Oral Infections and the Risk of Mortality in the Iron Age

Medically unattended oral abscesses may spread to their surrounding area or even throught the entire body. Depending on the individual`s constitution, such processes may lead to a life-threatening situation or death. (Pre)historic case studies deliver more information about distribution and adverse effects of oral infections and the risk of mortality. In this particular case report an iron aged skeleton of a 35- to 45-year-old woman from Eulau (Naumburg/ Saale, Germany) shows multiple periapical lesions and their effects on the viscerocranium. Furthermore, alterations on the long bones can be associated with chronic inflammation processes

Measuring the Coherent Synchrotron Radiation Far Field with Electro-Optical Techniques

For measuring the temporal profile of the coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) a setup based on electro-optical spectral decoding (EOSD) will be installed as part of the sensor network at the KIT storage ring KARA (Karlsruhe Research Accelerator). The EOSD technique allows a single-shot, phase sensitive measurement of the complete spectrum of the CSR far field radiation at each turn. Therefore, the dynamics of the bunch evolution, e.g. the microbunching, can be observed in detail. Especially, in synchronized combination with the already established near-field EOSD, this method could provide deeper insights in the interplay of bunch profile and CSR generation for each individual electron bunch. For a successful implementation of the EOSD single shot setup, measurements with electro-optical sampling (EOS) are performed. With EOS the THz pulse shape is scanned over several turns by shifting the delay of laser and THz pulse. In this contribution different steps towards the installation of the EOSD far field setup are summarized

Recent developments of the cSTART project

The combination of a compact storage ring and a laser-plasma accelerator (LPA) can serve as the basis for future compact light sources. One challenge is the large momentum spread (~ 2%) of the electron beams delivered by the LPA. To overcome this challenge, a very large acceptance compact storage ring (VLA-cSR) was designed as part of the compact STorage ring for Accelerator Research and Technology (cSTART) project. The project will be realized at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT, Germany). Initially, the Ferninfrarot Linac- Und Test-Experiment (FLUTE), a source of ultra-short bunches, will serve as an injector for the VLA-cSR to benchmark and emulate LWFA-like beams. In a second stage a laser-plasma accelerator will be used as an injector, which is being developed as part of the ATHENA project in collaboration with DESY and the Helmholtz Institute Jena (HIJ). The small facility footprint, the large-momentum spread bunches with charges from 1 pC to 1 nC and lengths from few fs to few ps pose challenges for the lattice design, RF system and beam diagnostics. This contribution summarizes the latest results on these challenges

Understanding social situations: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial evaluating a novel social cognitive training versus modified problem-solving training for people with psychosis

BackgroundPsychotic spectrum disorders (PSD) are associated with poor social function. In this study, we investigate which of two different types of 2-month long training courses is more effective in improving day-to-day interactions and quality of life.Methods/designParticipants with psychotic spectrum disorders will be randomly assigned to one of two training courses. Social functioning, everyday activities, social cognition and symptoms will be assessed at multiple timepoints, including baseline, treatment midpoint, end of treatment and 2-month follow-up. One training focuses on how to make good judgments about what other people may be thinking or feeling in social situations, and why people might act in certain ways in different situations. The other training focuses on different strategies for handling everyday problems and stressors. Both trainings are done in one-on-one sessions with a research staff member. There will be 16-20 training sessions, each about 45-60 minutes long. The investigators will ask participants to attend 2 training sessions per week, so the total training time should be about 2 months.Clinical Trials RegistrationPROSPERO, identifier NCT0455712

Origin of micro-scale heterogeneity in polymerisation of photo-activated resin composites

Photo-activated resin composites are widely used in industry and medicine. Despite extensive chemical characterisation, the micro-scale pattern of resin matrix reactive group conversion between filler particles is not fully understood. Using an advanced synchrotron-based wide-field IR imaging system and state-of-the-art Mie scattering corrections, we observe how the presence of monodispersed silica filler particles in a methacrylate based resin reduces local conversion and chemical bond strain in the polymer phase. Here we show that heterogeneity originates from a lower converted and reduced bond strain boundary layer encapsulating each particle, whilst at larger inter-particulate distances light attenuation and monomer mobility predominantly influence conversion. Increased conversion corresponds to greater bond strain however, strain generation appears sensitive to differences in conversion rate and implies subtle distinctions in the final polymer structure. We expect these findings to inform current predictive models of mechanical behaviour in polymer-composite materials, particularly at the resin-filler interface

In situ biospectroscopic investigation of rapid ischemic and postmortem induced biochemical alterations in the rat brain

© 2014 American Chemical Society. Rapid advances in imaging technologies have pushed novel spectroscopic modalities such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at the sulfur K-edge to the forefront of direct in situ investigation of brain biochemistry. However, few studies have examined the extent to which sample preparation artifacts confound results. Previous investigations using traditional analyses, such as tissue dissection, homogenization, and biochemical assay, conducted extensive research to identify biochemical alterations that occur ex vivo during sample preparation. In particular, altered metabolism and oxidative stress may be caused by animal death. These processes were a concern for studies using biochemical assays, and protocols were developed to minimize their occurrence. In this investigation, a similar approach was taken to identify the biochemical alterations that are detectable by two in situ spectroscopic methods (FTIR, XAS) that occur as a consequence of ischemic conditions created during humane animal killing. FTIR and XAS are well suited to study markers of altered metabolism such as lactate and creatine (FTIR) and markers of oxidative stress such as aggregated proteins (FTIR) and altered thiol redox (XAS). The results are in accordance with previous investigations using biochemical assays and demonstrate that the time between animal death and tissue dissection results in ischemic conditions that alter brain metabolism and initiate oxidative stress. Therefore, future in situ biospectroscopic investigations utilizing FTIR and XAS must take into consideration that brain tissue dissected from a healthy animal does not truly reflect the in vivo condition, but rather reflects a state of mild ischemia. If studies require the levels of metabolites (lactate, creatine) and markers of oxidative stress (thiol redox) to be preserved as close as possible to the in vivo condition, then rapid freezing of brain tissue via decapitation into liquid nitrogen, followed by chiseling the brain out at dry ice temperatures is required