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The International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) has extended its Recommendations G.694.1 and G.872 to include a new Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) grid by defining a set of nominal central frequencies, channel spacings, and the concept of the "frequency slot". Corresponding techniques for data-plane connections are known as flexi-grid. Based on the characteristics of flexi-grid defined in G.694.1, RFC 7698 and 7699, this document describes the OSPF-TE extensions in support of GMPLS control of networks that include devices that use the new flexible optical grid.

Purpose The European Directive 2013/35/UE, implemented in Italy by Legislative decree 159 dated 1 August 2016, introduces new exposure limits and it modifies the procedures for evaluating the exposure of workers to electromagnetic fields. Since June 2016, UBT srl, in collaboration with ARPA Umbria, has analyzed the issues recalled by the new Directive. In particular, this study focuses on investigating the instrumentation for performing electromagnetic fields measurements and on drafting of guidelines for standard assessment of electromagnetic fields exposure. Methods The devices here analyzed are magnetotherapies, electrosurgical units, welders, magnetizers, radio frequency dryers and test banks, both in healthcare and in general work environments. The instruments, used for measurements, are broadband probes from different manufacturers and with different characteristics. The data analysis method was chosen based on frequencies and waveform of electromagnetic radiations generated by different kinds of devices; specifically, the weighted peak method has been used. Results The measurements highlight different and complex exposure conditions based on the type of source (i.e. device) and workplace. In the case of magnetotherapy rooms, the worker’s weighted peak index was lower than unit; whereas, in the same rooms, general public limits can be exceeded 4 times also. Regarding welders and electrosurgical units, the exposure conditions were more complex and, before evaluation, a detailed analysis of radiation source was required. Conclusions The exposure assessment showed the necessity to delimit the area and/or to use dedicated warning signs so that non-exposed workers or the general public (for example, people accompanying patients) don’t have access to areas in which exposure limits are higher than the action levels. Finally, professional training is fundamental in preventing risks [1] .

To compare the analgesic effect of three treatments to relieve the pain produced by intramuscular injections (IMI) in term newborns, and to assess sex-linked differences in their response to pain.We studied 62 babies. Each baby received antibiotic IMIs for clinical aims. During each IMI, one of the following analgesic treatments was utilized: oral 33% glucose (OG), sensorial saturation (SS), or topic anesthetic cream (TAC). SS is a validated analgesic method, based on the combination of three stimulations (tactile, acoustic and gustative). During the IMI, pain level was assessed with the use of the DAN scale, a validated neonatal pain scale. All babies who received three distinct analgesic procedures for three distinct IMIs were enrolled. Mean pain scores of the three analgesic treatment groups were compared. We then compared mean pain scores of females vs males in the whole cohort and within each treatment group.The 95% Confidence Intervals of pain scores were 5.6-6.5 for TAC, 1.4-2.3 for OG and 0.6-1.2 for SS: when treated with TAC, babies' pain scores were significantly higher than with OG or SS (p0.0001); when treated with OG, babies' pain scores were higher than SS (p = 0.002). Females' mean pain score was significantly higher than males' mean pain score: (95% CI: 2.9-4.1 vs 2.0-3.1; p = 0.01). OG and SS produced significantly higher mean DAN scores in females than in males. Also in the TAC group females' mean DAN scores were higher than males, though this last difference was not statistically significant.This is the first study to show the effectiveness of nonpharmacologic analgesia in relieving IMI pain. It is also the first study to clearly show that the sex differences in pain perception are present since birth.

Advances in proteomic technology have enabled contaminant proteins to be identified from complex protein mixtures. The purity of two purified urinary gonadotrophin products, human menopausal gonadotrophin (u-HMG) and human FSH (u-hFSH), was compared with a preparation of recombinant human FSH (r-hFSH). After separation by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), western blot analysis showed that the recombinant preparation contained only FSH, whereas the urine-derived preparations exhibited several non-FSH or LH-related bands. These urinary components were further investigated by a proteomic approach using two-dimensional SDS-PAGE followed by mass spectrometric identification. The proteomic approach detected a total of 23 non-gonadotrophin-related proteins, at variable levels in different batches of the urine-derived preparations. Of these, 16 co-purified proteins have not been previously reported to be present in urine-derived gonadotrophins. These results indicate that the process used to purify urinary gonadotrophins may not remove all non-gonadotrophin proteins. By using a comprehensive proteomic approach, it has been shown that the recombinant FSH preparation has greater purity than either of the urine-derived preparations.

The relatively new technique of fluidized bed assisted abrasive jet machining (FB-AJM) is applied to finishing the inner surfaces of tubular Inconel 718 components. The effects of abrasive size, jet pressure, and machining cycle were evaluated, and the behavior of abrasive cutting edges acting against the surface during the process to remove material is accounted for. The finished surface was found to be highly dependent on jet pressure because it affects the abrasive contact against the surface as well as the finishing force acting on the abrasive, on the abrasive grain size, which controls the depth of cut, and on machining cycle, which controls the interaction time between the abrasives and the surface being finished. By altering these conditions, this process achieves surface roughness (Ra) as fine as 0.1μm and imparts minimal additional residual stress on the surface. This study also reveals the mechanisms that determine the smoothing of the inner surface of Inconel 718 tubes and improve the form accuracy, i.e., the internal roundness of the Inconel 718 tube.

