Better than a lens -- Increasing the signal-to-noise ratio through pupil splitting

Lenses are designed to fulfill Fermats principle such that all light interferes constructively in its focus, guaranteeing its maximum concentration. It can be shown that imaging via an unmodified full pupil yields the maximum transfer strength for all spatial frequencies transferable by the system. Seemingly also the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is optimal. The achievable SNR at a given photon budget is critical especially if that budget is strictly limited as in the case of fluorescence microscopy. In this work we propose a general method which achieves a better SNR for high spatial frequency information of an optical imaging system, without the need to capture more photons. This is achieved by splitting the pupil of an incoherent imaging system such that two (or more) sub-images are simultaneously acquired and computationally recombined. We compare the theoretical performance of split pupil imaging to the non-split scenario and implement the splitting using a tilted elliptical mirror placed at the back-focal-plane (BFP) of a fluorescence widefield microscope

Mykosen und Sport : Verbreitung von Mykosen bei sportschuhtragenden Sportlern

Aus dem Bereich der, bei Sportlern vermehrt auftretenden dermatologischen Erkrankungen, werden nach ausführlicher Darstellung der Mykoseproblematik in unterschiedlichen Sportbereichen, die Prävalenz und prädisponierende Faktoren für die Tinea pedis-Infektionen bei einem Kollektiv von 235 Marathonläufern erhoben. Auf Grundlage der gewonnenen Studienergebnisse sollen Prophylaxeempfehlungen für die Sporttreibenden formuliert und Grundlagen für weiterführende Studien geschaffen werden. Zur medizinischen Einführung in die Studienthematik wird im zweiten Kapitel ein Exkurs in die Fuß- und Nagelpilzerkrankungen vorangestellt. Die klinischen Krankheitsbilder und klassische Transfektionswege von Tinea pedis interdigitalis, Onychomykosen und Tinea pedis vom Mokassin-Typ werden so weit beschrieben, wie es für das Verständnis der Studie notwendig ist. Die Studie basiert auf drei, mit insgesamt 296 Teilnehmern, zwischen Februar 1998 und Juni 2000 durchgeführten Pilotstudien. Im Verlauf der Pilotstudien wurden unterschiedliche Studienschwerpunkte, so zum Beispiel die Fragen nach der mykologischen Prävalenz von Sportlern, ob Mykoseerreger auch in Sportschuhen nachgewiesen werden können oder ob Sportler und Schuh schnell und effektiv saniert werden können bearbeitet. Über die Durchführung der Pilotstudien hinweg wurde ein Prüfbogen entwickelt, der es im Rahmen einer Sportgroßveranstaltung, dem Euro Marathon 2000, in Frankfurt ermöglichte, studienrelevante Variablen der Stichprobenmitglieder vor bzw. parallel zu den durch Mediziner durchgeführten klinischen Inspektionen zu erfassen. Die klinischen Befunde wurden durch anschließende labortechnische Untersuchungen überprüft und spezifiziert. Auf der Basis des gewonnenen Datenmaterials wurden die primären Fragestellungen: „Wie hoch ist die mykotische Infektionsrate bei der Stichprobe? Welche Verteilung der mykotischen Erkrankungen Onychomykose, Tinea pedis interdigitalis oder Mokassin-Typ liegen bei der untersuchten Stichprobe vor? Welche Abhängigkeiten zwischen erhobenen Begleitvariablen und mykotischen Erkrankungen können festgestellt werden?“ sowie die sekundären Fragestellungen: „Wie sind die mykotischen Erkrankungen auf die einzelnen Füße, Zehen, Zehenzwischenräume verteilt? Welchen Ausprägungsgrad weisen die mykotischen Erkrankungen im Fußbereich auf? Sind Abhängigkeiten zwischen Ausprägungsgrad und erhobenen Begleitvariablen festzustellen? Welche Erreger können durch die Laboruntersuchungen nachgewiesen werden? Können frühere Pilot-Studienergebnisse durch diese Studie bestätigt werden?“ mit Hilfe statistischer Verfahren, ausgewertet und interpretiert. Die Probanden wiesen zu 59,6% positive mykotische Befunde im Fußbereich auf. Einige der erhobenen Begleitvariablen, so zum Beispiel Alter der Sportler und Anzahl der betriebenen Sportarten, stehen in signifikantem Zusammenhang zum Auftreten positiver mykologischer Befunde. Weitere Einflussvariablen liesen bei der Korrelationsanalyse Gefährdungstendenzen erkennen. Mit Hilfe der logistischen Regression wurde die Hypothese „Die Wahrscheinlichkeit für positive mykotische Befunde ist abhängig von der Anzahl der vorhandenen Risikofaktoren“ stufenweise in ein Modell mit den vier Risikofaktoren: Alter des Sportlers >= 40 Jahre, nur ein bis zwei betriebene Sportarten, drei und mehr Sportschuhe in Gebrauch und Gewicht >= 70 kg angepasst und überprüft. Die Darstellung von vier exemplarischen Einzelfällen veranschaulicht die in den Korellationsbetrachtungen uni- und multivariat beschriebenen Risikofaktoren. Die Arbeit schließt mit einem therapeutischen Exkurs, in dem für die drei beschriebenen Tinea pedis-Infektionen die gängigen Therapien aber auch pespektivisch zu erwartende Wirkstoffkombinationen genannt werden. Sportspezifische und allgemeine Prophylaxeempfehlungen komplettieren das letzte Kapitel

