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The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) dark matter search experiment is currently being deployed at the Homestake Laboratory in South Dakota. We will highlight the main elements of design which make the experiment a very strong competitor in the field of direct detection, as well as an easily scalable concept. We will also present its potential reach for supersymmetric dark matter detection, within various timeframes ranging from 1 year to 5 years or more., 4 pages, in proceedings of the SUSY09 conference

A feasibility study was undertaken for the measurement of the resonance at E(r) = 545 keV in the N-13(p,gamma)O-14 reaction, using intense radioactive ion beams. The analog resonance at E(r) = 512 keV in C-12(p,gamma)N-14 was chosen as a test case, leading to improved knowledge of the resonance parameters. Thin- and thick-target yields were obtained with C-13 beams on an extended gas target and a polyethylene foil, respectively. In addition, thin and thick targets of enriched C-13 were irradiated with proton beams. Normalization problems arising with mixed ion beams (N-13/C-13) are discussed.

We propose a new concept for a very low background multi-ton liquid xenon Dark Matter experiment. The detector consists of two concentric spheres and a charge readout device in the centre. Xenon between the two spheres forms a self-shield and veto device. The inner surface of the central sphere is coated with CsI to form an internal photocathode with minimum of 2\pi coverage for any event in the active volume. Photoelectrons from the CsI photocathode drift toward the charge readout micro-structure in the centre of the detector. Both scintillation and ionisation are measured simultaneously for background rejection and 3-D event mapping. In addition to external shielding, the low background is achieved by eliminating PMTs and by using low radioactivity pure materials throughout the detector. We present detailed calculations of the charge readout system and design details. The detector is expected to probe the full SUSY parameter space., Comment: to appear in Proc. 7th UCLA Symposium on Sources and Detection of Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe, 22-24 February, Marina del Rey, USA; Nucl. Phys. B Proc. Suppl., in press; 4 pages, 3 figues

Audiovisual perception and imitation are essential for musical learning and skill acquisition. We compared professional pianists to musically naive controls with fMRI while observing piano playing finger–hand movements and serial finger–thumb opposition movements both with and without synchronous piano sound. Pianists showed stronger activations within a fronto-parieto-temporal network while observing piano playing compared to controls and contrasted to perception of serial finger–thumb opposition movements. Observation of silent piano playing additionally recruited auditory areas in pianists. Perception of piano sounds coupled with serial finger–thumb opposition movements evoked increased activation within the sensorimotor network. This indicates specialization of multimodal auditory– sensorimotor systems within a fronto-parieto-temporal network by professional musical training. Musical “language,” which is acquired by observation and imitation, seems to be tightly coupled to this network in accord with an observation– execution system linking visual and auditory perception to motor performance.

Emotion recognition from both face and voice and experience of emotions were investigated in a group of non-symptomatic people at risk of carrying the Huntington's disease gene who presented for genetic testing. Based on the results of the DNA test, a group of people carrying the Huntington's disease gene (HD+), and a group of non-carriers (HD-) were formed. Since we were especially interested in the time course of possible deficits in emotion recognition, all people at risk were reassessed 6 and 12 months after the initial assessment. Recognising facial expressions of disgust was significantly impaired on all three assessments in the HD+ group, while recognition of vocal emotions and the experience of emotions were largely unaffected, confirming that deficits in recognition of facial expressions of disgust are an early correlate of carrying the gene for Huntington's disease. The inclusion of a healthy control group (n = 37) further allowed an estimate of the genetic and environmental contribution to deficits in facial emotion recognition.

