Environmental conflict analysis (henceforth ECA) has become a key factor for the viability of projects and welfare of affected populations. In this study, we propose an approach for ECA using an ...integrated grey clustering and entropy-weight method (The IGCEW method). The case study considered a mining project in northern Peru. Three stakeholder groups and seven criteria were identified. The data were gathered by conducting field interviews. The results revealed that for the groups urban population, rural population and specialists, the project would have a positive, negative and normal social impact, respectively. We also noted that the criteria most likely to generate environmental conflicts in order of importance were: access to drinking water, poverty, GDP per capita and employment. These results could help regional and central governments to seek appropriate measures to prevent environmental conflicts. The proposed method showed practical results and a potential for application to other types of projects.
•A new integrated method for environmental conflict analysis.•The grey clustering method applied to quantify qualitative information.•The entropy-weight method applied to identify divergent criteria.•A case study of a mining project in northern Peru.
We tested whether and how functional composition changes with succession in dry deciduous and wet evergreen forests of Mexico. We hypothesized that compositional changes during succession in dry ...forest were mainly determined by increasing water availability leading to community functional changes from conservative to acquisitive strategies, and in wet forest by decreasing light availability leading to changes from acquisitive to conservative strategies. Research was carried out in 15 dry secondary forest plots (5-63 years after abandonment) and 17 wet secondary forest plots (<1-25 years after abandonment). Community-level functional traits were represented by community-weighted means based on 11 functional traits measured on 132 species. Successional changes in functional composition are more marked in dry forest than in wet forest and largely characterized by different traits. During dry forest succession, conservative traits related to drought tolerance and drought avoidance decreased, as predicted. Unexpectedly acquisitive leaf traits also decreased, whereas seed size and dependence on biotic dispersal increased. In wet forest succession, functional composition changed from acquisitive to conservative leaf traits, suggesting light availability as the main driver of changes. Distinct suites of traits shape functional composition changes in dry and wet forest succession, responding to different environmental filters.
Boron clusters and organic molecules display manifestly different electronic, physical, chemical and geometrical characteristics. These differences highlight the complementarity of organic synthons ...and boron clusters, and therefore the feasibility of producing hybrid polymers incorporating both types of fragments. This review focuses on the development of hybrid organic-inorganic π conjugated, silane, siloxane and coordination polymers containing icosahedral boron clusters in the last few decades, which have received considerable academic and technological interest due to the combination of the electronic, optical and thermal properties of traditional inorganic materials with many of the desirable properties of organic plastics, including mechanical flexibility and low production costs.
The review focuses on the development of hybrid organic-inorganic π conjugated, silane, siloxane and coordination polymers containing boron clusters, which have received considerable academic and technological interest due to the combination of the electronic, optical and thermal properties of traditional inorganic materials with desirable properties of organic plastics, including mechanical flexibility and low production costs.
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a unique feature of the human body, preserving brain homeostasis and preventing toxic substances to enter the brain. However, in various neurodegenerative diseases, ...the function of the BBB is disturbed. Mechanisms of the breakdown of the BBB are incompletely understood and therefore a realistic model of the BBB is essential. We present here the smallest model of the BBB yet, using a microfluidic chip, and the immortalized human brain endothelial cell line hCMEC/D3. Barrier function is modulated both mechanically, by exposure to fluid shear stress, and biochemically, by stimulation with tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), in one single device. The device has integrated electrodes to analyze barrier tightness by measuring the transendothelial electrical resistance (TEER). We demonstrate that hCMEC/D3 cells could be cultured in the microfluidic device up to 7 days, and that these cultures showed comparable TEER values with the well-established Transwell assay, with an average (± SEM) of 36.9 Ω.cm
2
(± 0.9 Ω.cm
2
) and 28.2 Ω.cm
2
(± 1.3 Ω.cm
2
) respectively. Moreover, hCMEC/D3 cells on chip expressed the tight junction protein Zonula Occludens-1 (ZO-1) at day 4. Furthermore, shear stress positively influenced barrier tightness and increased TEER values with a factor 3, up to 120 Ω.cm
2
. Subsequent addition of TNF-α decreased the TEER with a factor of 10, down to 12 Ω.cm
2
. This realistic microfluidic platform of the BBB is very well suited to study barrier function in detail and evaluate drug passage to finally gain more insight into the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
► A mixed microalgal culture is grown in anaerobically pretreated wastewater. ► Cultivation is in semi-continuous mode and biomass productivity is 234mgl−1d−1. ► High nutrient removal rates are ...maintained for 42days. ► The water quality of the effluent is excellent in terms of soluble inorganic N and P.
This study investigated the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus from the effluent of a submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor (SAnMBR) by means of a lab-scale photobioreactor in which algae biomass was cultured in a semi-continuous mode for a period of 42days. Solids retention time was 2days and a stable pH value in the system was maintained by adding CO2. Nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in the SAnMBR effluent fluctuated according to the operating performance of the bioreactor and the properties of its actual wastewater load. Despite these variations, the anaerobic effluent proved to be a suitable growth medium for microalgae (mean biomass productivity was 234mgl−1d−1), achieving a nutrient removal efficiency of 67.2% for ammonium (NH4+–N) and 97.8% for phosphate (PO4−3–P). When conditions were optimum, excellent water quality with very low ammonium and phosphate concentrations was obtained.
Modern human brains and skull shapes differ from other hominids. Brain growth disorders as micro- (ASPM, MCPH1) and macrocephaly (NFIX, GLI3) have been highlighted as relevant for the evolution in ...humans due to the impact in early brain development. Genes associated with macrocephaly have been reported to cause this change, for example NSD1 which causes Sotos syndrome.
