Observation and Control of Laser-Enabled Auger Decay

Single photon laser enabled Auger decay (spLEAD) has been redicted theoretically [Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 083004 (2013)] and here we report its first experimental observation in neon. Using coherent, bichromatic free-electron laser pulses, we have detected the process and coherently controlled the angular distribution of the emitted electrons by varying the phase difference between the two laser fields. Since spLEAD is highly sensitive to electron correlation, this is a promising method for probing both correlation and ultrafast hole migration in more complex systems.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Attosecond electronic recollision as field detector

We demonstrate the complete reconstruction of the electric field of visible-infrared pulses with energy as low as a few tens of nanojoules. The technique allows for the reconstruction of the instantaneous electric field vector direction and magnitude, thus giving access to the characterisation of pulses with an arbitrary time-dependent polarisation state. The technique combines extreme ultraviolet interferometry with the generation of isolated attosecond pulses.Comment: 5 figure

The AVuPUR project (Assessing the Vulnerabiliy of Peri-Urbans Rivers): experimental set up, modelling strategy and first results

International audienceLe projet AVuPUR a pour objectif de progresser sur la compréhension et la modélisation des flux d'eau dans les bassins versants péri-urbains. Il s'agit plus particulièrement de fournir des outils permettant de quantifier l'impact d'objets anthropiques tels que zones urbaines, routes, fossés sur les régimes hydrologiques des cours d'eau dans ces bassins. Cet article présente la stratégie expérimentale et de collecte de données mise en ½uvre dans le projet et les pistes proposées pour l'amélioration des outils de modélisation existants et le développement d'outils novateurs. Enfin, nous présentons comment ces outils seront utilisés pour simuler et quantifier l'impact des modifications d'occupation des sols et/ou du climat sur les régimes hydrologiques des bassins étudiés. / The aim of the AVuPUR project is to enhance our understanding and modelling capacity of water fluxes within suburban watersheds. In particular, the objective is to deliver tools allowing to quantify the impact of anthropogenic elements such as urban areas, roads, ditches on the hydrological regime of suburban rivers. This paper presents the observation and data collection strategy set up by the project, and the directions for improving existing modelling tools or proposing innovative ones. Finally, we present how these tools will be used to simulate and quantify the impact of land use and climate changes on the hydrological regimes of the studied catchments

The Achievement of a Decentralized Water Management Through Stakeholder Participation: An Example from the Drôme River Catchment Area in France (1981–2008)

International audienceDifferent water Acts (e.g., the European Water Framework Directive) and stakeholders involved in aquatic affairs have promoted integrated river basin management (IRBM) over recent decades. However, few studies have provided feedback on these policies. The aim of the current article is to fill this gap by exploring how local newspapers reflect the implementation of a broad public participation within a catchment of France known for its innovation with regard to this domain. The media coverage of a water management strategy in the Drôme watershed from 1981 to 2008 was investigated using a content analysis and a geographic information system (GIS). We sought to determine what public participation and decentralized decision-making can be in practice. The results showed that this policy was integrated because of its social perspective, the high number of involved stakeholders, the willingness to handle water issues, and the local scale suitable for participation. We emphasized the prominence of the watershed scale guaranteed by the local water authority. This area was also characterized by compromise, arrangements, and power dynamics on a fine scale. We examined the most politically engaged writings regarding water management, which topics each group emphasized, and how the groups agreed and disagreed on issues based on their values and context. The temporal pattern of participation implementation was progressive but worked by fits and starts

Mapping the internal recognition surface of an octanuclear coordination cage using guest libraries

Size and shape criteria for guest binding inside the cavity of an octanuclear cubic coordination cage in water have been established using a new fluorescence displacement assay to quantify guest binding. For aliphatic cyclic ketones of increasing size (from C5 to C11), there is a linear relationship between ΔG for guest binding and the guest’s surface area: the change in ΔG for binding is 0.3 kJ mol–1 Å–2, corresponding to 5 kJ mol–1 for each additional CH2 group in the guest, in good agreement with expectations based on hydrophobic desolvation. The highest association constant is K = 1.2 × 106 M–1 for cycloundecanone, whose volume is approximately 50% of the cavity volume; for larger C12 and C13 cyclic ketones, the association constant progressively decreases as the guests become too large. For a series of C10 aliphatic ketones differing in shape but not size, ΔG for guest binding showed no correlation with surface area. These guests are close to the volume limit of the cavity (cf. Rebek’s 55% rule), so the association constant is sensitive to shape complementarity, with small changes in guest structure resulting in large changes in binding affinity. The most flexible members of this series (linear aliphatic ketones) did not bind, whereas the more preorganized cyclic ketones all have association constants of 104–105 M–1. A crystal structure of the cage·cycloundecanone complex shows that the guest carbonyl oxygen is directed into a binding pocket defined by a convergent set of CH groups, which act as weak hydrogen-bond donors, and also shows close contacts between the exterior surface of the disc-shaped guest and the interior surface of the pseudospherical cage cavity despite the slight mismatch in shape

Development of a brief multidisciplinary education programme for patients with osteoarthritis

