Wpływ uspokojenia ruchu na klimat akustyczny w otoczeniu ulic

The paper presents the methods to improve safety and quality of life of people living in the neighborhood of roads and the situation of road users by means of traffic calming. The focus is kept on positive impact of traffic calming measures on acoustic climate in the surrounding of roads. The paper also contains the characteristics of selected impacts of road traffic on the environment together with a general outline of traffic calming as an instrument to mitigate the negative influence. Various possibilities to frame the acoustic climate and reduce transport-related inconvenience by means of different traffic calming methods are present as well. Then a case study (regional road No 824 in Puławy) is used to assess the effectiveness of specific solutions of comprehensive traffic calming with regard to speed reduction and abatement of noise emissions. Analyses are based on measurements’ results (traffic volumes, driving speeds and noise levels) and on acoustic calculations performed by the authors as part of their own study (internal research & development program of EKKOM). On the basis of measurements’ results and calculations the paper also addresses the problem of lack of correction factors related to traffic calming in the calculation model and the one of errors in noise modeling while preparing the case study.W referacie przedstawiono sposoby poprawy bezpieczeństwa i jakości życia osób mieszkających w sąsiedztwie tras komunikacyjnych i użytkowników ruchu związane z zastosowaniem środków uspokojenia ruchu. Skupiono się na korzystnym wpływie zastosowania środków uspokojenia ruchu na stan klimatu akustycznego na terenach otaczających drogi. W referacie przedstawiono również charakterystykę wybranych oddziaływań ruchu drogowego na środowisko oraz informacje wprowadzające, które dotyczą uspokojenia ruchu jako sposobu na łagodzenie tych uciążliwości. Przeanalizowano również możliwości kształtowania klimatu akustycznego i łagodzenia uciążliwości transportu za pomocą różnych metod uspokojenia ruchu. Następnie, na przykładzie studium przypadku (droga wojewódzka nr 824 w Puławach), określono skuteczność konkretnych rozwiązań kompleksowego uspokojenia ruchu, pod względem redukcji prędkości i zmniejszenia emisji hałasu. W analizach posłużono się wynikami wykonanych pomiarów (natężenia ruchu, prędkości pojazdów i poziomu hałasu) oraz obliczeń akustycznych realizowanych w ramach badań własnych autorów (wewnętrzny program badawczo–rozwojowy firmy EKKOM). Na podstawie wyników pomiarów oraz obliczeń omówiono także problem braku uwzględnienia w modelu obliczeniowym współczynników korygujących z uwagi na charakter ruchu uspokojonego oraz błędów w modelowaniu hałasu dla analizowanego przykładu

Identification of genetic variants associated with Huntington's disease progression: a genome-wide association study

Background Huntington's disease is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin gene, HTT. Age at onset has been used as a quantitative phenotype in genetic analysis looking for Huntington's disease modifiers, but is hard to define and not always available. Therefore, we aimed to generate a novel measure of disease progression and to identify genetic markers associated with this progression measure. Methods We generated a progression score on the basis of principal component analysis of prospectively acquired longitudinal changes in motor, cognitive, and imaging measures in the 218 indivduals in the TRACK-HD cohort of Huntington's disease gene mutation carriers (data collected 2008–11). We generated a parallel progression score using data from 1773 previously genotyped participants from the European Huntington's Disease Network REGISTRY study of Huntington's disease mutation carriers (data collected 2003–13). We did a genome-wide association analyses in terms of progression for 216 TRACK-HD participants and 1773 REGISTRY participants, then a meta-analysis of these results was undertaken. Findings Longitudinal motor, cognitive, and imaging scores were correlated with each other in TRACK-HD participants, justifying use of a single, cross-domain measure of disease progression in both studies. The TRACK-HD and REGISTRY progression measures were correlated with each other (r=0·674), and with age at onset (TRACK-HD, r=0·315; REGISTRY, r=0·234). The meta-analysis of progression in TRACK-HD and REGISTRY gave a genome-wide significant signal (p=1·12 × 10−10) on chromosome 5 spanning three genes: MSH3, DHFR, and MTRNR2L2. The genes in this locus were associated with progression in TRACK-HD (MSH3 p=2·94 × 10−8 DHFR p=8·37 × 10−7 MTRNR2L2 p=2·15 × 10−9) and to a lesser extent in REGISTRY (MSH3 p=9·36 × 10−4 DHFR p=8·45 × 10−4 MTRNR2L2 p=1·20 × 10−3). The lead single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in TRACK-HD (rs557874766) was genome-wide significant in the meta-analysis (p=1·58 × 10−8), and encodes an aminoacid change (Pro67Ala) in MSH3. In TRACK-HD, each copy of the minor allele at this SNP was associated with a 0·4 units per year (95% CI 0·16–0·66) reduction in the rate of change of the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) Total Motor Score, and a reduction of 0·12 units per year (95% CI 0·06–0·18) in the rate of change of UHDRS Total Functional Capacity score. These associations remained significant after adjusting for age of onset. Interpretation The multidomain progression measure in TRACK-HD was associated with a functional variant that was genome-wide significant in our meta-analysis. The association in only 216 participants implies that the progression measure is a sensitive reflection of disease burden, that the effect size at this locus is large, or both. Knockout of Msh3 reduces somatic expansion in Huntington's disease mouse models, suggesting this mechanism as an area for future therapeutic investigation

