The Protection of Cultural Heritage in the Sultanate of Oman

The Sultanate of Oman has enacted a modern and detailed statute protecting its cultural heritage. It is one of the newest and most modern pieces of legislation within the Arab world and provides broad protection for the rich cultural heritage of the country. The enactment of the statute and its application to protect culture and the nation's cultural heritage became an important political aim, and the year 1994 was officially declared as the "Year of National Heritage

Thermal refugia and the survival of species in changing environments: new evidence from a nationally extinct freshwater fish

Variation in global climate during the Quaternary has helped shape current species distributions. The stenohaline fish fauna of the British Isles is generally thought to have colonised eastern England via a landbridge following the last glacial maximum. This theory is investigated using the nationally extinct burbot, Lota lota, as a model species. Samples were collected from 15 museum specimens of known English provenance and analysed for differences in the mitochondrial DNA control region. The DNA analysis produced eight sequences of 270 base pairs, with one sample reaching 420 base pairs in length. Genetic analysis suggests the extinct English population of the burbot was a distinct lineage, differing from those previously described from across the species’ global distribution. Despite this, network analysis suggests that the English lineage is closely related to populations in western Europe, supporting colonisation via a postglacial landbridge. The rate of genetic divergence suggests that the timing of L. lota's colonisation of English rivers was prior to the last glacial maximum. Lota lota appears to have survived the last glacial maximum in refugia within the British Isles. This study adds to the evidence for a British freshwater refugia and furthers our understanding of the colonisation history of British freshwater fishes. These results also provide valuable information for conservation strategies for L. lota indicating the western European clade as most genetically appropriate for potential future reintroductions to English rivers

The Protection of Cultural Heritage in the Sultanate of Oman

The Sultanate of Oman has enacted a modern and detailed statute protecting its cultural heritage. It is one of the newest and most modern pieces of legislation within the Arab world and provides broad protection for the rich cultural heritage of the country. The enactment of the statute and its application to protect culture and the nation's cultural heritage became an important political aim, and the year 1994 was officially declared as the "Year of National Heritage

Design of a Future Residential DC Microgrid

In the search for environmentally friendly methodsto implement renewable energy in the power system residentialmicrogrids have been proposed and proven. The direct current(DC) microgrid topology is a promising implementation of amicrogrid system due to the increasing amount of DC-operatedloads and production units expected in the near future. Inthis project, the proposed DC microgrid consists of a solarphotovoltaic (PV) power source, a battery, a DC load, and aninterlinking bidirectional converter to connect the microgrid tothe external three-phase power grid. The PV system is controlledwith a Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithm tomaximise the power production in all weathers. The DC busvoltage is stabilised by the battery controller and a coordinatedcontrol scheme considering the electricity price and battery Stateof Charge (SOC) is implemented to govern the power exchangewith the utility grid. Simulations of the system are shown tovalidate the functionality of the microgrid and the performance ofthe controllers in multiple scenarios. The proposed DC microgridis proven to function in both utility grid-connected mode and inisolation from the utility grid.I sökandet efter miljövänliga metoder att implementera förnybar energi i kraftsystemet har lokalt självförsörjande elsystem för bostäder föreslagits och visats fungera. Den likströmsbaserade topologin är en lovande implementering av ett sådant lokalt elsystem till följd av den ökande mängden likströmsdrivna laster och produktionsenheter som förväntas komma inom en snar framtid. I detta projekt består det föreslagna likströmsbaserade elsystemet av en solenergikälla, ett batteri, en likströmslast och en sammanlänkande dubbelriktad omvandlare för att ansluta det lokala elsystemet till det externa trefasiga elnätet. Solenergisystemet styrs med en maximal kraftpunktföljande algoritm för att maximera kraftproduktionen i alla väder. Likströmsbussens spänning stabiliseras av batteristyrenheten och ett samordnat styrschema som tar hänsyn till elpriset och batteriets laddningstillstånd implementeras för att styra energiutbytet med elnätet. Simuleringar av systemet presenteras för att validera mikronätets funktionalitet och styrteknikens prestanda i flera olika scenarier. Det föreslagna likströmsbaserade elsystemet visas fungera i både nätanslutet läge och isolerat från elnätet.Kandidatexjobb i elektroteknik 2022, KTH, Stockhol

Effects of breakfast cereals containing various amounts of beta-glucan fibers on plasma glucose and insulin responses in NIDDM subjects

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether increasing doses (amounts) of beta-glucan present in an extruded breakfast cereal affect the glycemic and insulinemic responses in eight NIDDM subjects, compared with the same responses after a continental breakfast (bread, milk, cheese, ham). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Breakfast cereals were produced using various proportions of oat bran enriched in fiber, which contain an unusually high amount of a viscous polysaccharide, called beta-glucan, and oat bran. The carbohydrate load was 35 g. RESULTS: The maximum increases observed in plasma glucose after the breakfast cereal were 67% (P < 0.05), 42% (P < 0.001), and 38% (P < 0.001) with 4.0, 6.0, and 8.4 g beta-glucan, respectively, compared with the continental breakfast. There was a linear inverse relationship between dose of beta-glucan and plasma glucose peak or area under the glucose curve (R2 = 0.94, P < 0.05). Postprandial insulin increase was only 59-67% (P < 0.01) as high as the continental breakfast after all three levels of beta-glucan. CONCLUSIONS: The 50% decrease in glycemic response that was observed after the ingestion of 35 g carbohydrate is estimated to occur with approximately 5 g beta-glucan. This dose of beta-glucan can easily be attained without the loss of taste by incorporating oat bran concentrate in products

The effect of age and gender on anti-saccade performance: Results from a large cohort of healthy aging individuals

11By 2050, the global population of people aged 65 years or older will triple. While this is accompanied with an increasing burden of age-associated diseases, it also emphasizes the need to understand the effects of healthy aging on cognitive processes. One such effect is a general slowing of processing speed, which is well documented in many domains. The execution of anti-saccades depends on a well-established brain-wide network ranging from various cortical areas and basal ganglia through the superior colliculus down to the brainstem saccade generators. To clarify the consequences of healthy aging as well as gender on the execution of reflexive and voluntary saccades, we measured a large sample of healthy, non-demented individuals (n = 731, aged 51–84 years) in the anti-saccade task. Age affected various aspects of saccade performance: The number of valid trials decreased with age. Error rate, saccadic reaction times (SRTs), and variability in saccade accuracy increased with age, whereas anti-saccade costs, accuracy, and peak velocity of anti-saccades and direction errors were not affected by age. Gender affected SRTs independent of age and saccade type with male participants having overall shorter SRTs. Our rigid and solid statistical testing using linear mixed-effect models provide evidence for a uniform slowing of processing speed independent of the actually performed eye movement. Our data do not support the assumption of a specific deterioration of frontal lobe functions with aging.nonenoneMack D.J.; Heinzel S.; Pilotto A.; Stetz L.; Lachenmaier S.; Gugolz L.; Srulijes K.; Eschweiler G.W.; Sunkel U.; Berg D.; Ilg U.J.Mack, D. J.; Heinzel, S.; Pilotto, A.; Stetz, L.; Lachenmaier, S.; Gugolz, L.; Srulijes, K.; Eschweiler, G. W.; Sunkel, U.; Berg, D.; Ilg, U. J