Begründung für die Verschmelzung der Reichsanstalt für Mass und Gewicht mit der Physikalisch-Technischen Reichsanstalt in Berlin im Jahre 1923

Zunächst wird mit der Entstehung sowie dem Ausbau der beiden Reichsanstalten bis zum Jahre 1922 historisch eingeleitet, wobei über die Reichsanstalt für Mass und Gewicht als die meist unbekanntere etwas ausführlicher berichtet wird. Die Begründungen für oder gegen eine Verschmelzung werden danach aus der Sicht der beiden Reichsanstalten, der Eichbehörden der Länder des Deutschen Reiches, der Industrie, verschiedener Ausschüsse des Deutschen Reichstages und schliesslich der zuständigen Ministerien der Deutschen Reichsregierung angeführt. Mit einem kurzen Blick auf die inflationsbedingten Probleme des deutschen Alltags von Ende 1923 wird der Aufsatz durch eine Beurteilung des vor 53 Jahren geschehenen Zusammenschlusses aus dem Geschehen eben dieser 53 Jahre abgeschlossen.     

Alpha7 nicotinic receptors as novel therapeutic targets for inflammation-based diseases

In recent years the etiopathology of a number of debilitating diseases such as type 2 diabetes, arthritis, atherosclerosis, psoriasis, asthma, cystic fibrosis, sepsis, and ulcerative colitis has increasingly been linked to runaway cytokine-mediated inflammation. Cytokine-based therapeutic agents play a major role in the treatment of these diseases. However, the temporospatial changes in various cytokines are still poorly understood and attempts to date have focused on the inhibition of specific cytokines such as TNF-α. As an alternative approach, a number of preclinical studies have confirmed the therapeutic potential of targeting alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor-mediated anti-inflammatory effects through modulation of proinflammatory cytokines. This “cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway” modulates the immune system through cholinergic mechanisms that act on alpha7 receptors expressed on macrophages and immune cells. If the preclinical findings translate into human efficacy this approach could potentially provide new therapies for treating a broad array of intractable diseases and conditions with inflammatory components.     

Stability Analysis of Equilibrium Manifolds for a Two-Predators One-Prey Model

Introduction One of the most famous mathematical models is the predator-prey model of Lotka and Volterra. The important part of the relationship between a predator and a prey is the functional response, which depends on the density of the prey, the prey-d…     

Antibiotika als pflanzliche Plasmagifte

Summary The toxic action oflycomarasmine (a wilting agent produced byFusarium lycopersici Sacc., the causal organism of tomato-wilting) and ofpatulin (clavacin, an antibiotic produced byPenicillium patulum and by some other fungi) on some test-objects is studied (anthocyanin-test with red turnips, plasma-streaming test withSpirogyra etc.). Both substances are able to destroy for instance the semipermeability of the plasma boundary layer; but patulin proves to be more toxic for these objects than lycomarasmine, the specific poison of the tomato wilting disease.     

The majorization approach to multidimensional scaling for Minkowski distances

The majorization method for multidimensional scaling with Kruskal's STRESS has been limited to Euclidean distances only. Here we extend the majorization algorithm to deal with Minkowski distances with 1≤p≤2 and suggest an algorithm that is partially based on majorization forp outside this range. We give some convergence proofs and extend the zero distance theorem of De Leeuw (1984) to Minkowski distances withp>1.     

Indication of drier periods on Mars from the chemistry and mineralogy of atmospheric dust

The ubiquitous atmospheric dust on Mars is well mixed by periodic global dust storms, and such dust carries information about the environment in which it once formed and hence about the history of water on Mars. The Mars Exploration Rovers have permanent magnets to collect atmospheric dust for investigation by instruments on the rovers. Here we report results from M?ssbauer spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence of dust particles captured from the martian atmosphere by the magnets. The dust on the magnets contains magnetite and olivine; this indicates a basaltic origin of the dust and shows that magnetite, not maghemite, is the mineral mainly responsible for the magnetic properties of the dust. Furthermore, the dust on the magnets contains some ferric oxides, probably including nanocrystalline phases, so some alteration or oxidation of the basaltic dust seems to have occurred. The presence of olivine indicates that liquid water did not play a dominant role in the processes that formed the atmospheric dust.     

