Search

The DESY II Test Beam Facility is a key infrastructure for modern high energy physics detector development, providing particles with a small momentum spread in a range from 1 to 6 GeV to user groups e.g. from the LHC experiments and Belle II as well as generic detector R&D. Beam telescopes are provided in all three test beam areas as precise tracking reference without time stamping, with triggered readout and a readout time of > 115 μs. If the highest available rates are used, multiple particles are traversing the telescopes within one readout frame, thus creating ambiguities that cannot be resolved without additional timing layers. Several upgrades are currently investigated and tested: Firstly, a fast monolithic pixel sensor, the TelePix, to provide precise track timing and triggering on a region of interest is proposed to overcome this limitation. The TelePix is a 180 nm HV-CMOS sensor that has been developed jointly by DESY, KIT and the University of Heidelberg and designed at KIT. In this publication, the performance evaluation is presented: The difference between two amplifier designs is evaluated. A high hit detection efficiency of above 99.9% combined with a time resolution of below 4 ns at negligible pixel noise rates is determined. Finally, the digital hit output to provide region of interest triggering is evaluated and shows a short absolute delay with respect to a traditional trigger scintillator as well as an excellent time resolution. Secondly, a fast LGAD plane has been proposed to provide a time resolution of a few 10 ps, which is foreseen to drastically improve the timing performance of the telescope. Time resolutions of below 70 ps have been determined in collaboration with the University of California, Santa Barbara.

© 2017 Badereddin Mohamad Al-Ali et al.Introduction. To analyze the impact of radical prostatectomy (RPE) on erectile function and lower urinary tract function in comparison to age-matched healthy men. Materials and Methods. Patients who underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy completed questionnaires containing the IIEF-5, the Bristol female LUTS questionnaire, and the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS). Results. Patients after RPE were included (n=363). Age-matched healthy men (n=363) were included. The mean IIEF-5 of patients aged 61-70 yrs after RPE was 10.4±6.6 versus 18.8±5.3 in the control cohort; the respective values for men aged 71-80 yrs after RPE were 7.2±6.5 versus 13.6±7.7 in the control cohort. Urinary incontinence after RPE was reported in 41.9% (61-70 years) and 37.7% (71-80) versus 7.5% and 15.1% in the control cohort. The mean IPSS of patients after RPE aged 61-70 yrs was 5.0±4.4 versus 5.5±4.9 in the control cohort; the respective values for men aged 71-80 yrs were 6.0±4.9 versus 7.5±5.7 in the healthy cohort. Conclusions. The negative effect of radical prostatectomy on erectile and urinary incontinence remains substantial. The physiologically declining erectile and lower urinary tract function with ageing reduces the difference between healthy men and those after surgery. Healthy men have a higher IPSS presumably due to the presence of bladder outlet obstruction.

New York, March 7, 1903. To the Editor: —InThe Journalof March 7, page 665, in the report of the proceedings of the New York County Medical Association it is incorrectly stated that I prefer silk for suturing the kidney. I employ temporary sutures of silkworm gut which are brought out through all the structures of the back and tied over a fold of gauze.

It is too often the custom to regard every discharge from the uterus as evidence of endometritis and to submit the endometrium to vigorous treatment either by caustic or astringent applications or curettage or both. This is unscientific and an error both in diagnosis and treatment. Even when the diagnosis of endometritis is correct, such measures, as they are usually applied, are not effectual, and they submit the patient to needless risk and the uterus to much unnecessary violence. If every case so maltreated was actually an endometritis, there would still be no justification for the vigorous and even harsh measures sometimes blindly employed against it. I believe I am not far wrong when I say that if a cure results after such treatment it is not because of it, but in spite of it. If the case is one of simple hyperemia of the endometrium

n/a

For some years past the surgical tendency of the gynecologist has completely overshadowed the rational treatment of diseases of the uterine appendages, and may be regarded as a confession of inability to cure; for it can no more be claimed that ablation of organs so important to the female economy is a cure of the morbid process, than amputation of a limb is a cure of the injured or diseased member. General surgery has passed this stage of wholesale sacrifice of useful members, and to-day the saving of an injured limb is more creditable to the surgeon than a skillfully performed amputation. Gynecology must soon pass this stage also, for the limit of extreme pelvic surgery has been reached and the sad plight of the woman (?) who has survived the removal of her ovaries, tubes and uterus is beginning to be realized. I venture to predict that the gynecologist who

n/a

Examination for the purpose of making a gynecologic diagnosis comprises, or should comprise, more than is ordinarily realized by many who undertake it. As a rule, it is too casual to be thorough or accurate, and in consequence associated conditions, often of relative importance, are overlooked and disregarded. In presenting this subject for your consideration, I have no idea that I shall offer anything new, nor yet anything with which you are not already familiar. My object is chiefly to direct attention to some salient features of these examinations that are sometimes disregarded and to emphasize the importance of certain apparently unimportant details that are essential for accurate and complete diagnosis of these conditions. HISTORY OF THE PATIENT. The history 1 and manner of taking it is of much importance. It may be brief, but should be complete and thorough, the essential points bearing on the condition being brought out

