The ePark study protocol: A decentralized trial of individual video-assisted cognitive behavioural therapy for depressive disorder in Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, affecting 1.2 million Europeans [1]. The prevalence of PD in people over 60 is about 1%, increasing to 4% in people 80 years and older [2]. Although PD is defined as a motor disorder, non-motor symptoms including neuropsychiatric symptoms such as depression and anxiety, are frequent and disabling, with a major impact on quality of life, caregiver burden and healthcare costs [3]. Current pharmacological treatments for PD neuropsychiatric symptoms, including depression, are often unsatisfactory for several reasons, including frequent adverse effects of medication, elevated risk of polypharmacy, and limited availability for non-pharmacological treatment options [4,5]. Previously published RCTs have demonstrated large effect sizes of face-to-face, telephone administered and online CBT for depressive symptoms in PD [[6], [7], [8]]. Despite strong evidence that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is effective and cost-efficient in reducing depressive symptoms in PD, few patients are offered this treatment [3,[6], [7], [8], [9], [10]]. This is likely due in part to a shortage of CBT therapists at neurological outpatient clinics, particularly in rural areas, resulting in geographical differences in the availability of CBT treatment. This calls for the development of novel, evidence based online therapeutic strategies, which may significantly improve the lives of PD patients suffering from depressive symptoms.publishedVersio

Temporal evolution of stable water isotopologues in cloud droplets in a hill cap cloud in central Europe (HCCT-2010)

In this work, we present the first study resolving the temporal evolution of δ2H and δ18O values in cloud droplets during 13 different cloud events. The cloud events were probed on a 937 m high mountain chain in Germany in the framework of the Hill Cap Cloud Thuringia 2010 campaign (HCCT-2010) in September and October 2010. The δ values of cloud droplets ranged from −77‰ to −15‰ (δ2H) and from −12.1‰ to −3.9‰ (δ18O) over the whole campaign. The cloud water line of the measured δ values was δ2H=7.8×δ18O+13×10−3, which is of similar slope, but with higher deuterium excess than other Central European Meteoric Water Lines. Decreasing δ values in the course of the campaign agree with seasonal trends observed in rain in central Europe. The deuterium excess was higher in clouds developing after recent precipitation revealing episodes of regional moisture recycling. The variations in δ values during one cloud event could either result from changes in meteorological conditions during condensation or from variations in the δ values of the water vapor feeding the cloud. To test which of both aspects dominated during the investigated cloud events, we modeled the variation in δ values in cloud water using a closed box model. We could show that the variation in δ values of two cloud events was mainly due to changes in local temperature conditions. For the other eleven cloud events, the variation was most likely caused by changes in the isotopic composition of the advected and entrained vapor. Frontal passages during two of the latter cloud events led to the strongest temporal changes in both δ2H (≈ 6‰ per hour) and δ18O (≈ 0.6‰ per hour). Moreover, a detailed trajectory analysis for the two longest cloud events revealed that variations in the entrained vapor were most likely related to rain out or changes in relative humidity and temperature at the moisture source region or both. This study illustrates the sensitivity of stable isotope composition of cloud water to changes in large scale air mass properties and regional recycling of moisture

Light-Front Quantisation as an Initial-Boundary Value Problem

In the light front quantisation scheme initial conditions are usually provided on a single lightlike hyperplane. This, however, is insufficient to yield a unique solution of the field equations. We investigate under which additional conditions the problem of solving the field equations becomes well posed. The consequences for quantisation are studied within a Hamiltonian formulation by using the method of Faddeev and Jackiw for dealing with first-order Lagrangians. For the prototype field theory of massive scalar fields in 1+1 dimensions, we find that initial conditions for fixed light cone time {\sl and} boundary conditions in the spatial variable are sufficient to yield a consistent commutator algebra. Data on a second lightlike hyperplane are not necessary. Hamiltonian and Euler-Lagrange equations of motion become equivalent; the description of the dynamics remains canonical and simple. In this way we justify the approach of discretised light cone quantisation.Comment: 26 pages (including figure), tex, figure in latex, TPR 93-

Quantum Theory in Accelerated Frames of Reference

The observational basis of quantum theory in accelerated systems is studied. The extension of Lorentz invariance to accelerated systems via the hypothesis of locality is discussed and the limitations of this hypothesis are pointed out. The nonlocal theory of accelerated observers is briefly described. Moreover, the main observational aspects of Dirac's equation in noninertial frames of reference are presented. The Galilean invariance of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics and the mass superselection rule are examined in the light of the invariance of physical laws under inhomogeneous Lorentz transformations.Comment: 25 pages, no figures, contribution to Springer Lecture Notes in Physics (Proc. SR 2005, Potsdam, Germany, February 13 - 18, 2005

