COMBINING TASTE PANELS WITH FOCUS GROUPS TO ELICIT CONSUMER PREFERENCES TOWARD A NEW SHRIMP PRODUCT

Consumer/Household Economics,

Superstatistical analysis of sea surface currents in the Gulf of Trieste, measured by HF Radar, and its relation to wind regimes, using the maximum entropy principle

Two years (2021&ndash;2022) of High Frequency Radar (HFR) sea surface current data in the Gulf of Trieste (Northern Adriatic Sea) are analysed. Two different time scales are extracted using superstatistical formalism: a relaxation time and a larger timescale over which the system is gaussian. A new analytical universality class of Probability Density Functions (PDFs) is proposed for ocean current data combining a gaussian PDF for the fast fluctuations and a convolution of exponential PDFs for the slowly evolving variance of the gaussian. The Gaussian PDF has maximum entropy for real-valued variables with a given variance. If a positive variable, as is a variance, has a specified mean, the maximum entropy solution is an exponential PDF. Here it is the sum of two exponentials, reflecting the two spatial degrees of freedom. In the Gulf of Trieste there are three distinct main wind forcing regimes: Bora, Sirocco and low wind, leading to a succession of different sea current dynamics on different time scales. The universality class PDF successfully fits the observed data over the two observation years and also for each wind regime separately with a different variance of the variance PDF, which is the only free parameter in all the fits.</p

КРИТИЧНИ БЕЛЕЖКИ ОТНОСНО ДЕФИНИЦИИТЕ В ОБЛАСТТА НА ИКОНОМИКАТА ОТ АВСТРИЙСКА ГЛЕДНА ТОЧКА: МИКРОИКОНОМИКА

In the physical sciences, it goes without saying that all practitioners use words in the same manner. A mere verbal dispute would be anathema in this arena of intellectual discourse. There is no dispute, , as to the means of words such as “gravity,” “mass,” “genus,” “species,” “oxygen,” “x-ray,” etc. Matters are not as salutary in the social sciences. The present paper is an attempt to place economics, the queen of the social sciences, on a par with physics, chemistry, biology, etc., or at least to make an attempt in this direction. Systematic knowledge, the sine qua non of science, requires good communication. But this, in turn, can only be achieved, if its necessary condition is attained: precise definitions. In the present paper, we discuss in this regard the microeconomic concepts of entrepreneurship, monopoly, derps, indifference, development and rent seeking. Няма нужда да се споменава, че в областта на физическите науки всички практикуващи използват думите по същия начин. Чисто словесният диспут би бил анатема на тази арена на интелектуален дискурс. Няма спор, що се отнася до значението на думи като "гравитация", "маса", "род", "вид", "кислород", "рентгенови лъчи" и т.н. Материалните въпроси не са толкова благотворни в областта на социалните науки. В настоящата статия се прави опит да се постави икономиката, кралицата на социалните науки, на равна нога с физиката, химията, биологията и т.н., или поне се правят стъпки в тази насока. Системните знания, задължителното условие на науката, изисква добра комуникация. Но това, от своя страна, може да се постигне само ако се изпълни необходимото условие: точни определения. В тази връзка, в настоящата статия ние обсъждаме микроикономическите концепции за предприемачество, монопол, безразличие, разработване и наемотърсен

Post-mortem computed tomography is a useful tool for determining the pulmonary ventilation status in newborns

&lt;jats:title&gt;Abstract&lt;/jats:title&gt;&lt;jats:sec&gt; &lt;jats:title&gt;Introduction&lt;/jats:title&gt; &lt;jats:p&gt;Lung ventilation is a standard sign of life in newborns. Post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) is highly sensitive to the presence of gas in the body including the lungs. Current standard examinations to determine the pulmonary ventilation status in newborns are the flotation test and histology. The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy of PMCT with the flotation test for determining the lung ventilation status with histological control as reference standard. A cut-off value as CT number in Hounsfield Units (HU) determining lung ventilation of newborns in PMCT should be established.&lt;/jats:p&gt; &lt;/jats:sec&gt;&lt;jats:sec&gt; &lt;jats:title&gt;Methods&lt;/jats:title&gt; &lt;jats:p&gt;A total of 38 infant lungs were examined of which 21 lungs were from infants deceased shortly after live birth (control group) and 17 lungs belonged to infants where live birth was in question (study group). All lungs were examined using PMCT, flotation test, and histological examination.&lt;/jats:p&gt; &lt;/jats:sec&gt;&lt;jats:sec&gt; &lt;jats:title&gt;Results&lt;/jats:title&gt; &lt;jats:p&gt;The control group showed an overall mean attenuation ± standard deviation of −219 HU ± 135; the study group of 45 ± 15 HU in histologically nonventilated lungs versus −192 ± 207 HU; (&lt;jats:italic&gt;p&lt;/jats:italic&gt; &amp;lt; 0.001) in ventilated lungs. The best cut-off value for optimal discrimination of ventilated and nonventilated lungs in newborns was −35 mean HU.&lt;/jats:p&gt; &lt;/jats:sec&gt;&lt;jats:sec&gt; &lt;jats:title&gt;Conclusion&lt;/jats:title&gt; &lt;jats:p&gt;PMCT is equally well suited to determine lung ventilation as the flotation test. It provides additional information regarding pulmonary infiltration, degree of putrefaction, or signs of trauma (fractures, pneumothorax). Histology remains mandatory in ambiguous cases.&lt;/jats:p&gt; &lt;/jats:sec&gt