Exploring the interaction between social norms and perceived justice of wind energy projects: a qualitative analysis

The deployment of wind energy projects (WEP) within the process of energy transition changes energy landscapes and daily living environments. With regard to social acceptance as one social response towards WEP, the role of different aspects of justice (i.e. procedural, distributive, recognition) has been discussed. This study highlights the importance of social norms and their influence on perceived justice regarding WEP, which has been neglected in the literature so far. The relationship between social norms and perceived justice is explored as a conceptual framework through a systematic literature review and expert interviews. This framework aims to explain how social norms and their relationship with justice are defined, interlinked and how they affect perceptions of WEP. The results argue that social norms surface in situations where all the key elements of a project are decided without public impact. Thus, norms of fairness emerge under uncertain situations with the influence of similar emotions within groups. Moreover, social norms and perceived justice would explain several responses, such as local conflicts, or the motivation to further develop WEP. This study concludes by discussing the applicability of the framework, which needs further analysis as an analytical tool and deeper empirical investigation.This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie action grant agreement No 813837

Getting emotional or cognitive on social media? Analyzing renewable energy technologies in Instagram posts

Renewable energy development is a widely and intensively discussed topic, though it is still unclear which exactly variables may influence people's evaluation of the phenomenon. There is a need to study the general public's knowledge, emotions, and cognitions linked to energy technologies especially in the context of advanced inventions. Social media is a powerful communication tool which has a huge impact on studying public opinions. This study aims to describe linguistic connections through an analysis of 1500 Instagram posts, assuming and interpreting emotional and/or cognitive words. Using a socio-cognitive approach, this research explores the salient words under a set of pre-specified renewable energy technology (RET) hashtags. Building on the appraisal theories of emotions, this research investigates the coexistence of several energy technologies (solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal) and powerlines. The results showed the highest linguistic interconnection between solar and wind energy posts. Furthermore, powerlines were not linguistically connected to the RETs, as they are not included in the schema or not salient when people write posts about renewable energy. Solar, wind, and geothermal posts evoked more emotional and positive emotions than the other RETs and powerlines. Instead, biomass posts had a high frequency of cognitive processes and causal words. Powerline posts were linked to the words of risk, body, health, and biological process showing a great concern for health and perceived threat. These differences in the words used can be a guide to understanding peoples' reactions and communication for each of the energy sources. This study, taking both emotions and cognitions into account, explains different types of considerations towards energy projects

Upgrade of the ultracold neutron source at the pulsed reactor TRIGA Mainz

The performance of the upgraded solid deuterium ultracold neutron source at the pulsed reactor TRIGA Mainz is described. The current configuration stage comprises the installation of a He liquefier to run UCN experiments over long-term periods, the use of stainless steel neutron guides with improved transmission as well as sputter-coated non-magnetic $^{58}$NiMo alloy at the inside walls of the thermal bridge and the converter cup. The UCN yield was measured in a `standard' UCN storage bottle (stainless steel) with a volume of 32 litres outside the biological shield at the experimental area yielding UCN densities of 8.5 /cm$^3$; an increase by a factor of 3.5 compared to the former setup. The measured UCN storage curve is in good agreement with the predictions from a Monte Carlo simulation developed to model the source. The growth and formation of the solid deuterium converter during freeze-out are affected by the ortho/para ratio of the H$_2$ premoderator.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

