Full Bridge MMC Converter Optimal Design to HVDC Operational Requirements

This project is funded by RTE, Paris, France

Requirements for heme and thiols for the nonenzymatic modification of nitrotyrosine

Peroxynitrite-dependent formation of nitrotyrosine has been associated with inactivation of various enzymes and proteins possessing functionally important tyrosines. We have previously reported an enzymatic activity modifying the nitrotyrosine residues in nitrated proteins. Here we are describing a nonenzymatic reduction of nitrotyrosine to aminotyrosine, which depends on heme and thiols. Various heme-containing proteins can mediate the reaction, although the reaction also is catalyzed by heme. The reaction is most effective when vicinal thiols are used as reducing agents, although ascorbic acid also can replace thiols with lesser efficiency. The reaction could be inhibited by (z)-1-[2-(2-aminoethyl)-N-(2-ammonioethyl)amino]diazen-1-ium-1, but not other tested NO donors. HPLC with electrochemical detection analysis of the reaction identified aminotyrosine as the only reaction product. The reduction of nitrotyrosine was most effective at a pH close to physiological and was markedly decreased in acidic conditions. Various nitrophenol compounds also were modified in this reaction. Understanding the mechanism of this reaction could help define the enzymatic modification of nitrotyrosine-containing proteins. Furthermore, this also could assist in understanding the role of nitrotyrosine formation and reversal in the regulation of various proteins containing nitrotyrosine. It also could help define the role of nitric oxide and other reactive species in various disease states.

Cis-acting requirements in flanking DNA for the programmed elimination of mse2.9: a common mechanism for deletion of internal eliminated sequences from the developing macronucleus of Tetrahymena thermophila

During macronuclear development in the ciliated protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila, extensive DNA deletions occur, eliminating thousands of internal eliminated sequences (IESs). Using an rDNA-based transformation assay we have analyzed the role during DNA deletion of DNA flanking mse2.9, an IES within the second intron of a gene encoding an as yet incompletely characterized protein. We establish that a cis-acting sequence for mse2.9 deletion acts at a distance to specify deletion boundaries. A complex sequence element necessary for efficient and accurate mse2.9 deletion is located in the region 47–81 bp from the right side of mse2.9. The ability of a variety of IES flanking sequences to rescue a processing deficient mse2.9 construct indicates that some cis-acting signal is shared among different IESs. In addition, the short intronic sequence that flanks mse2.9 is able to direct efficient and accurate processing. Despite no obvious sequence similarity between mse2.9 and other IESs, we suggest that a common mechanism is used to delete different families of IESs in Tetrahymena.

International evaluation of current and future requirements for environmental engineering education

The field of environmental engineering is developing as a result of changing environmental requirements. In response, environmental engineering education (E3) needs to ensure that it provides students with the necessary tools to address these challenges. In this paper the current status and future development of E3 is evaluated based on a questionnaire sent to universities and potential employers of E3 graduates. With increasing demands on environmental quality, the complexity of environmental engineering problems to be solved can be expected to increase. To find solutions environmental engineers will need to work in interdisciplinary teams. Based on the questionnaire there was a broad agreement that the best way to prepare students for these future challenges is to provide them with a fundamental education in basic sciences and related engineering fields. Many exciting developments in the environmental engineering profession will be located at the interface between engineering, science, and society. Aspects of all three areas need to be included in E3 and the student needs to be exposed to the tensions associated with linking the three.

Investigating information requirements for evaluating effectiveness of marine protected areas - Indonesian case studies

Identifying the information needs of managers and other stakeholders is an important first step in designing an evaluation of management effectiveness for marine protected areas (MPAs) that will be relevant to local circumstances and useful for improving management practices. Information requirements for evaluating effectiveness were investigated at two MPAs in Indonesia. Results show that, despite similar management objectives, information needs for evaluation differ between sites and those differences reflect the unique context within which management operates in each case. The scope of information needs at each site covers a broad range of issues including context, planning, resources, processes, outputs, and outcomes. Relevant components of a variety of different evaluation tools will need to be used to satisfy information needs at these sites. Evaluation tools that are based primarily on stated management objectives or the expressed views of a few key stakeholders are unlikely to be very useful for improving management in these cases.

