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To investigate the association between a wide set of baseline characteristics (age, sex, rehabilitation discipline), functional scores [Functional Independence Measure (FIM), cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS)], diseases, and administered drugs and incident delirium in rehabilitation inpatients and, furthermore, to assess clinical implications of developing delirium during rehabilitation.; Matched case-control study based on electronic health record data.; We studied rehabilitation stays of inpatients admitted between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2018, to ZURZACH Care, Rehaklinik Bad Zurzach, an inpatient rehabilitation clinic in Switzerland.; We conducted unconditional logistic regression analyses to estimate adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with 95% CIs of exposures that were recorded in ≥5 cases and controls.; Among a total of 10,503 rehabilitation stays, we identified 125 validated cases. Older age, undergoing neurologic rehabilitation, a low FIM, and a high CIRS were associated with an increased risk of incident delirium. Being diagnosed with a bacterial infection (AOR 2.62, 95% CI 1.06-6.49), a disorder of fluid, electrolyte, or acid-base balance (AOR 2.76, 95% CI 1.19-6.38), Parkinson's disease (AOR 5.68, 95% CI 2.54-12.68), and administration of antipsychotic drugs (AOR 8.06, 95% CI 4.26-15.22), antiparkinson drugs (AOR 2.86, 95% CI 1.42-5.77), drugs for constipation (AOR 2.11, 95% CI 1.25-3.58), heparins (AOR 2.04, 95% CI 1.29-3.24), or antidepressant drugs (AOR 1.88, 95% CI 1.14-3.10) during rehabilitation, or an increased anticholinergic burden (ACB ≥ 3) (AOR 2.59, 95% CI 1.41-4.73) were also associated with an increased risk of incident delirium.; We identified a set of factors associated with an increased risk of incident delirium during inpatient rehabilitation. Our findings contribute to detect patients at risk of delirium during inpatient rehabilitation.

Brad McIntire, President of Conserv Building Services, sat in his office, wondering if it was time to retire. Once again, Technology, his nemesis, had derailed his organization and brought it to a standstill. Brad was thinking, "I think these I.T. guys are literally going to be the death of me." The issue faced by Brad and Conserv Building Services started with a bug in the mobile device management (MDM) software. The MDM software had a feature to auto-approve applications and pushed the approved applications to the tablets. For some unknown reason, the MDM software unexpectedly unapproved and uninstalled all applications on the tablets and would not let them be reinstalled on over 200 tablets. This brought the company to a standstill as this paperless software system was the only means to provide data to its customers in real-time. Conserv had built their competitive advantage in bringing this data to customers in real-time. This first instance of the glitch took down the organization for five days until it was resolved, costing the organization around one million dollars in lost revenue. The second instance of the bug resurfaced less than a month later, causing an outage for little over one day and the loss of income of around two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. These outages did not take into account the cost of resources from the I.T. department and management time dealing with the crisis. Air conditioning services are the type of thing that cannot wait, and customers demanded prompt service. Some positive signs were on the horizon. The MDM software company acknowledged that they did have a bug and would provide a fix very shortly, which encouraged the I.T. department. Brad was less confident that just because the software company agreed that there was a known issue that a resolution would be quick to follow. Brad knew that leaving an electronic system was impossible in the current environment. Customers wanted more data quicker and faster. But could the organization remove some of the reliance on Technology and software? Would the I.T. department come up with a plan that created a stable environment? Should the organization spend even more money on a new hardware platform? How much revenue would be lost with the next glitch?

Suspension syndrome is a potentially fatal event of unknown incidence that can be caused by motionless hanging in the rope during rope-secured activities. During prolonged hanging, generalized hypoperfusion with reduced cerebral blood flow and consecutive loss of consciousness occurs. Two mechanisms are discussed as the cause leading to loss of consciousness: venous pooling in the legs and a sudden reduction of heart rate and blood pressure, similar to a neurocardiogenic syncope. The most important preventive measure is the activation of the muscle pump during hanging. In principle, the treatment follows standard ABCDE care. The patient should be rescued from the hanging position as fast as possible and airway obstruction caused by hyperflexion of the head during unconscious hanging has to be reversed. There is an increased risk of hyperkalemia. Therefore, ECG monitoring should be established as soon as possible to recognize cardiac arrhythmias. Pulmonary embolism should be considered as a potentially reversible cause of cardiac arrest. Hypothermia prophylaxis and treatment have high priority. For suspension longer than two hours, a medical treatment facility able to provide continuous renal replacement therapy should be chosen. There is no evidence that laying a patient flat immediately after rescue is harmful. Key Words: Neurocardiac Syncope, Venous Pooling, Rescue Death, Generalized Hypoperfusion, Standard ABCDE Care

Open data, data that anyone can access, use, and share have found its place in the current research landscape. Yet, there are many waters to navigate for open access data. Repositories such as BCO-...

