TY - GEN A1 - Tomov, Petar A1 - Pena, Rodrigo F. O. A1 - Roque, Antonio C. A1 - Zaks, Michael A. T1 - Mechanisms of self-sustained oscillatory states in hierarchical modular networks with mixtures of electrophysiological cell types T2 - Frontiers in computational neuroscience N2 - In a network with a mixture of different electrophysiological types of neurons linked by excitatory and inhibitory connections, temporal evolution leads through repeated epochs of intensive global activity separated by intervals with low activity level. This behavior mimics "up" and "down" states, experimentally observed in cortical tissues in absence of external stimuli. We interpret global dynamical features in terms of individual dynamics of the neurons. In particular, we observe that the crucial role both in interruption and in resumption of global activity is played by distributions of the membrane recovery variable within the network. We also demonstrate that the behavior of neurons is more influenced by their presynaptic environment in the network than by their formal types, assigned in accordance with their response to constant current. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 452 KW - self-sustained activity KW - cortical oscillations KW - irregular firing activity KW - hierarchical modular networks KW - cortical network models KW - intrinsic neuronal diversity KW - up-down states KW - chaotic neural dynamics Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-407724 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Toala, Jesús Alberto A1 - Oskinova, Lida A1 - Gonzalez-Galan, Ana A1 - Guerrero, Martín A. A1 - Ignace, R. A1 - Pohl, Martin T1 - X-RAY OBSERVATIONS OF BOW SHOCKS AROUND RUNAWAY O STARS. THE CASE OF zeta OPH AND BD+43 degrees 3654 JF - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics N2 - Non-thermal radiation has been predicted within bow shocks around runaway stars by recent theoretical works. We present X-ray observations toward the runaway stars zeta Oph by Chandra and Suzaku and of BD+43 degrees 3654 by XMM-Newton to search for the presence of non-thermal X-ray emission. We found no evidence of non-thermal emission spatially coincident with the bow shocks; nonetheless, diffuse emission was detected in the vicinity of zeta Oph. After a careful analysis of its spectral characteristics, we conclude that this emission has a thermal nature with a plasma temperature of T approximate to 2 x 10(6) K. The cometary shape of this emission seems to be in line with recent predictions of radiation-hydrodynamic models of runaway stars. The case of BD+43 degrees 3654 is puzzling, as non-thermal emission has been reported in a previous work for this source. KW - stars: individual (zeta Oph, BD+43 degrees 3654) KW - stars: winds, outflows Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/821/2/79 SN - 0004-637X SN - 1538-4357 VL - 821 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Thomas, Timon A1 - Feldmeier, Achim T1 - Radiative waves in stellar winds with line scattering JF - Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society N2 - Photospheric radiation can drive winds from hot, massive stars by direct momentum transfer through scattering in bound-bound transitions of atmospheric ions. The line radiation force should cause a new radiative wave mode. The dispersion relation from perturbations of the line force was analysed so far either in Sobolev approximation or for pure line absorption. The former does not include the line-driven instability, and the latter cannot account for upstream propagating, radiative waves. We consider a non-Sobolev line force that includes scattering in a simplified way, accounting however for the important line-drag effect. We derive a new dispersion relation for radiative waves, and analyse wave propagation using Fourier methods, and by numerical solution of an integro-differential equation. The existence of an upstream propagating, dispersive radiative wave mode is demonstrated. KW - hydrodynamics KW - radiative transfer KW - waves KW - stars: winds KW - outflows Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw1008 SN - 0035-8711 SN - 1365-2966 VL - 460 SP - 1923 EP - 1933 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Thiem, A. A1 - Bagheri, M. A1 - Grosse-Siestrup, C. A1 - Zehbe, Rolf T1 - Gelatin-poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) scaffolds with oriented pore channel architecture - From in vitro to in vivo testing JF - Vision research : an international journal for functional aspects of vision. N2 - A gelatin-poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid), PLGA, composite scaffold, featuring a highly oriented pore channel structure, was developed as a template for articular cartilage regeneration. As a design principle the composite scaffold was optimized to contain only medical grade educts and accordingly no chemical cross linking agents or other toxicological relevant substances or methods were used. Scaffolds were synthesized using a freeze structuring method combined with an electrochemical process followed by freeze-drying. Finally, cross linking was performed using dehydrothermal treatment, which was simultaneously used for sterilization purposes. These composite scaffolds were analyzed in regard to structural and biomechanical properties, and to their degradation behavior. Furthermore, cell culture performance was tested using chondrocytes originated from joint articular cartilage tissue from 6 to 10 months old domestic pigs. Finally, the scaffolds were tested for tissue biocompatibility and their ability for tissue integration in a rat model. The scaffolds showed both excellent functional performance and high biocompatibility in vitro and in vivo. We expect that these gelatin-PLGA scaffolds can effectively support chondrogenesis in vivo demonstrating great potential for the use in cartilage defect treatment. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Gelatin-PLGA Scaffold KW - Dehydrothermal cross linking KW - Cartilage tissue engineering KW - Biomechanics KW - Rat model Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2016.02.019 SN - 0928-4931 SN - 1873-0191 VL - 62 SP - 585 EP - 595 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - GEN A1 - Teif, Vladimir B. A1 - Cherstvy, Andrey G. T1 - Chromatin and epigenetics: current biophysical views T2 - AIMS biophysics N2 - Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing experiments and their theoretical descriptions have determined fast dynamics of the "chromatin and epigenetics" field, with new concepts appearing at high rate. This field includes but is not limited to the study of DNA-protein-RNA interactions, chromatin packing properties at different scales, regulation of gene expression and protein trafficking in the cell nucleus, binding site search in the crowded chromatin environment and modulation of physical interactions by covalent chemical modifications of the binding partners. The current special issue does not pretend for the full coverage of the field, but it rather aims to capture its development and provide a snapshot of the most recent concepts and approaches. Eighteen open-access articles comprising this issue provide a delicate balance between current theoretical and experimental biophysical approaches to uncover chromatin structure and understand epigenetic regulation, allowing free flow of new ideas and preliminary results. KW - chromatin KW - epigenetics KW - linker histones KW - nucleosome KW - DNA-protein binding KW - histone modifications KW - remodelers KW - topologically associated domains KW - DNA methylation KW - DNA supercoiling Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3934/biophy.2016.1.88 SN - 2377-9098 VL - 3 SP - 88 EP - 98 PB - American Institute of Mathematical Sciences CY - Springfield ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stolterfoht, Martin A1 - Armin, Ardalan A1 - Philippa, Bronson A1 - Neher, Dieter T1 - The Role of Space Charge Effects on the Competition between Recombination and Extraction in Solar Cells with Low-Mobility Photoactive Layers JF - The journal of physical chemistry letters N2 - The competition between charge extraction and nongeminate recombination critically determines the current-voltage characteristics of organic solar cells (OSCs) and their fill factor. As a measure of this competition, several figures of merit (FOMs) have been put forward; however, the impact of space charge effects has been either neglected, or not specifically addressed. Here we revisit recently reported FOMs and discuss the role of space charge effects on the interplay between recombination and extraction. We find that space charge effects are the primary cause for the onset of recombination in so-called non-Langevin systems, which also depends on the slower carrier mobility and recombination coefficient. The conclusions are supported with numerical calculations and experimental results of 25 different donor/acceptor OSCs with different charge transport parameters, active layer thicknesses or composition ratios. The findings represent a conclusive understanding of bimolecular recombination for drift dominated photocurrents and allow one to minimize these losses for given device parameters. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.6b02106 SN - 1948-7185 VL - 7 SP - 4716 EP - 4721 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stolbova, Veronika A1 - Surovyatkina, Elena A1 - Bookhagen, Bodo A1 - Kurths, Jürgen T1 - Tipping elements of the Indian monsoon: Prediction of onset and withdrawal JF - Geophysical research letters N2 - Forecasting the onset and withdrawal of the Indian summer monsoon is crucial for the life and prosperity of more than one billion inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent. However, accurate prediction of monsoon timing remains a challenge, despite numerous efforts. Here we present a method for prediction of monsoon timing based on a critical transition precursor. We identify geographic regions-tipping elements of the monsoon-and use them as observation locations for predicting onset and withdrawal dates. Unlike most predictability methods, our approach does not rely on precipitation analysis but on air temperature and relative humidity, which are well represented both in models and observations. The proposed method allows to predict onset 2 weeks earlier and withdrawal dates 1.5 months earlier than existing methods. In addition, it enables to correctly forecast monsoon duration for some anomalous years, often associated with El Nino-Southern Oscillation. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL068392 SN - 0094-8276 SN - 1944-8007 VL - 43 SP - 3982 EP - 3990 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Steinmetz, Matthias T1 - Die Vermessung des Universums JF - Vision als Aufgabe : das Leibniz-Universum im 21. Jahrhundert Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b4-opus4-25899 SN - 978-3-939818-67-0 SP - 197 EP - 210 PB - Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften CY - Berlin ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Steinke, Martin A1 - Oskinova, Lida A1 - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer A1 - Sander, Andreas Alexander Christoph A1 - Liermann, A. A1 - Todt, Helge Tobias T1 - Analysis of the WN star WR102c, its WR nebula, and the associated cluster of massive stars in the Sickle Nebula JF - Tectonophysics : international journal of geotectonics and the geology and physics of the interior of the earth N2 - Context. The massive Wolf-Rayet type star WR102c is located near the Quintuplet Cluster, one of the three massive star clusters in the Galactic centre region. Previous studies indicated that WR102c may have a dusty circumstellar nebula and is among the main ionising sources of the Sickle Nebula associated with the Quintuplet Cluster. Aims. The goals of our study are to derive the stellar parameters of WR102c from the analysis of its spectrum and to investigate its stellar and nebular environment. Methods. We obtained observations with the ESO VLT integral field spectrograph SINFONI in the K-band, extracted the stellar spectra, and analysed them by means of stellar atmosphere models. Results. Our new analysis supersedes the results previously reported for WR102c. We significantly decrease its bolometric luminosity and hydrogen content. We detect four early OB type stars close to WR102c. These stars have radial velocities similar to that of WR102c. We suggest that together with WR102c these stars belong to a distinct star cluster with a total mass of similar to 1000 M-circle dot. We identify a new WR nebula around WR102c in the SINFONI map of the di ff use Br gamma emission and in the HST Pa ff images. The Br gamma line at di ff erent locations is not significantly broadened and similar to the width of nebular emission elsewhere in the H i i region around WR102c. Conclusions. The massive star WR102c located in the Galactic centre region resides in a star cluster containing additional early-type stars. The stellar parameters of WR102c are typical for hydrogen-free WN6 stars. We identify a nebula surrounding WR102c that has a morphology similar to other nebulae around hydrogen-free WR stars, and propose that the formation of this nebula is linked to interaction of the fast stellar wind with the matter ejected at a previous evolutionary stage of WR102c. KW - stars: early-type KW - stars: individual: WR 102c KW - stars: Wolf KW - Rayet KW - Galaxy: center KW - HII regions KW - infrared: stars Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201527692 SN - 1432-0746 VL - 588 PB - EDP Sciences CY - Les Ulis ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stadtherr, Lisa A1 - Coumou, Dim A1 - Petoukhov, Vladimir A1 - Petri, Stefan A1 - Rahmstorf, Stefan T1 - Record Balkan floods of 2014 linked to planetary wave resonance JF - Science Advances N2 - In May 2014, the Balkans were hit by a Vb-type cyclone that brought disastrous flooding and severe damage to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Croatia. Vb cyclones migrate from the Mediterranean, where they absorb warm and moist air, to the north, often causing flooding in central/eastern Europe. Extreme rainfall events are increasing on a global scale, and both thermodynamic and dynamical mechanisms play a role. Where thermodynamic aspects are generally well understood, there is large uncertainty associated with current and future changes in dynamics. We study the climatic and meteorological factors that influenced the catastrophic flooding in the Balkans, where we focus on large-scale circulation. We show that the Vb cyclone was unusually stationary, bringing extreme rainfall for several consecutive days, and that this situation was likely linked to a quasi-stationary circumglobal Rossby wave train. We provide evidence that this quasi-stationary wave was amplified by wave resonance. Statistical analysis of daily spring rainfall over the Balkan region reveals significant upward trends over 1950-2014, especially in the high quantiles relevant for flooding events. These changes cannot be explained by simple thermodynamic arguments, and we thus argue that dynamical processes likely played a role in increasing flood risks over the Balkans. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1501428 SN - 2375-2548 VL - 2 PB - American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science CY - Washington ER -