What is the optimal anesthetic protocol for measurements of cerebral autoregulation in spontaneously breathing mice?

Autoregulation, an important feature of the cerebral circulation, is affected in many diseases. Since genetically modified mice are a fundamental tool in biomedical research, including neuro(bio)logy also in this specie measurements of cerebral autoregulation (CA) are mandatory. However, this requires anesthesia that unfortunately significantly impacts cerebral perfusion and consequently might distort CA measurements directly or by altering arterial pCO2. The latter can be avoided by artificial ventilation but requires several control measurements of blood gases, each consuming at least 100μl of blood or 5% of a mouse's blood volume. To avoid such diagnostic hemorrhage, we systematically analyzed the effect of different common anesthetic protocols used for rodents in spontaneously breathing mice on CA measured with Laser speckle perfusion imaging. Halothane, Isoflurane and Pentobarbital abrogated CA and Ketamin/Xylazine as well as Chloralose had a moderate reproducibility. In contrast, the rather rarely used anesthetic Ethomidate applied in low doses combined with local anesthetics had the best reproducibility. Although with this anesthesia the lower CA limit was lower than with Ketamin/Xylazine and Chloralose as reported in the handful of papers so far dealing with CA in mice, we suggest Ethomidate as the anesthetic of choice for CA measurements in spontaneously breathing mic

Instrumental swallowing assessment in adults in residential aged care homes : Practice patterns and opportunities

Objective To describe practice patterns in the use of instrumental swallowing assessment (ISA) for older adults in residential aged care homes (RACHs). Methods A retrospective audit of medical records of residents living in RACHs in Melbourne, Australia to extract data on speech-language pathologist (SLP) involvement, indications for ISA and ISA practice patterns. Results Medical files of 323 residents across four Melbourne facilities were reviewed. 36% (n = 115) of residents were referred to SLP for swallowing assessment. Referral to SLP was related to length of stay (U = 7393.00, p < 0.001), dementia status (χ2[1] = 7.06, p = 0.008), texture modification (χ2[1] = 93.34, p < 0.001) and an existing dysphagia diagnosis (χ2[1] = 112.89, p < 0.001). There were no referrals for ISA and no instances of ISA being used. Among 115 residents who were referred to SLP for swallowing assessment, there were 33 instances where ISA might be clinically relevant according to ISA indicators. Conclusions Instrumental swallowing assessment is not being used for the management of swallowing in RACHs in Australia despite a clinical need for ISA and a potential role for ISA to improve swallowing care quality. Lack of timely ISA may fail to meet the complex health-care needs of older adults living with dysphagia in RACHs, increasing their vulnerability to complications of dysphagia and its management

Studying in a Virtual Mobility Context:An International Pilot in the Domain of Educational Science

