Probing Time-Dependent Molecular Dipoles on the Attosecond Time Scale

Photoinduced molecular processes start with the interaction of the instantaneous electric field of the incident light with the electronic degrees of freedom. This early attosecond electronic motion impacts the fate of the photoinduced reactions. We report the first observation of attosecond time scale electron dynamics in a series of small- and medium-sized neutral molecules (N2, CO2, and C2H4), monitoring time-dependent variations of the parent molecular ion yield in the ionization by an attosecond pulse, and thereby probing the time-dependent dipole induced by a moderately strong near- infrared laser field. This approach can be generalized to other molecular species and may be regarded as a first example of molecular attosecond Stark spectroscopy

Validierung innerklinischer Sichtungsalgorithmen für den Massenanfall von Verletzten

Background In the event of a mass casualty incident (MCI), the situation-related shortage of medical resources does not end when the patients are transported from the scene of the incident. Consequently, an initial triage is required in the receiving hospitals. In the first step, the aim of this study was to create a reference patient vignette set with defined triage categories. This allowed a computer-aided evaluation of the diagnostic quality of triage algorithms for MCI situations in the second step. Methods A total of 250 case vignettes validated in practice were entered into a multistage evaluation process by initially 6 and later 36 triage experts. This algorithm—independent expert evaluation of all vignettes—served as the gold standard for analyzing the diagnostic quality of the following triage algorithms: Manchester triage system (MTS module MCI), emergency severity index (ESI), Berlin triage algorithm (BER), the prehospital algorithms PRIOR and mSTaRT, and two project algorithms from a cooperation between the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan—intrahospital Jordanian-German project algorithm (JorD) and prehospital triage algorithm (PETRA). Each patient vignette underwent computerized triage through all specified algorithms to obtain comparative test quality outcomes. Results Of the original 250 vignettes, a triage reference database of 210 patient vignettes was validated independently of the algorithms. These formed the gold standard for comparison of the triage algorithms analyzed. Sensitivities for intrahospital detection of patients in triage category T1 ranged from 1.0 (BER, JorD, PRIOR) to 0.57 (MCI module MTS). Specificities ranged from 0.99 (MTS and PETRA) to 0.67 (PRIOR). Considering Youden’s index, BER (0.89) and JorD (0.88) had the best overall performance for detecting patients in triage category T1. Overtriage was most likely with PRIOR, and undertriage with the MCI module of MTS. Up to a decision for category T1, the algorithms require the following numbers of steps given as the median and interquartile range (IQR): ESI 1 (1–2), JorD 1 (1–4), PRIOR 3 (2–4), BER 3 (2–6), mSTaRT 3 (3–5), MTS 4 (4–5) and PETRA 6 (6–8). For the T2 and T3 categories the number of steps until a decision and the test quality of the algorithms are positively interrelated. Conclusion In the present study, transferability of preclinical algorithm-based primary triage results to clinical algorithm-based secondary triage results was demonstrated. The highest diagnostic quality for secondary triage was provided by the Berlin triage algorithm, followed by the Jordanian-German project algorithm for hospitals, which, however, also require the most algorithm steps until a decision

Temporal delay discounting in acutely ill and weight-recovered patients with anorexia nervosa

Background. Patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) are characterized by a very low body weight but readily give up immediate rewards (food) for long-term goals (slim figure), which might indicate an unusual level of self-control. This everyday clinical observation may be quantifiable in the framework of the anticipation-discounting dilemma. Method. Using a cross-sectional design, this study compared the capacity to delay reward in 34 patients suffering from acute AN (acAN), 33 weight-recovered AN patients (recAN) and 54 healthy controls. We also used a longitudinal study to reassess 21 acAN patients after short-term weight restoration. A validated intertemporal choice task and a hyperbolic model were used to estimate temporal discounting rates. Results. Confirming the validity of the task used, decreased delay discounting was associated with age and low selfreported impulsivity. However, no group differences in key measures of temporal discounting of monetary rewards were found. Conclusions. Increased cognitive control, which has been suggested as a key characteristic of AN, does not seem to extend the capacity to wait for delayed monetary rewards. Differences between our study and the only previous study reporting decreased delay discounting in adult AN patients may be explained by the different age range and chronicity of acute patients, but the fact that weight recovery was not associated with changes in discount rates suggests that discounting behavior is not a trait marker in AN. Future studies using paradigms with disorder-specific stimuli may help to clarify the role of delay discounting in AN

The effect of trepanning speed of laser drilled acute angled cooling holes on the high temperature low cycle corrosion fatigue performance of CMSX-4 at 850 °C

The effect of laser trepanning speed and, as a result, recast layer thickness on the high temperature corrosion fatigue behaviour of CMSX-4 superalloy acute angled holes was investigated. The experimental test results show that an increasing laser drilling speed caused a reduction in corrosion fatigue life by 35–50% at 850 °C, under low cycle fatigue regime. This reduction was found to correlate directly with the recast layer thickness and surface anomalies within the recast layer produced during the laser drilling process. Corrosion had a smaller effect on the overall life of the laser drilled specimens under the conditions tested. The results presented show that laser trepanning speed is influential in limiting the life performance of laser drilled components in service

Effects of the magnetic moment interaction between nucleons on observables in the 3N continuum

The influence of the magnetic moment interaction of nucleons on nucleon-deuteron elastic scattering and breakup cross sections and on elastic scattering polarization observables has been studied. Among the numerous elastic scattering observables only the vector analyzing powers were found to show a significant effect, and of opposite sign for the proton-deuteron and neutron-deuteron systems. This finding results in an even larger discrepancy than the one previously established between neutron-deuteron data and theoretical calculations. For the breakup reaction the largest effect was found for the final-state-interaction cross sections. The consequences of this observation on previous determinations of the ^1S_0 scattering lengths from breakup data are discussed.Comment: 24 pages, 6 ps figures, 1 png figur

