A model of gas buildup and release in crater lakes

The sudden release of carbon dioxide gas, which may accumulate gradually within the stratified water bodies of a crater lake, caused two fatal disasters in Cameroon during the past decade. We model the various processes that may have led to the release by considering (1) gas injection, (2) an internal triggering mechanism, (3) propagation of a disturbance after triggering, and (4) the forces that end the outburst. We suggest that the 1986 Lake Nyos outburst was triggered at the lake bottom. The final explosive stage of the release ended quickly when a sufficiently large volume of gas bubbles prevented circulation of water eddies within the lake. A cellular automaton model is used to estimate the amount of carbon dioxide gas released and the characteristic time interval between successive outbursts. If both the gas accumulation rate and the diffusion rate of carbon dioxide through water are constant, then rapid gas release, will occur at fairly regular intervals. In which case, the amount of gas released from Lake Nyos is 0.17±0.05 km3 at standard temperature and pressure each 37±10 years. It is possible, however, that an external event could trigger a sudden release or that the diffusion rate of carbon dioxide may change as more gas accumulates, which could shorten the release time.published_or_final_versio

Sudden cardiac death: Prevention and treatment

Sudden cardiac death remains a major health issue in western countries as well as in Hong Kong. Despite increasing knowledge of the mechanisms and risk factors of sudden cardiac death, methods for identifying high-risk candidates and predicting the efficacy of measures to prevent sudden cardiac death are still inadequate. A significant proportion of patients have known heart disease but are generally considered to be at low risk for this event. More efforts are needed to improve the success rate of out-of-hospital resuscitation through better warning systems, the use of amiodarone for refractory arrhythmias, and the widespread availability of automated defibrillation devices to allow early defibrillation. It is likely that these measures could increase the number of survivors following cardiac arrest. In survivors of sudden cardiac death episodes, treatment of the underlying cardiac disease, especially early revascularisation for myocardial ischaemia, is required. In the majority of patients, implantation of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, with or without the use of an anti-arrhythmic drug such as amiodarone, would then be used to maintain survival. Furthermore, for individuals at significant risk of sudden cardiac death, primary prevention of sudden cardiac death through the placement of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator is increasingly being used.published_or_final_versio

Clinical and Pathological Findings in Women with Fabry Disease

Introduction. Fabry disease is a rare metabolic disorder caused by the genetic deficiency of the lysosomal hydrolase alpha-galactosidase A, located on chromosome X. Females with the defective gene are more than carriers and can develop a wide range of symptoms. Nevertheless, disease symptoms generally occur later and are less severe in women than in men. The enzyme deficiency manifests as a glycosphingolipidosis with progressive accumulation of glycosphingolipids and deposit of inclusion bodies in lysosomes giving a myelinlike appearance. Patients and Methods. Records of renal biopsies performed on adults from 1st January 2008 to 31st August 2011, were retrospectively examined at the Renal Pathology Laboratory. We retrieved biopsies diagnosed with Fabry disease and reviewed clinical and laboratory data and pathology findings. Results. Four female patients with a mean age of 49.3±4.5 (44-55) years were identified. The mean proteinuria was 0.75±0.3 g/24h (0.4-1.2) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (CKD EPI equation) was 71±15.7 ml/min/1.73m2 (48-83). Three patients experienced extra-renal organ involvement (cerebrovascular, cardiac, dermatologic, ophthalmologic and thyroid) with distinct severity degrees. Leukocyte α-GAL A activity was below normal range in the four cases but plasma and urinary enzymatic activity was normal. Light microscopy showed predominant vacuolisation of the podocyte cytoplasm and darkly staining granular inclusions on paraffin and plastic-embedded semi-thin sections. Electron microscopy showed in three patients the characteristic myelin-like inclusions in the podocyte cytoplasm and also focal podocyte foot process effacement. In one case the inclusions were also present in parietal glomerular cells, endothelial cells of peritubular capillary and arterioles. Conclusion. Clinical signs and symptoms are varied and can be severe among heterozygous females with Fabry disease. Intracellular accumulation of glycosphingolipids is a characteristic histologic finding of Fabry nephropathy. Since this disease is a potentially treatable condition, its early identification is imperative. We should consider it in the differential diagnosis of any patient presenting with proteinuria and/or chronic kidney disease, especially if there is a family history of kidney disease

Estudo de caso: Gestão do risco operacional ligado às reclamações dos clientes na indústria hoteleira

