Optimized protocol for the biocompatibility testing of compression stockings and similar products with close skin contact in vitro

Biocompatibility of six different compression stockings and cytotoxic effects were determined using HaCaT keratinocytes, L929 mouse fibroblasts, primary adult and juvenile keratinocytes Cells were quantified using a luminometric ATP assay and the photometric BCA test. Cytotoxic effects were determined by LDH release. An area-based extraction ratio of 1.25 cm²:mL could be shown to be superior to the weight-based extraction of test material. Extraction medium should be an acidic sweat solution as this helps to recreate in vivo conditions. Monolayer cultures of HaCaT keratinocytes or L929 mouse fibroblasts should be used for testing. Primary adult keratinocytes or primary juvenile keratinocytes can also be used. For the latter, testing under DMEM with FCS is recommended to achieve comparable results. It was found that the compression stockings tested exhibited no negative influence on cell viability in vitro and no direct cytotoxic effects measured as release of LDH. Hence, good biocompatibility could be asserted.     

Synthesis,characterization and side chains crystallization of comb-like poly(<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-alkylstyrene)s

A series of comb like poly(p-n-alkylstyrene)s with linear alkyl groups, containing even numbers of carbon atoms from 12 up to 22 were synthesized by radical polymerization and characterized by FTIR, ¹H NMR, TGA, TVA DSC, and WAXS. All polymers were obtained in good yields and were soluble in organic solvents as chloroform, dichloromethane or tetrahydrofuran and insoluble in methanol; they are stable up to temperatures near 300 °C. On the other hand, the alkylic side chains of all series are able to crystallize in a paraffinic phase in which the melting temperature and enthalpy increase with the methylene number of the n-alkyl chain.     

Gemeinsame österreichisch-ungarische Sedimentforschung im Rahmen des EFRE-Projektes SEDDON

The multiple uses of the Danube River for navigation, hydropower production and as a drinking water supply influence its ecological quality. Flow restrictions due to regulation as well as impacts on the sediment regime such as retention in the catchment area and interruption of the sediment continuum result in changes of the hydromorphological structures and can produce major problems in the context of sediment management. In light of these facts, cross-border investigations of sediment transport at the Danube River are called for. As there are no uniform research approaches shared by Austria and Hungary, the EU-funded project SEDDON (Sediment Research and Management at the Danube River) aims to compare different monitoring and modeling techniques used to determine sediment transport, and to develop mutual solutions. Further, the laboratory equipment currently used for hydraulic model experiments is evaluated and a research channel with a free flowing discharge of up to 10 m³/s without pumping will be constructed, allowing large-scale joint laboratory tests concerning sediment to be performed.     

Production of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids by Mortierella alpina Using Submerse and Solid State Fermentation

A new isolate of Mortierella alpina, &#62; 98 % identical with M. alpina ATCC 16266, was cultivated in a defined glucose‐based medium with three organic nitrogen sources (glycine, urea and Na‐L‐glutamate) at three different concentrations in shaking flasks at 20 °C. The results were compared to the cultivation in complex medium with yeast extract as nitrogen source. In the defined media, high yields of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and arachidonic acid (ARA), respectively, were obtained with Na‐L‐glutamate. However, the absolute highest yields of PUFA and ARA were measured with the yeast extract medium. An optimized yeast extract complex medium was used for a submerse bioreactor cultivation in a 45‐L scale. Furthermore, M. alpina was cultivated in a solid state fermenter, using an oat bran water mixture as substrate.     

The user model-based summarize and refine approach improves information presentation in spoken dialog systems

A common task for spoken dialog systems (SDS) is to help users select a suitable option (e.g., flight, hotel, and restaurant) from the set of options available. As the number of options increases, the system must have strategies for generating summaries that enable the user to browse the option space efficiently and successfully. In the user-model based summarize and refine approach (UMSR, Demberg and Moore, 2006), options are clustered to maximize utility with respect to a user model, and linguistic devices such as discourse cues and adverbials are used to highlight the trade-offs among the presented items. In a Wizard-of-Oz experiment, we show that the UMSR approach leads to improvements in task success, efficiency, and user satisfaction compared to an approach that clusters the available options to maximize coverage of the domain (Polifroni et al., 2003). In both a laboratory experiment and a web-based experimental paradigm employing the Amazon Mechanical Turk platform, we show that the discourse cues in UMSR summaries help users compare different options and choose between options, even though they do not improve verbatim recall. This effect was observed for both written and spoken stimuli.     

