ALBERT

Notes: Abstract A European project started at the end of 1992, in which, in addition to current methods, trained sensory panels were used to investigate office buildings all over Europe. The main aim of this EC-Audit was to develop assessment procedures and guidance on ventilation and source control, to help optimize energy use in buildings while assuring good indoor air quality.In each of nine countries, six or more office buildings were selected. Measurements were performed at five selected locations in each building. The buildings were studied while normally occupied and ventilated to identify the pollution sources in the spaces and to quantify the total pollution load caused by the occupants and their activities, as well as the ventilation systems. The investigation included physical and chemical measurements, assessment of the perceived air quality in the spaces by a trained sensory panel, and measurement of the outdoor air supply to the spaces. A questionnaire for evaluating retrospective and immediate symptoms and perceptions was given to the occupants of the buildings. The building characteristics were described by use of a check-list. The annual energy consumption of the buildings and the weather conditions were registered.This paper presents results and conclusions of the audit in 56 buildings in Europe. However, the analysis and discussions of the results are a summary of the work done, and are focused mainly on comparison between sensory assessments and the other measurements performed.Furthermore, this paper brings the results of the study based on a two-factor analysis. A paper dealing with results on a multifactorial analysis is in preparation.

Notes: [Auszug] The present study shows that, in a diurnal butterfly (Heliconius erato), such a mechanism in the transmission system to the photoreceptors selectively enhances the stimulating effect of light within a certain wavelength region, of which the hue represents the releasing factor for a well described ...

Notes: Abstract The area studied is part of the “Ried Central” of the Ill river (Middle Alsatian plain in northeastern France). This area is located mainly in the present floodplain of the Ill. The closeness of the water table to the surface results in quasi general soil hydromorphism. The economic constraints of the last two decades led to deep changes in agricultural activities in the study area. These have essentially involved a marked extension of intensive cultivation of grain corn at the expense of grasslands. The study of the influence of this change on the parallel increase in the concentration of nitrate in groundwater is only feasible when a multidisciplinary approach is adopted. The analyses carried out in the field and in the laboratory show that nitrate reduction occurs in gleyed or peaty horizons of hydromorphic soils. The aptitude and efficiency of the permanent ambient vegetation (alluvial forests and grasslands) in retaining nitrate must be emphasized. The amount of nitrate eliminated from the aquifer by rivers fed by this aquifer is considerable. This evacuation of nitrate into the Ill is a fine example of waste and illustrates the absurdity of the economic situation responsible for excessive nitrogen fertilization of farmlands. In determining hazard zones, this study also proposes practical solutions to the problem of nitrate pollution: diminution of land area under cultivation, reintroduction of grasslands, and a more judicious use of nitrogen manure.

Notes: Summary The corneas of some nocturnal Lepidoptera carry an array of surface protuberances (nipples), about 200 mμ high, that acts as an impedance transformer equalizing by gradual transition the refractive index of air to that of the cornea. A screening of the insect class has been carried out in the present study with respect to the variation in corneal topography seen in previous obsarvations. 361 species in most insect orders were prepared for EM by thin sectioning or platinum replication. Using the amplitude of the surface protuberances as parameter, a grouping of the cornea types was made on the basis of the well-defined variation of nipple heights observed between individuals of certain species. Thus, the corneas of one extreme group were either smooth (Fig. 4A) or possessed protrusions (Fig. 4B and C) less than about 50 mμ high, arranged either irregularly or in a regular, hexagonal array (group I). At the other extreme, there was a group with “full-sized” nipples (Figs. 1 and 3) ranging in amplitude around 250 mμ (group III). An intermediate group of nipple heights (group II) comprised corneas with “low-sized” nipples (Fig. 6) between 50 and about 200 mμ high. Regularity in the arrangement of the various types of protuberances was observed both in groups I and II (compare Figs. 4C and 8). Irregularity tended to be associated with low amplitudes (e.g. Fig. 4B), being found only in group I corneas. Full-sized nipples (group III corneas) were found only among the anagenetically highest orders, Trichoptera and Lepidoptera (Tables 3 and 4), which, however, also had corneas with low protrusions (group I) and low-sized nipples (group II). In one of the two mecopteroid orders, Diptera (Table 2), protrusions and low-sized nipples were found (the latter only in Culicomorpha). The corneas of all other orders (Table 1) had only group I corneas with one noteworthy exception, Thysanura, the most primitive order investigated. All four thysanuran species examined had corneas with low-sized nipples (Fig. 8), thus belonging to group II. The morphological findings demonstrated in the present study can be taken to illustrate the following trends. 1.a)The higher relative number of group II and III corneas (low- and full-sized nipples) in the anagenetieally highest orders and the exclusive occurrence of group III corneas in the most advanced orders, Trichoptera and Lepidoptera, may indicate a progressive development of nipples during phylogenesis. Thus, the full-sized nipples may represent an apomorphous condition. Parallelisms — leading to the appearance of low- and full-sized nipples — may have occurred several times during insect phylogenetic development, thus possibly reflecting an evolutionary potential (with or without a selective pressure for this character). b)Low-sized nipples were found in the most primitive insect order, Thysanura. This circumstance may point to regression from full-sized nipples that were present in an ancestor common to all insects. In such a case, the full-sized nipples in Trichoptera and Lepidoptera are to be considered plesiomorphous. At present nothing supports conclusively a preference for one of these two alternatives. 2.Among the Lepidoptera, a greater relative number of butterflies than moths lack full-sized nipples. This may be taken to indicate a regression of nipples in the day-flying group of insects in comparison with their possible moth-like, nocturnal ancestors. That in many species there are low-sized nipples (the regression thus being incomplete) may indicate that a function of the nipples in ranges of shorter wavelengths has brought about an arrest of the regression at lower amplitudes.

