Charakterisierung und Störstoffanalyse von rückgewonnenen Stoffströmen aus Wärmedämmverbundsystemen

Due to the growing energy requirements, the proportion of external thermal insulation composite systems (ETICS) installed has increased significantly during the past 50 years. Due to the longevity of these systems, ETICS waste is currently accumulating. Owing to the complex construction as well as a multitude of differently installed materials and substances of the past generations, there are many uncertainties and problems with the clean and low-pollutant processing of such systems. In the frame of this work, the ETICS were processed and sorted before being screened for ingredients or pollutants as well as for the purity of the recovered material fractions.     

Orthographic Structure Versus Morphological Structure: Principles of Lexical Organization in a Given Language.

Most models of visual word recognition in alphabetic orthographies assume that words are lexically organized according to orthographic similarity. Support for this is provided by form-priming experiments that demonstrate robust facilitation when primes and targets share similar sequences of letters. The authors examined form-orthographic priming effects in Hebrew, Arabic, and English. Hebrew and Arabic have an alphabetic writing system but a Semitic morphological structure. Hebrew morphemic units are composed of noncontiguous phonemic (and letter) sequences in a given word. Results demonstrate that form-priming effects in Hebrew or Arabic are unreliable, whereas morphological priming effects with minimal letter overlap are robust. Hebrew bilingual subjects, by contrast, showed robust form-priming effects with English material, suggesting that Semitic words are lexically organized by morphological rather than orthographic principles. The authors conclude that morphology can constrain lexical organization even in alphabetic orthographies and that visual processing of words is first determined by morphological characteristics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mechanical characterisation of a bone defect model filled with ceramic cements

Ceramic bone substitute materials are often used to fill defects in comminuted articular fractures. In an in vivo study [1], calcium phosphate cements have been injected into highly loaded slot defects in the proximal tibial metaphysis. During healing, cracks were formed mostly in the proximal anterior aspect of the implanted cement and wedge-like gaps formed between the tibial plateau and the cement. Mechanical ex vivo tests were done to investigate the mechanical competence of the bone cement in such a defect situation. Entirely filled defects were loaded with up to 4.5 kN until they failed. Cyclic loading of the proximal tibiae caused micro fragmentation of the cement after 1000 cycles at 1.5-2.0 kN load. This aspect was comparable to cement fragmentation observed in vivo. Large defects in highly loaded areas should therefore additionally be stabilised with metallic implants. The ceramic cement can only be used as a filler material, which can be replaced by new bone upon resorption.     

Algorithmus 41 Ein Algorithmus zum vollständigen Durchlaufen eines ungerichteten,zusammenhängenden Graphen

The algorithm for the traversal of an undirected, connected graph is based on the principle of the thread of Ariadne. Starting with a node the algorithm handels the graph systematically until all nodes are reached at least once and all arcs traversed exactly twice. The complexity isO (m), m=number of edges.     

Biocharts: a visual formalism for complex biological systems

We address one of the central issues in devising languages, methods and tools for the modelling and analysis of complex biological systems, that of linking high-level (e.g. intercellular) information with lower-level (e.g. intracellular) information. Adequate ways of dealing with this issue are crucial for understanding biological networks and pathways, which typically contain huge amounts of data that continue to grow as our knowledge and understanding of a system increases. Trying to comprehend such data using the standard methods currently in use is often virtually impossible. We propose a two-tier compound visual language, which we call Biocharts, that is geared towards building fully executable models of biological systems. One of the main goals of our approach is to enable biologists to actively participate in the computational modelling effort, in a natural way. The high-level part of our language is a version of statecharts, which have been shown to be extremely successful in software and systems engineering. The statecharts can be combined with any appropriately well-defined language (preferably a diagrammatic one) for specifying the low-level dynamics of the pathways and networks. We illustrate the language and our general modelling approach using the well-studied process of bacterial chemotaxis.     

