Introduction
Nowadays, the problem of road accident rates is one of the most important health and social policy issues concerning the countries in all continents. Each year, nearly 1.3 million people ...worldwide lose their life on roads, and 20–50 million sustain severe injuries, the majority of which require long-term treatment.
Discussion
The objective of the study was to identify the most frequent, constantly occurring causes of road accidents, as well as outline actions constituting a basis for the strategies and programmes aiming at improving traffic safety on local and global levels. Comparative analysis of literature concerning road safety was performed, confirming that although road accidents had a varied and frequently complex background, their causes have changed only to a small degree over the years. The causes include: lack of control and enforcement concerning implementation of traffic regulation (primarily driving at excessive speed, driving under the influence of alcohol, and not respecting the rights of other road users (mainly pedestrians and cyclists), lack of appropriate infrastructure and unroadworthy vehicles.
Conclusions
The number of fatal accidents and severe injuries, resulting from road accidents, may be reduced through applying an integrated approach to safety on roads. The strategies and programmes for improving road traffic should include the following measures: reducing the risk of exposure to an accident, prevention of accidents, reduction in bodily injuries sustained in accidents, and reduction of the effects of injuries by improvement of post-accident medical care.
This revision of the classification of eukaryotes follows that of Adl et al., 2012 J. Euk. Microbiol. 59(5) and retains an emphasis on protists. Changes since have improved the resolution of many ...nodes in phylogenetic analyses. For some clades even families are being clearly resolved. As we had predicted, environmental sampling in the intervening years has massively increased the genetic information at hand. Consequently, we have discovered novel clades, exciting new genera and uncovered a massive species level diversity beyond the morphological species descriptions. Several clades known from environmental samples only have now found their home. Sampling soils, deeper marine waters and the deep sea will continue to fill us with surprises. The main changes in this revision are the confirmation that eukaryotes form at least two domains, the loss of monophyly in the Excavata, robust support for the Haptista and Cryptista. We provide suggested primer sets for DNA sequences from environmental samples that are effective for each clade. We have provided a guide to trophic functional guilds in an appendix, to facilitate the interpretation of environmental samples, and a standardized taxonomic guide for East Asian users.
The article present the results of the study on the improvement of mechanical properties of the surface layer of 7075 aluminum alloy via two-stage aging combined with shot peening. The experiments ...proved that thermo-mechanical treatment may significantly improve hardness and stress distribution in the surface layer. Compressive stresses of 226 MPa±5.5 MPa and hardness of 210±2 HV were obtained for selected samples.
Studies of microbial pathogens and the toxins they produce are important for determining the mechanisms by which they cause disease and spread throughout a population. Some bacteria produce secretory ...enterotoxins (such as cholera toxin or the heat-labile or stable enterotoxins produced by Escherichia coli ) that invade cells directly. Others invade cells or produce cytotoxins (such as those produced by Shigella , enteroinvasive E coli , or Clostridium difficile ) that damage cells or trigger host responses that cause small or large bowel diseases (such as enteroaggregative or enteropathogenic E coli or Salmonella ). Viruses (such as noroviruses and rotaviruses) and protozoa (such as Cryptosporidium , Giardia , or Entamoeba histolytica ) disrupt cell functions and cause short- or long-term disease. Much epidemiologic data about these pathogens have been collected from community- and hospital-acquired settings, as well as from patients with traveler's or persistent diarrhea. These studies have led to practical approaches for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
Postmenopausal estrogen depletion is a major contributing factor to bone loss. Soy isoflavones have variable effects on the prevention of postmenopausal bone loss, which is possibly related to the ...specific isoflavone content or the variable equol-producing capacity of individuals.
We aimed to determine the effects of the content of isoflavones in a soy supplement and the equol-producing ability of the individual on postmenopausal bone calcium retention.
The study was a blinded, randomized, crossover intervention trial in 24 postmenopausal women who were prescreened for their ability to convert daidzein to equol. Women were equilibrated with (41)Ca before the intervention. Interventions were 5 soy isoflavone oral supplements (2 doses of a genistein-rich soy supplement and 3 doses of mixed isoflavones in various proportions) and a bisphosphonate (risedronate). Each intervention was given sequentially for 50 d followed by a 50-d washout period. The percentage of bone calcium retention was determined from the change in urinary (41)Ca:calcium.
Interventions that ranged from 52 to 220 mg total isoflavones/d increased bone calcium retention between 3.4% and 7.6% (P < 0.05), which was a moderate effect compared with that of risedronate at 15.3% (95% CI: 7.1%, 22.7%; P = 0.0014). The most-effective soy intervention delivered 105.23 mg total isoflavones/d as genistein, daidzein, and glycitein in their natural ratios and increased bone calcium retention by 7.6% (95% CI: 4.9%, 10.2%; P < 0.0001). Genistein, at 52.85 mg/d, increased bone calcium retention by 3.4% (95% CI: 0.5%, 6.2%; P = 0.029); but there was no benefit at higher amounts (113.52 mg/d). There was no difference (P = 0.5) in bone calcium retention between equol producers and nonproducers.
Soy isoflavones, although not as potent as risedronate, are effective bone-preserving agents in postmenopausal women regardless of their equol-producing status, and mixed isoflavones in their natural ratios are more effective than enriched genistein. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00244907.
