The observed large-scale structure in our Universe is seen as a result of quantum fluctuations amplified by spacetime evolution. This, and related problems in cosmology, asks for an understanding of ...the quantum fields of the standard model and dark matter in curved spacetime. Even the reduced problem of a scalar quantum field in an explicitly time-dependent spacetime metric is a theoretical challenge and thus a quantum field simulator can lead to new insights. Here, we demonstrate such a quantum field simulator in a two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate with a configurable trap and adjustable interaction strength to implement this model system. We explicitly show the realisation of spacetimes with positive and negative spatial curvature by wave packet propagation and confirm particle pair production in controlled power-law expansion of space. We find quantitative agreement with new analytical predictions for different curvatures in time and space. This benchmarks and thereby establishes a quantum field simulator of a new class. In the future, straightforward upgrades offer the possibility to enter new, so far unexplored, regimes that give further insight into relativistic quantum field dynamics.
As shown previously, the conventional testing procedure for simulating long-term migration from the gaskets of metal closures into oily foods does not adequately reflect reality. It appears to be ...impossible to accelerate migration to the extent that the situation at the end of the shelf life of a product can be anticipated in a few days or weeks. Therefore, we investigated whether long-term migration could be extrapolated from migration rates determined for new lids. Jars were kept in the normal upright position. Since heat treatment may have a strong temporary impact, migration during the initial heating for pasteurization or sterilization and storage at ambient temperature were determined using different lids. Commercial products were recalled from sales points throughout Europe to determine the real migration over extended periods of time and for jars with differing histories. This migration was compared with data from the short-term testing to investigate whether an empirical relationship could be derived. The results show that the short-term test enables the comparison of lids and plasticizers in the initial phase of migration, but that long-term extrapolation presupposes more complex kinetic modeling. The results also demonstrate that the legal relevance of "official" testing methods should be reconsidered to avoid conflict when food contact materials comply with migration limits in the test but not in actual application.
We report on a 48 years-old man with basilar impression without syringohydromyelia, in which the cisterna magna was impacted by the cerebellar tonsils. Six months after posterior fossa decompression ...there was the disappearance of nuchal rigidity, vertigo, spastic paraparesis and improvement of balance. Nevertheless hyperreflexia and diminished pallesthesia of the lower limbs persisted.
The present study shows the results of 53 patients who have been treated surgically for basilar impression (BI), Chiari malformation (CM), and syringomyelia (SM). The patients were divided into two ...groups. Group I (24 patients) underwent osteodural decompression with large inferior occipital craniectomy, laminectomy from C 1 to C 3, dural opening in Y format, dissection of arachnoid adhesion between the cerebellar tonsils, medulla oblongata and spinal cord, large opening of the fourth ventricle and dural grafting with the use of bovine pericardium. Group II patients (29 patients) underwent osteodural-neural decompression with the same procedures described above plus dissection of the arachnoid adherences of the vessels of the region of the cerebellar tonsils, and tonsillectomy (amputation) in 10 cases, and as for the remainning 19 cases, intrapial aspiration of the cerebellar tonsils was performed. The residual pial sac was sutured to the dura in craniolateral position. After completion of the suture of the dural grafting, a thread was run through the graft at the level of the created cisterna magna and fixed to the cervical aponeurosis so as to move the dural graft on a posterior- caudal direction, avoiding, in this way, its adherence to the cerebellum.
Epoxidized soy bean oil (ESBO) was determined in foods packed in glass jars closed by lids with a poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) gasket. The methyl ester of a diepoxy linoleic acid isomer was measured, ...using transesterification directly in the homogenized food and on-line HPLC-GC-FID analysis. Infant foods from the Swiss market consisting of vegetables, potato and rice or muesli with fruits and berries contained less than 7 mg/kg ESBO, but meat (its fat?) strongly increased ESBO migration up to 86 mg/kg. Some 12% of the products exceeded 15 mg/kg. Austrian and Norwegian samples gave similar results.Edible oil strongly extracts the ESBO from the gasket in food contact within a few weeks. Since this part of the gasket on average contained 91 mg ESBO, the legal limit is likely to be far exceeded whenever the food contains free oil contacting the gasket, such as oily sauces or vegetables and fish in oil. In fact, the mean ESBO concentration in 86 samples was 166 mg/kg, with a maximum of 580 mg/kg.
Les cinémas d’Asie Bechler, Antonin; Bittinger, Nathalie; Capel, Mathieu ...