Background Osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent progressive musculoskeletal disorder, leading to pain and disability. Patient information and education are considered core elements in treatment guidelines for OA; however, there is to our knowledge no evidence-based recommendation on the best approach, content or length on educational programmes in OA. Objective: to develop a brief, patient oriented disease specific multidisciplinary education programme (MEP) to enhance self-management in patients with OA. Method Twelve persons (80% female mean age 59 years) diagnosed with hand, hip or knee OA participated in focus group interviews. In the first focus group, six participants were interviewed about their educational needs, attitudes and expectations for the MEP. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and thereafter condensed. Based on results from focus group interviews, current research evidence, clinical knowledge and patients' experience, a multidisciplinary OA team (dietist, nurse, occupational therapist, pharmacist, physical therapist and rheumatologist) and a patient representative developed a pilot-MEP after having attended a work-shop in health pedagogics. Finally, the pilot-MEP was evaluated by a second focus group consisting of four members from the first focus group and six other experienced patients, before final adjustments were made. Results The focus group interviews revealed four important themes: what is OA, treatment options, barriers and coping strategies in performing daily activities, and how to live with osteoarthritis. Identified gaps between patient expectations and experience with the pilot-programme were discussed and adapted into a final MEP. The final MEP was developed as a 3.5 hour educational programme provided in groups of 6-9 patients. All members from the multidisciplinary team are involved in the education programme, including a facilitator who during the provision of the programme ensures that the individual questions are addressed. As part of an ongoing process, a patient representative regularly attends the MEP and gives feedback concerning content and perceived value. Conclusion A MEP has been developed to enhance self-management in patients with OA attending a multidisciplinary OA outpatient clinic. The effectiveness of the MEP followed by individual consultations with members of the multidisciplinary team is currently evaluated in a randomised controlled trial with respect to patient satisfaction and functioning

Physician-assisted suicide: a review of the literature concerning practical and clinical implications for UK doctors

BACKGROUND: A bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide in the UK recently made significant progress in the British House of Lords and will be reintroduced in the future. Until now there has been little discussion of the clinical implications of physician-assisted suicide for the UK. This paper describes problematical issues that became apparent from a review of the medical and psychiatric literature as to the potential effects of legalized physician-assisted suicide. DISCUSSION: Most deaths by physician-assisted suicide are likely to occur for the illness of cancer and in the elderly. GPs will deal with most requests for assisted suicide. The UK is likely to have proportionately more PAS deaths than Oregon due to the bill's wider application to individuals with more severe physical disabilities. Evidence from other countries has shown that coercion and unconscious motivations on the part of patients and doctors in the form of transference and countertransference contribute to the misapplication of physician-assisted suicide. Depression influences requests for hastened death in terminally ill patients, but is often under-recognized or dismissed by doctors, some of whom proceed with assisted death anyway. Psychiatric evaluations, though helpful, do not solve these problems. Safeguards that are incorporated into physician-assisted suicide criteria probably decrease but do not prevent its misapplication. SUMMARY: The UK is likely to face significant clinical problems arising from physician-assisted suicide if it is legalized. Terminally ill patients with mental illness, especially depression, are particularly vulnerable to the misapplication of physician-assisted suicide despite guidelines and safeguards

The trispecific DARPin ensovibep inhibits diverse SARS-CoV-2 variants

The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants with potential resistance to existing drugs emphasizes the need for new therapeutic modalities with broad variant activity. Here we show that ensovibep, a trispecific DARPin (designed ankyrin repeat protein) clinical candidate, can engage the three units of the spike protein trimer of SARS-CoV-2 and inhibit ACE2 binding with high potency, as revealed by cryo-electron microscopy analysis. The cooperative binding together with the complementarity of the three DARPin modules enable ensovibep to inhibit frequent SARS-CoV-2 variants, including Omicron sublineages BA.1 and BA.2. In Roborovski dwarf hamsters infected with SARS-CoV-2, ensovibep reduced fatality similarly to a standard-of-care monoclonal antibody (mAb) cocktail. When used as a single agent in viral passaging experiments in vitro, ensovibep reduced the emergence of escape mutations in a similar fashion to the same mAb cocktail. These results support further clinical evaluation of ensovibep as a broad variant alternative to existing targeted therapies for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Appearance of dark neurons following anodal polarization in the rat brain.

An anodal direct current of 3.0 microA or 30.0 microA was unilaterally applied for 30 min or 3 h to the surface of the sensorimotor cortex of rats, and the effects of polarization on the morphology of brain cells were examined by light microscopy. After five repeated anodal polarization trials, dark neurons appeared mainly in the polarized neocortex regardless of the intensity and duration of the polarizing currents. Such dark neurons were scarce in the control animals or the animals receiving only one trial of polarization. The dark neurons were most abundant in the second to fourth layers of the ipsilateral superior-lateral convexity of the frontal cortex, but a few were present in the contralateral cortex. The dark neurons began to appear 24 h after the last polarization; thereafter almost all of these neurons gradually reverted to their normal morphological profiles through a transitory state within 1 month of the last trial of repeated polarization. No morphological changes were apparent in any of the brain structures other than the cerebral cortex. These findings indicate that repeated anodal polarization has reversible morphological effects on the cortical neurons, suggesting that the appearance of dark neurons after anodal polarization is an important index for evaluation of cortical plastic change induced by polarization.</p