A Ramsey apparatus for proton spins in flowing water

We present an apparatus that applies Ramsey's method of separated oscillatory fields to proton spins in water molecules. The setup consists of a water circuit, a spin polarizer, a magnetically shielded interaction region with various radio frequency elements, and a nuclear magnetic resonance system to measure the spin polarization. We show that this apparatus can be used for Rabi resonance measurements and to investigate magnetic and pseudomagnetic field effects in Ramsey-type precision measurements with a sensitivity below 100 pT

Inconsistent effects of stochastic resonance on human auditory processing

It has been demonstrated that, while otherwise detrimental, noise can improve sensory perception under optimal conditions. The mechanism underlying this improvement is stochastic resonance. An inverted U-shaped relationship between noise level and task performance is considered as the signature of stochastic resonance. Previous studies have proposed the existence of stochastic resonance also in the human auditory system. However, the reported beneficial effects of noise are small, based on a small sample, and do not confirm the proposed inverted U-shaped function. Here, we investigated in two separate studies whether stochastic resonance may be present in the human auditory system by applying noise of different levels, either acoustically or electrically via transcranial random noise stimulation, while participants had to detect acoustic stimuli adjusted to their individual hearing threshold. We find no evidence for behaviorally relevant effects of stochastic resonance. Although detection rate for near-threshold acoustic stimuli appears to vary in an inverted U-shaped manner for some subjects, it varies in a U-shaped manner or in other manners for other subjects. Our results show that subjects do not benefit from noise, irrespective of its modality. In conclusion, our results question the existence of stochastic resonance in the human auditory system

Vision Assessment

Visions of the future play an increasing role in all spheres of society, in science and policy making as well as in civil society and mass media. Since 2012, researchers at the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis have been developing "Vision Assessment" as an approach to investigate the societal effects of such visions. This anthology presents the theoretical foundations of their research

PicoTesla absolute field readings with a hybrid 3He/87Rb magnetometer

We demonstrate the use of a hybrid 3He/87 magnetometer to measure absolute magnetic fields in the pT range. The measurements were undertaken by probing time-dependent 3He magnetisation using 87Rb zero-field magnetometers. Measurements were taken to demonstrate the use of the magnetometer in cancelling residual fields within a magnetic shield. It was shown that the absolute field could be reduced to the 10 pT level by using field readings from the magnetometer. Furthermore, the hybrid magnetometer was shown to be applicable for the reduction of gradient fields by optimising the effective 3He T2 time. This procedure represents a convenient and consistent way to provide a near zero magnetic field environment which can be potentially used as a base for generating desired magnetic field configurations for use in precision measurements

Cellular Immune Responses and Immune Escape Mechanisms in Breast Cancer: Determinants of Immunotherapy

More recently, immunotherapy has emerged as a novel potentially effective therapeutic option also for solid malignancies such as breast cancer (BC). Relevant approaches, however, are determined by the 2 main elements of cancer immunoediting - the elimination of nascent transformed cells by immunosurveillance on the one hand and tumor immune escape on the other hand. Correspondingly, we here review the role of the various cellular immune players within the host-protective system and dissect the mechanisms of immune evasion leading to tumor progression. If the immune balance of disseminated BC cell dormancy (equilibrium phase) is lost, distant metastatic relapse may occur. The relevant cellular antitumor responses and translational immunotherapeutic options will also be discussed in terms of clinical benefit and future directions in BC management

Repetition benefit in mental rotation is independent of stimulus repetition

In this study, we investigated whether there is a repetition benefit in mental rotation that is independent of stimulus repetition (i.e., due to increased efficiency in postencoding processing). Three experiments were conducted, in which different conditions of stimulus repetition (different letters on consecutive trials in Experiment 1, letters of different orientations on consecutive trials in Experiment 2, and priming of rotation direction in Experiment 3) were used, and the extent of repetition of rotation direction between two consecutive trials was manipulated. The results of all three experiments showed clear evidence of a repetition benefit without repeating the stimulus, suggesting that this effect is independent of stimulus repetition and lending support to the notion of increased efficiency in mental rotation as a result of repeated rotation direction per se