In Individuals Following Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Haemorrhage, Hair Cortisol Concentrations Are Higher and More Strongly Associated with Psychological Functioning and Sleep Complaints than in Healthy Controls

Following an aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH), many patients report persistent deficits in psychological functioning, characterised by high levels of stress and symptoms of depression, low life satisfaction, along with poor sleep. Such deficits have been associated with altered saliva and serum cortisol levels due to a dysregulation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity (HPA-AA). However, hair cortisol concentrations (HCCs) have not been assessed in this population, although this method allows a long-term insight into cortisol values. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare HCCs in aSAH patients and healthy controls and to examine how HCCs are associated with perceived stress, psychological functioning, and sleep complaints.; In this cross-sectional study, data on depressive symptoms, hypochondriacal beliefs, life satisfaction, and sleep complaints were gathered in 15 aSAH patients and 17 healthy controls. HCCs of the previous 3 months were assessed.; aSAH patients had significantly higher HCCs than healthy controls. In aSAH patients, higher HCCs were significantly associated with increased depressive symptoms, hypochondriacal beliefs, lower life satisfaction, and increased sleep complaints. Such significant associations were not found in healthy controls.; Our findings indicate that a dysregulation of HPA-AA is associated with some of the long-term impairments in psychological functioning and sleep in aSAH survivors. While the direction of association remained unclear, a dysregulated HPA-AA may be causally linked with the maintenance of poor psychological functioning and poor sleep. The overall findings should be considered in the planning of long-term treatment aimed at improving psychological functioning and sleep in aSAH patients

Relativistic, QED and nuclear effects in highly charged ions revealed by resonant electron-ion recombination in storage rings

Dielectronic recombination (DR) of few-electron ions has evolved into a sensitive spectroscopic tool for highly charged ions. This is due to technological advances in electron-beam preparation and ion-beam cooling techniques at heavy-ion storage rings. Recent experiments prove unambiguously that DR collision spectroscopy has become sensitive to 2nd order QED and to nuclear effects. This review discusses the most recent developments in high-resolution spectroscopy of low-energy DR resonances, experimental studies of KLL DR of very heavy hydrogenlike ions, isotope shift measurements of DR resonances, and the experimental determination of hyperfine induced decay rates in divalent ions utilizing DR.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, proceedings of the 4th Conference on Elementary Processes in Atomic Systems, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, June 18-20, 2008, accepted for publication in Nucl. Instrum. Methods

Mid-chain carboxylic acids by catalytic refining of microalgae oil

Microalgae oil serves as a feedstock for a biorefinery approach to mid-chain (di-)carboxylic acid esters, currently only accessible via demanding synthetic routes. Via the butenolysis of mono- and poly-unsaturated fatty acids, short-chain unsaturated fatty acid methyl esters and mono- and di-enes were produced in a high selectivity. These olefins were further processed into value added linear mid-chain (di-)carboxylic acid esters via isomerizing alkoxycarbonylation. Model compounds such as eicosapentaenoic acid were used to study the reactions including the screening of metathesis catalysts and to identify all formed products. Notably, eicosapentaenoic acid, a five-fold unsaturated fatty acid relatively abundant in algae, is successfully converted to four equivalents of heptadiene, which was carbonylated to the linear diester (dimethyl azelate). The butenolysis and subsequent isomerizing alkoxycarbonylation were performed on the algae oil extracted from the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum. Despite the multicomponent mixture of numerous lipids and non-lipid compounds present in algae oil, high conversion and high selectivity for the desired products were achieved in both reactions. This approach provides access to several carboxylic mono- and di-acid esters of chain length ranging from C6 to C12 (amongst others azelaic acid ester, suberic acid ester and dodecanedioic acid ester), that are in demand but to which access is limited currently, fully based on algae oils as a renewable resource.publishe

Microalgae lipids as a feedstock for the production of benzene

A two-step one-pot synthesis of benzene from the five-fold unsaturated fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), a component of microalgae oils, is presented. By a sequence of olefin metathesis and the catalytic dehydrogenation of the resulting 1,4-cyclohexadiene, two equivalents of benzene are effectively formed per EPA substrate molecule. As the only major by-products, 5-octenoic acid and 5-decenedioic acid are formed. Performing the dehydrogenation step under hydrogen pressure results in the formation of their saturated analogues, sebacic acid and octanoic acid, both desirable products, while the simultaneous dehydrogenation step to benzene is not hampered.publishe

Recreational activity after cementless total hip arthroplasty in patients older than 75 years

Introduction!#!This retrospective study aimed to compare activity levels before and at mid-term follow-up after primary cementless total hip arthroplasty (THA) in patients older than 75 years.!##!Materials and methods!#!A cohort of 79 patients with a mean age at surgery of 78 years (range 76-84 years) was evaluated 6.3 years (range 4-8 years) after cementless THA due to osteoarthritis and was followed up with a questionnaire to determine their activity level. Pre- and post-operative recreational activities were assessed at routine follow-up using the University of California, Los Angeles activity score, and the Schulthess Clinic sports and activity questionnaire. Post-operative health-related quality of life was measured using Veterans Rand 12-item survey (VR-12).!##!Results!#!Six years after THA, 72% of preoperatively active patients had returned to activity. Comparing activity preoperatively (before the onset of symptoms) and 6 years after THA, the number of disciplines and session length has decreased significantly. A significant decline in high-impact activities was observed, while participation in low-impact activities significantly increased.!##!Conclusion!#!The majority of patients maintained a recreational activity level in the mid-term after primary cementless THA. However, a change in disciplines toward low-impact activities was observed