Posttraumatische Störungen bei Patienten mit Erkrankungen aus dem schizophrenen Formenkreis

Background. The findings of internation- al studies suggest high rates of interperson- al violence and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Only few studies, how- ever, have so far been conducted in the Ger- man-speaking countries. Objectives. The aim of our study was to determine the prevalence of lifetime experi- ences of interpersonal violence and comor- bid PTSD among inpatients in a German uni- versity hospital. Method. In N=145 consecutively admitted patients with schizophrenia spectrum disor- ders (67% male) the structured trauma in- terview (STI) was used to assess experiences of interpersonal violence and the structured clinical interview for DSM-IV (SCID) to assess comorbid PTSD. Results. Sexual violence under the age of 16 years was reported by 17% of the patients (women 27%, men 12%). Approximately one third (32%) reported physical violence by pa- rental figures (women 38%, men 29%). At least one form of early violence (sexual or physical) was reported by half of the women (48%) and one third of the men (34%). Neg- ative sexual experiences later in life were re- ported by 17%, physical violence by 38% and at least one of these forms by 48% of the pa- tients. In total two thirds of all patients (66%) reported experiences of violence during their lifetime. The prevalence of acute PTSD was 12%. Another 9% of patients had a subsyn- dromal PTSD. Conclusion. The present study confirmed the high rates of experiences of interperson- al violence and comorbid PTSD in a German sample of patients with schizophrenia spec- trum disorders. Violence and it's consequenc- es should therefore be routinely assessed and the full spectrum of trauma-specific therapies should be integrated into the treatment of this group of patients

Laminar Burning Velocities of Hydrogen-Blended Methane–Air and Natural Gas–Air Mixtures, Calculated from the Early Stage of p(t) Records in a Spherical Vessel

The flammable hydrogen-blended methane–air and natural gas–air mixtures raise specific safety and environmental issues in the industry and transportation; therefore, their explosion characteristics such as the explosion limits, explosion pressures, and rates of pressure rise have significant importance from a safety point of view. At the same time, the laminar burning velocities are the most useful parameters for practical applications and in basic studies for the validation of reaction mechanisms and modeling turbulent combustion. In the present study, an experimental and numerical study of the effect of hydrogen addition on the laminar burning velocity (LBV) of methane–air and natural gas–air mixtures was conducted, using mixtures with equivalence ratios within 0.90 and 1.30 and various hydrogen fractions rH within 0.0 and 0.5. The experiments were performed in a 14 L spherical vessel with central ignition at ambient initial conditions. The LBVs were calculated from p(t) data, determined in accordance with EN 15967, by using only the early stage of flame propagation. The results show that hydrogen addition determines an increase in LBV for all examined binary flammable mixtures. The LBV variation versus the fraction of added hydrogen, rH, follows a linear trend only at moderate hydrogen fractions. The further increase in rH results in a stronger variation in LBV, as shown by both experimental and computed LBVs. Hydrogen addition significantly changes the thermal diffusivity of flammable CH4–air or NG–air mixtures, the rate of heat release, and the concentration of active radical species in the flame front and contribute, thus, to LBV variation

Bezpečnostní charakteristiky směsí etylenoxidu, inertního plynu a vzduchu ve sterilačních procesech

