Typology and Current Structure of the Geosystems in the Southern Part of the Trascău Mountains

The geoecological complexity of the Trascău Mountains is revealed not only by means of its natural components but also by means of its existing interactions and inter-dependences with the anthropic elements identified within the region. The current paper represents an overview and a small scale analysis of the existing types of geosystems identified in the southern part of the Trascău Mountains, mainly along the Ampoi River valley, as well as of the type of the existing interactions between the anthropic elements with the natural environment materialized by means of land utilization carried out in order to sustain the existence and development of agricultural activities, as a basis for the development of the local communities. Throughout the time, the human communities have modified the natural environment in such a manner that they have altered the nature’s ability to restore its initial equilibrium, many of the current types of landforms (especially those located alongside the water courses) being modified as result of the man’s interference. The development of the human communities resulted in an increase of the demand for more resources which materialized in an increase in the cultivated surfaces, development of more settlements, and modification of the land utilization with a more pronounced development of crops to the detriment of the natural vegetation. In regards to the existing human settlements, the spreading of the households along the Ampoi River valley and along its tributaries can be observed, the villages thus possessing a congregate shape

MANAGING THE VISITOR EXPERIENCE ON ROMANIAN RELIGIOUS SITES: MONASTERIES ABBOTS’ PERCEPTIONS

For thousands of years, people have been travelling to places considered sacred to meet or to worship Divinity. Religion-motivated tourism is extremely important in many parts of the world. The aim of this paper is to investigate the issue of the religious tourism experience for a religion considered to be conservative and traditionalist in relation to other denominations. In order to achieve this end we distinguish the behavioural characteristics and motivations of the religious sites’ visitors through the abbots’ gaze. The research method of this study is a questionnaire based survey among more than one hundred monasteries’ superiors from different regions of Romania, places known as “holy or sacred” destinations for the Romanian religious people.visitor experience, religious tourism, religious site management, Romanian monasteries

Dynamic Identification for Representative Building Typologies: Three Case Studies from Bucharest Area

The paper presents results from an experimental program implemented for three representative buildings in Bucharest metropolitan area and aimed to explore the potential of various dynamic identification methods in providing information about building state changes. The objective is to establish reference values of potential use in rapid earthquake damage detection systems. Each of the selected buildings was designed according to a different seismic code, in force at the time of its construction. The methods employed for this study were: the analysis of Fourier spectra, the analysis of the transfer function and the random decrement technique. To validate the results, the fundamental periods of vibration determined experimentally were compared with the corresponding values predicted by the empirical formulas specified in the corresponding editions of the Romanian seismic code. The results revealed consistent values for both the fundamental period and the damping ratio of the buildings. However, small variations of the two parameters were identified, depending on the time the recordings were performed, noise sources and levels and building occupancy. The results, in terms of validated data on the dynamic characteristics of Romanian building stock and of assessment of methods performance, add up to the information pool needed for the development of countrywide pre- and post-earthquake assisted decision tools

Influence of Temperature on Mycelial Growth of some Pleurotus eryngii and Lentinula edodes Strains in vitro

The mycelial growth rate of eight experimental strains - Pleurotus eryngii (4) and Lentinula edodes (4) - was studied on PDA medium at different incubation temperatures: 18°, 24° and 30°C.The aim of the investigation was to determine the optimal temperature for in vitro cultivation of each of the eight strains under study. All the experimental soushes reached their optimum growth at 24-30°C. P.eryngii strains showed better growth rates compared to those of L.edodes. The fastest strains were Pery-G (4,83 mm day-1/30oC), Pery-K (4,14 mm day-1/30oC) for P.eryngii and Led-S (3,35 mm day-1/30oC), LeM-51 (3,05 mm day-1/30oC) for L.edodes, respectively.Statistical interpretation shows that our experimental strains of both specia obtained very significant positive results at 30oC.

Aspects regarding the analysis of inflation evolution

With this work, the authors are submitting the main theories, which led to the definition of the concept of “inflation”, pointing out the successive acceptations, which the economists – starting with classics, Adam Smith’s contemporaries – have granted, over the time, to this economical phenomenon. Thus, at a first phase, the term of inflation was connected to currency, later on to money while presently it is commonly used for describing prices. This change of paradigm seems to originate in a sequence of unhappy events, probably unavoidable

VAPB/ALS8 interacts with FFAT-like proteins including the p97 cofactor FAF1 and the ASNA1 ATPase

BACKGROUND: FAF1 is a ubiquitin-binding adaptor for the p97 ATPase and belongs to the UBA-UBX family of p97 cofactors. p97 converts the energy derived from ATP hydrolysis into conformational changes of the p97 hexamer, which allows the dissociation of its targets from cellular structures or from larger protein complexes to facilitate their ubiquitin-dependent degradation. VAPB and the related protein VAPA form homo- and heterodimers that are anchored in the endoplasmic reticulum membrane and can interact with protein partners carrying a FFAT motif. Mutations in either VAPB or p97 can cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a neurodegenerative disorder that affects upper and lower motor neurons. RESULTS: We show that FAF1 contains a non-canonical FFAT motif that allows it to interact directly with the MSP domain of VAPB and, thereby, to mediate VAPB interaction with p97. This finding establishes a link between two proteins that can cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis when mutated, VAPB/ALS8 and p97/ALS14. Subsequently, we identified a similar FFAT-like motif in the ASNA1 subunit of the transmembrane-domain recognition complex (TRC), which in turn mediates ASNA1 interaction with the MSP domain of VAPB. Proteasome inhibition leads to the accumulation of ubiquitinated species in VAPB immunoprecipitates and this correlates with an increase in FAF1 and p97 binding. We found that VAPB interaction with ubiquitinated proteins is strongly reduced in cells treated with FAF1 siRNA. Our efforts to determine the identity of the ubiquitinated targets common to VAPB and FAF1 led to the identification of RPN2, a subunit of an oligosaccharyl-transferase located at the endoplasmic reticulum, which may be regulated by ubiquitin-mediated degradation. CONCLUSIONS: The FFAT-like motifs we identified in FAF1 and ASNA1 demonstrate that sequences containing a single phenylalanine residue with the consensus (D/E)(D/E)FEDAx(D/E) are also proficient to mediate interaction with VAPB. Our findings indicate that the repertoire of VAPB interactors is more diverse than previously anticipated and link VAPB to the function of ATPase complexes such as p97/FAF1 and ASNA1/TRC

SUN TRACKING PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM

The purpose of this paper is the design and realization of a prototype system for tracking the position of the sun, with two axes of rotation. The operating principle of the device is based on changing the position of the photovoltaic modules in the direction of the sun's rays, which maximizes the production of electricity. Solar panels with automatic adjustment according to the position of the sun are an innovative solution for optimizing the use of the solar energy. The promotion and use of solar energy is essential in our efforts to protect the planet and ensure a sustainable future

UBXN7 docks on neddylated cullin complexes using its UIM motif and causes HIF1α accumulation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The proteins from the UBA-UBX family interact with ubiquitylated proteins via their UBA domain and with p97 via their UBX domain, thereby acting as substrate-binding adaptors for the p97 ATPase. In particular, human UBXN7 (also known as UBXD7) mediates p97 interaction with the transcription factor HIF1α that is actively ubiquitylated in normoxic cells by a CUL2-based E3 ligase, CRL2. Mass spectrometry analysis of UBA-UBX protein immunoprecipitates showed that they interact with a multitude of E3 ubiquitin-ligases. Conspicuously, UBXN7 was most proficient in interacting with cullin-RING ligase subunits. We therefore set out to determine whether UBXN7 interaction with cullins was direct or mediated by its ubiquitylated targets bound to the UBA domain.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We show that UBXN7 interaction with cullins is independent of ubiquitin- and substrate-binding. Instead, it relies on the UIM motif in UBXN7 that directly engages the NEDD8 modification on cullins. To understand the functional consequences of UBXN7 interaction with neddylated cullins, we focused on HIF1α, a CUL2 substrate that uses UBXD7/p97 as a ubiquitin-receptor on its way to proteasome-mediated degradation. We find that UBXN7 over-expression converts CUL2 to its neddylated form and causes the accumulation of non-ubiquitylated HIF1α. Both of these effects are strictly UIM-dependent and occur only when UBXN7 contains an intact UIM motif. We also show that HIF1α carrying long ubiquitin-chains can recruit alternative ubiquitin-receptors, lacking p97's ATP-dependent segregase activity.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study shows that independently of its function as a ubiquitin-binding adaptor for p97, UBXN7 directly interacts with neddylated cullins and causes the accumulation of the CUL2 substrate HIF1α. We propose that by sequestering CUL2 in its neddylated form, UBXN7 negatively regulates the ubiquitin-ligase activity of CRL2 and this might prevent recruitment of ubiquitin-receptors other than p97 to nuclear HIF1α.</p

Raising Awareness on Health Impact of the Chemicals Used in Consumer Products: Empirical Evidence from East-Central Europe

Recent research and guidance provided by regulatory authorities address the growing concerns on the control of chemicals used in consumer products. In this context, this study responds to literature alerts emphasizing the need for promoting risk reduction by decreasing the use of damaging chemicals and raising public awareness on this issue. It focuses on East-Central Europe and investigates whether consumers are worried about the impact on health of chemicals, and whether they think there is enough information available in this sense. The study uses logistic regression in order to analyze the secondary data from Special Eurobarometer No. 416 (part of Eurobarometer Wave EB 81.3, European Commission, 2014), namely 27,998 interviews collected in all 28 EU countries, of which 11,460 are from East-Central Europe. The research reveals a profile of East-Central Europeans, who consider that they lack information on the topic, and identifies the most effective way of reaching these people according to their perceptions and habits. Reporting results on a representative sample in East-Central Europe, the study indicates the channels, sources of information, and trusted institutions in order to support a campaign for raising public awareness on the health impact of chemicals used in consumer products

Current Trends in Glioblastoma Treatment

Glioblastoma (also called glioblastoma multiforme – GBM) is a primary brain neoplasm, representing about 55% of all gliomas. It is a very aggressive and infiltrative tumor. Glioblastoma is usually highly malignant, with more than 90% 5-year mortality and a median survival of about 14.6 months. Compared to other cancers, the survival rate has not greatly changed over time and no current treatment is curative for this disease. Because the tumor has a heterogeneous cell population containing several types of cells, the treatment for GBM is one of the most challenging in clinical oncology. This chapter will discuss the current approaches in glioblastoma treatment, including resection techniques, chemotherapy and radiation therapy