577 research outputs found

    Bargaining Around the TRIPS Agreement: The Case for Ongoing Public-Private Initiatives to Facilitate Worldwide Intellectual Property Transactions. A Comment on the Paper Presented by David Lange and J.H. Reichman

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    Light trapping is an ideal method for surveying nocturnal moths, but in the absence of standardised survey methods effects of confounding factors may impede interpretation of the acquired data. We explored the influence of weather, time of year, and light source on nightly catches of macro moths in light traps, and compared four strategies for sampling by estimating observed species richness using rarefaction. We operated two traps with different light sources for 225 consecutive nights from mid-March to the end of October in eastern Germany in 2011. In total, 49 472 individuals of 372 species were recorded. Species richness and abundance per night were mainly influenced by night temperature, humidity and lamp type. With a limited sample size (less than10 nights) it was slightly better to concentrate sampling on the warmest summer nights, but with more sampling nights it was slightly better to sample during the warmest nights in each month (March to October). By exploiting the higher moth activity during warm nights and an understanding of the species phenology, it is possible to increase the number of species caught and reduce effects of confounding abiotic factors

    Experimental and model-based analysis of electrolyte intrusion depth in silver-based gas diffusion electrodes

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    The electrolyte distribution is a central point of discussion for understanding the processes inside gas-diffusion electrodes (GDE) for the oxygen reduction reaction in highly alkaline media. During first radiographic operando synchrotron experiments, the liquid electrolyte was located, however, the through-plane distribution remains unclear. Therefore, model electrodes consisting of nickel and silver layers are developed to determine the electrolyte intrusion depth. Nickel-based GDEs are modified to achieve a pore system morphology suitable for the oxygen reduction reaction and subsequently coated with silver-PTFE catalyst layers. These graded electrodes form gas-diffusion (nickel) and reaction (silver) layers. The electrodes performance is determined under industrial conditions (80 °C, 30 wt % NaOH electrolyte) as a function of the silver layer thickness and thus of the effective intrusion depth of the electrolyte. The model-based analysis confirms the experimental determined intrusion depths. Nevertheless, additional operando tomography measurements would help to further improve the understanding of the processes inside GDE

    Broadband radio polarimetry and Faraday rotation of 563 extragalactic radio sources

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    We present a broadband spectropolarimetric survey of 563 discrete, mostly unresolved radio sources between 1.3 and 2.0 GHz using data taken with the Australia Telescope Compact Array. We have used rotation-measure synthesis to identify Faraday-complex polarized sources, those objects whose frequency-dependent polarization behavior indicates the presence of material possessing complicated magnetoionic structure along the line of sight (LOS). For sources classified as Faraday-complex, we have analyzed a number of their radio and multiwavelength properties to determine whether they differ from Faraday-simple polarized sources (sources for which LOS magnetoionic structures are comparatively simple) in these properties. We use this information to constrain the physical nature of the magnetoionic structures responsible for generating the observed complexity. We detect Faraday complexity in 12% of polarized sources at ~1' resolution, but we demonstrate that underlying signal-to-noise limitations mean the true percentage is likely to be significantly higher in the polarized radio source population. We find that the properties of Faraday-complex objects are diverse, but that complexity is most often associated with depolarization of extended radio sources possessing a relatively steep total intensity spectrum. We find an association between Faraday complexity and LOS structure in the Galactic interstellar medium (ISM) and claim that a significant proportion of the Faraday complexity we observe may be generated at interfaces of the ISM associated with ionization fronts near neutral hydrogen structures. Galaxy cluster environments and internally generated Faraday complexity provide possible alternative explanations in some cases

    One-Lung Ventilation during Rigid Bronchoscopy Using a Single-Lumen Endotracheal Tube: A Descriptive, Retrospective Single-Center Study

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    Using one-lung ventilation (OLV) through a single-lumen endotracheal tube (SLT) in the untreated lung during rigid bronchoscopy (RB) and jet ventilation, high oxygenation can be guaranteed, whilst procedures requiring thermal energy in the other lung are still able to be used. This pilot study aimed to examine the bronchoscopy-associated risks and feasibility of OLV using an SLT during RB in patients with malignant airway stenosis. All consecutive adult patients with endobronchial malignant lesions receiving OLV during RB from 1 January 2017 to 12 May 2021 were included. We assessed perioperative complications in 25 RBs requiring OLV. Bleeding grades 1, 2, and 3 complicated the procedure in two (8%), five (20%), and five (20%) patients, respectively. The median saturation of peripheral oxygen remained at 94% (p = 0.09), whilst the median oxygen supply did not increase significantly from 0 L/min to 2 L/min (p = 0.10) within three days after the bronchoscopy. The 30-day survival rate of the patients was 79.1% (95% CI 58.4–91.1%), all of whom reported an improvement in subjective well-being after the bronchoscopy. OLV using an SLT during RB could be a new treatment approach for endobronchial ablative procedures without increasing bronchoscopy-associated risks, allowing concurrent high-energy treatments

    Arterial Stiffness in Patients with Sarcoidosis and Obstructive Sleep Apnea

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    Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and sarcoidosis have both been implied to be risk factors for increased arterial stiffness. However, it is unclear whether an elevated apnea–hypopnea index (AHI) in sarcoidosis patients increases arterial stiffness and thus the cardiovascular risk. Methods: We performed non-invasive applanation tonometry in 57 adults with sarcoidosis. The participants underwent SphygmoCor to assess arterial stiffness using an aortic augmentation index with a heart rate of 75/min (AIx) and level-3 respiratory polygraphy. An AHI of ≥5/h, ≥15/h, and ≥30/h defined mild, moderate, and severe OSA, respectively. Multivariate regression analysis was used to investigate the association between AIx and AHI, adjusted for prespecified risk factors for AIx. Results: 23 (40%) sarcoidosis patients had at least mild OSA (AHI ≥ 5), while 7 (12%) patients showed AHI ≥ 15/h. AHI was significantly associated with AIx (coef. (95%CI) of 0.31 (0.09/0.52), p = 0.006) even after adjustment for known risk factors of arterial stiffness. While severe OSA was positively associated with increased AIx, mild and moderate OSA were not associated with increased AIx after adjusting for known risk factors. Conclusions: Increased AHI is independently associated with increased arterial stiffness in sarcoidosis patients. Further investigations are needed to underline the association between OSA severity and the magnitude of arterial stiffness
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