Octahedral conversion of a-SiO2-host matrix by pulsed ion implantation

This is the abstract. The results of measurements of X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) of a-SiO2-host material after pulsed implantation with [Mn+] and [Co+, Mn+]-ions as well as DFT-calculations are presented. The low-energy shift is found in XPS Si 2p and O 1s core-levels of single [Mn+] and dual [Co+, Mn+] pulsed ion-implanted a-SiO2 (E = 30 keV, D = 2*10^17 cm^-2) with respect to those of untreated a-SiO2.The similar changes are found in XPS Si 2p and O 1s of stishovite compared to those of quartz. This means that the pulsed ion-implantation induces the local high pressure effect which leads to an appearance of SiO6-structural units in alpha-SiO2 host, forming "stishovite-like" local atomic structure. This process can be described within electronic bonding transition from the four-fold "quartz-like" to six-fold "stishovite-like" high-pressure phase in SiO2 host-matrix. It is found that such octahedral conversion depends on the fluence and starts with doses higher than D = 3*10^16 cm^-2.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, accepted in phys. stat. solidi (b

Estimated Ultraviolet Radiation Doses in Wetlands in Six National Parks

Ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B, 280–320-nm wavelengths) doses were estimated for 1024 wetlands in six national parks: Acadia (Acadia), Glacier (Glacier), Great Smoky Mountains (Smoky), Olympic (Olympic), Rocky Mountain (Rocky), and Sequoia/ Kings Canyon (Sequoia). Estimates were made using ground-based UV-B data (Brewer spectrophotometers), solar radiation models, GIS tools, field characterization of vegetative features, and quantification of DOC concentration and spectral absorbance. UV-B dose estimates were made for the summer solstice, at a depth of 1 cm in each wetland. The mean dose across all wetlands and parks was 19.3 W-h m-2 (range of 3.4–32.1 W-h m-2). The mean dose was lowest in Acadia (13.7 W-h m-2) and highest in Rocky (24.4 W-h m-2). Doses were significantly different among all parks. These wetland doses correspond to UV-B flux of 125.0 µW cm-2 (range 21.4–194.7 µW cm)2) based on a day length, averaged among all parks, of 15.5 h. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC), a key determinant of water-column UV-B flux, ranged from 0.6 (analytical detection limit) to 36.7 mg C L-1 over all wetlands and parks, and reduced potential maximal UV-B doses at 1-cm depth by 1%–87 %. DOC concentration, as well as its effect on dose, was lowest in Sequoia and highest in Acadia (DOC was equivalent in Acadia, Glacier, and Rocky). Landscape reduction of potential maximal UV-B doses ranged from zero to 77% and was lowest in Sequoia. These regional differences in UV-B wetland dose illustrate the importance of considering all aspects of exposure in evaluating the potential impact of UV-B on aquatic organisms

EFSA NDA Panel (EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies), 2013 . Scientific opinion on Dietary Reference Values for fluoride

Following a request from the European Commission, the Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) derived Dietary Reference Values (DRVs) for fluoride, which are provided as Adequate Intake (AI) from all sources, including non-dietary sources. Fluoride is not an essential nutrient. Therefore, no Average Requirement for the performance of essential physiological functions can be defined. Nevertheless, the Panel considered that the setting of an AI is appropriate because of the beneficial effects of dietary fluoride on prevention of dental caries. The AI is based on epidemiological studies (performed before the 1970s) showing an inverse relationship between the fluoride concentration of water and caries prevalence. As the basis for defining the AI, estimates of mean fluoride intakes of children via diet and drinking water with fluoride concentrations at which the caries preventive effect approached its maximum whilst the risk of dental fluorosis approached its minimum were chosen. Except for one confirmatory longitudinal study in US children, more recent studies were not taken into account as they did not provide information on total dietary fluoride intake, were potentially confounded by the use of fluoride-containing dental hygiene products, and did not permit a conclusion to be drawn on a dose-response relationship between fluoride intake and caries risk. The AI of fluoride from all sources (including non-dietary sources) is 0.05 mg/kg body weight per day for both children and adults, including pregnant and lactating women. For pregnant and lactating women, the AI is based on the body weight before pregnancy and lactation. Reliable and representative data on the total fluoride intake of the European population are not available

“Savages Who Speak French”: Folklore, Primitivism and Morals in Robert Hertz

Hertz's analysis of the Alpine cult of Saint Besse apparently marks a break from his studies of death, sin and the left to folkloric studies. This analysis helps one to understand the personality of Robert Hertz. His sociological curiosity about folklore reveals his ambiguous position in social sciences at the beginning of the twentieth century. His text appears to be a variation from the Durkheimian norm, but another reading could suggest that Hertz continued and went beyond Durkheimian thought to something between sociology of the modern world and engaged socialism. Through this study, Hertz linked his political ideals, his work in ethnology and his desire for social involvement. The cult of Saint Besse perpetuated as much religious tradition as local identity. The Alpine people were presented in the text as wilful perpetuators of an ideal social order, whose loss for his contemporary city dwellers Hertz feared. The alpine Other, marked by a material and moral backwardness, represented for activist and socialist Hertz one of the paths of balanced social organization that stabilized the identity of a group across time if it fit rather well into the folkloric stereotypes of the beginning of the twentieth century. Finally, by linking events in Herz's life (e.g., the accidental Alpine death of his father), this article suggests that the legend of Saint Besse embodied several recurring motifs in Hertz' career: the accidental deaths of saint and father by falls, the military role of the saint and of Hertz himself