Part I: Explosion limits of Ethylene oxide/Inert gas/Air-Mixtures Ethylene oxide belongs – like acetylene – to the disintegration capable (chemical unstable) substances. This is the reason that for ethylene/air-mixtures the upper explo-sion limit (decomposition reaction) is 100 vol.-%. For the assessment of explosion hazards by industrial sterilization processes with ethylene oxide (EO), the fl ammability regions of 3-component-systems EO/nitrogen/air, EO/carbon dioxide/air and EO/water vapour/air were determined. The tests were performed at tempera-tures of 20 °C and 100 °C and at pressures of 40 kPa and 100 kPa in accordance with the stan-dard test method EN 1839-B. The observed fl ammability regions are similar in shape and typical for mixtures with ethylene oxide. According to the molecular heat capacities the regions get larger with nitrogen and smaller with carbon dioxide. They become larger with increasing pressure and increasing temperature. Using experimental data, a semi-empirical model was created that allows the calculation of explosion limits of process gases in sterilization processes. Such process gases can consist of EO, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, water vapour and air. The model bases on the assumption that the adiabatic flame temperatures along the boundary curves of a flammability region have a certain temperature profile that is nearly independent of the type of the inert gas. The adiabatic flame temperatures were calculated by using the “Gaseq” Code. Using a temperature profile calculated from only one experimental system EO/inert gas/air it is possible to predict the explosion limits of systems with other inert gases or of process gases containing several inert gases. Part II: Maximum Experimental Safe Gap and Defl agration- and Detonation Characteristics of Ethylene oxide/Air-Mixtures For the constructive design of flame arresters the flame proof safe gaps of ethylene oxide/air-mixtures were measured according to IEC 79-1A at atmospheric pressure and 40 °C in de-pendence on the volume content of ethylene oxide. The experimental results show defi nitely that there is besides the M.E.S.G (oxidation reaction) a second minimum (decomposition reac-tion) at a higher ethylene oxide concentration. However, this minimum is above the M.E.S.G. value. In connection with the tests of deflagration flame arresters and detonation flame arresters on their safety against flame transmission the flame propagation velocities and the maximum pressures for ethylene oxide/air-mixtures were determined with the concentration range of the ethylene oxide from 5 to 90 vol.-%. Pipes with an inner diameter of Di = 80 mm and a ratio pipe length/pipe diameter L/D from 185 to 275 were used for the deflagration and detonation tests.Část I: Meze výbušnosti směsí etylenoxidu, inertního plynu a vzduchu Etylenoxid patří – jako acetylén – k látkám, které jsou schopny rozpadu (chemicky nestabilním). Proto je horní mez výbušnosti (rozkladná reakce) směsí etylénu a vzduchu 100 obj. %. Pro hodnocení nebezpečí výbuchu průmyslových sterilačních procesů s etylenoxidem (EO) byly stanoveny oblasti hořlavosti 3 složkových systémů EO/dusík/vzduch, EO/oxid uhličitý/vzduch a EO/vodní páry/vzduch. Byly provedeny testy při teplotách 20 °C a 100 °C a při tlacích 40 kPa a 100 kPa v souladu se standardní testovací metodou EN 1839-B. Sledované oblasti hořlavosti jsou tvarově podobné a typické pro směsi s etylenoxidem. Podle molekulárních tepelných kapacit se tyto oblasti zvětšují s dusíkem a zmenšují s oxidem uhličitým. Zvětšují se s rostoucím tlakem a rostoucí teplotou. S použitím experimentálních dat byl vytvořen polo-empirický model, který umožňuje výpočet mezí výbušnosti procesních plynů ve sterilačních procesech. Takové procesní plyny se mohou skládat z EO, dusíku, oxidu uhličitého, vodních par a vzduchu. Model je založen na předpokladu, že adiabatické teploty plamene na hraničních křivkách oblasti hořlavosti mají určitý teplotní profi l, který je téměř nezávislý na typu inertního plynu. Adiabatické teploty plamene byly vypočteny pomocí kódu “Gaseq”. S pomocí teplotního profi lu vypočteného pouze z jednoho experimentálního systému EO/inertní plyn/vzduch je možné predikovat meze výbušnosti systémů s jinými inertními plyny nebo procesními plyny obsahujícími několik inertních plynů. Část II: Maximální experimentální bezpečná spára, defl agrační a detonační charakteristiky směsí etylenoxidu a vzduchu Pro konstrukční návrh protiexplozivních pojistek byly měřeny ohnivzdorné bezpečné spáry směsí ethylenoxidu a vzduchu podle IEC 79-1A při atmosférickém tlaku a 40 °C v závislosti na objemovém obsahu etylenoxidu. Experimentální výsledky ukazují s konečnou platností, že kromě maximální experimentální bezpečné spáry (oxidační reakce) existuje druhé minimum (rozkladná reakce) při vyšší koncentraci etylenoxidu. Toto minimum je však nad hodnotou maximální experimentální bezpečné spáry. Ve spojení s testy deflagračních protiexplozivních a detonačních protiexplozivních pojistek na jejich bezpečnost proti přenosu plamene byly stanoveny rychlosti šíření plamene a maximální tlaky pro směsi etylenoxidu a vzduchu s rozsahem koncentrace etylenoxidu od 5 do 90 obj. %. Pro deflagrační a detonační testy byly použity trubky s vnitřním průměrem Di = 80 mm a poměrem délky trubky k průměru trubky L/D od 185 do 275

