102 research outputs found

    In Pursuit of Sustainable Strategic Long-term Planning Throughout Meta-postmodernism as New Perspective of Stylistic Design

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    During the different period of architectural design, designers attempt to achieve high level of life quality for all users. Architecture and urban planner want to provide a style of design which not only achieves different function for different users with respect to their ethnicity, ability, age, sex, capability, position, and life style but also improve friendly environment throughout responsive legislation based on long-term planning. Although, the styles are considered some indicators, it is ignored the other important characteristics. Therefore, the existing styles never achieve standard level of satisfaction of different people. The goal of the research is to introduce meta-postmodern style as supplement stylistic approach. The style tries to consider all important indicators that create a strategic long-term planning for different generations. Various characteristics of new style can be applied to improve the quality of human life and provide a health, livable and sustainable planning for all users

    Establishment of Space Syntax to Read Urban Road Network; the Case of Sari, Iran

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    Cities have permanent changes as a living organism, where the transformation required in designing a solution for structural and social demands achieving safe and healthy human contacts. Some scholars divide city sustainable development toward two main views, as the building's set are connected by a space, on the other hand human social actions are linked by urban network interaction. The aim of this paper is to study on urban road network by the establishment of space syntax logic, this issue is divided into two main parts, as a first part, the study on already existing and the second part is bringing the new suggestions to a more qualified urban road network. Sari city of Iran is selected for this Case Study

    Forced vibration analysis of laminated composite plates under the action of a moving vehicle

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    This paper provides a finite element analysis of laminated composite plates under the action of a moving vehicle. The vehicle is modeled as a rigid body with four suspension systems, each consisting of a springdashpot. Overall, the vehicle possesses three degrees of freedom: vertical, rolling, and pitching motions. The equations of motion of the plate are deduced based on first-order shear deformation theory. Using the EulerLagrange equations, the system of coupled equations of motion is extracted and solved by using the Newmark time discretization scheme. The algorithm is validated through the comparison of both the free and forced vibration results provided by the present model and exact or numerical results reported in the literature. The effects are investigated of several system parameters on the dynamic response

    Association of ABCB1 and SLC22A16 gene polymorphisms with incidence of doxorubicin-induced febrile neutropenia: A survey of iranian breast cancer patients

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    Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. Doxorubicin-based chemotherapy is used to treat breast cancer patients; however, neutropenia is a common hematologic side effect and can be life-threatening. The ABCB1 and SLC22A16 genes encode proteins that are essential for doxorubicin transport. In this study, we explored the effect of 2 common polymorphisms in ABCB1 (rs10276036 C/T) and SLC22A16 (rs12210538 A/G) on the development of grade 3/4 febrile neutropenia in Iranian breast cancer patients. Our results showed no significant association between these polymorphisms and grade 3/4 febrile neutropenia; however, allele C of ABCB1 (rs10276036 C/T) (p = 0.315, OR = 1.500, 95 CI = 0.679-3.312) and allele A of SLC22A16 (rs12210538 A/G) (p = 0.110, OR = 2.984, 95 CI = 0.743-11.988) tended to have a greater association with grade 3/4 febrile neutropenia, whereas allele T of ABCB1 (rs10276036) (p = 0.130, OR = 0.515, 95 CI = 0.217-1.223) and allele G of SLC22A16 (rs12210538) (p = 0.548, OR = 0.786, 95 CI = 0.358-1.726) tended to protect against this condition. In addition to breast cancer, a statistically significant association was also observed between the development of grade 3/4 febrile neutropenia and other clinical manifestations such as stage IIIC cancer (p = 0.037) and other diseases (p = 0.026). Our results indicate that evaluation of the risk of grade 3/4 neutropenia development and consideration of molecular and clinical findings may be of value when screening for high-risk breast cancer patients. © 2016 Faraji et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

    PVDF membrane for oil-in-water separation via cross-flow ultrafiltration process

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    The objective of this study is to investigate the potential of ultrafiltration polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-titanium dioxide (TiO2) membrane for oil-in-water separator. PVDF polymeric matrix membrane is excellent in term of chemical and thermal stabilities, which make it very promising to be used as a membrane matrix for water separation. However, poor hydrophilic property of the PVDF has led to the severe fouling during operation. Thus, current work was performed to investigate the effect of incorporation of two additives i.e. polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) in PVDF-TiO2 membrane, which fabricated using dry/wet phase inversion technique. Membranes characterizations were performed using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), contact angle and UV-vis spectrophotometer. Accordingly, modified PVDF membrane possessed good hydrophilicity property when the additives were added into PVDF-TiO2 membrane matrix. In term of filtration performance, the experimental results showed that oil rejection using PVDF-TiO2/PVP membrane were ~99.7%, which met the requirement for discharge. On the other hand, PVDF-TiO2/PEG membrane was shown more enhancement in terms of permeate flux by given over 64 (L/m2h) at pressure of 2 bar gauge

    Septal flip flap per la ricostruzione del basicranio anteriore dopo resezione di tumori nasosinusali: risultati preliminari

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    Il trattamento chirurgico dei tumori maligni nasosinusali estesi al basicranio anteriore si è evoluto nel corso degli ultimi decenni, passando dalla resezione craniofacciale tradizionale agli approcci endoscopici endonasali. In questi approcci mini-invasivi, il basicranio anteriore viene generalmente ricostruito con tecnica multistrato, utilizzando innesti di materiale autologo (fascia lata o tratto ileo-tibiale), che determinano la produzione di abbondanti crostosità a livello della neocavità chirurgica con conseguente disagio e fastidio per il paziente. In casi selezionati, proponiamo di allestire un lembo di mucopericondrio e mucoperiostio di setto nasale controlateralmente rispetto alla neoplasia, peduncolato sui rami settali delle arterie etmoidali anteriore e posteriore (Septal Flip-Flap, SFF), che può essere ruotato a ricostruire il difetto del basicranio anteriore. Criteri di esclusione per l’allestimento di questo lembo locale sono: tumori con estensione bilaterale ad interessare entrambi i complessi etmoidali; infiltrazione neoplastica del setto nasale e/o del planum sfeno-etmoidale; tumore maligno nasosinusale con istologia potenzialmente multifocale. Nel nostro centro di riferimento di terzo livello, la ricostruzione del basicranio mediante SFF è stata eseguita in 4 pazienti affetti dalle seguenti patologie: teratocarcinosarcoma etmoidale in un caso, persistenza di carcinoma indifferenziato nasosinusale (in esiti di trattamento radio-chemioterapico) in un caso, estesioneuroblastoma della fessura olfattoria in un caso, e carcinoma spinocellulare etmoidale in un caso. Non si sono verificate complicanze intra/post-operatorie, ottenendo il successo della ricostruzione del basicranio nella totalità dei casi. Nel postoperatorio si è osservata una netta riduzione delle crostosità intranasali, con rapida guarigione della neocavità chirurgica. Attualmente, non si sono registrate recidive di malattia, con un follow-up medio di 15 mesi. La ricostruzione del basicranio anteriore mediante SFF si è dimostrata sicura ed efficace, con percentuali di successo elevate, simili a quelle ottenute con altri lembi locali peduncolati. Il SFF garantisce inoltre una maggiore rapidità nel processo di guarigione della plastica del basicranio, con una diminuzione delle crostosità nasali nel postoperatorio e conseguente miglioramento della qualità di vita del paziente. Questa tecnica appare essere valida anche dal punto di vista oncologico per casi estremamente selezionati di tumore maligno nasosinusale. Casistiche più ampie con follow-up a lungo termine sono necessarie per validare i risultati preliminari di questa innovativa e promettente tecnica chirurgica

    Short-term behavioural responses to thermal stress by hawksbill turtles in the Arabian region

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    We present a previously unrecorded short-term behavioural response by hawksbill sea turtles to elevated sea surface temperatures in the Persian/Arabian Gulf. Surface waters typically exceed 30°C for sustained periods during the summer, and can be likened to a natural living laboratory for understanding thermoregulatory behaviour by marine species in the face of climate change and elevated global temperatures. We satellite-tracked 90 post-nesting hawksbill turtles between 2010 and 2013 as part of a larger programme to elucidate turtle foraging habitats and post-nesting behaviour. We used 66 of these datasets, where turtles clearly departed and returned to foraging grounds, for these analyses. Sea surface temperatures during the summer averaged 33.5°C and peaked at 34.9°C. During these elongated periods of elevated temperatures (June–August) the turtles temporarily migrated an average of 70km to deeper and cooler waters at northern latitudes, returning after 2–3months (September–October) back to original feeding grounds. Temperature differential T∆ between foraging and summer loop habitats was significantly different and approximated −2°C. Turtles undertaking summer migration loops generally moved in a north-easterly direction toward deeper water, returning in a south-westerly direction to the shallower foraging grounds. Swim speeds were significantly higher and orientation was less omnidirectional during the migrations than when foraging. The outbound migrations were significantly inversely correlated with temperature, but were not linked to chlorophyll-a, geostrophic currents or sea surface height. The turtles' preference for returning to the same foraging grounds suggests a lack of other substantial influences which might have precipitated the temporary summer migration loops. Our results indicate that Gulf hawksbills employ thermoregulatory responses which take them out of high temperature and potentially physiology-threatening conditions. These findings improve our overall understanding of hawksbill habitat use and behaviour in a climate-challenged environment, and support sea turtle conservation-related policy decision-making at national and regional levels.Emirates Wildlife Society—World Wild Fund for Nature Office. 7Days, Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council, Bridgestone, CASP, College of the North Atlantic, Qatar, Deutsche Bank, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority, Dubai Festival City, Emirates Palace, Environment & Protected Areas Authority, Sharjah, Environment Agency—Abu Dhabi, Fairmont, Géant, Gulftainer, HSBC, Intercontinental, Dubai Festival City, Jebel Ali Golf Resort & Spa, Jumeirah Etihad Towers, Linklaters, Momentum Logistics, Mubadala, Murjan Marinas, Nokia, Sheikha Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation, The Club, TimeOut Dubai, and the Young Presidents Organisation