It will be admitted that a cure of retrodeviations of the uterus is seldom, if ever, accomplished by the ordinary methods of treatment and that they demand more careful consideration than is usually accorded them. The routine plan of inserting a pessary and dismissing the case from further attention is an error, unfortunately, too often committed. The pessary can only be regarded as a splint which is serviceable as an aid to other measures in bringing about the desired result, but nothing more and will accomplish very little unaided. It may be true that all such displacements of the uterus do not require surgical intervention for their cure, but when structural changes have taken place in the walls of the organ nothing else will yield a prompt and satisfactory result. A pessary might be worn throughout the lifetime of these patients and even if it maintained the uterus in a

Prolapse of the kidney may cause or maintain disease of the female pelvic organs by interfering with the return circulation from the pelvis and producing pelvic congestion. This may be brought about chiefly in two ways: The renal artery being less yielding than the other structures constituting the renal pedicle, dragging upon it by the kidney crowds the aorta over against the vena cava and distorts that great channel of return circulation when it is the right kidney that is prolapsed. When the displaced kidney reaches a certain point in its descent it is situated immediately in front of the ovarian vein as it ascends to empty into the vena cava just below the renal vein on the right or into the left renal vein on the left side. Hence, pressure backward upon the kidney, as from corsets, or clothing at the waist, or from accumulation of gas or feces

n/a

n/a

n/a

That so many modifications of this operation have been made since it was originally attempted by Hahn in 1881 is the best evidence of the necessity of correcting prolapse of the kidney by permanent fixation, despite the opposition to operative interference in some quarters by those who favor belts and corsets. It suggests also the possible inefficiency of many of these procedures. Almost every well-known surgeon has some special technic of his own, but few of them have many followers. It is my purpose in submitting here a technic of my own, which I have employed now for nearly three years and have found uniformly successful, to point out some of the causes of failure with this operation and show how it may be made successful and satisfactory. The inadequacy of belts or corsets or any other form of external support when the kidney has descended below the border of the

n/a

It is my purpose to submit to my colleagues, both in gynecological and general practice, some of the fruits of my observations and to suggest some improvements in technique, the outcome of personal experience, which will, I hope, prove useful. Progressive men are ever ready to improve their methods, hence suggestions are always acceptable. We may all learn something from each other; some detail that one may lose sight of may be suggested by another's methods. The general practitioner often does excellent work in our line, and we may gain some points from him. I shall hope, therefore, to have a full discussion of the subject from that side of the house also. It is easy enough to be clean in every-day gynecological work. It is either a matter of taste or habit. Yet, you know very well, cleanliness is one of those good habits for which some never acquire

International audience; A new method for design space exploration and optimization, Surrogate-Assisted Illumination (SAIL), is presented. Inspired by robotics techniques designed to produce diverse repertoires of behaviors for use in damage recovery, SAIL produces diverse designs that vary according to features specified by the designer. By producing high-performing designs with varied combinations of user-defined features a map of the design space is created. This map illuminates the relationship between the chosen features and performance, and can aid designers in identifying promising design concepts. SAIL is designed for use with compu-tationally expensive design problems, such as fluid or structural dynamics, and integrates approximative models and intelligent sampling of the objective function to minimize the number of function evaluations required. On a 2D airfoil optimization problem SAIL is shown to produce hundreds of diverse designs which perform competitively with those found by state-of-the-art black box optimization. Its capabilities are further illustrated in a more expensive 3D aerodynamic optimization task.

The MAP-Elites algorithm produces a set of high-performing solutions that vary according to features defined by the user. This technique has the potential to be a powerful tool for design space exploration, but is limited by the need for numerous evaluations. The Surrogate-Assisted Illumination algorithm (SAIL), introduced here, integrates approximative models and intelligent sampling of the objective function to minimize the number of evaluations required by MAP-Elites. The ability of SAIL to efficiently produce both accurate models and diverse high performing solutions is illustrated on a 2D airfoil design problem. The search space is divided into bins, each holding a design with a different combination of features. In each bin SAIL produces a better performing solution than MAP-Elites, and requires several orders of magnitude fewer evaluations. The CMA-ES algorithm was used to produce an optimal design in each bin: with the same number of evaluations required by CMA-ES to find a near-optimal solution in a single bin, SAIL finds solutions of similar quality in every bin., Comment: Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference 2017

