On Colorful Bin Packing Games

We consider colorful bin packing games in which selfish players control a set of items which are to be packed into a minimum number of unit capacity bins. Each item has one of $m\geq 2$ colors and cannot be packed next to an item of the same color. All bins have the same unitary cost which is shared among the items it contains, so that players are interested in selecting a bin of minimum shared cost. We adopt two standard cost sharing functions: the egalitarian cost function which equally shares the cost of a bin among the items it contains, and the proportional cost function which shares the cost of a bin among the items it contains proportionally to their sizes. Although, under both cost functions, colorful bin packing games do not converge in general to a (pure) Nash equilibrium, we show that Nash equilibria are guaranteed to exist and we design an algorithm for computing a Nash equilibrium whose running time is polynomial under the egalitarian cost function and pseudo-polynomial for a constant number of colors under the proportional one. We also provide a complete characterization of the efficiency of Nash equilibria under both cost functions for general games, by showing that the prices of anarchy and stability are unbounded when $m\geq 3$ while they are equal to 3 for black and white games, where $m=2$. We finally focus on games with uniform sizes (i.e., all items have the same size) for which the two cost functions coincide. We show again a tight characterization of the efficiency of Nash equilibria and design an algorithm which returns Nash equilibria with best achievable performance

Detection of phenoloids in some Hungarian Inula and Centaurea species

Phenoloid contents were detected, examined and compared with each other from seven composite species (Inula ensifolia L., I. salicina L., I. spiraeifolia L., I. britannica L., I. conyza DC., Centaurea scabiosa L., C. micranthos S. G. Gmel.). The six test solutions were the followings: apigenin, quercetin, hyperosid, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid and rutin. There were significant differences between ray and disc florets from both quantitative and qualitative results, and the species with more significant insect visiting (Inula ensifolia, I. salicina, I. spiraeifolia) have got quantitative dominance

The floral nectarproduction of three inula species

We have examined nectar secretion of three Inula species (Inula spiraefolis L., I. ensifolia L., I. salicina L.) and we have established that the nectar secretion is periodical. The production maximums appear every two hours to I. spiraeifolia and there is a three hours rhytm at I. salicina. We have found a forenoon and an afternoon production section at I. ensifolia. The three Inula species nectar contains three main sugar componetnts: glucose, fructose and sucros, but their quantity values were different to each other. The nectar of I. spiraeifolia is hexose-rich (glucose-dominant), the nectar of I. ensifolia is sucrose-rich and nectar of I. salicina is sucrose-dominant.The sexual reproductionwas accented at species witch are sucrose-rich or sucrose-dominant. The vegetative reproduction seems to be dominant at hexose-rich species

Dose escalation study of intravenous and intra-arterial N-acetylcysteine for the prevention of oto- and nephrotoxicity of cisplatin with a contrast-induced nephropathy model in patients with renal insufficiency.

BACKGROUND: Cisplatin neuro-, oto-, and nephrotoxicity are major problems in children with malignant tumors, including medulloblastoma, negatively impacting educational achievement, socioemotional development, and overall quality of life. The blood-labyrinth barrier is somewhat permeable to cisplatin, and sensory hair cells and cochlear supporting cells are highly sensitive to this toxic drug. Several chemoprotective agents such as N-acetylcysteine (NAC) were utilized experimentally to avoid these potentially serious and life-long side effects, although no clinical phase I trial was performed before. The purpose of this study was to establish the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and pharmacokinetics of both intravenous (IV) and intra-arterial (IA) NAC in adults with chronic kidney disease to be used in further trials on oto- and nephroprotection in pediatric patients receiving platinum therapy. METHODS: Due to ethical considerations in pediatric tumor patients, we used a clinical population of adults with non-neoplastic disease. Subjects with stage three or worse renal failure who had any endovascular procedure were enrolled in a prospective, non-randomized, single center trial to determine the MTD for NAC. We initially aimed to evaluate three patients each at 150, 300, 600, 900, and 1200 mg/kg NAC. The MTD was defined as one dose level below the dose producing grade 3 or 4 toxicity. Serum NAC levels were assessed before, 5 and 15 min post NAC. Twenty-eight subjects (15 men; mean age 72.2 +/- 6.8 years) received NAC IV (N = 13) or IA (N = 15). RESULTS: The first participant to experience grade 4 toxicity was at the 600 mg/kg IV dose, at which time the protocol was modified to add an additional dose level of 450 mg/kg NAC. Subsequently, no severe NAC-related toxicity arose and 450 mg/kg NAC was found to be the MTD in both IV and IA groups. Blood levels of NAC showed a linear dose response (p < 0.01). Five min after either IV or IA NAC MTD dose administration, serum NAC levels reached the 2-3 mM concentration which seemed to be nephroprotective in previous preclinical studies. CONCLUSIONS: In adults with kidney impairment, NAC can be safely given both IV and IA at a dose of 450 mg/kg. Additional studies are needed to confirm oto- and nephroprotective properties in the setting of cisplatin treatment. Clinical Trial Registration URL: https://eudract.ema.europa.eu . Unique identifier: 2011-000887-92

Trend of pregnancy outcomes in type 1 diabetes compared to control women: a register-based analysis in 1996-2018

INTRODUCTION: In 1989, the St Vincent declaration aimed to approximate pregnancy outcomes of diabetes to that of healthy pregnancies. We aimed to compare frequency and trends of outcomes of pregnancies affected by type 1 diabetes and controls in 1996-2018. METHODS: We used anonymized records of a mandatory nation-wide registry of all deliveries between gestational weeks 24 and 42 in Hungary. We included all singleton births (4,091 type 1 diabetes, 1,879,183 controls) between 1996 and 2018. We compared frequency and trends of pregnancy outcomes between type 1 diabetes and control pregnancies using hierarchical Poisson regression. RESULTS: The frequency of stillbirth, perinatal mortality, large for gestational age, caesarean section, admission to neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and low Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, and Respiration (APGAR) score was 2-4 times higher in type 1 diabetes compared to controls, while the risk of congenital malformations was increased by 51% and SGA was decreased by 42% (all p<0.05). These observations remained significant after adjustment for confounders except for low APGAR scores. We found decreasing rate ratios comparing cases and controls over time for caesarean sections, low APGAR scores (p<0.05), and for NICU admissions (p=0.052) in adjusted models. The difference between cases and controls became non-significant after 2009. No linear trends were observed for the other outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Although we found that the rates of SGA, NICU care, and low APGAR score improved in pregnancies complicated by type 1 diabetes, the target of the St Vincent Declaration was only achieved for the occurrence of low APGAR scores

Mass-loading, pile-up, and mirror-mode waves at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

International audienceThe data from all Rosetta plasma consortium instruments and from the ROSINA COPS instrument are used to study the interaction of the solar wind with the outgassing cometary nucleus of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. During 6 and 7 June 2015, the interaction was first dominated by an increase in the solar wind dynamic pressure, caused by a higher solar wind ion density. This pressure compressed the draped magnetic field around the comet, and the increase in solar wind electrons enhanced the ionization of the outflow gas through collisional ionization. The new ions are picked up by the solar wind magnetic field, and create a ring/ring-beam distribution, which, in a high-β plasma, is unstable for mirror mode wave generation. Two different kinds of mirror modes are observed: one of small size generated by locally ionized water and one of large size generated by ionization and pickup farther away from the comet

Investigating Mercury's Environment with the Two-Spacecraft BepiColombo Mission

The ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission will provide simultaneous measurements from two spacecraft, offering an unprecedented opportunity to investigate magnetospheric and exospheric dynamics at Mercury as well as their interactions with the solar wind, radiation, and interplanetary dust. Many scientific instruments onboard the two spacecraft will be completely, or partially devoted to study the near-space environment of Mercury as well as the complex processes that govern it. Many issues remain unsolved even after the MESSENGER mission that ended in 2015. The specific orbits of the two spacecraft, MPO and Mio, and the comprehensive scientific payload allow a wider range of scientific questions to be addressed than those that could be achieved by the individual instruments acting alone, or by previous missions. These joint observations are of key importance because many phenomena in Mercury's environment are highly temporally and spatially variable. Examples of possible coordinated observations are described in this article, analysing the required geometrical conditions, pointing, resolutions and operation timing of different BepiColombo instruments sensors.Peer reviewe

BepiColombo Science Investigations During Cruise and Flybys at the Earth, Venus and Mercury

The dual spacecraft mission BepiColombo is the first joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to explore the planet Mercury. BepiColombo was launched from Kourou (French Guiana) on October 20th, 2018, in its packed configuration including two spacecraft, a transfer module, and a sunshield. BepiColombo cruise trajectory is a long journey into the inner heliosphere, and it includes one flyby of the Earth (in April 2020), two of Venus (in October 2020 and August 2021), and six of Mercury (starting from 2021), before orbit insertion in December 2025. A big part of the mission instruments will be fully operational during the mission cruise phase, allowing unprecedented investigation of the different environments that will encounter during the 7-years long cruise. The present paper reviews all the planetary flybys and some interesting cruise configurations. Additional scientific research that will emerge in the coming years is also discussed, including the instruments that can contribute

Morphology of nectaries in relation to nectar secretion of Inula and Centaurea species in the Hungarian habitats

Floral nectary characteristics of five species of Centaurea and Inula (Inula ensifolia, I. salicina, I. spiraeifolia, Centaurea micranthos, C. scabiosa) were examined for using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, and the sugar contents were studied in relation to nectary morphology and plant size. The differences in the nectaries, plant size and nectar sugar content of the studied species indicate that the larger plants may reflect a greater allocation to sugar content

Nectar collection and analysis with wick-sampling method

An alternative way to use small filter paper strips as wicks for tiny flowers to collect floral nectar. This method is easily handling and gives a picture from the nectar sugar production during the day and during the flowering season under natural conditions. Disadvantageous of this way it cannot be used to measure the total nectar quantity but more closely the flower visitors’ tongue in picking up nectar