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This paper describes current and ongoing activities associated with a COST initiative in the field of urban underground infrastructure. Part of this initiative is focused in the area of water distribution systems. The initiative is one of several COST Actions in the field ofurban civil engineering. Urban infrastructure associated with water distribution represents a significant part of a municipality's real capital. The maintenance of this capital will be given increasing emphasis in the future because of several factors; The magnitude of the capital asset and its strategic importance; The need to target investment in rehabilitation with asset deterioration. Increasingly stringent requirements for reliability and performance in the context of regulation and public expectations. This paper summarises the key findings and activities associated with the COST Action in a form which is relevant in the context of wider international cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose Intracerebral hemorrhage ( ICH) is a devastating cerebrovascular disorder with high morbidity and mortality. Minocycline is a matrix metalloproteinase-9 ( MMP-9) inhibitor that may attenuate secondary mechanisms of injury in ICH. The feasibility and safety of minocycline in ICH patients were evaluated in a pilot, double-blinded, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial. Methods Patients with acute onset (<12 h from symptom onset) ICH and small initial hematoma volume (<30 ml) were randomized to high-dose (10 mg/kg) intravenous minocycline or placebo. The outcome events included adverse events, change in serial National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score assessments, hematoma volume and MMP-9 measurements, 3-month functional outcome (modified Rankin score) and mortality. Results A total of 20 patients were randomized to minocycline ( n = 10) or placebo ( n = 10). The two groups did not differ in terms of baseline characteristics. No serious adverse events or complications were noted with minocycline infusion. The two groups did not differ in any of the clinical and radiological outcomes. Day 5 serum MMP-9 levels tended to be lower in the minocycline group (372 ± 216 ng/ml vs. 472 ± 235 ng/ml; P = 0.052). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that minocycline was associated with a 217.65 (95% confidence interval −425.21 to −10.10, P = 0.041) decrease in MMP-9 levels between days 1 and 5. Conclusions High-dose intravenous minocycline can be safely administered to patients with ICH. Larger randomized clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of minocycline and MMP-9 inhibition in ICH patients are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known on the role of neuronal structures for spatial navigation. Our goal was to examine how Parkinson's disease (PD) and cerebellar ataxia, as human lesion models of the basal ganglia and cerebellum, affect spatial navigation round a circular walking path, blindfolded. Twelve subjects with idiopathic PD (ON and OFF medication), eight subjects with cerebellar ataxia and a control group of 20 age-matched healthy subjects participated. All groups performed well when walking around the circle with eyes open. In the eyes-closed condition, control subjects overshot the outlined trajectory but returned to their initial position, thus walking a further distance with eyes closed than with eyes open. When OFF medication, PD subjects navigated a larger radius than controls with eyes closed. When ON levodopa, PD subjects walked a similar distance as controls but with even larger errors in endpoint. Surprisingly, cerebellar patients navigated the circular walking task in the eyes closed condition with even more accuracy (i.e. following the outlined circle) than control and PD subjects. We conclude that blindfolded navigation around a previously seen circle requires intact basal ganglia, but not cerebellar input., (Copyright © 2011 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Trophectoderm biopsy at the blastocyst stage is an emerging approach in preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). This study aimed to compare genotyping success and implantation rates in PGD cycles for beta-thalassaemia following biopsy at the cleavage versus the blastocyst stage, with transfer of blastocysts., Methods: This pilot study included 20 cycles: Group A: 10 cycles, day 3 blastomere biopsy, day 5 transfer; Group B: 10 cycles, day 5 trophectoderm biopsy, day 6 transfer. Standard-assisted reproduction and laser biopsy procedures were used. Biopsied cells were genotyped using real-time PCR multiplexed with fluorescent microsatellite analysis., Results: In Group A, 131 fertilized eggs developed to 101 embryos suitable for single blastomere biopsy; 76/101 blastomeres were diagnosed (75.2%), 30 unaffected blastocysts were transferred resulting in six pregnancies (eight fetal hearts, 26.7% implantation rate). In Group B, 128 fertilized eggs developed to 53 blastocysts for trophectoderm biopsy (four to five cells), with 50/53 blastocysts diagnosed (94.3%), 21 unaffected blastocysts transferred and 6 pregnancies initiated (10 fetal hearts, 47.6% implantation rate). Overall, nine pregnancies reached >10 weeks gestation and were confirmed unaffected by prenatal diagnosis, with 12 healthy babies born., Conclusions: This pilot study suggests that trophectoderm biopsy and blastocyst transfer may be more advantageous than cleavage stage biopsy with respect to outcome of PGD for monogenic diseases.