In this study we performed a systematic literature review, located the reported variants associated to Sotos syndrome along the gene domains, compared the sequences with close primates, calculated their similarity, Ka/Ks ratios, nucleotide diversity and selection, and analyzed the sequence and structural conservation with distant primates. We aimed to understand if NSD1 in humans differs from other primates since the evolution of NSD1 has not been analyzed in primates, nor if the localization of the mutations is limited to humans. Our study found that most variations causing Sotos syndrome are in exon 19, 22 and 10. In the primate comparison we did not detect Ka/Ks ratios > 1, but a high nucleotide diversity with non-synonymous variations in exons 10, 5, 9, 11 and 23, and sites under episodic selection in exon 5 and 23, and human, macaque/colobus/tarsier/galago and tarsier/lemur/colobus. Most of the domains are conserved in distant primates with a particular progressive development from a simple PWWP1 in O. garnetti to a complex structure in Human.
NSD1 is a chromatin modifier that suggests that the selection could influence brain development during modern human evolution and is not present in other primates; however, nowadays the nucleotide diversity is associated with Sotos syndrome.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
ABSTRACTEstablishment of a human model of the blood‐brain barrier has proven to be a difficult goal. To accomplish this, normal human brain endothelial cells were transduced by lentiviral vectors ...incorporating human telomerase or SV40 T antigen. Among the many stable immortalized clones obtained by sequential limiting dilution cloning of the transduced cells, one was selected for expression of normal endothelial markers, including CD31, VE cadherin, and von Willebrand factor. This cell line, termed hCMEC/D3, showed a stable normal karyotype, maintained contact‐inhibited monolayers in tissue culture, exhibited robust proliferation in response to endothelial growth factors, and formed capillary tubes in matrix but no colonies in soft agar. hCMEC/D3 cells expressed telomerase and grew indefinitely without phenotypic dedifferentiation. These cells expressed chemokine receptors, up‐regulated adhesion molecules in response to inflammatory cytokines, and demonstrated blood‐brain barrier characteristics, including tight junctional proteins and the capacity to actively exclude drugs. hCMEC/D3 are excellent candidates for studies of blood‐brain barrier function, the responses of brain endothelium to inflammatory and infectious stimuli, and the interaction of brain endothelium with lymphocytes or tumor cells. Thus, hCMEC/D3 represents the first stable, fully characterized, well‐differentiated human brain endothelial cell line and should serve as a widely usable research tool.
We prove two results that generalize the two classical theorems of Castigliano to structures with known (stationary) eigenstrains, including those originating from temperature changes, lack-of-fit, ...phase changes, etc. We show that in these situations the classical theorems of Castigliano still hold, provided that the appropriate modifications are made to the elastic energy and its conjugate. The derivation of these results follows directly from the principle of minimum potential energy and some of the properties of convex functions. Just like the classical theorems, the final results can be conveniently employed to solve simple structures by hand.
A thiophene-based donor-acceptor phenothiazine dye has been functionalized with a peripheral glucose unit (PTZ-GLU) to bust its affinity to water and enhance dye-sensitized photogeneration of ...hydrogen. Compared to the corresponding alkyl derivative (PTZ-ALK), as well as the common hydrophilic triethylene glycol substitution (PTZ-TEG), the sugar derivative shows a lower contact angle; PTZ-GLU performed twice more efficient than PTZ-TEG in the photogeneration of hydrogen in terms of evolved gas and turnover number.
Introduction
Denial of pregnancy is the lack of awareness of being pregnant. It associates with increased morbidity and mortality of mother and child and can be classified as non-psychotic or ...psychotic. There is few literature regarding the latter, making it difficult to recognize, let alone to treat, since we do not have robust data on the incidence nor approved interventions.
Objectives
To get a better understanding on the standard of care for patients with psychotic denial of pregnancy.
Methods
We present a case report alongside a narrative literature review on the topic.
Results
We report the case of a 39-year-old caucasian woman, foreign, undomiciled, who was admitted to a Psychiatry unit due to psychotic symptoms. Her birthplace and prior medical records were unknown. She did not recognize being pregnant and showed great irritability when asked; her responses ranged from delusional attributions of symptoms related to the pregnancy to partially acknowledging her state but refusing to answer questions. Obstetric ultrasound revealed a low risk 35 weeks pregnancy. Treatment included quetiapine up to 700mg daily and psychological approach. A multidisciplinary team managed the case and arranged a plan for delivery. Eventually, delusional symptoms remitted and she accepted the gestation. She showed full collaboration during delivery, giving birth to a healthy female and presented transient recovery. After being separated from her daughter, her clinical situation worsened.
Psychotic denial of pregnancy is rather uncommon. It is usually seen in patients with prior history of major mental illness, most frequently schizophrenia, and important psychosocial vulnerability. It associates with several negative outcomes for mother and baby, including neonaticide. Most studies agree on the need of a multidisciplinary intervention including obstetrics, psychiatry, and others (social agents, ethical consultants…) to generate a plan for mother and baby. Biopsychosocial aspects should always be considered and each case individually formulated. Pregnant women must be given clear and concise information about the process. For some, seeing obstetric ultrasound might help them accept the pregnancy. Some authors propose labour induction prior to 39 weeks and performing a C-section, especially in cases of uncontrolled psychosis or risk of noncompliance. Most studies also recommend antipsychotic treatment. In cases of persistent denial or acute crisis, especially during the third trimester, patients should be admitted to a psychiatry unit with easy access to obstetric care. Supportive psychotherapy and psychosocial intervention should try to identify precipitating stressors for denial, such as prior or anticipated custody loss, which has been linked to psychotic denial.
Conclusions
Psychotic denial is a serious illness which requires a multidisciplinary treatment including biopsychosocial and obstetrical aspects.
Disclosure of Interest
None Declared
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