Rationalizing Pi

Found an old Hemmi Mannheim type slide rule in the lab the
http://www.sphere.bc.ca/test/build.html [ slide rules ]
other day.

On the back was a series of settings to approximate the ratios
better than the eye and setting C1 or D1 to a number.

Linkname: pi is irrational
URL: http://www.lrz-muenchen.de/~hr/numb/pi-irr.html

Linkname: Math Forum - Ask Dr. Math
URL: http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/58725.html

Linkname: Pi -- from Wolfram MathWorld
URL: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Pi.html

Linkname: Pi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi

Interesting, for 3 figures, but for 2, mental is as good
and more interesting to the idea of Fermi question resolves.
Linkname: Fermi questions
URL: http://mathforum.org/workshops/sum96/interdisc/sheila1.html

Linkname: Fermi Questions / Fermi Problems
URL: http://www.vendian.org/envelope/dir0/fermi_questions.html

Some of the Hemmi slide rule conversion factors

Dia circle Circum
226 710
710 / 226
:= 3.14159292035398230088
vs. 3.141592653589793238462643383279502884 ...

from : http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Pines/5945/facts.html

The fraction (22 / 7) is a well used number for Pi. It is accurate
to 0.04025%.
Another fraction used as an approximation to Pi is (355 / 113)
which is accurate to 0.00000849% [ same as the above 710/226 ]
A more accurate fraction of Pi is(104348 / 33215). This is accurate
to 0.00000001056%.

Other conversions were:
Side of sq diag of square
70 99

inches mm
5 127

feet metres
292 89

yards metres
35 32

miles km
87 140

...
cu ft imp gal
17 106

cu ft us gal
234 1750

cu ft litres
3 85
etc. etc.

Further to "Science in Germany"

Having the ESA might be an 'encourager'
for space science. Or they might be
doing more aurora work.

I can see Physics because of Desy, CERN.
And the farming lobby has Plant and Animal
research (Compare the neighbouring Swiss).

The 'negatives' in this listing would be
papers that are predominately in German
for this English-dominated index from
Thomson/ISI.

Subject: SCI-BYTES: Science in Germany, 2001-05
X-URL: http://www.in-cites.com/research/2006/may_15_2006-2.html

47]in-cites - an editorial component of Essential Science Indicators
Citing URL: http://www.in-cites.com/research/2006/may_15_2006-2.html

[49]SCI-BYTES What's New in Research: May 15, 2006

Science in Germany, 2001-05

Germany's world share of science and social-science papers over the
last five years, expressed as a percentage of papers in each of 21
fields in the Thomson Scientific database. Also, Germany's relative
citation impact compared to the world average in each field, in
percentage terms.
Field

Percentage of papers from Germany
Relative impact
compared to world
% Impact(%)
Space Science 14.95 +27
Physics 11.26 +36
Molecular Biology 10.09 +14
Neurosciences & Behavior 9.76 +3
Geosciences 9.73 +34
Microbiology 9.22 +18
Chemistry 8.99 +19
Clinical Medicine 8.93 +5
Mathematics 8.90 +17
Materials Sciences 8.56 +17

Germany's overall
percent share, all fields: 8.55

Immunology 8.24 +11
Biology & Biochemistry 7.75 +17
Psychology/Psychiatry 7.17 -7
Plant & Animal Science 7.15 +31
Pharmacology 7.11 +11
Computer Science 6.67 +5
Engineering 6.25 +26
Agricultural Sciences 6.24 +9
Ecology/Environmental 6.09 +19
Economics & Business 4.42 -23
Social Sciences 3.20 -21

Between 2001 and 2005, Thomson Scientific indexed 334,831 papers that
listed at least one author address in Germany. Of those papers, the
highest percentage appeared in journals classified under the heading
of space science, followed by physics and molecular biology. In all
three of those fields, and in all but a handful of the rest, the
citations-per-paper average for papers from Germany exceeded the world
average, as the right-hand column shows. (In space science, for
example, Germany's impact average of 9.51 cites per paper surpassed
the world mark of 7.50 by 27%.) Germany's performance was even
stronger in physics (36% above the world mark), geosciences (34%
above), and plant & animal science (+31%), while also being notable in
engineering (+26%), chemistry (+19%), and ecology/environmental
sciences (+19%).

SOURCE: [53]National Science Indicators, 1981-2005 (containing
listings of output and citation statistics for more than 170
countries; available in standard and deluxe versions from the
[54]Research Services Group.

[related-information.gif]
* [quickscience-icon.gif] View the 10-year country rankings for
[55]Germany, 1996-February 28, 2006.

* View the 10-year country profile for [56]Germany, January
1993-April 30, 2003..

References
55. javascript:popUp5ColRank('may_15_2006-4.html')
56. http://www.in-cites.com/countries/germany.html

View of modern research in Germany

The usual complaints about the Anglo-American
axis of research, but acknowledgement of the
lack of places, because of inflexibility, in
Germany.
Still there is a lack of real research money too.

