The merging neutron star gravitational-wave event GW170817 has been observed throughout the entire electromagnetic spectrum from radio waves to γ-rays. The resulting energetics, variability, and ...light curves are shown to be consistent with GW170817 originating from the merger of two neutron stars, in all likelihood followed by the prompt gravitational collapse of the massive remnant. The available γ-ray, X-ray, and radio data provide a clear probe for the nature of the relativistic ejecta and the non-thermal processes occurring within, while the ultraviolet, optical, and infrared emission are shown to probe material torn during the merger and subsequently heated by the decay of freshly synthesized r-process material. The simplest hypothesis, that the non-thermal emission is due to a low-luminosity short γ-ray burst (sGRB), seems to agree with the present data. While low-luminosity sGRBs might be common, we show here that the collective prompt and multi-wavelength observations are also consistent with a typical, powerful sGRB seen off-axis. Detailed follow-up observations are thus essential before we can place stringent constraints on the nature of the relativistic ejecta in GW170817.
Approximately 15% of follicular lymphomas (FLs) lack breaks in the BCL2 locus. The aim of this study was to better define molecular and clinical features of BCL2-breakpoint/t(14;18)-negative FLs. We ...studied the presence of BCL2, BCL6 and MYC breaks by fluorescence in situ hybridization and the expression of BCL2, MUM1, CD10, P53 and Ki67 in large clinical trial cohorts of 540 advanced-stage FL cases and 116 early-stage disease FL patients treated with chemotherapy regimens and radiation, respectively. A total of 86% and 53% of advanced- and early-stage FLs were BCL2-breakpoint-positive, respectively. BCL2 was expressed in almost all FLs with BCL2 break and also in 86% and 69% of BCL2-breakpoint-negative advanced- and early-stage FLs, respectively. CD10 expression was significantly reduced in BCL2-breakpoint-negative FLs of all stages and MUM1 and Ki67 expression were significantly increased in BCL2-break-negative early-stage FLs. Patient characteristics did not differ between FLs with and without BCL2 breaks and neither did survival times in advanced-stage FLs. These results suggest that the molecular profile differs to some extent between FLs with and without BCL2 breaks and support the notion that FLs with and without BCL2 breaks belong to the same lymphoma entity.
The inclusive double-spin asymmetry, A1p, has been measured at COMPASS in deep-inelastic polarised muon scattering off a large polarised NH3 target. The data, collected in the year 2007, cover the ...range Q2>1(GeV/c)2, 0.004<x<0.7 and improve the statistical precision of g1p(x) by a factor of two in the region x<0.02. The new proton asymmetries are combined with those previously published for the deuteron to extract the non-singlet spin-dependent structure function g1NS(x,Q2). The isovector quark density, Δq3(x,Q2), is evaluated from a NLO QCD fit of g1NS. The first moment of Δq3 is in good agreement with the value predicted by the Bjorken sum rule and corresponds to a ratio of the axial and vector coupling constants |gA/gV|=1.28±0.07(stat.)±0.10(syst.).
Commercial field corn (Zea mays L.) hybrids transformed to express some or all of the lepidopteran insect-resistant traits present in SmartStax corn hybrids were evaluated for insecticidal efficacy ...against a wide range of lepidopteran corn pests common to the northern United States, during 2008 to 2011 at locations in 15 states. SmartStax hybrids contain a pyramid of two Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) derived events for lepidopteran control: event TC1507 expressing Cry1F protein and MON 89034 expressing Cry1A.105+Cry2Ab2. These studies focused on characterization of the relative efficacy of each event when expressed alone or in combination, and compared with non-Bt hybrid. Corn hybrids containing pyramided insecticidal proteins Cry1F+Cry1A.105+Cry2Ab2 (SmartStax) consistently showed reduced plant feeding damage by a wide range of lepidopteran larvae compared with single event and non-Bt hybrids. Corn hybrids expressing TC1507 or MON 89034 as single or pyramided events were consistently efficacious against Ostrinia nubilalis (Hiibner). SmartStax hybrids had less injury from Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel) and Striacosta albicosta (Smith) than corn hybrids containing only event MON 89034 but were not more efficacious than single event TC1507 hybrids. Corn hybrids with event MON 89034 provided better control of Helicoverpazea (Boddie), than event TC1507 alone. Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) efficacy was higher for hybrids with pyramid events and single events compared with the non-Bt hybrids. The spectra of activity of events TC1507 and MON 89034 differed. The combination of TC1507 + MON 89034 provided redundant control of some pests where the spectra overlapped and thereby are expected to confer a resistance management benefit.
