A high-power picosecond Nd:YAG/CO{sub 2} laser system for electron guns, laser acceleration and FEL

Fourth-harmonic Nd:YAG pulses illuminating a microwave linear accelerator`s photoinjector generates electron bunches in trains for FEL experiments, or in a single pulse for laser acceleration. A multi-gigawatt CO{sub 2} laser switched by the ND:YAG fundamental delivers 50-ps pulses for Inverse Cherenkov, Inverse FEL, or Grating Linac electron acceleration experiments

Plasma Dynamics

Contains table of contents for Section 2 and reports on three research projects.U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-90-J-4130Princeton University/Tokamak Physics Experiment Grant S-03688-GU.S. Department of Energy Grant DE-FG02-91-ER-54109National Science Foundation Grant ATM 94-2428

The Brookhaven Accelerator Test Facility

The Accelerator Test Facility (ATF), presently under construction at Brookhaven National laboratory, is described. It consists of a 50-MeV electron beam synchronizable to a high-peak power CO{sub 2} laser. The interaction of electrons with the laser field will be probed, with some emphasis on exploring laser-based acceleration techniques. 5 refs., 2 figs

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

The Paradox of Parkour: Conformity, Resistance and Spatial Exclusion

Drawing upon two years of ethnographic research into the spatially transgressive practice of parkour and freerunning, this chapter attempts to explain and untangle some of the contradictions that surround this popular lifestyle sport and its exclusion from our hyper-regulated cities. While the existing criminological wisdom suggests that these practices are a form of politicised resistance, this chapter positions parkour and freerunning as hyper-conformist to the underlying values of consumer capitalism and explains how late capitalism has created a contradiction for itself in which it must stoke desire for these lifestyle practices whilst also excluding their free practice from central urban spaces. Drawing on the emergent deviant leisure perspective’s interest in issues of infantilisation and adultification, this chapter explores the lifeworlds of young people who are attempting to navigate the challenges and anxieties of early adulthood. For the young people in this study, consumer capitalism’s commodification of rebellious iconography offered unique identities of ‘cool individualism’ and opportunities for flexibilised employment, while the post-industrial ‘creative city’ attempted to harness parkour’s practice, prohibitively if necessary, into approved spatial contexts under the buzzwords of ‘culture’ and ‘creativity’. Therefore, this chapter engages in a critical criminological reappraisal of issues of transgression, deviance and resistance in urban space under consumer capitalism

A prenylated dsRNA sensor protects against severe COVID-19

Inherited genetic factors can influence the severity of COVID-19, but the molecular explanation underpinning a genetic association is often unclear. Intracellular antiviral defenses can inhibit the replication of viruses and reduce disease severity. To better understand the antiviral defenses relevant to COVID-19, we used interferon-stimulated gene (ISG) expression screening to reveal that OAS1, through RNase L, potently inhibits SARS-CoV-2. We show that a common splice-acceptor SNP (Rs10774671) governs whether people express prenylated OAS1 isoforms that are membrane-associated and sense specific regions of SARS-CoV-2 RNAs, or only express cytosolic, nonprenylated OAS1 that does not efficiently detect SARS-CoV-2. Importantly, in hospitalized patients, expression of prenylated OAS1 was associated with protection from severe COVID-19, suggesting this antiviral defense is a major component of a protective antiviral response

Functional crosstalk of PGC-1 coactivators and inflammation in skeletal muscle pathophysiology

Skeletal muscle is an organ involved in whole body movement and energy metabolism with the ability to dynamically adapt to different states of (dis-)use. At a molecular level, the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivators 1 (PGC-1s) are important mediators of oxidative metabolism in skeletal muscle and in other organs. Musculoskeletal disorders as well as obesity and its sequelae are associated with PGC-1 dysregulation in muscle with a concomitant local or systemic inflammatory reaction. In this review, we outline the function of PGC-1 coactivators in physiological and pathological conditions as well as the complex interplay of metabolic dysregulation and inflammation in obesity with special focus on skeletal muscle. We further put forward the hypothesis that, in this tissue, oxidative metabolism and inflammatory processes mutually antagonize each other. The nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) pathway thereby plays a key role in linking metabolic and inflammatory programs in muscle cells. We conclude this review with a perspective about the consequences of such a negative crosstalk on the immune system and the possibilities this opens for clinical applications