There is accumulating evidence suggesting that the visual representation of facial affect is closely linked to its motor representation. To examine whether perception of pleasant facial affect involves neural circuitries associated with its production, we performed an fMRI experiment with 'compressed image acquisition' where subjects smiled and observed movies depicting other people smiling within scan-free time intervals between the acquisition of each image volume. Overlaps between the brain activation during observation and execution of smile expressions were located in the right premotor cortex and pars opercularis of the inferior frontal gyrus, right parietal operculum (SII) and left anterior insula. Observation of smile expressions further yielded signal increases within the posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS), fusiform gyrus and ventral amygdala. The results show that perceiving and expressing pleasant facial affect share a common neural basis in areas concerned with motor as well as somato- and limbic-sensory processing. In concert with temporal regions serving the visual analysis of facial expressive features, a mapping of the observed expressions onto neural circuitries associated with the production of these expressions and its somatosensory consequences could provide a description of what the expression would feel like if produced in the observer. Such a mechanism is suggested to be important for empathic understanding of others' feelings.

Surprise is one of six emotions having a specific and universally recognized facial expression. Functional imaging and neuropsychologic studies have uncovered partly separable neural substrates for perceiving different facial expressions; however, the functional neuroanatomy of perceiving surprised faces has not yet been investigated. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we aimed to identify the neural substrate of surprise perception from facial expressions. Based on the assumption of unexpectedness and novelty as elicitors of facial surprise reactions, we hypothesized recruitment of medial temporal lobe structures implicated in novelty detection during the perception of surprise in others. Healthy subjects were scanned while they were presented with surprised faces. As a control, they viewed faces depicting neutral or disgust expressions. Activations during the emotional conditions were contrasted with each other and with the neutral face condition. Compared to both control conditions, perception of surprised facial expressions yielded consistently increased signals in the parahippocampal region, an area associated previously with novelty detection. Our findings therefore suggest a close relation between perceiving surprise in others and the response to novel events. Additionally, we confirmed activation of the insula during perception of disgust expressions. Hum. Brain Mapping 23:181–187, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) has become an effective strategy in the treatment of motor symptoms in advanced Parkinson's disease. However, clinical studies have shown that DBS can affect verbal fluency. Seven Parkinson's disease patients with bilateral DBS of the STN were studied with positron emission tomography (PET) to investigate the effects of STN stimulation on regional cerebral blood flow during a verbal fluency task. Activation of the right orbitofrontal cortex and verbal fluency-associated activation within a left-sided frontotemporal network were decreased during STN stimulation compared with the OFF state. Our results offer an explanation for the commonest neuropsychological side effect of STN stimulation and show that STN stimulation affects a frontotemporal network during a fluency task.

Tumor directed cytotoxic therapy is one of the major challenges for the success of chemotherapy. In order to accomplish this goal in neuroblastoma, we rationally designed a prodrug of etoposide as substrate for tyrosine hydroxylase, a well established neuroblastoma associated enzyme. Here, we report synthesis and characterization of a 3,4 dihydroxy-phenyl carbamate derivative of etoposide. In order to demonstrate activation by tyrosine hydroxylase, the coding sequence of murine tyrosine hydroxylase was generated by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction from NXS2 neuroblastoma cells and cloned into the pRSET-A bacterial expression vector. The enzyme was expressed in Escherichia coli, characterized by Western blot and enzymatic activity was demonstrated by conversion of tyrosine into DOPA in the presence of cofactors using reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Under these enzymatic conditions, we demonstrate conversion of 3,4 dihydroxy-phenyl carbamate prodrug into free etoposide. This effect was clearly mediated by the enzyme since bacteria transformed with the empty vector were ineffective of prodrug activation. Furthermore, tyrosine hydroxylase positive cells exposed to the etoposide prodrug were effectively killed in contrast to tyrosine hydroxylase negative controls. These findings demonstrate that etoposide can be designed as a prodrug substrate for tyrosine hydroxylase and thereby establish proof of concept for neuroblastoma directed enzyme prodrug therapy.