    Identification of Important Sea Turtle Areas (ITAs) for hawksbill turtles in the Arabian Region

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    We present the first data on hawksbill turtle post-nesting migrations and behaviour in the Arabian region. Tracks from 90 post-nesting turtles (65 in the Gulf and 25 from Oman) revealed that hawksbills in the Arabian region may nest up to 6 times in a season with an average of 3 nests per turtle. Turtles from Qatar, Iran and the UAE generally migrated south and southwest to waters shared by the UAE and Qatar. A smaller number of turtles migrated northward towards Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and one reached Kuwait. Omani turtles migrated south towards Masirah island and to Quwayrah, staying close to the mainland and over the continental shelf. The widespread dispersal of hawksbill foraging grounds across the SW Gulf may limit habitat protection options available to managers, and we suggest these be linked to preservation of shallow water habitats and fishery management. In contrast, the two main foraging areas in Oman were small and could be candidates for protected area consideration. Critical migration bottlenecks were identified at the easternmost point of the Arabian Peninsula as turtles from Daymaniyat Islands migrate southward, and between Qatar and Bahrain. Overall, Gulf turtles spent 68% of the time in foraging ground with home ranges of 40–60km2 and small core areas of 6km2. Adult female turtles from Oman were significantly larger than Gulf turtles by ~11cm x¯=81.4CCL and spent 83% of their time foraging in smaller home ranges with even smaller core areas (~3km2), likely due to better habitat quality and food availability. Gulf turtles were among the smallest in the world x¯=70.3CCL and spent an average of 20% of time undertaking summer migration loops, a thermoregulatory response to avoid elevated sea surface temperatures, as the Gulf regularly experiences sustained sea surface temperatures >30°C. Fishery bycatch was determined for two of the 90 turtles. These spatio-temporal findings on habitat use will enable risk assessments for turtles in the face of multiple threats including oil and gas industries, urban and industrial development, fishery pressure, and shipping. They also improve our overall understanding of hawksbill habitat use and behaviour in the Arabian region, and will support sea turtle conservation-related policy decision-making at national and regional levels.Emirates Wildlife Society–World Wild Fund for Nature. 7Days, Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council, Bridgestone, CASP, College of the North Atlantic-Qatar, Deutsche Bank, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority, Dubai Festival City, Emirates Palace, Environment & Protected Areas Authority, Sharjah, Environment Agency–Abu Dhabi, Fairmont, Géant, Gulftainer, HSBC, Intercontinental, Dubai Festival City, Jebel Ali Golf Resort & Spa, Jumeirah Etihad Towers, Linklaters, Momentum Logistics, Mubadala, Murjan Marinas, Nokia, Sheikha Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation, The Club, TimeOut Dubai, and the Young Presidents Organisation

    Phase I/II trial evaluating carbon ion radiotherapy for the treatment of recurrent rectal cancer: the PANDORA-01 trial

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Treatment standard for patients with rectal cancer depends on the initial staging and includes surgical resection, radiotherapy as well as chemotherapy. For stage II and III tumors, radiochemotherapy should be performed in addition to surgery, preferentially as preoperative radiochemotherapy or as short-course hypofractionated radiation. Advances in surgical approaches, especially the establishment of the total mesorectal excision (TME) in combination with sophisticated radiation and chemotherapy have reduced local recurrence rates to only few percent. However, due to the high incidence of rectal cancer, still a high absolute number of patients present with recurrent rectal carcinomas, and effective treatment is therefore needed.</p> <p>Carbon ions offer physical and biological advantages. Due to their inverted dose profile and the high local dose deposition within the Bragg peak precise dose application and sparing of normal tissue is possible. Moreover, in comparison to photons, carbon ions offer an increase relative biological effectiveness (RBE), which can be calculated between 2 and 5 depending on the cell line as well as the endpoint analyzed.</p> <p>Japanese data on the treatment of patients with recurrent rectal cancer previously not treated with radiation therapy have shown local control rates of carbon ion treatment superior to those of surgery. Therefore, this treatment concept should also be evaluated for recurrences after radiotherapy, when dose application using conventional photons is limited. Moreover, these patients are likely to benefit from the enhanced biological efficacy of carbon ions.</p> <p>Methods and design</p> <p>In the current Phase I/II-PANDORA-01-Study the recommended dose of carbon ion radiotherapy for recurrent rectal cancer will be determined in the Phase I part, and feasibilty and progression-free survival will be assessed in the Phase II part of the study.</p> <p>Within the Phase I part, increasing doses from 12 × 3 Gy E to 18 × 3 Gy E will be applied.</p> <p>The primary endpoint in the Phase I part is toxicity, the primary endpoint in the Phase II part is progression-free survival.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>With conventional photon irradiation treatment of recurrent rectal cancer is limited, and the clinical effect is only moderate. With carbon ions, an improved outcome can be expected due to the physical and biological characteristics of the carbon ion beam. However, the optimal dose applicable in this clincial situation as re-irradiation still has to be determined. This, as well as efficacy, is to be evaluated in the present Phase I/II trial.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p><a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01528683">NCT01528683</a></p
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