Pulse-Shape Discrimination of CaF2(Eu)

We measured the decay time of the scintillation pulses produced by electron and nuclear recoils in CaF2(Eu) by a new fitting method. In the recoil energy region 5-30 keVee, we found differences of the decay time between electron and nuclear recoil events. In the recoil energy region above 20 keVee, we found that the decay time is independent of the recoil energy.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Nanoparticles in optic nerve trauma: nanoscaffolding, visualization and regeneration

Session 1 - Nanotechnology / Vision Restoration: Concepts, Possibilities, Challengespostprin

Nanoscale technologies: nano-knitting, healing powers and hemostasis

Session 2 - Nanotechnology / Vision Restoration: Clinical Usespostprin

A Self-assembling Nanomaterial Reduces Acute Brain Injury and Enhances Functional Recovery in a Rat Model of Hypertensive Intracerebral Hemorrhage

published_or_final_versio

Specialized Vasculature in the Rostral Migratory Stream as a Neurogenic Niche and Scaffold for Neuroblast Migration

published_or_final_versio

Cell cycle-dependent, intercellular transmission of Toxoplasma gondii is accompanied by marked changes in parasite gene expression

Intracellular microbes have evolved efficient strategies for transitioning from one cell to another in a process termed intercellular transmission. Here we show that host cell transmission of the obligate intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii is closely tied to specific cell cycle distributions, with egress and reinvasion occurring most proficiently by parasites in the G1 phase. We also reveal that Toxoplasma undergoes marked changes in mRNA expression when transitioning from the extracellular environment to its intracellular niche. These mRNA level changes reflect a modal switch from expression of proteins involved in invasion, motility and signal transduction in extracellular parasites to expression of metabolic and DNA replication proteins in intracellular parasites. Host cell binding and signalling associated with the discharge of parasite secretory proteins was not sufficient to induce this switch in gene expression, suggesting that the regulatory mechanisms responsible are tied to the establishment of the intracellular environment. The genes whose expression increased after parasite invasion belong to a progressive cascade known to underlie the parasite division cycle indicating that the unique relationship between the G1 phase and invasion effectively synchronizes short-term population growth. This work provides new insight into how this highly successful parasite competently transits from cell to cell.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/79311/1/MMI_7441_sm_FigS1-2_TableS6-8.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/79311/2/j.1365-2958.2010.07441.x.pd

Energy- and charge-state-resolved spectrometry of tin laser-produced plasma using a retarding field energy analyzer

We present a method to obtain the individual charge-state-dependent kinetic-energy distributions of tin ions emanating from a laser-produced plasma from their joint overlapping energy distributions measured by means of a retarding field energy analyzer (RFA). The method of extracting charge state specific parameters from the ion signals is described mathematically, and reinforced with experimental results. The absolute charge-state-resolved ion energy distributions is obtained from ns-pulse Nd:YAG-laser-produced microdroplet tin plasmas in a setting relevant for state-of-the-art extreme ultraviolet nanolithography

Organization of infection control in European hospitals

BACKGROUND: The Prevention of Hospital Infections by Intervention and Training (PROHIBIT) survey was initiated to investigate the status of healthcare-associated infection (HCAI) prevention across Europe. AIM: This paper presents the methodology of the quantitative PROHIBIT survey and outlines the findings on infection control (IC) structure and organization including management's support at the hospital level. METHODS: Hospitals in 34 countries were invited to participate between September 2011 and March 2012. Respondents included IC personnel and hospital management. FINDINGS: Data from 309 hospitals in 24 countries were analysed. Hospitals had a median (interquartile range) of four IC nurses (2-6) and one IC doctor (0-2) per 1000 beds. Almost all hospitals (96%) had defined IC objectives, which mainly addressed hand hygiene (87%), healthcare-associated infection reduction (84%), and antibiotic stewardship (66%). Senior management provided leadership walk rounds in about half of hospitals, most often in Eastern and Northern Europe, 65% and 64%, respectively. In the majority of hospitals (71%), sanctions were not employed for repeated violations of IC practices. Use of sanctions varied significantly by region (P < 0.001), but not by countries' healthcare expenditure. CONCLUSION: There is great variance in IC staffing and policies across Europe. Some areas of practice, such as hand hygiene, seem to receive considerably more attention than others that are equally important, such as antibiotic stewardship. Programmes in IC suffer from deficiencies in human resources and local policies, ubiquitous factors that negatively impact on IC effectiveness. Strengthening of IC policies in European hospitals should be a public health priority

Cross-calibration of a combined electrostatic and time-of-flight analyzer for energy- and charge-state-resolved spectrometry of tin laser-produced plasma

We present the results of the calibration of a channeltron-based electrostatic analyzer operating in time-of-flight mode (ESA-ToF) using tin ions resulting from laser-produced plasma, over a wide range of charge states and energies. Specifically, the channeltron electron multiplier detection efficiency and the spectrometer resolution are calibrated, and count rate effects are characterized. With the obtained overall response function, the ESA-ToF is shown to accurately reproduce charge-integrated measurements separately and simultaneously obtained from a Faraday cup (FC), up to a constant factor the finding of which enables absolute cross-calibration of the ESA-ToF using the FC as an absolute benchmark. Absolute charge-state-resolved ion energy distributions are obtained from ns-pulse Nd:YAG-laser-produced microdroplet tin plasmas in a setting relevant for state-of-the-art extreme ultraviolet nanolithography