This paper summarizes the achievements of one of the themes in the Arctic Challenge for Sustainability (ArCS) project. Consisting mainly of researchers of human and social sciences, the theme was ...designed to connect the achievements of other themes to stakeholders and policymakers. According to our research method, this paper proceeds the discussion in three research areas. First, economic development in the Arctic will be analyzed. While climate warming has escalated in the Arctic, the possibility of using the Northern Sea Route and of developing underground resources is expanding. The sustainability of this development will be investigated to identify the future prospects of economic activity. Second, interaction between humans and the environment will be considered. Based on the information collected through fieldwork in East Siberia, interior Alaska, and Greenland, it will be illustrated how human and natural factors in environmental change are intricately interwoven. Third, various issues concerning Arctic governance will be discussed. Several points such as Arctic legal policy, international relations, and the involvement of indigenous people in resource governance will be key issues of the discussion. After showing these achievements of the project, future challenges of Arctic study will be indicated.
The disturbance decoupling problem with stability is dealt with by means of the geometric approach for switching systems. The existence of feedbacks which decouple the disturbance and, at the same ...time, assure stability is difficult to characterize, since the action of the feedback couples with that of the switching law. Under suitable conditions, it is shown that the above requirement can be dealt with in separate ways and this allows us to state a checkable necessary condition and, on that basis, also a sufficient condition for solvability of the problem.
Bordetella pertussis is the aetiologic agent of whooping cough, a common cause of severe respiratory illness in children and prolonged mild cough in adults. To understand some of the reasons for ...differences in clinical symptoms between adults and children, we measured B. pertussis DNA loads in nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) from 19 adults and 40 children (including 14 infants) by quantitative IS481 real-time PCR. All cases had been pre-diagnosed with the B. pertussis-specific loop-mediated isothermal amplification method. The mean PCR threshold cycles for adult and child NPS were 34.9 and 27.1, respectively, indicating a significantly lower B. pertussis DNA load in adults than in children (p <0.001). Moreover, adults had very low DNA loads during both early and later stages of the disease. When corresponding bacterial loads in NPS were calculated for B. pertussis Tohama cells using a standard curve, the mean number of bacterial cells taken with a rayon-tipped swab from an adult, older child and infant was estimated to be 320 (95% CI 120–910), 2.1 × 104 (95% CI 5.3 × 103 to 8.3 × 104) and 1.1 × 106 cells (95% CI 1.2 × 105 to 8.9 × 106), respectively. This indicates that the B. pertussis load in NPS is closely correlated with patient age. Our observations suggest that adult pertussis is characterized by a lower bacterial load in the nasopharynx, resulting in milder symptoms and negative cultures.
Several kinds of commercially available light emitting diodes (LED) and photo diodes (PD) were irradiated with 60 Co gamma ray up to 1 MGy for development of a radiation-resistant in-water wireless ...transmission system using visible light. The lens parts of the LEDs turned brown by the irradiation and their colors became dark with the absorbed dose. The total luminous fluxes decreased with the absorbed dose and the LED with shorter emission wavelength had the higher decrease rate. Meanwhile, the current-voltage characteristics hardly changed. These results indicate that the decreases of the total luminous flux of the LEDs were mainly caused not by the degradation of the semiconductor parts but by the coloring of the lens parts by the irradiation. On the other hand, the light sensitivities of the PDs decreased with the absorbed dose. The PDs with the window part which turned a darker color had the higher decrease rate. These results indicate that the decreases of light sensitivities of the PDs were also mainly caused by the coloring of the resin parts by the irradiation. If the wireless transmission is performed using the candidate LED and PD between 5 meters in water, using a few LEDs and PDs, the PD's output current generated by the emission light of the LED is estimated to be detectable even considering the effects of the absorption of the light in water and the increased dark current by the irradiation. Therefore, a radiation resistant in-water transmission system can be constructed using commercially available LEDs and PDs in principle.
To elucidate the incidence and mechanisms of sunitinib-induced thyroid atrophy, we investigated serial volumetric and functional changes, and evaluated histological changes of the thyroid gland in ...metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients who received sunitinib.
Thyroid volume (by computed tomography volumetry) and thyroid function were measured at baseline, during the treatment, and at post-treatment periods. Histological evaluation of the thyroid gland was performed in four autopsied patients.
The median reduction rate in thyroid volume at last evaluation during sunitinib treatment was 30% in all 17 patients. The incidence of hypothyroidism during sunitinib treatment was significantly higher in the high reduction rate group (n=8; more than 50% reduction in volume) than in the low reduction rate group (n=9; less than 50% reduction in volume). Half of the patients in the high reduction rate group exhibited a transient thyroid-stimulating hormone suppression, suggesting thyrotoxicosis during sunitinib treatment. Histological evaluation demonstrated atrophy of thyroid follicles and degeneration of follicular epithelial cells without critical diminution of vascular volume in the thyroid gland.
Thyroid atrophy is frequently observed following sunitinib treatment and may be brought about by sunitinib-induced thyrotoxicosis or the direct effects of sunitinib that lead to degeneration of thyroid follicular cells.
ABSTRACT
In this paper, we study a quadratic stabilizability problem via switched observer for uncertain continuous‐time switched linear systems in the sense that the subsystem's matrices are ...represented as a polytopic linear combination of vertex matrices. Firstly, sufficient conditions for polytopic uncertain continuous‐time switched linear systems to be quadratically stabilizable via state feedback are summarized. Next, sufficient conditions for polytopic uncertain switched linear systems to be quadratically stabilizable via switched observer are given under the assumption that output matrices of subsystems have no uncertainties. Further, a numerical example is also investigated.
Inhalant abuse by adolescents Kurtzman, Tracey L; Otsuka, Kimberly N; Wahl, Richard A
Journal of Adolescent Health,
03/2001, Letnik:
28, Številka:
3
Book Review, Journal Article
Recenzirano
The deliberate misuse of volatile substances poses a poorly recognized risk for considerable morbidity and mortality in adolescent populations worldwide. The abuse of inhalants continues to be a ...significant problem among our country’s youth. While many household and industrial chemicals can be inhaled, glues, paints, and aerosol propellants are among the most commonly abused. Adolescents are often unaware of the health threats posed by inhalation of solvents. Inhalation can result in serious organ system dysfunction or even sudden death. This review discusses the prevalence of inhalant abuse in the United States, summarizes the various types of substances used, highlights the major physiologic effects of inhalants, and briefly discusses associated risk behaviors, prevention and medical management.
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