In this work we present results of a GPU-accelerated wave-optical model for external-cavity diode lasers containing a beam transformation system to symmetrize the beam qualities in fast and slow axis. We show the rotation of the beam profile and analyze the feedback field into the diode. We further consider the effect of misaligned optical elements on the feedback field.

Presented at Early Career Chief Scientist Training Workshop, Honolulu, HI, 13 June - 14 June 2019

Protein phosphorylation is one of the most important post-translational modifications and plays a key role in a large number of cellular processes. The progress in studying protein phosphorylation is largely based on the development of novel, selective and sensitive sample preparation tools for mass spectrometry. Here we report for the first time magnetic core–shell particles based on ytterbium for the selective enrichment of phosphopeptides from complex samples including human saliva. The newly fabricated Fe3O4@SiO2@Yb2O3 particles exhibit two unique features, which are specificity and response to a magnetic field. Thus, phosphopeptides are easily enriched on magnetic core–shell particles. In a further step, particles are simply removed from the sample matrix by applying a magnetic field. Electrostatic interactions, stable bidentate ligand chemistry and the high coordination number of ytterbium provide high selectivity, which was demonstrated for a spiked protein standard with a 10 000 fold background. The limit of detection was found to be in the femtomolar range for the applied mass spectrometer. Furthermore, magnetic Fe3O4@SiO2@Yb2O3 particles were compared to classical phosphopeptide enrichment by titanium oxide and revealed higher recoveries for the core–shell particles. The synthesized core–shell particles also allow the enrichment of multiply phosphorylated peptides.

CD4+ T cells polarize into effector Th subsets characterized by signature transcription factors and cytokines. Although T-bet drives Th1 responses and represses the alternative Th2, Th17, and Foxp3+ regulatory T cell fates, the role of the T-bet–related transcription factor eomesodermin (Eomes) in CD4+ T cells is less well understood. In this study, we analyze the expression and effects of Eomes in mouse CD4+ T lymphocytes. We find that Eomes is readily expressed in activated CD4+ Th1 T cells in vivo. Eomes+ CD4+ T cells accumulated in old mice, under lymphopenic conditions in a T cell transfer model of colitis, and upon oral Ag administration. However, despite its expression, genetic deletion of Eomes in CD4+ T cells did not impact on IFN-γ production nor increase Th2 or Th17 responses. In contrast, Eomes deficiency favored the accumulation of Foxp3+ cells in old mice, after in vivo differentiation of Eomes-deficient naive CD4+ T cells, and in response to oral Ag in a cell-intrinsic way. Enforced Eomes expression during in vitro regulatory T cell induction also reduced Foxp3 transcription. Likewise, bystander Eomes-deficient CD4+ T cells were more efficient at protecting from experimental autoimmune encephalitis compared with wild-type CD4+ T cells. This enhanced capacity of Eomes-deficient CD4+ T cells to inhibit EAE in trans was associated with an enhanced frequency of Foxp3+ cells. Our data identify a novel role for Eomes in CD4+ T cells and indicate that Eomes expression may act by limiting Foxp3 induction, which may contribute to the association of EOMES to susceptibility to multiple sclerosis.

Adult neural stem/precursor cells (NSPCs) of the subventricular zone (SVZ) are an endogenous source for neuronal replacement in CNS disease. However, adult neurogenesis is compromised after brain injury in favor of a glial cell fate, which is mainly attributed to changes in the NSPC environment. Yet, it is unknown how this unfavorable extracellular environment translates into a transcriptional program altering NSPC differentiation. Here, we show that genetic depletion of the transcriptional regulator Id3 decreased the number of astrocytes generated from SVZ-derived adult NSPCs in the cortical lesion area after traumatic brain injury. Cortical brain injury resulted in rapid BMP-2 and Id3 up-regulation in the SVZ stem cell niche. Id3(-/-) adult NSPCs failed to differentiate into BMP-2-induced astrocytes, while NSPCs deficient for the Id3-controlled transcription factor E47 readily differentiated into astrocytes in the absence of BMP-2. Mechanistically, E47 repressed the expression of several astrocyte-specific genes in adult NSPCs. These results identify Id3 as the BMP-2-induced transcriptional regulator, promoting adult NSPC differentiation into astrocytes upon CNS injury and reveal a molecular link between environmental changes and NSPC differentiation in the CNS after injury.

