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Scientists from different disciplines at ETH Zurich are developing a dynamic, harmonised, and user-centred earthquake risk framework for Switzerland, relying on a continuously evolving earthquake catalogue generated by the Swiss Seismological Service (SED) using the national seismic networks. This framework uses all available information to assess seismic risk at various stages and facilitates widespread dissemination and communication of the resulting information. Earthquake risk products and services include operational earthquake (loss) forecasting (OE(L)F), earthquake early warning (EEW), ShakeMaps, rapid impact assessment (RIA), structural health monitoring (SHM), and recovery and rebuilding efforts (RRE). Standardisation of products and workflows across various applications is essential for achieving broad adoption, universal recognition, and maximum synergies. In the Swiss dynamic earthquake risk framework, the harmonisation of products into seamless solutions that access the same databases, workflows, and software is a crucial component. A user-centred approach utilising quantitative and qualitative social science tools like online surveys and focus groups is a significant innovation featured in all products and services. Here we report on the key considerations and developments of the framework and its components. This paper may serve as a reference guide for other countries wishing to establish similar services for seismic risk reduction.

The self-assembly and nonsolvent-induced phase separation (SNIPS) process of block copolymers and solvents enables the fabrication of integral-asymmetric, isoporous membranes. An isoporous top layer is formed by evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) and imparts selectivity for ultrafiltration of functional macromolecules or water purification. This selective layer is supported by a macroporous bottom structure that is formed by nonsolvent-induced phase separation (NIPS) providing mechanical stability. Thereby the permeability/selectivity tradeoff is optimized. The SNIPS fabrication involves various physical phenomena-e.g., evaporation, self-assembly, macrophase separation, vitrification - and multiple structural, thermodynamic, kinetic, and process parameters. Optimizing membrane properties and rationally designing fabrication processes is a challenge which particle simulation can significantly contribute to. Using large-scale particle simulations, it is observed that 1) a small incompatibility between matrix-forming block of the copolymer and nonsolvent, 2) a glassy arrest that occurs at a smaller polymer concentration, or 3) a higher dynamical contrast between polymer and solvent results in a finer, spongy substructure, whereas the opposite parameter choice gives rise to larger macropores with an elongated shape. These observations are confirmed by comparison to experiments on polystyrene (PS)-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (P4VP) diblock copolymer membranes, varying the chemical nature of the coagulant or the temperature of coagulation bath., (© 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Materials published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Block copolymer membranes offer a bottom-up approach to form isoporous membranes that are useful for ultrafiltration of functional macromolecules, colloids, and water purification. The fabrication of isoporous block copolymer membranes from a mixed film of an asymmetric block copolymer and two solvents involves two stages: First, the volatile solvent evaporates, creating a polymer skin, in which the block copolymer self-assembles into a top layer, comprised of perpendicularly oriented cylinders, via evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA). This top layer imparts selectivity onto the membrane. Subsequently, the film is brought into contact with a nonsolvent, and the exchange between the remaining nonvolatile solvent and nonsolvent through the self-assembled top layer results in nonsolvent-induced phase separation (NIPS). Thereby, a macroporous support for the functional top layer that imparts mechanical stability onto the system without significantly affecting permeability is fabricated. We use a single, particle-based simulation technique to investigate the sequence of both processes, EISA and NIPS. The simulations identify a process window, which allows for the successful in silico fabrication of integral-asymmetric, isoporous diblock copolymer membranes, and provide direct insights into the spatiotemporal structure formation and arrest. The role of the different thermodynamic (e.g., solvent selectivity for the block copolymer components) and kinetic (e.g., plasticizing effect of the solvent) characteristics is discussed.

