Limb Lengths of Primary School Children in a City From Western Region of Turkey

Anthropometry has been used for the assessment of growth at different ages. Among the anthropometric measurements, weight, height, arm circumference, and lower and upper limb lengths are of the most important criteria showing the development of children in school age. The aim of the present study was to measure the lengths of upper (arm, forearm, hand) and lower (thigh, leg, foot) limbs of children studying in primary schools of Aydin, a city in the western region of Turkey, and to assess the differences according to the gender (female, male) and living areas (urban, rural). In different age groups, many differences were observed when compared for gender and area. Differences were also seen when compared with the other studies done in different part of Turkey. The data was the first one for the region and it might be useful for further regional studies or for national comparisons. More studies designed with bigger sample sizes that cover many cities belonging to the same region of the country are needed. In addition to cross-sectional studies, Longitudinal studies may give more useful knowledge for understanding the growth of children

Climatic, energy retro-fit and IEQ mitigation scenario modelling of the English classroom stock model

Health and cognitive performance in UK school classrooms is dependent on building fabric performance as well as heating and ventilation system operation in maintaining Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), comprising thermal comfort and air quality. While archetype models can be used to simulate IEQ for different stock-wide location and construction eras, a predictive approach also necessitates the use of longitudinal scenarios. As a key component of the UK’s decarbonisation strategy, these scenarios should account for fabric retro-fit adaptations to reduce carbon emissions, and changes in operation of the building for overheating mitigation as well as changes in external climatic conditions. The IEQ of three representative classroom archetypes, representing the stock of 18,000 English schools, have been analysed for 24 pair-wise retro-fit and operational scenarios across three climatic scenarios. Retro-fitting, while effective in reducing energy demand, may risk compromising indoor air by requiring ventilation at times of the day when external conditions are least conducive to air quality and overheating. Additionally, while North facing classrooms can tackle overheating through single effective IEQ mitigation measures, South facing and 2080 climates will necessitate cumulative effects of multiple measures to be realised. Future work involves incorporating educational and construction stakeholder preferences through multi-criteria decision analysis, to derive suitable metrics

Persistent High Postoperative Carcinoembryonic Antigen in Colorectal Cancer Patients- Is it Important?

INTRODUCTION: Evaluation of pre- and postoperative serum CEA levels together has seldom been assessed for the prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC). OBJECTIVE: To concurrently evaluate pre- and postoperative CEA as factors of relapse and survival. METHODS: The study consisted of 114 patients who had undergone surgery from February 2002 to June 2006 for CRC. All patients were classified into four groups according to their pre- and postoperative CEA levels. Data obtained for clinicopathologic parameters, lymph node metastasis, stage, recurrence, and CEA levels were analyzed to determine their association with survival. Multivariate analysis by the Cox proportional hazard regression model was performed to identify the independent prognostic factors associated with survival. RESULTS: Postoperative serum CEA levels remained high in Group 3 (n = 32). Nineteen patients (59.3%) demonstrated a detectable cause for persistent high CEA levels, while the reasons for those in the other thirteen patients (40.6%) remained obscure. Abnormal preoperative CEA levels significantly correlated with the depth of tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis, TNM stage, and recurrence (p < 0.05). Abnormal postoperative CEA levels were significantly related to the depth of tumor invasion, TNM stage, and postoperative relapse (p<0.05). Patients in Group 3 demonstrated the worst survival rate. Abnormal postoperative CEA levels, lymph node metastasis, and location of the tumor were independent prognostic factors for survival. CONCLUSION: The survival of patients with high postoperative CEA levels due to unknown reasons may be extended if they are exhaustively tested with sensitive diagnostic methods and treated at an early stage

Modelling UK school performance by coupling building simulation and multi-criteria decision analysis

Meeting indoor environment quality (IEQ) standards, incorporating air quality and thermal comfort, is critical for children’s health and learning within classrooms. While building simulation provides indicative IEQ outputs, educational and construction stakeholders may require broader criteria, such as attainment, health and healthcare costs, to assess UK school building stock performance. To investigate the provision of such metrics, a Data dRiven Engine for Archetype Models of Schools (DREAMS) EnergyPlus-based stock-modelling framework was developed, modelling different classroom typologies. Dynamic IEQ simulation has demonstrated that the influence of construction era on learning performance metrics may be stronger in hotter regions, which are increasingly reliant on ventilation to counter higher temperatures and maintain IEQ. This framework includes creating retrofit scenarios to evaluate school building energy efficiency interventions and coupling with multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). This integration of modelled impacts with stakeholder-derived health and educational attainment weightings could provide a basis for future interventions

A Multi-Criteria decision analysis framework to determine the optimal combination of energy efficiency and indoor air quality schemes for English school classrooms

Maintaining good Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) in English schools in terms of overheating and air quality is important for the health and educational performance of children. Improving energy efficiency in school buildings is also a key part of UK’s carbon emissions reduction strategy. To address the trade-offs between energy efficiency and IEQ, a Multi–Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) framework based on an English classroom stock model was used. The aim was to determine robust optimal school building interventions across a set of criteria (including child health, educational attainment and building energy consumption) and settings (comprising different climate scenarios, construction eras, geographical regions and school geographical orientations). Each intervention was made up of the pairwise combination of an energy efficiency retrofit scheme and an IEQ improvement scheme. The MCDA framework was applied to the school building stock in England. This study shows that the framework represents a transparent approach to support decision making in determining the optimal school building intervention from different perspectives. The optimal interventions included measures that improved IEQ and resulting indoor learning environments, such as external shading, or increased albedo and internal blinds, for the particular set of interventions, criteria and stakeholders in this study. The results of the MCDA analysis were sensitive to the preferences elicited from stakeholders on the relative importance of the criteria and to the range of interventions and criteria selected for evaluation