nonPeerReviewe

Light red and dark red as well as far red light in the cultivation of tomato

Zur Erhöhung der Produktivität der Tomate (Solanum lycopersicum L.) wird umfangreich geforscht. Ein erhöhter Anteil roten Lichts wurde als ertragsfördernd bestätigt. Gleichzeitig gibt es Hinweise darauf, dass das rote Licht die Synthese an Antioxidantien bei der Tomate positiv beeinflusst. Dabei wurde nicht beschrieben, welchen Einfluss der schmale Bereich von 700 ± 30 nm (dunkelrot) auf die Pflanzenentwicklung hat. Einige Untersuchungen belegen, dass dieser Spektrumteil von den Pflanzen als ein Merkmal sich verschlechternder Bedingungen angenommen wird und bei manchen Arten zur Beschleunigung der Entwicklung führt. In eigenen Untersuchungen wollte das Institut für Agrar- und Stadtökologische Projekte an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (IASP) Lichtbedingungen schaffen, bei denen die Antioxidan­tiengehalte und die Erträge positiv beeinflusst werden. Dabei sollte der erhöhte Anteil an Dunkelrot im Licht als ein leichter Stress wirken und die Pflanzenentwicklung beschleunigen.Die Zwerg-Tomaten ‘Micro Tom‘ wurden in speziell konstruierten Boxen mithilfe von Folien und LEDs den veränderten Lichtspektren exponiert. Die Lichtregime in den Boxen unterschieden sich durch das Rot-Blau-Verhältnis von maximal 6,6:1 bis minimal 1,7:1. Der Dunkel­rotanteil schwankte von ca. 14% bis ca. 9% der gesamten Photonenflussdichte. Im ersten Versuch wurden die Pflanzen in drei Altersstufen (4–8 echte Blätter, Blühstadium und Fruchtentwicklung) − jeweils 3 Wochen in den Boxen den veränderten Lichtspektren exponiert und danach unter der gewöhnlichen Gewächshausbeleuchtung weiter kultiviert. Im Parallelversuch wurden die Pflanzen den veränderten Lichtspektren in den Boxen während der gesamten Kulturdauer ausgesetzt.Es zeigte sich eine eindeutige Reaktion der Tomatenpflanzen aus der jüngsten Altersgruppe auf die 3-wöchige Kultivierung unter mehr rotem und dunkelrotem Licht. Nach einer anfänglichen Verzögerung haben die Pflanzen schließlich signifikant mehr Blütenstände und Früchte produziert. Die Wirkung dieser Lichtregime zeigte sich mehrere Wochen später und äußerte sich auch in erhöhten Antioxidantiengehalten.Durch die Nutzung von Farbfolien wurde das Licht­spektrum verändert, aber auch die Beleuchtungsstärke beeinträchtigt. Dies wirkte als unvermeidbarer zusätzlicher Einflussfaktor und verringerte die Aussagekraft des Vergleichs der Pflanzenentwicklung unter den Folien und der normalen Gewächshausbeleuchtung. Die Versuchsergebnisse sind jedoch für die Praxis interessant und sollen unter praxisnahen Bedingungen des Gewächs­hauses bzw. Folienhauses präzisiert werden. DOI: 10.5073/JfK.2016.10.02, https://doi.org/10.5073/JfK.2016.10.02A lot of research has been done on the productiveness of tomato. An increased red part in the light spectrum was confirmed as yield-supporting. At the same time there are some indications that the red light influences the synthesis of antioxidants in tomato positively. However, it was not described in what way the plant development was influenced by the narrow wavelength area of 700 ± 30 nm (dark red). Some investigations proved that this spectrum part functions as indicator for deteriorating conditions for the plants and leads in some species to an accelerated development. In its own investigations the IASP wanted to create light conditions that can affect both parameters positively: antioxidant contents and yield. Moreover, the increased dark red part of the light was supposed to act as slight stress and thereby accelerate the plant development.The dwarf tomatoes ‘Micro Tom‘ were exposed to modi­fied light spectra by means of foils and LEDs in specially constructed boxes. The light regimes in the boxes differed by the red-blue ratio from maximum 6,6:1 to minimally 1.7:1. The dark red part varied from approx. 14% to approx. 9% of the photon flux density. In the first trial the plants were exposed to the changed light spectra for 3 weeks in three different development phases (4–8 real leaves, beginning of flowering and beginning fruit deve­lopment). Afterwards they were cultivated under the usual greenhouse illumination. In the parallel trial the plants were kept in the boxes with the modified light during the whole cultivation time.A distinct reaction of the tomato plants from the youngest development phase on the 3-week cultivation under more red and dark red light was observed. After an initial delay in flowering, the plants finally produced significantly more inflorescences and fruits. The effect of these light regimes showed several weeks later and had also been accompanied by an increased concentration of antioxidants.By means of coloured foils not only the light spectrum was altered but also the photon flux density impaired. This acted as unavoidable additional parameter and reduced the explanatory power of the comparison of the plant development under foils and under normal greenhouse lighting. Nevertheless, the test results are interesting for real fruit production and should be specified under practical conditions of greenhouses or Spanish tunnels. DOI: 10.5073/JfK.2016.10.02, https://doi.org/10.5073/JfK.2016.10.0

Relaxation dynamics of carbon nanotubes of enriched chiralities

In our work we combined experimental and theoretical investigations of the relaxation dynamics of the single wall carbon nanotubes (SW-CNTs) in solution samples with enriched chiralities of (7,5) and (7,6) species. In two-color pump-probe studies we observe three-exponential decay in the differential transmission spectra in the range of few picoseconds, tens of picoseconds, and hundreds of picoseconds. Decay curves are very similar for both SW-CNT chiralities under resonant excitation and probing of excited and ground state transition energies, respectively. Both types of tubes exhibit no changes in decay for the different excitation energies in the range ±50meV around the excited state. By tuning the probe pulse towards energies higher then ground state (up to +350meV) we observe acceleration of the first decay component from 5.8ps down to 1.6ps. Our experimental results are supported by time resolved microscopic calculations based on carbon nanotube Bloch equations proving the fast decay component behavior being dominated through scattering with acoustic phonons