Beteiligungsprozesse und Entwicklungschancen für Kommunen und Regionen

Der Weg zu einer nachhaltigen Energieerzeugung erfordert eine aktive gesellschaftliche Akzeptanz. Auf die Bedürfnisse der Bürger(innen) abgestimmte Beteiligungsformen bieten die Möglichkeit, kreative Unterstützungspotentiale zu nutzen und positive Effekte auch auf anderen Ebenen des Gemeindelebens zu erzielen

The prognostic value of polymorphonuclear leukocyte elastase in patients with primary breast cancer

A variety of serine proteases, including urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), plasmin,and polymorphonuclear leukocyte elastase (PMN-E), have been implicated in the processes of tumor cell invasion and metastasis. Besides degrading of matrix proteins, PMN-E has been shown to be able to cleave and inactivate plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), the main inhibitor of uPA, and alpha2-antiplasmin, the natural inhibitor of plasmin, thus enabling an uncontrolled matrix degradation by the fibrinolytic enzymes. Because only limited data are available on a relationship between the tumor level of PMN-E and prognosis in primary breast cancer patients, in the present study we have measured with an ELISA the levels of PMN-E (in complex with alpha1-proteinase inhibitor) in cytosolic extracts of 1143 primary breast tumors. Levels of complexed PMN-E have been correlated with the lengths of metastasis-free survival (MFS), relapse-free survival, and overall survival, and a comparison was made with data previously obtained for uPA and PAI-1. Our results show that patients with a high PMN-E level in their primary tumor had a rapid relapse and an early death compared with patients with a low tumor level of PMN-E. This held true for node-negative and node-positive subgroups of patients as well. The relationship of PMN-E with a poor prognosis was especially obvious during short-term follow-up (0-60 months). In Cox multivariate regression analysis, corrected for the traditional prognostic factors, PMN-E was an independent prognostic factor, and high levels of PMN-E were associated with a poor MFS [hazard ratio (HR), 1.63; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.23-2.16; P < 0.001], relapse-free survival (HR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.10-1.89; P = 0.01), and overall survival (HR, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.20-2.23; P = 0.003). Furthermore, in all three multivariate models, PMN-E still added significantly to the model after the additional inclusion of the uPA. PMN-E was an independent prognostic factor for MFS even in the multivariate analysis including the traditional clinical prognostic factors and the strong established biochemical prognostic factors uPA and PAI-1. Our present study suggests that PMN-E is associated with breast cancer metastasis, and knowledge of the tumor PMN-E status might be helpful in selecting the appropriate individualized (adjuvant) treatment for patients with breast cancer

Objective assessment of motor activity in a clinical sample of adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and/or cyclothymic temperament

Background Most research on patterns of motor activity has been conducted on adults with mood disorders, but few studies have investigated comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or temperamental factors that may influence the clinical course and symptoms. Cyclothymic temperament (CT) is particularly associated with functional impairment. Clinical features define both disorders, but objective, biological markers for these disorders could give important insights with regard to pathophysiology and classification. Methods Seventy-six patients, requiring diagnostic evaluation of ADHD, mood or anxiety disorders were recruited. A comprehensive diagnostic evaluation, including the CT scale of the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego – Auto-questionnaire (TEMPS-A), neuropsychological tests and actigraphy, was performed. ADHD was diagnosed according to the DSM-IV criteria. There was a range of different conditions in this clinical sample, but here we report on the presence of CT and ADHD in relation to motor activity. Twenty-nine healthy controls were recruited. We analyzed motor activity time series using linear and nonlinear mathematical methods, with a special focus on active and inactive periods in the actigraphic recordings. Results Forty patients fulfilled the criteria for ADHD, with the remainder receiving other psychiatric diagnoses (clinical controls). Forty-two patients fulfilled the criteria for CT. Twenty-two patients fulfilled the criteria for ADHD and CT, 18 patients met the criteria for ADHD without CT, and 15 patients had neither. The ratio duration of active/inactive periods was significantly lower in patients with CT than in patients without CT, in both the total sample, and in the ADHD subsample. Conclusions CT is associated with objectively assessed changes in motor activity, implying that the systems regulating motor behavior in these patients are different from both healthy controls and clinical controls without CT. Findings suggest that actigraphy may supplement clinical assessments of CT and ADHD, and may provide an objective marker for CT.publishedVersio

Hyperthermic Isolated Limb Perfusion with TNF α and Cisplatin in the Treatment of Osteosarcoma of the Extremities: A Feasibility Study in Healthy Dogs

Purpose. The feasibility of hyperthermic isolated limb perfusion (HILP) with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα ) and cisplatin for the management of osteosarcoma was studied in the canine model