A short-term test using DDAVP for determination of the renal concentration capacity (author's transl)

A short-term test to determine renal concentrating ability without any water deprivation has been described. It consists of osmolatity determinations in three onehour urine portions from spontaneous voidings following an intranasal application of 7 microng of the synthetic analogue of vasopressin-DDAVP per 0,5 m2 body surface. The values of maximal urine osmalatity over 900 mosm/Kg H2O following DDAVP are considered normal whereas values under 600 mosm are consistent with impaired renal function. If, however, the maximal urine osmolality is in the so called "uncertain range" i.e. from 600 to 900 mosm, it is advisable to perform in the same patients also the classical concentration test based on a prolonged dehydration (26 h).     

Odour emission ability (OEA) and its application in assessing odour removal efficiency

Odourous emissions from sewer networks and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) can significantly impact a local population. Sampling techniques such as wind tunnels and flux hood chambers are traditionally used to collect area source samples for subsequent quantification of odour emission rates using dilution olfactometry, however these methods are unsuitable for assessing liquid samples from point sources due to the large liquid volumes required. To overcome this limitation, a gas phase sample preparation method was developed for assessing the total Odour Emission Ability (OEA) from a liquid sample. The method was validated using two volatile organic sulphur compounds (VOSCs), dimethyl-trisulphide (DMTS) and bismethylthiomethane (BMTM) that are frequently detected from sewers and WWTPs and are relatively stable compared with common VOSCs like mercaptan or methyl mercaptan. The recovery rates of DMTS and BMTM were quantified by injecting a known volume of a standard liquid sample into Tedlar bags using a static injection and a dynamic injection methodology. It was confirmed that both dynamic and static injection methods at ambient condition achieved high recovery rates with no need to consider increasing evaporation by elevating the temperature. This method can also be used to assess odour removal effectiveness of liquids by comparing the OEA before and after the treatment tests. Two application examples were presented.     

Cristallogenese du 4-dimethylamino β-nitrostyrene

Single crystals of 4-dimethylamino β-nitrostyrene (DMNS) were grown from solution by a falling temperature technique. Growth conditions are given. The quality of crystals obtained was studied by X-ray diffraction methods.

$\text{DMNS : orthorhombic - class mmm - space group : Pcab}\text{a : b : c = 7,3 : 10,15 : 25,10}\text{A}\text{?}\text{Z=8}$

     

Complete structure of glycopeptides isolated from IgG immunoglobulins of cow colostrum

Bovine immunoglobulins (IgG1 type) have been isolated from colostral whey. Hydrolysis by pronase, trypsin and (or) chymotrypsin yield several glycopeptides structural studies of which lead to the following results. 1. IgG1 colostral immunoglobulins possess two glycan moieties which are linked to the peptidic chain by an N-(beta-aspartyl)-N-acetylglucosaminylamine bound. 2. The peptidic sequence around the linkage region has been determined by classical methods and is as follows: Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Glu-Glu-Gln-Phe-Asn(Glycan)-Ser-Thr-Tyr-Arg. 3. The following procedures: partial acidic hydrolysis, periodic oxidation, hydrazinolysis-nitrous deamination, methylation and use of specific glycosidases allowed us to determine the structure of the glycan moieties which fit with the general following scheme: (see article) Thus they could be related to the general glycan structure so-called of "N-acetyllactosamine type" because they possess the pentasaccharidic core common to numerous glycoproteins Man alpha 1 leads to [Man alpha 1 leads to 6] Man beta 1 leads to 4 GlcNAc beta 1 leads to 4 GlcNAc beta 1 leads to Asn on which are conjugated 2 N-acetyllactosamine residues. Besides they present a microheterogeneity which is due to the varying number of additional N-acetylneuraminic acid and fucose residues. 4. These structures are compared to various immunoglobulin structures proposed by others: bovine serum IgG and human serum IgG, IgE and IgA.     

IDR/UPM facilities for liquid bridge experimentation on Earth under microgravity conditions

Besides space laboratories for in-orbit experimentation, Earth based facilities for laboratory experimentation are of paramount importance for the enhancement on liquid bridge knowledge. In spite of the constraints imposed by simulated microgravity (which force to work either with very small size liquid bridges or by using the Plateau tank technique, amongst other techniques), the availability and accessibility of Earth facilities can circumvent in many cases the drawbacks associated with simulated microgravity conditions. To support theoretical and in orbit experimental studies on liquid bridges under reduced gravity conditions, several ground facilities were developed at IDR. In the following these ground facilities are briefly described, and main results obtained by using them are cited.     

10th GAMM-IMACS International Symposium on Scientific Computing,Computer Arithmetic,and Validated Numerics SCAN'2002

Reliable Computing -     

Prosody Evaluation as a Diagnostic Process: Subjective vs. Objective Measurements

A set of perception experiments, using reiterant and lexicalised speech, was designed to perform a diagnostic of the relative implication of prosody in the segmentation and hierarchisation of speech. Both natural and synthetic intonation were evaluated. Then, two distance measures—correlation and root-mean-square distance on the acoustic parameters (F0, syllabic duration and intensity)—were applied to match the perception results. This objective vs. subjective comparison underlines which acoustic cues are used by listeners to judge the adequacy of prosody in performing a given function such as demarcation. Results can be summarized by a scale of the perceptual distance between two demarcation functions. This study also points out the ability of listeners to retrieve pertinent information on the basis of pure prosodic stimuli.