Experimental results of crystal-assisted slow extraction at the SPS

The possibility of extracting highly energetic particles from the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) by means of silicon bent crystals has been explored since the 1990's. The channelling effect of a bent crystal can be used to strongly deflect primary protons and eject them from the synchrotron. Many studies and experiments have been carried out to investigate crystal channelling effects. The extraction of 120 and 270 GeV proton beams has already been demonstrated in the SPS with dedicated experiments located in the ring. Presently in the SPS, the UA9 experiment is performing studies to evaluate the possibility to use bent silicon crystals to steer particle beams in high energy accelerators. Recent studies on the feasibility of extraction from the SPS have been made using the UA9 infrastructure with a longer-term view of using crystals to help mitigate slow extraction induced activation of the SPS. In this paper, the possibility to eject particles into the extraction channel in LSS2 using the bent crystals already installed in the SPS is presented. Details of the concept, simulations and measurements carried out with beam are presented, before the outlook for the future is discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figures, submitted to to International Particle Accelerator Conference (IPAC) 2017 in Copenhagen, Denmar

The Virtues of Balm in Late Medieval Literature

This article argues that balm, or balsam, was, by the late medieval period, believed to be a panacea, capable of healing wounds and illnesses, and also preventing putrefaction. Natural history and pharmacological texts on balm from the ancient and late antique periods emphasized specific qualities of balm, especially its heat; these were condensed and repeated in medieval encyclopedias. The rarity and cost of balsam, from antiquity through the medieval period, and the high rate of counterfeiting also demonstrate its high demand and significance in medicine and religious ritual. Travel writing and itineraria from the early and central medieval periods added a new layer to ideas about the capabilities of balsam: that it originated from a Christian miracle and was a particularly Christian plant

MRI-based 3D retinal shape determination

Objective To establish a good method to determine the retinal shape from MRI using three-dimensional (3D) ellipsoids as well as evaluate its reproducibility.Methods and analysis The left eyes of 31 volunteers were imaged using high-resolution ocular MRI. The 3D MR-images were segmented and ellipsoids were fitted to the resulting contours. The dependency of the resulting ellipsoid parameters on the evaluated fraction of the retinal contour was assessed by fitting ellipsoids to 41 different fractions. Furthermore, the reproducibility of the complete procedure was evaluated in four subjects. Finally, a comparison with conventional two-dimensional (2D) methods was made.Results The mean distance between the fitted ellipsoids and the segmented retinal contour was 0.03 +/- 0.01 mm (mean +/- SD) for the central retina and 0.13 +/- 0.03 mm for the peripheral retina. For the central retina, the resulting ellipsoid radii were 12.9 +/- 0.9, 13.7 +/- 1.5 and 12.2 +/- 1.2 mm along the horizontal, vertical and central axes. For the peripheral retina, these radii decreased to 11.9 +/- 0.6, 11.6 +/- 0.4 and 10.4 +/- 0.7 mm, which was accompanied by a mean 1.8 mm posterior shift of the ellipsoid centre. The reproducibility of the ellipsoid fitting was 0.3 +/- 1.2 mm for the central retina and 0.0 +/- 0.1 mm for the peripheral retina. When 2D methods were used to fit the peripheral retina, the fitted radii differed a mean 0.1 +/- 0.1 mm from the 3D method.Conclusion An accurate and reproducible determination of the 3D retinal shape based on MRI is provided together with 2D alternatives, enabling wider use of this method in the field of ophthalmology.Neuro Imaging Researc

Evaluation of intraocular lens position and retinal shape in negative dysphotopsia using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging

Purpose: To assess potential relationships of intraocular lens (IOL) position and retinal shape in negative dysphotopsia (ND). Setting: Department of Ophthalmology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands. Design: Case-control study. Methods: High-resolution ocular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were performed in patients with ND and pseudophakic controls, and subsequently used to determine the displacement and tilt of the in-the-bag IOL about the pupil and iris. In addition, anterior segment tomography was used to assess the iris-IOL distance. Furthermore, the retinal shape was quantified from the MRI scans by fitting an ellipse to the segmented inner boundary of the retina. Both the IOL position and retinal shape were compared between groups to assess their potential role in the etiology of ND. Results: In total, 37 patients with ND and 26 pseudophakic controls were included in the study. The mean displacement and tilt of the IOL were less than 0.1 mm and 0.5 degrees, respectively, in both groups and all directions. The corresponding mean iris-IOL distance was 1.1 mm in both groups. Neither of these values differed statistically significantly between groups (all P values >.6). The retinal shape showed large variations but was not statistically significantly different between the groups in both the left-right (P = .10) and the anterior-posterior (P = .56) directions. Conclusions: In this study, the in-the-bag IOL position and retinal shape did not statistically significantly differ between patients with ND and the general pseudophakic population. Given the large variation in retinal shape between subjects, however, it could still be an important factor in a multifactorial origin of ND.Neuro Imaging Researc