Alterations in vasomotor control of coronary resistance vessels in remodelled myocardium of swine with a recent myocardial infarction

The mechanism underlying the progressive deterioration of left ventricular (LV) dysfunction after myocardial infarction (MI) towards overt heart failure remains incompletely understood, but may involve impairments in coronary blood flow regulation within remodelled myocardium leading to intermittent myocardial ischemia. Blood flow to the remodelled myocardium is hampered as the coronary vasculature does not grow commensurate with the increase in LV mass and because extravascular compression of the coronary vasculature is increased. In addition to these factors, an increase in coronary vasomotor tone, secondary to neurohumoral activation and endothelial dysfunction, could also contribute to the impaired myocardial oxygen supply. Consequently, we explored, in a series of studies, the alterations in regulation of coronary resistance vessel tone in remodelled myocardium of swine with a 2 to 3-week-old MI. These studies indicate that myocardial oxygen balance is perturbed in remodelled myocardium, thereby forcing the myocardium to increase its oxygen extraction. These perturbations do not appear to be the result of blunted β-adrenergic or endothelial NO-mediated coronary vasodilator influences, and are opposed by an increased vasodilator influence through opening of KATP channels. Unexpectedly, we observed that despite increased circulating levels of noradrenaline, angiotensin II and endothelin-1, α-adrenergic tone remained negligible, while the coronary vasoconstrictor influences of endogenous endothelin and angiotensin II were virtually abolished. We conclude that, early after MI, perturbations in myocardial oxygen balance are observed in remodelled myocardium. However, adaptive alterations in coronary resistance vessel control, consisting of increased vasodilator influences in conjunction with blunted vasoconstrictor influences, act to minimize the impairments of myocardial oxygen balance

Instance reduction for one-class classification

Instance reduction techniques are data preprocessing methods originally developed to enhance the nearest neighbor rule for standard classification. They reduce the training data by selecting or generating representative examples of a given problem. These algorithms have been designed and widely analyzed in multi-class problems providing very competitive results. However, this issue was rarely addressed in the context of one-class classification. In this specific domain a reduction of the training set may not only decrease the classification time and classifier’s complexity, but also allows us to handle internal noisy data and simplify the data description boundary. We propose two methods for achieving this goal. The first one is a flexible framework that adjusts any instance reduction method to one-class scenario by introduction of meaningful artificial outliers. The second one is a novel modification of evolutionary instance reduction technique that is based on differential evolution and uses consistency measure for model evaluation in filter or wrapper modes. It is a powerful native one-class solution that does not require an access to counterexamples. Both of the proposed algorithms can be applied to any type of one-class classifier. On the basis of extensive computational experiments, we show that the proposed methods are highly efficient techniques to reduce the complexity and improve the classification performance in one-class scenarios

Beta 2-microglobulin and neopterin in patients with giardiasis

The aim of the study was to evaluate serum beta 2-microglobulin (beta-2m) and neopterin (NPT) in in patients with giardiasis. Twenty-two patients with giardiasis were examined and compared with twelve healthy subjects as a control group. Serum beta-2m and NPT concentration were determined twice: at the moment of diagnosis of giardiasis and six months after antiparasitic treatment with metronidazole. It was shown that serum beta-2m concentration in patients with giardiasis was remarkably elevated. It decreased significantly, but six months after treatment it was still higher as compared to the control group. However, serum NPT before antiparasitic treatment was slightly lower than in the control group, but after elimination of Giardia an increase of NPT concentration above control values was observed. It is concluded that Giardia infection leads to long-lasting disturbances in the immunological status of the host and may influence macrophage function and downregulate their parasiticidal effects.Celem pracy była ocena stężenia beta 2-mikroglobuliny (beta 2-m) i neopteryny (NPT) u pacjentów z giardiozą przed i po leczeniu przeciwpasożytniczym metronidazolem. Wykazano, że stężenie beta 2-m u chorych było podwyższone, a 6 miesięcy po leczeniu obniżało się, lecz nadal było wyższe niż w grupie kontrolnej. Natomiast stężenie NPT przed leczeniem przeciwpasożytniczym było niższe niż w grupie kontrolnej, a po eliminacji zarażenia obserwowano wzrost stężenia NPT powyżej wartości kontrolnych. Przeprowadzone badania wykazały, zarażenie Giardia intestinalis prowadzi do długotrwałych zaburzeń immunologicznych w organizmie gospodarza i może również mieć wpływ na przeciwpasożytnicze funkcje makrofagów

BETA 2-MIKROGLOBULINA I NEOPTERYNA U PACJENTÓW Z GIARDIOZĄ

The aim of the study was to evaluate serum beta 2-microglobulin (beta-2m) and neopterin (NPT) in in patients with giardiasis. Twenty-two patients with giardiasis were examined and compared with twelve healthy subjects as a control group. Serum beta-2m and NPT concentration were determined twice: at the moment of diagnosis of giardiasis and six months after antiparasitic treatment with metronidazole. It was shown that serum beta-2m concentration in patients with giardiasis was remarkably elevated. It decreased significantly, but six months after treatment it was still higher as compared to the control group. However, serum NPT before antiparasitic treatment was slightly lower than in the control group, but after elimination of Giardia an increase of NPT concentration above control values was observed. It is concluded that Giardia infection leads to long-lasting disturbances in the immunological status of the host and may influence macrophage function and downregulate their parasiticidal effects