Higher-order CpG-DNA stimulation reveals distinct activation requirements for marginal zone and follicular B cells in lupus mice

Mouse follicular B cells express TLR9 and respond vigorously to stimulation with single-stranded CpG-oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN). Surprisingly, follicular B cells do not respond to direct stimulation with other TLR9 ligands, such as bacterial DNA or class A(D) CpG-ODN capable of forming higher-order structures, unless other cell types are present. Here, we show that priming with interferons or with B cell-activating factor, or simultaneous co-engagement of the B cell receptor for antigen (BCR), can overcome this unresponsiveness. The effect of interferons occurs at the transcriptional level and is mediated through an autocrine/paracrine loop, which is dependent on IRF-1, IL-6 and IL-12 p40. We hypothesize that the lack of bystander activation of follicular B cells with more complex CpG ligands may be an important safety mechanism for avoiding autoimmunity. This will prevent resting B cells from responding to foreign or self-derived hypomethylated double-stranded CpG ligands unless these ligands are either delivered through the B cell receptor or under conditions where B cells are simultaneously co-engaged by activated plasmacytoid dendritic cells or TH1 cells. A corollary is that the heightened responsiveness of lupus B cells to TLR9-induced stimulation cannot be ascribed to unprimed follicular B cells, but is rather mediated by hypersensitive marginal zone B cells.

Carotenoid content of pandanus fruit cultivars and other foods of the Republic of Kiribati

Background: Kiribati, a remote atoll island country of the Pacific, has serious problems of vitamin A deficiency (VAD). Thus, it is important to identify locally grown acceptable foods that might be promoted to alleviate this problem. Pandanus fruit (Pandanus tectorius) is a well-liked indigenous Kiribati food with many cultivars that have orange/yellow flesh, indicative of carotenoid content. Few have been previously analysed. Aim: This study was conducted to identify cultivars of pandanus and other foods that could be promoted to alleviate VAD in Kiribati. Method: Ethnography was used to select foods and assess acceptability factors. Pandanus and other foods were analysed for beta- and alpha-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin, lycopene and total carotenoids using high-performance liquid chromatography. Results: Of the nine pandanus cultivars investigated there was a great range of provitamin A carotenoid levels (from 62 to 19 086 mu g beta-carotene/100 g), generally with higher levels in those more deeply coloured. Seven pandanus cultivars, one giant swamp taro (Cyrtosperma chamissonis) cultivar and native fig (Ficus tinctoria) had significant provitamin A carotenoid content, meeting all or half of estimated daily vitamin A requirements within normal consumption patterns. Analyses in different laboratories confirmed high carotenoid levels in pandanus but showed that there are still questions as to how high the levels might be, owing to variation arising from different handling/preparation/analytical techniques. Conclusions: These carotenoid-rich acceptable foods should be promoted for alleviating VAD in Kiribati and possibly other Pacific contexts where these foods are important. Further research in the Pacific is needed to identify additional indigenous foods with potential health benefits.

Ecological studies on:(a) the use of colonisation samplers in relation to biological surveillance of river water quality (b) the requirements of freshwater gastropoda

