Pure and Sb-doped ZrO2 for removal of IO3- from radioactive waste solutions

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Lämmöneristeestä voi irrota haitallisia aineita huoneilmaan

Rakennusmateriaalit vaikuttavat sisäilman laatuun. Lämmöneristeinä voidaan käyttää esimerkiksi pellava- ja hamppueristeitä sekä lasi-, kivi- ja selluvillaa. Vertailussa agrokuitueristeet eivät olleet merkittäviä kemiallisten tai hiukkaspäästöjen lähteitä. Kosteuden vaikutuksiin on kuitenkin kiinnitettävä huomiota eristeitä valmistettaessa, varastoitaessa ja asennettaessa, koska korkea ilmankosteus edistää homeiden kasvua eristeessä.vo

Cavitation inception of a van der Waals fluid at a sack-wall obstacle

Cavitation in a liquid moving past a constraint is numerically investigated by means of a free-energy lattice Boltzmann simulation based on the van der Waals equation of state. The fluid is streamed past an obstacle and, depending on the pressure drop between inlet and outlet, vapor formation underneath the corner of the sack-wall is observed. The circumstances of cavitation formation are investigated and it is found that the local bulk pressure and mean stress are insufficient to explain the phenomenon. Results obtained in this study strongly suggest that the viscous stress, interfacial contributions to the local pressure, and the Laplace pressure are relevant to the opening of a vapor cavity. This can be described by a generalization of Joseph's criterion that includes these contributions. A macroscopic investigation measuring mass flow rate behavior and discharge coefficient was also performed. As theoretically predicted, mass flow rate increases linearly with the square root of the pressure drop. However, when cavitation occurs, the mass flow growth rate is reduced and eventually it collapses into a choked flow state. In the cavitating regime, as theoretically predicted and experimentally verified, the discharge coefficient grows with the Nurick cavitation number

Diversity patterns of ground beetles and understorey vegetation in mature, secondary and plantation forest regions of temperate Northern China

Plantation and secondary forests form increasingly important components of the global forest cover, but our current knowledge about their potential contribution to biodiversity conservation is limited. We surveyed understory plant and carabid species assemblages at three distinct regions in temperate northeastern China, dominated by mature forest (Changbaishan Nature Reserve, sampled in 2011 and 2012), secondary forest (Dongling Mountain, sampled in 2011 and 2012), and forest plantation habitats (Bashang Plateau, sampled in 2006 and 2007), respectively. The α-diversity of both taxonomic groups was highest in plantation forests of the Bashang Plateau. Beetle α-diversity was lowest, but plant and beetle species turnover peaked in the secondary forests of Dongling Mountain, while habitats in the Changbaishan Nature Reserve showed the lowest turnover rates for both taxa. Changbaishan Nature Reserve harbored the highest proportion of forest specialists. Our results suggest that in temperate regions of northern China, the protected larch plantation forest established over extensive areas might play a considerable role in maintaining a high biodiversity in relation to understory herbaceous plant species and carabid assemblages, which can be seen as indicators of forest disturbance. The high proportion of phytophagous carabids and the rarity of forest specialists reflect the relatively homogenous, immature status of the forest ecosystems on the Bashang Plateau. China's last remaining large old-growth forests like the ones on Changbaishan represent stable, mature ecosystems which require particular conservation attention

Towards a Post-Graduate Level Curriculum for Biodiversity Informatics. Perspectives from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) Community

Biodiversity informatics is a new and evolving field, requiring efforts to develop capacity and a curriculum for this field of science. The main objective was to summarise the level of activity and the efforts towards developing biodiversity informatics curricula, for work-based training and/or academic teaching at universities, taking place within the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) countries and its associated network. A survey approach was used to identify existing capacities and resources within the network. Most of GBIF Nodes survey respondents (80%) are engaged in onsite training activities, with a focus on work-based professionals, mostly researchers, policy-makers and students. Training topics include data mobilisation, digitisation, management, publishing, analysis and use, to enable the accessibility of analogue and digital biological data that currently reside as scattered datasets. An initial assessment of academic teaching activities highlighted that countries in most regions, to varying degrees, were already engaged in the conceptualisation, development and/or implementation of formal academic programmes in biodiversity informatics, including programmes in Benin, Colombia, Costa Rica, Finland, France, India, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan and Togo. Digital e-learning platforms were an important tool to help build capacity in many countries. In terms of the potential in the Nodes network, 60% expressed willingness to be recruited or commissioned for capacity enhancement purposes. Contributions and activities of various country nodes across the network have been highlighted and a working curriculum framework has been defined. © 2021. Parker-Allie F et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are creditedPeer reviewe

Variation in the plasma membrane monoamine transporter (PMAT) (encoded by SLC29A4) and organic cation transporter 1 (OCT1) (encoded by SLC22A1) and gastrointestinal intolerance to metformin in type 2 diabetes:An IMI direct study

