Influence of type of uniform and days of usage in microbiological contamination of nurses uniform in a university hospital

Presentación de un póster presentado al International Conference on Prevention & Infection Control (ICPIC 2011) Geneva, Switzerland. 29 June – 2 July 2011Nurse uniforms can act as a reservoir of infections, with the areas around the pockets, cuffs and aprons the most contaminated. The aim of this study is compare the contamination of Standard nurse’s uniform consisted of a dress, pinafore apron with the “scrub dress” type of uniform, as well as to measure the influence of the number of shifts as uniform was used in its contamination

Building Information Modelling (BIM) value realisation framework for asset owners

The paper is presenting a value realisation framework for asset owners based on an exploratory study. The study is descriptive in nature and adopting a qualitative approach towards data collection. The paper adopts the viewpoint of BIM business value measurement considering that; (i) if the process is better as a result of BIM-based processes, then it is different in some relevant way; (ii) if it is different in some relevant way as a result of certain BIM properties or characteristics, then the change is observable; (iii) if the change is observ-able because of certain direct BIM benefits, then it is countable; (iv) if it is countable using defined measurement metrics, then it is measurable; (v) if it is measurable using established measurement techniques, an organisation can value each unit and therefore, realise the benefits of BIM. The specific contribution of paper is to improve asset owners’ understanding of BIM-business value measurement techniques and approaches

Improving lipid recovery from Scenedesmus wet biomass by surfactant-assisted disruption

Citation: Lai, Y. S., De Francesco, F., Aguinaga, A., Parameswaran, P., & Rittmann, B. E. (2016). Improving lipid recovery from Scenedesmus wet biomass by surfactant-assisted disruption. Green Chemistry, 18(5), 1319-1326. doi:10.1039/c5gc02159fMicroalgae-derived lipids are good sources of biofuel, but extracting them involves high cost, energy expenditure, and environmental risk. Surfactant treatment to disrupt Scenedesmus biomass was evaluated as a means to make solvent extraction more efficient. Surfactant treatment increased the recovery of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) by as much as 16-fold vs. untreated biomass using isopropanol extraction, and nearly 100% FAME recovery was possible without any Folch solvent, which is toxic and expensive. Surfactant treatment caused cell disruption and morphological changes to the cell membrane, as documented by transmission electron microscopy and flow cytometry. Surfactant treatment made it possible to extract wet biomass at room temperature, which avoids the expense and energy cost associated with heating and drying of biomass during the extraction process. The best FAME recovery was obtained from high-lipid biomass treated with Myristyltrimethylammonium bromide (MTAB)- and 3-(decyldimethylammonio)-propanesulfonate inner salt (3_DAPS)-surfactants using a mixed solvent (hexane : isopropanol = 1 : 1, v/v) vortexed for just 1 min; this was as much as 160-fold higher than untreated biomass. The critical micelle concentration of the surfactants played a major role in dictating extraction performance, but the growth stage of the biomass had an even larger impact on how well the surfactants disrupted the cells and improved lipid extraction. Surfactant treatment had minimal impact on extracted-FAME profiles and, consequently, fuel-feedstock quality. This work shows that surfactant treatment is a promising strategy for more efficient, sustainable, and economical extraction of fuel feedstock from microalgae

La planificación del estudio de la cueva

The authors explain why it was necessary to establish a single reference system for all of the cave and how the problem was solved. They present a graphic sketch of each of the walls of the site which will permits the clarification of any doubts which may arise later.Los autores narran cómo se vio la necesidad de organizar un sistema de referencia único para toda la cueva y la manera cómo resolvieron el problema. Presentan un esquema gráfico de cada una de las paredes del yacimiento que permita aclarar dudas en el caso de que éstas se planteasen

Proyecto y construcción de edificios con el sistema Dragados-Plastbau

Not Available.La prefabricación y la industrialización de la construcción a menudo han fracasado ante los condicionantes que imponen al proyectista al comportar soluciones rígidas no siempre adaptables a las necesidades reales del proyecto. Por el contrario, la adaptación de los sistemas al proyecto únicamente puede estar justificada para la realización de grandes series o en ocasiones empleada para la construcción de edificios singulares, sin estrictas limitaciones económicas, lo que en definitiva viene a suponer una desvirtualización de la razón de ser de aquéllas al transformar a éstas en verdaderas obras artesanales donde a menudo la experiencia adquirida no es generalizable para otras realizaciones

Obtaining of repair lime renders with microencapsulated phase change materials: optimization of the composition, application, mechanical and microstructural studies

Different batches of repair lime rendering mortars were designed by mixing microencapsulated Phase Change Materials (PCMs) and other additives. The final aim of these renders is to improve the thermal efficiency of the envelope of the Built Heritage, while allowing the practitioners to apply a render with positive final performance. The combinations of the PCMs in different weight percentages, a superplasticiser (to increase the fluidity of the render keeping constant the mixing water), an adhesion improver and a pozzolanic additive were studied. The adhesion of these renders onto bricks and limestone specimens and the shrinkage and cracking of the mortars were studied in detail. X-ray diffraction technique was used to study the composition and evolution of the carbonation process. Compressive strength measurements were studied in hardened specimens. In addition, the porous structure of the rendering mortars was studied by mercury intrusion porosimetry to assess the effect of the PCMs' addition. Samples underwent accelerated climatic ageing to study their durability and the preservation of the thermal efficiency. Results have shown that these thermally enhanced mortars are feasible materia Is for real-life application in the context of architectural heritage restoration and conservation