Some of the factors affecting colonisation of a colonisation sampler, the Standard Aufwuchs Unit (S. Auf. U.) were investigated, namely immersion period, whether anchored on the bottom or suspended, and the influence of riffles. It was concluded that a four-week immersion period was best. S. Auf. U. anchored on the bottom collected both more taxa and individuals than suspended ones. Fewer taxa but more individuals colonised S. Auf. U. in the potamon zone compared to the rhithron zone with a consequent reduction in the values of pollution indexes and diversity. It was concluded that a completely different scoring system was necessary for lowland rivers. Macroinvertebrates colonising S. Auf. U. in simulated streams, lowland rivers and the R. Churnet reflected water quality. A variety of pollution and diversity indexes were applied to results from lowland river sites. Instead of these, it was recommended that an abbreviated species - relative abundance list be used to summarise biological data for use in lowland river surveillance. An intensive study of gastropod populations was made in simulated streams. Lynnaea peregra increased in abundance whereas Potamopyrgas jenkinsi decreased with increasing sewage effluent concentration. No clear-cut differences in reproduction were observed. The presence/absence of eight gastropod taxa was compared with concentrations of various pollutants in lowland rivers. On the basis of all field work it appeared that ammonia, nitrite, copper and zinc were the toxicants most likely to be detrimental to gastropods and that P. jenkinsi and Theodoxus fluviatilis were the least tolerant taxa. 96h acute toxicity tests of P. jenkinsi using ammonia and copper were carried out in a flow-through system after a variety of static range finding tests. P. jenkinsi was intolerant to both toxicants compared to reports on other taxa and the results suggested that these toxicants would affect distribution of this species in the field.

House building productivity : a study of labour requirements on Scottish house building sites using activity sampling methods

This study is concerned with labour productivity in traditional house building in Scotland. Productivity is a measure of the effective use of resources and provides vital benefits that can be combined in a number of ways. The introduction gives the background to two Scottish house building sites (Blantyre and Greenfield) that were surveyed by the Building Research Establishment (BEE) activity sampling method to provide the data for the study. The study had two main objectives; (1) summary data analysis in average manhours per house between all the houses on the site, and (2) detailed data analysis in average manhours for each house block on the site. The introduction also provides a literature review related to the objectives. The method is outlined in Chapter 2, the sites are discussed in Chapter 3, and Chapter 4 covers the method application on each site and a method development made in the study. The summary data analysis (Chapter 5) compares Blantyre and Greenfield, and two previous BEE surveys in England. The main detailed data analysis consisted of three forms, (Chapters 6, 7 and 8) each applied to a set of operations. The three forms of analysis were variations in average manhours per house for each house block on the site compared with; (1) block construction order, (2) average number of separate visits per house made by operatives to each block to complete an operation, and (3) average number of different operatives per house employed on an operation in each block. Three miscellaneous items of detail data analysis are discussed in Chapter 9. The conclusions to the whole study state that considerable variations in manhours for repeated operations were discovered, that the numbers of visits by operatives to complete operations were large and that the numbers of different operatives employed in some operations were a factor related to productivity. A critique of the activity sampling method suggests that the data produced is reliable in summary form and can give a good context for more detailed data collection. For future work, this could take the form of selected operations, with the context of an activity sampling survey, that wuld be intensively surveyed by other methods.

Competence requirements for managing supply in interorganizational networks

The authors address the growing call for research into the management of supply networks serving the public sector. Building on prior action research, this empirical paper focuses on the management of supply in interorganizational, health sector networks identifying the competence requirements (skills, knowledge, traits, and behavioural indicators) associated with effective team performance. Drawing on empirical data, the authors present a competence framework that aims to capture a team’s tacit understanding of strategic supply management. Competence indicators are organized into six themes: network understanding; developing network position; relationship management; learning, knowledge and knowledge management; strategy formulation; strategy implementation. Finally, the relevance of the framework to boundary spanning personnel outside the purchasing function and to other organizations is considered.