Traditionally, DRAM storage capacitors have employed silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, or a combination of both as the capacitor dielectric. With the advent of smaller structures however, gains in capacitance made via the utilization of thinner films and/or enhanced-surface-area-structures are offset by increased leakage current or added processing complexity. In an effort to maintain capacitance as the ground rules shrink, work has been conducted on the synthesis and integration of titanium dioxide films into deep trench capacitors. For this investigation, films between 150 and 300 /spl Aring/ thick have been synthesized via the high temperature oxidation of titanium nitride at temperatures between 600 to 900/spl deg/C. Microstructural and electrical characterization has been performed on both blanket films and deep trench structures. Results show the films to be polycrystalline-rutile with a dielectric constant of about 30. Leakage current densities measured at 1 V were found to increase from values on the order of 10/sup -8/ A/cm/sup 2/ as grown to 10/sup -6/ A/cm/sup 2/ upon annealing at 1050/spl deg/C for 3 minutes in inert ambient. TEM/SEM analyses have illustrated the step coverage of the deposition technique and results indicate film conformality to be better than 90%.

1. Phencyclidine (PCP), a non-competitive NMDA-receptor antagonist, is able to induce schizophrenia-like symptoms in animals and in humans. It is known that schizophrenic patients have deficits in memory processes. 2. Therefore, it was investigated whether subchronic pulsatile or continuous application of 5.0 mg kg(-1) PCP over 5 days induce short-term memory deficits in holeboard learning and the action of two different neuroleptics on this behavioural test. 3. First, an impairment in the holeboard task was described when the animals were tested 24 h after the last application but not after 15 min or 1 h after the last injection. Secondly, the influence of haloperidol and risperidone on the PCP-induced short-term memory changes was tested. 4. The combined application of PCP and risperidone led to a complete antagonism of the short-term deficits, but the combined treatment with haloperidol was accompanied by a partial abolishment of the PCP-induced deficits. 5. PCP led to an upregulation of the glutamate binding sites in striatum and nucleus accumbens whereas the D(2) binding sites were reduced in striatum. The D(1) binding sites seem to be unchanged. The receptor protein expression of glutamate receptors mGluR1, GluR2, GluR5/7 and NMDAR1 were not modified in response to PCP treatment. 6. The determination of a subpopulation of GABAergic interneurons shows a decrease of the cells within the CA3 of the hippocampal formation. 7. These findings indicate that PCP induced impairments in short term memory can be detected by holeboard learning and may provide an interesting tool for the search of new neuroleptics.

To analyze the path of extraocular muscles (EOMs) quantitatively in highly myopic subjects with and without restricted eye motility versus control. To elucidate the cause of the acquired motility disorder in patients with high myopia.Thirty-three orbits were imaged using a Magnetom or Siemens Vision (Siemens, Erlangen, Germany; both 1.5 Tesla) MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanner. Coronal T1-weighted, spin-echo images were obtained with repetition time of 550 msec and echo time of 15 msec. Subjects had to fixate in different positions of gaze. Orbits of three patient groups were analyzed: group 1 (n = 14), patients with high axial myopia and restricted eye motility (average axial length, 31.4 mm; refractive error more than -15 D); group 2 (n = 8), subjects with high axial myopia and normal eye motility (average axial length, 29.2 mm); control group (n = 11), emmetropic subjects with normal eye motility (average axial length, 23.6 mm).Highly myopic patients showed significant displacements of recti EOMs in comparison with control subjects. Mean displacements, measured in the plane 3 mm anterior to the globeoptic nerve junction in primary gaze, were in group 1, lateral rectus (LR) 2.9 mm (2.5 downward, 1.4 medial), medial rectus (MR) 1.3 mm downward and in group 2, LR 1.4 mm (1.3 downward, 0.6 medial) and MR 1.2 mm downward. In groups 1 and 2 the inferior rectus (IR) was displaced 1.3 mm medially and upward. In both groups of myopic patients the superior rectus (SR) was displaced 1.5 mm medially and downward.In patients with high axial myopia, displacements of all recti EOMs can be detected by MRI. Displacements of SR, MR, and IR were very similar in groups 1 and 2 versus control. LR displacement into the lateral and inferior quadrant of the orbit was greatest in patients with restricted eye motility. Thus, LR displacement is probably the major pathophysiological factor for the restrictive motility disorder in high myopia. EOM dislocations can be explained by myopia-associated alterations in the orbital connective tissues confining EOM positions in relation to the orbital wall.