We report on a precision measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry in fixed target electron-electron (Møller) scattering: A(PV) = [-131 +/- 14(stat) +/- 10(syst)] x 10(-9), leading to the determination of the weak mixing angle sin2(thetaW(eff) = 0.2397 +/- 0.0010(stat) +/- 0.0008(syst), evaluated at Q2 = 0.026 GeV2. Combining this result with the measurements of sin2(thetaW(eff) at the Z0 pole, the running of the weak mixing angle is observed with over 6sigma significance. The measurement sets constraints on new physics effects at the TeV scale.

PGD is a well accepted reproductive choice for couples at genetic risk and involves the diagnosis and transfer of unaffected IVF embryos. PGD for monogenetic diseases is most commonly accomplished by the biopsy of one or two blastomeres from cleavage stage embryos, followed by PCR-based protocols. However, PCR-based DNA analysis of one or two cells is subject to several problems, including total PCR failure, or failure of one allele to amplify. Trophectoderm biopsy at the blastocyst stage enables the removal of more than two cells for diagnosis while being non-invasive to the inner cell mass which is destined for fetal development. The aim of this study was to develop a safe, reliable technique for the biopsy of trophectoderm cells from human blastocysts. This case report demonstrates that removal of trophectoderm cells prior to blastocyst transfer is compatible with implantation and development to term. Here we report successful PGD for beta-thalassaemia following trophectoderm cell biopsy from blastocysts and the birth of a healthy infant.

This paper estimates the financial incentive to control paratuberculosis on dairy farms by establishing the level of expenditure that would minimise the total cost of the disease (output losses plus control expenditure). Given the late onset of the clinical signs and the lack of treatments, control was focused on minimising the financial impact of paratuberculosis by adjusting the dairy cow replacement policy. The optimum replacement policies for disease-free herds and infected herds were compared by using dynamic programming. At the standard settings, the disease justified adjusting the culling policy; under constant bioeconomic assumptions, it reduced the expected annuity from milk production under the optimal replacement policy by about 10 per cent (27 pounds sterling per cow annually), a considerably lower figure than for other major endemic diseases that affect dairy cows in the uk. The effect was even less at lower milk prices, suggesting that there is at present little incentive for dairy farmers to put more resources into controlling the disease. However, the incentive could be increased if more information were available about how best to manage the disease under specific farm circumstances. Any effect that paratuberculosis may have on the future demand for milk and hence on milk prices would also be an important consideration.

We report a measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry in fixed target electron-electron (Møller) scattering: A(PV)=[-175+/-30(stat)+/-20(syst)] x 10(-9). This first direct observation of parity nonconservation in Møller scattering leads to a measurement of the electron's weak charge at low energy Q(e)(W)=-0.053+/-0.011. This is consistent with the standard model expectation at the current level of precision: sin((2)theta(W)(M(Z))((-)MS)=0.2293+/-0.0024(stat)+/-0.0016(syst)+/-0.0006(theory).

Over the past 30 years many cryopreservation procedures have been applied to oocytes, embryos, sperm, ovarian and testicular tissue. Over this time many, often specialized, terms have been developed for all aspects of these procedures. This can make it difficult for readers who are not familiar with the terminology or protocols to compare and evaluate different procedures. This paper describes the main cryopreservation procedures, the terminology associated with them, and briefly explains the underlying physical, chemical and biological processes. The aim is to help readers understand and interpret other papers on slow cooling, rapid cooling, ultrarapid cooling and vitrification.

