Non-granulomatous Interstitial Nephritis in a Chinese Man with Sarcoidosis

Clinical renal involvement in sarcoidosis is rare and has not been previously reported in Chinese patients. We report a case of non-granulomatous interstitial nephritis that presented with acute renal failure in a Chinese man with underlying sarcoidosis. Use of prednisolone led to dramatic renal improvement and partial resolution of his asymptomatic lung parenchymal lesions. Unfortunately, the patient subsequently died of cryptococcal meningitis and episodes of nosocomial pneumonia. One should closely monitor a patient with a presumptive diagnosis of sarcoidosis after embarking on treatment since infections like tuberculosis may mimic or coexist with the disease. This is particularly important in areas where sarcoidosis is exceedingly rare

Ultrafast relaxation dynamics of highly-excited states in N2 molecules excited by femtosecond XUV pulses

We used velocity-map-imaging to measure electronic and nuclear dynamics in N2 molecules excited by a train of attosecond pulses. A time-to-space mapping of autoionization channel is demonstrated. It is found that the autoionization becomes energetically allowed when the two nuclei are still very close (~ 3 Å) and that it can be coherently manipulated by a strong femtosecond infrared pulse. © Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2013

Molecular Movies from Molecular Frame Photoelectron Angular Distribution (MF-PAD) Measurements

We discuss recent and on-going experiments, where molecular frame photoelectron angular distributions (MFPADs) of high kinetic energy photoelectrons are measured in order to determine the time evolution of molecular structures in the course of a photochemical event. These experiments include, on the one hand, measurements where single XUV/X-ray photons, obtained from a free electron laser (FEL) or by means of high-harmonic generation (HHG), are used to eject a high energy photoelectron, and, on the other hand, measurements where a large number of mid-infrared photons are absorbed in the course of strong-field ionization. In the former case, first results indicate a manifestation of the both the electronic orbital and the molecular structure in the angle-resolved photoelectron distributions, while in the latter case novel holographic structures are measured that suggest that both the molecular structure and ultrafast electronic rearrangement processes can be studied with a time-resolution that reaches down into the attosecond and few-femtosecond domain

Impulsive orientation and alignment of quantum-state-selected NO molecules

Manipulation of the molecular-axis distribution is an important ingredient in experiments aimed at understanding and controlling molecular processes(1-6). Samples of aligned or oriented molecules can be obtained following the interaction with an intense laser field(7-9), enabling experiments in the molecular rather than the laboratory frame(10-12). However, the degree of impulsive molecular orientation and alignment that can be achieved using a single laser field is limited(13) and crucially depends on the initial states, which are thermally populated. Here we report the successful demonstration of a new technique for laser-field-free orientation and alignment of molecules that combines an electrostatic field, non-resonant femtosecond laser excitation(14) and the preparation of state-selected molecules using a hexapole(2). As a unique quantum-mechanical wavepacket is formed, a large degree of orientation and alignment is observed both during and after the femtosecond laser pulse, which is even further increased (to < cos theta > = -0.74 and < cos(2)theta > = 0.82, respectively) by tailoring the shape of the femtosecond laser pulse. This work should enable new applications such as the study of reaction dynamics or collision experiments in the molecular frame, and orbital tomography(11) of heteronuclear molecules.No Full Tex