Determination of 2D implanted ion distributions using inverse radon transform methods

Two methods are presented for the experimental determination of 2D implanted ion distribution resulting from implantations with a line source into amorphous targets. It is shown that the relation between the 2D distribution and the depth profiles resulting from tilted angle implantations is described by the Radon transformation. The inverse transformation has been applied to accurately measured depth profiles. The first method uses a digitization of the 2D distribution and the second method uses a parameterized function for the 2D distribution. The methods are tested for a 400 keV boron implantation in an amorphous layer of silicon. The experimental obtained 2D distributions are compared with a TRIM Monte Carlo simulation. A good agreement between experiment and simulation is observed

How to diagnose plantaris tendon involvement in midportion Achilles tendinopathy - clinical and imaging findings

Background: The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate if clinical assessment, Ultrasound + Colour Doppler (US + CD) and Ultrasound Tissue Characterisation (UTC) can be useful in detecting plantaris tendon involvement in patients with midportion Achilles tendinopathy. Methods: Twenty-three tendons in 18 patients (14 men, mean age: 37 years and 4 women: 44 years) (5 patients with bilateral tendons) with midportion Achilles tendinopathy were surgically treated with a scraping procedure and plantaris tendon removal. For all tendons, clinical assessment, Ultrasound + Colour Doppler (US + CD) examination and Ultrasound Tissue Characterisation (UTC) were performed. Results: At surgery, all 23 cases had a plantaris tendon located close to the medial side of the Achilles tendon. There was vascularised fat tissue in the interface between the Achilles and plantaris tendons. Clinical assessment revealed localised medial activity-related pain in 20/23 tendons and focal medial tendon tenderness in 20/23 tendons. For US + CD, 20/23 tendons had a tendon-like structure interpreted to be the plantaris tendon and localised high blood flow in close relation to the medial side of the Achilles. For UTC, 19/23 tendons had disorganised (type 3 and 4) echopixels located only in the medial part of the Achilles tendon indicating possible plantaris tendon involvement. Conclusions: US + CD directly, and clinical assessment indirectly, can detect a close by located plantaris tendon in a high proportion of patients with midportion Achilles tendinopathy. UTC could complement US + CD and clinical assessment by demonstrating disorganised focal medial Achilles tendon structure indicative of possible plantaris involvement

Tomato linalool synthase is induced in trichomes by jasmonic acid

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) plants emit a blend of volatile organic compounds, which mainly consists of terpenes. Upon herbivory or wounding, the emission of several terpenes increases. We have identified and characterized the first two tomato monoterpene synthases, LeMTS1 and LeMTS2. Although these proteins were highly homologous, recombinant LeMTS1 protein produced (R)-linalool from geranyl diphosphate (GPP) and (E)-nerolidol from farnesyl diphosphate (FPP), while recombinant LeMTS2 produced β-phellandrene, β-myrcene, and sabinene from GPP. In addition, these genes were expressed in different tissues: LeMTS1 was expressed in flowers, young leaves, stems, and petioles, while LeMTS2 was strongest expressed in stems and roots. LeMTS1 expression in leaves was induced by spider mite-infestation, wounding and jasmonic acid (JA)-treatment, while LeMTS2 did not respond to these stimuli. The expression of LeMTS1 in stems and petioles was predominantly detected in trichomes and could be induced by JA. Because JA treatment strongly induced emission of linalool and overexpression of LeMTS1 in tomato resulted in increased production of linalool, we propose that LeMTS1 is a genuine linalool synthase. Our results underline the importance of trichomes in JA-induced terpene emission in tomato

High-throughput screening Raman microspectroscopy for assessment of drug-induced changes in diatom cells

High-throughput screening Raman spectroscopy (HTS-RS) with automated localization algorithms offers unsurpassed speed and sensitivity to investigate the effect of dithiothreitol on the diatom Phaedactylum tricornutum. The HTS-RS capability that was demonstrated for this model system can be transferred to unmet analytical applications such as kinetic in vivo studies of microalgal assemblages. © 2019 The Royal Society of Chemistry

New methodology to process shifted excitation Raman difference spectroscopy data : a case study of pollen classification

Shifted excitation Raman difference spectroscopy (SERDS) is a background correction method for Raman spectroscopy. Here, the difference spectra were directly used as input for SERDS-based classification after an optimization procedure to correct for photobleaching of the autofluorescence. Further processing included a principal component analysis to compensate for the reduced signal to noise ratio of the difference spectra and subsequent classification by linear discriminant analysis. As a case study 6,028 Raman spectra of single pollen originating from plants of eight different genera and four different growth habits were automatically recorded at excitation wavelengths 784 and 786 nm using a high-throughput screening Raman system. Different pollen were distinguished according to their growth habit, i.e. tree versus non-tree with an accuracy of 95.9%. Furthermore, all pollen were separated according to their genus, providing also insight into similarities based on their families. Classification results were compared using spectra reconstructed from the differences and raw spectra after state-of-art baseline correction as input. Similar sensitivities, specificities, accuracies and precisions were found for all spectra with moderately background. Advantages of SERDS are expected in scenarios where Raman spectra are affected by variations due to detector etaloning, ambient light, and high background

Het Huis van Thorbecke: Tijd voor een verbouwing?

In de periode 1750 - 1850 hebben er belangrijke bestuurlijke veranderingen plaatsgevonden, die nog steeds van belang zijn voor onze maatschappij. Een van de grootste is wel de grondwet van Thorbecke van 1848. Het huidige Nederlandse insti tuti onele bestel komt voort uit zijn Grondwet, Gemeentewet en Provinciewet. Deze bestuurlijke organisati e met de drie bestuurslagen Rijk, provincie en gemeente wordt alsmede het Huis van Thorbecke genoemd (parlement.com). Aan de hand van interviews met docenten van Bestuurskunde proberen we er achter te komen hoe belangrijk Thorbecke is voor het Openbaar Bestuur en in hoeverre het systeem toe is aan veranderingen

Commissie B.I.L.dspraak

Ook dit jaar zal er hard gewerkt worden om een paar mooie edities van de Bestuurskundige Berichten neer te zetten. De drijvende kracht hierachter is de commissie Bestuurskundige Berichten 2012-2013. Maak kennis met B.I.L.dspraak

When I relive a positive me: Vivid autobiographical memories facilitate autonoetic brain activation and enhance mood

Autobiographical memory is vital for our well-being and therefore used in therapeutic interventions. However, not much is known about the (neural) processes by which reliving memories can have beneficial effects. This study investigates what brain activation patterns and memory characteristics facilitate the effectiveness of reliving positive autobiographical memories for mood and sense of self. Particularly, the role of vividness and autonoetic consciousness is studied. Participants (N= 47) with a wide range of trait self-esteem relived neutral and positive memories while their bold responses, experienced vividness of the memory, mood, and state self-esteem were recorded. More vivid memories related to better mood and activation in amygdala, hippocampus and insula,indicative of increased awareness of oneself (i.e., prereflective aspect of autonoetic con-sciousness). Lower vividness was associated with increased activation in the occipital lobe, PCC, and precuneus, indicative of a more distant mode of reliving. While individuals with lower trait self-esteem increased in state self-esteem, they showed less deacti-vation of the lateral occipital cortex during positive memories. In sum, the vividness of the memory seemingly distinguished a more immersed and more distant manner of memory reliving. In particular, when reliving positive memories higher vividness facilitated increased prereflective autonoetic consciousness, which likely is instrumental in boosting mood