The study presents an application of the differential electronic nose to the estimation and recognition of the TNT, PETN and RDX in the complex environments under their storage. Generally there are ...two separate problems in the field of recognition of explosives: first – detection of the trace concentration of explosives by analytical methods (gas chromatography, ion mobility spectrometry, neutron activation analysis) and the second – the estimation of the state of explosives during their time storages in the military objects. In the second problem the concentration of a vapor of explosives is at level of sub-parts-per million where chemosensors technique is fully applicable. This paper is concerned with the second type problem. It defines the recognition criteria providing stable and robust basis for the recognition of different explosive materials. The important part of this procedure performs the 2-dimensional convolution of the differential signals formed on the basis of two sensor arrays used in the construction of the differential nose. The experimental results of the recognition of TNT, PETN and RDX have confirmed the excellent recognition ability of the developed system.
The increased incidence and severity of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in older adults (age, ⩾65 years) corresponds with the emergence of the BI/NAP1 strain, making elucidation of the host ...immune response extremely important. We therefore infected germ-free C57BL/6 mice aged 7–14 months with a BI/NAP1 strain and monitored the mice for response. Infected mice were moribund 48–72 h after infection and developed gross and histological cecitis and colitis and elevated concentrations of keratinocyte chemoattractant, interleukin 1β, monocyte chemotactic protein 1, and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and decreased levels of interferon γ, interleukin 12 p40, interleukin 12 p70, and interleukin 10 compared with controls. We conclude that aged, germ-free C57BL/6 mice are susceptible to fulminant CDI from a BI/NAP1 strain and represent a novel model to further elucidate the host immune response to acute CDI.
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•Glycosylation affects both physico-chemical properties of mAbs and their interactions with the key receptors.•Fully deglycosylated, hypergalactosylated and hypersialylated mAb ...molecules were produced and characterized.•Aggregation propensity is not increased for any of the three glycoforms compared to the unmodified mAb.•No significant changes are observed for the hypergalactosylated and hypersialylated mAb molecules’ binding to FcRn, FcgRIIA and FcgRIIIA.•Deglycosylated mAb molecule does not bind to either FcgRIIA or FcgRIIIA, although it retains the ability to associate with FcRn.
Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are the fastest growing class of biopharmaceuticals. The specific therapeutic tasks vary among different mAbs, which may include neutralization of soluble targets, activation of cytotoxic pathways, targeted drug delivery, and diagnostic imaging. The specific therapeutic goal defines which interactions of the antibody with its multiple physiological partners are most critical for function, and which ones are irrelevant or indeed detrimental. In this work, we explored the ability of the glycan chains to affect IgG1 interaction with two key receptor families, FcRn and γ-type Fc receptors, as well as the influence of glycan composition on the conformation and stability of the antibody molecule. Three different glycan-modified forms of IgG1 (fully deglycosylated, hypergalactosylated and hypersialylated) were produced and characterized alongside the unmodified mAb molecule. Biophysical measurements did not reveal any changes that would be indicative of alterations in the higher order structure or increased aggregation propensity for any of the three glycoforms compared to the unmodified mAb, although the CH2 domain was shown to have reduced thermal stability in the fully deglycosylated form. No significant changes were observed for the hypergalactosylated and hypersialylated forms of IgG1 with regards to binding to FcRn, FcγRIIA and FcγRIIIA, suggesting that neither half-life in circulation nor their ability to induce an immune response are likely to be affected by these modifications of the glycan chains. In contrast, no measurable binding was observed for the deglycosylated form of IgG1 with either FcγRIIA or FcγRIIIA, although this form of the antibody retained the ability to associate with FcRn. These highly specific patterns of attenuation of Fc receptor recognition can be exploited in the future for therapeutic purposes.
Cast iron and mineral cast are the materials most often used in the machine structural elements design (bodies, housings, machine tools beds etc.). The materials significantly differ in physical and ...mechanical properties. The ability to suppress vibration is one of the most important factors determining the dynamic properties of the machine and has a significant impact on the machining capabilities of a machine tool. Recent research and development trends show that there is a clear tendency to move away from the traditional iron casting to the mineral casting, due to better dynamic properties of the latter. However mineral cast as a structural material for the whole machine tools bed turns out to be insufficient due to its poor mechanical strength properties. The best solution should benefit from the advantages of the cast iron and mineral cast materials while minimizing their drawbacks. The paper presents numerical modal analysis of two lathe beds: the first one made of gray cast iron and the second one made of hybrid connection of cast iron and mineral cast. The analysis was conducted in order to determine the dynamic properties of two bodies of similar shapes made in the traditional (cast iron) and innovative hybrid (cast iron and mineral cast) technology. In addition, an analysis of the static structure rigidity of the two beds was performed. During the simulation studies it was found a significant increase in dynamic stiffness and static rigidity of the machine tool body made of hybrid connection of cast iron and mineral cast. The results of numerical simulations have confirmed the desirability of using hybrid construction because the dynamic properties of such a body are more advantageous in comparison with the conventional body made of cast iron.
For coupled human and natural systems (CHANS), sustainability can be defined operationally as a feasible, desirable set of flows (material, currency, information, energy, individuals, etc.) that can ...be maintained despite internal changes and changes in the environment. Sustainable development can be defined as the process by which CHANS can be moved toward sustainability. Specific indicators that give insight into the structure and behavior of feedbacks in CHANS are of particular interest because they would aid in the sustainable management of these systems through an understanding of the structures that govern system behavior. However, the use of specific feedbacks as monitoring tools is rare, possibly because of uncertainties regarding the nature of their dynamics and the diversity of types of feedbacks encountered in these systems. An information theory perspective may help to rectify this situation, as evidenced by recent research in sustainability science that supports the use of unit-free measures such as Shannon entropy and Fisher information to aggregate disparate indicators. These measures have been used for spatial and temporal datasets to monitor progress toward sustainability targets. Here, we provide a review of information theory and a theoretical framework for studying the dynamics of feedbacks in CHANS. We propose a combination of information-based indices that might productively inform our sustainability goals, particularly when related to key feedbacks in CHANS.
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