Angular distribution studies on the two-photon ionization of hydrogen-like ions: Relativistic description

The angular distribution of the emitted electrons, following the two-photon ionization of the hydrogen-like ions, is studied within the framework of second order perturbation theory and the Dirac equation. Using a density matrix approach, we have investigated the effects which arise from the polarization of the incoming light as well as from the higher multipoles in the expansion of the electron--photon interaction. For medium- and high-Z ions, in particular, the non-dipole contributions give rise to a significant change in the angular distribution of the emitted electrons, if compared with the electric-dipole approximation. This includes a strong forward emission while, in dipole approxmation, the electron emission always occurs symmetric with respect to the plane which is perpendicular to the photon beam. Detailed computations for the dependence of the photoelectron angular distributions on the polarization of the incident light are carried out for the ionization of H, Xe$^{53+}$, and U$^{91+}$ (hydrogen-like) ions.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, published in J Phys

The relational ethics of conflict and identity

The contemporary psychoanalytically inflected vocabulary of relational ethics centres on acknowledgement, witnessing and responsibility. It has become an important code for efforts to connect with otherness across fractures of hurt, oppression and suffering. One can see the deployment of this vocabulary to challenge patterns of exclusion and dehumanisation in zones of intense political conflict in many situations in which destructive hatred reigns. This paper traces some of the use of and disputes over this ‘acknowledgement-based’ relational ethics in the recent work of Jessica Benjamin and Judith Butler. The field of application is their response to Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians, given their position as Jews. The challenge of the acknowledgement agenda leads back to an issue of general concern – the degree to which relational ethics can prise open apparently closed and defensive psychosocial identities

Is there still a place for the concept of therapeutic regression in psychoanalysis?

The author uses his own failure to find a place for the idea of therapeutic regression in his clinical thinking or practice as the basis for an investigation into its meaning and usefulness. He makes a distinction between three ways the term ‘regression’ is used in psychoanalytic discourse: as a way of evoking a primitive level of experience; as a reminder in some clinical situations of the value of non-intervention on the part of the analyst; and as a description of a phase of an analytic treatment with some patients where the analyst needs to put aside normal analytic technique in order to foster a regression in the patient. It is this third meaning, which the author terms “therapeutic regression” that this paper examines, principally by means of an extended discussion of two clinical examples of a patient making a so-called therapeutic regression, one given by Winnicott and the other by Masud Khan. The author argues that in these examples the introduction of the concept of therapeutic regression obscures rather than clarifies the clinical process. He concludes that, as a substantial clinical concept, the idea of therapeutic regression has outlived its usefulness. However he also notes that many psychoanalytic writers continue to find a use for the more generic concept of regression, and that the very engagement with the more particular idea of therapeutic regression has value in provoking questions as to what is truly therapeutic in psychoanalytic treatment

Psychoanalysis as the Patient: High in Feeling, Low in Energy

This paper examines the increasingly important role that affect is assuming in psychoanalytic research and practice. This rise in the centrality of affect has been at the expense of an independent role for motivation and a dismissal of any energy concept. Difficulties with this affect-first approach are identified and an alternative offered that accords motivation an independent role and accommodates a useful energy concept. Research on esophageal atresia, addiction, and infant suckling are cited in support of this position.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66624/2/10.1177_00030651970450031101.pd

On waiting for something to happen

This paper seeks to examine two particular and peculiar practices in which the mediation of apparently direct encounters is made explicit and is systematically theorized: that of the psychoanalytic dialogue with its inward focus and private secluded setting, and that of theatre and live performance, with its public focus. Both these practices are concerned with ways in which “live encounters” impact on their participants, and hence with the conditions under which, and the processes whereby, the coming-together of human subjects results in recognizable personal or social change. Through the rudimentary analysis of two anecdotes, we aim to think these encounters together in a way that explores what each borrows from the other, the psychoanalytic in the theatrical, the theatrical in the psychoanalytic, figuring each practice as differently committed to what we call the “publication of liveness”. We argue that these “redundant” forms of human contact continue to provide respite from group acceptance of narcissistic failure in the post-democratic era through their offer of a practice of waiting

p53 status correlates with histopathological response in patients with soft tissue sarcomas treated using isolated limb perfusion with TNF-α and melphalan

Background: Recombinant tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) combined to melphalan is clinically administered through isolated limb perfusion (ILP) for regionally advanced soft tissue sarcomas of the limbs. In preclinical studies, wild-type p53 gene is involved in the regulation of cytotoxic action of TNF-α and loss of p53 function contributes to the resistance of tumour cells to TNF-α. The relationship between p53 status and response to TNF-α and melphalan in patients undergoing ILP is unknown. Patients and methods: We studied 110 cases of unresectable limbs sarcomas treated by ILP. Immunohistochemistry was carried out using DO7mAb, which reacts with an antigenic determinant from the N-terminal region of both the wild-type and mutant forms of the p53 protein, and PAb1620mAb, which reacts with the 1620 epitope characteristic of the wild-type native conformation of the p53 protein. The immunohistochemistry data were then correlated with various clinical parameters. Results: P53DO7 was found expressed at high levels in 28 patients, whereas PAb1620 was negative in 20. The tumours with poor histological response to ILP with TNF-α and melphalan showed significantly higher levels of p53-mutated protein. Conclusions: Our results might be a clue to a role of p53 protein status in TNF-α and melphalan response in clinical us

Limb salvage with isolated perfusion for soft tissue sarcoma: could less TNF-α be better?

Background: The optimal dose of TNF-α delivered by isolated limb perfusion (ILP) in patients with locally advanced soft tissue sarcoma is still unknown. Patients and methods: Randomised phase II trial comparing hyperthermic ILP (38-40°) with melphalan and one of the four assigned doses of TNF-α: 0.5 mg, 1 mg, 2 mg, and 3/4 mg upper/lower limb. The main end point was objective tumour response on MRI. Secondary end points were histological response, rate of amputation and toxicity. Resection of the remnant tumour was performed 2-3 months after ILP. The sample size was calculated assuming a linear increase of 10% in the objective response rates between each dose level group. Results: One hundred patients (25 per arm) were included. Thirteen per cent of patients had a systemic leakage with a cardiac toxicity in six patients correlated with high doses of TNF-α. Objective tumour responses were: 68%, 56%, 72% and 64% in the 0.5 mg, 1 mg, 2 mg and 3 or 4 mg arms, respectively (NS). Sixteen per cent of patients were not operated, 71% had a conservative surgery and 13% were amputated with no difference between the groups. With a median follow-up of 24 months, the 2 year overall and disease-free survival rates (95% CI) were 82% (73% to 89%) and 49% (39% to 59%), respectively. Conclusion: At the range of TNF-α doses tested, there was no dose effect detected for the objective tumour response, but systemic toxicity was significantly correlated with higher TNF-α doses. Efficacy and safety of low-dose TNF-α could greatly facilitate ILP procedures in the near futur

Enheduanna – A Manifesto of Falling: first demonstration of a live brain-computer cinema performance with multi-brain BCI interaction for one performer and two audience members

The new commercial-grade Electroencephalography (EEG)-based Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) have led to a phenomenal development of applications across health, entertainment and the arts, while an increasing interest in multi-brain interaction has emerged. In the arts, there is already a number of works that involve the interaction of more than one participants with the use of EEG-based BCIs. However, the field of live brain-computer cinema and mixed-media performances is rather new, compared to installations and music performances that involve multi-brain BCIs. In this context, we present the particular challenges involved. We discuss Enheduanna – A Manifesto of Falling, the first demonstration of a live brain-computer cinema performance that enables the real-time brain-activity interaction of one performer and two audience members; and we take a cognitive perspective on the implementation of a new passive multi-brain EEG-based BCI system to realise our creative concept. This article also presents the preliminary results and future work

Technical design and performance of the NEMO3 detector

The development of the NEMO3 detector, which is now running in the Frejus Underground Laboratory (L.S.M. Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane), was begun more than ten years ago. The NEMO3 detector uses a tracking-calorimeter technique in order to investigate double beta decay processes for several isotopes. The technical description of the detector is followed by the presentation of its performance.Comment: Preprint submitted to Nucl. Instrum. Methods A Corresponding author: Corinne Augier ([email protected]