Defining Spoken Language Benchmarks and Selecting Measures of Expressive Language Development for Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Purpose The aims of this article are twofold: (a) to offer a set of recommended measures that can be used for evaluating the efficacy of interventions that target spoken language acquisition as part of treatment research studies or for use in applied settings and (b) to propose and define a common terminology for describing levels of spoken language ability in the expressive modality and to set benchmarks for determining a child’s language level in order to establish a framework for comparing outcomes across intervention studies. Method The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders assembled a group of researchers with interests and experience in the study of language development and disorders in young children with autism spectrum disorders. The group worked for 18 months through a series of conference calls and correspondence, culminating in a meeting held in December 2007 to achieve consensus on these aims. Results The authors recommend moving away from using the term functional speech, replacing it with a developmental framework. Rather, they recommend multiple sources of information to define language phases, including natural language samples, parent report, and standardized measures. They also provide guidelines and objective criteria for defining children’s spoken language expression in three major phases that correspond to developmental levels between 12 and 48 months of age

A Comparison of Wood Density between Classical Cremonese and Modern Violins

Classical violins created by Cremonese masters, such as Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri Del Gesu, have become the benchmark to which the sound of all violins are compared in terms of their abilities of expressiveness and projection. By general consensus, no luthier since that time has been able to replicate the sound quality of these classical instruments. The vibration and sound radiation characteristics of a violin are determined by an instrument's geometry and the material properties of the wood. New test methods allow the non-destructive examination of one of the key material properties, the wood density, at the growth ring level of detail. The densities of five classical and eight modern violins were compared, using computed tomography and specially developed image-processing software. No significant differences were found between the median densities of the modern and the antique violins, however the density difference between wood grains of early and late growth was significantly smaller in the classical Cremonese violins compared with modern violins, in both the top (Spruce) and back (Maple) plates (p = 0.028 and 0.008, respectively). The mean density differential (SE) of the top plates of the modern and classical violins was 274 (26.6) and 183 (11.7) gram/liter. For the back plates, the values were 128 (2.6) and 115 (2.0) gram/liter. These differences in density differentials may reflect similar changes in stiffness distributions, which could directly impact vibrational efficacy or indirectly modify sound radiation via altered damping characteristics. Either of these mechanisms may help explain the acoustical differences between the classical and modern violins

Four-year clinical outcome following randomised use of zotarolimus-eluting stents versus everolimus-eluting stents in all-comers: Insights from the DUTCH PEERS trial

Background: The DUTCH PEERS (TWENTE II) trial (clinicaltrials.gov NCT01331707) is a randomised, multicenter, single-blinded, investigator initiated all-comers trial. All coronary syndromes were permitted with no limit for lesion length, reference size, or number of lesions or diseased vessels to be treated. In total, 1811 patients were 1:1 randomised to cobalt chromium-based zotarolimuseluting stents (ZES) versus platinum chromium-based everolimus-eluting stents (EES). These durable polymer-based drug-eluting stents (DES) were developed to facilitate device deliverability and to improve stent apposition to the vessel wall. Purpose: We assessed the 4-year clinical outcome of the DUTCH PEERS trial in terms of safety and efficacy. Methods: Clinical outcome was assessed by means of follow-up data of the trial participants. The primary endpoint target vessel failure (TVF) is a composite of cardiac death, target vessel-related myocardial infarction (MI) or target vessel revascularization. Secondary endpoints included the individual components of the TVF and the incidence of definite-or-probable stent thrombosis. Endpoints were analyzed by the logrank test by comparing the time to the endpoint, using the Kaplan-Meier method. Independent contract research organizations performed the study monitoring and clinical event adjudication. Results: The 4-year clinical follow-up data were available in 1802 patients (99.5%; 4 patients were lost to follow-up and 5 withdrew consent). The ZES and EES groups showed favourable outcomes with a similar incidence of TVF (12.1% vs. 12.1%; Logrank p=0.95). The rates of the individual components of TVF were also similar for both stent arms: cardiac death (3.9% vs. 3.7%; Logrank p=0.78); target vessel-related MI (3.2% vs. 2.5%; Logrank p=0.38); and target vessel revascularization (6.8% vs. 7.5%; Logrank p=0.55), respectively. In addition, the incidence of definite-or-probable stent thrombosis was similar for patients treated with ZES versus EES (1.5% vs. 1.2%; Logrank p=0.67). Conclusion: At 4-year follow-up, ZES and EES showed similar and sustained results in terms of safety and efficacy for treating all-comer patients