Sustained Ag persistence in chronic infection results in a deregulated CD8+ T cell response that is characterized by T cell exhaustion and cell death of Ag-specific CD8+ T cells. Yet, the underlying transcriptional mechanisms regulating CD8+ T cell exhaustion and cell death are poorly defined. Using the experimental mouse model of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection, we demonstrate that the transcriptional regulator Id3 controls cell death of virus-specific CD8+ T cells in chronic infection. By comparing acute and chronic infection, we showed that Id3− virus-specific CD8+ T cells were less abundant, whereas the absolute numbers of Id3+ virus-specific CD8+ T cells were equal in chronic and acute infection. Phenotypically, Id3− and Id3+ cells most prominently differed with regard to expression of the surface receptor 2B4; although Id3− cells were 2B4+, almost all Id3+ cells lacked expression of 2B4. Lineage-tracing experiments showed that cells initially expressing Id3 differentiated into Id3−2B4+ cells; in turn, these cells were terminally differentiated and highly susceptible to cell death under conditions of persisting Ag. Enforced Id3 expression specifically increased the persistence of 2B4+ virus-specific CD8+ T cells by decreasing susceptibility to Fas/Fas ligand–mediated cell death. Thus, our findings reveal that the transcriptional regulator Id3 promotes the survival of virus-specific CD8+ T cells in chronic infection and suggest that targeting Id3 might be beneficial for preventing cell death of CD8+ T cells in chronic infection or for promoting cell death of uncontrolled, hyperactive CD8+ T cells to prevent immunopathology.

This article reports the case of a 62-year-old male patient who ingested the roots of Monkshood (Aconitum napellus) and white hellebore (Veratrum album) dissolved in alcohol with a suicidal intention and suffered cardiotoxic and neurotoxic symptoms. After contacting the Poison Information Centre ventricular arrhythmia was treated with high-dose magnesium sulphate as the only antiarrhythmic agent and subsequently a stable sinus rhythm could be established after approximately 3 h. Aconitum napellus is considered the most poisonous plant in Europe and it is found in gardens, the Alps and the Highlands. Poisoning is mainly caused by the alkaloid aconite that leads to persistent opening and activation of voltage-dependent sodium channels resulting in severe cardiac and neurological toxicity. As no specific antidote is known so far, poisoning is associated with a high mortality. The therapy with high-dose magnesium sulphate is based on in vitro and animal experiments as well as limited clinical case reports.

Background and aim: The objective of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the degree of glycaemic control and the frequency of diabetic complications in Italian people with diabetes who were treated with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII). Methods and results: Questionnaires investigating the organisation of diabetes care centres, individuals’ clinical and metabolic features and pump technology and its management were sent to adult and paediatric diabetes centres that use CSII for treatment in Italy. Information on standard clinical variables, demographic data and acute and chronic diabetic complications was derived from local clinical management systems. The sample consisted of 6623 people with diabetes, which was obtained from 93 centres. Of them, 98.8% had type 1 diabetes mellitus, 57.2% were female, 64% used a conventional insulin pump and 36% used a sensor-augmented insulin pump. The median glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) level was 60 mmol/mol (7.6%). The HbA1c target (i.e. 18 years) was achieved in 43.4% of paediatric and 23% of adult participants. Factors such as advanced pump functions, higher rate of sensor use, pregnancy in the year before the study and longer duration of diabetes were associated with lower HbA1c levels. The most common chronic complications occurring in diabetes were retinopathy, microalbuminuria and hypertension. In the year before the study, 5% of participants reported ≥1 episode of severe hypoglycaemic (SH) episodes (SH) and 2.6% reported ≥1 episode of ketoacidosis. Conclusions: Advanced personal skills and use of sensor-based pump are associated with better metabolic control outcomes in Italian people with diabetes who were treated with CSII. The reduction in SH episodes confirms the positive effect of CSII on hypoglycaemia. Clinical trial registration number: NCT 02620917 (ClinicalTrials.gov).

Foxp3(+) regulatory T (Treg) cells are broadly divided into naive-like and activated Treg cells, however recent studies suggest further Treg cell heterogeneity. Treg cells contribute to impaired T cell responses in chronic infections, but the role of specific Treg cell subpopulations in viral infections is not well defined. Here, we report that activated Treg cells are separated into two transcriptionally distinct subpopulations characterized by low or high expression of the transcriptional regulator Id3. Id3(lo) Treg cells are a highly suppressive Treg cell subpopulation, expressing elevated levels of immunomodulatory molecules and are capable of broadly targeting T cell responses. Viral infection and interleukin-2 promote the differentiation of Id3(hi) into Id3(lo) Treg cells and during chronic infection Id3(lo) Treg cells are the predominant Treg cell population. Thus, our report provides a framework, in which different activated Treg cell subpopulations specifically affect immune responses, possibly contributing to T cell dysfunction in chronic infections. Funding Agencies|International Graduate Academy fellowship; Fill-in-the-gap stipend; German Research Foundation [DFG SCHA 1442/5-1, DFG SCHA 1442/6-1, DFG SFB1160-IMPATH TP2]; Federal Ministry of Education and Research [BMBF 01EO1303]; European Commission [FP7 PIRG08-GA-2010-276906]; Muller-Fahnenberg Stiftung; German Research Foundation (DFG) [SFB1160-IMPATH TP5]

Group B streptococci, a major cause of sepsis, induce inflammatory cytokines in strict dependence on bacterial ssRNA and the host molecules MyD88 and UNC-93B. In this study, we show that NO plays an important role in Group B streptococci-induced transcriptional activation of cytokine genes. Phagocytosis induced NO in a MyD88-dependent fashion. In turn, NO propagated the acidification of phagosomes and the processing of phagosomal bacterial nucleic acids and was required for potent transcriptional activation of cytokine genes by streptococci. This NO-dependent amplification loop has important mechanistic implications for the anti-streptococcal macrophage response and sepsis pathogenesis.

The facility for antiproton and ion research (FAIR) at Gesellschaft fur Schwerionenforschung (GSI) will build two superconducting synchrotrons requiring fields of up to up to 2 T at 4 T/s (SIS 100) and 6 Tesla at 1 T/s (SIS 300). The magnets of these rings will be measured using a mole which is currently under development. The main component of the field must be measured with a precision of 250 ppm and the higher order harmonics with a precision better than 100 ppm for DC and pulsed operation. This paper is focused on the pulse measurement using the "step by step" method.

The goal of the present study was to describe the ultrasonographic findings in 22 cattle with traumatic pericarditis. A 5.0 MHz linear transducer or a 5.0 MHz convex transducer was used to examine the thorax, reticulum and liver. There was severe pleural effusion in 17 heifers and severe pericardial effusion in 13 animals. Echogenic deposits and strands of fibrin were seen on the epicardium of 7 animals. Eighteen cattle had signs of traumatic reticuloperitonitis, and 11 had ascites. Because of cardiac insufficiency, 14 cattle had a markedly enlarged liver due to congestion and 15 had dilatation of the caudal vena cava. Ultrasonography is a useful diagnostic aid for visualisation and characterisation of thoracic and abdominal lesions in cattle with traumatic pericarditis.

In December 2005 three sheep, originating from Canton Tessin, were presented with cerebrospinal nematodosis. The animals had a history of progressive pelvic limb ataxia and recumbency. The most important clinical findings were an abnormal gait (wide stance, pelvic limb paresis) and decreased sensitivity of the pelvic limbs. The general condition was slightly or moderately disturbed, appetite was normal. Examination of the cerebrospinal fluid revealed mononuclear cells and eosinophils, suggesting a helminthic infection of the central nervous system. Postmortem findings confirmed the clinical diagnosis in one animal as parts of a nematode were found in the thoracic spinal cord. Even though the nematode could not be identified, infection with Elaphostrongylus cervi seems very likely, as the sheep are in close contact with deer on the pastures and the parasite is known to infect goats in Switzerland. This is the first description of cerebrospinal nematodosis in sheep in Switzerland.

