| 1. |
- Rusydi, A., et al.
(author)
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Metal-insulator transition in manganites: Changes in optical conductivity up to 22 eV
- 2008
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In: Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics. - 2469-9950 .- 2469-9969. ; 78:12, s. 125110 (art. no.)-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The electronic response of doped manganites at the transition from the paramagnetic insulating to the ferromagnetic metallic state in La(1-x)Ca(x)MnO(3) for x=0.3 and 0.2 was investigated by dc conductivity, ellipsometry, and vacuum ultraviolet reflectance for energies between 0 and 22 eV. A stabilized Kramers-Kronig transformation yields the optical conductivity and reveals changes in the optical spectral weight up to 22 eV at the metal-to-insulator transition. In the observed energy range, the spectral weight is conserved within 0.3%. The redistribution of spectral weight in this surprisingly broad energy range has important ramifications for the effective low-energy physics. We discuss the importance of the charge-transfer, Coulomb on-site, Jahn-Teller, and long-range Coulomb screening effects to the electronic structure.
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| 2. |
- Alonderis, A, et al.
(author)
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Medico-legal implications of sleep apnoea syndrome: Driving license regulations in Europe.
- 2008
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In: Sleep medicine. - : Elsevier BV. - 1389-9457 .- 1878-5506. ; 9:4, s. 362-75
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Sleep apnoea syndrome (SAS), one of the main medical causes of excessive daytime sleepiness, has been shown to be a risk factor for traffic accidents. Treating SAS results in a normalized rate of traffic accidents. As part of the COST Action B-26, we looked at driving license regulations, and especially at its medical aspects in the European region. METHODS: We obtained data from Transport Authorities in 25 countries (Austria, AT; Belgium, BE; Czech Republic, CZ; Denmark, DK; Estonia, EE; Finland, FI; France, FR; Germany, DE; Greece, GR; Hungary, HU; Ireland, IE; Italy, IT; Lithuania, LT; Luxembourg, LU; Malta, MT; Netherlands, NL; Norway, EC; Poland, PL; Portugal, PT; Slovakia, SK; Slovenia, SI; Spain, ES; Sweden, SE; Switzerland, CH; United Kingdom, UK). RESULTS: Driving license regulations date from 1997 onwards. Excessive daytime sleepiness is mentioned in nine, whereas sleep apnoea syndrome is mentioned in 10 countries. A patient with untreated sleep apnoea is always considered unfit to drive. To recover the driving capacity, seven countries rely on a physician's medical certificate based on symptom control and compliance with therapy, whereas in two countries it is up to the patient to decide (on his doctor's advice) to drive again. Only FR requires a normalized electroencephalography (EEG)-based Maintenance of Wakefulness Test for professional drivers. Rare conditions (e.g., narcolepsy) are considered a driving safety risk more frequently than sleep apnoea syndrome. CONCLUSION: Despite the available scientific evidence, most countries in Europe do not include sleep apnoea syndrome or excessive daytime sleepiness among the specific medical conditions to be considered when judging whether or not a person is fit to drive. A unified European Directive seems desirable.
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| 3. |
- Barthel, Roland, 1967, et al.
(author)
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An integrated modelling framework for simulating regional-scale actor responses to global change in the water domain
- 2008
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In: Environmental Modelling & Software. - : Elsevier BV. - 1364-8152. ; 23:9, s. 1095-1121
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Within coupled hydrological simulation systems, taking socio-economic processes into account is still a challenging task. In particular, systems that aim at evaluating impacts of climatic change on large spatial and temporal scales cannot be based on the assumption that infrastructure, economy, demography and other human factors remain constant while physical boundary conditions change. Therefore, any meaningful simulation of possible future scenarios needs to enable socio-economic systems to react and to adapt to climatic changes. To achieve this it is necessary to simulate decision-making processes of the relevant actors in a way which is adequate for the scale, the catchment specific management problems to be investigated and finally the data availability. This contribution presents the DEEPACTOR approach for representing such human decision processes, which makes use of a multi-actor simulation framework and has similarities to agent-based approaches. This DEEPACTOR approach is embedded in DANUBIA, a coupled simulation system comprising 16 individual models to simulate Global Change impacts on the entire water cycle of the Upper Danube Catchment (Germany, 77,000 km(2)). The applicability of DANUBIA and in particular the DEEPACTOR approach for treating the socio-economic part of the water cycle in a process-based way is demonstrated by means of concrete simulation models of the water supply sector and of the domestic water users. Results from scenario simulations are used to demonstrate the capabilities and limitations of the approach. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 4. |
- Nag, Amitabh, et al.
(author)
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First versus subsequent return-stroke current and field peaks in negative cloud-to-ground lightning discharges
- 2008
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In: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 113:D19, s. D19112-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We examine relative magnitudes of electric field peaks of first and subsequent return strokes in negative cloud-to-ground lightning flashes recorded in Florida, Austria, Brazil, and Sweden. On average, the electric field peak of the first stroke is appreciably, 1.7 to 2.4 times, larger than the field peak of the subsequent stroke ( except for studies in Austria where the ratio varies from 1.0 to 2.3, depending on methodology and instrumentation). Similar results were previously reported from electric field studies in Florida, Sweden, and Sri Lanka. For comparison, directly measured peak currents for first strokes are, on average, a factor of 2.3 to 2.5 larger than those for subsequent strokes. There are some discrepancies between first versus subsequent stroke intensities reported from different studies based on data reported by lightning locating systems (LLS). The ratio of LLS-reported peak currents for first and subsequent strokes confirmed by video records is 1.7 to 2.1 in Brazil, while in the United States ( Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, and the Great Plains) it varies from 1.1 to 1.6, depending on methodology used. The smaller ratios derived from the LLS studies are likely to be due to poor detection of relatively small subsequent strokes. The smaller values in Austria are possibly related ( at least in part) to the higher percentage ( about 50% versus 24-38% in other studies) of flashes with at least one subsequent stroke greater than the first. The effects of excluding single-stroke flashes or subsequent strokes in newly formed channels appear to be relatively small.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Ozsahin, Hulya, et al.
(author)
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Long-term outcome following hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation in Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome: collaborative study of the European Society for Immunodeficiencies and European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation.
- 2008
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In: Blood. - : American Society of Hematology. - 0006-4971 .- 1528-0020. ; 111:1, s. 439-45
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) is a rare X-linked immunodeficiency with microthrombocytopenia, eczema, recurrent infections, autoimmune disorders, and malignancies that are life-threatening in the majority of patients. In this long-term, retrospective, multicenter study, we analyzed events that occurred in 96 WAS patients who received transplants between 1979 and 2001 who survived at least 2 years following hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT). Events included chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD), autoimmunity, infections, and sequelae of before or after HSCT complications. Three patients (3%) died 2.1 to 21 years following HSCT. Overall 7-year event-free survival rate was 75%. It was lower in recipients of mismatched related donors, also in relation with an older age at HSCT and disease severity. The most striking finding was the observation of cGVHD-independent autoimmunity in 20% of patients strongly associated with a mixed/split chimerism status (P < .001), suggesting that residual-host lymphocytes can mediate autoimmune disease despite the coexistence of donor lymphocytes. Infectious complications (6%) related to splenectomy were also significant and may warrant a more restrictive approach to performing splenectomy in WAS patients. Overall, this study provides the basis for a prospective, standardized, and more in-depth detailed analysis of chimerism and events in long-term follow-up of WAS patients who receive transplants to design better-adapted therapeutic strategies.
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