SND@LHC: The Scattering and Neutrino Detector at the LHC

SND@LHC is a compact and stand-alone experiment designed to perform measurements with neutrinos produced at the LHC in the pseudo-rapidity region of ${7.2 < \eta < 8.4}$. The experiment is located 480 m downstream of the ATLAS interaction point, in the TI18 tunnel. The detector is composed of a hybrid system based on an 830 kg target made of tungsten plates, interleaved with emulsion and electronic trackers, also acting as an electromagnetic calorimeter, and followed by a hadronic calorimeter and a muon identification system. The detector is able to distinguish interactions of all three neutrino flavours, which allows probing the physics of heavy flavour production at the LHC in the very forward region. This region is of particular interest for future circular colliders and for very high energy astrophysical neutrino experiments. The detector is also able to search for the scattering of Feebly Interacting Particles. In its first phase, the detector will operate throughout LHC Run 3 and collect a total of 250 $\text{fb}^{-1}$

Procedure-specific postoperative pain treatment

The aims of this thesis are: To give an overview of one of the serious consequences of acute pain – the transition to chronic pain; To measure and rank pain intensity in a large number of surgical groups in order to define the surgical groups where pain treatment is insufficient and those where pain control is adequate; To determine possible reasons for inadequate pain relief: to identify patient and surgical factors that are associated with postoperative pain intensity, as well as: to analyze whether their influence is dependent on the type of surgery; To obtain a better insight into patient’s pain perception and the impact of acute pain by analyzing different pain outcome variables next to pain intensity. Outline of this thesis: Acute postoperative pain is known to be the most important risk factor for the development of chronic postoperative pain. Chapter 2 reviews the transition from acute to chronic postoperative pain and its consequences. Chapter 3 describes and compares pain intensity, pain treatment, and anesthesia technique of 179 different surgical groups. In Chapter 4, more than 800 cesarean-section patients are analyzed and compared to more than 2,400 hysterectomy patients with respect to anesthesia and analgesic techniques, to identify potential causes of insufficient pain treatment after cesarean section. In Chapter 5 the procedure-specific influence of gender, age, and preoperative chronic pain intensity on postoperative pain scores is investigated using the 30 most frequently performed surgeries involving over 22,000 patients. Chapter 6 further examines the potential role of gender in the development of postoperative pain. In addition to pain intensity, other relevant outcomes such as wish for more analgesics or pain-related interferences are used to indicate the clinical relevance of gender-specific pain perception. Chapter 7 analyzes the influence of the duration of surgery on postoperative pain. In Chapter 8, the factors influencing satisfaction with postoperative pain treatment are analyzed based on data from the PainOut registry. Chapter 9 aims to define optimal cut-off values to divide the 11-item numeric rating scale (NRS 0-10) of postoperative pain intensity into three frequently used categories (mild, moderate, and severe pain). In Chapter 10 results of the studies are discussed and directions for improvement and future studies on postoperative pain treatment are outlined

Propofol attenuates responses of the auditory cortex to acoustic stimulation in a dose-dependent manner: a FMRI study

Background: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) contrasts is a common method for studying sensory or cognitive brain functions. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of the intravenous anaesthetic propofol on auditory-induced brain activation using BOLD contrast fMRI. Methods: In eight neurosurgical patients, musical stimuli were presented binaurally in a block design. Imaging was performed under five conditions: no propofol (or wakefulness) and propofol plasma target concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 mu g ml(-1). Results: During wakefulness we found activations in the superior temporal gyrus (STG) corresponding to the primary and secondary auditory cortex as well as in regions of higher functions of auditory information processing. The BOLD response decreased with increasing concentrations of propofol but remained partially preserved in areas of basic auditory processing in the STG during propofol 2.0 mu g ml(-1). Conclusions: Our results suggest a dose-dependent impairment of central processing of auditory information after propofol administration. These results are consistent with electrophysiological findings measuring neuronal activity directly, thus suggesting a dose-dependent impairment of central processing of auditory information after propofol administration. However, propofol did not totally blunt primary cortical responses to acoustic stimulation, indicating that patients may process auditory information under general anaesthesia

Gate Array-Komponenten Schlussbericht

With 27 refs., 14 tabs., 79 figsCopy held by FIZ Karlsruhe; available from UB/TIB Hannover / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman