Annual observations of radon activity concentrations in dwellings of Silesian Voivodeship

In the paper, results of year-long measurements of radon levels in dwellings on the premises of Silesian Voivodeship are presented. Track etched detectors with polymer CR-39 foils were used in the investigations. As the studied buildings were located in different regions of Silesian Voivodeship, therefore results of measurements were analysed due to possible influence of geological structure or effect of mining operations in places, where given dwellings were situated. Elevated concentrations of radon were measured mostly in dwellings located in areas, where permeable Triassic limestone and dolomite occur, as it has been predicted. On the other hand, the impact of mining activity such as disintegration of rock-body and activation of faults plays an important role, too, because it enables radon migration and its entry into buildings. Beside the analysis of seasonal variations of radon activity concentration, the impact of temperature and pressure on these fluctuations outdoor and indoor buildings has been analysed

Developmental outcome of very low birth weight infants in a developing country

BACKGROUND: Advances in neonatal care allow survival of extremely premature infants, who are at risk of handicap. Neurodevelopmental follow up of these infants is an essential part of ongoing evaluation of neonatal care. The neonatal care in resource limited developing countries is very different to that in first world settings. Follow up data from developing countries is essential; it is not appropriate to extrapolate data from units in developed countries. This study provides follow up data on a population of very low birth weight (VLBW) infants in Johannesburg, South Africa. METHODS: The study sample included all VLBW infants born between 01/06/2006 and 28/02/2007 and discharged from the neonatal unit at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH). Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development Version 111 (BSID) 111 were done to assess development. Regression analysis was done to determine factors associated with poor outcome. RESULTS: 178 infants were discharged, 26 were not available for follow up, 9 of the remaining 152 (5.9%) died before an assessment was done; 106 of the remaining 143 (74.1%) had a BSID 111 assessment. These 106 patients form the study sample; mean birth weight and mean gestational age was 1182 grams (SD: 197.78) and 30.81 weeks (SD: 2.67) respectively. The BSID (111) was done at a median age of 16.48 months. The mean cognitive subscale was 88.6 (95% CI: 85.69 - 91.59), 9 (8.5%) were < 70, mean language subscale was 87.71 (95% CI: 84.85 - 90.56), 10 (9.4%) < 70, and mean motor subscale was 90.05 (95% CI: 87.0 - 93.11), 8 (7.6%) < 70. Approximately one third of infants were identified as being at risk (score between 70 and 85) on each subscale. Cerebral palsy was diagnosed in 4 (3.7%) of babies. Factors associated with poor outcome included cystic periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), resuscitation at birth, maternal parity, prolonged hospitalisation and duration of supplemental oxygen. PVL was associated with poor outcome on all three subscales. Birth weight and gestational age were not predictive of neurodevelopmental outcome. CONCLUSION: Although the neurodevelopmental outcome of this group of VLBW infants was within the normal range, with a low incidence of cerebral palsy, these results may reflect the low survival of babies with a birth weight below 900 grams. In addition, mean subscale scores were low and one third of the babies were identified as "at risk", indicating that this group of babies warrants long-term follow up into school going age

Developmental outcome of very low birth weight infants in a developing country

Background: Advances in neonatal care allow survival of extremely premature infants, who are at risk of handicap. Neurodevelopmental follow up of these infants is an essential part of ongoing evaluation of neonatal care. The neonatal care in resource limited developing countries is very different to that in first world settings. Follow up data from developing countries is essential; it is not appropriate to extrapolate data from units in developed countries. This study provides follow up data on a population of very low birth weight (VLBW) infants in Johannesburg, South Africa. Methods: The study sample included all VLBW infants born between 01/06/2006 and 28/02/2007 and discharged from the neonatal unit at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH). Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development Version 111 (BSID) 111 were done to assess development. Regression analysis was done to determine factors associated with poor outcome. Results: 178 infants were discharged, 26 were not available for follow up, 9 of the remaining 152 (5.9%) died before an assessment was done; 106 of the remaining 143 (74.1%) had a BSID 111 assessment. These 106 patients form the study sample; mean birth weight and mean gestational age was 1182 grams (SD: 197.78) and 30.81 weeks (SD: 2.67) respectively. The BSID (111) was done at a median age of 16.48 months. The mean cognitive subscale was 88.6 (95% CI: 85.69-91.59), 9 (8.5%) were < 70, mean language subscale was 87.71 (95% CI: 84.85-90.56), 10 (9.4%) < 70, and mean motor subscale was 90.05 (95% CI: 87.0-93.11), 8 (7.6%) < 70. Approximately one third of infants were identified as being at risk (score between 70 and 85) on each subscale. Cerebral palsy was diagnosed in 4 (3.7%) of babies. Factors associated with poor outcome included cystic periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), resuscitation at birth, maternal parity, prolonged hospitalisation and duration of supplemental oxygen. PVL was associated with poor outcome on all three subscales. Birth weight and gestational age were not predictive of neurodevelopmental outcome. Conclusion: Although the neurodevelopmental outcome of this group of VLBW infants was within the normal range, with a low incidence of cerebral palsy, these results may reflect the low survival of babies with a birth weight below 900 grams. In addition, mean subscale scores were low and one third of the babies were identified as "at risk", indicating that this group of babies warrants long-term follow up into school going age

Plant Power:Opportunities and challenges for meeting sustainable energy needs from the plant and fungal kingdoms

