at a temperature of 9 °C so that chemical sprout suppressants may possibly be dispensable. Storage atmospheres with too high a CO₂ content cause an intense rise of the saccharose content and lead to increased decay. With tolerable storage atmospheres these disadvantages can be avoided. The remaining questions shall be answered in further trials which shall also help to bring CA-storage to perfection for its application in practice.     

Photorhabdus luminescens TccC3 Toxin Targets the Dynamic Population of F-Actin and Impairs Cell Cortex Integrity

Due to its essential role in cellular processes, actin is a common target for bacterial toxins. One such toxin, TccC3, is an effector domain of the ABC-toxin produced by entomopathogenic bacteria of Photorhabdus spp. Unlike other actin-targeting toxins, TccC3 uniquely ADP-ribosylates actin at Thr-148, resulting in the formation of actin aggregates and inhibition of phagocytosis. It has been shown that the fully modified F-actin is resistant to depolymerization by cofilin and gelsolin, but their effects on partially modified actin were not explored. We found that only F-actin unprotected by tropomyosin is the physiological TccC3 substrate. Yet, ADP-ribosylated G-actin can be produced upon cofilin-accelerated F-actin depolymerization, which was only mildly inhibited in partially modified actin. The affinity of TccC3-ADP-ribosylated G-actin for profilin and thymosin-β4 was weakened moderately but sufficiently to potentiate spontaneous polymerization in their presence. Interestingly, the Arp2/3-mediated nucleation was also potentiated by T148-ADP-ribosylation. Notably, even partially modified actin showed reduced bundling by plastins and α-actinin. In agreement with the role of these and other tandem calponin-homology domain actin organizers in the assembly of the cortical actin network, TccC3 induced intense membrane blebbing in cultured cells. Overall, our data suggest that TccC3 imposes a complex action on the cytoskeleton by affecting F-actin nucleation, recycling, and interaction with actin-binding proteins involved in the integration of actin filaments with each other and cellular elements.     

10 Gbit/s transmission over air-guiding photonic bandgap fibre at 1550 nm

The first data transmission over air-guiding photonic bandgap (PBG) fibre is demonstrated. A 10 Gbit/s signal was successfully transmitted at 1550 nm over 150 m of singlemode PBG fibre, thus demonstrating their applicability to optical communications. Furthermore, the impact of the polarisation properties of PBG fibres is highlighted experimentally.     

Tumor Infiltration with CD20+CD73+ B Cells Correlates with Better Outcome in Colorectal Cancer

Immunotherapy has become increasingly important in the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC). Currently, CD73, also known as ecto-5′-nucleotidase (NT5E), has gained considerable interest as a potential therapeutic target. CD73 is one of the key enzymes catalyzing the conversion of extracellular ATP into adenosine, which in turn exerts potent immune suppressive effects. However, the role of CD73 expression on various cell types within the CRC tumor microenvironment remains unresolved. The expression of CD73 on various cell types has been described recently, but the role of CD73 on B-cells in CRC remains unclear. Therefore, we analyzed CD73 on B-cells, especially on tumor-infiltrating B-cells, in paired tumor and adjacent normal tissue samples from 62 eligible CRC patients. The highest expression of CD73 on tumor-infiltrating B-cells was identified on class-switched memory B-cells, followed by naive B-cells, whereas no CD73 expression was observed on plasmablasts. Clinicopathological correlation analysis revealed that higher CD73⁺ B-cells infiltration in the CRC tumors was associated with better overall survival. Moreover, metastasized patients showed a significantly decreased number of tumor-infiltrating CD73⁺ B-cells. Finally, neoadjuvant therapy correlated with reduced CD73⁺ B-cell numbers and CD73 expression on B-cells in the CRC tumors. As promising new immune therapies are being developed, the role of CD73⁺ B-cells and their subsets in the development of colorectal cancer should be further explored to find new therapeutic options.     

Relaxed multiple routing configurations: IP fast reroute for single and correlated failures

Multi-topology routing is an increasingly popular IP network management concept that allows transport of different traffic types over disjoint network paths. The concept is of particular interest for implementation of IP fast reroute (IP FRR). The authors have previously proposed an IP FRR scheme based on multi-topology routing called Multiple Routing Configurations (MRC). MRC supports guaranteed, instantaneous recovery from any single link or node failure in biconnected networks as well as from many combined failures, provided sufficient bandwidth on the surviving links. Furthermore, in MRC different failures result in routing over different network topologies, which gives a good control of the traffic distribution in the networks after a failure     

Mechanistic study of borosilicate glass growth by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition from tetraethylorthosilicate and trimethylborate

A reaction mechanism and film morphology as a function of reactor conditions and post growth thermal annealing for borosilicate glass (BSG), (SiO₂)_x(B₂O₃)_1−x, films deposited from tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS), trimethylborate (TMB), and oxygen (O₂) precursors by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) was determined. An empirically derived reaction model for BSG film growth is proposed that predicts the growth rate and composition of BSG films up to 70 mole% B₂O₃. The BSG reaction model includes a strongly adsorbed TEOS-derived intermediate that forms SiO₂ and a direct surface reaction of TMB, in O₂, to form B₂O₃. This model is supported by growth rate and mass spectroscopic data. The BSG film morphology, investigated using atomic force microscopy, was found to have a root-mean-square roughness of 0.5 nm, with the precise film morphology being a function of reactor conditions. The BSG film roughness increases with film thickness, temperature, and boron content. Thermal annealing of the films in a water-free environment leads to planarization of the BSG governed by the film composition and anneal temperature.