Posttraumatische Störungen bei Patienten mit Erkrankungen aus dem schizophrenen Formenkreis

Background. The findings of internation- al studies suggest high rates of interperson- al violence and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Only few studies, how- ever, have so far been conducted in the Ger- man-speaking countries. Objectives. The aim of our study was to determine the prevalence of lifetime experi- ences of interpersonal violence and comor- bid PTSD among inpatients in a German uni- versity hospital. Method. In N=145 consecutively admitted patients with schizophrenia spectrum disor- ders (67% male) the structured trauma in- terview (STI) was used to assess experiences of interpersonal violence and the structured clinical interview for DSM-IV (SCID) to assess comorbid PTSD. Results. Sexual violence under the age of 16 years was reported by 17% of the patients (women 27%, men 12%). Approximately one third (32%) reported physical violence by pa- rental figures (women 38%, men 29%). At least one form of early violence (sexual or physical) was reported by half of the women (48%) and one third of the men (34%). Neg- ative sexual experiences later in life were re- ported by 17%, physical violence by 38% and at least one of these forms by 48% of the pa- tients. In total two thirds of all patients (66%) reported experiences of violence during their lifetime. The prevalence of acute PTSD was 12%. Another 9% of patients had a subsyn- dromal PTSD. Conclusion. The present study confirmed the high rates of experiences of interperson- al violence and comorbid PTSD in a German sample of patients with schizophrenia spec- trum disorders. Violence and it's consequenc- es should therefore be routinely assessed and the full spectrum of trauma-specific therapies should be integrated into the treatment of this group of patients

Controlling the physics and chemistry of binary and ternary praseodymium and cerium oxide systems

Rare earth praseodymium and cerium oxides have attracted intense research interest in the last fewdecades, due to their intriguing chemical and physical characteristics. An understanding of the correlationbetween structure and properties, in particular the surface chemistry, is urgently required for their applicationin microelectronics, catalysis, optics and other fields. Such an understanding is, however, hampered by thecomplexity of rare earth oxide materials and experimental methods for their characterisation. Here, we reportrecent progress in studying high-quality, single crystalline, praseodymium and cerium oxide films as well asternary alloys grown on Si(111) substrates. Using these well-defined systems and based on a systematic multi-technique surface science approach, the correspondingphysical and chemical properties, such as the surfacestructure, the surface morphology, the bulk–surface interaction and the oxygen storage/release capability, areexplored in detail. We show that specifically the crystalline structure and the oxygen stoichiometry of theoxide thin films can be well controlled by the film preparation method. This work leads to a comprehensiveunderstanding of the properties of rare earth oxides and highlights the applications of these versatile materials.Furthermore, methanol adsorption studies are performed on binary and ternary rare earth oxide thinfilms, demonstrating the feasibility of employing such systems for model catalytic studies. Specifically forceria systems, we find considerable stability against normal environmental conditions so that they canbe considered as a ‘‘materials bridge’’ between surface science models and real catalysts