The concept of "acquired autism" refers to the hypothesis that amongst the massive heterogeneity that encompasses autism spectrum disorder (ASD) there may be several phenotypes that are neither syndromic nor innate. Strong and consistent evidence has linked exposure to various pharmacological and infective agents with an elevated risk of a diagnosis of ASD including maternal valproate use, rubella and herpes encephalitis. Autoimmune encephalitis (AE) describes a group of conditions characterised by the body's immune system mounting an attack on healthy brain cells causing brain inflammation. The resultant cognitive, psychiatric and neurological symptoms that follow AE have also included ASD or autism-like traits and states. We review the current literature on AE and ASD. Drawing also on associated literature on autoimmune psychosis (AP) and preliminary evidence of a psychosis-linked subtype of ASD, we conclude that AE may either act as a potentially causative agent for ASD, and/or produce symptoms that could easily be mistaken for or misdiagnosed as autism. Further studies are required to discern the connection between AE and autism. Where autism is accompanied by regression and atypical onset patterns, it may be prudent to investigate whether a differential diagnosis of AE would be more appropriate., Competing Interests: RS has been an advisor to and has received honoraria from Takeda. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Whiteley, Marlow, Kapoor, Blagojevic-Stokic and Sala.)

We aimed to investigate short- and long-term blood-pressure (BP) variability and left-ventricular (LV) structure, function, and mechanics in women with gestational hypertension and preeclampsia, as well as the relationship between BP variability and LV mechanics. This cross-sectional study included 140 pregnant women (45 normotensive controls, 50 patients with gestational hypertension and, 45 patients with preeclampsia) after 20 weeks of gestation. All participants underwent 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring and echocardiographic examination, as well as regular clinical BP measurements during each visit. Our results show that 24-h, daytime and nighttime systolic and diastolic BP, as well as visit-to-visit systolic and diastolic BPs, gradually increased from controls across patients with preeclampsia to those with gestational hypertension. Similar changes were observed for 24-h systolic BP-variability indices. LV longitudinal and circumferential strains gradually decreased from controls across women with gestational hypertension to patients with preeclampsia. Radial strain was significantly lower in women with preeclampsia than in controls. Indices of short- and long-term BP variability were independent of BP and demographic and echocardiographic parameters associated with LV longitudinal and circumferential strain. In conclusion, LV mechanics are impaired in women with gestational hypertension and preeclampsia compared with LV mechanics in normotensive controls. Short- and long-term BP variability was higher in patients with hypertensive disorders and was significantly associated with longitudinal and circumferential strains., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to The Japanese Society of Hypertension.)

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a highly complex and heterogeneous developmental disorder that affects how individuals communicate with other people and relate to the world around them. Research and clinical focus on the behavioural and cognitive manifestations of ASD, whilst important, have obscured the recognition that ASD is also commonly associated with a range of physical and mental health conditions. Many physical conditions appear with greater frequency in individuals with ASD compared to non-ASD populations. These can contribute to a worsening of social communication and behaviour, lower quality of life, higher morbidity and premature mortality. We highlight some of the key physical comorbidities affecting the immune and the gastrointestinal systems, metabolism and brain function in ASD. We discuss how healthcare professionals working with individuals with ASD and parents/carers have a duty to recognise their needs in order to improve their overall health and wellbeing, deliver equality in their healthcare experiences and reduce the likelihood of morbidity and early mortality associated with the condition., Competing Interests: Dr Sala has been an advisor to or has received honoraria from Takeda. Dr Paul Whiteley reports grants from The Robert Luff Foundation, during the preparation of this paper. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2020 Sala et al.)

In preparing to respond to security incidents involving radioactive material, States should consider how they might address the unique challenge of analysing forensic evidence contaminated with these materials. In the case of DNA evidence, previous research has suggested that commercial forensic DNA extraction kits may be able to remove radioactive contamination from biological samples. If viable, this would allow the extraction and decontamination of biological samples to be undertaken in a laboratory equipped to handle radioactive material, with the subsequent quantification and profiling of extracted DNA performed in a conventional forensics laboratory. In order to inform the development of an operational capability, this study sought to expand upon previous work to provide a more comprehensive quantitative assessment of the efficacy of commercial DNA extraction kits for the removal of radionuclide contamination from biological samples and the quality of the resultant DNA profiles. Three commercial DNA extraction kits were tested for their ability to remove contaminating radionuclides. Two of these kits proved more effective at removing radionuclide contamination and produced DNA extracts of higher quality. Under all conditions tested in this study, decontamination efficiency was sufficient to allow the release of samples to a forensic laboratory. However, consistent with a prudent approach to radiation safety it is recommended that all samples be screened by gamma spectrometry prior to their release to a forensic laboratory in order to verify decontamination., (Crown Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The aim of this study was to establish correlation of chemical composition and antioxidant activity of bilberry plants from Montenegro. Total phenolic, tannin, flavonoid, procyanidin and anthocyanin contents were determined in fruits and leaves extracts using spectrophotometric methods, while the measurements of metal content was carried out in an Inductively Coupled Atomic Emission Spectrometer. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of major phenolics were achieved by HPLC. In the investigated extracts, the most abundant phenolic was chlorogenic acid, followed by protocatechuic acid, while resveratrol, isoquercetin, quecetin and hyperoside were also present in significant quantities. Antioxidant potential was evaluated using two in vitro assays-FRAP and DPPH-being in the accordance with the cyclic voltammetry tests, performed as well. The results revealed that all the investigated extracts were rich in phenolic and essential mineral constituents, with significant antioxidant activity, depending on the polyphenolic and mineral contents, which was confirmed by principal component analysis.

This work presents the results for identification of chemical phases obtained by several laboratories as a part of an international nuclear forensic round-robin exercise. In this work powder X-ray diffraction (p-XRD) is regarded as the reference technique. Neutron diffraction produced a superior high-angle diffraction pattern relative to p-XRD. Requiring only small amounts of sample, µ-Raman spectroscopy was used for the first time in this context as a potentially complementary technique to p-XRD. The chemical phases were identified as pure UO 2 in two materials, and as a mixture of UO 2 , U 3 O 8 and an intermediate species U 3 O 7 in the third material.

Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effectiveness of laser acupuncture within the scope of a pilot study., Methods: 108 adult patients were examined and of those eleven patients were included in the prospective pilot study. These patients took part voluntarily and were diagnosed with tendomyopathy of the masticatory musculature with maximum face and jaw pain on a visual analogous scale VAS > or = 30 in the last 14 days. Four patients wanted to be sure not to be assigned to the placebo group and were treated with the laser (group1, verum open, N = 4). The remaining seven were split by means of block randomisation into groups 2 (verum blind, N = 3) and 3 (placebo blind, N = 4). Two local points (ST 6, SI 18) and two distant points (SI 3, LI 4) on both sides of the body were stimulated (groups 1 and 2) or placebo-stimulated (group 3) with the LASERneedle machine for 15 minutes twice a week for three weeks (6 sessions). After three months a clinical follow-up was carried out, which included a standardised questionnaire as to the maximum pain intensity (VAS and verbal scale) and on the need for further treatment. A pain reduction (VAS) of about 50% was evaluated as a success., Results: Pain decreased on average 40 VAS points for ten of eleven patients. The pain reduction on the VAS in group 1 (verum open) was more than 50% for all four patients, in group 3 (placebo blind) for three of four patients, and in group 2 (verum blind) all remained under 50%. The evaluation on the verbal scale showed a pain reduction from moderate to very strong pains initially, to moderate, light and no pain after three months for all three groups., Discussion: The range of application of the laser was limited by the narrow inclusion criteria of the pilot study. The laser acupuncture (open and blinded) did not show a negative effect in any group. The pain reduction was strongest with the blinded patients of the placebo group. The worst performance was in the blinded group with laser acupuncture., Conclusion: Due to the low number of participants, no clear conclusion can be drawn. Laser needle acupuncture may be a treatment option for patients with an interest in a noninvasive, complementary therapy. But clarification and treatment planning on an individual basis must take place first.

