Mechanical stirring: Novel engineering approach for in situ spectroscopic analysis of melt at high temperature.

This paper proposes a novel engineering approach to control molten metals at high temperatures considering the industrial environment of such materials. To reduce analysis time and cost, in-line analysis techniques are more advantageous as they provide real-time information about melt composition. For this reason, recent research works focus on the development of new devices based on LIBS (Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy).

cGPS Record of Active Extension in Moroccan Meseta and Shortening in Atlasic Chains under the Eurasia-Nubia Convergence.

The northwest-southeast convergence of the Eurasian and Nubian (African) plates in the western Mediterranean region propagates inside the Nubian plate and affects the Moroccan Meseta and the neighboring Atlasic belt. Five continuous Global Positioning System (cGPS) stations were installed in this area in 2009 and provide significant new data, despite a certain degree of errors (between 0.5 and 1.

Wire-bow in situ measurements for powerful control of wire-wear during diamond-wire crystalline silicon sawing.

Original instrumental setups embedded in industrial-type multi-diamond-wire sawing equipment are presented for in situ measurements of the apparent wire diameter, the vertical force applied to the wire web, and the wire-web bow during the cutting of crystalline silicon bricks into wafers. The proportionality relationship between the vertical force and the wire bow during the cut of a Czochralski silicon brick is, for the first time, experimentally observed as expected by the theoretical calculations. As a result, the in situ bow measurement is shown to provide a direct control of the cutting efficiency, which is inversely proportional to the vertical force.

Pilot Experience with an External Quality Assurance Scheme for Acylcarnitines in Plasma/Serum.

The analysis of acylcarnitines (AC) in plasma/serum is established as a useful test for the biochemical diagnosis and the monitoring of treatment of organic acidurias and fatty acid oxidation defects. External quality assurance (EQA) for qualitative and quantitative AC is offered by ERNDIM and CDC in dried blood spots but not in plasma/serum samples. A pilot interlaboratory comparison between 14 European laboratories was performed over 3 years using serum/plasma samples from patients with an established diagnosis of an organic aciduria or fatty acid oxidation defect.

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in children with mucopolysaccharidosis type I.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is very common in mucopolysaccharidosis I (MPS I). Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the preferred treatment for patients with severe MPS I diagnosed early in life. The protective effect of HSCT on the development of long term OSAS is not known.