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Background: In this interdisciplinary project, the biological effects of heavy ions are compared to those of X-rays using tissue slice culture preparations from rodents and humans. Advantages of this biological model are the conservation of an organotypic environment and the independency from genetic immortalization strategies used to generate cell lines. Its open access allows easy treatment and observation via live-imaging microscopy. Materials and methods: Rat brains and human brain tumor tissue are cut into 300 micro m thick tissue slices. These slices are cultivated using a membrane-based culture system and kept in an incubator at 37°C until treatment. The slices are treated with X-rays at the radiation facility of the University Hospital in Frankfurt at doses of up to 40 Gy. The heavy ion irradiations were performed at the UNILAC facility at GSI with different ions of 11.4 A MeV and fluences ranging from 0.5–10 x 106 particles/cm². Using 3D-confocal microscopy, cell-death and immune cell activation of the irradiated slices are analyzed. Planning of the irradiation experiments is done with simulation programs developed at GSI and FIAS. Results: After receiving a single application of either X-rays or heavy ions, slices were kept in culture for up to 9d post irradiation. DNA damage was visualized using gamma H2AXstaining. Here, a dose-dependent increase and time-dependent decrease could clearly be observed for the X-ray irradiation. Slices irradiated with heavy ions showed less gamma H2AX-positive cells distributed evenly throughout the slice, even though particles were calculated to penetrate only 90–100 micro m into the slice. Conclusions: Single irradiations of brain tissue, even at high doses of 40 Gy, will result neither in tissue damage visible on a macroscopic level nor necrosis. This is in line with the view that the brain is highly radio-resistant. However, DNA damage can be detected very well in tissue slices using gamma H2AX-immuno staining. Thus, slice cultures are an excellent tool to study radiation-induced damage and repair mechanisms in living tissues.
Recent results of the NA49 collaboration are presented. Transverse mass spectra as well as total multiplicities of identified particles are discussed. The study of their evolution from AGS over SPS to the highest RHIC energy reveals a couple of interesting features. These include a sudden change in the energy dependence of the mt-spectra and of the yields of strange hadrons around 30A GeV. Additionally, new results on particle production at high-pt for Pb+Pb collsions at 158A GeV, as well as on the v2 of L, are discussed.
We study the line shapes of radiative φ-decays with a direct coupling of the φ meson to the f0(980) and a0(980) scalar mesons. The latter couple via derivative interactions to π0π0 and π0η, respectively. Although the kaon-loop mechanism is usually regarded as the dominant mechanism in radiative φ decays, here we test a different possibility: we set the kaon-loop to zero and we fit the theoretical curves to the data by retaining only the direct coupling. Remarkably, satisfactory fits can be achieved, mainly due to the effects of derivative interactions of scalar with pseudoscalar mesons.
There is little doubt that Quantumchromodynamics (QCD) is the theory which describes strong interaction physics. Lattice gauge simulations of QCD predict that in the m,T plane there is a line where a transition from confined hadronic matter to deconfined quarks takes place. The transition is either a cross over (at low m) or of first order (at high m). It is the goal of the present and future heavy ion experiment at RHIC and FAIR to study this phase transition at different locations in the m,T plane and to explore the properties of the deconfined phase. It is the purpose of this contribution to discuss some of the observables which are considered as useful for this purpose.
The mechanism by which the enzyme pyruvate decarboxylase from yeast is activated allosterically has been elucidated. A total of seven three-dimensional structures of the enzyme, of enzyme variants or of enzyme complexes from two yeast species (three of them reported here for the first time) provide detailed atomic resolution snapshots along the activation coordinate. The prime event is the covalent binding of the substrate pyruvate to the side chain of cysteine 221, thus forming a thiohemiketal. This reaction causes the shift of a neighbouring amino acid, which eventually leads to the rigidification of two otherwise flexible loops, where one of the loops provides two histidine residues necessary to complete the enzymatically competent active site architecture. The structural data are complemented and supported by kinetic investigations and binding studies and provide a consistent picture of the structural changes, which occur upon enzyme activation.
In this work we study the properties of quarkonium states in a quark-gluon plasma which, due to expansion and non-zero viscosity, exhibits a local anisotropy in momentum space. We determine the hard-loop resummed gluon propagator in an anisotropic QCD plasma in general linear gauges and define a potential between heavy quarks from the Fourier transform of its static limit. This potential which arises due to one-gluon exchange describes the force between a quark and anti-quark at short distances. It is closer to the vacuum potential as compared to the isotropic Debye screened potential which indicates the reduced screening in an anisotropic QCD plasma. In addition, angular dependence appears in the potential; we find that there is stronger attraction on distance scales on the order of the inverse Debye mass for quark pairs aligned along the direction of anisotropy than for transverse alignment. The potential at long distances, however, is non-perturbative and modeled as a QCD string which is screened at the same scale as the Coulomb field. At asymptotic separation the potential energy is non-zero and inversely proportional to the temperature. With a phenomenological potential model which incorporates the different behaviors at short and long distances, we solve the three-dimensional Schrödinger equation. Our numerical results show that quarkonium binding is stronger at non-vanishing viscosity and expansion rate, and that the anisotropy leads to polarization of the P-wave states. Furthermore, we determine viscosity corrections to the imaginary part of the heavyquark potential in the weak-coupling hard-loop approximation. The imaginary part is found to be smaller (in magnitude) than at vanishing viscosity. This implies a smaller decay width of quarkonium bound states in an anisotropic plasma.
