Experimental Determination of α Widths of ^{21}Ne Levels in the Region of Astrophysical Interest: New ^{17}O+α Reaction Rates and Impact on the Weak s Process.

The efficiency of the weak s process in low-metallicity rotating massive stars depends strongly on the rates of the competing ^{17}O(α,n)^{20}Ne and ^{17}O(α,γ)^{21}Ne reactions that determine the potency of the ^{16}O neutron poison. Their reaction rates are poorly known in the astrophysical energy range of interest for core helium burning in massive stars because of the lack of spectroscopic information (partial widths, spin parities) for the relevant states in the compound nucleus ^{21}Ne. In this Letter, we report on the first experimental determination of the α-particle spectroscopic factors and partial widths of these states using the ^{17}O(^{7}Li,t)^{21}Ne α-transfer reaction.

The role of migration barriers for dispersion of Proliferative Kidney Disease-Balance between disease emergence and habitat connectivity.

Natural and uninterrupted water courses are important for biodiversity and fish population stability. Nowadays, many streams and rivers are obstructed by artificial migration barriers, often preventing the migration of fish. On the other hand, distribution of pathogens by migrating fishes is still a point of concern.

Mysterious syndrome causing high mortality in wild brown trout in Eastern Switzerland, pathology and search for a possible cause.

Since 2016, annually occurring species-specific die-offs of brown trout (Salmo trutta fario) occurred in the Thur River, situated in the Eastern part of Switzerland. These events lead to drastically reduced population densities in the impacted river regions. Clinical signs in brown trout and mortality were restricted to few weeks in August/September.

On the potential role of Mergus merganser as transport hosts for Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae.

Transmission paths in the distribution of proliferative kidney disease (PKD) of salmonids are still largely unknown. In this study, the role of goosander (Mergus merganser) as possible transport host for Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae through faeces was examined. Goosander fledglings were fed exclusively with diseased brown trout (Salmo trutta fario).

Analysis of Normal High-Frequency Intracranial Pressure Values and Treatment Threshold in Neurocritical Care Patients: Insights into Normal Values and a Potential Treatment Threshold.

Importance: Intracranial pressure (ICP) elevation is a compartment syndrome that impairs blood flow to the brain. Despite the importance of ICP values in neurocritical care, normal ICP values and the precise ICP threshold at which treatment should be initiated remain uncertain.

Objective: To refine our understanding of normal ICP values and determine the ICP threshold most strongly associated with outcome.

Analysis of high-frequency PbtO2 measures in traumatic brain injury: insights into the treatment threshold.

Objective: Brain tissue hypoxia is common after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Technology now exists that can detect brain hypoxia and guide corrective therapy. Current guidelines for the management of severe TBI recommend maintaining partial pressure of brain tissue oxygen (PbtO2) > 15-20 mm Hg; however, uncertainty persists as to the optimal treatment threshold.

Piscine mycobacteriosis - Involvement of bacterial species and reflection in pathology.

Piscine mycobacteriosis is a lethal disease with zoonotic potential, found worldwide in both fresh and marine fish. More than 20 strains of Mycobacterium spp. are known to persist in fish so far, but the pathogenicity is currently unknown for most of them.

Brain Trauma Foundation Guideline Compliance: Results of a Multidisciplinary, International Survey.

Background: Brain Trauma Foundation (BTF) guidelines reflect evidence-based best practices in management of traumatic brain injury. The aim of this study was to examine self-reported physician compliance and predictors of compliance related to BTF guidelines.

Methods: We conducted an international, multidisciplinary survey examining self-reported adherence to BTF guidelines and multiple factors potentially affecting adherence.

The aggressiveness of neurotrauma practitioners and the influence of the IMPACT prognostic calculator.

Published guidelines have helped to standardize the care of patients with traumatic brain injury; however, there remains substantial variation in the decision to pursue or withhold aggressive care. The International Mission for Prognosis and Analysis of Clinical Trials in TBI (IMPACT) prognostic calculator offers the opportunity to study and decrease variability in physician aggressiveness. The authors wish to understand how IMPACT's prognostic calculations currently influence patient care and to better understand physician aggressiveness.