OBJECTIVE Gastrointestinal adverse effects occur in 20–30% of patients with metformin-treated type 2 diabetes, leading to premature discontinuation in 5–10% of the cases. Gastrointestinal intolerance may reflect localized high concentrations of metformin in the gut. We hypothesized that reduced transport of metformin via the plasma membrane monoamine transporter (PMAT) and organic cation transporter 1 (OCT1) could increase the risk of severe gastrointestinal adverse effects. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The study included 286 severe metformin-intolerant and 1,128 metformin-tolerant individuals from the IMI DIRECT (Innovative Medicines Initiative: DIabetes REsearCh on patient straTification) consortium. We assessed the association of patient characteristics, concomitant medication, and the burden of mutations in the SLC29A4 and SLC22A1 genes on odds of intolerance. RESULTS Women (P < 0.001) and older people (P < 0.001) were more likely to develop metformin intolerance. Concomitant use of transporter-inhibiting drugs increased the odds of intolerance (odds ratio [OR] 1.72, P < 0.001). In an adjusted logistic regression model, the G allele at rs3889348 (SLC29A4) was associated with gastrointestinal intolerance (OR 1.34, P = 0.005). rs3889348 is the top cis-expression quantitative trait locus for SLC29A4 in gut tissue where carriers of the G allele had reduced expression. Homozygous carriers of the G allele treated with transporter-inhibiting drugs had more than three times higher odds of intolerance compared with carriers of no G allele and not treated with inhibiting drugs (OR 3.23, P < 0.001). Use of a genetic risk score derived from rs3889348 and SLC22A1 variants found that the odds of intolerance were more than twice as high in individuals who carry three or more risk alleles compared with those carrying none (OR 2.15, P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that intestinal metformin transporters and concomitant medications play an important role in the gastrointestinal adverse effects of metformin

A perspective on the need for integrated frameworks linking species distribution and dynamic forest landscape models across spatial scales

Climate change significantly alters species distributions. Numerous studies project the future distribution of species using Species Distribution models (SDMs), most often using coarse resolutions. Working at coarse resolutions in forest ecosystems fails to capture landscape-level dynamics, spatially explicit processes, and temporally defined events that act at finer resolutions and that can disproportionately affect future outcomes. Dynamic Forest Landscape Models (FLMs) can simulate the survival, growth, and mortality of (stands of) trees over long time periods at small resolutions. However, as they are able to simulate at fine resolutions, study landscapes remain relatively small due to computational constraints. The large amount of feedbacks between biodiversity, forest, and ecosystem processes cannot completely be captured by FLMs or SDMs alone. Integrating SDMs with FLMs enables a more detailed understanding of the impact of perturbations on forest landscapes and their biodiversity. Several studies have used this approach at landscape scales, using fine resolutions. Yet, many scientific questions in the fields of biogeography, macroecology, conservation management, among others, require a focus on both large scales and fine resolutions. Here, drawn from literature and experience, we provide our perspective on the most important challenges that need to be overcome to use integrated frameworks at spatial scales larger than the landscape and at fine resolutions. Future research should prioritize these challenges to better understand drivers of species distributions in forest ecosystems and effectively design conservation strategies under the influence of changing climates on spatially and temporally explicit processes. We further discuss possibilities to address these challenges

Validation of the surgical fear questionnaire in adult patients waiting for elective surgery

Objectives: Because existing instruments for assessing surgical fear seem either too general or too limited, the Surgical Fear Questionnaire (SFQ) was developed. The aim of this study is to assess the validity and reliability of the SFQ. Methods: Based on existing literature and expert consultation the ten-item SFQ was composed. Data on the SFQ were obtained from 5 prospective studies (N = 3233) in inpatient or day surgery patients. These data were used for exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), reliability analysis and validity analysis. Results: EFA in Study 1 and 2 revealed a two-factor structure with one factor associated with fear of the short-term consequences of surgery (SFQ-s, item 1-4) and the other factor with fear of the long-term consequences of surgery (SFQ-l, item 5-10). However, in both studies two items of the SFQ-l had low factor loadings. Therefore in Study 3 and 4 the 2-factor structure was tested and confirmed by CFA in an eight-item version of the SFQ. Across all studies significant correlations of the SFQ with pain catastrophizing, state anxiety, and preoperative pain intensity indicated good convergent validity. Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) was between 0.765-0.920 (SFQ-total), 0.766-0.877 (SFQ-s), and 0.628-0.899 (SFQ-l). The SFQ proved to be sensitive to detect differences based on age, sex, education level, employment status and preoperative pain intensity. Discussion: The SFQ is a valid and reliable eight-item index of surgical fear consisting of two subscales: fear of the short-term consequences of surgery and fear of the long-term consequences.This study was conducted with departmental funding and supported by a grant from The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (Zon-MW, http://www.zonmw.nl/en/), grant no. 110000007. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript