The influence of dietary carbohydrate and fat on kidney calcification and the urinary excretion of N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase (EC 3.2.1.30).

1. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed on diets containing either sucrose or starch as the carbohydrate component. In one experiment, the diets also contained 200 g either butter or polyunsaturated margarine/kg; in a second experiment, the diets contained less fat in the form of 20 g maize oil/kg. 2. Over a period of 11 months assays were made in the urine of several ions and of the activity of the enzyme N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase (β-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-β-D glucoside acetamidodeoxygluco-hydrolase; EC 3.2.1.30); at 13 months, examination was made of some of the abdominal viscera, especially of the kidneys. 3. In rats fed on the higher amount of fat, dietary sucrose produced a higher activity of the enzyme than did dietary starch, and a greater excretion of inorganic phosphate. 4. With both the higher and lower amounts of dietary fat, sucrose led to an increase in the weight of the liver and of the kidneys, and an increase in the concentration of calcium and of phosphate in kidney tissue. With the higher amount of fat, sucrose also produced an increase in the concentration of magnesium in the kidney. There was no difference in the concentration of any of the ions assayed in the plasma or, apart from inorganic phosphate, in the urine. 5. The kidneys of the sucrose-fed rats showed nephrocalcinosis, mostly in the cortico-medullary region, and basophilic deposits in the tubules. Attention is drawn to this unusual occurrence of nephrocalcinosis in male rats

Modulation of Fibrosis in Systemic Sclerosis by Nitric Oxide and Antioxidants

Systemic sclerosis (scleroderma: SSc) is a multisystem, connective tissue disease of unknown aetiology characterized by vascular dysfunction, autoimmunity, and enhanced fibroblast activity resulting in fibrosis of the skin, heart, and lungs, and ultimately internal organ failure, and death. One of the most important and early modulators of disease activity is thought to be oxidative stress. Evidence suggests that the free radical nitric oxide (NO), a key mediator of oxidative stress, can profoundly influence the early microvasculopathy, and possibly the ensuing fibrogenic response. Animal models and human studies have also identified dietary antioxidants, such as epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), to function as a protective system against oxidative stress and fibrosis. Hence, targeting EGCG may prove a possible candidate for therapeutic treatment aimed at reducing both oxidant stress and the fibrotic effects associated with SSc

Algorithms and Insights for RaceTrack

We discuss algorithmic issues on the well-known paper-and-pencil game RaceTrack. On a very simple track called Indianapolis, we introduce the problem and simple approaches, that will be gradually refined. We present and experimentally evaluate efficient algorithms for single player scenarios. We also consider a variant where the parts of the track are known as soon as they become visible during the race

Schematics of Graphs and Hypergraphs

Graphenzeichnen als ein Teilgebiet der Informatik befasst sich mit dem Ziel Graphen oder deren Verallgemeinerung Hypergraphen geometrisch zu realisieren. Beschränkt man sich dabei auf visuelles Hervorheben von wesentlichen Informationen in Zeichenmodellen, spricht man von Schemata. Hauptinstrumente sind Konstruktionsalgorithmen und Charakterisierungen von Graphenklassen, die für die Konstruktion geeignet sind. In dieser Arbeit werden Schemata für Graphen und Hypergraphen formalisiert und mit den genannten Instrumenten untersucht. In der Dissertation wird zunächst das „partial edge drawing“ (kurz: PED) Modell für Graphen (bezüglich gradliniger Zeichnung) untersucht. Dabei wird um Kreuzungen im Zentrum der Kante visuell zu eliminieren jede Kante durch ein kreuzungsfreies Teilstück (= Stummel) am Start- und am Zielknoten ersetzt. Als Standard hat sich eine PED-Variante etabliert, in der das Längenverhältnis zwischen Stummel und Kante genau 1⁄4 ist (kurz: 1⁄4-SHPED). Für 1⁄4-SHPEDs werden Konstruktionsalgorithmen, Klassifizierung, Implementierung und Evaluation präsentiert. Außerdem werden PED-Varianten mit festen Knotenpositionen und auf Basis orthogonaler Zeichnungen erforscht. Danach wird das BUS Modell für Hypergraphen untersucht, in welchem Hyperkanten durch fette horizontale oder vertikale – als BUS bezeichnete – Segmente repräsentiert werden. Dazu wird eine vollständige Charakterisierung von planaren Inzidenzgraphen von Hypergraphen angegeben, die eine planare Zeichnung im BUS Modell besitzen, und diverse planare BUS-Varianten mit festen Knotenpositionen werden diskutiert. Zum Schluss wird erstmals eine Punktmenge von subquadratischer Größe angegeben, die eine planare Einbettung (Knoten werden auf Punkte abgebildet) von 2-außenplanaren Graphen ermöglicht

Cross-school ‘close-to-practice’ action research, system leadership and local civic-partnership re-engineering an inner-city learning community

This article presents two sequential case reports of how sixty schools in the London borough of Camden used action research in three phases of development of their local school system reform from a traditional Council-led, top down model of centrally based professional development and monitoring of schools, to one that is schools-led and ‘bottom-up’ in nature, but still in close partnership with its local council and community. The article uses a sociocultural lens through which to view this journey of self-reform tracking change through three evolutions of the sociocultural model as professional learning becomes situated in classrooms and between schools in Camden, as motivations to develop and change become increasingly intrinsic and less driven by fear of failure or the consequences of failure. Of critical importance is the feedback-rich context created by adoption of enquiry and coaching-based learning models at classroom, organisational and system levels. This both fuels and is fuelled by the strategic collaboration of headteachers and by system leadership also provided by middle leaders, whose increased cross-school agency builds improvement capacity and collaborative capital. But the article does not report on the action research alone. Unlike many accounts of action research for change, this account provides a narrative backdrop in which to locate both scientific and system developments. This is provided through three short vignettes which place the changes reported in a societal, political and community context without whose energetic actors (in the form of local political and community leaders and school governors) the local ‘civic governance’ so strongly behind these reforms, would not have existed.London Schools Excellence Fund (Greater London Authority

Cross-school ‘close-to-practice’ action research, system leadership and local civic partnership re-engineering an inner-city learning community

This article presents two sequential case reports of how 60 schools in the London Borough of Camden used action research in three phases of development of their local school system reform, from a traditional council-led, top-down model of centrally based professional development and monitoring of schools, to one that is schools-led and ‘bottom-up’ in nature, but still in close partnership with its local council and community. The article uses a sociocultural lens through which to view this journey of self-reform, tracking change through three evolutions of the sociocultural model as professional learning becomes situated in classrooms and between schools in Camden, as motivations to develop and change become increasingly intrinsic and less driven by fear of failure or the consequences of failure. Of critical importance is the feedback-rich context created by adoption of enquiry- and coaching-based learning models at classroom, organizational and system levels. This both fuels and is fuelled by the strategic collaboration of head teachers and by system leadership also provided by middle leaders, whose increased cross-school agency builds improvement capacity and collaborative capital. The article does not report on the action research alone: unlike many accounts of action research for change, this account provides a narrative backdrop in which to locate both scientific and system developments. This is provided through three short vignettes that place the changes reported in a societal, political and community context, without whose energetic actors (in the form of local political and community leaders and school governors) the local ‘civic governance’ so strongly behind these reforms, would not have existed