The impact of patient-reported frailty on cardiovascular outcomes in elderly patients after non-ST-acute coronary syndrome

Background: As life expectancy increases, the population of older individuals with coronary artery disease and frailty is growing. We aimed to assess the impact of patient-reported frailty on the treatment and prognosis of elderly early survivors of non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS). Methods: Frailty data were obtained from two prospective trials, POPular Age and the POPular Age Registry, which both assessed elderly NSTE-ACS patients. Frailty was assessed one month after admission with the Groningen Frailty Indicator (GFI) and was defined as a GFI-score of 4 or higher. In these early survivors of NSTE-ACS, we assessed differences in treatment and 1-year outcomes between frail and non-frail patients, considering major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE, including cardiovascular mortality, myocardial infarction, and stroke) and major bleeding. Results: The total study population consisted of 2192 NSTE-ACS patients, aged ≥70 years. The GFI-score was available in 1320 patients (79 ± 5 years, 37% women), of whom 712 (54%) were considered frail. Frail patients were at higher risk for MACE than non-frail patients (9.7% vs. 5.1%, adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.57, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01–2.43, p = 0.04), but not for major bleeding (3.7% vs. 2.8%, adjusted HR 1.23, 95% CI 0.65–2.32, p = 0.53). Cubic spline analysis showed a gradual increase of the risk for clinical outcomes with higher GFI-scores. Conclusions: In elderly NSTE-ACS patients who survived 1-month follow-up, patient-reported frailty was independently associated with a higher risk for 1-year MACE, but not with major bleeding. These findings emphasize the importance of frailty screening for risk stratification in elderly NSTE-ACS patients.</p

Mineral Preservatives in the Wood of Stradivari and Guarneri

Following the futile efforts of generations to reach the high standard of excellence achieved by the luthiers in Cremona, Italy, by variations of design and plate tuning, current interest is being focused on differences in material properties. The long-standing question whether the wood of Stradivari and Guarneri were treated with wood preservative materials could be answered only by the examination of wood specimens from the precious antique instruments. In a recent communication (Nature, 2006), we reported about the degradation of the wood polymers in instruments of Stradivari and Guarneri, which could be explained only by chemical manipulations, possibly by preservatives. The aim of the current work was to identify the minerals from the small samples of the maple wood which were available to us from the antique instruments. The ashes of wood from one violin and one cello by Stradivari, two violins by Guarneri, one viola by H. Jay, one violin by Gand-Bernardel were analyzed and compared with a variety of commercial tone woods. The methods of analysis were the following: back-scattered electron imaging, X-ray fluorescence maps for individual elements, wave-length dispersive spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and quantitative microprobe analysis. All four Cremonese instruments showed the unmistakable signs of chemical treatments in the form of chemicals which are not present in natural woods, such as BaSO4, CaF2, borate, and ZrSiO4. In addition to these, there were also changes in the common wood minerals. Statistical evaluation of 12 minerals by discriminant analysis revealed: a. a difference among all four Cremona instruments, b. the difference of the Cremonese instruments from the French and English antiques, and c. only the Cremonese instruments differed from all commercial woods. These findings may provide the answer why all attempts to recreate the Stradivarius from natural wood have failed. There are many obvious implications with regard to how the green tone wood should be treated, which chould lead to changes in the practice of violin-making. This research should inspire others to analyze more antique violins for their chemical contents