Assessment of the Maltese environmental matrix to define the future monitoring strategy

Chapter 16As a member of the EU and of the international community, Malta has important obligations to report on the state of the environment and the effectiveness of policy measures addressing particular concerns, such as pollution (Regional Environmental Center, 2008). Failure to collect reliable and up-to-date environmental data would make Malta exposed to various environmental pressures due to poorly informed policy decisions, which could eventually also lead to economic implications (European Commission, 2014a). Under this context Malta is in the process of implementing the EU legislative framework regarding the environmental themes of air, water, radiation and soil. Prior to the implementation of the project “Development of environmental monitoring strategy and environmental monitoring baseline surveys”, air and water data from the Maltese environmental network were already available, though data coverage presented some lacunas, whereas radiation and soil network system was not in place, hence minimum baseline data was available. Therefore, the long term monitoring strategic proposal discussed in this article has been designed as a primary tool to improve the state of the environment as well as to be in compliance with the EU Directives related with nature conservation.peer-reviewe

Assessing organisational factors in aircraft accidents using a hybrid Reason and AcciMap model

Despite the use of high safety standards in aircraft design and operations, accidents do occur. In a process of continuous improvement it is essential that we learn from each accident so we can take measures to prevent such accidents from happening in the future. It is often the case that an accident is the result of a sequence of, seemingly minor and often unrelated, events. The challenge is to identify the major causes, which can include deficiencies in organisational processes which may have been present well before the accident itself. This paper discusses tools which can be used to identify key organisational factors which contribute to aviation accidents. The research uses a thoroughly-investigated helicopter accident as a case study, to determine the extent to which analytical and visualisation tools can be used to assess maintenance organisational issues which contributed to the accident

Burrow density of the endangered Maltese Freshwater Crab Potamon fluviatile lanfrancoi at Lunzjata and Xlendi valleys, Gozo

The density of burrows of the highly threatened and locally protected freshwater crab Potamon luviatile lanfrancoi at its only known locality of occurrence on Gozo, the Wied tal-Lunzjata / Wied tax-Xlendi valley system, was surveyed during the 2006-2007 wet season. Of a length of 851m of the main channel of Wied tal-Lunzjata surveyed, 665m had burrows, while of 303m of Wied tax-Xlendi surveyed, only 60m had burrows, giving a mean burrow density of 1.29 and 0.10 burrows per metre, respectively. The highest concentrations of burrows occurred in three areas within Wied tal-Lunzjata: its upper reaches, in the Ta’ Ghajn Tuta area, and in the Wied tas-Saqwi area. Only few burrows occurred in the lower reaches of Wied tax-Xlendi, the only accessible part of this valley that could be surveyed. There was no clear relationship between burrow density and either water depth or flow rate, although there were indications that high flow rates tended to favour high burrow densities. Burrows were invariably excavated in the soil or muddy sediment close to the water level and the availability of muddy sediment was a key factor determining the occurrence of burrows. Burrow occurrence and burrow density did not seem to be affected much by material dumped into the valley, or by moderately poor water quality, but there were clear indications that the crabs may be particularly susceptible to severe changes in water quality and in the hydrologic regime, particularly where this affects the availability of critical habitat.peer-reviewe

Effects of Gravity on Gastric Emptying, Intestinal Transit, and Drug Absorption

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/97246/1/j.1552-4604.1991.tb03658.x.pd

Assessing organisational factors in aircraft accidents: Methodologies and limitations

This paper discusses tools which can be used to identify key organisational factors which contribute to aviation accidents. The research uses a thoroughly-investigated helicopter accident as a case study, to determine the extent to which analytical and visualisation tools could be used to assess maintenance organisational issues which contributed to an accident

An unusual case of adult-onset acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

A 57 year old gentleman presented to our emergency department with a ten day history of progressive loss of balance, left-sided weakness and gait disturbance. CT brain showed bilateral subcortical hypodensities in the parietal lobes with right sided cortical involvement. Subsequent MRI of the neuro-axis showed symmetrical high FLAIR signal in the parietal lobes bilaterally, suggestive of Acute Disseminated EncephaloMyelitis (ADEM), while excluding cord lesions. CSF and serum analysis excluded alternative diagnoses. He was treated with high dose IV methylprednisolone followed by an oral steroid taper, with rapid clinical response aided by physical and occupational therapy.peer-reviewe

Loss of endogenous estrogen alters mitochondrial metabolism and muscle clock-related protein Rbm20 in female mdx mice

Female carriers of a Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene mutation manifest exercise intolerance and metabolic anomalies that may be exacerbated following menopause due to the loss of estrogen, a known regulator of skeletal muscle function and metabolism. Here, we studied the impact of estrogen depletion (via ovariectomy) on exercise tolerance and muscle mitochondrial metabolism in female mdx mice and the potential of estrogen replacement therapy (using estradiol) to protect against functional and metabolic perturbations. We also investigated the effect of estrogen depletion, and replacement, on the skeletal muscle proteome through an untargeted proteomic approach with TMT-labelling. Our study confirms that loss of estrogen in female mdx mice reduces exercise capacity, tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates, and citrate synthase activity but that these deficits are offset through estrogen replacement therapy. Furthermore, ovariectomy downregulated protein expression of RNA-binding motif factor 20 (Rbm20), a critical regulator of sarcomeric and muscle homeostasis gene splicing, which impacted pathways involving ribosomal and mitochondrial translation. Estrogen replacement modulated Rbm20 protein expression and promoted metabolic processes and the upregulation of proteins involved in mitochondrial dynamics and metabolism. Our data suggest that estrogen mitigates dystrophinopathic features in female mdx mice and that estrogen replacement may be a potential therapy for post-menopausal DMD carriers

Physiological restraint of Bak by Bcl-x⌊ is essential for cell survival

Due to the myriad interactions between prosurvival and proapoptotic members of the Bcl-2 family of proteins, establishing the mechanisms that regulate the intrinsic apoptotic pathway has proven challenging. Mechanistic insights have primarily been gleaned from in vitro studies because genetic approaches in mammals that produce unambiguous data are difficult to design. Here we describe a mutation in mouse and human Bak that specifically disrupts its interaction with the prosurvival protein Bcl-xL Substitution of Glu75 in mBak (hBAK Q77) for leucine does not affect the three-dimensional structure of Bak or killing activity but reduces its affinity for Bcl-xL via loss of a single hydrogen bond. Using this mutant, we investigated the requirement for physical restraint of Bak by Bcl-xL in apoptotic regulation. In vitro, Bak(Q75L) cells were significantly more sensitive to various apoptotic stimuli. In vivo, loss of Bcl-xL binding to Bak led to significant defects in T-cell and blood platelet survival. Thus, we provide the first definitive in vivo evidence that prosurvival proteins maintain cellular viability by interacting with and inhibiting Bak.Erinna F. Lee, Stephanie Grabow, Stephane Chappaz, Grant Dewson, Colin Hockings ... Benjamin T. Kile ... et al