Promoting the use of renewable sources of energy is part of the efforts being undertaken to tackle the problem of global warming due to the greenhouse effect. Generation of heat or energy by wood combustion takes advantage of a renewable and often locally available source of energy and can help to reduce the overall emissions of CO 2 . Particularly small wood-fired appliances, however, are significant sources of air pollution. In addition to CO, VOC or NO x , high emissions of particulate matter are a major drawback of these appliances. The work presented here results from efforts to improve small heating appliances burning solid fuel. For application in small heating systems, a compact and inexpensive solution that still offers a significant reduction of particle emissions is required. In this paper, a specific design of electrostatic precipitator (ESP) is presented and its collection efficiency and electrical characteristics are evaluated. Different geometries and electrode set-ups have been considered with the aim of developing a system that can also be retrofitted to existing installations.

A ferroelectric liquid crystal with an end-substituted (-)-isopinocampheol (IPC) group has been studied in isolation and in mixtures with the antiferroelectric compound EHPOCBC. The samples were studied with respect to electroclinic coefficients, tilt angles, X-ray layer spacing, dielectric permittivity, spontaneous polarisation and relative birefringence under an applied field. In the pure isopinocampheol substituted compound, the SmA-SmC phase transition appears strongly first order and is associated with a significant increase in effective birefringence. The smectic layer spacing decreases below the transition approximately with the optical tilt. On increased EHPOCBC concentration the change in birefringence across the transition diminishes, until the point at which the mixture adopts an anticlinic SmC(A) phase, and the expected decrease in birefringence is observed. There is very little change in birefringence with field for the IPC compound, whilst EHPOCBC shows a marked increase with increasing field, for a few degrees above the phase transition. The results are analyzed with respect to two models. In one it is proposed that the bulky IPC group disorders the SmA phase by introducing undulations in the smectic layer. These undulations may disappear in the SmC phase due to an antiparallel arrangement of neighbouring molecules. In the other model the bent shape of the mesogen as a whole plays a crucial role in changing the optical properties at the SmA-SmC transition, due to the biased rotation around the molecular axis of inertia.

This article arrived too late to be included in the appropriate section of the ILCC Proceedings, which is Structural Characterization. Several banana-shaped liquid crystalline molecules have been studied as active media for second harmonic generation (SHG) in their different thermotropic phases [1]. Besides the B2- and B7-phases, which exhibit SHG under external applied electric fields, the so-called “blue” B4-phase exhibits spontaneous SHG without application of any external field [2,3]. Both phases form a complex poly-domain structure which lead us to develop a SHG-Scanning microscope to perform a more detailed study of this complex systems. First experimental 2D-SHG-Scans in this molecules show the possibility to discriminate domains of different polar and NLO-properties, allowing a better understanding and analyses of this structures. A well defined polar structuring by external fields and analyses thereof is a prerequisite for the development of non-linear-optical (NLO)-applications of banana-shaped ...

An epidemiological health study compared the health status of residents of a town exposed to an accidental Catacarb chemical release from an adjacent oil refinery, with the health status of demographically similar residents of an unexposed town in the region. Few studies of Catacarb's effects on humans exist; however, animal studies have shown it to be a respiratory, gastro-intestinal, dermatological and visual irritant. As part of the study, health questionnaires assessing pre- and post exposure symptoms, illnesses and medication use were mailed to residents in both towns. Medication use is sometimes reported to be a more objective and reliable measure of health outcomes 1) . The current paper compared medication use of exposed and unexposed residents. Significant increases after exposure were found in the use of the following medications: antacid, asthma medication, cough and cold medication, eye medication, headache medication and sleep medication. These increases were consistent with reported symptoms, albeit of greater magnitude; no increase in medication use for other illnesses was reported. Medication use in this sample was consistent with patients' report of symptoms and may be a better measure of outcome.

