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Objectives To analyse genetic mechanisms triggering familial sarcoidosis, whole exome screening of a family of six persons with four cases of sarcoidosis and two healthy controls was performed integrating progressive and spontaneous remission cases and evaluating involved genetic alterations that could potentially determine the individual course of the disease. Methods Clinical diagnostic criteria in patients of the selected sarcoidosis family were according to American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society/World Association of Sarcoidosis and other Granulomatous Disorders guidelines. Exome screening of four patients and the two intrafamilial healthy relatives was performed by paired-end (2 × 100 bp) sequencing. We then selected the gene variants considered pathogenic on the basis of a series of prediction software applications and presence only in members of the family affected by sarcoidosis, after subtracting the common variations observed in healthy subjects. Results Four persons out of six family members were affected by sarcoidosis. Fifty genes with uncommon in silico pathogenic variants could be identified that differentiated affected and healthy family members. One patient with sarcoidosis showed spontaneous remission whereas the remaining three patients required immunosuppressive treatment. Subtraction analysis revealed 18 genes that distinguished the three progressive cases from the patient with spontaneous remission. Conclusion The genetic analysis of these cases with familial sarcoidosis identified several involved genes and functional pathways that could help in understanding the basic mechanisms that determine the development of the disease and that discriminate spontaneously regressive and progressive forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Challenging percutaneous renal punctures to gain access to the kidney requiring guidance by cross-sectional imaging. To test the feasibility of robotic-assisted CT-guided punctures (RP) and compare them with manual laser-guided punctures (MP) with Uro Dyna-CT (Siemens Healthcare Solutions, Erlangen, Germany). The silicon kidney phantom contained target lesions of three sizes. RP were performed using a robotic assistance system (guidoo, BEC GmbH, Pfullingen, Germany) with a robotic arm (LBR med R800, KUKA AG, Augsburg, Germany) and a navigation software with a cone-beam-CT Artis zeego (Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Erlangen, Germany). MP were performed using the syngo iGuide Uro-Dyna Artis Zee Ceiling CT (Siemens Healthcare Solutions). Three urologists with varying experience performed 20 punctures each. Success rate, puncture accuracy, puncture planning time (PPT), and needle placement time (NPT) were measured and compared with ANOVA and Chi-Square Test. One hundred eighteen punctures with a success rate of 100% for RP and 78% for MP were included. Puncture accuracy was significantly higher for RP. PPT (RP: 238 ± 90s, MP: 104 ± 21s) and NPT (RP: 128 ± 40s, MP: 81 ± 18s) were significantly longer for RP. The outcome variables did not differ significantly with regard to levels of investigators' experience. The accuracy of RP was superior to that of MP. This study paves the way for first in-human application of this robotic puncture system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silicone tapes and other advanced medical adhesives have a higher initial purchase price than conventional tapes. However, these "gentle" silicone tapes have the advantage of preserving skin integrity, and thus avoiding financial costs associated with skin injuries induced by conventional tapes. Here, the author presents the results of a survey that assessed the incidence, and costs, of tape-induced skin injuries as reported by a group of hospital-based nurses in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypernuclear research will be one of the main topics addressed by the $\overline{\mbox{P}}$ anda experiment at the planned Facility for Anti-proton and Ion Research FAIR at Darmstadt, Germany. A copious production of Ξ-hyperons at a dedicated internal target in the stored anti-proton beam is expected, which will enable the high-precision γ-spectroscopy of double strange systems for the first time. In addition to the general purpose $\overline{\mbox{P}}$ anda setup, the hypernuclear experiments require an active secondary target of silicon layers and absorber material as well as high purity germanium (HPGe) crystals as γ-detectors. The design of the setup and the development of these detectors is progressing: a first HPGe crystal with a new electromechanical cooling system was prepared and the properties of a silicon strip detector as a prototype to be used in the secondary target were studied. Simultaneously to the hardware projects, detailed Monte Carlo simulations were performed to predict the yield of particle stable hypernuclei. With the help of the Monte Carlo a procedure for ΛΛ-hypernuclei identification by the detection and correlation of the weak decay pions was developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which examines the risk of silicosis and lung cancer among German porcelain manufacturing workers who are exposed to respirable crystalline silica. It states that risks have been quantitatively analyzed through standardized mortality ratio (SMR) and 17, 644 workers in West Germany had undergone chest radiography for silicosis diagnosis. Result shows that average respirable crystalline silica exposure does not influence lung cancer risk but affects silicosis risk.

The article presents a study on the cationic disordering of the aluminum (Al) and silicon (Si) in nepheline samples collected from Graulai, Germany. The study examines the sample which has an individual infrared (IR) spectrum through X-ray diffraction, IR spectroscopy, and X-ray spectral analysis. It says that high degree of splitting of the O1 atom position is an apparent result of the structural disorder in the nepheline at a very high crystallization temperature.

