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The role of nanozinc source (nanohydrozincite: nHZ; nanozinc oxide: nZO) on the performance of alkali-activated slag (AAS) was explored for the first time in the present work. The results showed that nHZ with different contents (0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 wt%) retards the early hydration rate of AAS, whereas nZO showed the lowest retardation effect. Zn(OH)2 is the main retarder inside AAS-nZO and AAS-nHZ, which consumes the dissolved Ca2+ (responsible for the early hardening of AAS) from slag to yield calcium zincate hydrate (CZH). The high retardation rate of nHZ is originated from its high affinity to consume much Ca2+ through the formation of additional pirssonite (Na2CO3.CaCO3.2H2O) double salt. Although adding nHZ induced the drying shrinkage of AAS, it improved the later compressive strengths (28 to 365 days), especially at low nHZ content (0.5 wt%), via the formation of CASH with lower Ca/Si ratio and higher binding capacity compared to that formed inside AAS and AAS-nZO. A further research is needed to reduce the drying shrinkage and to accelerate the early strength of AAS containing nHZ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the idea and proof of principle measurements for an angular-selective active filter for charged particles. The motivation for the setup arises from the need to distinguish background electrons from signal electrons in a spectrometer of MAC-E filter type. While a large fraction of the background electrons exhibit predominantly small angles relative to the magnetic guiding field (corresponding to a low amount of kinetic energy in the motion component transverse to the field lines, in the following referred to as transverse energy) and pass the filter mostly unhindered, signal electrons from an isotropically emitting source interact with the active filter and are detected. The concept is demonstrated using a microchannel plate (MCP) as an active filter element. When correctly aligned with the magnetic field, electrons with a small transverse energy pass the channels of the MCP without interaction while electrons with large transverse energies hit the channel walls and trigger an avalanche of secondary electrons that is subsequently detected. Due to several drawbacks of MCPs for an actual transverse energy filter, an alternative detection technique using microstructured Si-PIN diodes is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renovascular hypertension accounts for 5-10 % of hypertension cases in children; there is currently no consensus on treatment. Here, we report on our clinical experience with this disease and outline the different pathways in which to investigate it. We report retrospectively on ten children diagnosed with renovascular hypertension at the University Hospital of Nantes from 2001 to 2012. The main findings were obtained by fortuitous screening of children aged 2 months to 14 years old with neurofibromatosis ( n = 2) and fibromuscular dysplasia ( n = 8). The hypertension was always severe yet asymptomatic. Lesions were complicated in nine out of ten cases and included bilateral, multiple, mid-aortic syndrome and aneurysm. Doppler ultrasound associated with computed tomography allowed for a precise diagnosis in seven out of ten cases. Where ambiguities persisted, they were highlighted by arteriography, the gold standard investigation. Medical treatment was insufficient, leading to invasive procedures in nine out of ten children: 2 nephrectomies, 2 autotransplantations, and 21 repetitive percutaneous transluminal angioplasties. After invasive procedures, blood pressure control improved in four cases and was resolved in three. Conclusion: Arteriography remains to be the gold standard technique for renovascular hypertension in children and can be combined with angioplasty when medical treatment is rendered obsolete. The role of computed tomography is controversial. Despite the heterogeneity of the children studied, we present a general medical and therapeutic management pathway for the treatment of this disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In real-life situations, we are often required to recognize our own movements among movements originating from other people. In social situations, these movements are often correlated (for example, when dancing or walking with others) adding considerable difficulty to self-recognition. Studies from visual search have shown that visual attention can selectively highlight specific features to make them more salient. Here, we used a novel visual search task employing virtual reality and motion tracking to test whether visual attention can use efferent information to enhance self-recognition of one's movements among four or six moving avatars. Active movements compared to passive movements allowed faster recognition of the avatar moving like the subject. Critically, search slopes were flat for the active condition but increased for passive movements, suggesting efficient search for active movements. In a second experiment, we tested the effects of using the participants' own movements temporally delayed as distractors in a self-recognition discrimination task. We replicated the results of the first experiment with more rapid self-recognition during active trials. Importantly, temporally