BIOFUELS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Sažetak U Europskoj uniji (EU) okvir politike razvoja tržišta biogoriva tvori Direktiva 2003/30/EC o promicanju korištenja biogoriva ili drugih obnovljivih goriva u prometu. Ta Direktiva određuje značajni cilj od 2 % potrošnje biogoriva (po energetskom sadržaju) u 2005. godini uz porast od 0,75 % godišnje te zasad kulminira ciljem od 5,75 % u 2010. Međutim, EU je priznala da cilj potrošnje od 2 % u 2005. nije ostvaren. Ovaj prikaz stoga razmatra ključne pokretače i političke inicijative i na razini Odbora i na onoj zemalja-članica koji će utjecati na razvoj tržišta biogoriva u EU u razdoblju do 2010. godine. Nadalje se razmatraju, također, i pitanja održivosti i kakvoće goriva, koja proizlaze iz korištenja prvih biogoriva, kako bi se utvrdili pokretači uvođenja proizvoda druge generacije.Abstract In the European Union (EU), the policy framework for the development of a biofuels market is Directive 2003/30/EC on the promotion of the use of biofuels or other renewable fuels for transport. This Directive sets an indicative target of 2% biofuel consumption (by energy content) in 2005 rising by 0.75% per annum and currently culminates in a target of 5.75% in 2010. However, the EU has acknowledged that the 2% consumption target for 2005 has not been met. This presentation therefore reviews the Key drivers and policy initiatives at both the Commission and Member State level that are influencing the development of the biofuels market in the EU in the period to 2010. In addition, sustainability and fuel quality issues arising from the use of 1st biofuels are also addressed in order to define the drivers for the introduction of 2nd generation products

Inverse relationship between galactokinase activity and 2-deoxygalactose resistance in Chinese hamster ovary cells

Galactokinase activity is reduced in 12 independent clones of Chinese hamster ovary cells resistant to 2-deoxygalactose. The frequency of resistant colonies is increased with chemical mutagens. The resistant phenotype is stable in the absence of selection. There is an inverse correlation between the levels of galactokinase activity and the cloning efficiency in deoxygalactose. Cells with high resistance have 1%or less of the enzyme activity observed in the parental cells; while cells with low resistance have 10–30% galactokinase activity. Studies with tetraploid hybrid cells reveal that resistance to deoxygalactose is a recessive trait and that cells with high resistance do not complement those with low resistance. In cell lines with low resistance, the K m for galactose , K i for deoxygalactose , K m for ATP, and thermolability were not significantly altered compared to sensitive parental cells. Although the possibility of mutation at the structural gene locus has not been ruled out, the reduced enzyme activity may also be due to mutation at a regulatory site which affects the number of galactokinase molecules per cell .Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45552/1/11188_2005_Article_BF01543159.pd

Use of horseradish peroxidase for gene-directed enzyme prodrug therapy with paracetamol

Gene therapy is a potential method of treating cancer with a greater degree of targeting than conventional therapies. In addition, therapy can be directed towards cells within the tumour population that are traditionally resistant to current treatment schedules. Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) can oxidise paracetamol to N-acetyl-p-benzoquinoneimine via a one-electron pathway. Incubation of human cells expressing HRP with 0.5–10 mm paracetamol reduced clonogenic survival, but had little effect on control cells. A small increase in apoptosis was seen and a decrease in the number of cells undergoing mitosis, consistent with reports in hepatocytes using higher paracetamol concentrations. The cytotoxicity was also seen under conditions of severe hypoxia (catalyst induced anoxia), indicating that the HRP/paracetamol combination may be suitable for hypoxia-targeted gene therapy

The Contribution of the Parietal Lobes to Speaking and Writing

The left parietal lobe has been proposed as a major language area. However, parietal cortical function is more usually considered in terms of the control of actions, contributing both to attention and cross-modal integration of external and reafferent sensory cues. We used positron emission tomography to study normal subjects while they overtly generated narratives, both spoken and written. The purpose was to identify the parietal contribution to the modality-specific sensorimotor control of communication, separate from amodal linguistic and memory processes involved in generating a narrative. The majority of left and right parietal activity was associated with the execution of writing under visual and somatosensory control irrespective of whether the output was a narrative or repetitive reproduction of a single grapheme. In contrast, action-related parietal activity during speech production was confined to primary somatosensory cortex. The only parietal area with a pattern of activity compatible with an amodal central role in communication was the ventral part of the left angular gyrus (AG). The results of this study indicate that the cognitive processing of language within the parietal lobe is confined to the AG and that the major contribution of parietal cortex to communication is in the sensorimotor control of writing

