Sensory evaluation of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) extended to include the quality factor "harmony"

Sensory evaluation of olive oil, meaning the official organoleptic assessment of olive oil respectively the "Panel Test" (PT), is based on the standards of the International Olive Council (IOC), as well as on the Regulation (EC) 640/2008 of the European Commission. These regulations lead to the classification of olive oil as "extra virgin" (EVOO), "virgin" (VOO) or "lampant", which however is not sufficient to clearly discriminate between different quality levels within the grade EVOO. The objective of the study at hand was to develop and validate an objective sensory evaluation method for the quality certification of olive oil within the grade EVOO. A new rating system, including a detailed description and evaluation of the complexity and persistence of flavour, was established. First, a comparison between different profile sheets from various olive oil competitions (Ercole Olivario, Premio Biol, Leone D'Oro Mario Solinas Award, among others) and the official profile sheet from the IOC/EC for the panel test (PT) took place. In consecutive steps the basic test procedure from the panel test (PT) then was extended with additional sensory descriptors. Two trained olive oil panels (the German Olive Oil Panel (DOP) and the Swiss Olive Oil Panel (SOP)) were further educated to profile various green and ripe aroma components and to evaluate the complexity of the perceived aroma components and their persistency (descriptor: "harmony/persistency"). This extended methodology was cross-validated over a time period of 3 years between the two panels (DOP/SOP)

Total-body contrast-enhanced MRA on a short, wide-bore 1.5-T system: intra-individual comparison of Gd-BOPTA and Gd-DOTA

Total-body contrast-enhanced MRA (CE-MRA) provides information of the entire vascular system according to a one-stop-shop approach. Short, wide-bore scanners have not yet been used for total-body CE-MRA, probably due to their restricted field of view in the z-direction. The purpose of this feasibility study is to introduce an image protocol for total-body MRA on a short, wide-bore system. The protocol includes five to six table-moving steps and two injection runs. Two pharmacologically different contrast materials (CM) were applied in ten healthy volunteers in view of possible CM-dependent influences on the protocol outcome (Gd-Bopta, Gd-Dota). Differences consisted of significantly higher CNR with Gd-Bopta with a mean of 73.8 ± 38.7 versus 69.1 ± 34.3 (p = 0.008), significantly better arterial visualization values with Gd-Dota with a mean of 1.26 ± 0.44 versus 1.53 ± 0.73 (p = 0.003) and a tendency to less venous overlay with Gd-Dota, mean 1.19 ± 0.44 and 1.34 ± 0.72, respectively (p = 0.065) (two-tailed Wilcoxon matched-pairs test). Overall 94% of the steps were valued as qualitatively excellent or good. The good results with both CM suggest a transfer to further patient evaluatio

Low-dose intra-arterial contrast-enhanced MR aortography in patients based on a theoretically derived injection protocol

Multiple intra-arterial contrast agent injections are necessary during MR-guided endovascular interventions. In respect to the approved limits of maximum daily gadolinium dose, a low-dose injection protocol is mandatory. The objective of this study was to derive and apply a low-dose injection protocol for intra-arterial 3D contrast-enhanced MR aortography in patients. Injection rate (Qinj), concentration of injected gadolinium [Gd]inj and aortal blood flow rate (Qblood) were included for the theoretical evaluation of signal intensity (SI) of the arterial lumen. SI simulations were carried out at Qinj=2 versus 4ml/s in the [Gd]inj range between 0-500mM. Qinj and [Gd]inj with SI above the 75% threshold of the maximal SI were regarded as optimal injection parameters. [Gd]inj=50mM and Qinj=4ml/s were considered as optimal and were administered in five patients for 3D MR aortography. All images revealed clear delineation of the abdominal aorta and its major branches. Mean±SD of contrast-to-noise ratios of the abdominal aorta, common iliac and renal artery were 70.2±15.2, 58.6±12.3 and 67.4±12.3. Approximately seven intra-aortal injections would be permissible in patients during MR-guided interventions without exceeding the maximal dose of gadoliniu

Cycle-finite module categories

We describe the structure of module categories of finite dimensional algebras over an algebraically closed field for which the cycles of nonzero nonisomorphisms between indecomposable finite dimensional modules are finite (do not belong to the infinite Jacobson radical of the module category). Moreover, geometric and homological properties of these module categories are exhibited

The Intrinsic Fundamental Group of a Linear Category

We provide an intrinsic definition of the fundamental group of a linear category over a ring as the automorphism group of the fibre functor on Galois coverings. If the universal covering exists, we prove that this group is isomorphic to the Galois group of the universal covering. The grading deduced from a Galois covering enables us to describe the canonical monomorphism from its automorphism group to the first Hochschild-Mitchell cohomology vector space.Comment: Final version, to appear in Algebras and Representation Theor

Categorification of skew-symmetrizable cluster algebras

We propose a new framework for categorifying skew-symmetrizable cluster algebras. Starting from an exact stably 2-Calabi-Yau category C endowed with the action of a finite group G, we construct a G-equivariant mutation on the set of maximal rigid G-invariant objects of C. Using an appropriate cluster character, we can then attach to these data an explicit skew-symmetrizable cluster algebra. As an application we prove the linear independence of the cluster monomials in this setting. Finally, we illustrate our construction with examples associated with partial flag varieties and unipotent subgroups of Kac-Moody groups, generalizing to the non simply-laced case several results of Gei\ss-Leclerc-Schr\"oer.Comment: 64 page

Histoplasmosis infection in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, 1998-2009

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Patients with rheumatic diseases including rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are at increased risk for infections related to both the disease and its treatments. These include uncommonly reported infections due to histoplasmosis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Medical record review of all patients with a diagnosis of RA who developed new histoplasmosis infection in an endemic region between Jan 1, 1998 and Jan 30, 2009 and who were seen at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota was performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Histoplasmosis was diagnosed in 26 patients. Most patients were on combination therapies; 15 were on anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) agents, 15 on corticosteroids and 16 on methotrexate. Most received more than 6 months of itraconazole and/or amphotericin treatment. Two patients died of causes unrelated to histoplasmosis. Anti-TNF treatment was restarted in 4/15 patients, with recurrence of histoplasmosis in one.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In this largest single center series of patients with RA and histoplasmosis in the era of immunomodulatory therapy, we found that most patients had longstanding disease and were on multiple immunomodulatory agents. Most cases were pulmonary; typical signs and symptoms of disease were frequently lacking.</p

Krull Dimension of Tame Generalized Multicoil Algebras

We determine the Krull dimension of the module category of finite dimensional tame generalized multicoil algebras over an algebraically closed field, which are domestic