Objective: To ensure that resources designed to teach skills and best practices for scientific research data sharing and management are useful, the maintainers of those materials need to evaluate and update them to ensure their accuracy, currency, and quality. This paper advances the use and process of outside peer review for community resources in addressing ongoing accuracy, quality, and currency issues. It further describes the next step of moving the updated materials to an online collaborative community platform for future iterative review in order to build upon mechanisms for open science, ongoing iteration, participation, and transparent community engagement. Setting: Research data management resources were developed in support of the DataONE (Data Observation Network for Earth) project, which has deployed a sustainable, long-term network to ensure the preservation and access to multi-scale, multi-discipline, and multi-national environmental and biological science data (Michener et al. 2012). Created by members of the Community Engagement and Education (CEE) Working Group in 2011-2012, the freely available Educational Modules included three complementary components (slides, handouts, and exercises) that were designed to be adaptable for use in classrooms as well as for research data management training. Methods: Because the modules were initially created and launched in 2011-2012, the current members of the (renamed) Community Engagement and Outreach (CEO) Working Group were concerned that the materials could be and / or quickly become outdated and should be reviewed for accuracy, currency, and quality. In November 2015, the Working Group developed an evaluation rubric for use by outside reviewers. Review criteria were developed based on surveys and usage scenarios from previous DataONE projects. Peer reviewers were selected from the DataONE community network for their expertise in the areas covered by one of the 11 educational modules. Reviewers were contacted in March 2016, and were asked to volunteer to complete their evaluations online within one month of the request, by using a customized Google form. Results: For the 11 modules, 22 completed reviews were received by April 2016 from outside experts. Comments on all three components of each module (slides, handouts, and exercises) were compiled and evaluated by the postdoctoral fellow attached to the CEO Working Group. These reviews contributed to the full evaluation and revision by members of the Working Group of all educational modules in September 2016. This review process, as well as the potential lack of funding for ongoing maintenance by Working Group members or paid staff, provoked the group to transform the modules to a more stable, non-proprietary format, and move them to an online open repository hosting platform, GitHub. These decisions were made to foster sustainability, community engagement, version control, and transparency. Conclusion: Outside peer review of the modules by experts in the field was beneficial for highlighting areas of weakness or overlap in the education modules. The modules were initially created in 2011-2012 by an earlier iteration of the Working Group, and updates were needed due to the constant evolving practices in the field. Because the review process was lengthy (approximately one year) comparative to the rate of innovations in data management practices, the Working Group discussed other options that would allow community members to make updates available more quickly. The intent of migrating the modules to an online collaborative platform (GitHub) is to allow for iterative updates and ongoing outside review, and to provide further transparency about accuracy, currency, and quality in the spirit of open science and collaboration. Documentation about this project may be useful for others trying to develop and maintain educational resources for engagement and outreach, particularly in communities and spaces where information changes quickly, and open platforms are already in common use.

The Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) aims to integrate smaller, isolated datasets into a larger, more comprehensive picture of life in our oceans. Therefore, OBIS provides a gateway to many datasets containing information on where and when marine species have been observed. The datasets within OBIS are contributed by a network of hundreds of institutes, projects and individuals, all with the common goal to gain scientific knowledge and to make these data and knowledge easily available to the public. Until recently, OBIS had solely focused on biogeographic data, in the form of presence of marine species in space and time. Data collected for biological studies however often include more than just presence or abundance. Physical and chemical measurements are often taken concomitantly providing insights into the environmental conditions the species live in. Details on the nature of the sampling methods, equipment used and effort can also be of major importance. Based on requirements from the growing OBIS community for data archiving and scientific applications, OBIS completed the OBIS-ENV-DATA project in 2017 to enhance its data standard by accommodating additional data types (De Pooter et al. 2017). The proposed standard allows for the management of sampling methodology, animal tracking and telemetry data, and environmental measurements such as nutrient concentrations, sediment characteristics and other abiotic parameters measured during sampling. The new OBIS data standard builds on the Darwin Core Archive and on practices adopted by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). It consists of an Event Core in combination with an Occurrence Extension and an enhanced MeasurementOrFact Extension Fig. 1. This new structure enables the linkage of measurements or facts - quantitative or qualitative properties - to both sampling events and species occurrences, and includes additional fields for property standardization. The OBIS standard also embraces the use of the new Darwin Core term parentEventID, enabling a sampling event hierarchy. During the follow-up project "OBIS-Event Data", the format will be further fine-tuned during two workshops with two different communities of practice. The first workshop (April 2018) will focus on animal tagging and tracking data, while the second one (October 2018) will tackle macro- and meiobenthos data. The OBIS-Event Data project will also develop the first data products and applications based on the standard and make these tools part of the core OBIS data system output. We believe that the adoption of this new data standard by the international community will be key to improving the effectiveness of the knowledge base and will enhance integration and management of critical data needed to understand ecological and biological processes in the ocean.

