Neurotransmitter profile of saccadic omnipause neurons in nucleus raphe interpositus

Saccadic omnipause neurons (OPNs) are essential for the generation of saccadic eye movements. In primates OPNs are located near the midline within the nucleus raphe interpositus (rip). In the present study we used several different neuroanatomical methods to investigate the transmitters associated with OPNs in the monkey. Immunolabeling for the calcium-binding protein parvalbumin was employed to mark OPNs in the monkey and define the homologous cell group in cat and human. The use of antibodies against GABA, glycine (GLY), glutamate (GLU), serotonin (5-HT), and tyrosine hydroxylase revealed that the somata of OPNs are GLY immunoreactive, but they are devoid of GABA and 5-HT immunostaining. In situ hybridization with the GAD67 mRNA probe confirmed the negative GABA immunostaining of OPNs. 3H-GLY was injected into a projection field of OPNs, the rostral interstitial nucleus of the medial longitudinal fascicle (riMLF)--the vertical saccadic burst neuron area. This resulted in selective retrograde labeling of the OPNs in rip, while no labeling was found in the superior colliculus, which sends an excitatory projection to the riMLF. The somata and dendrites of putative burst neurons in the riMLF were contacted by numerous GLY- immunoreactive terminals. The quantitative analysis of immunoreactive terminal-like structures contacting OPNs revealed a strong input from GLY- and GABA-positive terminals on somata and dendrites, whereas GLU- positive puncta were mainly confined to the dendrites. Very few 5-HT and catecholaminergic terminals contacted OPN somata. Our findings suggest that OPNs use GLY as a neurotransmitter, and they receive numerous contacts from GABAergic, glycinergic, and glutaminergic afferents, and significantly fewer from monoaminergic inputs.</jats:p

Super-resolving multi-photon interferences with independent light sources

We propose to use multi-photon interferences from statistically independent light sources in combination with linear optical detection techniques to enhance the resolution in imaging. Experimental results with up to five independent thermal light sources confirm this approach to improve the spatial resolution. Since no involved quantum state preparation or detection is required the experiment can be considered an extension of the Hanbury Brown and Twiss experiment for spatial intensity correlations of order N>2

Pay-as-you-go LPG: A mixed-methods pilot study in urban Rwanda

2.8 billion people still cook with biomass fuels, resulting in devastating impacts on health, gender equity and the environment. Pay-as-you-go (PAYG) liquid petroleum gas (LPG) is a new technology designed to make LPG affordable for urban biomass users by allowing customers to pay for fuel in small amounts. This mixed-methods study (N = 64) combined stove usage data, cooking diaries, household interviews and telephone surveys to examine a commercial PAYG LPG pilot in Kigali. It aimed to understand how households used PAYG LPG and its potential in accelerating access to clean cooking in urban Rwanda. PAYG LPG rapidly displaced charcoal as the primary cooking fuel for the majority of participants, resulting in a mean monthly reduction in household fuel expenditure of 3240 RWF (3.50 USD) and a mean consumption of 1.2 kg/capita/month. Participants spanning all income brackets in Kigali made use of PAYG LPG. The ability to pay in smaller amounts seemed to be critical to initial adoption and sustained use during the pilot. Follow-up activities with a small subsample of participants (N = 10) found that 70% continued to use full cylinder LPG (typically 12 kg) as their primary cooking fuel in the two months after the PAYG service was withdrawn. Throughout the pilot almost all participants continued to use charcoal, which accounted for 21% of cooking events. We identified a range of drivers of fuel stacking that encompassed both cultural and practical factors such as cylinder delivery delays and taste preferences for certain foods. We conclude that PAYG LPG could contribute to the clean cooking transition in urban Rwanda, but that larger scale pilots are needed to better understand both the supply- and demand-side viability

Progress in Developing Hybrid RPCs: GEM-like Detectors with Resistive Electrodes

We have recently developed an innovative detector of photons and charged particles: a GEM-like gaseous amplification structure with resistive electrodes instead of commonly used metallic ones. This novel detector combines the best property of GEMs- the capability to operate in a cascaded mode and in poorly quenched gases - and of RPC: the protection against sparks. In this paper will shortly review our latest achievements in this direction, however the main focus will be given on a new advanced design that allows to build large area detectors manufactured by a screen printing technology. The proposed detector, depending on the applications, can operate either in a GEM mode (electron multiplications through holes only) or as a hybrid RPC with simultaneous amplifications in the drift region and in the holes. The possible applications of this new detector will be discussed