A novel system of in vitro culture termed the 'glass oviduct' or 'GO' culture system is described. Mouse zygotes were cultured in pairs to the blastocyst stage in open-ended 1 microl glass capillaries. 'GO' culture supported the development of significantly more hatching or hatched blastocysts than did a standard microdroplet (10 zygotes per 20 microl) control culture (48.3 versus 3.3%, respectively). 'GO' bslastocysts contained significantly larger populations of cells (92+/-3 versus 75+/-3), and inner cell mass (25+/-1 versus 21+/-1) and trophectoderm (68+/-2 versus 53+/-3) subpopulations, compared with microdroplet-derived blastocysts. Before blastulation, 'GO'-derived morulae were found to contain significantly more cells than microdroplet-derived morulae (27+/-0.7 versus 14+/-0.5). After implantation, 'GO' blastocysts formed fetuses at a similar rate to microdroplet-derived blastocysts (55 versus 62%), but at a lower rate than blastocysts derived in vivo (80%). 'GO'- and microdroplet-derived fetuses were similar in wet weight to each other (0.412 and 0.415 g, respectively) but were heavier than fetuses derived from flushed blastocysts (0.390 g). An additional experiment investigated whether the beneficial effect of 'GO' culture was due to the significantly increased embryo density. Proportions of hatching or hatched blastocysts after 'GO' culture (50%) were higher than after standard microdroplet culture (7.6%), but were not different from culture in high embryo density microdroplets (20 zygotes per 10 microl; 42%). 'GO' blastocysts contained more cells (79.6+/-2.1) than did standard microdroplet-derived blastocysts (68.7+/-2.0), but were similar to high density microdroplet-derived blastocysts (85.8+/-2.7). Similarly, 'GO' blastocysts contained more trophectoderm cells (62.2+/-2.0) than did standard microdroplet-derived blastocysts (52.7+/-1.7), but were similar to the high density microdroplet blastocysts (68.8+/-2.5). Numbers of inner cell mass cells ('GO', standard microdroplet and high density microdroplet culture) were not different from each other (17.4+/-0.5, 16+/-0.5 and 17+/-0.4, respectively). In conclusion, the 'GO' culture system represents an alternative method to the microdroplet system for small numbers of preimplantation embryos, without detriment to implantation potential.

We present data on the inclusive scattering of polarized electrons from a polarized 3He target at energies from 0.862 to 5.06 GeV, obtained at a scattering angle of 15.5 degrees. Our data include measurements from the quasielastic peak, through the nucleon resonance region, and beyond, and were used to determine the virtual photon cross-section difference sigma(1/2)-sigma(3/2). We extract the extended Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn integral for the neutron in the range of four-momentum transfer squared Q2 of 0.1-0.9 GeV2.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules, laminin (LN), chondroitin sulfate (CS), fibronectin (FN), hyaluronic acid (HA), mucin (MUC) and heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HS), were investigated as supplements to culture medium to improve the in vitro development of mouse 1-cell zygotes to blastocysts. Development was also compared with that in medium supplemented with bovine serum albumin (BSA) to determine the potential for ECM molecules as suitable alternatives to serum albumin in culture medium. Supplementation of sequential culture media with LN at all concentrations examined failed to result in more than 70% of zygotes developing to blastocysts; therefore, LN was considered unsuitable as a replacement for BSA and was not examined further. The optimal concentration of the remaining ECM molecules was used to supplement sequential culture media and the effect on blastocyst quality was assessed by determining the differential cell numbers of blastocysts grown in BSA-supplemented medium. Development to blastocyst was similar, regardless of the macromolecule used. The number of inner cell mass cells was significantly higher in HS-supplemented medium compared with controls. Trophectoderm cell numbers were similar to control values for all ECM molecules examined except CS for which there were fewer trophectoderm cells. It is concluded that ECM molecules, FN, HA, MUC and HS may be used as substitutes for serum protein supplementation of culture media EG0/G2 for mouse preimplantation embryo development. Heparan sulfate proteoglycan increases inner cell mass numbers and this may be due to interactions with the growth factors fibroblast growth factor 4 (FGF-4) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor.

We asked whether podokinetic adaptation to walking on a circular treadmill transfers to different forms of locomotion. Subjects were blindfolded and asked to walk straight across the floor, in the forward and backward directions, following podokinetic (PK) stimulation that consisted of 30 min of forward walking-in-place on the perimeter of a disk rotating in the clockwise direction. During both forward and backward walking following forward-walking PK stimulation, subjects involuntarily walked along curved trajectories at angular velocities well above vestibular threshold, although they perceived that they were walking along straight paths. The curved paths of forward and backward walking were indistinguishable from one another. Transfer of PK adaptations acquired during forward walking on the turntable to backward walking trials suggests that the PK system controls general locomotor trajectory. Adaptation of the system thus influences forms of locomotion other than that used during acquisition of the adaptation. This transfer also supports the concept that forward and backward walking are controlled by neural networks that share common elements. An interesting feature of the transfer of PK adaptation is that for both forward and backward walking, subjects turned in a counterclockwise direction. As such, the direction of relative rotation between the trunk and feet was maintained for both forward and backward walking. However, the relationship of the lower extremities to the center of rotation was not preserved. The left limb was the inner leg during PK stimulation and forward walking after adaptation, but the left leg was the outer leg during backward walking. These results suggest that PK adaptation affects general locomotor trajectory via a remodeling of the rotational relationship between the trunk and the feet.