European National Research Research Articles

IP QoS across multiple management domains: practical experiences from pan-European experiments

GEANT is the pan-European 10 Gbs network interconnecting European national research and educational networks (NRENs). A Premium IP service based on the DiffServ EF PHB has been specified and implemented for this environment to provide quality of service to selected user groups on a Europe-wide scale. Basic features of Premium IP are described, and results from early experiments in the production networks of GEANT and the NRENs are presented. Next steps are proposed for achieving a fast and wide availability of Premium IP in the European research networks.

Promotion of Chemical Research Transcends National Boundaries

AbstractIn the autumn of 1999, nine European national research promotion organisations took the unprecedented step of soliciting joint, transnational applications for chemical research grants. The nine also agreed upon joint evaluation of the applications, while maintaining national financing of the research. The role of this initiative by the Chairmen of European Research Councils' Chemistry Committees (CERC 3) is specifically to supplement – and not to challenge – existing programmes of the European Union (EU), the European Science Foundation (ESF) and the European Committee on Science and Technology (COST). Thirteen transnational application packages have been submitted so far by 50 working groups from eight European countries. The research is to be conducted in the highly topical fields „Topological Stereochemistry, Topological Chirality”︁ and „Molecules at Complex Surfaces: Bond Forming, Bond Breaking and Dynamics”︁.

Catching the TEN-34

A new high-speed computer network should vastly improve the ability of bandwidth-hungry research organisations across Europe to co-operate with one another. The TEN-34 (Trans-European Network interconnect at 34 Mbit/s) is the first Europe-wide high-speed computer network for the research community. Designed to meet the rapidly increasing demand for bandwidth, it provides improved communication facilities linking the various European national research networks (NRNs), combined with enhanced cooperation between the NRNs and the major European telecom operators, who are all involved in the project.

Technical options for a European high-speed backbone

As many European national research networks have already deployed high-speed backbones nationally, there is a growing demand for a European backbone supporting line speeds of 34 Mbit/s and more. Unlike in the USA, in Europe it is not possible yet to buy high-speed connectivity as a standard product from the PNO's, so that the R & D community is force to seek solutions on its own. This paper is based on the results of a survey carried out by DANTE in October 1994, in which all national research networks in Europe and some international user groups were asked to provide information about their current and future requirements with respect to a pan-European infrastructure. The results lead to the definition of services needed on a high-speed backbone. Based on this analysis, technical options are discussed, which are suitable to meet these service requirements. A possible implementation strategy is outlined which takes into account the feasibility of new technologies such as ATM. Several technical possibilities to physically implement the backbone are discussed on their overall benefit to the users of the backbone.

New EORTC compounds

(NDDCC) was created with the purpose to establish a comprehensive anticancer drug development program covering all essential preclinical and clinical stages, a task executed by the New Drug Development Office (NDDO). The NDDCC makes selections of new candidates for development and has established guidelines for the formulation of investigational cytotoxic drugs (4), for toxicological studies (13) and phase I clinical trials (9). The NDDO aims at reducing the time lag between drug synthesis and introduction into the clinic, and maintaining an “EORTC Standard of Drug Development”. The NDDO has contact with drug suppliers, it decides which additional tests should be performed, it collects all available (screening) data for a new drug that is under development, and issues Information Sheets. Within the EORTC Screening and Pharmacology Group (SPG), chemists synthesize new compounds, others evaluate them for potential antitumour activity in primary and secondary in vitro and in vivo screening systems. In addition to this type ofdrug development for EORTC, agents are tested in selected models at the request of European national cancer research centers. The Clonogenic Assay Screening Study Group (CASSG) evaluates new drugs using clonogenic and other in vitro methods, and performs studies on tumour biology and normalization procedures. The main emphasis of the Pharmacokinetics and Metabolism Group (PAM) is on analytical methodology, quality control, classical pharmacokinetics, metabolism and formulation. With respect to drug formulation, cooperation exists between the EORTC, CRC and NC1 through the Joint Formulation Working Party. Before clinical evaluation by the Early Clinical Trials Group (ECTG) or the Clinical Screening Group (CSG), sufficiently large quantities of the drugs may be synthesized at the EORTC synthetic laboratory, located at the University of Twente, The Netherlands. Preclinical toxicology studies under strict Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) procedures are performed at TNO, Zeist, The Netherlands. A few examples of compounds that have been developed by the SPG or by national cancer research institutes with the help of the SPG, and that were studied in the clinic by members of the EORTC, are listed in Table 1. Special attention is drawn to their main

Assessment of heavy metals in chicken feeds available in Sokoto, Nigeria

In the present work six metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Mn and Ni) were analyzed for, using atomic absorption spectrophotometry in three main feed brands commonly used in Sokoto (2 commercial feed and 1 locally compounded chicken feed). Initially, the samples were digested with concentrated nitric acid and perchloric acid at about 3700C to 4500C heat in a digestion block. The concentration in ìg/ml of the six metals analyzed for in the feed samples ranged between 0.04 and 1.21 for Cu, 0.01 and 0.55 for Pb, 1.43 and 11.65 for Zn, 0.10 and 0.12 Cd, 0.94 and 3.12 for Mn and 0.004 and 0.25 for Ni. In most of the analyzed samples, the concentration of Cu, Zn, Mn and Ni was found to be lower than the nutritional requirement of broiler chicken at a level which could be harmful for the poultry. Also the study showed the presence of heavy metals (Pb and Cd) in all the feed samples analyzed, but none exceeded permissible levels as set by European Union and National Research Council.Keywords: Atomic absorption spectrophotometry, Chicken feeds, Contamination, Heavy metals, Sokoto, Toxicity