The Smashing Book

One can make simple things difficult, and writting a book the normal way just wasn’t a challenge enough for us. The list of contributors to the left testifies to that. We wanted to engage as many people as possible: writters, designer, illustrator, editors. In fact, internaly, we called this little project “The Community Book”. Nevertheless, the book was writen not by our readers but by a profesional team of authors. And troughout the whole process (from brain stroming to writting to putting the final touches on the layout) we included our audience in our plans: we queried people in the Smashing forum, collected suggestion and listened to your opinions. Of course all of this ado in advance was meant to stmulated your appetite, too. The result is what now sits in your hands, Smashing Magazine’s readers. We hope we did at least some things in it right. The book contains no list of links or aggregated content. It has 10 carefully prepared, written and edited stories that are based upon topic sugesstion and wishes of Smashing Mqagazines reader. We consider the topic covered here fundamental and so the content is we hope, highly practical. You can find a list of all of the references and resources mentioned in this book in a handy overview online at http: //smashing-links.co

Energy efficiency in Europe: trends, convergence and policy effectiveness

This paper analyses energy efficiency in the EU, both in terms of reductions in energy intensity and in terms of physical indicators, looking at the differences among sectors and among Member States. We test econometrically the existence of convergence in energy intensity across Europe. We find a sensible catching–up of less performing countries, particularly in the agricultural and in the industrial sectors. Against this background, we analyse the role played by energy policies in EU Member States and we identify the most effective classes of policies and measures by means of a panel analysis of the EU-15 and Norway. It turns out that, in the residential sector, energy efficiency is particularly affected by heating regulations, by subsidies as well as tax reductions; in the transport sector, effective policies are tax reductions, incentives to eliminate old and polluting cars, car sharing, commuter plan and traffic management; in the industrial sector, mandatory technology standards, financing at low interest rate, information activities, education and outreach proved to be effective.energy intensity, energy efficiency, convergence, European energy policy

HIV AND LYMPHOMA: FROM EPIDEMIOLOGY TO CLINICAL MANAGEMENT

Patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus are at increased risk for developing both non Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) and Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL). Even if this risk has decreased for NHL after the introduction of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), they remain the most common AIDS-related cancer in the developed world. They are almost always of B-cell origin, and some specific lymphoma types are more common than others. Some of these lymphoma types can occur in both HIV-uninfected and infected patients, while others preferentially develop in the context of AIDS. HIV-associated lymphoma differ from lymphoma in the HIV negative population in that they more often present with advanced disease, systemic symptoms, and extranodal involvement and are frequently associated with oncogenic viruses (EBV and/or HHV-8). Before the introduction of cART, most of these patients could not tolerate the treatment strategies routinely employed in the HIV-negative population. The widespread use of cART has allowed for the delivery of full-dose and dose-intensive chemotherapy regimens with improved outcomes that nowadays can be compared to those seen in non-HIV infected patients. However, a great deal of attention should be paid to opportunistic infections and other infectious complications, cART-chemotherapy interactions, and potential cumulative toxicity. In the context of relatively sparse prospective and randomized trials, the optimal treatment of AIDS-related lymphomas remains a challenge, particularly in patients with severe immunosuppression. This paper will address epidemiology, pathogenesis, and therapeutic strategies in HIV-associated NHL and HL

