Determination of serum cortisol by isotope-dilution liquid-chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry with on-line extraction

A liquid chromatographic-mass spectrometric method for the determination of cortisol in serum using atmospheric pressure electrospray ionization and tandem mass spectrometry is described. During sample preparation, 150 mul of serum were deproteinized with methanol/zinc sulfate followed by on-line solid phase extraction employing column switching. Tri-deuterated cortisol was used as the internal standard. The following transitions were monitored: cortisol, 363 > 309 m/z; d3-cortisol, 366 > 312 m/z. The total run-time was 5 minutes. The method proved linear (0-500 mug/l; r=0.999), precise (total coefficient of variation between 5.0% and 3.2% at a mean cortisol concentration of 15.1 mug/l and 269 mug/l, respectively; n=16) and specific with regard to relevant endogenous and exogenous steroids

Correlation of total cholesterol and protein in urine in patients with the nephrotic syndrome

The excretion of protein and cholesterol in 24 h urine was measured in 42 patients with the nephrotic syndrome. The finding of a positive correlation (r=0.76,p<0.01) between urinary cholesterol and urinary protein would be compatible with an enhanced glomerular filtration of plasma lipoproteins as the cause of lipiduria in the nephrotic syndrome

Ergebnisse einer Studie zur Formulierung eines arteigenen Profils von Einkorn

29 Kultureinkornsorten (Triticum monococcum L.) wurden unter Anbaubedingungen des ökologischen Landbaus auf sandigen Böden in Norddeutschland mit Weizen, Emmer und Dinkel verglichen. Einkorn zeichnete sich durch intensiv hellgrünes, festes Stroh und seine filigrane Gestalt aus. Bei der Aussaat im Frühherbst war die Anzahl der Bestockungstriebe bis zu zweimal so hoch wie bei Weizen, die Wuchshöhe der lag dagegen in den frühen Stadien niedriger und das Ährenschieben erfolgte 1 bis 12 Tage später. Die besten Einkornproben erzielten einen Ertrag von 60-70 % der Ernteerträge von Dinkel. Der Beta-Carotin-Gehalt war mit 1-2 % der Trockenmasse zwei bis drei mal so hoch wie bei Hartweizen üblich. Der Proteingehalt sowie die Gehalte an den essentiellen Aminosäuren Phenylalanin, Tyrosin, Methionin und Isoleucin lagen bei Einkorn höher als bei den anderen Proben

The persistence of small dairy farms in Austria from an economic perspective

In the international comparison the structure of milk production in Austria is small scale. The present study presents two theoretical approaches to explain the persistence of small dairy farms in Austria: the opportunity cost principle and the theory of the agricultural household. With regard to the first one it is debatable whether the flat rates really can represent the costs of own production factors in their alternative uses in small enterprises. An illustration on the basis of production cost accounts shows that small dairy farms with no possibilities for the utilization of their own production factors (especially for labour) can cover the production costs by revenues only. Secondly it is argued that agricultural production is likely to continue in small dairy farms as long as the enterprise contributes persistently to the household income of the family. Indicators from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) of voluntarily participating farms in Austria support the notion that labour is allocated efficiently between the enterprise and the household in small operations in order to achieve maximum total income. The study proposes arguments according to which it can be expected that rather small dairy farms are going to be a prominent presence in Austrian agriculture also in the future.Small dairy farms, production costs, farm household, opportunity costs, FADN, Consumer/Household Economics, Q12, R20,

Multi-Dimensional Transitional Dynamics: A Simple Numberical Procedure

We propose the relaxation algorithm as a simple and powerful method for simulating the transition process in growth models. This method has a number of important advantages: (1 It can easily deal with a wide range of dynamic systems including stiff differential equations and systems giving rise to a continuum of stationary equilibria. (2) The application of theprocedure is fairly user friendly. The only input required consists of the dynamic system. (3) The variant of the relaxation algorithm we propose exploits in a natural manner the infinite time horizon, which usually underlies optimal control problems in economics. As an illustrative application, we simulate the transition process of the Jones (1995) and the Lucas (1988) model.transitional dynamics, continuous time growth models, saddle-point problems, multi-dimensional stable manifolds

Rethinking the Concept of Long-Run Economic Growth

This paper argues that growth theory needs a more general “regularity” concept than that of exponential growth. This offers the possibility of considering a richer set of parameter combinations than in standard growth models. Allowing zero population growth in the Jones (1995) model serves as our illustration of the usefulness of a general concept of “regular growth”.exponential growth, arithmetic growth, regular growth, semi-endogenous growth, knife-edge restrictions