delayed distractors increased reaction times despite being more perceptually different than the spatial distractors. The findings demonstrate the importance of agency in self-recognition and self-other discrimination from movement in social settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The ageing of the population generates an increased demand for acute healthcare services in persons aged over 65, who can represent up to half of the patients treated in intensive care units (ICU). However, the number of available ICU beds is limited. Intermediate care units (IntCU), requires less human and technical resources, and has been proposed as an alternative to intensive care in the geriatric population. This article reports a 10-year, single centre experience from Geneva of continuous care and its impact on mortality in a geriatric population. Between 1998–1999 and 2000–2001, after the creation of the IntCU, we observed a significant reduction in in-hospital mortality. Thanks to increased medical and nursing care, IntCUs provide greater security for patients and their family, thereby improving their satisfaction with care. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The N-terminal caspase cleavage in the nucleoprotein (NP) of influenza A virus is correlated with the host origin of the virus, thus could be a molecular determinant for host range. We studied how mutations targeting the NP cleavage motif of human and avian influenza viruses affect virus replication in vitro and in vivo. The “avian-like” D16→G substitution in the NP, which makes this protein resistant to cleavage, did not significantly affect the human A/Puerto Rico/8/34 (H1N1) virus replication in vitro but decreased the lethality of this virus in mice by 68-fold. Gene incompatibility contributed to the attenuated phenotype of the reassortant A/Puerto Rico/8/34 virus with avian NP derived from A/Teal/Hong Kong/w312/97 (H6N1) virus in vitro and in vivo. Insertion of the “human-like” G16→D mutation into avian NP, which resulted in susceptibility to caspase cleavage, did not rescue virulence, but made the reassortant virus even more attenuated. Introducing the human-like G16→D substitution into the NP of highly pathogenic A/Vietnam/1203/04 (H5N1) virus decreased lethality in mice. We confirmed that position 16, which associated with the N-terminal caspase cleavage of the NP, is important for optimal virus fitness in vitro and in vivo. An avian-like mutation at position 16 in the NP of human virus as well as a human-like substitution at this residue in avian NP both resulted in virus attenuation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A virus isolated from sorghum in Nigeria has been partially characterized. It was tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using antisera to Maize dwarf mosaic virus, Johnsongrass mosaic virus (JGMV), Sugarcane mosaic virus strain-MDB, Sorghum mosaic virus, and Zea mosaic virus. A partial host range, symptom phenotypes for selected sorghum lines, and the mass of the coat protein (CP) subunit was analyzed by sodium-dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), and its amino acid (aa) sequence determined by time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS). The Nigerian isolate was positive in ELISA to only JGMV antiserum. It infected sorghum and smooth brome but not oat or johnsongrass. It caused necrosis in 12 of 13 tested sorghum lines, while the USA JGMV isolate caused necrosis in only one sorghum line. In SDS-PAGE, the mass of the Nigerian virus CP was 3,000?Da smaller than that of JGMV-MDO. Moreover, TOFMS analyses showed that, while residues 1-7 of the CP aa sequence were identical to those of JGMV (GenBank #A27631), and residues 57-293 were almost identical to residues 67-303 of JGMV, the intermediate region exhibited significant differences, including a 10?aa deletion. These data indicate that the virus should be considered a distinct isolate of JGMV (JGMV-N) and expands the known range of JGMV to Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study updates and extends research on foreign entry modes by examining the impacts of knowledge transfer capacity and knowledge tacitness. Research on international corporate expansion has long emphasized that deploying intangible knowledge-based assets is required for successful international expansion. More recently, research from a 'knowledge-based' perspective has addressed the role of tacitness in constraining a firm's ability to transfer knowledge internationally. We combine these perspectives to describe how knowledge tacitness affects the relative suitability of four archetypal entry modes: exporting, licensing, establishing an alliance, and wholly owned entry. We then examine and develop conceptually a seldom-studied firm characteristic, knowledge transfer capacity. We offer predictions that describe the combined effects of knowledge tacitness and transfer capacity on entry mode choice. We distinguish between the transfer capacity of the organization that develops knowledge (source transfer capacity) and that of the organization that seeks to access that knowledge (recipient transfer capacity). The discussion addresses how our model generalizes to knowledge-seeking strategies and to the study of ongoing multinational networks. The study enriches and reconciles multiple