Sanitation under Stress: How Can Urban Services Respond to Acute Migration?

This working paper aims to identify key research questions around the successes and failures of urban governance structures in delivering essential services to populations following large migration movements.It does so through a review of the existing literature on the subject. It then unpacks how conflict-induced migration has affected Jordan's urban infrastructure and systems for the provision of basic services.In conclusion, we call for a research agenda that can help utilities, governments, non-governmental organisations and other service providers to better understand and overcome the challenges of sanitation provision in urban contexts 'under stress', without reinforcing existing inequalities or creating new ones, and to progress towards realising the Sustainable Development Goals' aspirations for 'universal access to adequate and equitable sanitation' by 2030

Everyday Physical Education: Functional and Dysfunctional Consequences in Hungarian Public Education

In Participation in physical education is considered to be a fundamental right of pupils all over the world. In Hungary, where the rich elite sports traditions of the country are paralleled by the population’s moderate physical activity, the challenge posed by non-communicable diseases and growing obesity figures among youth was addressed by the introduction of daily P.E. in public education starting in the 2012/13 academic year. The objective of the present paper is to discuss, based on empirical research, the intended and unintended consequences of this measure in an educational and social context using the qualitative analysis of the views of key stakeholders and the quantitative analysis of statistical data on the infrastructural and personal conditions of P.E. The results indicate that neither before nor after the enforcement of the Act on Public Education were the infrastructural and personal conditions of daily P.E. created and, in addition to the intended consequences, a number of unintended consequences have also been encountered by various stakeholders. The study can also be regarded as an attempt to reveal these dysfunctions in order to contribute to positive changes in the area

Climate adaptation and resilience in coastal zones : a review of coastal research

The report reviews multiple projects and makes recommendations based on detailed evaluation. Two key thematic clusters were identified in the project sample: the first concentrates on issues related to disaster risk reduction and socioecological resilience; the second focusses on projects related to adaptation related to slow-onset climate change. The coastal focus shows high alignment of projects with indicators of risk reduction, vulnerability assessment, testing adaptation strategies, and strengthening adaptive capacity. Despite their potential significance in coastal areas, alignment with other indicators (for integrated water management and water quality) was low. Eight of the thirteen 13 projects reviewed are still active

OVERVIEW OF THE RELEVANT INDICATORS OF DEFAULTED AND NON-DEFAULTED COMPANIES AND POSSIBILITIES OF IMPROVEMENT FOR THE RATING SYSTEMS USED BY THE ROMANIAN COMMERCIAL BANKS

Since the beginning of the financial and economic crises many news came to light which discussed the increasing number of non-performing loans, and the fact that as a result of the company break-downs, the bank portfolios have also gone worse and worse. In this paper our goal is to find out which internal factors influence the solvency of a company, therefore, to point out the weaknesses of the current Romanian rating systems, which as we will see, do not take into only relevant criteria when according a loan to a company. In order to conduct this study, we choose 18 indicators from several categories to predict bankruptcy. Some of the indicators mentioned above are really common in the international and the Romanian literature (e.g. ROA, ROE, ROS, assets turnover ratio), some of them are less. On a sample of 3000 Romanian companies we use the T-test statistical method to find out if an indicator is significant or not. The sample consists of companies (defaulted and non-defaulted as well) which have presented their financial statements (balance, profit and loss account between 1999 and 2008). For each company a set of 18 financial indicators was calculated, but the results obtained show that only 8 of them is significant in predicting bankruptcy: ROA, assets turnover ratio, equity/total assets, general leverage, current assets to total assets, cash to total assets, total assets and sales. In the next step, by analyzing the obligatory forms used in credit lending, we conclude which indicators are used by different Romanian commercial banks. We found that only four out of seven banks calculate all of the significant indicators identified in the first part of the paper. Finally, we made a proposal about which quantitative indicators should the banks use to minimize the credit losses and to avoid the overdue payments. In addition, we consider that the banks should pay attention to the qualitative factors as well to effectively filter out non-performing loans.corporate failure, default, risk, financial ratios, rating systems, Romania

Subcellular Distribution of a Voltage-Gated Potassium Channel: the Effect of Localization on Channel Function