2016
Book
Odprti dostop
D’où vient l’engouement jamais démenti pour les cinémas d’Asie ? Quelles pistes de réflexion esthétiques, historiques ou théoriques posent-ils ? Quels en sont les problématiques et les enjeux ...principaux ? Tels sont les axes qui structurent cet ouvrage évoquant des cinématographies aussi riches que celles du Japon, de la Chine, de Taiwan ou encore de la Corée du Sud et du Nord, de la Malaisie ou des Philippines... Tout en questionnant la relation cinématographique entre l’Orient et l’Occident, et plus particulièrement les rapports des cinémas d’Asie entre eux, les spécialistes réunis dans cet ouvrage analysent les nombreuses interférences esthétiques qui se nouent par le cinéma. Qu’il s’agisse de repenser des notions cinématographiques telles que la perspective ou la profondeur de champ, de rejouer le conflit entre classicisme et modernité, ou de mettre en scène des mémoires et des événements historiques, les cinémas d’Asie continuent d’interroger notre regard. Enfin, au-delà des émotions et des réflexions esthétiques, ce sont aussi les mutations contemporaines qui sont disséquées avec force.
Objective. The impact of pregnancy on maternal bone density remains unclear. As a prerequisite to investigate the pathophysiology of gestational bone metabolism, we sought to document the changes in ...bone metabolism biochemistry in conjunction with those in selective trabecular/cortical osteodensitometry between early and late pregnancy.
Methods. A prospective, controlled study in a university hospital was conducted with 43 healthy women, 34 of them during uneventful pregnancy. The main outcome measures are trabecular and cortical bone density measured in the first and third trimesters using peripheral quantitative computed tomography in conjunction with a panel of bone metabolism parameters, including blood parathyroid hormone, calcitonin, osteocalcin, skeletal alkaline phosphatase, and the urinary desoxypyridinoline/creatinine ratio.
Results. Cortical bone density was unaffected by pregnancy. Trabecular bone density changes showed wide interindividual variation, ranging from +1.3 to −20.7% per year, identified as fast losers (less than −3%) and slow losers (more than −3%). Serum osteocalcin levels were lower in slow versus fast bone losers in both trimesters (first: P = 0.02, third: P = 0.02) and were the only independent parameter to differentiate between fast and slow losers.
Conclusions. Our data suggest that wide interindividual variation and the failure to provide a separate measure of trabecular bone density account for the conflicting evidence in earlier reports. Serum osteocalcin concentration during the first trimester distinguishes between fast and slow losers of trabecular bone and should be evaluated in future studies as predictor for later bone loss (osteoporosis).
The high-resolution X-ray crystallographic structures of horse heart azidometmyoglobin complexes of the wild-type protein and the His-64-->Thr variant have been determined to 2.0 and 1.8 A ...respectively. Azide binds to wild-type metmyoglobin in a bent configuration with an Fe-N-1-N-3 angle of 119 degrees and is oriented into the distal crevice in the direction of Ile-107. The proximity of the His-64 NE2 atom to the N-1 atom of the bound azide indicates stabilization of the ligand by the His-64 side chain through hydrogen bonding. In addition, structural characterization of wild-type horse heart azidometmyoglobin establishes that the only structural change induced by ligand binding is a small movement of the Leu-29 side chain away from the azide ligand. EPR and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to characterize the myoglobin azide complexes further. EPR spectroscopy revealed that, in contrast with wild-type azidometmyoglobin, two slightly different low-spin species are formed by azide bound to the His-64-->Thr variant both in solution and in a polycrystalline sample. One of these low-spin species has a greater relative intensity, with g values very similar to those of the azide complex of the wild-type protein. These EPR results together with structural information on this variant indicate the presence of two distinct conformations of bound azide, with one form predominating. The major conformation is comparable to that formed by wild-type myoglobin in which azide is oriented into the distal crevice. In the minor conformation the azide is oriented towards the exterior of the protein.
Normal phase LC with gradient elution enabled the analysis of a broadened range of oligomers of BADGE (Bisphenol-A diglycidyl ether) and Novolak compounds in canned foods, such as sea foods in oil, ...meat products and soups. A major component released from Bisphenol-A resins was identified as the cyclo- (Bisphenol-A monoglycidyl ether) dimer and was commonly present in foods at concentrations of around 1 mg/kg. For the epoxy Novolaks, concentrations of the three- to six-ring compounds often far exceeded those of BFDGE (Bisphenol-F diglycidyl ether) and reached 20 mg/kg in foods. A two-step acylation is proposed for the detection of epoxy components.
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