In the last few years epidural analgesia with bupivacaine and/or opioids has become an important technique in the therapy of postoperative pain. Using bupivacaine only 2-20% of the patients are treated without sufficient success. To ascertain and evaluate the underlying reasons for this, we prospectively investigated 51 patients routinely, and 6 patients with an insufficient analgetic effect from a group of 212 patients, by means of epidurography. All patients were treated mainly with bupivacaine. The observed and documented radiographic data were compared with the individual analgetic results. METHODS. All investigations were performed within 24 h after placing the catheters. The contrast agent was injected under radiographic guidance in two different positions, and the end of the distribution was documented in the anterior-posterior ray path. In group I (n = 26) the catheter position and the distribution of the contrast medium with 3.0 ml iopamidol were documented. In group II (n = 25) the catheter position was documented in the same way, but the distribution was documented for the stepwise-injected contrast medium (3.0 ml + 2.0 ml + 3.0 ml). As a result of these findings we changed our epidural catheter placement concept in the following patients (group III, n = 212), and performed radiographic examinations in patients with a therapy failure only (group IIIa, n = 6). Instead of placing the catheter postoperatively mostly lumbal in a lateral position, we now placed them preoperatively, in the sitting position, as near as possible to the centre of the segments to be treated. RESULTS. Only 27 patients demonstrated an ideal catheter position and a typical contrast medium distribution. Three of these patients still could not be treated successfully. In 12 patients the spread of the contrast medium was inhomogeneous, and in 5 patients the contrast medium was found on one side of the epidural space only. Half of these 17 patients (n = 9) needed supplementary therapy. Surprisingly, 4 of 8 patients with a paraepidural catheter position were treated with success. DISCUSSION. Effective bupivacaine therapy by epidural catheter injections constitutes no striking evidence for a correct epidural catheter position. If the catheter lies in the epidural space, the actual therapeutic effect of bupivacaine therapy is determined mainly by the distribution of the substance. The epidural position of the catheter--central or lateral in the epidural space--seems, however, not to be particularly important. If high-quality analgesia is to be achieved with bupivacaine alone, or in combination with an opioid, the catheter should usually be placed near to, or better into the centre of the segments to be treated. The results demonstrate that in the case of failure of epidural catheter therapy, epidurographic examinations are very helpful in ascertaining and evaluating the underlying reasons for this failure and in coming to a logical decision for changing the concept.

Polyelectrolyte titration using 3,6-ionene bromide as titrant, Eriochrome black T as end point indicator and a specially developed phototitrator is presented as a method for the trace analysis of polyanions (

Using the Mark-J detector at the high-energy e/sup +/e/sup -/ collider PETRA, we compare the data from hadron production with the complete second-order QCD calculation over the energy region 22 to 46.78 GeV. We determine the QCD parameter ..lambda.. = 100 +- 30/sub -/45/sup +65/ MeV which yields the strong-coupling constant ..cap alpha../sub s/ = 0.12 +- 0.02 for ..sqrt..s = 44 GeV.

We study the production of single γ, e and μ at high πt using the high energy data of the Mark-J detector at PETRA. We find good agreement with QED. We give mass limits of the SUSY particles γ , v , e and W studying the associated production of W and ẽ and radiative production of pairs of γ or v in three-body reactions.

The strong interaction coupling constant αs has been measured with a new method, the planar triple energy correlation in the reaction e+e- → hadrons at center-of-mass energies ranging from 14 GeV to 46.78 GeV. A complete second-order perturbative QCD calculation was used. ΛMS = 110 ± 30 −55+70 MeV is found.

We use the reaction e-italic/sup +/e/sup -/..-->..hadrons, in the Mark J detector at the DESY electron-positron collider PETRA, to determine the hadronic cross section up to 46.78 GeV. The production of a top quark with a charge equal to (2/3) is excluded up to 46.6 GeV with 95% C.L. The observed rise in the cross section at higher energies is consistent with the electroweak prediction for a Z-italic/sup 0/ mass of 93 GeV. We describe some unusual muon inclusive events.

