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The Laboratoire de Mesure du Carbone 14 (LMC14) has operated a radiocarbon dating laboratory for almost twenty years with ARTEMIS, the Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (AMS) based on a NEC 9SDH-2 Pelletron tandem accelerator. A first status report describing the chemical pretreatment methods was published in 2017 (Dumoulin et al. 2017). This article summarizes updates of the routine procedures and presents new protocols. The quality checks in place at the LMC14 and results obtained for the GIRI international inter-comparison are reported. New protocols developed by the laboratory over the last five years are described with the preparation of iron, lead white, cellulose, calcium oxalate, and mortar. This report also provides a summary of practical information for sample preparation and can help the laboratory users who provide samples and publish results to better understand all the work behind a 14C dating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of Industry 4.0, as a means to move forward in the industrial ecosystem, has reached an important turning point. Where do we stand now in terms of industrial innovation and transition? This opinion paper provides an overview of the situation in the Netherlands, a reflection on what has been achieved by the Industry 4.0 paradigm, and the necessary way forward to solidify its implementation. Tentative results reveal that the pervasiveness of Industry 4.0 applications is sector-specific. This work provides industrial stakeholders and academics with useful suggestions and a possible path to move towards better integration of Industry 4.0 in company reality. In this opinion paper, we employ a mixed methods research methodology to argue that, based on our findings on industrial adaptation in The Netherlands, Industry 4.0 is the outcome of an evolutionary process and not of a revolution, as it is often claimed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2001, five French public organizations (CNRS, CEA, IRD, IRSN, and the Ministère de la Culture) signed an agreement to purchase a new accelerator mass spectrometer to provide radiocarbon dating services at the national level. The Laboratoire de Mesure du Carbone 14 (LMC14) was set up in Saclay (France) around ARTEMIS, an AMS system based on a 3MV Pelletron from NEC and installed in early 2003. In 2015, the LMC14 joined the Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, making it possible to develop research projects in addition to the service activity and since 2021, the LMC14 has been a member of the IAEA Collaborating Centre "Atoms for Heritage" at the Université Paris-Saclay. Since 2003, 70,000 samples have been measured. Two-thirds of the samples have been prepared on site and one-third in two associated laboratories in Paris and Lyon. Over the past years, the LMC14 has participated in several international inter-comparisons and has continuously improved its capabilities by developing new protocols for preparation and measurement. In this paper, the radiocarbon dating services of the last 20 years for research institutions, museums and environmental monitoring are reviewed and recent results from environmental and archaeological research programs are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of replications and locations used in a cultivar evaluation scheme is an important factor affecting the trial heritability (H) and optimum resource allocation. The aim of the present study was to calculate the required number of replications and locations for realizing an optimum H of 0.75 and to identify the most effective test locations for cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) in Greece. The data for lint yield, plant height, verticillium wilt (Verticillium dahliae Kleb.) and fibre quality were derived from an 8-year experiment (2000-2007) conducted under irrigated, Mediterranean conditions at 14 locations along the Greek mega-environment. Analysis of variance was performed to calculate H as well as genotype plus genotype x environment (GGE) biplot analysis to determine the location's desirability. It was determined that the four replications currently used in the evaluation of lint yield were sufficient, whereas four locations were proposed as optimum in lieu of the current 8-14 locations used in the evaluation. Two locations excelled as the most effective for lint yield evaluation and one for selection of genotypes tolerant to verticillium wilt using as criteria: the high and consistent across years H (0.75), GGE biplot representativeness and discriminating ability. Moreover, one location was selected as a backup based on average trial failures. Plant height was sufficiently evaluated by four replications and two locations, while verticillium required four replications for realizing lower H (0.60) and three locations for even lower H (0.40). Regarding quality, an increase of replications from the two currently used to four was sufficient for evaluation of all the traits. The advantage of reducing the number of locations for evaluation of lint yield to just four casts no doubt on the evaluation precision of lint percentage, length, strength and elongation but does for micronaire, short fibre index and uniformity, which realized lower H (0.60 or 0.50). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of 31-year-old pregnant woman with thrombocytopenia. Examinations revealed macrothrombocytopenia in siblings and T nonsense mutation was identified in TUBB1 gene falls within amino acids part of the protein. Anti-β1-tubulin antibody was used which effects effect microtubule assembly.

