A new non-invasive ultrasonic method for simultaneous measurements of longitudinal and radial arterial wall movements: first in vivo trial.

During recent years, the radial movement of the arterial wall has been extensively studied, and measurements of the radial movement are now an important tool in cardiovascular research for characterizing the mechanical properties of the arterial wall. In contrast, the longitudinal movement of vessels has gained little or no attention as it has been presumed that this movement is negligible. With modern high-resolution ultrasound, it can, however, be seen that the intima-media complex of the arterial wall moves not only in the radial direction, but also in the longitudinal direction during pulse-wave propagation. This paper describes a new non-invasive ultrasonic method that is able to measure simultaneously two dimensionally arterial vessel wall movements. The method is demonstrated in a limited in vivo trial. Results from the in vivo trial show that, apart from the well-known radial movement, there is a distinct longitudinal movement in the human common carotid artery with, in this case, the intima-media complex moving substantially as compared with the region of the tunica adventitia. Two-dimensional evaluation of the vessel-wall movements, taking not only the radial movement, but also the longitudinal movement into account, may provide novel information of importance in the evaluation of vessel-wall function

Clinical and genetic studies of ETV6/ABL1-positive chronic myeloid leukaemia in blast crisis treated with imatinib mesylate.

Most chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) patients are genetically characterized by the t(9;22)(q34;q11), generating the BCR/ABL1 fusion gene. However, a few CML patients with rearrangements of 9q34 and 12p13, leading to ETV6/ABL1 chimaeras, have also been reported. Here we describe the clinical and genetic response to imatinib mesylate treatment of an ETV6/ABL1-positive CML patient diagnosed in blast crisis (BC). A chronic phase was achieved after acute myeloid leukaemia induction therapy. Then, treatment with imatinib mesylate (600 mg/d) was initiated and the effect was assessed clinically as well as genetically, including by repeated interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization studies. Until d 71 of imatinib mesylate therapy, stable improvements in the clinical and laboratory features were noted, and the frequency of ABL1-rearranged peripheral blood cells decreased from 56% to 11%. At d 92, an additional t(12;13)(p12;q13), with the 12p breakpoint proximal to ETV6, was found. The patient relapsed into BC 126 d after the start of the imatinib mesylate treatment and succumbed to the disease shortly afterwards. No mutations in the tyrosine kinase domain of ABL1 of the ETV6/ABL1 fusion were identified in the second BC. However, whereas the ETV6/ABL1 expression was seemingly the same at diagnosis and at second BC, the expression of ETV6 was markedly lower at the second BC. This decreased expression of wild-type ETV6 may have been a contributory factor for the relapse

Forest Fires in Europe, Middle East and North Africa 2017

This report contains the annual summary of the fire season of 2017 with official figures provided by 31 contributing countries for the number of fires, burnt areas and fire prevention efforts, and the analysis of fire danger and areas mapped in the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).JRC.E.1-Disaster Risk Managemen

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Redo! Alltid redo! : Lärare och lärarstudenters åsikter om bemötande av barn i kris

Förr eller senare kommer vi som lärare att ställas inför det faktum att vi måste hantera krissituationer där en eller flera elever behöver omsorg. Vårt syfte med detta examensarbete har varit att försöka beskriva och jämföra erfarna lärares och lärarstudenters åsikter och erfarenheter om bemötande av barn i kris. Vi ville genom vår undersökning ta reda på vad lärare har för beredskap för att möta barn som drabbats av en kris och hur lärare bemöter dessa barn på bästa sätt. Vi har använt oss av kvalitativa intervjuer där vi intervjuat sex lärare med minst fem års yrkeserfarenhet och sex lärarstudenter i slutskedet av sin utbildning. Intervjuerna har tillsammans med den litteratur vi läst gett oss följande resultat: Skilsmässa är den krisorsak för barn som enligt resultatet är den vanligaste. Upplevelser av kriser kan variera mycket för barn beroende på vilken ålder de är i. Signalerna kan ibland vara svaga och svåra att tolka men ofta förändrar barnet sitt sätt att vara på ett märkbart sätt. Ingen kris är den andra lik, därför är det svårt att vara förberedd på att hantera en krissituation då de ser så olika ut från gång till gång. Den viktigaste känslan läraren kan förmedla är trygghet till den som är drabbad. Få av de intervjuade kände sig beredda att möta barn i kris, men lärarna tillade att de inte var rädda för det. Samtliga informanter ansåg att de fått för lite eller ingen kunskap om krishantering under sin utbildning. Alla var överens om att det skulle behövas

