Advanced spectroscopic investigation of colour centres in LiF crystals irradiated with monochromatic hard x-rays.

Nominally-pure lithium fluoride (LiF) crystals were irradiated with monochromatic hard x-rays of energy 5, 7, 9 and 12 keV at the METROLOGIE beamline of the SOLEIL synchrotron facility, in order to understand the role of the selected x-ray energy on their visible photoluminescence (PL) response, which is used for high spatial resolution 2D x-ray imaging detectors characterized by a wide dynamic range. At the energies of 7 and 12 keV the irradiations were performed at five different doses corresponding to five uniformly irradiated areas, while at 5 and 9 keV only two irradiations at two different doses were carried out. The doses were planned in a range between 4 and 1.

The Role of Birch Tar in Changing the Physicochemical and Biocidal Properties of Polylactide-Based Films.

The objective of this study was to produce bactericidal polymer films containing birch tar (BT). The produced polymer films contain PLA, plasticiser PEG (5% wt.) and birch tar (1, 5 and 10% wt.

Clinical outcomes of teicoplanin use in the OPAT setting.

Teicoplanin possesses several convenient properties for use in the delivery of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) services. However, its use is not widespread and data on its efficacy in the OPAT setting are limited. Here we present a case series of patients undergoing OPAT care being treated by either teicoplanin-based (n = 107) or ceftriaxone-based (n = 191) antibiotic regimens.

Persisting variation in testing and reporting cases.

Previous evidence suggested a significant variation in the testing algorithms used across the United Kingdom for the diagnosis of infection (CDI) and new national guidelines were issued in 2012. The main aim of this paper was to explore if such variation in testing and reporting is still present, to compare the management of CDI cases, and to investigate if there is any significant variation in the antibiotic policies among different hospitals. Using London hospitals as a sample, results show that there is still a wide variation of testing methods and reporting used, making comparisons difficult.

Did the late spring frost in 2007 and 2011 affect tree-ring width and earlywood vessel size in Pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) in northern Poland?

Trees are sensitive to extreme weather and environmental conditions. This sensitivity is visible in tree-ring widths and cell structure. In our study, we hypothesized that the sudden frost noted at the beginning of May in both 2007 and 2011 affected cambial activity and, consequently, the number and size of vessels in the tree rings.

Position and velocity responses from the otoliths and the canals: results from ESA's parabolic flights.

Background: Transient (i.e., phasic) bell-shaped vestibularly evoked potentials (VESTEP's) were recorded from the human scalp during whole body rotation about the vertical z-axis using a multi-axis rotary chair (yaw-motion).

MARDER--multi-axes rotation device for experimental research. A new concept for investigations of the vestibular, oculomotor, and visual systems of humans in three-dimensional space.

A hydraulically driven, digitally servo-controlled multi-axes rotary chair is described. This device generates motion profiles with the subjects head in the center of rotation mainly in order to adequately stimulate the semicircular canals which are sensitive sensors for angular accelerations. This newly developed apparatus allows for motion stimuli which are below the vestibular threshold up to accelerations of 12 rad/s2 (688 degrees/s2) and is thus suitable for a variety of experiments in the field of vestibular, oculomotor, and intersensory research in 3-dimensional space.

Modification of the David-Kopf puller (DKI 700 C) for the preparation of multi-barrel glass micropipettes.

The DKI vertical pipette puller (Model 700 C), which is normally used to make single or multi-barrel glass pipettes out of prepulled blanks, can be modified for the construction of a variety of multi-barrel pipettes. The use of the modified pipette puller is described for the production of small diameter 4-barrel pipettes.

Tracing food webs with stable hydrogen isotopes.

The hydrogen isotopic content of an animal's food, not water, determines that animal's hydrogen isotopic content. Liver and muscle tissue from mice reared on a diet such that the ratio of deuterium to hydrogen (DIH) of their food and water was kept constant, have the same average D/H ratio as the food source. In a simple, natural population of snails and their possible algal diets, Littorina obtusata (northern Atlantic intertidal snails that feed almost exclusively on the brown alga Fucus vesiculosus) has the same D/H ratio as Fucus vesiculosis and not that of the other algae available to the snails.