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The HESEB (Helmholtz-SESAME soft X-ray beamline) project is an initiative by the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers (HGF) to implement a new beamline at SESAME for scientific applications using soft X-ray spectroscopy techniques. The beamline design, procurement, and construction are being carried out by a consortium of the HGF centers DESY, FZJ, HZB, HZDR and KIT in collaboration with SESAME. The new beamline will be available for the SESAME user community within the four year project duration. It will allow for a large number of top-class scientific applications and provide new cooperation potentials with German and international research groups. The beamline is based on a variable-polarization undulator and a plane-grating monochromator covering an energy range 80 - 2000 eV. The optical design and the technical specifications have been completed and a call for tender procedure is ongoing. It is expected that the beamline will see first light in summer 2021. During the course of the project, the main goals to be achieved are (i) the construction and commissioning of the beamline at SESAME with a chamber for cultural heritage applications using spatially resolved soft X-ray fluorescence, (ii) the leveraging of additional contributions from the SESAME member countries to promote the build-up of international user consortia and to secure funding for experimental endstations and additional instrumentation, (iii) the training of SESAME staff at participating Helmholtz centers to enable reliable operation of the beamline by local staff, and (iv) the fostering of the establishment of a broad user community of HESEB from the SESAME member states through training, workshops, and schools. The first soft X-ray HESEB science workshop will take place in Istanbul beginning of 2020.

The HESEB (Helmholtz-SESAME soft X-ray beamline) project is an initiative by the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers (HGF) to implement a new beamline at SESAME for scientific applications using soft X-ray spectroscopy techniques. The beamline design, procurement, and construction are being carried out by a consortium of the HGF centers DESY, FZJ, HZB, HZDR and KIT in collaboration with SESAME. The new beamline will be available for the SESAME user community within the four year project duration. It will allow for a large number of top-class scientific applications and provide new cooperation potentials with German and international research groups. The beamline is based on a variable-polarization undulator and a plane-grating monochromator covering an energy range 80 - 2000 eV. The optical design and the technical specifications have been completed and a call for tender procedure is ongoing. It is expected that the beamline will see first light in summer 2021. During the course of the project, the main goals to be achieved are (i) the construction and commissioning of the beamline at SESAME with a chamber for cultural heritage applications using spatially resolved soft X-ray fluorescence, (ii) the leveraging of additional contributions from the SESAME member countries to promote the build-up of international user consortia and to secure funding for experimental endstations and additional instrumentation, (iii) the training of SESAME staff at participating Helmholtz centers to enable reliable operation of the beamline by local staff, and (iv) the fostering of the establishment of a broad user community of HESEB from the SESAME member states through training, workshops, and schools. The first soft X-ray HESEB science workshop will take place in Istanbul beginning of 2020.

Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) infections are not reportable in Germany and limited data on prevalence are available. CT screening has been offered free of charge to pregnant women since 1995 and to all women under 25 years since 2008. For symptomatic women and men, diagnostic testing is covered by statutory health insurance. We describe the establishment of a nationwide, laboratory-based, voluntary sentinel that electronically collects information on all performed CT tests with test results, test reason and patient information. The sentinel represents one third of all performed CT tests in Germany. In the period from 2008 to 2014, 3,877,588 CT tests were reported, 93% in women. Women aged 20-24 years and men aged 25-29 years were the most frequently tested age groups. The overall proportion of positive tests (PPT) among women was 3.9% and among men 11.0%. The highest PPT among women was in the age groups 15-19 (6.8%) and 20-24 years (5.9%), and among men in the age groups 20-24 (19.2%), 15-19 (15.4%) and 25-29 years (14.8%). The PPT for CT was high among women and men younger than 25 years. Prevention is urgently needed. Monitoring of CT infection in Germany should be continued.

Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) infections are not reportable in Germany and limited data on prevalence are available. CT screening has been offered free of charge to pregnant women since 1995 and to all women under 25 years since 2008. For symptomatic women and men, diagnostic testing is covered by statutory health insurance. We describe the establishment of a nationwide, laboratory-based, voluntary sentinel that electronically collects information on all performed CT tests with test results, test reason and patient information. The sentinel represents one third of all performed CT tests in Germany. In the period from 2008 to 2014, 3,877,588 CT tests were reported, 93% in women. Women aged 20-24 years and men aged 25-29 years were the most frequently tested age groups. The overall proportion of positive tests (PPT) among women was 3.9% and among men 11.0%. The highest PPT among women was in the age groups 15-19 (6.8%) and 20-24 years (5.9%), and among men in the age groups 20-24 (19.2%), 15-19 (15.4%) and 25-29 years (14.8%). The PPT for CT was high among women and men younger than 25 years. Prevention is urgently needed. Monitoring of CT infection in Germany should be continued.