PENGARUH CAMPURAN ABU AMPAS KAYU PADA TANAH DESA COT SEUNONG DENGAN PENGUJIAN CALIFORNIA BEARING RATIO

Tanah yang tersedia di alam sering tidak dapat langsung digunakan karena secara alamiah tanah memiliki sifat-sifat fisis dan mekanis tertentu yang terbatas. Oleh karena itu diperlukan penelitian tentang tanah untuk mengetahui sifat-sifatnya dengan teliti sehingga dapat menyesuaikan dengan kebutuhan konstruksi sehingga menjamin stabilitas suatu konstruksi. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh penambahan abu ampas kayu yang digunakan sebagai bahan stabilisasi terhadap nilai CBR (California Bearing Ratio). Tanah yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini berasal dari Desa Cot Seunong Kecamatan Montasik Kabupaten Aceh Besar. Abu ampas kayu yang diperoleh diambil dari sisa-sisa limbah perabot pembuatan kayu yang berada di daerah Desa Kajhu Aceh Besar. Tanah tersebut menurut klasifikasi AASHTO tergolong A-7-6 (tanah berlempung). Menurut USCS tanah Desa Cot Seunong termasuk golongan tanah lempung tak organik dengan plastisitas tinggi yang disimbolkan CH (Clay High) dengan indeks plastisitasnya adalah 33,69%. Persentase penambahan abu ampas kayu yaitu 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% dan 20% terhadap berat kering tanah. Hasil pengujian Standart Proctor tanpa campuran didapat nilai OMC (Optimim Moisture Content) 23,60% dengan berat isi kering maksimum (?dmax) 1,595 gr/cm3. Hasil pengujian CBR memperlihatkan bahwa nilai CBR pada persentase 0% sebesar 1,67%, pada persentase 5% sebesar 2,45%, pada persentase 10% sebesar 2,62%, pada persentase 15% sebesar 2,73%, dan pada persentase 20% sebesar 3,03%. Nilai CBR tertinggi terdapat pada persentase 20% dengan nilai CBR 3,03%, dengan demikian penggunaan abu ampas kayu pada tanah lempung Desa Cot Seunong sangat efektif karena semakin banyak campuran abu ampas kayu yang mengisi pori-pori kosong pada tanah, sehingga tanah menjadi padat dan dapat meningkatkan daya dukung tanah menjadi lebih baik.Banda Ace

Ligand signature in the membrane dynamics of single TrkA receptor molecules

The neurotrophin receptor TrkA (also known as NTRK1) is known to be crucially involved in several physio-pathological processes. However, a clear description of the early steps of ligand-induced TrkA responses at the cell plasma membrane is missing. We have exploited single particle tracking and TIRF microscopy to study TrkA membrane lateral mobility and changes of oligomerization state upon binding of diverse TrkA agonists (NGF, NGF R100E HSANV mutant, proNGF and NT-3). We show that, in the absence of ligands, most of the TrkA receptors are fast moving monomers characterized by an average diffusion coefficient of 0.47 μm^2/second; about 20% of TrkA molecules move at least an order of magnitude slower and around 4% are almost immobile within regions of about 0.6 mm diameter. Ligand binding results in increased slow and/or immobile populations over the fast one, slowing down of non-immobile trajectories and reduction of confinement areas, observations that are consistent with the formation of receptor dimeric and oligomeric states. We demonstrate that the extent of TrkA lateral mobility modification is strictly ligand dependent and that each ligand promotes distinct trajectory patterns of TrkA receptors at the cell membrane (ligand ‘fingerprinting’ effect). This ligand signature of receptor dynamics results from a differential combination of receptor-binding affinity, intracellular effectors recruited in the signalling platforms and formation of signalling and/or recycling endosome precursors. Thus, our data uncover a close correlation between the initial receptor membrane dynamics triggered upon binding and the specific biological outcomes induced by different ligands for the same receptor

Pt-WOx/C Catalysts for α, β-Unsaturated Aldehydes Hydrogenation: An NMR Study of the Effect of the Reactant Adsorption on Activity and Selectivity

The selective hydrogenation of alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes is an ideal case for studying the structure-activity relationships in heterogeneous catalysis. In particular, cinnamaldehyde can be used as probe molecule for revealing the competition between hydrogenation of C=C and C=O bond. Here, we investigated the effect of the modification of some Pt supported on carbon catalysts by WOx species in cinnamaldehyde hydrogenation, as WOx species are reported to increase the adsorption and activation of the C=O group of alpha, beta-unsaturated aldehydes. Classical techniques used for correlating the catalyst activity and the selectivity to the characteristic of the materials (XRD, HAADF-STEM, XEDS mapping and XPS) have been coupled with NMR relaxometry, as innovative application, to disclose how the molecule approaches the catalyst surface. This indeed constitutes a crucial aspect that rule the catalytic activity. Therefore, an innovative, holistic approach has been used to consider the whole catalytic system

Generalized complex manifolds and supersymmetry

We find a worldsheet realization of generalized complex geometry, a notion introduced recently by Hitchin which interpolates between complex and symplectic manifolds. The two-dimensional model we construct is a supersymmetric relative of the Poisson sigma model used in context of deformation quantization.Comment: Latex, 25 pages, refs added and typos corrected, the version to appear in CM

Topological Symmetry of forms, N=1 Supersymmetry and S-duality on Special Manifolds