Star products, duality and double Lie algebras

Quantization of classical systems using the star-product of symbols of observables is discussed. In the star-product scheme an analysis of dual structures is performed and a physical interpretation is proposed. At the Lie algebra level duality is shown to be connected to double Lie algebras. The analysis is specified to quantum tomography. The classical tomographic Poisson bracket is found.Comment: 22 pages, no figure

Comparing post-crisis dynamics across Euro Area countries with the Global Multi-country model

Abstract Following the global financial crisis, the Euro Area (EA) has experienced a persistent slump and notable trade balance adjustments, but with pronounced differences across EA Member States. We estimate a multi-country structural macroeconomic model to assess and compare the main drivers of GDP growth and trade balance adjustment across Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. We find that the pronounced post-crisis slump in Italy and Spain was mainly driven by positive saving shocks ('deleveraging') and by an increase in investment and intra-euro risk premia. Fiscal austerity in Spain and the productivity slowdown in Italy have been additional sizable contributors to the economic downturn. The results further suggest that euro depreciation, heightened intra-euro risk premia and subdued investment had a sizable impact on the trade balance reversals in Italy and Spain, which has been offset in France by a strong increase in imports and lower exports

Rußlands Perspektiven: kritische Faktoren und mögliche Entwicklungen bis 2010

'Rußland hat erhebliche Probleme, den Erwartungen seiner Partner als berechenbarer Akteur in den internationalen Beziehungen zu entsprechen. Die Transformation ist auf halbem Wege steckengeblieben, die finanzielle Basis für eine strukturelle Erneuerung ist drastisch geschrumpft. Der inzwischen eingetretene Kontrollverlust der Verantwortlichen ist besorgniserregend. Nationalistische Kräfte in Rußland denunzieren den Verfall der russischen Wirtschaft als Ergebnis einer Diskriminierungs-, ja Zersetzungspolitik des Westens. Auf der anderen Seite haben Geldgeber und Öffentlichkeit im Westen kein Verständnis mehr für Forderungen der Regierung in Moskau, ihr immer aufs neue durch finanzielle Stützungsaktionen entgegenzukommen. Die russische Politik hat sich in eine prekäre wirtschaftliche Abhängigkeit von westlicher Kooperation manövriert, die auch dem Westen wenig politischen Spielraum läßt. Die Erfahrung der letzten Jahre zeigt indes, daß Appelle von außen zur Behebung dieser Probleme solange ins Leere gehen, wie es den in demokratischen Wahlen legitimierten Eliten an Verantwortungsbewußtsein und Konsensfähigkeit fehlt.' (Textauszug)'Russia is having major problems fulfilling the expectations of its partners with regard to becoming a predictable actor in international relations. The transformation process has come to a standstill and the financial basis for structural renewal has shrunk drastically. The loss, of control of those in positions of responsibility is worrying. Nationalist forces in Russia are blaming the collapse of the Russian economy on a discriminatory or even subversive policy on the part of the West. At the same time, financiers and the Western public have run out of patience with the Russian government's continual demands for the West to keep propping it up with new financial aid packages. Russian politicians have manoeuvred themselves into a position of precarious economic dependence on Western co-operation, which has the effect of limiting the West's political options as well. The experience of the past few years has shown, moreover, that appeals from outside to resolve these problems will go on falling on deaf ears as long as the democratically elected, and therefore legitimate, elite falls to show a sense of responsibility and consensus-achieving ability.' (extract

Doing quantitative research in the learning sciences and CSCL:current developments and applications

While quantitative methods are continuously developed in various fields of origin,such as psychology, the specific applications in the core field of learning sciences and CSCL are less well advanced. In this workshop, we explore and discuss current methodological topics in three relevant fields of empirical research: (1) obtaining data, (2) analyzing data, and (3) sharing data, replicating and integrating findings. Outcomes of the discussions are planned to be published in short guidelines facilitating the application of latest developments in quantitative methods in the learning sciences and CSCL research.<br/