It is well-known that the class of piecewise smooth curves together with a smooth Riemannian metric induces a metric space structure on a manifold. However, little is known about the minimal regularity needed to analyze curves and particularly to study length-minimizing curves where neither classical techniques such as a differentiable exponential map etc. are available nor (generalized) curvature bounds are imposed. In this paper we advance low-regularity Riemannian geometry by investigating general length structures on manifolds that are equipped with Riemannian metrics of low regularity. We generalize the length structure by proving that the class of absolutely continuous curves induces the standard metric space structure. The main result states that the arc-length of absolutely continuous curves is the same as the length induced by the metric. For the proof we use techniques from the analysis of metric spaces and employ specific smooth approximations of continuous Riemannian metrics. We thus show that when dealing with lengths of curves, the metric approach for low-regularity Riemannnian manifolds is still compatible with standard definitions and can successfully fill in for lack of differentiability., Comment: 16 pages; in v2 and v3 minor changes, added references; in v4 minor changes, coincides with published version

F-Aktin spielt eine wichtige Rolle bei der Steuerung der endothelialen Barrierefunktion. In dieser Arbeit verwendeten wir Colchicin, Vinca-Alkaloide (Vinblastin, Vincristin) und Paclitaxel um Mikrotubulussysteme (MT) auszulenken und den Effekt auf die Permeabilität zu untersuchen. Endothelzellen wurden auf Polycarbonatfiltermembranen gepflanzt und einem kontinuierlichen hydrostatischen Druck von 10 cm H2O ausgesetzt. Die Exposition von Endothelzell-Monolayern gegenüber Colchicin und Vinca-Alkaloiden führte innerhalb von 60 100 Minuten zeit- und dosisabhängig zu einem fünf zehnfachen Anstieg der hydraulischen Konduktivität. Dagegen war nach MT-Stabilisation durch Paclitaxel keine Permeabilitätszunahme festzustellen. Doppelimmunfluoreszenz-Mikroskopie zeigte, dass die MT-Depolymerisation durch Colchicin und Vinca Alkaloide zu F-Aktin-Umverteilung, Stressfaserbildung und Zellretraktionen mit ausgeprägter parazellulärer Lücken-Bildung führt. Diese Phänomene wurden durch Kombinationen von Vinblastin und Paclitaxel deutlich abgeschwächt. Die fluorometrische Messung des intrazellulären F-Aktins nach MT-Depolymerisation durch Vinblastin resultierte in einer signifikanten Zunahme der Aktinfilamente. Auf der anderen Seite resultierte F-Aktin Abbau durch Cytochalasin D und Clostridium difficile (TcdB-10463) morphologisch nicht in einer Veränderung von MT-Strukturen. Dabei zeigten in Interzellularbrücken gelegene MT-Filamente Kolokalisation mit F-Aktin Fragmenten. Unsere Ergebnisse demonstrieren, dass MT-Systeme an der Regulation der endothelialen Barriere beteiligt sind. Darüber hinaus verdeutlichen die Resultate eine enge Bindung von MT- und Aktin-Filamenten innerhalb endothelzellulärer Adhäsionskontakte., The endothelian cytosceleton plays an important role in the regulation of endothelial permeability via cellular actin filaments. We tested the effect of agents known to perturb cellular microtubules on the permeability of endothelial cell monolayers. The agents chosen were colchicine, the vinca alkaloids vinblastine and vincristine and paclitaxel. Cell monolayers were prepared on polycarbonate filter membranes and exposed to a continuous hydrostatic pressure of 10 cm H2O. Colchicine and the vinca alkaloids caused a five to tenfold increase in the hydraulic conductivity of the monolayers within 60 100 min. The effect was dose and time dependent. The microtubule stabilizer paclitaxel caused no increase in permeability. Double-immunofluorescence microscopy showed that microtubule depolymerisation was associated with certain morphological features such as inter-endothelial gaps, cell retraction, f-actin reorganisation and some stressfibre appearance. These phenomena were significantly reduced when vinblastine and paclitaxel were combined. Measurement of intracellular f-actin following microtubule inhibition with vinblastine showed a significant increase in endothelial actin filaments. No changes in microtubule structures were seen when actin filaments were perturbed with cytochalasin D and Clostridium difficile (TcdB-10463). However, in this case the intercellular bridges showed that microtubules were co-localised with fragments of actin filaments from neighbouring cells. Our data demonstrate that microtubules are important for the regulation of endothelial permeability. Moreover, our results support evidens of binding between microtubules and actin filaments within endothelial cell adhesion contacts.