Comparative hydrolysis analysis of cellulose samples and aspects of its application in conservation science.

Knowledge about the carbohydrate composition of pulp and paper samples is essential for their characterization, further processing, and understanding the properties. In this study, we compare sulfuric acid hydrolysis and acidic methanolysis, followed by GC-MS analysis of the corresponding products, by means of 42 cellulose and polysaccharide samples. Results are discussed and compared to solid-state NMR (crystallinity) and gel permeation chromatography (weight-averaged molecular mass) data. The use of the hydrolysis methods in the context of cellulose conservation science is evaluated, using e-beam treated and artificially aged cellulose samples. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10570-021-04048-6.

Reflective Metasurfaces for Incoherent Light To Bring Computer Graphics Tricks to Optical Systems.

The normal mapping technique is widely used in computer graphics to visualize three-dimensional (3D) objects displayed on a flat screen. Taking advantage of optical properties of metasurfaces, which provide a highly efficient approach for manipulation of incident light wavefront, we have designed a metasurface to implement diffuse reflection and used the concept of normal mapping to control its scattering properties. As a proof of principle, we have fabricated and characterized a flat diffuse metasurface imitating lighting and shading effects of a 3D cube. The 3D image is displayed directly on the illuminated metasurface and it is brighter than a standard white paper by up to 2.4 times. The designed structure performs equally well under coherent and incoherent illumination. The normal mapping approach based on metasurfaces can complement traditional optical engineering methods of surface profiling and gradient refractive index engineering in the design of 3D security features, high-performance planar optical diffusers, novel optical elements, and displays.

[CBASP as an Inpatient Concept for Treatment-Resistant Chronic Depression: A Pilot Study of the Relationship between Adverse Effects and Treatment Outcome]. / CBASP als stationäres Behandlungskonzept der therapieresistenten chronischen Depression: Eine Pilotstudie zum Zusammenhang von Nebenwirkungen und Therapieerfolg.

BACKGROUND: Inpatient psychotherapy might trigger adverse effects among others due to short but intensive treatment. Thus, in this pilot study, certain adverse effects of the multidisciplinary inpatient Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP) for treatment-resistant chronically depressed patients as well as their relationship to treatment outcome (response-, remission-, and relapse-rates) are examined. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 50 patients with treatment-resistant and chronic depression completed the structured 12-weeks inpatient treatment program. Adverse effects were assessed by 1) deterioration of depressive symptoms (measured by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, HDRS) at discharge and 2) a self-report questionnaire measuring Adverse Effects of Inpatient Psychotherapy (ADEFIP), which were filled out 6 to 12 months after discharge by the patients. RESULTS: After 12 weeks of treatment, 84% could be classified as responder, of whom 44% fulfilled the remission criterion. 16% were Non-Responder. According to HDRS, none of the patients showed objective deterioration of the depressive symptoms. Six months after discharge, 40% of the responders suffered from relapse. Concerning the ADEFIP, 66% of the patients reported transient deterioration of symptoms. These patients were less likely to achieve remission. Over 50% reported interpersonal conflicts with treatment team members or other patients without any relation to outcome. Finally, more than half of the patients reported significant changes in social relationships after discharge. These patients were less likely to relapse. Overall, 94% of the patients reported at least one of the in this study assessed adverse effects. CONCLUSIONS: Despite some limitations, this pilot study suggests that the CBASP inpatient program could indeed cause adverse effects. However, only subjective transient deterioration appeared to have a negative impact on the individual treatment outcome in the short-term. Results encourage further research concerning adverse treatment effects in the context of short- and long-term treatment outcome investigating how relevant adverse effects are.

Controlling the "uncontrollable": Faking effects on the affect misattribution procedure.

In two experiments, the impact of faking on the affect misattribution procedure (AMP) was examined. Results revealed that faking influences both the overall means and the convergent validity of AMP effects in terms of correlations with self-report measures. Faking effects were very selective in that they affected fake-prime trials only, for which AMP effects were significant, but reversed in direction, while AMP effects for non-fake trials remained intact. Importantly, neither strategic advice nor prior task experience was a necessary prerequisite for successful faking. The discussion focuses on possible processes underlying successful faking in the AMP.

Acetylation of cellulose - Another pathway of natural cellulose aging during library storage of books and papers.