Antero-posterior tissue polarity links mesoderm convergent extension to axial patterning

Remodelling its shape, or morphogenesis, is a fundamental property of living tissue. It underlies much of embryonic development and numerous pathologies. Convergent extension (CE) of the axial mesoderm of vertebrates is an intensively studied model for morphogenetic processes that rely on cell rearrangement. It involves the intercalation of polarized cells perpendicular to the antero-posterior (AP) axis, which narrows and lengthens the tissue. Several genes have been identified that regulate cell behaviour underlying CE in zebrafish and Xenopus. Many of these are homologues of genes that control epithelial planar cell polarity in Drosophila. However, elongation of axial mesoderm must be also coordinated with the pattern of AP tissue specification to generate a normal larval morphology. At present, the long-range control that orients CE with respect to embryonic axes is not understood. Here we show that the chordamesoderm of Xenopus possesses an intrinsic AP polarity that is necessary for CE, functions in parallel to Wnt/planar cell polarity signalling, and determines the direction of tissue elongation. The mechanism that establishes AP polarity involves graded activin-like signalling and directly links mesoderm AP patterning to CE.     

A conserved sorting-associated protein is mutant in chorea-acanthocytosis

Chorea-acanthocytosis (CHAC, MIM 200150) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the gradual onset of hyperkinetic movements and abnormal erythrocyte morphology (acanthocytosis). Neurological findings closely resemble those observed in Huntington disease. We identified a gene in the CHAC critical region and found 16 different mutations in individuals with chorea-acanthocytosis. CHAC encodes an evolutionarily conserved protein that is probably involved in protein sorting.     

Hydrogen is an energy source for hydrothermal vent symbioses

The discovery of deep-sea hydrothermal vents in 1977 revolutionized our understanding of the energy sources that fuel primary productivity on Earth. Hydrothermal vent ecosystems are dominated by animals that live in symbiosis with chemosynthetic bacteria. So far, only two energy sources have been shown to power chemosynthetic symbioses: reduced sulphur compounds and methane. Using metagenome sequencing, single-gene fluorescence in situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry, shipboard incubations and in situ mass spectrometry, we show here that the symbionts of the hydrothermal vent mussel Bathymodiolus from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge use hydrogen to power primary production. In addition, we show that the symbionts of Bathymodiolus mussels from Pacific vents have hupL, the key gene for hydrogen oxidation. Furthermore, the symbionts of other vent animals such as the tubeworm Riftia pachyptila and the shrimp Rimicaris exoculata also have hupL. We propose that the ability to use hydrogen as an energy source is widespread in hydrothermal vent symbioses, particularly at sites where hydrogen is abundant.     

放电等离子烧结Al20Cr20Fe25Ni25Mn10高熵合金的硬度和腐蚀性能研究

采用放电等离子烧结(SPS)技术在不同温度（800、900和200°C）下保温不同时间（4、8和12 min）合成了Al₂₀Cr₂₀Fe₂₅Ni₂₅Mn₁₀高熵合金（HEA）。通过扫描电子显微镜、能谱仪（EDS）、维氏显微硬度计、极化曲线等对合金的微观结构、显微硬度和腐蚀进行了实验研究。X-射线衍射（XRD）表征了所制备合金的成分。EDS结果显示不论烧结参数如何变化,合金均由原始合金元素组成。XRD、EDS和扫描电子显微镜的结果说明所制备的合金具有球形微观结构,呈现出面心立方结构相,这是基于固溶机制形成的。这表明SPS合金具有HEAs的特征。在1000°C保温 12 min生产的合金显微硬度最高,为HV 447.97,热处理后其硬度降至HV 329.47。同一合金表现出优异的耐腐蚀性能。烧结温度升高,Al₂₀Cr₂₀Fe₂₅Ni₂₅Mn₁₀合金可具有更高的密度、显微硬度和耐腐蚀性。