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This chapter describes the construction and performance of a spectrophotometer that is very easily constructed from a DVD, a digital camera, a lamp and some cardboard, wood, and sheet metal.

The scheme presently envisaged for the EURO50 adaptive optics ispresented. The Euro50 adaptive optics will primarily work with laserguide stars (LGSs) and control of either one or two deformable mirrors(SCAO and DCAO respectively), but operation using a natural guide star(NGS) is also foreseen. The point spread function (PSF) for SCAOoperation using a single NGS is evaluated. An algorithm for opti

Over the years, two strands of thought on Sustainable Development (SD) have emerged, often identified as ecologism and environmentalism, respectively. This paper suggests that there exists a third rhetorically excluded option, namely large-scale industrial expansion into space. Access to raw materials found on the Moon as well as unfiltered solar energy would dramatically increase the stock of res

Even though B-lymphocyte development is one of the best understood models for cell differentiation in the hematopoetic system, recent advances in cell sorting and functional genomics has increased this understanding further. This has suggested that already early lymphoid primed multipotent progenitor cells (LMPPs) express low levels of lymphoid restricted transcripts. The expression of these genes

The combination of features from the public and private sectors in jointly owned companies imposes challenges to the governance and control mechanisms of these organisations, which have been criticised for lacking accountability. Where there is fragmented ownership, the interests of different owners need to be coordinated. The aim of this article is to consider how such companies can be governed i

The prevailing model for adult hematopoiesis postulates that the first lineage commitment step results in a strict separation of common myeloid and common lymphoid pathways. However, the recent identification of granulocyte/monocyte (GM)-lymphoid restricted lymphoid-primed multipotent progenitors (LMPPs) and primitive common myeloid progenitors (CMPs) within the "HSC" compartment provide compellin

Thymic expression of insulin has been suggested to play a major role in negative selection of autoreactive T cells and tolerance induction against pancreatic beta cells. Furthermore, the expression of insulin in peripheral antigen-presenting cells (APC) has been clearly demonstrated but whether thymic negative selection and tolerance induction also depends on peripheral influx of self-antigens (Ag

The article provides an overview of ongoing research and key characteristics of Cognitive Semiotics, an emerging field dedicated to the transdiciplinary study of meaning, involving above all researchers from semiotics, linguistics, developmental and comparative psychology and philosophy. The combination of the following features distinguishes it from other synthetic approaches: (a) integration of

PRELP is a member of the leucine-rich repeat family of extracellular matrix proteins in connective tissue. In contrast to other members of the family, the amino-terminal domain of PRELP has a high content of proline and positively charged amino acids. This domain has previously been shown to bind chondrocytes and to inhibit osteoclast differentiation. Here we show that PRELP mediates cell adhesion

A very high number of different types of blood cells must be generated daily through a process called haematopoiesis in order to meet the physiological requirements of the organism. All blood cells originate from a population of relatively few haematopoietic stem cells residing in the bone marrow, which give rise to specific progenitors through different lineages. Steady-state dynamics are governe

Mixtures of an amphiphilic graft copolymer in water/sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT)/cyclohexane oil-continuous microemulsions are studied by the PGSE NMR technique and by viscometry. The graft copolymer has an oil-soluble poly(dodecyl methacrylate) backbone and water-soluble poly(ethylene glycol) side chains. Water, surfactant, and polymer self-diffusion coefficients can be measured