Protective effects of plasma replacement fluids on erythrocytes exposed to mechanical stress

Haemoglobin release from 40 suspensions of packed red blood cells in modified fluid gelatin, 4% albumin solution, 6% hydroxyethyl starch and normal saline was investigated in vitro during circulation with a roller pump from a heart-lung machine for 120 min at a flow rate of 2.5 l.min-1 at room temperature. The lowest haemoglobin release was obtained with erythrocytes in modified fluid gelatin, whereas free haemoglobin concentrations became progressively higher with albumin, hydroxyethyl starch and normal saline [median free haemoglobin (interquartile range) after 120 min circulation: gelatin 493 (360-601) mg.l-1, albumin 692 (590-1111) mg.l-1, hydroxyethyl starch 1121 (692-1518) mg.l-1, nor…

Hyperfine structure measurements in the

Clouds of stable and unstable Eu+ isotopes have been confined in a Paul trap, each containing about 105 particles. In a microwave-optical double resonance experiment several hyperfine separations in the 4f7 6s 7S3 exited level have been measured with the experimental uncertainties ranging between 10-8 and 3×10-6. These experiments have confirmed that also in the case of an excited level with a large number of hyperfine or Zeeman sublevels the microwave-optical double resonance technique in a Paul trap can be useful for precise hyperfine structure investigation. The hyperfine coupling constants A and B have been determined for the isotopes 153Eu+, 151Eu+, 150Eu+ and 148Eu+. The results compl…

Setting the Scene: Element Determination and its Quality Control in Fractions of Refractory Organic Substances and the Corresponding Original Water Samples

Ground-state hyperfine-structure measurements of unstableEu+isotopes in a Paul ion trap

Hyperfine separations in unstable ${\mathrm{Eu}}^{+}$ ions of mass 148, 149, and 150 have been measured in laser-microwave double-resonance experiments in a Paul ion trap. In spite of the small available quantities of the isotopes, the experimental uncertainties are of the order of ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}8}$ or below, which is of the same order as in earlier measurements on stable isotopes of ${\mathrm{Eu}}^{+}.$ Extensive second-order perturbation calculation is required to obtain coupling constants for magnetic-dipole $(A)$ and electric-quadrupole $(B)$ interactions. The uncertainties are a few times ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}7}$ for $A$ and ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ for $B.$ The experiments are …

Alteration of anion gap during almost total plasma replacement with synthetic colloids in piglets

In ten piglets (body weight 8.2-11.6 kg), acid base, electrolyte and anion gap changes were investigated during almost total plasma replacement with hydroxyethyl starch (HES) and modified fluid gelatin (GEL) in saline solution using a cell saver autotransfusion technique. During the study, there were only moderate acid base changes, but marked disturbances in anion balance. At study end, the mean chloride concentration was significantly higher (mmol/l: normal values 97-108, HES 116 +/- 1.5, GEL 108 +/- 1.1, p0.01) and the mean anion gap was significantly lower in the HES group in comparison to the GEL group (mmol/l: normal values 5-14, HES 3 +/- 1.7, GEL 11.9 +/- 0.9, p0.01). It is conclude…

Axialisation, cooling and quenching of $\mathsf{Ba^+}$ ions in a Penning trap

Collisions of ions, stored in a Penning trap, with neutral background molecules usually lead to rapid ion loss from the trap unless the ions are excited by the sum of the frequencies of the reduced cyclotron and magnetron motion. Then the ions are cooled by collisions and are driven to the trap centre leading to substantial increase of the storage time. Furthermore in a three level system including a long living metastable state collisions deexcite this metastable state and increase the population density in the ionic ground state. In a laser spectroscopic experiment we demonstrate the advantages of collisions on Ba+ ions stored in a Penning trap. The combined action of metastable state que…

Direct mass measurements above uranium bridge the gap to the island of stability

The mass of an atom incorporates all its constituents and their interactions. The difference between the mass of an atom and the sum of its building blocks (the binding energy) is a manifestation of Einstein's famous relation E = mc(2). The binding energy determines the energy available for nuclear reactions and decays (and thus the creation of elements by stellar nucleosynthesis), and holds the key to the fundamental question of how heavy the elements can be. Superheavy elements have been observed in challenging production experiments, but our present knowledge of the binding energy of these nuclides is based only on the detection of their decay products. The reconstruction from extended d…

