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Malignant melanoma is a very aggressive tumour with the ability to metastasize at an early stage. Therefore, early detection is of great importance. Multiphoton tomography is a new non-invasive examination method in the clinical diagnosis of skin alterations that can be used for such early diagnosis. In this paper, a method for automated evaluation of multiphoton images of the skin is presented. The following features at the cellular and subcellular level were extracted to differentiate between malignant melanomas, lesions, and healthy skin: cell symmetry, cell distance, cell density, cell and nucleus contrast, nucleus cell ratio, and homogeneity of cytoplasm. The extracted features formed the basis for the subsequent classification. Two feature sets were used. The first feature set included all the above-mentioned features, while the second feature set included the significantly different features between the three classes resulting from a multivariate analysis of variance. The classification was performed by a Support Vector Machine, the k-Nearest Neighbour algorithm, and Ensemble Learning. The best classification results were obtained with the Support Vector Machine using the first feature set with an accuracy of 52 % and 79.6 % for malignant melanoma and healthy skin, respectively. Despite the small number of subjects investigated our results indicate that the proposed automatic method can differentiate malignant melanoma, lesions, and healthy skin. For future clinical application, an extended study with more multiphoton images is needed.

Kontext: Harninkontinenz stellt eine häufige Folgeerscheinung eines Schlaganfalls dar, welche durch eine Schädigung des Nervensystems oder durch eine Beeinträchtigung der Beckenbodenmuskulatur entstehen kann (Dumoulin et al., 2007). Die Behandlung der Inkontinenz spielt in der Rehabilitation eine große Rolle, da auch ein Jahr nach dem Schlaganfall noch etwa ein Drittel der Patient*innen von einer der drei Hauptformen Drang-, Funktions- und Belastungsinkontinenz betroffen ist, was ihre Lebensqualität beeinträchtigt (Dumoulin et al., 2007). Ihr breites Spektrum an Symptomen macht die Behandlung der Harninkontinenz zu einer interdisziplinären Thematik (Davis, 2010). Daher beschäftigt sich die vorliegende Arbeit damit, welche evidenzbasierten Empfehlungen für die Gestaltung einer interprofessionellen Beckenbodenrehabilitation bei Patient*innen nach einem Insult abgegeben werden können. Methode: Um diese Frage zu beantworten, wurden Expert*inneninterviews mit Ärzt*innen, Pfleger*innen und Physiotherapeut*innen durchgeführt und nach Mayring ausgewertet. In weiterer Folge wurden die Ergebnisse mit der bearbeiteten Literatur verglichen. Ergebnisse: Interprofessionelle Aspekte wurden sowohl bei der Anamnese, bei der Diagnostik als auch bei der Behandlung von Insultpatient*innen mit Beckenboden- bzw. Inkontinenzproblematiken aufgezeigt. Mögliche Maßnahmen beinhalten den Expert*innen zufolge Hilfsmittelversorgung, Maßnahmen zur Behandlung und nicht-beckenboden- bzw. kontinenzspezifische Maßnahmen. Schlussfolgerung: Insgesamt lassen sich aus dieser Arbeit evidenzbasierte Empfehlungen für eine erfolgreiche interprofessionelle Beckenboden- und Kontinenztherapie ableiten, da die erhobenen Daten unter anderem Schnittstellen mit der Literatur aufweisen. In weiterer Folge zeigen die Ergebnisse auch, dass eine Zusammenarbeit verschiedener Berufsgruppen unumgänglich ist, um eine umfassende und patientenzentrierte Therapie zu gewährleisten. Context: Urinary incontinence is a common consequence of a stroke, which can be caused by an impairment of the nervous system or by an affected pelvic floor (Dumoulin et al., 2007). The treatment of incontinence is a high priority in rehabilitation, as one year after a stroke about a third of the patients are still affected by one of the three main forms of incontinence: urge-, functional- and stress incontinence. This significantly impairs the quality of life of people who have suffered a stroke (Dumoulin et al., 2007). Because of the wide range of symptoms that urinary incontinence can have, the treatment demands interdisciplinary care (Davis, 2010). Therefore, this paper deals with the question which evidence-based recommendations can be given to design an interprofessional pelvic floor rehabilitation in patients after a stroke. Methods: To answer this question, doctors, nurses and physiotherapists were interviewed as experts. The obtained data was then evaluated according to Mayring and compared with the chosen literature. Conclusion: Interprofessional aspects were shown in the anamnesis, diagnosis and treatment of patients after a stroke with pelvic floor or continence problems. Possible measures include the supply of aids, treatment and measures that are not specific to the pelvic floor or incontinence. Overall evidence-based recommendations for a successful interprofessional pelvic floor and continence therapy can be derived from this work, since the data collected overlaps with the literature. Furthermore, the results show that cooperation between different professional groups is necessary in order to ensure a comprehensive and patient centered therapy.

The emanation of radionuclides has been highlighted as a known source of uncertainty in the estimation of radionuclide source signatures from underground nuclear tests and other nuclear activities, particularly in the case of activation products. A system was developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to quantify the emanation of argon from two powders and five rock types ranging in particle size from powder to small rocks. Samples were neutron irradiated and the percent emanation of 37Ar was measured to range between 0.3 and 25%. Measurements were also made of the 39Ar emanation for four of these materials and was found to be consistently lower than that of 37Ar.

From around 1700 onwards, a number of sensationalist claims regarding adepts of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries began to appear in alchemical literature. They eventually made their way into standard works of historiography and continue to be repeated as factual. Yet the source for these rumours, a poem attributed to Martinus de Delle, supposedly a chamberlain of Emperor Rudolf II, has largely escaped scrutiny. The only surviving manuscript version currently known is here edited and translated in full for the first time. In the introductory essay, we call into question the existence of De Delle. Through scrutiny of the portrayals of alchemists within the poem, we propose that the author may have been an assayer in Prague. We then draw attention to the roles and effects of rumours within both the history and historiography of alchemy and argue for the importance of taking alchemical gossip seriously.

The vast areas of Latin Europe’s eastern fringes are rarely associated with the study and practice of alchemy in early modern times. Both popular perception and scholarly syntheses of the history o...

A prototype stilbene beta cell has been designed, manufactured, tested, and compared to a plastic scintillator beta cell used for nuclear explosion monitoring of radioxenon. Measurements of the four isotopes of interest show similar responses for both the plastic scintillator and stilbene cell. However, we show that the stilbene cell exhibits 100-times smaller memory effect than the plastic cell, a capability that is of interest in nuclear explosion monitoring because it improves detection sensitivity, allowing for decreased time between measurements. The resolution of the stilbene cell is improved slightly (decreased by 2.2 keV at 129 keV) when compared to the plastic scintillator cell. The efficiency of the stilbene cell is lower than that of the plastic by an average 15%. These results suggest that the light-collection efficiency of the stilbene cell could be improved in future designs. Pulse shape discrimination analysis decreases the minimum detectable concentration by 1%. The use of this geometry allows for a simple replacement of the plastic cells currently used in the field versus a complete overhaul of the existing radioxenon monitoring stations.