The performance of a silicon drift detector (SDD) with an integrated FET, delivered by the company PNSensor, Munich, Germany, was studied in gamma spectrometry at room temper- ature (23-25°C) with a LaBr3 :Ce crystal of 6 mm diameter and 6 mm height. The SDD characteristics were compared with those measured with a Photonis XP5212 photomultiplier, a Large Area Avalanche Photodiode (LAAPD) of Advanced Photonix, Inc., and a Hamamatsu S3590-18 Photodiode (PD). Energy resolution versus gamma ray energies and its components related to the photoelectron/electron-hole pair statistics and dark noise were measured and compared. At low energies, below 100 keV, the light readout by the photomultiplier gives the best results, while for high energies, above 300 keV, the light readout by the SDD delivers superior energy resolution. In particular, the best energy resolution of 2.7% was determined for 662 keV gamma rays from a 137Cs source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amorphous silicon is one of the most effective materials in passivating silicon interfaces. At Fraunhofer ISE, highly passivating amorphous silicon coatings were developed by an industrially applicable Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition (PECVD) process. Thin-film stacks of amorphous silicon and SiOx display excellent passivation quality, indicated by effective charge carrier lifetimes ranging from 900 to 1600μs and resulting surface recombination velocities between 9 and 3cm/s-1. The demonstrated temperature stability opens up new application opportunities also for amorphous silicon films in the industrial production of highly efficient solar cell structures, which will be further discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of the International Avogadro Project is the redetermination of Avogadro's constant with an overall uncertainty of 2 × 10-8 at the most. The project partners, therefore, perform measurements of the molar mass and the lattice parameter of a silicon single crystal and of the mass and the volume of a macroscopic high-precision silicon sphere that is made of the same crystal. The results are combined to calculate Avogadro's constant. The determination of the volume of the Avogadro sphere requires unequalled precision in absolute interferometry. For this purpose, a special Fizeau interferometer with spherical reference faces has been developed at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Braunschweig, Germany. In particular, systematical influences on an experimental setup can only be detected if relevant influencing parameters are varied. The sphere interferometer of the PTB offers a unique way of investigating the influence of its optical components. The measurement strategy and results are presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four high resolution negative electron beam resists are compared: TEBN-1 from Tokuyama Corp. Japan, ma-N 2401XP and mr-L 6000.1XP from microresist technology GmbH Germany, and SU-8 2000 series from MicroChem Corp., USA. Narrow linewidth high density patterns are defined by 100 kV electron beam lithography, and the pattern is transferred into silicon by a highly anisotropic SF6/O2/CHF3 based reactive ion etch process with a selectivity between silicon and the investigated resists of approximately 2. 20 nm half-pitch lines and 10 nm lines with a pitch down to 60 nm are written and transferred into silicon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A small silicon-detector array has been designed and constructed to investigate the prospects for large-angle tracking and detection of recoiling target fragments for the HERMES experiment at DESY in Hamburg, Germany. The array consists of a two-layered double-sided Silicon Test Counter (STC), which is used to study the feasibility of this technique. The STC has been installed below the center of the HERMES internal storage cell target inside the vacuum chamber, and is thus located in the vicinity of the high-intensity lepton beam of HERA. For the readout, a local front-end with 64-channel Analog Pipeline Chips (APC) has been employed. The large dynamic range of the APC allows for the identification and tracking of protons with momenta ranging from 100 to 600 MeV/c. The feasibility of the detector concept is shown, thus demonstrating that a multilayer silicon system can be used for the observation of recoiling protons produced in Deep Inelastic Scattering (DIS). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Studies interactions between silicon concentration and diatom growth in Lake Constance, Germany using data on number and volume of cells per unit volume of water and concentration of dissolved reactive silicon. Four-compartment model that allows estimates of the rates of growth and loss of diatom populations to be calculated.

Invited for the cover of this issue is Felicitas Lips from the University of Münster, Germany. The cover image shows butterflies trapped in a series of silicon‐based cages. The color of each cage compound is represented by the color of the butterfly in it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Germany, Munich-based Asyntis GmbH says that one of the country’s leading PV manufacturers — which was not named — has placed an order for its high-performance, high-throughput, silicon etch plasma system, the Pioneer No. 1, after a successful evaluation procedure in the production line.This is a short news story only. Visit www.re-focus.net for the latest renewable energy industry news. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

German-based Wacker is meeting new demand for its solar cells by expanding polysilicon production at its plant in Burghausen.This is a short news story only. Visit www.re-focus.net for the latest renewable energy industry news. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The performance of a personal neutron dosemeter with a single silicon diode using a linear combination of its pulse height information was studied. Its dosimetric behaviour in fields with neutrons of different energy and directional distribution is shown for neutron energies ranging from thermal to 100 MeV and for directions of incidence ranging from frontal to lateral. The dosemeter is photon-insensitive and its dose detection threshold is at about 20 microSv. The dosimetric characteristics are compared with those of commercial dosemeters based on silicon detectors.

The radiation exposures on 12 flights of German airlines were measured with an active dosemeter based on two silicon semiconductors. The dependence on the date, altitude and route of the flights was studied. Measured dose rates and preliminary dose equivalent rates of the individual flights are given and compared with model calculations.