Typical for broad-area laser (BAL) diodes operating in a continuous-wave mode is a narrowing of the near-field (NF) width at the output facet for high injection currents (output powers). This phenomenon increases the facet load of BALs, resulting in a reduction in the level of catastrophic optical mirror damage. In this letter, we demonstrate theoretically that thermally induced changes in the refractive index in both lateral and longitudinal directions not only cause the NF narrowing at the front facet but also a broadening of the NF at the back facet. In contrast, a sole lateral self-heating induced variation in the refractive index (commonly referred to as thermal lensing) does not result in a NF narrowing. Our theoretical findings are confirmed by measurements of the current-dependent profiles of the NF at the back and front facets of a BAL with a stripe width of 120 μm emitting at 960 nm. Furthermore, our quasi three-dimensional thermo-electro-optic simulations indicate that a longitudinally homogene...

This article reports the case of a 62-year-old male patient who ingested the roots of Monkshood (Aconitum napellus) and white hellebore (Veratrum album) dissolved in alcohol with a suicidal intention and suffered cardiotoxic and neurotoxic symptoms. After contacting the Poison Information Centre ventricular arrhythmia was treated with high-dose magnesium sulphate as the only antiarrhythmic agent and subsequently a stable sinus rhythm could be established after approximately 3 h. Aconitum napellus is considered the most poisonous plant in Europe and it is found in gardens, the Alps and the Highlands. Poisoning is mainly caused by the alkaloid aconite that leads to persistent opening and activation of voltage-dependent sodium channels resulting in severe cardiac and neurological toxicity. As no specific antidote is known so far, poisoning is associated with a high mortality. The therapy with high-dose magnesium sulphate is based on in vitro and animal experiments as well as limited clinical case reports.

Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is essential for class-switch recombination (CSR) and somatic hypermutation (SHM) of Ig genes. The AID C terminus is required for CSR, but not for S-region DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) during CSR, and it is not required for SHM. AID lacking the C terminus (ΔAID) is a dominant negative (DN) mutant, because human patients heterozygous for this mutant fail to undergo CSR. In agreement, we show that ΔAID is a DN mutant when expressed in AID-sufficient mouse splenic B cells. To have DN function, ΔAID must have deaminase activity, suggesting that its ability to induce DSBs is important for the DN function. Supporting this hypothesis, Msh2-Msh6 have been shown to contribute to DSB formation in S regions, and we find in this study that Msh2 is required for the DN activity, because ΔAID is not a DN mutant in msh2−/− cells. Our results suggest that the DNA DSBs induced by ΔAID are unable to participate in CSR and might interfere with the ability of full-length AID to participate in CSR. We propose that ΔAID is impaired in its ability to recruit nonhomologous end joining repair factors, resulting in accumulation of DSBs that undergo aberrant resection. Supporting this hypothesis, we find that the S–S junctions induced by ΔAID have longer microhomologies than do those induced by full-length AID. In addition, our data suggest that AID binds Sμ regions in vivo as a monomer.

By use of time-resolved polarized Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR-) spectroscopy the molecular structure and mobility of B2 phase LC banana-shape molecules is investigated. Two samples are investigated: an achiral banana-shaped (B14) system and a mixture of achiral (B14) and chiral (B7*) banana-shaped molecules. The molecules are oriented by shearing the substance between ITO-coated CaF 2 windows. The measurements give detailed information about a) the average orientation, b) the orientational order, c) the reorientation time, d) the reorientation angle and e) the phase relation between the different segments for the different molecular moieties. The experiments are performed in dependence on frequency and strength of the external electric field. The corresponding molecular response of the different moieties is recorded by means of step-scan FTIR spectroscopy with a time resolution of 5 microseconds.