A Multi-Criteria decision analysis framework to determine the optimal combination of energy efficiency and indoor air quality schemes for English school classrooms

Maintaining good Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) in English schools in terms of overheating and air quality is important for the health and educational performance of children. Improving energy efficiency in school buildings is also a key part of UK's carbon emissions reduction strategy. To address the trade-offs between energy efficiency and IEQ, a Multi–Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) framework based on an English classroom stock model was used. The aim was to determine robust optimal school building interventions across a set of criteria (including child health, educational attainment and building energy consumption) and settings (comprising different climate scenarios, construction eras, geographical regions and school geographical orientations). Each intervention was made up of the pairwise combination of an energy efficiency retrofit scheme and an IEQ improvement scheme. The MCDA framework was applied to the school building stock in England. This study shows that the framework represents a transparent approach to support decision making in determining the optimal school building intervention from different perspectives. The optimal interventions included measures that improved IEQ and resulting indoor learning environments, such as external shading, or increased albedo and internal blinds, for the particular set of interventions, criteria and stakeholders in this study. The results of the MCDA analysis were sensitive to the preferences elicited from stakeholders on the relative importance of the criteria and to the range of interventions and criteria selected for evaluation

Effects on child and adolescent health of climate change mitigation policies: A systematic review of modelling studies

There is a growing body of modelling evidence that demonstrates the potential for immediate and substantial benefits to adult health from greenhouse gas mitigation actions, but the effects on the health of younger age groups is largely unknown. We conducted a systematic review to identify the available published evidence of the modelled effects on child and adolescent health (≤18 years of age) of greenhouse gas mitigation. We searched six databases of peer-reviewed studies published between January 1, 1990 and July 27, 2022, screened 27,282 original papers and included 23 eligible papers. All included studies were set in high- and middle-income countries; and all studies modelled the effects of interventions that could mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality. Most of the available evidence suggests positive benefits for child and adolescent respiratory health from greenhouse gas mitigation actions that simultaneously reduce air pollution (specifically PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide). We found scant evidence on child and adolescent health from regions more vulnerable to climate change, or on mitigation interventions that could affect exposures other than air pollution

Exploiting a wheat EST database to assess genetic diversity

Expressed sequence tag (EST) markers have been used to assess variety and genetic diversity in wheat (Triticum aestivum). In this study, 1549 ESTs from wheat infested with yellow rust were used to examine the genetic diversity of six susceptible and resistant wheat cultivars. The aim of using these cultivars was to improve the competitiveness of public wheat breeding programs through the intensive use of modern, particularly marker-assisted, selection technologies. The F2 individuals derived from cultivar crosses were screened for resistance to yellow rust at the seedling stage in greenhouses and adult stage in the field to identify DNA markers genetically linked to resistance. Five hundred and sixty ESTs were assembled into 136 contigs and 989 singletons. BlastX search results showed that 39 (29%) contigs and 96 (10%) singletons were homologous to wheat genes. The database-matched contigs and singletons were assigned to eight functional groups related to protein synthesis, photosynthesis, metabolism and energy, stress proteins, transporter proteins, protein breakdown and recycling, cell growth and division and reactive oxygen scavengers. PCR analyses with primers based on the contigs and singletons showed that the most polymorphic functional categories were photosynthesis (contigs) and metabolism and energy (singletons). EST analysis revealed considerable genetic variability among the Turkish wheat cultivars resistant and susceptible to yellow rust disease and allowed calculation of the mean genetic distance between cultivars, with the greatest similarity (0.725) being between Harmankaya99 and Sönmez2001, and the lowest (0.622) between Aytin98 and Izgi01

Estimation of rate constants of PCB dechlorination reactions using an anaerobic dehalogenation model

This study aims to estimate anaerobic dechlorination rate constants (k(m)) of reactions of individual PCB congeners using data from four laboratory microcosms set up using sediment from Baltimore Harbor. Pathway km values are estimated by modifying a previously developed model as Anaerobic Dehalogenation Model (ADM) which can be applied to any halogenated hydrophobic organic (HOC). Improvements such as handling multiple dechlorination activities (DAs) and co-elution of congeners, incorporating constraints, using new goodness of fit evaluation led to an increase in accuracy, speed and flexibility of ADM. DAs published in the literature in terms of chlorine substitutions as well as specific microorganisms and their combinations are used for identification of pathways. The best fit explaining the congener pattern changes was found for pathways of Phylotype DEH10, which has the ability to remove doubly flanked chlorines in meta and para positions, para flanked chlorines in meta position. The range of estimated k(m) values is between 0.0001-0.133 d(-1), the median of which is found to be comparable to the few available published biologically confirmed rate constants. Compound specific modelling studies such as that performed by ADM can enable monitoring and prediction of concentration changes as well as toxicity during bioremediation