Subject: Goethe-Institut - Research and Technology - Topics
X-URL: http://www.goethe.de/wis/fut/thm/en1841852.htm

The Helmholtz Association: Research Writ Large
Prof. J?rgen Mlynek
"Our mission is to help solve pressing social, scientific and economic
problems." In September 2005 J?rgen Mlynek took the helm of the
Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft, Germany's biggest scientific organization. In
this interview he advocates greater flexibility in German research and
explains what's special about the Helmholtz Centres.

F: Professor Mlynek, in your capacity as president of the Helmholtz
Association you received the Schr?dinger Award for Interdisciplinary
Research a few days ago. To put it a bit polemically: is there really
any prize-worthy research still going on in Germany today?

A: Germany is still one of the leading nations in science and technology.
Excellent research is going on here, we place well in international
rankings. The situation is better than the prevailing mood would
suggest. Our young researchers are much in demand and we've still got
an edge in many areas of science and technology, as is reflected in
the economy.

F: When you look at the German research scene, in your opinion what are
the most formidable challenges to significantly boosting research in
Germany? Are they of a structural or financial nature?

A: There are essentially two big barriers to overcome. The first is a
matter of mentality: Are we not as good as we think we are? Or do we
not believe we're as good as we actually are? It is, in short, a
matter of self-assurance. The other barrier is that the basic
conditions for research and development need to be changed. There are
too many rules we have to abide by. We've got to loosen up these
rules, cut the red tape. We need more flexibility - when it comes to
remuneration, for example. We need to be able to break away from the
public service union agreement and pay salaries based on individual
results.

F: How important is funding for the next generation of researchers?

A: There are some 80,000 doctoral candidates in Germany. These young
academics are internationally sought-after. We have to make sure they
stay here and don't emigrate to Anglo-American countries. We have to
hold out bright prospects to our researchers, especially those between
the ages of 30 and 35. In the scientific domain, for example, that
means more independence, more autonomy in directing research groups.
That's why I feel junior professorships are a step in the right
direction. The goal should be to establish something akin to the
tenure track system in Anglo-American countries. We've already
introduced something of the sort in our Helmholtz University Young
Investigators Groups. Furthermore, the Habilitation [qualification to
teach at university--TRANSLATOR'S NOTE] ought to be abolished. It's
outmoded. And the process takes longer than initially intended.

F: Five years ago, the Helmholtz Association laid down its main fields of
endeavour for research and funding purposes. They include Energy, the
Earth and Environment, Health, Key Technologies, the Structure of
Matter, and Transport and Space. What are these fields of endeavour
about?

The Helmholtz Association has a mission. We engage in top-level
research to solve major and pressing social, scientific and economic
problems. The fields you mentioned are among the most formidable
challenges facing our society. The 15 Helmholtz Centres address issues
in those fields, often pooling their efforts to that end. They work on
.... [ 66 more lines ]
Translation: Eric Rosencrantz
November 2006
Related links
[44]Helmholtz Association deutsch english russkij
[65]50 Deutsche Stars
Innovations made in Germany. German inventions continue to change the
world today, just as they have been doing for the past 500 years.
Learn more about it.
References

Visible links
44. http://www.helmholtz.de/

65. http://www.goethe.de/wis/fut/prj/dst/enindex.htm

Western Blot? Wot that?

A western blot (a.k.a immunoblot) is a method in molecular biology/biochemistry/immunogenetics to detect protein in a given sample of tissue homogenate or extract. It uses gel electrophoresis to separate denatured proteins by mass. The proteins are then transferred out of the gel and onto a membrane (typically nitrocellulose), where they are "probed" using antibodies specific to the protein. As a result, researchers can examine the amount of protein in a given sample and compare levels between several groups. Other techniques also using antibodies allow detection of proteins in tissues (immunohistochemistry) and cells (immunocytochemistry).

The method originated from the laboratory of George Stark at Stanford. The name western blot was given to the technique by W. Neal Burnette (Analytical Biochemistry, 112:195-203, 1981) and is a play on the name Southern blot, a technique for DNA detection developed earlier by Edwin Southern (Journal of Molecular Biology 98 (3): 503-&1975 ) [ See http://garfield.library.upenn.edu/histcomp/southern-em_auth/ for History of Citation ]. Detection of RNA is termed northern blotting.

Western blots allow investigators to determine the molecular weight of a protein and to measure relative amounts of the protein present in different samples.

1) Proteins are separated by gel electrophoresis, usually SDS-PAGE.

2) The proteins are transfered to a sheet of special blotting paper called nitrocellulose, though other types of paper, or membranes, can be used. The proteins retain the same pattern of separation they had on the gel.

3) The blot is incubated with a generic protein (such as milk proteins) to bind to any remaining sticky places on the nitrocellulose. An antibody is then added to the solution which is able to bind to its specific protein. The antibody has an enzyme (e.g. alkaline phosphatase or horseradish peroxidase) or dye attached to it which cannot be seen at this time.

4) The location of the antibody is revealed by incubating it with a colorless substrate that the attached enzyme converts to a colored product that can be seen and photographed.