A study of τ-lepton production in the CMS energy region from 14 to 46.8 GeV at PETRA is reported. The cross section, the decay branching ratio into μν ν , and the electroweak parameters are determined with a total integrated luminosity of 115 pb −1 .

The Mark J Collaboration at the DESY e/sup +/e/sup -/ collider PETRA presents results on the electroweak reactions e/sup +/e/sup -/..--> mu../sup +/..mu../sup -/tau/sup +/tau/sup -/,..mu../sup +/..mu../sup -/..gamma.., and e/sup +/e/sup -/..mu../sup +/..mu../sup -/. The c.m. energy range is 12 to 46.78 GeV. In the ..mu../sup +/..mu../sup -/ and tau/sup +/tau/sup -/ channels the total cross sections and the forward-backward asymmetries are reported and compared with other experiments. The results are in excellent agreement with the standard model. The weak-neutral-current vector and axial-vector coupling constants are determined. The values for muons and tau's are compatible with universality and with the predictions of the standard model. In the ..mu../sup +/..mu../sup -/..gamma.. channel, all measured distributions, including the forward-backward muon asymmetry, are in excellent agreement with the electroweak theory. Our data on the two-photon process, e/sup +/e/sup -/..mu../sup +/..mu../sup -/, agrees with QED to order ..cap alpha../sup 4/ over the entire energy range and the Q/sup 2/ range from 0.7 to 166 GeV/sup 2/.

In der Literatur werden uber die Haufigkeit des Diabetes mellitus sehr unterschiedliche Angaben gemacht [1, 7, 9]. Die Zahl der kindlichen Diabetiker wird von Krainick u. Struwe im deutschsprachigen Raum mit 1–2% der Diabetiker angegeben [3]. 1960 lebten nach Ermittlung der obengenannten Autoren in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland ca. 3000 kindliche Diabetiker, wahrend Sacchse 1967 ihre Zahl bereits mit 8–10000 angab [8].

In 95 consecutive patients with proven or suspected bronchial carcinoma, computed tomographic evaluation of the upper mediastinum for N2 disease was performed prospectively. Patients with positive results underwent mediastinoscopy. Patients with perinodal N2 or N3 disease at mediastinoscopy were not considered candidates for operation. The mediastinum was declared negative only when intraoperative mediastinal lymph node dissection showed tumor-free nodes. Of the 95 patients, 12 had benign lesions, 14 were excluded from further evaluation because the lymph node status of the mediastinum was not proven intraoperatively, and 6 others were excluded from the final evaluation because of violation of the protocol. Twenty-two of the 75 remaining patients had a positive computed tomographic scan and underwent mediastinoscopy. Fourteen patients with positive results were considered to have inoperable disease. Fifty-three patients (70.7%) did not undergo mediastinoscopy. We performed seven probably incomplete resections, two for palliative reasons, and two thoracotomies without resection in patients with N2 disease. A policy of routine mediastinoscopy would have prevented only 5% of the thoracotomies performed in patients with lung cancer.

In the light of personal studies and relevant reports in the literature, the authors deal with gagging during dental treatment and after denture insertion. In this connection, aetiopathologic and therapeutic aspects of the gagging syndrome are analysed. It is postulated that the gagging reaction is a conditioned anxiety reaction.

Der Mehrfachverletzte befindet sich unrnittelbar nach dem Trauma in einer Phase der Gefahrdung. Dennoch bietet er aus biologischer Sicht zu diesem Zeitpunkt die besten Voraussetzungen fur eine reparative Therapie. Bei der Beurteilung der Belastbarkeit eines solchen Vedetzten steht der Kliniker immer wieder vor schwierigen indikatorischen Problemen. Auf die besondere Schwierigkeit bei der Einteilung Mehrfachverletzter in Schweregrade haben Havemann [3] sowie Schweiberer u. Saur [5] hingewiesen.