Validierung innerklinischer Sichtungsalgorithmen für den Massenanfall von Verletzten – eine simulationsbasierte Studie – deutsche Version

Hintergrund Die situationsbedingte Verknappung medizinischer Ressourcen endet bei einem Massenanfall von Verletzen (MANV) lageabhängig nicht mit dem Abtransport der Patienten von der Einsatzstelle. Folglich ist in den aufnehmenden Kliniken eine Eingangssichtung erforderlich. Ziel dieser Studie war es im ersten Schritt einen Referenz‐Patientenvignettensatz mit definierten Sichtungskategorien zu erstellen. Dies erlaubte im zweiten Schritt, die rechnergestützte Evaluation der diagnostischen Güte klinischer Sichtungsalgorithmen für MANV-Lagen. Methodik In einen mehrstufigen Bewertungsprozess durch zunächst sechs, später 36 Sichtungsexperten gingen 250 in der Übungspraxis validierte Fallvignetten ein. Diese Algorithmen – unabhängige Expertenbewertung aller Vignetten – dienten als Goldstandard für die Analyse der diagnostischen Güte der folgenden innerklinischen Algorithmen: Manchester Triage System (MTS Modul MANV), Emergency severity Index (ESI), Berliner Sichtungsalgorithmus (BER), die prähospitalen Algorithmen PRIOR und mSTaRT, sowie zwei Projektalgorithmen aus einer Kooperation des Bundesamts für Bevölkerungsschutz und Katastrophenhilfe (BBK) mit dem Haschemitischen Königreich Jordanien – innerklinischer jordanisch-deutscher Projektalgorithmus (JorD) und prähospitaler Sichtungsalgorithmus (PETRA). Jede Patientenvignette durchlief computergestützt eine Sichtung durch alle angegeben Algorithmen, um vergleichend die Testgüte für alle Verfahren zu erheben. Ergebnisse Von den ursprünglich 250 Vignetten konnte eine Sichtungsreferenzdatenbank mit 210 Patientenvignetten algorithmenunabhängig validiert werden. Diese bildeten den Goldstandard für den Vergleich der analysierten Sichtungsalgorithmen. Die Sensitivitäten für die innerklinische Detektion von Patienten der Sichtungskategorie I lagen zwischen 1,0 (BER, JorD, PRIOR) und 0,57 (MANV-Modul MTS). Die Spezifitäten lagen zwischen 0,99 (MTS und PETRA) und 0,67 (PRIOR). Gemessen am Youden-Index ergab sich bei BER (0,89) und JorD (0,88) die beste Gesamtperformance für die Detektion von Patienten der Sichtungskategorie I. Eine Übertriage ist am ehesten bei PRIOR, eine Untertriage beim MANV-Modul von MTS zu erwarten. Bis zum Entscheid SK I benötigen die Algorithmen folgende Schrittanzahlen (Median [IQR]): ESI 1 [1–2]; JorD 1 [1–4]; PRIOR 3 [2–4]; BER 3 [2–6]; mSTaRT 3 [3–5]; MTS 4 [4–5]; PETRA 6 [6–8]. Für die SK II und III besteht ein positiver Zusammenhang zwischen der Schrittanzahl bis zum Entscheid und der Testgüte. Schlussfolgerung In der vorliegenden Studie konnte eine Übertragbarkeit prähospitaler algorithmenbasierter Vorsichtungsergebnisse auf die Ergebnisse klinischer Algorithmen gezeigt werden. Die höchste diagnostische Güte für die innerklinischen Sichtung lieferten BER und JorD, die allerdings auch die meisten Algorithmusschritte bis zum Entscheid benötigen

RA-specific expression profiles and new candidate genes

Objective: To identify rheumatoid arthritis- (RA)-specific profiles of differentially expressed genes. Methods: Synovial tissues from RA and osteoarthritis (OA) patients and from normal joints were selected according to their disease-characteristic histology. Gene expression was analyzed using DNA microarrays (GeneChip; Unigene-array) and representational difference analysis (RDA). Data were validated on larger cohorts of patients by RT-PCR. Results: Nine hundred and eighty genes were significantly regulated in RA synovial tissue as compared with non-RA. Specialized cluster analysis identified a set of 312 genes as sufficient of unequivocally discriminating RA from non-RA patterns (class discovery). Genes of highest regulation were associated with leukocyte activation (chemokines, chemokine receptors, B- and T-cell genes), endothelial and angiogenic activation, tissue destruction and remodelling [MMP-3, BMP-4, TIMPs]. Interestingly, a large set of genes was down-regulated in RA (TGF-β superfamily, apoptosis-related genes, transcription factors). Osteopontin-like genes (n=46) — up-regulated in RA — and glutathione peroxidase-3-like genes (n=85) — down-regulated in RA — yielded the highest correlation coefficients (>0.94). Megakaryocyte stimulating factor (MSF), down-regulated in a subset of RA, may hold the key to subclassification: a loss-of-function mutation in the MSF-encoding gene leads to synovial hyperplasia in camptodactyly–arthropathy–coxa vara–pericarditis syndrome, and, as in RA, also to pericardial involvement. A further candidate, vitamin-D3-up-regulated protein-1 (VDUP-1), is regulated like MSF and predisposes to premature coronary artery disease when mutated, again a feature of a subset of RA. Conclusion: RA specific gene profiles were identified and are useful to improve diagnostics of the disease. Novel gene candidates not yet in the focus of RA pathogenesis have been identified that are likely to further the understanding of RA