The analytical performances of the new Abbott RealTime hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 viral load assays were compared at nine laboratories with different competitor assays. These included the Abbott LcX, Bayer Versant bDNA, Roche COBAS Amplicor, and Roche COBAS TaqMan assays. Two different protocols used during the testing period with and without a pre-m1000 RNA isolation spin were compared. The difference proved to be nonsignificant. A uracil-N-glycosylase (UNG) contamination control option in the HCV test for previous Roche COBAS Amplicor users was evaluated. It proved to decrease amplicon carryover by 100-fold independent of the amplicon input concentration. The protocol including UNG proved to overcome problems with false-positive negative controls. Comparison with other assays revealed only minor differences. The largest difference was observed between the Abbott HCV RealTime assay and the Roche COBAS Amplicor HCV Monitor version 2.0 assay.

Three View the MathML sourceacoustic transceivers were deployed on either side of the eastern entrance of the Strait of Gibraltar during April–May 1996 to determine the feasibility of using acoustic methods to make routine, rapidly repeated, horizontally integrated measurements of flow and temperature in straits. Reciprocal transmissions between the transceivers were used to test the feasibility of using traditional ray differential travel times to monitor the component of flow along the acoustic paths. Transmissions directly across the Strait were used to test the feasibility of using horizontal arrival angle fluctuations and acoustic intensity scintillations to monitor the flow perpendicular to the acoustic path. The geometry was selected to provide ray paths that only sample the lower-layer Mediterranean water, so that the feasibility of monitoring the Mediterranean outflow using the various methods could be evaluated. The acoustic scintillation method did not yield useful current estimates, but the experimental parameters were not optimized for this approach. Since the low-frequency variability in log-amplitude was found to be highly correlated at receivers View the MathML source apart, it is possible that acoustic scintillation measurements using different receiver spacings and more rapid sampling might yield better results. The horizontal deflection method gave encouraging results at the time of neap tides, but less so during spring tides. For this approach, both theoretical estimates and measured phase differences between the horizontally separated receivers suggest that internal-wave-induced horizontal arrival angle fluctuations may fundamentally limit the precision with which arrival angles can be measured. Further work is needed to determine if a smaller horizontal spacing and higher signal-to-noise ratios would yield better results. Reciprocal travel time measurements diagonally across the Strait performed the best of the three methods, giving absolute fl

Three View the MathML sourceacoustic transceivers were deployed on either side of the eastern entrance of the Strait of Gibraltar during April–May 1996 to determine the feasibility of using acoustic methods to make routine, rapidly repeated, horizontally integrated measurements of flow and temperature in straits. Reciprocal transmissions between the transceivers were used to test the feasibility of using traditional ray differential travel times to monitor the component of flow along the acoustic paths. Transmissions directly across the Strait were used to test the feasibility of using horizontal arrival angle fluctuations and acoustic intensity scintillations to monitor the flow perpendicular to the acoustic path. The geometry was selected to provide ray paths that only sample the lower-layer Mediterranean water, so that the feasibility of monitoring the Mediterranean outflow using the various methods could be evaluated. The acoustic scintillation method did not yield useful current estimates, but the experimental parameters were not optimized for this approach. Since the low-frequency variability in log-amplitude was found to be highly correlated at receivers View the MathML source apart, it is possible that acoustic scintillation measurements using different receiver spacings and more rapid sampling might yield better results. The horizontal deflection method gave encouraging results at the time of neap tides, but less so during spring tides. For this approach, both theoretical estimates and measured phase differences between the horizontally separated receivers suggest that internal-wave-induced horizontal arrival angle fluctuations may fundamentally limit the precision with which arrival angles can be measured. Further work is needed to determine if a smaller horizontal spacing and higher signal-to-noise ratios would yield better results. Reciprocal travel time measurements diagonally across the Strait performed the best of the three methods, giving absolute fl

Diamond-Blackfan anemia (DBA) is a constitutional disease characterized by a specific maturation defect in cells of erythroid lineage. We have assembled a registry of 229 DBA patients, which includes 151 patients from France, 70 from Germany, and eight from other countries. Presence of malformations was significantly and independently associated with familial history of DBA, short stature at presentation (before any steroid therapy), and absence of hypotrophy at birth. Two hundred twenty-two patients were available for long-term follow-up analysis (median, 111.5 mo). Of these individuals, 62.6% initially responded to steroid therapy. Initial steroid responsiveness was found significantly and independently associated with older age at presentation, familial history of DBA, and a normal platelet count at the time of diagnosis. Severe evolution of the disease (transfusion dependence or death) was significantly and independently associated with a younger age at presentation and with a history of premature birth. In contrast, patients with a familial history of the disease experienced a better outcome. Outcome analysis revealed the benefit of reassessing steroid responsiveness during the course of the disease for initially nonresponsive patients. Bone marrow transplantation was successful in 11/13 cases; HLA typing of probands and siblings should be performed early if patients are transfusion dependent, and cord blood should be preserved. Incidence of DBA (assessed for France over a 13-y period) is 7.3 cases per million live births without effect of seasonality on incidence of the disease or on malformative status. Similarly, no parental imprinting effect or anticipation phenomenon could be documented in families with dominant inheritance.