Cryogenic vacuum valve with actuation times down to 50 ms.

We have conceived, built, and operated a cryogenic vacuum valve with opening and closing times as short as 50 ms that can be used in strong magnetic fields and across a broad range of duty cycles. It is used to seal a cryogenic Penning trap at liquid-helium temperature for long-term storage of highly charged ions in a vacuum better than 10-15 hPa from a room-temperature ion beamline at vacuum conditions around 10-9 hPa. It will significantly improve any experiment where a volume at the most extreme vacuum conditions must be temporarily connected to a less demanding vacuum during repeated experimental cycles. We describe the design of this valve and show measurements that characterize its main features.

Patients benefi ts from physicians empathy and results of including of empathy development into medical training.

BACKGROUND:  The extent of empathy is an individual human property, not completely dependent on cognitive intelligence. People arise with certain genetic fundament for empathy but the ability to perceive empathically develops further during the life. There has been much discussion in the medical literature about the importance of empathy and physician communication style in medical practice. Empathy has been shown to have a very real positive eff ect on patients outcomes. The literature suggests that empathy training is warranted and should be incorporated into surgical residencies through didactics, role-playing and simulations, and apprenticeship to empathic attending role models. PURPOSE: This paper reviews empathy and its importance as it pertains to the physician-patient relationship and improving patients outcomes, and the need for increased education in empathy during medical training.

Improved Limit on Tensor Currents in the Weak Interaction from

The electroweak interaction in the standard model is described by a pure vector-axial-vector structure, though any Lorentz-invariant component could contribute. In this Letter, we present the most precise measurement of tensor currents in the low-energy regime by examining the ß-ν[over ¯] correlation of trapped ^{8}Li ions with the Beta-decay Paul Trap. We find a_{ßν}=-0.3325±0.0013_{stat}±0.0019_{syst} at 1σ for the case of coupling to right-handed neutrinos (C_{T}=-C_{T}^{'}), which is consistent with the standard model prediction.

Basic information for identifying psychological disorders caused by malignant disease.

BACKGROUND: Improvements in cancer dia-gnosis and treatment explain a substantial increase in the number of patients chronically affected by or recovering from cancer. This is a fragile population, physically, psychologically and socially affected by the consequences of the disease and the associated treatment. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) reacted to this fact, creating the NCCN guidelines for survivorship. They provide screening, evaluation and treatment recommendations for the consequences of cancer and cancer treatment. PURPOSE: Inspired by this NCCN recommendation, we drew up this article pointing out the psychological issues like anxiety, depression and fatigue in order to help the physicians refer their patients timely to psychologic or psychiatric care.

[The Injury-Treatment Time Interval of the Most Frequent Limb Fractures - 1-Year Monocentric Study]. / Interval úraz-osetrení u nejcastejsích zlomenin skeletu koncetin ­ jednoletá monocentrická studie.

INTRODUCTION The purpose of the study was to evaluate the injury-treatment time interval in a group of patients with limb bone fractures over the period of one year; and to compare this interval in the most frequent fractures of the upper and lower limb. MATERIAL AND METHODS The followed-up group of the prospective one-year monocentric study included 3,148 patients treated consecutively for 3,909 fractures. For the purpose of sub-analysis of the injury-treatment time interval in limb bone fractures, excluded from the group were the patients with multiple fractures (520 pts), patients with spinal fractures (356 pts) and pelvic fractures (210 pts). The statistical significance of the achieved results was tested with the use of contingency tables (chi-square test of independence). The significance level for the quantified tests was set at 5%. RESULTS The sub-analysis covered 1,727 patients whose medical records mentioned the exact time of injury and first examination. Within the first 6 hours after the injury, 536 (56.0%) patients with an upper limb bone fracture and 429 (55.7%) patients with a lower limb bone fracture were treated. Within 24 hours after the injury, 683 (71.4%) patients with an upper limb bone fracture and 572 (74.3%) patients with a lower limb bone fracture were treated. Within the first 24 hours after the injury, 104 (76.4%) patients with a proximal humerus fracture, 240 (84.5%) patients with a distal radius fracture and only 174 (55.5%) patients with metacarpal and phalanx fractures were treated. In the first hours after the injury, most frequently treated were the patients who sustained a distal radius fracture, and the longest injurytreatment time interval was seen in patients with hand bone fractures. The difference in the 24hour injury-treatment interval was significant when comparing distal radius fractures and proximal humerus fractures (p = 0.047) and when comparing distal radius fractures and hand bone fractures (p < 0.001). Within 24 hours after the injury, 166 (83.3%) patients with a proximal humerus fracture, 128 (79.1%) patients with an ankle fracture and 142 (63.4%) patients with metatarsal and phalanx fractures were treated. The shortest injury-treatment interval was reported in patients with a proximal femoral fracture and an ankle fracture, and relatively the lowest number of treated patients in the first hours after the injury was reported among patients with metatarsal and toe fractures. When evaluating the 24hour injury-treatment time interval, this difference was significant only when comparing proximal femoral fractures and metatarsal and phalanx fractures (p < 0.001), while when comparing proximal femoral fractures and ankle fractures the difference was not significant (p = 0.283). DISCUSSION There are not many studies of other authors focused on monitoring the injury-treatment time interval in the most frequent limb bone fractures. They also confirm that the treatment is sought out most quickly by patients with fractures that make walking or self-care impossible. CONCLUSIONS The results of the study confirmed that the fastest treatment was requested in patients with fractures which made the selfcare (distal radius) or walking (proximal femur, ankle) impossible; less painful fractures (metacarpal, phalanx fractures) and fractures that do not compromise walking (metatarsal fractures) were treated in the first 24 hours after the injury significantly less frequently. The patients with ankle fractures sought out treatment the most quickly compared to the patients with other fractures; it concerned largely occupational or sports injuries sustained by young men who were brought for treatment immediately after the injury, directly from their workplace or sports ground. The treatment of osteoporotic fractures (proximal humerus, distal radius, proximal femur) was spread over the first 6 hours due to the lack of independence of elderly patients after sustaining a fall at home; in majority of them transport to treatment was arranged for by relatives or neighbours only with a certain delay, once they became aware of their injury. Key words: fracture epidemiology, limb bone fractures, trauma-treatment time interval.

Precision Mass Measurements of Neutron-Rich Neodymium and Samarium Isotopes and Their Role in Understanding Rare-Earth Peak Formation.

The Canadian Penning Trap mass spectrometer at the Californium Rare Isotope Breeder Upgrade (CARIBU) facility was used to measure the masses of eight neutron-rich isotopes of Nd and Sm. These measurements are the first to push into the region of nuclear masses relevant to the formation of the rare-earth abundance peak at A∼165 by the rapid neutron-capture process. We compare our results with theoretical predictions obtained from "reverse engineering" the mass surface that best reproduces the observed solar abundances in this region through a Markov chain Monte Carlo technique. Our measured masses are consistent with the reverse-engineering predictions for a neutron star merger wind scenario.

Masses and ß-Decay Spectroscopy of Neutron-Rich Odd-Odd

The structure of deformed neutron-rich nuclei in the rare-earth region is of significant interest for both the astrophysics and nuclear structure fields. At present, a complete explanation for the observed peak in the elemental abundances at A∼160 eludes astrophysicists, and models depend on accurate quantities, such as masses, lifetimes, and branching ratios of deformed neutron-rich nuclei in this region. Unusual nuclear structure effects are also observed, such as the unexpectedly low energies of the first 2^{+} levels in some even-even nuclei at N=98. In order to address these issues, mass and ß-decay spectroscopy measurements of the ^{160}Eu_{97} and ^{162}Eu_{99} nuclei were performed at the Californium Rare Isotope Breeder Upgrade radioactive beam facility at Argonne National Laboratory. Evidence for a gap in the single-particle neutron energies at N=98 and for large deformation (ß_{2}∼0.3) is discussed in relation to the unusual phenomena observed at this neutron number.

The random phase approximation applied to ice.