Societal Impact Statement Bioenergy is a major component of the global transition to renewable energy technologies. The plant and fungal kingdoms offer great potential but remain mostly untapped. Their increased use could contribute to the renewable energy transition and addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.” Current research focuses on species cultivated at scale in temperate regions, overlooking the wealth of potential new sources of small‐scale energy where they are most urgently needed. A shift towards diversified, accessible bioenergy technologies will help to mitigate and adapt to the threats of climate change, decrease energy poverty, improve human health by reducing indoor pollution, increase energy resilience of communities, and decrease greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels. Summary Bioenergy derived from plants and fungi is a major component of the global transition to renewable energy technologies. There is rich untapped diversity in the plant and fungal kingdoms that offers potential to contribute to the shift away from fossil fuels and to address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.” Energy poverty—the lack of access to modern energy services—is most acute in the Global South where biodiversity is greatest and least investigated. Our systematic review of the literature over the last 5 years (2015–2020) indicates that research efforts have targeted a very small number of plant species cultivated at scale, mostly in temperate regions. The wealth of potential new sources of bioenergy in biodiverse regions, where the implementation of SDG7 is most urgently needed, has been largely overlooked. We recommend next steps for bioenergy stakeholders—research, industry, and government—to seize opportunities for innovation to alleviate energy poverty while protecting biodiversity. Small‐scale energy production using native plant species in bioenergy landscapes overcomes many pitfalls associated with bioenergy crop monocultures, such as biodiversity loss and conflict with food production. Targeted trait‐based screening of plant species and biological screening of fungi are required to characterize the potential of this resource. The benefits of diversified, accessible bioenergy go beyond the immediate urgency of energy poverty as more diverse agricultural landscapes are more resilient, store more carbon, and could also reduce the drivers of the climate and environmental emergencies

Avanços na conservação da biodiversidade em África sob evidência científica

ln Africa we find incredibly diverse ecosystems which are home to a huge diversity of species. Unfortunately, as the latest literature suggests, the population sizes of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles have declined by 65% in the last 50 years. The main drivers include deforestation, human population growth, urbanization, collection of natural resources and clearing of land for agriculture. With the African population expected to double in the next 50 years, it is expected an exacerbated effect of the drivers that currently contribute to biodiversity decline. The fact that a third of Africa lives under the poverty line together with high leveis of corruption makes it especially important that the sparse existing resources dedicated to biodiversity preservation can be transparently and effectively distributed throughout the most important areas for biodiversity. Besides the chapters of general introduction and discussion, this thesis contains four chapters representing published or submitted papers. ln chapter 1, 1 propose a new metric that allows the ranking of areas based on biodiversity importance. ln chapter 2, 1 showcase the lack of biodiversity sampling in Africa unveiling an important sampling bias and making predictions on sampling time and effort to sample biodiversity in Africa. ln chapter 3, 1 compile important baseline information on amphibians and reptiles from a poorly known area in terms of biodiversity in northern Mozambique and in chapter 4, we show that endemisms are very dependent on which scale or taxonomic treatment we decide to use in our analysis. Overall, the work developed in this thesis is a contribution to the transparency and prioritisation procedures at biodiversity management globally and showcases the current situation of the African biodiversity sampling and how it may translate into the future. Furthermore, it provides an example on how biodiversity baseline information can be acquired and made available as well as highlighting the importance of taxonomy and scale when inferring patterns from spatial analysis.Em África podemos encontrar uma diversidade incrível de ecossistemas que alojam uma enorme diversidade de espécies. Infelizmente, de acordo com a literatura mais recente, as populações de mamíferos, aves, peixes, anfíbios e répteis sofreram um declínio de 65% nos últimos 50 anos. As principais causas incluem a desflorestação, o crescimento populacional, urbanização, a recolha de recursos naturais e o desmatamento para a implementação da agricultura. Com a previsão que a população humana em África duplique nos próximos 50 anos, espera-se um efeito exacerbado das causas que neste momento contribuem para o declínio da biodiversidade. O facto de um terço de África viver abaixo da linha de pobreza e dados os altos níveis de corrupção torna especialmente importante que os parcos recursos existentes destinados à preservação da biodiversidade possam ser transparente e efetivamente distribuídos pelas áreas de biodiversidade mais importantes. Para além dos capítulos da Introdução e Discussão gerais, esta tese contém quatro capítulos, que representam artigos publicados ou submetidos. No capítulo 1, propõe-se uma fórmula que permite hierarquizar áreas de acordo com a sua importância em termos de biodiversidade. No capítulo 2 demonstra-se a falta de inventários de biodiversidade em África, revelando-se ainda uma tendência importante da amostragem no continente. São também feitas previsões em relação ao tempo e esforço necessário para amostrar biodiversidade em África. No capítulo 3, compila-se informação importante em anfíbios e répteis de uma área pouco amostrada em termos de biodiversidade no Norte de Moçambique, e no capítulo 4 mostra-se que os endemismos são muito dependentes da escala ou da taxonomia usada que é aplicada durante as análises.Programa Doutoral em Biologia e Ecologia das Alterações Globai

Low energy stage study. Volume 5: Program study cost elements and appendices

The methodology and rationale used in the development of costs for engineering, manufacturing, testing and operating a low thrust system for placing automated shuttle payloads into earth orbits are described. Cost related information for the recommended propulsion approach is included

Current principles of Cold Spray coating, Cu coating characteristics

Tato bakalářská práce se zabývá současnými principy nanášení vrstev metodou Cold Spray. V rešeršní části je pojednáno o principu vzniku vrstvy pomocí metody Cold Spray. Dále je pak shrnut současný stav této technologie na trhu a její uplatnění v praxi. V experimentální části je vyhodnocena struktura deponované vrstvy mědi na dvou různých podkladech.This bachelor thesis deals with the current principles of coating with the Cold Spray method. The research part deals with the principle of layer formation using the Cold Spray method. Furthermore, the current state of this technology on the market and its application in practice is summarized. The structure of deposited copper layer on two different substrates is evaluated in the experimental part.