Bleeding Risk and Antithrombotic Strategy in Patients With Sinus Rhythm and Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction Treated With Warfarin or Aspirin

We sought to assess the performance of existing bleeding risk scores, such as the Hypertension, Abnormal Renal/Liver Function, Stroke, Bleeding History or Predisposition, Labile INR, Elderly, Drugs/Alcohol Concomitantly (HAS-BLED) score or the Outpatient Bleeding Risk Index (OBRI), in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) in sinus rhythm (SR) treated with warfarin or aspirin. We calculated HAS-BLED and OBRI risk scores for 2,305 patients with HFrEF in SR enrolled in the Warfarin versus Aspirin in Reduced Cardiac Ejection Fraction trial. Proportional hazards models were used to test whether each score predicted major bleeding, and comparison of different risk scores was performed using Harell C-statistic and net reclassification improvement index. For the warfarin arm, both scores predicted bleeding risk, with OBRI having significantly greater C-statistic (0.72 vs 0.61; p = 0.03) compared to HAS-BLED, although the net reclassification improvement for comparing OBRI to HAS-BLED was not significant (0.32, 95% confidence interval [CI] −0.18 to 0.37). Performance of the OBRI and HAS-BLED risk scores was similar for the aspirin arm. For participants with OBRI scores of 0 to 1, warfarin compared with aspirin reduced ischemic stroke (hazard ratio [HR] 0.51, 95% CI 0.26 to 0.98, p = 0.042) without significantly increasing major bleeding (HR 1.24, 95% CI 0.66 to 2.30, p = 0.51). For those with OBRI score of ≥2, there was a trend for reduced ischemic stroke with warfarin compared to aspirin (HR 0.56, 95% CI 0.27 to 1.15, p = 0.12), but major bleeding was increased (HR 4.04, 95% CI 1.99 to 8.22, p <0.001). In conclusion, existing bleeding risk scores can identify bleeding risk in patients with HFrEF in SR and could be tested for potentially identifying patients with a favorable risk/benefit profile for antithrombotic therapy with warfarin

CHA2 DS2 -VASc score and adverse outcomes in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and sinus rhythm

AIMS: The aim of this study was to determine whether the CHA2 DS2 -VASc score can predict adverse outcomes such as death, ischaemic stroke, and major haemorrhage, in patients with systolic heart failure in sinus rhythm. METHODS AND RESULTS: CHA2 DS2 -VASc scores were calculated for 1101 patients randomized to warfarin and 1123 patients randomized to aspirin. Adverse outcomes were defined as death or ischaemic stroke, death alone, ischaemic stroke alone, and major haemorrhage. Using proportional hazards models, we found that each 1-point increase in the CHA2 DS2 -VASc score was associated with increased hazard of death or ischaemic stroke events [hazard ratio (HR) for the warfarin arm = 1.21, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.13-1.30, P < 0.001; for aspirin, HR = 1.20, 95% CI 1.11-1.29, P < 0.001]. Similar increased hazards for higher CHA2 DS2 -VASc scores were observed for death alone, ischaemic stroke alone, and major haemorrhage. Overall performance of the CHA2 DS2 -VASc score was assessed using c-statistics for full models containing the risk score, treatment assignment, and score-treatment interaction, with the c-statistics for the full models ranging from 0.57 for death to 0.68 for major haemorrhage. CONCLUSIONS: The CHA2 DS2 -VASc score predicted adverse outcomes in patients with systolic heart failure in sinus rhythm, with modest prediction accuracy

Accuracy of Risk Estimates from the iPrevent Breast Cancer Risk Assessment and Management Tool.

