Single-frame multiparameter platforms for seafloor geophysical and environmental observations: projects and missons from GEOSTAR to ORION

The paper presents an overview of recent seafloor long-term single-frame multiparameter platform developed in the framework of the European Commission and Italian projects starting from the GEOSTAR prototype. The main features of the different systems are described as well as the sea missions that led to their validation. The ORION seafloor observatory network recently developed, based on the GEOSTAR-type platforms and engaged in a deep-sea mission at 3300 m w.d. in the Mediterranean Sea, is also describe

Associations of plasma fibrinogen assays, C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 with previous myocardial infarction

Background: The association of plasma fibrinogen with myocardial infarction (MI) may (like that of C-reactive protein, CRP) be a marker of subclinical inflammation, mediated by cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL-6). There are well- recognized discrepancies between commonly performed fibrinogen assays. Increased ratio of clottable fibrinogen to intact fibrinogen (measured by a recently developed immunoassay) has been proposed as a measure of hyperfunctional fibrinogen, and is elevated in acute MI.<br/> Objective: To compare the associations of intact fibrinogen and four routine fibrinogen assays (two von Clauss assays; one prothrombin-time derived; and one immunonephelometric) in a case-control study of previous MI. Patients/methods: Cases (n = 399) were recruited 3-9 months after their event; 413 controls were age- and sex-matched from the case-control study local population. Intact fibrinogen was measured in 50% of subjects. Results: All routine fibrinogen assays showed high intercorrelations (r = 0.82-0.93) and significant (P lt 0.0001) increased mean levels in cases vs. controls. These four routine assays correlated only moderately with intact fibrinogen (r = 0.45-0.62), while intact fibrinogen showed only a small, nonsignificant increase in cases vs. controls. Consequently, the ratio of each of the four routine assays to the intact fibrinogen assay was significantly higher (P lt 0.0003) in cases vs. controls. Each fibrinogen assay correlated with plasma levels of CRP and IL-6 (which were also elevated in cases vs. controls). Each routine fibrinogen assay remained significantly elevated in cases vs. controls after further adjustment for C-reactive protein and interleukin-6. Conclusions: These data provide evidence for acquired, increased hyperfunctional plasma fibrinogen in MI survivors, which is not associated with markers of inflammatory reactions. The causes and significance of these results remain to be established in prospective studies

Energy supply of the okapi in captivity: intake and digestion trials

In the nutrition of browsing ruminants in captivity, adequate nutrient digestibility and energy content of diet is debated. Problems related to energy-provision and low forage intake have been reported for the okapi and other browsers like the giraffe, particularly during winter. High-fiber concentrates like unmolassed beet pulp have some potential to improve the nutritional management of these species. Using a total of six okapis in captivity, seven feeding trials were carried out at two facilities (A+B) on a structured but opportunistic base. Three trials (A(1), A(2), B-1) were conducted when animals were fed their regular diet including grain based energy concentrates, fruits and vegetables, and alfalfa (Medicago sativa) hay. Two trials (A(5), B-2) examined the effect of unmolassed beet pulp, and two (A(3,4)) examined the effect of unmolassed beet pulp+fresh browse. Daily intake and feces production were quantified over 8-12 days. Samples were analyzed for dry matter, crude ash, neutral detergent fiber (NDF)/acid detergent fiber (ADF)/acid detergent lignin (ADL), crude protein, and gross energy. Metabolizable energy content of diets was estimated via a factor (0.83) from digestible energy. The proportion of beet pulp in diets was 13% (A(3)), 24% (A(4)), 20% (A(5)) and 21% (B-2). Browse proportion was 11% (A(3)) and 32% (A(4)). Daily feed intake ranged between 1.5-1.7% of body weight (BW), digestibility of organic matter between 61-74%. Digestibility of fiber (NDF) was higher in beet pulp diets (A(3) = 39%, A(4)=60%, A(5)=54%, B-2=61%) than in the others (A(1)=48%, A(2)=33%, B-1 = 48%). Supply of metabolizable energy (ME) ranged between 0.50-0.70 MJ ME/(kg BW(0.75*)day), meeting energy requirements of okapis of 0.50-0.53MJ ME/(kg BW(0.75*)day) in general. Diets with beet pulp+browse were not found to be highest, but in the upper level of the range of forage proportions of this study. Palatable browse species were preferred over all other feedstuff offered. The use of unmolassed beet pulp as energy-concentrate for browsing ruminants like the okapi can be recommended because diets high in this high-fibre feedstuff resulted in adequate energy intakes

{P2PPerf}: a framework for simulating and optimizing peer-to-peer distributed computing applications

International audiencePeer-to-Peer architectures are more and more studied by distributed computing community. Indeed, this type of architecture makes possible to inherit few properties, in particular the absence of centralized topology, fault-tolerance and dynamic reorganization of the network. However, the complexity of these networks is increased and the acceleration of the distributed applications is not ensured. That's why it is necessary to predict the performances as soon as possible in design and development phases, to bypass bottlenecks and correct program blocks which slow down the execution time. In this context, we propose P2PPerf: a simulation tool of which objective is to predict performances and execution times of a distributed application before its finalization. P2PPerf has been tested on JNGI: a P2P distributed computing application using the JXTA platfor