Cada vez é mais difícil fidelizar os clientes, o desafio para os hotéis continua a ser a diminuição do número de reclamações e a melhoria da satisfação dos hóspedes. A indústria hoteleira já implementou processos para ter uma regularidade na qualidade do serviço. Contudo, no dia a dia os clientes continuam a reclamar quando existe uma falha no serviço. É aqui que entra o conceito do risco operacional, um conceito mais conhecido no setor da banca e pouco estudado na literatura para a indústria do Turismo e da Hotelaria. O relatório de estágio inclui um estudo de caso, criado de maneira a simular as estadias de um casal que vem com regularidade ao Hotel cinco estrelas Penha Longa Ritz-Carlton. Cada reclamação foi resolvida da melhor maneira para satisfazer novamente os hóspedes e o custo associado foi simulado com o objetivo de medir o impacto do risco operacional na rendibilidade. Em conclusão, o risco operacional tem de ser medido com cuidado, mesmo que não seja suposto gerir perdas financeiras significativas, o seu custo tem um impacto na rendibilidade. Existem várias formas de gerir o risco operacional, antecipando processos bem definidos no papel até à gestão das reclamações.As it becomes more complicated to build up customer loyalty, the challenge for hotels continues to be the reduction of customer complaints and the improvement of customer satisfaction. The Hotel industry already implemented processes to assure a regularity in the service quality. However, customers are still complaining on a daily basis when they are victim of a service failure. The operational risk is a concept known in the bank sector and few studies exist for tourism and Hotel industry. The internship report includes a case study, created in a way to simulate various stays of a couple that comes regularly in the five stars Hotel Penha Longa Ritz-Carlton. Each complaint was solved in the best way to satisfy the client and the cost was simulated in order to measure the impact of operational risk on profitability. To conclude, operational risk has to be considered carefully, even if it is not supposed to generate important loss, the cost has impact on profitability. It exists various ways to manage the operational risk, from the anticipation with well-defined processes until the complaints management

Elevated adipogenesis of marrow mesenchymal stem cells during early steroid-associated osteonecrosis development

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Increased bone marrow lipid deposition in steroid-associated osteonecrosis (ON) implies that abnormalities in fat metabolism play an important role in ON development. The increase in lipid deposition might be explained by elevated adipogenesis of marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). However, it remains unclear whether there is a close association between elevated adipogenesis and steroid-associated ON development.</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that there might be a close association between elevated adipogenesis and steroid-associated ON development.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>ON rabbit model was induced based on our established protocol. Dynamic-MRI was employed for local intra-osseous perfusion evaluation in bilateral femora. Two weeks after induction, bone marrow was harvested for evaluating the ability of adipogenic differentiation of marrow MSCs at both cellular and mRNA level involving adipogenesis-related gene peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma2 (PPARγ2). The bilateral femora were dissected for examining marrow lipid deposition by quantifying fat cell number, fat cell size, lipid deposition area and ON lesions. For investigating association among adipogenesis, lipid deposition and perfusion function with regard to ON occurrence, the rabbits were divided into ON⁺(with at least one ON lesion) group and ON^-(without ON lesion) group. For investigating association among adipogenesis, lipid deposition and perfusion function with regard to ON extension, the ON⁺rabbits were further divided into sub-single-lesion group (SON group: with one ON lesion) and sub-multiple-lesion group (MON group: with more than one ON lesion).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Local intra-osseous perfusion index was found lower in either ON⁺or MON group when compared to either ON^-or SON group, whereas the marrow fat cells number and area were much larger in either ON⁺or MON group as compared with ON^-and SON group. The adipogenic differentiation ability of MSCs and PPARγ2 expression in either ON⁺or MON group were elevated significantly as compared with either ON^-or SON group.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These findings support our hypothesis that there is a close association between elevated adipogenesis and steroid-associated osteonecrosis development.</p

An Exome-Chip Association Analysis in Chinese Subjects Reveals a Functional Missense Variant of GCKR That Regulates FGF21 Levels

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is increasingly recognized as an important metabolic regulator of glucose homeostasis. Here, we conducted an exome-chip association analysis by genotyping 5,169 Chinese individuals from a community-based cohort and two clinic-based cohorts. A custom Asian exome-chip was used to detect genetic determinants influencing circulating FGF21 levels. Single-variant association analysis interrogating 70,444 single nucleotide polymorphisms identified a novel locus, GCKR, significantly associated with circulating FGF21 levels at genome-wide significance. In the combined analysis, the common missense variant of GCKR, rs1260326 (p.Pro446Leu), showed an association with FGF21 levels after adjustment for age and sex (P = 1.61 × 10−12; β [SE] = 0.14 [0.02]), which remained significant on further adjustment for BMI (P = 3.01 × 10−14; β [SE] = 0.15 [0.02]). GCKR Leu446 may influence FGF21 expression via its ability to increase glucokinase (GCK) activity. This can lead to enhanced FGF21 expression via elevated fatty acid synthesis, consequent to the inhibition of carnitine/palmitoyl-transferase by malonyl-CoA, and via increased glucose-6-phosphate–mediated activation of the carbohydrate response element binding protein, known to regulate FGF21 gene expression. Our findings shed new light on the genetic regulation of FGF21 levels. Further investigations to dissect the relationship between GCKR and FGF21, with respect to the risk of metabolic diseases, are warranted.postprin

Multiple-mode excitation in spin-transfer nanocontacts with dynamic polarizer

Author name used in this publication: A. RuotoloAuthor name used in this publication: Kwok, D. T. K.2010-2011 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe