Seismic properties and equation-of-state parameters of the liquid iron alloy in the outer core are inferred from normal mode data. Turbulent convection of the liquid iron alloy outer core generates Earth’s magnetic field and supplies heat to the mantle. The exact composition of the iron alloy is fundamentally linked to the processes powering the convection and can be constrained by its seismic properties. Discrepancies between seismic models determined using body waves and normal modes show that these properties are not yet fully agreed upon. In addition, technical challenges in experimentally measuring the equation-of-state (EoS) parameters of liquid iron alloys at high pressures and temperatures further complicate compositional inferences. We directly infer EoS parameters describing Earth’s outer core from normal mode center frequency observations and present the resulting Elastic Parameters of the Outer Core (EPOC) seismic model. Unlike alternative seismic models, ours requires only three parameters and guarantees physically realistic behavior with increasing pressure for a well-mixed homogeneous material along an isentrope, consistent with the outer core’s condition. We show that EPOC predicts available normal mode frequencies better than the Preliminary Reference Earth Model (PREM) while also being more consistent with body wave–derived models, eliminating a long-standing discrepancy. The velocity at the top of the outer core is lower, and increases with depth more steeply, in EPOC than in PREM, while the density in EPOC is higher than that in PREM across the outer core. The steeper profiles and higher density imply that the outer core comprises a lighter but more compressible alloy than that inferred for PREM. Furthermore, EPOC’s steeper velocity gradient explains differential SmKS body wave travel times better than previous one-dimensional global models, without requiring an anomalously slow ~90- to 450-km-thick layer at the top of the outer core.

Abstract This paper provides an empirical analysis of factors affecting Bank Interest Margins in eight countries of the South-East European (SEE) region between 2000 and 2014. The purpose of this paper is to examine and investigate the main drivers of Bank Interest Rate Margins across selected countries throughout the SEE region. Also, the study explored the relationship between the dependent variable Interest Rate Spread (IRS - as a proxy variable for measuring variation in Bank Interest Rate Margins) and a set of selected banks’ specific variables in SEE by employing panel data estimation methodology. This research is based on aggregate data for the whole banking sector of each country. In line with some expectations, our findings confirm the importance of credit risk, bank concentration operative efficiency, and inflation expectations in determining Bank Interest Rate Margins. Interestingly, in contrast to the majority of recent empirical research, the study found an inverse relationship between the bank concentration variable and Bank Interest Rate Margins as well as between the operational efficiency variable and Bank Interest Rate Margins. Also, the study could not find statistically significant evidence that Bank Interest Rate Margins are determined by output growth, bank profitability (measured by ROA) or liquidity risk.

Karst is a terrain with special hydrogeology and relief forms, and it develops in rocks that are relatively soluble in water. Quaternary deposits in karst areas of the Dinarides occupy relatively smaller areas, in poljes and beds of a small number of karst rivers. The subject of the study is the Quaternary formations in the Trebižat riverbed. Although the river has carved its bed through Quaternary limestones, occurrences of major water losses or sinking are not registered due to relatively thick, fine‐grained and clayey alluvium that has been deposited in the canyon. Their depth is relatively large and in places it is over 20 m. Tufa in the form fragments of different sizes is very often present. It has a high holey porosity that is partly due to the decomposition of water plant tissues, and partly due to the dissolution or releasing of organic tissue. Despite the high porosity, tufa does not have a high permeability because the pores are not well interconnected and are often filled with fine‐grained particles. The subject of the paper is geomechanical and hydrogeological properties of these sediments.

An increasing trend of sludge generation at wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) has been observed in developing countries like Croatia. Thermal processing of sewage sludge facilitates its further management, although ash is generated as new waste in the process. The proposed approach, while eliminating the need to dispose ash at non-hazardous waste disposal sites, directly reduces not only the sludge and ash disposal costs, but also the raw cement production costs. All analysed technical and environmental requirements are met when 20 % of cement is replaced with ash.

Background Juvenile systemic scleroderma (jSSc) is an orphan disease with an estimated prevalence of around 3 per 1 000 000 children. There are no studies which evaluated prospectively the patient related outcomes in these patients. We report the data from juvenile scleroderma inception cohort (jSSc) regarding organ involvement and patient related outcomes. Methods The jSSc is a prospective cohort of jSSc patients. Patients were enrolled who were diagnosed with jSSc, had a jSSc onset age under 16 years and were younger as age of 18 years at the time of inclusion. The patients are prospectively assessed every 6 months according to a standardised protocol. Patients with available 12 months follow up data were included in the analyses. Results Currently 100 patients are followed in the jSSc cohort. 51 of them had available 12 months follow up data. Among those patients 37 (72.5%) had diffuse and 14 (27.5%) limited subtype. Mean age of onset of disease was 9.5 (±4.1) years and the mean disease duration at time of inclusion was 3.1 years (±3.2). The proportion of patients treated with DMARD increased from 74.5% to 88% at 12 months follow up. 86% were ANA positive at both assessments. Anti-scl70 positivity increased from 38% to 42%. Anticentromere antibody positivity was 2.4% at both assessments. Mean modified skin score decreased from 17.7 to 14.3 (p=0.151) Raynaud phenomenon occurred in 86% at enrolment and increased up to 88% at 12 months follow up. Nailfold capillary changes occurred around 70% at both assessments, but number of patients with active ulceration decreased from 28% to 16% (p=0.148). The number of patients with decreased FVC (FVC under 80%) decreased from 40.5% to 32% (p=0.497). The number of patients with pulmonary hypertension remained around 10%. No renal crisis or hypertension were reported. The gastrointestinal involvement was around 40% at both assessments. The number of patients with swollen joints decreased from 24% to 10% (p=0.06). The number of patients with muscle weakness decreased significantly from 33% to 9% (p=0.016), parallel to the number of patients with elevated CK values which decreased from 27% to 12% (p=0.074). All patient related outcomes, like global disease activity (p=0.048), global disease damage (p=0.05), Raynaud activity (p=0.003) and ulceration activity (p=0.001) improved significantly over 12 months. Physician assessed global disease activity (p=0.003) and ulceration activity (p=0.001) also improved significantly. Conclusions Our data show, that jSSc patients over a 12 months disease course stayed quite stable or improved regarding organ involvement. But patient and physician related outcomes regarding activity assessment improved significantly. Disclosure of Interest None declared

Background At present no clear evidence based guidelines exist to standardise the tapering and discontinuation of corticosteroids (CS) in juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM). Objectives To provide evidence-based recommendations for CS tapering/discontinuation through the analysis of the patients in the PRINTO new onset JDM trial. Secondary objective of the study was to identify predictors of clinical remission and CS discontinuation. Methods New onset JDM children were randomised to receive either prednisone (PDN) alone or in combination with MTX or CSA. All children were given initially intravenous methylprednisolone, and then PDN starting with 2 mg/kg/day. Gradual tapering according to a specific protocol could lead to the safe dose of 0.2 mg/kg/day by month 6, then discontinued at month 24. Major therapeutic changes (MTC) were defined as the addition or major increase in the dose of MTX/CSA/other drugs or any other reasons for which patients were dropped from the trial. Patients were divided according to clinical remission (CR) (CMAS=52 and MD global=0 for 6 continuous months) into two major groups. Group 1 included those on CR, who could discontinue PDN, with no MTC (reference group). Group 1 was compared with those who did not achieve CR, without or with MTC (group 2 and 3, respectively). JDM core set measures (CSM) were compared within the 3 groups. We also calculated the gold standard group 1 median change in the CSM in the first 6 and over 24 months and applied a logistic regression model to identify predictors of CR with PDN discontinuation. Results 139 children were enrolled in the trial: 47 on PDN, 46 on PDN +CSA and 46 on PDN +MTX. We identified 30 (21.6%) patients for group 1, 43 (30.9%) for group 2 and 66 (47.5%) for group 3. At baseline all 3 groups had no differences in the CSM. Already in the first 2 months a clear differential trend in disease activity measures, according to clinical remission status and PDN discontinuation, could be identified. From the observation of the median change in the CSM of group 1 in the first 6 months, the following recommendations could be extrapolated: decrease corticosteroids from 2 to 1 mg/kg/day in 2 months if the MD-global, parent-global, CHAQ, DAS, CMAS, MMT or Phs measures have changed of at least 50%; from 1 to 0.5 mg/kg/day in the following 2 months if the MD-global, CHAQ, DAS, CMAS show a change of at least 20%; in the following 2 months (month 4–6) corticosteroids can be tapered up to the safe dose of 0.2 mg/kg/day, if the disease activity measures remain at low/normal values. We finally ran a logistic regression model that showed that the achievement of PRINTO criteria 50–70–90 at 2 months from disease onset, an age at onset >9 years and the combination therapy PDN +MTX, increase the probability of clinical remission from 4 to 7 times (table 1).Abstract OP0340 – Table 1 Logistic regression model for the outcome: achievement of remission (n/tot: 28/130; 21.5%) Conclusions We propose evidence based specific cut-offs for corticosteroid tapering/discontinuation based on the change in JDM CSM of disease activity, and to identify the best predictors for clinical remission and corticosteroid discontinuation. Disclosure of Interest None declared

In this work we present a complex systems science analysis of the Self Organized Time Division Multiple Access (SOTDMA) algorithm. We translate the interaction among member nodes into a functional topology graph in order to measure the effect of each individual node’s adaptability on the global performance. The functional complexity metric corresponding to the functional topology is shown to have substantial correlation with important Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), namely probability of collision and probability of correct packet detection. We further use the functional complexity metric to analyze the trade-off between the two aforementioned KPIs in terms of system parameters. We finally show that the results obtained using this approach satisfy the predefined KPI constraints imposed on the algorithm and thus is successful in capturing the system behavior.