Passive anterior tibia translation in anterior cruciate ligament-injured, anterior cruciate ligament-reconstructed and healthy knees:A systematic review

Anterior tibia translation (ATT) is mainly prevented by the anterior cruciate ligament. Passive ATT tests are commonly used to diagnose an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, to select patients for an ACL reconstruction (ACLR), and as an outcome measure after an ACLR. The aim of this review was to present an overview of possible factors determining ATT. A second purpose was to give a summary of the ATT measured in the literature in healthy, ACL-injured and ACLR knees and a comparison between those groups. A literature search was conducted with PubMed. Inclusion criteria were full-text primary studies published in English between January 2006 and October 2016. Studies included reported ATT in explicit data in healthy as well as ACL-injured or ACLR knees or in ACL-injured as well as ACLR knees. Sixty-one articles met inclusion criteria. Two articles measured the ATT in healthy as well as ACL-injured knees, 51 in ACL-injured as well as in ACLR knees, three in ACLR as well as in healthy knees and three in healthy, ACL-injured and ACLR knees. A difference in ATT is found between healthy, contralateral, ACLR and ACL-injured knees and between chronic and acute ACL injury. Graft choices and intra-articular injuries are factors which could affect the ATT. The mean ATT was lowest to highest in ACLR knees using a bone-patella tendon-bone autograft, ACLR knees using a hamstring autograft, contralateral healthy knees, healthy knees, ACLR knees with an allograft and ACL-injured knees. Factors which could affect the ATT are graft choice, ACL injury or reconstruction, intra-articular injuries and whether an ACL injury is chronic or acute. Comparison of ATT between studies should be taken with caution as a high number of different measurement methods are used. To be able to compare studies, more consistency in measuring devices used should be introduced to measuring ATT. The clinical relevance is that an autograft ACLR might give better results than an allograft ACLR as knee laxity is greater when using an allograft tendon. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III

Exploring the extended density-dependent Skyrme effective forces for normal and isospin-rich nuclei to neutron stars

We parameterize the recently proposed generalized Skyrme effective force (GSEF) containing extended density dependence. The parameters of the GSEF are determined by the fit to several properties of the normal and isospin-rich nuclei. We also include in our fit a realistic equation of state for the pure neutron matter up to high densities so that the resulting Skyrme parameters can be suitably used to model the neutron star with the "canonical" mass ($\sim 1.4 M_\odot$). For the appropriate comparison we generate a parameter set for the standard Skyrme effective force (SSEF) using exactly the same set of the data as employed to determine the parameters of the GSEF. We find that the GSEF yields larger values for the neutron skin thickness which are closer to the recent predictions based on the isospin diffusion data. The Skyrme parameters so obtained are employed to compute the strength function for the isoscalar giant monopole, dipole and quadrupole resonances. It is found that in the case of GSEF, due to the the larger value of the nucleon effective mass the values of centroid energies for the isoscalar giant resonances are in better agreement with the corresponding experimental data in comparison to those obtained using the SSEF. We also present results for some of the key properties associated with the neutron star of "canonical" mass and for the one with the maximum mass.Comment: 45pages, 16 figure

The platinum nuclei: concealed configuration mixing and shape coexistence

The role of configuration mixing in the Pt region is investigated. For this chain of isotopes, the nature of the ground state changes smoothly, being spherical around mass $A\sim 174$ and $A\sim 192$ and deformed around the mid-shell N=104 region. This has a dramatic effect on the systematics of the energy spectra as compared to the systematics in the Pb and Hg nuclei. Interacting Boson Model with configuration mixing calculations are presented for gyromagnetic factors, $\alpha$-decay hindrance factors, and isotope shifts. The necessity of incorporating intruder configurations to obtain an accurate description of the latter properties becomes evident.Comment: Accepted in Physical Review

Precision high voltage divider for the KATRIN experiment

The Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino Experiment (KATRIN) aims to determine the absolute mass of the electron antineutrino from a precise measurement of the tritium beta-spectrum near its endpoint at 18.6 keV with a sensitivity of 0.2 eV. KATRIN uses an electrostatic retardation spectrometer of MAC-E filter type for which it is crucial to monitor high voltages of up to 35 kV with a precision and long-term stability at the ppm level. Since devices capable of this precision are not commercially available, a new high voltage divider for direct voltages of up to 35 kV has been designed, following the new concept of the standard divider for direct voltages of up to 100 kV developed at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB). The electrical and mechanical design of the divider, the screening procedure for the selection of the precision resistors, and the results of the investigation and calibration at PTB are reported here. During the latter, uncertainties at the low ppm level have been deduced for the new divider, thus qualifying it for the precision measurements of the KATRIN experiment.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figure

Characterization of Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains isolated from grapevine