Notes: Abstract Purpose. The goal of this study was to quantify the transdermally absorbed amounts of the sunscreens octyl dimethyl p-aminobenzoic acid, oxybenzone, 4-isopropyl-dibenzoylmethane, 3-(4-methylben-zylidene)-camphor, isoamyl-4-methoxycinnamate, the repellent and plasticizer dibutyl phthalate, the antioxidant 3.5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxyanisol, and the antimicrobial compounds butyl-4-hydroxybenzoate, biphenyl-2-ol, and 2,4,4′-tri-chlor-2′-hydroxydiphenylether (tri-closane). Permeabilities P B and maximum fluxes J max should be correlated with relevant physicochemical properties. Methods. Saturated solutions of the above-mentioned compounds in a propylene glycol/water mixture were applied to the skin using glass chambers which were fixed to the upper arms of volunteers. Maximum fluxes were calculated from concentration decreases in the vehicle. Results. A linear relationship between the logarithms of permeabilities P B of the penetrants (0.02–0.28 cm h−l) and the corresponding octanol/vehicle partition coefficients PC Oct/v (166–186,208) was found. Consequently, the influence of aqueous boundary layers could be neglected. However, the slope of the resulting straight line of 0.38 is considerably smaller than unity indicating that PC Oct/v does not represent the lipophilicity of the stratum corneum adequately. Maximum fluxes range from 0.5 to 130 µg cm−2 h−1. A general equation for the calculation of J max was derived based on experimental data taking into account the PC Oct/v and the solubilities c sV of the respective penetrants in the vehicle.

Notes: Abstract Purpose. The subject of the study was the influence of hydrodynamic stress on the drug release from direct compressed hydrocolloid embeddings. Additionally a correlation between the release kinetics and different polymer characterising parameters was attempted. Methods. The drug release was fitted to an expanded Korsmeyer equation to describe the release kinetics. The influence of the stirring rate of the paddle in the USP paddle apparatus on the Mean Dissolution Time (MDT) was expressed as quotient of the MDT's at the stirring rate of 200 and 100 min−1. Results. If the drug release followed the square root of time kinetics, nearly no effect of the agitation speed on the release rate was observed. To achieve this diffusion controlled drug release the developing gel layer had to be hydrated very well and resistant against erosion (viscosity of at least 4000 mPa · s of the 2% polymer solution and a small expansion of the swelling gel especially at the beginning of the release). The erosion controlled zero order release was generally much affected by the hydrodynamic stress except for some hydrocolloids with incomplete swelling. Thus, it was possible to define a new release mechanism, the polymer particle erosion. The drug release was controlled by the attrition of partially swollen polymer particles and not by the polymer dissolution or drug diffusion. Conclusions. Polymer particle erosion or diffusion control should be the release controlling mechanisms for negligible influence of hydrodynamic stress.

Notes: Abstract The transport, magnetic and thermodynamic properties of RuSr 2 GdCu 2 O 8 and related compounds are reviewed. These indicate uniform coexistence of superconductivity (T c =46K) and ferromagnetism (T M =132K) in which the former arises in the CuO 2 planes and the latter in the RuO 2 planes. The earliest data indicated a typical underdoped cuprate with local Ru moment ferromagnetism, the absence of pairbreaking and transport properties dominated by the CuO 2 planes. However, recent results suggest a more complex scenario of itinerant ferromagnetism and exchange coupling between the CuO 2 and RuO 2 layers.

Notes: Abstract We show from muon spin relaxation (μSR) studies on mercury HTS superconductors that a 50-fold increase in irreversibility field obtained by partial substitution of Re for Hg is due to metallisation of the Hg/Re layer. Induced superconductivity on this metallic layer doubles the overall superfluid density. This suggests a new approach to the design of high performance HTS materials: metallising one of the non-CuO2 interlayers and thereby greatly enhancing the superconducting properties.

Notes: Abstract We report transverse-field muon-spin-rotation experiments carried out on Tl2Ba2CuO6+δ . This system spans the whole overdoped regime, andT c is reduced by excess oxygen doping, which increases the normal-state carrier concentration. In the heavily overdoped regimeσ(0) is found to scale linearly with the superconducting critical temperatureT c , similar to the behavior previously observed for other cuprates in the underdoped regime. However, for the overdoped region one has to explain the reduction ofσ 0, thus the increase of the magnetic penetration depthλ, in spite of an increasing normal-state carrier concentration. We discuss some possible explanations for this behavior.

Notes: Abstract We present an extensive study on the parallel reduction of Tc and the condensate density in ceramic YBCO samples, upon substitution of Cu by Zn. Strong evidence is collected in support of non magnetic pair breaking in a d‐wave pairing state.