The revolutionary development of biotechnology-derived therapeutic proteins has provided the expected improvements in quality, purity and consistency, as demonstrated in recombinant human FSH (rhFSH). However, the development of urine-derived gonadotrophins has not always shown comparable improvements. More recently, highly purified urine-derived FSH (uFSH-HP) products have become widely available. The relative purity, level of urine-derived contaminants, and consistency of one such highly purified human uFSH (uhFSH) (urofollitropin) has been assessed and directly compared with rhFSH (follitropin alpha). It has been demonstrated that the highly purified urofollitropin contains variable levels of urine-derived contaminant proteins and demonstrates a variable level of FSH purity, FSH isoforms, and delivered dose. These variable factors may contribute to the control of ovarian stimulation. The relative purity, variable consistency and the presence of contaminants indicates that the urofollitropin is, at best, a partially purified uFSH that is not able to meet the quality attributes of follitropin alpha (rhFSH).

In a multi-service IP network, it is a key challenge to provide QoS to end-user applications while effectively using network resources. Traffic Engineering support in MPLS networks allows operators to carry traffic with strict QoS requirements by means of advanced network capabilities, such as resource reservation, fault-tolerance and optimization of transmission resources. To deliver a reliable service, MPLS exploits a set of procedures that protect the traffic flows carried on different paths. Therefore, Label Switching Routers have to support mechanisms for fault detection, notification and recovery, whereas MPLS has to enable the configuration of different recovery techniques. In this paper, we present the design and the development of some software modules for the simulation of different MPLS-based recovery strategies in the discrete event simulator NS2. Moreover, the paper discusses some simulation results that show a performance comparison between path protection and path restoration strategies in a simulation scenario matching the Geant network.

The major goal of traffic engineering (TE) is to enable efficient and reliable network operations while optimizing resource utilization and network performance. Extensions to interior gateway protocols (IGPs) are necessary since further information, such as link status and administrative policies, must be distributed among routers. The paper discusses the design and development, for the Network Simulator 2 (NS2), of a new software module to support both the CSPF algorithm and TE extensions to OSPF. This module enhances NS2 with new fundamental functionalities, such as dynamically rerouting label switched paths (LSPs), taking into account TE metrics. Finally, to assess the OSPF-TE module, we show the results of some simulations performed to evaluate the recovery time in MPLS networks.

In this work, NiSi SALICIDE has been fully integrated with sub-50 nm gate length transistors and compared to its CoSi/sub 2/ counterpart. Nickel thickness has been reduced to target the CoSi/sub 2/ sheet resistance. It was found that NiSi layers basic lattice planes with vertical orientation are often observed inside the grains. NiSi-based CMOS transistors show the same performance as CoSi2-transistors, but nickel can also silicide very narrow poly lines whereas cobalt can not. Moreover, NiSi reduces the STI diode-leakage perimeter, but increases channel side leakage, where CoSi/sub 2/ shows a "Schottky behavior". Thus we show that nickel allow MOS transistor scaling for future technology.

This work highlights a 65 nm CMOS technology platform for low power and general-purpose applications. A 6-T SRAM cell size of 0.69 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ with a 45 nm gate length is demonstrated. Electrical data of functional SRAM bit-cell is presented at V/sub dd/=0.9 Volt using a conventional nitrided gate oxide dielectric. A comparison between offset spacer and PLAsma Doping (PLAD) is made for the transistor characteristics with very promising V/sub th/-L/sub d/ and V/sub th/-W/sub d/ profiles measured. Lithography employed a combination of both optical lithography and e-beam imaging. The BEOL integration used a conventional low K dielectric with copper metallization.

A 65nm CMOS platform employing General Purpose (GP) and Low Power (LP) devices and 0.5 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ 6T-SRAM bit-cells was developed using both conventional design and low cost CMOS process flow incorporating a strained silicon solution. Fully working 0.5 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ bit-cells with 240mV of SNM and 35 /spl mu/A of cell current at 1.2V operation were obtained. The GP transistor drive currents of 875 /spl mu/A/ /spl mu/m and 400 /spl mu/A/ /spl mu/m for NMOS and PMOS respectively are obtained at V/sub dd/ = 1V, Ioff = 100nA/um. Using the same CMOS flow, 65nm analog transistor parameters are derived for the first time, showing Vt matching (Avt=2.2mV. /spl mu/m) and analog voltage gain factor (G/sub m//G/sub d/>2000 for L = 10 /spl mu/m) at the leading edge for this process technology. NBTI criteria at 125/spl deg/C for both LP and GP transistors are presented and characterized at overdrive conditions.

