CERAMIC FACADE CLADDING AS AN ELEMENT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Building in harmony with nature has a small impact on the environment, while meeting the basic needs of the population. Green architecture is a branch of architecture including planning, designing and building of various kinds of buildings, with a low impact on the environment.Construction of the so-called “green structures” is in accord with the concept of sustainability and it attempts to balance environmental, economical and social needs.Environmentally appropriate materials are used in construction of this type of structures, which during their production, application and distribution pollute as little as possible the water, soil and air in the environment.The more sustainable the building materials used for construction are, the more sustainable is the structure and its operation with renewable energy sources. The paper considers ceramic facade elements, i.e. cladding. By using ceramic facade cladding, one achieves a better preception of an urban environment, which enriches our lives for new sensual and visual quality, while observing the green building requirements

Optimizing High Performance Self Compacting Concrete

This paper’s objectives are to learn the effect of glass powder, silica fume, Polycarboxylate Ether, and gravel to optimizing composition of each factor in making High Performance SCC. Taguchi method is proposed in this paper as best solution to minimize specimen variable which is more than 80 variations. Taguchi data analysis method is applied to provide composition, optimizing, and the effect of contributing materials for nine variable of specimens. Concrete’s workability was analyzed using Slump flow test, V-funnel test, and L-box test. Compressive and porosity test were performed for the hardened state. With a dimension of 100×200 mm the cylindrical specimens were cast for compressive test with the age of 3, 7, 14, 21, 28 days. Porosity test was conducted at 28 days. It is revealed that silica fume contributes greatly to slump flow and porosity. Coarse aggregate shows the greatest contributing factor to L-box and compressive test. However, all factors show unclear result to V-funnel test

Enhancing Oral Vaccine Potency by Targeting Intestinal M Cells

The immune system in the gastrointestinal tract plays a crucial role in the control of infection, as it constitutes the first line of defense against mucosal pathogens. The attractive features of oral immunization have led to the exploration of a variety of oral delivery systems. However, none of these oral delivery systems have been applied to existing commercial vaccines. To overcome this, a new generation of oral vaccine delivery systems that target antigens to gut-associated lymphoid tissue is required. One promising approach is to exploit the potential of microfold (M) cells by mimicking the entry of pathogens into these cells. Targeting specific receptors on the apical surface of M cells might enhance the entry of antigens, initiating the immune response and consequently leading to protection against mucosal pathogens. In this article, we briefly review the challenges associated with current oral vaccine delivery systems and discuss strategies that might potentially target mouse and human intestinal M cells

Evidence for the differential regulation of mucosal IgA immunity and oral tolerance. Studies in gene knockout and transgenic mice using the cholera toxin adjuvant system

Despite the continuos exposure to a myriad of food and microbial antigens, inflammatory reactions in the intestinal mucosa are rare. Homeostasis in the intestinal mucosa is maintained by regulatory T cells, which can be tolerized or primed to provide efficient B cell help. Two types of responses can be elicited by mucosal antigen; active IgA immunity or oral tolerance. The latter being the dominant type of reaction to almost all soluble antigens, whereas active IgA immunity requires the use of effective adjuvants, such as cholera toxin (CT) or ISCOMS. This thesis explores the regulatory role of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells for oral tolerance induction and active IgA immunity. Moreover, we have addressed the question of whether oral tolerance and active IgA immunity are reciprocally regulated or can co-exist. The governing functions of IL-12 (Th1) or IL-4 (Th2) for induction of tolerance or active IgA immunity were also assessed using gene knockout mice and ISCOMS and CT-adjuvant. Finally, we experimentally addressed the hypothesis that the type of response elicited by oral antigen administration is determined at the antigen-presenting cell (APC) level. We found that mice lacking CD8+ T cells exhibited significantly stronger mucosal IgA responses and failed to develop local tolerance to fed antigens, suggesting a down-regulatory function of CD8+ T cells in the normal gut mucosa. By contrast, oral tolerance at the systemic level, was clearly independent of CD8+ T cells, but affected both Th1 and Th2 CD4+ T cell functions. Furthermore, already established tolerance could not be abrogated by CT, whereas this adjuvant and ISCOMS prevented the induction of tolerance in all mouse strains tested, including IL-4 and IL-12-deficient mice. Th2 cells /IL-4 was critical for CT-induced IgA immunity, while ISCOMS were dependent on Th1 cells/IL-12 activity, indicating differential regulatory requirements for induction of mucosal IgA immune responses. Oral tolerance was readily induced in both these mouse strains in the absence of adjuvant, suggesting also separate regulatory pathways for induction of oral tolerance and active IgA immunity. The reciprocal regulation of these response patterns was further indicated by the finding that antigen conjugated to CT, strongly promoted mucosal IgA responses even in IL-4 deficient mice, while oral tolerance was prevented by the conjugation. The ability to circumvent the requirement for IL-4 was dependent on the enzymatic activity of CT, acting on the APC, because conjugation to the enzymatically inactive, but cell-receptor binding CTB, failed to affect IgA immunity. Using OVA TCR transgenic mice we could demonstrate that clonal T cells can be either tolerized or induced to enhance active IgA immunity depending on the function of the APC in the gut and that fed antigen can simultaneously induce local IgA immunity and systemic CD4+ T cell tolerance, arguing for the existence of separate and distinct activation pathways of the two response patterns; oral tolerance and active IgA immunity, in the gut mucosa

