Microsurgical Transplantation of Pedicled Muscles in an Isolation Chamber-A Novel Approach to Engineering Muscle Constructs via Perfusion-Decellularization.

Decellularized whole muscle constructs represent an ideal scaffold for muscle tissue engineering means as they retain the network and proteins of the extracellular matrix of skeletal muscle tissue. The presence of a vascular pedicle enables a more efficient perfusion-based decellularization protocol and allows for subsequent recellularization and transplantation of the muscle construct in vivo. The goal of this study was to create a baseline for transplantation of decellularized whole muscle constructs by establishing an animal model for investigating a complete native muscle isolated on its pedicle in terms of vascularization and functionality.

Acoustoelectric Study of Microwave-Induced Current Domains.

Surface acoustic waves (SAW) have been utilized to investigate the properties of a two-dimensional electron system subjected to a perpendicular magnetic field and monochromatic microwave radiation in the regime where the so-called microwave-induced zero-resistance states form. Contrary to conventional magnetotransport in Hall bar and van der Pauw geometries, the collimated SAW beam probes only the bulk of the electronic system exposed to this wave. Clear signatures appear in the SAW propagation velocity, corroborating that neither contacts nor sample edges are a root source for their emergence.

Current Flow in the Bubble and Stripe Phases.

The spontaneous ordering of spins and charges in geometric patterns is currently under scrutiny in a number of different material systems. A topic of particular interest is the interaction of such ordered phases with itinerant electrons driven by an externally imposed current. It not only provides important information on the charge ordering itself but potentially also allows manipulating the shape and symmetry of the underlying pattern if current flow is strong enough.

Rovers minimize human disturbance in research on wild animals.

Investigating wild animals while minimizing human disturbance remains an important methodological challenge. When approached by a remote-operated vehicle (rover) which can be equipped to make radio-frequency identifications, wild penguins had significantly lower and shorter stress responses (determined by heart rate and behavior) than when approached by humans. Upon immobilization, the rover-unlike humans-did not disorganize colony structure, and stress rapidly ceased.

Probing the microscopic structure of the stripe phase at filling factor 5/2.

A prominent manifestation of the competition between repulsive and attractive interactions acting on different length scales is the self-organized ordering of electrons in a stripelike fashion in material systems such as high-T_{c} superconductors. Such stripe phases are also believed to occur in two-dimensional electron systems exposed to a perpendicular magnetic field, where they cause a strong anisotropy in transport. The addition of an in-plane field even enables us to expel fractional quantum Hall states, to the benefit of such anisotropic phases.