theoretical perspectives on entry strategy. It brings together the study of knowledge characteristics and firm heterogeneity in the theory of the multinational corporation, and in international and strategic management more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The measurement of serum intact parathyroid hormone (PTH) is routinely made in haemodialysed (HD) patients to diagnose and monitor secondary hyperparathyroidism. We measured pre- and post-dialysis serum ionized calcium (Ca[sup 2+] ) and PTH in 12 HD children (7 boys) aged 13.8±3.6 years. A group of 27 normal short-statured children served as controls. Serum PTH was assessed by a new assay (CAP) recognizing only the (1–84) molecule and an older one (Allegro) recognizing both the 1–84 and a non-(1–84) PTH equally. The concentrations obtained with the CAP assay were lower than those obtained with the Allegro assay both in controls and in HD patients. They were still lower in HD patients when expressed as multiples of the median of the control group. The Allegro/CAP ratio, was highly variable from one subject to another and was lower (P<0.0001) in controls (1.46±0.26) than in HD patients, both before (3.06±1.60) and after dialysis (2.94±0.65). During dialysis, Ca[sup 2+] increased significantly (P<0.0001) and PTH decreased significantly (P<0.0001) with both the CAP and the Allegro assays, but was more often normal or low with the CAP than with the Allegro assay. Although the two assays correlate well, they may provide different clinical information in some HD children which could lead to different therapeutic decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial spread of citrus tristeza virus (CTV) disease was studied using data from two infected groves. Statistical analysis indicated a spatial grouping of infected trees. A gamma distribution was fitted to the empirical distribution of the distances between nearest infected neighbors. The findings suggest that, after locating a newly infected tree, additional inspections to detect CTV should be carried out mainly on trees within 14 m of that tree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) causes a most destructive citrus disease in many parts of the world, and indications of natural spread were found in Israel in 1970. The strategy for controlling the disease in Israel is based on the eradication of virus-infected trees, detected by test plants or immunological methods. Mathematical models for CTV infection and spread were developed and used to assess the cost-effectiveness of the eradication policy. It was concluded that the discovery-eradication program is economically justified and superior to allowing the disease to progress unchecked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An isolate of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV-A) was obtained from healthy and sunblotch-infected avocado ( Persea americana) seedlings. TMV-A resembled common TMV in particle morphology, RNA size and coat protein molecular weight. TMV-A coat protein differed from common TMV coat by a minimum of 22 amino acid exchanges including the presence of one methionine, and by the absence of cysteine. Spur formation between the precipitation lines of TMV, TMV-A and a TMV antiserum indicates certain differences among the antigenic determinants of these two strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Onion yellow dwarf virus (OYDV) was detected in cloves and aerial bulblets of garlic ( Allium sativum) at levels as high as or higher than in leaves of plants grown from tested cloves. It is recommended to test bulblets or a few cloves per bulb before planting to determine if all cloves of a bulb are virus-free. This aids in early detection and allows a more thorough testing of stock than field testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neurotechnology attempts to develop supernumerary limbs, but can the human brain deal with the complexity to control an extra limb and yield advantages from it? Here, we analyzed the neuromechanics and manipulation abilities of two polydactyly subjects who each possess six fingers on their hands. Anatomical MRI of the supernumerary finger (SF) revealed that it is actuated by extra muscles and nerves, and fMRI identified a distinct cortical representation of the SF. In both subjects, the SF was able to move independently from the other fingers. Polydactyly subjects were able to coordinate the SF with their other fingers for more complex movements than five fingered subjects, and so carry out with only one hand tasks normally requiring two hands. These results demonstrate that a body with significantly more degrees-of-freedom can be controlled by the human nervous system without causing motor deficits or impairments and can instead provide superior manipulation abilities. Can the human brain successfully control additional body parts beyond the ones we normally possess? Here, the authors study two polydactyly individuals (with an additional finger on each hand) and show that they can carry out more complex movements, performing with only one hand tasks normally requiring two. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a correction of a sequence analysis error that occurred in the previously named exon-4, published in the September 9, 2002 online issue of the journal 'Nature Genetics.'