Many ores contain low levels of thorium. When these ores are processed, the associated radioactivity can be found in mineral concentrates, intermediates and final products. There is an incentive for industries to remove radioactivity from mineral products to allow the movement and sale of these materials, both nationally and internationally, without the need for licensing. Control of thorium in various products involves the development and optimisation of process steps to be able to meet product specifications. The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) has undertaken a range of R & D programmes targeting the treatment of thorium-bearing minerals. This paper discusses the application of a microprobe technique for siting radioactivity in zircon and ilmenite and the problems experienced in measuring the concentrations in solid rare earth products.

The efficacy of systemic cancer therapy rests on the ability of a toxin to be preferentially located in cancer cells, so that cancer cell kill is maximized and normal tissue spared. This requires that the lifetime of the toxin be less than the lifetime of the carrier in the body, effectively ruling out chemical toxins, as they remain effective until excreted from the body. The requirement of localization of dose to the cancer cell makes radioactive beta-emitting radionuclides unattractive. Alpha-emitting radionuclides are much more appropriate toxins, as their efficacy depends on the high energy and short range of the alpha particles, and terbium-149 is shown to be the most efficacious of these. However, the merit of various alpha- and beta-emitting radionuclides depends on the stage and type of cancer. Recommendations are made with respect to the matching of the target cancer with required properties of the radiolabel and carrier.

Total body nitrogen (TBN) is measured by in vivo prompt gamma neutron capture analysis. Usually the background under the nitrogen peak is subtracted before calculating TBN from the ratio of nitrogen counts (at 10.8 MeV) to hydrogen counts (at 2.2 MeV). The hydrogen acts as an internal standard. The background under the hydrogen peak is usually ignored. The current study was undertaken to measure the variation of the hydrogen background (HB) in patients of different sizes and to determine whether the accuracy of TBN measurements is improved when an HB correction is incorporated. Heavy-water (D2O) phantoms were used to quantify patient HB. D2O simulates patient neutron scattering without contributing to the hydrogen peak. Equations were developed to predict HB in patient measurements. HB was found to vary from 9% of total counts for a 99 kg subject to 19% for a 7 kg infant. It was demonstrated that the accuracy of TBN measurements is improved for child-sized anthropometric phantoms of known composition when an HB correction is incorporated.

The design, calibration and evaluation of a facility for in vivo prompt gamma neutron capture analysis of total body nitrogen in children is described. The patient is scanned in both supine and prone positions, across a vertically collimated beam from a 1 GBq 252Cf fission source. Two NaI(T1) detectors are placed on either side of the patient, perpendicular to both the neutron beam and the scanning direction. The effective dose equivalent delivered to a child during an 840 s scan is approximately 0.14 mSv (QF = 10). Correction factors for nitrogen background (width-dependent), hydrogen background (1-4% of hydrogen gamma ray peak) and the differential attenuation of nitrogen and hydrogen gamma rays (width-dependent) can be applied to the measured nitrogen-to-hydrogen gamma ray counts ratio. By using the mass of hydrogen (based on body mass and fat mass) as an internal standard, the nitrogen mass can then be determined. Measurements with a urea-containing box phantom show that the current precision (CV) of the net nitrogen counts and of the nitrogen-to-hydrogen counts ratio is +/- 2.0% and +/- 1.5%, respectively. Using small anthropomorphic and other phantoms, estimation of the mass of nitrogen has a precision of +/- 1.4 to 5.4% and an accuracy of 97.1 to 101.5%.