Vezetőkkel szemben támasztott munkaerő-piaci kompetenciaelvárások a Heti Világgazdaság és a The Economist álláshirdetéseinek elemzése alapján (Job market competency requirements for managers on the basis of the analysis of job advertisements in the Heti Világgazdaság and The Economist)

A szervezet dolgozói között kiemelt fontosságúak a vezetők, hiszen döntéseikkel, működésükkel a szervezet életét közvetlenül, és sokszor hosszú távra befolyásolják. Annak a vállalatnak, mely megtartani, növelni szeretné piaci pozícióját, különös hangsúlyt kell fektetnie vezetőinek kiválasztására, a későbbiekben pedig fejlesztésére. A szerző cikkében azt mutatja be, hogy a közgazdászképzettséggel rendelkező vezetők iránti munkaerő-piaci kereslet (a HVG-hirdetések elemzése alapján) milyen minőségi jellemzőket mutatott 2000–2009 között. A szerző részletesen ismerteti az eredményeket, melyek értelmezéséhez a Spencer és munkatársai által kidolgozott kompetenciamodell saját továbbfejlesztett változatát használja fel. Kitekintés céljával a magyar eredmények mellett bemutatja, hogy egy más gazdasági struktúrával, kultúrával rendelkező országban hogyan alakultak a vezetőkkel szemben támasztott kompetencia-elvárások. Az eredmények – melyeket más hazai felmérések is alátámasztanak – azt tükrözik, hogy a magyar vezetőkkel szemben támasztott munkaerő-piaci kompetencia-elvárások eltérnek a szakmai várakozásoktól és élesen eltérő képet mutatnak a The Economist hirdetéselemzésének eredményétől. _________ The thesis that the most important factor which determines the competitiveness of future companies is the quality of human resources has received increasingly more emphasis in the literature on management. The managers of organizations have a key role since they can directly influence the life of the organization by their decisions and work, often for a long term. Therefore, a company which intends to maintain or improve its market position should place special emphasis on the selection, and later on the development of its managers. In the present paper the author presents the characteristic features of job market demand for managers with qualifications in economics between 2000 and 2009 (on the basis of the analysis of job advertisements published in the economic weekly paper Heti Világgazdaság). The author gives a detailed analysis of the results using the competence model developed by Spencer et al. and further developed by the author. In addition to the Hungarian results, the paper also provides an overview of how managers are selected in a country with a different economic structure and culture. The results – also supported by other surveys conducted in Hungary – demonstrate that the competence expectations of the job market for Hungarian managers fail to meet professional expectations; the picture is sharply different from what the analysis of job advertisements published in The Economist show, and the competence expectation changed very little, though quite strikingly, over the period under discussion.

An investigation into equations for estimating water requirements and the development of new equations for predicting total water intake

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate agreement among five equations by which clinicians estimate water requirements (EWR) and to determine how well these equations predict total water intake (TWI). The Institute of Medicine has used TWI as a measure of water requirements. A secondary goal of this study was to develop practical equations to predict TWI. These equations could then be considered accurate predictors of an individual’s water requirement. ^ Regressions were performed to determine agreement between the five equations and between the five equations and TWI using NHANES 1999–2004. The criteria for agreement was (1) strong correlation coefficients between all comparisons and (2) regression line that was not significantly different when compared to the line of equality (x=y) i.e., the 95% CI of the slope and intercept must include one and zero, respectively. Correlations were performed to determine association between fat-free mass (FFM) and TWI. Clinically significant variables were selected to build equations for predicting TWI. All analyses were performed with SAS software and were weighted to account for the complex survey design and for oversampling. ^ Results showed that the five EWR equations were strongly correlated but did not agree with each other. Further, the EWR equations were all weakly associated to TWI and lacked agreement with TWI. The strongest agreement between the NRC equation and TWI explained only 8.1% of the variability of TWI. Fat-free mass was positively correlated to TWI. Two models were created to predict TWI. Both models included the variables, race/ethnicity, kcals, age, and height, but one model also included FFM and gender. The other model included BMI and osmolality. Neither model accounted for more than 28% of the variability of TWI. These results provide evidence that estimates of water requirements would vary depending upon which EWR equation was selected by the clinician. None of the existing EWR equations predicted TWI, nor could a prediction equation be created which explained a satisfactory amount of variance in TWI. A good estimate of water requirements may not be predicted by TWI. Future research should focus on using more valid measures to predict water requirements.^