Orexin-Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Receptor Heteromers in the Ventral Tegmental Area as Targets for Cocaine

Release of the neuropeptides corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and orexin-A in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) play an important role in stress-induced cocaine-seeking behavior. We provide evidence for pharmacologically significant interactions between CRF and orexin-A that depend on oligomerization of CRF1 receptor (CRF1R) and orexin OX1 receptors (OX1R). CRF1R–OX1R heteromers are the conduits of a negative crosstalk between orexin-A and CRF as demonstrated in transfected cells and rat VTA, in which they significantly modulate dendritic dopamine release. The cocaine target σ1 receptor (σ1R) also associates with the CRF1R–OX1R heteromer. Cocaine binding to the σ1R–CRF1R–OX1R complex promotes a long-term disruption of the orexin-A–CRF negative crosstalk. Through this mechanism, cocaine sensitizes VTA cells to the excitatory effects of both CRF and orexin-A, thus providing a mechanism by which stress induces cocaine seeking

Enhancement of latent heat storage capacity of lime rendering mortars

Microencapsulated Phase Change Materials (PCMs) were included in air lime rendering mortars in order to improve the thermal comfort of the inhabitants and the energy efficiency of buildings of the Architectural Heritage under the premises of mínimum intervention and maximum compatibility. Three different PCMs were tested and directly added during the mixing process to fresh air lime mortars in three different percentages: 5, 10 and 20 wt. %. Some chemical additives were also incorporated to improve the final performance of the renders: a starch derivative as an adhesion booster; metakaolin as pozzolanic addition to shorten the setting time and to increase the final strength; anda polycarboxylated ether as a superplasticizer to adjust the fluidity of the fresh renders avoiding an excess of mixing water. The specific heat Cp, the enthalpy ti.H ascribed to the phase change and the melting temperature of the PCMs were determined by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). The capacity of the renders to store/release heat was demonstrated at a laboratory scale. The favourable results proved the effect of these PCMs with respect to the thermal performance of these rendering mortars, offering a promising way of enhancement of the thermal efficiency of building materia Is of the Cultural Heritage

Trypanosoma brucei aquaglyceroporin 2 is a high-affinity transporter for pentamidine and melaminophenyl arsenic drugs and the main genetic determinant of resistance to these drugs.

OBJECTIVES: Trypanosoma brucei drug transporters include the TbAT1/P2 aminopurine transporter and the high-affinity pentamidine transporter (HAPT1), but the genetic identity of HAPT1 is unknown. We recently reported that loss of T. brucei aquaglyceroporin 2 (TbAQP2) caused melarsoprol/pentamidine cross-resistance (MPXR) in these parasites and the current study aims to delineate the mechanism by which this occurs. METHODS: The TbAQP2 loci of isogenic pairs of drug-susceptible and MPXR strains of T. brucei subspecies were sequenced. Drug susceptibility profiles of trypanosome strains were correlated with expression of mutated TbAQP2 alleles. Pentamidine transport was studied in T. brucei subspecies expressing TbAQP2 variants. RESULTS: All MPXR strains examined contained TbAQP2 deletions or rearrangements, regardless of whether the strains were originally adapted in vitro or in vivo to arsenicals or to pentamidine. The MPXR strains and AQP2 knockout strains had lost HAPT1 activity. Reintroduction of TbAQP2 in MPXR trypanosomes restored susceptibility to the drugs and reinstated HAPT1 activity, but did not change the activity of TbAT1/P2. Expression of TbAQP2 sensitized Leishmania mexicana promastigotes 40-fold to pentamidine and >1000-fold to melaminophenyl arsenicals and induced a high-affinity pentamidine transport activity indistinguishable from HAPT1 by Km and inhibitor profile. Grafting the TbAQP2 selectivity filter amino acid residues onto a chimeric allele of AQP2 and AQP3 partly restored susceptibility to pentamidine and an arsenical. CONCLUSIONS: TbAQP2 mediates high-affinity uptake of pentamidine and melaminophenyl arsenicals in trypanosomes and TbAQP2 encodes the previously reported HAPT1 activity. This finding establishes TbAQP2 as an important drug transporter

An Ensemble-based Machine Learning Model for Investigating Children Interaction with Robots in Childhood Education

"Investing in children's well-being and supporting high-quality pre-school education is a significant component of its promotion (ECE). All children have the right to participate. ECE teachers' thoughts about children's participation were examined to see if they were linked to children's perceptions of their participation. On the other hand, current studies focus on a single categorization method with lower overall accuracy. The findings of this study provided the basis for the development of an ensemble machine learning (ML) approach for measuring the participation of children with learning disabilities in educational situations that were specifically developed for them. Visual and auditory data are collected and analyzed to determine whether or not the youngster is engaged during the robot-child interaction in this manner. It is proposed that an ensemble ML technique (Enhanced Deep Neural Network (EDNN), Modified Extreme Gradient Boost Classifier, and Logistic Regression) be used to judge whether or not a youngster is actively engaged in the learning process. Children's participation in ECE courses depends on both the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the classroom, according to this research.