To determine the protein nutritional status of 21 malnourished children with cystic fibrosis (CF), total body nitrogen (TBN) was measured and the results were compared with 21 control subjects. CF patients demonstrated a lower TBN (P less than 0.001). When matched for height (n = 10) or bone age (n = 13), the CF patients still had a depressed TBN/height or TBN/lean body mass (P less than 0.05). To assess nitrogen deposition during nutritional rehabilitation, repeat TBN measurements were performed on the 21 CF patients. Nitrogen deposition ranged from -230 to 550 g/y and correlated with weight velocity (r = 0.78, P less than 0.001). Increased nitrogen deposition (greater than 150 g/y) was generally associated with normal height gain (height velocity SD score greater than -2.00) and weight gain (greater than 2.0 kg/y). Decreased nitrogen deposition was associated with poor weight gain but did not preclude normal linear growth. These data suggest an important role for TBN estimations in defining protein nutritional status in children and indicate that skeletal growth can continue in the presence of minimal nitrogen deposition.

A new technique for determining body water using deuterium isotope dilution and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis is described. The advantages of the FTIR over conventional dispersion and filter infrared instruments include greater flexibility through computer controlled operations and availability of 'on-line' analytical software. The technique was further improved by the development of a simple procedure for determining D2O concentration in untreated serum samples. A validation study of six normal adults showed that the fat-free-mass determined from the deuterium-space (total body water) correlated well with the results obtained by total body nitrogen (r = 0.997), total body potassium (r = 0.996) and anthropometric (r = 0.995) measurements.

The nutritional status of 35 patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) was assessed by the traditional methods of dietary history and anthropometric measurements, and was compared with simultaneous measurements of dietary protein intake (DPI) calculated from urea generation rate and total-body nitrogen (TBN) assessment by prompt neutron activation analysis (PNAA). DPI as determined by dietary recall was significantly higher than calculated DPI (1.04 +/- 0.42 v 0.84 +/- 0.28 g/kg/d; P less than 0.001). Anthropometric measurements did not differ significantly from the predicted normal values for sex, height, and age. However, PNAA measurements of TBN demonstrated significant nitrogen depletion, being 88.2% of normal for males (P less than 0.001) and 87.5% of normal for females (P less than 0.002); TBN correlated significantly with DPI calculated from urea generation rate (P less than 0.05). Assessment of these 35 patients 17.5 +/- 4.4 months later, demonstrated that patients who died or suffered serious morbidity requiring transfer from CAPD (n = 10) had significantly lower TBN than those who remained on CAPD or underwent successful renal transplantation (n = 25): 80.0% v 93.2% of normal (P less than 0.01). No difference in anthropometric measurements was observed between the two groups of patients. Eleven patients on maintenance home or satellite hemodialysis underwent identical dietary, anthropometric, and TBN assessments and results were similar to those obtained in the CAPD population, although no correlation with calculated DPI and TBN was observed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Major surgery initiates a stress response due to the body's neuroendocrine reaction which leads to a breakdown of muscle protein with an increased urinary nitrogen excretion and a negative nitrogen balance. In vivo neutron activation analysis (IVNAA) is a technique which measures total body nitrogen. A total of 23 IVNAA studies were performed in six patients having aortic reconstruction to assess the effect of this major operation on body nitrogen and to determine the time required for a return to the pre-operative state. Aortic surgery caused a mean decrease of 2.9% in bodyweight (from a mean of 65.4 kg to 63.5 kg) but a much greater decrease of 9.9% in total body nitrogen (from a mean of 1778 g to 1602 g). Only two of six patients had recovered to pre-operative values by the end of the study period which extended for a mean of 92 days.

The total body protein status of 18 patients undergoing regular haemodialysis was assessed by measuring total body nitrogen (TBN) using in vivo neutron activation analysis (NAA). Eighteen healthy controls, who were selected according to their height, age and sex match with the patients were also measured. The male and female patients were both found to have lower mean values for total body protein (P less than 0.01, P less than 0.025 respectively) although they had similar weights compared with their matched controls. Seven patients were measured on further occasions and only two patients showed a change in their body protein. One female showed an increase of 11 per cent in body protein (with an increase of 25 per cent in body weight) after intensive nutritional repletion therapy. In vivo NAA provides a direct means of measuring body protein and is a reliable method to monitor changes with treatment regimes.