Voltage-gated potassium channels are primary determinants of cellular excitability in the mammalian nervous system. The localization of these channels to distinct cellular compartments influences components of neuronal function, including resting membrane potential, action potential characteristics and neurotransmitter release. Thus, understanding the mechanistic basis of ion channel localization can provide fundamental insight into human physiology. The overall goal of this dissertation was to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms governing localization and function of the Kv1.3 voltage-gated potassium channel. The sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system innervates many organ systems including the kidneys, heart and blood vessels and was used as a model to study endogenous Kv1.3. We found that postganglionic sympathetic neurons express Kv1.3 and that the channel exhibits a striking pattern of localization to the Golgi apparatus in the soma of these cells. Kv1.3 ionic current was also isolated from the soma of these neurons, indicating the channel is a determinant of the electrophysiological properties of sympathetic neurons. In addition, the specific inhibition of Kv1.3 with margatoxin was found to depolarize neuronal resting membrane potential, decrease the latency to action potential firing and increase nicotinic agonist-induced neurotransmitter release. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that Kv1.3 influences the function of postganglionic sympathetic neurons and led to the hypothesis that regulating channel localization may be a mechanism for modulating the activity of these cells. In this dissertation, we propose that the observed Golgi retention of Kv1.3 may be a trafficking-dependent mechanism of channel regulation. To test this hypothesis, we used HEK293 cells as our model system. Our data show that the degree of Kv1.3 Golgi localization is inversely correlated with the amount of channel at the plasma membrane. In addition, the amplitude of Kv1.3 ionic current measured in cells with low Kv1.3 Golgi localization was significantly greater than the current measured in cells with high Kv1.3 Golgi localization. One mechanism for localizing ion channels to the Golgi apparatus involves the Class I PDZ-binding motif (X-S/T-X-Φ). Deletion of the C-terminal PDZbinding motif of Kv1.3 decreased the intracellular Golgi localization of the channel and increased channel localization at the cell surface. Disrupting this canonical binding motif also increased the amplitude of Kv1.3 ionic current. These findings indicate that regulated subcellular distribution of the channel may be a determinant of Kv1.3 surface expression and function

The Phase Structure of Antiferromagnetic Ising Model in the Presence of Frustrations

The antiferromagnetic Ising model in a magnetic field is considered on the Husimi tree. Using iteration technique we draw the plots of magnetization versus external field for different temperatures and construct the resulting phase diagram. We show that frustration effects essentially change the critical properties. The model exhibits three distinct critical regions, including re-entrant phase structure and Griffiths singularities.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, submited to Phys. Lett.

Contribution of Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 to Cerebral Edema and Functional Outcome following Experimental Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Background: Cerebral edema is an important risk factor for death and poor outcome following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). However, underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 is held responsible for the degradation of microvascular basal lamina proteins leading to blood-brain barrier dysfunction and, thus, formation of vasogenic cerebral edema. The current study was conducted to clarify the role of MMP-9 for the development of cerebral edema and for functional outcome after SAH. Methods: SAH was induced in FVB/N wild-type (WT) or MMP-9 knockout (MMP-9(-/-)) mice by endovascular puncture. Intracranial pressure (ICP), regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF), and mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) were continuously monitored up to 30 min after SAH. Mortality was quantified for 7 days after SAH. In an additional series neurological function and body weight were assessed for 3 days after SAH. Subsequently, ICP and brain water content were quantified. Results: Acute ICP, rCBF, and MABP did not differ between WT and MMP-9(-/-) mice, while 7 days' mortality was lower in MMP-9(-/-) mice (p = 0.03; 20 vs. 60%). MMP-9(-/-) mice also exhibited better neurological recovery, less brain edema formation, and lower chronic ICP. Conclusions: The results of the current study suggest that MMP-9 contributes to the development of early brain damage after SAH by promoting cerebral edema formation. Hence, MMP-9 may represent a novel molecular target for the treatment of SAH. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Base

Multi-modal magnetic resonance imaging in the acute and sub-acute phase of mild traumatic brain injury: can we see the difference?

Advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods were shown to be able to detect the subtle structural consequences of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). The objective of this study was to investigate the acute structural alterations and recovery after mTBI, using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to reveal axonal pathology, volumetric analysis, and susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) to detect microhemorrhage. Fourteen patients with mTBI who had computed tomography with negative results underwent MRI within 3 days and 1 month after injury. High resolution T1-weighted imaging, DTI, and SWI, were performed at both time points. A control group of 14 matched volunteers were also examined following the same imaging protocol and time interval. Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) were performed on DTI data to reveal group differences. T1-weighted images were fed into Freesurfer volumetric analysis. TBSS showed fractional anisotropy (FA) to be significantly (corrected p<0.05) lower, and mean diffusivity (MD) to be higher in the mTBI group in several white matter tracts (FA=40,737; MD=39,078 voxels) compared with controls at 72 hours after injury and still 1month later for FA. Longitudinal analysis revealed significant change (i.e., normalization) of FA and MD over 1 month dominantly in the left hemisphere (FA=3408; MD=7450 voxels). A significant (p<0.05) decrease in cortical volumes (mean 1%) and increase in ventricular volumes (mean 3.4%) appeared at 1 month after injury in the mTBI group. SWI did not reveal microhemorrhage in our patients. Our findings present dynamic micro- and macrostructural changes occurring in the acute to sub-acute phase in mTBI, in very mildly injured patients lacking microhemorrhage detectable by SWI. These results underscore the importance of strictly defined image acquisition time points when performing MRI studies on patients with mTBI