Calculation of electrostatic fields using quasi-Green's functions: application to the hybrid Penning trap.

Penning traps offer unique possibilities for storing, manipulating and investigating charged particles with high sensitivity and accuracy. The widespread applications of Penning traps in physics and chemistry comprise e.g. mass spectrometry, laser spectroscopy, measurements of electronic and nuclear magnetic moments, chemical sample analysis and reaction studies. We have developed a method, based on the Green's function approach, which allows for the analytical calculation of the electrostatic properties of a Penning trap with arbitrary electrodes. The ansatz features an extension of Dirichlet's problem to nontrivial geometries and leads to an analytical solution of the Laplace equation. As an example we discuss the toroidal hybrid Penning trap designed for our planned measurements of the magnetic moment of the (anti)proton. As in the case of cylindrical Penning traps, it is possible to optimize the properties of the electric trapping fields, which is mandatory for high-precision experiments with single charged particles. Of particular interest are the anharmonicity compensation, orthogonality and optimum adjustment of frequency shifts by the continuous SternGerlach effect in a quantum jump spectrometer. The mathematical formalism developed goes beyond the mere design of novel Penning traps and has potential applications in other fields of physics and engineering

Pharmacogenomics of Interferon-ß Therapy in Multiple Sclerosis: Baseline IFN Signature Determines Pharmacological Differences between Patients

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a heterogeneous disease. In order to understand the partial responsiveness to IFNbeta in Relapsing Remitting MS (RRMS) we studied the pharmacological effects of IFNbeta therapy. Large scale gene expression profiling was performed on peripheral blood of 16 RRMS patients at baseline and one month after the start of IFNbeta therapy. Differential gene expression was analyzed by Significance Analysis of Microarrays. Subsequent expression analyses on specific genes were performed after three and six months of treatment. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated and stimulated in vitro with IFNbeta. Genes of interest were measured and validated by quantitative realtime PCR. An independent group of 30 RRMS patients was used for validation. Pharmacogenomics revealed a marked variation in the pharmacological response to IFNbeta between patients. A total of 126 genes were upregulated in a subset of patients whereas in other patients these genes were downregulated or unchanged after one month of IFNbeta therapy. Most interestingly, we observed that the extent of the pharmacological response correlates negatively with the baseline expression of a specific set of 15 IFN response genes (R = -0.7208; p = 0.0016). The negative correlation was maintained after three (R = -0.7363; p = 0.0027) and six (R = -0.8154; p = 0.0004) months of treatment, as determined by gene expression levels of the most significant correlating gene. Similar results were obtained in an independent group of patients (n = 30; R = -0.4719; p = 0.0085). Moreover, the ex vivo results could be confirmed by in vitro stimulation of purified PBMCs at baseline with IFNbeta indicating that differential responsiveness to IFNbeta is an intrinsic feature of peripheral blood cells at baseline. These data imply that the expression levels of IFN response genes in the peripheral blood of MS patients prior to treatment could serve a role as biomarker for the differential clinical response to IFNbet

Entwicklungsverläufe im Zeitmanagement und tätigkeitsbezogenen Interesse von männlichen und weiblichen Nachwuchswissenschaftlern

Wild E, Frey M. Entwicklungsverläufe im Zeitmanagement und tätigkeitsbezogenen Interesse von männlichen und weiblichen Nachwuchswissenschaftlern. In: Kracke B, Wild E, eds. Arbeitsplatz Hochschule. Zur beruflichen Situation und Förderung des wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchses. Heidelberg: Mattes-Verlag; 1996: 73-96

Die rechte Gesinnung: Zusammenhänge zwischen autoritäten Orientierungen ost- und westdeutscher Jugendlicher und familialen Bedingungen

Kracke B, Noack P, Hofer M, Klein-Allermann E. Die rechte Gesinnung: Zusammenhänge zwischen autoritäten Orientierungen ost- und westdeutscher Jugendlicher und familialen Bedingungen. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik. 1993;39:971-988

German unification, families, and adolescents : the impact of social change on anti-foreigner and anti-democratic attitudes

Kracke B, Oepke M, Wild E, Noack P. German unification, families, and adolescents: The impact of social change on anti-foreigner and-democratic attitudes. In: Nurmi J, ed. Adolescents, cultures and conflicts - growing up in Europe. Hamden: Gerland Publishing; 1998: 149-170