Test-taking behaviors in a neurocognitive assessment: Associations with school-age outcomes in a Finnish longitudinal follow-up.

Test-taking behaviors (i.e., task focus, maintenance of attention, and cooperation) affect children's cognitive test performance, and, thus, it is critical to take test-taking behavior into account when drawing conclusions and making recommendations. Prior studies have evaluated test-taking behaviors at the end of the assessment; the present study focused on the fluctuation of cooperation and attention during a neuropsychological assessment. We examined the attention and cooperation of 5-year-old children in a test-taking situation; the associations between these aspects of their test-taking behavior and the children's concurrent neurocognitive test performance, IQ, and parent-rated behavior; and the associations with their IQ, behavioral outcomes, and academic achievement at 8 years of age. The data (for 76 boys and 63 girls) were drawn from the Jyv?skyl? Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia (Lyytinen et al., 2001, 2004). All the children were Caucasian and spoke Finnish as their native language. As a whole, the 5-year-old children showed high cooperation and attention, but a slight decrement in test-taking behavior toward the end of the session was rather common. Three subgroups of children with different levels of cooperation and attention were identified. Children in the subgroup with nonoptimal attention and cooperation showed decreasing neurocognitive test performance toward the end of the assessment session. They also showed more inattentive behavior 3 years later. The findings imply that the examiner's observations of waning attention and cooperation during the assessment session are highly relevant, as these provide stable and clinically meaningful information about the child's behavioral tendencies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sinusoidal pumping of groundwater near cylindrical inhomogeneities

A new analytic-element solution is presented for a well with a sinusoidal discharge pumping near cylindrical inhomogeneities. Both the transmissivity and the storage coefficient may be different inside each cylinder. The solution consists of separate series solutions inside and outside each cylinder; asymptotic expansions are presented for cases where the sinusoidal period is small and the radius and transmissivity of the cylinder are large. The complex coefficients in the series solutions are determined by requiring continuity of head and normal flow across the boundary of each cylinder resulting in a linear system of complex equations that may be solved with standard methods. The solution represents one of the few analytic solutions for two-dimensional transient groundwater flow in an aquifer with inhomogeneities. Computer implementation requires truncation of the series; machine accuracy may be reached when enough terms are used in the series solutions. The effect of cylindrical inhomogeneities on the amplitude and phase of the head are investigated. The complex behavior suggests it may be difficult to determine location and properties of cylindrical inhomogeneities from pump tests, which confirms reported difficulties of interpreting pump test results from heterogeneous aquifers.     

The car industry and the blow-out of the hydrogen hype

The hydrogen hype of the last decade has passed and it is now seemingly substituted by the electric vehicle hype. A technological hype can have both positive as well as negative consequences. On the one hand it attracts sponsors for technology development but on the other hand the high expectations might result in disappointment and subsequent withdrawal of the sponsors. In this paper I ask the question to what extent the car industry has created the hype and how it has done so. The industry’s role is studied through their prototyping activities and accompanying statements on market entry. I conclude that the car industry has indeed inflated the hype, especially through its public statements on market release after the turn of the millennium. Furthermore, it can be concluded that the industry has shown a double repertoire of both highly optimistic and more modest statements. It is possible that statements are used deliberately to serve the industry’s interests whenever needed. Without neglecting the positive influence of technological hype on public policy and private funding for R&D efforts, more modest promises could serve the development of sustainable mobility better. For policy makers the challenge is to remain open to different options instead of following hypes and disappointments as they come and go.     

Potential use of chemical cues for colony-mate recognition in the big brown bat,Eptesicus fuscus

Bats should benefit from recognition of their roost-mates when colonies form stable social units that persist over time. We used Y-maze experiments and gas chromatography–olfactometry (GC-O) to evaluate whether female big brown bats Eptesicus fuscus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) use chemical cues to distinguish among conspecifics. In dual-choice Y-maze experiments, females chose the scent of another female from their own roost over a conspecific female from a different roost in a majority of trials. Analysis of total body odors using GC-O suggests that individuals from a given colony may share a more common odor signature with roost-mates than with non-roost-mate conspecifics. Using four principle components derived from 15 odor variables, discriminant function analysis correctly assigned most individuals to the correct colony.