Influence of Intra-cell Traffic on the Output Power of Base Station in GSM

In this paper we analyze the influence of intracell traffic in a GSM cell on the base station output power. It is proved that intracell traffic increases this power. If offered traffic is small, the increase of output power is equal to the part of intracell traffic. When the offered traffic and, as the result, call loss increase, the increase of output power becomes less. The results of calculation are verified by the computer simulation of traffic process in the GSM cell. The calculation and the simulation consider the uniform distribution of mobile users in the cell, but the conclusions are of a general nature

Content of Trace Metals in Medicinal Plants and their Extracts

The heavy metals (Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn) contents of selected plant species, grown in Southeast region of Serbia, that are traditionally used in alternative medicine were determined. Among the considered metals, iron content was the highest one and varied from 137.53 up to 423.32 mg/kg, while the contents of Cu, Zn and Mn were remarkably lower, and ranged from 8.91 to 62.20 mg/kg. In addition, an analysis of plants extracts showed a significant transfer of heavy metals during extraction procedure; therefore, the corresponding extraction coefficients reached values up to 88.8%. Those were especially high in the ethanol based extracts. Moreover, it is was established that such coefficients mostly depend on the solvent nature and also on the treated plant species. The obtained results impose that medicinal plants from Southeast region of Serbia due to rather low content of heavy metals are appropriate for preparation of teas and medicinal extracts

In Vitro Screening of α-Amylase Inhibition by Selected Terpenes from Essential Oils

Purpose: To assess some terpenes from herbal products for possible inhibitory effects on serum α- amylase in order to ascertain their potential usefulness in the prevention and/or treatment of diabetes Type 2.Methods: Solutions of terpenes (citral, eukalyptol, β-pinene, myrcene, eugenol and terpineol) in deonized water were prepared by ultrasonic and manual mixing in four different concentrations ranging from 0.39 – 5.50 µmol cm-3. Commercial sera (with normal-N and high-H enzyme activity) were used as a source of α-amylase. α-Amylase activity was determined by standard methods using an automated analyzer.Results: All the selected terpenes at their maximal concentrations inhibited α-amylase in N-sera in the range 9.68 – 38.70 and 10.71 - 25.00 % for ultrasonic and manual mixing, respectively, while in H-sera, inhibition was in the range 17.10 - 21.05 and 13.58 – 25.92 % for ultrasonic and manual mixing, respectively. Regardless of the concentration of the inhibitor or the method of mixing, citral was the strongest inhibitor of α-amylase.Conclusion: The selected terpenes, in their appropriate concentrations, influence α-amylase activity to varying degrees. Principal component and agglomerative hierarchical analysis reveal that the most significant factor in α-amylase inhibition is the mode of mixing the samples, rather than their concentrations.Keywords: α-Amylase, β-Pinene, Citral, Diabetes, Essential oil, Eugenol, Eukalyptol, Myrcene, Terpenes, Terpineo

Bias spectroscopy and simultaneous SET charge state detection of Si:P double dots

We report a detailed study of low-temperature (mK) transport properties of a silicon double-dot system fabricated by phosphorous ion implantation. The device under study consists of two phosphorous nanoscale islands doped to above the metal-insulator transition, separated from each other and the source and drain reservoirs by nominally undoped (intrinsic) silicon tunnel barriers. Metallic control gates, together with an Al-AlOx single-electron transistor, were positioned on the substrate surface, capacitively coupled to the buried dots. The individual double-dot charge states were probed using source-drain bias spectroscopy combined with non-invasive SET charge sensing. The system was measured in linear (VSD = 0) and non-linear (VSD 0) regimes allowing calculations of the relevant capacitances. Simultaneous detection using both SET sensing and source-drain current measurements was demonstrated, providing a valuable combination for the analysis of the system. Evolution of the triple points with applied bias was observed using both charge and current sensing. Coulomb diamonds, showing the interplay between the Coulomb charging effects of the two dots, were measured using simultaneous detection and compared with numerical simulations.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Short-term dexamethasone plus acetylsalicylic acid treatment during in vitro fertilization procedure

Objectives: Embryo implantation represents the major limiting step during in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure. Immu- nological and coagulation abnormalities were shown to have a substantial part in multifactorial etiology of IVF failure. We aimed to investigate the effect of short-term low-dose dexamethasone plus acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) treatment, starting at the time of embryo transfer, on the implantation and clinical pregnancy rates in general IVF population.  Material and methods: Out of 233 consecutive patients undergoing fresh IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles 64 received an adjuvant treatment consisting of dexamethasone (0.5 mg/day) plus ASA (100 mg/day) (DA group), starting on the day of embryo transfer. Patients not receiving these medications comprised a control group.  Results: Significantly more patients in DA group had positive ß-hCG values than controls (59.38% vs. 37.67%, p = 0.004) (OR = 2.42, 95% CI: 1.33–4.41). Implantation rate was 26.53% in DA group and 15.92% in controls (p = 0.0294). Clinical preg- nancy rate per started cycle was higher in DA group (43.59%) than controls (28.92%), but the difference was not significant (p = 0.0879; OR = 1.99, 95% CI: 0.89–4.41).  Conclusions: Our study shows a potential benefit of dexamethasone plus ASA adjuvant treatment in females undergoing IVF/ICSI procedure. As these results show improvement of IVF outcome, a greater number of patients undergoing this type and regime of adjuvant treatment should be investigated.

