Subcycle surface electron emission driven by strong-field terahertz waveforms.

The advent of intense terahertz (THz) sources opened a new era when the demonstration of the acceleration and manipulation of free electrons by THz pulses became within reach. THz-field-driven electron emission was predicted to be confined to a single burst due to the single-cycle waveform. Here we demonstrate the confinement of single-cycle THz-waveform-driven electron emission to one of the two half cycles from a solid surface emitter. Either the leading or the trailing half cycle was active, controlled by reversing the field polarity. THz-driven single-burst surface electron emission sources, which do not rely on field-enhancement structures, will impact the development of THz-powered electron acceleration and manipulation devices, all-THz compact electron sources, THz waveguides and telecommunication, THz-field-based measurement techniques and solid-state devices.

Certification of qubits in the prepare-and-measure scenario with large input alphabet and connections with the Grothendieck constant.

We address the problem of testing the quantumness of two-dimensional systems in the prepare-and-measure (PM) scenario, using a large number of preparations and a large number of measurement settings, with binary outcome measurements. In this scenario, we introduce constants, which we relate to the Grothendieck constant of order 3. We associate them with the white noise resistance of the prepared qubits and to the critical detection efficiency of the measurements performed. Large-scale numerical tools are used to bound the constants. This allows us to obtain new bounds on the minimum detection efficiency that a setup with 70 preparations and 70 measurement settings can tolerate.

Study of the effect of higher-order dispersions on photoionisation induced by ultrafast laser pulses applying a classical theoretical method.

We investigated the effect of higher order dispersion on ultrafast photoionisation with Classical Trajectory Monte Carlo (CTMC) method for hydrogen and krypton atoms. In our calculations we used linearly polarised ultrashort 7 fs laser pulses, [Formula: see text] intensity, and a central wavelength of 800 nm. Our results show that electrons with the highest kinetic energies are obtained with transform limited (TL) pulses. The shaping of the pulses with negative second- third- or fourth- order dispersion results in higher ionisation yield and electron energies compared to pulses shaped with positive dispersion values. We have also investigated how the Carrier Envelope Phase (CEP) dependence of the ionisation is infuenced by dispersion. We calculated the left-right asymmetry as a function of energy and CEP for sodium atoms employing pulses of 4.5 fs, 800 nm central wavelength, and [Formula: see text] intensity. We found that the left-right asymmetry is more pronounced for pulses shaped with positive Group Delay Dispersion (GDD). It was also found that shaping a pulse with increasing amounts of GDD in absolute value blurs the CEP dependence, which is attributed to the increasing number of optical cycles.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Colorectal Cancer Patients in a Tertiary Center in Romania. Single Center Retrospective Study.

Background: The novel coronavirus, SARS-COV-2, was first reported in Wuhan, China in the end of 2019. To curb its spread, social distancing measures and new safety regulations were implemented which led to major disruptions in colorectal cancer care. It is however unknown how it influenced the Romanian colorectal cancer care. Methods and Material: We assessed the demographical, clinical, intraoperative and pathological data of our colorectal cancer patients, 302 in total, between 15.03.2019-14.03.2021. The first year's data was considered as the control group and the second one, the study (pandemic) group. Results: We observed a 12% decrease in colorectal cancer hospitalizations in the first year, 38,6% in the first six months. The rate of emergency admissions, colo/ileostomy formatting procedures, palliative resections, clinical metastasis was higher in the pandemic group. More advanced locoregional invasion, a higher tumor stage, higher rate of vascular, perineural invasion, positive resection margin, and a higher lymph node yield was seen after the restrictions were implemented. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic and the response against it had a major effect on the colorectal cancer care in our country. The outcomes of these worse clinical and pathological findings are unknown, but it is important to do further research in this field. We think colorectal cancer care should have an absolute priority in future pandemics.

Is Awareness Enough to Bring Patients to Colorectal Screening?

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to assess the awareness of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients about CRC screening methods and to investigate the relationship between awareness, socio-demographic characteristics and the stage in which patients with CRC are diagnosed. METHODS: The observational cross-sectional study included 275 CRC patients admitted between 2014 and 2016 to two surgical clinics from Tîrgu Mures, Romania. Study variables were collected via face-to-face interview and from patients' observation sheets. RESULTS: Only 41.5% of the patients heard about cancer screening and 6.5% about specific CRC screening methods. Mass-media was the major source of information (85.1%) followed to a much lesser extent (14.9%) by family, friends, and colleagues. Health professionals did not contribute at all to informing patients about screening methods. Awareness about screening methods was statistically associated with the patients' residence, age, and educational achievement, but not with the stage of CRC. CONCLUSION: The level of awareness of CRC screening methods was very low among the CRC patients included in the study but it could not predict the stage in which malignancy was diagnosed, suggesting that awareness alone is not enough to bring patients to undergo early CDC screening procedures.