High-efficiency resonant-cavity LEDs emitting at 650 nm

We fabricated resonant-cavity light-emitting diodes (LEDs) emitting at 650 nm. Compressively strained GaInP quantum wells were used as an active layer embedded between AlGaAs-AlAs Bragg mirrors. The Bragg mirrors formed a one-wavelength optical resonator. Two devices with different light-emitting areas were compared: 1) a large area chip (300 μm×300 μm) with a conventional LED contact and 2) a small area chip with an 80-μm light opening with an annular contact. Large devices are more suitable for high output power whereas the smaller devices might be useful for data transmission e.g., via plastic optical fibers. For epoxy-encapsulated large area devices, we achieved a maximum wall-plug efficiency of 10.2% and maximum output power of 12.2 mW at 100 mA. The small area LEDs yielded 2.9 mW at 20 mA and a maximum wall-plug efficiency of 9.5%     

Phase II trial of paclitaxel and topotecan with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor support in stage IV breast cancer

PURPOSE: This multicenter phase II trial investigated the efficacy and safety of a combination of paclitaxel and topotecan in patients with pretreated metastatic breast cancer. Plasma levels of paclitaxel and topotecan were obtained during cycle 1 to correlate pharmacokinetic parameters with toxicity. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Paclitaxel was administered intravenously (i.v.) at 230 mg/m2 over 3 hours on day 1 followed by topotecan 1.0 mg/m2 i.v. over 30 minutes on days 1 to 5. Patients received an abbreviated premedication regimen that consisted of ranitidine 50 mg, diphenhydramine 50 mg, and a single 20-mg dose of dexamethasone, all administered i.v. 30 minutes before paclitaxel. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF) was administered at 5 micrograms/kg/d subcutaneously starting on day 6 and continuing until the absolute granulocyte count (AGC) was greater than 10,000/microL. Plasma paclitaxel and topotecan concentrations were assessed during the first cycle using limited-sampling strategies. RESULTS: Seventeen patients were treated. The majority had visceral metastases. Four patients experienced neutropenic fever and one had mild bronchospasm. Only one partial response (PR) was observed. Nadir AGC correlated strongly with both duration of paclitaxel levels greater than 0.05 mumol/L and maximum concentration (Cmax) of paclitaxel. CONCLUSION: This regimen does not produce a response rate superior to that expected with single-agent paclitaxel at doses that do not require growth factor support.     

Hereditary febrile seizures: phenotype and evidence for a chromosome 19p locus

Three flagellates of the family Trypanosomatidae were isolated from mango fruits (Mangifera indica) and from the stems of clover (Trifolium glomeratum) and Amaranth (Amaranthus retroflexus) in southeastern Spain and were adapted to in vitro culture in monophase media. The parasites showed an ultrastructural pattern similar to that of other species of the genus Phytomonas. Mango and clover isolates differed from amaranth isolates in ultrastructural terms. The isolates were characterized by isoenzymatic analysis and by kDNA analysis using five different restriction endonucleases. With eight of the nine enzymatic systems, mango and clover isolates were distinguished from those of amaranth. Nevertheless, with the enzymes malate dehydrogenase and superoxide dismutase, flagellates isolated from clover were differentiated from those isolated from mango. Electrophoretic and restriction-endonuclease analysis of kDNA minicircles showed similar restriction cleavage patterns for the isolates from mango and clover, whereas the patterns of the amaranth isolates differed. The results of the present study confirm that the strains isolated from mango and clover constitute a phylogenetically closely related group of plant trypanosomatids, which is more distantly related to the strain isolated from amaranth. The similarities in the results obtained for isolates from mango and clover foliage, on the one hand, and those obtained from tomato and cherimoya fruits (studied previously), on the other, as well as the geographic proximity of the different plants support the contention that only one strain is involved, albeit one strain that can parasitize different plants. Furthermore, some of the plants appear to act as reservoirs for the parasites. On the other hand, the metabolism studies using [1H]-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy did not reveal that the catabolism of Phytomonas in general follows a pattern common to all the species or isolates. Phytomonas are incapable of completely degrading glucose, excreting a large part of their carbon skeleton into the medium as fermentative metabolites (acetate, ethanol, glycine, glycerol, and succinate).