To prospectively evaluate the health economic burden of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) in Germany over a 6-month observation period and to identify the predictors of these costs.
Direct and ...indirect costs were evaluated in 145 patients with PD (mean age 67.3 +/- 9.6 years). PD patients were recruited from an outpatient department for movement disorders, a specialised PD clinic, two office-based neurologists and general practitioners, all located in Germany, and were enrolled between January and June 2000. Relevant economic data were documented in a patient diary over the 6-month period. Clinical evaluations (Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale UPDRS) were performed at baseline and at 3 and 6 months. Costs were derived from various German medical economic resources. Costs were calculated from the perspective of healthcare and transfer payment providers and the individual patient. Indirect costs for lost productivity were also calculated. Costs are presented as means +/- standard deviation (SD). Multivariate regression analyses were performed to identify independent cost predictors. Costs are in year 2000-02 values.
We estimated average per patient direct, indirect and total costs for the 6-month observation period. The costs from the perspective of statutory health insurance (Gesetzliche Krankenkversicherung GKV) consisted of direct medical costs 1370 euro +/- 3240 euro, including rehabilitation (420 euro +/- 1630 euro), hospitalisation (710 euro +/-2520 euro), outpatient treatment (40 euro +/- 30 euro), ancillary treatment (190 euro +/- 280 euro) and ambulatory diagnostic procedures (10 euro +/-30 euro). In addition, parkinsonian drug costs were 1520 euro +/-euro1250. Non-medical direct costs calculated from the GKV perspective were estimated to be euro480 +/-euro1710, which included transportation (10 euro+/- 20 euro), special equipment (420 euro +/- 1640 euro), social/home-help services (10 euro +/-110 euro) and sickness benefit (40 euro +/- 540 euro). The total medical (including drug costs) and non-medical direct costs for the GKV were 3380 euro +/- 4230 euro. Univariate predictors for GKV direct costs included occurrence of motor complications and falls, disease severity, nightmares and dementia. However, multivariate analyses only suggested disease severity and health-related quality of life as significant predictors. For nursing insurance, payments of 1330 euro +/- 2890 euro were calculated. For retirement insurance, payments were 650 euro +/- 1510 euro and there were patient (or caregiver) costs of 1490 euro +/- 2730 euro. Total indirect costs amounted to 3180 euro +/-6480 euro.
According to our study, PD puts a high financial burden on society and underscores the need for further economic and medical research to optimise treatment for PD.
Although the need for interdisciplinary research is generally accepted in gerontology, such interdisciplinary communication is often limited to various combinations of psychological, sociological and ...biomedical scientific approaches. We argue that gerontology requires a continuous examination of novel disciplinary constellations to obtain a better understanding of aging in its complexity and to further develop this scientific field in its entirety.
The present study introduced and tested for the first time an innovative disciplinary trialogue, i.e. the combination of psychology, theology and diaconal studies. In particular, it is assumed that this combination can contribute to a more profound interpretation of the prominent concept of structural lag which is underresearched in gerontology.
The analysis of structural lag with another overarching concept, "room for possibilities", can provide a synergy-rich interpretation category for a range of challenges connected with old age. In this respect, three major transitions were selected to shed light on these concepts and examined by means of three focus group interviews: transition to retirement, need for long-term care in the private home context and transition to nursing home life. The data were evaluated using qualitative content analysis.