The nutritional status of an unselected group of 111 children from the village of Bouansa, People's Republic of the Congo, was studied. Comprehensive clinical examinations, anthropometrical measurements and analysis of albumin, prealbumin, ferritin, C-reactive protein (CRP), IgA, IgG, IgM, IgE, IgG- and IgM-circulating immune complexes (CIC) were carried out. The results show, by anthropometrical classification, a high prevalence of moderate malnutrition. Low levels of plasma proteins and high levels of immunoglobulins and CIC were found. No correlation between anthropometrical classification and plasma proteins was established. Children with increased levels of CRP showed low prealbumin values and increased levels of ferritin. Patterns of immunoglobulins and CIC were close to those found in other studies in tropical countries. To evaluate the anthropometrical and biochemical findings it is necessary to take into consideration the apparently healthy appearance of the children, which shows the degree of adaptation to the limited availability of food and the high rate of acute and chronic infections.

An der Bonner Universitats-Augenklinik fuhren wir die Netzhautdiagnostik gleichermasen mit Hilfe der direkten und indirekten Ophthalmoskopie, sowie mit dem Kontaktglas nach Goldmann durch. In der Netzhautchirurgie kommt bei uns ausschlieslich, und in der prophylaktischen Behandlung aquatorialer Degenerationen nur bei spezieller Indikationsstellung die Kryopexie zur Anwendung. Hierbei hat sich der Gebrauch eines binocularen Kopfophthalmoskopes besonders bewahrt. Der Untersucher, bzw. Operateur gewinnt einerseits den Vorteil des raumlichen Sehens mit den sich daraus ergebenden diagnostischen Vorteilen, andererseits hat er eine Hand frei und kann so z. B. das untersuchte Auge fuhren, die Lederhaut eindellen, und sogar das Kryostilett ohne Assistenz selbst halten.

We aim to fit biphasic concentration-response curves to extract information about the effect of given biochemical substances to in-vitro neurons. Neurons extracted from embryonic mice are cultivated on multielectrode-array-neurochips (MEA-neurochip) [1]. The activity of single neurons in such networks is recorded especially the change of network activity caused by long-term application of neuroactive substances. This results in quasi-stable patterns of neuronal activity. Based on the data, different features [2] are calculated adapted from spikes and bursts and separately displayed in concentration-response curves [3]. These concentration-response curves can exhibit non sigmoid shape, then indicating that different mechanisms affect the neuronal activity. Hence, the concentration-response curves presumably include currently hidden and unused information.

A whole generation of urban studies in Italy, of architects and professors of architecture, tried to establish a method of reading the city, according to which analysis and design are two aspects of the same moment: design as an instrument of knowledge of the urban phenomenon, and analysis as the result of an act of determination already intended by the idea of design. In order to do this, the reading of the city must involve a drawing in which the elements represented belong to architecture, seen as a discipline, and are included among the elements selected and classified in the course of its long historical experience: monumental elements, roads as generators of plans, the typological structure of residential areas, watercourses, and geomorphological elements in general. In this way, architecture fixes in a drawing the stable and permanent elements of the city, that is, the figurative structure from which to arrange the present and future transformation and development of the urban phenomenon. In other words, it is a thought and methodology based on faith in the ability of architecture and the urban form to syncretically represent the many instances – socioeconomic, urban planning, anthropological – that make up the city as an articulated and complex phenomenon.

Architectural European Medium-Sized City Arrangement (ArchéA) is a research project co-financed by the European Union under the program known as Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership for higher education. The program aims to innovate teaching relating to the study and design of European medium-sized cities (between 100,000 and 500,000 inhabitants): all five partners involved in the program are architecture schools based in medium-sized cities: Cesena/Bologna, Aachen, Gliwice, Parma, and Rouen. The ArchéA project aims to investigate one of the different aspects that can be considered a furthering of the morphological approach: the open space of the European medium-sized city. Between theory and design, hypothesis and results, science and art, ArchéA simply seeks to be a contribution that cultivates the ambition to consolidate a heritage that is too often underestimated: the historical experience of European architecture.