Poster presentation: The brain is autonomously active and this self-sustained neural activity is in general modulated, but not driven, by the sensory input data stream [1,2]. Traditionally one has regarded this eigendynamics as resulting from inter-modular recurrent neural activity [3]. Understanding the basic modules for cognitive computation is, in this view, the primary focus of research and the overall neural dynamics would be determined by the the topology of the intermodular pathways. Here we examine an alternative point of view, asking whether certain aspects of the neural eigendynamics have a central functional role for overall cognitive computation [4,5]. Transiently stable neural activity is regularly observed on the cognitive time-scale of 80–100 ms, with indications that neural competition [6] plays an important role in the selection of the transiently stable neural ensembles [7], also denoted winning coalitions [8]. We report on a theory approach which implements these two principles, transient-state dynamics and neural competition, in terms of an associative neural network with clique encoding [9]. A cognitive system [10] with a non-trivial internal eigendynamics has two seemingly contrasting tasks to fulfill. The internal processes need to be regular and not chaotic on one side, but sensitive to the afferent sensory stimuli on the other side. We show, that these two contrasting demands can be reconciled within our approach based on competitive transient-state dynamics, when allowing the sensory stimuli to modulate the competition for the next winning coalition. By testing the system with the bars problem, we find an emerging cognitive capability. Only based on the two basic architectural principles, neural competition and transient-state dynamics, with no explicit algorithmic encoding, the system performs on its own a non-linear independent component analysis of input data stream. The system has rudimentary biological features. All learning is local Hebbian-style, unsupervised and online. It exhibits an ever-ongoing eigendynamics and at no time is the state or the value of synaptic strengths reset or the system restarted; there is no separation between training and performance. We believe that this kind of approach – cognitive computation with autonomously active neural networks – to be an emerging field, relevant both for system neuroscience and synthetic cognitive systems.
In this thesis we report on the high pressure synthesis, crystal growth, structural characterisation and magnetic properties of the cubic vanadate pyrochlores A2V2O7 (with A = Y, Er and Dy). We have found that high pressure is requisite for the stabilization of the selected compounds. For this purpose, a multianvil high pressure apparatus was built in our laboratory and a new multianvil inset (i.e., a ceramic pressure medium and the interior parts) was developed. The multianvil press is based on a hydraulic press with a maximum force of 7.73 MN (corresponds to 788 tons), a Walker type module and a specially designed hydraulic and electric control. Pressure calibration of the multianvil setup was performed by high pressure fixed points (i.e. solid-solid transformation of Bi I-II (2.55 GPa) and Bi II-III (3.15 GPa)). A maximum pressure of 6 GPa was attained using hardened metal anvils (tungsten carbide) with truncation edge length (TEL) of 14 mm and a sample volume of ~ 70 mm3. Heating of the sample in our current multianvil setup (TEL = 14 mm) was achieved by resistive heating of a graphite furnace. Temperatures up to 1500 °C could be obtained at pressures up to 6 GPa. By systematic variation of the synthesis conditions (for instance the operation temperature or the choice of the crucible material) under high pressure and taking into account the well known ternary compounds, when accessing the phase diagram, the cubic vanadate pyrochlores A2V2O7 (with A = Y, Er and Dy) were synthesized successfully. It was found that the oxygen partial pressure is crucial for the formation of the desired pyrochlore phase. Gas-tight platinum crucibles were used as container material for the synthesis of the vanadate pyrochlores. We have investigated, that pressures of the order of 5.0 GPa and temperatures of approximately 1200 °C are necessary for the stabilization of the monophasic samples of the vanadate pyrochlores. Lu2V2O7 could be synthesized under ambient pressure conditions and is used in our studies for comparison purposes. A special graphite furnace was developed for the high pressure crystal growth of the vanadate pyrochlores. For the first time, A2V2O7 (with A = Y, Er and Dy) single crystals with a maximum size of 0.4 mm were grown by using the grain growth method at high pressure and high temperature conditions. The samples (i.e., powders and single crystals) were characterised by single crystal Xray diffraction, X-ray powder diffraction method, Laue method and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Complementary to the X-ray diffraction methods, infrared absorsoption spectroscopy was used to distinguish between the fluorite and pyrochlore structure. It has been shown that all samples crystallize in a well-ordered cubic structure with the space group F d 3m. The vanadium (+4) content in the samples was determined by oxidative weight gain in air using a thermogravimetric (TG) balance. A structural phase transformation of cubic to tetragonal was observed by differential thermal analysis (DTA) in conjunction with high temperature diffractometry. The magnetic characterisation of the vanadate pyrochlores A2V2O7 (Y, Lu, Er and Dy) was performed by Katarina Removic-Langer in the laboratory of Prof. Dr. M. Lang. All materials studied are ferromagnetic. The ferromagnetic critical temperatures are between 70 and 73 K. In case of Er2V2O7 and Dy2V2O7 an additional increase in the magnetization was observed below 20 K. The increase in the magnetization below 20 K exhibited by Er2V2O7 and Dy2V2O7 originates from the interactions between the two magnetic sublattices (i.e., the rare earth- and the vanadium sublattice).