BACKGROUND: iPrevent is an online breast cancer (BC) risk management decision support tool. It uses an internal switching algorithm, based on a woman's risk factor data, to estimate her absolute BC risk using either the International Breast Cancer Intervention Study (IBIS) version 7.02, or Breast and Ovarian Analysis of Disease Incidence and Carrier Estimation Algorithm version 3 models, and then provides tailored risk management information. This study assessed the accuracy of the 10-year risk estimates using prospective data. METHODS: iPrevent-assigned 10-year invasive BC risk was calculated for 15 732 women aged 20-70 years and without BC at recruitment to the Prospective Family Study Cohort. Calibration, the ratio of the expected (E) number of BCs to the observed (O) number and discriminatory accuracy were assessed. RESULTS: During the 10 years of follow-up, 619 women (3.9%) developed BC compared with 702 expected (E/O = 1.13; 95% confidence interval [CI] =1.05 to 1.23). For women younger than 50 years, 50 years and older, and BRCA1/2-mutation carriers and noncarriers, E/O was 1.04 (95% CI = 0.93 to 1.16), 1.24 (95% CI = 1.11 to 1.39), 1.13 (95% CI = 0.96 to 1.34), and 1.13 (95% CI = 1.04 to 1.24), respectively. The C-statistic was 0.70 (95% CI = 0.68 to 0.73) overall and 0.74 (95% CI = 0.71 to 0.77), 0.63 (95% CI = 0.59 to 0.66), 0.59 (95% CI = 0.53 to 0.64), and 0.65 (95% CI = 0.63 to 0.68), respectively, for the subgroups above. Applying the newer IBIS version 8.0b in the iPrevent switching algorithm improved calibration overall (E/O = 1.06, 95% CI = 0.98 to 1.15) and in all subgroups, without changing discriminatory accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: For 10-year BC risk, iPrevent had good discriminatory accuracy overall and was well calibrated for women aged younger than 50 years. Calibration may be improved in the future by incorporating IBIS version 8.0b

Overt is no better than covert when rehearsing visuo-spatial information in working memory

In the present study, we examined whether eye movements facilitate retention of visuo-spatial information in working memory. In two experiments, participants memorised the sequence of the spatial locations of six digits across a retention interval. In some conditions, participants were free to move their eyes during the retention interval, but in others they either were required to remain fixated or were instructed to move their eyes exclusively to a selection of the memorised locations. Memory performance was no better when participants were free to move their eyes during the memory interval than when they fixated a single location. Furthermore, the results demonstrated a primacy effect in the eye movement behaviour that corresponded with the memory performance. We conclude that overt eye movements do not provide a benefit over covert attention for rehearsing visuo-spatial information in working memory

Operational Ontology for Oncology (O3): A Professional Society-Based, Multistakeholder, Consensus-Driven Informatics Standard Supporting Clinical and Research Use of Real-World Data From Patients Treated for Cancer

PURPOSE: The ongoing lack of data standardization severely undermines the potential for automated learning from the vast amount of information routinely archived in electronic health records (EHRs), radiation oncology information systems, treatment planning systems, and other cancer care and outcomes databases. We sought to create a standardized ontology for clinical data, social determinants of health, and other radiation oncology concepts and interrelationships. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The American Association of Physicists in Medicine\u27s Big Data Science Committee was initiated in July 2019 to explore common ground from the stakeholders\u27 collective experience of issues that typically compromise the formation of large inter- and intra-institutional databases from EHRs. The Big Data Science Committee adopted an iterative, cyclical approach to engaging stakeholders beyond its membership to optimize the integration of diverse perspectives from the community. RESULTS: We developed the Operational Ontology for Oncology (O3), which identified 42 key elements, 359 attributes, 144 value sets, and 155 relationships ranked in relative importance of clinical significance, likelihood of availability in EHRs, and the ability to modify routine clinical processes to permit aggregation. Recommendations are provided for best use and development of the O3 to 4 constituencies: device manufacturers, centers of clinical care, researchers, and professional societies. CONCLUSIONS: O3 is designed to extend and interoperate with existing global infrastructure and data science standards. The implementation of these recommendations will lower the barriers for aggregation of information that could be used to create large, representative, findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable data sets to support the scientific objectives of grant programs. The construction of comprehensive real-world data sets and application of advanced analytical techniques, including artificial intelligence, holds the potential to revolutionize patient management and improve outcomes by leveraging increased access to information derived from larger, more representative data sets