In this paper, the effect of chemical inhomogeneity on the isothermal bainite formation is investigated in medium-carbon low-silicon spring steel by dilatometry and microscopy. The analysis of the microstructure at different times during transformation shows that chemical segregation of substitutional alloying elements resulting from casting strongly affects the bainite formation by retarding the transformation kinetics and limiting the maximum achievable bainite fraction. During holding at temperatures close to and above the martensite start temperature, a homogeneous lower bainitic microstructure can be eventually obtained, whereas at higher temperatures, incomplete bainitic reaction is evident. It was also found that at the early stages of the transformation, differences in the bainite formation kinetics, due to local inhomogeneities in Cr and Mn concentration, result in retardation of the growth of bainite in the high Mn and Cr concentration regions. The calculated difference in driving force for nucleation between the enriched and the depleted areas is not by itself sufficient to explain the microstructures obtained and thus significant influence of growth on bainite formation is observed. Particularly, it was calculated and experimentally observed that Cr partitions in the carbides in the high Mn, Cr regions during the isothermal treatment, limiting the transformation kinetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaf chlorophyll content is correlated with photosynthetic activity indicators and leaf nitrogen concentration. Three cycles of divergent mass selection for chlorophyll content were performed to estimate heritability, response to selection, and correlated changes in grain yield for these traits in a synthetic maize (Zea mays L.) population. Selection for high and low chlorophyll content was performed in the field using the SPAD chlorophyll meter, and response to selection was measured in field evaluations of the C0, C1, C2, and C3 populations. The divergent selection responses cycle-1 were 1.2 SPAD unit increase versus 0.2 decrease at anthesis and 0.9 increase versus 0.9 decrease at grain-filling period relative to the base average of 55.9 and 53.5, respectively. The C3 high and low selections showed significant differences in chlorophyll content at anthesis and grain filling stages, but no significant selection indirect response was detected for grain yield. Thus, our data indicate that leaf chlorophyll content is heritable and that it can be manipulated through conventional breeding methodology. Additional cycles of chlorophyll content selection are needed to determine if chlorophyll content will be useful as an indirect selection criterion for yield improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of supplemental animal fat, or animal fat and rumen protected methionine, on lactating dairy ewes production was evaluated in the present study. Twelve dairy pregnant ewes of the Karagouniko breed, with two embryos, were allocated to three groups (treatments), in order to examine the effect of three diets: control (C), diet with animal fat at 7% of concentrates’ DM (F) and diet F plus 5 g rumen protected methionine (RPM) per kg of concentrate (F+m). The experiment started 2 weeks before lambing and continued for the 13 first weeks of lactation. During the experiment, dry matter intake (DMI), energy supply, daily milk yield and milk composition were determined. Prepartum, DMI and energy supply did not differ between treatments C and F+m. During the first 7 weeks of lactation (from lambing to weaning), the inclusion of fat in the diet increased DMI, energy supply (P<0.001), and the milk lactose content (P<0.05), but decreased the milk fat content (P<0.05). The inclusion of fat with RPM in the diet resulted in an increase (P<0.001) of DMI, milk yield and daily fat and protein yield, compared to treatments C and F. After weaning (8–13th week of lactation), significant differences were observed only in DMI and energy intake which increased (P<0.001) for treatments F and F+m. Milk fat content reduced (P<0.05) for treatments F and F+m, compared to control, but the mean daily milk fat and protein yield did not change significantly. For the first 13 weeks of lactation there was not treatment effect on milk protein profile, while the concentration of short chain fatty acids of milk fat was reduced (P<0.001) and that of short chain fatty acids increased (P<0.001) for treatments F and F+m, compared to treatment C. From the results of this experiment it is concluded that the inclusion of animal fat in sheep diets had no significant effect on ewes milk yield, while the use of rumen protected methionine, combined with animal fat, in diets of high producing ewes, at least at the first stage of lactation, increased significantly milk yield. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Intravascular surgical instruments require precise navigation within narrow vessels, necessitating maximum flexibility, minimal diameter, and high degrees of freedom. Existing tools often lack control during insertion due to undesirable bending, limiting vessel accessibility and risking tissue damage. Next-generation instruments aim to develop hemocompatible untethered devices controlled by external magnetic forces. Achieving this goal remains complex due to testing and implementation challenges in clinical environments. Here we assess the operational effectiveness of hemocompatible untethered magnetic robots using an ex vivo porcine aorta model. The results demonstrate a linear decrease in the swimming speed of untethered magnetic robots as arterial blood flow increases, with the capability to navigate against a maximum arterial flow rate of 67 mL/min. The untethered magnetic robots effectively demonstrate locomotion in a difficult-to-access target site, navigating through the abdominal aorta and reaching the distal end of the renal artery., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

(1) Incomplete or wrong medication histories can lead to missed diagnoses of Adverse Drug Effects (ADEs). We aimed to evaluate pharmacist-identified ED errors in the medication histories obtained by physicians, and their consequences for ADE detection. (2) This prospective monocentric study was carried out in an ED of a university hospital. We included adult patients presenting with an ADE detected in the ED. The best possible medication histories collected by pharmacists were used to identify errors in the medication histories obtained by physicians. We described these errors, and identified those related to medications involved in ADEs. We also identified the ADEs that could not have been detected without the pharmacists' interventions. (3) Of 735 patients presenting with an ADE, 93.1% had at least one error on the medication list obtained by physicians. Of the 1047 medications involved in ADEs, 51.3% were associated with an error in the medication history. In total, 23.1% of the medications involved in ADEs were missing in the physicians' medication histories and were corrected by the pharmacists. (4) Medication histories obtained by ED physicians were often incomplete, and half the medications involved in ADEs were not identified, or were incorrectly characterized in the physicians' medication histories.

The effect of dilute acid pretreatment severity on the bioconversion efficiency of Phalaris aquatica lignocellulosic biomass into fermentable sugar monomers was studied. The pretreatment conditions were expressed in a combined severity factor (CSF), ranged from 0.13 to 1.16. The concentration of xylose and total monomeric sugars released from hemicellulose increased with pretreatment as the CSF increased. Dilute acid pretreatment resulted in about 1.7-fold increase in glucose release relative to the untreated biomass, while CSF was positively correlated with glucose recovery. A maximum glucose yield of 85.05% was observed at high severity values (i.e. CSF 1.16) after 72 h. The total amount of sugars released (i.e. xylose and glucose) was increased with pretreatment severity and a maximum conversion efficiency of 76.1% of structural carbohydrates was obtained at a CSF=1. Our data indicated that Phalaris aquatica L. is an alternative bioethanol feedstock and that hemicellulose removal promotes glucose yield., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Thirty-two lactating Karagouniko ewes were allocated at random to four groups for 6 weeks, to examine the effect of four diets: C (control treatment, ration without algae); LA (ration with low level of algae); MA (ration with medium level of algae) and HA (ration with high level of algae); containing 0, 23.5, 47 and 94 g algae, respectively, on the enrichment of milk and dairy products. Addition of algae reduced (P < 0.001) DM intake for treatments MA and HA. Milk yield did not differ between treatments but milk composition was significantly affected by dietary inclusion of algae. Milk fat content was significantly increased (P < 0.001) for treatment HA whereas milk protein content was significantly increased (P < 0.001) for all treatments containing algae. Milk from treatments LA, MA and HA was significantly enriched in the following PUFA: C20:5 (n-3) (0.4-2.1%), C22:5 (n-6) (0.8-4.1%), C22:6 (n-3) (4.3-12.4%) (P < 0.001) and C22:5 (n-3) (2.1-3.1%) (P < 0.05), which were not detected in control milk. Feta cheese and yogurts produced from the enriched milk had identical composition with the milk, and would be characterized as healthy foods. The ratio of n-6 to n-3 fatty acids was 2.5-4.5.