Hepatic iron toxicity because of iron overload seems to be mediated by lipid peroxidation of biological membranes and the associated organelle dysfunctions. However, the basic mechanisms underlying this process in vivo are still little understood. Gerbils were dosed with weekly injections of iron-dextran alone or in combination with sylibin, a well-known antioxidant, by gavage for 8 weeks. A strict correlation was found between lipid peroxidation and the level of desferrioxamine chelatable iron pool. A consequent derangement in the mitochondrial energy-transducing capability, resulting from a reduction in the respiratory chain enzyme activities, occurred. These irreversible oxidative anomalies brought about a dramatic drop in tissue ATP level. The mitochondrial oxidative derangement was associated with the development of fibrosis in the hepatic tissue. Silybin administration significantly reduced both functional anomalies and the fibrotic process by chelating desferrioxamine chelatable iron.

Once more, the authors are confronted with the difficult interpretation of senological images. When reviewing the radiologic features of a series including the symptomatic, the asymptomatic and the male breasts, the goal is to relate the patterns to clinical and histologic findings in order to improve the perception of the radiologist himself in transferring and integrating the information. The final conclusions, after reviewing the images, are: a) for the correct interpretation of senological images, the sign must be correlated with clinical findings and with data from other modalities; b) the radiologist's attitude must be always investigative and never exhaustive, due to the variability of all factors, which sometimes make a judgement of "radiological tranquility" in the breast impossible; c) the radiologist must, nowadays, improve his perception of senological images, thus becoming the one who knows how to correlate clinics to the images. By increasing his perception, his interpretation capabilities will certainly increase too.

Received 31 May 1974 1. Introduction Attempts to resolve the molecular system for the transport of Ca ‘+ across the mitochondrial membrane have led to the isolation of a glycoprotein with high affinity for Ca’+ [l-3 1. The glycoprotein appears to be associated with the mitochondrial membranes with various degrees of tightness. Part of it is easily solubil- ized into aqueous media by mild hypotonic shocks applied to mitochondria, part of it requires treatment with the glycoprotein-specific chaotropic agent lithium-di-jodosalycilate (LIS) [4]. The chemical and functional properties of the osmotic and LIS-protein are very similar, but one possible explanation for their different dissociability from the membrane environment is their different phospholipid content. The functional properties of the isolated glyco- protein (e.g., affinity for Ca’+, sensitivity to inhibitors, absence from Ca-negative mitochondria, etc.) are closely related to those of the high-affinity Ca2+ binding sites, and of the energy-linked transport of Ca2+, of intact mitochondria. The participation of the glycoprotein in the process of Ca2+ translocation in intact mitochondria seems thus a likely possibility. Whether the glycoprotein acts as a mobile carrier which translocates Ca2+ across the apolar region of the membrane, or whether it forms a tixed, Ca2+-specific tunnel across the entire width of the membrane, is open to question. The highly polar character of the glycoprotein is not per se a sufficient reason to exclude the mobile carrier mechanism: the solubil- ization of highly polar proteins like cytochrome c, or rhodopsin, into apolar solvents has recently been achieved [ $61 and has been shown to depend on the

Hysterography and hysteroscopy have been compared in the diagnosis of endouterine benign pathology, in a group of 50 patients, complaining meno-metrorrhagia, sterility, infertility or amenorrhea. Hysterography resulted more sensible (95.3%), but less specific (86.3%) than hysteroscopy (88.8% and 95.6%).

The possible functional significance of the close relation between structural and metabolic steady-states of isolated rat liver mitochondria, has been investigated by analysing the metabolic consequences of a primary block of the structural modifications. The structural changes have been blocked by means of factors acting primarily on the structure and the block was evaluated by electron microscope and angular light scattering measurements. Evidence has been obtained that: (a) the phosphorylative capacity of isolated mitochondria is not modified by conditions that completely abolish the structural changes; therefore, the configurational changes do not constitute as such a mechano-chemical mechanism for energy conservation and transformation. (b) The block of the structural changes is closely associated with the impairment of respiratory control: in fact there appears to be a close relation between the capacity of mitochondria to vary their structure and the ability to vary the respiratory rate, both being a function of ADP concentration.

This study investigated the extent of impairment in functional parameters of liver mitochondria from rats treated for 60 days with hexachlorobenzene (HCB). A constant amount of mitochondrial uncoupling was found throughout the treatment period. At the same time a nearly constant amount of pentachlorophenol was detected in these mitochondria. In contrast, the level of mitochondrial porphyrins increased progressively. There was good correlation between the concentration of mitochondrial pentachlorophenol and the degree of uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation.

This study investigated impairment of oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria isolated from the liver of hexachlorobenzene (HCB)-treated rats. Partial and reversible uncoupling of the phosphorylative process was found in liver mitochondria from rats dosed with HCB for 60 days. Pentachlorophenol, endogenously formed by HCB metabolism, was detected in the mitochondria at a concentration of 0.3-0.4 nmol/mg protein. Based on the effect of pentachlorophenol, added in vitro at a concentration similar to that found in vivo, it was concluded that the uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation under these experimental conditions was almost completely due to the presence of pentachlorophenol.