Differences in the Psychological Profiles of Elite and Non-elite Athletes

One of the main goals of sport psychology is to identify those psychological factors that are relevant for sport performance as well as possibilities of their development. The aim of the study was to determine whether the set of specific psychological characteristics [generalized self-efficacy, time perspective, emotional intelligence (EI), general achievement motivation, and personality dimensions] makes the distinction between athletes based on their (non)-participation in the senior national team, that is, their belonging to the subsample of elite or non-elite athletes depending on this criterion. According to the group centroids it can be said that elite athletes are characterized by a positive high score in self-efficacy, emotionality, present fatalistic time perspective, past positive time perspective, and openness to experience. They are also characterized by low past negative time perspective, emotional competence, and future time perspective. Non-elite athletes have the opposite traits. The results have been discussed in the context of their application in the process of talent selection and development in sport as well as the development of life skills in athletes

Biosorptive removal of Pb2+, Cd2+ and Zn2+ ions from water by agenaria vulgaris shell

Lagenaria vulgaris (LV) shell was used as a biosorbent for the removal of heavy metal ions, Pb2+, Cd2+ and Zn2+, from aqueous solutions. Experiments were carried out under batch conditions. The effects of contact time, initial pH, temperature and stirring speed on removal efficiency are presented. Sorption of the investigated metals was fast, reaching equilibrium after about 5 to 10 min, depending on the metal. Biosorption was highly pH-dependent, and the optimal pH for investigated metals was in the range of 4.5 to 6.0. The effects of temperature demonstrated that biosorption of the metals is a chemical process. SEM analysis revealed interesting morphological changes after acid refinement of the raw biosorbent and metal uptake that is related to the chemical nature of the biosorption process. EDX analysis of Lagenaria vulgaris biosorbent(LVB) before and after metal sorption revealed that the ion exchange mechanism was the principal sorption process. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis has shown that major functional groups (carboxyl and hydroxyl) on the biosorbent surface took part in the metal ion uptake process as active sites. The results obtained showed that Lagenaria vulgaris based biosorbent could be used as an effective and low-cost pre-treatment step for removal of toxic metals from wastewaters

Conversion of CO2 into organic acids by engineered autotrophic yeast

The increase of CO2 emissions due to human activity is one of the preeminent reasons for the present climate crisis. In addition, considering the increasing demand for renewable resources, the upcycling of CO2 as a feedstock gains an extensive importance to establish CO2-neutral or CO2-negative industrial processes independent of agricultural resources. Here we assess whether synthetic autotrophic Komagataella phaffii (Pichia pastoris) can be used as a platform for value-added chemicals using CO2 as a feedstock by integrating the heterologous genes for lactic and itaconic acid synthesis. 13C labeling experiments proved that the resulting strains are able to produce organic acids via the assimilation of CO2 as a sole carbon source. Further engineering attempts to prevent the lactic acid consumption increased the titers to 600 mg L−1, while balancing the expression of key genes and modifying screening conditions led to 2 g L−1 itaconic acid. Bioreactor cultivations suggest that a fine-tuning on CO2 uptake and oxygen demand of the cells is essential to reach a higher productivity. We believe that through further metabolic and process engineering, the resulting engineered strain can become a promising host for the production of value-added bulk chemicals by microbial assimilation of CO2, to support sustainability of industrial bioprocesses

Claudin-2 Forms Homodimers and Is a Component of a High Molecular Weight Protein Complex

Tight junctions are multiprotein complexes that form the fundamental physiologic and anatomic barrier between epithelial and endothelial cells, yet little information is available about their molecular organization. To begin to understand how the transmembrane proteins of the tight junction are organized into multiprotein complexes, we used blue native-PAGE (BN-PAGE) and cross-linking techniques to identify complexes extracted from MDCK II cells and mouse liver. In nonionic detergent extracts from MDCK II cells, the tight junction integral membrane protein claudin-2 was preferentially isolated as a homodimer, whereas claudin-4 was monomeric. Analysis of the interactions between chimeras of claudin-2 and -4 are consistent with the transmembrane domains of claudin-2 being responsible for dimerization, and mutational analysis followed by cross-linking indicated that the second transmembrane domains were arranged in close proximity in homodimers. BN-PAGE of mouse liver membrane identified a relatively discrete high molecular weight complex containing at least claudin-1, claudin-2, and occludin; the difference in the protein complex sizes between cultured cells and tissues may reflect differences in tight junction protein or lipid composition or post-translational modifications. Our results suggest that BN-PAGE may be a useful tool in understanding tight junction structure