HOPS: Automated detection and authentication of pathogen DNA in archaeological remains

High-throughput DNA sequencing enables large-scale metagenomic analyses of complex biological systems. Such analyses are not restricted to present day environmental or clinical samples, but can also be fruitfully applied to molecular data from archaeological remains (ancient DNA), and a focus on ancient bacteria can provide valuable information on the long-term evolutionary relationship between hosts and their pathogens. Here we present HOPS (Heuristic Operations for Pathogen Screening), an automated bacterial screening pipeline for ancient DNA sequence data that provides straightforward and reproducible information on species identification and authenticity. HOPS provides a versatile and fast pipeline for high-throughput screening of bacterial DNA from archaeological material to identify candidates for subsequent genomic-level analyses

Double proximity effect in hybrid planar Superconductor-(Normal metal/Ferromagnet)-Superconductor structures

We have investigated the differential resistance of hybrid planar Al-(Cu/Fe)-Al submicron bridges at low temperatures and in weak magnetic fields. The structure consists of Cu/Fe-bilayer forming a bridge between two superconducting Al-electrodes. In superconducting state of Al-electrodes, we have observed a double-peak peculiarity in differential resistance of the S-(N/F)-S structures at a bias voltage corresponding to the minigap. We claim that this effect (the doubling of the minigap) is due to an electron spin polarization in the normal metal which is induced by the ferromagnet. We have demonstrated that the double-peak peculiarity is converted to a single peak at a coercive applied field corresponding to zero magnetization of the Fe-layer

Beeinflusst NoL-Monitoring den Opioidbedarf bei Da-Vinci-Prostatektomien?

Hintergrund Die Gabe von Opioiden zur Schmerzunterdrückung spielt eine zentrale Rolle in der modernen Anästhesiologie. Messungen von Hypnosetiefe und Muskelrelaxierung sind im Gegensatz zur Schmerzmessung seit Jahren etabliert. Seit Kurzem ist das PMD200 („Pain Monitoring System“; Fa. Medasense Biometrics™ Ltd., Ramat-Gan, Israel) verfügbar. Dieser Schmerzmonitor misst nichtinvasiv und errechnet einen dimensionslosen Schmerzindex („nociceptor level“, NoL). Die Validität und Zuverlässigkeit des Verfahrens sind Gegenstand von klinischen Studien. Fragestellung Reduziert die Verwendung des PMD200 die Gabe von Analgetika während einer Da-Vinci-Prostatektomie? Material und Methoden In die Studie wurden 50 Patienten aufgenommen. Nach gewichtsadaptierter Sufentanilgabe zur Narkoseinduktion und einem 10 µg Bolus vor Hautschnitt erfolgte die intraoperative Analgesie durch subjektive Entscheidung (CONT) oder aufgrund eines erhöhten NoL-Index (INT). Die statistische Auswertung erfolgte durch Mann-Whitney-U-, Kolmogorow-Smirnow-Test und Levene-Statistik. Ergebnisse In der INT-Gruppe war die Anzahl der Sufentanilboli/h nicht signifikant geringer als in der CONT-Gruppe (p = 0,065). Die Varianz der Sufentanilgaben unterschied sich signifikant (p = 0,033). In der CONT-Gruppe war die Applikation normal verteilt (p = 0,2), in der INT-Gruppe hingegen nicht (p = 0,003). Diskussion Eine mögliche Interpretation der Daten ist, dass die Schmerzmittelgabe in der INT-Gruppe individualisierter erfolgte, d. h., es wurden nichterforderliche Schmerzmittelgaben vermieden, und gleichzeitig detektierte das NoL-Monitoring einzelne Patienten mit deutlich erhöhtem Schmerzmittelbedarf. Diese Schlussfolgerung ist nur unter der Voraussetzung zulässig, dass das PMD200 auch tatsächlich die Entität Schmerz misst.Background Administration of opioids to suppress pain plays a major role in modern anesthesia. Measuring depth of hypnosis and neuromuscular recovery are already well established, and devices for pain monitoring are available. Nonetheless pain monitoring is rare in clinical practice. Recently, the pain monitoring device PMD200 (Medasense Biometrics™ , Israel) was introduced. It non-invasively measures heart rate, heart rate variability, skin resistance, resistance variability, temperature and movement to calculate a nociception level (NoL) index. The NoL index range starts at zero, which is equivalent to being painless, and goes up to a value of 100. The validity and reliability of NoL monitoring is the content of current studies. Objective We tested the hypothesis if the use of the PMD200 significantly reduces opioid consumption during da Vinci prostatectomy. Material and methods A total of 50 male patients were included in this randomized, single blinded study. Exclusion criteria were arrhythmia because the pain monitoring device requires a sinus rhythm for reliable results. Patients received a weight-adjusted sufentanil bolus (0.3 µg/kg ideal body weight) during induction of anesthesia. Additionally, they received 10 µg of sufentanil before skin incision. Both groups received total intravenous anesthesia with propofol and continuous muscle relaxation through cis-atracurium. In the control group (CONT; n = 26), a standardized sufentanil bolus of 10 µg were administered by common criteria (heart rate/blood pressure increase, lacrimation, gut feeling) at the anesthesiologistʼs discretion. In the intervention group (INT; n = 24), patients received the standardized sufentanil bolus when the NoL index was above 25 for 2 min, which corresponds to the manufacturerʼs recommendation. The NoL index and bolus administrations were recorded for every patient. In the control group, the display of the pain monitor showing the NoL index was not visible for the anesthesiologist. Postoperatively, pain/nausea scores and piritramide consumption were taken every 10 min for 1h in the recovery room. None of the patients had prior chronic pain with long-term use of painkillers. Statistics were done using Mann-Whitney U‑test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and Levene test. Results Sufentanil bolus administrations, normalized for duration of surgery, were not significantly lower in the intervention group (p = 0.065). We noticed a significant difference in variation of opioid administrations (p = 0.033). Sufentanil boluses per hour in the INT were normally distributed (p = 0.2), whereas in CONT they were not (p = 0.003). Postoperative data like nausea, opioid consumption and pain scale showed no differences between groups. Conclusion The use of PMD200 did not significantly reduce cumulative opioid consumption. Following on we must reject the initial hypothesis. The difference in sufentanil bolus variances may point to an individualized antinociceptive therapy when NoL monitoring is used. We suppose patients with high opioid demands are detected and patients with low opioid demands did not receive unnecessary opioids. This assumption is only true if the PMD200 measures the entity pain. Further studies with more participants during surgery with higher tissue damage could lead to more convincing data and conclusions

An investigation of the chemistry of ship emission plumes during ITCT 2002

A ship emission plume experiment was conducted about 100 km off the California coast during the NOAA Intercontinental Transport and Chemical Transformation (ITCT) 2K2 airborne field campaign. Measurements of chemical species were made from the NOAA WP-3D aircraft in eight consecutive transects of a ship plume around midday during 2.5 hours of flight. The measured species include NOx, HNO3, peroxyacetylnitrate (PAN), SO2, H2SO4, O3, CO, CO2, nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC), and particle number and size distributions. Observations demonstrate a NOx lifetime of ∼1.8 hours inside the ship plume compared to ∼6.5 hours (at noontime) in the moderately polluted background marine boundary layer of the experiment. This confirms the earlier hypothesis of highly enhanced in-plume NOx destruction. Consequently, one would expect the impact of ship emissions is much less severe than those predicted by global models that do not include rapid NOx destruction. Photochemical model calculations suggest that more than 80% of the NOx loss was due to the NO2 + OH reaction; the remainder was by PAN formation. The model underestimated in-plume NOx loss rate by about 30%. In addition, a comparison of measured to predicted H2SO4 in the plumes suggests that the photochemical model predicts OH variability reasonably well but may underestimate actual values. Predictions of in-plume O3 production agree well with the observations, suggesting that model-predicted peroxy radical (HO2 + RO2) levels are reasonable. The model estimated ozone production efficiency ranges from 6 to 30. The largest model bias was seen in the comparison with measured HNO3. The model overestimated in-plume HNO3 by about a factor of 6. This is most likely caused by underestimated HNO3 sinks possibly involving particle scavenging. However, limited data availability precluded a conclusive test of this possible loss process. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union