The traditional vs. the online market : A study of consumer behaviour and consumer preferences in the purchase of high-involvement products

Problem: The complexity of high-involvement products, especially when bought online needs further studying so that a merchant-consumer dialogue and information exchange is initiated. The opportunity for both merchants and consumers lies in the profits from these dia-logues and exchanges. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate what specific features buy-ers in the traditional market believe are unsatisfactory or missing in the online market. Our findings will help us give suggestions on what actions online merchants might take in order to redistribute high-involvement purchases from the traditional market to the online mar-ket. Method: The data collection involves both a survey and interviews in order to assemble appropriate, justifiable and relevant data. In total, 150 peo-ple responded to the survey, and six of them were later objects to the in-depth interviews. To ensure that the collection of data was re-trieved consistently and reliably, and to avoid miss-interpretations, is-sues such as significance and reliability have been considered. Result: Almost twice as many respondents bought their laptop in the tradi-tional market. It is preferred due to; a rooted habit of making pur-chases traditionally, the tangibility of the product, more apparent communication with salespeople, stronger purchase sensations and instant transactions. Conclusion: The major features missing in the online market are; 1) the experien-tial sources and 2) the enjoyable sensations of a purchase found in a traditional purchase. The major unsatisfactory features include cus-tomer service, delivery and the complexity still adhered to online pur-chasing. The features have led consumers to hesitate and mistrust the online market in high-involvement purchases. In order to attain a re-distribution; buyers‟ hesitation has to be overcome and subsequently trust must be built in the capabilities of the online market

The paraoxonase 1, 2 and 3 in humans

The paraoxonase gene family in humans includes three members: PON1, PON2 and PON3. The pro-ducts of those three genes are the following enzymes: paraoxonase 1 (PON1), paraoxonase 2 (PON2) and paraoxonase 3 (PON3). PON1 is mainly associated with a high density lipoprotein (HDL). A small amount of this enzyme is also bound to very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) and postprandial chylomicrons. PON1 possess organophosphatase, arylesterase and lactonase activity and it hydrolyzes many different substrates. It is also known that PON1 may have antiatherogenic function. Compared to the PON1, PON2 and PON3 are much less studied and described. PON2 is ubiquitously expressed intracellular protein, while PON3 is bound to HDL, like PON1. The both enzymes possess antioxidant properties

Immune-stimulating complexes induce an IL-12-dependent cascade of innate immune responses

The development of subunit vaccines requires the use of adjuvants that act by stimulating components of the innate immune response. Immune-stimulating complexes (ISCOMS) containing the saponin adjuvant Quil A are potential vaccine vectors that induce a wide range of Ag-specific responses in vivo encompassing both humoral and CD4 and CD8 cell-mediated immune responses. ISCOMS are active by both parenteral and mucosal routes, but the basis for their adjuvant properties is unknown. Here we have investigated the ability of ISCOMS to recruit and activate innate immune responses as measured in peritoneal exudate cells. The i.p. injection of ISCOMS induced intense local inflammation, with early recruitment of neutrophils and mast cells followed by macrophages, dendritic cells, and lymphocytes. Many of the recruited cells had phenotypic evidence of activation and secreted a number of inflammatory mediators, including nitric oxide, reactive oxygen intermediates, IL-1, IL-6, IL-12, and IFN-γ. Of the factors that we investigated further only IL-12 appeared to be essential for the immunogenicity of ISCOMS, as IL-6- and inducible nitric oxide synthase knockout (KO) mice developed normal immune responses to OVA in ISCOMS, whereas these responses were markedly reduced in IL-12KO mice. The recruitment of peritoneal exudate cells following an injection of ISCOMS was impaired in IL-12KO mice, indicating a role for IL-12 in establishing the proinflammatory cascade. Thus, ISCOMS prime Ag-specific immune responses at least in part by activating IL-12-dependent aspects of the innate immune system