Risk Factors for Surgical Site Infections in Elective Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Surgery: The Role of Diabetes Mellitus

Surgical site infection (SSI) after elective orthopedic foot and ankle surgery is uncommon and may be higher in selected patient groups. Our main aim was to investigate the risk factors for SSI in elective orthopedic foot surgery and the microbiological results of SSI in diabetic and non-diabetic patients, in a tertiary foot center between 2014 and 2022. Overall, 6138 elective surgeries were performed with an SSI risk of 1.88%. The main independent associations with SSI in a multivariate logistic regression analysis were an ASA score of 3-4 points, odds ratio (OR) 1.87 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.20-2.90), internal, OR 2.33 (95% CI 1.56-3.49), and external material, OR 3.08 (95% CI 1.56-6.07), and more than two previous surgeries, OR 2.86 (95% CI 1.93-4.22). Diabetes mellitus showed an increased risk in the univariate analysis, OR 3.94 (95% CI 2.59-5.99), and in the group comparisons (three-fold risk). In the subgroup of diabetic foot patients, a pre-existing diabetic foot ulcer increased the risk for SSI, OR 2.99 (95% CI 1.21-7.41), compared to non-ulcered diabetic patients. In general, gram-positive cocci were the predominant pathogens in SSI. In contrast, polymicrobial infections with gram-negative bacilli were more common in contaminated foot surgeries. In the latter group, the perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis by second-generation cephalosporins did not cover 31% of future SSI pathogens. Additionally, selected groups of patients revealed differences in the microbiology of the SSI. Prospective studies are required to determine the importance of these findings for optimal perioperative antibiotic prophylactic measures

Authentication of Primary Murine Cell Lines by a Microfluidics-Based Lab-On-Chip System

The reliable authentication of cell lines is a prerequisite for the reproducibility and replicability of experiments. A common method of cell line authentication is the fragment length analysis (FLA) of short-tandem repeats (STR) by capillary electrophoresis. However, this technique is not always accessible and is often costly. Using a microfluidic electrophoresis system, we analyzed the quality and integrity of different murine cell lines by STR profiling. As a proof of concept, we isolated and immortalized hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC) of various genotypes through retroviral transduction of the fusion of the estrogen receptor hormone-binding domain with the coding sequence of HoxB8. Cell lines were maintained in the HPC state with Flt3 ligand (FL) and estrogen treatment and could be characterized upon differentiation. In a validation cohort, we applied this technique on primary mutant Kras-driven pancreatic cancer cell lines, which again allowed for clear discrimination. In summary, our study provides evidence that FLA of STR-amplicons by microfluidic electrophoresis allows for stringent quality control and the tracking of cross-contaminations in both genetically stable HPC lines and cancer cell lines, making it a simple and cost-efficient alternative to traditional capillary electrophoresis

Helix 8 is the essential structural motif of mechanosensitive GPCRs

G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are versatile cellular sensors for chemical stimuli, but also serve as mechanosensors involved in various (patho)physiological settings like vascular regulation, cardiac hypertrophy and preeclampsia. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying mechanically induced GPCR activation have remained elusive. Here we show that mechanosensitive histamine H-1 receptors (H(1)Rs) are endothelial sensors of fluid shear stress and contribute to flow-induced vasodilation. At the molecular level, we observe that H(1)Rs undergo stimulus-specific patterns of conformational changes suggesting that mechanical forces and agonists induce distinct active receptor conformations. GPCRs lacking C-terminal helix 8 (H8) are not mechanosensitive, and transfer of H8 to non-responsive GPCRs confers, while removal of H8 precludes, mechanosensitivity. Moreover, disrupting H8 structural integrity by amino acid exchanges impairs mechanosensitivity. Altogether, H8 is the essential structural motif endowing GPCRs with mechanosensitivity. These findings provide a mechanistic basis for a better understanding of the roles of mechanosensitive GPCRs in (patho)physiology