The spectrum of high-energy cosmic rays measured with KASCADE-Grande

The energy spectrum of cosmic rays between 10**16 eV and 10**18 eV, derived from measurements of the shower size (total number of charged particles) and the total muon number of extensive air showers by the KASCADE-Grande experiment, is described. The resulting all-particle energy spectrum exhibits strong hints for a hardening of the spectrum at approximately 2x10**16 eV and a significant steepening at c. 8x10**16 eV. These observations challenge the view that the spectrum is a single power law between knee and ankle. Possible scenarios generating such features are discussed in terms of astrophysical processes that may explain the transition region from galactic to extragalactic origin of cosmic rays.Comment: accepted by Astroparticle Physics June 201

Deglacial landscapes and the Late Upper Palaeolithic of Switzerland

The presence of people in Switzerland in recently deglaciated landscapes after the Last Glacial Maximum represents human utilisation of newly available environments. Understanding these landscapes and the resources available to the people who exploited them is key to understanding not only Late Upper Palaeolithic settlement in Switzerland, but more broadly human behavioural ecology in newly inhabited environmental settings. By applying bone collagen stable isotope analysis (δ13C, δ15N and δ34S) to faunal remains from Late Upper Palaeolithic localities in Switzerland, we investigate animal ecology and environmental conditions during periods of human occupation. High and relatively uniform δ34S values indicate that landscapes north of the Jura Mountains provided comparatively stable environmental conditions, while lower and more variable δ34S values on the Swiss Plateau suggest a dynamic landscape with diverse hydrological and pedological conditions, potentially linked to regionally different patterns of permafrost thaw. This contrasts with the archaeological record that appears relatively uniform between the two regions, suggesting people were employing similar subsistence behaviours across a range of environmental settings. The pattern of change in δ15N across the deglacial period appears consistent between areas that remained ice-free throughout the LGM and those that were glaciated. Most notable is a period of exclusively low δ15N values between 15,200 and 14,800 cal. BP, which could relate a regional expansion of floral biomass in response to environmental change

Rings and bars: unmasking secular evolution of galaxies

Secular evolution gradually shapes galaxies by internal processes, in contrast to early cosmological evolution which is more rapid. An important driver of secular evolution is the flow of gas from the disk into the central regions, often under the influence of a bar. In this paper, we review several new observational results on bars and nuclear rings in galaxies. They show that these components are intimately linked to each other, and to the properties of their host galaxy. We briefly discuss how upcoming observations, e.g., imaging from the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G), will lead to significant further advances in this area of research.Comment: Invited review at "Galaxies and their Masks", celebrating Ken Freeman's 70-th birthday, Sossusvlei, Namibia, April 2010. To be published by Springer, New York, editors D.L. Block, K.C. Freeman, & I. Puerari; minor change

Test of the π g7/2 subshell closure at Z = 58

A simultaneous lifetime and relative g-factor measurement of the 2+1 levels in 138,142Ce was performed using the Time Dependent Recoil Into Vacuum (TDRIV) technique. The excitation mechanism was Coulomb excitation in inverse kinematics, and the experimental setup included the Yale plunger device and the Gammasphere array. The latter was used to extract angular distributions for the 2+1 → 0+ γ -ray transitions at various target-to-stopper distances. A g2+1) factor of 0.26(8) for 138Ce was obtained relative to the literature value of g(2+1) =0.21(5) in 142Ce. In addition, high-precision values of the B (E2; 2+1 → 0+) strengths were obtained. The new data support a proposed subshell closure for the π g7/2 orbital at Z = 58

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Jet size dependence of single jet suppression in lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s(NN)) = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions at the LHC provide direct sensitivity to the physics of jet quenching. In a sample of lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s) = 2.76 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 7 inverse microbarns, ATLAS has measured jets with a calorimeter over the pseudorapidity interval |eta| < 2.1 and over the transverse momentum range 38 < pT < 210 GeV. Jets were reconstructed using the anti-kt algorithm with values for the distance parameter that determines the nominal jet radius of R = 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5. The centrality dependence of the jet yield is characterized by the jet "central-to-peripheral ratio," Rcp. Jet production is found to be suppressed by approximately a factor of two in the 10% most central collisions relative to peripheral collisions. Rcp varies smoothly with centrality as characterized by the number of participating nucleons. The observed suppression is only weakly dependent on jet radius and transverse momentum. These results provide the first direct measurement of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions and complement previous measurements of dijet transverse energy imbalance at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages plus author list (30 pages total), 8 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Physics Letters B. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/HION-2011-02