Engineering egress data considering pedestrians with reduced mobility

To quantify the evacuation process, evacuation practitioners use engineering egress data describing the occupant movement characteristics. These data are typically based to young and fit populations. However, the movement abilities of occupants who might be involved in evacuations are becoming more variable—with the building populations of today typically including increasing numbers of individuals: with impairments or who are otherwise elderly or generally less mobile. Thus, there will be an increasing proportion of building occupants with reduced ability to egress. For safe evacuation, there is therefore a need to provide valid engineering egress data considering pedestrians with disabilities. Gwynne and Boyce recently compiled a series of data sets related to the evacuation process to support practitioner activities in the chapter Engineering Data in the SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering. This paper supplements these data sets by providing information on and presenting data obtained from additional research related to the premovement and horizontal movement of participants with physical‐, cognitive‐, or age‐related disabilities. The aim is to provide an overview of currently available data sets related to, and key factors affecting the egress performance of, mixed ability populations which could be used to guide fire safety engineering decisions in the context of building design.     

Proton-Detected Solid-State NMR of the Cell-Free Synthesized α-Helical Transmembrane Protein NS4B from Hepatitis C Virus

Proton-detected 100 kHz magic-angle-spinning (MAS) solid-state NMR is an emerging analysis method for proteins with only hundreds of microgram quantities, and thus allows structural investigation of eukaryotic membrane proteins. This is the case for the cell-free synthesized hepatitis C virus (HCV) nonstructural membrane protein 4B (NS4B). We demonstrate NS4B sample optimization using fast reconstitution schemes that enable lipid-environment screening directly by NMR. 2D spectra and relaxation properties guide the choice of the best sample preparation to record 2D ¹H-detected ¹H,¹⁵N and 3D ¹H,¹³C,¹⁵N correlation experiments with linewidths and sensitivity suitable to initiate sequential assignments. Amino-acid-selectively labeled NS4B can be readily obtained using cell-free synthesis, opening the door to combinatorial labeling approaches which should enable structural studies.     

Zu einem Phänomen der Lochkorrosionsbegrenzung bei hochlegierten Sonderedelstählen und NiCrMo-Legierungen in Chloridlösungen

On a phenomenon of the limitation of pitting corrosion at high alloyed special stainless steels and NiCrMo-alloys in chloride solutions Testing the pitting corrosion resistance of high alloyed special stainless steels and NiCrMo-alloys in chloride solutions there was observed a limitation of the pitting corrosion range toward more positive potentials. Above this limitation, the so-called pitting corrosion limitation potential, the pit initiation by all means is prevented, but the growth of pits which had been initiated before in the pitting corrosion range not necessarily comes to a stop. Therefore current density-potential curves which are obtained by downward polarization after an initial potential jump into the transpassive region and chronopotentiostatic tests are more suitable to investigate this phenomenon than cyclic polarization measurements and potentiostatic alteration tests. There is indicated a dependence of this phenomenon on temperature. The phenomenon of a limitation of the pitting corrosion range toward more positive potentials has been found until now at alloy 926, alloy 31, alloy 28, alloy 59 and alloy C-276.     

Strawberry juice colour: The effect of some processing variables on the stability of anthocyanins

The colour stability of juice and purées made from a mixture of two strawberry varieties, stored at + 20°C or at –20°C under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, was studied. High-performance liquid chromatography and spectrophotometric analysis were used to monitor the changes in colour during storage. Pelargonidin 3-glucoside comprised 80% of the total anthocyanin content. Four other pelargonidin-based peaks were found, being 10.4%, 3.5%, 0.7% and 0.3% of the total and two cyanidin peaks were present, being 3.3% and 0.4% of the total. Clarification before storage caused considerable losses in the initial anthocyanin concentrations. Storage conditions (air versus nitrogen) did not influence the rate of loss of anthocyanins during storage or the formation of polymeric pigments. There were no losses in anthocyanins and no increase in the amount of colour measured at 510 nm due to polymers in samples stored at–20°C. Polymerisation occurred in the samples stored at + 20°C, especially in the clarified samples.     

Relation of follicular dendritic reticulum cells to Reed-Sternberg cells of Hodgkin's disease with emphasis on the expression of CD21 antigen

Based on observations of 66 cases, in which tissues were specially processed to optimize the simultaneous preservation of cell membrane antigens and morphology, we provide evidence in favor of a relationship between follicular dendritic reticulum cells (FDRC) and Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells of Hodgkin's disease (HD) other than the lymphocyte predominance subtype. RS cells were intimately related to the FDRC network (75% of cases), and the expression of CD21 antigen was frequent (41% of cases). Exclusive expression of CD21 antigen was found in 11 cases of HD, while the expression of other B-cell-associated markers (CD19, CD20, CD22) was both variable and inconsistent. The expression of T-cell antigens (CD3, CD4, CD8) was rare. Null phenotype of RS cells was observed in 27 of 66 cases (41%). Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) nucleic acids were found in 34 of 66 (51.5%) cases. Double labeling techniques showed the presence of EBV-positive RS cells within the FDRC network. A non-B-cell origin of RS cells was supported by the differential expression of EBV latent antigens in HD (latent membrane protein+, EB nuclear antigen 2-), which is unusual in EBV-driven lymphoblastoid cell lines and EBV-positive B-cell lymphomas. FDRC and RS cells are known to share morphological traits (binucleated cells), and both cell types possess Fc receptor for IgG. The hypothesis is further backed by the findings of CD15 antigen expression by occasional RS-like dysplastic FDRC in Castleman's disease (five cases), which is characterized by hyperplasia of FDRC. Whether FDRC might be the only cells involved in the conversion to RS cells by the loss or gain of antigens remains to be determined.