Intraosseous Lipoma of the Sphenoid: A Case Study

Intraosseous lipoma is very rare, usually benign tumor of flat bones. However, the localization in skull bones is described in sporadic cases. The differential diagnosis includes end stage of infection, infarct lesions, intraosseous meningioma, angiolipoma, or myxofibrous tumors. We report a patient with intraosseous lipoma located in the sphenoid bone. The diagnosis was established due to the characteristic radiological features. According to the history of seizures, the lesion was removed via endoscopic endonasal approach. Histopathological examination showed adipocytes. The patient underwent control neuroimaging studies

Novel A18T and pA29S substitutions in α-synuclein may be associated with sporadic Parkinson's disease.

Mutations in the α-synuclein-encoding gene SNCA are considered as a rare cause of Parkinson's disease (PD). Our objective was to examine the frequency of the SNCA point mutations among PD patients of Polish origin

Clinical manifestations of intermediate allele carriers in Huntington disease

Objective: There is controversy about the clinical consequences of intermediate alleles (IAs) in Huntington disease (HD). The main objective of this study was to establish the clinical manifestations of IA carriers for a prospective, international, European HD registry. Methods: We assessed a cohort of participants at risk with <36 CAG repeats of the huntingtin (HTT) gene. Outcome measures were the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) motor, cognitive, and behavior domains, Total Functional Capacity (TFC), and quality of life (Short Form-36 [SF-36]). This cohort was subdivided into IA carriers (27-35 CAG) and controls (<27 CAG) and younger vs older participants. IA carriers and controls were compared for sociodemographic, environmental, and outcome measures. We used regression analysis to estimate the association of age and CAG repeats on the UHDRS scores. Results: Of 12,190 participants, 657 (5.38%) with <36 CAG repeats were identified: 76 IA carriers (11.56%) and 581 controls (88.44%). After correcting for multiple comparisons, at baseline, we found no significant differences between IA carriers and controls for total UHDRS motor, SF-36, behavioral, cognitive, or TFC scores. However, older participants with IAs had higher chorea scores compared to controls (p 0.001). Linear regression analysis showed that aging was the most contributing factor to increased UHDRS motor scores (p 0.002). On the other hand, 1-year follow-up data analysis showed IA carriers had greater cognitive decline compared to controls (p 0.002). Conclusions: Although aging worsened the UHDRS scores independently of the genetic status, IAs might confer a late-onset abnormal motor and cognitive phenotype. These results might have important implications for genetic counseling. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01590589

Optimization of adsorptive removal of α-toluic acid by CaO2 nanoparticles using response surface methodology

The present work addresses the optimization of process parameters for adsorptive removal of α-toluic acid by calcium peroxide (CaO2) nanoparticles using response surface methodology (RSM). CaO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by chemical precipitation method and confirmed by Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution TEM (HRTEM) analysis which shows the CaO2 nanoparticles size range of 5–15 nm. A series of batch adsorption experiments were performed using CaO2 nanoparticles to remove α-toluic acid from the aqueous solution. Further, an experimental based central composite design (CCD) was developed to study the interactive effect of CaO2 adsorbent dosage, initial concentration of α-toluic acid, and contact time on α-toluic acid removal efficiency (response) and optimization of the process. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to determine the significance of the individual and the interactive effects of variables on the response. The model predicted response showed a good agreement with the experimental response, and the coefficient of determination, (R2) was 0.92. Among the variables, the interactive effect of adsorbent dosage and the initial α-toluic acid concentration was found to have more influence on the response than the contact time. Numerical optimization of process by RSM showed the optimal adsorbent dosage, initial concentration of α-toluic acid, and contact time as 0.03 g, 7.06 g/L, and 34 min respectively. The predicted removal efficiency was 99.50%. The experiments performed under these conditions showed α-toluic acid removal efficiency up to 98.05%, which confirmed the adequacy of the model prediction