Standard density functionals without van der Waals interactions yield an unsatisfactory description of ice phases, specifically, high density phases occurring under pressure are too unstable compared to the common low density phase Ih observed at ambient conditions. Although the description is improved by using functionals that include van der Waals interactions, the errors in relative volumes remain sizable. Here we assess the random phase approximation (RPA) for the correlation energy and compare our results to experimental data as well as diffusion Monte Carlo data for ice. The RPA yields a very balanced description for all considered phases, approaching the accuracy of diffusion Monte Carlo in relative energies and volumes. This opens a route towards a concise description of molecular water phases on surfaces and in cavities.

The retention behaviour of polar compounds on zirconia based stationary phases under hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography conditions.

The most separations in HILIC mode are performed on silica-based supports. Nevertheless, recently published results have indicated that the metal oxides stationary phases also possess the ability to interact with hydrophilic compounds under HILIC conditions. This paper primarily describes the retention behaviour of model hydrophilic analytes (4-aminobenzene sulfonic acid, 4-aminobenzoic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, 3,4-diaminobenzoic acid, 3-aminophenol and 3-nitrophenol) on the polybutadine modified zirconia in HILIC. The results were simultaneously compared with a bare zirconia and a silica-based HILIC phase. The mobile phase strength, pH and the column temperature were systematically modified to assess their impact on the retention of model compounds. It was found that the retention of our model hydrophilic analytes on both zirconia phases was mainly governed by adsorption while on the silica-based HILIC phase partitioning was primarily involved. The ability of ligand-exchange interactions of zirconia surface with a carboxylic moiety influenced substantially the response of carboxylic acids on the elevated temperature as well as to the change of the mobile phase pH in contrast to the silica phase. However, no or negligible ligand-exchange interactions were observed for sulfanilic acid. The results of this study clearly demonstrated the ability of modified zirconia phase to retain polar acidic compounds under HILIC conditions, which might substantially enlarge the application area of the zirconia-based stationary phases.

Antimicrobial-resistant faecal Escherichia coli in wild mammals in central Europe: multiresistant Escherichia coli producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamases in wild boars.

AIMS: To determine the presence of antibiotic-resistant faecal Escherichia coli in populations of wild mammals in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. METHODS AND RESULTS: Rectal swabs or faeces collected during 2006-2008 from wild mammals were spread on MacConkey agar and MacConkey agar containing 2 mg l(-1) of cefotaxime. From plates with positive growth, one isolate was recovered and identified as E. coli. Susceptibility to 12 antibiotics was tested using the disk diffusion method. Resistance genes, class 1 and 2 integrons and gene cassettes were detected in resistant isolates by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) were further characterized by DNA sequencing, macrorestriction profiling and determination of plasmid sizes. Plasmid DNA was subjected to EcoRV digestion, transferability by conjugation and incompatibility grouping by multiplex PCR. The prevalence of resistant isolates was 2% in small terrestrial mammals (rodents and insectivores, n(E. coli) = 242), 12% in wild ruminants and foxes (n(E. coli) = 42), while no resistant isolates were detected in brown bears (n(E. coli) = 16). In wild boars (Sus scrofa) (n(E. coli) = 290), the prevalence of resistant isolates was 6%. Class 1 and 2 integrons with various gene cassettes were recorded in resistant isolates. From wild boars, five (2%, n(rectal smears) = 293) multiresistant isolates producing ESBL were recovered: one isolate with bla(CTX-M-1) + bla(TEM-1), three with bla(CTX-M-1) and one with bla(TEM-52b). The bla(CTX-M-1) genes were carried on approx. 90 kb IncI1 conjugative plasmids. CONCLUSIONS: Antibiotic-resistant E. coli occurred in populations of wild mammals in various prevalences. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Wild mammals are reservoirs of antibiotic-resistant E. coli including ESBL-producing strains which were found in wild boars.

An innovative approach to the analysis of 3-[4-(2-methylpropyl)phenyl]propanoic acid as an impurity of ibuprofen on a carbon-coated zirconia stationary phase.

3-[4-(2-Methylpropyl)phenyl]propanoic acid has been introduced as impurity F to the European Pharmacopoeia in its Supplement 4.2. In contrast to other impurities, which are evaluated by HPLC, the content of impurity F is determined by gas chromatography after previous derivatization. Thus a novel reversed-phase HPLC method was developed to simplify the evaluation of pharmacopoeial impurity F of ibuprofen. Favourable properties of zirconia stationary phases were employed for this purpose. The HPLC separation was achieved on a Zr-CARB column (150 mm x 4.6mm i.d., 5 microm) using the mobile phase acetonitrile-phosphate buffer (pH 3.5, 25 mM) (38:62, v/v), temperature 80 degrees C and the flow rate 1.2 ml min(-1). The fluorescence detection was employed to enhance the sensitivity of the method. Optimal detection parameters were chosen on the basis of fluorescence spectra of the analytes. The excitation and emission wavelengths were 220 nm and 285 nm, respectively. The analysis was completed within 25 min. The subsequent validation of the method confirmed the applicability of method for the analytical assay of impurity F.

Lawsonia intracellularis in rodents from pig farms with the occurrence of porcine proliferative enteropathy.

AIM: Lawsonia intracellularis is an obligate intracellular bacterium causing proliferative enteropathy in certain species of domestic, laboratory and captive animals. The aim of our study was to detect L. intracellularis in free-living rodents from pig farms in the Czech Republic. METHODS AND RESULTS: Lawsonia intracellularis was demonstrated, using nested polymerase chain reaction, in the intestinal mucous membranes of 107 (36%) out of 296 small terrestrial mammals collected. In rodents, the bacterium was detected in 91 of 213 house mice, one of six brown rats, eight of 51 striped field mice, three of 12 yellow-necked mice and three of nine common voles. Moreover, one of one tested lesser white-toothed shrew (Insectivora) was positive. In 17 out of 69 (25%) rodents tested, serum IgG antibodies against L. intracellularis were detected using an indirect immunofluorescence antibody test. All seropositive animals were house mice. CONCLUSIONS: Free-living rodents may be serving as host or reservoir species and may be playing a role in the spread of L. intracellularis both within pig farms and in its transmission between farms and into the natural environment. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This is the first detection of L. intracellularis in free-living small mammalian terrestrial species.

Determination of lipophilicity of novel potential antituberculotic agents using HPLC on monolithic stationary phase and theoretical calculations.

The HPLC analyses on the monolithic stationary phase were employed for rapid determination of lipophilicity of the two sets of newly synthesized potential antituberculotic agents. The analyses utilized the mixture of methanol and phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) as a mobile phase and a flow rate of 4mL/min. Monolithic stationary phase enabled to significantly reduce the time of analyses, achieve appropriate peak shapes for all tested compounds as well as the separation of positional isomers. Furthermore, the theoretical lipophilic parameters (logP) for all compounds were calculated employing the chemical programs (e.g., ACD/logP, HyperChem, miLogP, AlogP, KOWWIN and COSMOFrag, etc.). The experimental data (logk) and calculated logP values were compared by linear regression analysis. The highest correlation for both series was obtained for KOWWIN and miLogP programs. However, capability of particular chemical software to precisely predict lipophilicity of a compound is structurally dependent. Thus the predictive power of the selected program should be verified using experimental method. The results of this study documented that experimental determination of lipophilicity using HPLC on monolithic stationary phase is practical and reasonable for this purpose.

Using of HPLC coupled with coulometric detector for the determination of biotin in pharmaceuticals.

The method for the determination of biotin by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with coulometric detector is presented here. Chromatographic and detection conditions were tested. A LiChrospher 60RP-select B column (250 mm x 4 mm; 5 microm) and the mobile phase containing 0.24 mol/L aqueous solution of acetic acid and acetonitrile in the ratio 85:15 (v/v) were found as the most suitable. The flow rate was 1 mL/min and the injected volume of the sample was 20 microL. The hydrodynamic voltammogram of biotin was measured and according to obtained data the detection parameters were set--channel I 600 mV, channel II 900 mV, sensitivity 1 microA. The developed method has been validated. The calibration curve is linear in the range 15-3600 ng/mL, correlation coefficient is 0.9998, limits of detection and quantification are 5 and 15 ng/mL, respectively. Recovery of the spiked samples was 98.67% with R.S.D. 0.255% on average. The developed method has been successfully applied for determination of biotin in pharmaceutical preparations.