The interdisciplinary-oriented evaluation of the interviews and the qualitative data analysis revealed the relevance of different perceptions of time in all three transitions. In addition, different dynamics in terms of the interplay of gains and losses as well as participation were found to be important for a better understanding of the three transitions. In particular, the subjective interpretation of the time remaining for living and the predetermined or self-selected time structuring of the daily routine were important factors for the perception of one's own potential. The results also underline a range of unused room for possibilities and the existence of structural lag for each transition.
By the cooperation of the participating disciplines aspects of aging and their interdependence became visible. At the same time this pilot-like disciplinary trialogue revealed the challenges in combining interdisciplinary perspectives by the combination of empirical and hermeneutical methods.
The large amount of data on hyperon polarizations in inclusive production by hadrons at high energies has recently been extended to
Λ
and
Ξ
−
production by
Σ
−
beams. The sign of the
Ξ
−
polarization ...is negative and the same as in
Λ
and
Ξ
−
production by protons. The sign of the
Λ
polarization, however, is positive, in contrast to the negative sign expected by analogy to the proton beam data for
Λ
and
Ξ
−
polarization. Theoretical expectations, for instance from a recombination model, also favoured negative polarization of
Λ
produced by
Σ
−
. Moreover, while the
Λ
polarization increases with
p
t
at values below ≈1 GeV/c as observed for other hyperon polarizations, it vanishes above
p
t
≈ 1.2 GeV/c. Such a breakdown at large
pt
has not been observed in any other beam/hyperon combination.
Zusammenfassung
Hintergrund
Obwohl Interdisziplinarität in der Gerontologie unbestritten viele Facetten besitzt, ist meist eine Engführung im Sinne eines Zusammenwirkens von psychologischen, ...soziologischen und biologisch-medizinischen Forschungszugängen zu beobachten. Wir argumentieren, dass Gerontologie die Auseinandersetzung mit neuen Disziplinkonstellationen benötigt, um Altern in seiner Vielschichtigkeit besser verstehen zu können und dieses Wissenschaftsfeld als Ganzes weiterzuentwickeln.
Ziel der Arbeit
Im Zentrum der vorliegenden Arbeit steht daher der Versuch, mithilfe eines neuartigen Disziplinentrialogs zwischen Expertinnen und Experten aus Psychologie, Theologie und Diakoniewissenschaft zu einem besseren Verständnis des in der Gerontologie häufig diskutierten Konzepts einer „strukturellen Verzögerung“ („Structural Lag“) beizutragen (Riley et al., Age and structural lag, New York, 1994).
Material und Methoden
Konstitutiv dafür ist unserer These zufolge die Wahrnehmung von „Möglichkeitsräumen“, die sich in den verschiedenen Phasen des Alterns ausmachen lassen. Eine pilotartig angelegte empirische Annäherung erfolgte anhand von 3 leitfadengestützten Fokusgruppeninterviews zu 3 Lebensübergängen (Lebensübergang in den Ruhestand, in eine Pflegebedürftigkeit im häuslichen Umfeld und in ein Leben im Pflegeheim). Das Datenmaterial wurde mithilfe der qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse ausgewertet.
Ergebnisse
Die interdisziplinär orientierte Auswertung der Interviews und die Erkundung der Konzepte in dem hier realisierten Disziplinentrialog ergaben, dass insbesondere der Aspekt der Zeitwahrnehmung bei der Auslegung von „Gewinnen und Verlusten“ sowie „Teilhabe“ eine wichtige Rolle spielt und somit für ein vertieftes Verständnis von Alternsprozessen bedeutsam ist. Vor allem die subjektive Deutung der verbleibenden Lebenszeit und die vorgegebene oder selbst gewählte Zeitstrukturierung des Alltags präsentierten sich als wichtige Faktoren der Wahrnehmung eigener Potenziale und Möglichkeitsräume in den untersuchten Übergängen.
Schlussfolgerung
Durch das Zusammenwirken der beteiligten Disziplinen konnten so Aspekte des Alterns in ihrer Interdependenz sichtbar gemacht werden. Zugleich zeigte dieser pilotartig durchgeführte Disziplinentrialog die Herausforderungen perspektivenübergreifender Kooperation etwa bei der Verknüpfung empirischer und hermeneutischer Methodiken.
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