Gaseous acetic acid is formed under conditions of storage of historic paper objects. Its presence not only promotes hydrolytic cleavage of cellulose, but also causes acetylation of the cellulosic material to very small degree. The acetylation reaction proceeds under ambient conditions and without catalyst. Different analytical methods were used to prove the presence of organic acetates on cellulosic paper matrices. DESI-MS in combination with 2H-isotopic labeling showed the presence of sugar fragments with different acetylation patterns. A method based on Zemplen saponification was applied and worked also in the presence of a large excess of acetic acid and/or inorganic acetates. The acetylation effect was quantified for model papers and original, naturally aged paper samples. While cellulose acetylation was clearly proven to be another general pathway of paper aging, further studies of this acetylation phenomenon are needed with regard to conservational aspects and suitable paper storage conditions.

Intra-Individual and Seasonal Variation of Selected Biomarkers for Internal Load Monitoring in U-19 Soccer Players.

The aim of this study was to investigate inter-day and -week as well as intra- and inter-individual variation of selected biomarkers in high-performance youth soccer players to assist practitioners interpreting player's internal load to counteract underperformance and unwanted health risks. Eleven male youth soccer players were tested multiple times during two 3-week periods at midpoint (3-wkmid) and at the end (3-wkend) of the first half of a German under-19 1. Bundesliga season. The levels of creatine kinase (CK), urea, and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured during 3-wkmid and 3-wkend each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. In 3-wkmid the CK median was 14% higher (241 vs. 212 U/L) compared to 3-wkend (P = 0.26, ES = 0.16). Overall, the medians of CK, urea (P = 0.59, ES = 0.08), and CRP (P = 0.56, ES = 0.10) during 3-wkmid did not differ to the values of 3-wkend. Daily coefficient of variations (CVs) ranged from 22 to 71% (CK), 17 to 37% (urea), and 9 to 164% (CRP). Individual medians ranged from 101 to 350 U/L (CK), 23 to 50 mg/dL (urea), and 0.6 to 1.1 mg/L (CRP). High intra-individual variability was demonstrated by large intra-individual CVs (medians: CK 50%, urea 18%, and CRP 45%). Our data show (i) large inter-day and inter-week variability of all biomarkers, depending on the external load and (ii) considerable inter- and intra-individual parameter variations. Creatine kinase concentrations could sensitively reflect soccer-specific loads during the season.

Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment of Pulmonary Emphysema with T2-Weighted PROPELLER MRI in a High-Risk Population Compared to Low-Dose CT.

PURPOSE: To determine the suitability of T2-weighted PROPELLER MRI for the assessment of pulmonary emphysema. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 60 participants in a lung cancer screening program (30 subjects with pulmonary emphysema, and 30 control subjects without emphysema) were included for this retrospective study. All subjects were examined with low-dose CT (LDCT) and MRI within the screening program. The use of a T2-weighted PROPELLER sequence for the assessment of emphysema was analyzed and correlated with the results of LDCT. The presence and the extent of pulmonary emphysema were first assessed qualitatively using a three-point score, and then quantitatively with a semi-automated software program to obtain emphysema indices. RESULTS: All 30 cases with pulmonary emphysema were accurately detected by MRI. There were 3 cases with emphysema according to MRI without emphysematous changes on LDCT (false-positive results). The qualitative scores as well as the emphysema indices were significantly higher in the emphysema group compared to the control group for MRI and LDCT (p < 0.001). Both the scores and the indices correlated significantly between MRI and LDCT (qualitative score of severity: r = 0.912/p < 0.001 in the emphysema group and r = 0.668/p < 0.001 in the control group; emphysema index: r = 0.960/p < 0.001 in the emphysema group and r = 0.746/p < 0.001 in the control group). CONCLUSION: The presence and the extent of pulmonary emphysema may be assessed qualitatively and quantitatively by T2-weighted PROPELLER MRI with very good correlation to LDCT. KEY POINTS: · T2-weighted PROPELLER MRI may be suitable for the assessment of pulmonary emphysema.. · There was significant correlation between MRI and LDCT regarding qualitative scores and quantitative emphysema indices in our study with correlation coefficients for different subgroups ranging from r = 0.668 to r = 0.960.. · T2-weighted PROPELLER MRI may have the potential to be used for follow-up examinations in patients with severe emphysema to avoid radiation exposure of repeated CTs.. CITATION FORMAT: · Meier-Schroers M, Sprinkart AM, Becker M et al. Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment of Pulmonary Emphysema with T2-Weighted PROPELLER MRI in a High-Risk Population Compared to Low-Dose CT. Fortschr Röntgenstr 2018; 190: 733 - 739.

The Affect Misattribution Procedure.

The Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) has been forwarded as one of the most promising alternatives to the Implicit Association Test and the evaluative-priming task for measuring attitudes such as prejudice indirectly. We investigated whether the AMP is indeed able to detect an evaluative out-group bias. In contrast to recent conclusions about the robustness of AMP effects, six out of seven pilot studies indicated that participants did not show any prejudice effects in the AMP. Yet, these pilot studies were not fully conclusive with regard to our research question because they investigated different domains of prejudice, used small sample sizes, and employed a modified AMP version. In a preregistered, high-powered AMP study, we therefore examined whether the standard AMP does reveal prejudice against Turks, the biggest minority in Germany, and found a significant, albeit very small prejudice effect. We discuss possible reasons for the AMP's weak sensitivity to evaluations in socially sensitive domains.

Is attention enough? A re-examination of the impact of feature-specific attention allocation on semantic priming effects in the pronunciation task.

In a series of articles, Spruyt and colleagues have developed the Feature-Specific Attention Allocation framework, stating that the semantic analysis of task-irrelevant stimuli is critically dependent upon dimension-specific attention allocation. In an adversarial collaboration, we replicate one experiment supporting this theory (Spruyt, de Houwer, & Hermans, 2009; Exp. 3), in which semantic priming effects in the pronunciation task were found to be restricted to stimulus dimensions that were task-relevant on induction trials. Two pilot studies showed the capability of our laboratory to detect priming effects in the pronunciation task, but also suggested that the original effect may be difficult to replicate. In this study, we tried to replicate the original experiment while ensuring adequate statistical power. Results show little evidence for dimension-specific priming effects. The present results provide further insight into the malleability of early semantic encoding processes, but also show the need for further research on this topic.

Evaluative Priming in the Pronunciation Task.

We replicated and extended a study by Spruyt and Hermans (2008) in which picture primes engendered an evaluative-priming effect on the pronunciation of target words. As preliminary steps, we assessed data reproducibility of the original study, conducted Pilot Study I to identify highly semantically related prime-target pairs, reanalyzed the original data excluding such pairs, conducted Pilot Study II to demonstrate that we can replicate traditional associative priming effects in the pronunciation task, and conducted Pilot Study III to generate relatively unrelated sets of prime pictures and target words. The main study comprised three between-participants conditions: (1) a close replication of the original study, (2) the same condition excluding highly related prime-target pairs, and (3) a condition based on the relatively unrelated sets of prime pictures and target words developed in Pilot Study III. There was little evidence for an evaluative priming effect independent of semantic relatedness.

Severe drought stress is affecting selected primary metabolites, polyphenols, and volatile metabolites in grapevine leaves (Vitis vinifera cv. Pinot noir).

Extreme weather conditions with prolonged dry periods and high temperatures as well as heavy rain events can severely influence grapevine physiology and grape quality. The present study evaluates the effects of severe drought stress on selected primary metabolites, polyphenols and volatile metabolites in grapevine leaves. Among the 11 primary metabolites, 13 polyphenols and 95 volatiles which were analyzed, a significant discrimination between control and stressed plants of 7 primary metabolites, 11 polyphenols and 46 volatile metabolites was observed. As single parameters are usually not specific enough for the discrimination of control and stressed plants, an unsupervised (PCA) and a supervised (PLS-DA) multivariate approach were applied to combine results from different metabolic groups. In a first step a selection of five metabolites, namely citric acid, glyceric acid, ribose, phenylacetaldehyde and 2-methylbutanal were used to establish a calibration model using PLS regression to predict the leaf water potential. The model was strong enough to assign a high number of plants correctly with a correlation of 0.83. The PLS-DA provides an interesting approach to combine data sets and to provide tools for the specific evaluation of physiological plant stresses.

Determination of carbohydrate- and lignin-derived components in complex effluents from cellulose processing by capillary electrophoresis with electrospray ionization-mass spectrometric detection.

Degradation products from lignocellulosic materials receive increasing attention due to the continuously growing interest in their utilization. The inherent structural variance of lignocellulosics combined with the intricacy of lignocellulosic processing (e.g. pulping of wood and bleaching of cellulosic pulps) and the complexity of degradation processes occurring therein result in rather complex mixtures in the process streams and effluents that contain a large quantity of structurally different degradation products. This is true for most processing steps, but also for degradation reactions occurring during aging of lignocellulosic materials, such as paper, cellulosic tissue or textiles. In order to render such mixtures better analytically accessible than hitherto possible a CE-ESI-MS method was established for the simultaneous determination of aliphatic carboxylic acids from the degradation of (hemi)celluloses and aromatic compounds from lignin degradation. CE and ESI-MS parameters have been optimized towards sensitivity and good reproducibility. The method was tested in two real-world scenarios: the determination of major components in effluents from bleaching stages in the pulp and paper industry, and the analysis of degradation products in extracts of naturally aged papers. The advantages and drawbacks of this approach are critically discussed.