Viscoelasticity of actin-gelsolin networks in the presence of filamin

Cross-linking of actin filaments by filamin by means of frequency-dependent rheology yields an increase in the filament's elasticity and stiffness. Higher cross-linker (filamin) ratios are required for mean actin-filament lengths of 5-6 microm than for random-length distribution of actin filaments. The loss modulus (i.e. the viscous portion) in the region of the internal-chain dynamics [G"(omega) approximately omega(alpha)] is influenced by the cross-linking of filaments, and with an increasing molar ratio of filamin/actin a reduction of alpha is observed. Rheological measurements reveal that actin networks are already formed at the polymerizing stage at a molar ratio of filamin/actin of less than 1:100, and electron micrographs show phase separation of actin/filament networks of low density and of actin/filament bundles.     

Multi-device application middleware: leveraging the ubiquity of the Web with webinos

The broad range of connected devices has turned the Internet into a ubiquitous concept. In addition to desktop and laptop PCs, the Internet currently connects mobile devices, home entertainment systems, and even in-car units. From this ubiquitous evolution towards sensor-rich devices, the opportunity arises for various new types of innovative software application. However, alongside rises the issue of managing the increasing diversity of device characteristics and capabilities. As device fragmentation grows, application developers are facing the need to cover a wider variety of target devices and usage scenarios. In result, maintaining a viable balance between development costs and market coverage has turned out to be an important challenge when developing applications for a ubiquitous ecosystem. In this article, we present the webinos platform, a distributed Web runtime platform that leverages the Web for supporting self-adaptive cross-device applications. In order to enable the development of such immersive ubiquitous applications, we introduce and evaluate the concept of a context-aware federated overlay architecture.     

Augmenting Tactile 3D Data Navigation With Pressure Sensing

We present a pressure‐augmented tactile 3D data navigation technique, specifically designed for small devices, motivated by the need to support the interactive visualization beyond traditional workstations. While touch input has been studied extensively on large screens, current techniques do not scale to small and portable devices. We use phone‐based pressure sensing with a binary mapping to separate interaction degrees of freedom (DOF) and thus allow users to easily select different manipulation schemes (e. g., users first perform only rotation and then with a simple pressure input to switch to translation). We compare our technique to traditional 3D‐RST (rotation, scaling, translation) using a docking task in a controlled experiment. The results show that our technique increases the accuracy of interaction, with limited impact on speed. We discuss the implications for 3D interaction design and verify that our results extend to older devices with pseudo pressure and are valid in realistic phone usage scenarios.     

Solidification of a liquid film on a vertical wall

Solidification during heat transfer to a draining film has been investigated. The mathematical formulation of the problem resulted in a coupled set of three nonlinear partial differential equations in temperature, velocity, and film thickness as functions of position, time, and problem parameters. The set was solved by an implicit finite difference method for two sets of boundary conditions. A correlation for the solidified film thickness as a function of position and physical properties of the film was found.     

Fast,contactless and spatially resolved measurement of sheet resistance by an infrared method

The principle of free carrier absorption in combination with a CCD camera sensitive in the infrared is used to establish a measurement method for the emitter sheet resistance of silicon solar cells. This combination allows for extremely fast measurements. For example a 100 × 100 mm wafer may be measured with a spatial resolution of 350 μm within less than 10 s. An additional advantage of the optical measurement of emitter sheet resistance is the ability to measure inhomogeneities with an extremely good spatial resolution without errors due to size and orientation of the probe, which occur regularly in electrical measurements as, e.g., four‐point probing if a spatial resolution of the order of or below the size of the probe is required. In the set‐up presented spatial resolutions as low as 50 μm were realized, but even higher resolutions would be attainable with an appropriate lens system. The measurement requires a solar cell precursor after emitter diffusion, but before metalization. Additionally a reference without emitter, but with identical surface properties is needed. The high spatial resolution facilitates a detailed investigation of selective emitters and a comparison of the results obtained by four‐point probing. It is shown that the method developed here allows a considerably better quantitative evaluation of these structures than electrical measurements. Additionally the technique is used to test and optimize the homogeneity of a diffusion furnace. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Der kristallin-flüssige Zustand als Kriterium zur Konstitutionsermittlung von Derivaten tautomeriefähiger heterocyclischer Systeme. I. Kristallin-flüssige Benzoesäure- und Thiobenzoesäure-pyrimidinyl-(2)-ester

The Liquid Crystalline State as a Criterion in Determination of Structure. I. Crystalline Liquid Benzoic Acid and Thiobenzoic Acid Pyrimidinyl-(2)-esters The acylation of subst. 1H-pyrimidinethiones-(2) 3 and 4 , as well as of subst. 1H-pyrimidinones-(2) 7 is investigated. Due to the tautomeric equilibrium in the starting materials the reactions may lead to N-, S-, or O-esters. The liquid crystalline properties of the reaction products formed prove that S- and O-acylated esters 5, 6 , and 8 had been formed only. Spectroscopic data confirm this.     