Plasmon-plasmon coupling probed by ultrafast, strong-field photoemission with <7 Å sensitivity.

The coupling of propagating surface plasmon waves and localized plasmon oscillations in nanostructures is an essential phenomenon determining electromagnetic field enhancement on the nanoscale. Here, we use our recently developed ultrafast photoemission near-field probing technique to investigate the fundamental question of plasmon-plasmon coupling and its effect on large field enhancement factors. By measuring and analyzing plasmon field enhancement values at different nanostructured surfaces, we can separate the contributions from propagating and localized plasmons. When resonance conditions are met, a significant field enhancement factor can be attributed to the generation of localized plasmons on surface nanostructures, acting as dipole sources resonantly driven by the propagating plasmon field. Our plasmon-plasmon coupling results can contribute directly to applications in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and the development of plasmonic sensors and nanostructured photocathodes.

Measurement of Nanoplasmonic Field Enhancement with Ultrafast Photoemission.

Probing nanooptical near-fields is a major challenge in plasmonics. Here, we demonstrate an experimental method utilizing ultrafast photoemission from plasmonic nanostructures that is capable of probing the maximum nanoplasmonic field enhancement in any metallic surface environment. Directly measured field enhancement values for various samples are in good agreement with detailed finite-difference time-domain simulations. These results establish ultrafast plasmonic photoelectrons as versatile probes for nanoplasmonic near-fields.

A Retrospective Longitudinal Database Study of Persistence and Compliance with Treatment of Osteoporosis in Hungary.

This study assessed persistence and compliance with anti-osteoporosis therapies, and associations between compliance and clinical outcomes (fracture, fracture-related hospitalization and death), in Hungarian women with postmenopausal osteoporosis. The study used the Hungarian National Health Insurance Fund Administration database and included women with PMO aged at least 50 years, for whom a prescription for anti-osteoporosis medication had been filled between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2013 (index event). Persistence (prescription refilled within 8 weeks of the end of the previous supply) was evaluated over 2 years; good compliance (medication possession ratio ≥ 80 %) was evaluated at 1 year. Associations between compliance and clinical outcomes (data collected for up to 6 years) were assessed with adjustment for baseline covariates. A total of 296,300 women met the inclusion criteria (524,798 index events). Persistence and compliance were higher for less frequent and parenteral therapies (1- and 2-year persistence: half-yearly [parenteral] vs. daily/weekly/monthly [oral and parenteral], 81 and 38 % vs. 21-34 and 10-18 %, respectively; parenteral vs. oral, 75 and 36 % vs. 32 and 16 %; good compliance: half-yearly vs. daily/weekly/monthly, 70 vs. 24-39 %; parenteral vs. oral 78 vs. 36 %). Good compliance significantly reduced the risks of fracture, fracture-related hospitalization and death (relative risk vs. non-compliance [95 % confidence interval]: 0.77 [0.70-0.84], 0.72 [0.62-0.85] and 0.57 [0.51-0.64], respectively; P < 0.01). Improving compliance through long-interval parenteral therapies may result in clinical benefits for patients.

Ultrafast strong-field photoemission from plasmonic nanoparticles.

We demonstrate the ultrafast generation of electrons from tailored metallic nanoparticles and unravel the role of plasmonic field enhancement in this process by comparing resonant and off-resonant particles, as well as different particle geometries. We find that electrons become strongly accelerated within the evanescent fields of the plasmonic nanoparticles and escape along straight trajectories with orientations governed by the particle geometry. These results establish plasmonic nanoparticles as versatile ultrafast, nanoscopic sources of electrons.

A challenging epigenetic message: telomerase activity is associated with complex changes in lifestyle.

As an outcome of The 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, a connection has been highlighted between the length of telomeres and epigenetic effects, such as intensive changes in lifestyle and nutrition as well as behavioural and psychological factors. In this review, the various elements of molecular, cell biological, nutritional and lifestyle changes are introduced and discussed.

[The 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine and its surprising message: lifestyle is associated with telomerase activity]. / A 2009. évi orvosi Nobel-díj és egy meglepô üzenete: az életmód befolyásolja a telomerázaktivitást.

The 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine was awarded to three scientists for their pioneer research on telomeres - and the enzyme that forms them - telomerase. Their work highlighted the considerable connection between the length of telomeres and intensive changes in lifestyle and nutrition (Ornish method) as well as behavioral and psychological factors. In this review the various elements of molecular, cell biological, nutritional and lifestyle changes are introduced and discussed.