Results from the National Strategy for improvement of iodine nutrition in Bulgaria: a study of children and pregnant women living in an iodine-deficient area

Background: A significant part of Bulgaria is considered an iodine-deficient area. The National Strategy for Prevention and Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD) was developed in 1994, and regular surveys undertaken in 2000–2003 indicated a normalization of the iodine supply in the Bulgarian population, including some at-risk population groups (children, schoolchildren, pregnant women). Despite the results achieved, mandating periodic cohort surveys for tracking the elimination of iodine deficiency is necessary. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of the the national strategy for improvement of iodine nutrition in children and pregnant women living in an iodine-deficient area in Bulgaria 15 years after its update. Subjects and methods: Study subjects were 73 children aged 9.21 ± 2.07 years (29 boys and 44 girls) and 16 pregnant women living in the town of Asenovgrad. Urinary iodine concentration was measured and used as an index of iodine intake. Results: The median urinary iodine of the inspected children was between 100–199 μg/l, which is an indicator of optimal iodine nutrition. Almost 1/3 of the children (31.5%) had iodine deficiency. The median urinary iodine concentration of the 16 pregnant women investigated was 127.0 μg/l, which is an indicator of insufficient iodine intake. Conclusion: Despite the normalization of the iodine supply in the past years in the at-risk population groups of children and pregnant women, a considerable portion of them still has iodine deficiency. Recommendations for improving health education and iodine nutrition in at-risk population groups were made

A leed analysis of the (2×1)H-Ni(110) structure

A monolayer of H atoms adsorbed on Ni(110) below 180 K forms a (2×1) structure. The unit cell exhibits a glide symmetry plane and contains two adsorbed atoms. Based on a quantitative comparison between experimental and calculated LEED I/V spectra using standard R-factors the following structure was derived: On the clean Ni(110) surface the separation between the first two atomic layers, d12, is contracted by 8.5%±1.5% with respect to the bulk value; those between the second and third and the third and fourth layer, d23 and d34, are expanded by 3.5%±1.5% and 1%±1.5%, respectively—in agreement with recent other results. In the presence of the H adlayer the contraction of d12 is reduced to 4.5%±1.5%, while the expansion of d23 is not affected within the limits of accuracy. The third interlayer spacing d34 returns to its bulk value. The H atoms occupy threefold-coordinated sites formed by two Ni atoms from the first layer and one Ni atom from the second layer which confirms previous more qualitative conclusions based on He diffraction and vibrational spectroscopy. The bond lengths between H and its neighbouring Ni atoms were determined to be equal, namely 1.72±0.1 Å

Konsensuální doporučení ČNHP (Českého národního hemofilického programu) pro diagnostiku a léčbu pacientů s vrozenou hemofilií a s inhibitorem FVIII/FIX

Cílem standardu je stanovit základní diagnostické a především terapeutické postupy v péči o pacienty s vrozenou hemofilií a s inhibitorem koagulačního faktoru VIII, resp. faktoru IX.The aim of the guidelines is to set-up and standardize diagnostic as well as therapeutic approaches to care about patients with congenital haemophilia and inhibitors to coagulation factor VIII or factor I

Resonance ionization of sputtered atoms-progress toward a quantitative technique

The combination of RIMS and ion sputtering has been heralded as the ideal means of quantitatively probing the surface of a solid. While several laboratories have demonstrated the extreme sensitivity of combining RIMS with sputtering, less effort has been devoted to the question of accuracy. Using the SARISA instrument developed at Argonne National Laboratory, a number of well-characterized metallic samples have been analyzed. Results from these determinations have been compared with data obtained by several other analytical methods. One significant finding is that impurity measurements down to ppb levels in metal matrices can be made quantitative by employing polycrystalline metal foils as calibration standards. This discovery substantially reduces the effort required for quantitative analysis since a single standard can be used for determining concentrations spanning nine orders of magnitude

Oxygen adsorption on the Ru (10 bar 1 0) surface: Anomalous coverage dependence

Oxygen adsorption onto Ru (10 bar 1 0) results in the formation of two ordered overlayers, i.e. a c(2 times 4)-2O and a (2 times 1)pg-2O phase, which were analyzed by low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) and density functional theory (DFT) calculation. In addition, the vibrational properties of these overlayers were studied by high-resolution electron loss spectroscopy. In both phases, oxygen occupies the threefold coordinated hcp site along the densely packed rows on an otherwise unreconstructed surface, i.e. the O atoms are attached to two atoms in the first Ru layer Ru(1) and to one Ru atom in the second layer Ru(2), forming zigzag chains along the troughs. While in the low-coverage c(2 times 4)-O phase, the bond lengths of O to Ru(1) and Ru(2) are 2.08 A and 2.03 A, respectively, corresponding bond lengths in the high-coverage (2 times 1)-2O phase are 2.01 A and 2.04 A (LEED). Although the adsorption energy decreases by 220 meV with O coverage (DFT calculations), we observe experimentally a shortening of the Ru(1)-O bond length with O coverage. This effect could not be reconciled with the present DFT-GGA calculations. The nu(Ru-O) stretch mode is found at 67 meV [c(2 times 4)-2O] and 64 meV [(2 times 1)pg-2O].Comment: 10 pages, figures are available as hardcopies on request by mailing [email protected], submitted to Phys. Rev. B (8. Aug. 97), other related publications can be found at http://www.rz-berlin.mpg.de/th/paper.htm

Structure determination of an adsorbate-induced multilayer reconstruction: (1×2)-H/Ni(110)

The reconstructed (1×2) structure formed by saturation of a Ni(110) surface with adsorbed H atoms at T<180 K was investigated by LEED. Excellent agreement between experimental and calculated I-V spectra for eleven nonequivalent beams was obtained for a model in which parallel rows of Ni atoms in the topmost layer are laterally shifted by 0.3 Å (‘‘row pairing’’) and which exhibits periodic vertical displacements (‘‘buckling’’) of the atoms in the second layer

R-Allyl Nickel(II) Complexes with Chelating N-Heterocyclic Carbenes: Synthesis, Structural Characterization, and Catalytic Activity

The N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) nickel complexes [(L)Ni(NHC)][BArF4] (ArF = 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)- phenyl; L = allyl (1), methylallyl (2); NHC = 1-(2-picolyl)-3-methylimidazol-2-ylidene (a), 1-(2-picolyl)-3-isopropylimidazol-2-ylidene (b), 1-(2-picolyl)-3-n-butylimidazol-2-ylidene (c), 1-(2-picolyl)-3-phenylimidazol-2-ylidene (d), 1-(2-picolyl)-3- methylbenzoimidazol-2-ylidene (e), 1-(2-picolyl)-4,5-dichloro-3-methylimidazol-2-ylidene (f)) have been obtained in high yields and characterized by NMR spectroscopy. Furthermore, 1d was unambiguously characterized by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. Complexes 1a−f/2a−f have shown catalytic activity toward dimerization and hydrosilylation of styrenes. In particular, 1a proved to be the most efficient catalyst in the dimerization of styrene derivatives in the absence of cocatalyst. Also, complexes 1a,d showed high selectivity and moderate to good yields in hydrosilylation reactions

Genetic Overexpression of NR2B Subunit Enhances Social Recognition Memory for Different Strains and Species

The ability to learn and remember conspecifics is essential for the establishment and maintenance of social groups. Many animals, including humans, primates and rodents, depend on stable social relationships for survival. Social learning and social recognition have become emerging areas of interest for neuroscientists but are still not well understood. It has been established that several hormones play a role in the modulation of social recognition including estrogen, oxytocin and arginine vasopression. Relatively few studies have investigated how social recognition might be improved or enhanced. In this study, we investigate the role of the NMDA receptor in social recognition memory, specifically the consequences of altering the ratio of the NR2B∶NR2A subunits in the forebrain regions in social behavior. We produced transgenic mice in which the NR2B subunit of the NMDA receptor was overexpressed postnatally in the excitatory neurons of the forebrain areas including the cortex, amygdala and hippocampus. We investigated the ability of both our transgenic animals and their wild-type littermate to learn and remember juvenile conspecifics using both 1-hr and 24-hr memory tests. Our experiments show that the wild-type animals and NR2B transgenic mice preformed similarly in the 1-hr test. However, transgenic mice showed better performances in 24-hr tests of recognizing animals of a different strain or animals of a different species. We conclude that NR2B overexpression in the forebrain enhances social recognition memory for different strains and animal species

Effect of Systemic Hypertension With Versus Without Left Ventricular Hypertrophy on the Progression of Atrial Fibrillation (from the Euro Heart Survey).

Hypertension is a risk factor for both progression of atrial fibrillation (AF) and development of AF-related complications, that is major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE). It is unknown whether left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) as a consequence of hypertension is also a risk factor for both these end points. We aimed to assess this in low-risk AF patients, also assessing gender-related differences. We included 799 patients from the Euro Heart Survey with nonvalvular AF and a baseline echocardiogram. Patients with and without hypertension were included. End points after 1 year were occurrence of AF progression, that is paroxysmal AF becoming persistent and/or permanent AF, and MACCE. Echocardiographic LVH was present in 33% of 379 hypertensive patients. AF progression after 1 year occurred in 10.2% of 373 patients with rhythm follow-up. In hypertensive patients with LVH, AF progression occurred more frequently as compared with hypertensive patients without LVH (23.3% vs 8.8%, p = 0.011). In hypertensive AF patients, LVH was the most important multivariably adjusted determinant of AF progression on multivariable logistic regression (odds ratio 4.84, 95% confidence interval 1.70 to 13.78, p = 0.003). This effect was only seen in male patients (27.5% vs 5.8%, p = 0.002), while in female hypertensive patients, no differences were found in AF progression rates regarding the presence or absence of LVH (15.2% vs 15.0%, p = 0.999). No differences were seen in MACCE for hypertensive patients with and without LVH. In conclusion, in men with hypertension, LVH is associated with AF progression. This association seems to be absent in hypertensive women