Comparative study of proliferative kidney disease in grayling Thymallus thymallus and brown trout Salmo trutta fario: an exposure experiment.

Proliferative kidney disease (PKD) is an emerging disease threatening wild salmonid populations, with the myxozoan parasite Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae as the causative agent. Species differences in parasite susceptibility and disease-induced mortality seem to exist. The aim of the present study was to compare incidence, pathology and mortality of PKD in grayling Thymallus thymallus and brown trout Salmo trutta under identical semi-natural conditions.

Proliferative kidney disease in brown trout: infection level, pathology and mortality under field conditions.

Proliferative kidney disease (PKD) is an emerging disease threatening wild salmonid populations. In temperature-controlled aquaria, PKD can cause mortality rates of up to 85% in rainbow trout. So far, no data about PKD-related mortality in wild brown trout Salmo trutta fario are available.

First outbreak of sleeping disease in Switzerland: disease signs and virus characterization.

Sleeping disease is a contagious disease mainly of freshwater farmed rainbow trout, caused by salmonid alphavirus (SAV) Subtype 2. Here we describe the first case in Switzerland. Pathological changes ranged from acute pancreas necrosis to more chronic lesions with complete loss of exocrine pancreas and simultaneous degenerative, inflammatory and regenerative heart and muscle lesions.

Imprints of fast-rotating massive stars in the Galactic Bulge.

The first stars that formed after the Big Bang were probably massive, and they provided the Universe with the first elements heavier than helium ('metals'), which were incorporated into low-mass stars that have survived to the present. Eight stars in the oldest globular cluster in the Galaxy, NGC 6522, were found to have surface abundances consistent with the gas from which they formed being enriched by massive stars (that is, with higher α-element/Fe and Eu/Fe ratios than those of the Sun). However, the same stars have anomalously high abundances of Ba and La with respect to Fe, which usually arises through nucleosynthesis in low-mass stars (via the slow-neutron-capture process, or s-process).

The vaginal microflora in relation to gingivitis.

Background: Gingivitis has been linked to adverse pregnancy outcome (APO). Bacterial vaginosis (BV) has been associated with APO. We assessed if bacterial counts in BV is associated with gingivitis suggesting a systemic infectious susceptibilty.

Similarities in the subgingival microbiota assessed by a curet sampling method at sites with chronic periodontitis.

Background: The goal of this study was to determine whether site-specific differences in the subgingival microbiota could be detected by the checkerboard method in subjects with periodontitis.

Methods: Subjects with at least six periodontal pockets with a probing depth (PD) between 5 and 7 mm were enrolled in the study. Subgingival plaque samples were collected with sterile curets by a single-stroke procedure at six selected periodontal sites from 161 subjects (966 subgingival sites).

Tannerella forsythia and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in subgingival bacterial samples from parous women.

Background: Information on the subgingival microbiota in parous women is limited. The present study assessed 74 bacterial species at periodontal sites.

Methods: Subgingival bacterial plaque was collected from women > or =6 months after delivery.

Impact of sample storage on detection of periodontal bacteria.

Background/aims: Information on the impact of sample storage prior to analysis by DNA methods is limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of subgingival sample storage on bacterial detection and enumeration.

Material And Methods: Subgingival plaque samples were studied by a) checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization by immediate processing, b) storage at + 4 degrees C for 6 weeks, c) storage at - 20 degrees C for 6 months or d) storage at - 20 degrees C for 12 months.

[Automatic measurement of dye filling of simultaneous digital ICG- and fluorescein angiography sequences].

Background: The ICG filling is supposed to be faster than Fluorescein filling. Interestingly the filling characteristics of these dyes were never correlated directly using precise quantitative methods. Since ICG and Fluorescein are injected as a mixture, the simultaneous 2-channel angiography provides a suitable method to correlate the filling characteristics of the dyes.

Familial gigantiform cementoma: classification and presentation of a large pedigree.

Very few cases of gigantiform cementoma have been reported, and those associated with a positive family history are especially rare. Confusion exists about the relationship of gigantiform cementoma to florid osseous dysplasia, cementifying fibroma, and diffuse chronic sclerosing osteomyelitis. It has been unclear whether gigantiform cementoma should be accorded the status of a separate entity.