Improving the robustness of the railway system in Brussels

In order to improve the robustness of a railway system in station areas, this paper introduces an iterative approach to successively solve the route choice problem in station areas to optimality and to improve this solution by applying some changes to the timetable in a tabu search environment. Using a discrete event simulation model, the performance of our algorithms is evaluated based on a case study for the Brussels' area. The railway network of the Brussels' area is introduced and its relevance is emphasized. Computational results indicate an improvement in robustness of about 10%, a decrease in knock-on delay of more than 15%, and a 25% reduction in the number of trains that are confronted with conflicts

ESR evidence for disordered magnetic phase from ultra-small carbon nanotubes embedded in zeolite nanochannels

A multi-frequency electron spin resonance (ESR) study provides evidence for the occurrence of low temperature ferromagnetic/spin-glass behavior in aligned arrays of sub-nanometer single walled carbon nanotubes confined in zeolite nano-channels, owing to sp2-type non-bonding carbon associated localized states with density of ~3 x 1019 /g. Features related to the much anticipated conduction ESR are not detected. In the paramagnetic phase, the ESR linewidth is found to be weakly dependent on microwave frequency.Comment: Accepted to be published in EuroPhysics Letter

The insulin-sensitizing effect of rosiglitazone in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients does not require improved in vivo muscle mitochondrial function.

Aims: To investigate whether improved in vivo mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle and intramyocellular lipids (IMCL) contribute to the insulin-sensitizing effect of rosiglitazone. Methods: Eight overweight type 2 diabetic patients (BMI= 29.3 +/- 1.1 kg/m(2)) were treated with rosiglitazone for 8 weeks. Before and after treatment, insulin sensitivity was determined by a hyperinsulinaemic-euglycaemic clamp. Muscular mitochondrial function (half-time of phosphocreatine recovery after exercise) and IMCL content were measured by magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Results: Insulin sensitivity improved after rosiglitazone (GIR: 19.9+/-2.8 to 24.8+/-2.1 micromol/kg/min (P<0.05)). In vivo mitochondrial function (PCr recovery half-time: 23.8+/-3.5 to 20.0+/-1.7 s (P=0.23)) and IMCL content (0.93+/-0.18% to 1.37+/-0.40%, p=0.34) did not change. Interestingly, the changes in PCr half-time correlated/tended to correlate with changes in fasting insulin (R(2)=0.50, P=0.05), and glucose (R(2)=0.43, p=0.08) levels. Changes in PCr half-time did not correlate with changes in GIR (R(2)=0.08, P=0.49). Conclusion: The rosiglitazone-enhanced insulin sensitivity does not require improved muscular mitochondrial function

Lower Intrinsic ADP-Stimulated Mitochondrial Respiration Underlies In Vivo Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Muscle of Male Type 2 Diabetic Patients

OBJECTIVE—A lower in vivo mitochondrial function has been reported in both type 2 diabetic patients and first-degree relatives of type 2 diabetic patients. The nature of this reduction is unknown. Here, we tested the hypothesis that a lower intrinsic mitochondrial respiratory capacity may underlie lower in vivo mitochondrial function observed in diabetic patients

betabeta-delayed fission of isomers in 188Bi^188Bi

status: publishe

β-delayed fission and α decay of At196

A nuclear-decay spectroscopy study of the neutron-deficient isotope At196 is reported where an isotopically pure beam was produced using the selective Resonance Ionization Laser Ion Source and On-Line Isotope Mass Separator (CERN). The fine-structure α decay of At196 allowed the low-energy excited states in the daughter nucleus Bi192 to be investigated. A β-delayed fission study of At196 was also performed. A mixture of symmetric and asymmetric fission-fragment mass distributions of the daughter isotope Po196 (populated by β decay of At196) was deduced based on the measured fission-fragment energies. A βDF probability PβDF(At196)=9(1)×10−5 was determined