Experimental and theoretical challenges for the trapped electron quantum computer

We discuss quantum information processing with trapped electrons. After recalling the operation principle of planar Penning traps we sketch the experimental conditions to load, cool and detect single electrons. Here we present a detailed investigation of a scalable scheme including feasibility studies and the analysis of all important elements, relevant for the experimental stage. On the theoretical side, we discuss different methods to couple electron qubits. We estimate the relevant qubit coherence times and draw implications for the experimental setting. A critical assessment of quantum information processing with trapped electrons is concluding the article.

ExperimentalgJfactor in the metastable 5D3/2level ofBa+

The Zeeman splitting of the metastable 5${\mathit{D}}_{3/2}$ level of $^{138}\mathrm{Ba}^{+}$ in a magnetic field of 6 T has been measured in a laser-microwave double resonance experiment in a Penning ion trap. The magnetic field at the ion's position is determined by the cyclotron frequency of electrons stored in the same trap. From the ratio of both transition frequencies we obtain a ${\mathit{g}}_{\mathit{J}}$ value of 0.799 327 8(3). As a by-product, we confirmed earlier measurements on the 6${\mathit{S}}_{1/2}$ ground-state ${\mathit{g}}_{\mathit{J}}$ factor to 2.002 492 2(10). The precision in both experiments is sufficient to test relativistic many-body calculations. \textcopyright{}…

Comparison of European ICU patients in 2012 (ICON) versus 2002 (SOAP)

Purpose: To evaluate differences in the characteristics and outcomes of intensive care unit (ICU) patients over time. Methods: We reviewed all epidemiological data, including comorbidities, types and severity of organ failure, interventions, lengths of stay and outcome, for patients from the Sepsis Occurrence in Acutely ill Patients (SOAP) study, an observational study conducted in European intensive care units in 2002, and the Intensive Care Over Nations (ICON) audit, a survey of intensive care unit patients conducted in 2012. Results: We compared the 3147 patients from the SOAP study with the 4852 patients from the ICON audit admitted to intensive care units in the same countries as those…

SHIPTRAP—a capture and storage facility for heavy radionuclides at GSI

Abstract SHIPTRAP will be an ion-trap facility for heavy radionuclides delivered from SHIP. Ion traps are a perfect instrument for precision measurements since the ions can be cooled to an extremely small phase space and can be stored for a very long time. In addition one can achieve very high purity by removing contaminant ions. SHIPTRAP will extend the possibilities of measurements in traps to transuranium nuclides and provide cooled and isobarically pure ion bunches.

Structural Investigations: Heavy Metal and Halogen Interactions with Fractions of Refractory Organic Substances Separated by Size-exclusion Chromatography

Precise $\sf g_J$ - and $\sf g_I$ -factor measurements of Ba + isotopes

Laser-microwave double and triple resonance experiments were performed on clouds of Ba+ ions confined in a Penning ion trap to induce and detect electronic and nuclear spin flip transitions. Collisions with buffer gas molecules in the trap was used to reduce the lifetime of a long lived metastable state of the ions, in which population trapping might occur, and to cool the ions to the ambient temperature. Loss of ions from the trap by collisions were prevented by coupling the magnetron and reduced cyclotron motions by an additional r.f. field at the sum frequency of the two motions. Electronic Zeeman transitions in 138Ba+ and 135Ba+ were observed at a full width of about 3 kHz at a transiti…

Assessment of the worldwide burden of critical illness: The Intensive Care Over Nations (ICON) audit

Item does not contain fulltext BACKGROUND: Global epidemiological data regarding outcomes for patients in intensive care units (ICUs) are scarce, but are important in understanding the worldwide burden of critical illness. We, therefore, did an international audit of ICU patients worldwide and assessed variations between hospitals and countries in terms of ICU mortality. METHODS: 730 participating centres in 84 countries prospectively collected data on all adult (>16 years) patients admitted to their ICU between May 8 and May 18, 2012, except those admitted for fewer than 24 h for routine postoperative monitoring. Participation was voluntary. Data were collected daily for a maximum of 28 da…