Stabilisierung sub- und pertrochantärer Femurfrakturen mit dem PFNΑ®

Zusammenfassung: Operationsziel: Primär belastungsstabile Osteosynthese per- und subtrochantärer Femurfrakturen mit intramedullärem Kraftträger, besonders auch in osteoporotischem Knochen. Rasche Wiederherstellung der Anatomie und Funktion des verletzten Beins. Indikationen: Sämtliche per- und subtrochantäre Frakturen der AO-Klassifikation 31-A. Kontraindikationen: Offene Wachstumsfugen und ungeeignete Femuranatomie (pathologische Antekurvation bzw. fehlverheilte Schaftfrakturen). Operationstechnik: Wenn möglich geschlossene, bei Bedarf offene Reposition der Faktur auf dem Extensionstisch. Intramedulläre, unaufgebohrte Nagelung und Frakturfixation durch Einbringen einer Spiralklinge über einen Führungsdraht in das Kopf-Halsfragment. Möglichkeit zur dynamischen oder statischen Verriegelung im Femurschaft. Operative Nachsorge: Rasche Mobilisation ab dem ersten postoperativen Tag mit schmerzadaptierter Vollbelastung. Thromboseprophylaxe für 6Wochen mit Fondaparinux, Rivaroxaban oder niedermolekularem Heparin (NMH), alternativ orale Antikoagulation. Ergebnisse: Im Rahmen einer AO-Multizenterstudie an 11 europäischen Kliniken wurden zwischen April 2004 und Juni 2005 313Patienten (Durchschnittsalter 80,6Jahre, 77% Frauen, 23% Männer) mit 315 instabilen pertrochantären Frakturen mittels PFNΑ® ("proximal femoral nail antirotation") operativ stabilisiert [24]. Bei 82% handelte es sich um 31-A2-Frakturen, bei 18% um 31-A3-Frakturen. Die durchschnittliche Operationszeit betrug 56min für die A2-Frakturen und 66min für die A3-Frakturen. Die durchschnittliche Liegedauer im Akutspital betrug 12Tage. Bei 72% der Patienten konnte ein Repositions- und Stabilisierungsergebnis erreicht werden, welches eine unmittelbare postoperative Vollbelastung erlaubte. Insgesamt wurden 165Komplikationen beobachtet, 117 davon waren nicht auf das Implantat zu beziehen. 46 operationsbedingte Komplikationen führten zu 28 ungeplanten Re-Operationen (u.a. 7Femurschaftfrakturen, 4 azetabuläre Penetrationen). 56% der Patienten konnten über ein ganzes Jahr nachkontrolliert werden. Nach einem Jahr waren 89% der Frakturen konsolidiert. Die höchsten Komplikationsraten wiesen Frakturen der Morphologie 31-A2.3 sowie Patienten älter als 90Jahre auf. Mit dem PFNA® wurde damit eine mit den Resultaten anderer intra- und extramedullärer Implantate vergleichbare Anzahl operationsbedingter Komplikationen (14,6%) beschriebe

Thermodynamics of quantum Brownian motion with internal degrees of freedom: the role of entanglement in the strong-coupling quantum regime

We study the influence of entanglement on the relation between the statistical entropy of an open quantum system and the heat exchanged with a low temperature environment. A model of quantum Brownian motion of the Caldeira-Leggett type - for which a violation of the Clausius inequality has been stated by Th.M. Nieuwenhuizen and A.E. Allahverdyan [Phys. Rev. E 66, 036102 (2002)] - is reexamined and the results of the cited work are put into perspective. In order to address the problem from an information theoretical viewpoint a model of two coupled Brownian oscillators is formulated that can also be viewed as a continuum version of a two-qubit system. The influence of an additional internal coupling parameter on heat and entropy changes is described and the findings are compared to the case of a single Brownian particle.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure

Finite quantum dissipation: the challenge of obtaining specific heat

We consider a free particle coupled with finite strength to a bath and investigate the evaluation of its specific heat. A harmonic oscillator bath of Drude type with cutoff frequency omega_D is employed to model an ohmic friction force with dissipation strength gamma. Two scenarios for obtaining specific heat are presented. The first one uses the measurement of the kinetic energy of the free particle while the second one is based on the reduced partition function. Both descriptions yield results which are consistent with the Third Law of thermodynamics. Nevertheless, the two methods produce different results that disagree even in their leading quantum corrections at high temperatures. We also consider the regime where the cutoff frequency is smaller than the friction strength, i.e. omega_D<gamma. There, we encounter puzzling results at low temperatures where the specific heat based on the thermodynamic prescription becomes negative. This anomaly is rooted in an ill-defined density of states of the damped free particle which assumes unphysical negative values when gamma/omega_D>1.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure

Immunohistological studies on neoplasms of female and male Onchocerca volvulus: filarial origin and absence of Wolbachia from tumor cells

Up to 5% of untreated female Onchocerca volvulus filariae develop potentially fatal pleomorphic neoplasms, whose incidence is increased following ivermectin treatment. We studied the occurrence of 8 filarial proteins and of Wolbachia endobacteria in the tumor cells. Onchocercomas from patients, untreated and treated with antibiotics and anthelminthics, were examined by immunohistology. Neoplasms were diagnosed in 112 of 3587 female and in 2 of 1570 male O. volvulus. The following proteins and other compounds of O. volvulus were expressed in the cells of the neoplasms: glutathione S-transferase 1, lysosomal aspartic protease, cAMP-dependent protein kinase, alpha-enolase, aspartate aminotransferase, ankyrin E1, tropomyosin, heat shock protein 60, transforming growth factor-beta, and prostaglandin E2. These findings prove the filarial origin of the neoplasms and confirm the pleomorphism of the tumor cells. Signs indicating malignancy of the neoplasms are described. Wolbachia were observed in the hypodermis, oocytes, and embryos of tumor-harbouring filariae using antibodies against Wolbachia surface protein, Wolbachia HtrA-type serine protease, and Wolbachia aspartate aminotransferase. In contrast, Wolbachia were not found in the cells of the neoplasms. Further, neoplasm-containing worms were not observed after more than 10 months after the start of sufficient treatment with doxycycline or doxycycline plus ivermectin