The paper will focus on the early texts of Galileo Galilei (1613~1623) and Daniel Bernoulli (1738) as examples of pure combinatorical analysis and perspectively considerations within the mathematical discipline of probability theory. It is argued that Bernoulli's approach needed to be developed further in order to achieve a successful and satisfactory theory of risk. In modern economy the need for a proper definition of a notion of risk is seen and currently discussed within the frame of ISO standards. But as already mentioned this interest is mainly owed to the governmental demands of the Basel II and Solvency standards and therefore an external demand. On the other hand an intrinsic understanding of the meaning of risk, as could be provided by a conclusive theory, could lead to a better success in modelling various risks and help to achieve better prognosis.
In the framework of this thesis the intense low energy ion beam transport was investigated. Especially, the beam transport in toroidal magnetic field configurations was discussed, as it may allow the accumulation of high intensive beams in the future. One of the specific tasks is to design an injection system that can be used for the proposed low energy accumulator ring. This thesis regarding beam transport investigations is related to the larger research fields, storage rings used in accelerator physics and non-neutral plasmas. The proposal of building a storage ring with longitudinal guiding magnetic fields was made. Due to natural transversal focussing in magnetic fields it is possible to accumulate very intense charged particle beams, a subject of interest within the physics community. A simulation code (TBT) was written to describe the particle motion in curved segments. Particle in Cell techniques were utilized to simulate a multi particle dynamics. This code allows the user to generate different particle distributions as input parameter. A possibility of reading an external data file was made available so that a measured distribution can be used to compare simulation results with measured ones. A second order cloud in cell method was used to calculate charge density and in turn to solve Poisson’s equation. The circular toroidal coordinate system was used. The drift motion and gyrating motion was proved to be consistent with analytical values. Further simulations were performed to study the self field effects on beam transport. The experiments with single toroidal segments find niche in the work. The experiments were performed to compare the simulation results and gain practical experience. The toroidal segment has similar dimensions (major axis R = 1:3 m, minor axis r = 0:1 m, arc angle 30°) as for a full scale ring design. The main difference lies in the magnetic field strength. The available segments can be operated at room temperature producing 0:6T on axis maximum magnetic field, while for the storage ring design this value is in the range of 5T. The preparatory experiments consisted of building and characterization of the ion source in a first step. Along with the momentum spectrometer and emittance scanner the beam properties were studied. Low mass ion beams He+ and mixed p, H2+, H3+ beams were analyzed. The proton beam consisting of a 48% H+ fraction was extracted regularly and used for further experiments. A moderate beam energy of 10 keV was chosen as operational energy for which 3.08 mA proton beam current was measured. In the second stage, beams were transported through a solenoid and the phase space distribution was measured as a function of the magnetic field for different beam energies. The phase-space as distributions measured in a first stage were simulated backward and then again forward transported through the solenoid. The simulated results were then compared with the measured distribution. The LINTRA transport program was used. The phase-space distribution was further simulated for transport experiments in a toroidal magnetic field. The experiments with a single toroidal segment give basic results necessary to compare the results between transport code (TBT) and measurements. The optical diagnostic provides measurements which can be well compared with the simulated results. A digital camera with a magnetic shield was used to record images in jpeg file format. A subroutine was written to analyze an image file to give the intensity distribution of a given image file. The integrated profile in vertical and horizontal direction was used to calculate the vertical drift and the beam size. The simulated values were in good agreement with the measured ones. The injection system needs most care. The transport program that was used to simulate the beam in the toroid was also used to design the injection system. The injection system with its special field configurations was designed to perform experiments with room temperature segments. The main point to tackle was to smoothly bring the charged particles generated outside the trap into the acceptance of the ring. The designed system consists of two sources, one representing a ring beam and the other one the injection beam. While simulations showed a clear way, how to inject the particle beam via a well positioned solenoid and in combination with a transverse electric field element causing an ExB drift into the main ring acceptance. After construction of these injection elements it will be very important to measure the robustness of such a system with respect to the beam stability- especially of the injection channel.