Reprocessing of bacterial biomass for recycling as a medium component in fermentation processes

Friehs K, Schierl F, Flaschel E. Reprocessing of bacterial biomass for recycling as a medium component in fermentation processes. CHEMIE INGENIEUR TECHNIK. 1998;70(4):435-437

Herstellung von Mediumskomponenten aus mikrobieller Biomasse

Schierl F, Friehs K, Risse JM, Flaschel E. Herstellung von Mediumskomponenten aus mikrobieller Biomasse. Freiberger Forschungshefte. 2002;A 866:112-124

Levels of Cr, Co, Ni and Mo in erythrocytes, serum and urine after hip resurfacing arthroplasty.

Background : Hip resurfacing arthroplasty is known to increase the metal ion concentration in the serum, urine and whole blood, with potentially adverse effects on the organism. However, only few data are available about the metal ion concentrations in erythrocytes, although they are directly exposed to the higher concentrations of the serum. Methods : The ion levels of chromium, cobalt, nickel and molybdenum in erythrocytes of 25 patients with a hip resurfacing implant were analysed with high resolution ICP-sf-MS (inductively-coupled-plasma-sector-field-mass-spectrometry). The results were compared to the ion levels in the serum and urine of the patients, and also to the ion levels of 27 control persons without an implant. Results : Compared to the control group, ion levels in the erythrocytes of the hip resurfacing group were markedly increased for cobalt (0.10 vs. 3.26 mu g/kg) and slightly for chromium (6.04 vs. 7.38 mu g/kg). In contrast, ion levels in the serum of the hip resurfacing group were increased for cobalt (0.21 vs. 1.92 mu g/l), chromium (1.48 vs. 5.64 mu g/l), nickel (1.53 vs. 4.25 mu g/l) and molybdenum (2.17 vs. 3.78 mu g/l). Conclusion : Ion concentrations of cobalt and chromium are also increased in erythrocytes after hip resurfacing arthroplasty. Further research is required to evaluate the impact of the elevated ion levels on the erythrocytes, and to evaluate if metal ions also accumulate in other tissues of the body

Endotoxin concentration in modern animal houses in Southern Bavaria

Agricultural work, particularly livestock farming, is considered to be a notable risk factor for occupational diseases. Endotoxin as a major component of organic dust causes adverse health effects of the airways among farmers. Endotoxin concentrations in airborne and settled dust were measured in modern, naturally ventilated animal houses for different species. Median values of airborne inhalable endotoxin ranged from 16.9 EU/m3 for dairy cattle, 557.9 EU/m3 for beef cattle, 668.7 EU/m3 for pigs, 463.2 EU/m3 for laying hens, to 1,902 EU/m3 for turkeys. The endotoxin levels in settled dust followed the same pattern as the airborne samples. The concentrations were lower than in previous studies, but the proposed Dutch endotoxin threshold (50 EU/m3) was exceeded in most cases. Thus, endotoxin levels in modern animal houses still give concern for health and further reduction of endotoxin exposure in animal houses is desirable

Graceful Degradation in 3GPP MBMS Mobile TV Services Using H.264/AVC Temporal Scalability

These days, there is an increasing interest in Mobile TV broadcast services shown by customers as well as service providers. One general problem of Mobile TV broadcast services is to maximize the coverage of users receiving an acceptable service quality, which is mainly influenced by the user's position and mobility within the cell. In this paper, graceful degradation is considered as an approach for improved service availability and coverage. We present a layered transmission approach for 3GPP's Release 6 Multimedia and Broadcast Service (MBMS) based on temporal scalability using H.264/AVC Baseline Profile. A differentiation in robustness between temporal quality layers is achieved by unequal error protection approach based on either application layer Forward Error Correction (FEC) or unequal transmit power for the layers or even a combination of both. We discuss the corresponding MBMS service as well as network settings and define measures allowing for evaluating the amount of users reached with a certain mobile terminal play-out quality while considering the network cell capacity usage. Using simulated 3GPP Rel. 6 network conditions, we show that if the service and network settings are chosen carefully, a noticeable extension of the coverage of the MBMS service can be achieved