We study the quantization of a holomorphic two-form coupled to a Yang-Mills field on special manifolds in various dimensions, and we show that it yields twisted supersymmetric theories. The construction determines ATQFT's (Almost Topological Quantum Field Theories), that is, theories with observables that are invariant under changes of metrics belonging to restricted classes. For Kahler manifolds in four dimensions, our topological model is related to N=1 Super Yang-Mills theory. Extended supersymmetries are recovered by considering the coupling with chiral multiplets. We also analyse Calabi-Yau manifolds in six and eight dimensions, and seven dimensional G_2 manifolds of the kind recently discussed by Hitchin. We argue that the two-form field could play an interesting role for the study of the conjectured S-duality in topological string. We finally show that in the case of real forms in six dimensions the partition function of our topological model is related to the square of that of the holomorphic Chern-Simons theory, and we discuss the uplift to seven dimensions and its relation with the recent proposals for the topological M-theory.Comment: v2: NEW results added in the last Section on the relation with holomorphic Chern Simons and with the topological M theory. References added. PAR-LPTHE P04-32, SISSA-94/2004/FM, 30 pages, LaTeX fil

Large Differences in Aging Phenotype between Strains of the Short-Lived Annual Fish Nothobranchius furzeri

BACKGROUND: A laboratory inbred strain of the annual fish Nothobranchius furzeri shows exceptionally short life expectancy and accelerated expression of age markers. In this study, we analyze new wild-derived lines of this short-lived species. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We characterized captive survival and age-related traits in F1 and F2 offspring of wild-caught N. furzeri. Wild-derived N. furzeri lines showed expression of lipofuscin and neurodegeneration at age 21 weeks. Median lifespan in the laboratory varied from to 20 to 23 weeks and maximum lifespan from 25 to 32 weeks. These data demonstrate that rapid age-dependent decline and short lifespan are natural characteristics of this species. The N. furzeri distribution range overlaps with gradients in altitude and aridity. Fish from more arid habitats are expected to experience a shorter survival window in the wild. We tested whether captive lines stemming from semi-arid and sub-humid habitats differ in longevity and expression of age-related traits. We detected a clear difference in age-dependent cognitive decline and a slight difference in lifespan (16% for median, 15% for maximum lifespan) between these lines. Finally, we observed shorter lifespan and accelerated expression of age-related markers in the inbred laboratory strain compared to these wild-derived lines. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Owing to large differences in aging phenotypes in different lines, N. furzeri could represent a model system for studying the genetic control of life-history traits in natural populations

Burnout in cardiac anesthesiologists. results from a national survey in italy

Objective: There is increasing burnout incidence among medical disciplines, and physicians working in emergency settings seem at higher risk. Cardiac anesthesiology is a stressful anesthesiology subspecialty dealing with high-risk patients. The authors hypothesized a high risk of burnout in cardiac anesthesiologists. Design: National survey conducted on burnout Setting: Italian cardiac centers. Participants: Cardiac anesthesiologists. Interventions: The authors administered via email an anonymous questionnaire divided into 3 parts. The first 2 parts evaluated workload and private life. The third part consisted of the Maslach Burnout Inventory test with its 3 constituents: high emotional exhaustion, high depersonalization, and low personal accomplishment. Measurements and Main Results: The authors measured the prevalence and risk of burnout through the Maslach Burnout Inventory questionnaire and analyzed factors influencing burnout. Among 670 contacts from 71 centers, 382 cardiac anesthesiologists completed the survey (57%). The authors found the following mean Maslach Burnout Inventory values: 14.5 ± 9.7 (emotional exhaustion), 9.1 ± 7.1 (depersonalization), and 33.7 ± 8.9 (personal accomplishment). A rate of 34%, 54%, and 66% of respondents scored in “high” or “moderate-high” risk of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment, respectively). The authors found that, if offered to change subspecialty, 76% of respondents would prefer to remain in cardiac anesthesiology. This preference and parenthood were the only 2 investigated factors with a protective effect against all components of burnout. Significantly lower burnout scores were found in more experienced anesthesiologists. Conclusion: A relatively high incidence of burnout was found in cardiac anesthesiologists, especially regarding high depersonalization and low personal accomplishment. Nonetheless, most of the respondents would choose to remain in cardiac anesthesiology