Book Received and Noted

Abstract

After half a century of photographing for the National Geographic magazine, my time had come to be put out to pasture. This posed no problem, as I had looked forward to the weeding out, editing, and printing of a vast hoard of negatives and colour transparencies amassed over these many years. Filing cabinets bulged with black and white photographs of all sizes, countless yellow Kodachrome boxes and memorabilia ranging from Swazi witchdoctor bones to Tibetan scrolls rescued from a crumbling chorten on the road to Leh.     

Biological oxygen demand dynamics in the lower San Joaquin River, California

Dissolved oxygen less than 5 mg L(-1) (U. S. EPA advisory level) commonly occurs in the lower San Joaquin River (SJR), California. Most acute episodes typically occur in late summer and fall. The oxygen deficit can stress and kill aquatic organisms, often inhibiting the upstream migration of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). This 5 year study examined watershed-scale spatial and temporal biological oxygen demand (BOD) loads and the primary components believed to contribute to BOD: ammonium, algal biomass, nonalgal particulate organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon, and dissolved organic nitrogen. Samples were collected bimonthly at 15 sites during the summers of 2000 and 2001 and from three lower mainstem sites from May 2002 to March 2005. BOD loads showed a downstream increase in parallel with increasing algal biomass loads resulting primarily from in-stream growth. BOD loads from measured tributaries and drains accounted for 28% and 39% of the BOD load at the downstream Vernalis site in 2000 and 2001, respectively. Algal C was positively correlated (r=0.80) with BOD, explaining 64% of BOD variance for data collected from 2001 to 2005. Less than 20% of BOD was found in the dissolved fraction (<0.45 microm). We conclude that algal biomass is the primary contributor to BOD loads in the lower SJR, upstream of Mossdale.     

Basic concepts for designing renewable electricity support aiming at a full-scale transition by 2050

Renewable electricity supply is a crucial factor in the realization of a low-carbon energy economy. The understanding is growing that a full turn-over of the electricity sectors by 2050 is an elementary condition for avoiding global average temperature increase beyond 2 °C. This article adopts such full transition as Europe's target when designing renewable energy policy. An immediate corollary is that phasing-in unprecedented energy efficiency and renewable generation must be paralleled by phasing-out non-sustainable fossil fuel and nuclear power technologies. The double phasing programme assigns novel meaning to nearby target settings for renewable power as share of total power consumption. It requires organizing in the medium term EU-wide markets for green power, a highly demanding task in the present context of poorly functional markets in brown power. The EU Commission's 2007/2008 proposals of expanding tradable certificates markets were not based on solid analysis of past experiences and future necessities. The keystone of sound policies on renewable electricity development is a detailed scientific differentiation and qualification of renewable electricity sources and technologies, for measuring the huge diversity in the field. We provide but structuring concepts about such qualification, because implementation requires extensive research resources.     

Corrosion of metal bipolar plates for PEM fuel cells: A review

PEM fuel cells are of prime interest in transportation applications due to their relatively high efficiency and low pollutant emissions. Bipolar plates are the key components of these devices as they account for significant fractions of their weight and cost. Metallic materials have advantages over graphite-based ones because of their higher mechanical strength and better electrical conductivity. However, corrosion resistance is a major concern that remains to be solved as metals may develop oxide layers that increase electrical resistivity, thus lowering the fuel cell efficiency. This paper aims to present the main results found in recent literature about the corrosion performance of metallic bipolar plates.     

Analyzing SLE 88 memory management security using Interacting State Machines

The Infineon SLE 88 is a smart card processor that offers strong protection mechanisms. One of them is a memory management system typically used for sandboxing application programs dynamically loaded on the chip. High-level (EAL5+) evaluation of the chip requires a formal security model.We formally model the memory management system as an Interacting State Machine and prove, using Isabelle/HOL, that the associated security requirements are met. We demonstrate that our approach enables an adequate level of abstraction, which results in an efficient analysis, and points out potential pitfalls like noninjective address translation.     

Growth factor protection against cytokine-induced apoptosis in neonatal rat islets of Langerhans: role of Fas

Treatment of neonatal rat islets of Langerhans with combined cytokines (interleukin-1beta 10(-10) M, tumour necrosis factor-alpha 10(-10) M, interferon-gamma 5 U/ml) led to extensive cell death, which was potentiated by Fas activation with the anti-Fas cytolytic antibody JO2. Pre-treatment with insulin (25 ng/ml) or insulin-like growth factor-1 (10(-8)M) gave only partial protection against cell killing, but prevented the Fas-mediated component. In the absence of cytokine treatment, Fas-mediated killing was not observed.     

Randomised placebo-controlled trial of human recombinant insulin-like growth factor I plus intensive insulin therapy in adolescents with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus

BACKGROUND: Good glycaemic control in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) to prevent complications may be difficult to achieve during adolescence, because abnormalities in production of growth hormone or insulin-like growth-factor-I (IGF-I) can lead to lower insulin sensitivity. Recombinant human IGF-I (rhIGF-I) given as an adjunct to insulin therapy in IDDM, might improve glycaemic control in adolescents; we investigated the effects of the addition of IGF-I in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. METHODS: 53 patients with IDDM (26 male, 27 female) with a median age of 16.1 years (range 10.8-20.6) and diabetes of more than 2 years' duration were randomly assigned subcutaneous rhIGF-I (20 or 40 microg/kg daily [n=18, n=18, respectively]) or placebo (n=17), both in addition to multiple-injection insulin therapy for 24 weeks. The primary endpoint, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and routine biochemistry were measured every 4 weeks. Retinal photographs and glomerular-filtration rates were assessed at base line and at the end of the study. Data were analysed by intention to treat. FINDINGS: With a dose of 40 microg/kg rhIGF-I daily, we found significant reductions in HbA1c compared with placebo (p=0.03), without changes in body-mass index, rate of hypoglycaemia, insulin dose, or circulating concentrations of IGF-binding proteins 1 and 3. The greatest median change in HbA1c of -0.6% (range -2.8 to -1.5%) was seen with rhIGF-I 40 microg/kg at week 12, but was not sustained at week 24. The greatest reductions in HbA1c at week 24 were seen among patients with the greatest changes in IGF-I concentrations (r=-0442, p=0.002). Retinal photographs, renal function (glomerular filtration rate and urinary albumin excretion), and routine biochemistry showed no adverse events. INTERPRETATION: Our data confirm that rhIGF-I as an adjunct to insulin therapy can improve HbA1c values in adolescents with IDDM without overt toxic effects, but they raise questions about whether these effects can be sustained in cases of poor compliance or reduced bioefficacy.     

Personalaufwandsplanung mit Hilfe eines erweiterten linearen Modells

Zusammenfassung Die Personalaufwandsplanung hat für die Unternehmensplanung eines Großunternehmens besondere Bedeutung. Orientierungspunkte dabei sind die gesamtwirtschaftliche Entwicklung und die Absatzmarktlage. Aufgabe ist die Ermittlung des Personalaufwands in Abhängigkeit von Belegschaftszahlen, Arbeitszeitbedarf usw. mit Hilfe eines allgemeinen Matrizenmodells, das auch nichtlineare Komponenten enthält. Das Modell ist routinemäßig im Einsatz.

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Summary Personnel expense planning is of great importance within big enterprise corporate planning. Orientation points are given from total economic development and from the market. The task is to find out personnel expense depending on personnel figures, work time requirement, etc. by implementation of a general matrix model. Non linear components are includet. The model runs in routine.