Knowledge-based workcell controller for production planning in the electronics industry

The paper describes the analysis, design and implementation of a workcell controller using knowledge-based system technology in the electronics industry. The central task of the workcell controller is to bridge the gap between the high level production planning system of the logistics department and short-term planning at the shop floor level. Today the latter is mainly based on heuristic knowledge of a foreman. Due to the number of shop floor components involved and their rapid change the foreman is overloaded which leads to large stocks in the production and reduced flexibility. The production planning will be described as an optimisation problem optimising the degree of refinement of the production plan issued by the high level production planning system. As an analytical solution only based on operation research techniques is not feasible the proposed approach is to partly use the empirical knowledge of the foreman to reduce the solution space. To facilitate the formal specification of such combined approaches the optimisation process is presented using the terminology of production management systems (GRAI). The underlying CIM reference model is an extension of the NBS reference model towards the use of knowledge-based system technology.     

Medical-surgical differences in hospital stress factors

Psychosocial stress due to the experience of hospitalization was ascertained for 535 medical and surgical patients in a community hospital, using a Hospital Stress Rating Scale, Medical-surgical differences along nine dimensions of stress as measured by this scale were examined, using analysis of covariance to control for the effects of patient characteristics known to be associated with scores on the Hospital Stress Rating Scale. The controlled variables were age, education, number of previous hospitalizations, number of years since last hospitalization, and seriousness of illness (Seriousness of Illness Rating Scale). The analysis of covariance results indicated higher perceived stress for surgical patients on the dimensions of unfamiliarity of surroundings, loss of independence, and threat of severe illness. Medical patients scored higher on the dimensions of stress due to financial problems and lack of information. The authors discuss how these findings might be incorporated in experimental studies designed to reduce stress among hospital patients.     

The in vitro bactericidal effect of microwave energy on bacteria that cause prostatitis

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the in vitro nonthermal effects of microwaves delivered from Prostatron 2.0 on Escherichia coli and Enterobacter cloacae. METHODS: The fingers of powder-free, sterile gloves were ligated, and bacterial solutions were transferred into the remaining area of the glove. The gloves were then sealed using silk ligatures. One set of gloves was subjected to the microwave treatment while another set was placed in a temperature-matched waterbath to act as control samples. The gloves containing the treatment group were taped around the probe, at the site where microwave energy exits the probe. During the treatment period, the temperatures from the urethral probe and the rectal probe were carefully monitored. RESULTS: The mean (+/-SD) energy delivered was 46.6 +/- 9.5 kJ (range 30.0 to 59.5) for the 10 trials on E. coli and colony counts in the experimental microwaved gloves decreased significantly compared with control samples (5.26 +/- 4.5 x 10(5) versus 10.16 +/- 9.3 x 10(5) CFU/mL, P = 0.02). For the experiments on E. cloacae the mean (+/-SD) energy applied was 38.5 +/- 12.5 kJ, and a significant decrease in colony counts of microwaved samples was also observed compared with controls (11.04 +/- 4.8 x 10(5) versus 20.08 +/- 10.1 x 10(5) CFU/mL, P = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Microwave energy, delivered from Prostatron 2.0, independent of heat production has an in vitro bactericidal effect on laboratory-cultured E. coli and E. cloacae.     

Inhibition of WY-14,643 induced hepatic lesion growth in mice by rotenone

The effect of rotenone treatment on [4-chloro-6-(2,3-xylidino)-2-pyrimidinylthio] acetic acid (WY-14,643) hepatic lesion growth in male B6C3F1 mice was investigated. Following induction of hepatic focal lesions by diethylnitrosamine (DEN) 35 mg/kg twice a week for 8 weeks, mice were placed into one of the four treatment groups: group I, control NIH-07 diet (control diet), group II, rotenone (600 mg/kg diet), group III NIH-07 diet containing WY-14,643 (1000 mg/kg diet), and group IV, NIH-07 diet containing WY-14,643 (1000 mg/kg diet) and rotenone (600 mg/ kg diet). Mice were killed after 30 and 60 days of dietary treatment. The effect of treatment with WY-14,643 and rotenone on hepatic lesion growth was examined by estimating the number of focal lesions per liver and the relative volume of focal lesions. WY-14,643 (group III) increased both the number and the volume of focal lesions. In particular, an increase in number and volume of basophilic lesions was seen. Co-treatment with WY-14,643 and rotenone (group IV) decreased both the number and the volume of the total number of focal lesions and basophilic foci compared with WY-14,643 treatment alone (group II). Alterations in the growth of hepatic focal lesions was further investigated by examining DNA synthesis and apoptosis within individual lesions. WY-14,643 (group III) treatment increased the DNA synthetic labeling index in all foci. Co-treatment of rotenone and WY-14,643 (group IV) decreased focal DNA synthesis and mitosis and increased the incidence of apoptotic hepatocytes. These data suggest that rotenone's ability to inhibit WY-14,643-induced hepatic focal lesion growth was mediated through a decrease in hepatic focal proliferation and an increase in focal apoptosis.