Comparison of Hydroxyethyl Starch Solutions Derived from Potato and Corn Starch. Objective: The study was designed to investigate the effects of hydroxyethyl starch (HES) solutions derived from potato (p) compared to HES derived from corn (c) starch on the colloidosmotic pressure, plasma viscosity, and to measure the plasma and urine concentration. Methods: After approval by the Ethics Committee, and having obtained informed consent, we recruited 20 patients undergoing lumbar disc surgery who received either 1000 ml of p-HES or c-HES (MW 200,000 DS 0.5) in a randomized, single-blind way. Colloidosmotic pressure, plasma viscosity and the plasma concentration were measured before and 30, 90, 240 min and one day after the infusion. Statistical analysis was performed using chi-square and Mann-Whitney test. There were no differences between the two groups in regard to demographics and anesthesia. Results: Plasma viscosity and colloidosmotic pressure did not change significantly during that time. There were no differences in plasma concentration and excretion of both solutions. The peak plasma concentration was reached after 30 min in both groups (8.57 ± 3.92 g/l c-group and 7.67 ± 4.68 g/l p-group) and declined thereafter. Within 6h 38% (c-group 23.0 ± 3.2 g HES) and 28% (p-group 16.8 ± 1.6 g HES) of the infused HES were found in the urine. 12 h later about 50% was excreted. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that there was no clinically apparent effect on hematorheology and pharmacokinetics between these two solutions.

Tilted smectic phases of achiral banana-shaped molecules are polar and may form a number of different states (chiral or racemic, antiferroelectric or ferroelectric), which can be interchanged by external fields. In thin films they may assume various layer structures (vertical, tilted or horizontally modulated), which can be set by external effects. In this paper we describe electric field and mechanical shear induced structural transitions in smectic phases of bent-core molecules. We discuss the field-induced distortion of the antiferroelectric state and the changeover of the chirality.

We describe the adsorption and catalytic behavior of the serine protease subtilisin BPN‘ on controlled pore glass (CPG) beads with a short (aminopropyl) or a long (aminoalkyl CH2 > 12) chain covalent link separating the reporter peptide succinyl-alanine-alanine-proline-phenylalanine-p-nitroanilide (sAAPFpNA) from the surface. The propyl-linked sAAPFpNA modified glass surface (aminopropyl CPG:sAAPFpNA) showed a 2-fold increase in protease adsorption over an aminopropyl−glass surface. In contrast, the sAAPFpNA surface with the long chain connector showed a 2-fold drop in adsorption relative to an aminoalkyl surface. BPN‘-catalyzed hydrolysis rates showed an inverse relationship to adsorption. Water-soluble polymers [poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP), poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), poly(4-vinylpyridine-N-oxide) (PVPO) and a copolymer of 1-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone and 1-vinylimidazole (PVPVI)] neutralize the 2-fold increase in BPN‘ adsorption and provide more than a 3-fold increase in the initial rate of hydrolysis for BP...

Recently it was shown that smectic liquid crystal phases formed by achiral banana-shaped molecules are chiral. Films of such phases generally contain both homochiral (consisting of layers of the same chirality) and racemic (the chirality alternates in subsequent layers) domains. So far it has not been clear how to control the overall chirality of the sample. By observing the effects of the application of suitable electric fields, it was noted that chirality of a film of banana shaped molecules was interchanged between homochiral and racemic. We present dielectric, electro-optic, and polarization current measurements on both the racemic and chiral states. The observations indicate that the synclinic states have minimum free energies. The observed dielectric modes can be explained by a simple model assuming that the antiferroelectric state is very weak.

Time-resolved polarized Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) is employed to analyse the segmental orientation and mobility of achiral bent core molecules in response to an external electric field. By shearing the substance between ITO coated CaF2 windows two types of domain, racemic and homochiral, are formed in the high temperature B2 phase. Each of these domains is characterized by two spontaneous symmetry-breaking instabilities which yield a symmetric and an antisymmetric electro-optical response, respectively. Taking advantage of the specificity of IR spectroscopy, this switching behaviour is analysed on a molecular level for the moieties of the bent core liquid crystal materials. In this way, the electrically induced reorientation of the different segments on a cone and the suppression of the antiferroelectric structure at higher frequencies can be followed in detail. Furthermore the biased rotation of the two carbonyl groups around the molecular long axis is determined. It is shown that al...

Achiral bent-shaped molecules may form chiral and polar smectic phases, due to a spontaneous tilt of the planes of the molecules. The lowest energy-state is racemic, and in the textures of the ground state usually fine fringes appear parallel to the smectic layers. Recently it was found that the formation of the fringes could be suppressed resulting in a uniform texture in the ground state. In this paper we show evidences for field induced tilted and horizontally zigzagging layer structures. We discuss properties of various layer structures and compare them to our experimental observations. Finally we give a qualitative explanation for the observed field-induced-uniform-racemic ground state.