Low-energy buildings heat supply–Modelling of energy systems and carbon

Construction of new low-energy buildings (LEB) areas is attracting attention as a climate mitigation measure.Heat can be supplied to buildings in these areas through individual solutions, through a small, on-site heatnetwork, or through a heat connection to a close-by district-heating (DH) system. The choice between theseoptions affects the energy supply systems and their carbon emissions far beyond the LEB area. We compare thelong-term systems impacts of the three heat-supply options through dynamic modelling of the energy systems.The study draws on data collected from a real LEB area in Sweden and addresses scale-dependent impacts ondistrict heating systems. The results show that, generally, the individual and on-site options increase biomassand electricity use, respectively. This, in turn, increases carbon emissions in a broader systems perspective. Thesystems impacts of the large heat network option depend on the scale and supply-technologies of the DH systemclose to the LEB area

System profitability of excess heat utilisation – A case-based modelling analysis

The use of EH (excess heat) in DH (district heating) may contribute to increased sustainability through reduced use of primary energy. In Sweden, while biomass has become the most important DH fuel during the last decades, there is a significant amount of industrial EH that could be utilised in the DH systems if it could be shown to be an economically viable alternative. This study addresses the long-term system profitability of a large heat network between a cluster of chemical industries and two DH systems that enables an increased use of EH. An assessment is carried out by scenario and sensitivity analyses and by applying the optimising energy systems model MARKAL_WS, in which the DH systems of the V\ue4stra G\uf6taland region of Sweden are represented individually. The results show heat network profitability under most assumptions, and that the profitability increases with biomass competition, phase-out of natural gas use and higher CO2 charges, whereas it decreases with the availability of other EH sources in the base load of the DH systems

ECONOMICALLY OPTIMAL HEAT SUPPLY TO LOW ENERGY BUILDING AREAS

European Directives and Swedish national goals aim at increasing buildings’ energy efficiency. The construction of low energy building (LEB) areas in Sweden has increasingly attracted attention due to national support. Compared to conventional buildings, LEBs require little space heating during the cold seasons. Still, there are various options for supply of the required heating. Thus, this study aims at comparing the long-term system cost of three heat supply options to a hypothetical LEB area assumed to be located close to an urban area: an “individual” (i.e. separate heat supply), an “on-site” (i.e. local district heating (DH) system) and a “large heat network” (i.e. heat production in a nearby DH system and transmission to the LEB area). A dynamic approach is applied allowing the heat supply system to develop with time, and an energy system model being able to account for the interactions between the building, heat and power sectors, is utilised for the calculations. Two climate policy scenarios are applied to address the uncertainty in future energy prices etc. A systematic sensitivity analysis is designed to investigate the threshold for cost-effectiveness of the large heat network option compared to the other two options. The sensitivity analysis takes into account different combinations of three key parameters: plot ratio of the LEB areas, specification of nearby DH, and distance between LEB area and nearby DH system. The results show, for most of the tested combinations and under both scenarios, that heat supply from the nearby DH system has the lowest system cost if the distance to this system is no more than 2 km, because of the low-cost sources of heat available in the large DH system. A local DH system is more cost-effective than individual heating of buildings even in a LEB area, if it is densely built

LARGE-SCALE UTILISATION OF EXCESS HEAT - ASSESSMENT THROUGH REGIONAL MODELLING

The use of excess heat (EH) in district heating (DH) may contribute to increased sustainability through reduced use of primary energy. In Sweden biomass has become an important DH fuel during the last decades. Currently, there is a strong focus not only on use of biomass in heat and power generation but also for the transport sector. Competition for biomass, as a limited source, is thus likely to lead to higher demand and increasing prices of biomass. This study addresses the long-term system effects and connecting costs of three DH systems though a transmission pipeline that enables an increased use of EH from a large chemical cluster. The assessment is carried out with the optimising energy systems model MARKAL_WS, in which DH systems in the V\ue4stra G\uf6taland region of Sweden are represented individually. Options for the production of transport biofuel as one potential competitor for biomass use are also included. The results show that the investment in the pipeline is cost-efficient when our energy system optimization takes both the DH systems and the transport sector into account, resulting in reduced total system cost