Grapevine crown gall is predominantly induced by Agrobacterium vitis, but rarely, Agrobacterium tumefaciens may also cause this disease. We have collected 18 grapevine isolates of A. tumefaciens from distinct geographical regions and various grapevine varieties. Characterization of these strains showed that 7 of the 18 strains carried A. vitis-type octopine/cucumopine Ti plasmids, utilized tartrate, were avirulent on pea and did not respond to the virC-specific PCR primers like A. vitis. Eleven of the 18 strains carried A. tumefaciens-type Ti plasmids, did not grow on tartrate, were virulent on pea and reacted positively to virC-specific PCR primers. Two of these strains induced octopine/agropine-, and two strains induced agropine producing tumors on grapevine and/or Kalanchoe tubiflora plants. The remaining 7 strains showed the characteristic properties of A. tumefaciens nopaline strains and were sensitive to agrocin 84

The tensor part of the Skyrme energy density functional. I. Spherical nuclei

We perform a systematic study of the impact of the J^2 tensor term in the Skyrme energy functional on properties of spherical nuclei. In the Skyrme energy functional, the tensor terms originate both from zero-range central and tensor forces. We build a set of 36 parameterizations, which covers a wide range of the parameter space of the isoscalar and isovector tensor term coupling constants, with a fit protocol very similar to that of the successful SLy parameterizations. We analyze the impact of the tensor terms on a large variety of observables in spherical mean-field calculations, such as the spin-orbit splittings and single-particle spectra of doubly-magic nuclei, the evolution of spin-orbit splittings along chains of semi-magic nuclei, mass residuals of spherical nuclei, and known anomalies of charge radii. Our main conclusion is that the currently used central and spin-orbit parts of the Skyrme energy density functional are not flexible enough to allow for the presence of large tensor terms.Comment: 38 pages, 36 figures; Minor correction

The KATRIN Experiment

The KArlsruhe TRitium Neutrino mass experiment, KATRIN, aims to search for the mass of the electron neutrino with a sensitivity of 0.2 eV/c^2 (90% C.L.) and a detection limit of 0.35 eV/c^2 (5 sigma). Both a positive or a negative result will have far reaching implications for cosmology and the standard model of particle physics and will give new input for astroparticle physics and cosmology. The major components of KATRIN are being set up at the Karlsruhe Institut of Technology in Karlsruhe, Germany, and test measurements of the individual components have started. Data taking with tritium is scheduled to start in 2012.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure, proceedings of the TAUP 2009 International Conference on Topics in Astroparticle and Underground Physics, to be published in Journal of Physics, Conference Serie

Na I and Hα\alpha absorption features in the atmosphere of MASCARA-2b/KELT-20b

We have used the HARPS-North high resolution spectrograph ($\mathcal{R}$=115 000) at TNG to observe one transit of the highly irradiated planet MASCARA-2b/KELT-20b. Using only one transit observation, we are able to clearly resolve the spectral features of the atomic sodium (Na I) doublet and the H$\alpha$ line in its atmosphere, measuring absorption depths of 0.17$\pm$0.03$\%$ and 0.59$\pm$0.08$\%$ for a 0.75 $\AA$ passband, respectively. These absorptions are corroborated with the transmission measured from their respective transmission light curves, which show a large Rossiter-McLaughlin effect. In case of H$\alpha$, this absorption corresponds to an effective radius of $R_{\lambda}/R_P$=1.20$\pm$0.04. While the S/N of the final transmission spectrum is not sufficient to adjust different temperature profiles to the lines, we find that higher temperatures than the equilibrium are needed to explain the lines contrast. Particularly, we find that the Na I lines core require a temperature of T=4210$\pm$180K and that H$\alpha$ requires T=4330$\pm$520K. MASCARA-2b, like other planets orbiting A-type stars, receives a large amount of UV energy from its host star. This energy excites the atomic hydrogen and produces H$\alpha$ absorption, leading to the expansion and abrasion of the atmosphere. The study of other Balmer lines in the transmission spectrum would allow the determination of the atmospheric temperature profile and the calculation of the lifetime of the atmosphere. In the case of MASCARA-2b, residual features are observed in the H$\beta$ and H$\gamma$ lines, but they are not statistically significant. More transit observations are needed to confirm our findings in Na I and H$\alpha$, and to build up enough S/N to explore the presence of H$\beta$ and H$\gamma$ planetary absorptions.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figure

Ultra-stable implanted 83Rb/83mKr electron sources for the energy scale monitoring in the KATRIN experiment

The KATRIN experiment aims at the direct model-independent determination of the average electron neutrino mass via the measurement of the endpoint region of the tritium beta decay spectrum. The electron spectrometer of the MAC-E filter type is used, requiring very high stability of the electric filtering potential. This work proves the feasibility of implanted 83Rb/83mKr calibration electron sources which will be utilised in the additional monitor spectrometer sharing the high voltage with the main spectrometer of KATRIN. The source employs conversion electrons of 83mKr which is continuously generated by 83Rb. The K-32 conversion line (kinetic energy of 17.8 keV, natural line width of 2.7 eV) is shown to fulfill the KATRIN requirement of the relative energy stability of +/-1.6 ppm/month. The sources will serve as a standard tool for continuous monitoring of KATRIN's energy scale stability with sub-ppm precision. They may also be used in other applications where the precise conversion lines can be separated from the low energy spectrum caused by the electron inelastic scattering in the substrate.Comment: 30 pages, 10 figures, 1 table, minor revision of the preprint, accepted by JINST on 5.2.201